Derek Hiemforth

One of the problems here is that the very possibility of being immune to "x" varies from game world to game world. For example, in campaign A, all telepathy is based on reception and transmission of a psionic energy. A certain alien race has brains that simply do not emit or register this energy. Therefore this alien race is immune to all telepathy, period. There is no psi in the universe who can possibly affect them, no matter how strong the psi is, because the alien's brains are simply not subject to the only effect that can generate telepathy. In campaign B, a similar psionic energy exists, but so do magic, gods, and so on. Under these conditions, the alien race is immune to "normal" psionic telepathy, but might be affected by magical or divinely-powered telepathy that doesn't rely on the psionic energy. In campaign C, there are no universal rules governing telepathy. Two characters who both seem to be natural telepaths might actually be working their effects in slightly different ways. In this setting, the alien race would probably not be immune to telepathy at all. They would just be resistant to it. Whatever method you prefer for an invulnerability effect, it needs to take this factor into account.

Steeeeve E. Coyote... SOOOOPER GEEEENIUUS!!

If my calculations are correct, this would make the travel time from Earth to Alpha Centauri about 1/3rd of a second. That seems a bit fast, even for warp 9, I must agree. However, the "official" way seems a bit slow, honestly. At warp 9 if warp 9 = 1514c, then it takes about 24 hours to get from Earth to Alpha Centauri. That seems like a lot of travel time for a super-advanced ship at maximum speed to get just to the nearest star of a far-flung Federation. This is just intuitive, though... I haven't actually looked at how many G-type stars are within a certain radius of Sol or whatever...

You think 3rd Edition is the best because it has more flaws? Interesting reasoning... You know, you'll get rich if you give me money. Worth a shot...

Re: How fast is a Warp? It's not linear. According to the latest Star Trek RPG (which gets its info from the source), it breaks down like this: Warp # of Times [u]Factor[/u] [u]Speed of Light[/u] 1 1 2 10 3 39 4 102 5 214 6 392 7 656 8 1024 9 1516

It's actually an urban legend that Mama Cass died by choking on a sandwich, though. Check out http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/mamacass.htm for more info if you're interested.

I don't know if they're unusual, but... I bought a bow and arrows as an HKA (OAF arrows), Ranged, and bought just the Ranged Advantage with OAF Bow. So without the bow, it's a normal HKA that you can stab someone with. With the bow, you can also shoot it at range. (Being able to add your STR to the damage when shooting it at range simulates the "pull" of the bow.) I built a Superman-style character's Super-Breath as a Dispel vs. Fire or Gas SFX, Does Knockback, Double Knockback. I built a Spider-Man-style character's ability to create a "Web Shield" that was gradually chipped away but could be recreated by expending more web fluid as an Entangle with Personal Immunity. When she wants to use the shield, she simply Entangles herself! It doesn't hinder the character since she has Personal Immunity to it, but anyone else attacking her has to get through the Entangle's DEF and BODY.

We also have a female AI computer in a superhero base in our campaign, and you're welcome to use her name if you like. Her name is A.I.M.S. (Artificially Intelligent Mechanized Sentinel), and she goes by "Amy."

I'd buy it as an Energy Blast or RKA vs ED, Area Effect Cone, No Range. If anything takes BODY damage from it, it's caught on fire.

Re: Cost of Armor Oh sure, drag LOGIC into this whydontya?!?

And the problem in this construction is not metarule 6... it's the cost of Armor. Once you start letting people take Visible (and especially letting them take Costs Endurance) on Armor, then you might as well get rid of Force Field, because no one in their right mind would buy it. Why would I buy this: 20PD/20ED Force Field -- 40 points When I could buy this: 20PD/20ED Armor, Costs Endurance (-1/2), Visible (-1/4) -- 34 points. The cost relationships between Armor, Force Field, and PD/ED/Damage Resistance are messed up, IMO. It really would make more sense to combine these into a single Defense power that could be customized with Advantages and Limitations like Resistant and Costs END and Visible, etc.

I think the Philosopher has the right of it. If you really want an effect like this in your game, you need to do something to customize the world to make it possible. Another construct that might be useful is to define your world such that everyone is automatically assumed to have Vulnerability to Death Effects: 2x BODY for no points.

This is not technically legal. You cannot use Dispel on Characteristics. (5E, page 99)

So do I. Pointing out that you can stack up baroque constructs that are more expensive than simple ones does not invalidate metarule 6, because such obviously contrived constructs can't be reasonably argued to be "equally valid." Build it the most logical or elegant way. If (and only if) you're not sure what the most logical or elegant way is, or if you have multiple ways that seem equally logical or elegant, then (and only then) you're best off using the most expensive one in order to avoid potential abuse.

I think people worry too much about the meaning of metarule 6, to be honest. I think it's just there to say, "If you're trying to simulate an effect, you're not sure exactly how it "should" be done, and you're considering multiple ways of building it, then you can most safely avoid potential abuse by going with the most expensive way." For example, let's say you're building a teleporter, and you want to give them the trick of sticking their arm through a mini-spacewarp and punching people (from any direction) up to a certain distance away. You have STR of course, and you also buy Stretching. Stretching has some Indirect aspects by default, but this effect is really Indirect, so you decide you should apply the Advantage. What do you apply it to? STR or Stretching? There are logical arguments for either one. This is where metarule 6 becomes useful. If you're not sure, apply it to whichever one is more expensive.

Ingenue: An ingenuous or naive girl or young woman. (Ingenuous: Characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; lacking in sophistication or worldliness.)

Re: Multiple Force Field slots in a multipower? Yep. The rule is "It's okay." Seriously, it looks like you're remembering wording from 3rd Edition Champions, which said on page 38, "Unlike Elemental Controls, redundant slots are quite all right in a Multipower; in fact, one of the traditional uses of a Multipower is to have two different Energy Blasts (say, one normal and one Explosion) without having to pay so many Power Points." It looks like that wording (along with the rules saying that redundant slots in ECs were forbidden) was removed in 4E and 5E.

There's a fix in 5E already if you want one. On page 110, while describing how to build a Mental Paralysis-type power, it says that you can apply a -1/2 Limitation if you want the target's Mental Defense to add to their EGO for purposes of breaking free.

In the 4th Edition and older Champions Universe, the acronym was "Primary Response and Interdiction Military Unified Service." I like the new one better.

Actually, (says Derek the Pedantic) it was called Trouble For Havoc. (It's on my Big List Of All Hero Books linked in the sig below.)

Yeah, we've got two "sleepers" in our current group, and I played for years with another. It would be one thing if the game was boring and putting them to sleep, but it seems (to me, anyway) that it's not all that related to how interesting the game is...

I think I'm pretty reasonable about what I'll allow in an EC. For me, the key is the whole "one Adjustment Power affects all" thing. As long as every slot in an EC makes clear logical sense for it to be affected by anything that Drains another slot, then I'll allow it... whether it costs END or not. For example, Damage Reduction is not normally allowed in ECs. But if you were building Blobbo the Rubber Man, and had an EC of Rubbery Body that included Stretching and Leaping (bouncing), I'd also let you include PD Damage Reduction, because it's exactly the same special effect. (Heck, I'd even let you include Extra Limbs, but it'd probably mess up your point balancing. )

Re: How would you define Mental Paralysis? I'd use Entangle with the modifiers. (Takes No Damage From Physical Attacks is the third one.) I think it's the most elegant solution, because it literally does what you're after: it forces the target to stand still unless they can break free with their mind. Each of the others has problems, IMV. Mind Control: This one gets weird because the target can subtract their Mental Defense, which isn't analogous to a physical Entangle (wherein the target's defense is irrelevant). Also, it can make it harder to affect a low-EGO character with a hyperactive personality than it is a high-EGO character with a more sedate personality. Impulse (the bratty little Flash clone) might have a low EGO but a severe aversion to standing still, while Professor X has a huge EGO but doesn't mind being motionless. It might end up actually being easier for Impulse to break out than it is for Professor X, and that's probably not what you're after. (This effect is often used specifically to stop people like Impulse.) Drain vs EGO: This one doesn't do anything to actually make them be motionless. They can still move easily, provided they have reason (or someone gives them reason). Plus, Power Defense is applied to it, which seems weird for an Entangle-type effect. Transform: I'd stay away from this one on the grounds that there are at least two other ways to build the effect with varying degrees of success (Entangle and Mind Control), and you should generally avoid using Transform to duplicate the effects of other Powers. Plus, it defaults to working against BODY instead of EGO, which isn't quite right, and they get Power Defense against it, which (as with Drain) seems kind of weird. So to some extent, the Entangle method is just the one with the least problems.

I think it looks fine. I'd suggest defining it as a Special Power that's Persistent and doesn't cost END. Making it a Special Power will make it harder for jokers to stick it in a Multipower.

H5E. page 203: "Characters cannot purchase Special Powers and Talents in Power Frameworks, except with the GM's permission." H5E, page 204: "Normally, all slots in an Elemental Control should cost END or have the Reduced Endurance Advantage. You cannot buy powers which inherently cost no END (for example, FTL Travel) as a slot in an EC unless they take the Limitation Costs END or the GM permits it." These are two different rules. The first applies to all Power Frameworks, the second only to Elemental Controls. The first doesn't have anything to do with END, per se. You would still need GM permission to put a Special Power or Talent in a Power Framework, whether it cost END or not.