Wyrm Ouroboros

Originally posted by AlHazred

The Zeppelin in The Ultimate Vehicle has a DEF of 4, which seems pretty good for a rigid airship. I'll probably give it a 5 overall, with a more heavily-armored gondola (Partial Coverage).

Good idea. Always armor the gondola a bit more. Also, don't forget your science labs tucked away here, there, and yon within the lift cells -- inside the massive framework makes a stunning 3-D maze for the heros to have to fight their way through.

Launch assist/arrest platforms for Messerschmitt Me 163B Komets and other experimental planes? If a platform, is it on top of the gasbag, or slung underneath?

Launch from the bottom; recover on top. Maybe part of the 'experimental planes' are the ability to disassemble and move them short distances; a 'lift elevator' down the side/front/through the middle of the gasbag?

Large side-mounted propellers to provide lift/steering?

No, no, too SHIELD Helicarrier. But it SHOULD have bomb racks.

Faux stone wall and tower designs, emulating the character's lost castle? Or pulp-era continental styling, making it look like a luxury train car? The devil is in the details...

Pulp-era Continental Styling. If Hitler did one good thing for Germany, it's that he made the trains run on time. This thing should be posh, elite, arrogant, high-society. Hell, have Baron von Munchausen invite the characters there for a tete-a-tete. If he's classy, play it up. If the place is really big, why not have a ballroom -- one of the aerodromes opens out to the sky (upwards, into the landing platform?), dancing, music, all that. Class, style, evil laboratories. Experimental Steampunk Mecha battling it out with the heros (in their dinner jackets and evening dresses, no less!!) on the top of the zepplin.

I'd put regular guns in the cupolas, though, and save the Martian Death Ray as a thing the characters have to stop -- maybe during the ball he unveils it, pointing at the Washington Monument or some such national monument. Something suitably dramatic, luxurious ... posh. Like you said, this is the era of Pulp Heros.

If you have to describe a feif as a base -- and why not, after all the 1000-point Landlord had the planet as a base, right?? -- buy the Castle/Manor as the main base, then the lands of the feif (county, barony, duchy, kingdom, whatever) as 'extra grounds'. If there is more than one castle, well, keep increasing that Base Size, and split the space between the two locations.

Other than that, well, not really certain. Personnel (men-at-arms, valets, cooks, bakers, etc. etc. yadda yadda) come to mind, as well as equipment, but other than that ... *shrugs*

Hand-waving the FEIF sounds much, much better to me.

I'm tempted, for the fun of it, to dump in the Fathom/Nixie/Water Elemental character I created/rebuilt for dbcowboy. On the other hand, if you're interested, you can find it here.

(http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=85993#post85993)

Simple regeneration. If you want to get fancy, add 'immunity to all poisons and pathogens' on a 'gradual effect' to account for that. AFAIK we've never SEEN him regenerate a lost limb; the adamantium skeleton foregoes the complete loss. He has, OTOH, regenerated the flesh lost FROM the bones, so I suppose I would add the 'regenerates limbs' adder.

There's an open question as to whether Wolverine and/or Sabretooth come back from the dead; the latter has had nasty nasty things (including Wolvie's claws) popped through his skull or heart any number of times. It's up to you; offhand I'd give them additional negative Body (whatever that would be as a disad, probably -1 or -1½) to shoehorn their apparently-very-very-deep resilience to being killed. It can happen, however, so...

There: Healing (Regeneration), with the Limbs Adder. Add 'Immunity to All Poisons' and 'Immunity to All Diseases'. He regenerates Transforms as well, so hopefully Healing (Regeneration) takes care of that...

Oooo. Zepplins.

• Remember that they're generally rigid.
  
• Remember that they ARE vulnerable to aircraft, i.e. the thing's going to have guns on it to shoot back/down the P-41s and all that come after it.
  
• Remember that it has to restock, i.e. needs to moor somewhere in order to take on provisions.
  
• Remember the fate of the Hindenberg at the mooring mast. I'll guarantee that your players will, and that this is going to be the end of Baron Zima's Zepplin Fortress.
  
• Remember that the mainland US, Canada, & Mexico were NOT all well-known; adventures hunting down this guy's 'secret ground bases' should be be fun, furious, and frequent; they should always be stopping him in the nick of time, he gets away in the Zepplin, but they find out a clue to another secret base until they finally corner him at his ultra-top-secret base hidden in the Nevada desert. And when they DO destroy the Zepplin Fortress, the War Department is going to want to take over Baron Zima's Ultra-Top-Secret Base and give it a bland-sounding label to explain away all the secrets of Baron Zima's they're finding. You know, something like 'Area 15' or something...
  
• Remember that a steady diet of 5th Columnists WILL get boring eventually, even rapidly. Instead of constant adventures in the US, spread the Character's assignments and action between the African theatre, the Southeast Asian (Asia/Burma/Borneo) theatre, action in England and Europe, and fighting Japs in the Pacific. Maybe they'll even go to Stalingrad and fight Those Dirty Nazis in the ugly house-to-house fighting there before returning home for a well-earned two weeks of shore leave -- but when they get there, they encounter yet another dastardly plan by Evil Baron Zima to Steal Cut-Your-Throat-Before-Reading Secrets of Weapon Technology From the War Department!! You know, stuff like really powerful bombs.
  

No rest for the heroic.

No, you pretty much hit it on the head. Yes, there's a loss of velocity due to air resistance and the like, but unless you're talking about heavy winds (meaning 20mph+), it's a negligible concern. Any 'wind resistance' is going to be counteracted by velocity gained from loss of height. Fire a weapon laterally at 1500 fps; drop a bullet at the same time from the same height. Which one hits the ground first? Neither; they strike simultaneously, albeit in widely separated locations.

While I'm not yet intimately acquainted with FREd's rules on using Move-Bys, STR, AND Martial Arts all to add damage to your HKA, I believe that they all CAN -- albeit with different specific rules for adding. Crimson Arrow's basic premise is, however, correct; the faster Logan moves, the more chance he has of maxing out his damage.

You might remember that Wolverine's claws are only knives; the fact that they can cut through Damn Near Anything means that they'll chop into Iron Man just as well as Thug #2. Instead of using a variation on Armor Piercing, I'd call it a variation on Penetrating -- several levels' worth, at least three. About the only thing in regular comics that's out-and-out resisted his claws was Captain America's shield... there's even a great poster of that fight.

Forgot one thing -- she should, of course, be able to Sense Water, Ranged, 360 Degree, targetting. Even Discriminatory and Analyze. This would, of course, give her a very, very good idea of where people are. Hmmm...

Sense Water: Detect A Class of Things (Water, 5), Sense (2), Range (5), Discriminatory (5), Analyze (5), 360 Degree (5), Targetting (10): 37 Points.

Okay, so I don't have HeroBuilder or whatever for FREd. I do, however, have a quick and steady (yeah, right) hand; this version is a 406-point NPC to be used in my dark-nasty campaign.

[b][size=+1]Fathom[/size][/b]
10/20	STR	0
23	DEX	39
10/15	CON	0
10/17	BODY	0
17	INT	7
22	EGO	24
10/15	PRE	0
18	COM	4
2	PD	0
2/3	ED	0
6	SPD	27
4/10	REC	0
20/50	END	0
20/40	STUN	0
Characteristics Cost: 101

5	EC (Water) (5)	
5a)	+5 CON (Water)	
5b)	+5 BODY (Water)	
5c)	+5 PRE, Persistent (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Cancel: Equal	
PRE/EGO (Always On)	
5d)	+5 REC (Water)	
5e)	+20 END (Water)	
5f)	+10 STUN (Water)	
26g)	PKG (Mutant Powers), "Resurrection/Regeneration", Extra Time	
 (-1), time: 1 turn, Self Only (-1/2), 0 END Persistent (+1), 	
Healing (Regeneration, 1 BODY) (Mutant Powers), Healing 	
 (Resurrection) (Mutant Powers), Healing (Limbs) (Mutant	
Powers)	
5h)	+5" Swimming (Water), x4 Non-Combat	1
2i)	5" Flight (Water), Only Above Water (-1/2), Max Height = Max	
Speed - Actual Speed (-1)	1
3j)	4/3 Armor (Water), 1/2 Effect vs. Fire (-1/2)	
7k)	1 1/2D6 EB (Water), Double Knockback (+3/4)	1
3l)	0 STR TK (Water), fine manipulation, Must Contain/Be Supported	
By Water (Limited Height) (-1/2)	1
6m)	2 LVLS Growth (stats already included), Side F/X (-3/4), 0 END	
 (+1/2): 3.2m, 400kg, -1 DCV, -2 KB	0
0	PKG (Water), "Side Effect (Per 2 Lvls of Growth)"	
(19)	1D6 EB (Water), Always Occurs (0), Only vs. Ground Targets (0), 0	
END (+1/2), Explosion (+1/2), Double Knockback (+3/4), Continuous	
 (+1)	0

115	PKG	
(17)	EC (Water) (8), Body of Water: Hose/Hydrant (-1/4), Self Only	
 (-1/4), All Points Lost after 1 Turn Out of Water (-1/2), vs.	
SF/X, All Powers (+2), 0 END Persistent (+1), Inherent (+1/4)	
(17a))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (18)	
(15b))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (36), Body of Water: Fountain/Pool	
 (-1/4)	
(14c))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (54), Body of Water: Lesser River (-1/2)	
(12d))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (72), Body of Water: Major River/Lake	
 (-3/4)	
(11e))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (90), Body of Water: Harbor/Bay (-1)	
(10f))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (108), Body of Water: Lesser Sea/Great	
Lake (-1 1/4)	
(10g))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (126), Body of Water: Major Sea/Gulf (-1	
1/2)	
(9h))	Aid, 1d6, +12 Maximum (144), Body of Water: Ocean (-1 3/4)	

4	Martial Block	
4	Martial Disarm	
3	Martial Grab	
3	Martial Throw	
3	Acrobatics 14-	
3	Breakfall 14-	
3	Bureaucratics 12-	
3	Contortionist 14-	
3	Deduction 12-	
1	Demolitions 8-	
0	Lang: English, native	
4	Lang: Japanese, native accent	
3	Lang: Russian, fluent w/accent	
3	Lip Reading 11-	
2	Navigation 11-, Only In Water (-1/2)	
3	Oratory 12-	
3	Paramedic 12-	
3	Persuasion 12-	
2	Shadowing 11-, Only In Water (-1/2)	
3	Stealth 14-	
1	Tactics 8-	
2	Tracking 12-, Only In Water (-1/2)	

3	Scholar	
2	KS: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	KS: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	KS: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	KS: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	KS: Other 12-, (INT based)	

3	Traveler	
2	AK: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	AK: Other 12-, (INT based)	
2	AK: Other 12-, (INT based)	
1	AK: Other 11-	

11	PKG (Water), "Life Support: Water Elemental"	
(5)	Breathe Water (Water)	
(1)	High Pressure (Water)	
(2)	Intense Cold (Water)	
(1)	Immunity: Poisons (Water), Not Yet Active (-10)	
(1)	Immunity: Diseases (Water), Not Yet Active (-10)	
(1)	Immortal (Does Not Age) (Water), Not Yet Active (-10)	
3	Double Jointed	
2	Bump Of Direction, Only Over Water (-1/2)	
2	Absolute Time Sense, Only In Water (-1/2)	
3	Simulate Death	

Powers Cost: 305
Total Cost: 406

Base Points: 200
15	Accidental Chg, "Takes Body Damage", common, occur 11-
10	Enraged, "Witnesses Watercourse Polluted", uncommon, occur 14-, 
 recover 11-
15	Distinctive, "'Liquid'-Looking", concealable, major
10	Watched, "NS-PAR", as powerful, non-combat influence, harsh, 
 appear 11-
20	Hunted, "Whaling Industry", less powerful, non-combat
 influence, harsh, appear 14-
20	Hunted, "Oil Companies", as powerful, non-combat influence, 
 harsh, appear 11-
25	Psych Lim, "Protective of Aquasphere", very common, total
15	Psych Lim, "Casual Killer", common, strong
15	Psych Lim, "Call to Power", common, strong
15	Vuln, "Fire", very common, x1 1/2 stun
15	Vuln, "Fire", very common, x1 1/2 stun

Disadvantages Total: 175
Experience Spent: 31
Total Points: 406

A few notes:

• She doesn't have KS's yet. These should be appropriate 'hydro-sphere biologist' knowledge skills; perhaps she was an oceanographer before she 'transformed', or an eco-activist -- or both.
  
• She doesn't have her AKs defined, either. Going by her languages, she should be a PacRim girl, Tokyo, Japan, Kamkatchka Peninsula, The Alaskan-Canadian Intracoastal Waterway, that sort of thing.
  
• Her Presence is 'Uncontrolled', by which I mean that it is always in effect -- people twitch just looking at her. Being in her presence for a long period of time may inure you to her 'aura', but for the most part, that's only going to be a 'constant' base 1d6 PRE Attack.
  
• Yes, some of her abilities are 'In/On/Under Water Only'. So what? Makes sense to me.
  
• She doesn't have those immunities 'yet' -- but they're all logical parts of the 'water elemental' package, so they're there for now, sort of the '1 point for a talent'.
  
• NS-PAR was suggested from somewhere else as being the paranormal-watch people; she'd undoubtedly be watched/hunted by the government.
  

Yes, she's a little underpowered As Is; 20 Strength, but a good Dex and SPD. Her first moves are most likely to be opening up the nearest fire hydrant or splashing into the nearest pool. Please note that 'Flight' is only Above Water -- she 'flies' by means of a waterspout or whatever you want to call it -- a reverse whirlpool?

Also, here are three 'versions' of Fathom -- the 'fire hydrant' girl, the 'multiple hydrants/pond' girl, and the 'oh-my-god-protect-me' Vengeful Goddess Of The Ocean.

Note that her PRE-based skills -- bureaucratics and the like -- can rise to Very Impressive Levels when she's in full-bore water form. (Hey, you going to tell the 250m 200kt living-water woman that hey, sorry, but red tape's red tape??)

[b][size=+1]Fathom (1 Level of Enhancement)[/size][/b]
10/30	STR	0
23	DEX	39
10/24	CON	0
10/28	BODY	0
17	INT	7
22	EGO	24
10/24	PRE	0
18	COM	4
2	PD	0
2/5	ED	0
6	SPD	27
4/21	REC	0
20/104	END	0
20/73	STUN	0
Characteristics Cost: 101

14	EC (Water) (14), "Fire Hydrant"	
14a)	+14 CON (Water)	
14b)	+14 BODY (Water)	
14c)	+14 PRE, Persistent (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Cancel: Equal	
PRE/EGO (Always On)	
14d)	+14 REC (Water)	
14e)	+56 END (Water)	
14f)	+28 STUN (Water)	
30g)	PKG (Mutant Powers), "Resurrection/Regeneration", Extra Time	
 (-1), time: 1 turn, Self Only (-1/2), 0 END Persistent (+1), 	
Healing (Regeneration, 2 BODY) (Mutant Powers), Healing 	
 (Resurrection) (Mutant Powers), Healing (Limbs) (Mutant	
Powers)	
14h)	15" Swimming (Water), x16 Non-Combat	3
6i)	14" Flight (Water), Only Above Water (-1/2), Max Height = Max	
Speed - Actual Speed (-1)	3
9j)	7/6 Armor (Water), 1/2 Effect vs. Fire (-1/2)	
14k)	3D6 EB (Water), Double Knockback (+3/4)	3
9l)	12 STR TK (Water), fine manipulation, Must Contain/Be	
Supported By Water (Limited Height) (-1/2)	3
9m)	4 LVLS Growth (stats already included), Side F/X (-3/4), 0 END	
 (+1/2): 5m, 1.6 tons, -2 DCV, -4 KB	0
0	PKG (Water), "Side Effect (Per 2 Lvls of Growth)"	
(37)	2D6 EB (Water), Always Occurs (0), Only vs. Ground Targets (0), 0	
END (+1/2), Explosion (+1/2), Double Knockback (+3/4), Continuous	
 (+1)	0


[b][size=+1]Fathom (2 Levels of Enhancement)[/size][/b]
10/40	STR	0
23	DEX	39
10/33	CON	0
10/39	BODY	0
17	INT	7
22	EGO	24
10/33	PRE	0
18	COM	4
2	PD	0
2/7	ED	0
6	SPD	27
4/32	REC	0
20/158	END	0
20/107	STUN	0
Characteristics Cost: 101

23	EC (Water) (23), "Fountain/Pond/3+ Fire Hydrants"	
23a)	+23 CON (Water)	
23b)	+23 BODY (Water)	
23c)	+23 PRE, Persistent (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Cancel: Equal	
PRE/EGO (Always On)	
23d)	+23 REC (Water)	
23e)	+92 END (Water)	
23f)	+46 STUN (Water)	
35g)	PKG (Mutant Powers), "Resurrection/Regeneration", Extra Time	
 (-1), time: 1 turn, Self Only (-1/2), 0 END Persistent (+1), 	
Healing (Regeneration, 3 BODY) (Mutant Powers), Healing 	
 (Resurrection) (Mutant Powers), Healing (Limbs) (Mutant	
Powers)	
23h)	28" Swimming (Water), x32 Non-Combat	6
9i)	23" Flight (Water), Only Above Water (-1/2), Max Height = Max	
Speed - Actual Speed (-1)	5
15j)	10/9 Armor (Water), 1/2 Effect vs. Fire (-1/2)	
24k)	5 1/2D6 EB (Water), Double Knockback (+3/4)	5
15l)	24 STR TK (Water), fine manipulation, Must Contain/Be	
Supported By Water (Limited Height) (-1/2)	5
13m)	6 LVLS Growth (stats already included), Side F/X (-3/4), 0 END	
 (+1/2): 8m, 6.4 tons, -4 DCV, -6 KB	0
0	PKG (Water), "Side Effect (Growth)"	
(19)	3D6 EB (Water), Always Occurs (0), Only vs. Ground Targets (0), 0	
END (+1/2), Explosion (+1/2), Double Knockback (+3/4), Continuous	
 (+1)	0

[b][size=+1]Fathom (8 Levels of Enhancement)[/size][/b]
10/115	STR	0
23	DEX	39
10/87	CON	0
10/108	BODY	0
17	INT	7
22	EGO	24
10/87	PRE	0
18	COM	4
2	PD	0
2/17	ED	0
6	SPD	27
4/96	REC	0
20/482	END	0
20/311	STUN	0
Characteristics Cost: 101

77	EC (Water) (77), "The Ocean"	
77a)	+77 CON (Water)	
77b)	+77 BODY (Water)	
77c)	+77 PRE, Persistent (+1/2), Uncontrolled (+1/2), Cancel: Equal	
PRE/EGO (Always On)	
77d)	+77 REC (Water)	
77e)	+308 END (Water)	
77f)	+154 STUN (Water)	
53g)	PKG (Mutant Powers), "Resurrection/Regeneration", Extra Time	
 (-1), time: 1 turn, Self Only (-1/2), 0 END Persistent (+1), 	
Healing (Regeneration, 8 BODY) (Mutant Powers), Healing 	
 (Resurrection) (Mutant Powers), Healing (Limbs) (Mutant	
Powers)	
77h)	79" Swimming (Water), x64K Non-Combat	16
31i)	77" Flight (Water), Only Above Water (-1/2), Max Height = Max	
Speed - Actual Speed (-1)	15
51j)	29/26 Armor (Water), 1/2 Effect vs. Fire (-1/2)	
77k)	17 1/2D6 EB (Water), Double Knockback (+3/4)	15
51l)	96 STR TK (Water), fine manipulation, Must Contain/Be	
Supported By Water (Limited Height) (-1/2)	15
46m)	21 LVLS Growth (stats already included), Side F/X (-3/4), 0	
END (+1/2): 250m, 200kt, -14 DCV, -21" KB	0
0	PKG (Water), "Side Effect (Growth)"	
(19)	10½D6 EB (Water), Always Occurs (0), Only vs. Ground Targets (0), 0	
END (+1/2), Explosion (+1/2), Double Knockback (+3/4), Continuous	
 (+1)	0

At this point she can lift battleships and aircraft carriers in one arm -- and is big enough to look like she's carrying it as a toy. 250m -- 812' 6" -- that's 80-90 stories tall !!

Of course, with that full-bore regeneration/limbs/resurrection -- the 'stopping' of which would be either to seal her body in a waterproof container or to destroy her completely by way of fire/flame/heat -- even killing her is going to be very, very tough. Heck, even a tac nuke (depending on how you run it, and if she sees it coming soon enough to dive) might not kill her...

... and ... and ... and. What everyone else here said, trebled. Every Good-Guy Gun in the WORLD is going to be offering their services; hell, half the BAD guys are going to be saying to the USG, 'Hey, if you give us all Unconditional Pardons from anything we've done in the past, plus a hundred million dollars each, we'll take 'em on for you.' And the government will do it.

They'll also evacuate DC, and 20km of the surrounding Maryland/Virginia countryside, just in case the worst scenario occurs and they have to tac-nuke the PCs. However, I guarantee that in a universe in which the PCs are 'some of' the most powerful people on the planet (a la White Wolf's Aberrant game), the major world powers have measures in place to defend the governmental system.

In the US, I prefer a Secret Service agent, usually on the Presidential Detail -- a normal guy, just with one of two sets of powers. Either:

• a very strong 'Drain, vs. All Superhuman Abilities at Once (+2), AoE Radius (+1), 0 END (+½), Persistent (+½), Personal Immunity (+¼), IPF/X (+1), Always On (-½) (35 points per 1d6) -- and an Uzi, just like every other Secret Service guy, or
  
• a Killing Attack, AVLD (something obscure, like Power Defense), Does Body, IPF/X.
  

This is the guy who is there to be the last line of defense for the President, the guy who is there to Kill Rogue Paranormals Who Try To Kill The Boss.

If your PCs have actually done this -- stupid, but some groups are like that -- you have one of four routes you can go. You can have no mercy and kill them now, you can let them escape and be on the run for the rest of their (probably short) natural lives, you can defeat, capture, and 'Suicide Squad' them (implanted cortex bombs, disloyalty/disobedience and they go Boom), or you can let them get away with it, then turn them into NPCs.

Killing them now means doing any one of the many things said here; I actually sort of like the 'DC's been nuked, now you're playing a character in the aftermath' campaign.

Letting them escape means things change greatly for the PCs; nobody will trust them, they go from 'good guys' to 100% bad guys. Though Dr. Destroyer might find them interesting conversational partners...

Suicide Squad means they get to play, but are forced to dance to the tune of the government -- and they WILL get sent off on 100% impossible missions, succeed or die, thank you very much.

Letting them get away with it? Turn them into NPCs, have them create new characters, and OCCASIONALLY ask their advice about how an ex-PC might react or make a decision. Let's face it, their version of the US would very abruptly become a police state, and nobody IN the US would put up with it. They'd probably control the DC area, that's about it...

The 'disads' would be side effects and other, erm, limitations. Don't know otherwise. What's the weapon, what's the name? What's the flavor? Can you build this NOT as a 'character', but as an item/power/package of powers?

Unless the Flight is continuously controlled by the 'enbubbling' character, I'd set it Uncontrolled; entangle/bubble and *poof*, off they float. Flight, of course, cuts out when the entangle does -- the bubble pops. Flight would ALSO be negated (or at least suspended) if the character had a version of Flight that could be used even though their limbs were snagged -- unconscious gravitic negation, self-mobility TK, whatever. However, until the entangle is 100% negated, I'd say that the Flight would ALWAYS be available/there -- if subject to prevailing winds.

I'd also be tempted to put a limitation on this; the Flight would eventually (within a set period of time, defined somehow by the BOD on the entangle) sink to the ground and the whole thing would go away -- the bubble would pop. Possibly this could be built as a 'No Defense' Limitation, or as a Susceptible/Vulnerable Limitation. Or, of course, you could just create a new Limitation, 'Loses 1 Body / Minute (-¾)' or something.

The 'bubble' should also use the 'Does Not Prevent The Use of Accessible Foci (-1)' limitation. All in all, you could get it quite high initially, what with all the limitations that are getting heaped on it ...

'Boy in the Bubble': Entangle 5d6, Does Not Prevent The Use of Accessible Foci (-1), Loses 1 Body per Turn (-¾), Cannot Form Barriers (-¼), No Defense (-1½): 11 points. Average Body of the Entangle is 5.

I have to admit that unfortunately, Entangles are very expensive creatures to build, and always have been. *sighs* So much for the nonviolent methods.

Right now I've set the silencer up as the IPE; I have, however, considered the Darkness (Sight & Sound), Only Vs. Attached Weapon's Power Discharge F/X (-½). Adding charges, believe it or not, would make it even better -- the thing wears out after X number of shots. As a) I'm the GM in this case, and the lad is actually on the short end of the mook-killing schtick in this particular game (due to the Real Cost of the high number of weapons he SHOULD have compared to the points he has available in his pool, 45) I may actually go with the Darkness version. Anyhow, thanks!!

This is mostly a SF/X; 0 END (+½) is suitable, and they can pretend they 'reload' once every twelve shots. Otherwise, who gives a *bleep*??

It's gonna be rough, telling the guy at the far end of a bullet's range that he's dead even though the bullet had almost no velocity left because it was almost at the end of its flight path.

Objects thrown stop because they fall, not because they run out of velocity. Throw a hardball as high as you can straight up into the air, then catch it in your hand; what's that stinging? Could it be *gasp* velocity? What shatters baseball bats, even though the pitch is only 15' away from hitting the ground? Perhaps it's velocity.

The Fastball Special (tm Mssrs. Logan and Rasputin) is a maneuver. Brick picks up Martial Artist, and throws him at the hex occupied by Villan -- DCV 3, modified by Range, since the MArtist is going to be a 10-15 STR oomph for picking up, the Brick should have plenty of extra strength to do a standing throw with. MArtist 'holds/coordinates action', and as he's passing into/through the hex of the Villan, he performs a move-by attack, as appropriate for his character.

So why should any brick/immune-to-broken-bones-martial-artist hero combo learn to do this? Because this may be the ultimate in enhancing your martial artist's movement without turning him into a speedster. Presuming Colossus has an 80 Strength and lifting Wolverine requires a 15 Strength, that's an extra 65 Strength -- 26" 'movement' standing, or a whopping 52" with a running throw. (Subtract a few for 'unbalanced, unaerodynamic, but even 45" is nasty.) Wolverine's strong (25 STR, I estimate), but 26" is going to add on 5 DCs, while 45" adds on 9 DCs, with Logan's halved strength giving +2½ DCs as well. Thus, instead of Logan hitting with 5 DCs, he's hitting with 7½ to 11½ DCs -- added to his claw HKA and martial abilities, well, that's just uglified.

And remember, the Martial Artist doesn't have to travel ALL of the distance; he will, most likely, hit ground only a few hexes beyond the target. BUT as long as the Brick uses his full strength, the MA is going to get the 'full movement velocity' out of him...

Originally posted by Storn

I inadvertently came up with the agent-killer supreme.

 

A trained marine with the mutant power of a silent teleport (invisible sfx, sight and sound... one minute he is there, next second he ain't). Armed him with a HK MPSpd3... submachine gun with a silencer. And armor piercing bullets.

 

The guy was freakin' scary. Not so good vs. big, paranormal villains .. he just didn't dish out high amounts of damage. (but makes for a great distraction dude and there is the ol' jump behind villain, slap demo charge... buh bye!)

I ... am SO glad my players don't read these boards. And I am so gonna use this guy in my 'Suddenly, Mutants' Dark Champions-esque campaign...

I'd definitely not 'max out' the impact damage of anything made of a soft metal, such as lead or gold; if a lead shot hits, and you 'do more body' than it normally has, the thing MAY deform, but by gum it's going to transfer ALL of its energy into the point of impact. Heck, in that particular case I'd say that it does max damage, max stun, because basic physics virtually guarantees it.

Otherwise, I'd buy it as a few dice bonus HA, thus:

'Shot-Put THIS': HA +4d6, Ranged (+½) (30 Active Points), OIF Individual 8 kg. Shot (Having one taken away does not mean all of them are taken away) (-½), 4 Recoverable Charges (-½), HtH Attack (-½), Range Based on Strength (+8 to STR for Purposes of Determining Range -- 8 kg) (-½): 10 Points.

Both Damage and Range would, of course, be based on how much STR the character used. STR 20 character, 8d6 damage, 11" Standing Throw, or 22" if they actually do it the ol' shuffle shuffle hop heave-ho. Please note that this is VASTLY better than ANY Olympic-class athlete -- 71' 6" for 11", 143' for the 22". Hell, they don't hammerthrow that far...

Originally posted by dbcowboy

I was also considering some kind of Limitation to reflect the fact that once the object is released, you can't change it's direction. You wind up for 3 phases and send the tank hurtling 3km over the next 3 phases.

Well, 'Useable As Attack' takes control out of the target's hands; 'Uncontrolled' takes control out of the thrower's hands. It's pretty much already self-defined as being 'once you get started, you can't change a thing'. Of course, the way to stop the 'uncontrolled' bit is if the target has Flight or Gliding themselves. (Great way of getting Gliders started.)

Either way, I still ask the question: Is this unbalancing? Is throwing an object very far unbalancing against characters with low movement rates?

I don't think of 'amazing throws' as being unbalancing at all, so long as it is considered 'in the genre', e.g. I would not permit such a power in a Dark Champions game, which is much more 'realistic' than a Four Color or Bronze Age of Comics campaign. If they ARE unbalancing, then tone down what your 'Megascale' scale is -- instead of 1" = 1km, perhaps 1" = 10" to start. Go up from there.

Actually, I'd probably do it with Uncontrolled instead of the hairy mess you put there, thus:

Flight, 1", Megascale (1" = 1km, +¼), Useable as Attack (1 Object, +1), Uncontrolled (+½) (6 Actives); Must Be Able to Lift Object (-½), Minimum Extra Time (Full Phase, -½), Max END = Cost x Phases Used to 'Wind Up' (-¼): 3 Points, 1 END.

The actual active cost on this 1" is 5.5, real cost is 2.444. 2" would be 11 Actives, 5 Real; this also rewards the 'spinning hammerthrow' effect, sending the object really flying.

Originally posted by Mavnn

Sorry Wyrm - for better or worse, this has been changed in 5th Ed. Which is also why Healing is a seperate power now.

 

Points from any adjustment power except Healing fade regardless of relative current and starting values.

Well, that sucks. I hadn't caught that.

Cripes. There are so many ways to answer this, all of them right.

• Desolidification. Expensive, but there you go.
  
• Missile Deflection. Expensive to do it at a really high level, but it works too.
  
• Having a high DCV vs. Ranged. 'Dodging Bullets' is just the special effect of your 5-point skill levels. (Or is DCV vs. Ranged a 3-point skill level?)
  

Do it the way you want to do it; I personally would go with a fusion of a high DCV (normals couldn't hit 'em) and a couple levels of MD (for getting out of the way of the agents). On the other hand, STOPPING the bullets would be a pretty basic Force Wall, probably at 12-15 PD.

Actually, I built the lightsaber using Damage Shield rules; made more sense to me to do it that way and add 'can be used with other attacks' than to buy an HKA/RKA AND an RKA damage shield...

People don't seem to be pointing out the additional penalties for the 'Flight, Only in Contact With A Surface (-¼)' -- turn modes are required, and again, you can't stand still for free. Me, I like the idea of all that; IIRC, the best 'wall-running' power also had the limitation of 'Must Move X" per Phase', where X was something like 15"...

*sighs*

60 STR TK, 35 STR Car. TK can move an object the distance equivalent to its extra strength in a running throw without letting the object go. Considering the vehicle's velocity, I would invert the rules for a Grab-By for adding the vehicle's velocity to its STR -- in this case, adding 7 STR (36" / 5 = 7.2 STR) to its effective strength.

This means that yon Magneto has an extra 18 STR on the moving car and can 'throw' it 14" -- or 7" vertically.

Presuming a grabbed vehicle is not 'automatically stopped' by a Grab (in this case it isn't 'Grabbed and Squeezed', it is 'Grabbed and Thrown'), it will, due to completely losing traction (and thus all self-powered methods of accelleration), eventually stop. It may decrease accelleration at 5" per 1" travelled, presuming there is sufficient resistance for it to do so; if it 'hits a wall', it would stop immediately. Considering that the force grabbing it wants it to continue moving, it may not lose any of its accelleration, and may simply have it redirected; superior STR should permit this. Fact is, it could even acquire a boost in speed; again, sufficient STR should permit this.

This is also where you should break the vehicle's Movement down into hexes/segment, as you want to know where the thing is/is going each segment of the action that follows.

I would therefore run your scenario as such: Magneto TK-Grabs the vehicle, lifting it and letting it zoom over his head; his next phase, he slingshots the thing around and gives it an extra boost (now having +25 STR, 20" of 'throwing' movement in addition to the vehicle's remaining velocity) to send it on its way. I'd have the vehicle slow by 5" per segment until Magneto gets to go again, which might drop its velocity to anywhere from 21" to the full 36" it was moving at -- depending on its speed.

Alternately: Magneto TK-Grabs the vehicle, using his extra strength as faux-flight on the object -- 2" up, 3" distance, three turns total, drop it back to the ground with an additional 7" accelleration remaining -- which means the vehicle goes barrelling the other way at 43" movement. Muahahahahaha. This is why you should not try to run Magneto over.

No.

If a character is below starting values for ANY reason, and has the attribute enhanced by Aid, Absorption, or any beneficial Adjustment power, the enhancements are permanent, i.e. they DO NOT FADE. You'll notice that the cost of Healing is based directly off the cost for Aid, i.e. 1d6 per 10 Active points.

You might consider that a person with a lot of leaping ability has the ability to make a flatter trajectory over shorter distances; in brief, I would permit a 'vertical leap' in horizontal space if there wasn't sufficient headroom to make a full-gonzo bound.