Dr. MID-Nite

Re: PBEM Soundtrack The Superman movies' soundtracks... Masters of the Universe by Queen Star Trek: Wrath of Khan soundtrack My Sacrafice by Creed... Just for starters Rob

Re: Suppession Fire... Well....it might be something we have to "house rule". Maybe something like you can fill two hexes for each shot of autofire you have or something like that. That seems reasonable. I love these boards. Always people willing to help out. Rob

The book is a bit vague on this. It says you set up a "hex line" which you are firing through. How is this determined? Is it just one hex per shot of autofire? That doesn't seem right, but I could find nothing to confirm or deny this. Rob

Re: Autofire Targeting question... Ah...I'll have to look at that. But...assuming they're all in the same hex..are you saying autofire can't target two different opponents in the same hex? Rob

I had this situation come up recently....it's a hostage situation. The X's are the bad guys. The H's are the hostages. The S is the hero.... S HH X X The hero is two inches in the air and about 10 hexes away. The player claims he can use autofire to hit the hexes containing the baddies without hitting the hostages(who are held at gunpoint). I disagree. I'd say the hostages are in the way...and in any event, since the baddies have a held action..couldn't they just duck in front of the kids they have as hostage? Anyhow, can he target those back hexes with autofire in that way or not? Rob

Re: Some holding phases questions... Thanks for the quick replies. My group has just figuring out the advantages of holding actions. Now, they do it ALL the time! Any hints on how to keep this from getting out of hand?(For example, the entire group holds their actions every phase.) I've had scenarios where everyone holds just to make sure the opponents don't outwit them....with the result being that sometimes everyone just stands around. UGH Rob

1) Can you hold phase 12? If so...is it recommended allow players to do so? This let's them act in phase 1...which I'm not sure is a good idea. 2) Along the same lines....would you allow a heaymaker to be set up in phase 12? This seems even more potentially abusive....as nobody goes in phase 1 to prevent it from landing. Rob

Re: Things a wise super hero should NEVER say " Good always triumphs over evil." Right before the players get the stomping of their lives.... Rob

This whole concept brings up some weird situations that I'm not sure how to deal with. Examples: 1) Everyone holds their actions(the heroes get paranoid after seeing the villans do it). Now what? It's the end of the phase....who goes? 2) DEX 24 bad guy and two DEX 23 heroes hold their actions. Bad guy then charges them at the end of the phase. Heroes want to do offensive action to intercept him(like punch him when he gets close). What wins here? Bad guy's DEX gives him initiative? 3) On a related note, if two characters have the same DEX, like one bad guy and one good guy, can they disrupt each other. For example, bad guy A decides to move through good guy C. Good guy B has the same DEX as the baddie and decides to intercept. How does that resolve? Opposed DEX checks....to hits...or something else? Rob

Nice. Just one comment though: Wouldn't the PRE Drain on the "Dread" power need to be bought with the Ranged advantage....since the other poweres are ranged attacks? Rob

Hey all, Looking for some feedback that has come up in my game: 1) Missle Reflection. I had a player ask if he could deflect an energy attack if he were in its path....even though he wasn't in the target hex or an adjacent hex. Basically, bad guy targeted good guy 8 hexes away and the Missle Reflector was right in between. For the record, the Reflector has the can reflect in adjacent hexes advantage, but not at range. I wasn't sure whether to allow this or not. Technically, he'd probaby need the At Range advantage to reflect from his position, but logically....it seemed odd that he couldn't. Should I have let him attempt the reflect? 2) How do you do the "taxi" thing? One character picks another up and carrys him. Does the first character have to use a half phase to grab the other....or is this a zero phase thing? I'd say half phase myself. 3) I have a character with Teleport. I allow him to abort to this as this is primarily a defensive action. Is this appropriate? 4) The Blind Teleport rules. Just to clarify, it IS 1d6 of d6 Killing Damage at the lethal level, right? So....I roll one dice and get a 5. The character takes 5d6 killing damage. Correct? (This is an ongoing debate in my player group.) 5) Dispel vs technological devices. I have a character with power armor. Villian uses said Dispel power. What exactly happens? It's vs. one power at a time....so I randomly choose the power that's disabled? And how long does this last. The rulebook says permanently. This can't be right, is it? Rob

Personally, the biggest gripe I have is how easily abused the system is. The constant "bad cop" routine I have to do to keep things balanced is grating at times. For example, Entangle BOECV works vs. EGO not STR is ridiculously effective for the cost. Some advantages are too good. Variable advantage comes to mind here. Rob

I won't miss The Geodesics. They were pathetic. Even compared to other 200 point characters, they were super wimpy. They wern't built well at all. RIP Geodesics. Rob

Have to agree with LL here. Only mercenary types are likely to team with Holocaust, as he's too insufferable for most people to be around. Mercs are only in it for the money....so they'll put up with him. Rob

My group has six players, of which one is a reserve member. Generally, the group is consistantly 5 heroes and me as the GM. Rob

The Ultimates: They're generally not too hard as several members have Entangles as their primary attacks. But...some general tactics might include: 1)Behead them. Binder is their primary tactician. Taking him out would reduce their overall effectiveness as well as being a demoralizing blow. 2) Spread out. The Ultimates have many area effect attacks. The last thing you want to happen is to have Slick or Binder immobilize the majority of your team in the opening phase of the battle.(This happened to my group and resulted in their defeat, even though they were generally more powerful than The Ultimates.) 3)Take out the flyers first, especially if your group lacks mobility. This will keep them from getting away and they won't be able to switch opponents as easily(which high mobility supers have a tendency to do.) 4) After Binder and any obvious flyers, I'd probably target Thunderbolt(highly damaging attack) and then Radium(unusual attacks). Blackstar would normally be a primary threat(as he does plenty of damage), but his speed and mobility are so low he can effectively be bypassed until later in the fight. Rob

Does anyone remember a module...called Bad Medicine for Dr. Drugs....or something like that? That was an excellent example of "Teen Champions". Some very interesting character concepts...if I remember correctly. It's been ages since I've seen it. Rob

The Crowns of Krim: God, these guys are badass, but here's some general tips: 1) Mental powers are your best hope. As somebody mentioned, none of the members have Mental Defense. On the other hand, only about half of them have EGOs low enough to be affected by mental powers other than EGO attack. Still, that's your best shot. Given that, drop Bloodstone first. He's physically the weakest and his NND affects most PC characters. Phoenix has to go next...as he has a Flash that will neutralize your PC mentalist if you're not careful. Eclipse will be another problem.....as his Darkness might disable the PC mentalists. Still you best chance against them, but examining closely....not as easy as it first appears. 2) Spread out. Dark Seraph's hideously large explosion attack will wipe out the entire hero group otherwise. 3) All the members are reasonably resilient. I'd definitely try to double or triple team members of The Crowns....if possible. Not much more I can say about them. They're a tough nut to crack. Strong attacks, good to great defenses, good mobility. They're the new superteam to beat as far as I'm concerned. They'd easily defeat Eurostar. Rob

With all that knockback resistance I gave him, he really didn't need the extra from the Clinging. Remember he can brace as well for a total -25 inches of knockback! Yes, Blob did seem to fear Wolverine's claws, so I imagine they can hurt him. That was the main reason I went with 50% damage reduction. That's also the reason I didn't Harden his defenses(as Wolvie's claws are probably AP). Blob doesn't seem to know any skills...so I didn't give him any. For those mentioning he should be even more invulnerable, the reduction and 30/30 resistance defenses makes him pretty hard to hurt. It'd take a REALLY large attack to seriously hurt him...and as the Wolverine example shows, he can be hurt....so I thought the values given were appropriate. He's being designed to be playable too...so I'm not looking to create an overpowered monstrosity. And honestly, he's not really a big deal to the X-men anymore, so I figure 350 points is about right. Thanks for the comments though. Rob

Hmm.....those are intended to be wrestling moves, but I didn't specify. My fault. Even if he doesn't have any formal training, my take was that over the years he's learned how to throw his (considerable) weight around. Rob

Generally, I just look at what kind of powers and abilities my players have and balance accordingly. I have a large group(6 players) so I'd rather err on the side of too much power than too little. With players, they tend to pull stuff out of thin air, so even if you're villains are tougher than you had intended, the heroes can usually still win. For a single vilain, he has to be tough enough to take about a turn of abuse generally. Plus an attack than can harm all or at least most of the players. A group can be made of weaker members, but they still need to be able to take a couple phases of abuse. Beyond that, you need to analyze your players characters a bit to adjust encounters appropriately. Rob

This is a 5th Edition version of Marvel's Blob character. This was intended as a playable version...so he may be more or less powerful than you may think he should be. Opinions welcome. The Blob Player: NPC Val Char Cost 40 STR 30 14 DEX 12 30 CON 40 20 BODY 20 10 INT 0 10 EGO 0 20 PRE 10 8 COM -1 30 PD 22 30 ED 24 4 SPD 16 14 REC 0 60 END 0 55 STUN 0 5" RUN -2 1" SWIM -1 3" LEAP -5 Characteristics Cost: 165 Cost Power 23 My Hands...They're Stuck In His Rolls Of Fat!: Clinging (90 STR), Damage Shield (+1/2) (40 Active Points); Limited Power ( Cannot Use Standard Clinging Movement, Can Use Only To Remain Clung To The Ground Or Hold Opponents; -1/2), Cannot Resist Knockback (-1/4) 24 Nothing Moves The Blob Unless He Wants To Be Moved: Knockback Resistance -15" (30 Active Points); Limited Power (Must Be In Contact With Ground Or Similiar Flat Surface; -1/4) 4 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -2" 30 Nothing Hurts The Blob!: Damage Resistance (30 PD / 30 ED) 30 Mutant Resilience: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 30 Mutant Resilience: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% 5 Fat Covers All His Pressure Points: Lack Of Weakness (-5) for Normal Defense Powers Cost: 146 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, +15 STR vs. Grabs 3 Martial Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR for holding on 4 Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, STR +2d6 Strike 3 Takedown: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +1 DCV, STR Strike; Target Falls Martial Arts Cost: 14 Cost Skill 3 PS: Circus Performer 12- 3 KS: Carnival Life 12- 15 +3 with HTH Combat 4 +2 with Martial Grab Skills Cost: 25 Total Character Cost: 350 Pts. Disadvantage 5 Unluck: +1d6 5 Distinctive Features: Mutant, Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable Only By Unusual Senses 10 Distinctive Features: Morbidly Obese, Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable, Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses, Not Distinctive In Some Cultures 20 Hunted: Anti Mutant Group, More Powerful, 8- (Occasionally), Harshly Punish, Extensive Non-Combat Influence 15 Psychological Limitation: Cruel And Bullying, Common, Strong Disadvantage Points: 55 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 95 Total Experience Available: 100 Experience Unspent: 5 Rob

Uh....pray?

Eurostar: Hmmm....it really depends a LOT on your group composition, but some general tactics might include: 1) Hit the soft targets first. Specifically, this means Scorpia. She's physically the weakest member and has a mean streak a mile wide AND a massive NND Killing Attack. Ultrasonique and Mentalla fall into this category as well. 2) Attack with sensory deprivation powers. Over half the group is vulnerable and I'd much rather have their members not able to see or hear. Durak would be my prime target for such tactics. Fiacho has Combat Sense and Ultrasonique has his Sonar....so I'd not waste this tactic on them. 3) If your team includes a Mentalist, make finding and dealing with Mentalla a top priority. With her out of the way, Eurostar is reasonably vulnerable to a mental assault. 4) If you're true blue heroes, for the love of God get the normals away from there....even if it means wasting a phase or two. You'll feel better in the morning. 5)As a general rule, keep your distance. Eurostar is brutal in close quarters. Fiacho, Durak, and Scorpia can lay down some serious hurt. Except Mentalla, Eurostar's ranged strikers aren't overwhelming. If your team has a strong ranged game, I'd say you're in pretty good shape. 6) Be efficient. Eurostar is a bunch of deadly killers. Use force sufficient to take them out of the fight. You want KOs as quickly as possible....because you can guaran-DAMN-tee they'll use hostages to try an weasel their way out of the fight the moment it turns against them. And when they say they'll kill the normal if you don't let them go, they MEAN it. You want a quick fight. A drawn out affair favors Eurostar. 7) Don't fight strength for strength. Each of Eurostar's members is pretty good at what they do. Durak, Fiacho, and Mentalla are near the top of the heap in their respective archetypes. Don't match up your Bricks, Martial Artists, and Mentalists against them....as they'll probably lose. You want to mix it up and throw them off balance. The Mentalist EGO zapping Fiacho for example is much better than your Martial Artist ineffectually trading feints and dodges with him for example. 5) Think offensively. I mentioned this above, but it bears repeating. Eurostar is full of offense. That said, they're actually not that great on defense. Their defenses are middle of the road, their STUN totals are low, and they're not loaded with exotic defenses(such as Power Defense). Your team needs to dictate the pace. Act...don't react. Letting Eurostar control the fight will result in dead heroes very....VERY...quickly. Rob

Takofanes is a toss up. The main problem is his 75% Damage Reduction. He also has most of the nonstandard defenses(mental defense,knockback resistance) at high levels. On the other hand, his PD/ED is a reasonable 25/25. I'd say definitely try to coordinate on him. Most standard attacks will do something, so it's worth a shot to have the whole team gang attack him. This would definitely be the time to apply levels to damage rather than to OCV.....as Takofanes isn't that hard to hit. Of course, his power pool will make things rough, but not much you can do about it. Overall, I think the "hit him hard and fast" approach would be more effective against Takofanes than many of the other villains in the CU. Rob