Armitage

I don't know if John Stevens is still around. I recently had reason to consult this article again: http://www.herogames.com/FreeStuff/dharchives/flavor.htm I'm not sure how these numbers are coming about, unless my own math is wrong. I'm hoping involving extra people might find my mistake. My first assumption is the energy output of an energy blast and physical strength are equal. Using 60 STR/12 DC as the base. Lifting 100 tons (100000 kg) against gravity 100000kg x 9.8 m/sec^2 = 980000 Newtons Lifting it 2 meters (average character height) 980000N x 2 m = 1960000 Joules Assuming the energy is expended in 1 second 1960000 J/1 sec = 1960000 Watts Rounding to 2 megawatts puts the energy output about 25 times the article's 80 kilowatts. Am I right or am I forgetting some basic physics?

When Star Hero first came out, I remember a discussion here about its use of velocity per Turn as a substitute for Gs of acceleration. I recently put together a simple equation to determine the actual acceleration of a ship in space based on per Phase velocity. It should be noted that, IMC, the maximum velocity of Flight is a product of mass, drag, structural integrity, etc. and only applies in atmosphere. Flight in space is Cumulative by default with a maximum velocity of 1.5x10^8" (light speed). This is balanced by the fact that if you spend two days constantly accelerating you can achieve a very high velocity, but it will also take you two days to stop. And, like MegaScale Flight, you will need pretty good long-range sensors. You can add the approximately +6 1/2 Cumulative Advantage if you want. Acceleration per Segment=(V^2)/S To determine acceleration per Phase, you then multiply by 12/SPD. V is the ship's movement per segment. In most cases, this will be Combat Movement x (SPD/12). For Flight with Noncombat Acceleration/Deceleration, V will be Noncombat Movement x (SPD/12). For Flight with Rapid Noncombat Movement, V will be (Noncombat Movement/# of Doublings) x (SPD/12), as per the standard rules for determining movement per Phase with this Advantage. For standard Flight and Flight with Rapid Noncombat Movement, S=Combat Movement/2.5. For Flight with Combat Acceleration/Deceleration or Noncombat Acceleration/Deceleration, S=2. For Flight with Combat Acceleration/Deceleration and Rapid Noncombat Movement, S=(Movement per Phase x 2)/Combat Movement. The 2.5 value above is actually Acceleration per hex/2, so the Increased Acceleration/Deceleration Adder will add 0.5 per +1". e.g. 20" Flight. SPD 4. 5.6" Acceleration per Segment, just over 1 G. Adding Combat Acceleration, 22.2", just under 4.5 Gs Adding x8 noncombat and Rapid Noncombat Movement, 39.5", roughly 8 Gs. Adding x8 noncombat, Rapid Noncombat Movement and Combat Acceleration/Decelration, 59.3", almost 12 Gs. Adding x8 noncombat and Noncombat Acceleration/Deceleration, 1422", almost 284.5 Gs. Add in MegaScale and the numbers get even higher. Obviously, this house rule would then require changing the damage from acceleration, otherwise, the last example would do 283d6 damage. I use a geometric progression, like other damage does: 2 Gs 1d6 3-4 Gs 2d6 5-8 Gs 3d6 9-12 Gs 4d6 and so on... 5 Gs is usually quoted as the point where a human passes out, so with this system, a person would be Stunned after 1 Phase and Unconscious after two.

Re: Ben 10 Upgrade can use Gliding by stretching and flattening his body, although it may have Limited Movement like a parachute. And since nobody has mentioned it... This would seem to be a joking reference to Beetlejuice. "Can you be scary?" "Can I be scary? What do you think of this?" -Tentacles emerge from his face while his back is to the camera, terrifying the Maitlands. And when the same stunt was used in the later Beetlejuice cartoon, the tentacles had black and white stripes. I guess the deciding factor will be if he ever does it again.

Re: Short Duration Dependencies It's actually written as a Susceptibility but phrased as a Dependence. I'm not sure why. It may be a typo. Susceptibility: Must use one of her Psychic Pain Manipulation powers at least once per hour or suffer 3d6 STUN and BODY (Very Common). 20 points. And she is a sadist with the Lightsleep Talent, so I guess she might torture someone between naps after all.

I just recently purchased Champions Worldwide, and one of the characters made me wonder about something. The villain Ying must use her pain manipulation powers on someone every hour or she takes 3d6 STUN and 3d6 BODY. How would such a character sleep? I doubt that she sleeps 55 minutes at a time and keeps some poor slob tied-up in her bedroom to torture all night. In a situation like this, would it be unreasonable for a GM to rule that the Disadvantage doesn't apply while asleep? A character is essentially "out of play" while asleep, so why inflict Disadvantages when the character has no way to interact with or impact the rest of the world? It would be like a character in a comic book dying between panels.

Instead of the DEX penalty being -1 per 1" moved, it's -1 per 1", +1" for every full 6" of combat movement over 6". e.g., a speedster with 30" Running Dives for Cover with a -1 per 5" moved. It makes sense to me that faster movement would allow you to get out of the way faster. This would let a speedster do things like outrun the blast wave of a small explosion without having to buy huge numbers of Skill Levels with DEX Rolls. The normal rules say that non-combat movement can be used to Dive for Cover, but using this rule, that could get a bit silly with really high multiples. Good? Mediocre? Unbalancing? Abyssmal?

Re: Yet Another Vehicle Question Using the vehicle combat rules, a boat could capsize from a failed Control Roll. e.g. attempting to turn with a -2" reduction in Turn Mode, against a strong current, in choppy waters, during heavy winds would require a Combat Piloting roll at -7. There's a line hidden at the begining of the boat rules that states that if a Combat Piloting roll is missed by 6 or more, the boat will tip over. The "Boat begins leaking until the crew takes preventative measures" result on the optional damage effects table could represent capsizing. The sinking rules mention that 1 cubic hex of water weighs 8000kg and a boat will sink if the water in it weighs more than its lifting capacity from STR.

Re: Transfer Electricity? Using the table on page 445 of H5R and using the levels for Well Grounded. Household Current: 1d6 KA, 1 END Heavy Household Current: 2d6 KA, 3 END Light Industrial Current: 3d6 KA, 4 END Heavy Industrial Current: 4d6 KA, 6 END High Tension Line: 5d6 KA, 7 END Bear in mind that this is per Segment, so a SPD 4 character could draw 12 END per Phase from Light Industrial Current, for example.

If you use the Rapid Autofire Skill to make two "Autofire Against Multiple Targets" attacks, against three hexes each, for example, does the -1 OCV penalty per hex apply to each attack or to both at once? i.e. two attacks at -5 OCV (-2 OCV Rapid Autofire, -3 OCV firing into three hexes) or two attacks at -8 OCV (-2 OCV Rapid Autofire, -6 OCV firing into a total of six hexes).

Re: Rapid Autofire

Re: I think I broke Hero System. The biggest problem is that 1d6 Aid can only add 6 points. Period. Being able to Aid a total of 3960 points would cost an extra 1977 Active Points. 1 Active Point per 2 points of increased maximum. Edit: Beat me to it. So the Aid would be slowed considerably waiting for the maximum to increase. And also, Not in Darkness and Only During Half of a 24 hour Period seems like double-dipping, like mental powers with No Range and Requires Skin Contact.

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play

Re: What's wrong with the electricity....?

Re: Thoughts on Images Apparently, I lost my ability to perform basic math. A 32" Radius would cover 2977 hexes. I don't know where I got 541 hexes. Re: Growth PER modifiers vs. Image size. If we asume that the Image is created as a hemisphere at ground level, it will fill a volume of 61093 cubic hexes. According to The Ultimate Brick, p. 107, this is 4459789 times the volume of a 1" tall human. This is equal to between 110 and 115 points of Growth, which would be a +14 PER modifier. Which would be detectable with a base PER roll at just over 1 km, 4.1 km if you figure in the +4 PER that the standard Tracking Bug has.

Re: Thoughts on Images

Specifically, Radio Images. Yes, I'm on my Tracking Bug fixation again. The description of the Tracking Bug in Dark Champions is a +4 PER 32" Radius Image. The description recommends that the signal can be perceived at +2 from 33"-64", +0 from 65"-125", -2 from 126"-250", and with an Extraordinary Skill Roll beyond that. But if you created a Sight Image of a building filling a 32" radius, you wouldn't just "not notice" it if you moved 1" past its outer walls. That's a Murphy's Rules cartoon in the making. Why can't detecting an Image be treated as detecting a normal object of the appropriate size? A 32" Radius fills 541 hexes. Expanding the PER Modifier chart, there's a +22 PER bonus to see a 541 hex object. That equates to a +0 PER Roll at a range of 16 kilometers. Sounds like an accurate recreation of a tracking device to me. Add some Telescopic to the sensors and you could have things like a starship in orbit detecting a character's transponder implant on the surface. Though I have no problem with having to actually be within the Image radius to pinpoint the signal source, if it's bigger than 1 hex. The larger size would just allow you to get a direction. "He's about 2 kilometers that way. We'll need to get closer before I can get an exact fix on his location."

Hero System 5th Edition, Revised; page 307. How is the -1/4 Side Effect on the Heat Aura calculated? It seems to be Side Effect occurs automatically and Side Effect only affects the environment. But if it's a Minor Side Effect it should be -0 (-1/4, reduced by 1/4, x2). And if it's a Major Side Effect it should be -1/2 (-1/2, reduced by 1/4, x2). Am I missing a step in the calculations or is this an error in the example?

A search of the Forums didn't turn-up anyone mentioning this. UNTIL Superpowers Database 2, page 32. A hero/villain whose point total is second only to Dr. Destroyer and Takofanes. Why was Supernova visiting the 21st Century? Is he still here? If so, what is he planning?

Re: Video Broadcast

I've been tinkering with various ways to create a camera that would broadcast whatever it perceived to anyone within range who had HRRP tuned to the proper frequency. I've mentioned it here before. Clairsentience to look through the camera would only work for a single specific receiver, unless you bought it with about +30 worth of Usable By Others. Simple HRRP, Transmit Only might work, but lacks a certain elegance. Today, inspiration struck: Remote Camera: Radio Group Images 1" radius, 1 Continuing Fuel Charge lasting 1 Hour (+0), MegaScale (1" = 10 km; +1/2) (7 Active Points); Set Effect (Things seen and heard; -1), OAF (Camera; -1), No Range (-1/2), Limited Effect HRRP (-1/4) 7 Active Points, 2 Real Points. Using this construct, anyone within 5km who has HRRP could perceive the audio and video feed from the camera. Also, since smaller distinct images can be created within the area covered by Images, this could work for tracking devices too; filling the area with the radio equivalent of thousands of little arrows, all pointing at the transmitter. Or, more realistically, a perceivable change in signal density leading to the transmitter. Opinions?

Re: Boosted Charges w/o Burnout The normal rule for Boostable Charges is that you're limited to +4 DC. I thought maybe there might be a rule for removing Burnout in Revised, since I'm still working with 5E.

I've been working on Hero versions of some of the weapons from GURPS Ultra-Tech. Laser weapons can be modified to fire a more powerful beam at the risk of destroying the weapon. This is obviously Boostable Charges. But military grade weapons can be safely enhanced with no risk to the weapon. I've designed it this way. Standard Weapon: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, 16 Charges (+0) (30 Active Points); OAF (-1). 15 Real Points Boosted Weapon: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, 16 Boostable Charges (+1/4) (37 Active Points); OAF (-1). 18 Real Points Military Boosted Weapon: Multipower, 50-point reserve, all slots 16 Charges (+0) (50 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1) 1u Standard Shot: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6 (30 Active Points); OAF (-1) 1u Boosted Shot: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6+1 (50 Active Points); Requires 5 Charges (-1 1/4), OAF (-1) 27 Real Points My question is...does anyone see a problem with allowing the second slot in the Multipower to function like normal Boostable Charges? i.e. using 1 extra Charge per extra DC added to the attack. Or would a 5-slot Multipower be required, one for each added DC, each needing a different number of Charges? Since the basic design costs 21 Active Points more just to remove the Burnout, I personally think it would be fine to allow Charge use to be based on the number of extra DC. Maybe a reduction in the value of Requires Multiple Charges? Assuming the Boostable Charge rules haven't changed in Revised.

Re: Video Camera HRRP includes television frequencies and the Advanced Radio Communicator in "Gadgets & Gear" is built as HRRP and has a viewscreen.

Re: Video Camera Clairsentience works fine for a specific receiver linked to specific cameras, so that someone can look through the camera. The problem is that I want the signal receivable by anyone within range who has HRRP. Clairsentience, Usable by up to 500 others at range? Don't really think so.

Quick Opinion: HRRP, Visual Images Only, Transmit Only Would this work for a video camera that transmits everything the user sees to anyone within range who has HRRP to access the signal? Or maybe Sight Transmit, Affected as Radio Group?