unclevlad

Yeah, I get that what you guys are suggesting...kinda, sorta works...but you're forcing it into the structure of Teleport. I don't want that unless I absolutely have to. --Range is Self. By RAW, Ranged *cannot* be bought on a Self power. Does UAA change that? Ehhhhh... When Ranged can be applied, in its full form, it grants standard range...10x base power points. I don't want that; I want it defined by the movement speci'd by the power definition. --IF!! the fixed arrival point is another limitation, this is a mess in its own right. If we take Tom's -1, then apporting someone to me involuntarily (an escape foiling power) becomes cheaper than me teleporting someone into a Bad Situation...everything else would be the same but I'm trading a +1/2 Ranged (at most) for a -1 Fixed Arrival. And these are largely mutually cancelling senses. Within the limit of your movement capacity, you move yourself from a fixed location to a selected destination (teleport) or you select someone/something at a selected location to a fixed destination. Structurally? They're equivalent. But doing it with advantages and limitations is MESSY because of the mechanics that invokes. Teleport 20", x8 increased mass....30 points Apport 20", x8 increased mass....if this requires the 1/2 advantage, it's now 45 active, before we kick in any limitations based on "must arrive 'here'." Similarly, tho, that limitation messes up with any other Limitation because Limitations math is non-linear. So it's FAR more straightforward and consistent to define a new power and NOT try to hang advantages and limitations with their inconsistent costing, and which have to be distorted anyway. EDIT: I'd be a lot more inclined to work from Teleport but you can't...not within the system. You've got to define a custom advantage and a custom limitation, that leave the fundamental power's flexibility intact. Now, if you want to say Apport should fundamentally be MORE expensive? Say, 3 points for 2 meters? Thinking about it, i could readily see that...because you can rescue your teammate from an Entangle. Then, to define "UAA" just call that a flat +1 advantage. Apport's fundamental use cases clearly include Usable On Others...the increased cost expresses this more cleanly, so we need only add the "as attack" as an advantage. The net result is a FAR cleaner, clearer power definition.

Georgia *thrashed* Georgia Tech, so yes...they're in, even losing to Bama. Alabama is probably in *if* they beat Auburn but the Tigers are up 7-0 in a massive defensive game. Bama's hurting themselves with 6 flags. Only 64 plays *total*. If Bama loses today...they might be Out right now, but then if they beat Georgia? They might still get in. OSU is probably out regardless. They don't have another shot at a big win. Michigan and Cincy are in, without question, if they win their conference championship games. If they lose??? Probably Oklahoma State's got the best line. If they can beat Oklahoma tonight, then Baylor in their title game, that's 2 big resume wins, and a 1-loss conference champion rather than a 2-loss non-champion. So I'd go with: In: Georgia Win and in: Bama, Michigan, Cincy. In that order. And only Bama, I think, has wiggle room. MAYBE. Cincy definitely doesn't; their strength of schedule is too poor. In the wings: Okla State, ND, then Oklahoma (beat OK State then Baylor...same good wins late, but their overall track record is shakier) I don't think Ohio State or Baylor have a real chance. Oregon...no. They get no boost from winning the Pac 12 conference title. Scenarios that maybe see them move up...they can't move up *enough*. Bama loses today then to Georgia...ok, they're out. Michigan loses to the Big 10 West winner...ugh, that creates a mess, to be sure. Cincy loses. Given all of this, then the Big 12 conference champ is in, and Notre Dame would be in. (They're a 20 point favorite against Stanford, so let's pencil the win for this.) The 4th team there would be................................................ I have NO clue. Maybe Oregon. They'd be a 2-loss conference champ, with a solid win.

So much for OSU being #2. But I hate both schools. That said: those OSU receivers are REALLY good.... EDIT: the game was in Ann Arbor in light snow. Never got bad. There's something special about a football game in light snow; it's quite fitting, IMO. And I flipped over...the Penn State-Mich State game is in East Lansing. That game just started...in light snow. Fa la la la la......

This is mostly a reality check, I hope. In teleportation that has Usable As Attack, the source point is the attacker, and the destination is wherever. The power I'm considering is apportation...something/someone remote is teleported *to me*. The power is otherwise a mirror for the most part: the range is whatever you buy it as; you still need to perceive the person or object to be teleported with a targeting sense...I'm inclined to say that the "blind teleport into an area" doesn't apply, as this feels like it's inherently more precise; mass limits apply; and an unwilling person as the target would still require UAA. The target always appears adjacent to you; there must be enough clear space for it to arrive, or the apport fails. You can't stick someone into a wall with this. Note that I'd rather define this as a separate power altogether, because Target and Range don't match Teleport. That makes trying to do this through Teleport but with an advantage a pain. Thoughts?

DI as a power fundamentally includes a variation on Unified Power because it's a package deal. It isn't a set of individual mods; it's the package of all of them. So a STR drain can't drain the STR from the DI, or Growth. You drain the DI? You don't take points off STR or PD or ED in individual chunks, you have to drain the individual chunk that is a unit of DI...and when you do, you get the STR, PD, and ED defined by that DI. You also reduce the target's mass. If I've built a character that's always 1600 pounds...if you drain my STR, PD, and ED, I'm still 1600 pounds. I don't have DI, because that's not in my powerset. I can't increase my density; it IS 8. (Assuming I'm human-sized.) See, that's what the power Density Increase means...and that's the difference between someone ALWAYS 1600 pounds, and someone SOMETIMES 1600 pounds. OK...so you can argue that you should be able to choose. I'm always this way...but is it' because "it's fundamentally what I am" or is it "my power creates these changes"? In the one, there's nothing to drain. In the other, there is. With DI, the one is "I build with STR, PD, ED, and reduced KB and pay for it with a Complication" and the other is "I buy DI and take Always On." But a drawback here is...OK, I just mitigate in a different way. ESPECIALLY when I can buy Always On. But how about this combo: Shrinking 1 level DI 3 levels Both bought 0 END, Persistent, Always On 21 points. +2 DCV, +15 STR, +3 PD/ED, "+2 Stealth". No mass issues. No KB adjustments. No notable complications other than being really hard to hide your nature. 35 points' worth of powers for 21. Perfectly legal...until you get into that little qualifier. DI isn't OP on its own...but with Always On? Now....it might well be. Because the system is, as CRT notes, an approach with which to build powers, and by extension characters. Shrinking, Growth, and DI in particular are semi-exceptions because they're full, but non-atomic, powers. There are subtle differences between DI and a compound power of DI's component parts, and to extend, buying STR then linking the PD, ED, and KB resistance to those.

You want clear, cut and dried rules when the game's trying to model as much as it can. That's implicitly contradictory.

That you're sleeping? Not n the slightest. It's when you're at your best.

Lowering SPD will increase the time requirement. As written, IIRC, the power cost 7 END. At even a 4 SPD, that's calling for a very high REC. Costs END to activate is likely the way to go, sure, but it's still *expensive* because of all the adders...the extended max range, the mobile perception point. So yes...it's workable...but everything you're saying is describing a power that's *hard to use*. And can't be used in many situations. In other words, a heavily limited power.

Unfortunately, this is inevitable. Dogs bark; viruses mutate. The nightmare is so many countries have had problems vaccinating...and here, I'm NOT talking the US per se. South Africa's vaccination rate is under 30%, and they're a country of 60 million. That means a large population base for mutations to arise. IIRC the WHO is pushing to accelerate vaccine distribution to these countries. Not something we see that often: https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

So how is that different from, say, 1 turn to activate a long-lasting defense power? Remember too that he's paying END for the power *throughout* the movement stage.

He can move it to his max range, yes. But doing so takes a very long time. So I don't treat this as a range limit...which is weird when he's buying increased max range...but an extra time limitation, as you noted later. And out to his max range took, IIRC, quite a while...even when he sank in *substantial* points into the movement speed. Gotta take off here so I don't want to look it up but it was more than 5 minutes, IIRC.

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ESPN bottom line noted this... This is the 3rd time the Lions have gone winless through 11 games since 2001. In that period, they're the worst team in the league at 110-219-2. My personal measure of a horrible season was 5-11; not sure if I'll go with 6-11 or 5-12 now. But doesn't matter yet. The Lions have been horrible, by that measure, 11 times. Yes, I'll count this year in there. From 2001-2021, so 21 seasons. 7 of those (again assuming they don't turn things completely around this season) have been *3* wins or less...and with modern NFL scheduling divisional #4 teams get to play several other #4 teams that are often bad. Which means they've generally been putrid *with a bad schedule*.

But what Sean is saying is, it's nowhere NEAR big ENOUGH. A 30 STR should basically never lose against a 10 STR; the only excuse would be the 30 STR wasn't prepared. But that's also easy: assert it's not a roll. The 30 STR wins. Period. STR is a bad Characteristic for this kind of comparison because it's NOT linear in one aspect. DEX is linear. EGO is linear. PRE is linear. STR is linear in damage...but not in lift, and that's the angle we think of here. Rather than mutilate the entire skills system, why not try building a system to accommodate the *rare* Skill STR vs STR test? There are no STR skills..BECAUSE it's a screwy characteristic. At least in part. It's also got major uses anyway. So just build something for the isolated STR vs. Str contest...tug of war, I try to lift, you try to keep it on the ground, etc. The simplest solution would seem to be, make it an *extended* contest. Winner is first to 3 net successes. So A,B,A,B is back to neutral...each needs 3. A,A,B,A,A is a win for A. Now even that +1 difference becomes significant, and a 4 point difference...well, there's little chance of the underdog winning. Also, you're NOT making a "STR check" when making a damage roll, so IMO your entire premise is ungrounded.

But he's allowed to move away from the initial point in a power with No Range. Why NOT have the converse, when you're paying big points to make it mobile? The mobility isn't free. And, sure, if you wanna make it complicated, you put it on the mobility angle only, but that to me is just too much of a PITA. What it comes down to, is whether you treat the effect on the whole power synergistically, or you're trying to split the hairs on the rules. I'd rather go heuristic and synergistic, and IMO the overall power becomes GREATLY limited if the initial point of origin is adjacent to you.

First, I *loathe* Unified Power in most circumstances. I have built using it; IIRC, an energy projector type with Blasts and Flashes. SOMETIMES. But quite often, it's just not worth enough. Second: in a Combined Power, if that's the build? It's unified by definition. I'd NEVER allow it. Particularly in a build like this, where the component costs are so radically different. "Oh, you can't drain any more PD cuz you got it all." So you're getting a cost savings on the big component..STR...with implicitly limited risk. From a system perspective, tho, you'd simply be risking the entire power by making ALL of it open to a drain of any component. And OK, defenses are subject to the halving rule, PD and ED are universal and cheap, so a drain against them is very likely to be worthwhile. And that's gonna bring everything down. Same with STR; against anyone using HTH it's a good point to attack, and it'll bring defenses down *quickly*. And sure, DI as DI is pretty obvious, but it's much less common. Drains against STR, PD, or ED don't require special justification, if that's part of the character's motif. Also note: if you're buying Nonpersistent and Perceivable on the components to mimic the DI, then you won't save much. By the rules, with costs per component, and retaining the 3 levels.... With NP and Perc: 15/3/3/6 --> 10/2/2/4; 27 --> 18 Adding Unified, we've got -3/4, so costs go to 4/7. 15/3/3/6 --> 9/2/2/3 or 16. Even taken as a "whole power" 27 * 4/7 = 108/7 = 15 3/7. So there you'd save 3....but increase your vulnerability in doing so. But, to be sure, you bring up a point when you buy the "DI" as separated, standalone powers. However, this is the *cost basis* showing that DI isn't unbalanced. If I'm buying "always on DI" as additional STR, PD, and ED, then I'm simply rolling them into the basic characteristics, not as separate aspects. I'll let the disad carry the load. The only thing I have to buy separately is the KB resistance. No, it's not completely clean, doing as the book suggests...but arguably, it's more like the DI is a mess because it's a package deal of component powers. Growth's even worse here.

Not an excuse for the Cowboys but more of a general observation: Covid is going to play a role on who makes the playoffs. Cooper was out for them. Forget who offhand but one team has 4-5 people...players and coaches...out. Heard earlier that the league's probably going to increase restrictions. OH...Vikes. 6 players listed. There's 25 players on the Covid list across the league currently. The Saints are playing desperate football. Fake punt didn't come close to working, so Bills have the ball in very nice field position.

Altho Bill Cowher's first comment was also true. Too many flags. I wasn't paying that much attention to the pictures...prepping everything. Duck needs regular fat removal, herbs for the hash browns, process the squash for the soup. But the comments about ticky-tack calls were numerous. 28 flags...insane. But it's also why I don't consider either team a contender: too many mistakes. Hey, look at the end of the game. Stupid penalty on the Raiders when the kicker makes the kick. Stupid penalty on the Cowboys for jumping offside...no snap. ANOTHER jump...killed the play but the kicker DOINKED the right upright. THAT gave the Raiders a first down. They chose to kick, which...is arguable. But not wrong, given there were 4 minutes left...can't likely run out the clock...and the kick was now inside 30 yards. That's gonna be made 95+% of the time. Continue to play...is there a 5% chance of something Really Bad (fumble, holding call, sack) significantly dropping that? Versus, are you really going to increase your win chance with plays? So...yeah, OK, kick is fine with me. I'm actually willing, somewhat, to forgive the Raiders, much tho saying that is revolting. But hey, lose the HC, lose your big-play receiver...both totally out of the blue, both in really stunning manners...they're doing a heck of a lot better than I expected. And hey, Cowboys...you're supposed to be this great run team, you can't have 70% pass plays.

HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS!!!!! (There's a reason I didn't watch a single play of the first game, Mr. P. 3 hours of your life you'll never get back....)

Besides, sales started as early as Monday.

If the downsides are meaningless for you...then yes, maybe it's overpowered. But a GM ignoring issues like that...there's lots of other ways to do it. And come to think...not even then. You've got 9 points for the bonuses...but all those as separate powers would be Inobvious and Persistent. So you can take Nonpersistent and Perceivable, as a Combined Power. A Combined Power, where the powers have no individual limits, *should* support common mods that apply to the total active cost, rather than to each power...it minimizes the distortions implicit in the integer math. But even without: with Obvious and Nonpersistent, the component powers cost 7. With 0 END, a level of DI costs 6. 2 levels of DI as components costs 12...7 for STR, 1 each for PD and ED, and 3 for the KB resist, versus...12 for DI, 0 END. At 3 levels, -1/2 limit is simple math now, and the 27 active --> 18. Same REAL cost, and that's what the system is considering. I wouldn't. As Sean points out...what if you're flying? It still must be casually apparent. Altered skin appearance would do it; you don't have to go all the way to, say, Colossus or Ben Grimm, but there needs to be something that doesn't require any interaction. But what constitutes "obvious" is a huge PITA. It's probably not practical to define a "one size fits all" definition, particularly as there's no distinction between "readily apparent" and "blatant." Or between that the power is fundamentally self-evident like Growth, or ambiguous...DI vs. resistant defenses, for example. Explicit (stony appearance) or implicit (sound of footprints, causiing very deep imprints in softer materials, etc. due to the mass)? Must point to the power, or must indicate a power is active? And these should apply whether it's bought as "DI" or components reflecting "high density/unusually heavy character." But doubling back: these also relate to how the GM handles explicit or implicit negative aspects of a character...what's permitted, what's allowed to slide by (like taking away foci at least some of the time)? Hero has become *easily* exploitable without ever getting into matters of interpretation.

But Rodgers is bitching, when HE started the whole "Covid toe" angle??? Those were HIS words. Oh, but now it was a joke....? There's a word for crap like that...entrapment. If he has any friends, they need to tell him to STFU. Like RIGHT NOW. He's just digging his hole deeper every time.

Flight helps quite a bit, but a) you're still paying for the Flight, and it's expensive; you're buying it from 0. b) YMMV but DI and Flight tend to be a contradiction, particularly with higher levels of DI. c) if the DI is Always On, this doesn't help. Want to sit in a chair? Can the chair handle 800 pounds? RARELY. And that's only 2 levels. An extra heavy duty ladder is rated at 375 pounds; that's right around 1 level. Your foot is pressing into the ground under the force of your body weight...and let's not talk about the force exerted running when you include a few levels of DI. You don't sink in water; you sink just standing on soft ground. And it doesn't take that long before you start cracking the surface of concrete with your steps. The physical drawbacks are far more significant and frequent than you're suggesting. Also: DI is a Body Affecting Power, which by 6E1 126, makes it Obvious. So you can't hide it when you *aren't* tossing trucks around. The reason why permanently heavy characters are encouraged to buy the powers individually and take a Phys Lim is, it's better integrated at that point. And for me? Disadvantages are HARD to come by, so I rather like them. And when you look at it...it's *cheaper* in most cases. Mass Templates, 6E1 446. 2 levels of DI equivalent...18 points, but you get a 10 point Disad. So...8 points. Or......4 points per "level of DI." BUT you're not paying END to have it. That model holds through 5 levels...+9 points of powers, -5 points of Disad per "level." When you get beyond that point, if you're not doing something major to mitigate it like Shrinking...5 levels of DI == x32 mass. So something like *3 tons*. Homes are not built for that kind of load. No furniture. Nothing around you. You're going to have to keep that load off the ground except in special situations built to handle it. That's a major limitation. So...nope. If anything, actually, DI is *underpowered* as a power, not overpowered. As long as the implicit Disadvantage is being treated properly, you're getting less. If the GM ignores the mass issues? Then it's potentially slightly overpowered, but with Costs END and Obvious? Not very much.

Yeah, getting one scheduled was easy. Basically, they want an advance appointment now for logistical reasons, I'd think. The injection itself can't be done by a run-of-the-mill tech, so there's time-flow considerations.

Is it tacky to be chortling at another's pain? You might've heard about a certain Green Bay QB's toe problem. Well, reports are...it IS Covid-related. It arises from an immune-system over-reaction. https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/11/24/nfl-week-12-picks-aaron-rodgers-covid-toe-thanksgiving/ Sounds distinctly unpleasant. Ergo completely fitting....