unclevlad

Take a 500 point character. Buy Multiform; put it into a 2-slot multipower, 100 active. The other slot is a compound power that is 100 points' worth of characteristics. Now I have 480 points' worth of combat-effective and another 500 points' worth of whatever else I want...or vice versa. (The form paying for the Multipower loses 20 points to cover the slot costs.) OK, the point about active point caps in a framework MIGHT come into play, and might need reconsideration...when they're in use, and when they'd be exceeded. That's a far narrower issue, tho, and a far narrower house rule can be made. If that's the issue, re-costing Multiform just to solve this problem is like using a .30-06 to shoot a squirrel. And you aren't getting less, assuming your multiform is the same cost as your base. You're getting relatively the same amount. BOTH aspects are getting reduced, sure but that doesn't change the relative influence, and the cost to cover the multiform is causing a proportionate reduction, by and large, regardless of version.

I'd be willing to consider this only if the rules for exceeding the base cost were dramatically re-written. Another consideration: what if your Multiforms (and especially Summons) are not general-purpose, but special purpose? You've got the general form...for the sake of argument, say, it's an HTH specialist. They're fairly efficient builds. Then form #2 is movement and infiltration, for example. Or to bypass the Special Powers restrictions, particularly with special defenses and possibly enhanced senses. It probably wouldn't make sense to do that as the only difference, but once you have the baseline covered...? More forms is cheap. All of this holds even more true for Summon. You might have a better case on Follower, but again...when you don't have to make the character combat-capable, the cost issues drop considerably.

The 2 function differently. BOD is not a consumable; END is. The rate of that consumption is completely under the player's control...and worse, can strongly impact the costs for many other powers by making Reduced END largely pointless. (Just came to mind...2, even 3 shot autofire? As long as it's intended as an occasional choice, I'm not gonna pay the major premium for Reduced END. Which makes effective Autofire VERY cheap.) The BODY recovery rate has no such impact. The point about not allowing Heal to happen more than once per turn might be fine, but then, what's the difference between Heal END, per turn, and REC? REC is better. I'd have to be Heal END and STUN, once per turn. We're talking...+3 advantage, right? Off the top of my head. So that's 40 active. REC will be cheaper. Regen as written NOW, is not an adjustment power. If you can apply it to so many different abilities, it acts like one. Nothing says a Special Power can't also be in some other broad category, like Adjustment Power. A special power is one where the applicability is usually narrow...got a version of a character where IR, UV, and night vision all made sense. If I can slap these into a multipower, I would. Flash Def, Mental Def, and Power Def are all Defense powers...and Special Powers. I agree that the examples are inconsistent but the primary source is 6E1 page 135, and there is no ambiguity. Healing is an adjustment power; BODY is a defensive ability. Done. The examples that contradict are wrong unless and until that text is changed. And the cost of Regen may well be based on 1d6 Healing of a defense power, Constant, 0 END, Persistent, Self Only, increased re-use rate. Regen got shifted to a completely separate costing structure for one major reason: to force the unit to something completely separate. Because average roll, and thus standard effect, of 1d6+1 is 4, or 2 against a defensive ability. Ergo, it'd be double the effectiveness...for 1/3 more. 2d6 would give 7 standard, --> 3; 2d6+1 would give 8, --> 4. Regen was given a separate unit of effect to avoid this. This is an issue, tho, for comparing constant Healing to Regen. For the most part, it eliminates the rule. If I have 5 END healed every phase, my net END expenditure per turn is often going to be 0, is it not? Even on the presumption that if I buy 5 END every phase via healing, I'll probably buy little or no additional REC. (Especially in 5E with figured characteristics.) The wording on 6E2 132 doesn't anticipate this scenario, I don't think, but the stronger interpretation to me is, the END that's healed would NOT count towards the total END expended per turn. EDIT: just realized something, triggered belatedly by the "you wouldn't purchase more REC." Well...not quite true, as REC is still needed for STUN. OK, well, that simply screams buying the the Regen or Healing to apply to END and STUN...or, buying REC with that "only to recover STUN" abusive limitation. The cost savings from this stem from the fact, I realized, that not only do I not buy Reduced END...I don't buy additional END or normal REC. The obvious case is the Healing, 1d6+1, expanded effect (STUN and END) where I don't have to buy up STUN that much. (Probably still some, tho.) 2 CP applied to STUN is 4 per phase; that's probably not enough. Then again, it might just say, OK, buy up somewhat *more* STUN and use your other defensive capabilities to keep things manageable. There wouldn't be a one-size-fits-all answer but by and large, I think juggling the numbers in any specific case wouldn't be very hard. And you'd often save a ton of points.

The problem I have is that it doesn't stay at the pro level. It moves down, at least as long as it's technically feasible to do so. (Any ingestible or injectable substance is feasible; more complex tricks might not be.) It was certainly true with steroids; high school football players were taking it. What's semi-safe for a 24 year old is also not necessarily semi-safe for a 15 year old. Last: athletes generally are told they're massively better than they are. It's a common story in college basketball; kid is sold he's a sure first rounder, maybe lottery pick...then gets drafted late 2nd or even early 3rd round. The NBA only has about 450 slots, and player careers for those who can make it, run 10+ years. There aren't that many spots available...and there's, what, roughly 1000 or so players trying for those spots. Clearly, the transition from high school to college is even more harshly culled. There's about a half million boys playing HS basketball...so you're looking at the top 2% making it into a college program. But probably the top 10% think they should be. Now throw in "yeah take this, you'll get just the edge you need!" and where are you? Probably STILL not good enough. For every 1000 boys playing HS...1 will make the NBA. But if PEDs are acceptable...how many of that 1000 will develop serious issues because of the PEDs? Let us also not forget the mindset of "anything worth doing is worth overdoing" particularly coupled with "2nd place is first loser." If a mostly-safe level doesn't cut it...take more! There's no such thing as a Pyrrhic victory because, damn it, we WON. Who thinks about being crippled at 55 when the reward's sitting there *now*? You get the big fat contract...it's in the bank, even if your performance rolls off dramatically due to the PEDs. Whereas if you never did them, you probably never get the money in the first place. (True in reality...maybe, maybe not. Perceived true? Highly likely IMO.) That said, it's plausible it applies more to high-visibility sports...football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and soccer primarily. On the other hand, tho, athletic success is frequently correlated to a kid's self-image, so the pressure to Do Whatever It Takes to succeed is there in any sport. So...let's start on the premise that PEDs should be allowed in pro sports. OK. How far down does that go? Should PEDs be allowed in junior high? Steroids WERE used that early at times...and absolutely in high school. I submit that, no, we absolutely do NOT want PEDs at that level. So we create a double standard, and we incentivize taking them. On the pot testing...these are the reasons the WADA bans them: 1. “Athletes who smoke cannabis or Spice in-competition potentially endanger themselves and others because of increased risk taking, slower reaction times and poor executive function or decision making.” I can definitely see this in a sport like cycling, since we're talking TdF so much right now. A crash in the peloton can wipe out 40 riders and cause serious injuries. If the stupid with the sign in Stage 1 is being prosecuted for recklessness, then anything that compromises bike control seems fair game. That said, that doesn't justify a blanket ban in all sports. 2. “Based on current animal and human studies as well as on interviews with athletes and information from the field, cannabis can be performance enhancing for some athletes and sports disciplines.” Wishy-washy. 3. “Use of illicit drugs that are harmful to health and that may have performance-enhancing properties is not consistent with the athlete as a role model for young people around the world”. Ahh, now there's the root. It isn't about performance, it's about moral purity. You can go out drinking every night. You can have a different partner every night...who even cares if you're married? But pot????? OHHHHHhhh no!!! In this regard, the WADA strikes me as similar to the NCAA, with their rigid insistence on an idealized notion of amateurism. Plus, of course: the US probably pushed it because the bloody Commies did better at it!!! Gentlemen, we cannot allow a PED gap!!!!

Can't argue with the Trump assessment reported, or the prediction that social turmoil would follow in his wake. The issue of legitimacy and/or motivation...why leak this?...is legit, tho. Beware the confirmation bias.

In all seriousness, I fear that, because it's happened too often. It is a cloud that still hangs over cycling. BUT, Pogacar is repeating what he did last year (yellow, white, and polka dot) so based on what they can test for now, it seems unlikely. And with today repeating yesterday by and large...Pogacar, Vingegaard, Carapaz at the summit again...KOM is over, there's only 1 more point left. Pogacar has an insurmountable lead. The podium is also set; Uran had a mediocre day, and dropped from 4th to 10th, I believe. So now 4th is about 2:20 behind 3rd. It might be possible to make that up at the TT but that's quite a bit. Tomorrow's course is fairly flat...a little undulating. The pundits anticipate a sprint finish, as the green jersey is very much in play, and that's probably the most likely. It's still plausible to have a large breakaway, particularly for the intermediate sprint...but they probably won't be allowed to stay away. One other issue: the route runs largely due north. It's in the far southwest, starting near the Spanish border, and ending a little east of the town of Bordeaux. (Which suggests the views might be spectacular...wine country!) The Bay of Biscay...AKA the Atlantic...is about 50-odd miles, looks like, to the west. Makes me wonder...crosswind? A strong crosswind could wreak havoc. But odds are the drama will predominately be in the last few miles.

END is a defensive power. Half effect, so standard effect would be 1 CP. 5 END. That 1/2 effect rises up and catches us out a lot. That said, barely tweak to 1d6+1; now it's 4.5, half gets me 2 points. Active cost jumps to 49, but Self Only makes it 24. Worse, perhaps...and again, y'all might read this as abuse but once you've gone this far, why NOT go the step further and apply Variable Effect? Fine, make it the physical stats...STR, CON, DEX, END, and STUN, let's say...as a reasonable theme. (Not BODY, that's the province of Regen.) I agree that healing the END is obscene, and could very easily become a net cost *reduction* as you eliminate every Reduced END...and for that matter, potentially even add some Costs END limitations. A super quick and dirty comparison...the 1d6+1 Healing, self only (at -1 as listed), is 24 points. So let's go with Flight 20" and Resistant Protection 10/10. Base cost: 20 + 30 = 50. Trying to conserve END: 1/2 END on Flight. 25 + 30 = 55. Not caring: Costs half END on the Resistant Prot. 20 + 24 = 44. So right there without even trying hard, we recover 11 of the 24, and show it's quite feasible to get the rest. But if the healing is limited to countering Drains...this has possibilities, but why not buy Power Def? The theoretical arguments aside, does it pass the purely practical of...Just Buy Power Def.

Gahhhhh.... I don't watch that much network TV other than sports. That said, with the NBA Finals going on, I've had ABC up. Now, ok, it might be that it's ABC, ergo it's Disney...but cripes, the ads for "new" material is total regurgitation. The Jungle Cruise movie goes back a long ways; I remember Disneyland's jungle cruise ride (which was connected) when I went there...and we left California in the 70s. A Turner and Hooch remake. A Wonder Years remake. Gahhhhhhhhh!!! All the more reason to avoid network TV, or at least ABC. Also makes me think that Disney's goal is to drive people to Disney+.

That practically qualifies as damnation by faint praise. Pogacar,, Carapaz, and Vingegaard *smashed* the rest of the top 10 on the last climb. The three of em waged a private little war trying to shake each other...and never succeeeding for too long. (Vingegaard slipped back about 15 seconds for a bit, but pulled it back.) Gaudu did his own superb ride, doing much the same from further back to finish 4th, but the rest of the leaders lost 90+ seconds...including Uran, who dropped from 2nd to 4th, and well back of 3rd. Pogacar's lead increased by another 20 seconds over 2nd place as a result. And it was just a power play of impressive proportions. Pogacar had only 1 teammate with him on the last climb. The teammate spurted hard with around 8k left; Pogacar followed. Carapaz and Vingegaard were able to mark the, along with one other rider...but he couldn't maintain the pace and slipped back relatively quickly. The gap at the front just grew and grew. Pogacar has one more brutal day to get through, but he's also got a respectable margin at this point, and realistically only 2 riders to mark. So if the climbers want to decide the King of the Mountains, which is wide open...he'll be fine with that. It's important to note that stage 20 is an individual time trial...and Pogacar *won* the earlier time trial by 19 seconds (in a 32 minute race...3rd plane only beat 7th place by 17 seconds, so that gives you an idea.) The Tour is never over until it's over. You have to complete the event to win, and freak accidents happen. But the only way Pogacar can lose the GC is either an accident, exceptional bad luck during the TT (even something like a flat wouldn't cost him that much time), or if he's really, really drained tomorrow and has a very bad day. What might be more amusing is Pogacar has a very decent shot at a *triple*. Yellow jersey and white jersey (best young rider)...Vingegaard is second in both. Pogacar is up to 2nd in King of the Mountains. If he can repeat what he did yesterday, and Wout Poels can't match him (he was *way* back in the pack today)...it's his, potentially by a mile. Winning 3 jerseys has only happened once...that was Mercyx, not surprisingly. Granted, the white jersey was created in the 70s, but still. (And it's basically inconceivable now that anyone will pull off the green jersey-yellow [or white] jersey double again.)

No, but they also don't *need* to. They're only impacted by a Drain. Drain 3d6, returns 5 points/hour. Your per-phase Regen blows it out of the water; the longer the duration, the worse it is. Plus, the cost structure for improving the speed of Regen is *ridiculously* too cheap. Again...it's because BODY can be reduced in *many* different ways. The 1/2 effect targeting a defense power applies to ALL Adjustment powers, not attack powers. Technically, Regen isn't an adjustment power, but if it can be extended to all the defense-related characteristics, that should be reconsidered. It's not an issue for BODY because a Drain BODY is NOT a common mechanism; whereas, it is the ONLY mechanism to lower DEX, CON, etc. You might not like abusive builds...but the sheer fact that Regen <one stat> is going to only be effective against a Drain <that stat> means it's bloody freaking NARROW. How about just buying Power Defense...no limitations, or how about "only versus Characteristic Drains"? Even 10 points of Power Def will blunt most Drains sharply; that's -3d6, pretty much. And it's to any form of Drain...not to a few specific Characteristics. So that said...there's *enormous* incentive to buy this with Variable Effect (any Characteristic). Because, flat out, I would NEVER buy Regen CON or Regen STR. Never. At any rate. It simply won't apply often enough to justify the cost. IF I have to worry about it...then I'm gonna go Power Def, or if I really have to worry about Damage over Time Drain with Defense only applies once...then I'd go with Regen with Variable Effect of Any Characteristic. It's CHEAP!!! at that price because I get the core Regen to BODY in the process.

I'd rather keep it as simple as possible, but it can't be because of the enormous variations in play here. On the one hand you have REC; on the other extreme, SPD and DCV, and to a lesser degree OCV. My first take is to ignore that suggestion. My second one: allow it against a very limited subset. First point to note: within the system, the only way to damage a characteristic, such that it needs to be regenerated, is with a Drain or Transform. Gee, guess what...the adjustment powers versus defense powers and characteristics rule kicks in for them...so shouldn't it also apply to this Regen? It doesn't apply to BODY because BODY is subject to reduction from other means. Or, perhaps not, simply because this feels like an enormously narrow, almost pointless defense, unless you allow not only the "Regen can be used on other Characteristics" but also, by extension, Variable Effect as per Aid. But...no. The more I think about it, the less and less I think it's a good idea to incorporate the APG point with 6E Regen, because the cost structure and effect are completely tailored to the very specific issue of BODY, and BODY damage, and look at some other structure...like perhaps Boost.

Jackson hardly needed to do anything to achieve that; Tolkien used *very little* overt magic. Even in the Silmarillion, at least past the point of the raising of the towers of the sun and moon, or perhaps the early days of the Two Trees. The biggest power of the Three was, let's call it stability. AoE Radius (huge)...or MegaArea perhaps. But applying that to...what, exactly? Perhaps a Mind Control of a "Keep Out!!" towards evil critters, perhaps a Danger Sense over a similar area, responding vaguely to threats strong enough to shake off the mind control. I can express it like that, but don't ask me to quantify them...they're plot devices, nothing more, and as such, unquantifiable. The One Rihg...in Hero terms, I suppose you could say it was rooted in Sauron's mind control...and added Uncontrolled to it, so that Sauron didn't need to do anything. The strongest tie was to the lesser rings...perhaps a Mental Transform of relatively low power but *insanely long* fade rate, on a trigger of "when the other person uses his ring." EDIT: that also suggests Mind Link (ringbearers), and the transform or mind control gets full IPE when Sauron helped to make the rings. (The Elven rings weren't touched by Sauron, so they didn't get that...and the Elves could then block Sauron's influence.)

Cavendish is being shepherded by 3 teammates, but considering that team's actually leading the prize money earned so far...mostly due to Cavendish...that's the smart move. He got into the house with about 12-15 minutes to spare today, but yes, getting through these 2 will be an achievement. The sprint point tomorrow is before any serious climbing; *if* Cav wants to, he has a decent chance to challenge for it. Thursday, it looks like any time lost on the early climbs could be recovered. But I believe Cav's not being interested; he wants Mercyx' stage-wins record, which he's tied. So rather than burn too much out of the tank on the intermediates, he may just save it to survive. Especially Thursday; tomorrow's stage suggests to me that an early breakaway will be allowed to have their fun...until the Peyresourde, probably. But also perhaps not; as always, it can depend on who's in the break. The KOM is, as noted, *extremely* close. The climbers might wait until the end; it's an HC (beyond category) climb, worth twice the points of a Cat 1...and a summit finish doubles those. That said, it's not likely that the top 4 will want to risk everything just there.

The Tour fundamentally comes down to the next 2 days, both of which beyond any doubt (as if everything so far left any)...cyclists are absolute, utter, over-the-top insane masochists. The schedule has them completing this exercise in self-torture in about 5 hours. Then do this the next day:

Welcome to the world of the New Robber Barons. Of course there would be more responsible uses. And some of them do make really, really huge charity contributions. This, tho, is no different from $300M superyachts or $100M+ artworks. Or however much Ballmer paid for the LA Clippers, or Kroenke is laying out for the sports complex for the Rams. Supercars are passe' now there are hypercars like the Bugatti Chiron and Veyron. Heck, the entire notion of space tourism feels like nothing but indulging the whims of the ultra-wealthy. Nothing new there. The difference is the expansion of the class as income inequality is increasingly distorted.

And the talking heads this morning are panicking. Fun to watch all the anguish.

One thing is, I loathe and abhor "only to twist the rules" pseudo-limitations. YMMV.

Also: raising multiple characteristics at once might be the abusive angle here, but I focus on Constant and 0 END for a different reason...it is simply more efficient. Delayed Fade Rate is +1 as well; that gives 1 minute fade. That's most often plenty...BUT...to get the maximum benefit, the Aid has to be applied twice. If nothing else, that consumes 2 actions to reach max effect. The impact of this is somewhat variable, depending on the SPD of the character applying the Aid (and to some degree, the recipient, if it causes that character to forfeit a phase while waiting.)

Well, one aspect of a quick boost might be that 5d6 != 30. It's 17...unless you want to apply it twice, which means 2 actions and 2x END spent. Increased Max Effect as written for Absorption makes this worst; it requires 4 actions most of the time. The action cost is huge. So perhaps look at a different angle...a booster on the power. I'm thinking two angles: first, no roll is needed; the effect is always the maximum possible based on the dice purchased. Second, perhaps doing so, the fade is delayed by 1 cycle. If the fade is per turn, it's a turn; if it's per minutes, it's a minute. The first is the centerpiece that makes it rather more useful for quick boosts; the second angle is something worth discussing. So the options would be maximize the roll only, the delay the fade is off the table max the roll and delay the fade only (as a combination effect) max the roll; delay the fade as an option for an increase in the overall advantage The first and third also could be available for Healing, especially given Hero's "can only heal once" rule. Gotta fly, got a dental appointment.

Well, if I remember the definitions, it's a Physical Complication. It's not a Psych Complication; it doesn't fit any of the basic modes to me; a compulsion when you're asleep? 😀 Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Just for reference, the book says "A Physical Complication 'affects' a character when it has a measurable impact on his ability to function during the game." OK, here, the character is compromising his personal security when he sleepwalks. The obvious points of discussion are choosing the factors. Frequency...not only is it "how often does the sleepwalking occur" but how often does it lead to risk? Which includes simple risk of exposure, even as a super. That can be bad enough; it might not compromise a secret ID, but it would make maintaining it a lot harder. Just knowing someone's a super makes him a focus for any ID hunting, and tends to raise attention onto his actions. If his sleepwalking never takes him outside his residence or base, the risk of exposure is very slight. The other issue is, as you point out, how blatant is it? Yeah, sleepflying outside would be...kinda hard to miss. Barely impairing might be, no obvious powers at all...but walking across hot, rough pavement barefoot (because he's got some permanent rPD) without even noticing...that would be a hint. Greatly might be, not only outing him as a super, but giving clear clues to his hero ID. or even exposing him to an attack.

I'd have to look through the record books, but I'm pretty sure the best regular season record often doesn't win the Cup. A hot goalie changes everything, and unlike, say, a hot pitcher in baseball, can win multiple games in a row. Believe the LA Kings a few years ago showed that nicely. And best record doesn't translate to best team consistently...and certainly not come the playoffs. I'm not thinking late injuries that debilitate the team in the playoffs...more like, relatively few injuries, coupled with other teams being notably understrength for much of the year...but get healthy for the playoffs. (The Lakers could have been an example of this, but didn't get healthy enough, soon enough.) Then there's the fact that not everyone plays the same schedule. How often did the Colts ride a super-weak division to the best record in the NFL? Or in some years, the Pats. In the NHL this year, that got taken to infinity, because no one played outside their local group. You can't compare between the groups at all, as there is no commonality to use as a basis. And that's atop the continuing stresses from the pandemic, which are *still* showing up. The Rogers Cup, or Canadian Masters, is a joint ATP Masters 1000 and WTA Premier (I think, the WTA's terms are confusing...but it's the equivalent) event, played uniquely in 2 different cities, Toronto and Montreal, with the men and women alternating the city. It starts Aug. 7th. Canada is holding onto its policies; even limited attendance has NOT been approved so far. (Wimbledon had full attendance for the last few days, by contrast, and Wembley's about 2/3 full for the UEFA final.) That's on the field or ice; it also suggests that players' personal lives haven't been affected equally. I doubt it's possible to quantify that impact, but I also have no doubt that it was a factor. The Tour...I used to have more interest, but every year it seems they just raise the bar on making it more and more insane. And I stay up reading rather WAY too late most mornings (no, not nights, definitely mornings) and the race is over before I'm coherent. AND, NBC has the rights, and they're moving it to the Olympic channel...which is a separate premium channel. A sport I like to watch is lacrosse. In 2018 and 2019, ESPN started showing some games on Saturday morning/early afternoon, in addition to the semifinals and finals on Memorial Day weekend. There were no games last year, of course, and secondary sports got VERY little coverage this year. We'll see about next year. It's a cool game; what a talented player can do with the ball in his stick is pretty amazing. There's SO many more options than with, say ice hockey, for the shooter. I also actually enjoyed the tactical aspects of curling, but it's not something I'd want to watch frequently. Simon: ugh! doesn't sound fun at all. Kinda sounds like, say, vitamin A toxicity. "Normal" amounts are fine, even necessary, but Not Too Much. Sports drinks are a product category where More is BETTER!!! tends to be the norm. Then again, so is the aqua vitae known as coffee; the market segment for brands whose entire selling point is their insanely high caffeine content is pretty substantial nowadays.

I agree. For example, the 'intent' on Aid may simply be to counter Drain, rather than serve as a boost, or alternative to buying up characteristics. After all, it's almost exactly structured as a reverse Drain. The single-characteristic, Self Only boost is *a* model, but not a particularly good one. How about Aid 2d6, applies to STR, SPD, and OCV (+1), Constant, 0 END, self only. 18 points for +10 STR, +2 OCV, and +1 SPD...nice little boosts. They'd be 10 each; 7, with a -1/2 limit like Linked or OIF. And I'm not pushing with those. Could make it 4d6+1...25 active. +20 STR even with STR having 1/2 END, +5 OCV, +2 SPD. 39 points for 70 effect. A -1/2 limit drops it to 47 but that's still shaving 8 points. (Forget HFO. Build a power that fundamentally acts like an HFO, like, say, 4/4 Damage Negation, nonpersistent, and perceivable if allowed for "this shows the person is CLEARLY a super." Or nonpersistent and full phase to activate. Even just the -1/4 of nonpersistent helps notably. NOW, you've got a 40 active power to link to for a boatload of Characteristics individually, for perhaps a +6d6 HA at half END, 12/12 resistant defense, etc. etc.) That's talking about the intent point, and how analytical choices can be problematic in other situations. If we go with "increased max effect" at +1, then we have Aid 2 1/2 d6 (15 points), double maximum effect (+1), --> STR, SPD, and OCV (+1), constant, 0 END. 60 active points for 30 points applied to STR, +6 OCV, and +3 SPD. Self Only makes it 30 real points; the -1/2 limit on all 3 powers as above, would still cost 60. At least the 5d6 Aid would cost 90 active. That'd be harder to fit into a framework.

Just to bring it up, since it's tomorrow night... Do you plan to watch the Home Run Derby? Me...ehhh...there's nothing else on. No NBA Finals, obviously no normal baseball. I might, just to see if anyone can blast one to the moon. (Couple MLB Network pundits are guessing the longest balls will be 550+.) Do you plan to watch the ASG? Probably not, or at least not once the NBA Finals game starts. Doesn't help that Fox has the game broadcast. I'm fine with the game crew, but the studio crew is a disaster.

Djokovic's win also gives him the first 3 Slam titles of the calendar year, and he has to be a strong favorite to complete the 'official' Grand Slam, winning all 4 in the same calendar year. It also, I think, gave more motivation to try for the first Golden Slam, all in the same year, by winning the Olympic medal. It is something I think he very much wants; it would be completely unique, albeit a good chunk of that is that the pros couldn't compete at the Olympics. But just a few minutes ago, he talked about it. The restrictions for Tokyo are exceptionally tight; he mentioned he wouldn't be allowed to take his personal racket stringer, and generally that support entourages would be greatly shrunk. No family, either. No spectators. Apparently limited ability to socialize with the other athletes. He said it was 50-50 at this point, IIRC. Brad Gilbert commented that, over the next 3 years (12 Slams)...he figured Djokovic could readily win 5-7, and there's little reason to question that as long as he doesn't suffer a significant injury. If so, he'd pass even Margaret Court, and fundamentally lock down the GOAT of tennis, period. On any measure. And set the bar so high, in terms of Grand Slam titles, that it may well be unreachable. The current crop of players between, say, 20 and 27, have a bunch of really good players who can win Slams...but who can also get knocked out. It feels to me that over the next, say, 32 slams, 8 years, there'll be multiple players who win 3-5...but no one other than Djokovic is likely to win more than that. EDIT: in that other sporting event drawing the attention of English fans...England scores a goal 2 minutes into the UEFA finals on a beautiful pass to the 3rd man on the weak side, setting him up for a surprise shot inside the short-side post.

Not at all. I agree the intent is to be short-term. That's not the point. What CAN I do with it? I'm not the one suggesting that Inc Max Effect should be added back; that's CRT. I'm exploring the ramifications. Your analysis is rooted in a notion of "this is what we intended it for" whereas I don't care about that. Here's the power; it is what it is. What can I do with it? That's what is going on here. Whether it violates intent or not is irrelevant because players don't know intent. And I prefer to try it with simple tools like Constant and 0 END...NOT because I want it to last all day per se, but because that means it becomes part of the pre-battle prep, and does it with as few actions on my part as possible. It also has no dubious limitations which are fundamentally there to shave points only. The point about applying it to multiple characteristics reflects the math structure. 2d6 Aid wit +3 advantages is 48; 4d6 Aid with +2 advantages is 72. Knock the advantages down to +2 versus +1, it's 36 versus 48. Also note that CRT was offering a +3/4 version first, just to see if it could work out, as a more-expensive advantage.