unclevlad

I'd say that the charges are simply fixed and NO changes are allowed until the recovery time AND recovery conditions (if the player tries to slap Restricted Recovery on) are met. It's the only way you can force the player to honor the charges costing structure, IMO. An exception would be if no charges have been used, AND the player can justify a power swap during the day, but this isn't something I'd consider automatic at all...and definitely not simply a full phase. If nothing else, this is simply to keep things clean, and the game moving. Otherwise, I do see it as abusable...because it can be a way to get 0 END as part of a "limitation."

In Hero, you have to separate the visual element from the functional element, especially during the build phase. Functionally, this is simply a shapeable, adaptive force, which can be used by its wielder for a wide variety of effects: --protection: Power Def (maybe), Resist Prot, Damage Negation, arguably Damage Reduction, but that doesn't fit as well. Damage Reduction applies AFTER defenses, so I tend to treat it as an aspect of the character's physique. You're putting this as an outer defensive layer. --healing: probably should get a Limited Power limitation...only works on creatures of darkness. It gets the Resurrection option; I might toss in a -1/4 limitation for the "not if the heart is destroyed" but that's mostly pointless. When is the heart destroyed? Also, it isn't really going to be meaningful, because "only works on creatures of darkness" is a major limitation on the healing...probably -1. Another small limitation won't change the cost that much. --the rest is just what it is. Blast or RKA, a blade suggests an HKA or could be an RKA No Range (if the demon logically can't apply its STR, it's an RKA No Range), Flight that might get the Restrainable limitation. Other than the healing, it's not functionally different from, say, an electromagnetic manipulator, at least until you get into some pretty specific interactions like Vulnerabilities and Susceptibilities. Or perhaps that Aura Of Menacing Darkness might be worth an extra die when the demon cares to make a Presence Attack.

Cosmetic transform is pretty clean. I think I prefer the PRE drain, tho. As far as cancelling out a negative appearance? Ehhh. If I was gonna slap it on, I'd say it's no points. It doesn't come into play often enough to warrant any kind of cost reduction. Personally, I'd just skip it.

Be based in the NYC area.

I think that might be a factor, ESPECIALLY for the non-starters, who have to fill in a fair big regardless. I think the likely impact on practice time, film study, and the like is showing too.

With the Chargers ultimately not being able to hold on, there are 10 teams at 1-3-1 or worse after 5 games, and I'm not counting the Broncos or Lions who only have 4 games played. 9 of em are already in desperation mode; they're hanging on by one hand, at most. Eagles could win the division at 6-9-1, so I give them a shot. Washington is floundering, the Giants are abysmal; even in that division, they're toast. But man...that's a lot of severe ineptitude. Not all of it, maybe; Chargers are way better than the Jets or Giants, but don't know how to win yet. But with KC and the Raiders, who look a lot better than last year? Desperation isn't far off. 1-4 is still 1-4, and that's a lot of ground to make up.

We fully expected that deaths from other causes would increase because Covid-19 consumed more resources than Thor could at Utgard-Loki's table...but the count is scary.

Can we give Cygnia a dozen upvotes for that pic??? The biggest takeaway from that timeline is, of course, the utter inanity that Trump thinks he can have one by Election Day... I am not worried that a vaccine can't be developed, as there is no basis whatsoever to expect it can't be done. It's simply meaningless; it WILL happen, by everything we know about biology and medicine. A more real fear is...what if we can't develop it until, say, summer 2023? I think we'll figure out how to function at some reasonable level, with distancing. I think the penalties for failing to follow distancing LAWS...yes, the underlying authority would become more codified...would be much, much harsher...something like DUI laws. First offense, not too bad; second offense, let's go with mandatory public service; throwing thousands in jail won't help. After the first million die, this'll be a lot easier to sell.

And the managerial carousel continues; White Sox can Renteria. Pariah bemoans how the Rockies blew their start...the Sox nosedived at the end of the season to drop from fighting for the #1 seed, to the 7 seed. Admittedly, it was somewhat bad luck to be in the AL Central; 35-25 would've been 2nd in any other division. BUT, they can't blame anyone but themselves...they finished the regular season 3-12. 5-10 would've been enough to be the 2nd seed. Of course, one can argue it hardly would've mattered, in the sense that the 2-7 seeds were all fairly clustered...and, of course, the Astros have moved through 2 rounds as a sub-.500 8 seed. This season, any differences between the teams seem lost in random noise.... And, yeah, the Trop is a disaster of a stadium. The problem isn't that it's a domed stadium; it's that it was so badly designed, at least for baseball. Yeah, I'd love to see it go by the wayside, but its replacement will *have* to be another dome or a retractable roof. I think the bigger problem is the general egos of owners...can they NOT build The Next Greatest Stadium Ever Built? Especially given that Kroenke just decided, it seems, to flip a bird at Jerry Jones, as he built SoFi. $5.5 BILLION. Freakin' crazy. But even if you keep it within shouting distance of almost sane...$1B would almost be bare-bones for a retractable roof these days. That isn't easy for many locals to swallow, in any area.

The closing line from ESPN's story about Morgan's death: You know how, after Christmas, some media outlets do "in memorium" stories? I don't think I could handle this year's....

I concede kids heal faster...but their bones are also still growing, so I suspect that makes ankle and wrist recovery...trickier. But compound fractures are never trivial. 'twill be interesting to see if this impacts negociations. Well, the second shoe has now fallen. Can't say "the other shoe" because there will probably be more. Dan Quinn and the Falcons GM tossed out like that half pot of coffee no one finished Friday afternoon. Have to think there's still a few sitting very uncomfortably. Bit of trivia...this from ESPN's scoreboard feed... Tristan H. CockcroftESPN Senior Writer Most fantasy points by a quarterback in his team's first five games of a season (since 1950): 155.9 Peyton Manning, 2013 152.8 Daunte Culpepper, 2004 147.4 Russell Wilson, 2020 143.6 Steve Young, 1998 138.0 Aaron Rodgers, 2011 137.9 Patrick Mahomes, 2020 135.6 Dak Prescott, 2020 131.3 Donovan McNabb, 2002 131.1 Patrick Mahomes, 2018 129.6 Kyler Murray, 2020

No argument here. I suspect Disney's policy is, the only things we're gonna show on Disney+ is material we own outright; we will not be held hostage to a distributor's greed. Some of this is probably the incredibly acrimonious rebroadcast negociations; they've been...well, maybe not common, but recurring with some regularity. The entertainment market is splintering *badly* between satellite, cable, and the streaming services; cable/satellite is down about 8-9% since 2018...not very long! Meanwhile, the number, size, scope, and significance of the streaming services is skyrocketing. Obviously, cord cutters may, and probably commonly do, subscribe to multiple streamers, but still, it's getting more and more crowded all the time.

What, you don't like their Action Green? Can't blame ya.... Seahawks fans could have it worse. They could be Heat fans....pretty much over at halftime.

Word on Dak: compound fracture and dislocation. Surgery is to clean things up, to speed up the healing, but his return this year is about as likely as an NFC East team getting a wild card spot.

ESPN is reporting Dak is going to have surgery on the ankle tonight. Ankles are complex and messy, and don't heal fast, so at this point, it seems unlikely he'll return this season.

But they wouldn't get the time to themselves, to do what they wanted anyway. Bye week activities are restricted. And heck, with such limited time before the season, the practice is probably helpful. And it's gonna happen. It's not some nefarious plot. It's consequence of a season that probably should never have been started.

First Scientific American. Then Nature. Now it's the New England Journal of Medicine. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2029812?fbclid=IwAR1ZCqDgcZYFKsB3UF7hEOhLwqN-N2hs9YP2ESMF7G8gT5xCj5u4QFn__TM

Looks like Dak Prescott has just been lost for a very long time. Replay shows an ankle rolling so much that it looks like a break, or perhaps a nasty type of dislocation. Air cast applied, and carted off in serious anguish.

Ugh. We're now at 4 consecutive days with notably higher new-case totals, relative to the last several weeks. The last 4 Sundays have been quite consistent...a bit below 34,000. With over 3 hours to go...it's over 40,000 today. I've been conservative, myself, in calling this an upswing rather than random fluctuations, but this is too convincing. EDIT: with final numbers in....new cases, 7 day moving average broke 50,000. Highest in about 7 weeks.

Yah. My common construction for a projector with a light special effect would be Blast, Flash (sight), and Images, both to simply create light and to create complex images. The most common limitation for the Blast and Flash would be Beam; but it's not necessary. RKA is also trivial; it's a laser. If the light power is purely to create light, you're pretty much done. OTOH if it's to control light, you quickly get into Change Environment, Darkness, and even Invisibility (sight). Lantern: Images (sight group), AoE 8 meters, 0 END, Only to create light, No range. 20 active, 8 real. Busted!: Images (sight group), AoE 8 meters, 0 END, Only to create light. 20 active, 10 real. This would be great for lighting up a group trying to infiltrate at night. Also note that this might be done as a somewhat complex Change Environment, where a side effect is to apply a penalty to anyone in the area trying to see out. Flare Burst: Flash (sight group), 7d6; AoE 1m, accurate. GREAT for long range, you get to target the hex, which is just DCV 3. Blast: 10d6 (vs. ED), perhaps using Beam and Reduced Penetration. With Beam it's sensible to consider Half Range Modifier, since the usual problems with ranged attacks (gravity, wind) aren't a factor. How to build? With a light projector, and if you want to keep it simple, go with a Multipower. With a light manipulator, or for getting a lot trickier, go with a VPP. I'm guessing you're not that familiar with the system, so I'd strongly suggest the multipower...but you can also see, with the 2 Images powers, where the VPP can be attractive.

My biggest concern is, of course, Trump wins; if that happens, the chance that the Republicans lose the Senate seems nil. But, my second biggest is that it'll hardly matter. If Trump loses, it'll be due mostly to his utter incometence, and his massive talent to alienate broad swaths of the country. But that's not sustainable. We've got to have serious doubts about Biden for a second term, for age reasons if nothing else, and the anti-Trump push will likely dissipate. So, in 4 or 6 years...we'll be right back in this mess, with regard to a massively stacked judiciary. ESPECIALLY if the Senate doesn't flip. There's absolutely no reason, IMO, to think anything but utter gridlock if that happens.

Beyond the obvious delight in watching Jerry's Boys imitate Jerry's Kids...I must admit to a childish delight in the prospect that...should that happen... The Eagles at 1-3-1 would be the division leaders. Or maybe it'd be better if the Boys and Gnats just tie. Boys would end up in a tie for the division...at that sterling 1-3-1. Secondary note...we can, barring injury, basically pencil the Seahawks into the playoffs right now....because they get to play the NFC East. So, yeah, they're 4-0 now, with the Eagles, Washington, and Giants...AND the Jets...still to come. Ternary note... https://deadspin.com/dwayne-haskins-sacrificed-for-nfl-nepotism-of-scott-tur-1845339489 Harsh.... But the story makes a good case. But hey, the organizational competence of that franchise has been in question for some time. Who am I kidding...it's not in question, it's been non-existent for quite some time now. One brief bright spot with RG III, but other than that....

First, how do you know it was the Pats, and not just, say, Cam? Second, stop thinking it's all about your teams...like you're taking this personally. Here's the ripple effect: https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-announces-multiple-schedule-changes-moves-broncos-patriots-to-week-6 The Broncos ARE getting their bye week; it's just this week. It's not like the bye week would be a full-scale off-week with players flitting off to Cancun this year anyway. I'm not sure it's off the table, but absolutely, it's a last resort they'll try *extremely* hard to avoid. That's why I think the threats of reprisal have more teeth, but...we'll see what they do with Tennessee. They may become the initial test case for how serious the league really is. Plus, if covid-19 cases explode in states pushing widespread reopening (like Florida), it's possible we could see other areas like New York reinstate travel restrictions. That could torpedo the season. OK, it's a string of speculations but the chain is plausible. EDIT: of note, NFL.com *still* has not mentioned that the Bears and Chiefs had positive tests. And they've had plenty of things to report from today, so it's not like they had no one to file the story.

What, you expect us to read fine print??? But yeah, then it's distribution rights. Hulk and Incredible Hulk were both distributed by Universal. Also, it wouldn't surprise me that Disney doesn't much care to pursue getting the rights because both had continuity-breaking actors...Ruffalo has the role for every mainline Marvel production.

One can also point a finger at Dan Mullen for failing to get his team prepared, and all he tried to do in the press conference was deflect blame by saying the crowd made the difference. Insofar as wanting the crowd...it's proof to me that he's in the "I am the head coach therefore I am God" mindset that has led to so many problems. Not just football; basketball has it too. Apparently, the university has said No so far.