unclevlad

I'd never give the driver a Breakfall roll. He has to maneuver around the steering wheel; there simply isn't time. A passenger might get one for being thrown...but in many cases it'd be at a huge penalty. There MIGHT be time for other defensive measures, tho...like Barrier. But Ockham's point is sound, I suspect. The accidents are happening because the driver's doing tricky/dangerous stuff, like running across a dune face. I think I've also seen one where the ATV was trying to climb a steep hill, and ended up flipping nose over tail. Here's an article that might help: https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/the-dangerous-truth-about-atv-accidents-25021#:~:text=Causes of ATV accidents range,exceeding capacity on the ATV. Some things are patently obvious...if it's built for one and someone else is hanging on, well...gee, what do you expect? Weight limits...the ATV might be rated for no more than 400 pounds. Put 2 football players totalling 475? Problem. I think I'd not worry in advance about what the mishap chance should be...if this is all NPCs, well then it's all narrative. If this involves a PC then perhaps we get into the RP...is the driver overconfident/foolish/naive or knowledgeable and prudent? Booze clearly impacts things. Storyline matters...if this leads to a rollover that could kill a PC or important NPC, well...it's a Stupid Death, and not necessarily something the GM wants to do.

You bring up the point that the notion of advantage and limitation has to be considered. This could be construed as a limitation on the blast *in this context* in that it is making the effect LESS impactful. The side effect is now the "attacker", you are the "defender". The positive side of Stun Only does not apply; the side effect has no reason to simply knock you out. Thus, Stun Only becomes a limitation. So you'd have to buy MORE dice of STUN only than you would of regular damage.

Under the circumstances that might not be a -0. When you're attacking something else, it gives you a safe takedown attack. Here, however, you're getting a notable benefit.

Chile, yes; they have solidly descending case numbers. Peru has done OK, I'd say, it's not out of hand but the graphs suggests it's increasing gradually. Not as bad as its peak but that was a narrow peak. Bangladesh...a little early but it does show the start of a positive trend. All of which just contrasts with the US numbers, and makes our utter failures stand out that much more.

Seems to me that the iconography would be significant with "Red Tails." In itself I think it's too vague to support the inference. Hmmm. How about the Washington Monuments?

Just put it on your Black Card. I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL would prefer Snyder to be gone, but yeah, they're not going to do anything unless they can connect *him*, directly, with big problems. It's not like the owners are a bunch of candidates for sainthood, so is he that much worse than several others? The owners and league, in general, don't want to go there...and if nothing else, the fact that it's a billion dollar enterprise makes things VERY complicated, when you try to oust the owner.

Seems unlikely the governor can be held liable for the ramifications of his order. It probably falls under general executive immunity. What I question is whether he has that authority, but I haven't heard about a challenge...this one would go straight to the state Supreme Court, I'm sure. We shall see. I'll say this...if I was still working, and my boss told me I had to go to Georgia for a week or be fired...I'd take being fired. In similar news... https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/georgia-named-among-18-states-in-covid-19-red-zone/DPXDBFIJ2FELJCXHVR4462DXYM/ Yeah, Florida's number yesterday was 1 case per 1500 people. That isn't red hot, it's white hot. Arizona had 1 day at that level. Highest for New York state was around 1 per 1700. For another negative comparison...Chile is getting their outbreak under control. Their daily case numbers have been on a solid decline for several weeks. Peru is doing better. Mexico's increase was slow and steady...but the last few weeks have seen what looks to be no growth in case numbers, from the graphs. The US, on the other hand, has been on a sharp rise for 5 solid weeks, with no end in sight.

Which leads to patently absurd results, so that method is wrong. Whether you add 2 or 5, it's just wrong to do "double adds X." Heck, look at the rules for Bases in 6E. The PD, ED, and BODY are implied to be per hex (more or less) of wall, floor, or ceiling...not for the base as a whole. The rules for BODY increase with size increase relate to an indivisible, inseparable unit...if you nail one part of a vehicle or body, it impacts the entire vehicle/body. That usually doesn't hold true on larger buildings; you can blast out the side of my house, but the front door's fine.

The 5E Star Hero's statement is just totally, completely, utterly ridiculous, and the thought process behind it is simply incorrect. Now, if you read the WHOLE sidebar, it basically says the same thing...that the argument they're making is pretty much foolish. Here's a few more lines from that sidebar: I will add...there is no "might" about it by their OWN statements. Go back to the 5E equipment guide where a 1 megaton blast does 40D killing. Case closed.

Hero Designer doesn't always do those mods cleanly, no. It's something you see in some places. For example, Shrinking with Normal Mass...yes, it reports the weight correctly, but it doesn't cancel the +6m of KB, which is another side of Normal Mass...it cancels the extra KB. I also get odd results with, say, buying STR as a power, with Reduced END (applies to all STR)...the END cost reported often isn't quite right. It's also probably a side effect of heroic rules vs. superheroic...superheroic never uses STR mins. The rules for when those apply are just...different. You COULD redo things, where the STR min becomes a 0-point usage limitation, and the club's bought purely as a 3d6 HA. That would be cheaper...3d6 HA, 0 END, 2 hands, OAF, real weapon...the limitations come out to -2 on 22 active, so it's 7 now. 8, if you drop Real Weapon which feels bloody redundant with OAF. Plus 1 more for the reach. I just dislike Fantasy Hero because it kludges a lot of things, IMO, making them far more of a mess than they should be. And it screams "throw every limit you can on!!!" like the OAF, Real Weapon combination to squeeze down every last point...which just says, IMO, the system is badly designed for that use.

A fairly simple rule might be that any damage past the Def of the vehicle, is applied to all occupants of the vehicle. Safety features can be incorporated with, say, applying 50% damage reduction to the occupants, or applying some dice of damage negation. Depends on the system. Air bag is probably damage negation, BODY only. Persons ejected from the car, still take that damage...PLUS damage from scraping the pavement, using the Knockback rules. Apply KB Resistance OR double, triple, even quadruple KB...think train running through a passenger vehicle for the latter. But it's hard to describe this in general, as the specifics matter. Train vs. car is obviously the EXTREME extreme, but 18-wheeler vs. 4 door sedan...ain't pretty. Big truck, say F350, versus a 2-seat sports car...not pretty. What are the speeds? There was a day when our workday was ended, indirectly, due to an accident...when a Mazda Miata was totally oblivious to a road block, and, I understand, literally plowed into the back of an unmoving 18-wheeler. Remember driver's ed pics???? Yeah.... The rules just wouldn't readily cover this; it's not even just a Move Through, it's worse. It's an inelastic Move Through...the Miata will crumple but continue to move forward. What is the orientation? 2 cars hitting head-on at 30 is really bad, because the overall closing velo is high and because the collision becomes completely inelastic. A car t-boning another car...where? Passenger side door...driver's side people will take MUCH less damage. Getting clipped off-center tends to not be AS bad, altho neck and spine injuries from the lateral movement might be more common.

To Hugh's point...I actually like to use an END Drain sometimes, over Costs END to Activate, particularly if this is an alternate approach to "assumes hero form." But, that's also for something that's infrequent. Here, if it's happening a lot, the slow recovery may become a significant problem, particularly for larger powers. 40 point power -> 4d6 of drain, and that's not gonna wear off for 3 turns. One thing I'd strongly suggest is, see if this would literally cripple the character. Run some combats against something generic. Figure, even 4d6 STUN damage, with normal recoveries involved, means you're looking at notably more recoveries required, and/or leaves you open to getting knocked DEEP into negative stun territory.

Shoot, it's not like I'm exactly dressed to the nines on days when the only time I plan to step out of the house is to get the mail...which is most days...

What is so....frustrating, terrifying, baffling... The Georgia governor issued an order banning cities and counties from issuing an order to require masks. Georgia's got a severe outbreak...3400 new cases yesterday, with a population of 10.2M, so 1 per ~3000. That's not the worst rate in the US but it's bad. Using yesterday's data...the worst rates were in FL, LA, NV, AZ, MS, AL, ID, TN, SC, TX, and then GA. Worse yet...as is the norm with covid-19, some areas are hit harder than others. MUCH of Georgia is bad and should be deeply concerned...but some are being crushed. Yet the governor issues this kind of insane order. It's pig-headed to say "no I'm not going to require masks" but it's downright draconian to attempt to bar mayors from doing it, when some of them are in a MAJOR crisis. And the NYT has an article about other states still not issuing mask orders...Idaho was one. Their rate yesterday was 1 case per 2600 people. What does it take...... That's where my mind becomes blown, and where I have to say, I have no reason to hope for the future now. None. If our handling of this is THIS bad, then we will never address any core problem meaningfully.

Somehow I don't think Dan Snyder is living in his happy place right now....

I feel like America's death has already happened. It's just that the separate parts haven't necessarily registered it yet, so there's still spasms. It has little to do with the coronavirus, and far more to do with our utterly fractured response...to this and to seemingly *everything* around us.

Even though France was beaten mercilessly in the initial stages of the pandemic..... The US is a couple of weeks away from passing them for per capita death rates. Italy, Spain, UK...not for too long to extrapolate. But, still...

I thought they only spoke that in isolated parts of western China...

One net effect of this is to push to Damage Reduction, because that can't be bypassed or reduced...well, ok, not talking Drain or Dispel. That's something entirely separate...and a whole, separate part of the arms race. As you go up in level...do NNDs become seriously effective...or totally useless, because more and more targets have the defense? Obviously it'll depend on what you target, but if it's Power Def or Mental Def...it's probably useless. Comes a point when NOT having at least some leaves you WAY too open.

Find Weakness I don't think I like making it a form of Advantage, naked or otherwise, because that makes it more subject to manipulation...basically, because any outside damage adders (martial arts maneuvers and DCs, Weaponmaster, STR for HTH) gain the benefit. If it's an Advantage, then you pay next to nothing on, say, an HA...in a 12 DC campaign, say 25 STR, 2 DC HA, 3 DCs martial arts, and maneuver damage, the Find Weakness is basically no points...the HA is only 10 to start with, and armor piercing is cheap. (I'll also add that I lean to *always* including HAs or martial DCs with STR > 15, to offset the slow damage increase compared to the exponential lift capacity increase. So a 30 STR character will likely get a 3d6 HA, or 3 HTH DCs, implicitly.) One point in favor of making it an advantage...or possibly adder, that's actually simpler to do and fixes much of the scaling issues...is that it's a LOT simpler than if it's a separate power or talent. Call it a 10 point adder for 11-, +1 to the roll for +2 points. The power defines the applicable defense. Note that this works with Variable Special Effects to change the attack type, because as an adder, the Variable Special Effects will be increasing that cost. BUT, I could also see a GM requiring a very good reason before allowing this combination. It also goes to DC/active point caps...because now the find weakness, which makes an attack more effective, is included in the attack's points directly. Especially as an adder. The language is an issue. 5E splits defenses very badly, with normal and damage resistance in 1 category, armor and force field in another, in terms of what works for Find Weakness. Secondary issue in making it armor piercing...what if the target has Hardened? Hardened is also fairly cheap, and useful enough. How often would someone bother with the "only versus Find Weakness"? Similarly, are you ever really gonna save that many points in your proposed, first construction? Armor piercing is +1/4; on 50 points that's 12. Half limit cuts it to 8. BUT the skill's 3. What about Damage Negation? Lack of Weakness This depends on how you want to finally define Find Weakness. If you go with, say, the adder for Find...10 points for 11-, +1 to the roll for 2 points...then Lack of Weakness is applied to a specific defense. -1 to the roll for 1 point, per 5E. Again, it's an adder, so it connects to a specific power and applies only to that power. I gotta say, tho, this is getting seriously messy. It's throwing on another option for an arms race between the players and GM...AP vs. hardened, Damage Negation vs. Reduced Negation, and now this. I'm not sure we want another avenue for potential exploitation.

The electorate of Britain, the US, and Brazil.

You're still overly focused on deaths. How many serious hospitalizations have there been? How many medium- to long-term problems? How many indirect complications such as the potential encephalitis-like condition? How much has Texas LIED about their deaths, as well? And a short-term amelioration...come on. How much of this was the culture of Texas and a LARGE percentage of the people refusing to even get tested? How do you know what the real case counts were, back in April and May? Texas is now showing infection rates similar to Arizona, and we will see deaths rising.

Because people aren't listening, just reacting. Also probably because others are trying to further their agendas by making sure things DON'T calm down.

pbem's makes sense; if anything it's low. Ignore the oceans; they just don't go deep enough to account for a notable fraction. Drop down into the mantle...starts about 30 km deep and extends down until the outer core. It's iron, magnesium, and silicon...which means 2 levels of DI. Consider...HS Equipment Guide gives stats for a nuclear blast. At ground zero, there's 20d6 BODY drain, 40d6 killing (20 each thermal and blast) and another 20 killing from winds. So call it 150 or so BODY. And it's like a pinprick on an elephant. Anything where you're trying to talk scales like this...we almost always massively underestimate. Ocean water is evaporated by the sun; 1 cm per day is reasonable, IIRC, for summertime. So take the Sea of Cortez...the body of water between Mexico proper and Baja California. It's a fairly regular shape...roughly 1000 km long by 100 km wide on average. So on an average day, you get 10^6 m * 10^5 m * 10^-2 m evaporating off...or 10^9...1 billion cubic meters. A day. Or, if you prefer: --1 billion tons of water. --264 billion gallons --an acre-foot is an irrigation measure...1 foot deep by 1 acre (660 feet by 66 feet, who knows why). So this is about 8 million acre-feet. --on the Web, I found an article from 2017 saying the city of Phoenix uses 2.3 million acre-feet a day...so this is enough water for the ENTIRE city for 3 days. And that's one small arm of the ocean...that's not even, say, the Gulf of Mexico. Much less the equatorial region of the Pacific. Planetary scales are just plain IMMENSE.

"Don't worry, no jury in the universe would convict you....."