Rashomon - please step me thru how you have Toughness 22(6). I see 10 SPP in Toughness, for 10 Toughness, and a d8 Vigor, for another 4, and 6 Armor, so 20(6)?
VeeSix - same question. 13 SPP in Toughness for 13 Toughness, d12 Vigor for another 6, and +2 Armor, so 21(2)? I didn't look up the effects all your Edges, so if that's where the extra points came from, just let me know.
Thanks!
I'd like everyone to verify that the following information is correct :
ANGEL : Parry 5, Toughness 16; 3 Bennies
Fortune : Parry 11, Toughness 10; 6 Bennies
Hellion : Parry 13, Toughness 17(6); 3 Bennies
Rashomon : Parry 5, Toughness 22(6); 4 Bennies
VeeSix : Parry 6/7, Toughness 22(2); 3 BenniesThanks!
Hellion: parry 13; toughness 17(6); 4/4Bennies(i had the bonus one from rp earlier that overcapped me to 5/4)
But, why does your Parry rise when your sword is just on your person, but not readied? Normally you only get any weapon's Parry benefit when you're wielding it, unless this is some kind of special Edge or Super thing...
I get higher parry because it's the increased parry super power tied via device perk to my sword. My understanding is that Device only needs you to have the device on you, since you can't like 'ready' a belt that gives you super strength for instance. So having the sword on me gives me the bonus to parry as it enhances Hellion's reflexes passively. But then the extra +1 is from the trademark weapon edge which specifically requires when 'this weapon is readied'
So theoretically if instead of my extra parry being tied to my sword it were tied to i dunno a bandana that I have to wear, it'd be active so long as the bandana was on your person. So when she's at the base without the sword on her or if she gets disarmed for instance her parry would drop because she's no longer in posession of it. Does that all make sense? That's how my brain logiced it out based on the text for Devices at least.
Did the gangers close in on Hellion? Their previous post mentioned shooting without any follow-up to move to melee so i'm unsure of the Engagement for them. Speaking of which 2 of the mooks missed their shots on 1 or 2 which should provoke the Firing into Melee rule(see Fire into melee pg101 and innocent bystanders on page 102) which means they(mook 2 and 4) could potentially accidentally shoot Herc instead last round.
Gonna wait to see what the others do since i'm a fair bit down the init list this time around.
I'd like everyone to verify that the following information is correct :
ANGEL : Parry 5, Toughness 16; 3 Bennies
Fortune : Parry 11, Toughness 10; 6 Bennies
Hellion : Parry 13, Toughness 17(6); 3 Bennies
Rashomon : Parry 5, Toughness 22(6); 4 Bennies
VeeSix : Parry 6/7, Toughness 22(2); 3 BenniesThanks!
Angel looks correct.
Forgive me for popping in here, but the title of this game caught my attention. A friend of mine from another play-by-post board (GM Zork) wrote a book called Villains by Necessity - a really great read if you can find it. Enjoy the game!
Hellion - ok, thanks for explaining the Parry. So in combat your Parry is 13 (unless you have an alternate form of attack?).
Hellion - ok, thanks for explaining the Parry. So in combat your Parry is 13 (unless you have an alternate form of attack?).
12 unless i have my sword out and readied then 13 but yeah essentially 13 the only time it's only 12 is basically before I get a turn in a combat.
Parry, toughness, and Bennies are correct for Fortune.
I thought of a way to visualize the situation discussed about a massive wound followed by an equally massive soak. I'd suggest that the outcome of the attack is not resolved until the soak roll is made or if the soak roll is not taken. If the soak removes all wounds and conditions, then it would imply an blow that looked like it would hit hard, but the defender made an equally remarkable dodge/Parry to keep the wound at bay.
So if I were the GM and an enemy rolled an impressive hit/damage, I would not narrate as a hit but as a potential hit, with the official description of what happened waiting until the soak option has been resolved. It's a bit different than normal d20 process where the question of a critical hit is all determined by the dice and the AC and the GM. In a PBP situation, it can be a bit off-putting to have to wait a day to find out the outcome, but it cannot be avoided in SW PBP.
I'm working on Fortune's background story. How long ago was the initial take-over by the V'Sori? Fortune is 15, so I'm trying to work out how old she was during the period between the V'Sori take-over and the liberation that removed them from power.
Rashomon - please step me thru how you have Toughness 22(6). I see 10 SPP in Toughness, for 10 Toughness, and a d8 Vigor, for another 4, and 6 Armor, so 20(6)?
VeeSix - same question. 13 SPP in Toughness for 13 Toughness, d12 Vigor for another 6, and +2 Armor, so 21(2)? I didn't look up the effects all your Edges, so if that's where the extra points came from, just let me know.
Thanks!
No problem. You're forgetting how toughness is calculated.
Toughness is 2 plus half your Vigor, plus Armor (use the Armor worn on his torso - see page 69). Vigor over d12 is calculated just like Parry, above.
So, the question is if we were the only ones that didn't add up, does that mean everyone else forgot the 2+1/2 Vigor rule?
So, the question is if we were the only ones that didn't add up, does that mean everyone else forgot the 2+1/2 Vigor rule?
Hellion is 2+1/2vigor(5)+4(powers)+6(armor)
So 17(6of that being armor) so i'm good.
Rashomon - arrgh, I remembered the Vigor/2 but forgot the +2 (I know my memory is bad, but this...concerning). I only checked you two because you were such outliers.
But, that means my corrected calculation for VeeSix is 23(2), compared to his stated 22(2). And I haven't checked, but I think one of his Edges *might* boost his Toughness too.
I've checked everyone else's Toughness, and they're all correct.
VeeSix : I calculate 2+12(Vigor)/2 + 1(Brawny) + 1(Brawler) + 13(SPP) or 23 innate Toughness. Add the +2 armor to that, and it's 25(2). Please update your character sheet and tagline, thanks!
About Toughness...
So, we have a span of 15 Toughness between the lowest and highest Toughness in the group. That's the equivalent of 3 Wounds.
So damage that would inflict 3 Wounds on Fortune would just Shaken Rashomon and not touch VeeSix, and damage that would inflict 1 Wound on them would inflict 4 Wounds on Fortune.
The next biggest gap is 9 Toughness, so damage that would inflict 3 Wounds on Angel would inflict 1 Wound on Rashomon and Shaken VeeSix, and damage that would inflict 2 Wounds on them would inflict 4 Wounds on Angel.
This is the most frustrating thing about Supers - in my SWPF game, there's only a 2-point difference between the highest and lowest Toughness.
In the past, players have suggested that I have two kinds of NPC's in combat, low-damage and high-damage types. But if the PC's get to act first, I can't control which type they'll pick. And cherry-picking who's attacking who seems contrived to me anyway.
Any thoughts about how to handle this?
Hey DM, I’ve been ill the last couple of days (literally couldn’t see out of one eye), and I don’t usually post on weekends, but to answer your question about Six’s Toughness, Here is how I calculated it.
Standard 2+ Vigor (d12+1/2= 6)=8 + Powers 13= 21 +Brawny and Bruiser 2= 23, +2 Armor =25. I remember us having a discussion about this though and you didn’t want it so high, but I will make the change. I know it’s going to make me a target for rail guns and anti-tank weapons…
I've got two ideas about how to handle the wide range of Toughness :
1. Let the tanks be tanks, and scale the bad-guys' damage so that it can sometimes hurt the Toughness 16-17 PC's, which only has a slight chance of killing Fortune (and I've PM'd her with some ideas on how to avoid that). In some rare cases, some bad guys might be prepared with a rail gun or anti-tank weapon to challenge the tanks.
2. Set a 2-Wound cap on all Damage. That way, I don't have to worry about weapons that could at least scrape the tanks with 1 Wound killing the low-Toughness PCs (except for the unlikely event of two 2-Wounds in a row).
Thoughts?
We could also rearrange things a bit in terms of points. I could give Rashomon a super fast regeneration to signify his 'Physical Continuity' power, instead of having toughness. If VeeSix did something similar, we could have more normalish Toughness, and make the weapons a little more consistent in damage.
Well, moving 5 points of Toughness to possibly heal Wounds every hour would bring you two right in-line with most everyone else. But these were *your* character concepts, I really don't like the idea of asking you to change them. If you wanted to be tanks, I think you should be tanks.
What does everyone think about the ramifications of the two possibilities I mentioned in my previous post?
About combat order in melee :
If a group of PCs are in-between some bad guys in Initiative, I'd prefer that the players in that group post in any order, just to speed up gameplay. If you adhere to the strict order of Initiative, then things might get hung up if one player is busy, or sick, or whatever.
I prefer to allow people to post anytime as well. Waiting for your turn tends to cause big delays.
I posted my opinion, which was that both options are viable, but the board seems to have eaten it. As I say, both are viable to me, though if I had to choose one, I'd go with the first one.
Keep in mind that Fortune can increase her toughness with super sorcery spell to give her armor or extra toughness. She can add 8 more points of toughness super power to give her a total toughness of 18.
She'll certainly try to do that if she expects to get into a fight or else she can use a spell to make herself intangible, which would eliminate the threat of normal types of physical damage. She will also try to avoid combat by staying back and can use a spell to make herself invisible or to create an illusion that makes her harder to attack.
I'm okay with living with the risk and I will keep Fortune from fights that look like they'll involve super damaging opponents. She would still be vulnerable in situations where the group gets ambushed and she does not have time to boost her toughness or use other tactics. Then her fate depends on her rolls to deal with the damage.
I'm working on Fortune's background story. How long ago was the initial take-over by the V'Sori? Fortune is 15, so I'm trying to work out how old she was during the period between the V'Sori take-over and the liberation that removed them from power.
At the next advance, I'll probably eliminate the Young Hindrance, with the explanation that she passed her 16th birthday. I'm assuming that would give her a point to adjust her attributes and 2 more skill points, on the assumption these are the result of reaching physical maturity and having time to improve her skillset.
Six was built to take damage from superpowers and heavy weapons, thus his high Toughness and Regeneration, which incidentally, is already at once per hour. I’d be more than happy to lower the Toughness to increase his Regeneration to much faster if needed to balance the combats. My ultimate goal is for him to be someone that keeps coming back, no matter what they dish at him. He may not be able to do too much damage, but he can take it. Remember the V’Sori wanted something that the supervillains couldn’t kill.
I think allowing us to keep things as is is better(in terms of toughness) that way it feels like we actually have to frontline for the squishier folks. Hard to really make that feel good I guess given that a lucky gun or other ranged shot could get hyper lucky and blap someone immediately with almost no chance of recourse.
But I think I'd personally rather that then everyone be some homogenized Beefcake bruiser when the playstyle is 'definitely dottering old man' or Wispy Vvizard.
And yeah turns at least those in a block I think can be sort of fluid just try not to step on eachothers toes, it could be a neat way to do some cool team stuff. That being said stuns and Jokers need to be handled accordingly, but I think keeping ooc notes at the end of a post can help too and we've also got the discussion thread for any other quirky stuff.
Also also, on build stuff. Hellion is being quite frank, a blatant DMC character, she's supposed to be pretty tanky, but not impossible to put down(proven by the crazy triple wound earlier wowie). But she's meant as a bruiser more than a straight up tank like Veesix, takes some hits, but more of the get in get out kind of fighting style. She'll shrug off smaller stuff but she isn't meant to go up against heavy/super heavy hitters in a drag out brawl. Toughness was also just easier to raise than parry despite her relying thematically more on dodging attacks than soaking them upfront, but that's just a limitation of how the system points work out.
It's certainly a hard balance to strike in a system that can be so deadly and punishing when one person gets some crazy streak of luck or badluck(depending on who's viewing it) Just as well I know that in my earlier example that wasn't how Regen works, but it was just one way to interpret how a 'soaked' wound might function thematically instead of relying on the literal mechanical power of regeneration.
Fortune - let's say the V'sori have been around for 13 years, giving them time to get well entrenched.
VeeSix - given the description of what you want out of your PC, an extra 5 SPP in Regeneration would give you a Focus roll to heal Wounds every Round, making you truly almost impossible to kill, so I wouldn't disallow it. But I'm now fine with your high Toughness, and as Hellion pointed out, it makes you a front-liner. I'll leave the decision up to you.
Hellion - DMC = Defensive Midfielder Character? That's the best option I found...
ALL - what do you think the in-game effect would be of a 2-Wound cap (the Supers setting already has a 4-Wound cap)? Would removing the chance to be one-shotted remove some of the excitement and tension of combat?
Rashomon is more of a support and utility character. He can do a lot for the group, but his power is also a big weakness. Knocking out any.one of his locations knocks them all out. And being in four places means enemies have four times as many chances to shoot at me. Given that he's not a frontliner, I could see dropping his Toughness. But on the other hand, there being four of him means he can draw a lot of fire, meaning his role might be to distract heat from the offensive characters.
The big disadvantage of Regenerstion is that it says in the description that if rendered unconscious by injury, you remain unconscious for an hour, even though you'd likely be fully healed within 30 seconds. If it wasn't for that, I might consider regeneration, but as it is, he draws a lot of fire, and can't afford to get knocked out of the whole fight that easy.
I’ll keep Six the same then and as he gets stronger, perhaps his regeneration will improve over time.
I'm going camping off the grid this weekend and will not have Internet access, so please bot me as necessary.
We have a new player, this seems like a good time to introduce him...
For future reference, is there a post where the base is described or the features it possesses was discussed?
For future reference, is there a post where the base is described or the features it possesses was discussed?
Actually there is!
If you go up to the tabs and then click on Campaign Info, there's a whole thing in there. I haven't looked it all up, but it's great.
Sentry could still use a tour ... but it will be awesome.
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Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't thought to look there.
I'd still like some kind of description about what it appears to be from the outside, how we enter and leave, particularly if we don't want bystanders to see us come and go, etc.
Thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't thought to look there.
I'd still like some kind of description about what it appears to be from the outside, how we enter and leave, particularly if we don't want bystanders to see us come and go, etc.
Completely agree - glad to write in that there's a "doorbell" but having a base is definately a thing, a cool one. Some of my favorite scene's from Titans are in their huge condo in San Francisco.
The base is an abandoned warehouse in an area full of them. While there is a front door, you use a side door whose view is blocked by another building. In the basement, there's a large tunnel big enough for the van that travels about a mile underground and comes out at an abandoned part of town (think of the sliding wall advertisement from the old Green Hornet TV show, if you ever saw that - click HERE for a brief video of it).
The lair specs in Campaign Info came from the SWD version of Supers, where you had so many "points" to put features into the lair. I don't like the SWADE Supers version of lair-building, so I kept the old one.
Sentry - could you please copy your PC build to your PC's link's Profile? Thanks!
The base is an abandoned warehouse in an area full of them. While there is a front door, you use a side door whose view is blocked by another building. In the basement, there's a large tunnel big enough for the van that travels about a mile underground and comes out at an abandoned part of town (think of the sliding wall advertisement from the old Green Hornet TV show, if you ever saw that - click HERE for a brief video of it).
The lair specs in Campaign Info came from the SWD version of Supers, where you had so many "points" to put features into the lair. I don't like the SWADE Supers version of lair-building, so I kept the old one.
Sentry - could you please copy your PC build to your PC's link's Profile? Thanks!
So sorry! I think I thought I did that for BOTH Sentrys, but it seems I did not. Will take care of it later this afternoon.
Sorry folks things have been especially hectic this week
So sorry! I think I thought I did that for BOTH Sentrys, but it seems I did not. Will take care of it later this afternoon.The base is an abandoned warehouse in an area full of them. While there is a front door, you use a side door whose view is blocked by another building. In the basement, there's a large tunnel big enough for the van that travels about a mile underground and comes out at an abandoned part of town (think of the sliding wall advertisement from the old Green Hornet TV show, if you ever saw that - click HERE for a brief video of it).
The lair specs in Campaign Info came from the SWD version of Supers, where you had so many "points" to put features into the lair. I don't like the SWADE Supers version of lair-building, so I kept the old one.
Sentry - could you please copy your PC build to your PC's link's Profile? Thanks!
... and have spent the balance of the week with possibly the 2nd worst food poisoning I have ever had. Sorry folks, I will be able to be at my keyboard this weekend, promise.
Evindyl - sorry to hear that. Take your time in getting back up to speed...
Evindyl - sorry to hear that. Take your time in getting back up to speed...
THANK YOU - I think I'm through it, slept & ate like a normal person yesterday. I'll do my best catching up :)
Evindyl - sorry to hear that. Take your time in getting back up to speed...THANK YOU - I think I'm through it, slept & ate like a normal person yesterday. I'll do my best catching up :)
Sorry Hellion, I literally wasn't well enough to sit at my desk.
I am now ;)Let me go to savaged and copy out my stats
No secrets, not even a secret identity
Evindyl - sorry to hear that. Take your time in getting back up to speed...THANK YOU - I think I'm through it, slept & ate like a normal person yesterday. I'll do my best catching up :)Sorry Hellion, I literally wasn't well enough to sit at my desk.
I am now ;)Let me go to savaged and copy out my stats
No secrets, not even a secret identity
oh dang, I missed that message hope you're feeling better now
I've had a few bouts of food poisoning across the years, this was just intense, and tbh painful which was weird. Def on the mend though, thank you.
Enough to sit here and fire up savaged and copy out some data for sure.
Not sure if I need to do anything for gear, or Sentry can just have drinking money (or chip in for Chinese if he needs to)
Gear is optional. With Sentry's powers, I'm not sure he needs much...
Bleh only just now caught the broken tag
Fortune - first off, thanks for the description of the "extras" to the illusion in Gameplay, they were very helpful!
Ok, so I have a whole home-brew set of guidelines for illusions. The short form is :
To make an illusion “act correctly”, I’m adding a rule that to do that, the caster must “concentrate” (a no-roll, non-Free Action that generates a MAP) to send it commands. Just like constructs need to be told what to do, but then carry out that command semi-autonomously, illusions need to be told what to do, but then carry out that command semi-autonomously. Since verbal commands would defeat the purpose of an illusion, the commands must be sent mentally thru concentration.
The rules say that as long as the caster “pays attention”, the illusion reacts to attacks correctly. But, this requires the caster to be within sight of the illusion to make it act correctly, and requires the caster to concentrate to provide the appropriate reactions.
As a rule of thumb, you "interact" with an illusion upon attacking it (whether or not you hit it), touching it, targeting it with a spell, throwing something at it, or doing something else that one might do with a real creature or object.
"Reasonable suspicion" is : if by only observing, you can state anything that seems to be wrong, any specific reason why what you see couldn't be real. Example : you approach an illusion of a wall of flames, but don’t feel any heat coming from it (this is “observation”, it wouldn’t be “interaction” unless you entered the area of the flames).
Then the possible situations are :
•You are casually observing, and it’s acting correctly : no Smarts roll
•You are casually observing, and it’s not acting correctly (reasonable suspicion, bad interaction) : Smarts roll
•You are interacting, and it’s acting correctly : Smarts roll
•You are interacting, and it’s not acting correctly : Smarts+4 roll
•Merely talking to an illusion should not trigger a Smarts roll. But in order for the illusion to talk back sensibly to someone, the caster must hear what’s being said to the illusion, and be concentrating to make it reply accordingly. If the caster does not concentrate, then the illusion is “interacting incorrectly” : Smarts+4 roll. If the illusion is not required to respond (“hey you, move on”), no Smarts roll.
•Influencing your behavior (without contact), such as Intimidation, Fear, Persuasion, etc. : the caster must make the appropriate Skill roll to make the illusion act in the correct manner; the target gets an opposed Spirit roll as usual. Success means he gets a Smarts roll to know it’s an illusion, failure on the Spirit roll means he reacts appropriately to the attempted influencing and no Smarts roll.
•In a world filled with magic or Supers, a creature appearing out of thin air is probably not especially strange, so no initial Smarts roll.
These are not meant to limit illusions, but to provide well-defined situations in which someone is allowed to make a Smarts roll to disbelieve the illusion. I will be the one who has to keep track of all this stuff, not the players.
These were written for the common AB Illusion Power, the super-power changes a few things :
First off, subtract 2 from all the Smarts rolls mentioned above.
The Supers illusion doesn’t mention sound, which for the AB cost extra PP. But because this is Supers, I’m going to say that sound is included in the basic cost.
Regarding After Effects : the rules refer to damage done by a creature's passing thru an area, not apparently inflicted Wounds. I'd say you can only affect the environment with After Effects (like an illusion of a monster wandering the streets, apparently smashing cars and throwing them around - those effects remain once the illusion's AoE leaves the area).
System Shock just makes the illusion so powerful that it can possibly Shaken targets. I have no problems with that.
Fortune - regarding After Effects, based on the one brief example, it apparently overlays a static illusion over areas that the active illusion has passed thru, maintaining illusory wreckage or damage while hiding any real objects or people by using invisibility. That's the best way I've come up with to describe how it does what it does.
But, I've changed my mind since the last post, I think it could affect people as well, not just the environment.
I'd just like to see some examples of how you envision using it, thanks!
No problems with these rules on illusions. My version of Super Powers Companion states, "Illusion allows a character to create imaginary
images and sounds." So sounds are part of it.
In the current situation, I'm assuming Fortune is within range of the entrance where Hellion will approach and can see and hear what is happening while pretending to just be a street person panhandling.
As for the After Effects, the main thing I envision is the SWAT guy using a weapon or fist to do damage to either something inanimate nearby as a show of force and intimidation or attacking one of the gang members, which would hit and cause damage like blood and (slight) gore. These would have to be within the area of effect for the illusion, which is an MBT.
If attempting to intimidate, I understand the logic of having Fortune make a skill roll, but I'm hoping some consideration can be made for the benefit of being a big, well-armed and armored hulk with heavy weapons, which would boost the intimidation factor considerably over what Fortune could attain all by her modest lonesome. Perhaps a bonus to her roll of +2 or +4 (given the raise she got on the activation roll).
Don't forget, After Effects specifically states that it only affects things in areas where the MBT of the illusion has left.
First off, hitting a gang member would count as "interaction", and since the illusion can do no real harm, not only would they not feel anything, but they'd get a Smarts+2 roll to disbelieve.
The illusion you've created is the big, hulking guy. I don't feel comfortable having an illusion hitting a nearby lamppost and having it appear to be bent, because that's a *new* illusion. If you wanted to, you could cast another illusion as the post appears to be hit, making it look bent...
Probably the best thing your illusion could do is just walk up to a ganger, flex his muscles, snarl, and try to Intimidate him. I'd give you a +4, so the roll would be d4+2. The ganger would get an opposed roll whose TN would be whatever you roll.
After some more consideration, I'd be willing to have you use your Focus roll result that created the illusion as the Target Number for the bad guy's Intimidation opposed roll. If you try this in combat, it becomes a Test - you don't actually Intimidate him, but you can make him Distracted or Vulnerable, or both on a Raise.