Heroes of Today

Game Master Ironperenti

Atlastic's intro post is up - going with him patrolling alone at the moment (means no-one else can hog the limelight ;)

Until Slimer from Ghostbusters shows up, than he will hog the slimelight. :P

@Ironperenti First, I love your timeline. Marvel, DC and Champions all mashed together. I stopped regularly playing Champs before the Millennium stuff, so I enjoyed the development to recent years, especially the reveal of Achilles as the leader of both UNTIL and Hydra!

Second, the Gameplay thread indicates that the group starts in Vibora Bay and infers that that location is near the Florida panhandle. Is Vibora Tampa?

With the heroes that are already declared, I was thinking about bringing in a magic-based utility/sneaky hero. I found in the timeline, "2012: An extra dimensional invasion from the shadow realm is stopped by a group of independent heroes in Vibora Bay." So, I was thinking that a shadow realm denizen who did not support the invasion but maybe went along with it to escape the shadow realm deserted and stayed in Vibora Bay. After observing the locals, they set up a supernatural tourist shop and introduced themselves as an immigrant from Europe. That was about seven years ago. Then, when the local superhero group starts working together, my character joins up.

Would appreciate all feedback, especially about the Shadow Realm. I was thinking it's like the Fey Court or Dark Elf realm of Norse, but would greatly appreciate your perspective, so I can align.

Cheers

A Dökkálfar sounds really cool - love the idea of them running a local shop of supernatural curios and the like.

The shadow realm was never fleshed out. I had a main villain, Nightshade, who had shadow powers to drain life, had a dark strength, and could turn people into shadow slaves. He had a simple megalomaniacal goal of turning earth into a world of slaves and ruling. At his beck and call were lesser versions of himself, Nightshade Forerunners, and Shadow demons. We had one superhero based somewhat on a connection with this dark realm who had portals he could open in defense of himself and somehow he had a grasping darkness type of portal that would drain opponents and try to drag them into the darkness. You can riff off of that what you will.

Vibora Bay is just up the road from Panama City, I think Freeefall sent a map link.

I'll give Jubal a day or so to get something ginned up. Once everyone has posted in gameplay I'll adjust the scene. Being in different areas will make it interesting.

Oh, I tend to use roll20 for maps. Is that an issue for anyone?

I am good with you using roll20 for maps.

I sent the links for Panama City and the Champions universe page for Vibrora Bay, as one of Jubal's posts indicated he thought Vibora Bay was close to (or is where) Tampa is, which is a considerable distance away from where Panama City, Florida is.

I did not think of googling where Vibora Bay was in the Champions universe until after I had posted the question regarding which of the two Panama Cities is the location for Vibora Bay.

@Black Dow: I like the double entendre of Atlastic's catchphrase. The long stretching Atlastic does apprehending the bad guy and the implied long stretch in jail/prison their crimes are going to cost them.

While I prefer not having to log into something to see a map, I have a Roll20 account so I can access it.

Ok. The Shadow World was more undead than I was thinking, so I'm going to pivot.

In the timeline, there's "1940: Hydra reopens the Bifrost bridge to the lands of Asgard. Using the hypno-wash, the Red Skull (Johann Schmidt) is able to dominate Asgardian ogres and brings them over to fight for the Axis powers. Thor soon returns to midgard to deal with the ogres." and "1945: The Red Skull is defeated by Captain America and apparently dies in his booby trapped chateau. The explosion destroys the connection to the Bifrost pulling the ogres and Thor back to Asgard."

So, I'm going to run a Dökkálfar who sneaked over the Bifrost and emigrated to Florida after the war. He currently runs that curio shop in Vibora Bay and has recently joined the team after the hurricane to help his new neighbors.

@Ironperenti I'm probably going to need the weekend to finish the character, but I'll get a profile together and a Gameplay post asap.

Thanks

Roll20 works for me as well.

Oh. and Roll20 is perfect for me

Roll20 has been a bit spotty for me in the past, but aye works.

Talisman is posted asap. His character build is in the Profile.

Any and all feedback are welcome. Even, a better superhero name than Talisman.

Talisman are you a member of our team already? I think it would be easiest if you are but this could also be our meeting.

In my mind I'm envisioning Gust and Freefall meeting, then joining up with Voltage (I think that is the plane rescue)? Then the three of them officially declare teamhood. After that they notice trouble at the circus, and Atlastic joins them while the carnies rebuild their show.

Perhaps Talisman is the most recent member--maybe as we approached Halloween, the team was dealing with a situation involving a purported curse, and they heard about the guy in the curio shop and asked for help?

I like Talisman as a name, but perhaps also Sigil or Rune?

I actually had thought that Talisman became a superhero and joined the team seven years ago (2012) to defend against the Shadow Realm invasion of Vibora Bay.

Does that makes him the latest to join?

Talisman are you a member of our team already? I think it would be easiest if you are but this could also be our meeting.

In my mind I'm envisioning Gust and Freefall meeting, then joining up with Voltage (I think that is the plane rescue)? Then the three of them officially declare teamhood. After that they notice trouble at the circus, and Atlastic joins them while the carnies rebuild their show.

Perhaps Talisman is the most recent member--maybe as we approached Halloween, the team was dealing with a situation involving a purported curse, and they heard about the guy in the curio shop and asked for help?

I like Talisman as a name, but perhaps also Sigil or Rune?

I was thinking to suggest Sigil as the dark elf's hero name as well.

I think the order of meetings that DQ suggested works best organically, with changing it so the three divine scions meet both Atlastic and the dark elf during the event at the circus.

Kenny has been living in Vibora Bay, enjoying the windsurfing culture of various surfing/windsurfing culture areas (teleporting back to his 'houseboat', whereever he has 'anchored it' at the time).

While enjoying the surf at Vibora Bay, he detects the presence of divinity in a nearby surfer/windsurfer - Gust. They bond. Gust might have influenced the thrill seeking Kenny that crimefighting is a type of thrill-seeking. Kenny is not sure if he wants to risk the public knowing he has powers (and might try to take his honest-earned medals and prize money away - which means his home (including his 'houseboat'). Gust might have suggested ideas for a heroing costume that conceals his identity while heroing.

Then the day of the planes crashing and falling from the sky happens, and Kenny could not sit idly by while it would be easy for him to help save hundreds of innocents. Gust was not surprised that Kenny did not waste time to become a hero in such a situation. During the rescue, Gust flies up to the planes, while another hero (Voltage) is also seen flying towards the planes. While the two of them are doing heroing things while the planes are falling to the ground, Kenny ports to the parking lot, borrows a tinted motorcycle helmet from an unattended parked motorcylce, and ports above one of the planes, yells out to Voltage and Gust he is going to teleport the plane (and passengers) he is falling onto into the ocean away from the swimmers/surfers while they deal with the other plane. If needed (depending on how Gust and Voltage want to handle the second plane being saved) Kenny can repeat the teleportation save for the second plane (and passengers) as well.

While falling to the first plane, Kenny detects Voltage's divinity.

Post plane crash saving, Gust (Nick) asks Voltage (Hector) if he would like to team up with him and his friend (Kenny), knowing like him, Kenny does not want his real identity to be associated with him being a superhero, and Kenny does not have a superhero name alias at this time yet, as it was his first public heroing act.

It could be that Gust or Voltage suggest Freefall as Kenny's superhero name (as the two saw him port above the first plane and was freefalling until he landed atop the plane. When the crowd was applauding the heroes and asking who we are (if Voltage was not known as Voltage yet) and Kenny did not answer, his tinted visor concealed head turning towards Nick, and it was apparent that Kenny did not know how to answer or was afraid to speak (as his voice would be known to a number of surfers/windsurfers on the beach), either Gust or Voltage told the crowd, "His name is Freefall."

I suggest that maybe the event at the circus is when the divine scions met both Atlastic and the dark elf wizard. While the divine trio were in attendance enjoying the show, so was the dark elf (in his human guise) was also attending the circus (for the show or maybe to ask about acquiring a curio from one of the circus folk he heard rumours about). As for what the incident at the circus was, (I think) that is still not decided what the details were. Maybe the curio the dark elf (in his human guise) went to inquire about is somehow involved in causing the incident that resulted in the five of us saving the day.

If you all like the above suggestion, I also suggest that Atlastic and Talisman (Sigil?) decide on the details of the circus event and saving.

I actually had thought that Talisman became a superhero and joined the team seven years ago (2012) to defend against the Shadow Realm invasion of Vibora Bay.

Does that makes him the latest to join?

Talisman (Sigil?) has been publicly known as a hero since he was part of the heroes that were the heroes that saved Vibora Bay seven years ago.

Was he part of the big hero team (The Guard) that was disbanded a year ago, was he part of a different team or was he a solo hero that was helping save the day seven years ago.

As for the current PC team, that was created during the current year. I think all (not including the dark elf) have all said we were not part of the big team (that got disbanded a year ago) and some of us were not even superheroing until the current year.

As for the name of the new team (pre-Atlastic and the dark elf joining at least), does Scions of the Sky work? Our debut team-up took place in the sky that hundreds (thousands?) of beach-goers witnessed.

OK Two votes for Sigil.

Didn't know about the previous team. I'm going to investigate... OK the Guard is the Avengers / Justice League equivalent.

So, I would say that my character is a known independent hero, local to Vibora Bay, probably a reserve member of the Guard. Meaning, he would show up for Vibora Bay disaster response (Shadow World invasion, Elder Worm invasion, hurricane, etc.) and be occasionally consulted on magical threats.

Sigil gets my vote too JB :)

Regards the event or "mini-series" that brought us together - am thinking maybe a magic item - coveted by a villain or villainous group that was broken into shards/parts.

One part was in the possession of Sigil (sic) that he was perhaps studying or conducting research into. One part was being used by a carnival entertainer as part of their "magic" act - granting them some [insert magic item theme] powers? Another part (or parts) were discovered/recovered by the Scions.

Would have allowed us to come together as a group - save those possessed or threatened by the [unnamed artefacts shards] and overcome the final threat [that coveted said reunited magical item]...

Just spitballing. "Item" could a set of items - a crystal ball, flying broom, deck of cards... etc.

Will have a mull

One of the parts of the magic item might be involved in how the planes crashed into each other...with that part being the second 'part of three' that Sigil acquired post-plane crash. I am thinking that during the plane crashing and saving day, the Scions never discovered the cause of the plane crash (and were oblivious that a (piece of) a magic item caused the planes to crash.

@Sigil: How did you acquire the first piece you gained? Already had it in his possession, maybe with a 'flashback scene' in Issue/Episode #1 of (name of our group) of how it came to be in his possession, or he acquired it more recently than a flashback scene from months/years ago?

With the day at the circus when Sigil was seeking the third piece...which might not be the final piece...but caused the event that brought, individually, Atlastic and Sigil, to team up with the Scions.

Benefits of it not being the final piece...the pieces are unstable, Jubal does not need to work in the cost of the 'completed' magic item with his 150 power point budget, and gives Ironperenti a plot device item he can expand on to surprise us during the campaign.

@Jubal: Do you want to work in the cost of the completed tentative magic item in your character build?

Um. I'm a little lost right now about where and when these planes crashed into each other. However, I'm up for anything.

Sigil already has four magic items. He could have already reconfigured the one he found to something more useful than blowing up airplanes

The day of the planes crashing would make sense to happen during the summer, when there are considerable more people at the beaches. As the timeline has significant things happened in March and then earlier in the current month of October, let's say July. Could even be July 4th for unexpected 'fireworks' in the daytime sky.

As for the piece of the magic item that was involved in the planes crashing...maybe that piece of the magic item has the ability to cause confusion/mental control or domination...which caused the pilot of one plane to fly into the other plane with not enough time for the pilot of the other plane to change course to get out of the way of the first plane).

Maybe the item was in the cargo hold, and some mischevious gremlin got ahold of it and went out onto one of the wings of the plane....

The planes were flying high in sky above the shores/near the shores of Vibora Bay.

I was just suggesting something that felt organic with the concept of the group but have no deep investment in who did what when. Foremost I'd something feels right for your character, do that thing.

The rest of the conversation is getting to be a little overwhelming to keep track of; maybe we should come up with a simple timeline?

Like
2012: X happens
2913: Y happens

Non-italicized from timeline from gameplay post by the GM. Italicized posts are about our heroes. Everyone good with the following order of events?

2018:

January:

February:

March: March for our Lives protest brought numerous well-meaning citizens to the capital to march for gun control. The call to enforce existing laws and to not add new ones won out.

April:

May: The super villain Pele tried to conquer the Hawaiian Islands causing the Kilauea volcano to erupt. She was eventually defeated and driven off by the Pacific Rim Watchers. Also in May, the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran made general threats against the US and the Crimson Jihad declared they would assassinate the US President when it was least expected. Major Marvel has been on high alert since then and has been in contact with numerous other supers trying to maintain a protective net around the US and the President.

June: Kenny (Freefall) meets Nick (Gust) while windsurfing.

July: While Nick and Kenny are windsurfing at the beach, a plane crashes into another one; The three that will become known as the Scions of the Sky save the day.

August: While the Scions (not in hero gear) are enjoying the show, and Sigil is there about a magic item, something happens that is the first team-up of all 5 of the heroes.

September:

October: Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida panhandle early in October. Vibora Bay was devastated by the hurricane. Cleanup has been ongoing.

What is the average maximum distance humans can perceive how many other humans there are in a small gathering?

A common tactic Freefall uses when he hears something that might require actively heroing that he is unable to see precisely what is going on, is to teleport 1400' above the ground (making him able to distinguish between upper and lower bodies of people on the ground) and falling 580 feet during the round to be at 820' above the ground at the beginning of the next round (making him able to distinguish people on the ground by their heads), and if he turnabouts on the second round, he teleports back to 820' above the ground, falling 580 feet during that round to be at 240' above the ground at the beginning of the next turn (and then typically teleporting, not turnabout teleporting, to an advantageous position somewhere, be it on the ground, in a vehicle, a building, etc. or higher up in the sky.

Regarding Freefall's question about Reflex and Defense. That was a holdover rule from 4e. With the 4e rules they had Defense and Attack as ability scores. I was talking about adding a REF save and using Agility as the base instead of the Defense stat. My reasoning is that Stamina is the base for FOR and Toughness yet you get to use your Dodge in place of REF. Seems odd to me. I wanted to add back in REF as a saving throw.

Since I switched to 3e that no longer applies but I'd still be interested in adding a REF save with a base from Agility instead of using the Dodge for such saves. What do you guys think?

I thought Dodge being on the character sheet was an oversight, since you never said anything about not still using Reflex (instead of Dodge) like you mentioned in your original recruitment post.

Adding a reflex save whose base is Agility and not Defense. Save calculation would be PLx3 >= FOR+WIL+REF"

I figured you had meant to put the word 'Dodge' instead of 'Defense' in the above post.

I used Refex as a defense (and not Dodge) in my stats type-up.

Hence my question asking for clarification.

I think keeping Parry (a mixture of dodging and actual parrying in melee/close combat) as the defense for melee/close combat makes sense while using the Dodge replacement defense of Reflex for ranged attacks and the like.

Unless you all want it so that parry is specifically parrying with a weapon (or item) in melee/close combat and using Reflex for the defense for both ranged attacks and in melee/close combat if that is how you are attempting to avoid being hit from non-ranged attacks.

Since I switched to 3e that no longer applies but I'd still be interested in adding a REF save with a base from Agility instead of using the Dodge for such saves. What do you guys think?

Adding another save would cost points.

Here's what I don't understand about you rolled:
Imp dodge Sigil: 3d6 + 5 ⇒ (3, 4, 2) + 5 = 14
Sigil grab Imp: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 4, 3) + 10 = 18
Imp resist grab: 3d6 + 1 ⇒ (5, 2, 6) + 1 = 14

I don't know what "Sigil grab Imp" is. I rolled 23 to hit.
Then, the Imp failed to dodge with a 14, so it was grabbed.

Then, the Imp failed resist the Grab of 14 vs 21 (11 +10 Move Object), so I don't know what the "Sigil grab Imp" is.

thanks

EDIT: OH! I get it. That Sigil grab Imp, was an active Grab of the Move Object! Yeah, I think that it is too many rolls IMHO.

@Freefall: no use the 3e defenses as written. I was wondering if we should add in a REFLEX save. I think it is a little wonky giving Dodge double duty.

@Jubal: Grab in the DCA book says- GRAB. STANDARD.ACTION
You attempt to grab a target. Make an attack check
against the target. If successful, the target makes a resistance
check against your Strength (or the rank of a grabbing
effect) using the better of Strength or Dodge.

I read this as you make an attack check to initiate contact (you rolled 23). Then you have to see if you can hold whatever you grabbed, hence the opposed STR check where I used the strength of your move object power.

Okay, Freefall's profile is the same with only swapping out the word Reflex for Dodge in the Defenses section. (will swap out 'reflex' for 'dodge' in next few days.

As I used the PL x 3 to for Fort, Reflex and Will....but have Fort, Will and Toughness all at +7 total, and both Reflex (Dodge) and Parry at +13, so they all still meet the PL x 2 paired cap, with the lower of the paired defenses within the 50% adjustment of the highest of the paired defenses (as suggested in the Hero's Handbook). So, I do not have to adjust anything else on his profile page. :)

If I'm reading this right, you want both a dodge save and a reflex save? Dodge is dodging individual ranged attacks and reflex is for AOEs?

FWIW, It seemed intuitive to me that Dodge worked for avoiding anything flying at you, whether a single bullet or a fireball. And it certainly helps save points for character builds. But I get the irritation over the comparable issue of having Stamina inform two saves. (And I'm willing to make the change, just noting my thoughts on the matter.)

My annoyance was how Parry was limited to melee attacks, when the others were broader. I'd probably rather have a Fighting-based ability to avoid getting hit by a weapon or unarmed attack and then an Agility based Reflex save.

On a matter of speculation, and not suggesting we try this, I wonder what it'd be like to get rid of separate defenses and go the route of something closer to 5e where your saving throws are directly ability score based. E.g., Strength saves, Dex saves, Charisma saves, etc.

Non-italicized from timeline from gameplay post by the GM. Italicized posts are about our heroes. Everyone good with the following order of events?

2018:

January:

February:

March: March for our Lives protest brought numerous well-meaning citizens to the capital to march for gun control. The call to enforce existing laws and to not add new ones won out.

April:

May: The super villain Pele tried to conquer the Hawaiian Islands causing the Kilauea volcano to erupt. She was eventually defeated and driven off by the Pacific Rim Watchers. Also in May, the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran made general threats against the US and the Crimson Jihad declared they would assassinate the US President when it was least expected. Major Marvel has been on high alert since then and has been in contact with numerous other supers trying to maintain a protective net around the US and the President.

June: Kenny (Freefall) meets Nick (Gust) while windsurfing.

July: While Nick and Kenny are windsurfing at the beach, a plane crashes into another one; The three that will become known as the Scions of the Sky save the day.

August: While the Scions (not in hero gear) are enjoying the show, and Sigil is there about a magic item, something happens that is the first team-up of all 5 of the heroes.

September:

October: Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida panhandle early in October. Vibora Bay was devastated by the hurricane. Cleanup has been ongoing.

Thanks so much for doing this!!

@Jubal: Grab in the DCA book says- GRAB. STANDARD.ACTION

You attempt to grab a target. Make an attack check
against the target. If successful, the target makes a resistance
check against your Strength (or the rank of a grabbing
effect) using the better of Strength or Dodge.

I read this as you make an attack check to initiate contact (you rolled 23). Then you have to see if you can hold whatever you grabbed, hence the opposed STR check where I used the strength of your move object power.

OK. I read that differently. After you rolled the active defense, which could be a passive DC based on the imp's Defense, Sigil successfully hit.

Then instead of your rolling an active effect of my Strength from Move Object, above reads, "If successful (hitting), the target (the imp) makes a resistance check against your Strength (or the rank of a grabbing effect) using the better of Strength or Dodge."

So, I read that as you (the imp) rolls (a resistance check) against the DC based on the Move Object power level.

Bottomline, I think M&M generally gives the attacker one roll (to hit) to effect vs a DC based of the target's Defense. And, the target gets one roll to resist vs the DC based on the attacker's Power Level effect.

I think you're adding two extra rolls in there. One to determine the DC of the target's Defense. And a second, to determine the power level effect of the attack.

We can do that, but it will 1) double the number of rolls per attack and 2) reduce the probability of successfully attacking.

You're the GM to decide how we play. I just wanted to point out the RAW (as I understand it), so we are all aligned for a great game!

The save thing is just a peeve of mine and not a big deal. We'll dump the REF save so WIL+FOR is limited to PLx2.

I separated the test rules on the Campaign tab and cleaned them up since some referred to 4e.

> roll 3d6 not 1d20
> All rolls are opposed rolls.
> Levels of failure/success calculated every 3 not 5
> Toughness is decremented as remaining hits of consciousness but is not reduced for resistance checks.
> Damage resistance rolls effects: 2 successes No damage, 1 success -1 Toughness, 1 failure -1 Toughness Dazed, 2 failure -2 Toughness Staggered, 3 failures -3 Toughness Incapacitated
> Damage effects get a FOR save to avoid
>Skill rank limit is power level + 3 ranks. No limit on over all skill roll. For instance: a PL 10 character could have 13 ranks of acrobatics with a 7 Agility for a total of 20 on Acrobatics.
>Recover can be taken multiple times in a combat but you are at -5 to your active defenses and if hit or forced to move more than 5' you lose the recovery.

I do not have much overall experience playing M&M.

I was thinking Teleport Attack 10 ranks would be all I needed. But I first need to make a Close Combat (Teleport Attack) to touch the foe.

I am adjusting his Tandem Freefall alternate power (maximum 68 points for AEs of his Teleport power) to take into account the attack and effect for both his Teleport Attack and for his turnabout disarming attempts.

@Ironperenti: If I am correct, that will make his Teleport Attack have an attack roll of +12 (against Parry defense) and has a resistance DC of 18 (resisted by the foe's Will defense); makes his Turnabout Disarming have a +10 attack modifier against the foe's Parry defense; then if the disarm atack roll is successful, he makes an opposed Strength roll against the foe using his effective +9 Str modifier for the oppposed Strength roll. Is that correct?

The retweaked Tandem Freefall alternate power makes his Teleport Attack have an attack value of +12 with an effect value of 8; and his Turnabout Disarming have an attack value of +10 with an effect value of 9, correct?

As you are to choose a defense for the attack power, which defense for the resistance check do you think is most appropriate?

I think neither Dodge or Parry make sense as the defense used to resist the effect, as the initial Close Combat (Teleport Attack) against Parry defense determines if Freefall actually succeeds in touching the target. Toughness defense does not make sense for the effect either. Leaving Fort or Will. As items he teleports do not get saves, I think Will defense makes the best choice for the defense used by a foe to resist Freefall envisioning where he wants to teleport the foe to.

Does Will as the defense used to resist his (touch) Teleport Attack sound good to you?

Using the Freefall calculator, here are the times to freefall until reaching the ground:

4 miles (rank 10 distance) (21,120 feet): 36.23 seconds (6 rounds)
20,000 feet (rank 10 distance): 35.26 seconds
3 miles (rank 10 distance) (15,840 feet): 31.28 seconds (5 rounds)
15,000 feet (rank 10 distance): 30.536 seconds
2 miles (rank 9 distance) (10,560 feet): 25.62 seconds (4 rounds)
10,000 feet (rank 9 distance): 24.93 seconds
1 mile (rank 8 distance) (5,280 feet): 18.117 seconds (3 rounds)
5,000 feet (rank 8 distance): 17.63 seconds
1/2 mile (rank 7 distance) (2,640 feet): 12.81 seconds (2 rounds)
2,500 feet (rank 7 distance): 12.466 seconds
2,000 feet (Rank 7 distance): 11.15 seconds
1800 feet (rank 6 distance): 10.578 seconds
1,500 feet (rank 6 distance): 9.656 seconds
1/4 mile (rank 6 distance) (1,320 feet): 9.058 seconds
1,000 feet (rank 6 distance): 7.844 seconds
900 feet (rank 5 distance): 7.48 seconds
1/8 mile (rank 5 distance) (660 feet): 6.405 seconds (1 round)
500 feet (rank 4 distance): 5.575 seconds

Do you want Freefall's Teleport Attack to be all or nothing (regarding the Will resistance save) as I think is the RAW (and by my google searching, stays the same in the 4th edition playtest), or would you like every degree of success the foe gets on the resistance check to reduce the ranks that Freefall teleports them by 1 rank (or the number of rounds they are freefalling for by 1 round)?

I am also modifying his Freefalling alternate power, so it 1) synergizes with his Tandem Freefall alternate power better (does not include the Teleport Attack of Tandem Skydive and includes the Turnabout Disarm of Tandem Skydive); 2) has 8 ranks in Teleport (instead of 9) like Tandem Skydive and 3) works better for the theme of Messenger of the Gods (improving his visual senses so he can find whomever he is looking for more easily - Can't deliver some messages if you can not locate the recipient of the message after all).

His Freefalling alternate power is the default power he has active (and is the one with the reactive teleport) of his Messenger of the Gods power array.

While Freefalling is the active power of his Messenger of the Gods power array, he takes a -1 penalty on his visual perception checks per 1,000 feet of distance (instead of the normal -1 penalty per 10 feet of distance). When he is 1 mile (5,280 feet) above the ground he can view the ground as if he was only 50 feet above the ground (-5 penalty on his visual perception checks). When he is 1,000 feet above the ground he can view things on the ground with no penalty to his visual perception checks.

Will look at it this evening. I think you may be nerfing yourself too much.

@Gust: there is no set DC, they are all opposed rolls so you roll 3d6+Atk STR to determine the DC. The poor imp made a Toughness save of 14 so I suspect you are about to blow him into oblivion.

I'm sorry, I missed the opposed roll houserule.

What is the attack strength? I would assume it's the ranks I have in the power (10), but you've capitalized STR, which suggests the Strength ability score? Even for a ranged attack? If so, what do the ranks in the power do?

Anyway, here's a roll of 3d6 and you can add what you like to it.

3d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 6) = 14

I will try to remember to do what I'm supposed to, but for the record, if I forget to roll something, you have my permission to roll for me to keep things moving. Waiting for people to respond to rolls can really slow things down in PBP, so I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

Will look at it this evening. I think you may be nerfing yourself too much.

Thanks.

Before I adjusted the powers last night, the following would have been his attack and effect for Teleport Attack and Disarming, as well as the penalty to his visual Perception checks while freefalling in the sky.

Teleport Attack (attack +0/effect +10)

Attack +0 (as he has Fighting 0 and has zero ranks in Close Combat (Teleport Attack)
Effect + 10 (for having 10 ranks in Teleport for Tandem Skydive alternate power)

Disarm (attack +8/effect +1)

Attack +8 (Fighting 0 ranks + 10 ranks in Close Combat (Disarming) and takes a -2 circumstance penalty on the disarming attacks without having the Improved Disarm advantage)
Effect +1 (Strength 1 rank and nothing bumping up his effective Str score for the opposed Str checks when he succeeds at the attack roll).

Freefalling 1 mile above the ground: -527 penalty to visual Perception checks to notice things the ground
Frefalling 1400 feet above the ground: -130 penalty to visual Perception checks to notice things on the ground
Freefalling 820 feet above the ground: -81 penalty to visual Perception checks to notice things on the ground
Freefalling 240 feet above the ground: -23 penalty to visual Perception checks to notice things on the ground

With the changes to the alternate powers...

normal (non-Turnabout) Disarming remains the same (attack+8/effect +1) (Pretty proficient at getting his hand(s) on the item he is trying to remove from someone but not particulary adept at actually disarming the person of the item)

Turnabout Disarm went from (attack+8/effect +1) to (attack +10/effect +9)

Teleport Attack went from (attack+0/effect +10) to (attack +12/effect +8)

With his sustained Extended vision (2 ranks) while his Freefalling power of the Messenger of the Gods power array is active, he does not take any penalty (due to distance, not cover/concealment/pure size of land mass his eagle's eye view gives him) to his visual perception checks of what is happening on the ground when he is no more than 1,000 feet above the ground (-1 penalty to visual perception checks to notice things on the ground while 1/4 of a mile above the ground, -2 penalty 1/2 mile above the ground, -5 penalty 1 mile above the ground, -10 penalty 2 miles above the ground, -15 penalty 3 miles above the ground, -21 penalty 4 miles above the ground).

Superman has 3 ranks in Extended Vision (-1 penalty per 10,000 feet). From M&M's DC Adventures: Heroes & Villains: Vol. 2.

After looking up how far someone falls per round in M&M, that is one thing they do not cover, though a lot of players use the D&D/Pathfinder influence of 500 feet in the first round and 1000 feet per round afterwards. Would you prefer to use that simplified method, Ironperenti, or the time/distances I get from the freefall calculator?

If going with simplified..Freefall falls 500 feet per round he uses Turnabout (resetting his velocity to 0 m/s when he ports back to the sky).

So with all the above taken into consideration, here is updated tactics/stats for when he is freefalling to scout the city from above.

1st round: Teleports 5,000 feet (within 1 mile distance for Freefalling alternate power with 8 ranks of Teleport) and has a -4 penalty to his visual perception checks to view the ground (seeing details an average person could see when 50 feet above the ground) and he falls 500 feet.

Subsequent rounds if using Turnabout on each of the following rounds until he reaches the ground:

As he resets his velocity each time he uses Turnabout, he only falls 500 feet each round, meaning he lands safely on the ground at the beginning of the 11th round.

Foes he successfully teleports 1 mile above the ground, fall for 5 full rounds and land safely on the ground during the 6th round of falling.

As Freefall teleports himself 5,000 feet above the ground and teleports foes 1 mile (5,280 feet) above the ground, that means when returns to the sky on rounds he uses Turnabout, that he is at least 280 feet (distance rank 4) from foes that he teleported into the sky.

@Ironperenti: it might make it easier for you if you favorite this post (or copy/paste it into campaign tab) so you can easily reference it as needed. As you can quickly see what height each falling foe is at (giving vertical distance ranks to the heroes on the ground) and their respective vertical (not horizontal) distance ranks from Freefall as he is doing his 'Rain of Falling Foes'.

I have copied and pasted the above spoiler to the bottom of Freefall's profile page.

@Gust: the rank of the power used. Shorthand got the better of me

As the Scions of the Sky have been an active superhero group for 3 months, and a common tactic of Freefall is disarming criminals of their weapons, he would have asked Nick (as Gust) and Hector (as Voltage) to ask the police if they could have a locked garbage/dumpster bin (that garbage dump trucks pick up and empty at apartment buildings) at the police station, where Freefall could teleport the weapons into.

As Kenny lives up to being a scion of of his father being a messenger of the gods when he is Freefall, but does not speak to the public as Freefall, did Nick (as Gust) and/or Hector (as Voltage) tell the police about the locked dumpster bin idea for Freefall to teleport such weapons into?; and if they did, do the police have such a garbage bin at the police station for such weapons?

Sigil can just transform the weapons into air if they weigh 12 lbs or less.

Sigil can just transform the weapons into air if they weigh 12 lbs or less.

Is that a permanent change into air?

Kenny would have asked Nick and Hector about talking to the cops about having a dumpster bin at the police station before Sigil joined up with the others a month later during the circus event.

Freefall's 'Rain of Falling Foes' sequence and isoloted Turnabout Disarms would be Freefall, on the round after using Turnabout Disarm, to teleport the disarmed weapon to the dumpster (standard action), then teleporting (move) somewhere else during the ongoing fight with the baddies.

As the heroes are moving around while fighting baddies, and Sigil (I suspect) needing to use his standard action for the round to 'vaporize' a weapon instead of dealing with the ongoing baddie threat, it might or might not be good idea (depending on circumstances) during the midst of combat for Sigil to spend a standard action for 'vaporizing' a weapon (unless of couse he can do that to a weapon that is currently being used by a baddie - then that is a great tactical use). Getting rid of any weapons (less than 12 lbs) after fights with the baddies by 'vaporizing' them is great.

Freefall would also not risk teleporting a weapon he disarmed from a baddie to/near Sigil (which means the weapon is still a potential victim-causer during the ongoing battle that a baddie might get before Sigil vaporizes it) and the dumpster bin guarantees the weapon is removed as a threat during the ongoing fight with the baddies. With the possible exception should the baddies be at the police headquarters raiding whatever weapons that are in the (usually locked) dumpster bin that the police have not disposed of it.

Maybe post-battles that Freefall disarms foes of weapons, Sigil vaporizes the weapons that have been added to the dumpster bin...

Sigil could have also added another dedicator locked container at his shop (or another location) that Freefall can teleport weapons into.

Yes. It's permanent. Sigil would give you a box somewhere in the city.

Not that my character would ever have this idea, but do you really want the weapons vaporized? What if they are evidence to crimes? And without the weapons, the crime cannot be proven.

Cheers

I thought when you posted previously that was something Sigil would have done/suggested on his own (regarding vaporizing weapons). Why did you suggest that if Sigil would never think of vaporizing weapons the baddies use?

Unless Freefall (Kenny) sees Sigil vaporize a weapon into thin air, he does not know Sigil has the ability to do so.

Kenny thought of the police having such a locked dumpster bin at the police station for safely and securely storing weapons he takes away from bad guys (as well as evidence the cops/courts can use). He is more concerned with removing the immediate threat of the victim-causing potential of the weapons, and (so far) trusts the cops will handle disposing of the weapons in a safe and responsbile way.

Lack of weapons being evidence alone does not prevent legal repercussions with the law.

If several witnesses saw someone behead someone else with a machete, and then the machete vanished into thin air, does not change what the witnesses saw (and can testify to in court).

Ah, I get what (I think) you meant...if the only way to make a connection to a criminal is through having the weapon in evidence (fingerprints/DNA, ballistic matchings, etc.) a criminal might not be held accountable.

Chances are there will be witnesses to crimes baddies our heroes tangle with, for when (if ever) you decide to have Sigil vaporize weapons into air.

Sigil would offer to vaporize the weapons, if you are looking for easy disposal.

He would not think about the unintended consequences of vaporizing potential crime evidence. Having the weapon is super important for convictions. Witnesses are unreliable.

But, it's a game. Whatever

As you are to choose a defense for the attack power, which defense for the resistance check do you think is most appropriate?

I think neither Dodge or Parry make sense as the defense used to resist the effect, as the initial Close Combat (Teleport Attack) against Parry defense determines if Freefall actually succeeds in touching the target. Toughness defense does not make sense for the effect either. Leaving Fort or Will. As items he teleports do not get saves, I think Will defense makes the best choice for the defense used by a foe to resist Freefall envisioning where he wants to teleport the foe to.

I think the layout works and I agree with all except perhaps the will. I don't mind will because that's a D&D/Pathfinder way of going with it. Plus you are magically based being an Olympian of sorts. However, the Teleport Power Profile uses Dodge describing it as the target pulling away at the last second to avoid being teleported. Either way it would be all or nothing. I am game with Will if you prefer to go that way.

Don't forget, at least right now, it won't be 10+Ranks but 3d6+Ranks.

I will go with Will for the Teleport Attack defense/resistance, as anyone he is trying to teleport (without Freefall porting with them) is (usually) attempting to resist the will of a (scion of a) god. :) With keeping the same reasoning in mind, changing the default defense of Teleport from Dodge to Will for Freefall's Teleportation power array powers. Sound good?

Not using Dodge as the defense also works well thematically with him being pretty proficient at getting (and keeping) a tight grip (weapons he disarms, his windsurfing board no matter how difficult the weather might make staying on/with his board at times).

I did not think until I was typing this post that though it is a Teleport Attack power, it also functions a friendly Teleport Other as well (for willing targets he uses it on). Similarly to how regular Teleport allows an unwilling target a resistance save to prevent being teleported along with the teleporter.

I have not forgotten it is 3d6+ranks for both attack and effect rolls.

Is the 3d6+ranks (effect) vs 3d6+resistance ranks opposed roll ONLY to determine if he succeeds in teleporting a foe, not the distance ranks he teleports the foe if he wins the contested effect/defense roll? i.e. As long as Freefall wins the contested effect/resistance roll, the foe gets teleported to anywere within 1 mile (8 ranks of effect) of the foe's starting location that Freefall wants to teleport the foe to.

Using the teleport profile and reading some other stuff I think you have to hit the target so 3d6+atk bonus vs their 3d6+parry bonus. Then they would get a resistance check 3d6+Will vs your 3d6+teleport ranks. Since teleport is an all or nothing, they will either get hit with the full distance or not at all.

Did I answer the question?