Not bad for an old man who now qualifies for seniors discounts. We also got to walk around and explore some of downtown Toronto before the game, which was rather eye-opening for a certain teenager.
You don't get authentic Japanese Ramen from CostCo, believe me. So, I'm going to call that a successful 55th birthday. Now, on to Niagara Falls!
A really short post tonight. We are taking a well-deserved break, and are visiting family in Ontario this week. I will try to post something while we are gone, but relaxing is hard work, so I might miss a day or two along the way.
This is a busy page, with lots of short power descriptions. We start with Regeneration, aka the other Wolverine power. Normally, BODY damage is recovered at a rate of 1/10 the character's REC per day. So, a REC of 10 would get back 1 BODY point per day. That's pretty quick, but not too many non-super people will have a REC that high anyway. I don't recall the rounding rules mentioning this, so I'm not sure if it works on a percent basis where if you have a REC of 5, you would get 1 BODY back every 2 days. That would make sense to me, but we'll see in the Combat section if it is mentioned. In the meantime, Regeneration just means you get 1 BODY back per recovery per 10 points in the power, and there's a minimum cost of 20 points, so the lowest Regen you can buy is 2 BODY/recovery. No END to use this, of course.
Next is Running. Wanna be the Flash? Buy lots of this. Standard movement speed is 6" per phase; every 2 points spent on Running gives you +1" to that speed. Running costs END to use. There's no minimum cost to this power.
Shrinking is next. This is for the Wasp or the Atom-type characters. It costs 5 points to buy one level of Shrinking, no minimum points required. Every 5 points halves your height and gives you a bonus of +2 to your DCV and -2 to all other character's PER rolls to see you. However, you're also 2" slower on the ground, and any knockback that happens is increased by 3" per level. Oh, and you only weigh 1/8 your normal size.
Mr. Fantastic and the Elongated Man are up with the Stretching power. This lets you attack at range with hand-to-hand combat as well as reach for things at long distances. Every 5 points gives you a 1" Stretch in combat, doubled when you're not in combat. The minimum cost is 10 points. The range modifier for using Stretching to attack is -1 for every 3"; the first 3" have no modifier. I'm pretty sure this one costs END, but it's not specified here.
Superleap! This is what Superman originally did before he found out he could fly. Normal jumping rates are 1" forward per 5 points of STR, and 1" up per 10 points. Pay 10 points (the minimum for this power) and you double that. Leaping isn't directional; you jump in a straight line. And it costs END.
Alright, now we're into Swimming. Aquaman and Sub-Mariner, anyone? Normal swim speed is 2"; this gives you +1" of swim speed for every 2 points, just like running. Flight, too; I think this is the standard cost for any movement power. There's no minimum cost to this, although using it does cost END.
Ah, Telekinesis. Marvel Girl could do this. This power lets you manipulated objects at a distance with your mind The base is 10 points of STR and 10" of range per 10 points in the power, and you can basically grab an object; if you want to do fine work like push buttons or disarm a bomb, you have to roll against a base of 9 + TK points/5. For example, if you have a TK power of 40, your TK STR is 40, your range is 40", and your base roll is 9 + 40/5, or 9+8, or 17 or less. Of course, this has a range modifier of -1 per 3" of range, and it does cost END to use.
Finally, we have Telepathy. Martian Manhunter and Professor X have this, which allows you to read minds or communicate with someone mentally rather than verbally. You have to pick which one you are trying to do (not at character creation, but every time you use it). Either way, you roll an ECV attack roll, and if successful you roll 1D6 per 5 points in the power to see how much of an effect you had. Subtract the target's Ego Defense, of course. If you match their INT score, you can read their surface thoughts. Double the INT means you're into their deep, hidden thoughts. Triple the INT means you can get into their memories, and quadrupling the INT gets you right into their subconscious mind. Good luck with trying to do that with the Joker. END is expended to keep in contact, and if you try to go to a deeper level of their mind, you have to roll another attack and Telepathy roll. Range is line of sight with no modifiers.
And that's it. There are only two more powers to go, and then we learn about Power Advantages and how they help to simulate pretty much any power you see in the comics.
Alright, this page has a grand total of two entries, both of which take up a full column. The first is Mind Scanning, which allows a character to search an area with his mind in order to find a particular mind. To use it, you have to define how big an area you are searching (no limit, apparently), then make an ECV attack roll which is modified by the number of people in the area. There's a full chart that shows what the modifier is based on the area's population. For example, if you're in a bar (about 16 people), your ECV roll is at -4. If it's a small city (250,000 people), the roll is at -18. The whole world (4 billion people when this was written 45 years ago) would be -33 to find someone; I would probably leave it at that modifier even though the population has pretty much doubled since then. A -33 penalty to a roll is sufficient, I think.
So, how do you scan an area with any hope of success? You pay 3 points for a +1 to the attack roll. There's no range modifier, of course. If your modified target roll is less than 3, the area is too big and you'll have to narrow your search until you need a 3 to succeed. Assuming you do succeed, you roll 1D6 for every 5 points in the power (not counting the attack roll bonus costs), subtract the target's Ego Defense if they have it, and the resulting amount is compared to the target's EGO. If you get at least their EGO score, you know roughly where they are. Double their ego means you can pinpoint their location. Tripling the EGO score means you can use your other mental powers, if any, on the target no matter how far they may be with a normal attack roll (and no range modifiers). END costs only apply to maintaining your target lock after it is established. The minimum cost is 10 points for a 2D6 scan; attack roll bonuses don't count toward the minimum.
Big writeup for that power, isn't it? Well, now it's time to go crazy with the Multipower. Multipowers are basically a grouping of powers that run off the same point reserve. Sort of like the Elemental Control, except that in the case of the EC, all the powers could be used at their full potential at the same time. In a Multipower, you have a common pool of points to draw from, but using a power means those points aren't available for any of the other powers in the Multipower pool. There's an example involving a flying energy projector (who we will now call 'Blaster') with a 50-point Multipower with three slots: Flight, Energy Blast, and Force Field. Every phase, the player can decide to shift points from one power to the others if he so chooses; in his first phase, Blaster has his Force Field at 10 PD/10 ED for a total of 20 points, and is flying at a speed of 15" for a total of 30 points. That leaves no points for his Energy Blast in this phase. In his next phase, Blaster takes 20 points from his Flight and 10 from his Force Field and puts them into his Energy Blast, for a 6D6 blast while his Force Field is reduced to 5 PD/5 ED and his Flight to 5".
A Multipower point reserve can be divided however the character wants, as long as the total points don't exceed the reserve amount.
Multipower slots cost 1 point for every 5 points that can be put into the slot; a slot that can take the whole 50 points (so Blaster has a 10D6 Energy Blast, for example) costs 10 points. If a slot has a lower maximum (Blaster can't push his Flying speed beyond 15", for example), then the cost is proportionate to the maximum points available (in this case, 6 points since 15" of Flight costs 30 points, which is divided by 5 to make 6).
However, sometimes a slot will be 'fixed', also called an 'ultra'. This means that when the power is used, it is used to its full power every time. So, if Blaster has his Energy Blast in an ultra slot, then he always has to assign all 50 points to it every time he wants to use it, even if he doesn't want to use it at full power. An ultra slot costs 1 point for every 10 points of the reserve that it uses (so the full 10D6 EB in an ultra slot would cost 5 points instead of 10). The ultra slot doesn't have to be the full amount of the reserve; Blaster might make his Flight ultra slot limited to 30 points used, meaning it would cost 3 points for the slot.
You can apply Power Limitations to Multipowers, either to the whole thing or to just a particular slot. If it's applied to the whole Multipower, it means the overall cost for both the reserve and the slots is reduced; if it applies to a single slot, it means the active points are increased. Um, what? This is completely different from the way Multipower works in later editions. The example is given of a powered armor character who puts a Charges limitation on his Force Field. The multipower has a 30-point reserve, but the Charges limitation on the Force Field (which gives a +1 bonus multiplier to his costs) means that the slot can be up to 60 points instead of 30. That makes a very powerful Force Field, although it will only be usable a certain number of times per day.
To figure the cost of the Multipower, you add up the reserve points (modified by any Advantages or Limitations that are applied) and the cost of each slot, regular or ultra. Note that the minimum reserve is 10 points.
We're on to the next page now, but I'll finish up the Multipower writeup just because there are lots of powers on the next page. You can't put skills or characteristics in the Multipower unless the GM gives you permission. I would say that some characteristics, such as STR, should be allowable in a Multipower. I wouldn't put COM in a Multipower, though; that seems pointless to me. But I'm sure someone tried to do it at some point.
And that's Multipowers. Next time we've got no fewer than eight powers to review; we're getting close to the end, I think. This is a heck of a lot easier than the 5th edition read-through would be, that's for sure; that book would require eight pages for just a single power in some cases. Yikes.
Alright, let's continue our run through the various powers of 1e Champions, shall we? Next up is the Killing Attack (ranged). This is basically the same as the HTH version, except you don't add any STR bonuses but you can fire at targets at range. The range is 5 times the points, and the minimum cost is 15 points (which buys you 1d6 RKA). You define whether the attack is physical or energy at the time it is bought. END costs apply. This power would work to represent guns as well as powerful laser attacks or fire blasts.
Life Support allows you to survive in unfriendly or even deadly environments without any ill effects. The more points you spend, the more environmental factors you can ignore. The base is 5 points, which makes you Aquaman (breathing water). For 10 points, you don't have to breathe and you're immune to inhaled gases. At 15 points, you're also immune to gases absorbed through the skin. At 20 points you can survive in the vacuum of space or in high-pressure environments. For 25 points you don't eat or excrete anymore. And at the full amount, 30 points, you can survive under conditions of extreme heat, cold or radiation (or any other excessively hostile environment), but that doesn't mean you don't take any damage from attacks based on those effects thanks to shock. There's no END cost for Life Support. Note that each of the levels is cumulative; at 30 points you have all the levels, not just the safe environments of heat, cold, etc.
Next up is Mental Illusions. This power lets you project illusions into an opponent's mind. So, only the target can see the illusion. This is a mental power, which means it is based on your Ego Combat Value (ECV), which is your EGO/3. You define the illusion when you use the power, and you're limited only by your imagination as to what the target sees in their mind. You roll 1D6 for every 5 points you have in the power (minimum 10 pts), and subtract any Ego Defense they may have. The remainder is compared to the target's INT score to determine the actual effect. At a level equal to or greater than the target's INT score, they see the illusion; double their INT means they perceive it fully (all their senses accept it as real). Triple INT means they can actually be hurt by the illusion (STUN only), and quadrupling their INT means they take both STUN and BODY from the illusion.
You can make the illusion more effective by making it fit into the preconceptions of the target (for example, the target is in a zoo, so an illusion of an escaping lion is more believable here than in the middle of the downtown core), moving it up the chart a line. The maximum damage dice the target can take is your points in the power divided by five. The only range limit is your line of sight, and mental powers don't take range modifiers. They do cost END, however, and this one is no exception.
Finally on this page, we have Mind Control. Unlike the previous power, this one is just taking over their mind and forcing them to do what you want them to do. Like Mental Illusions, this is an ECV-based power, and Ego Defense reduces its effects. The minimum cost is 10 points, you get 1D6 per 5 points invested, it's line of sight, there are no range modifiers, and it costs END to use.
Your total effect on the target depends on their EGO score rather than their INT. Matching or exceeding the EGO score means they will do things they would likely do anyway. Doubling their EGO makes them do things they wouldn't mind doing. Tripling will get them to do things they wouldn't normally do, and quadrupling it means you can make them do things they would never otherwise do. You have to determine what you want the target to do before you roll the attack itself. You can maintain the command by expending END per turn without having to reroll. However, if you try to instill a new command, you have to reroll the attack from scratch.
Short and sweet, but we have some good stuff. Next page, another mental power and a different way to save points on powers.
Alright, we're back with more powers. We'll jump right in with Force Field. This is a field of energy surrounding the character that absorbs damage. Minimum cost is 10 points, and you get 1 point of fully resistant defense for every point you pay. However, you have to choose whether your points go to PD or ED; one point only covers one of the two options. So, if you spend 20 points on Force Field, you can split it 10 PD/10 ED, or 8 PD/12 ED, or even 0 PD/20 ED if you want. If you decide not to use it at its full potential, you have to keep the same ratio of defense allocation. For example, Snowcone spends 30 points on his Force Field, splitting it 20 PD/10 ED. If he chooses to use only half of his allocation (such as in a Multipower), his Force Field would then be 10 PD/5 ED. It costs END to use this power.
Force Wall is a different kind of Force Field; Sue Storm projects these all the time. Force Wall covers a circle of hexes at range. The cost is 10 points for 5 points of fully resistant defense. Like Force Field, you have to choose whether those points go to PD or ED. Since this power is used at range, the range in inches is the number of points in the power, and the radius is 1" for every 10 points in the power. For example, the Invisible Woman has 40 points in Force Wall. She can project her Force Wall up to 40" (80 meters) away, with a radius of 4". The defense is 10 PD/10 ED (or a different ratio if you choose). The ratio of defense has to be chosen when you buy the power; you can't alter it during game play. And of course, you're paying END for this power as well.
Next is Gliding. This isn't flight; you're just gliding through the air and slowly descending as you go. It costs 5 points to get 4" of Gliding, with a minimum cost of 10 points. To get to gliding speed you have to actually drop 1" in altitude per 1" of Gliding. Once you get to your Gliding speed, you can gain altitude if the GM allows it (depending on the circumstances, like a strong wind). Gliding is END-free.
Growth is straightforward; you get bigger. As a result, you gain in several characteristics, but you're also easier to hit. For every 10 points of Growth, you grow 1 meter, weigh twice as much, and gain the following: +5 STR, +2 BODY, +5 PRE, +1 PD, +1 ED, +2" of ground movement, +1" of climbing movement, +1 OCV in HTH combat, -1 DCV overall, and -1" when knocked back. Your increased primary characteristics do not affect your figured characteristics. The minimum cost is 10 points. The listing doesn't specify if you have to pay END for the power, but I believe later editions state that you pay the END cost to activate the power but not to maintain it.
Instant Change is just that: You instantly change from your normal identity to your super-hero identity. Wonder Woman did this in the old 1970s TV show with her spinning thing; Superman does it in phone booths. It costs 5 points to change back and forth to the same set of clothing; 10 points means you can change back into any clothing you want. No END for this power.
Invisibility is next. You are invisible to normal sight for 20 points; additional invisibility to various enhanced sight senses costs more. You can also become invisible to radar. You do have a fringe effect of light bending around you, so someone who is really close to you (1" or less) can spot you on a successful sight Perception roll. You can, if you want, eliminate this fringe effect by paying an additional cost equal to half the cost of the power (for example, you have the basic Invisibility to normal sight, which costs 20 points. To eliminate the fringe, you would pay an additional 10 points). To become invisible to everything the power lists would cost a total of 40 points, or 60 points without the fringe. Again, this power doesn't specify the END cost, and I would use the same rule as mentioned for Growth.
Finally, we get to the Killing Attack (Hand-to-Hand). Wolverine, step forward, please. This also covers things such as knives and lightsabers, or even really powerful martial arts attacks (knife hand to the heart, for example). For 15 points, you get 1D6 of Killing Attack, to which you can add a bonus of 1/2D6 for every 10 STR points you use with the attack. The minimum cost is 15 points, and the Killing Attack doesn't cost END (but using your Strength to boost it does cost END as per normal). This is strictly hand-to-hand; no ranged attacks.
So, that covers yet another page of power. This was the Invisible Woman's page, really; three of the powers here define her pretty well. On the next page, we'll get into some other mental powers.
The package I was waiting for arrived. Over on my other blog, 25 Years Ago..., I'm doing a 25th anniversary retrospective review of the 3rd edition D&D game. I finally got the September purchase order in, so I'm working on the review of the 3.0 Dungeon Master's Guide.
I was supposed to get this package two days ago, but FedEx is a pain. They told me they 'tried' to delivery the package on Monday, but they didn't bother letting me know where the package actually was, so I spent two days hunting for it. Talk about frustration.
Ah, well. What's done is done, and it's nice to finally have it.
Some horrible news from south of the border as Charlie Kirk was assassinated at an open-air forum at a Utah university campus. Prayers go out to his family, who were there when it happened and were with him when he died in the hospital. It's insane to think about how far political discourse has deteriorated in the 21st century. I'm worried that this will touch off a wave of political violence, possibly escalating into a full-blown civil war. After all, wars have started with less provocation than an assassination.
I avoid talking about politics on this blog because I get enough of that on different websites, and I wanted to keep this clear from all of that. But something like this makes my blood boil, and I can't stay silent. I'm not going to turn this blog into the Huffington Post or Rebel News, though. I just hope people can start thinking before they act before we see even more violence and death. We are supposed to be civilized, people. We need to act like it.
And now, back to baking...
'Processed'. Such a sterile, sanitized word for how a chicken goes from what you see above to the freezer. But I'm not going to go into detail on this. Suffice to say...well, the chickens consider me both their guardian angel who feeds them, and their serial killer who has dwindled their numbers down to a mere handful left in the coop.
And this year, we had people ask us to process their chickens for them...for money. Yes, I was paid to kill chickens this year. You know what that makes me, right? Yep; I'm a chicken assassin.
The surprising thing about the chickens you see is that I didn't expect to see any of them up off the ground; Cornish Cross are both stupid and heavy, and I've never seen one get off the ground at all. They'll run at me flapping their wings like they're trying to take off whenever they see the food bucket in my hand, but actually flying? Not a chance. But here we are, Cornish Cross jumping up and roosting like they are real chickens. It warms my heart.
The nice thing about these chickens is that they don't take a long time to grow; none of these ones are more than 15 weeks old before they meet Mr. Freezer. And even that is longer than I would prefer. But they eat. And eat. A lot of food. I was going through a full 40-kg bag a day for a while, trying to keep all these birds fed. So despite their short lifespan, they end up cost as much as another breed, Rustic Rangers, would cost despite the Rangers taking twice as long to grow out to the proper size.
Raising our own food is a big deal; we know what these birds are eating, so we know what we are eating, too. With my health issues this year, my diet is important. I don't want to screw my health any further than it already was, so I'm watching my intake much more than I used to. And raising and growing our own food is a big part of that. I'm looking forward to getting back to gardening next spring.
So, if you live out in the country, support your local chicken farmer, especially if he's got meat birds you might want to try. If all you're used to eating is store-bought chicken, I guarantee you will taste the difference. And you won't look back.
More powers today, and we start with Entangle. This is where you either immobilize an opponent or create a barrier. I would have thought that would be Force Wall, but here we are. This is a ranged power. Assuming you hit with your attack roll, you roll 1D6 per 5 points in the power (minimum cost 10). Read the BODY damage as if it were a normal attack; the total BODY is how strong the Entangle is. So if you have a 5D6 Entangle, and you rolled a 6, 1, 2, 6, 3...the total BODY would be 6 (2 for the 6, 0 for a 1, 1 for the rest). To break out of an Entangle, you need to do at least that much damage through some method of attack. If you're Entangled, you can't move. You can also create a "wall" with this power using the Area of Effect Power Advantage. Examples of Entangles include webbing, ice bonds, and turning the ground to mud. It's a ranged power (pts. x 5 in inches), and costs END to use.
Next up is Extra Limb. This can be an extra arm, leg, or a prehensile tail (Nightcrawler is the first example that comes to mind). You can use it just as well as any other limb with your normal STR and DEX. However, you don't get any extra attacks because of it. It costs 10 points for each extra limb, and while the power itself doesn't cost END, using the limb's STR does.
FTL Travel is a fun one, allowing your flying character to travel faster than the speed of light in space (so not in an atmosphere, making it a really niche power). For 10 points, you have the base power; every 5 points additional doubles that speed. What speed is it? Well, first you calculate your sustained Flight, which is how many inches you can fly in a full turn (we'll get to that power at the end of this page) and use your Recovery in END as a multiplier. This isn't explained very well in the rules, so let me try to suss it out. I checked the next three editions, and the description in 2e and 3e is basically the same as 1e. 4e changes the power entirely. So, let's see if I can get this from 1e. From the Flight power, the END cost is 1/5" of flight. There's lots of math here, so bear with me.
Okay, I think I got this figured. Your sustained flight speed is based on your REC. If you have a SPD of 5, Flight of 15", and REC of 10, your maximum speed in a turn is 75". However, that would cost you 15 END per turn. With your REC of 10, you can only sustain your flight at a speed of 50" (10" of flight x SPD 5), because your END would be 10/turn (2 END/phase). Therefore, your maximum sustained flight speed is 50". And...that's how many light years you can travel IN A DAY with this power. Holy crap...50 LY in a single day? That's Star Trek: Voyager speed. And you can double that for a mere 5 points more. This is seriously overpowered. Fortunately, as mentioned earlier, it's only for flying outside of an atmosphere. So it's not going to get much use in a typical game, and very few characters will ever even need to buy it.
Alright, let's move along. Next up is Flash. No, not the speedster. This is a blinding flash, with 1D6 per 10 points. Like Entangle, you calculate the BODY damage on a successful attack roll, and every character within a 1" radius per 10 points is blinded for 1 phase for every point of BODY. It's interesting that the duration is based on the target's SPD, not the attacker's; some targets will recover faster than others. There's no actual damage done with this power, just the blindness. Blinded characters have a CV of 0 unless they have Enhanced Senses that can target. If you have advance warning of the Flash, you can cover your eyes or otherwise prepare for it, meaning you're still blinding while you're protecting yourself, but otherwise the Flash doesn't affect you at all. You can't Flash someone in Darkness, either. This is a ranged attack, and uses END.
The counter to Flash is, of course, Flash Defense. At a minimum cost of 5 points, you have 5 or more points of defense against Flash attacks. No END to use it, of course; it's a passive defense.
Finally, we have Flight. I touched on this in the FTL description. Flight is a minimum of 10 points, which gives you 5" of Flight; 2 pts. gives you an additional inch. END is 1/5", as previously mentioned. The details on how to handle movement in flight are covered later on in the Movement section.
And that's it for this page. We're just motoring along, aren't we? And we've got quite a few powers already covered. You can see that building a high-powered character will be very expensive; most characters built with these rules will be on the line of the 80s X-Men or the Teen Titans; you're not building Thor or Wonder Woman with just 100 points. I have seen someone build Superman with 250 points, but it's the Action Comics #1 version, not the Christopher Reeve fly-around-the-earth-and-reverse-time version.
Next up...more powers, surprise, surprise. We've had lots of attacks over the past couple of pages, now it's time to get some defenses.
And the hits just keep on coming. More specifically, the Energy Blasts keep on coming, because that's the next power we're looking at.
Energy Blast is exactly that: A blast of energy. What kind of energy? That's up to you. Heat vision, telekinetic strike, eldritch blast...they're all Energy Blasts. The difference is the Special Effect. We're told to see the section on Special Effects for an explanation of how to use Special Effects in the game. Unfortunately, they skipped that part; it's not actually in this book. I've checked, and it does appear in the 2nd edition, but it's not here. Oops.
Energy Blast (or EB for short) is a ranged attack that does normal damage, like a punch. At the player's option, it can do STUN damage only (no BODY). The default defense against it is Energy Defense, although the special effect might change that to Physical Defense (such as a telekinetic strike or an iceball). The damage is 1D6 per 5 points in the power, with a minimum cost of 10 points (2D6). The maximum range is 5 inches per point, and the range modifier is -1 for every 3" of distance to the target. For example, the Human Lighter buys an Energy Blast and defines it as a heatwave blast that does 8D6 damage. The cost is 40 points, the defense is ED, and the range is 200", which equals 400 meters. That's a long way. Of course, you're going to be at a -66 or so on your attack roll at that range, so good luck with it. And you'll pay END for this power as well.
Next up, we have Enhanced Senses. This is a whole suite of powers that give the character the ability to sense things outside of normal human sensory capability. If you buy multiple senses, you pay full price for the two most expensive ones, the next two at 1/2 cost, and any others at 1/4 cost. None of these cost END to use. If you buy the same sense more than once, those additional buys do not count as separate buys for the purpose of cost reduction.
The first batch of these are all about seeing things. First up is Enhanced Vision. This is a straightforward +1 to your range modifier for sight perception rolls at a cost of 3 points; you can buy this multiple times.
Infrared Vision is next, allowing the character to see heat patterns for 5 points. You can see outlines at night, but not details.
Ultraviolet Vision is an improvement over IR Vision, and costs 10 points. It allows you to see as well at night as during the day, so you take no penalties to sight perception rolls at night.
Telescopic Vision costs 15 points, and makes things appear 10 times closer. This can be bought more than once; each additional buy improves your telescopic vision by a factor of 10 (so buying it twice means everything can be seen at 100x closer). That means that heatwave blast would be a lot more accurate, of course.
Microscopic Vision is the opposite of Telescopic vision, allowing you to view things at close range at 10x magnification. As with Telescopic Vision, you can buy this more than once. Each purchase costs 10 points.
X-Ray Vision lets you make normal sight perception checks through walls and other solid objects, although it doesn't work through lead, high energy fields, or really dense substances. It costs 20 points.
N-Ray Vision is X-Ray Vision on steroids; unless the GM says otherwise, you can see through anything at all. This costs 30 points.
360-Degree Vision (appears later on the list) means you can see in any direction all at once, so you can make a sight Perception check against any point around you. This one costs 20 points.
And that covers the vision enhancements. Next on the list is the Hearing improvements. Enhanced Hearing is exactly the same as Enhanced Sight, except for hearing.
Ultrasonic Hearing lets you hear very high and very low frequency sound, allowing you to pick up Active Sonar emissions. This costs 10 points.
Parabolic Hearing is the audio equivalent of Telescopic Vision with the same cost, except that the distance is divided by 5 per purchase.
Active Sonar lets you find objects with a successful Hearing Perception roll. You can detect them as easily as if you can see them. However, you can be picked up by Ultrasonic Hearing. This costs 20 points.
Passive Sonar is like Active Sonar, except you're not emitting any sounds, and you're paying 25 points.
The remaining sense enhancers are more specialized. Discriminatory Smell means you can identify smells. More specifically, at least in later editions, it makes your sense of smell as acute as your vision or hearing, so you can smell the difference between people. Wolverine does this all the time. This costs 5 points.
Tracking is by scent; make a smell Perception roll to track a target. 15 points to buy it.
Radio Hearing means you can hear normal AM, FM, and even Police band signals for 3 points. High-Range Radio Hearing gives you a much wider range of perception on the radio frequencies. You can look for a specific frequency with a normal INT roll (9 +INT/5), and you can also spot Radar. This costs 10 points.
Finally, Radar Sense lets you spot things with a base Perception roll, with a range modifier of -1/10". Like Infravision, you don't get details, just an outline. You can increase the range modifier, doubling it for an additional 5 points. The base cost is 20 points.
So, there are your enhanced sensory capabilities. I think they covered pretty much everything that needs to be covered. And that's it for this page, too. We're still motoring along, so let's see what the next page brings.
Sorry for the delay; let's get back to it. We're continuing with powers, and specifically we're continuing with Density Increase. Here on page 14 we get the actual benefits of the power. For 10 points, you get +5 to STR and CON, +3 resistant PD and ED, +1 BODY, -1" of Knockback, and double your mass. Your increased characteristics don't affect your figured characteristics though, and you can't use the additional Strength for jumping further; you're just using that Strength to keep yourself upright. Using this power does require END.
Next, we have the opposite of Density Increase: Desolidification. Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) and the Martian Manhunter both have this power, which allows the character to walk through walls and ignore attacks. The advantage is that you are immune to all physical, energy, and mental attacks, as well as drains and transfers. And you can move through a wall or other solid object that has a BODY equal to or less than 1 Body Pip for every 5 points of this power you have. However, you can't affect the physical world in any way, and you can't attack anyone. The only exception to this is if two Desolid characters face off, in which case they can attack each other. This power does cost END to use.
Following that, we have Ego Attack. This is your brain-blast power, and most mentalists will have it as their primary attack power. It completely ignores their normal defenses and goes straight for the mind. It uses the ECV (Ego Combat Value) which is 1/3 of your EGO score (an EGO of 15 = ECV 5). The only defense against this power is Ego Defense (the next one on the list). Ego Attacks do not do BODY or Knockback, and don't work on inanimate objects (which don't have minds). You have to be able to see the target, and distance doesn't give you any range modifiers. Again, this one costs END to use.
Ego Defense does that: Provides you with defenses against mental attacks (not only Ego Attack, but also Telepathy, Mind Control, etc.). You get a base power of INT/5, and any points you spend on this (minimum 5) add an equal number of points to your Ego Defense. No END cost to this one as it's a passive defense. Note that you only get the INT/5 points if you buy this power; no one has Ego Defense without it.
Okay, this next one is not really a power; later on it would be classified as a 'power framework', but for now it's listed among the powers. And this is the Elemental Control. Basically, this lets you buy three powers at a reduced cost. These powers must, however, be thematically linked. How it works is you pay for a 'reserve' number of points (on a 1-to-1 basis), and then you get three powers that all run at half the reserve power (so a 60-pt. Elemental Control would have three 30-pt. powers). You can add additional powers if you want, at a cost of 1/5 the points in the reserve. The base cost, though, is effectively twice the cost of one of the powers
This is a bit complicated, and different from how they work in later editions. So here's an example. You might have an Elemental Control with weather powers: Fog (Darkness), Whirlwinds (Energy Blast with a wider area of effect), and Wind Riding (Flight). If you put 60 points in the reserve, then all three of these would work at the 30-pt. level (and you can use them all at the same time). So the Fog would have a radius of 6", for example. If you decide to add a Lightning Bolt (RKA) to the EC, it would cost an additional 12 points (60/5).
This is a cost-effective way to give your character some thematic elements; other examples in the writeup include Telekinetic Powers, Ice Powers, and Ego Powers. But you're only limited by your imagination and the GM's willingness to let you get away with threadbare connections between your powers. You could have a Radiation EC, or a Fire EC, or whatever you can come up with and justify to the GM.
And that wraps up another page of this rulebook. We're getting into some interesting powers now, but the next page only has two...one of which is actually 18 powers in one.
