Impact resistance Questions.

[VR Dragon]

I was wondering about the power impact resistance. Does its damage resistance apply to being cut by swords and stuff or just projectiles, punchs and falls?

Also, the powers of Energy resistance and Impact resistance both only resist the first 20 points of damage per melee? Do you think its unbalancing to have this effect every attack ? never could really understand why is was limited to only resisting 20 points per 15 seconds instead of from each such attack.


Finally. I have been giving some though of making a mesh of some resistance powers to replace invulnerabilty. Since I understand not many GMs allow that power into their games. So when making a Major power, how many minor powers ( with some power upping) would be a guideline?

Would making a power out of 4 minor powers be to much?

I'll keep you posted.

[Uncle Servo]

As for the Invulnerability issue....I really dont understand why so many other GM's are afraid of this power. I have had PC's in my games with this power(not just HU, but RIFTS, Phase World and N&SS) and in all cases there were no problems. There are many attacks(if you are using the recent write up of the power disregard this) that pass through Invulnerability such as psi-sword, rune weapons, chi attacks, gas attacks viral infections, and dont forget that supernatural PS does half damage to them as well as many others(in my game i have used all of the above as well as destroy the supernatural ). So I wouldnt recommend making new powers for the same end result, but it is YOUR game so do as you please. It just seems to me that GM's who hate this power tend to forget about its weakness's. But all in all this is just my opinion.

I've never truly understood the anti-Invulnerability sentiment found here and elsewhere. While it's certainly true that the GM has the right to blacklist powers he/she doesn't like, and (as I always say) if everyone's having fun in your game then it's all good, I just can't agree with most of the reasons I've heard given for doing so.

The most common gripe I've heard is 'oh, it's so unbalancing'; I can't help but find that argument ridiculous at best. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is NO such thing as an unkillable -- or unstoppable -- character in Heroes Unlimited! Hard to kill, yes. Hard to stop, yes. However, anyone who claims there IS such a thing hasn't put enough though into the matter. Even the ability's description identifies areas of weakness!

Just for the sake of argument though, let's review parts of this power:

Most physical attacks do no damage whatsoever!

Key word here being PHYSICAL. I honestly believe some GMs look at this one line and decide that since they can't kill an character with Invulnerability by simply pummelling or shooting him, they give up and simply rule that PCs can't take this power. That's just lazy, and almost a definite cop-out IMO. There's more ways than one to stop (or kill) an invulnerable character than punches and gunshots -- as we will soon see.

The character is only, truly, vulnerable to psionics, spell magic, magic illusions and magic weapons, all of which have full effect. However, energy type magic, like fire balls, does no damage.

Hello! Our first look into the 'chinks' of the armor of Invulnerability. So you can't hurt Invulnerable Bruce with a howitzer eh? Let's see how he likes a little bit of pain courtesy of Bio-Manipulation? And what should happen if someone shows up with a magic weapon that can also cast Speed Of The Snail or Carpet Of Adhesion?

Yes, I know a semi-cunning player can take Immune to Magic and/or Immune to Psionics to counter this... that doesn't mean it's the end of the world though, just that the GM has to get a little bit more creative.

Even if magic illusions don't work, how about those created through Holographic Memory Projection? What happens when Invulnerable Bruce tries to cross a non-existant bridge or punch through a wall that's not there?

The character still needs to breathe and eat, so he can die from drowning, suffocation, or starvation, but he can hold his breath and survive without food four times longer than the average human.

Again, another often-overlooked weakness of Invulnerable Bruce. Even though you can take some options (particularly in the Experiment category) that eliminate the need to breathe (or eat), the simple fact is that if you can cut Invulnerable Bruce off from his food/energy/oxygen supply long enough, he'll die just like anyone else.

Also note that while the character may be incredibly difficult to injure and kill, he can be delayed, slowed down and immobilized... Likewise, he can be imprisoned, trapped and manacled.

This is the reason why you don't see Juggernaut ruling the world. It's not always necessary to KILL Invulnerable Bruce in order to STOP him. Too many times gamers and GMs alike confuse the two. So you don't need to breathe or eat eh? How would you like being fuly encased in a block of solid metal or stone and unable to generate enough leverage to free yourself? There are certainly some things worse than death -- and being forever entombed alive in a man-made boulder (proabably even buried underground or tossed into the depths of the ocean) would most likely qualify.

If all else fails, there's always the 'tried-and-true' method of fielding a character with Negate Super Abilities. Sure, it's considered a 'cop-out' by some... but it strikes me as being the perfect counter-balance to all these seemingly 'unbalancing' powers that are out there. No matter how powerful a character seems to be, someone with NSA can take them down in a heartbeat. This is the power I find the most fearsome in the game.

*looks down and wonders how that soapbox got under there*

[Cardiac]

I was wondering about the power impact resistance. Does its damage resistance apply to being cut by swords and stuff or just projectiles, punchs and falls?

It applies to all physical attacks/damage - cuts from swords, blows from a fist, being hit by a car and falling 200 feet - all would see their damage reduced.

A strike from a blade is not at very different from a hammer strike, kinetically speaking. The main difference is the size of the area the kinetic energy is applied to. A knife applies it's energy to a very small area (sharp blade or point), while a hammer applies it's energy to a larger surface area (but it also usually applies more energy due to it's greater mass).

Also, the powers of Energy resistance and Impact resistance both only resist the first 20 points of damage per melee? Do you think its unbalancing to have this effect every attack ? never could really understand why is was limited to only resisting 20 points per 15 seconds instead of from each such attack.

Personally, I have modified it so that is Resists per attack, and no I have not found it unbalancing, especialy at higher levels when Energy Expulsions regularly get as high as 2D4x10, and Supernatural Strength and machinegun bursts can do hundreds of points of damage.

Side note; I have also changed the "damage threshhold"; instead of a flat 20, the character uses his PE score, and adds +2 per level, just to give it a little variety.

Finally. I have been giving some though of making a mesh of some resistance powers to replace invulnerabilty. Since I understand not many GMs allow that power into their games. So when making a Major power, how many minor powers ( with some power upping) would be a guideline?

Would making a power out of 4 minor powers be to much?

I'll keep you posted.

Why would you want to replace Invulnerability? Previous posters have done an excellent job at displaying the power's weaknesses. But maybe what you are looking for is an "Invulnerability - Lite". Well, just have a character take Energy Resistance, Impact Resistance and Increased Durability. There you go - a character who is not Invulnerable but is Highly resistant to most damage.

Edit: Jaegermeister's Nigh-Invulnerability power is pretty cool too.