Rules Questions

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

Creating this thread for rules clarifications.

My current questions...

Does Doppelganger (cosmic) also give you the target creature's portfolios and Integrated class features? I've always assumed they do, but at the expense of your own.

Can you use Chimerical (cosmic) with Doppelganger or do you need Time Dilation to use them together?

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

?

 

[Obly99]

Imo, Doppelganger I've always considered/allowed to give you everything (you keep yours and you get others' as well; you use the creature HD and DR for the Number/Power of integrate/portfolio) but I only allow as a houserule that you gain all powers of creatures with DR equal to or lower than yours.
Imo, Chimerical allows you to combine multiple forms but does not consume other actions, if by you transform as a standard action, as a standard action you can assume the combination of two forms.

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

This makes doppelganger vastly more powerful than it should be. You're effectively gaining double the portfolios and double the integrated class features for the price of one cosmic ability. That's more on par with a transcendental ability. Especially combined with Chimerical which does something similar.
I don't have a problem with certain cosmics being like that, but they should have a much simpler counter or perhaps a limit of half or even quarter your HD/L and DR. Portfolios give access to a full suite of abilities.

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

1.5×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2=49,152
The 1.5 is for size Large.
x2 is removed (hence 15 instances instead of 16) to account for iron to neutronium conversion.
÷6×5 (to account for d8 to d10) conversion = 40,960d10
This is how the neutronium golem punch was calculated.
This is in line with how virtual size categories work as written.
One problem.
It's AC is +844, which makes no sense for it.
If we slapped neutronium full plate on that sucker, its Armor bonus would be +262,144, as the multiplier for weapons (and AC according to the charts should have the same multiplier) is in truth ×32,768.
i.e. ×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2.
Is actual neutronium armor supposed to be way more badass than being made of neutronium or did Krusty decide to change how AC was calculated last minute? ...or is a neutronium golem basically possessed of neutronium skin that is thinner and more delicate than neutronium armor?
If we go by the golem, medium neutronium armor should be relevant armor's (or natural armor's bonus) bonus +560 (modifier from VSCs).

 

[Obly99]

If we slapped neutronium full plate on that sucker, its Armor bonus would be +262,144, as the multiplier for weapons (and AC according to the charts should have the same multiplier) is in truth ×32,768.

The neutronium base multiplier for weapon/armor is x192. This is the link at the old forum official of Upper-Krust. (Immortality).
"
NEUTRONIUM (NEW SPECIAL MATERIAL)
This dark grey metal is so dense that even in its solid state its surface appears to have the properties of liquid.
Properties of pure neutronium:

• Neutronium is more than 10,000,000,000,000 times heavier than steel (thus a medium longsword made from neutronium would weigh in excess of 20 billion tons)
• Neutronium has a hardness of 1500.
• Weapons fashioned from Neutronium bypass the first 1500 points of hardness.
• Weapons made from it increase their base damage by a factor of 192 (thus a longsword would deal 160d10 as per the Universal Damage Table in the Epic Bestiary: Volume One page 7).
• You need a minimum strength of 235 to use neutronium items.
• Medium Armour made from pure neutronium grants damage reduction 150/-, Heavy Armour grants damage reduction 300/-.

"

This thread has all the materials for utility (https://www.enworld.org/threads/new...m-quark-strange-and-black-hole-matter.683977/).

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

The neutronium base multiplier for weapon/armor is x192. This is the link at the old forum official of Upper-Krust. (Immortality).
"
NEUTRONIUM (NEW SPECIAL MATERIAL)
This dark grey metal is so dense that even in its solid state its surface appears to have the properties of liquid.
Properties of pure neutronium:

• Neutronium is more than 10,000,000,000,000 times heavier than steel (thus a medium longsword made from neutronium would weigh in excess of 20 billion tons)
• Neutronium has a hardness of 1500.
• Weapons fashioned from Neutronium bypass the first 1500 points of hardness.
• Weapons made from it increase their base damage by a factor of 192 (thus a longsword would deal 160d10 as per the Universal Damage Table in the Epic Bestiary: Volume One page 7).
• You need a minimum strength of 235 to use neutronium items.
• Medium Armour made from pure neutronium grants damage reduction 150/-, Heavy Armour grants damage reduction 300/-.

"

This thread has all the materials for utility (https://www.enworld.org/threads/new...m-quark-strange-and-black-hole-matter.683977/).

Yes. ...but mathwise either the neutronium golem's punch does way more damage than it should (which it doesn't) or all that info on the neutronium multiplier being a mere 192 is wrong (which it technically is).
Think about it. A size Large fleshy punch does 1d6. Using 192, a neutronium punch only does 192d6.
This is clearly very wrong. Especially since virtual size categories effectively double your damage dice every 2 virtual size categories you go up. This is exponential.

Even using straight conversion those material charts are all in error.
Medium dagger (iron (2 VSCs already...see Iron Body)) +13 VSCs (pure orichalcum) = 40d10.
Medium dagger (iron (2 VSCs already)) +30 VSCs (pure neutronium) = 15,360d10
Large Human Punch +32 VSCs (pure neutronium) = 40,960d10

Perhaps use the multiplier strictly for armor bonuses as damage is already covered by the virtual size category rules and the multiplier would just gimp every monster in the book pretty much?

...or use a formula for armor based on VSC armor modifier? Something like the Size + VSC natural armor bonuses ÷ 10 then × the base armor (8 for full plate)?

It might make more sense that way than using an arbitrary multiplier.

 

[Obly99]

Yes. ...but mathwise either the neutronium golem's punch does way more damage than it should (which it doesn't) or all that info on the neutronium multiplier being a mere 192 is wrong (which it technically is).
Think about it. A size Large fleshy punch does 1d6. Using 192, a neutronium punch only does 192d6.
This is clearly very wrong. Especially since virtual size categories effectively double your damage dice every 2 virtual size categories you go up. This is exponential.

Even using straight conversion those material charts are all in error.
Medium dagger (iron (2 VSCs already...see Iron Body)) +13 VSCs (pure orichalcum) = 40d10.
Medium dagger (iron (2 VSCs already)) +30 VSCs (pure neutronium) = 15,360d10
Large Human Punch +32 VSCs (pure neutronium) = 40,960d10

Don't rack your brains too much. IH and Epic Bestiary came out when they were basically still in Alpha so it's normal for there to be errors and things that don't match. I recommend that you check this thread and the Beefermatic might system which tries to fix a lot of things.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/really-really-big-barely-divine-star-snake.689326/post-8667377

https://www.enworld.org/threads/rew...beings-siderials-demiurges-time-lords.349467/

 

[Obly99]

Using this rules my neutronium golem deal 48,000d100 damage (d100 from transcendental might and 48,000 from 192 X 250)

 

[FleshEatingBlackFlutterby]

Don't rack your brains too much. IH and Epic Bestiary came out when they were basically still in Alpha so it's normal for there to be errors and things that don't match. I recommend that you check this thread and the Beefermatic might system which tries to fix a lot of things.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/really-really-big-barely-divine-star-snake.689326/post-8667377

https://www.enworld.org/threads/rew...beings-siderials-demiurges-time-lords.349467/

It gimps far too many monsters.

Update:
• I ultimately decided to use the standard size category and virtual size category modifiers (from the beginning pages of the Epic Bestiary) for damage.
• As for AC, I was torn between various formulae and decided to go with Base Armor Bonus + ((size modifier + virtual size modifier) ÷ 10 × Base Armor Bonus) as this most closely parallels what Krusty did for natural AC of golems and makes the most sense to me.
Medium Neutronium Full Plate (normally +9 Armor bonus) is +513 Armor bonus.
Medium Neutronium Shield (normally +2 Shield bonus) is +114 Shield bonus.
This works well even for a neutronium golem wearing additional Large neutronium full plate (+534 Armor bonus) and using a Large neutronium shield (+120 Shield bonus)