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<blockquote data-quote="Alex319" data-source="post: 5038779" data-attributes="member: 45678">As for the original idea:&nbsp;- I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about &quot;damage expressions based on your prime stat.&quot; The damage expressions on page 42 just have numbers, and don't have any stats involved.&nbsp;- If you don't have any PP left, what are your options? Can you just make basic attacks? If so that seems to severely nerf classes that don't have good basic attacks, such as most spellcasting classes. (That said, do powers like Magic Missile and Eldritch Blast that can be used in place of basic attacks still count as basic attacks in this system?)&nbsp;- I don't see what the advantage is of ever not doing an area attack if you can, because it seems like in this system, area attacks do just as much damage as single target attacks. Can all classes do area attacks or just spellcasting classes?&nbsp;---&nbsp;And as for more general comments about the idea:&nbsp;I'm a little unclear on whether you want the different attack combinations to be things that are set up at &quot;character creation time&quot; or whether they're made up on the fly at &quot;game time.&quot; The OP seems to suggest that they're created at game time, while in the analogy to Champions - well, AFAIK, in Champions you set up your powers when you create your character, and then you use those powers over and over.&nbsp;Another thing I'm a little unclear on is whether the &quot;on-the-fly effect creation&quot; is intended to be used by the player or the DM. What I mean is, which of the following are you envisioning:&nbsp;1. The player observes the battlefield situation, and uses this system to create an effect that will work best. For example, &quot;There's three guys clustered together, I know that Fortitude is their weakest defense, and they're vulnerable to lightning, so I'll make an area of effect attack that targets Fortitude and does lightning damage&quot;, and the system has a way to combine those effects on the fly. Here the &quot;effect creation system&quot; is being used by the player.&nbsp;2. The player describes what their character is doing, and then the DM translates that into mechanics. For example the player says &quot;I'm creating a gust of wind to push the bad guys back&quot;, and the DM says &quot;Okay, blast 5, Intelligence vs. Fortitude, on a hit the target takes 1d6+INT damage, is pushed three squares and knocked prone.&quot; The power creation system is then a set of guidelines the DM can use to translate the player's description into a power. Here the &quot;effect creation system&quot; is being used by the DM.&nbsp;A third important aspect of the system is whether you want it to be repeatable. In other words, suppose that in example (2) above, the player says &quot;Okay, well, that looks like a pretty useful power, I think I'm going to use that all the time&quot; and gives the same description every time he wants to use that power. Do you want the power effects to be the same? The issue with that is that what is likely to happen is players will build up a &quot;library&quot; of the most effective power effect combinations they can find, and then repeatedly use them, and you've basically gone full circle back to the &quot;prepackaged power&quot; system, except with a little extra leeway in case the prepackaged powers don't work. That explains some of the comments that you've been getting.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Alex319, post: 5038779, member: 45678"] As for the original idea: - I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about "damage expressions based on your prime stat." The damage expressions on page 42 just have numbers, and don't have any stats involved. - If you don't have any PP left, what are your options? Can you just make basic attacks? If so that seems to severely nerf classes that don't have good basic attacks, such as most spellcasting classes. (That said, do powers like Magic Missile and Eldritch Blast that can be used in place of basic attacks still count as basic attacks in this system?) - I don't see what the advantage is of ever not doing an area attack if you can, because it seems like in this system, area attacks do just as much damage as single target attacks. Can all classes do area attacks or just spellcasting classes? --- And as for more general comments about the idea: I'm a little unclear on whether you want the different attack combinations to be things that are set up at "character creation time" or whether they're made up on the fly at "game time." The OP seems to suggest that they're created at game time, while in the analogy to Champions - well, AFAIK, in Champions you set up your powers when you create your character, and then you use those powers over and over. Another thing I'm a little unclear on is whether the "on-the-fly effect creation" is intended to be used by the player or the DM. What I mean is, which of the following are you envisioning: 1. The player observes the battlefield situation, and uses this system to create an effect that will work best. For example, "There's three guys clustered together, I know that Fortitude is their weakest defense, and they're vulnerable to lightning, so I'll make an area of effect attack that targets Fortitude and does lightning damage", and the system has a way to combine those effects on the fly. Here the "effect creation system" is being used by the player. 2. The player describes what their character is doing, and then the DM translates that into mechanics. For example the player says "I'm creating a gust of wind to push the bad guys back", and the DM says "Okay, blast 5, Intelligence vs. Fortitude, on a hit the target takes 1d6+INT damage, is pushed three squares and knocked prone." The power creation system is then a set of guidelines the DM can use to translate the player's description into a power. Here the "effect creation system" is being used by the DM. A third important aspect of the system is whether you want it to be repeatable. In other words, suppose that in example (2) above, the player says "Okay, well, that looks like a pretty useful power, I think I'm going to use that all the time" and gives the same description every time he wants to use that power. Do you want the power effects to be the same? The issue with that is that what is likely to happen is players will build up a "library" of the most effective power effect combinations they can find, and then repeatedly use them, and you've basically gone full circle back to the "prepackaged power" system, except with a little extra leeway in case the prepackaged powers don't work. That explains some of the comments that you've been getting. [/QUOTE]

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