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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ValhallaGH" data-source="post: 4795416" data-attributes="member: 41187">I completely understand.  I once designed the nearly invincible master of war using around 12 scribbled numbers, 11 words, and the system notes in my head.Then I'm doubly glad I mentioned it.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />I do understand needing to help out your players as they try to make (legal) builds, so I'll cost him up for you.  Points wise: he's got Abilities 39 + Saves 12 + Skills 18 (72 ranks) + Feats 13 + Powers 71 (13+12+4+22+13+3+2+2) + Combat 30 - Drawbacks 4 = 189 power points.  I've listed the power costs in the same order I wrote them up in.I'll be honest, I cheated a little bit.  I used the Ape archetype in the back of the main book as a guideline, and lifted his skills straight from Dr. Geistman (a villain in the Golden Age book).  These are time-saving tricks I've learned, since skills are the fiddliest bit of character creation, and I sometimes forget the simple basic abilities of being a critter.I am really glad that you like him. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />All of them.  Each is an alternate setting, doing slightly different effects with his lightning gun / bombs.  For free, each round, he can swap between any one of the effects listed and use it as he pleases.Largely by allowing Reflex saves (which can cover the luck of having lightning arc around you). :shame:That said, you can easily put a drawback into the powers, granting all in the area the equivalent of Evasion 1.  If they make their reflex save, at all, then they are completely unharmed by the weapons.  This would be a -3 point drawback, for each device so affected (Very Common, Minor); I could be argued into seeing it as a Very Common, Moderate for -4 points per device.You could do it the way you're thinking (which is very, very complicated).  It might even work the way you wanted it to, especially if you restrict him to the desired conical area (by never doing anything else, or with an appropriate Flaw or Drawback).  I think my way is both simpler and more elegant, but maybe not.Oh!  One other way to do it (oddly, also stolen from the Golden Age book) is to do it as an Autofire with a Cone area.  How that works, is you roll a ranged attack for each target in the cone; the success is used to determine damage as per the autofire rules.  Failed attack rolls actually miss the target entirely.The principle downside to this method is that you actually have to roll the attack for each character in the area, determining success and degree of success separately, which can slow down play.  Even moreso than calling for reflex and toughness saves.I first saw this in the Eisenmech's build.Mechanically, it would be a Blast with the Extras: Area (Cone) [+1], Autofire [+1 to +3], and the Flaws: Range (Touch) [-1].  How many of Autofire's three levels (basic, double max damage, narrower success margin) you want to include is dependent upon how mean you want it to be (and he can always improve it as the campaign progresses).And now that I write all that, I realize how close my last suggestion is to your idea.  Hmm....Good luck and feel free to ask more questions.Thank you, sir.  I am most flattered.</blockquote>

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