Corrections to Existing Super Abilities

Alter Physical Structure: Fire, Electricity

I have a number of problems with these powers, largely because they lack purity and don't fit the descriptions. Ex: A player with APS:Fire doesn't really alter his physical structure; the player has an aura of fire around his human body. This may be a vaild power, but it doesn't seem to cover the ability as it is named.

Due to length considerations, my corrections (as well as some additions) have been placed on a separate page: APS: Revision of Powers

New powers to fill the gaps left by these revisions are:

• Control Electricity (Major)
• Energy Expulsion: Fire Aura (Minor)

Alter Physical Structure: Ice

My Problem:

This power needs a major overhaul. The biggest problem is that it assumes one can condense large amounts of water out of normal air. This assumption is inconsistent with both reality and the way other powers are applied. Example: The abilities granted by Control Elemental Forces: Water require a large source of water- Why can't the aspiring warlock just pull it out of thin air? Simply put, because there isn't very much water in the air, even on humid days. Besides these problems, I have the same categorical problems with APS powers that grant external abilities.

My Suggestion:

The power should be redefined and split into two Major Abilities. APS: Ice should offer much less control over elemental heat, but the external effects are definitely worthy of another revised power. Since the human body is largely made of water, it seems appropriate (in the RPG setting) that this power could turn a body completely into ice, even incorporating water from external sources into the whole. Heat from the body is absorbed and put wherever mutant energies go. The character could also absorb heat from other sources, but only at close range (touch/grapple).

    1. Ice Form: The character's body is transformed into a solid structure of ice, shaped roughly like his unaltered form. The character can move without penalty, unconsciously shifting the ice to translate into normal body movements. While the character's "muscle mass" is unchanged, the incredible pressures offered by the expansion of freezing water upgrades his strength class to Extraordinary.

Increased Damage Capacity: SDC 350; Natural Armor Rating 12
Augmented Strength Class: PS Attribute as Normal (unless augmented as below); Lift 100x PS in pounds, Carry 200x PS in pounds

    2. Absorption and Augmentation: With a ready source of water, the character can create and absorb ice into his body, temporarily increasing his physical strength attribute and damage potential (by adding mass, spikes, etc to the fists, shoulders, knees, feet). One gallon of water will allow the character to either increase his PS by four attribute points or his melee combat damage by +1D6. The character's SDC increases by 10 for each gallon absorbed regardless of purpose.

Range: Touch / Self
Attacks per Melee: Each usage requires two melee attacks
Duration: Five minutes plus one minute per level of experience in any 4 hour period
Limitation: Can absorb a maximum of one gallon of water per experience level (for this purpose) at any one time

    3. Stretch Limbs: The character can stretch his body and/or limbs without increasing the actual volume of ice used. Mental blocks require that the limbs use joints as normal until the fifth level of experience, after which the character can spend an extra attack per melee and concentrate on flexing his limbs like prehensile tentacles.

Range: Touch / Self
Attacks per Melee: Stretching requires one attack for each limb
Duration: Maximum of two minutes per level of experience in any 4 hour period
Effect: Multiply limb length by up to 1x per level of experience; Stretching legs will increase Speed attribute by same multiplier

    4. Damage Regeneration: With a ready source of water the character can repair damage sustained in his ice form. Each 20 SDC requires about one gallon of water, which isn't much, but the power is more directly limited by experience level.

Regeneration: 1D6 per level of experience
Range: Touch / Self
Attacks per Melee: Requires one attack
Duration: Instant / Permanent

    5. Frost Touch: The ice character can absorb heat with a touch, causing damage to normal biological tissue and lowering the temperature of one pound of inorganic material per level of experience to freezing temperature. Frost will grow on any surface affected, increased up to one square foot per level if that's the intention. The frost is slippery, and should require a balance check for anyone crossing the area.

Damage: 2D6 + 1D6 per level of experience to organic material
Range: Touch / Self
Attacks per Melee: Requires one attack

    6. Other Abilities and Bonuses

• Character is impervious to cold damage in either human or ice form.
• The character's normal weight is doubled when transformed.
• In ice form non-extraordinary or -superhuman kinetic attacks do half damage, as do explosions and non-armor piercing projectiles; Laser attacks do little to no damage.
• Character never slips on ice, and can instinctively run or skate at full speed without penalty; Can slide/run on an icy surface at double speed while in ice form
• See my stats for cold related damages...

Alter Physical Structure: Plasma

My Problem:

The text is somewhat unclear when it comes to cold-based attacks against a character with this power. While the cold may do double damage, many cold-based attacks involve throwing a piece of ice or snow. The damage this does is mostly based on kinetic impact, or in the case of ice shards is based on the cutting action. This damage shouldn't apply to a plasma being, because he has no physical form. I don't really understand why cold attacks should cause damage, since to a guy with a temperature over 1000 degrees room temperature and ice are pretty much the same. Melting steel is lot harder than melting ice. But, now I'm getting involved in a physics discussion so I'll drop the issue.

Because the plasma character can melt through walls of ice while sustaining only 4D6 per six inches (that's a lot of ice!), it seems unreasonable for ice shards hurled at the character to do 6D6 x 2.

My Solution:

The character sustains 1D6 damage for every 20 lbs of ice the character is forced to melt. Example: Someone hurls a 40 lb block of ice into the plasma being, where it melts. The character has no choice but to melt it, since he's really damn hot, and takes 2D6 damage.

Other cold based attacks, like the ones I've suggested as corrections in Alter Physical Structure: Ice, can do double damage. I suppose.... Just be careful to separate kinetic damage from that done by cold.

Control Elemental Force: Fire (Revised)

My Problem and Solution:
This power isn't very powerful, except for the inconsistent Fire Blast sub-ability, and doesn't really have a very wide scope of control over fire. I've revised it to be more comparable to the other CEF powers.

The power to manipulate and control aspects of elemental fire. This power pulls heat out of the character's surroundings and focuses it for his uses. Oddly enough, the end result is often a temporarily lowered temperature.

    1. Spontaneous Combustion: Identical to Ability 2. of Non-Revised power (HU2, pg 259).

    2. Fuel Flame: Identical to Ability 3. of Non-Revised power (HU2, pg 259).

    3. Create Flame Wall: Identical to Ability 4. of Non-Revised power (HU2, pg 259).

    4. Extinguish Fire: Identical to Ability 5. of Non-Revised power (HU2, pg 259).

    5. Redirect Fire: Given a large open fire within sight, the character can redirect the flames towards an intended target. This ability can be used on the fires created and manipulated using the other abilities of this power. The range, damage, and area effect of this attack relies on the size of the fire: Small being about the size of a torch, medium about the size of campfire, large being comparable to a bonfire, and very large being anything larger. Stats below are given in the form (Stat): (small)/(medium)/(large)/(very large).

Range: 3 ft / 10 ft / 25 ft / 35 ft ; + 1 ft per level of experience
Damage: 1D6 / 3D6 / 5D6 / 6D6 ; + 2 per level of experience
Duration: Instant
Attacks per Melee: Requires one hand to hand attack
Bonus: +2 strike

    6. Pillar of Fire: If the character concentrates for a time he can gather the heat from a large area and concentrate it into a pillar of fire. This attack is very difficult to dodge, as it is silent, invisible (until it strikes), and comes from the ground. It is unwise to stand still in the vicinity of an opponent with this ability....

Range: 85 ft + 15 ft per level of experience, strikes an area of diameter 3 ft + 1 ft per level of experience
Damage: 1D6x10 + 4 per level of experience
Duration: One full melee after pillar is unleashed
Attacks per Melee: Requires one full minute of concentration (no other attacks possible), plus two hand to hand attacks to unleash
Bonus: +6 strike specific target

    7. Create Smoke: Identical to Ability 6. of Non-Revised power (HU2, pg 259).

    8. Sense Heat and Flame: The character can sense nearby sources of heat and flame, required for the full extent of his powers. Range: 10 + 1D6 miles. The character can also smell smoke from large open fires within 20 miles, plus 2 miles per level of experience.

   9. Other Abilities:
    The is invulnerable to fire, smoke, and heat (no damage), including magic attacks. The character seems to radiate heat from within, and is immune to cold within normal atmospheric ranges. Extreme and intense cold attacks will cause half damage.
    Can accurately sense air temperature above freezing within 1D6 degrees, as well as the temperature of fires and hot items.

Extraordinary Speed

My Problem:

The raw running speed granted by this power is obscene. There is little room in the game to create a character that can merely run as fast as highway speed limits allow. The other "Extraordinary Attribute" powers are in line with peak human performance; this power gives a damage bonus that's easily four or five times that of Extraordinary PS, and the character easily outruns any commercial vehicles. I think this is way too much for a minor power.
The ability as written should be renamed Superhuman Speed. The difference between this and what I propose below is akin to the difference between Extraordinary and Superhuman PS.

My Solution:

The maximum speed attainable by the character is greatly reduced. The character is still competes with most vehicles and is twice as fast as olympic athletes, but their power is in keeping with other minor powers.

 

Maximum Running Speed:

50 mph, + 5 mph per level of experience. Max speed can be maintained for one melee per PE point, plus one minute (four melees) per level of experience. A cruising speed of 20 mph +5 mph per level of experience can be maintained for one minute (four melees) per PE point, plus 5 minutes per level of experience.

Other Bonuses:

Unchanged (for now....)

Intangibility

My Problems:

1. How can a character walk on the ground if they are intangible? The ground is no different than any other object!
2. Does the intangible person breathe?
3. When the intangible person solidifies, won't they have air trapped in their body? Bubbles in their bones, blood, etc?
4. Why does gas pass into a character's bloodstream if nothing else does? Does a character get lead poisoning if they walk through a lead wall, or catch infectious diseases if they pass through a sick person?
5. Why can't an intangible person drop something? Don't their fingers work?
6. A character can become tangible inside an object (even if it isn't recommended); why can't an object?

My Solutions:

The nature of the power is that the character can make a transition to an intangible state. The character's power keeps these unbound molecules in place while in this state, until the character can bring them back into their natural tangible state.

1. While intangible the character has a limited Flight power (Max speed is Speed attribute). A comic book writer in the seventies screwed up while determining the extent of Kitty Pride's mutant power, and Intangibility has been suffering ever since. Characters don't walk on air molecules or clouds of smoke (which are significantly less dense than the objects they easily pass through); they're intangible! They either have to fly or let gravity pull them to the center of the earth, unless gravity doesn't effect them whatsoever. This means they would just float in the spot where they became intangible. Unfortunately, the earth doesn't stay still underneath them, so they would eventually be left floating through space.
2. The intangible person only has access to the air that became intangible with them (in their lungs and around their body). This means the character will have to "breathe" the intangible air. This puts a limit on the length of time the character can stay intangible: 1 minute per PE point.
3. There must be a displacement of air when the character solidifies. A solid, being much denser than air, will push the air out of the way as it solidifies. A liquid will push the air out, but not quite as well as a solid. A gas would mix very easily with whatever atmosphere the character solidifes into, but the high pressure (resulting from the two gases being on top of each other) will quickly equalize. Transitions from one state to the other will be accompanied by a small "whooshing" sound as air rushes in (going intangible) or out (solidifying) of the character.
4. Gas attacks are ineffective while the character is intangible. If a character becomes tangible inside a gas cloud, however, the gas is instantly mixed into the character's lungs (and to a lesser extent bloodstream), and would take immediate effect doing maximum damage (no saving throw).
5. Intangible characters can drop an object they have on their intangible person. Since the character is no longer exerting their influence on the object, the unbound molecules lose their structure. The object reverts to a tangible state, but is deformed and weakened. Further, solidification without control by the character robs the object's molecules of much of their energy, and the re-solidified object is cold to the touch.
6. I think a character should be able to willingly become tangible while holding one object inside another. When the intangible object soldifies inside the other there would be extensive damage done to both; the objects are fused together. As far as damage goes, I think it should go by the mass of the solidified object: 1D6x10 per pound. Keep in mind that more damage will have to be caused later when trying to remove the object from the victim. Used as an attack the intangible character is at a disadvantage (it's awkward; not really a normal strike): -4 strike. The only viable defense against this attack is to dodge.

Limitations:

• The limited Flight is a product of the character very slightly solidifying, using the natural repulsion of matter to being solidified on top of other matter. This subpower only works while the character is surrounded by matter of some sort. Air works very well because the matter is much less dense than solids, and moves easily due to slight changes in pressure. Moving through a liquid, much denser than air, reduces the flight speed to half of the character's speed attribute, and moving through a solid lowers the speed to one third. In a vacuum this doesn't work at all, and the character has no control over their Flight.
• I agree with HU in that the character can't throw an object at someone. Solidification uses the object's kinetic energy in addition to its thermal energy, and it would fall to the ground when it becomes tangible.
• If the character is foolish enough to solidify while their own body is inside an object that body part will be destroyed (even though they are still attached to it- Ewww....). In addition to this damage (SDC amount at GM's discretion), the shock will cause 1D6x10 damage directly to Hit Points. This might cause instant death, but is a little more realistic than the rules in HU2.

Random Disgusting Thought:

I think my favorite attack is to put an intangible object into someone, solidify (whole self), and quickly become intangible again, bringing the fused object with you. The bloody hole left in the victim would be pretty disgusting, not to mention lethal if in a bad location. The medical examiner would have a tough time figuring out what the murder weapon was. A horrible attack (that does briefly leave the attacker vulnerable), but very useful and more realistic than how the power is written in HU2.

The scenario I'm picturing:

A stalker is ruining the life of a woman. With no where else to turn, she hires "The Ghost," an assassin with Intangibility. The Ghost floats into the stalker's room, where he finds a collection of surveilence photos of the poor woman. The Ghost chuckles to himself, grabbing one of the photos. Floating over to the sleeping, unsuspecting stalker he drops the photo through the man's neck, where it solidifies. The man's bloodflow is instantly halted by the blocked veins and arteries, and he can't breathe because of the paper in his windpipe. The stalker dies quickly due to suffocation, blood loss, and lack of oxygen to the brain, plus the system shock of the solidification. The Ghost laughes quietly at the irony of the situation, and the satisfaction of knowing that this time he was on the side of the angels.

Invisibility

This is more of a clarification/consequence than a correction, but I think it belongs here.

My Problem:

When our eyes "see" an object, we actually detect light coming from the object. There are cells in our eyes that absorb light and convert it into information for our brain to process. Darkness is the lack of light for our eyes to absorb; if we don't absorb any light we cannot see anything! Therefore, when a character is invisible, meaning that light passes directly through them, he cannot absorb the light used for vision. Invisible characters are blind!

My Solution:

Invisible characters cannot be totally invisible and still be able to see unless something more complicated occurs with their power. A number of possible scenarios result from this line of thought:

• The character is blind while invisible.
• The character has eyes that absorb a small amount of light while the character is invisible, but the rest of his body is transparent. There will be a faint dark area at the character's eyes, corresponding to the small amount of light being absorbed and used for vision. It does allow some small chance for visual detection of the invisible character (-5% to invisible prowl). The character cannot simply close his eyes and make the dark spots disappear because his eyelids are invisible.
• The character detects the light coming in to his eyes, and emits exactly the same light from the back of his head. The emitted light is produced via a finely tuned low power version of Energy Expulsion: Light. There is a very slight blur at the eyes of the character while invisible, detectable only on close inspection.

The dark spots and blurs are detectable from all directions around the character. They are strongest while standing behind the character, and very weak standing to the side of the character. The magnitude of the effects is somewhere imbetween the two extremes from in front of the character. None of these options provide 360 degree vision. The angular range of the character's vision is unchanged; eyes are reasonably complicated optical systems, and require light to be focused by the lens onto the photosensitive cells at the back of the eyeball. The eyeball will absorb light from every direction, but will only be able to process light from the forward direction.

Magnetism

The ability to control magnetic fields lends a character limited telekinetic control over ferromagnetic objects, most commonly iron. The more magnetic material is available, the more powerful a character grows.... The nature of magnetization does have some inherent restrictions, most notably that the forces created through ferromagnetism are attractive. One magnetic object must be attracted towards another! Of course, in the modern world one rarely finds himself without iron surroundings- Buildings are made from iron frames, automobiles and other equipment have very high iron content.

This power comes into its own when used to attract two magnetic objects toward each other. A magnetic master doesn't usually hurl objects at their victim, so much as at a large metallic object behind their victim. Unless the character is made of metal (which isn't so unlikely in this game) or is strong enough to wear hundreds of pounds of metal himself (even more likely), he cannot affect objects with his own body. This means that, without metal in his surroundings, he is relatively powerless!

For every 100 pounds of iron an object contains, the character has an effective Extraordinary PS equal to his experience level with which to manipulate that object.

For example, a third level character can magnetize a 500lb iron object, allowing him to manipulate it with an Extraordinary PS of 15. This is enough force to lift 3000lbs, and carry 1500 lbs; if the 500lb object were attached to much larger non-magnetic object, the character would be able to lift the entire assembly! For small objects, multiply the weight of iron by the character's experience level to determine how much weight he can "carry" with that object.

Range: 100 meters, +50 meters per level of experience (within eyesight)
Damage: Depends on amount of iron used; treat as a standard melee attack fueled by Extraordinary Strength
Attacks per Melee: Magnetizing a large object requires one melee attack; each subsequent use requires one melee attack.
Bonus: +1 strike per odd level of experience (including first)

2. "Hurl" Iron: Objects containing less than 100 lbs of iron can still be affected by this character, but do not lend him the same raw strength. Hurling a small magnetic object towards another can catch a target imbetween; with enough iron in a character's surroundings, he can manipulate objects in any direction he wishes and hit any target within range. As many as one object per level of experience can be manipulated at a time, but must be manipulated with separate melee attacks.

Range: 200 meters, +20 meters per level of experience
Damage: 1D6 per 10 lbs of iron (to a maximum of 1D6x10), +2 per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: Each manipulation of an object requires one melee attack
Bonus: +2 to strike, +1 every third level; +1 to block/parry per third level

3. Manipulate Ambient Magnetic Fields: Natural magnetic fields on the surface of the earth are small, about 1000 times smaller than that of a common kitchen magnet. However, a character with this power can focus the magnetic flux of his surroundings into a small area, creating small but measurable forces. This results in a limited telekinesis, even without iron surroundings, applicable only to objects made of at least 90% iron, with a weight limit of one half pound per experience level. Hurling a small object (or a number of objects, all under the weight limit) at a target is possible.

Range: 10 meters per level of experience
Damage: 1D4, +1 per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: Each use of this ability requires one melee attack
Bonus: +3 to strike

4. Crush Metal Objects: The character can create magnetic fields within a metallic object that warp and bend the material. Fine-tuned manipulations of an object (ie bending) without inflicting damage are possible but very difficult, requiring a character's full concentration and often external metal surrounding for use as a brace. Use the character's Extraordinary PS with that object, as determined above, for a guideline as to what he can do.

Range: 100 meters, +20 meters per level of experience
Damage: 1D6 per 10 lbs of iron, plus 1D6 per level of experience
Weight Limit: 50 lbs per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: The first use requires two melee attacks, each additional use requires one

5. Shield: This ability can be used to block incoming damage if incoming objects are electrically conductive (but not necesarily magnetic, like brass or stainless steel). Projectiles are slowed to a halt using the concept of magnetic drag force. Affected projectiles will fall harmlessly to the ground. Ideally, this power is put into place before any fast-moving attacks are launched.

Duration: One melee round (15 seconds)
Range: 3 meters, +1 meter per level of experience
Effect: Negate up to 1D6x10 SD, +10 per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: Use of this ability requires two melee attacks
Bonus: +1 as a parry

6. Magnify Magnetic Field: The attractive power of any external magnet can be temporarily increased far above its usual level; multiply the strength of the magnet by the character's level of experience. This can be used on permanent magnets, electromagnets, etc. The effect can be maintained indefinitely by expending one attack before the duration expires. This ability can also be used to create a permanent magnet out of magnetizable material.

Range: 1 meter
Duration: 10 minutes, plus 1 minute per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: One full melee of concentration

7. Magnetic Pulse: The character can create a magnetic pulse powerful enough to damage or destroy insufficiently shielded electrical circuitry. Unshielded electrical circuits can be reset or completed with a finely-tuned magnetic pulse. This can effectively be considered a skill (15%, +8% per level of experience), where the character must roll to determine whether the desired effect has occurred. Failed rolls usually mean that the circuit was damaged.

Range: 10 meters, +2 meters per level of experience
Damage: 1D6 per level of experience, damage can be regulated
Attacks per Melee: Requires one melee attack

Other Abilities:

• +1 attack per melee, for use only with magnetic abilities
• Characters with this power can detect magnetic materials in their surroundings, within a range of 1000 meters (100 meters for fine-tuned detection). This ability is always on, functioning as a type of "second sight" for the character.
• The character can also detect magnetic fields within appropriate range (can detect a kitchen magnet from inside the kitchen, can detect a strong scientific magnet within a hundred meters of the building, etc), as well as the magnetic fields created by high electrical currents.
• Ambient magnetic fields often wildly fluctuate around this character; unless he concentrates, magnetic sensors (including compasses) within 100 meters will be useless.

Notes on Gameplay

This power could considerably slow gameplay without the following assumptions and rules of thumb:

• One object is usually much larger than the other; for example, attracting a car towards a building. There is easily enough iron in the building frame to match the car, so the character's magnetic PS is determined by the car's iron content. A 2000lb car might contain 1500 lbs of iron, allowing a first level character to push it into the building with a superhuman PS of 15.
• The amount of weight one can attract into a large object is also limited by its structural limitations. One could easily hange 4500lbs from the frame of a building without it buckling, so striking it with 4500lbs of force would probably damage the stonework but not destroy the building. A more powerful character might begin to test the limits of the building; GM's should keep structural integrity of surroundings in mind, but only if it contributes to gameplay.
• If two objects are of roughly the same size, they will attract each other and crush anything caught imbetween. One should calculate the effective PS using only one of the objects, to maintain balance in the rule set. For example, a fifth level character crushing someone between two 500lb sheets of iron will have an effective extraordinary PS of 25, not 50.
• A character could use this power for a "grapple" effect, by wearing a small amount of iron and attracting it towards a distant iron object. A fifth level character wearing 20lbs of iron will be able to create a extraordinary PS of 1, enough to lift 200 lbs. The force will drag or lift the character towards that distant object. If the character has access to scientific metallic alloys, the same effect could be acheived with as little as one pound of material!

Natural Combat Ability

My Problems:

The mechanics for dealing with this power are too complicated. Some combat skills receive bonuses while others do not, implying that you're supposed to take the combat bonuses from the specific style your fighting against. This means you have to constantly look up bonuses for different styles.... Overall, I think it should be easier to make a character that was just born knowing how to fight.

My Solution:

Building on the concept of the original power, this version offers bonuses that don't change with the fighting style of your opponent. You do, however, get bonuses depending on your familiarity with your opponent. I've also allowed for some variation between different natural combat styles and abilities.

    1. Incredible Attributes: Part of what makes this character so formidable in combat is their exceptional physical condition. While not quite equivalent to Extraordinary status, some of this character's attributes will be higher than normal. The player may choose any two of the following:

• Incredible PS: +2D4 to attribute; Carry 50x attribute, Lift 100x
• Incredible PP: +2D4 to attribute; +1 melee attack, +4 to apply towards called strike penalties
• Incredible PE: +2D4 to attribute; Tires at one fourth normal rate, Natural AR of 8 applicable to blunt trauma only
• Incredible Speed: +2D4 to attribute; +1 melee attack, +4 Dodge, +2 Auto Dodge
• Incredible Reflexes: +1 melee attack, +5 Initiative, +3 Parry, Dodge, and Auto Dodge

    2. Fighting Style: Characters express their powers with differing styles; players can choose one of the following (or GM might allow choice of N&SS-style Martial Art Form):

• Savage: This character appears to lash out in primitive fashion, making few complicated maneuvers.
  Bonuses:
  +3, +1 per 2nd level of experience: Strike, Initiative, Dodge
  +1, +1 per 3rd level of experience: Attacks per Melee, Auto Dodge, Roll
  +1 per 3rd level of experience to all other combat rolls
  Critical Strike on natural rolls greater than or equal to 18 - 1 per 3rd level of experience
• Defensive: This character seems to weave in and out of combat, striking only when his opponent is exposed.
  Bonuses:
  +3, +1 per 2nd level of experience: Parry, Dodge, Roll
  +1, +1 per 3rd level of experience: Auto Dodge, Pull, Flip/Throw
  +1 Attack per Melee every 2nd level of experience
  +1 per 3rd level of experience to all other combat rolls
  Critical Strike on natural rolls greater than or equal to 17 - 1 per 2nd level of experience
• Balanced: The character is an all-around master of melee combat.
  Bonuses:
  +1, +1 per 3rd level of experience: Attacks per Melee, Auto Dodge
  +2, +1 per 3rd level of experience: All other combat rolls
  Critical Strike on natural rolls greater than or equal to 19 - 1 per 2nd level of experience

    3. Adaptive Fighting: As the character fights an opponent he can memorize the way that person moves. Rather than adopting his opponent's style of fighting, he gradually learns to counter that style. Use of this ability costs one attack per melee, but every melee the character engages his opponent results in a cumulative +1 bonus to any and all combat rolls made against that opponent to a maximum of +1 per level of experience of the character. The bonuses remain in effect until the character disengages the power (and gets his melee attack back); the experience will allow him to start with half of that bonus the next time he engages the power against that opponent. Observing an opponent without engaging him requires a full minute for each +1 rather than just one melee, and the character can engage only one opponent per odd level of experience at any given time using these bonuses.

    4. Other Notes:

• Character receives Paired Weapons, all Ancient Weapon Proficiencies at three levels higher than the character's current experience level, and a bonus of +2 to strike with Modern Weapons.
• The character's punch inflicts 2D4, kick 2D6; Jump Kick and Power Punch cost two attacks and are automatic Critical Strikes; Headbutt inflicts 1D6
• This power is nearly immune to Negation (as per Negate Super Abilities); such attacks will prevent the character from using adaptive fighting bonuses and any non-attribute bonuses due to Incredible attributes. Bonuses from the character's fighting style will remain in effect.

Negative Matter

My Problems:

The logic / physics / game mechanics of this power are, in my opinion, deeply flawed:

• Two objects that repel each other will act on each other with equal but opposite forces. If the negative matter character pushes against a small object, like a bullet, it will move much more easily than he does. On the other hand, if the character pushes against an object much larger than the character, like a building, he will move more easily. This power shouldn't be limited by the amount of mass being pushed, so much as carry consequences for the character (skidding backwards, etc.) if he pushes on an object much larger than himself.
• Gravitational forces between two objects are proportional to the mass of each object. The repulsive forces exerted by negative matter will increase as the mass of the incoming positive matter object increases. All incoming objects, regardless of mass (and to a degree, size), will be decelerated at an equal rate as they approach the negative object. The important consideration is not the size or velocity of an object, but the size and velocity, in terms of kinetic energy and momentum.
• Gravitational forces are inherently weak. The gravitational attraction between two human sized objects is undetectable. This implies that, unaided by some additional power, the character will be unable to significantly effect the motion of external objects. Additionally, it isn't clear whether the repulsion of objects is an active or passive feature.
• The greatest single source of gravity that affects characters is the earth. Positive matter objects fall down towards the surface of the earth, when unconstrained, but negative matter objects will fall upwards! This means that an unrestrained character made up of negative matter will find himself accelerating upwards at a minimum of 32 feet per second squared! This isn't taken into account in any way by the power as written.
• As one gets closer to the center of an anti-gravitational field the magnitude of the repulsion should increase. The distance to which a continuously pushed object can approach a negative object is limited by the force pushing it inwards, not the amount of mass being pushed.
• Connecting two objects that are repulsive to each other will not result in continuous motion towards one or the other. As an analog, two objects with like electric charge will repel each other. Connecting two like charged objects with an insulating rod will only result in physical strain on the rod as the objects push apart. The aggregate will not begin moving in either direction. Likewise, connecting a piece of negative matter to a piece of positive matter will not result in overall motion.

My Solution:

The character can convert his body, but no external objects, into negative matter, as well as vastly increase the magnitude of the anti-gravitational field emanating from his own negative matter. The most immediate side effect of possessing a body made up of negative matter is that the earth's gravitational acceleration will be reversed, turned into a repulsion. An anti-gravitational force, equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the character's weight, will immediately act on the character and he will begin falling upwards! While indoors, the character will naturally walk on ceilings rather than floors, just as positive matter characters walk on floors but not ceilings. Outdoors, however, the negative matter character would be repulsed by the earth into outer space.

This effect can be controlled with a simple solution: The character must wear heavy positive matter weights to avoid being flung upwards, just as a diver wears a lead diving belt to cancel the buoyancy of his body while underwater. If the character wears "clothes" equal in weight to his body the gravitational attraction of the clothes to the earth will cancel out the anti-gravitational repulsion of his body from the earth, and he will float in a perpetual freefall. If he wears more clothes he will be held to the ground with a corresponding amount of force. The bonuses and penalties for weightlessness and over-weighted characters laid out in the super ability Weight Manipulation will apply to this character, governed by the combined weight of his body and clothes. Of course, if the character doesn't mind attaching furniture to his ceiling, he can function indoors without penalty or additional positive weights. Finally, keep in mind that a character will eventually either take off their weights while in negative form or turn back to positive form while wearing the weights. Both have consequences....

1. Kinetic Repulsion: While in negative form, the character can vastly increase the effects of his own anti-gravitational field. The character will unconsciously, automatically repel any incoming objects; he is surrounded by a force field. Most incoming objects will be lose momentum as they approach but gain an equal amount of momentum as they are wildly repelled outward from the character. Attacks that are fired "dead-on" will be slowed down, and if they don't have sufficient momentum will be reversed back towards the attacker. Because momentum and kinetic energy are more closely related to damage than any other game statistic, this results in a "damage barrier" around the character. Objects with high momentum will be less deflected than those with low momentum. The end result is a severe penalty for attackers to strike the character with kinetic-based attacks, lessened as attacks increase in momentum.

Damage Barrier: 10 SDC + 5 SDC per level of experience; Any kinetic (physical) attack doing less damage than the damage barrier will have no chance of striking the character. Attacks that do strike the character will be reduced in damage by an amount equal to the damage barrier.
Strike Penalty: Kinetic based attacks will suffer a penalty of -10 to strike, counteracted by +1 for each five points of damage above the character's damage barrier. Ex: An attack doing 20 points of damage more than the damage barrier will be -6 to strike the negative character.
Attacks per Melee: In theory, unlimited; This defensive ability works automatically on all incoming objects.
Limitations: This repulsion occurs instinctively on all moving objects near the character, and requires an active decision to "turn off." The character has no direct control over the objects' deflections, making him dangerous to be near in a firefight. Deflected objects will be reduced somewhat in range, but not in damage. Finally, when this power is engaged any loose objects carried by the character will be pulled from his body. Everything carried by this character must be secured.

2. Offensive Damage Bonus: Any kinetic attacks, such as thrown melee weapons or bullets (even fired from a gun), engaged by the negative character will gain a damage bonus equal to the damage barrier. It is not possible to regulate this damage bonus, except to negate it completely with an active decision.

Damage Bonus: 5 SD per level of experience; This bonus applies only to kinetic attacks originating from the negative character. The bonus is automatic, and cannot be regulated except by turning it completely off.
Strike Penalty: Because the attacks will be naturally deflected off center, they suffer -5 to strike, counteracted by +1 per 5 points of damage.
Attacks per Melee: Equal to the number of hand to hand attacks of the character.

3. Effective Pushing Strength: Self-propelled physical objects, including people, robots, rockets, etc, can be pushed with increasing strength as they approach the character. The strength of the anti-gravitational field is proportional to the distance away from the character squared. The strength at one meter will be four times larger than at strength at two meters, nine times times larger than at three meters, but only one fourth as large as at one half meter.

Effective PS: At one meter (just outside of arm's reach) the character has an effective PS, appropriate only for pushing objects away, of 20 + 2 per level of experience.
Limitations: The character, especially if his net "weight" is low, might not have enough traction to hold his ground without some kind of backstop. An opponent might be able to push the character around without physically touching him.

4. Limited Anti-Gravitational Flight: Instead of focusing intense anti-gravitational forces on incoming objects, the character can direct his power downwards at the earth. The strength of this power is easily enough to exceed the most extreme biological limitations on acceleration and altitude.  The main drawback to this power is that the character can only fly directly upwards and fall directly downwards without pushing horizontally off of some object.

Velocity Limit: Effectively none, except that the character can only fly directly upwards. Keep in mind that most characters can accelerate no faster than 5-10 times the normal acceleration due to gravity without experiencing severe trauma and unconsciousness.
Altitude Limit: Effectively none, as the character can defy gravity. The biological restrictions mentioned for the power Gravity Manipulation apply to this power; Altitudes greater than 30,000 ft require independent breathing apparatus and pressurized apparel.
Weight Limit: The character can safely fly with as much additional weight as his physical strength allows him to lift.
Attacks per Melee: The leap itself requires only one attack, but sustaining for a continuous time requires two attacks per melee.

5. Anti-Gravity Assisted Falling: If the character falls from any kind of height he can use his gravitational repulsion to safely land.

Height Restrictions: Effectively none.
Attacks per Melee: One to reduce falling damage by the amount of the Damage Barrier (above); Spending two attacks allows the character to land without sustaining any damage.

Other Bonuses: Continually wearing body weights will lend the character a bonus of +2 to their PS and PE attributes.
    This power lends the character a 10% bonus on aerial skills, such as acrobatics.
    The character can remain in his negative form for virtually unlimited periods. Eating and drinking are unaffected, since the gravitational interaction of particles on a chemical level is insignificant. Except for being repulsed by the earth, which may lead to loneliness while standing upside down, there are no ill-effects to remaining in a negative matter state.

Vulnerabilities: This power is only effective on physical objects. It offers no protection against electrical, lasers, and most other energy attacks. The damage barrier and strike penalties are halved for fire, plasma, and particle beam weapons (which consist of small but massive particles).
    The character must often wear bulky weights distributed across his entire body. Characters wearing poorly distributed weights while in negative form will find movement difficult; imagine swimming with either a float or large rock tied to your foot. Either would significantly impede your movement.

Does Negative Matter Attract or Repel other Negative Matter?

This issue doesn't really affect a single character with this power, because he is the only negative matter object. Materials are held together by forces far stronger than gravity, so negative matter repulsing both positive and negative matter isn't unfathomable. When two character with this power interact, however, I think it would be amusing if their power repulsed normal positive matter, but attracted the negative matter each is made up of.

Super Energy Expulsion

My Problems:

The power, as written in HU2, isn't very impressive. A character with Alter Physical Structure: Electricity has a more damaging attack. This power should be at least as damaging as any other power's energy expulsion. I also don't like the Absorb, Channel, and Fire subpower, because it lacks purity. This subpower is better suited for definition as a Minor Super Ability.

My Solution:

1. Energy Expulsion: The character must choose a specific type of energy, as in HU2. Damage from blasts can be controlled by changing the multplication modifier. The character can lower the modifier by a factor of two for every level of experience. Ex: A third level character can fire a blast doing 1D6x10, or lower the damage to 1D6x9, 1D6x8, etc, down to 1D6x4. A character can also choose not to use the extra damage bonus (+15). Characters of fifth level or higher can fire "blasts" doing less than one point of damage. The energy beam can also be set for a wide angle dispersion. This does considerably less damage, but can be used to hit multiple targets.

Range: 600 feet (183 m) plus 20 feet per level of experience for normal; 50 feet plus 5 feet per level of experience
Damage: Normal: 1D6x10 + 5 per level of experience; Wide angle: 3D6 + 2 per level of experience
Attacks per Melee: Each blast counts as one hand to hand attack.
Bonuses: Normal: +3 to strike for an aimed shot, +1 for shooting wild. Wide Angle: +6 to strike (no aimed shots possible).
Add a bonus of +1 to strike for every two levels of experience.

2. Energy Storage and Expulsion: The character can store the energy used for a blast rather than release it instantly. This allows the character to release a "super blast" of energy. For example, a character stores the energy from one attack, and releases it (and a new blast) during his next attack. The damage is 2D4x10. If the character stores and releases energy from three attacks, the damage will be 3D4x10. A character is capable of storing energy for one attack per additional level of experience after first. Storing this energy requires some amount of concentration. This concentration reduces the number of attacks available by one every melee the power is used. A detailed example: A fourth level character with six attacks per melee uses his storage power to create a super blast. Storing energy reduces the character to five attacks per melee. The character spends three attacks worth of time building energy, while he performs other actions. He can now use his fourth and fifth attacks to release a blast doing 4D4x10 +20.

Range: 600 feet, plus 200 feet per stored blast, plus 20 feet per level of experience
Damage: nD4x10 + 5 per level of experience, where n is the number of total energy attacks used to fuel the blast. n can never be higher than the character's level of experience. The character cannot intentionally lower the damage of this attack.
Attacks per Melee: Storing energy requires time equal to the number of attacks being stored, but does not require an attack. The actual release of a super blast requires one attack.
Duration: A character can store energy for one full melee round per level of experience. After this amount of time the penalties below accumulate every melee round until the energy is released, as if the character were further increasing his stored energy once per melee.
Bonuses: +4 strike for an aimed shot, +2 for shooting wild. The energy beam is wider than a normal blast.
Add a bonus of +1 to strike for every two levels of experience.
Penalties: While storing energy the character is somewhat distracted. During that time the character loses one attack per melee. Further, for every attack's worth of energy being stored the character is -1 on initiative and other combat rolls (except for the actual super expulsion), and -5% to perform skills.

3. Aura Effect:
4. Ricochet Blast:
5. Other Abilities and Bonuses:

Unchanged from rules in HU2.