Need help fighting the dreaded MinMaxer.

[Mailanka]

[QUOTE=Jasonft;1923903]

As to the other things: He claims that since he officially works as bodyguard for the party Gadgeteer (who can build the stuff for him) the 15 point 'Gadgeteer Friend' means he doesn't have to pay for his hideously expensive TL11 powered battlesuit. With supporting sensory gear of course.

Only the civilian model battlesuit of course. He tried to claim military clearances and a license to kill but the GM never got a good enough story for why he should have those other than vague nebulous gray areas of the background.

Okay. So he's got a cybersuit. Cybersuits are pretty cool (They're my go-to choice for characters like Raiden from Metal Gear). I can see why he wants one. Of course, it's traditional in Supers games to charge points for things like cybersuits, but if you want to allow him to have it for 15 points, you're free to do so. Did he also take is as signature gear? If not, that probably means the gadgeteer loaned it out to him, but it's just "for this episode," after which it'll break, or the gadgeteer will ask for it back, or what have you. It's doesn't really belong to the character if he hasn't paid for it in one form or another, and "gadgeteer's friend" is not paying for it. It's paying for access to the gadgeteer.

Also, if this sort of technology is around, then it's around. I wouldn't give it to every tom, dick and harry, but if there is a gadgeteer inventing TL 11 stuff, then there are other people inventing TL 11 stuff too, and he may well end up facing opponents in Dreadnought power armor (not that it would really matter, given that he can ignore their DR, but there's a symmetry there you often find in comics).

So Homing means it takes time to get to the target? Interesting. I forgot about that one.

I still have to say my biggest problem is that a +20% add on to the power means you never hit anything other than your target(s). At the very least it should scale up with the RoF of the attack and be more expensive at high levels.

The fact that the mere +20% also stops the attack from blowing through the target and hitting things behind it is BS to me.

Well, I wouldn't disallow it, as it's largely irrelevant to its combat capability, perfectly in keeping with the themes of super-hero stuff, and it's the reason he took ROF 300, which is a pointless ability compared to other, more effective build options. He wants to throw hundreds of blasts downrange per second. That makes him happy. He just realizes that would, like, destroy everyone, so he's come up with a reason for it not to do that. That's fun for him. I wouldn't take that away from him.

But let's set that aside. You're the GM. You think it's crazy. So say so. Say "Nope, you can't do that." Because you're allowed to. There are two running themes in this thread that bug me. The first is that you seem to feel powerless. You've already decided you don't like this power and you've come to us for... what? Permission to say no to this guy? You have my permission. Say no to this guy. I bet if you ask nicely, Kromm will even sprinkle a bit of holy water and say "Go forth my son, and use the power of Rule 0 wisely." But even if you didn't ask us, you'd still be allowed to say no. And if he didn't like you saying no, it's not like saying "But some guys on a forum said I could" would make him respond with "Well then, then it's okay!"

The second is that you seem to also feel powerless before this guy. This is a supers game. Ridiculously OP attacks and defenses is the order of the day. There's even an advantage called Overpower, or some such, which lets you basically do whatever you want with a power once. You can toss planets with that thing, and I'm not kidding. You can build characters who can punch tanks, survive nuclear blasts, and blanket a city in mind control. This guy wants to build an attack that doesn't harm civilians, and you don't like that. Why? How would you feel if he made one of the other powers I mentioned?

It also sounds like you just handed this guy the book, and you didn't like what he came up with. Why aren't you making the characters with him? Why aren't you using the templates out of the Supers book? Why aren't you building pre-appoved power-lists that people can choose from?

You're in charge. That's not just the power to say no, it's the responsibility to explain what you'll say yes to. It's the responsibility to work with them. You're trying to create a cool story/world together, so work with him. Ask him questions, like why he wants the cybersuit, and why he didn't take it as signature gear, and if he realizes it'll probably have bugs and flaws (which you won't use to strip him of the armor he clearly wants, but to make the armor more interesting and to balance the fact that he didn't pay points for it). Ask him why he wants an ROF 300 attack, what he expects it to look like, and why he thinks it's necessary and cool. Build your opposition around that. Give him his moment where his attack turns out to be exquisitely and cleverly perfect for the situation. Then give him one where it's not appropriate and see how he handles it, how he gets creative. That's what these games are for.