Questions about Innate Attack (Wall)

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Varyon

As I stated upthread, I consider the math behind rigid Wall DR and HP to be "gives Cover DR equal to average damage."

Ah okay I think I get it now, wasn't processing the sentence before. Per B408 it seems like the wall HP is being treated as "flesh" though, since it's not 1/2 HP like unliving or 1/4 HP like homogenous has for cover DR.

Originally Posted by Varyon

The wounding modifier of a Wall (and its interaction with armor etc) is generally a minor component of its cost.

Ought to be, but since it is a major component of the base Innate Attack ability, there isn't any way to avoid that for walls.

Originally Posted by Varyon

A minimalist Wall has +95% worth of Enhancements - and that's very much a minimalist Wall, with only 3 hexes to work with (Area Effect 1 yard +25%), a 10-second duration (Persistent +40%), and a set shape (Wall +30%).

You could take -20% for 1/10 reduced duration to get a 1-second persistent :)

Originally Posted by Varyon

If the player wanted a damaging effect, he/she'd have a permeable Wall. The point of going rigid is that it physically prevents foes - and their projectiles - from going past them

Or to cause collision damage if they can't avoid them.

I guess the question is: what is the cap on the collision damage that rigid walls can actually cause compared to their permeable form?

Originally Posted by Varyon

(a permeable Wall prevents the former by threatening damage - anyone willing to take the damage can just walk through). A foe can still get through a rigid Wall by destroying it first, and Slamming into it is typically not going to be their best bet to do that.

True, unless you create the wall in the middle of a highway, or do a Wait>Attack against a charging foe

Originally Posted by Varyon

I had thought a Power Parry negated an attack, just like an Active Defense, but it looks like it serves to weaken the attack instead (potentially enough to reduce its effect to nothing), as you describe. Perhaps that was leftover from an earlier draft where Power Parries negated outright rather than weakening?

I'm thinking it might just weaken it in respect to the original target but that damage doesn't evaporate and instead hits nearby targets via diversion.

So to actually negate teh damage safely you'd need to rely on DR.

Originally Posted by Varyon

Honestly, below 1d, -0.3d per -1 shouldn't be used - rather, you should use the average damage, and pay what would be appropriate for that.

It's a good all-around approach, stuff like 2d-6 would still cause a problem.

Originally Posted by naloth

Piercing is defined by its wounding effects. If you're taking "no wounding" on the ability such that the wound multiplier will never make a difference, then it's not really a piercing attack.

Damage type still matters for stuff like DR which only guards against certain damage types.

How much Penetrating Damage you get (how much DR your Basic Damage interacts with) matters not just for wounds but also the HT roll penalty for Side Effect.

Originally Posted by naloth

Honestly, I'm not a fan of either the Power Parry or Power Block mechanic
Even in a Supers context "I grunt to brace it and double my DR" doesn't really make sense.

I think it does make sense... but we already have "Extra Effort" rules for powers (you can spend FP and roll wil lto try and increase your DR levels by a %) so I don't know why we also need Power Block.

Originally Posted by naloth

IME, players only use Power Parries when nothing else will work (mostly area attacks).

or if posture penalties cause other defenses problems, I think it avoids those

could also help if your Innate Attack skill for shooting your power was much higher than your other combat skills for parrying or Basic Speed for dodging