General Power Guidelines

[Luther]

Similar to characteristics, Champions powers have some basic ranges you should try to hang within.  Some generalities there:

Attack powers - 60 Active Points (4d6 Killing, or 12d6 Normal) is about normal for most Minion NPCs/PCs, with 40 Active Points (2 1/2d6K, 8d6N) being somewhat low, and 75 (5d6K, 15d6N) being very high.  Now some things that drive you over that limit (ex - Indirect or Reduced END), are fine - but advantages like Autofire, AP, NND (No Normal Defense) should all be taken into account - so a 6d6 NND EB is really the same as a 12d6 EB in my book.  If you see higher than 15d6, you are in Master Villain scary realm - like Dark Seraph pulling lightning from the sky, or Fire Wing ("I have come from another world to kick *YOUR* ass" - read all about him Champs Universe when it finally gets up there).

Same holds here with mental powers, drains, etc.  60 AP is pretty normal, 40 is kinda low, and 75 is really high.

Defense Powers - in general, lower than 15 Def is really low, 15-20 is kinda low, 20-25 is normal/slightly brickish, 30 is about as high as most published chars go.  Most really ugly enemies (like Mechanon, Fire Wing, etc), don't go much over 30 (maybe to 35 - I think the highest I have seen is 40) - but they make up the difference by having either Damage Reduction as well, or really high Stun, Con and Body.  Similarily, the real line between a Brick and a normal super is frequently more about those stats then actual Defense.  Once again - STUN, CON and BODY don't at first seem worth it vs. Def, but take into account that to stop 1 pt of killing STUN (both Energy and Physical), you need to spend 3 pts (1 rPD, 1rED) - and that these can be bypassed (because of Mental Attacks, NND attacks, drains, armor piercing, find weakness, etc) - STUN and CON (which BTW - is only 1/2 pt per pt if you take figured chars into account) are actually a pretty good buy for a brick.  BODY is a lot less useful - because it is pretty rare that anything actually does killing damage.

DCV and Defense Powers can sometimes be on a continuum as well.  If you have a really high DCV (15+), then getting hit is a lot less likely, and defenses a lot less necessary.  Problem with this is that 1) it only kinda works for Dive for Cover if someone drops in explosion or AE on you; 2) the second you get hit, you get stunned - and are suddenly at half DCV - and are therefore meat.  In the reverse direction, why bother being hard to hit if you are really good at taking a punch?  Many bricks have a nice, low Dex, compensated for by CSLs for Offense.

OCV - Normally, it is wise to find a way to get your OCV into the double digits.  Take fighting Green Dragon for example (who is a pretty standard 350pt Martial Artist).  GD has a Dex of 27, 2 lvls in HTH, 7 SPD and Martial Arts (really sad that I just *know* that).  If he decided to ping you repeatedly with his Martial Strike while being defensive, he is going to have an OCV of 9 (27/3), and a DCV of 13 (27/3 + 2 for the Martial Strike + 2 Lvls).  If you have a nice standard 24 Dex, and no combat levels, you are going to hit him on a 11 (base) + 8 (Your OCV) - 13 (his DCV) = 6 or less.  And that is with him pummeling the crap out of you 7 times a turn with a 12- roll for 11d6 a hit.  If he decides to be a complete jack-ass, he can use his higher SPD to Dodge your attacks while pummeling you more occassionally (say 3 times because you have a SPD of 4).  If he goes this route, his DCV goes up another 3 (for the Dodge) to 16 - you are now looking at hitting him on a 3.  That is pretty damn frustrating - and he is going to win that fight unless your defenses are really high.  Getting up to a 10 or 11 OCV makes that whole situation far more palatable.  Conversely, anything over a 15 in OCV or DCV (without a Dodge coming into play), is *REALLY* high - and will need to be very well justified - char will have to be a speedster or martial artist or something.  In general, more than 4 CSLs with anything is going to be frowned on.