Chronomancer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Ragnarok, that means a lot to me coming
> from you.
>
> "I have a 9mm that can hold up to 17 rounds in a
> single mag."
>
> that's cause you're stateside.. Up here, I've
> never seen one with more than 15 rounds, but then
> again Canadian gun laws are a lot different than
> state gun laws, but that's just one more reason to
> visit the states more often I guess. Up here long
> guns and rifles are more the norm than handguns...

Well, the way things keep going on stateside... with the Constitution being used as a door mat for the White House, The Government might challenge our rights, but not without a fight...

Okay, my rant is done. Lets back on topic of House Rules.

nice gun...

but even if it ere a heavily modified Glock like the above, I'd rule a Mag capacity divided by three for the insane ammo in Punstarr's case.

Actually as I think about it, for anything above a standard type listed bullet, I'd limit it to Mag capacity divided by 3(round down). that means the same ammo that fits 5 to a Glock mag, would only fit 3 to a revolver... just to keep things reasonable...

and if a player wants to argue the point.by saying that the bullet's the same size as a standard one, my reasoning would be because of the amount of extra damage capacity that the bullets can do, and thier volatile nature, the mag needs to be reinforced/ cooled down/ forcefield added to maintain the integrity of the bullet's themselves so that your bullet doesn't blow up in your face, or gun...

Thanks for the input, everyone. I really hadn't envisioned someone like the 8 armed freak like the one mentioned in Punstarr's message. But again, I would say to that player, "Hell to the No." I do my best to fight munchkinism and over complication whenever I can. I know some games where damage is calculated by distance, windage, bullet size, propellent grain, etc, etc. Simple is best. Even the monster handgun like the Casull 454 is only going to do EX damage in my game. And then I have the shooter roll an END feat to see if they dislocated their shoulder! (that's a gun I can really get on a soapbox about). Anything over that, and their either going to have some kind of mounted rifle/ cannon (not eligible for the multiple weapon bonus), or perhaps even energy weapons (and there is the problem with availability. Hey, where'd you get that phaser/ caster gun/ kill-o-zap pistol, anyway?) If the player wants really earth shattering damage, have them roll up a power instead... like electrical emission

Ive noticed something iteresting in the writeups for some characters with multiple arms (the giant spider guy from the Marvel Phile on Deathweb (Therak?) comes to mind. Instead of giving him extra attacks for his additional limbs he gets an increased chance to land a hit, giving his a +1 or 2CS for aiming more than one arm at a single target.

What do you guys think of that as an opption to giving him an additional attack for free (as in not having to roll for a multiple attack). Ive always thought this was an interesting option to the normal way of handling multiple limbs.

I only have a few Characters with mass-multiple Limbs…

Normally I give them both options as an ‘OR’….


Hit with greater Impact

OR

Increases their Chance of a successful Hit by adding [+CS]’s


OR…. I simply give them fairly high ‘Fighting’ and mild bonuses to FASE FEATs


I have a Character based from a Centipede…. He is basically treated as a Snake with high Fighting and Edged Coiling (Grappling) Attacks… But he has other nasty stuff too, like venomous or energy pay-loaded attacks…

The idea is he can wax a normal human in 1 game round…. So he can do SX:150 Health Damage.

Mr Happy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ive noticed something iteresting in the writeups
> for some characters with multiple arms (the giant
> spider guy from the Marvel Phile on Deathweb
> (Therak?) comes to mind. Instead of giving him
> extra attacks for his additional limbs he gets an
> increased chance to land a hit, giving his a +1 or
> 2CS for aiming more than one arm at a single
> target.
>
> What do you guys think of that as an opption to
> giving him an additional attack for free (as in
> not having to roll for a multiple attack). Ive
> always thought this was an interesting option to
> the normal way of handling multiple limbs.

I'd just give him/her the Hyper Attack Power, From what I've read about that power, in short. The power rank is stacked with either Fighting or Agility ranks, which ever is higher, i.e. Fighting: RM30 / Agility EX20, and say you give the Hyper Attack a power rank of GD10, and decide to stack it with Fighting, which the power will make both Fighting & Agility become IN40 and the character will have 4 attack in a single round. Now Health will remain unchanged regardless of the Ability Rank modifications with this power. And you don't even need to roll for multiple attacks. I threw my players through a loop with this power when introduced by a scrapper type villain.

Not a bad solution there Rag. Thanks for your input.

Had to chime in here about magazine capacity.

Not including the custom ammo for an amazing damage wonder widget of deathyness.

in the really real world -
FNH - manufactures a sidearm called the FN Five Seven, chambered in the same round used in the P90 ( the guns used in the Stargate atlantis series) the "stock" capacity is 20 rounds. 10 rds are avail in some states that limit them. AND there are extensions for the magazine which when installed ups the capacity another 10rds, to a total of 30.

30 rds one pistol

Also I have seen 30 round glock mags, in the real world and in movies.

Obviously, the mags stick out the bottom of the weapon, but they do hold more.

Many submachine guns have 30 rd mags, since most are chambered in a pistol caliber it makes sense that one could adapt the greater capacity mag to a pistol.

in fact one of the favorite subguns of the era the HK MP5 -- the MP means Machine Pistol


If someone is making a custom weapon in the game by all means limit the ammo if you wish as a means of controlling the power. But the creator can always simply make a larger magazine.

Awesome about the Reverse Initiative, to beat a dead horse.


Guns: Remember the game balance philosophy. It may ruin your game if a farmer with a pump gun can unload into a main hero and really hurt them. Or it may be just what you want.

Capacity in a magazine always makes me nervous. The smaller reason is I never trust the stupid spring at the bottom of the mag.

But mainly, those 30 round magazines for the M-16, an AR-15 or the "new" carbine really throw off my aim, especially from the prone position. So speaking of "game balance," or at least just plain balance, the bananna mag on the ground makes it like trying to hit a target while on a swing. First, the muzzle tips up. Then down. Then my glasses start to fog up.

Of course, because I'm not a great shot, the 10 round clips are not too great for me, though I'd rather have a 10 round clip than a 30. Can you guess my favorite? Yes, the straight 20 round clip.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2009 03:44PM by Mark.

ok got a question on Multiple attacks per round.

When using your multiple attacks per round, lets make the assumption that 1) you can perform multiple attacks per round and 2) you've made your feat roll successfully ('m of the assumption that the feat roll is made in the pre-action roll ) Now when it comes to the actual attacks how is that handled? Do you need to state "I'm using all my actions to attack X till he drops" or say if you attack X (and he drops) can you shift your actions onto Y and Z, or go on to attack the car or attempt to disarm the trap.

I handle multiple actions in a similar way that white wolf did with celerity. i have the additional actions take place at the end of the round in order of initiative (usually there's only one multiple attacker in a combat if I'm lucky). So for example here is how i would conduct the round:

Captain America - Initiative 8
Cyclops - Initiative 6
Iron Fist - Initiative 10
Apocalypse - Initiative 4

Iron Fist & Cap both declare 3 multiple actions in the round and succeed on their FEAT roll.

Apocalypse declares that he'll use and arm extension punch to clock Iron Fist.

Cyclops declares that he'll try and move to long range and fire off an optic blast.

Captain America declares that for his first action, he will hurl his mighty shield at Apocalypse.

Iron Fist for his first action declares that he'll evade Apocalypse's punch.

[Now I would resolve this phase of combat and have Iron Fist and Cap hold actions until the end of the round]

Iron Fist passes as his action will be defensive.

Captain America rolls a 39 to throw his shield. Green and hit.

Cyclops fires his optic blast, and rolls a 50. Green and hit.

Apocalypse throws his punch and scores an 83. Yellow hit, possible slam.

Iron Fist rolls a 97 on his evaision, and successfully avoids the hit, +2CS on his next action.

[Now Iron Fist and Cap get additional actions in order of Initiative]

Iron Fist will unleash the Iron Fist on Apocalypse. (yellow feat on the Iron Fist) rolls to hit - 87, Yellow, possible slam.

etc. etc. etc.



Chronomancer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ok got a question on Multiple attacks per round.
>
> When using your multiple attacks per round, lets
> make the assumption that 1) you can perform
> multiple attacks per round and 2) you've made your
> feat roll successfully ('m of the assumption that
> the feat roll is made in the pre-action roll ) Now
> when it comes to the actual attacks how is that
> handled? Do you need to state "I'm using all my
> actions to attack X till he drops" or say if you
> attack X (and he drops) can you shift your actions
> onto Y and Z, or go on to attack the car or
> attempt to disarm the trap.

I'd say that in order to switch targets or attack mode, eg. energy blast to punch, from what was stated pre-initiatve, the player would have to make the FEAT roll to change their actions.

So, provided they made their FEAT roll, than, sure, they could move on to another target. I think changing one's action incurs a -1CS penalty to hit though.

I tend to iamgine that failing such a FEAT just leaves the character momentarily "stunned" at how events transpired, be it a gun being kicked too far out of reach, or an oppoenet going down off the first punch, momentarily pausing ot thik something like, "wow ... that was unexpected" and so losing their actions (unless they stil want to dive for a gun that is out of reach or pummel an unconscios foe, for example).

Powersurge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'd say that in order to switch targets or attack
> mode, eg. energy blast to punch, from what was
> stated pre-initiatve, the player would have to
> make the FEAT roll to change their actions.
>
> So, provided they made their FEAT roll, than,
> sure, they could move on to another target. I
> think changing one's action incurs a -1CS penalty
> to hit though.
>
> I tend to iamgine that failing such a FEAT just
> leaves the character momentarily "stunned" at how
> events transpired, be it a gun being kicked too
> far out of reach, or an oppoenet going down off
> the first punch, momentarily pausing ot thik
> something like, "wow ... that was unexpected" and
> so losing their actions (unless they stil want to
> dive for a gun that is out of reach or pummel an
> unconscios foe, for example).

Actually there's already a rule for changing an action after the declaration and initiative phase.

It takes a yellow Agility FEAT roll. If this roll fails, the originally declared action must be done, and it's at -1CS.

If the roll is made, the new action takes place instead, and it's also at -1CS.

In my games, which are currently few and far between due to work/internet access..I use the following mods for multiple actions/"to hit" with various powers.. For Psi, use Psyche rank for multiple actions and "to hit" with powers like Telekinesis, Mental Bolt, Ect.. For things like Hallucinations you use Psyche for mutiple actions and Power Rank (+ Mods) for effectiveness. For powers where you have an energy emmission and the relevant control or simply a matter control..I allow the control power to be used in place of fighting/agility for purposes of rolls for # of actions and hitting, since (To Me) that makes since..But if all someone has, is the emission, they use fighting/agility.

Not all of these are of my personal creation but have been used by others in games I've played in and I've adopted them into my own games.

1- Defense: every time your attacked you get to defend yourself. Having been in many real fights this is much more realistic to how actual combat goes.

2- Counter Attacks: A successful defense that rolls into a yellow or higher feat will give the defender an opportunity to counter the attack.

3- Normal Humans: Humans in my games are not as weak as they are in the standard game, they roll on column one, but are subject to human maximums (not identical to, but similar to the one found on this site) and get +2 talents when created. 'normal' human super heroes are anything but normal and are really extraordinary humans with extreme skill, talent and ability (ie Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Batman) and any player created human hero is not just some typical no body in spandex. Humans also get powers, but must be explained as being gadgets and skills not actual powers. (Like a batman-ish utility belt). Also, when I judge, I always reserve the right to veto any power I don't think a normal human could copy due to a gadget or skill.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2010 02:52PM by Prime.

Punstarr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well here's a repost of my Dodge revamp idea from
> the old boards. Some liked it, some didn't. I
> just thought it was a cool simplified way of
> handling Dodge.
>
> "Alright, here's my idea of simplifying Dodge and
> Evade. As it stands, the Dodge rules suck. They
> really do. There's so much wrong with them it's
> not funny, but what stands out to me the most is
> this... if someone is attacking with greater than
> Remarkable ability on the Universal Table and they
> get a 00 natural or via karma, Dodge is absolutely
> useless. It doesn't matter if Spider-Man is trying
> to dodge with Monstrous ability or the Flash is
> trying to dodge at Class 3000 ability. -6CS'd on
> an Incredible or higher attack is still Feeble,
> and thus Dodging is impossible. That -always-
> bugged me. So I've not only simplified the Dodge
> rules, but done away with "Evade" entirely. Allow
> me to explain.
>
> Think of the colors on the Universal Table as
> numbers for a moment. White=0, Green=1, Yellow=2
> and Red=3. Dodge should be (imho) a straight
> opposed roll, FEAT vs FEAT. The attacker rolls to
> hit, the defender rolls to dodge and their colors
> are compared. Let's say the attacker got a green
> result, but the defender got a yellow result. In
> that case, the defender dodges. No -CS to figure
> out. Yellow beats Green. Had the attacker rolled a
> Red result and the defender rolled a Yellow
> result, the attacker would hit. Ties go to
> defenders. This way, a defender always has a
> -chance- of dodging, even if the attacker rolled a
> red result. Before, a red result rolled on an
> Incredible or higher was a guaranteed hit, no
> matter who you were attacking. Against ranged
> attacks, Agility is used to dodge and against
> melee attacks, Fighting is used".


I agree. This is what I'm gonna try in my game.

Mainly my hate of the dodge rules came about when I had my Ultimate Skill Acrobatics character using his power to dodge a group of 20 or so AIM guys (who I was using lower stats for then what is in the books) and I had him spend karma to max his dodge to hit them with a -6CS. Well... by the rules that just dropped them all down to the cellar Shift Zero which gave them all still a decent chance to hit him (like 30 some percent for a green).

I am going to House Rule that shifts below shift zero start causing color shifts... so three shifts down from shift zero and you can't hit at all.



And Now... for my other House Rule that has not seen much testing.
You know how you can change action to pull a defensive move when you lose initative or just want to? Well, I've decided to allow that to be a purely defensive action from a power. So... Magneto when he loses initative can just fling his force field up (albeit at -1CS strength). In addition, this change action roll they make with a power uses the power rank instead of agility.... So no only does Magneto get to get his shield up, he makes his change action FEAT at Unearthly. Lastly, this defensive action occures in the Pre-Action phase just like you would roll your dodge or evasion.

I use colour shifts when a Dodge would carry carry the chance to hit below Shift 0. It works very nice for those wanting Dodge to have a little more ummph. I also allow it to be used in melee.

To give Dodge a little further umph, I also use a "graze" rule, that affords the dodger 1/2 his dodge modifier vs. the incoming attack provided the roll to hit is not Yellow (Bullseye) or higher. That is, the modifier downshifts the incoming damage.

It works very nicely.

I've posted in another area that I as a house rule only based on the frequency we play double all karma listed values, give plot milestone rewards and also on top of that HALF the costs for all advancement but I follow the rules method (and this includes the 100 points you pay to try a stunt for the ten times... my players pay 50 per time)

For most other groups that play more frequently that would probably be to much but for us only meeting every other sunday minus holidays it works.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2011 05:08AM by Abub.

Powersurge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I use colour shifts when a Dodge would carry carry
> the chance to hit below Shift 0. It works very
> nice for those wanting Dodge to have a little more
> ummph. I also allow it to be used in melee.
>
> To give Dodge a little further umph, I also use a
> "graze" rule, that affords the dodger 1/2 his
> dodge modifier vs. the incoming attack provided
> the roll to hit is not Yellow (Bullseye) or
> higher. That is, the modifier downshifts the
> incoming damage.
>
> It works very nicely.

I also decided to start doing a downshift on color results when any penalty would take a attack below shift zero but ONLY for minions types of trash mobs. I had a game where a character with Ultimate Power Acrobatics was using his dodging to draw fire from a group of about 20 AIM agents and he spent Karma to get a red result dodge (-6cs). He got put down in the first round cause we were still using the lame dodging rules... and role 20 attacks on shift zero will result in many hits. So I decided on this as a fix for that but in it seems better to only do this to non-super NPC types.

I'm not sure about the downshifting damage thing though its something to think about.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2011 05:09AM by Abub.

As a house rule we also did away with the "Changed Action" penalty of -1 cs.

Some of my players just HATE having to declare their actions before initiative and honestly all through my high-school years when this game was still current we NEVER ran initiative correctly. We always just did more of a DnD style where you role initiative first and then take your actions on your turn.

I was seeing my players NEVER attempting a change action when they lose initiaive partly cause it just isn't in their DnD mindsets but also the penalty seemed like it was something to be avoided.... you know cause penalties are bad as a concept to get.

They still have to roll the Agility Feat to change their actions just that if they do they don't get a penalty on the new changed action.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2011 05:10AM by Abub.

Another House Rule i started doing.

You know how defensive maneuvers like Dodge, Evasion and Blocking are resolved and put into effect directly after initiative. I started allowing powers being used as a purely defensive action to similarly get this treatment. So when you decide you have heard enough of Magneto's monolog and you attack him he will always get his force field up before you land your blow unless you surprise him (or if for some reason he chooses some other action).

but the rule is, this only works when its strictly defensive. No offensive effect can be included as a part of this action to get the benefit of going up directly after initiative. If it includes something offensive then you have to wait till your initiative

One of my players is running a phasing character. If he wants to phase and not attack in the round he can do his phase defensively, but he couldn't declare he was going to phase into a robot or computer and hope to be phasing when somebody shoots him before his initiative comes up.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/18/2011 05:09AM by Abub.

What I do for folks capable of erecting forcefields who lose initiative is allow them to roll a Block using the FF's power rank instead of strength. This enables them to get anywhere from a small portion to all of it up; such that they aren't caught with their pants entirely down but are still potentially penalized for losing initiative, ie. they're robably not going to get all of it up either.

My friend and I --who always took turns as judge-- agreed that Dodge and Evade made more sense if their results were swapped. For example, despite his spider-sense, Spider-Man still seems to get hit occasionally in melee combat because someone is just that good a fighter whereas he seems able to dodge sprays of bullets from numerous thugs or even trained soldiers all the time.

Evade is a guaranteed miss on a single attack (or against multiple attacks with a -4CS on the roll, but just like attacks, we limit the number of attacks by both logic and rank number divided by 10).

Dodge, on the other hand, even using Spidey's Amazing Agility, he's likely to reduce the effectiveness of ranged attacks by -4CS (more or less based on luck). But even with -6CS penalty, the chance to score a hit Green FEAT on the Shift-0 column is pretty decent. I like the house rule above about reducing color result of attacks by one for each shift below Shift-0, but the idea is that if Spider-Man is facing one well-trained foe in a one-on-one situation, using his Agility to Evade an attack outright makes more sense to us.

More recently, we've been playing with the idea of using both interchangably with Dodge being used for defense against groups and Evade against single attacks, using Fighting or Agility as appropriate. And yes, if a character is dodging both ranged and melee attacks in a turn, we count that as two separate actions with one roll for each. (With that much going on, you have to work harder at avoiding everything.)

As an alternative, we're also tossing around the idea of changing the melee Dodge so that instead of applying the column shifts to attack rolls, it gets applied to damage rolls. Random damage is a factor with us, and we also use a house rule that modifies maximum damage allowed by -1CS on a Green FEAT and +1CS on a Red FEAT.

Another option is to use either Strength or Agility for Block attempts. Using Strength, you're trying to tense up and absorb the hit... but using Agility, you're trying to roll with the blow and reduce damage by trying to not soaking it all up.

We're also currently tossing around the idea of using Endurance to soak up the damage. Basically, roll an Endurance FEAT and reduce the damage from an attack by either -1CS (Green), -2CS (Yellow), or -3CS (Red). But we haven't had a chance to really play that one through any combats yet to see how it works out in the big picture.

Harkening back to the earlier posts on Guns ...

I have some rules somewhere on the forum here where I assign different damages to different calibres, and then revamp the burst option.

The gist of it was that lump damage was held in check by the damage a single bullet could do, eg. 12 9mm hit for Typical damage each, 12x6 = 72 points of damage . So, this is suddenly a BIG deal to heroes like (a shieldless) Cap, but guys like the Thing, who's armour easily stops a Typical slug, and hence 12 Typical slugs, still stands up to it without blinking.

As far as most things go, the rules as they stand are ok, but I feel some powers were goofily written. Like Martial Arts Supremacy. The power, as written, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever because it completely ignores how MA Talents are written. So i modified it to act as Ultimate Skill properly using MA Talents. IE, MA/B normally adds +1cs to Fighting in Unarmed Combat. With MAS/B Power, it's Unearthly. Period. I don't have much time to go into ALL MA Talents, but that should be a good enough example. As for initiative, I like the low-high declare, high-low resolves actions. This allows me to have PCs take care of pre-combat rolls during declaration, and High Initiatives gain the benefit of actually doing something based on everyone elses actions based on declaration, since they go first anyway. I feel, that since low initiatives still can't change their action in response to someone acting before them, but highs can, essentially, do just that by holding their action than jumping in at any time during the combat, it still gives the benefit to higher initiatives.

Beyond this, I like the Combat section of the House Rules listed on this site.

As for general out of character stuff, I have what I call G.O.D.'s Ten Commandments of Gaming. (G.O.D. is an acronym that stands for Game Organizational Director, my choice word for GameMaster, etc.) Here they are:

G.O.D.'s Ten Commandments of Gaming.

1. G.O.D. is always right.

2. If G.O.D. is still wrong, refer to Rule #1.

3. If G.O.D. is STILL wrong, bad things will ensue.

4. Any Player wishing their character to commit suicide will be allowed to do so.

5. Bribery of G.O.D. for one in game bonus per session is always okay.

6. Roleplaying always trumps Rolls of the Dice.

7. Rules Lawyering is only barely tolerated. See rules 1-3.

8. If it is your turn to get snacks, you WILL NOT COMPLAIN, or bad things will ensue.

9. G.O.D. will only provide one freebie per session per player. Two if bribed.

10. If you cannot abide by these rules, GO HOME!

A good example of Rule 6 in play was the time I nearly killed Spider Man with the Sinister Six.

I had one player who played Spider Man all the time. No rip off, like my all gadgets no powers version Black Spider, but straight up Spidey. And he played him poorly. So I brought together MY Sinister Six, and had other PCs play them against Spidey. I had one man out, since I played one of the Six, as well as acted as G.O.D. like always. The odd man out played Ghost Rider, his favorite, and has teamed with Spidey before in the comics. My Six included Kraven the Hunter, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Venom, Carnage (ME!!!!!!), and Beetle (My Uncle Bobby, God rest him. He wanted to be unique, and since Beetle was a second stringer villain at best, but has fought Spidey before.......).

So, it boiled down to Spidey sending Ghost Rider to get Aunt May, who was tied to a bomb on the Brooklyn Bridge (he succeeded in saving her), while he went after Kraven in the Central Park Zoo, who had Mary Jane tied above the Lion pit (there's always a lion pit). My friend playing Kraven asked about multiple attacks, so I told him. He made his Fighting Feat to get them and ended up throwing a throwing axe and knockout gas bomb at Spidey as he was swinging over to get MJ. the axe cut the web (Kraven made his roll), and the knockout gas put Spidey under (he failed his Endurance Feat).

this would have killed Spidey. But I remembered he called Batman (crossover universe I was using, here) to get an antidote to the Spider Sense nullifier gas the Goblins used (they both hit him at the same time earlier in the game session. I have some MEAN players!). Normally, I would have just used Rule 6 to give Spidey the out, but, like I said, he wasn't very good at playing Spidey, so I used Rule 6 to give him a 50-50 chance at Batman getting there in time, though I didn't tell him that. I asked him to call high or low. He called high. I rolled 51. If he'd failed, I'd still have given him a way out, but MJ wouldn't have survived. As it stands, he woke up to Batman slapping him awake, Kraven and the Lions hogtied, MJ fine, and Batman hading him a vial of liquid to drink, to get his Spider Sense back.

Rule 6 in action, folks

House Rule: Talent Stunts-a hero perfects a aspect of his chosen talent
Ie: Super Sniper has the gun talent and wants to make a habit of shooting upside down-
After making 10 sucesfull attempts (spending 20 karma with each attempt)
Super sniper now no longer suffers negative CS when firing upside down

Thoughts?

I recall reading (but can't seem to track down) some info re: long established heroes with stockpiles of Karma, and suggestions how to handle situations with heroes holding a position to throw an endless stream of it on rolls to achieve Red results; I'm remembering something about limits to Karma that could be spent up to the total of R+I+P per adventure, putting a cap on the amt of Karma (like +30 or +40 pts) that could be spent on any particular die roll, etc.

I'm pretty sure I read this as a House Rule somewhere, just not sure where; any direction pointing to this info would be much appreciated.

In relation to the stock pile situation. Make them spend it by. 1pitting them up against more powerful villains. Place them in situations where they could potentially loose all the stockpiled karma..... Also. Don't give out as much. You will find that doing this will whittle down what they have..... Or you could find out what they are saving it up for..... In any case look up in the book on ways to lose karma