Rapid Strike and Ironhide homebrew powers question...

[Kolat]

I'm curious if GMs consider these following homebrew abilities as overpowered in a game. Other homebrew powers have been selected by some players, but I am curious as to your collective opinion of these:

 Special Techniques [-varies] Description: Supernatural martial arts moves, more or less. A staple of any decent fighting manga. Skills Affected: Fists, Weapons, Guns Effect: Special Techniques. When you take this power, choose fists, weapons, or guns. Then pick a number of techniques from the technique list equal to the number of refresh points you spent on this power. Whenever you make an attack with the chosen skill, you may spend a fate point to add the effects of one of your chosen techniques to the attack.

With: Rapid Strike. You can make a number of attacks up to your skill with one action. Each attack suffers a penalty equal to the number of extra attacks made. B

And finally:  Ironhide [-1] Description: Dodging attacks is for cowards and weaklings. You are so strong that you can hold your ground while absorbing attacks. Musts: The character must have a supernatural template and likely toughness powers that justify this. Skills Affected: Endurance Effects: You roll endurance instead of athletics to avoid attacks. Additionally, all armor you have is converted from giving you a damage-reduction bonus to giving you a bonus to your endurance to avoid the attacks. A success doesn't mean the attack doesn't hit you, it means it glanced right off you or you're so tough it didn't affect you. This power must be attached to any catches the character has.

These would be taken, obviously(!), by a melee focused character. Thanks in advance for your opinions!

[sinker]

With: Rapid Strike. You can make a number of attacks up to your skill with one action. Each attack suffers a penalty equal to the number of extra attacks made. B

A lot of people consider the action economy of this game to be sacred. Even if they don't, the idea of four or five actions to every one of everyone else's seems very unbalanced.

What I would suggest is to up the weapon rating to imply multiple attacks. Don't know how you would want to do this in this particular instance (I.E. how much you want to up the rating by) but it has been used similarly in the past.

[Blackblade]

If you're interested in the Rapid Strike ability, you could reskin this power from the custom thread to work for it.

EXTRA APPENDAGES [-2]
Description: You have some extra arms (or other limbs) which make you pretty darn good at multasking in combat.
Skills Affected: Fists, Weapons, Guns
Effects:
Multiple Targets. You may make spray attacks with anything, within reason.
Mix And Match. You may use multiple different weapons in a single spray attack. Use the lowest applicable skill. You may also make attack-like (offensive, not navel gazing) maneuvers as part of a spray attack.
Flurry Of Blows [-1]. You may direct multiple attacks (or maneuvers) within a single spray at one character.
Excellent Coordination [-1]. For each purchase of this trapping, add 1 to the accuracy of each attack or maneuver within spray attacks that you make. This cannot increase accuracy beyond the number of shifts that you had to split up between attacks in the first place. This trapping may be purchased up to twice and is mutually exclusive with Superb Coordination.
Superb Coordination [-1]. For each purchase of this trapping, add 2 to the total pool of shifts that you may divide among attacks and maneuvers when making a spray attack. You may not apply more shifts to any one attack or maneuver than you had to split up before the bonus from this trapping. This trapping may be purchased up to twice and is mutually exclusive with Excellent Coordination.

I don't know exactly how balanced the power is, but it looks like it would be a good place to start.

[Sanctaphrax]

Extra Appendages and Rapid Strikes are discussed here. You'll have to do some digging to find the discussion, though.

Personally, I think Rapid Strikes is weak and Extra Appendages probably about right. But I could be wrong.

Ironhide is too stuntlike. Using Endurance to "dodge", with restrictions, is a reasonable stunt. An effect that's like that but better is not a good power. Also, letting armour add to defence rolls seems worryingly powerful.

[Kolat]

So far looks like a fair split on the Rapid Strike being too powerful or weak. I likened it to a melee spray attack, just also useful on one person with the appropriate negatives to the role.

Ironhide if min maxed could be really strong, though it would only affect things that targeted the character itself. Area effects, and such wouldn't allow it for "dodging" persay...

[devonapple]

Ironhide if min maxed could be really strong, though it would only affect things that targeted the character itself. Area effects, and such wouldn't allow it for "dodging" persay...

So, your Ironhide dude gets caught in the area of a frag grenade. Does he get the normal Armor provided by his Toughness powers in those situations? If so, then yes, the power is probably too buff. If the character with Ironhide has permanently converted that Armor into Defense bonus, then I think it's closer to balanced.

[Tedronai]

Ironhide if min maxed could be really strong, though it would only affect things that targeted the character itself. Area effects, and such wouldn't allow it for "dodging" persay...

If the restriction is important to the balance of the power, it needs to be written IN the power.

[UmbraLux]

Special Techniques [-varies] Description: Supernatural martial arts moves, more or less. A staple of any decent fighting manga. Skills Affected: Fists, Weapons, Guns Effect: Special Techniques. When you take this power, choose fists, weapons, or guns. Then pick a number of techniques from the technique list equal to the number of refresh points you spent on this power. Whenever you make an attack with the chosen skill, you may spend a fate point to add the effects of one of your chosen techniques to the attack.

Whether or not this is balanced depends on the technique.  I don't think my "special decapitating defenestration technique" is particularly balanced!    

With: Rapid Strike. You can make a number of attacks up to your skill with one action. Each attack suffers a penalty equal to the number of extra attacks made. B

I'm probably one of those people Sinker was referring to...not that I consider one action sacred but I have played games where you can manipulate the action economy.  In every one, it became a major part of optimizing.  In some it was essential just to be competitive.

If you do go with something allowing extra actions, I would recommend a house rule allowing everyone the ability at some negative and then allow stunts to reduce the negatives one point at a time.  That way everyone has the option - even if some are better at it.  All that said, allowing extra actions will disincentivize small weapons in favor of large ones.  Definitely moves towards a manga style game.

And finally:  Ironhide [-1] Description: Dodging attacks is for cowards and weaklings. You are so strong that you can hold your ground while absorbing attacks. Musts: The character must have a supernatural template and likely toughness powers that justify this. Skills Affected: Endurance Effects: You roll endurance instead of athletics to avoid attacks. Additionally, all armor you have is converted from giving you a damage-reduction bonus to giving you a bonus to your endurance to avoid the attacks. A success doesn't mean the attack doesn't hit you, it means it glanced right off you or you're so tough it didn't affect you. This power must be attached to any catches the character has.

I agree with Sanctaphrax on armor as a bonus...it sounds like you could make a character unhittable.  As a stunt, using Endurance for defense (with no bonus) sounds reasonable.