Contacts, Language and Teleportation

[CourtFool]

Llama would appreciate some feedback from the community on a few points.

How would you build Presence Guy, who is so charming and popular, that wherever he goes he always has at least one or two contacts? A sort of VPP for Contact if you will.

How would you build the Mistress of Knowledge who can understand and speak every Earth language? Buying every single language individually is expensive and in llama's opinion contrary to the 5 points for x2 theme so prevalent throughout the HERO System. Llama never really liked Universal Translator either because of its required skill roll and native accent restrictions.

How would you build Tammy the Teleportation Girl who can safely blind Teleport anywhere? Buying an ungodly high range Teleport or even a Teleport Multipower with several Megascale slots feels clumsy. A nice X points adder would be more elegant in this humble llama's opinion.

Llama thanks everyone in advance for their unique and thoughtful suggestions.

[Koshka]

Originally posted by CourtFool
How would you build Presence Guy, who is so charming and popular, that wherever he goes he always has at least one or two contacts? A sort of VPP for Contact if you will.

No brilliant ideas popping up for your other two questions, but on this one how about buying a group contact? (Called Organization contacts in FREd.) Call it "Contact: A Friend In Every Port, 14- Roll, Organization". It's 15 points without adding in bonuses if his friends have useful skills or their own contacts, but that's not too bad.

[Edsel]

Originally posted by CourtFool
How would you build the Mistress of Knowledge who can understand and speak every Earth language? Buying every single language individually is expensive and in llama's opinion contrary to the 5 points for x2 theme so prevalent throughout the HERO System. Llama never really liked Universal Translator either because of its required skill roll and native accent restrictions.

I had to do something similar to this with our base's AI. Universal translator is only good for two-way communication. In other words you cannot just sit down and write a letter in Japanese with Universal Translator, it must be two-way communication.

My solution was a 6 point VPP, No skill roll required, 0 Phase action to change pool, only for languages. It works pretty good. Of course you'd have to boost the point in the pool if you want to understand more that one language in a phase.

[Bartman]

Originally posted by CourtFool
How would you build the Mistress of Knowledge who can understand and speak every Earth language? Buying every single language individually is expensive and in llama's opinion contrary to the 5 points for x2 theme so prevalent throughout the HERO System. Llama never really liked Universal Translator either because of its required skill roll and native accent restrictions.

Years ago a group I was in expanded the Universal Translator concept. We figured that the 20pt Talent provided for 2pts worth of any language. So we decided that for each +10pts Universal Translator would go up one level on the language chart. It looked something like this.

Universal Translator
20 Basic fluency
30 Fluent with accent
40 Native accent in all languages
50 Imitate any accent in any language

It is only a house rule, but it worked well in that campaign.

[JmOz]

I have a simple house rule

If a character has a skill enhanceer then they can spend two points in game for any appropriate skill.

I do require however a F/X be applied to the skill enhancer. The F/X of the first character with it A linguist) was that he had nanites that would teach him the language after a few minutes. another character had it for traveler, he had spent 10 years wandering around the world

The two goes together, the wanderer would not know Alpha Centari Planetary AK skills, while nanite boy had some problems with villains upsetting his nanites (One session he had to para mime everything as no one knew his native language, nor the trade language he spoke

[CourtFool]

Thanks for the input!

Llama likes the idea of using Orginization Contact as well as the house rules for Universal Translater and Skill Enhancers. Llama would never allow a 6 point VPP in his campaigns. Why would anyone buy any language when for a few points more could know any language at any one time?

[Fireg0lem]

Llama should deconstruct the Universal Translator talent. Llama wants to understand any language, that is a Detect. Llama wants to buy Detect (meaning of any form of communication) which is 10 character points, plus buy discriminatory (+5 points), analyze (+5 points), 360-degree perception (+5 points), range (+5 points), sense (+2 points), and finally Transmit (+2 points) which allows Llama to "transmit information similar to that which he can percieve," i.e. talk and write in any language. That is 34 points, Llama should put a -1/4 limitation on it that Llama must still have the sense needed to percieve the information (cannot interpret speech when deaf, for example). That makes the final cost 27 character points for this version, Llama could also buy less of the adders or buy a form that only worked for verbal communication, as well as (depending on SFX) requiring it be a form of communication Llama could reasonably know.

[Mutant for Hire]

http://herogame.dans.cust.servlets.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2091

I knew this seemed familiar..

[BNakagawa]

Originally posted by CourtFool
Thanks for the input!
Llama would never allow a 6 point VPP in his campaigns. Why would anyone buy any language when for a few points more could know any language at any one time?

Word. Some players can be trusted to have balanced character concepts. Some can't. GMs have to adjust their limits based on what their player base is like. I know people who could be trusted with such a thing, and I know plenty who can't.

I dislike all [pay N points to know all ___] constructs because it devalues all individual specific purchases of ___.

If my character knows ancient Mayan because it is part of his character concept, then he is special because he is likely to be the only PC who knows it. The GM can use this to engineer a situation where that unique knowledge, language or whatever is brought to the fore to let that PC shine for a scene or two. Allow in a universal translator and that unique element is removed.

$0.02

[WillRhodes]

For Tammy the Teleporter:
Under Extra-Dimensional Movement, it states that, at the GM's option, if the character has paid for the adder to be able to travel to any location in the dimension she can travel to, she can likewise return to any location in her home dimension.

However, as a GM, I wouldn't allow this, and would instead require Tammy to buy Teleport with the Megascale and "Safe Blind Teleport (+1/4)" advantages. I don't care to let players go ANYwhere they want to...

Just my 2pts worth
Will Rhodes

[bjbrown]

I would think that Mimicry or Acting could be used in conjunction with Universal Translator to allow a character to effectively speak in an accent that the character hears.

If the GM likes the idea of translation that never fails, the GM allow Universal Translator be bought at 21- to be automatically successful. (At 21-, Universal Translator could take up to a -3 penalty for a difficult to translate language and still need an 18 or less on 3d6, and in that case the GM could waive the roll.)