Helping Build Tikhon

[bluesguy]

Bluesguy, Mental Defense does not apply to PRE Attacks.

I know I was just using the character sheet as presented by the author.

 

I guess he would need to add +10 PRE only vs. Fear attacks

[UbiquitousRat]

Thanks, bluesguy, will change Garhad as suggested a bit later tonight. I'll take a look at your magic stuff too.

 

As for the Mental Defense power, I took that from the FH Talent of the same name in the HD package for FH. It wouldn't let me add the prefab to the Talents, so I ported it under Powers. But if it doesn't work, then I can change it. Seemed odd to me, but I was tired and in a hurry to finish at least ONE of the five heroes.

 

More to do...

[UbiquitousRat]

Revised Gerhad:

Gerhad.pdf

 

Revised Karl:

Karl.pdf

 

And Jon, the Witch-hunter:

Jon.pdf

 

Cracking on...

[bluesguy]

Revised Gerhad:

Gerhad.pdf

 

Revised Karl:

Karl.pdf

 

And Jon, the Witch-hunter:

Jon.pdf

 

Cracking on...

Hero character creation tricks:

• Numbers ending in 0, 3, 5, and 8 are useful because of the rounding rules.

 

Gerhad:

• There really is no reason to give him 19 STR.
• EGO of 12 does not help with EGO rolls any more than a 10 EGO would.  13 EGO would give him a 12- EGO roll.
• Great Axe damage with STR should not change.  STR Min is 16 so to bump it up from 2d6+1 to 3d6+1 would require a STR of 31 (5 pts of STR = +1 damage class)

Karl:

• EGO thing again
• Same issue with the Great Axe
• Something to think about Karl will kick Gerhad's butt in a fight.
  • Karl has higher OCV/DCV/SPD/DEX vs. Gerhad stats
  • Karl deals out just as much damage as Gerhad

Jon:

• STR and CON of 14 don't help much when compared to 13 (rounding again)
• DEX 20 makes more sense than a 19 DEX

These are all very playable characters.  I would call anything I have provided 'tweaks'.

[UbiquitousRat]

Good feedback, looking like final tweaks territory. Thanks, bluesguy!

 

On the Great Axe, I don't really understand. I pulled the item from the HD files for the Great Axe in HSEG. I was trusting it was accurate. What needs to change?

 

On Gerhad vs. Jon, that's good to consider. In the present game, Gerhad is slower and easier to hit, but he hits so hard that people don't generally last long. He put an Ogre down in three hits, and most Goblins last one. I guess I need to up Gerhad's damage potential?

 

EDIT: Found and fixed the Axe error in HD.

[Kraven Kor]

Good feedback, looking like final tweaks territory. Thanks, bluesguy!

 

On the Great Axe, I don't really understand. I pulled the item from the HD files for the Great Axe in HSEG. I was trusting it was accurate. What needs to change?

 

On Gerhad vs. Jon, that's good to consider. In the present game, Gerhad is slower and easier to hit, but he hits so hard that people don't generally last long. He put an Ogre down in three hits, and most Goblins last one. I guess I need to up Gerhad's damage potential?

 

Not much you can do on that; it seems that how HD handles STR addition to HTH attack powers is binary; it's either "on" and you get your full bonus STR regardless of advantages or STR minimum, or off and you have to calculate yourself.  Or that has been my experience.

[UbiquitousRat]

Here's a build for the Uruk Warrior, Jacob. The idea is that he's an Uruk captured and made to work for the Brotherhood, a criminal gang in the local big city, who's out on a mission... and is tagging along with the party. The player has made a roleplaying rod for his own back, but that's up to him.

 

Jacob:

Jacob.pdf

 

The build emphasises the player's desire to smash and hit things with an axe. I've tried to give him some other skills and utilise the background given to create some roleplaying opportunities via Complications.

 

Next comes the Priest...

[Lucius]

On SPeeD: I give all player characters SPD 3. I find it makes things a little easier.

 

On Smell: Smell already has Range. You could make it Telescopic or Discriminatory or Tracking perhaps.

 

On Perks: I generally don't like the "Rank" Perk at all, in fact I'm suspicious of Perks in general as often being unnecessary point sinks. I'd use it if I were treating clerical Powers as "equipment" but if you are making the character pay for the Powers already, why make them pay AGAIN? If the character has the points for the next block of Powers and has met the roleplaying qualifications, I say let them spend the points on the Powers and that IS the "Rank." On the other hand if they haven't met the qualifications - time since last promotion, completed a dangerous quest, got the approval of two high priests, whatever - just don't let them buy the Powers.

 

I also noticed a "Criminal Rank" on a character who is also "indentured?" Sure it cost a point, but does it have a point?

 

 

As for exactly how to handle the whole "miracle" biz - how mysterious do you want Gods to be? If a priest's miracles are bought as Luck, Only When Serving the God's Purposes, and a Contact Roll, you have a very mysterious Deity who MIGHT be able to do almost anything but the players and characters are always in doubt what He WILL do. You can have a Lord (or Lady) who moves in Mysterious Ways. There might be some balance issues (is my player frustrated at spending all those points on Luck and I'm not letting it benefit them enough?) but the issues are easier to adjust on the fly ("Roll your Divine Favor dice and if you get at least 2 sixes that still small voice will have some advice on your situation...")

 

Trouble is, your players have to trust you and have to go along with this. If they're accustomed to the idea "A Third Level Priest of Chaotic Good can do exactly this and exactly this and never that," well, Hero can do that too - and can be very good at it.

 

Here's something I hacked out while thinking about your situation:

 

 

34 Rank 1: Multipower, 90-point reserve, all slots Delayed Effect (+¼) (112 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -¾), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -¾), 12 Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; -½); all slots Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼)

 

12 Charges on the MultiPower Reserve itself, not the slots. The Multipower can only be used 12 times per day. All slots are "Delayed Effect" meaning, they are basically activated in the morning with meditation (Concentration 0DCV) and remain "ready" until used. Note that the character does have to make that choice when setting up for the day, and can take, for example, 12 instances of Cure Light Wounds - but then can't use any other of these Powers that day.

(Possible exception: changing a slot with a Power Skill Roll would not in my opinion violate the letter or spirit of that Skill's description.)

(Note that Skill roll, Attack rolls, etc are made when the Power is "released" not when it's "stored.")

 

4f 1) Cure Light Wounds: (Total: 75 Active Cost, 43 Real Cost) Healing Simplified Healing 3d6, Decreased Re-use Duration (1 Turn; +1 ½) (75 Active Points); Incantations (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼) (Real Cost: 43) 7 END cost

 

Roll 3d6 as if for Normal Damage, Heal that much BOD and STUN.

 

3f 2) Light: (Total: 82 Active Cost, 30 Real Cost) Drain Darkness 3d6, Area Of Effect (8m Radius Explosion; +¼), Time Limit (1 Hour; +1 ½) (82 Active Points); One Use At A Time (-1), No Range (-½), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼) (Real Cost: 30) 8 END cost

 

The standard way to do "Light" is via Images. I'm assuming a Power that could even counter "Magical Darkness" so I used Drain, The Time Limit means that 8 END expended will keep the light on for an hour.

 

2f 3) Ignite: (Total: 37 Active Cost, 18 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6-1, Personal Immunity (+¼), Sticky (+½), Penetrating (+½), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once (2 damage increments, damage occurs every Turn, +1 ½) (37 Active Points); Inaccurate (0 OCV; -½), Beam (-¼), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼) (Real Cost: 18) 4

 

Start a fire, light a torch, etc.

 

5f 4) Sunbolt: (Total: 90 Active Cost, 55 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6-1, Personal Immunity (+¼), Line Of Sight (+½), Area Of Effect Accurate (1m Radius; +½) (56 Active Points); Beam (-¼), Can Be Deflected (-¼), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼) (Real Cost: 32) plus Sight Group Flash 1d6 (standard effect: 1 Segments), Personal Immunity (+¼), Area Of Effect Accurate (1m Radius; +½), Line Of Sight (+½), Damage Over Time (12 damage increments, damage occurs every Segment, +4 ½) (34 Active Points); Can Be Deflected (-¼), Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; -¼) (Real Cost: 23)

 

This attack can be Blocked but not Dodged: roll vs DCV 3 (0 if adjacent) and target takes 2d6-1 Energy Killing Damage, and is blind for a Turn,

 

Etc. you can then create a Rank 2 Multipower set up the same way with a different number of Charges. I guess doing it this way is not as hard as I thought it might be...still might get expensive.

 

 

Here's a Power I'm giving a character in my own game; probably an overly complex way to do "Turn Undead"

 

Rebuke:  (Total: 31 Active Cost, 7 Real Cost) +3/+3d6 Striking Appearance (vs. [undead, demons, and things accursed by the Drakine Gods]) (6 Active Points); 3 Charges (-1 1/4), Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Extra Time (Extra Segment, -1/2), Limited Power Only with Haymaker (-1/2), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) (Real Cost: 1) <b>plus</b> Does Knockback (+1/4) for up to 40 Active Points of PRE, Damage Over Time, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (3 damage increments, damage occurs every four Segments, +1 1/2) (25 Active Points); 3 Charges (-1 1/4), Costs Endurance (-1/2), Extra Time (Extra Segment, -1/2), Limited Power Only with Haymaker (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) (Real Cost: 6)

When faced with one or more abominations the character may attempt a Rebuke. This may be done 3 times per day. This is a full phase attack action costing 5 END, and does not complete until the segment AFTER the character's phase. Make a 10d6 PREsence attack. In addition to the normal effects of a PRE attack (which will effect even those undead normally immune to PRE) "count the BODy" of the attack, roll 2d6 and subtract from that number, and if the result is positive, double it; this is the number of meters the abominations are driven back. They fall back by the same distance again after 4 segments, and then again after 8.

 

And since I've never liked the idea that "All healing has to be magical" let alone "all healing has to be granted by Gods" here's another from the same character:

 

Gifted Healer:  (Total: 15 Active Cost, 3 Real Cost) Regeneration (1 BODY per 5 Minutes), Custom Adder, Usable By Other (+1/4), Grantor can take back power at any time, Grantor pays the END whenever the power is used (15 Active Points); Requires A Roll (Skill roll, -1 per 20 Active Points modifier; Jammed, Must be made each Phase/use; First  Aid; -1 1/4), OAF Expendable (Easy to obtain new Focus; Bandages, poultices, etc; -1), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Costs Endurance (-1/2), Does Not Work On Some Damage (Infected, Poisoned, Cursed, Disabling; -1/2), Side Effects (-2 to each subsequent attempt to heal a given person on a given day; -1/4) (Real Cost: 3)

With 5 minutes, some simple first aid supplies, and  a First Aid Skill roll, the healer restores 2 BOD to the patient, assuming the injury is not aggravated (poisoned, etc.) Subsequent attempts are at -2 for each further roll. A failed roll means the healer cannot help at this time for some reason; making a Diagnosis roll, or taking extra time (30 min) may allow a second attempt.

 

I allow ANYONE to restore 1 BOD with a First Aid/Healer/Paramedics/WhateverYouCallIt roll, which is why the notes say "restores 2 BOD" - this Power stacks with that effect I consider part of the Skill. Otherwise obviously it would say "restores 1 BOD"

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Pedantic Pagan Priest with a Palindromedary

[UbiquitousRat]

And here is Umber the Disavowed, Priest of Helles...

Umbar.pdf

 

 

[UbiquitousRat]

Thanks for your comments, Lucius (which I just saw after posting Umbar).

 

The Rank thing works for me because the Religious Rank is something that opens political doors within the setting - for example, the Priest would probably get an audience with people of power, just as a Perk for being a Priest. The Criminal Rank on the indentured guy is to represent the ability to interact and get access to Brotherhood resources, despite being in servitude. It kinda works for my way of thinking, at least.

[Lucius]

Well, you'll never convince me that various things like "getting an audience with someone" aren't part of Profession: Priest or else a bonus to High Society or Bureaucratics rolls with Special Effect: Priest. But you're perfectly within the letter and spirit of the rules on that issue, and seem to be on track to getting a fun game going (the point of the exercise.) Hero's a toolkit: use what works for you to do the job you want done.

 

About Umbar: The CON seems low for a character that will be seeing combat, especially given the defenses.

 

Spells look GREAT to me, except for Ward against Chaos. The player may well love the liberation from having to preselect each day and from having only limited uses. Hmmm....but due to the Active Point penalty, isn't he only going to have an 8 or less to invoke many of these? Also of course he'll have to get used to A. tracking END and B. Having only one Power in use at a time.

 

About that Ward....remember that the 1d6 means 1 to 6 Active Points, and that's halved for abilities considered to be "defensive" which includes STUN and BOD. So you will cut 1d3 from DEX (because it costs 2:1) and 1d3 from BOD (defense; also note that if something "dies" by only those 1 to 3 pts, it comes back to life when the Power ends....but will probably start bleeding because it's at negative BOD and die permanently in on Turn anyway) and 1d6 from STUN (costs 1:2 BUT is halved for being a defense) and do basically nothing to SPD because you need to drain 10 pts to have any effect. (unless someone changed the rule while I wasn't looking.)

 

I'll also admit to being curious exactly how you're defining "Chaos." Familiar with Runequest by any chance?

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Despite its obvious symmetry the palindromedary has been accused of being Chaotic

[UbiquitousRat]

I stole the Ward Against Chaos from the HERO Grimoire. Very happy to redesign it. The original invocation prevented Chaotic beings from entering a radius around the invoker unless they overcame it with willpower. I just couldn't work out how to do that, so nicked the Grimoire power.

 

Would it be worth 0 END -ing these invocations, so save the player from worrying about it?

Would it be worth -1 per 20 Active Points -ing the Faith rolls?

 

Would be more expensive... but better for the player, probably.

[UbiquitousRat]

Chaos and Law. Yes, very much inspired by Moorcock, RuneQuest, and such stuff.

 

In the setting all folk are "aligned" to one of Chaos, Law, or Neutrality (animals and worshippers of The Weaver).

Chaos is the force of change, dynamism, and destruction... inspiring freewill and the desire for self-indulgence.

Law is the force of order, structure, and protection... inspiring service and the virtues of self-sacrifice.

 

Law and Chaos are in conflict, with cultures and peoples leaning towards one or the other. The Lightbringer is a Law-aligned deity, so his followers oppose Chaos.

 

I tend to think of Law, Chaos, and Neutrality like a tag that all characters / creatures carry one of. I also see these forces as active, not a moral code but a pervasive "something" that ebbs and flows throughout the lands and history.

 

Hope that makes some sense.

[Lucius]

I stole the Ward Against Chaos from the HERO Grimoire. Very happy to redesign it. The original invocation prevented Chaotic beings from entering a radius around the invoker unless they overcame it with willpower. I just couldn't work out how to do that, so nicked the Grimoire power.

 

Would it be worth 0 END -ing these invocations, so save the player from worrying about it?

Would it be worth -1 per 20 Active Points -ing the Faith rolls?

 

Would be more expensive... but better for the player, probably.

Well, it's not like they character can't keep trying the roll, but taking the -1/20 pts option preserves the "more power, more difficulty" idea without necessarily leading to rolls that fail more often than not.

 

You could also try setting an "Activation Roll" appropriate to each ability, and letting the Skill act as a Complementary Roll, but that leads to making two dice rolls instead of one. Or drop the Skill but allow Skill Levels that help Activation Rolls.

 

As for the Ward: have you looked at Barrier?, possibly with a Limitation that it stops chaotic beings only (a -0 Limit, as it helps as much as hinders) and can be bypassed with an EGO roll (base the value on Requires a Roll, even though in this case it's the opponent rolling.)

Or at Change Environment, with a -1 to EGO roll to enter or remain in the area?

This might be another good candidate for "Time Limit" as well.

 

 

I can't resist throwing out another idea:

You can use an END Reserve (perhaps call it "Divine Favor Pointts" or the like and remove Requires a Roll from individual Powers but put it on the END Reserve. That way the penalty is based on the cost of END, thus negligible. But this almost abolishes the "more powerful is harder" idea. It can reintroduce the "must pray at specific time and meditate etc." element, if you put that Limitation on the REC of the END Reserve.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Here's another idea: palindromedary taglines

[UbiquitousRat]

Ok, so changes made to Umbar's invocations and tweaked Jacob's sense of smell.

 

The party is created... phew!

Gerhad.pdf

Jacob.pdf

Jon.pdf

Karl.pdf

Umbar.pdf

 

Now it's time to create some opposition encounters so we can learn to play this puppy. First up, Goblin warband. Also, rival Elf GM character. Oh, and I am considering some Wood Golems...

 

[bluesguy]

Hi,

 

One of the things I have noticed is that almost all the characters have pretty low INT.  That means they have low perception rolls... Which could be a problem.

 

Also Umbar's CON is really low.  Any character that is going to be involved in melee combat should really have a 15 CON.  Primarily a ranged combatant can get away with a 13.

 

Also I have noticed that PRE is low on most of the characters.  Are they as easy to scare as a commoner?  Look at the common orc or goblin or other common monster in the Bestiary and you will see what I mean.

 

I just noticed that almost every character uses a 2 handed weapon.  I don't remember how that worked in games like D&D but in Hero using a shield gives you lots bonuses to your DCV which keeps you from getting hit as often.  The fighter I am playing right now has a magical two handed sword but he is very reluctant to use it because he loves to jump into the middle of a fight with his shield and sword or mace flying (multiple attacks when bad guys get close - sweep up them bad guys). 

[UbiquitousRat]

All of those issues are related to the characters that the players have built. Yes, they are all pretty dim, for example. I have been trying to maintain the flavour of their characters faithfully. I suspect that, as play continues, there are tweaks that they are going to ask to make.

 

I think that a big part of the problem is in the difference between the two systems. At present, the heroes are not really much better than peasants with a few cool abilities - the game is quite Old School, meaning that the characters are only now (at higher levels) starting to look heroic. Shifting to a 175 point HERO conversion is actually quite a bit more powerful... but it makes my life as a GM easier when it comes to using creatures and magical powers which I can take from the HERO supplements.

 

The prevalence of 2H weapons is because they kick out more damage in the homebrew game. Also, the guys like the image of the 2H guy wading into combat... especially as the setting is quite early medieval / late antiquity in feel, set in a Germanic tone, and quite wild: the guys like axes. That's a big part of giving them the Weaponmaster talent.

 

I ran some combats yesterday, solo, to see how they stack. These heroes will eat Goblins but it was interesting to see how they'll need to team up on more powerful foes.

[bluesguy]

All of those issues are related to the characters that the players have built. Yes, they are all pretty dim, for example. I have been trying to maintain the flavour of their characters faithfully. I suspect that, as play continues, there are tweaks that they are going to ask to make.

 

That makes sense.  In a case like this I would certainly think letting them get 1 to 3 more points of INT would make sense.

 

 

 

I think that a big part of the problem is in the difference between the two systems. At present, the heroes are not really much better than peasants with a few cool abilities - the game is quite Old School, meaning that the characters are only now (at higher levels) starting to look heroic. Shifting to a 175 point HERO conversion is actually quite a bit more powerful... but it makes my life as a GM easier when it comes to using creatures and magical powers which I can take from the HERO supplements.

 

Ah ... Peasants with power... That makes a lot of sense.  Again I can see that as time goes on their PRE is going to go up.  PRE is a wonderful tool both in (PRE attacks) and out (in the form of skills based on PRE) of combat.

 

 

 

The prevalence of 2H weapons is because they kick out more damage in the homebrew game. Also, the guys like the image of the 2H guy wading into combat... especially as the setting is quite early medieval / late antiquity in feel, set in a Germanic tone, and quite wild: the guys like axes. That's a big part of giving them the Weaponmaster talent.

 

 

Oh yeah that makes a lot of sense.

 

 

I ran some combats yesterday, solo, to see how they stack. These heroes will eat Goblins but it was interesting to see how they'll need to team up on more powerful foes.

 

Excellent plan.  Doing that helps you know if you have a decent encounter setup. 

[UbiquitousRat]

Although not essential, I am going to write a Player's Guide to Tikhon.

 

What do I need to include?

What would be nice to include?

[Lucius]

Well, some obvious things are

 

a list of playable races and rules for them, both mechanical and descriptive

 

a list of package deals, again with both the narrative and mechanical elements

 

equipment, especially armor and weapons rules.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

You probably don't need a palindromedary

[Spence]

Although not essential, I am going to write a Player's Guide to Tikhon.

 

What do I need to include?

What would be nice to include?

 

Lucius summed things up nicely and I would only add that you should try to have as much pre-built as possible so the a player doesn't have to tackle 'build' right away.  As a low 'level' fantasy game you can conceivably pre-build everything they will need starting off.   You can save the toolkitting for when they get some experience and can be shown 'how to do some cool stuff'.

[UbiquitousRat]

Question about Bows:

 

We are using the Bow designs from the HSEG. One player wants to use Armour Piercing Arrows.

What is the recommended way of handling this?

 

Do I design the AP Arrow as an item?

Does that mean I need to redesign the Bow and add a normal Arrow?

 

Or should I add to the Bow, perhaps making it a multi-power with AP and normal arrow options?

 

Thoughts?

[L. Marcus]

Just a single arrow? A Naked AP Advantage with one Charge.

[bluesguy]

FH pg 174 has pricing for armor piercing arrows, pg 194 describes a way to build them and how much they cost in active & real cost, and pg 195 has a list of bows & crossbows.  I would just apply the AP advantage to the arrows for each kind of bow and call it good.

 

In my campaign that is what I did.  I just said if you bow does 1d6+1 RKA and you want AP arrows you pay for them, a lot more expensive and harder to find, and the damage is then 1d6+1 AP RKA.  There was one character in the campaign who was the master archer, she could put Legolas and Robin Hood to shame with her skills and she was always looking for AP arrows.  I think each AP arrow cost the same as a dozen regular ones.  Plus they were very hard to find.  She would save those AP arrows for the big bad nasties :-) or anyone wearing lots of armor :-).

[mhd]

I considered it, but in the end we decided against AP arrows. The bows are too good vs. armor anyway as is. Without the use of magic, I see no realistic justification for AP in FH.