HERO System 6th Edition Rules Questions

6,879 questions in this forum

1. A drain with an ego combat value

   My PC is the ghost of a civil war soldier. I wanted to give him a supernatural "Rebel Yell". Now, I think the best way to do that was with a Drain against Presence. Anyway, Drain has no range, the modifier to apply ECV says it is unaffected by range and works on line of sight. Do I have to buy "Ranged", or does ECV do that for me?

   Asked by Sociotard, April 28, 2003

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2. Star Hero / TE Questions

   The Sensor and Communications Systems block on page 201 of Star Hero (and reproducted in Terran Empire) has MegaScale 1LY/active point and +20 Range modifier for senses. Do these "stack", so that sensors have -0 PER out to 4096 light-years? The Nuclear Missile on page 195 of Star Hero has a x10,000 NCM but only 1-2 minutes of fuel. How long does it take to reach its maximum speed?

   Asked by Talon, April 28, 2003

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3. Hand-To-Hand Attacks & Move By

   The FAQ states that in general only STR, a weapon, or some killing attacks can be used with the Move By manuever. Hero System 5th says thats Hand-To-Hand Attacks are "in essence" a Limited form of STR. Can HA be used with a Move By when it isn't defined as a weapon, for example say the Hyperkinetic Strike HA +9d6 from the Dimensional Innovator Set of Champions' Quick Superhuman Generator? If the answer is yes, would the HA be halved, like STR gets halved, when calculating damage for a Move By?

   Asked by Tempuswolf, April 28, 2003

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4. Indirect for artillery?

   Hi again, Would indirect-fire artillery require any level of the "Indirect" Advantage? (Been kicking around some ideas with the Warlord recently...heh heh heh...) Long-range cruise missiles, with waypoints that you can set to allow attack from any direction, would certainly seem to need it. But would ordinary tube artillery, mortars, and free-flight rockets? They can certainly fire over obstacles at targets not in their line of sight, but they can't actually fire through obstacles without penetrating their defenses, and ordinary OAF grenades can be lobbed over walls and through windows at unseen hexes without buying the Advantage. So, what's the verdict h…

   Asked by Scott Destroyer, April 27, 2003

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5. PS: Actor, KS: Acting, and the skill Acting

   Hi there, Professional skills represent the ability to do some "thing". So... why would a character buy PS: Actor if they bought Acting? Or vice versa. Would you please give some examples when a PS: Actor skill roll would be used rather than an Acting skill roll? (A player new to the Hero System brought this up and I couldn't think of a good answer. ) Thanks for your help! Harry

   Asked by Harry Canyon, April 27, 2003

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6. [SPOILER] Mechanon's Self Destruct Mechanism

   Steve, I was reading Mechanon today and noted that, while nasty, his Self Destruct Mechanism isnt an AoE or Explosive. Does it only exist to destroy Mechanon's body and has no offensive application? If not, how is this attack targeted then? Thanx....

   Asked by Killer Shrike, April 27, 2003

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7. Defense only to protect Foci

   5E p. 189 mentions how Breakable Foci can have exotic Defenses such as Power Def. or Lack of Weakness bought specifically to protect them from such attacks for a -2 Limitation. Is that -2 Lim cumulative with any Focus Limitation, or only -2 whatever type of Focus the Defense is bought for? Also, could you apply the same Limitation to more standard Defenses only to protect a Focus, such as Armor or Force Field?

   Asked by Lord Liaden, April 26, 2003

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8. Knockback Damage

   P.281 of FREd states that when knocked back into a wall or something similar you receive damage equal to 1d6 per 1" of KB. Further down that page (on the right column) it ignores this rule and says that you receive damage equal to the wall's DEF+Body in d6. Which is true or do you use both? The example on the page describes only the damage from the second rule. What am I missing? Thanks, Roy.

   Asked by Jorik, April 26, 2003

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9. Getting Stunned again before getting to recover

   Hi, If an already stunned character receives enough damage to be stunned again, in a segment prior to his stun recovery phase, does he need to spend two of his next phases recovering? Thanks, Roy.

   Asked by Jorik, April 26, 2003

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10. STR Min for weapons

    I have a couple of questions about the weapon tables in the main rule book. Are the modifiers under "Notes" already taken into account for the STR Min of a weapon? For example, the M16A1 has a STR Min of 12 and has AF5 listed in its Notes. So is the STR Min for the M16 on autofire a 12 or do you add 5 because of the autofire and get a 17? Also are submachine guns and assault rifles considered to be one-handed? Just wondering since rifles and shotguns are list as being two-handed and asault rifles and submachine guns do not have a hands requirement listed.

    Asked by flynn, April 25, 2003

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11. Casual strength for weaklings

    How do you handle casual strength for negative strength scores (or zero strenght). If someone has STR -10 what would his casual strength be? Just halving his strength score doesn't work, as that would make his casual strength higher than his normal strength.

    Asked by Truls, April 25, 2003

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12. NCM Movement

    Should the cost of noncombat movement multiples be doubled if a character has NCM? I can't find any reference in 5th but HD allows it at normal cost.

    Asked by Grailknight, April 25, 2003

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13. Gates

    Greetings, I have a quick questions about creating a EDM with the Gate limitation. If you have say x4 mass on the EDM, do you need to buy the Usable by Others advantage for 4 people as well? If you do is that double paying points for it? Thanks in advance. Mark

    Asked by Malhanon, April 24, 2003

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14. Writer's Guidelines: DNPC

    What is the proper way as per the Writer's Guidelines to do a group DNPC? My guess is: 25 -> DNPC: Janice (wife) and Celia (daughter) 11- (Incompetent; Group DNPC) But I suppose it could also be: 25 -> DNPC: Janice (wife) and Celia (daughter) 11- (Incompetent) Or I could be wrong altogether.

    Asked by Super Squirrel, April 24, 2003

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15. Setting up a SPD Chart ...

    ... and have a question. I've always heard that if character A has (for instance) DEX 24 and SPD 5, and character B has DEX 24 and SPD 6, in any phase where they both have an action B automatically goes first. According to FRED, A and B have to dice off every time they're acting in the same phase. Do I have versionitis, was this an insufficiently identified house rule, or am I looking on the wrong page?

    Asked by Koshka, April 24, 2003

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16. Problem

    I didnt know were to put this so I went to the boss man. When I was putting the characters from the books into Hero Designer (combination of cheap and makiking minor changes in them) Chesire Cat and his gate teleort doesn't add up. I'm not trying to point a finger and say "Ha Ha you guys screwed up." I was just wondering if this is a typo or what. If you could tell me how the number was obtained if it is right or that it's just a screw up. I did a search on the boards and checked the erratta and couldnt find anything. If it is a screw up i'll try to fix it for my world. I like both Grab and Chesire. Thanks

    Asked by Diashan, April 23, 2003

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17. Partially Limited Adders and stuff

    While PLPs are of course perfectly fine, can you have a partially limited adder for a power? My initial thought is 'yes' since Naked Adders are allowed so I would think that in the creation of a power it would be allowed. Example: CE: Fog (-3 to sight group PER) plus Long Lasting (lim: OAF: vial of mist) If that is true, can you partially limit a component of a power? In example: CE: Fog (-3 to sight group PER) plus Increased Radius (x2) (lim: OAF: vial of mist)

    Asked by Heroman, April 23, 2003

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18. Autofire combining skills question...

    I asked this in another board and was advised to inquire here so: Accurate autofire limits the penalty to -1 instead of -1 per hex. Skipover Sprayfire has the 'normal' penalty of -1 per target hex. Does this mean if both skills are used then there is only a total of -1 to OCV? Cheers.

    Asked by Rerednaw, April 23, 2003

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19. Some Q's re. Talents.

    I'm designing/ 5th ed'ing some new Talents, and had a couple of strange thoughts: 1) Does Bump of Direction work in three dimensions or just two dimensions? (I know it mentions something like, 'relative height above or below ground' but I was wondering about an aircraft or space pilot using the Talent to move around in 3D) 2a) What effect, if any, would travelling in time have on Absolute Time Sense? 2b) Would you know what time it was when you arrived, or would you just know how much time had passed (literally not distance in time) since your journey began? 2c) How do time-zones effect a character with this Talent? The reason these Q's came up was th…

    Asked by Static UK, April 23, 2003

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20. Doubling of energy

    When two characters with the same strength work together, their combined strength is 5 higher... 10 str + 10 str equals 15 str. Does it work that way with an energy blast? Does 8d6 plus 8d6 equal 9d6? Reason I ask is that I am working on an idea for cooperative magic for fantasy heroes... I hope this is not a really dumb question Steve!

    Asked by Gary Ciaramella, April 23, 2003

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21. Dispel My Focus

    On page 99 is says that Dispel must roll a total greater than the total Active Points of all Powers in an Independent Focus to break it. How is it handled if the Focus is not Independent?

    Asked by Dust Raven, April 23, 2003

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22. Steve, a clarification?

    quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by Immortaldreamer As per Dan: 3) Let's clear up this little misconception: There is nothing done in published Hero System 5th Edition products that HD cannot do. Unless it is part of the Errata. Steve is EXTREMELY careful to make sure that the published products follow the rules. Some errors slip through, but those are placed in the errata for the books as soon as they are found. The only issues that I'm aware of in which HD 's rules differed from published examples which Steve verified were correct, HD was changed. Dan, from pg. 169, Terran Empire:…

    Asked by Immortaldreamer, April 22, 2003

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23. Loss of Primary Characteristics

    If a character loses for whatever reasons some points in Primary Characteristics, will that also affect his Secondary Characteristics? For example, a hero gets hit by a STR Drain - does that also reduce his STUN score, since STUN is also calculated from STR?

    Asked by Brick, April 22, 2003

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24. Boostable Charges Question

    It is my understanding that Boostable Charges are meant to simulate a controlled overload of a focus. But that overload damages the focus so it may break. I'm trying to simulate something like that. Could Boostable Charges be used to simulate a pool of charges where you can use as many or fiew as you like but without the Burnout. Like a canister of healing slave, one dose for cuts, a glob for something more serious. Or a backyard grill, keeping it on High will use the fuel faster than Low. What I was thinking is to take an extra 1/4 you can use up to 8 extra charges (8DC/40pts) with no chance of a Burnout.

    Asked by Alverant, April 22, 2003

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25. Teleportation Gate = safe?

    How does the "Gate" limitation on Teleportation relate to the advantage "Safe blind T-port"? Presumably you can see whether the destination is safe before stepping through; in fact, if the other end is inside a wall, you'd run into it if you tried.

    Asked by Tom Carman, April 21, 2003

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