Crafting in The Hero System?

[BasiliskOfTheSpire]

I was curious as to if this character concept was possible or viable. A character that is able to invent to weapons and Armour for the team, as in create a jet-pack and hand it to a team member for them to use. My first thoughts are that it would make things unbalanced with regards to power levels of the team members over time, any thoughts on such a character?

[unclevlad]

The balance is, he can't do it for free.  Someone pays for them with character points, in a superhero campaign, or with money in a heroic campaign.

[Hey I Can Chan]

I'd imagine that in a typical superheroic campaign, the concept is possible and viable, but probably not in the way that's desired. A character that has a jetpack that he wants to routinely lend to other characters has bought the Power Flight through a Universal Focus with the Advantage Usable By Others, probably at the +¼ level that incorporates the switches grantor can give power to one recipient and recipient must be willing to receive power and recipient controls the power and recipient pays the END for using the power and grantor can grant power to another or to himself and recipient must be within Reach of grantor for power to be granted and recipient can go anywhere after receiving power. The game is serious out this. For example, a Universal "Focus is not the Usable On Others Advantage; characters shouldn’t be allowed to buy abilities through Universal Foci then routinely loan those Foci to other characters" (6E1 380), and the Summon Power has an example saying that a character "cannot Summon a group of swords and hand them out to his friends; that’s HKA, Usable By Others" (6E1 288).

 

What this means is that Idea Man can have, for instance, a Variable Power Pool that he uses to buy Powers with the Usable By Others Advantage described above, but Idea Man can't go to his lab and tinker together a jetpack that anyone can use out of just sweat, tears, and Skill Rolls. Either Idea Man needs to spend Character Points on the jetpack, or the recipient of Idea Man's jetpack needs to spend Character Points and use Idea Man's construction of it as an excuse.

 

The all-purpose solution to these constraints is the Power Transform, that can pretty much do anything the GM allows, including Major Transforms capable of "creating objects out of thin air" (6E1 304). Buying a Transform with the Advantage Improved Results Group, putting appropriate Limitations on it, and calling that Power Crafting! might be a workaround, but I'd expect serious GM oversight each time the Power is used.

 

In heroic and more freewheeling superheroic campaigns, the Inventor Skill (and time) will likely be your best friend.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Yeah it depends on what sort of campaign you are in.  Typically Superheroic stuff you have to pay points to get goodies; you can simulate this with usable by others, Aid, and so on, but someone has to pay to make the gadgets.

 

Usually in Heroic campaigns like fantasy, sci fi, james bond spy adventures etc, you pay for stuff with money or build it using available materials and skill.