Most challenging campaign concept or character design to simulate using Hero System

[Bengal]

Absorbing Man is clunky, but not that bad. Buy him with NCM to start, near human max in physical stats.

 

Then add about as much STR and Armor as you can (and end and stun and body and whatever if you think is appropriate) make armor Nonpersistent (-1/4) and Only Up to the amount of surface or character touched (-1/2) or more if your GM is generous. Add STR Linked proportionately to Armor (-1/2) or (-1/4) if you decide on more active points in STR than in Armor, and then tie in a Cosmetic Transform.

 

Actually, the Absorbing Man could be much mroe powerful than he is. In the far future, he somehow gets smarter, and uses his knowledge and powers to kill four of the Avengers. He is only limited to what he can touch because he can't remember the chemical formulae for anything interesting

[PhilFleischmann]

Originally posted by Bengal

I see no problem with offering 100% resistant damage reduction as a straight 120-point power. Not that I allow people 120-point powers, but it seems to be a valid construct to me. 240 points to be immune to physical and energy attacks? Expensive, but cheaper than the desolid option.

This is the way I do it. And no, I don't allow PC's to buy it unless it's limited to their obvious SFX (e.g. Human Torch 100% Damage Reduction only vs Fire).

 

For Wanda Wonder, consider Luck. Just buy the simple straight dice and the GM can determine what lucky thing happens. No tables or complicated power structure needed. Granted, it is a bit hand-wavy.

 

But the types of effects I've always thought weren't implimented correctly, well, or at all were various physical conditions: dizziness, nausea, revulsion, headache, pain, etc. And this is not a complaint specific to HERO. I haven't seen any game do these things well. I remember a D&D game I played in once, where we're sneaking around in the sewers under a city. Don't you think the smell would have some effect on us? But we just walked on through like it was a poorly lit building. When the GM says, "It smells really horrible in there." There's nothing to stop you from saying, "I go in anyway." After all it's easy to put such unpleasantness out of your mind when your sitting at the gaming table.

 

Related to this is the "skunk spray" effect. I've seen HERO people just call it a Flash vs. Smell. But it's a lot more than that.

 

Dizziness is not just a DEX drain. You should be stumbling and staggering reguardless of your DEX. A 23 DEX character (not unreasonable) who loses 13 DEX, is now a base character. Where's the dizziness? It's more than just reducing CV and DEX rolls.

[TrickstaPriest]

Arr...

 

I've had a fair number of problems with certain kinds of powers in HERO. I love how well the system can make some powers... but at the same time, it is very frustrating to not have a few things. (edit)

Homing, though that has been said already, is of considerable importance to me at times. Currently, I have an NPC who casts small swarms of attack spells at her opponents. It becomes a little dangerous when they build up, as all of them basically have Continuous + Homing... they keep on coming until they burn out, whether they snag you or not. It turns into a "snowball" effect really, really quickly.

 

Another big one is viral and disease attacks. I have a major NPC in a campaign I'm starting... her power concept is basically that of a metapathologist. She has dozens of mixes that she has cooking at home, all various strains of different viruses. Not all are dangerous... some are used to cause metabolic shifts in herself or others (adrenal mixes, etc.), and most of her viruses don't spread very well after they settle in a body (to avoid an epidemic...), but she has a few extremely dangerous mixes, and if she can dispense them without being spotted she can cripple an entire party with severe cramps and vomiting. Unfortunately, I ~really~ dislike using Transform for anything other than Transforming things... it doesn't have an easy system behind it... especially since a lot of effects that I want to use would be a "Medium Transform"... which doesn't exist. With the effect above... it'd be more than a "Light Transform", but not totally crippling. The group can fight back, but they'll be at a big disadvantage... The Transformation issue is fairly important, too, since it is one of the only ways to give someone a "permanent" effect. For example, blowing out their eardrums with a sonic attack... which can cripple someone's balance rather quickly... A rather important martial artist type NPC possesses control over sound in one of my major campaigns... sound is very annoying to represent. ^^ (edit- I brought up Transformation initially because of a comment Steve made when there was a query on how to make diseases spread. Some thought of "Sticky", but that only works for the source, the stickiness doesn't spread. Steve suggested Transform from a "healthy person" to a "sick person". Eventually the Transformation brought up an issue in itself that I was going to mention later. So, maybe an "enhanced Sticky" for spreading, and some system for handling Transformations better?)

 

Yet another one, back to the first example, is having actions devoted to only certain kinds of attacks. For the sorceress in the first example, she possesses a "magic aura" that automatically lashes out at opponents who get to close, essentially using her magical energy to defend herself. The only way it really would work is as levels of Speed for "only for magic"... which doesn't look too clean in the system. I considered it as a creature... but it doesn't work. It uses her energy, and she has several "self only" effects that boost the strength of her aura's ability as well. Even if I do find another example for this... there is still the problem of not being able to easily have actions devoted only to certain kinds of actions.

 

Another, strange power is one a major villain uses in another one of my campaigns. It essentially splits anyone hit into two of themselves... each with different dominant traits of their personality. The villain in question can choose how the traits are divided, however... this essentially can cause either the villain to have a group double in number and all too eager to fight him, or a mass melee as their differences in opinion cause people to come to blows. It's a very, very unusual power, might I add... but very effective on parties that have very little cohesion or on people who tend to be emotionally unbalanced. Not to mention that I've never successfully created this power under any system without it looking totally unreasonable.

 

And, as a feather on top of this heaping pile... "Invisible Attacks" don't really include any kind of penalty to dodge that I've seen. Also, there isn't any way I can find to apply a "penalty to dodge" to a power. This detail is very important if you are custom-designing martial arts as full powers for metas, since a lot of martial maneuvers apply penalties and bonuses to both the attacker and defender. There ~is~ a difference between getting a bonus to hit and getting a penalty to dodge, too, especially in a fight where people are constantly trying to knock their opponents off balance or putting them in a position where they can't dodge. Getting your DCV halved ~will~ halve the penalties too, after all, but they won't halve a bonus to hit.

 

Arr... I know I had a few more powers that were giving me headaches... but those are the prominent ones. The other one I can think of at the moment is on "reactive powers", or powers that can be either triggered automatically or used as an action... but if they trigger they don't need to be "reset" to have the option of triggering again, as long as they have END for the power to be used again. If I did ever write up a unique Advantage for it, I think "Uses No END" would be doubled in cost (like for Autofire) when combined with it.

[Rick]

I've thought of making wanda a combination of wierd dispells and EB's W/variable SFX, baught W/a limitation only to do as many dice as the vicim of her power.

 

So she's Fucking W/scott...his blast will strike jean, So she'll need 14d6 indirect. When he tries to normally use his power her dispell kicks in so it fizzles or bnounces of uselessly. She could have lots of powers like this TK, RKA, EGO blast ect ect ect...expensive yes...But she is VERY powerful.

[Osprey]

Posession

 

Originally posted by McCoy

Never seen possession handeled well in Champions.

 

Dragon Magazine issue #100 had an article (by Aaron "Guru" Allston) that featured optional powers including "Possession."

 

It cost 15 points per DC and worked against a new chart of physical control effects instead of the Mind Control Chart, because it was not affected by the target's psychology.

 

When Aaron's Strike Force Campaign was published as a supplement, a character with a possession ability did not use this power in his sheet.

 

But I still have a son of this power in my House Rules. It is a +1/2 Advantage to Mind Control and has a Stop Sign.

[PhilFleischmann]

Here are a few of my own thoughts and suggestions.

Originally posted by TrickstaPriest

Unfortunately, I ~really~ dislike using Transform for anything other than Transforming things... it doesn't have an easy system behind it... especially since a lot of effects that I want to use would be a "Medium Transform"... which doesn't exist. .... The Transformation issue is fairly important, too, since it is one of the only ways to give someone a "permanent" effect.

Amen! The gap between Minor and Major Trasform is huge, but so is the range within Major. If made this suggestion before, and I'll make it again: I like to use Adjustment Powers (specifically Drain) against Disadvantages, treating them like "Negative Powers." If you want to make someone deaf, use a Drain which bestows a Disavantage, Physical Lim: Deaf. When you get enough points of effect equal to the value of the Disad, the person is deaf. Don't forget to buy down the return rate so he stays deaf for a long time. This has two main advantages over using Transform: (1) More crippling effects cost more and less crippling effects cost less, as they should. With Transform, making someone Deaf and Turning them to Stone are both considered Major Transforms, but they aren't equally powerful/useful/disabling. And (2) It divorces the effect from the amount of BODY the target has. Let's face it, a big tough guy and a 90-pound weakling both have about equally delicate eardrums.

 

...how to make diseases spread. Some thought of "Sticky", but that only works for the source, the stickiness doesn't spread. .... So, maybe an "enhanced Sticky" for spreading, and some system for handling Transformations better?)

My first thought was to use Usable Against Others, perhaps only bought on the Sticky, but then you're strictly limited to affecting a certain number of people. The best idea I can think of so far is to house rule it that for double the cost of Sticky, the Stickiness itself becomes Sticky. This needs a Stop Sign, but should work O.K. it seems to me.

 

Yet another one, back to the first example, is having actions devoted to only certain kinds of attacks. ... The only way it really would work is as levels of Speed for "only for magic"... which doesn't look too clean in the system. I considered it as a creature... but it doesn't work. It uses her energy, and she has several "self only" effects that boost the strength of her aura's ability as well. Even if I do find another example for this... there is still the problem of not being able to easily have actions devoted only to certain kinds of actions.

Hmmm... How 'bout Duplication? Buy a low-cost duplicate that only has the "certain kinds of actions" and no other abilities at all. The duplicate would also be unable to move away from or recombine with the base character, and would use the base character's END and have the "Feedback" limitation. This still seems a little clunky. Maybe something like a built-in Computer.

 

Another, strange power is one a major villain uses in another one of my campaigns. It essentially splits anyone hit into two of themselves... each with different dominant traits of their personality.

A great idea, and a perfectly legitimate one! I believe something like this happened to the JLA not too long ago. To build such a power, I would start with Duplication, Usable Against Others.

 

And, as a feather on top of this heaping pile... "Invisible Attacks" don't really include any kind of penalty to dodge that I've seen. Also, there isn't any way I can find to apply a "penalty to dodge" to a power.

I'm not sure this needs a power construct. Is there something in the rules that actually says that a character still gets his full Dodge against attacks that he can't perceive? I don't remember any such rule. If so, it seems like a major mistake. The "common sense rule" tells me that you can't dodge an attack you can't perceive. You still get your normal DCV, but your +X for the Dodge (or Martial Dodge) doesn't apply.

 

To apply a penalty to Dodge, I'm not sure. That's a different matter, but you could do it with Change Environment. Speaking of which, we often talk about CE for the "Slippery Floor" effect, but in this case it could be a sticky floor effect - not an entangle, or even a Suppress Movement - something a little more than a Post-it, but less than crazy glue.

 

The other one I can think of at the moment is on "reactive powers", or powers that can be either triggered automatically or used as an action... but if they trigger they don't need to be "reset" to have the option of triggering again, as long as they have END for the power to be used again. If I did ever write up a unique Advantage for it, I think "Uses No END" would be doubled in cost (like for Autofire) when combined with it.

This sounds a little like a Damage Shield with "Only Costs END when it actually has an effect." I'm not sure how much that's worth. Of course, what you're asking for is more than just a DS, I realize.

[SSJ Archon]

hmmm

 

I actually think that any of these can be simulated to whatever degree you choose. The problem is that the more detail you want, the more basic the fundamental blocks have to be, which means, like particle physics, you have too many parts for the human mind to deal with easily. You have to comprimise some where. Thats why we have GM's.