What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

[Evil Toki]

Just wondering I hear things like benchmarks, and how the Champions as written don't measure up to what a standard chracter could do. In my mind I am trying to figure out how would a standard character 200 points with 150 Disadvatage Points for characters be built, what would be standard defenses for such a character, the amount of damage?

 

Just wondering what kind of baselines should I shoot for?

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

I hear things like benchmarks' date=' and how the Champions as written don't measure up to what a standard chracter could do.[/quote']When you hear stuff like this, you should realize that it's just opinion, and everyone has a different idea of what superheroic characters "should" look like. The Champions are fine, IMO, and the baselines provided in H5E and Champions are perfectly reasonable.

[Tamashii2000]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

When you hear stuff like this' date=' you should realize that it's just opinion, and everyone has a different idea of what superheroic characters "should" look like. The Champions are fine, IMO, and the baselines provided in H5E and Champions are perfectly reasonable.[/quote']

 

 

Agreed. A lot of people (it seemed) thought that the 'standard' for the def/attacks for average superheroic characters as listed in 5th edition (20 def - 14 damage class attacks if memory serves) realy gimped the characters as that was a loss of 5 def and an addition of 2 damage class's on average.

 

This normaly results in characters going down after the second or so hit, coarse one of the most frequent complaints about 4th edition was that the standards of 25def and 12d6 attacks resulted in combats taking forever.....

 

Personaly I say use what ever 'benchmarks' you feel comfy with.

[Evil Toki]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

I see so I just have to eye it... hmm...

[TheEmerged]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

It sounds like a copout I know, but that really is the case. Speaking as someone that has made comments about the official writeups, I'll just as quickly say that's because I want a different type of combat than the official writeups seem to point to.

[Dust Raven]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

Keep in mind that a benchmark or average ability score does not mean minimum, or at least. It means average. There will be some below average, just as there will be some above.

 

That said, I've noticed that a few of the Champions seem to have ungodly high DEX and SPD scores and really crappy defenses. Of course, you could always say that DEX and SPD counts as a defense...

[Vorsch]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

Start with

 

attack power 20pts

Dex 20

Def 15 (both pd and ed)

Spd 4

movement power 10"

 

spend 100pts

with no more than 40 in any catagory for a generalist

or 60pts in one with no more than 20 in any other for a specialist

 

Viola, instant balanced Champion

 

not entirely serious

[Tamashii2000]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

My best (IMHO) suggestion: Create a few Npc's of various power levels, defences and and such then do a few mock battles against the characters in the books. Probably best way to find the power levels your comfy with.

 

but once again .. Its only a suggestion.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

To me, it's more about balance than averages. If you want people to fight toe to toe for extended periods of time, defenses need to be pretty high relative to attacks. A 12d6 attack averages 42 STUN, so if that's the average attack and defenses average 20, the fights should be quick. Drop the average attack to 10d6 and raise the average defenses to 30, and fights will go on for lengthy periods.

 

Add to this the balance between the two. Let's say our average is 12d6 attacks and 25 defenses. If a character has a 15d6 attack and 15 defenses, then he's going to inflict an extra 10 STUN (on average) whenevert he hits, but take an extra 10 STUN when he's hit. For some, that's balanced. [This guy's a great team player though - much more likely to STUN his opponents, and much more likely to need some help if he gets stunned.]

 

NOTE: All other things being equal, the other things won't be equal.

 

I believe it was 3rd edition (before the book offered any guidance) when a poll was done on average DC's and defenses. There was quite a range. One campaign had average attacks of 10DC and average defenses in the 30's. A typical attack would get single digit, if any, STUN through. Must have been a lot of emphasis on co-ordinatuing and attack-enhancing maneuvers. Another had average attacks of 15 DC and average defenses of about 15. Suddenly, cover, first strike and surprise seem much more important...

 

Make the choice based on the kind of campaign you want and don't worry about how it compares to others. What's important is to create a campaign that your group enjoys.

[Evil Toki]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

So if I wanted a pretty even fight across the board say 12D6 attacks and about 30-35 defense, that would provide some decent amount of combat... I like fast paced combat but there should be times for the knock down drag em out brawls as well

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: What Constitutes a HERO 5th Champion?

 

So if I wanted a pretty even fight across the board say 12D6 attacks and about 30-35 defense' date=' that would provide some decent amount of combat... I like fast paced combat but there should be times for the knock down drag em out brawls as well [/quote']

 

In my experience, with about 5 characters to a side, you can pretty much expect a combat to cover a full evening's gaming. And don't plan on being home early...

 

I think that's a large part of why the guidelines were changed, actually.