Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

[csmith868]

Guys~

 

It's been a while since I posted last, but I've finally gotten my gaming group interested in a Fantasy HERO game. Like any lazy troupe, they've resisted learning the rules, but we did a pre-game character creation event the other night and everyone seems to be pumped up on the concept (though they still complain about the learning curve).

 

As this is my first attempt at GMing a HERO game, I've got numerous questions and am interested in receiving any input from the older, more experienced HERO ppl out here (which, in relation to me, means all of you ).

 

The setting is pretty free-form, but some general guidelines for character creation was this:

 

-It is feudal-victorian (feudal arms and armor with a victorian-style upper class nobility; still a work-in-progress)

-It features "steampunk" technology

-Magic systems are open for discussion.

 

I know that's not a lot, but I'll elaborate more when I've got time. For now, I pose some questions.

 

1) One player wants to use a form of "blood magic" where he sacrifices a point of BODY to power a spell, and that BODY will not recover until he releases the spell. Mostly for summoning uses. The question is, how do I reflect this in-game? His basic spell is to spill his own blood and create various beings from it, using the TRANSFORM or SUMMON abilities. Also, he wants it to work within a VPP for a more versatile character. Any input on this?

 

2) One warrior has a clockwork arm that has the ARMOR power linked to it. Can he use it like a shield? And what is the limit of a clockwork arm with no ARMOR (e.g.- he wants to be able to grab swords with the arm, in a parry-like maneuver; is this affected by ARMOR).

 

3) Equipment costing CPs. I've made all magical items the characters want to cost actual CPs, with regular arms and armor costing units of money. Basically, the magical weapon becomes a character's power. Has anyone tried this, and how does it affect a campaign?

 

4) Not sure. I'll have to get back on this one.

 

I'm fairly rushed atm, but I figured I'd throw these out here and go back in detail when I'm home again. Thanks in advance for the advice, and I'll see you on the boards.

 

-Charles

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

Guys~

 

1) One player wants to use a form of "blood magic" where he sacrifices a point of BODY to power a spell, and that BODY will not recover until he releases the spell. Mostly for summoning uses. The question is, how do I reflect this in-game? His basic spell is to spill his own blood and create various beings from it, using the TRANSFORM or SUMMON abilities. Also, he wants it to work within a VPP for a more versatile character. Any input on this?

 

 

A few ways to do something like this. Ill go with the more simple since you are new to it all.

 

Use a Side Effects Drain vs Body vs All Spells, with a +1/2 Advantage "Drain Instantly Fades When Power Effect Ends".

 

This obviously only works for Constant Spells, so make that part of his Magic System -- no Instant effects allowed as a no-points restriction in other words.

 

 

2) One warrior has a clockwork arm that has the ARMOR power linked to it. Can he use it like a shield? And what is the limit of a clockwork arm with no ARMOR (e.g.- he wants to be able to grab swords with the arm, in a parry-like maneuver; is this affected by ARMOR).

Again, a lot of ways to do something like this.

 

Sounds like the the arm is mostly a gimmick for combat effects, so Id go for a hybrid approach like this:

 

+10 STR 0 END; OIF: (Metal Arm, Durable): 10 pts

plus

8/8 Armor OIF: (Metal Arm, Durable); Limited Hit Locations: appropriate arm location only (-?).

 

dont have my book handy, so I can't recall what the lim value is for just the arm and hand location.

 

If not using hit locations, just put an Activation roll on the Armor instead.

 

 

Then I would buy some Martial Manuevers to represent the combat benefits of the Clockwork Arm, such as Martial Block, Martial Disarm, Offensive Strike, Choke Hold, and maybe some other "grab one limb" manuever. Define the default Weapon Element as "Clockwork Arm" and you are good.

 

Also take a Physical Limitation on the Character for "One Armed", and then do a partially limited buy off on it with the Clockwork Arm. Thus if its Alll the Time Greatly Limiting, which if IIRC is -20 points, you do the following:

 

Partially Limited Buy Off on One Arm (20 points); OIF: (Metal Arm, Durable; -1/2): 13 pts

 

 

3) Equipment costing CPs. I've made all magical items the characters want to cost actual CPs, with regular arms and armor costing units of money. Basically, the magical weapon becomes a character's power. Has anyone tried this, and how does it affect a campaign?

I think it causes a lot of inconsistencies and problems myself.

 

Personally I require that all permanent magic items be built with the Independent Limitation. Character Points are paid for any items started with or made in play, but items that are found, bought, sold, stolen, whatever do not cost character points.

 

Magic items that are on non-Recoverable Charges (like Scrolls and Potions and such) never cost character points on the other hand.

[Old Man]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

Can't add much to that. Killer Shrike pretty much got it all as usual

 

For added fluff and art you might want to check out ikwarmachine.com and ironkingdoms.com

 

Everything there is easily adapted to Hero.

[csmith868]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

Guys~

 

Back; glad to see some responses already! 'specially from Shrike.

 

The advice for 1) and 2) I'll definitely incorporate into the system. The player is a major "rules-lite" type of guy, and likes a lot of variety. This will help us structure our magic a bit, so thank you. Also, the ideas on the clockwork arm work well.

 

As far as the magic items = CP, I envisioned this setting as having rare magic items, but items that grow as the character progresses, much like powers with people. Normal items and gear won't cost CP, just gold; magical items, on the other hand, are acquired through CP and adventure. Each item increases their powers based on how the character wants that item to go.

 

Ex (w/o stat write-up because this is just a concept): Grandfather's Sword

 

This sword was given to great-grandfather from a master dwarven weaponsmith. The dwarf smelted it in the hottest pit of magma deep within the Kharamul mountains, giving it great power. The great grandfather, a much respected figure to this dwarf, accepted the sword as a gift of respect. He used it in many military campaigns and it became legend alongside the man himself.

 

Enter character today. The sword has been passed on, its strength and sharp edge still amazingly preserved despite the countless battles. However, as technology advanced and cultures "matured," the magical properties of the sword were lost.

 

In system terms, the sword would be a real weapon with a HKA, with some sort of durable advantage, with the item costing CP because of its history and purpose later in the campaign. The character, after gaining xp, decides its time to regain one of the "lost" properties of the sword, and adds a linked Energy Blast to the sword (representing the fiery power of the blade), maybe by finding some old texts his great grandfather wrote and figuring out how to activate the power. Later on still, decides it should provide magical protection to the wielder and adds Force Field or Armor, ect. And so on and so forth.

 

 

So, do you not think this would work? It's a concept that's been talked about by the gaming group and we've decided it's pretty neat, but again, I haven't ran HERO at *all* and so don't know the possible ramifications of this.

 

Let me know what you think!

 

Charles

 

**also, re: the power Transform- can that make blood into an animated imp/hellhound/demon? I thought I read somewhere that it's limited to inanimate=inanimate and vice versa.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

You want summon for making creatures.

[Markdoc]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

>>>1) One player wants to use a form of "blood magic" where he sacrifices a point of BODY to power a spell, and that BODY will not recover until he releases the spell. Mostly for summoning uses. The question is, how do I reflect this in-game? His basic spell is to spill his own blood and create various beings from it, using the TRANSFORM or SUMMON abilities. Also, he wants it to work within a VPP for a more versatile character. Any input on this?<<<

 

 

As already noted, sounds fine. I wouldn't bother with BOD Drain, simply make it a limitation on the VPP "Requires one BOD for each spell in VPP". I'd make that a -1/4 if the BOD instantly recovers when the spell is used or a -1/2 (or even -3/4) if he has to heal it. Also all spells - and therefore the control cost - should probably take the one recoverable charge limitation, meaning once the spell is used another point of BOD needs to be sacrified to get it ready again. One last point: if these are Hero newbies, you might want to use a Multipower instead of a VPP. The limitation on the spells would make the basic setup really cheap and the player would probably find it easier to select one of a list of options than configure a VPP.

 

 

>>>2) One warrior has a clockwork arm that has the ARMOR power linked to it. Can he use it like a shield? And what is the limit of a clockwork arm with no ARMOR (e.g.- he wants to be able to grab swords with the arm, in a parry-like maneuver; is this affected by ARMOR).<<<

 

Shields give DCV, not armour so the simple answer is no. What I would suggest is buying armour either on a specific location (arm) or on an 8- activation roll if you are not using hit locations. Since players can grab swords and block with their regular arms, the clockwork arm is just a special effect - it simply means that he is not going to bleed if he messes up

 

>>>3) Equipment costing CPs. I've made all magical items the characters want to cost actual CPs, with regular arms and armor costing units of money. Basically, the magical weapon becomes a character's power. Has anyone tried this, and how does it affect a campaign?<<<<

 

I have always done this, but with two provisos. First, players only pay for magic items they start with and those become powers - the player's signature weapon or whatever. I don't try to take such items away on a permanent basis, so the player knows that if the character loses his thing, he will get at least a chance to retrieve it at some point (no guarantees, though) - unless it it is "independant" in which case, all bets are off. Magic items acquired in the game are not considered part of the character, and they can be lost/stolen/destroyed, etc.

 

This has worked fine for me. Some players buy magical doohickeys, because they like the price break, others avoid them because because they dislike the probability that achunk of their character points will go AWOL from time to time.

 

cheers, Mark

[teh bunneh]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

As far as the magic items = CP, I envisioned this setting as having rare magic items, but items that grow as the character progresses, much like powers with people. Normal items and gear won't cost CP, just gold; magical items, on the other hand, are acquired through CP and adventure. Each item increases their powers based on how the character wants that item to go.

So, do you not think this would work? It's a concept that's been talked about by the gaming group and we've decided it's pretty neat, but again, I haven't ran HERO at *all* and so don't know the possible ramifications of this.

 

This is almost exactly the way I run magic items in my FH campaign, and it has so far worked very well for me. Things that I do to keep it balanced: I strictly limit the active points that my players can put into any one magic item ability. I also make all magic items "Independent," meaning that if they get lost, stolen, or broken, the characters are outta luck. This limitation is a source of lots of gaming potential, as the characters struggle to get the item back from the thieves, or fix it after it has been broken... If you keep magic items rare and mysterious, your idea should work out just fine.

 

Good luck with your game -- it sounds really fun!

 

Bill.

[csmith868]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

Guys~

 

Thanks for the useful advice. Summon definitely seems to be the answer for what this player wants, but we'll have to work with the dispelling methods on how to get rid of it so he can get his CON back Mardoc, thanks for the info on shields- I didn't know they gave DCV (I haven't read the rules thoroughly enough yet), and the ideas for the CON loss will be adapted.

 

I think I'll end up using the "independent" Disad for the magical items for them to cost less and to give the players a sense of "I'd better not lose this thing." A little GM sense on how points are allocated and it'll probably run smooth.

 

keyes_, how do you limit the active points in your campaign? My game's feel on magic is that it's rare, but historical and powerful. Since I haven't ran a game yet, what would be a good point limitation to keep this kind of feel?

 

And thanks for the compliment My players feel pretty daunted about the HERO system- some think it's needlesly complicated or just too much to learn for a game. I keep reassuring them that once we learn the basics, the game will run smoothly and fairly. Most of them are used to the Storytelling system from White Wolf, which has caused some major character balancing issues making the game no fun for all but the one person who knows how to work the rules. I figured HERO would give them a sense of balance again, to where each character would roughly equate.

 

First game is on Sunday. Wish me luck!

 

-charlie

[teh bunneh]

Re: Fantasy HERO Campaign start-up help

 

keyes_' date=' how do you limit the active points in your campaign? My game's feel on magic is that it's rare, but historical and powerful. Since I haven't ran a game yet, what would be a good point limitation to keep this kind of feel?[/quote']

 

That really depends on a lot of things. How many points are you starting the characters on? For standard heroic level characters (75 base +75 disads), I like to keep the active points around 30 or so -- this way magic items won't overshadow the characters themselves. As the characters go up in power, so too do the items. I've had items in my games go up to 200 active points -- but they are world-beating items that are incredibly rare (read: plot devices). I wouldn't let PCs have such things.

 

And thanks for the compliment My players feel pretty daunted about the HERO system- some think it's needlesly complicated or just too much to learn for a game. I keep reassuring them that once we learn the basics' date=' the game will run smoothly and fairly. Most of them are used to the Storytelling system from White Wolf, which has caused some major character balancing issues making the game no fun for all but the one person who knows how to work the rules. I figured HERO would give them a sense of balance again, to where each character would roughly equate. [/quote']

 

You're right -- once you figure out the basics, everything will run smoothly. The important thing is to have fun!

 

Bill.