Anaxphone Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 I'm trying to make a character for possible play under fifth edition rules, but don't want to pay $50 until I'm sure I will play the game enough to justify the purchase to both myself and my wife. I have found a copy of fourth edition as well as Sidekick to use. I'm sure that somewhere somebody has a handy conversion guide for 4->5, but I haven't found it yet. Could anyone give me a hand? Anaxphone, TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paigeoliver Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Very little conversions between versions are needed. 5th edition is essentially a superset of 4th edition. The main difference is that the cost and exact effect of some powers change (oh yeah, and the book is A LOT bigger). Basically, all one must do to convert a 4th edition character to 5th edition is double check his powers and adjust the costs if needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition There's a decent website here that covers most of the changes: http://theemerged.blogspot.com/HERO425.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Just for a quick idea, look out for characters with Aid (may now be Healing), Regeneration (now a form of Healing with Modifiers), Flash (now works a number of Segments rather than Phases), and I believe Life Support (it has become a little more detailed). Also, some Talents have become Skills (and maybe vice versa). Luck and Find Weakness are now Powers, but I forget exactly how much they have changed in terms of cost and effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Check out this Memebers Link http://theemerged.blogspot.com/HERO425.htm Cheers QM P.S.: Posts and runs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jhamin Posted May 14, 2005 Report Share Posted May 14, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition I have found a copy of fourth edition as well as Sidekick to use. Anaxphone, TIA Actually, if you have Sidekick that is really all you need. It contains all the character creation rules a beginner will need to get up and running. The full 5th edition Rev hardback is chock full of examples and optional rules. (chock full!) but you will get a very good Idea of what a 5th edition character will look like just from Sidekick. Basically, if you like sidekick but wish there were more details it's time to buy the Hardcover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaxphone Posted May 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition First off, thank you to everyone who has responded to help me out. Actually' date=' if you have Sidekick that is really all you need. It contains all the character creation rules a beginner will need to get up and running.[/quote'] The two character concepts I'm kicking around currently both would be probably best modelled with a power or two that are listed in 4th, but not in Sidekick. (My brick would likely use Absorption or Damage Reduction versus a certain damage type and the blaster is a candidate for minor Summon powers.) And then there are things I've seen mentioned on here like Combat Luck, which is in neither. I would simply try to reverse-engineer the costs from the Random Hero Generator, but it's out of commision for the moment. Also, what would be the Limitation modifier for a pair of Linked powers that always had to be used together be? That is not A+b or A, but always A+b. How about (and I'm sure someone has used this one before) Stun damage only? Anaxphone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted May 15, 2005 Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition First off, thank you to everyone who has responded to help me out. The two character concepts I'm kicking around currently both would be probably best modelled with a power or two that are listed in 4th, but not in Sidekick. (My brick would likely use Absorption or Damage Reduction versus a certain damage type and the blaster is a candidate for minor Summon powers.) And then there are things I've seen mentioned on here like Combat Luck, which is in neither. I would simply try to reverse-engineer the costs from the Random Hero Generator, but it's out of commision for the moment. Also, what would be the Limitation modifier for a pair of Linked powers that always had to be used together be? That is not A+b or A, but always A+b. How about (and I'm sure someone has used this one before) Stun damage only? Anaxphone Well, Anaxphone, I'd like to give you all the details on these, but I'm uncomfortable with describing too much of Hero Games's IP here on their own public website. I'll give you what I feel I can, though: Absorption and Damage Reduction are largely unchanged cost- and mechanic-wise. One big difference with Adjustment Powers is that Powers or Characteristics that have been brought to below starting level, and then boosted back up to starting level with an Adjustment Power, will still fade back down again at the normal Fade Rate. Only the new Healing Power will permanently restore them. Summon has had cost modifications, more clarification of how it works, and a bunch of new options. Combat Luck is a new Talent. 5E shows you how to construct Talents based on the costs of various Powers; Combat Luck is essentially a Limited version of Armor, with the Special Effect of "just being grazed." "Linked" has been discussed a lot on the boards, so I don't feel too bad about giving a bit more detail there. By the new rules, a smaller Power Linked to a larger one would by a -1/2 Lim, while a larger Power Linked to a smaller one would be -1/4. What you're talking about is called "cross-Linking," in which both Limitation values would apply. Stun-Only is normally assessed as a +0 Advantage/Limitation, because the benefits and drawbacks tend to balance out. Note that any Stun-Only attack does no Knockback. I hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaxphone Posted May 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Well' date=' Anaxphone, I'd like to give you all the details on these, but I'm uncomfortable with describing too much of Hero Games's IP here on their own public website. I'll give you what I feel I can, though:[/quote'] I'm not trying to get anyone (including myself) in trouble for violating copyrights or the like. Just trying to make a character without the latest version of the book on hand. With all of the character writeups being tossed around, I didn't realize that there was such a strict monitoring of things like telling the costs of Powers... Combat Luck is essentially a Limited version of Armor, with the Special Effect of "just being grazed." This sounds quite appropriate for my blaster. I suppose I shall have to look for a more detailed description somewhere or wait until the guy with the book comes back to town in a few months... Stun-Only is normally assessed as a +0 Advantage/Limitation, because the benefits and drawbacks tend to balance out. Note that any Stun-Only attack does no Knockback. But what if I wasn't trying to emulate the effects of an Ego Attack (no Body, no Knockback, no effect on inanimate objects), but instead something designed to stun and knock around a target without doing permanent damage? Reduced Penetration plus some form of "Reduced Knockback" would be a way to model it, I suppose. I hope that helps. The answer about Cross-Linking was precisely what I was looking for. Thank you. Anaxphone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted May 15, 2005 Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition But what if I wasn't trying to emulate the effects of an Ego Attack (no Body' date=' no Knockback, no effect on inanimate objects), but instead something designed to stun and knock around a target without doing permanent damage? Reduced Penetration plus some form of "Reduced Knockback" would be a way to model it, I suppose.[/quote'] The you purchase the limitation as "does no body but does knockback: -0". A -0 limitation can be formulated however you want it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaxphone Posted May 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Thank you- I didn't know if that would be a legitimate -0 Lim, or would somehow be considered an Advantage... Anaxphone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted May 15, 2005 Report Share Posted May 15, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Thank you- I didn't know if that would be a legitimate -0 Lim, or would somehow be considered an Advantage... Anaxphone No problem. I'm glad I could help. A limitation is always a limtation if it only takes away from a power and adds nothing. In this case an energy blast has 4 components: stun, body, knockback, and range. You are taking away 1 component, and thus it's a limitation. It just so happens in this instance that the component being taken away has a 0 value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThealaSildorian Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 Re: Converting 4th Edition Very little conversions between versions are needed. 5th edition is essentially a superset of 4th edition. The main difference is that the cost and exact effect of some powers change (oh yeah, and the book is A LOT bigger). Basically, all one must do to convert a 4th edition character to 5th edition is double check his powers and adjust the costs if needed. I haven't found that to be true. Most of my characters required major work, especially because of changes in how things like Contacts are bought, Change Environment, Images, Instant Change, Transform, Flash and more. In many ways 5th is a different game. I'm still getting tripped up by the subtle changes. Fortunately, Sidekick with 4th should help to prevent the obvious rules changes (like buying Light with Images instead of CE). Theala Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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