HALO Hero?

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I've revised said entry to the new entry. Feel free to review the new entry and give me your thoughts on the matter. The heavy vehicles, as I said, are incredibly tricky. The easiest way I have of guaging them is (as I note above) SER. It has X DEF and I'm dealing Y Damage. GOOD! Now I know precisely how much BODY I'm doing per shot, and that allows me to keep track of what's happening.

 

Whaddya mean the DEF doesn't protect the occupants? Something else I'll need to fix. And I need to put the "every vehicle" equipment on it, although I don't know what else it would have.

 

I'm not skittish about rolling dice, I just don't want to spend the time if I don't have too. Because you'll be rolling piles and piles of the things as I go upwards towards Star-Ship class weaponry. A ship that can broad-beam a PLANET doesn't deal "2d6 RKA" when it gets down there. It blows up entire buildings. Can you imagine trying to build the Death Star? How much BODY does a Planet have? Did Alderaan have? These are the sorts of things I'm getting at.

 

Again, were it d20, it would be a hand wave. It blows up planets! Hooray! But what is that in HERO? 1000d6, Megascale (the planet?) 3000 BODY SER to every hex? That'll do it. Or it should, anyway. Yikes. But that's the whole reason I'm using SER, because it's much cleaner and more efficient in the long run than trying to calculate everything based on die rolls. In the same sense that non-tank class weapons aren't going to punch a hole in Shiela, there's no way that basic fighter lasers are going to deal any real damage to the super-structure of a Star Destroyer.

 

No matter HOW many times I play X-Wing. It just ain't happenin'.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I've revised said entry to the new entry. Feel free to review the new entry and give me your thoughts on the matter. The heavy vehicles, as I said, are incredibly tricky. The easiest way I have of guaging them is (as I note above) SER. It has X DEF and I'm dealing Y Damage. GOOD! Now I know precisely how much BODY I'm doing per shot, and that allows me to keep track of what's happening.

 

Whaddya mean the DEF doesn't protect the occupants? Something else I'll need to fix. And I need to put the "every vehicle" equipment on it, although I don't know what else it would have.

 

I'm not skittish about rolling dice, I just don't want to spend the time if I don't have too. Because you'll be rolling piles and piles of the things as I go upwards towards Star-Ship class weaponry. A ship that can broad-beam a PLANET doesn't deal "2d6 RKA" when it gets down there. It blows up entire buildings. Can you imagine trying to build the Death Star? How much BODY does a Planet have? Did Alderaan have? These are the sorts of things I'm getting at.

 

Again, were it d20, it would be a hand wave. It blows up planets! Hooray! But what is that in HERO? 1000d6, Megascale (the planet?) 3000 BODY SER to every hex? That'll do it. Or it should, anyway. Yikes. But that's the whole reason I'm using SER, because it's much cleaner and more efficient in the long run than trying to calculate everything based on die rolls. In the same sense that non-tank class weapons aren't going to punch a hole in Shiela, there's no way that basic fighter lasers are going to deal any real damage to the super-structure of a Star Destroyer.

 

No matter HOW many times I play X-Wing. It just ain't happenin'.

You want to read some of my ranting on the subject? do a search for "Planetbusters", a rather old thread of mine.

The answer to the question is... it depends.

Going by the sidebar in SH and one interpretation, around 86 body.

 

Like I said... issues with scale

So far my best solution has involved meshing together the vehicle rules, the Base rules and the mass combat rules, adding a bit of brewers yeast and waiting 6 months to a year.

 

Its still fermenting, tho at this rate I might just crack open the keg and give it a try

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

There's a reason I mention it. If you haven't played HALO, either make friends with a loyal Xboxer, or if you have a halfway decent PC, download or buy it. Throughout the course of the game you get guns, shoot a lot of aliens, pilot various vehicles (they're not just for show - Halo hybridized vehicles & guns better than anyone else).

 

As you go through the full course of the game, you meet some NPCs, some bad things happen to them, and you shoot lots and lots of aliens. The Halo itself (Installation 04) is a massive ring, which happens to be a weapon, which is used to control the Flood. They're kept on the ring, you see. They're a horrendous speed-duplicating parasite. Flood is a template you can place on a normal character to turn it into a Monster. All Flood have a basic ability: Major Transform, you into Flood.

 

At the end of the game (five years guys, here's your spoiler) you initiate the detonation of the Ring, Halo Installation 04. You destroy it before it actually 'goes off.' Were the ring to go off as built, it would annihiliate about 1/8th of the Galaxy. I think someone did the math and determined it would take 7 installations all at some stupid number of lightyears distance with their explosions to literally obliterate all life.

 

That was considered preferably to the Flood. Obliterating all sources of food FOR the Flood, because that's the only way to kill the damn things. Starve them to death. So. 7 Installations, one of which is now destroyed prior to being activated. That leaves (we assume) six. But we know the Precursors were far from stupid, so there's probably many, many more.

 

So it's actually critically important to know exactly how much force it'll take to wipe out a Planet, other than "1000d6, SER 3000 BODY, automatic effect; annihilate planets in the blast radius." Which is currently how I'm going to build it.

[Zeropoint]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Presumably for game balance purposes, the driver of a Scorpion tank has his head and shoulders exposed, and can be shot.

 

It makes no sense from a realism standpoint, but that's how it is.

[Thia Halmades]

MJOLNIR Power Armor/Elite Battle Suit

 

Mjolnir Mark V is a set of battle armor specifically designed for the SPARTAN II program. Each suit has an inner layer of self molding gel surrounded by an outer layer of armor covered by sheilds adapted from Covenant technology. The suits are designed to be compatible with all SPARTAN enhancements, including a neural interface to control the suit and provide increased strength and dexterity. MJOLNIR is also capable of housing an AI in its gel layer, connecting to the soldier via the nueral interface. Only Spartans are capable of wearing the suit. Because of the neural connection between the human and the suit, the user must possess certain attributes, such as enhanced strength, improved reflexes and mental conditioning in order to be in control. If one does not posses these attributes the suit will respond to the user's unconditioned mind and violently spasm, causing much physical damage.

 

MJOLNIR contains one miniature fusion core as its source of power and is the first suit to have integrated rechargable shield system. The shell of the suit is a multilayer alloy of remarkable strength. It has a refractive coating which has a limited ability to disperse energy weapon fire. Each suit also has a gel-filled layer to regulate body temperature. In the first Halo 2 cut scene with the Master Chief the person lecturing you said, "...there's also viscosity throughout the gel layer." The word viscosity means: the resistence to flow. In other words, if somthing has high viscosity it moves slowly, if it has low viscosity then it moves faster. This means that some sort of fluid flows through this layer. It can also reactively change density. Against the skin of the operator, there is a moisture-absorbing cloth suit, biomonitors that constantly adjust the suit's temperature and fit, and automatic Biofoam injectors. There is also an onboard computer that interfaces with a neural implant. The armor's inner structure is composed of reactive metal liquid crystal. It is anomorphous, yet fractally scales and amplifies force, doubling the wearer's strength. It also enhances the reaction speed of a normal human by a factor of five. Featuring a Heads-Up Display in its integrated helmet, the operator can visualize the terrain from a differant perspective or check the amount of ammo left in their clip.

 

Third time is the charm. I'm going to do a full vehicle write up for this armor, and cross post it to the Ironmongers thread for everyone to see and comment on. It'll be "legal" but only in the most literal sense of the word (in other words, I won't be breaking rules to do it.) On second thought. I realized something else: per the rules, all vehicles have BODY. Reducing the BODY to 0 means the suit stops working! Oh, wait, NM. I keep forgetting you'd have to 'attack the suit' to lower its BODY, otherwise you're hitting the user.

 

MJOLNIR Power Armor

 

1 Size 0 DCV, -1 KB (Full Humanoid, 5 points)

20 STR (5 points, Cannot exceed user's STR, +0)

20 DEX (30 points)

4 SPD (10 points, Does not exceed user's SPD, +0)

5 DEF (9 points)

 

Characteristic Cost: 59 points.

 

Abilities & Equipment:

 

7 Running: 12" (+6", Velocity Cannot Exceed twice user's running, +0), Only on appropriate terrain (-1/4), Costs END (user's END, -1/2)

 

3 Leaping: 4" (+4", Height cannot exceed user's max jump, +0), Costs END (user's END, -1/2)

 

10 Sensors & Communications Array; HRRP; OIF (-1), Affected As Hearing And Radio Group (-1/4)

 

19 Self Contained Life-Support: Self Contained Breathing, Safe Environments: High Pressure, Intense Cold, Intense Heat, Radiation, Vacuum

 

10 Crystal Grid AI Slot: Purchased as Follower, AI may have up to 75 CP before disads; OIF (-1), AI Cannot Control Suit without User's Authorization (-1/2)

 

Total cost: 49 points.

 

Tactical Systems

 

48 Force Field: Major Transform: Surrounding Particles into Force Field, BODY 15, DEF 3; Reduced END (0 END, +1/2), Covers User & All Equipment (+1/4), Trigger, Creates New Force Field to replace current Force Field (not controlled by user, must be unharmed for one Turn, requires one Turn to reset trigger, +1/4) (240 Active Points); OIF (-1), No Concious Control (User cannot control activation of Force Field, -1), Does not gain User's DEF (-1), No Range, (Moves as user moves, -1/2), Can be Dispelled (-1/4), Can be Destroyed (DEF no longer applies, -1/4)

 

16 Motion Sensor: Detect Movement, +10 PER Roll of User, Discriminatory (IFF Indicator), Increased Arc of Perception (360o), Reduced END (0 END, +1/2), (45 Active Points); OIF (Bulky, -1), Only Detects Moving Targets (Target must travel >3"/phase to be noticed, -1/2), Limited Range (15" Radius, -1/4)

 

5 Smart Link: +2 OCV (10 Active Points); OIF (-1)

 

 

69 points.

 

Total cost: 177 points.

 

Disadvantges: Distincitve Features (Concealable with difficult, causes extreme reaction (fear) (-15 points).

 

Final cost: 162/5 = 32 points.

 

Okay, this is my current edition of this beast. It covers everything, I modded it so that the user would set the stats, and if necessary can of course have one 'custom fit' to them exclusively.

 

I built the Force Field as a Transform, and as a vehicular transform, which dropped the cost from the 2:1 BODY to a 1:1 BODY and set it as an SER, so it would always create the Force Field. This made it reasonably affordable.

 

The AI slot I built as a Follower, and I gave it it's 1/5th reduction after all the modifiers were tacked onto it. This is for fitting in Cortana or any other appropriate AI. You can even write whole plot lines around PCs and the AIs in their heads, which can add heaven knows what. This is probably the single most abusable element here. I'll have to stat out Cortana, and THEN revisit this, but I assumed she'd be a Heroic character (75/75), so I charged for a 75 CP slot (since we don't count the follower's disads against it) and then divided that by 5, and THEN used all additional limitations. But I'm not sure if the lims apply, that's the tricky bit.

 

The +2 OCV is because there's always a shiny reticle in front of you - it helps. Trust me.

 

Everything else should be self-explanatory.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Please note: I've finished the Warthog, Pelican, Scorpion & MJOLNIR. That covers all commonly used human vehicles, although I'll be adding the Longsword, Albatross & Halcyon class cruiser.

 

I also need to know if there's a way to make something Always Ablative. So even IF I were to make a defense nearly perfect - say a 20/20 Force Field, could I design it so it makes an Ablative check regardless of the damage it takes?

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I was building the Ghost. The cat erased it.

 

I'm serious.

 

I will start over in a few minutes.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

The Ghost is the Covenant's standard reconnaissance and rapid attack vehicle. It is equipped with two of what are now accepted as the standard light vehicle mounted weapons: a directed energy weapon capable of projecting a bolt of super-heated plasma in the 100-250 kW range. It has the capability to both hover and strafe using anti-gravity pods, making it very agile over any terrain, including ice. While the vehicle is fast and maneuverable, it's open design leaves the driver virtually unprotected. It also has an overdrive that causes the engine to flare and give a dramatic boost in speed. While boosting, the Ghost becomes difficult to manuever, and cannot fire it's weapons as all the power is dumped to the engines.

 

In Halo: Combat Evolved, Elites and the Master Chief were the only characters that could drive Ghosts well. Marines could drive, but as they're too short to see over, they would often crash or flip over. In Halo 2, though, Marines can drive Ghosts quite well, as can Brutes, Flood Combat Forms and the occasional Grunt.

 

Covenant Ghost

 

1 Size 0 DCV, -2 KB (5)

15 STR (0)

20 DEX OCV 7 / DCV 7 (20)

11 BODY (0)

3 DEF (7)

5 SPD (20) phases 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

 

Characteriscs: 68 points

 

Fusion Generator END Reserve 50/50; all abilities cost END.

 

Anti-Gravity Engine

 

17 Combat Flight Mode: 8" Flight, x4 Non-Combat Movement; Gliding Only (cannot gain altitude, -1/4) [2 END]

 

24 Boosted Flight Mode: 16" Flight, x8 Non-Combat Movement; Costs 2x END (-1/2), Lockout (Cannot use Cannons while boosting, -1/4) [6 END]

 

32 Forward Plasma Cannons: 3d6 RKA, Autofire 5 (+1/2); OIF (Integral to Ghost, -1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), Lockout (Cannot boost while firing, -1/4) [5 END/shot]

 

3 HRRP Radio Communication: All frequencies, Covenant & Human.

 

Def does not protect occupant (-1/2)

[DEFCON Clown]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Thats a pretty good representation of the Ghost. Of course its Flight powers need a limitation that restricts its ability to go airborne. All of these right ups are awesome! Thanks for writing them up, Thia!

 

EDIT: Don't forget the gas tank vulnerability.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Actually it isn't even done yet - I was much further before the cat got hold of it, as I said. I have a Ravenloft game tomorrow (Tue. 3/28) and probably won't be back and able to work on this conversion until much later this week or Sunday, but that's because I'm off bed-rest and back in the office.

 

The next vehicles I want to do are:

 

- the Spectre (Covenant Jeep)

- the Banshee (Covenant flying tank)

- The Wraith (mortar tank - can you say "Indirect?" I knew you could!

- The Halo (yeah... THE Halo installation... mua ha ha.)

 

THEN, finally, I want to get to the racial packages. When the wifey is done chauffering me to & from work (I still can't comfortably ride the bus) I'll have some time to scribble some initial thoughts on those and get them built into something I'm more comfortable with. I think I'm going to seriously revise the tank as well, and make it something a bit closer to a "real" tank, with more on-board Electronic Warfare gear. While the version you pilot in HALO is absurdly deadly, more importantly there isn't much else you're calling on it to do, and that needs fixed.

 

I'm also going to do a design for the Covenant Hardsuit/Elite Power Armor and include its fringed Invis on a large END Reserve. Once I've gotten all of that done:

 

- Marine OCS/Spec Ops packages

- Covenant Racial Packages

- Flood Packages (eep!)

 

And lastly:

 

- Master Chief (I struggled with this, but I've decided to take a stab at putting the Chief on paper)

- Cortana

- Commander Keyes (both versions, possibly)

- Sgt. Johnson (And we REGRET blowing up your raggity *** fleet! Hoo-rah!)

- The Arbiter

- Half-Jaw (mebbe)

- And of course, the Prophets. Oddly, other than their floating chairs, I don't think the Prophets have any real power whatsoever. Lamers.

 

So there's still a TON of work I need to do on this project, but I'm still hammering away at it. I think the one thing I hope is that a couple of people can tell their own story within the HALO universe outside of the games. I think they'd just end up frustrated if they tried to tell a story about the original VG material and were rolling dice instead of holding down the trigger on a Plasma Rifle.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

 

Physiology

 

Grunts are approximately 5' tall and relatively weak. They have a basic bipedal structure, but sometimes walk on all fours. they also wear a respirator, or a "rebreather", due to the fact that they breathe a supercooled methane atmosphere. Their blood is a mottled light blue, due to high methane content. They have three toes, and seem to have a claw of sorts on their elbows, although they never appear to use it in combat.

 

Culture

 

Grunt culture has largely been erased by their incorporation into the Covenant. They are essentially a slave race. Their home world is a cold, swampy planet with a methane atmosphere and naturally occurring pillars of fire.

 

Grunts obey the other Covenant races out of fear, because they have no political power in Covenant society. However, within the Grunt community there is a strong hatred of other species, and a belief that someday a dynamic Grunt leader will lead them to freedom on a methane-rich paradise world. It is very likely the crystal like substances rather than plasma in the Needler mean it could be used on the Grunt homeworld with methane. So it is also likely the Needler came from the Grunt race as it is the only weapon the Heretic Grunts use (or their ability to be reused and reloaded).

 

Due to their low status, Grunts are not permitted by the Elites to possess family names. They do value their ties to their offspring, but are usually separated from their families at an early age by the requirements of their service to the Covenant. The Grunts resent this greatly, but are unable to muster any response. Examples of Grunt names include Yayap, Linglin, Gagaw, Zawaz, and Mehmep.

 

Grunt Racial Package

 

VAL - CHAR - BASE - CST

08 - STR - 10 - 1

12 - DEX - 10 - 3

10 - CON - 10 - 2

10 - BOD - 10 - 2

10 - INT - 10 - 1

10 - EGO - 10 - 2

08 - PRE - 10 - 1

08 - COM - 10 - -1

 

2 - PD - 2 - 1

2 - ED - 2 - 1

2 - SPD - 2 - 10

4 - REC - 4 - 2

20 - END - 20 - 1

19 - STUN - 19 - 1

 

10 Hard to hit: +2 DCV

5 Stronger than he Looks: +10 STR; Only for meeting STR Minimum on Weapons (-1/2), No Figured Characteristics (-1/2)

3 Easily Hidden: +2 Concealment; Self Only (-1/2)

4 Faster on Four Legs: +3" Running; Only on Four Legs (-1/2)

 

-15 Ugly little bastard: Distinctive Features (Difficult to conceal, causes major reaction)

-15 Fish out of Water: Physical limitation, Requires methane to survive (Always, not impairing).

-10 Blue-Blooded: Dependence, must have methane to breathe. (Common, difficult to obtain - rebreather, all grunts have one).

-5 Minute: Roughly 1/2 normal human size

-4 Short Legs: -2" Running

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I wasn't sure about using both Dependence & Phys Lim, but in this case it certainly seemed appropriate. I also wanted to make the Grunts something that bordered on playable characters should a player ever choose to run a "Covenant" campaign. There are plenty of cool story ideas buried in the Grendel mold that you wouldn't see otherwise. I don't expect grunts to exactly be a go-to race, but it would make an interesting RP challenge, and they have a STACK of limitations.

 

In my house rules, racial limitations don't count against a player; they're considered 'part of the package.' In this case I would have to rule that the lims pay for the package itself, and additional lims would then count against the player limitation total.

 

This is just the racial package; there's no 'must follow orders' or anything else of the sort because of the nature of the design.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

The Kig-Yar, or Jackals, serve as assassins, and scouts within the Covenant due to their exceptional senses of sight, smell and hearing. They were the first Covenant race that the Spartans encountered.

 

They use plasma pistols, plasma rifles(rarely), needlers, covenant carbines(very rarely), beam rifles and carry a strong, handheld energy shield to compensate for their physical weakness; a well-positioned Jackal can hold his own against several Marines. The most effective way of killing them is throwing a grenade behind their shield or sniping them through the gun-holes in their shields.They stand approximately 5'8" tall.

 

In Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the Jackals are always first encountered during the second level.The jackals are never found on human ships.

 

Culture

 

Jackals have little status in the Covenant hierarchy, and are subservient to all but the Grunts. Although they technically stand as equals with the Grunts, the reality is that Jackals are usually in an elevated position. While the other races consider the Grunts beneath notice, the Jackals are often purposefully cruel in order to assure themselves of their own superiority.

 

Jackals are not permitted by the Elites to have more than one name, but Jackal society had never placed a premium on such things, so they don't care. Examples of Jackal names include Yeg, Jak, and Bok.

 

Rank Structure

 

The Jackals ranks include:

 

Jackal Minors are signified by a blue energy shield and serve as general infantry.

 

Jackal Majors are slightly more elevated and are signified by an orange shield. Not much is different about their appearance other than their shield color.

 

Sniper Jackals do not carry energy shields, as both their hands are used to operate beam rifles, the Covenant long range sniper weapon. However, if sufficient distance is closed, they may drop their Beam Rifle and bring out a Plasma Pistol as they retreat from an advancing opponent.

It should also be noted that Jackals actually do wear metal armor on their bodies along with their energy shields, some even have helmets attached to their heads, though it is not known if this signifies rank.

 

Physiology

 

Jackals are vaguely birdlike in appearance, with feather-like "hair" on their heads, arms, and feet. They have three fingers on each hand, and beak-like teeth. ONI scientists have noted a great variance in skin tone and color between Jackals, and they have discovered some kind of spots or patterns that cover their bodies. Some colors of Jackal skins include dark orange and dark green. Although the Jackals vary in skin color, their blood is always purple in color.

 

Jackal Racial Package:

 

Ability:

 

+3 DEX, 9

+2 INT, 2

-1 PRE, -2

+1 SPD, 10

 

Disadvantages:

 

-2 CON 4

-2 BODY 4

 

15 Distinctive Features: Covenant Assassin. The Jackals are always recognized at range - their bird like heads and clearly wobbling gait make them easy to spot. However, their passion for the Covenant Beam Rifle and their high mobility make them hard to take down. Naturally swift, they tend to get in more shots than the average Marine, and the Marines give them due respect. (Concealable with difficulty, not among covenant, causes major reaction fear/respect/hatred among humans).

 

25 Assassin On Call: Jackals are the second most commonly deployed of the Covenant Races, acting as Scouts, Spies, Tactical Riflemen, and capable enough to move in assault units. As such, they are frequently subjected to orders which send them to occupy territories and used as tactically as possible (common, total).

 

Options:

 

8 Covenant Assassin Training: +4 Concealment; Self Only (-1/2)

13 Lethal at Any Distance: +4 CSL Ranged Combat; Only Covenant Weapons (-1/2)

6 Hunter's Eyes: +3 PER rolls Sight Group

 

Jackal Shield: Built as Mobile Force Wall

 

15 BODY

5 DEF, Hardened (+1/4)

Only Covers One Hex Side

Does not Cover "arm" position (location 9, -1/4).

 

Jackal Armor

 

3 DEF

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I'm going to clean up the Grunt entry once I've gotten through the other Covenant Races. I don't think the Prophets are terribly exciting, outside of their clean command of the others (Perk: Covenant Heirarch, 5 points). The Elites will gain additional STR and CON - and possibly a bit of INT - to reflect that according to the novels, it was only after the SPARTAN conversion that John was able to keep up with an Elite. This right after a fight scene in which he dismantled 4 trained combat corpsmen.

 

I'm not looking to make the Elites absurd though - just comparatively slight bigger/faster/stronger than a normal human. That build is coming up next.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

The Sangheili, or Elites as the Humans call them, are the iron heart of the Covenant military.

 

There are a few varieties of the Elite, but all are roughly 8'6" tall and incredibly strong. Their strength allows them to rely on brute force when necessary, but they are quite capable of brilliant battlefield tactics as well. Their natural resilience is augmented by full body energy shielding which recharges when depleted. They wield plasma pistols, plasma rifles, plasma grenades, needlers, carbines, beam rifles, fuel rod cannons, and the formidable energy sword.

 

In Halo 2, when playing as the Arbiter, it is possible to give friendly Elites all of the weapons the player can wield. All the human weapons, from the Magnum to the Rocket Launcher, can be given to them.

 

Culture

 

Elites consider the other Covenant client races to be below them in all ways. The Elites are the only known race permitted to operate starships within the Covenant, though the crews are always a mix of races.

 

In the Elite culture, names are considered a privilege. Only things of importance are named. The Elites generally consider humans to be nameless, and resent the fact that humans have assigned the label "Elite" to them, as humans have no standing to be naming things.

 

Because names are important to the Elite society, each element of the name has a meaning. Elite names are constructed from a series of parts. An example is Ado 'Mortumee. "Ado" is his given name, which is all he had until he was considered an adult. As an adult he earned the right to carry the badge name "'Mortumee". This name is made up of three parts: MOR (an adjectival descriptor, such as "fast", or "deadly"), TUM ( a créche name, basically his family name), and EE (an honorific indicating he is a participant in the military). Most Elites will have names with this kind of construction.

 

The Covenant military promotion is by merit. A Covenant soldier must succeed to advance. Success is often measured in scalps. A Covenant of "Admiral" or equivalent rank, may have personally slaughtered thousands of individuals.

 

Long ago, the Elites were at war with the Prophets. The Prophets, perhaps tiring of the war, shared with them the myth of the Great Journey. The Elites then became the bodyguards of the Prophets, who would search the galaxy for the Halos, thus starting the Covenant.

 

Physiology

 

Elites have an interesting physical appearance. Their jaw is quadruple-hinged; they have an upper jaw, and then four mandible-like lips which are lined with sharp teeth. It is unknown, given this structure, how Elites chew, swallow food, or even speak. Their legs are double jointed so they can jump great distances compared to humans, and their unusually shaped hoof-like feet give them tremendous balance. Their hands have four fingers; two middle fingers and two thumb-like fingers on the outside of the hand for grasping. They have grayish-brown skin and purple-blue blood. It is not known what chemical makes the blood this color, though it is assumed they breathe oxygen because they can breathe the same atmosphere as humans.

 

STR +5, 5

DEX +3, 9

SPD +1, 10

INT +2, 2

PRE +2, 2

 

4 Well-Balanced: 2" Knockback Resistance

4 Strong Legs: +2" Leaping

6 Combat Trained: 3 PD/3 ED

7 Wort Wort Wort!: +10 PRE, only for taunting opponents (-1)

 

2 Military Rank: Fringe Benefit, all Elites (except for the Arbiter) are Officer Rank 1 in the Covenant Military. This perk improves as the Elite goes up in rank.

 

-15 Squid-Faced Split-Chinned Sons of *****es: Distinctive Features, Concealable with Difficult, causes extreme reaction (hatred/fear/respect)

 

-20 Iron-Heart of the Military: Always follows orders of the Prophets (Common, Strong)

 

This is an update of the Covenant Elite; it includes their two major disads; obedience to the Covenant and the unmistakable design for their appearance. I hadn't included the hold-over from HALO 1 (Wort wort wort!) originally, I'm pleased to include it now. Nothing was so insulting as having those things mock you from a distance, while firing plasma weapons into your face.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

I'm still working on the Hunters. I don't think it's that they have a particularly low BODY (although they do) it's that they have unarmored areas that offer no protection against Killing damage. I was seriously considering buying their BODY down to 5 (-10) giving them the armor as a necessary survival trait (20 rPD/20 rED, does not cover neck, stomach or lower back) adding about 10 points of STR and equipping them with Fuel Rod Cannons.

 

Where I'm torn is trying to decide which ones are racial packages, and which should be mocked up as 'creature entries.'

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Hunters (my initial pass):

 

STR +15

CON +10

BODY -5

PRE +10

 

Hunter Armor: DEF 30, Activation Roll (14-), Does not protect Hit Loc 13.

 

Hunter's are armed with special assignment Fuel Rod Cannons, integrated into their armor. Hunters can also execute a Rush/Charge manuever that can do Knockback.

 

30 Hunter's Rush, HA+6d6, Penetrating (+1/2) (45 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2).

 

People may want to up the damage, based on their view, but in this version you're rolling about 10d6 of Normal Damage against whatever poor slob is on the receiving end (10d6 assumes the Hunter begins with no less than a 20 STR). There's also a bizarre phenomena in that Hunter's don't seem to go down from plasma weapons; only gunfire. I have yet to figure this out, but I may give them a full DR 75% vs. Energy-Weapons. Still thinking on that one.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Buggers

 

12 Born to Fly: 8" Flight; Restrainable (Wings, -1/2)

9 On Swift Wings: +4 DCV; Only While Flying (-1/2)

9 DEX +3

10 SPD +1

 

 

BODY 6 (-8)

CON 8 (-4)

 

 

Not sure if I should slap on Multiple Limbs, but I don't see a need for it at the moment. They don't carry any heavy weaponry, they simply fly around like giant mosquitos waiting for an intrepid Spartan or marine to pound them full of Scorpion ammunition.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

Statting out the Master Chief from CONCPET should be interesting. I've neevr played HALO, but the psychology I can imagine for the guy could be interesting.

 

"I am the last Spartan. When I am gone, there will be no more. And every night I pray that when that day comes, Humanity will never have cause to wish we were still here."

[Hunter]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

There's also a bizarre phenomena in that Hunter's don't seem to go down from plasma weapons; only gunfire.

 

Actually, Hunters will go down from plasma weapons, just not when you strike their weak spot. If you can place yourself where the blast from their Fuel Rod cannons can't hurt you, you can use either the plasma pistol or rifle and shoot one or two rounds at a time at the Hunter's head. Eventually, the Hunter will go down.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

hey, thanks! So Dam. Red. 50% vs. Energy Weapons would make sense for them, it'll just take a while. Thanks for the help! I'm doing this as much as I can, I've just been insanely busy, but I keep bumping the thread with new ideas so it stays constant in my mind. Please keep the comments coming!

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

While I'm thinking about these things and trying to distract myself long enough from what needs done to let my brain think about it so it gets done (dear Heavens I hope that made sense) here's some other basics I haven't touched on yet.

 

Among them is that as a rule, the Marines are far better equipped than their alien counterparts. They have full body armor (largely, which I'll write up in a bit here), cross-comms, IFF indicators, the whole bit. Sure, they lack shielding, but they have gusto and automatic weapons. That counts for quite a bit. So my vision of a fully equipped marine is something not unlike this:

 

Helmet (DEF 5), Boots (DEF 3), Vest (DEF 5). Cross-Com to include HRRP, IFF indicator (+1 OCV to anything red in the reticule?) They have a reticule which is independent of their other gear (OAF: Helmet). I can also see it granting a +1 RSL modifier as well, which keeps playing a Marine naturally competitive. Also, I can use Activation Roll for the armor to represent that it can be (and has been) pierced at the WORST possible times.

 

I'm also going to put together a Marine Package. What do you guys want to see for that, btw? Multiple packages (demo, rifleman, sniper) a single package with options on it (take yadda for demo, take yadda AND yadda for sniper, and take yadda yadda yadda for Spec Ops). Also, gee, Thia, you should probably do a SPARTAN package while you're at it.

 

Heavens I'm retarded some days.

[Bloodstone]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

So, should I put this here or not?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

A trailer for HALO 3 was released at E3 this year. It'll be coming out in 2007, presumably as an Xbox 360-only game.

 

Apparently we get to see Earth -- or what's left of it -- in time to witness its final destruction.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: HALO Hero?

 

And my browser won't let me see the freaking film. YEARGH.

 

Pardon. I'm going to go SHOOT MYSELF... in the HEAD.

 

*sob*