I'm in the market for a house....

[SirWilliam]

No this isn't real estate spam, despite the title.

 

I'm finally getting to play in a campaign (rather than run it) and I've found how easy and cheap it is to have a "base". Since we're doing a primarily urban campaign I thought it would be nice to have a house.

 

Now I'll tell you right up front I've never bothered with the base rules because as a GM I just "hand wave" and "Poof!" there's a castle. I don't worry about what it costs, and what it does and does not have. As a player that option isn't really available to me.

 

So for the first time in roughly 15 years of playing Hero system I'm having to actually look at the rules on building bases.

 

First a bit of background on my character:

 

He's your non-typical FH character in that he's remarkably short on combat power, but extremely skilled. His primary function is to be a spy, or to steal things no one else can. He has acting, mimicry, ventriloquism, disguise, etc. Most of his skill rolls are on a 15- and he's very good looking with a good presence. Basically all the various and sundry spy archetypes rolled up into one, but without the combat power (although against a normal human he would hold his own handily). He's got a rep as a scoundrel and a womanizer, but that doesn't seem to hurt his chances with women. He also has 1 point in wealth, so he can afford to look good. His public profession is that he's an actor/bard and he inherited a certain amount of wealth.

 

Now all that being said, here's the base I've got so far. I've already decided I need to make it bigger, but I want to ask questions first.

 

1 CP = 5 base points

DNPC's = domestic staff (Butler, maid, gardener, watchman)

8- Normal 2xDouble

20 base points

 

25 points total

 

Base: Townhouse

Int: 10 (What is this used for and can I sell it back?)

Body 6 (4 points)

Size 32 hexes (6 points, but I want to raise this one more)

Double size grounds (1 point)

Vault 2 hexes

Def 8 Partial coverage (-1.5 lim) (9 points)

Library KS: history 8- (1 pt)

Workshop Lockpicking 9- (3 pts) (Is it worth paying 2 extra points to go from 8- to 9-?)

Maps AK: World 8- (1 pt)

 

total 25

 

One of the things I've thought about doing is reducing the size of the vault to 1 hex, coupled with the increase in size would reduce the cost of the walls DEF to 8 points even, which would pay for the size increase.

 

The purpose of this place is not to be my "Fortress of Solitude", but to simply give my character a place to call his own, to entertain guests, and generally live life. So I'm not particularly worried about automated defenses and such. He has associates in the Theives Guild so he isn't particularly worried about being robbed. If I can work it in I might give the house a follower who's the guardsman.

 

I have additional Disads I can give the place to pay for more upgrades if needed. So please educate me on the intricacies of base building. :-)

[Fenixcrest]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Int: 10 (What is this used for and can I sell it back?)

 

Also, the "double size grounds" modifier seems kind of weird for a townhouse. We're talking like 64 hexes of what amounts to your yard. 8x8, plus a little more due to the hole in the middle where your house is (part of the 8x8, still, but displaced), so the full dimensions of the lot end up being 16x12 hexes, or 32x24 meters, roughly 100x70 feet of your yard. Granted, that's not astoundingly huge, but when I think "townhouse," I think "crammed into the surrounding buildings". That's just me, though.

[Erkenfresh]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Bases don't have an INT score. Unless my template file in HDv2 is wrong.

[Fenixcrest]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Bases don't have an INT score. Unless my template file in HDv2 is wrong.

 

Ah, yes, you're right! My bad, I was thinking of computers o__o

*edits post*

[SirWilliam]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Granted' date=' that's astoundingly huge, but when I think "townhouse," I think "crammed into the surrounding buildings". That's just me, though.[/quote']

 

I guess "townhouse" is a misnomer, in that in this period (LOL) there wouldn't be that type of townhouse. I am more picturing a mini-mansion. I'm going to add some stuff and tweak it some more. I guess the INT score is just a typo in the rule book (probably fixed in the revised edition). I'll just ignore it.

 

Please keep up the good info.

 

Sir William

[Curufea]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

I just have my players pay pounds to buy a house - I haven't looked at the base rules since 2nd ed Champions.

[LordGhee]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

you need a secret door to the alley and one to the sewers, so you pick a bad house next to a well used alley. hidden room is nice, the old passage throu the fire place is always a classic.

[Lethosos]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

And you can keep the INT score--just move it into the Powers catagory, limit it to Knowledge rolls, and call it a small library.

[PhilFleischmann]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

I never use the Base rules to build something as mundane as a normal house. It seems like you want something fairly large and fancy, so I might require the Money Perk, but that's about it. Could a "normal" i.e., a non-heroic person in the campaign world buy this house with just money? If so, I wouldn't worry about it. The only things I might charge for are:

 

Vault 2 hexes

Def 8 Partial coverage (-1.5 lim) (9 points)

Library KS: history 8- (1 pt)

Workshop Lockpicking 9- (3 pts) (Is it worth paying 2 extra points to go from 8- to 9-?)

Maps AK: World 8- (1 pt)

 

...unless those things are commonly available to people with enough wealth. There's nothing magical or otherwise extraordinary about your house.

 

Oh, wait, you aren't the GM.

 

But IMO, a place to lay your head and entertain guests shouldn't cost character points.

[Play4Keeps]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

No this isn't real estate spam, despite the title.

 

I'm finally getting to play in a campaign (rather than run it) and I've found how easy and cheap it is to have a "base". Since we're doing a primarily urban campaign I thought it would be nice to have a house.

 

Now I'll tell you right up front I've never bothered with the base rules because as a GM I just "hand wave" and "Poof!" there's a castle. I don't worry about what it costs, and what it does and does not have. As a player that option isn't really available to me.

 

So for the first time in roughly 15 years of playing Hero system I'm having to actually look at the rules on building bases.

 

First a bit of background on my character:

 

He's your non-typical FH character in that he's remarkably short on combat power, but extremely skilled. His primary function is to be a spy, or to steal things no one else can. He has acting, mimicry, ventriloquism, disguise, etc. Most of his skill rolls are on a 15- and he's very good looking with a good presence. Basically all the various and sundry spy archetypes rolled up into one, but without the combat power (although against a normal human he would hold his own handily). He's got a rep as a scoundrel and a womanizer, but that doesn't seem to hurt his chances with women. He also has 1 point in wealth, so he can afford to look good. His public profession is that he's an actor/bard and he inherited a certain amount of wealth.

 

Now all that being said, here's the base I've got so far. I've already decided I need to make it bigger, but I want to ask questions first.

 

1 CP = 5 base points

DNPC's = domestic staff (Butler, maid, gardener, watchman)

8- Normal 2xDouble

20 base points

 

25 points total

 

Base: Townhouse

Int: 10 (What is this used for and can I sell it back?)

Body 6 (4 points)

Size 32 hexes (6 points, but I want to raise this one more)

Double size grounds (1 point)

Vault 2 hexes

Def 8 Partial coverage (-1.5 lim) (9 points)

Library KS: history 8- (1 pt)

Workshop Lockpicking 9- (3 pts) (Is it worth paying 2 extra points to go from 8- to 9-?)

Maps AK: World 8- (1 pt)

 

total 25

 

One of the things I've thought about doing is reducing the size of the vault to 1 hex, coupled with the increase in size would reduce the cost of the walls DEF to 8 points even, which would pay for the size increase.

 

The purpose of this place is not to be my "Fortress of Solitude", but to simply give my character a place to call his own, to entertain guests, and generally live life. So I'm not particularly worried about automated defenses and such. He has associates in the Theives Guild so he isn't particularly worried about being robbed. If I can work it in I might give the house a follower who's the guardsman.

 

I have additional Disads I can give the place to pay for more upgrades if needed. So please educate me on the intricacies of base building. :-)

 

INT for Bases was fixed in the Errata. That's online this site somewhere.

 

In town, land is hyper-expensive. Unless your character is minor noble or major merchant, no land or maybe 15'x15' greenery. Don't pay that point to x2, it wouldn't happen.

 

A house in town has 2, 3, maybe 4 floors. In HeroSystem you pay for floor space, not land space. With 3 floors, divide the Size by 3 to get land size. 32 hexes is 1200 sq ft, 400 sq ft per floor. Way too small! Next size up is 50 hexes, 620 sq ft land area. Still too small! Next size might be OK, 990 sq ft land area.

 

A mini-mansion is 3 or 4 sizes even bigger. Needs more servents too.

[Krieghandt]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Ask the GM if you can buy the 'secret and cool' parts of the base, and have a normal building 'attached'. After all, I live in a 1 bedroom apt, and its 740 sq ft.

krieghandt

[Inu]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

I'd charge points.... OR money. It depends on the situation, really. Buying a house in town, it could be gotten for money. In the country, that involves negotiation with the local lord, or granting of land, or a heap of issues. So the PC can roleplay through that, pay the megabucks... or just slap down five XP and say 'I inherit it'. Clean and simple.

[SirWilliam]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Thanks for the replies guys. It would be nice if I didn't have to write it up or pay points, but I'm not too worried about the points. With a little work you can literally have a base for free with the various disads available. The initial writeup I put 1 CP into. I'm going to revise it a bit before Saturday, but I don't really expect that it's going to be a major point in the campaign.

[Play4Keeps]

Re: I'm in the market for a house....

 

Ask the GM if you can buy the 'secret and cool' parts of the base, and have a normal building 'attached'. After all, I live in a 1 bedroom apt, and its 740 sq ft.

krieghandt

4 points for Size, right?