Limited Characteristics

[Sean Waters]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

When you are building a character with charges, and I am GMing, I like to look at what you intend. You may, habitually, only carry 3 clips of 8 bullets, but you can get more pretty easy, so I might make you build then as recoverable, or somesuch.

 

To me, the sfx help to dictate the build not the way in which the build works, or the sfx have to change to reflect what you actually build.

 

One character possibly worth mentioning is 'Necrobat' an acrobatic martial artist who used drug injections to boost her combat abilities, and give her temporary body powers, like regeneration.

 

Several of the injections were built as continuing charges of charcteristics.

 

Now the question came up: why can't she just carry another bandolier of ampuoles, or nip back and get more?

 

The answer, we decided, was that she could only physically tolerate a certain amount each day, and if she had more not only would it not work, but she'd take damage. The sfx determined the build, but we modified the sfx to reflect the build in the end: the important thing was that the sfx and build were in accord when we had done.

 

Sometimes it is a good idea to build archers and gunslingers without charges at all. Perhaps a -1/4 'ammo occasionally runs out' limited power limitation. Tracking each shot is fine if that is what you want to do, but the system says charges recover daily as a default, so that is the way I play it and if you want it to work differently, you build it differently. Otherwise the gunslinger who can pick up ammo at convenient pauses in the action, or even loot it off fallen agents, has an enormous advantage over the magician whose spells recover at dawn, and it is not right that they should be paying the same points.

 

Barring, or course, adventures in the No-AmmoVerse.

[ghost-angel]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

It's funny how we talk about how crunchy the system is yet so many (IMHO' date=' GENERALLY speaking those who are really using the system to its best potential) say "Well, it depends on SFX...". [/quote']

 

That's because many of the most experienced gamers on the boards here have looked at the numbers and gone ... yeah but how do they INTERACT?

 

And thus, Hero Crunchy is really in what you do with the SFX. Which isn't very crunchy looking to many. In fact ... it's got a gooey center. Like nougat.

 

. . .

 

now I'm hungry.

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

That's because many of the most experienced gamers on the boards here have looked at the numbers and gone ... yeah but how do they INTERACT?

 

And thus, Hero Crunchy is really in what you do with the SFX. Which isn't very crunchy looking to many. In fact ... it's got a gooey center. Like nougat.

 

. . .

 

now I'm hungry.

 

So is it Snickers-HERO or 3-Musketeers-HERO?

[Dust Raven]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

Characters in Hero Games products almost never impose any limitations on their characteristics. There are two or three that buy extra STR, DEX, CON, etc. through an OIF. People occasionally buy PRE with the limitations Only for Presence Attacks or Only to Defend Against Presence Attacks. But other than that, virtually everyone pays full price for all characteristics.

 

In terms of game mechanics, this strikes me as very odd. As the saying goes, "You could pay full price, but why?"

 

Well, for most people, in most campaigns, Characteristics are not Powers. When they have X STR, they have X STR, have everything X STR provides and can use their X STR whenever they like under whatever circumstances you'd expect X amount of STR to be usable. Same goes with all the other Characteristics. They're just things every character has, and if they are "superhuman" in any way, it usually means the character just has more of what their is without any further complications.

 

Now, if the Characteristics are being bought as Powers... sure, absolutely, Modify them. In fact, most Characteristics bought as Powers are Limited in some way. Nearly all I've seen anyway. Then again, if you weren't going to Limit then, might as well just buy it as a Characteristic and save space on the character sheet.

[Vondy]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

It's funny how we talk about how crunchy the system is yet so many (IMHO' date=' GENERALLY speaking those who are really using the system to its best potential) say "Well, it depends on SFX...". [/quote']

 

Crunch is for molars - herbivores - herd animals. FX is for inscisors - carnivores - those incisive enough to know the answer to that eternally poingant question: "to hand wave or not to hand wave - that is the question." Of course, Hero has crunch and FX, which makes its users gaming omnivores, but the question still pangs the conscience, and the call of the special effects siren is strong in the depths of the unconscious mind...

hence our frequent gnashing of teeth.

[bcaplan]

Re: Limited Characteristics

 

Continuing charges requires a "reasonably common way to turn it off."

 

Before i would use the example, i would require good off switch and why to make sense within the game.

My standard off switch is "if the character gets Stunned." You've got four good fights in your, but if you get Stunned, you've lost one of them.