House!

[Sean Waters]

Re: House!

 

OK, so house and/or optional rules summary.

 

First off I looked for common themes in different posts, and, unsurprisingly, a fixed stun multiple is one that comes up a lot.

 

Regeneration is also a quite common theme.

 

Somewhat to my surprise though there was not really many other common threads, at least not as to specifics. One general common thread though was playing around with damage rules and defences. That is interesting in that it says to me that people have views on how damage ought to work – that’s understandable, and says to me that it would be a good place for lots of optional rules for tuning the game to the way you want it.

 

As for characteristics, COM and PRE get an honourable mention J as do DEX, INT and even STR but the changes seem relatively minor.

 

There is very little about the powers and power modifiers: regeneration, instant change, damage shield, the usual suspects, mention of elemental controls, megascale. That says to me that people are generally satisfied with the system, which is good. Not to say, of course that improvements can not be made, but the foundations seem sound.

 

Apart from that, there are changes to some disadvantages and skills – all of which are interesting but do not seem to be a concern shared, particularly – more a matter of style and presentation.

 

Hmm. Interesting

[Vondy]

Re: House!

 

Maybe I'm just tired' date=' but how is this different then how grabs are usually handled?[/quote']

 

Currently grabs are adjudicated by having both characters roll STR/5 d6 and comparing the body damage results of their respective rolls. To wit (5ER Page 423):

"If a Grabbed character’s attempt to break out of a Grab does twice as much BODY on his STR as the BODY rolled for the Grabber’s STR Roll, the Grabbed character frees himself and has a Full Phase in which to act."

I've always considered this both counter-intuitive and cumbersome. I prefer to resolve it as an opposed strength contest with maneuvers and apropos modifiers applied. 3d6 vs. 3d6 with straight MoS.

[Sean Waters]

Re: House!

 

Derail, but an interesting one.

 

The STR difference between 45 and 50 STR is exactly the same as the STR difference between 5 and 10 STR.

 

Using STR/5 d6 gives you much more volatility with low numbers, and doesn't really work if someone of STR 5 is wrestling with someone of STR 0.

 

STR/5+9 is the same odds wherever you pitch it. It makes much more sense that way.

 

Mind you, neither of them get it right in that if you were twice as strong as someone else, holding them so that escape was virtually impossible would be easy.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: House!

 

In the near future, I'm considering running 5th Ed Revised as my engine with the following house rules:

 

A Comeliness roll is made to determine NPCs' first impressions of you (favorable or otherwise). Appropriate modifiers apply. Result of roll influences the tone of intial interactions with that NPC.

 

Negative Comeliness DOES NOT grant bonuses to PRE attacks or Interaction Skills based on fear/intimidation (but neither does it cost points). For fear/intimidation effects, buy Limited PRE (possibly with some of the points you got back from selling back your COM).

 

Several things from Bob's wonderful Based On COM pdf will be incorporated into my games.

 

4th Ed Instant Change

 

4th Ed Regeneration with Heal Limbs and Resurrection Adders available.

 

Mooks and other minor characters get Recoveries during Non-Combat Time only.

 

Normal Person Doctrine: characters don't have to pay points for normal houses/apartments, cars, cellphones, pets or anything else a normal person can own that doesn't significantly impact combat/adventuring. Weapons, protective gear, combat/adventuring capable Vehicles/Bases/Followers etc. do cost points, though.

 

Characters may also have regular "supporting cast" NPCs that are neither Followers nor DNPCs at no point cost. Each such NPC shall be written up by the GM with input from the player. Limit five per customer please. None of these may have significant combat/adventuring abilities (buy Followers or Contacts for that).

 

The Hireling Rules from GURPS shall be adapted and ported over to HERO, mostly for villain campaigns. GM decides both quantity and quality of hirelings available to the PCs. Hirelings, unlike Followers, remain loyal to their employer(s) only so long as they are paid well enough (and may be bribed by enemies where dramatically appropriate).

 

Shallow, one-time-use Fake Identities shall be conveniences paid for with money, not points. IDs used for longer than one adventure must be purchased as Deep Cover Perks.

[prestidigitator]

Re: House!

 

Small nit pick:

 

"Volatility?" The variance of the body count on Nd6 increases with N. The standard deviation is proportional to the square root of N. That means it doesn't increase as fast as the average, but it DOES increase. The chance of rolling a fixed difference from the mean (e.g. being "off by 2 or more") goes up with the number of dice, though the chance of rolling a RELATIVE difference (e.g. being "off by at least 10% of the average") goes down.

 

The chance that 9d6 beats 10d6 (approximately 27%) is much greater than the chance that 1d6 beats 2d6 (approximately 6%).

 

So careful about the term, "volatility." It can be misleading.

[Fearghus]

Re: House!

 

Small nit pick:

 

"Volatility?" The variance of the body count on Nd6 increases with N. The standard deviation is proportional to the square root of N. That means it doesn't increase as fast as the average, but it DOES increase. The chance of rolling a fixed difference from the mean (e.g. being "off by 2 or more") goes up with the number of dice, though the chance of rolling a RELATIVE difference (e.g. being "off by at least 10% of the average") goes down.

 

The chance that 9d6 beats 10d6 (approximately 27%) is much greater than the chance that 1d6 beats 2d6 (approximately 6%).

 

So careful about the term, "volatility." It can be misleading.

 

Math make me head hurt!

[Sean Waters]

Re: House!

 

Small nit pick:

 

"Volatility?" The variance of the body count on Nd6 increases with N. The standard deviation is proportional to the square root of N. That means it doesn't increase as fast as the average, but it DOES increase. The chance of rolling a fixed difference from the mean (e.g. being "off by 2 or more") goes up with the number of dice, though the chance of rolling a RELATIVE difference (e.g. being "off by at least 10% of the average") goes down.

 

The chance that 9d6 beats 10d6 (approximately 27%) is much greater than the chance that 1d6 beats 2d6 (approximately 6%).

 

So careful about the term, "volatility." It can be misleading.

 

Dammit Spock, I'm a lawyer, not a statistician!

 

You're right though - I should chose my words more carefully: point is that the 3d6 roll gives consistent results whatever the inputs, the STR/5d6 doesn't.

[prestidigitator]

Re: House!

 

Yeah. That's why I fully admitted it was a nit pick. I agree there, and that's a very interesting and reasonable argument for switching to 3d6.

[nexus]

Re: House!

 

If Universal Translator is purchased to 18- no roll is needed. It makes some builds much simpler.