a spell

[steph]

Hey guys long time no see .........i running a fantasy game and one of my player are a sort of earth mage ou can create things with earth . now he want to create a spell who create a sphere of earth in the head of people for kill the person.........just dont know how to figure that

hope i am clear

Steph

[Ternaugh]

Re: a spell

 

I'd probably say that it is an RKA, and require a huge amount of dice of effect. 6d6 RKA should kill a normal (10 Body) person. Figure that 12d6 RKA should be able to kill just about any character in a Heroic game instantly. The special effect would be materializing a sphere of earth in the head of the target. Throw in a Limitation: Must do enough Body to kill person or else no damage occurs (-0, because it's highly likely), to represent failure to form the sphere after hitting.

 

Oh, and I'd never allow something like this in one of my games, as I really don't like instant-kill stuff.

 

JoeG

[Hyper-Man]

Re: a spell

 

This is very similar to a teleportaton multipower attack slot I built.

 

6u 5) Special Delivery: Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6, Variable Special Effects (Limited Group of SFX; Whatever the material that is teleported into target; +1/4), Area Of Effect Accurate (One Hex; +1/2), Invisible Power Effects, SFX Only (Fully Invisible; +1/2), Indirect (Any origin, any direction; +3/4), No Normal Defense ([standard]; +1), Does BODY (+1) (75 Active Points); No Knockback (-1/4) - END=7

 

The RKA represents literally teleporting something into something or someone else. The NND still needs to have a defense described.

[Chimera 12]

Re: a spell

 

For starters, I probably wouldn't allow this power at all. It clashes too badly with my idea of what being an "earth mage" is all about, and moreover, "I kill u ded no save LOL"-type attacks just aren't all that much fun to have in a game.

 

That said, assuming I had an attack of the crazy and/or was trying to model something similar with different special effects, this would probably be an Attack vs. Alternate Defense and Does BODY. Assuming for a moment that the defense is Power Defense (because that's kind of the default against transformation attacks and such), that's a total +2 Advantage right there before going into other things the caster might like to have such as Invisible Power Effects (to avoid unwelcome notice while he goes around killing people), Indirect (to be able to hit a target through a closed window without having to break that first), or Reduced Endurance (because the whole spell may well end up with a fairly high base END cost). You'd also need a decently strong base attack to have a reasonable chance of killing, or at least wounding to the point of needing to be stabilized via a Paramedics roll, the target in one shot.

 

On the upside, since this hypothetical attack would be based on a killing attack and basic Power Defense isn't Resistant unless it pays for that advantage, you'd be looking at an attack against whose BODY damage most targets would have no defense at all. (Okay, Resistant Damage Reduction would help. Or Damage Negation, which is considered Resistant by default. But preciously little else aside from not getting hit in the first place.)

[AlHazred]

Re: a spell

 

I agree with the other posters that I wouldn't allow this power at all in most games. It's much more like the kind of thing a supervillain might have, or possibly an over-the-top anime or video game villain. That said, death by organ malfunction/internal hemorrhaging/whatever isn't fast. I'd build it as damage over time. (Apologies to Hyper-Man, but the name is too good to pass up!)

18.....Special Delivery: RKA 1d6' date=' Indirect (Source Point is the same for every use, path can change with every use; +3/4), Invisible Power Effects (Invisible to Sight Group, effects of Power are Invisible to target; +1), Attack Versus Alternate Defense (Does Not Bleed or alien physiology; +1 1/2), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (12 damage increments, damage occurs every three Segments, +4) (124 Active Points); OAF Fragile Expendable (Extremely Difficult to obtain; rune-inscribed sphere of special earth from the grave of an Earth God High Priest; -2 1/4), Requires A Roll (Magic Skill roll, -1 per 5 Active Points modifier; -1), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Limited Range (30m; -1/4), No Knockback (-1/4), Unified Power (Spell; -1/4)[/quote']What I might allow is the ability to conjure a sphere of dirt around someone's head; this uses the already-established rules for Suffocation, which can be applied via Change Environment, like so.

22.....Special Delivery: (Total: 165 Active Cost' date=' 22 Real Cost) Entangle 8d6, 4 PD/4 ED (Stops A Given Sense Group Hearing Group, Stops A Given Sense Group Sight Group, Stops A Given Sense Group Smell/Taste Group), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+1/2) (135 Active Points); OAF Fragile Expendable (Extremely Difficult to obtain; rune-inscribed sphere of special earth from the grave of an Earth God High Priest; -2 1/4), Does Not Prevent The Use Of Accessible Foci (-1), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Requires A Roll (Magic Skill roll; -1/2), Costs END To Maintain (Full END Cost; -1/2), Can Be Dispelled (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Limited Range (30m; -1/4) (Real Cost: 17) [b']plus[/b] Change Environment (Suffocation), Uncontrolled (+1/2) (30 Active Points); OAF Fragile Expendable (Extremely Difficult to obtain; rune-inscribed sphere of earth from the grave of an Earth God High Priest; -2 1/4), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Requires A Roll (Magic Skill roll; -1/2), Linked (Entangle; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Limited Range (30m; -1/4), Physical Manifestation (-1/4), Unified Power (Spell; -1/4) (Real Cost: 5)

[steph]

Re: a spell

 

yes i know the spell is powerfull but in my game every spell got the extra time for casting and this is the chart : 1-15 AC: half-phase

16-30: one turn

31-45:one minutes

46-60: 5 minutes

and so on ................in the flavor of the game the sorcerer are very powerfull but everybody got the chance of attack or escape a sorcerer if he cast a powerfull spell

hope i am clear

steph the french canadian who learn english more everyday

[ClassifiedTSBBR]

Re: a spell

 

I'm too new to HERO to have any idea how to stat my proposed change up, but I agree that suffocating the victim fits the motif more than pop his head open by teleporting a rock in, but I do think AlHazred's version of Special Delivery is still missing something. Specifically, it's still basically "Teleporting" the Earthen sphere into place, whereas if you add what an MMO-player would term a 'Root' effect, you can say it's the earth being reshaped up the targets body & enclosing, or at least obstructing, the face (& also preventing the earth/stone being dislodged). Maybe rather than a Sphere of Earth (or Stone) around the head, it becomes Giant Stone Hand reaching up, or maybe a Humanoid statue forming, grabbing & kissing... Just my my $0.02

[AlHazred]

Re: a spell

 

I do think AlHazred's version of Special Delivery is still missing something... you can say it's the earth being reshaped up the targets body & enclosing' date=' or at least obstructing, the face (& also preventing the earth/stone being dislodged). Maybe rather than a Sphere of Earth (or Stone) around the head, it becomes Giant Stone Hand reaching up, or maybe a Humanoid statue forming, grabbing & kissing...[/quote']Sure, you could define it that way instead. Those are special effects changes, rather than mechanics. If it's a giant stone hand reaching up from the ground, and it has to be near the ground to reach the target, you might get an additional limitation in there, but I wouldn't give it more than -1/4.

[ClassifiedTSBBR]

Re: a spell

 

Sure' date=' you could define it that way instead. Those are special effects changes, rather than mechanics. If it's a giant stone hand reaching up from the ground, and it has to be near the ground to reach the target, you might get an additional limitation in there, but I wouldn't give it more than -1/4.[/quote']

 

Actually, I had been thinking the entrapment/entangle effect would increase not decrease the cost of the power, but I hadn't considered the range limitation.

 

For some reason I seem to be stuck thinking in MMO terms, & I just can't stop picturing this spell as a "Root + DoT" rather than a "Nuke", so that's why I suggested what I did.

 

& yes I realise my suggestion pulls the spell further from the original proposal.

[AlHazred]

Re: a spell

 

For some reason I seem to be stuck thinking in MMO terms

Ah, well, playing Hero System leads one to develop a very handy way of thinking about game mechanics -- 'Reasoning from Effects'. I find it helps me a lot with other games as well. AFAIK, MMOs start and end with effects -- even Champions Online goes the "Fire Blast - 10 pts" route.

 

& yes I realise my suggestion pulls the spell further from the original proposal.

Meh, that's how 90% of the threads go. As long as it's still the original topic, it's interesting to see how the idea develops. Plus, the original spell wasn't really very Earth-Mage-y.