Star Frontiers

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Yazarian (plural: Yazarians, singular: He or She)

 

-2 pts___-2 STR

-4 pts___-2 CON

+1 pt____+1 INT

+3 pts___+1 DEX

3 pts____+1 Skill Level w/Climbing, Acrobatics, Breakfall

5 pts____Extra Limbs: Prehensile feet: Inherent (+1/4), No Actual Additional Limbs (-1/4)

1 pt_____Familiarity with Battle Rage (Based on EGO, 3/2)

5 pts____+2 OCV Levels (5 pt levels): Costs Endurance (-1/2), Requires Battle Rage Skill Roll to activate (-1/2)

2 pts____+5 STR: Costs 2x Endurance (-1/2), Linked to +2 OCV Levels (-1/2)

3 pts____5†Gliding: Inherent (+1/4), Effected by Gravity (-1/2), Must lose at least 1†per phase regardless of gravity/updrafts, etc (-1/4)

5 pts____Enhanced Perception: +4 Sight Group: Only to counter darkness modifiers (-1/2)

-10 pts__Physical Limitation: Light Sensitive (frequent/great)

0 pts____Physical Limitation: Yazarian

0 pts____Social Limitation: Battle Rage (occasional, minor, not limiting in some cultures)

0 pts____Social Limitation: Life Enemy (occasional, minor, not limiting in some cultures)

0 pts____Lifespan: 140 years, Fully active until 105. First Age Disadvantage at 70 years (40+ Disadvantage from rules), Second at 105 years (60+ Disadvantage from rules).

 

Total: 12 points

 

Explanation:

 

Having developed from an arboreal race, Yazarians are naturally able climbers and tumblers. They are able to use their feet, which also have opposable toes, allowing them to be used as ably as hands by Yazarians. The Extra Limbs power represents the fact that their legs and feet can be used like arms and hands, but because they do not actually have additional limbs (only 4 limbs total), a small Limitation is applied.

 

Yazarians are able to enter a Battle Rage. This focuses their attention and greatly increases their STR. The focused attention is represented by OCV Levels. These levels can only be used for OCV, but can be used for all attacks, ranged or melee. (A DCV level vs. All attacks is only 5 points, so an OCV level with all attacks should also be 5 points.)

 

The actual ability to enter Battle Rage comes from an EGO-based skill. It starts as a Familiarity, but can be bought up to full and increased normally. (1 point for Familiarity, +2 points for full EGO roll, +2 points for each additional +1 to EGO roll.) Remember that Yazarians must take a mandatory –1 to the roll (for the OCV Levels) to activate it. Because the additional STR is Linked to the OCV Levels, it is not necessary to make a Battle Rage skill roll to activate it once the OCV Levels have been activated.

 

Battle Rage lasts until the Yazarian has been out of combat for a full 5 minutes, or until the Yazarian passes out from loss of END. Note that 1 END per phase must be spent on the Battle Rage. In combat, this can add up rather quickly and result in the Yazarian passing out before the combat is actually over.

 

Yazarians have flaps of skin that go from their wrists to the side of their chest, hips, knees, and then ankles. Under certain circumstances, they are able to use these flaps to Glide. The Yazarian can not be suffering any DCV penalty because of Encumbrance (see p 250 in the BBB) in order to Glide. If they are Encumbered in any way, the Gliding does not work and they just Fall. (Generally a bad thing.) The Yazarian must also start at least 5†above ground in order to Glide.

 

Gliding is also affected by gravity as follows:

 

____________Max Glide Distance______Drop per phase

0.6G______________75â€___________________1â€

0.7G______________50â€___________________2â€

0.8G______________25â€___________________3â€

0.9G______________10â€___________________4â€

1.0G______________5â€____________________5â€

 

Yazarians cannot Glide at all in gravities above 1.0 or below 0.6. (Note that Yazarians’ native gravity is about 0.8.)

 

Because the extra Characteristics are defined as Powers, a Yazarian effectively has a maximum STR of 18, CON of 18, INT of 21, DEX of 21, END of 46, and STUN of 48.

 

Yazarians are able to see in almost anything short of total darkness, as they were originally nocturnal hunters. This also results in Yazarians being very sensitive to light. They must wear dark goggles in any but the dimmest light. If the ambient light modifiers are –3 or worse, Yazarians suffer no difficulties without their goggles. If the light modifiers are –2 or –1, Yazarians suffer a –2 to all combat values (OCV and DCV) and any skills that require the Yazarian to look at something in order to succeed at the skill. If the light values are +0 or +1, Yazarians suffer a –4 to all combat values and skills as above. If it is so bright that there is any light modifier at +2 or better, Yazarians are blind and must keep their eyes tightly closed. They are blind and can only use non-targeting senses (Hearing) in combat. This is represented by the Physical Limitation. Because Yazarian Sun Goggles are available at every civilized planet, and because these Goggles are strapped fairly securely on around the Yazarian’s head, this Limitation is only worth 10 points.

 

Yazarians have more 0 point Disadvantages than any other race. The Physical Disadvantage for their body shape is because of their Gliding Flaps. These interfere with clothing and many Human-built items. However, the longer fingers with their extra knuckle allow Yazarians to reach in and manipulate switches and objects in smaller openings than other races.

 

The two Social Limitations are similar to Reputations, but are better described as Limitations that are not limiting in some cultures. In this case, the Social Limitation for Battle Rage is not a limitation among Yazarian worlds. The Social Limitation for Life Enemy is not appropriate on Yazarian and Vrusk worlds (because the Vrusk actually respect the Yazarian custom of choosing a Life Enemy).

 

The Battle Rage Limitation affects how other races react to Yazarians. Generally, Yazarians are thought of as being short-tempered, dangerous, berzerking combatants. This is not the actual trust, Yazarians are no more likely to get enraged and use Battle Rage randomly than anyone else is inclined to randomly attack people that are rude to them on the slideway.

 

The Life Enemy Limitation comes from the Yazarian custom of choosing a specific enemy to conquer. This can be a person, organization, disease, or whatever. The Yazarian will then use all of his resources to overcome that enemy. Some Yazarians never choose a Life Enemy, but most do. The more difficult it is to overcome a particular Life Enemy, the more respect that Yazarian will receive from other Yazarians. This custom causes some to be wary around Yazarians just in case they are chosen as the Life Enemy.

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Weapons

 

GENERAL NOTES

All weapons are OAF unless otherwise indicated

(A) Autofire - 5 shot (+1/2)

(N) No Range Penalty (+1/2)

(1) Increased Range x125 (+1/2) (Active x125)

(2) Increased Range x3,125 (+1) (Active x3,125)

(3) Increased Range x78,125 (+1 1/2) (Active x78,125)

(*) Bulky Focus, must be mounted on a tripod or vehicle (-1/2) Note that STR Min is -10 With Bipod (minimum STR min is 5).

 

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

CHEMICAL SLUGTHROWERS

This weapon fires a projectile using a chemical propellant (gunpowder) causing a penetration wound.

 

GAUSS WEAPONS

This weapon is essentially a portable rail gun. It uses magnetics to fire a projectile at hyper-velocity, causing a small but devastating penetration wound.

 

INCINERATORS

Incinerators are flame/plasma throwers and are perhaps the most feared portable weapons known to man.

Notes: Uncontrolled (+1/2), Continuous (+1), Area Effect Any Area (+1), Uncontrolled Continuous Attack has a Speed of 1 (-1/2), No Range (-1/2), Not underwater or in vacuum (-1/2)

 

LASERS

LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) weapons became practical when small, extremely efficient power sources were developed. The laser beam is coherent monochromatic light, and is less effective against countermeasures to refract or disperse it, such as smoke or fog. Each shot discharges an internal capacitor, so these weapons fire short pulses rather than a continuous beam.

Notes: -1DC per 2" of Fog or Smoke (- 1/4)

 

MASERS

The MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) was discovered before the better known laser. It generates and amplifies coherent electromagnetic waves of precise frequency by using the excess energy of an atomic system. Like all advanced-tech energy weapons, it fires a pulse rather than a continuous beam.

Notes: 1/2 Damage vs. Metal (Steel) Armor (- 1/4)

 

TANGLERS: ADVANCED

This weapon fires a stream of synthetic silk threads that entangle a man-sized target from head to toe. A relaxer spray is included with each clip bought.

 

ULTRASONICS: ADVANCED

This weapon fires a pulse of ultrasound that disrupts the inner ear and central nervous system. Note that it does not have to be aimed at a target's ear.

Notes: No Normal Defense (Sound Flash Defense, CON Roll-5) (+1), Not in vacuum (-1/2)

 

HIGH TECHNOLOGY

BLASTERS

This energy weapon projects a bolt of charged particles carried along a laser beam.

 

NEEDLER: HIGH

This weapon has a tank filled with a drug which it flash-freezes into the shape of a needle as it shoots at a target at high velocity. Besides its obvious use as a non-lethal weapon, field medics have found it useful in delivering medicines to their own troops without leaving a protected position. Ammunition tanks may be switched to supply different drugs, and persons with chemistry skills often create their own varieties.

 

Needle Pistol

Abilities: Needler Multipower, All Stats (+2), 64 Charges (+1/2), Recover per 5 Minutes (+1/2), Ranged (+1/2), No Range Penalty (+1/2), Must

divide dice between stats affected (-1), OAF Needler, Not vs. 3PD+ Resistant Defense (-3/4), Takes 1 Phase to change Multipower (- 1/4)

.1- (u) 4d6 Drain

.2- (u) 4d6 Aid

Active Cost: 230 Real Cost: 57 Mass: 0.5 kg.

 

Needle Rifle

Abilities: Needler Multipower, All Stats (+2), 250 Charges (+1), Recover per 5 Minutes (+1/2), Ranged (+1/2), No Range Penalty (+1/2), Must

divide dice between stats affected (-1), OAF Needler, Not vs. 3PD+ Resistant Defense (-3/4), Takes 1 Phase to change Multipower (- 1/4)

.1- (u) 5d6 Drain

.2- (u) 5d6 Aid

Active Cost: 287 Real Cost: 71 Mass: 1.0 kg.

 

SUPER TECHNOLOGY

DISINTEGRATORS

This weapon fires a continuous beam that breaks down the molecular bonds that hold matter together.

All Disintegrators are: Continuous (+1), AVLD Does Body: Defense is Force Field (+2 1/2), and Variable Lethality (+ 1/4)

New Advantage (Variable Lethality): This allows a person to alter the Body amount in an attack; i.e., when the character fires his 3d6 Killing Attack he can declare whether he did full Body, one-half Body, or no Body. The Stun is still figured on the full Body of the attack. Again in our example above, if the character scored a 12 on the Body and a 4 on the Stun Multiplier the possible damage combinations would be: 12 Body, 48 Stun or 6 Body, 48 Stun or 0 Body, 48 Stun. The Gamemaster may choose to require a half Phase for changing settings. Variable Lethality is a + 1/4 Advantage.

[jguerin]

Re: STAR HERO: STAR FRONTIERS

 

Originally posted by Dr.Unpossible

STAR HERO: STAR FRONTIERS

Using the examples in the Big Black Book (I still don’t know where the heck FRED came from, it’s still the BBB to me),

 

At Dun Dra Con in 2002 there was a lot of anticipation about the new book. An offhand remark by Steve Long in response to an online query has made its way into popular Hero culture. The question was, "What will we call the new book?" Steve's response was, "Well, I figured they could still call it BBB, for "Big Black Book." Or maybe GL, for "Green Lantern," our code name for that color scheme around the office. But heck, you can call it "Fred" for all I care, provided you buy one! " Some wit on the Hero Games discussion boards turned this into "Fifth Rules Edition" or FREd, and the name has stuck. Fans walked around the convention with T Shirts saying, "I want my FREd", or buttons with the Hero Hexman and "Got FRED?"

 

And now you know...

[AnotherSkip]

Well Dr. you seem to have hit the nail on the head, a few notes and ill be on my merry way.

 

1. the second ifshnit(sp) is my suggestion. essentially the intial poster was .... reluctant to have a racial package that actally gave back points.

And the Quickdeath was mine (the two posts with Glibly Skip sig should be a dead giveaway..............)

 

A Question for you Good Dr.(and others) how should we handle the Defenses in the system?

 

Everything is either "powered" or "ablative"

for example a Skeinsuit "absorbs" 100 points of damage, then fails completely. So make it Special Ablative: fails completely when 100 points of stun damage have been absorbed (-1 to -1/2)?

 

Sounds good?

 

My take on the Doze grenade is : a 19- Simulate Death(no roll necessary) UAA 1" AOE , lasts one hour or until antidote is applied.

 

Of course this is based upon my work for the stabilization drug (19- Simulate Death UAA, lasts one hour)(meaning in my world work reference they are related and resistance to one means resistance to the other, and since Sathar are immune to both..... that causes as many hinderances as benefits as would any partial resistance)

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Armour.

 

Hmmm. Powered. well you could try to just use a END Batter powerd FF that only looses END when it takes damage? ofcourse dunno how that would work

 

And Albative, I thought there was a rule for that somewhere already in the mountains of Hero material? Each time the PD or ED of the albative armour is exceded? the PD,ED drops by one, till its non existant.

 

Doze, hmmm I thouht there were/was a sleep grenade example once upon a time as well. I'll do some digging/designing the next day or so. Also I'll try to get intough with the StarFrontiers online fans. There are about 30 rabid peeps including me who post everynowandagain on the old SF list. Some like Hero as well.

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

www.io.com/~tbone/gurps/SFtGURPS.htm

 

here is a link for StarFrontiers to Gurps conversion. May be a bit of help as well? ya never know. Also the below links are pretty much required "bookmarking" material for any StarFronties fan.

 

www.starfrontiers.org/

 

www.starfrontiers.com/

 

Also heres the SF forum.

 

www.starfrontiers.org/forum/default.asp

 

Im on a linking SPREE! Heres the email list

 

www.starfrontiers.org/list/listserv.html

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Knockout Grenade thread on the Hero Rules forum.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1589&highlight=knockout+grenade A Dose is still a Dose by any other name.

[AnotherSkip]

Originally posted by Dr.Unpossible

Armour.

 

Hmmm. Powered. well you could try to just use a END Batter powerd FF that only looses END when it takes damage? ofcourse dunno how that would work

 

And Albative, I thought there was a rule for that somewhere already in the mountains of Hero material? Each time the PD or ED of the albative armour is exceded? the PD,ED drops by one, till its non existant.

Weeeeeeeel yea and nay. Im suggesting taking the Pre-exisitng writeups for SF and Hero and sorta merging them. Ablative(Star Frontiers Version) Unlike the Ablative(FREd) does not reduce in either activation nor resistance value it simply halves the number of Stun/body taken then applies the actual number reduced against the Target number of 100. Upon reaching that TN, the armor completly fails to protect any further. as a further hadwaving im giving it a value of -1 (though that may be too much, it can be a real lifesaver in the first half dozen battles or so but after a few combats it begins to wear thin. Perhaps reduce the value to -3/4and add in "non cumulative with other Suits, including same type" for -1/4)

 

Personally if we're going to go whole hog in hopes of recapturing the feel of the SF Game then a few handwavium/suggestium concepts are in order. Just like when they built the dang loveable thing......

 

Originally posted by Dr.Unpossible

Doze, hmmm I thouht there were/was a sleep grenade example once upon a time as well. I'll do some digging/designing the next day or so. Also I'll try to get intough with the StarFrontiers online fans. There are about 30 rabid peeps including me who post everynowandagain on the old SF list. Some like Hero as well.

 

hmm the main problem is the absolute duration in the intial SF writeup. One hour unless injected with the stimulant.

 

Also that link for the KO grenade does not work for me.....

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Odd, but yer right. I found the thread again and fixed the thread so it should work now.

 

And as for keepin it cannon. I guess you'll hate me fer saying this, but I'm for changing the feel of some of the weapons. I can remember being 13 and thinking the way the Albative armour was handled didn't seem very albative =)

 

Doze to me seems like a

 

"Explosive NND EB, Stun Only, vs ED . Continuous effect, 3 er 4 rounds (wind will blow away) Expendable charges. 14 or less activation"

 

Just try to work out what it would take to knock out the avg character for 1h-2h. Make the dedence vs. the NND Lifesupport breathing/Gasmask. If a char can hold there breath maybe. But to me the Doze has a bit o pepperspray/teargas thrown in to make you gasp and suck down the Doze gass. Allow an instant revive for that "antidote" serum.

 

No ideas on the points costs on it yet. I was at a pals house tonight playing "Devistation" a new Cyberpunk/PostApoc FirstPersonShooter built on the latest Unreal engine. Man, talk about EyeCandy. Makes me think of CyberPunk 20.20 or good ole GammaHero =)

[Old Man]

Originally posted by Dr.Unpossible

Armour.

 

Hmmm. Powered. well you could try to just use a END Batter powerd FF that only looses END when it takes damage? ofcourse dunno how that would work

 

And Albative, I thought there was a rule for that somewhere already in the mountains of Hero material? Each time the PD or ED of the albative armour is exceded? the PD,ED drops by one, till its non existant.

 

What about BODY and/or STUN OIF, Does Not Affect Figured Characteristics, Only vs 1/2 Damage Taken, Only vs Physical Damage, Special Effect Skein Suit.

 

Or 50% Resistant Physical Damage Reduction, OIF, Ablative, Special Efect Skein Suit.

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Hmm the Bottom choice I like the sounds off. hmmmm

[AnotherSkip]

Yeah I do agree the bottom one is the better choice, But i still like the ablative (SF) version tacked on to there......

 

Ehh some of the stuff WAS kinda too too.

 

But I think the main point behind the Doze was unless you are envionmentally sealed you are gonna K. O. for a while. Sorta a Techno's Sleep spell. you dont wake up because the gas is "Gone" you wake up when the gas is contered/runs it's course, either by your body or the stimulant.

 

Heh, maybe it even has Atropine in it for a carrier. Then you naturally breathe.....

 

 

oooh ooh I know what lets make MEGASCALE DAMGE!!!!

 

[Guest Dr.Unpossible]

Been reading my DarkChampions to see if it has a "Knockout Gas" example.

 

That and various FantasyHERO grimores for sleep spells. To see how they handle it

 

I'm still partial to a NND EB Stun Only, Explosion, maybe the effect lasts for a few rounds too, so you have to loose stun bit by bit till u pass out.

[AnotherSkip]

We can just fiat it and tell them that it works "because the universe works that way" or "because chemical science is _that_ advanced" or it is "a common element that ties all carbon based life together".

 

The only people buying this thing would be people _not_ of this universe.

 

Something like the "Phaser" example in the SH book, who is gonna spend 400+ points on a weapon?

[AnotherSkip]

Energy weapons SEU and Boostable charges

 

frankly I think some modifications of the Boostable charges need to be done for the SEU clips and (for example )Laser weapons:

 

OKies here is the deal: 1SEU=1d6 EB w/a laser weapon. technically you just dial up the # of charges to be used in combo to make the weapon more powerful. There currently is no way to do this in Hero so I'd suggest doubling the advantage for boostable and calling it "adjustable"

[jguerin]

Originally posted by AnotherSkip

Energy weapons SEU and Boostable charges

 

frankly I think some modifications of the Boostable charges need to be done for the SEU clips QUOTE]

 

I don't have my FReD with me so I can't look up the rule, but why not just use the boostable charges advantage?

[AnotherSkip]

Actually I was not sure about that when i was thinking about it. However upon further review of the Boostable charges Yes i _definately_ do _not_ want to use boostable charges.

 

Boostable charges assume that the weapons utility is degraded by each use. Since this does not happen in the SF rules then the better option would be to modify the Boostable charges rules.

Here is _my_ suggestion for the rules options for Adjustable:

Adjustable subtracts two levels to the charges table it works just like boostable but it does not degrade the weapon.

Double the charges level modifier for each 4d6 level of increase.(ie two for +4d6, 4 for +8d6, 8 for +12d6)

 

Laser pistol: 1/2d6 RKA, 4 clips of 20 Adjustable charges (+1), No Knockback(-1/4), Beam only (-1/4), 13 real cost.

 

ill dothe LR later.

 

 

 

 

Edit: changed my mind on the LP.

[Old Man]

Originally posted by AnotherSkip

...who is gonna spend 400+ points on a weapon?

 

You're kidding, right?

[AnotherSkip]

nope not kidding.

 

After all i see that thing as a _huge_ waste, I could probably do it cheaper.

 

Now then If I built a 7500 point character yeah he _might_ need that.

As a Backup

 

Laser Rifle:1/2d6 RKA, 4 clips of 20 Double Adjustable charges (up to +8DC,+1 1/2), No Knockback(-1/4), Beam only (-1/4), 17 real cost.

[jguerin]

SPACESHIP CONTRUCTION QUESTION

 

I've been working on converting the Star Frontiers Knight Hawks ships into the Hero Format and I've run into a number of snaggs that I want to present a major one to you all for your input..

 

The first one is converting the Knight Hawks "Hull Size Types" into the appropriate Star Hero Vehicle SIZE characteristic. In KH we get a non-linear, arbitrarily assigned, ship length and diameter size given in meters. Since the KH ships are roughly cylinder in shape and are not very large compaired to other Space Opera genre ships...should I simply calculate the Volume of the cylinder, convert that to hexes to find a close match on the Expanded Vehicle Size Table? This seems to make the look and feel of the KH ships much larger in Hero than they were in Star Frontiers. I also looked into calculating the Area of the Cylinder, but this has the same effect as the Volume calculation. Or would you recomend I simple go by the Length of the KH vehicles to match with the appropriate Hero length? This method does not take into account the diamter/volume of the cylinders in KH ships, making them smaller than the look and feel in Star Frontiers.

 

What do you think?

[Space Cadet]

I can't wait to see who tackles the "How would you build the

SF Rafflur weapons in Hero System format?" question...

 

Space Cadet

[AnotherSkip]

Jgurin Go the volume route thataway you are "over expanding them" but then make sure the size fits the basic books descrition and then drop the cost a single point. This adds a touch of granularity while not significantly reducing the price.

 

 

Feel is much more important to a good SH conversion than anything else.

And what weapons are you talking about Space Cadet?

[jguerin]

Hull Size: (3)

DIMENSIONS*: 50 / 8

Volume(m3): 2513.27

(Length[m]/Width[m]/Tonnage/Crew)**

US B1-B Bomber (45.8 / 41.7 wingspan / 179.2 /?)

US Space Shuttle External Tank (47 / 8.4 / 743.3/-)

US B-52D Bomber (48 / 56 wingspan / 213.2 / ?)

US Titan III-E Centaur Rocket (48.8 / 3.1/ 640*** / -)

[AC Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two] Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov Spacecraft (50 / - / - / 10)

USSR Energia Rocket (60 / 8 / 4,000*** / -)

[jguerin]

Hull Size: (4)

DIMENSIONS*: 75 / 12

Volume(m3): 8,482.30

(Length[m]/Width[m]/Tonnage/Crew)**

 

US C-5A Galaxy Cargo Jet (75.5 / 67.9 wingspan 348.8 / 5 + 90 passengers)

[jguerin]

Hull Size: (5)

DIMENSIONS*: 100 / 15

Volume(m3): 17,671.46

(Length[m]/Width[m]/Tonnage/Crew)**

[star Wars] Rebel Transport (90 / - / - 7 + 9,000 metric tons cargo capacity)

Statue of Liberty [New York City, US] (92.9 / - / - / -)

USN Los Angeles class SSN (109.7 / 10.1 / 6,925 submerged /13 officers + 120 enlisted)

US Saturn V Rocket (110.6 / 10 / 2,912.9*** / -)