Random elements in Character Construction

[lou_tennant]

A friend and I have been discussing how you could make some elements of Character Construction more adequately fit the real world. So we were thinking about how you could bring random elements into HERO and make them stick.

 

 

• Example: My character is born and inherits his father's genes; he is naturally strong and well built - no gym-time required.
  
  • My character the decides to train this, it is easier for him to do this than to sit and read books and increase his INT.
    
  • My character shuns this, he may have his father's build, but he has his mother's heart and she is gentle and likes poetry - so my character studies - but finds it difficult to learn and it costs more for him to do this.
    

 

I know you can just build either of these into your character background and therefore spend points accordingly, but could you present this in a random fashion - some people in the world just have it easier in some areas than others. Natural aptitude, things individuals can't control - I was born like this.

[psyber624]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

HERO is a very "toolkit" oriented system so you can technically do anything you want in the system, but I would not encourage anything like that. What you are basically doing is allowing a random die roll to determine how the character will develop. If a player wants to play a brick, but the dice say he has to pay twice as much for his strength than anyone else he is not going to be very happy. Same thing goes for one who wants to play a scientist, etc.

 

There are players that would be perfectly fine with letting a random factor determine how they build their characters (The grandfather of all RPG's started out that way after all) but I would highly recommend you check with your players before trying to introduce something like this into your campaign.

 

I would also state that if you are playing a superhero style game then things like how you are born really don't matter much. Radiation accidents, mystic or high tech items, super serums, etc all easily trump genetics in the source material.

[Derek Hiemforth]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

You could build various Templates with various Characteristics increased and/or decreased, then have each player randomly select a Template they must use when they build the character.

 

Personally, and this just reflects my own preferences, I would never do something like this. Random elements in character generation tend to drive me away from other games, and their lack is one of the things that most strongly attracts me to Champions/HERO.

[Sean Waters]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

We did have a go at a bit of randomness in one game. The PCs were built by rolling their base characteristics (STR, DEX etc) on 3d6 or 4d6, choose 3). They still had to PAY for them, but those were their 'human' characteristics. They could then buy their characteristics up using CP as usual, so you might have had a 'human' STR of 12 but a 'mutant' STR of 60 (for which you paid a total of 50 points). If you got hit by a 'drain mutant powers' attack, your STR would get drained down to 12, no less. If you were hit by a drain that affected just human STR, you would only lose 12 points, maximum.

 

It did not make a lot of difference, to be honest, but I quite liked the idea of a 'real human' lurking under all those mutant powers.

[lou_tennant]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

 

HERO is a very "toolkit" oriented system so you can technically do anything you want in the system, but I would not encourage anything like that. What you are basically doing is allowing a random die roll to determine how the character will develop. If a player wants to play a brick, but the dice say he has to pay twice as much for his strength than anyone else he is not going to be very happy. Same thing goes for one who wants to play a scientist, etc.

 

There are players that would be perfectly fine with letting a random factor determine how they build their characters (The grandfather of all RPG's started out that way after all) but I would highly recommend you check with your players before trying to introduce something like this into your campaign.

 

I would also state that if you are playing a superhero style game then things like how you are born really don't matter much. Radiation accidents, mystic or high tech items, super serums, etc all easily trump genetics in the source material.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I completely understand what you are saying, I am a veteran of a lot of different systems.

 

I certainly would not 'introduce' it to a current campaign, but design a campaign that had this as part of the house-rules for that particular game.

 

It would be a a game based in a more mundane world - possible FH, possibly a Sci-fi-ish modern day. I would never do it in a Champions game.

[griffinman01]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

I've never done randomness in terms of character building but I opted to do some randomness in character background for my Teen Champion scenario. Since we don't get much of a choice in what environment we grow up in I decided to randomize certain factors and then have people pick a back-story to explain them. They ranged from whether or not your parents were happily married/divorced/deceased, how much money they had (dirt poor to filthy rich), their general attitude (overprotective, short-tempered, free-spirit, etc), their knowledge of the PC's powers, and number of siblings. It led to some funny backgrounds such as my PC not even being aware that she had powers (she has extreme luck) until she had it pointed out to her by the headmaster and our mage character being from a rich family who thought her whole wizard get-up was her way of coping with relative isolation at home.

 

The main problem I typically have with randomized stats is that it often creates problems if one PC rolls much better than the others. In D&D I've had someone get a warrior with 18 STR, 17 Dex, and 17 Constitution with no stat being less than 13 while our mage had to put his only 16 in INT in order to make him usable. The warrior loved it because he could do a lot without much help while the mage hated how he couldn't do most of what he wanted. In champions you don't get that kind of potential problem with bad rolls and I kind of like that aspect.

 

Randomness can be a fun tool to mix up character creation, but I don't think it should be the sole determinant when it comes to actually building a character.

[Orion]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

Some people like randomness, because it helps stimulate their creativity, but my creativity just doesn't work that way. I don't create characters very fast, or often, and the process usually takes a long time to get to the final product. I have found over time that I am incapable of role-playing a character that I didn't design from the ground up. Random generation in anathema to me. Random means I didn't create it, and I just as well have the GM hand me a character sheet when I show up. I've done this a few time to help a friend out for their game, and it's the standard for con games. When it does happen, I'm basically just roll-playing - tactics and game rules are the concern, not character development and personality.

 

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[Killer Shrike]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

Generally, one of the main reasons to go with a point based system is to avoid randomess and assert control over character abilities. The HERO System is extremely point oriented, and the only randomness remaining is in resolution and effect rolls...and there are ways to minimize even that randomness if you want to pay for it.

 

Having said that, some people like random and sometimes randomness is part of a concept. The HERO System prides itself on providing tools with which to model concepts, and thus it is possible to inject some randomness but it takes customization to do it.

 

The most direct way is to make individual abilities random(ish) is to take No Conscious Control at the -1 level (character controls activation, not effect) and call it "Random". Write up a list of possible effects, assign numbers or some other means of selection, and when the character activates such a power do your random resolution to determine the effect that occurs.

 

Randomness in character creation is a bit trickier, because the act of character creation itself doesn't cost points or play tit for tat (take this less optimal option and you get some pay off for it)...its a self reference problem...you would end up needing a meta-system to add that sort of complicating nuance. Of course, this being the HERO System, you can make one up for yourself and add it on for a given campaign.

 

 

Here is an example of one such system that I built out for the MetaCyber campaign; "Tubers" are genetically engineered test tube babies. Genetic engineering is not an exact art in MetaCyber, so there is a lot of randomness involved. From a metagame perspective, I allowed Tubers certain advantages such as increased maximas and some border-line minor super powers. The catch is that as a player you have to COMMIT a certain number of points (min 30, max 100) to the tuber package up front, and THEN roll for your abilities; no takebacks. As an extra incentive for a player to go all in, if you commit 100 points (10 slots), there is a chance to roll up one of a collection of themed packages that are very advantaged.

 

I made a randomizer to generate the packages automatically; here it is: Tuber Package Randomizer.

 

 

You could build out something less extreme but along the same lines; set the ground rules of the campaign, allow some bending of those groundrules and put it inside of a random process.

[Bodkins Odds]

Re: Random elements in Character Construction

 

The main problem I typically have with randomized stats is that it often creates problems if one PC rolls much better than the others. In D&D I've had someone get a warrior with 18 STR' date=' 17 Dex, and 17 Constitution with no stat being less than 13 while our mage had to put his only 16 in INT in order to make him usable.[/b'] The warrior loved it because he could do a lot without much help while the mage hated how he couldn't do most of what he wanted. In champions you don't get that kind of potential problem with bad rolls and I kind of like that aspect.

 

Really? This set of rolls was the one that caused trouble?

 

A wizard whose highest stat is a 16 in Int is hardly gimped. They only need one high stat, any other high stats are just gravy. Secondly, in an older edition it keeps the Wizard from using the broken level 7+ spells while in the newer editions he'll be able to boost his Int up before it becomes an issue anyway. At worst it means he has to be careful about when and how he uses save or suck spells. The horror!

 

All that roll means for the fighter is that he'll definitely be useful, and in a later edition could afford to actually put points in Int or Cha.