Building powers help for a newbie

[Ramlatus]

I have a few questions. I am new to HERO System and hope to form a group to play RPGs with. After some research it HERO System looks to be the closest to what I am looking for for my sci-fi game. I of course am daunted by the amount of work I have to put in to begin a game since I have to build a setting and such from scratch. I am having trouble building some pieces of equipment I wish to put n the equipment tables.

 

I don't understand the scope examples from the HERO System Equipment Guide. I was trying to reverse build the telescopic scope x2. It lists its Active Points Cost at 12, but the table don't describe how the powers are built. It gives hints, but I could not find a power stat block for me to look at for comparison purposes. This is what I have so far, but it does not match with the 12 Active Point cost from the chart.

 

The campaign is a Heroic campaign where the PCs buy most of their equipment with currency.

 

Scope: Ranged Penalty Level (+2 vs range modifiers for sight group) (2 Action Points); OAF (-1), Only When Shooter Braces And/Or Sets (-1), Real Weapon (-¼) (Total Cost: 1 points) Plus +1 PER vs darkness (Sight Group) (2 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only When Shooter Braces And/Or Sets (-1), Only to Counteract Darkness Modifiers (-½), Real Weapon (-¼) (Total Cost: 1 points). Combined Total Cost: 2 points.

 

The text indicates that the requires two-hands limitation was left off because the scope could be put onto a pistol so I left is off as well.

 

 

I am also trying to build blasters with power packs. I am using the endurance reserve because it will let me build a battery without having it as part of the weapon. This way characters can buy and carry extra power packs without having in automatically attached to a weapon. I want the power pack to sparate from the weapon.

 

Now should I add the power pack as a second power attached to the multipower framework itself like this:

 

Blaster Pistol Type II

Cost – Power

16 – Blaster Pistol Type II: Multipower, 30-point reserve (30 Active Points); Limited Range (200m; - ¼), OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-¼) (Total Cost: 12 points) Plus Endurance Reserve (48 END, 6 REC) (16 Active Points); Limited Recovery (only when plugged into a source of electricity; -1), IAF (-½), Slow Recovery (1 minute; -1) (Total Cost: 4 points).

 

1f – Blaster Bolt: RKA 2d6 (defense is ED Resistant Protection) (30 Active Points); Beam (-¼), Decreased Stun Modifier x2 (flat stun modifier is x1) (-½), OAF (-1). Total Cost: 11 points.

 

1f – Stun Bolt: Blast 6d6 (defense is ED Protection) (30 Active Points); Beam (-¼), OAF (-1), Stun Only (-0). Total Cost: 13 points.

Total Cost: 18 points

 

I also had the thought of just building it into the weapon and look for a way to build the “power pack” that just recharges the existing endurance reserve in the weapon. Not sure how to do that though.

 

 

If I want something other than a weapon to require maintenance can I apply real weapon to a non-weapon for the same effect, like a vehicle, starship, or a computer?

 

 

Am I building compound powers correctly? Like with the scope it does more than one thing when you look through it so it would be (power Plus power Plus power) and all three would function when you used it? Similar to the way that the Energy Sword is built on p190 of the HERO System Equipment Guide.

 

Energy Sword

Cost – Power

122 – Energy Sword: RKA 3d6, NND (defense is ED Resistant Protection defined as a force-field, or the like, an ED Barrier, or being blocked by another energy blade; +1), Does BODY (+1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (157 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Range (-½), Real Weapon (-¼) (total cost: 57 points) plus RKA 3d6, NND (defense is ED Resistant Protection defined as a force-field, or the like, an ED Barrier, or being blocked by another energy blade; +1), Does BODY (+1), Area Of Effect (personal Surface — Damage Shield; +¼), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (191 Active Points); OAF (-1), Linked (-¼), Only Affects Material Objects Which Strike Blade (-½), Real Weapon (-¼) (total cost: 64 points) plus Reach +1m (1 Active Point); OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-¼) (total cost: 1 point)

 

Thank you for your time and effort in answering my questions.

[Hyper-Man]

It looks like you've got a pretty good handle on things.

[tancred]

Ramalatus, I use "Real Technology" for any non-weapon power I use in my current TravellerHero game.

It's the same value and effect as "Real Weapon" for anything that isn't actually a weapon, e.g., communication equipment, medical gear, sensor gear, and so on.

 

If you use Hero Designer to build your equipment, the simplest way to do "Real Technology" is as a Custom Modifier, worth -1/4 just like "Real Weapon."

 

So the short answer is, yes, you can use (the equivalent of) Real Weapon for other equipment.

[Lucius]

 

Regarding the scope: I'm not sure how it's written up in the Equipment Guide, but you probably want Skill Levels to counter Range penalties to OCV, instead of or in addition to countering penalties to Perception.

 

I don't think you can put the Multipwer Reserve itself in a Compound Power, although a Multipower Slot can be a Compound Power. I'd list the END Reserve separately but just after the weapon.

 

Charges are usually simpler than END Reserves and if

You use the Clips option: you can set a price for clips or for sets of clips and have characters get extra if they want, and they can also change clips in combat; the hotshot blaster jocks with a Fastdraw Skill can even change clips in a half phase, and

You use the Recoverable Charges option: you can say the charges can be recovered by plugging a clip into a recharging station.

 

If you want to use END Reserve, perhaps so you can run other weapons or equipment from the same power packs, and don't mind a little complexity, here's something I worked up in Hero Designer, putting an END Reserve itself on Charges.

 

Power Pack 4Pak: (Total: 5 Active Cost, 2 Real Cost) Endurance Reserve (15 END, 0 REC) Reserve: (5 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), Only to Activate, -3/4), OIF (-1/2), Real Technology (-1/4), 4 clips of 16 Boostable Recoverable Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (+1/4) (Real Cost: 2)

Pulling the trigger instantly charges the weapon's capacitor with 15 END points (enough for five shots,) constituting a single charge from the battery. If that END isn't expended in one Turn, it's gone. If it is expended before the Turn is up (possible if you're taking a lot of multi-shots, have modified the weapon to autofire, etc) you have to wait (the battery will only charge the capacitor once every 12 seconds.)A single battery is good for 16 charges (a little over 3 minutes of continuous use.)Overcharging the capacitor (i.e. using the "Boostable" option to use more than one charge at a time) risks burning it out (acquires Burnout roll of 15 or less, which goes down each time it's "boosted" - see Boostable Charges for details.)

 

Note that the cost doesn't change even if you use over a thousand clips rather than four. Not that it matters if the players aren't spending character points for them.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Taking the palindromedary to a clip joint

[Ramlatus]

My thanks for everyones responses.

[BlueCloud2k2]

Does Star Hero not have an equipment section?

[Ramlatus]

Not really. It is more like a chapter about how to build the equipment to fit your campaign.

[Christopher]

The Scope would need two parts:

One that improves perception at range. That is what the Sense Modifier "Telescopic" is there for

One that improves attacks at range. That is what Penalty Skill level vs Ranged is there for.
Stuff like Nightvision is in addition to that.

 

About Charges vs Endurance reserve:

Both are actually different approaches to make a power 0 END, without having the high Advantage cost of 0 End.

Thier main difference is thier granularity - End Reserve has a bit better granularity as it can count down to the Endurance Point used. Another advantage is that it is Auto-Regenerating, wich works a lot like energy gauges in Video games for certain default Weapons (and every weapon in Mass Effect 1 as well as similar Heatsink based powers).

It also has the advantage in that it is not an Advantage or Limitation - it is a purely seperate power. Hence it can be used where 0 END, 1/2 End or big Charges would inflate the Active Points too much.

 

All in all End Reserve is hardly worth the effort if it is only for Weapons re-useability. Charges can be easily modified to work like you seem to want - including interchageability and the ability to "recharge" the energy packs.

 

About the Lightsaber:

One thing is I doubt you need two RKA. You can subject a target to your Damage shield, by touching it. That the damage shield is only a blade shape does not hinders that. The damage shield also takes care of the "Damages melee weapon you blocked".

The bigger problem however is trying to simulate the source material too much. Not everything that works in a work of Fiction, works in a RPG. Not everything can work the original way when translating between mediums.

All game systems that use Lightsabers either ignore the armor skipping abilities (Star Wars D20) or are designed to allow this weapon to be awesome, without killing a target on the first hit (Westend Games D6 Star Wars). Including the first selfhit.

 

I would build it as Penetrating instead of NND. Forcefields need a lot of power/defenses to effectively stop an enemy armed with Blasters. If they were impenetrable, they could block a Lightsaber build with penetrating too.

[Tasha]

Not really. It is more like a chapter about how to build the equipment to fit your campaign.

I am pretty sure that's because Hero System Equipment Guide has SciFi equipment covered pretty well.

[NuSoardGraphite]

There is also the spacer's toolkit, though its for 5th edition.

 

And original poster, you do not have to design your own campaign setting.  there are several hero sci-fi settings to use depending on what kind of game you want to play.  since you have an energy sword, i'm assuming you want to do space opera right?  check out the Terran Empire setting.  it even has a book of pregenerated planets you can use in your campaign, and you can collect books of planetary data from other games (like GURPS space atlases or battlelords No Man's Land) and use those to fill out your galaxy.

 

Just be wary of the ship writeups from terran empire.  they are kinda...interesting. (i'm being nice)

[Kraven Kor]

On using END reserve for the blaster - I have found that using Charges / Clips works just as well, if not better, and is at the least simpler and easier to build (throw the charges limitation onto the MP rather than having to have the linked END reserve or whatever.)

 

No wrong way to do it, but "Keep it Simple" as they say.