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knasser2

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 Note:  You don't have to build the power armor as a single, compound power.

 

I usually design such using a list; I apply the modifiers that all items will have to the list, then any specific modifiers for a given item in the list only to that power / item.

 

This works especially well for equipment, since it also makes it easier to add or remove parts individually.  Easier to read on the character sheet, as well.

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"List" is a formating option; It doesn't actually exist as a game concept

 

Compound Powers can be presented in the form of a list, and remain Compound Powers. For example:

On 5/27/2018 at 9:25 AM, Cantriped said:

Powered Armor: Compound Power All Slots (39 APs); OIF (-1/2), Real Armor (-1/4)...

1)  Resistant Protection (5 rPD/5 rED), Hardened (+1/4) (19 APs). Cost: 11 points.

2)  Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing) (10 APs); 1 Fuel Charge Lasting 1 Day (-0), Linked (Slot 1; -1/4). Cost: 5 points.

Total Cost:  16 points.

Skills affected by Enhancers like Linguist and Traveler, as well as Martial Arts, and most power frameworks also get formatted into lists.

 

That being said, lists make complex game elements much easier to read, and actually save line--space by allowing you to consolidate common modifiers.

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List sounds like something from some Hero software? I don't have any such - I'm going straight from the rule books. I've actually coded up my own way of storing all this data and formatting it out. It was a little more work up front but I'm now cranking out new entries at a very satisfactory speed. Just added... three Eldar units (Dire Avengers, Fire Dragons, Dark Reapers), three new types or armour and melta weapons. It's settling down into something that feels accurate to the setting now. I did some rough maths of a Melta Gun vs. a Land Raider tank and it gave appropriate results to the WH40K table top game and fluff.

 

I'm also writing up a few small adventures to go with this when I'm done and I think what I'll do to popularise it is I'll run a few one-shot pre-gen games in the evening online to work out the kinks and to get people into it.

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23 hours ago, knasser2 said:

List sounds like something from some Hero software?

It is a formatting option in HD, notable because you can have the List apply Common Modifiers (or a cost multiplier) to everything inside it.

 

Great for representing non-framework suites of powers, compound powers (including partially limited/advantaged), martial arts, and even actual lists of game elements (like skills related to a given profession or template).

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21 hours ago, Cantriped said:

It is a formatting option in HD, notable because you can have the List apply Common Modifiers (or a cost multiplier) to everything inside it.

 

Great for representing non-framework suites of powers, compound powers (including partially limited/advantaged), martial arts, and even actual lists of game elements (like skills related to a given profession or template).

 

Sounds interesting. I might consider getting this at some point. Looking at the store am I correct that in order to buy the source code version I must also first buy the finished version? So $75 in total?

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I wouldn't know, I bought my copy of HD years and years ago... and I hardly ever use it. In part because it is a crutch, and net even a good one.... but mostly because its author refuses to support CC/FHC or make any other meaningful improvements to the code*.

*This I don't blame him for in the slightest, it would be a lot of work and would generate neigh zero additional sales.

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6 hours ago, knasser2 said:

 

Sounds interesting. I might consider getting this at some point. Looking at the store am I correct that in order to buy the source code version I must also first buy the finished version? So $75 in total?

 

Source code is only if you want to tinker with it yourself or build apps that pull from the various exports HD can do.

 

You only need to buy the core HD software to make characters and prefabs and such.

 

It really is invaluable and very, very complete.

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23 hours ago, Cantriped said:

I wouldn't know, I bought my copy of HD years and years ago... and I hardly ever use it. In part because it is a crutch, and net even a good one.... but mostly because its author refuses to support CC/FHC or make any other meaningful improvements to the code*.

*This I don't blame him for in the slightest, it would be a lot of work and would generate neigh zero additional sales.

 

23 hours ago, Cantriped said:

Note: For 5th edition, HD was invaluable, and I swore by it. I hated calculating figured characteristics by hand, especially on a work in progress.

You might find useful the fact that HD can export characters into some pretty decent HTML templates.

 

Not sure what CC/FHC are. I presume some Hero acronym I haven't learned yet (there are many). The export to multiple formats sounds useful. It's a hefty whack for a role-playing too, though I've no doubt a huge amount of work went into it and if you only want the software itself like normal people do, it's much more reasonable. I'll hold off on it for now. I've taken a brief break from writing up template characters to create a format for powers. Following your example, I've come to realise this would be useful. It's nowhere near the scale of the project of the Hero software - there's no selecting what you want, you just type in the text for each advantages, etc. However, it will then take those advantages, limitations and base power costs and calculate the Active and Real costs of the power. It will then feed that out to a style template and auto-format all the powers. I haven't quite made it do combined powers yet such as the Space Marine armour, but that will be next. I estimate I'll have it done within the next hour. It may not look like much presently but underneath this page is just the raw data. I could add a Limitation or Advantage to Carapace Armour just by entering the appropriate line in the data file and it will recalculate the points and update the human-friendly web page.

 

 

wh_powers.png

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19 hours ago, Funk Thompson said:

 

Source code is only if you want to tinker with it yourself or build apps that pull from the various exports HD can do.

 

You only need to buy the core HD software to make characters and prefabs and such.

 

It really is invaluable and very, very complete.

 

I believe you! But I'm quite pleased with what I'm producing myself so far. I quite enjoy the tinkering. I'd need a very clear idea of what could and could not be done without buying the source code before I made a purchase. I like having my data in a format I control, generally.

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Knasser2 CC is short for Champions Complete and FHC is short for Fantasy Hero Complete. Both are presented as complete rule editions. They are 6th ed.however, CC has a few minor tweaks from the full 6th. (One change  is that in CC class of minds changed back to one class instead of choosing a specific class of mind.)  They cut out a lot of examples and in-depth explanations of the rules. Steve Long won’t comment on them. 

 

I do have Hero Designer and my experience with it is different than Cantriped though I have a few minor issues with it myself. And I do use CC/FHC now myself.

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Of the two, FHC is slightly better than CC, each is essentially described as being a short version of the full 6th edition rules. I treat them like an independant ruleset due to the scope and nature of the changes... but that is a personal opinion. I also think FHC is physically much easier to read.

The main differences are that FHC omits many of the technological skills, while CC doesn't include ranged martial arts... CC also omits the vital paragraph from the Required Hands modifier that explains how it actually works. Sadly bith omit the Wind Levels Table...

 

Functionally, you can use any of the three to answer any given rules question and find the correct answer.

6e1&2 are harder to search, and have this tendancy to present optional rules in the same breath they describe the default rule... however it also contains articles on nearly all the odd little corner cases (the rest being in the APGs).

CC/FHC are much shorter and easier to search, but sometimes oversimplify or inadaquetly explain a topic in their attempt to be brief. The ommision of common optional rules make them less useful players using those rules, and finally what changes were made in CC/FHC rules were sufficient to throw off the costs of the vast majority of prewritten NPCs (who now need to spend far fewer points to be good at a skill like Animal Handler.

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I'm now implementing Psychic Powers in WH40K. In WH40K, psykers tap into the powers of the Warp. An alternate Hell dimension that drives those who look upon it insane. Psykers frequently go mad in the setting and most fall to Chaos. The exceptions are (amongst humans) sanctioned psykers. Those few deemed strong willed and faithful enough to be put to service for the empire. The rest are either shipped to Earth to have their souls consumed by the Emperor or simply put to the torch if that's not possible.

 

In both tabletop and the RPG lines, psychic powers are something of a double-edged sword. They can be powerful but often random and in the fluff can produce a number of horrible and random side-effects. In the FFG game line if a psyker rolled doubles on a psychic test they'd then have to roll on the percentile chart for a side effect. Ranging from the creepy but harmless atmosphere such as everyone in range forgetting some minor part of their past; to the risky - all weapons and technology in range jams, up to the downright lethal with the psyker being grasped by creatures in the warp that lifted his body in the material world and flung him about into walls and ceilings. If you were really unlucky, you'd get Perils of the Warp with things like the psyker winking out of existence to reappear 1d10 turns later, the psykers mind being hurled into someone else's body or, on a 00, spontaneously combusting and a daemon crawling out of their smoky corpse.

 

WH40K is not a happy game.

 

I'd like to simulate this by having a chance of a negative effect, rolled randomly for any psychic powers. I'd like in some way the severity of these psychic powers to increase the more powerful the psychic power was. Occasionally the side effect might be beneficial.

 

How would you go about implementing something like this in Hero? I've looked at Power Frameworks for Psychic powers but I have not yet decided if I will use them. Psyker characters should be limited to a set range of powers, like a wizard that must add spells to her spellbook before being able to cast them.

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For psychic powers, use Requires A Roll and Side Effects... then establish a table of possible side effects with various Active Point levels so that you can randomly generate side effects of a similar scope to the power that was supposed to be used. Otherwise you might not be being fair to players who would have been willing to pay that opportuniry cost for psychic powers.

For example, having your body combust and summon a demon from the ashes should only trigger from severely failing to activate a powerful psychic ability... Causing a TPK because you tried to cast the equivalent of Light probably isn't appropo to a TTRPG, even if it makes sense in the setting.

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5 hours ago, Cantriped said:

For psychic powers, use Requires A Roll and Side Effects... then establish a table of possible side effects with various Active Point levels so that you can randomly generate side effects of a similar scope to the power that was supposed to be used. Otherwise you might not be being fair to players who would have been willing to pay that opportuniry cost for psychic powers.

For example, having your body combust and summon a demon from the ashes should only trigger from severely failing to activate a powerful psychic ability... Causing a TPK because you tried to cast the equivalent of Light probably isn't appropo to a TTRPG, even if it makes sense in the setting.

 

Thanks for the rules advice. I get where you're coming from. Though if some poor sap doesn't die a meaningless and painful death through no fault of their own, it's not WH40K. Still, I might work up different tables with different odds based on the level of psychic power (i.e. the Active Points).

 

So a Psychic power could be something like this:

 

Crush. ((RKA 1d6-1 Indirect +½, Constant +½), (Entangle (5d6)); Requires Roll (Psychic Attacks) -½, Side Effect (Major, Triggers on failed activation) -¾)

Active Points: 70;  Real Points: 31

 

The psyker projects a cube of force around another which slowly shrinks until the victim is compressed into a compact 2' cube of flesh, bones and hair.

 

I'd like the side effect to trigger less often than on every failed activation. What would you say to having an Ego roll on failed activations to see if it's triggered. And if so, what do you think the change to the side effect cost should be?

 

Final question, it's an attack power so already requires an attack roll. Does the addition of Requires Roll mean that the player must roll twice in all. I.e. First they roll to activate the power, then they roll to hit their opponent. Is that right?

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2 hours ago, knasser2 said:

Does the addition of Requires Roll mean that the player must roll twice in all. I.e. First they roll to activate the power, then they roll to hit their opponent. Is that right?

Yes, an Attack Power with Requires A Roll must be rolled first to activate, then to hit (and then for effect of course).

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've put Psychic Powers on hold for now for the sake of getting something out there and because I want to do a slightly more sophisticated approach in terms of how I implement them in my templates. On the plus side, that means I very nearly have something I can upload to the documents area (someone will have to tell me how to go about submitting it!). It's far from a complete conversion of everything sadly but it includes:

  • Common WH40K weapons
  • Common armours including Aspect armour
  • Six of the most iconic WH40K vehicles
  • Fifteen character templates from Imperial, Eldar and Orc factions.
  • Space Marine implants

I think it's a healthy start for anyone who wants to run WH40K in Hero.

 

One outstanding thing I'd like to get in there before I upload are the Striking Scorpions (an Eldar unit type. Eldar are Space Elves for anyone unfamiliar with the setting). The sole hold-up is how to implement their signature weapon, the Mandiblasters.

 

Mandiblasters are dual weapons of small size, affixed to the sides of a Scorpion's helmet. They are very short range (approx. 1m) and their role is to blast the opponent in the face with tiny shards that are then plasmerized by small lasers just before the Scorpion engages in melee. Essentially a nasty surprise first strike enabling the Scorpion to gain immediate advantage. They can injure but traditionally are represented primarily as stinging, burning pain opening the target up to attack, rather than the killing blow itself. Imagine someone throwing boiling darts in your face.

 

Things I'm toying with for it are:

  • A bonus to striking first (not sure how to do this. Pay for a Dex boost for the power?)
  • Make it a Linked Flash / hKA
  • A bonus to Called Shots combined with reduced penetration.

Really not quite sure where to go with this. Any thoughts are very welcome.

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I remembered the Trigger Advantage and have taken a stab at creating the Mandiblaster myself. Thoughts?

 

Mandiblaster. Flash 3d6NB, Sight, HTH Only -½ ; Trigger (One defined condition +¼; Activating is an Action that takes no time +¼; Trigger requires a Turn to Reset (reduce ½ Advantage). Trigger condition: Character makes a HTH attack against an enemy. Active Points: 15. Real Points: 10.

 

The fact that it takes a Turn to reset the trigger seems to make it a cost neutral advantage. Is that right?

 

Not sure what the standard abbreviation for Normal Body is so just wrote NB.

 

 

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I think I understand how to create armour and weapons now. I think this may be the last of the barrage of questions - and thank you for all your help. Have I got the following right?

 

Aspect Armour (Dire Avenger)

  • 9 rPD / 9 rED.
  • 3 FD vs. Sight and Hearing.
  • Self-contained breathing for 32 hours.
  • Protection from Vacuum and Cold Environments.
  • Mind Link with Squad.
  • +2 Tactics, +2 Coordination when working with Squad.
  • +1 OCV with Shuriken Catapult.
All Slots: OIF -½; Real Armour -¼;
Slot #1 (Basic Armour): 33 Active Points
	Resistant Defence (PD 9)
	Resistant Defence (ED 9)
	Flash Defence (Sight 3)
	Flash Defence (Hearing 3)
Slot #2 (Environmental Systems): 16 Active Points
	Life Support (Self Contained Breathing, Safe-Environment: Vacuum, Safe-Environment: Intense Cold,
    	Safe-Environment: Intense Heat); Fuel Charge 32hr (+0); Linked (Slot 1) -¼
Slot #3 (Battle Systems): 48 Active Points
	Mind Link (Squad only, 12 minds at once, No LOS Required); +2 Tactics; +2 Coordination, 25km range);
    	Limited Range (25km)- ½; Linked (Slot 1) -¼
Slot #4 (Target Select Systems): 5
	OCV +1; Usable Only with Aspect Weapon -½; Linked (Slot 1) -¼
	
Active Points: 102 / Real Points: 53


Calculated as such:
    Active Points I added each slot together (33 + 16 + 48 + 5 = 102).
    Real Points were the sum of each individual slot's Real Points, calculated individually, applying all applicable Limitations. E.g. Real Armour -¼ is applied to all slots. Limited Range only to Slot #3, and so forth.
        So:
        Slot #1 33 / 1¾ = 19 RP
        Slot #2 16 / 2    = 8  RP
        Slot #3 48 / 2½ = 24 RP
        Slot #4  5 / 2½ =  2 RP
    
    Total = 19 + 8 + 24 + 2 = 53

 

Grand Total: 102 / 53.

 

How did I do? 

 

(Inspirational Dire Avenger art follows)

 

 

da.png

da2.png

da3.png

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I've created some tools to help me crank these out faster and am now picking up pace. Layout is auto-created like the attached and I should soon have systems for Power Frameworks as well and new character templates soon. I reckon I'll be able to have a pretty big library of WH40K conversions v. soon.

hero6e.png

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On ‎6‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 11:48 AM, knasser2 said:

I remembered the Trigger Advantage and have taken a stab at creating the Mandiblaster myself. Thoughts?

 

Mandiblaster. Flash 3d6NB, Sight, HTH Only -½ ; Trigger (One defined condition +¼; Activating is an Action that takes no time +¼; Trigger requires a Turn to Reset (reduce ½ Advantage). Trigger condition: Character makes a HTH attack against an enemy. Active Points: 15. Real Points: 10.

 

The fact that it takes a Turn to reset the trigger seems to make it a cost neutral advantage. Is that right?

 

Not sure what the standard abbreviation for Normal Body is so just wrote NB.

 

 

 

Can anyone tell me if the above seems reasonable? It seems rules-legal but I've not really used Triggers before. And can this go off immediately before the HTH Attack is carried out?

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