schir1964

The image he gave is obviously 5th Edition.

Should be easy enough. I'll let you know.

5 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

You can use any of these if you want 

As an aside, the word character sheet is more or less what I am after. In a nutshell, organize the sheet by functions. Primary characteristics, movement, offensive, defense, skills, talents, perks, skills powers, complications. No values for advantages and limitations. No real cost.

I hope it helps. 

My thinking was that if I get a modified HTML export made there are tools to import that into PDF, Word, and so forth.

To make an export to build a Word document from scratch would require a Java Plugin. I've never programmed in Java and I have no desire to learn that language at this time. Sorry.

Thanks for the character sheet. That will make testing much easier since I don't have to keep creating things.

Does anybody have any Characters (hdc) for 6th Edition they would be willing to share? I would be using them for testing the export template I am working on.

Perhaps it is for 6th Edition.

And believe it or not I did try to use 5th Edition Tunneling as a basis for Protean. (8^D)

Thinking about it more this is what I think is the rationale.

Looks at what various STR level gives you (in this case lift).

Consider that most things will require at least a STR 1-3.

Consider that most characters will have at least a STR 1-3.

Not much of a limitation there.

It really depends on what you would consider baseline for the average Character/NPC.

May be due to the decoupling of figured stats. That would be my best guess.

Well, I plan to go with 6th Edition. Just haven't bought it yet so it could be there's a better solution with existing powers.

It's just that I've hashed this out before with all sorts of ways using different powers but all felt like try to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Sounds like 6th Edition Stretching has covered some of the gap.

21 minutes ago, Simon said:

Main limitations will come into play if you try to break down everything into component parts rather than relying on HD’s output.  You can do that to an extent, but will run into limits when dealing with nested structures - the export process simply wasn’t designed for the layered logic structures needed for that.

No, I'm just looking at mainly moving things arounds and actually simplifying the output. At least that's what has been suggested I think.

14 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

Mr. Fantastic has Stretching, and LOTS of it.  That carries with it the ability to pass through small openings, per the power.  Sandman has some form of Desolid, plus Stretching IIRC.  He's probably something like APG alternate Desolid, about 3-4 levels, plus DI (to fix the the mass alteration and additional KB built into the APG alternate DI...and perhaps then some more, as I think he's heavier than normal).  It's messy in that they're both Always On, and the suggested approach is to simply tweak the stat blocks.  The simplest way to handle passing through the tiny spaces would then be Double Jointed (duh) along with a big Contortionist bonus. OR, as noted, just build this with alternate Desolid with Can't Move Through Solid Objects, and DI and make em Always On and have done with it.  That won't be cheap.  Alternate Desolid is 5 points per level;  DI is 4.  Always On requires 0 END and Persistent.  That also means they can't be mutually linked...and that nothing else should be linkable *to* them.  Works out to 42 points for +20 STR, +8 normal PD and ED, plus the mobility aspects.  So probably a pretty good deal but nothing earthshaking.  

 

Mind, I'm not super crazy about doing it this way;  APG Desolid has too many secondary effects (mass, KB) and a badly defined major aspect (the Def of the material is irrelevant).  But that's because its upper end must be equivalent to Desolid;  that's exceptionally constraining to turn into a scaling power.

Interesting. In 5th Edition it states that Stretching may not give the ability to squeeze under doors and the like. Must have been a change for 6th Edition.

Never seen Alternate Desolid. But my goal was to find a fairly simple (less complex) solution that granted the movement benefits that are associated with the common trope of Gaseous/Liquid/Amorphous/Rubbery types of SFX. 

I'm thinking there might be an even simpler way perhaps that builds up as you've suggested. I'm still cogitating.

3 hours ago, Spence said:

 

That would be fantastic for us "what you just said" challenged 

 

Now that Dragonflight is over and I am able to devote my small slice of time for gaming to something other than Con prep, I will try find and then clean up some of my earlier character sheets and share them.  Someone beside me may have a use for them and you may be able to adapt them to HD. 

I've started a thread over in the Hero Designer forum. If you just want to post to that thread when you ready that would be fine.

4 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Forcing the Entangle to take an advantage against a rare power is a pain.  It's fine with Desolid which is intended to ignore everything physical.

 

I'm also not enamored of building this with the graduated limitations approach.  I'd rather build a power that fundamentally gets more effective, a la APG's alternate desolid.  The power you've got always costs 2 END, for example, even if it's cut back in terms of real cost.  Limitations combine poorly;  they have serious diminishing returns issues.  And things like the porosity?  That's just a hassle for the GM.  It's ONLY a concept for this power, as opposed to, for example, the BODY or DEF of an obstacle.  This power is just complicating my life as a GM.

I tried this as an Adder, as an Advantage, and all other contortions. This version seems less complex than anything else. Not as flexible as others though. I'll give it some thought. The Porosity was listed because there seems to be real difference between someone like Mr Fantastic and the Sandman. But maybe there isn't or shouldn't be mechanicwise.

Any you can mention to save me time?

Also, I've already figured out why the Page Break isn't working. Fixing it easy but it the full ramifications of the change could have other side effects not readily perceived.

I've purchased Hero Designer and find that it would fairly straight forward to create new export templates.

If anyone want a Custom Export Template built for Hero Designer let me know.

I would just need to have an example of what you are looking for as far as layout.

Well I've purchased Hero Designer and I'll be evaluating the XML. I'm a web developer so a portion of what I do deals with various XML formats.

My first impressions of Hero Designer is that the User Interface is a bit clunky to use but functional. Some of the graphics/icons used makes it look dated (at least to me). But that just nit picky stuff, my main concerns are functionality and customizable. As long as those are good then I'm good.

Addendum

Well it looks like the only built in templates are for HTML. Should be fairly straight forward to making changes and rearranging things. But I need to know what people are looking for. An example of what they expect it to look like. 

A manually created sample done Excel or Word or any other common document would do.

After reading up on Entangle (5th Edition) and how it interacts with certain other powers (Teleportation/Desolid) I've updated the Protean power to clarify how it interacts with Entangle. Also modified the the values of the Nonpliability limitation.

If anyone has a basic design they want modified and can describe to me what it is they want I can take a crack at it. I've some tools that make it a bit easier to alter formatting and layout.

13 hours ago, Tywyll said:

This is the problem. You use HD to build a character because it is great and easy. But then you can't export a 'simplified' version. At least I have not seen an export format that does (sadly I have 0 idea on how to build my own). 

I thought Hero Designer allowed you to create customized templates and exports. Never used it myself but I was considering it recently.

4 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

Without diving too deep, for 20 points I get Desolid, Half END, which neither reduces damage nor prevents interaction with the solid world.  That seems reasonable for a starting point.

 

If I tack on a -2 Viscosity and -2 Nonpliability limitation I get a character who can wriggle through a subfloor or utility wall space, perhaps a SuperSkill for a Contortionist character.  Can a character escape ropes and other bonds with this power?  If so, 4 points seems like it makes Contortionist a pretty useless skill.

Yeah, we kind of hashed this out a couple of years ago in another thread. This version of Protean was the result.

I presume you mean Entangle with SFX of Ropes/Hand Cuff/Zip Ties.

Well I guess it depends on what SFX you are trying build with the Protean power.

If you can turn Gaseous/Liquid then the bonds wouldn't be of much use (reasoning from SFX interaction).

However, if you are Super Stretch Armstrong it becomes an interesting question of which Power trumps the other.

If we take Protean out of the picture for a second and just look at existing powers, such as Stretching or Shrinking, is there precedent where the Entangle is negated by Stretching or Shrinking (based on SFX)?

I think the answer to this would be applicable to Protean as well.

And if it is just a matter of being too cheap that can be remedied easily enough by adjusting the limitation values. A -2 Limitation may be too high for that level.

Thought I would present this again. It's a bit more polished and less complex.

I really wish this forum supported tables.

Why your username?
Just an anagram of my name.

Why your avatar or if no avatar why not
Electrode, one of my characters I created for the Hero System.

What area do you live in?
New Carlisle, Ohio, USA

What's your profession?
Software Engineer

Are you Windows, MAC or Linux?
Windows.

Are there TV shows and/or movies you like to binge watch?
Science Fiction, Super Hero

What drew you to the Hero System?
Super Hero Genre and the way that system allows you create just about anything.

Which edition did you start with?
4th Edition (Big Blue Book)

What have you used the game for?
Super Hero genre.

What point system have you ran or played in?
Standard Super Hero (400 Points).

Do you still play or GM the Hero System
Haven't for over 10 Years but my kids are now old enough I want to introduce them to it.

Our there other games you play?

Classic Traveler and some DND for a few years.

On an A to F scale how do you rate the system overall
A+

What are some house-rules, if any, you use in the past?
Various house rules for 5th Edition (Big Black Book). Minor things to ensure gameplay wasn't adversely affected.

If you could put together a 7th edition what are some things you add, omit and/or change?

Not going to open that can of worms (8^D).

Haven't used 6th but looked at the changes it was making and was pleased as to the direction it was going (although others were not).

Would be interested in a 7th Edition just to see where that might lead.

- Christopher Mullins
 

Glad to see the discussions are still insightful and pleasant.

I'll try the first.

Let's look at this from two perspectives:

1. This character is simply another type of race both culturally and physically (Elves vs Human, Whale vs Human, Amoeba vs Human). You define the character based on that presumption so not much changes but add complication/disadvantages to represent the differences in some of the presumptions (Unable to Lift/Manipulate/Gesture physically, Only speaks its own native language) so that interaction with humans requires certain skills/powers to be obtained (OAF: Language skill, Robot Body). This is more concept focused and allows two electrical beings to interact with each other normally.
2. This character is by default an android for all intents and purposes with special powers that are invoked when the body is damaged beyond use. Stats and powers heavily limited vs SFX Required Android Body. This is the more practical for building.

For number one I could see the following approach:

• High PD since it doesn't seem they would be affected much as far as their normal state goes.
• High ED limited vs SFX Electrical Based Attacks.
• Movement limited only through SFX Electrical medium.
• Regeneration
• OAF: Language Skill, Movement, Applicable Stats, and so forth.

The big deciding factor here in approach is how often is it expected that the character will be deprived of their interface (android body)?

If very rare then the second option would work well.

If often then the first option might work better.

Quote

Every attempt at defining it with Regen becomes a cheesy mess of limitations that are artificial, IMO, and distortive.  I hate starting from a very ill-fitting baseline and trying to twist it out of all recognition into something else.

I can truly appreciate where you are coming from on this reasoning. 

The  main reason I worked on the Protean power for so long is that trying to use Desolid to represent and oozing/stretchy/gaseous SFX felt like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

To me it just didn't make any sense.

Given that's your viewpoint on Regeneration for this SFX, then you should use some form of Healing or whatever else you find more appropriate.

But when you ask for opinions on these boards then you need to make it clear from the outset why you don't want to use Regeneration and want some other solution. Otherwise you invite people to offer suggestions you won't take seriously.

31 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

 

 

Leaves too much power.  END Bat has how many turns' worth of power in it?  Several, generally.  Not to mention, this'd allow anything inherently costing no END.

I thought the END Pool was used up based on endurance costs?

Plus those that inherently cost no END would have to take the limitation Costs END. At least that was my intent.

At the risk of sounding totally ignorant and crazy...

Perhaps an END Battery or whatever it's called now.

All deity powers are powered by the battery.

You can then have a limitation of causing the recovery time on the battery be increased however long or some other limitation to represent how the battery gets recharged.

The more powers you have the large the END Pool must be and the worse it is to recover (based on whatever limitation is applicable).

Just a thought.