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schir1964

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Posts posted by schir1964

  6. A level of confusion

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: A level of confusion

     

    Possible House Rule: Every 5 Points (or some other number set by the GM) total spent on a skill may be used as a +1 DCV without needing to be wielding anything. Sort of a general knowledge of how to evade such attacks.

     

    Just An Idea

     

    - Christopher Mullins (8^D)

  7. Damage Class and Balance

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Damage Class and Balance

     

    What I found helpful is to view it this way:

     

    Active Points: How effective a power is under ideal circumstances.

    Real Points Spent: How effective a power is over the character's lifetime.

     

    Just general rules of thumb, but they tend to hold up.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  11. The Overbearing Presence

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: The Overbearing Presence

     

    What I've always found to be difficult with implementing PRE as written and other Mind Control type powers (yes, I do consider PRE in that group, and I exclude Mental Blasts from the group) is that they don't work well in most of the games I would want to run. I would like to have Mental Attacks be rare and something to be feared.

     

    I can make the Mental Attacks be rare by limiting access to such powers, but in order for them to be feared I need to make sure that Mental Defenses are even rarer. So I can tell you from my experience that this does not work well at all since the Mental Attack characters will dominate.

     

    However, the same is not true for Killing Attacks. I can make killing attacks rare, but I don't have to make the Defenses rarer to keep killing attacks as something to be feared, and I don't have any problems with getting that to work well since the Killing Attack characters do not seem to dominate.

     

    The main reason why this seems to be the case is that with Mental Attack characters the people they attack and succeed against can become an extension of themselves for whatever endeavor they want to achieve.

     

    Now PRE is in between these two in this regard, but it is even worse to implement since the "defense" is not separate from the "attack" by itself and unlike Resistant Defenses, there is very few non-contrived reasons why the general populace would have access to or be inclined to have elevated PRE values (including the PCs), especially since the whole idea that extra-sensory Mental Influence type abilities are supposed to be rare in these type games, which there are many.

     

    So for games where Mental Influence type powers are considered common and thus their defense is common, they work just fine.

    But for games where they are supposed to be rare, not so much. And PRE doubly so.

     

    Just My Humble Opinion

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  13. Power Discussion: Making Adjustments

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Power Discussion: Making Adjustments

     

    That mollifies me somewhat' date=' although +4 is a big modifier: you'd only manage 1d6 drain for a 60 point power...[/quote']

    Actually, after all my analysis I did with Adjustment Powers (in general), a +4 Advantage for "All Powers of Single SFX" seems about right. A 1d6 vs All Powers of Single SFX is something I might allow as a GM (especially with the stacking effect with certain adjustment powers).

     

    Granted I don't have Hero 6th Edition, but I've been waiting for a thread to discuss the details of the Adjustment Powers to see exactly what has been changed. Thanks Sean.

     

    What about the stacking issue that was evident with Succor and Suppress. How do the new rules affect that if at all?

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  14. New Mechanic: Block Sense

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Block Sense

     

    No actually' date=' but there is, IMO, a much broader difference between Flash and Darkness than there was between FF and Armor. YMMV. The way I see it, disabling the use of a sense (Flash) and blocking the use of a sense in a given area (Darkness) are, though the descriptions sound similar, very different mechanically. In 5ER you could model a Force Field with Armor or vice-versa, with a minimal amount of adjustment, so combining them made sense. You can not currently model Darkness with Flash and vice-versa without significant changes to how the Power functions.[/quote']

    And that may be, but in my opinion the main difference between the two is how Defense is handled (more on that below).

     

    Also' date=' see Sean’s and Hugh’s concerns. I doubt there is a great way to price it without having one of the two common uses of the power end up being way too cheap or way too expensive in relation to the other.[/quote']

    I've adjusted pricing and I'll wait to see what Hugh and Sean make of it since they seem to be able to analyze cost/price better than I do.

     

    EDIT: Also' date=' your method above does not mention defense. Is there now no defense for Flash (or it's equivalent)? Or is there Block Sense Defense? If so, then you now have Darkness Defense built in with Flash Defense, unless you add yet more modifiers to the base Power, or have the Defense only work against Block Sense with certain modifiers attached. This seems clunky and over complicated to me. Again, YMMV.[/quote']

    This is a good point and I've been thinking about this since Sean brought it up.

     

    Why does Flash have a Defense?

    Why doesn't Darkness have a Defense?

     

    Why should there be a difference between these two?

    If my character has Polarizing Goggles that protects him from blinding light by filtering it out, why can he see normally vs Blinding Light Of A Camera Flash but can't see normally vs a Field Of Blinding Light?

     

    Perhaps I'm overlooking something here, but I don't think so.

     

    EDIT 2.0: Hope I'm not coming across as argumentative. I have to ask again though' date=' if the purpose of combining the Powers is purely for "Toolkitting" then what can you do with the combined power that you can't do, even more easily, with the individual powers?[/quote']

    You're not really coming across as argumentative. But I do like consistency. My earlier comment to you about combining mechanics was to find out where your "threshold" was concerning this. Was there any changes in 6th Edition where mechanics were eliminated and reintroduced as smaller components to be built up from that you also deemed as "adding complexity" and "for no visible reason"?

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  15. New Mechanic: Block Sense

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Block Sense

     

    But you can already "toolkit" either existing power' date=' and very easily. If you make a single power you have to "toolkit" just to get back to the originals. It is adding complexity (which isn't always bed) for no visible reason (which usuaully is). What can't you do with Flash or Darkness respectively that you could do with this amalgam of the two?[/quote']

    I would surmise then that you found the elimination of Armor and Force Field that was replaced with a single mechanic with which both could be built from also "adding complexity" and "for no visible reason"?

     

    Nothing wrong with that opinion. As I implied, just another way to do the mechanic.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  16. New Mechanic: Block Sense

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Block Sense

     

    Updated.

     

    This is not an attempt to "improve" what already exists. The current mechanics work just fine for what they are intended to do. It is an attempt to create a mechanic that is more toolkit in nature than the current constructs.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  17. New Mechanic: Block Sense

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Block Sense (Sense Affecting / Constant)

    Block Sense prevents a character from perceiving information with the affected sense. The sense is blocked for as long as Endurance is expended.

     

    Cost

    Targeting Sense Group (10 Points)

    Non-Targeting Sense Group (5 Points)

     

    Adders

    Lingering Effect (2 Points Per Second): Sense remains blocked even after Block Sense in no longer being used on the character. Effect lingers the total seconds that are purchased. The power's owner can choose to affect the target for less duration than purchased by only using the points needed for the duration wanted.

     

    Modifiers

    Area Effect (Varies): See Area Effect Advantage. Area Effect causes anyone in the area to be affected. It does not affect anyone outside the area nor prevent anyone outside from perceiving into the area affected (See Field Advantage).

    Area Effect - Field (+1/2): The Field Modifier for Area Effect when applied prevents senses from perceiving into the field of affect (whether inside or outside the area).

     

    Attempt To Combine Flash And Darkness Mechanics (Work In Progress)

     

    Thoughts?

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  18. 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

     

    That's flash. Darkness is 'obstruct sense'.

     

    Mostly because vision isn't normally listed as a power. It also has some cost issues -- you'd need quite a lot of drain to do anything, at which point the blindness would last the entire combat.

     

    Because darkness doesn't blind people -- it prevents them from seeing into or through an area. This is equivalent to being blind for people inside the area, but it's not equivalent for people outside the area.

     

    ...and there has been some confusion over how normal vision is 'built' and costed. It would certainly be a far less subtle tool.

     

    A nice point. I suppose even an AoE constant flash would not prevent people seeing into and through the AoE if they were outside it. (Although there is some support fromt eh 'suppress' power that suggests that combination of modifiers can make powers work slightly differently.)

    So based on this, a more correct name for this power would be "Block Sense" with two modes of operation: Personal and Area Effect.

     

    The question then is to model the minor mechanical differences as modifiers: Duration and Lingering Effect.

     

    I'll start a new thread to explore the possibilities.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  19. 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

     

    ... I don't know what else you would call "Darkness"? Disrupt Senses perhaps? I think that Flash and Darkness are here to stay (in name).

    Sense Nullification or Nullify Sense.

     

    Although, this sparks some interesting questions...

     

    Why couldn't Flash be represented as a Drain vs Senses?

     

    Why couldn't Darkness be an Area Effect flash?

     

    It is curious how some mechanics developed over time.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  21. Drains?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Drains?

     

    Okay so this may have been answered or I maybe reading it wrong. Why does Drain have no limit like the rest of the Adjustment powers?

    Succor, Suppress, and Healing: Regeneration also don't have a cap on effect (as far as I remember).

     

    But I do agree that Drain should have cap just like the other Aid/Transfer/etc...

     

    [thread=42607]New Mechanic Ideas[/thread]

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  23. New Mechanic: Movement

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Movement

     

    I think you have a great idea hear. Thou I run movement different in my games. I have a house rule in my games that makes all movements (save for teleport) turn based ie you can move x amount of spaces per turn in a strait line if your character has more than the common 2 actions per turn he has more control over his move options he can acetate faster ' date='turn more often ect. As a result if superman and the flash of my world had a strait race (both having a 60 move rate) in a strait line they would most likely tie but if they had to navigate a course with turns and twists the flash (8 actions per turn)will win hands down against superman (5 actions per turn) conversely the amassing worm hole man who has teleport can move faster then both of them as far as distance goes because teleporting can be used on every turn so his 60 space move x his 4 actions equals 240 spaces covered! In a single turn (to bad there is no velocity) as you might guess teleport cost more in my games.[/quote']

    Nice...

     

    I might borrow a couple of these concepts for later. (8^D)

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  24. New Mechanic: Movement

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Movement

     

    I think it's a good idea' date=' but trying to use Modifiers this extensively tends to make cost go absolutely crazy in one way or another very quickly. They just make the formula too unstable. I like to see the basic use of a power built without Modifiers, then have Modifiers come in when there's a significant change from the very basic use.[/quote']

    Hmmm... this is very good point. After finish fleshing out the final pieces for this construct, I might try again going another route in an attempt to avoid this issue.

     

    - Christopher Mullins

  25. New Mechanic: Movement

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: New Mechanic: Movement

     

    Why movement without movement type is a problem (potentially)

     

    Working on that principle you could buy (for instance) 20 meters of movement but only apply a 'movement type' advantage to part of it: you would be moving slowly but doing collateral effects as if you were moving faster.

    Not sure I understand. Where does my construct imply that you can apply the Movement Type to only part of the Movement Rate?

    Each Movement Type is considered a discrete thing and is applied to all of the Movement Rate.

     

    Is there a SFX you have in mind?

     

    At present 1m of movement = 1 point. Your actual velocity is dependent on SPD.

    Why?

     

    Basing movement on actual velocity means you need rules for dividing your move by phases...

    Even so, you would simply do as suggested by GamePhil and take the total distance that can be traveled in a turn and divide it by your Speed. This gives you Movement Rate for a single phase. And you would still have the option of tracking your travel over the segments.

     

    If the character is expecting his velocity to be zero at the end of his phase, then they are accelerating the first half of the distance and decelerating the second half of their distance.

     

    If the character plans to use non-combat movement, then they need to retain their velocity at the end of their phase and continue accelerating in their next phase.

     

    or you need to keep moving on segments when you do not have an action. That can be problematic.

    Allowing the player to track their distance per second and modify their movement path is a feature in my opinion. And see it as no more problematic than the current rules where a character can technically hold their full move until the last segment and move the same distance in 1 second as they would in 2 seconds, 3 seconds, 4 seconds, 5 seconds, or even 6 seconds depending on the speed of the character and when they initiate their full move in their phase.

     

    But that is just me. I'm sure that most people may not like doing all that tracking.

     

    To get the cost of (say) flight the same or similar to the current cost you need to decide what an 'average' SPD is. I do not feel that the current 'basic' cost of movement (2m=2points) is too far out.

    Not sure what you mean here. With the current system, if you have two characters with same running movement, yet the first one is Speed 2 and the second one is Speed 6, suddenly the second travels much further in single turn than first one, yet they both will move the exact same distance in the same segment when both do a full move on segment 11.

     

    Also - and I appreciate the overall structure' date=' but... - making a movement that is only rarely useful a +1 advantage feels wrong :)[/quote']

    I can't argue with that. (8^D)

     

    - Christopher Mullins

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