Vanguard

Re: Anita Blake Vampire hunter

While it would be nice to see a write up for Anita. I'd hope that it would be around Obsidian Butterfly that the write up was taken. I think it just started to get plain, odd, to say the least, after that.

I would give it a shot but I don't seem to have the knack for capturing characters from other media and porting them over to Hero. I keep forgetting important things (oh, like ED).

Currently, TwF is a "skill" that is basically a modification of the Sweep Manuever and all that entails (IE: You have to have Rapid, in order to move and attack with your two weapons, etc). And for 10 pnts, it's expense doesn't really justify it's abilities, IMO.

Now, this has, for some reason, always set my teeth on edge since all the other Game Systems I've played in has entirely different mechanics for TwF.

So, I was wondering if any of you have made any alterations to it or if you even use it at all.

Basically, the way I've been thinking about it and have envisioned it in my mind as working, is thus: When you purchase TwF, you can do just that. You fight with two weapons and each weapon is independant of each other. You don't get the "sweep" penalities because you're not sweeping, you attacking with two weapons.

Now, there are some restrictions to it, like you have to split up your Levels between the two weapons. So if if you have 2 combat levels with swords and decided to yank out that other blade you have to choose if you want to apply the +2 to your main hand, make it +1/+1 or apply them to your off hand. I you happen to have martial arts manuevers, you can use different manuevers with each weapon but you do suffer the worst modifiers of the two manuevers.

To me, this would best portray the two-weapon fighter since with the current incarnation you just can't do some things with TwF because it has to follow the Sweep rules (unless I'm missing something, in which case, this whole post is moot).

You would not be able to use the Sweep manuever with the Revised TwF unless the GM specifically allowed it, since you'd be dishing out booku damage if you were allowed to strike 4 times in a phase.

In any case, what do you of Herodom think about this? What kind of problems can you forsee that I cannot?

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Gotcha.

I got a friend that can tell me the composition of a Carrier battlegroup and, like you said, I can then go from there.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Gotcha.

Ok, going to take a little bit of research on my part then because I have no clue what each class of ship is capable of or what it's role in the BattleGroup would be.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

I can see the need for the Frigates and Fast Attack Cruisers to be stated out but do you really need the refinery/Mining ships? Those would be fairly simple and for the most part, unarmed. All that would be neccessary is a rough idea of the SIZ category and perhaps a BOD score.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Will take a look at it when I get a chance.

As for the other craft you need. Just let me know what you would like me to work on.

You're probaly going to have to edit whatever I create since we'll probably disagree on a few things (but that's a good thing).

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Hey, thanks for the invite. I've never used OpenRPG so wouldn't have a clue as to where to start.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

I'd be more then happy to try and help if I can. I'm currently checking out the site and seeing what's what. It's a very nicely done site.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Solid!

Thanks for the link.

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

There is that. I didn't even realize there's a new "class" of Battlestar out there.

Just assumed (yeah, I know, I know . . bad idea) that there was just the one and the newer Battlestars where just improvements over the original.

I think I'll go ahead and reclassify the ship class like you suggested.

I've also considered doing write ups of the support craft that would be with a BSG, since even though the Battlestars are powerful, they would still need escort and other types of ships.

Originally, when I first thought of the idea to to run a game like this I hit the net and scoured it for likely starship designs, etc. I also went to a site that I can not remember the address to that gave me some other ship designs that were just modifications of the Battlestar itself. (Things like removing the docking/launch pods on the sides and just smashing the wedge shaped front with the engine pods in the aft. Stuff like that).

Also, I was going along the idea of setting it after the Cylon attack like the show but have since changed my mind and thought it would make for a more enjoyable game to allow the PC's to somehow find out about the plan and while not completely preventing it maybe reducing some of the damage so that it's not a total wipe out of the colonies. That way, I can have a semi-functioning infrastructure in place as well as having the combat/Cylon fighting element.

N/t

Re: My Version of BSG Hero

Hey! Very nicely done. Looks like you put in a ton of effort into gathering and formating everything.

Good Work!!

I'm in the process of putting my own BSG Hero game together. I'm not following the show to the letter but it's where I'm gettting all my vehicles (slightly modified) and weapons and, of course, my antagonists. I love the new cylons and raiders.

If you want I can post what I've got so far. But like I said, it's not exactly canon and doesn't fall in line with the show (for the most part it does but I took certain liberties. Like my Battlestar is much bigger then the series (although I'm toying with the idea of reducing it back to standard) and I've got 4 different types of Starhounds).

Still, just let me know if you're interested and keep up the good work.

EDIT: When you're done with everything are you planning on posting the HDC files for your work?

Re: Life Support: How much is "Intense"?

If you want that interpretation, then you take megascale 5 AE 1 hex on the attack. It's still a finite number of dice, and far fewer active points than the alleged damage in each hex at the core of the sun.

 

A mega-starship which could take zero damage from 100 critical hits with antimatter missiles(i.e., 150 BODY each) would be vaporized in one second.

Basically was just being nitpicky. You're right with the AoE and that was all I really was trying to say. Although, I think that the sun itself would qualify as an AoE attack (especialyl since it could easily engulf the earth) so the point it really moot.

Don't you think a mega-starship should be destroyed when it enters the heart of a star?

Re: Life Support: How much is "Intense"?

It there a specific rule that you can quote me where it says that a planet must be attacked HEX by HEX?

 

I know that you could attack it in that manner, and in most cases that is probably what you'd want to do anyway, but I want to see were it says that it must be dealt with in this manner.

 

You could attack a door of an aircraft carrier rather than attacking the whole craft--but the attacker would always have the choice of attacking the object as a whole instead.

 

If you rule that large objects must be attacked in a "piece by piece" fashion, you would end up throwing out the current rules for breaking objects, and also the rules for breaking walls (you also end up making Area Effect attacks more powerful).

 

But then again perhaps there is something written in the rules where it says that things must be done in this manner.

Ok, pg 304 of Fred (Don't have revised so it might change things) takes about Wall damage (extrapolating here) where it says that a character that exceeds the walls Body has created a human-sized hole in it and the hole doubles for every +1 Body inflicted over the wall's base body.

Page 188 of Ultimate Vehicle says that for large vehicles you might want to consider using appling the rule for damaging walls.

Don't have Star Hero so I can't look up the section on "Target: Earth" but i think it says something similar.

I'm not sure there's a hard and fast rule that says you MUST do it like this, I just think that it would be more realistic (in some sense). And you really wouldn't be making AoE more powerful just increasing the usefulness of it instead of just using it to hit those pesky speedsters and/or the whole group of agents at once.

Re: Help in evaluating a character

It is not legal within the Hero system for the same Power to have both OIHID and Focus. One or the other, but not both.

Really? I could've sworn that it was like the restrictions on EC slots. Some of them are frowned on and probably not a good idea to allow but it's not neccessarily "illegal".

Re: Life Support: How much is "Intense"?

 

Note that about 51d6 KA is sufficient to vaporize the Earth instantly.

 

Does that above number account for the fact that you'd have to destroy each HEX of the earth?

My question is this:

If you have 5" of Running and then 5" of Running (only for Half Moves) then you can make a 5" 1/2 move. But what if you want to continue your movement since you only made a 1/2 move.

I'm thinking you could either move another 2" (or three depending on how you round) or your move is techinically used up even though only did a "half move".

Which is right or is it a GM call thing?

Thanks

Re: Pflager/Katsumata Series D Revolver

Nice weapon.

Only nitpick is that you don't list what the STR Min *IS*, just that there is one.

Other then that, a very nicely rounded weapon. No over the top in either damage or CV mods . . .

PS: Opps .. also might want to put 1 Charge one the 7.62 round.

Re: It's almost 5AM and I'm thinking about Space Combat

We've started doing what several of you hav already done. Just treated the Vehicle like a character (which is is) and gone from there.

We're working on Martial Arts, etc to be used with Dogfighting and a few other things to spice up the combats as well.

Re: It's almost 5AM and I'm thinking about Space Combat

Well, on a large ship, or one with multiple weapon systems I can see where you would be able to find something for all of your players to do. Especially if you have a lot of smaller craft attacking the larger one.

There'd always be a target available in the Arc of the weapons.

I just have the feeling that when Steve was writing Star Hero, he was thinking of things like Star Wars and Star Trek.

Shows that have, for the most part, large craft. Star Trek doesn't even HAVE fighter craft (that I'm aware of. Not a bit trekkie).

Again, I can't really name what the problems are because they don't become evident until my group and I are playing and we have to look something up.

I just don't think they are very well done for what they are trying to represent.

Re: It's almost 5AM and I'm thinking about Space Combat

It's kind of hard to explain and the problems aren't usually obvious until I'm looking up something.

It just seems to me that the rules are gauged for RPing fights in large crafts, not single person fightercraft.

I haven't actually read through the Star Hero rules since I assumed that the TUv rules superseded those. I'll take a look through them.

Re: All Flesh Must Be Eaten

The thing that I wonder about this genre, is how do you get around the general feeling of hopelessness that the Characters would be stuck in?

 

If you've ever seen the movies, the world in general is fscked, no two words about it. Unless you go outside of genre and allow for supernatural intervention/assistance on the side of the Living, there are no mundane means of defeating the Zombie hordes in the long run.

 

Particularly if you go for the far more grim Return of the Living Dead zombies. You couldn't kill those zombies with massive brain injury, they devoured the brains of anything that was living (humans were not their sole target, cats and dogs were fair game as well), and you couldn't burn them as it only ended up creating more of them (through the smoke from burning the bodies coming back to earth as rain and animating any nearby graveyard).

 

I just have hard time getting over these aspects. I had similar problems with the movie The Grudge, the characters had no hope, they had absolutely no ability to defend themselves against a supernatural horror.

 

TB

Actually, we got around this by making the Zombie infestation happen on another world.

All we had to do was get to the CDC center of the world for some of their advanced bioengineering technology (the full story will eventually be told on the GateCrasher's thread, this is just a brief synopsis) and then back to the Gate.

Since we're playing Cinematic-Heros for the most part, we had the skills, the abilities and the sheer "FRAK EM!" attitude to get it done.

Also, it allows us, when we just want to have an adventure or two or mindless violence, to just go there and blow of some steam.

PS: Your thoughts are EXACTLY why I didn't like The Ring. I couldn't put it into words but you did right there. The "no hope" thing is what did it.

For those of us in Herodom that have The Ultimate Vehicle, have you found the Vehicle Combat Section lacking?

The more I read it and try to resolve Vehicle combat issues that pop up from time to time, the more I feel that it was made for multiperson vehicle combat.

You now, Star Destroyer or Millenium Falcon type combat. Not X-Wing to Tie-Fighter, or Viper to Raider dogfights.

Has anyone noticed this or is it just me?

If there are those with the same problem, how have you gotten around it or delt with it?

Re: Build ? : "Invisible to Damage"

Whenever something like that happens to me, I always assume that it's an Achilles fight; the enemy is completely invincible except for this ONE flaw, which you have to discern and exploit.

 

Well, okay, FIRST I assume, in character, it's an illusion and it's not getting hurt because it's not there, THEN I assume, out of character, that the GM is handing me an Achilles fight.

LOL. There is that. And, currently, I'd think exactly the same thing. Previously, well, I would be tearing my hair out in frustration because the GM WOULD create something that none of the PC's could hurt and then realize he made a boo-boo and either have one of his Godawful powerful NPC's come and save us or something cheesy would happen and we'd win the fight.

Re: Advantagous sfx

I don't know about The Hero System of today but I do know that in Champions (Hero 4th) SFX reigned surpreme.

It was all about SFX. Now, you wouldn't get huge bonues or really high powered Advantages out of them but if Firestorm launched his Fire Bolt down the dark tunnel, it would light the place up and if it hit anything flammable at the end, it would more then likely catch on fire (would be up to the GM and dependent on the material in question).