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Citizen Keen

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Posts posted by Citizen Keen

  1. Re: How far to stretch a core system?

     

    I think a lot of the "HERO is sacrosanct" mentality stems from a need for a Unified Hero Theory (UHT) on the boards. If we all were to start posing questions, and get really bogged down in our personal house rules, the community would be less able to help.

     

    Imagine the following post:

     

    I'm running a campaign and need help building the following power: I want a character who can, for short bursts of time, make himself virtually un-hittable in combat. However, in my campaign, Speed can be derivded from either DEX or 1/2 INT, whichever the player prefers. Also, DCV can be based on EGO. I've also changed it so that each character gets a number of actions per turn equal to their Speed, but they get to enact all their actions at once. I can't use Desolidification to make this, because I've collapsed Desolidification into Extra Dimensional Movement, and I'm not allowing EDM in this part of the city, where there's a huge Suppress EDM. Should I build this as 100% Damage Reduction? And how much should the Damage Reduction cost, since I've gotten rid of Killing Attacks in my game, so there's no Resistant Defenses any more. And by the way, Strength costs 2 points.

     

    Not an easy one to answer. Solvable, but harder than if we all operate with a UHT. People are more than welcome to toolkit in their games, I just think that on the boards, for ease of communication, we generally abide by the notion that 5R is infallible, save for certain threads discussing the merits of certain rules, in order to salvage some sanity in regards to the rules.

  2. Re: HERO System question

     

    The general rule I've noticed is that characters in Heroic games can buy things with money, but only normal things.

     

    To use a Fantasy specific example, Fred the Barbarian can use a normal ax sin Experience Points. That's what Fred does - he uses an ax. Fred gets a Flashy Magic Ax, and suddenly, he must spend character points, because it is relatively unique. Joe the Wizard has a quarterstaff, no XP. Joe the Wizard has a Flashy Magic Staff - XP. Normal boots, no XP. Magic boots - XP. Etc.

  3. Re: TK build question

     

    Or buy it as Flight with the Limitations Must Succeed With Grab Attack Roll Against Flying Character, -1/2, and possiblt No Conscious Control at the -1 level to refect that the character can't control where they're going - they go where the flyer goes.

  4. Re: My DNPC versus my Base's DNPC

     

    Agreed. But, I guess it comes down to GM arbitration. Many GMs allow the Power Skill to let characters make unique uses of their special effects once in a grand while. Would you GMs allow me to buy a Follower for a Base (and the Base has nothing to do with the game - it's a bar, with no secret Danger Rooms or anything. If anything, the alcohol counts as a Conversation 13-), assuming he's just there to keep out the riffraff and I'll never ask him on a mission (unless, perhaps, the Bases DNPC has been kidnapped and will most definitely die, in which case the bouncer at the bar might feel obligated to help). But if he never, and I mean never, joins in the adventuring career, would you let it happen? I jsut want to make a bar-owner as a character. Trying to get a feel from other players before I pitch it.

  5. Re: My DNPC versus my Base's DNPC

     

    Bases can't have Followers, per se. Any Followers belonging to the Base have to be paid for in full by the Character. So, if you want a Base with a bunch of Followers, those points have to be paid for by the character (1/5), instead of by the Base (which would cost the character 1/25 of the points, granted).

  6. Re: My DNPC versus my Base's DNPC

     

    And as a related tangent to this conversation, I'd like to know why Bases can have DNPCs, but not Followers?

     

    I want to build a bar as a Base. The Bartender is a DNPC, who makes good drinks but is otherwise a hapless chap. I also want the bar to have a bouncer. The bouncer would be pretty good in combat against normals, but would fall against Heroes and Superheroes. Would you allow the base to buy the Follower, since he'll never accompany my character on adventures?

  7. Re: [Newbie] Some help with combat maneuvers

     

    Sweep is in some ways a modifier of other maneuvers. The basic Sweep is, in fact, a Sweep Strike. Sweep takes any Zero Phase or Half Phase Maneuver, and allows you to do it multiple times. Doing it multiple times makes it take a Full Phase. So, a Disarm takes a Half Phase. A Sweep Disarm takes a Full Phase, to do many Disarms. Don't think of it as doing a Sweep and then doing a Disarm, which would take 1 1/2 Phases. Think of it as a completely different maneuver - a Sweep Disarm. Same applies to Sweep Grab, Sweep Strike, etc. Maneuvers which take longer than a Full Phase (Haymaker, etc.) cannot be Swept.

     

    That's my understanding, I could be wrong.

  8. Re: Absorbtion Burst

     

    This power sounds exactly like one of Dante's new moves from Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening. He has a "style" called Royal Guard' date=' where he can block attacks and absorb the damage into a pool that, when full, can unleash major damage upon enemies....[/quote']

     

    Not exactly. The power I want is extra strength that is funneled into the burst.

     

    Absorbtion --> Strength --> Burst

     

    Putting points into an EB is nothing. I want to absorb into Strength, and then convert the Strength into the Burst.

     

    But Lemming #1 got it right, I agree. Thanks, Lemming #1!

  9. Re: Absorbtion Burst

     

    I should clarify:

     

    First - the burst is a good thing. My character will suddenly hunch up, and BOOM!

     

    Second - I want the burst's strength to be dependent upon the points in the Absorbtion. If the Absorbtion pool is empty, the burst is 0d6.

     

    Third - I want to be able to control the points converted from pool. So, I can leave some in the pool.

     

    I'm wondering if I should do Boostable Charges on the burst, refilled via absorbtion.

  10. Re: Feelin' philosophical...

     

    Might I propose that is isn't so much that younger people have short attention spans as it is they aren't "ready" for Hero yet? My own anecdotal observation is that Hero is a game you come to after you have grown dissatisfied with your other options.

     

    I would agree with this as well.

  11. I was reading through the Ultimate Brick, and I was struck by inspiration. (Funny how that works.)

     

    I want to make a brick (duh) who absorbs powers, and is strong. Can do that so far. But I want to make it so he can cause a burst of power that drains his absorbtion pool.

     

    I can't figure out whether this should be a built into the Absorption as being able to aid STR or a No Range, Explosive EB, or...

     

    Should I build the NR, Exp EB with a Side Effect: Drains Absorbtion Pool?

     

    And if I go with the second option, how big a side effect should it be?

  12. I have a question about applying experience points. Say you have an Energy Blast 3d6' date=' Armor Piercing(+1/2). Normally, it costs five CP to raise that by another 1d6, but do you have to factor in the Advantage, as well? So instead I would have to spend 5 x (1 1/2)=7.5=7 XP to raise my Energy Blast? Also, if you have let's say 30 STR, and a naked Reduced Endurance Advantage for it, and then you increase your STR by a couple points, you need to also increase the naked Advantage to cover the new level, correct? Thanks for your time![/quote']

     

    This was posted over in Steve's Q&A forum, and I thought Steve's answer didn't quite fully address one point. (Far be it from me... blah blah blah)

     

    If you have a 2d6 EB, Armor Piercing, which costs 15 points, and you decide to raise it by 1d6 to 3d6 AP, that costs 7 XP. (15 for the 3d6 EB, +7.5 for the AP, which is 22.5, rounded to 22, which, minus the 15 you've already spent, comes to 7.) However, should you wish to raise the EB by another 1d6, it will cost you 8 XP, not 7 - you have to pay for the rounding sometime. A 4d6 EB is 20, with AP it's 30. Since you've put in 22, now you have to pay the difference of 8.

     

    Just thought I'd add that in, in case it wasn't clear to nbkbruce. Welcome!

  13. Re: Feelin' philosophical...

     

    Personally, I think the major difference between people in their teens and people in their thirties (those in the twenties can go either way) is that the thirties can go without the splendid graphics. Teens and early twenties expect splashy products, in whatever medium. They expect video games with good graphics, and roleplaying games with splashy covers.

     

    HERO isn't targeted at the 16 year old game - it's too dry. 16 year olds (as a rule - no offense to any on the boards) are going to go buy Wizards products, with their glossy, full color pages and wild fonts. Nobody in that age group wants a giant rules tome.

     

    My $.02

  14. Re: Package deal - no deal?

     

    I like Packages because it prevents players munchkining.

     

    I, the GM, decide to run a campaign in which players will hunt down vampires in their free time. It will be set in Hudson City, and I inform the players that I want it to be very realistic. Skills you have need to be justified - no librarians with 30 points in Martial Arts.

     

    Player A decides to be a cop - a good justification for combat skills. He buys PS: Cop and a 1 point Perk: Cop. He takes a 5 point Watched. Thus, he is a cop.

     

    Player B also decides to be a cop - he thinks the contact will allow him to discover where the vampires are hunting. He buys PS: Cop, a 1 point Perk, and the Watched. He also buys Interrogation, KS: The Law, SS: Forensics, Bureaucracy and Combat Driving. He buys a Contact: Frankie from Homicide, and a Favor from the Police Commissioner.

     

    Now, it feels to me that Player B made the more realistic cop.

     

    You can make the argument that you can't force roleplaying. True. You can also make the argument that it's the GMs job to ensure that a character fits in with the game setting - also true. Which is one of the number one arguments for Packages - they force munchkin players to craft characters who have skills that aren't necessarily immediately useful.

     

    No, you don't have to take the deal, but then, you can't be a Cop. Or a Firefighter. Or a Doctor. Or a CEO of a major company. Or a Dean of a College. Why? Because most jobs come with a built in level of expectations. There's no way you could be a CEO or a Dean without a good level of Bureaucracy. There's no way you could be a Firefighter or a Doctor without a good knowledge of Science skills (Firefighters study Thermodynamics extensively, even if only in its practical applications - or so I understand.)

     

    $.02

     

     

    I understand the irony of a GM demanding a realistic campaign about Vampire Hunters.

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