Briguy123

Re: Need feedback on a magic system

Nice!

 

I like the Burnout or Jammed for simulating displeasing the spirits or the Gods. Very cool. I will be using that.

 

The diminishing limitation sounds good. I think it would probably add another -1/4 or -1/2 to the cost of the limitation to which it is applied. It could apply to any kind of activation roll (Activation, Burnout or Jammed) or it could also apply to the Requires Skill Roll limitation.

 

Question: Is there a minimum number to which an activation roll be diminished to? Say, the lowest it could go would be 8 or less....

Thanks for the input everyone. Sorry I took so long to get back to this. I am in the process of relocating from Nashville to Knoxville for my new job.

As for you question NuSoard, yes the minimum a roll can drop to is 8 or less. I just started playtesting with a group of friends, so we'll see how cumbersome the mechanics are in play. So far, no one has complained, but only 2 spells were cast during the first session, and neither character failed the burnout roll.

Re: Need feedback on a magic system

Hello. Is anybody out there? Where did everybody go? Why am I talking to myself? AAAAAAGGGHHH!

I am creating a new magic system for my fantasy campaign. Please give me some feed back. In the world I have created, magic is performed in one of two ways; Alchemy or sorcery. Alchemy is the creation of magical effects through distilling the essences of various substances. Alchemy is used to create magic elixirs or to invest physical objects with supernatural qualities. The effects that can be achieved through alchemy are useful, however handling the volatile mixtures used in alchemical formulae is risky.

The mechanics of alchemy are fairly simple. All powers take the "extra time" disadvantage with a minimum activation time of 5-minutes; however the delayed effect or trigger advantages may be applied. Powers must take the expendable focus limitation. All powers require a skill roll with a side effect. There is a -1 penalty to the skill roll per five active points in the power The relevant skills that may be applied are:

SC: Alchemy

SC: Natural philosophy

KS: Herbalism

KS: Arcane lore

PS: Brewer

PS: Apothecary

Sorcery is the manifaestation of supernatural powers through the assistance of spirits, demons or divine beings. A sorceror may command lesser spirits, while more powerful spirits must be bargained with through the offering of sacrifices or promises of servitude.

Sorcerous powers must be bought using the following mechanics. All spells require incantations and many also require gestures. All spells require the "extra time" limitation with a minimum activation time of two segments (the spell activates at the end of the segment following the phase in which it was initiated). All spells require an ego roll; however, there is no penalty associated with the active cost of the power. All spells must take either the "burnout" limitation (for spells involving lesser spirits and demons) or the "jammed" limitation (for spells involving divinities or powerful spirits and emons). This simulates the fact that the spirits may tire of being constantly pestered for assistance, and will ignore further calls for assistance.

Players do not roll for burnout. The GM rolls secretly. The only way for a character to know that the spirits have tired of rendering assistance is when the character unsuccesfully attempts to cast a spell after failing the burnout check. To regain the use of a spell that has burned out or jammed, the character must perform a lengthy ritual (lasting at least an hour) and make a succesful skill check vs an appropriate skill. Skills that may be applicable include:

KS: Religion (Player must name a specific religion, such as the cult of the sun)

KS: Necromancy

KS: Demonology

KS: Spirit lore (player must specify the type of spirit, such as fire elementals, household sprits, or animal totems)

PS: Medium

PS: Priest (Player must name a specific religion, such as the cult of the sun)

I also want to institute a new disadvantage, "Diminishing." This disadvantage can be applied to powers that have a burnout or jam roll. A power with disadvantage becomes increasingly difficult with constant use. Each time a successful check is made vs the burnout or jam roll, a cumulative -1 penalty is applied to the next attempt. For instance Wundagore, priest of a death cult has an animate dead spell with a burnout roll of 13 or less. One busy day he makes plans to animate four bodies. The first body is animated and he rolls a 9 for his burnout check. He may cast the spell again; however, he must then roll 12 or less to avoid burning out the spell. Wundagore animates the second body and rolls a 12 on his burnout check. He may now animate the third body, but his burnout roll has dropped to 11 or less. Wundagore animates the third body, but rolls another 12 on the burnout check, failing. The spirits will no longer answer his calls to grant unlife to a corpse, thus Wundagore's next attempt to raise dead is unsuccessful. How much should this disadvantage be worth?

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Re: Need feedback on house rules for my new campaign

I don't know. The warrior I made for our FH game only had a 15 str till I went crazy and made it a 16. I suppose it depends on your players. As far as the game goes' date=' the effect of a 20str as opposed to a 15 is so small I really don't see the big deal. It is the perks, talents, and skills where heros turn in to gods. Two of our guys got ahold of the evade ability and thats just silly. I guess it comes down to finding a spot everyone can live with. GMs want players they don't have to throw elder gods at, and players like to be badasses. If your players are okay with the rules then thats all that matters.[/quote']

 

Several people in the group I play with buy every combat related stat up as high as possible on general principle, no matter what the character concept is. That's fine in a high powered campaign, but my concept for this campaign is that the PC's are not a group of ubermench weilding items of great power and performing acts of world shattering consequence. I want the group to be composed of slightly above average individuals who have to rely on wit and skill in a world that is not always kind.

 

I think the evade talent is grossly overpowered for a Heroic level game. Certain concepts don't translate well from D&D to Fantasy Hero.

Re: Need feedback on house rules for my new campaign

The only thing I'd differ with you on is' date=' as HeWhoIsMatt said, the doubling of the cost of STR. If characters are being limited to 15 (unless it is 'their' stat, which is what my group has done in all our games) then str won't be too much of a problem. I doubt many non-warriors will have str higher than 12 or 13.[/quote']

 

In my experience, players tend to buy strength up as high as they feel they can get away with just because of the boost granted to PD, Rec, and Stun. Accordingly, it is not uncommon that the average wizard, who spent most of his young life with his nose in a book of arcane lore, can bench press a horse. I have nothing against the warrior-mage archetype who is gifted both physically and mentally, but I think strength in the range of 13-15 is adequate for such a character.

 

Fighters are even more susceptible to stat inflation. Many fighters dont rely on intelligence or ego thus they tend to leave these stats at base levels. as a result, 90% of fighters I've seen played in the past have an 18 or higher strength because strength was cheap and they could afford to throw a few spare points into it. I'm hoping that doubling the cost of strength will limit the number of PC's built like Schwarzenegger, especially those who have no logical reason for being so strong.

Re: Need feedback on house rules for my new campaign

If you are going to limit the Stat level to 15' date=' and enforce a limit on spending for stats. I would not bother with raising the price of STR. I have always found Dex to have a much greater affect on FH campains. Just don't let them start with any stat over 15 period, and don't let them raise a stat more than one point at a time with XP.[/quote']

 

I want the PC's to be able to have one or two exceptional stats, after all they are supposed to be exceptional. I just don't want characters to have multiple stats above 15. I'm hoping that setting NCM at 15 makes stat inflation cost prohibitive.

 

I also require players to spend at least 12 points in non-combat related skills. this leaves 28 points to spend on talents, spells, CSL's, and combat related skills such as Martial arts or 2-weapon fighting. I may put caps on how many levels a player can pruchase from any one category of CSL's (OCV, range, penalty levels etc.).

 

Thanks for the feed back!

I have decided to run a low powered campaign in a setting of my own design. Characters will have 50 base points + 50 points from disadvantages. I intend for the PC's to have better than normal stats, but don't want them to be that much better than compotent NPC's built on 50-75 points (i.e. Town gaurdsmen, Local priests, or goblin warriors). Where I want the PC's to shine is the range of skills, talents and perks they have compared to the Average NPC.

I have come up with several house rules to alleviate the problem of stat inflation, and I'd like your feedback on my ideas.

1. Strength costs 2 points instead of 1.

2. Players can spend no more 60 points on statistics.

3. NCM limits for base stats are set at 15 instead of 20.

My hope is that each player will chose one or two base stats that are "signature abilities" for his or her character that will be bought higher than fifteen while other stats are kept in the 10 to 15 range.

Re: Do you use the official Champions Universe?

The PBEM game I GM uses a homebrew setting. I try to make homages to various comics and other appropriate source material. I incorperated material friends developed.

 

The PCs are the big hero group in the setting, and run around Avenger level in power.

 

There are three fictional nations:

* Al A'Maraj (lifted from On the Edge/ Over the Edge)

 

* Balistan, a second world nation working to develop an

industrial base, located on islands in the Indian ocean.

 

* Gilderham, a postage stamp European country best

noted for heroic restance to the NAZI menace back

in World War II, and for the weird science the Royal

family has acess to.

 

No SHIELD / UNCLE like international police or paramilitary agency. There is a US superagency, but they're not very effective due to interagency rivalries. Most every reasonably sized nation has a national government sponsered superteam. Some are just PR or maybe disaster relief types, others are super-thugs.

 

A couple of more or less friendly alien fleets over head. One's a benevolent, noninterventionist, but occasionally bad tempered super-race of time travellers from the future who act as sponsors for the big PC superteam. Kind of like having the Guardians of the Galaxy move in with you. The other is a bunch of one PC's relatives who are refugees from the losing side of an ancient starwar.

 

There was a thriving criminal traffic in clone slaves. This was suppressed by the PCs and other heroes.

 

At least two demonic invasions have occured.

 

The children of ancient mythical beings are trying to muscle into organized crime.

 

Oh, and an immortal villain has spawned an eccentric family of covert superbeings. Something like Amberites meet the Adams Family meet the Wold Newton families. At least one PC is a relative that went public.

 

- Robert Edwards

Robert, you've been a champions geek ever since I've known you. It's about time you started posting on these boards.

P.S. Can you guess who this is? (Hint: Fish hate me!)

Re: A new take on "Deadly Blow"

Thanks for everyones input. I like the suggestion of increasing the limitation "only to do damage" from -1 to -1 1/2. Granted, regular 3 point CSL's or extra strength may be more efficient; however, I do have maximum OCV caps in place and I charge double for strength. I have one player who wants to play a character who's not particularly strong but specializes in ambush attacks. The player wants his character to have a high dex and plenty of levels, but feels the character concept doesn't justify purchasing martial arts to increase his damage. We were trying to come up with a viable alternative to the deadly blow talent as it was designed in the Fantasy Hero source book.

I am currently running a Fantasy Hero campaign and though I like the Fantasy Hero source book, it is geared toward a higher power level than my current campaign. One example of this is the Deadly blow talent. A character with 11 strength and the deadly blow talent can deal out as much damage with a knife (1/2d6 HKA, str. min. 4) as a character wielding a great sword (2d6 HKA str. min 17). While this is fine for a high fantasy setting, it doesn't fit the tone of the campaign I'm running. However, I do think the general concept of deadly blow (being able to strike highly accurate and damaging blows under limited circumstances) fits my campaign. Because of this I have developed an alternate build for deadly that I believe is less powerful but still useful enough to be worth taking. I would like some feed back.

The power is constructed using CSL's rather than a naked RKA adder which resolves several issues.

• Skill levels can only increase weapon damage up to double the initial value.
  
• The "naked attack power being cumulative with another attack power" issue is avoided.
  
• The CSL version can be applied to normal damage weapons as well as killing damage weapons.
  
• CSL's don't cost endurance.
  

The CSL version of deadly blow can be bought multiple times with each successive purchase increasing damage by 1 DC.

I have two questions about this variant. First, are there any possible rules violations associated with this version of deadly blow, and second, if you were a player, would you consider this version of the talent worth taking?

Re: "Yor Momma" one liners needed

Yo' momma's so stinky she turned a dragon vegetarian!

Re: "Yor Momma" one liners needed

Yo' Mama's so big that if she were made of stones she'd be a castle.

Yo' Mama's flail doesn't have a full length of chain.

Yo' mama's so ugly she could win a staring contest with a basilisk.

Yo' mama's so stupid she lost an argument with a zombie.

Re: Creepy Pics.

I thought I would resurect this thread because I just recieved these pictures. This is a picture of the largest alligator gar ever caught. It was reported to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commision last month measuring 8 feet and 2 inches long and weighing in at 240 pounds. It was caught in a commercial fishing net in the White River. This is a fish that could literally bite off a human limb should it so desire. Who wants to go swimming in the white river?

Re: Creepy Pics.

Any more info on these fish? This one is really cool' date=' in a weird way, but the eye of the blob fish kind of bothered me.[/quote']

 

 

Her is another interesting deep sea fish.

Re: Sell me the FH line

Now why should I buy the extra books for this line? Convince me.

Buy all the books or I'll kill these puppies!

Re: FH Campaign

Sounds like an interesting campaign, a refreshing change from the standard dungeon-crawl fest. I like the mix of characters you have. What magic system are you using?

Re: My Dee-en-Dee conversion!!!1

Why would anyone want to ridicule Killer Shrike anyway? I've never seen a post by him that has been other than polite and helpful, and I lurk frequently on this board. My hat of Killar Shriek know no limit, whoever he (or she) may be.

Re: New talents for Fantasy Hero

I wrote up a few of the 3e feats for my game. I'll attach the hdp file, but here's a couple:

 

Improved Shield Bash - the character is skilled at using their shield for both offense and defense at the same time;

 

Improved Shield Bash: +4 with DCV (20 Active Points); Only while doing a shield bash (-1/2), Only up to shield's normal DCV bonus (-1/2): real cost 10

 

 

Improved Bull Rush - the character is skilled at using his body when he charges. He can often force people back, even if they are larger than he is.

 

Improved Bull Rush: HA +2d6, Double Knockback (+3/4) (17 Active Points); Only when doing move through (-1), HA (-1/2); real cost 7

 

 

Disentangler - the character is unusually wiry - strong and flexible. It makes him harder to hold onto when grabbed, and makes it easier for him to get out of bonds.

 

Disentangler: (Total: 13 Active Cost, 7 Real Cost) +5 STR, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (7 Active Points); Only to escape Grabs (-1/2), No Figured Characteristics (-1/2) (Real Cost: 3) plus +2 with Contortionist (6 Active Points); Only for escaping ropes/bonds/etc (-1/2) (Real Cost: 4)

 

I haven't done a lot, but it was enough to get my group started.

Unfortunately, I don't have Hero Designer, but I like the talents you've posted.

Here is another unique talent I've come up with.

Aura of confidence. A character with this talent is the embodiment coolness in battle. Because of this he or she tends to inspire all friendly characters in the immediate area during a fight, granting them a +1 OCV. However if the character falls in battle, flees or drops below the required presence the aura ceases to have any effect.

I'm currently playtesting my Home-brew campaign setting for Fantasy Hero. One of the things that my players have requested is an expanded list of Talents. They like talents because talents can function the similar to feats in the D20 system that they are familiar with. The players are not as experienced at using the Hero system system as I am, and have trouble converting their favorite feats from D20 or designing talents from scratch. Having a large list of talents that are already designed and pre-approved would help make my job easier. To this end I am setting up this thread so that I can steal . . . I mean share ideas for new talents. I will post some of my own and hope that some of you will respond in kind.

My first entry is Environmental awareness.

Some people are so comfortable and familiar with certain environments that they can sense impending danger by subconciously registering small discrepancies in their surroundings that others would not. For example, Darleth is a warden who has spent most of his adult life patrolling the forests of Baron Gilcrest. In fact Darleth is more comfortable in the forest than he is in a safe quiet village. The Baron's forests are often raided by goblins who poach the local game. Many times, goblin poachers have set traps and ambushes for Darleth, but he has an uncanny nose for danger in the forests. Currently, Darleth is tracking a group of goblins who have slain and carried off a prize stag. The goblins set a deadfall trap at the edge of a clearing and concealed the tripwire in a stand of faerie grass. One of the goblins conceals himself behind the patch of faerie grass and mimics the cries of a small child hoping to lure Darleth into the trap, while the other goblins flee with their prize. As Darleth enters the clearing, he subconciously notes the fact that the faerie grass has been disturbed and the fact that bird calls have become more agitated. Darleth can't say why, but he knows there is danger ahead. Darleth eludes the trap, slays the lone goblin and follows the poachers out of the forest and up into the mountains. In desperation, the goblins set an ambush in a narrow ravine. Unfortunately, Darleth is not familiar with mountainous environments and can't pick up the subtle clues that danger is imminent. The goblins ambush succeeds and they leave Darleth bleeding and near death, fleeing to their mountain hideout with the stags carcass.

Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!

Oh, I didn't mean to imply the system was unplayable, merely that it didn't give the effect we wanted. If you like it, more power to you!

 

To take your own example, Theramin could take an extra 12 seconds and have a 13- roll, with a 16- chance of avoiding side effects, for 3 points, which is pretty good odds. It's not something that you do in combat, which was something I mentioned: a lot of the spells that were really useful were out of combat or precombat spells. But in a non-combat situation, 12 seconds is nothing. Given a minute to prepare, warriors would load up on extra strength, forcefield, and so on - but they still tended to rely on weapons and armour. As for traditional old-guy-in-a-robe style mages, we didn't have any. Those we started the game with either retired or rapidly acquired weapon familiarities and armour. and we had to outlaw spells with the advantage "trigger" to stop people racking up powerful spells that they could later call on. (as an aside, that's a good way to do "Vancian" magic)

 

If you want a system where everyone has "charms" - the blacksmith can melt iron with a few gestures and a chant, the local healer can heal broken limbs as well as charming warts off and so on, then this system will give you that.

 

Problems or lack thereof might also reflect the group you game with - in ours, the most active players were also GMs. We took turns at running and often had two games going at the same time, so the possibilities of the system were immediately apparent to all!

 

cheers, Mark

One way I limit things is buy not allowing players to design their own spells. They are allowed to pick from a limited list of spells at the beginning of the campaign and have to find, steal, or buy information in order to learn new spells. That is why mage guilds are so popular. The guilds tend to accumulate spell lore which is made available to members. Basic membership in a guild is a 3 point perk with each step up the guilds heirarchy costing 5 points. I have one player who has tried to break the system, but I am very strict about what I do and don't allow. Granted, this system requires more work on the GM's part, but so far it has worked well for my campaign.

Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!

We tried something very similar to this. If it works for you, then great. But what we found was that EVERY character was a magic user, which wasn't what we wanted.

 

If you are thief, why buy stealth and climbing for 6 points when you could buy invisibility and clinging for 6 points? If you are a healer, why buy KS:healing for 3 points when you could buy a good healing spell for the same cost? If you are a fighter, 3 points spent on a forcefield spell beat the hell out of 3 points spent on a CSL, while a 3 points for a 2d6 RKA, no range mod was a hell of a lot better than a bow and arrow with some points spent on CSLs. Regeneration was good for everyone and eliminated any problems with wounds from combat - either you died outright, or a few minutes later you were fine. The extra END for powers and the casting limitation versus skills simply wasn't enough to compensate for the fact that many spells offered huge advantages if you didn't have to pay for them. It wasn't huge mega-killer spells that were the problem (the minus incurred took care of that) - but combat spells in the 10-15 AP range were really useful, and easy to cast, while non-combat spells in the 30 AP range, could be incredibly useful.

 

cheers, Mark

Let's use the invisibility spell as an example.

Theramin with an ego of 18 decides to learn this spell but spends only three character points on it. He has a 13 or less roll but he must apply the difficulty modifier of -3 to it. If he only spends 3 points, he can only cast the spell successfully on a roll of 10 or less (less than 50% of the time). On top of that, there is the side effect that comes into play if he fails his roll by three or more. Rolling thirteen or greater is not common but happens enough to be a serious inconvenience if you are facing a dangerous side effect. To get his skill roll up to a 13 or less for this spell, Theramin mist spend 6 points which is double what it costs to buy stealth. So far, these restrictions seem to keep play balanced between spell casters and non-spell casters. YMMV

Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!

Do you feel that allowing Skill Levels would be too cheese-filled for this system?

I limit the amount of skill levels that a character can purchase, but they do add some flavor. For instance, if a player wanted his character to specialize in fire magic he might buy a 5 pt. skill level that adds +1 to the skill roll for any fire spell. In fact mages that belong to specialized guilds get a bonus skill level or two (depending on their ranks within the guild) for casting spells taught by that guild. This is included in the cp cost of guild membership. I wouldn't allow a character to have more than two such levels though.

Re: Magic Skills and Spell Penalties

I use -1 per 3 real point cost.

Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!

The issue I am having with rules for certain aspects of the world is not my biggest hinderance at this point it's the Magic system. Here is the problem that I am facing at this point

 

1. The magic system needs to encompass both Clerical type magic and Sorcereous type magic.

 

2. Do I have the spell caster buy the spells as a power or a skill that represents the spell?

 

3. If I go with a Skill that represents the spell do I charge more for the skill? And if so how much more?

 

4. Also if I am going to have the player buy the spells as powers is it fair to also make them pay for the skill to be able to use certain schools of spells or should I just use an over all magic skill such as Divine, Sorcerous, Nature?

 

5. I think that last issue that I am finding I have is that in all of this, is that if I make the spell casters buy powers for thier spells do I make the other Characters that do not cast spells buy powers for thier gear and what not?

 

I've been running a low fantasy campaign where each spell is bought as a knowledge skill. For 2 points you get an 11 or less roll to successfully cast the spell and for 3 poits you get to base it on your ego roll. Additional bonuses cost 1 point per +1 to the roll. However, I apply a diffulty modifier to each skill based on the real cost of the spell. I divide the real cost by 3 and apply that number as a negative modifier to the skill roll.

For example, Master Theramin is a member of the College Arcane in my campaign city who specializes in conjuration. One of his favoite spells is "Theramin's Angry Swarm!" This spell summons hundreds of stinging and biting insects that swarm around the target inflicting damage to the target and anyone immediately adjacent. Unfortunately, if Theramin fails his skill roll by three or more, the swarm attacks Theramin instead. The swarm is not effective in strong winds, it can't affect non-living opponents (i.e. constructs or animated skeletons), nor can it penetrate forcefields.

Theramin has spent 7 points on this spell thus he gets his ego roll +4 (17 or less). However, the difficulty modifier of -3 is applied giving a final result of 14 or less. It takes a bit of prep time to build spells, but I and my players are satisfied with the results.

IMO the benefits of this type of magic system are threefold.

1. Just as fighters don't pay character points for their equipment, magic users don't have to purchase the powers they wield, only the skills needed to wield those powers.
   
2. The more powerful a spell, the harder it is to cast.
   
3. Proficiency with a given spell can be increased independently of other spells, because each spell has its own skill roll. This allows one model the fact that spell casters may have certain favorite spells that they practice frequently and thus are more proficient with them.
   

Re: Sci-fi the 60's way: Strategic Space Command

I had the very model in the picture when I was a kid. It glowed in the dark. It was one of my favorite toys until I broke it. Hint: Never try to launch a plastic model with a sling shot. I may buy the new model just for nostalgia's sake. Thanks for the link!