Snarf

Depending on the specifics, you could use a reduced form of focus. OIF might work for a weapon you could produce at will but which could be taken from you.

I would just set up a different size calculation rule for each tech level and campaign setting.

What about the Killing-Timeist? The guy you discover doesn't care much about any of those three things, doesn't know a lot about the game, and just uses it as an opportunity to be a jackass or occasionally kill stuff.

And I kinda disagree that HERO is heaven only for gamists and simulationists. No doubt it's very through system has it's appeals to those kinds of gamers, but it offers something a narrativist (though a narrativist who still mantain a certain level of interest in the rules, of course) considers very important: flexibility.

Totally agreeing with you. When I used GURPS, I pretty much had to choose powers from a list. If I wanted to include something new, for story purposes or whatever reason, I would have to handwave it pretty often.

This isn't a problem with Hero because it's designed for flexibility with balance. It lets my inner narrativist and gamist cooperate.

Narritivist: 50%

Gamist: 25%

Simulationist: 25%

I don't mean to sidetrack the discussion, but as long as we're talking direct to video movies and blasphemy, I'd like to see a champions write up of Orgazmo. I would attempt it myself but I last saw it about 2 years ago.

o/` Now you're a MAN ... MAN, MAN, MAN o/`

If skills in a VPP are so much better than any other ability, you could require an additional +2 or +4 advantage, at least in situations where there aren't any other controls.

...while one requires a Perk purchase...

This sounds like a bad idea. At the very least, powerful mages should be costing more than weak mages.

First, if this is a concern, make fighters pay points for equipment, as there are already well-established, tested rules for such (Champions), instead of using a mechanic that doesn't fit within the game.

That's fine for a superheroic game, but you need free stuff rules for heroic games. Free or cheap in character points at any rate, you should still make people pay big bucks for good equipment or spell ingredients.

I haven't got a copy of Fantasy Hero yet, but from your complaints it sounds like there wasn't enough rules philosophy/metagame type discussion to make everything clear.

I'm not sure if this is relevant to how Fantasy Hero, uhh I mean The FHonebook, is bound, but my Star Hero book is coming apart after a couple of months. I've heard Hawaii is especially hard on book bindings.

I've heard this was done to make buying magic more like buying conventional fighting abilities. Fighters pay points for skills and get the equipment for free, so mages should buy skills and get spells for free.

I think the resistance talent would also work for this.

An entangle sounds good. I've seen him freeze guys in blocks of ice.

I decided to allow stuff like this in my games, when I decided to include a mecha/space fighter with a torch that tunnels through the hulls of starships. I bent the rules even more by allowing cumulative to be applied to tunneling, so very heavy defenses could be broken down, but it would take a long time. I bent the rules still further by putting it in a multipower which represented vehicle transformations. It's all a bit iffy, but I liked the idea, so I figured I would just plan the adventures so it wouldn't be too powerful.

3) Liquify Mode: Tunneling 1" through 10 DEF, Cumulative (16x, +1), (AP 70), OIF Bulky (-1), Costs Endurance (-1/2), (RC 28)

The power would allow barriers or wall-like defenses such as force walls and entangles of up to 160 DEF to be slowly tunneled through, but they would have to broken down at a rate of 10 DEF per phase. The slowness might be enough to keep the power under controI. I haven't tested any of this in a game yet.

I think the drain vs. a couple characteristics sounds good.

I Sneeze On You: Drain DEX, CON, INT, and STR 1d6, NND (defense is immunity to disease, +1), Varying Effect (+1), Delayed Return Rate (1 week, +1 3/4), (AP 47); (RC 47).

Fever, runny nose, watery eyes, and tiredness, and so on. It's awfully expensive for such a minor nuisance effect. Maybe there could be a limitation if the symptoms were controllable with medication.

If it's highly contagious, you could make the power sticky.

I Sneeze On You: Drain DEX, CON, INT, and STR 1d6, NND (defense is immunity to disease, +1), Varying Effect (+1), Delayed Return Rate (1 week, +1 3/4), Sticky (+1/2), (AP 52); (RC 52).

I'm letting my players take extra time to reduce the time modifier penalty. For instance, if they take an hour to do their prediction, they get a +5.

A duplicate still costs a lot of money in a heroic level game.

For games where I don't like the cheap duplicates, I've briefly considered turning spares into an advantage, so the cost will scale instead of being flat. Something like +1/4 for every 2x duplicates.

+10 DEX(30) No Figured Characteristics(-1/2) Cost Endurance(-1/2) Only for piloting a neurolinked vehicle(-1/2) 13pts 3 End/phase

Note: The Cost Endurance limitation helps keep use of this under control, as they cannot keep it up forever.

 

The same can be done for increased Speed as well...

 

This is Star Hero after all. Cybernetic enhancement is likely to be quite common. In fact, all military fighter pilots are likely to have such enhancements if they are common and inexpensive enough!

I just made a character with this power except it was +25 Dex and on a 20 minute continuing fuel charge.

Nevermind, if all those sorts of things are getting attacked much in your game, then it sure would be worth -1/2. I guess I'm more used to superhero campaigns than fantasy games.

There's nothing in the 5th Edition description of Healing that says it can't be used on inanimate objects, nor on both inanimate and animate targets. I know there's been some discussion about the latter (which I admittedly haven't followed), but "by the book" that's a legal use of the power, and hence a legitimate limitation.

I asked about this earlier and was referred to these rulings in the rules FAQ.

Q: Can characters apply Cumulative to Healing?

A: No; see 5E 75.

Q: Could a character apply Healing to repair or mend a broken object?

A: In the GM’s discretion, yes, provided that:

1. The Healing power in question has a Limitation indicating that it can only affect objects.

2. For complicated objects (such as computers), the character has to have a relevant Skill so he understands what he’s doing (for ordinary objects, such as tables and dishes, this usually isn’t necessary).

If the GM’s not willing to allow this sort of power, you can instead use a Minor Transform to change “broken objects†into “whole objects.â€

Q: Can a character with a Healing BODY apply his Healing to Vehicles, Bases, and other things that have BODY but aren’t living objects?

A: Generally, the GM should limit Healing BODY to living creatures and PCs (regardless of how the PC is defined — a robot PC could be Healed), unless some Limitation restricts this use. The GM might also want to restrict the use of Healing BODY to forms of life relatively similar to the character using the Healing — perhaps a character’s Healing BODY won’t work on trees or insects, for example. However, characters should be allowed to buy Healing specifically for other types of creatures/objects, defined with Limitations so that it cannot affect normal characters. For example, a cyberkinetic character might have the ability to make machines repair themselves, defined as Healing BODY, Only Works On Machines (-1).

This is the official method but do what you think is best in your own campaign of course. I consider the ability to repair objects and heal the inanimate to be either an adder or an advantage in my games.

Anyway, for dramatic purposes, you may want to make the damage from the attack a gradual effect if you go with regeneration for the healing. You could describe it as the target of the attack being able to feel their spirit being ripped little by little from their body as it feeds the regen.

It could be made into a continuous and uncontrolled effect. Hit them with it and let it keep draining turn after turn until it kills them and heals you. The problem with that is you would have to define a common way for the effect to be stopped.

Drain recovery with limitations?

Oh, I see! I just got confused by the completeness with which you write things. I normally just write that as Costs END (-1/2). You definitely did it correctly, I just didn't read it carefully enough and thought you were trying increase the frequency of paying the endurance cost or something.

But this makes me think of something else. Does anyone know why docking thrusters are bought with no endurance cost? It seems slightly inconsistent.

Costs Endurance Costs END Every Phase (-1/2)

I think you don't need this. Don't those powers always cost endurance every phase?

Other than that little thing, it looks super. That torpedo is scary!

Combat Agility: +4 with single Characteristic Roll [Notes: Used only in Flight based rolls.]_

I saw a system that was similar to this in Star Hero which might intrest you, assuming you haven't seen it already.

Enhanced Flight Control: +4 to Combat Piloting roll (AP 8); OAF Bulky (-1 1/2), (RC 3).

I'm pretty sure you can buy extra vehicles for +5 points with GM permission, and they don't have to be the same, just equal or lesser value.

Just change the rule and buy up the max healing if that's the effect you want. Changing the rule would be better than the equally illegal but indirect solution of applying cumulative.

Totally agree with eepjr, if you want to do this legally, your best option is to use linked regeneration. Or else you could change the concept some and use an aid, transfer, or whatever that lasts a few days.

Incidentally, I don't know your campaign, but I think there might be problems with some of those limitations.

Limited Power Only vs. Living Targets (-1/2)

How often are nonliving targets attacked in your campaign? Maybe this should be -1/4?

Limited Power Not vs. inanimate objects (-1/2)

Healing doesn't normally work on inanimate objects anyway.

Thanks everyone.

The FAQ settles it, -1/4 for the drain effect. I should have thought to check but it didn't occur to me that somebody else would want to do this.

If it's just your emergency food source, go ahead and pay for it with money.