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ImperialOne

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Posts posted by ImperialOne

  1. Re: 6th Edition Books on eReader?

     

    Tasha is right. iPad is best way.... using GoodReader: I have every 6E book in hardcopy and PDF. I can comfortably read on the iPad with complete preservation of the pages, one at a time (no scrolling necessarily required with a natural page turning gesture), though zooming in and our is easy. I get color of the books and artwork... and with the bulk of Hero hardbacks, it's convenient.

     

    It sucks not to be able to do Hero Designer on iPad.

  2. Re: Help! Phaser Disintegration Redux

     

    Though this is like arguing about what is and what isn't in the Christian Bible. I see things and interpret them one way and others see the same things and interpret them differently. I do try my best to filter what I am seeing on screen to a hero system writeup. Some of you might see things differently.

     

    Blasphemy! Infidel!

    Seriously, your points are quite valid and like all things HERO, there are many ways to achieve a goal. It's a matter of interpretation. My final phasers will be significantly powerful devices with 8 to 16 level settings (first three are stun, next three are EB with thermal effects like heating rocks, and the next ten are increasing levels of molecular disruption). Little hand phasers have settings 1-8 while pistols and rifles are 9-16. My earlier example would fall somewhere into that setting range of 7 to 16.

     

    Yes, Star Trek Online uses force shields. The medium of an MMORPG very much argues for this, though as a RPG purist, STO is hardly the same experience as sitting down or online (try Google Wave, works well)with friends playing HERO. Not to diss STO, since I'm like 6 steps away from Rear Admiral there :). As an FYI, while STO is all vetted by CBS (which manages Star Trek intellectual property after reorganization of it's subsidiary, Paramount Films), it is still not technically considered as canon ("soft" canon eligible for inclusion if needed per CBS) as only TV and movies are "hard/strict" canon per CBS.

     

    I've been watching the digitally remastered TOS series and the original DVD releases of TOS (yes, pretty sad and hardcore... fortunately, my late wife was a converted fan of all things Trek, except TOS... though she found Shatner hilarious). Even the phaser effects and speed gave been redone (generally spiffier and faster). But, that's revisionism for you and like all things HERO, subject to only the validity of your interpretation (as a GM).

     

    Cheers

  3. Re: Help! Phaser Disintegration Redux

     

    How about just saying that at a bit more than double your target's body that the body disappears. Not like you can Resurrect dead folk in Star Trek.

     

    Cost Powers

    75 Phaser: Multipower, 75-point reserve

    7f 1) Stun Setting: Blast 9d6, Constant (+1/2) (67 Active Points) - END=7

    7f 2) Heavy Stun Setting: Blast 10d6, Constant (+1/2) (75 Active Points) - END=7

    7f 3) Kill Setting: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6, Constant (+1/2) (67 Active Points) - END=7

     

    Of course it doesn't include the Focus limitation or the 0 End on the slots (Because I have never seen a phaser run out of power). I wouldn't recommend the Beam Limitation because phasers can be dialed down in power a great deal. They DO work on Force Fields (or the ones on the ships would be pretty useless against ships with shields). Phasers may have a bonus to OCV because they are easy to fire. To make a Phaser Rifle increase the DC by 2 or 3 on all attacks and give another +1 ocv and +2 Range mods or more if you think it's worth it.

     

    I wouldn't fool with NNDs or Penetration or any of that other crud. On the shows people weren't instantly disintegrated unless fired on by multiple people or if the phaser beam is held on target for a few seconds. That always felt to me like you hold the phaser beam on target til you do more than double the targets body (Killing them as per Hero Rules), then you do a few more body to clean up the meat on the ground.

     

    Really you don't want to give PCs instant disintegration beams. Making stuff to easy in combat and disintegrating PC's is not really fun. This write up can do anything you see in the shows and not be totally overpowered.

     

    BTW as I pointed out in that other phaser thread, the Marines portrayed in Undiscovered Country wore what looked like body armor which seems to imply that armor mitigates Phaser damage. Also Klingon Warriors wear body armor though it can be argued that it's for the knives, swords etc. I think that it is for both Disruptor/Phaser fire as well as physical damage. BTW you can use this to explain why Star Fleet officers don't seem to bother to wear body armor. It's possible that it's part of their uniform. On top of this I will point out that in TV shows one has only a short time to show the action, the writers just choose who is stunned and how fast it seems. RPGs are a different beast and IMHO sometimes you have to take our medium of expression into account when converting things you see in other mediums (ie TV and Movies). That means that its' a good thing that it takes a couple of phases to knock someone out and that it takes a few phases longer to totally disintegrate a body.

     

    I thank you for the thoughtfulness of your reply. I have considered your points, and it has helped me settle the matter for my purposes, though not necessariy in agreement with you. As such:

     

    I do make the interpretation that any single strike from an energy weapon that inflicts 3x BODY of a character/NPC/creature will result in vaporization by disintegration. This is fairly hefty, essentially -2xBODY. While incredibly powerful for an RPG, playing in the Trek universe requires some responsible behavior by players to avoid the abuses of such powerful devices... very much in the same manner players must act responsibly in using the toolkit rules that HERO 6E (and all previous incarnations) provides.

     

    My campaign tries to strictly adhere to whatever sense of canon (TV and movies) exists in Star Trek. The former RPG for Star Trek made by Decipher Games (which Steve Long himself had a major role since he authored the immediate forefather of those books back in the days of Last Unicorn Games) is an excellent source for canon IMHO since it all had to be vetted and approved by Paramount before a single thing was allowed to be printed. So, phasers are fairly powerful at the handheld level; they pretty much go through everything including armors, but are defended by force fields (AVAD with ED Resistant Protection defined as a force field or the like). There will be 8 to 16 settings available; setting 8 (max for the smallest hand phaser, the Phaser-I) would center around RKA 9d6 with some Standard Effect (say 21 + 2d6), OAF etc. No Penetration or other esoteric powers.

     

    In Trek, we have not seen any armor, short of a force field do anything to protect from the effects of phaser/disruptor fire. Certainly as far as starship combat is concerned, we see shields as being the only defense vs phaser/disruptor fire and even then, some damage leaks through those shields (hence my issue wih use of NND). In DS9, such as the episode Siege of AR-558, we see ground combat troops for both the Jem'hadar and the Federation.... no armor or personal force shields there. We don't see disintegration settings for ground combat, but it would be plausible that stopping the enemy doesn't necessarily require disintegrating them (more energy required too). Off the top of my head, I can recall several episodes throughout canon with disintegrations:

     

    1- Friday's Child (TOS): Kras (Klingon agent) disintegrates the usurper-Teer, Maab, who sacrificed himself so that a lieutenant could impale Kras with a kligaat (fancy throwing dagger).

     

    2- Wrath of Khan: Who could forget Captain Kruge disintegrating his vessel's gunner who claimed destroying the USS Grissom was "an accident."

     

    3- Aquiel (TNG): La Forge fires at a shapeshifting alien that was morphing from Lieutenant Uhnari's dog to ?it's true form. Poor Geordi had to ramp up the levels on his and phaser as his previous hits were not slowing it down in any visible way as it continued to transform and enlarge. He did finally disintegrate it. Reality check here, after the first hit didn't faze this unknown, shapeshifting and expanding alien life form that was in one's living quarters (after masquerading as a puppy for days), wouldn't you think you'd crank-up the setting on that phaser a little faster?

     

    4- A Private Little War (TOS): Kirk disintegrates an attacking creature called a Mugato. Ambitious seductress tribeswoman knocks out William Shatner to steal his phaser and bring it to the Village people (a faction that is in conflict with the Hill People... not the band) promising victory.

     

    5- Vengeance Factor (TNG): Riker discovers the serving girl, Yuta, is a genetically engineered weapon of vengeance capale of killing members of a feuding family by touch alone (via a "microvirus"... not one of Trek's best technobabble moments). Her target is the leader of a faction attempting to reconcile with the Acamarian government in talks mediated by that do-gooder, Captain Picard. Riker beams into the talks; stuns an Acamarian guard, and tries to reason with Yuta as she closes in on her target. His stun setting does nothing; he increased the setting to some presumably lethal level that briefly slowed and visibly pained her, but she kept advancing on her target. Riker increased the setting, gives one last warning, and as Yuta leaps at her target to touch him, Riker fires and disintegrates her. She vaporized pretty quickly here. I think speed of disintegration is merely for dramatic effect, sometimes it seems to take 1-2 seconds, other times gone wihin a tick of the clock.

     

    I can think of another 1 or 2 episodes off the top of my head, but it is not my point to draw out a Star Trek convention here on the boards. I appreciate the input and the alternative ways. I'll post my phaser when I neaten it up, if interested. Its going to be worth quite a few points, but that is not all that surprising.

  4. Re: Help! Phaser Disintegration Redux

     

    Just applying common sense to the definition, I would say no. ('All or Nothing' vs 'a Minimum of').

     

    I'm sure others may have differing opinions, and of course, like all things HERO, the GM has final say.

     

     

    True enough. It may well be what I seek for effect, so be it.

     

    ***************************************************************************************************

    Uh-oh..... In the description for Penetrating, it explicitly states Penetrating cannot be used with AVAD. I would assume the same prohibition with NND.

     

     

    So, back to square one. Other ideas? I guess as a GM, I could state NND (ED Resistant Protection defined as a force field or the like) with the additional Penetration quality. While It flies against the definition of NND (all or nothing), as well as the. written intent of Penetration,it's what I'm aiming for regarding reasoning from intent and HERO 6E is fond to reiterate to do what is right even if it reverses the word/spirit of a rule.:thumbup:

     

     

    Then again, Any other ideas?

  5. Premise: Reasoning from effect that Star Trek phasers, whether handheld personal or starship-based weapons, can essentially disintegrate matter (with Disintegration modeled in the recent Champion Powers as an RKA with NND of ED Resistant Protection defined as a force-field or the like).... how can I reconcile the Star Trek canon of damage leaking through the force field shielding as it is NOT the all-or-nothing effect that NND defines?

     

    Specifically, how would I be able to get a NND-like effect with ED protection that allows for 10% (BODY) damage breakthrough in "legal terms" per HERO 6E?

     

    Thanks in advance.

  6. Re: A Comment on 6E Presentation

     

    It must be a complementary color thing... The bright yellow on powder blue is very striking on the shelf compared to my other books. By the way, technically what is the precise shade of blue & yellow? Can I find them in a Crayola box of (64) crayons? What font and size are used? Thickness of paper? Color of stitching?

     

    Really :)

  7. Re: Traveller Hero printed books: Redux

     

    a couple of folks asked about picking up books later for various reasons' date=' at this point I still have 2 sets left, these are it... same deal offered earlier stands[/quote']

     

    I am very interested in buying a set. Will you PM me or email me at ImperialOne@msn.com with a list of products, their condition, and price?

     

    Thanks, Charles

  8. Re: Phaser Disintegration in 6E

     

    My intent was to simulate the effects seen on TV/movies instead of design for play balance. Hey, phasers can kill.. sorry, time to deign another character with HD.

     

    In the case of armor, despite the fact that it is not unprecedented to see in Star Trek (TMP, ST VI, Klingon armor in TNG), I will argue it doesn't stave off disintegration at all. Look at all those scenes dueing the Dominion War for DS9 (i.e. Siege of AR-558)... the Federation is at war and in a dedicated grond action and they still don't wear armor.

     

    I think Trek has been relatively consistent (I laugh at the irony when I say/write that) that technology of destruction remains ahead of protection/defense.

  9. Being well-aware that Steve was a designer of Star Trek role-playing games in the past, and how 5E Star Hero's Multi-Purpose Energy Weapon was modeled after a phaser, how would you simulate a phaser set for 'disintegrate' in 6E while trying to maintain the canon of degrading the strength of force (deflector) fields with repeated fire (sort of flies in the face of 6E NND).

     

    Thanks from this newbie in advance!

  10. Re: Phaser Disintegration in 6E

     

    I think the point of phasers set at the highest levels (disintegrate) were meant to overcome any armor except for force fields. And in the case of canon, such as it is in Star Trek, force fields can be degraded and brought down after a period of time...

     

    Hence the belief in NND but the need to have some sort of rule to ablate/degrade barrier/forcefield.

  11. How would modeling the disintegration effects of a Star Trek phaser be done in 6E? Yes, its a RKA with an AVLD/NND (force fields). However, in 6E, NND is all or nothing... how does one recreate the effects of ablation to the strength of a forcefield/screen (i.e. shields weaken in Star Trek and eventually drop; though they do not "leak" per se at least for Body type damage),

     

    Any creative discussion leading to consensus would be welcomed.

  12. Re: Trek Hero PDF available

     

    Thanks for the acknowledgement, but it is your work... we simply are the adoring public. BTW, I do agree with AVLD for phasers (vs the NND)... it costs more, but it is more accurate.

     

    I'll sned some data over the private messenger in a week or so.

     

    Charles

  13. I have Adobe Acrobat 6. I actually still could not (by clicking the link), get the whole file to load before it timed me out. Keep in mind, I have a Asymmetric DSL line that is currently running at 412 kbps.

     

    My solution? I simply right-clicked on the link and select the "Save Target As..." and I got the entire file within a few seconds.

     

    As usual, great work with the ongoing tome. I was interested to see the alternative AVLD cost of phasers vs the NND. What do you prefer. Care to elaborate the thinking any further?

     

    Charles

  14. Your Request

     

    I do believe the LUG material is canon to the game only because a lot of the concepts were ported over (since the designers of LUG Trek and Decipher's CODA Trek are identical). That being said, let me provide you with the key points from the Romulan write-up in the ALIENS Sourcebook by Decipher released a couple of months ago (in CODA rules):

     

    Special Abilities (Racial):

    1- KEEN HEARING: The edge Skill Focus (Keen Hearing) for free.

    2- The DISCIPLINE OF D'ERA: Trained from birth to serve the Romulan state, they exhibit much dedication and focus. This allows a +1 bonnus to all extended or combined tests in which they participate. Additionally, Romulans aren't easily distracted and do not suffer penalites for distraction.

    3- GLORY: Romulans are preoccupied with appearing loyal to the empire. Those who place the empire over their own selves are celebrated. A Romulan with much glory is more likely to gain assistance from superiors and aid from supplicating citizens. As such, Romulan characters gain an enhance benefit from their Renown, improving their chances to persuade other Romulans. When making Influence, Intimidate, Negotiate, and Persuade tests involving other Romulans, the Romulan may add the full Renown modifier to favorably affect the dice roll. No special test is required for this bonus.

    4- SURVEILLANCE: Romulnas are encouraged to watch their neighbors for signs of disloyalty. As such, they are adept at watching body language and registering voice stress to glean additional information from their observations. All Romulans therefore gain a +2 affinity bonus to Inquire tests from their Observe skill. Constant surveillance also makes them suspicious, granting Romulans a +1 species bonus to their Savvy tests.

     

    SPECIES ADJUSTMENTS: +1 Strength -1 Presence

     

    The Aliens book has data and background for 50+ alien species (from Andorians to Zaranites, including Humans, Q, Jem'Hadar, Founder...)

     

    Charles

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