Alcamtar

He-man is especially appropriate since he never actually kills anyone with that magic sword. It is obviously STUN-only. The elves in The Silmarillion are absolutely champions-level superheroes, standing up to Morgoth himself. The portions of the Thor movie that took place in Asgard and Jotunheim depict a fantasy champions world. There is the anime interpretation of Dante's Inferno for inspiration. The comments on Youtube are priceless.

OK well here's a stab at it: Effect defined as Major Mental Transform 6d6 for 60 pts. It's at least major because it affects the target's nature, but is not severe since it is not a total re-write of their psyche, and has no effect on "adventuring" abiltiies. I'd be inclined to allow it to be minor, since choice of beer is a pretty minor thing, but BtB it must be at least major. The transform adds Psych Comp: will not drink any other beer or alcohol (total, 20pt). No dependence was indicated in the original post, although you could slip that in easily. Dependence would raise the transform to Severe. It is not an all-or-nothing transform; if one beer doesn't get you, the second one surely will. Major Mental Transform 6d6 (60), Reversed by dispelling a 90 AP curse, or by drinking something even tastier. AVAD (mental defense instead of power defense, +0) Works against EGO not BOD (+1/4) Limited Target: sentient beer-drinkers (-1/4) [brewing] 250 charges that never recover (-1) Extra Time: one month brewing time (-5) OAF: the recipe book (-1) OAF: immobile brewery arrangement (-1 1/4) RAR: PS Brewer (-1/4) [Potion] Usable by Other (+1/4) No Range (-1/2) OAF: fragile expendable beer (-1/4) Must be imbibed (-1/2) Charges never recover, so you have to sink 8 CP into each batch of beer. Still, you're getting 30+ addicts for each CP invested, which is a pretty good return. There are technically three foci: the book, the brewery, and the beer. I split them up above for clarity, but it is a single focus for rules purposes. A quick google search says that it takes about 2 weeks to ferment beer and another 2 weeks to age it before it is ready to drink. Thus 1 month to prepare. I guessed that 250 pints approximates an industrial size batch of beer, but really I have no idea. Usable by other instead of trigger; the one who drinks this does so willingly and brings it upon themselves. No doubt at the urging of their comrades who have already partaken. Base: 60 Active: 90 Real: 8 (-10 total limitations) Prohibitionists could make good use of such a book: get everyone hooked, and then cut off the supply! Actually this is pretty funny. A potion that only has the effect of getting you addicted... I don't think I would treat this humorously at all. I would leave it low key, just put it on the menu and wait for a hapless PC to try it by mistake, or have a drink bought for them by an NPC. Let it spread silently and wreak its economic and political havoc. A likely plot would be hiking the price on this beer, driving the other brewers out of business while enriching oneself on the monopoly. The guilds would be in an uproar, but as soon as they taste the new brew they would cheerfully "admit" it is truly better, drop their lawsuit, and change professions in shame. This sort of thing could spread nefariously and require subtle and speedy investigation to get under control. If the king gets a taste, he might even order the investigation halted. The distributor could run it like organized crime, they could break kneecaps and threaten to cut off the supply to any middleman that reveals the source. Eventually once everyone is hooked they could come into the open, though still protecting their "trade secret" in a fortified factory guarded by armed thugs. The R&D arm could be hard at work developing new "variants" like hallucinogenic beer, beer in pill or powder form, etc. But rather than being slapstick, or an emergency, I could see it forming a subtle backdrop to a campaign. Something nobody notices or pays attention to, or maybe they mention it in passing. Like everyone addicted to their cell phone or their morning coffee or their latest netflix binge. It's just known and accepted, and so enjoyable that people LIKE being addicted. Why change a good thing? Only if the pesky PCs take notice and do some digging do they discover the seedy secrets behind it all, and get themselves into trouble trying to fix a problem nobody thinks needs fixed. Just had a thought: maybe failing your brewer roll creates a tainted batch of beer that tastes... bad. Real bad. So bad that where before, you would not drink any other beer, now you would drink ANY beer but this. Sort of like how if a food makes you sick you can't stand it anymore. That could be another way to reverse the curse. A villainous brewer would of course need to test each batch on an unsuspecting victim to ensure any tainted kegs are destroyed and not distributed.

Agreed. When it is well balanced it is a lot of fun and works very well. OP asked about pitfalls. One pitfall is thinking you can easily mix heroic FH materials into a superheroic game. Not saying it can't be done, but that I failed to make it work smoothly. At this point I think it is a trap that looks easy but may be difficult or impossible. (And if folks here disagree, I would love practical advice on how to pull it off.) Another pitfall is expecting it to work like "other games you may have played." There are few games offering "superheroic" levels of play. D&D scales smoothly, while Hero is more like two different games in one book. Both end up being a completely different game at high levels; the in-between is the gotcha, and how they work at high levels is different. Anyway I wanted to not just name these issues but explain a bit about why.

I started a game like this, with a solo ~400 pt character running through a moderately high level D&D module (X4). Since it was a solo PC we targeted around 10th level equivalent elf, expert at both combat and magic. It is easy to sink that many points into a FH character, and he looks really good on paper, and fits my idea of what a high level character should be capable of. He is a good match for the larger monsters. He was able to take on a wizard mounted on a wyvern and three trolls simultaneously, and basically one-shotted a dragon. But the vast majority of fantasy monsters in the bestiary are far outclassed, not to mention entire armies. In practice that means either I rewrite them to be tougher (thus negating the "high level" effect), or fights with lesser foes become dull. Dull in the sense of the PC being virtually invulnerable, so it becomes an exercise in dice rolling with a predictable outcome (or being hand-waved). One idea I considered was using Champions villains (from books or websitse) and re-skinning them as fantasy characters and monsters. That would save some effort in designing characters from scratch as they are already at a superheroic level. But this runs into a different problem, in that the PC is designed around heroic fantasy tropes, so certain aspects of the character (defenses for example) would be under-powered when facing an actual superhero built to Champions standards. We may pick that game back up if time permits, and I think its salvagable, but it's more work than I expected because nearly all the foes need to be custom-built to be interesting, and the module is really not useful as written since everything must be redesigned. So against suitable foes it works very well and is a lot of fun. But if you want a high-level D&D feel -- or if you want to make broad use of the bestiary and other resources -- then I don't think it does as well, unless you are careful to limit character power to stay within typical heroic parameters. Orcs can't whittle away at superheroes like they can in D&D because Hero characters don't have enough BODY, that level of invulnerability is necessary. I guess the gotcha in my experience is that the Fantasy Hero resources are not applicable, and (at least in my case) the Champions resources are not applicable.

I really like GURPS magic; it feels both realistic and "tight" (for lack of a better description), yet has enough complexity to be interesting. But mostly I think I just like the powerstones and staves. And variable mana levels. And the healing/necromancy angle. And - oh yes - accidental demon summoning. It's one thing to say wizards use a lot of jewels, its another thing to define exactly how and why they do so, and to do it in a way that is not limiting. I've often toyed with the idea of a purely technology-based magic system. Essentially taking the idea of AD&D material components, GURPS wizardly tools like powerstones and staves, and magic items, all unified by an underlying metasystem like medieval alchemy. All magic is derived from physical objects and props: tools, components, jewels, staves, scrolls, potions. Incantations and concentration and personal END are useless and irrelevant. All magic is external. Stripping a wizard naked is a guaranteed way to take away his power. In such a system, magic would be just like technology; you buy it at the market, kings have research departments and defense contractors, wizards become engineers and technicians. It might lend a "Recluce" feel to the world. I tend to prefer multiple magic systems in a world, sort of like how D&D has magic spells and clerical spells, but expanded to dozens of competing systems. Ideally they all access the same underlying metaphysical rules, only nobody knows what those rules, only a particular tradition that can access those rules in a particular and limited way. I have done the multiple systems idea several times, but rarely gotten far with the unified metaphysics or really even tried; but I like the idea. In terms of flavor I really gravitate toward a dark medieval flavor, with demons and alchemists and curses and ancient forbidden tomes, but also paladins and holy hermits and stuff. High fantasy with (potentially) super powerful wizards, but a world that fears and avoids magic rather than benefitting from it. Worlds steeped in magic, or that get too gonzo with the planes and stuff, I think lose their flavor. A nice way to make magic powerful yet rare is to make it horribly dangerous. I have a soft spot for warhammer for this reason, with its necromantic decrepitude, sorcerous insanity... and then there is GURPS with its accidential demons and "Umana" accidents. I did a magic system once (not for Hero) that was authority-based. The Creator made a bunch of gods and demons and elementals and delegated his authority to them, and they in turn can delegate to wizards or priests. Authority means you simply will it, and it becomes so. It is not about effort or technique, but having the "right" to command and order things. Knowledge comes into play because you can only command what you know of and understand. But mortal authority usually comes with strings attached, thus magical traditions and limitations; multiple levels of delegation are all cumulative with respect to limitation. All creatures are born with authority to command their own body; everything else must be acquired through relationship with other entities. It was an interesting idea to toy with, especially for creating hierarchies of planar entities, but hard to define mechanically. I like alignments, not necessarily AD&D alignments, but I think it adds a mystical air to magic. I think elemental or political ("politics of hell") alignments could be interesting. You see Elric dealing with this sort of thing. Here's a favorite system, many here are probably familiar with in some form: Clerical Petition Pool: This idea is from an old Adventurer's Club. A deity is a Contact, accessed through a Faith skill roll. The cleric has a no conscious control VPP that represents how "important" he is to the deity's plans. Instead of casting spells, the cleric prays; the GM secretly makes a faith roll, and if it succeeds: interprets the prayer, designs a power, and triggers the VPP. Powers are invisible, indirect, and use no END; The GM is encouraged to use the minimal effect necessary to accomplish the request, and to do so in a way that is easily explainable by a skeptic. So, nobody is ever quite sure if the deity intervened or not. Except of course the cleric, who is always convinced of it. (This system of course requires a great deal of trust between player and GM! I have tried it and it can be hard to think of something on the spur of the moment. I found myself using a lot of raw superhero-like powers, because it takes too much time to fully flesh things out with limitations. It is also important to have a clear idea of what the deity wants, so you know when to say yes or no, and how to interpret things.)

I also wanted to address an idea for how to do D&D Vancian magic, if that is what you are interested in. There are three core mechanics that regulate spells in D&D: (1) how many and which spells you know, (2) the need to memorize them each day, and (3) how many times you can use them per day. In Hero, spells you know (1) are bought with points, and memorization (2) is the Delayed Effect advantage. Just like in D&D you can reskin it in Hero as pre-casting, hanging spells, enchanting acorns, "stacking your rack", whatever, it is the mechanic that matters. The time spent memorizing is the "casting time" in Hero, and delayed spells are released instantly. If you want a casting time at time of use, then either do not delay the spell, or create a custom limitation. A really nice thing about Delayed Effect is that you can take huge limitations on casting time to reduce the cost of your spells. Nothing about Delayed Effect says that you cannot re-memorize spells, unless you add a custom limitation "can only cast in the morning." How many times per day can be handled multiple ways. The simplest way is charges: X times per day. That also eliminates END cost, which is not present in D&D. But another (more fine-grained) method is to have an Endurance Reserve to power your spells, tuned so that it recharges all its points every day. For example a 240 END pool that recharges 10 per hour. This allows each spell to vary in how much of your power it consumes, at the expense of tracking END points and recoveries, and also when you're desperate you can wait an hour to get a few points back. Cantrips are almost free and unlimited while a single huge spell may drain nearly all your power. This accomplishes the effect of "use per day" in a way that is more reflective of fantasy literature, but it is not as true to the flavor of D&D. Duration from spells can be handled with Time Limit. A pure D&D system that would be very easy for players: Multipower with X-point reserve, all: N charges (?), Delayed Effect (+1/4), incantations (-1/4), gestures (-1/4), requires OAF fragile spellbook to cast (-1.25), requires light to use (-1/4), extra time 5 minutes (-2) [Campaign rule: number of delayed spells are limited by the charges in the multipower.] That says that you can cast N spells per day, up to X active points each, you can restrain or silence wizards to keep them from casting spells, and memorization requires 5 minutes with a spellbook and light to read it. X is 30 for first level spells, 45 for second level spells, 60 for third level, etc. You only need one Multipower sized to the largest spells you can cast. So if you have 3/2/2/1 spell slots, but a 4th level multipower with 8 charges. It would look like this: Multipower with 75-point reserve, 8 charges (-1/2), Delayed Effect (+1/4), incantations (-1/4), gestures (-1/4), requires OAF fragile spellbook to cast (-1.25), requires light to use (-1/4), extra time 5 minutes (-2). Cost: 17 points (4v) Shield: +2 DCV and 10 Power Defense, 20 active. (14v) Magic Missile: 1d6 energy RKA, Autofire x3 (+1.25), NND vs shield spell or power defense (+2), accurate vs DCV 3 (+1/2), 71 active (10v) Sleep: 3d6 Drain STUN, Uncontrolled (+1/2), Increased max effect x2 [36 STUN] (+1/4), area 4m radius (+1/4), only until asleep (-1/4), active 60 (2v) Levitate: Flight 20m, only vertical (-1), concentrate 1/2 DCV throughout (-1/2), active 20 (15v) Fireball: 10d6 Blast, area 20 ft radius (+1/2), 75 active [15 per 2d6] (10v) Phantasmal Killer: Mental Blast 2d6 (20), does Body (+1), Time Limit lingering 1 minute (+3/4), active 55 You cannot have more spells active than the pool size. To levitate (20) while casting a fireball (60) you'd need an 80 point pool, or you need to reduce the power of those slots so they fit (which is why this example bought them as varaible slots). For example, 5m levitattion would fit with a 7d6 fireball. If you want spells only to be prepared in the morning, use standard charges. If you want to allow a mage to rest during the day and recover spells, make them charges "recoverable after a 4-hour nap" or something. Cantrips are special, you can use them in 5E D&D at will, but they are weak. Creating a separate Multipower for cantrips allows them to use different rules: Cantrip Multipower with 15-point reserve, Reduced END zero (+1/2), incantations (-1/4), gestures (-1/4): cost 15 points (1f) Acid Splash: 1d6 energy RKA, 15 active (1f) Chill Touch: 1d6 energy Blast, NND vs power defense (+2), 15 active (1f) Light: Images +1 PER vs Sight, only to create light (-1), 13 active Cantrips are usable at will and require no END, but you can only use one at a time. They have a separate multipower from regular spells. As with other spells, silencing or restraining a wizard will prevent cantrip use. In play, this is how it would work: In the morning, the PC recovers his charges. He spends 5 minutes per spell to pre-cast spells, until he has used all his charges, selecting which spells will be pre-cast. During the adventuring day, casting a spell is as simple as saying "I cast X" and taking a half phase action to discharge it. As each spell is used up, it cannot be re-used until the charge recovers the next morning. If a player choose not to use all his charges in the morning, he can cast the spell at any time during the day by simply spending the 5 minute casting time, and can either use the spell immediately or hang it for later. That's all there is, its about as painless as FH magic gets. Cantrips can be used at will. House Rule: Normally all limitations apply at casting time, but a table rule for this system is that incantations and gestures and concentration apply at the time of release, allowing silence spells to be effective. The GM can tweak Hero as desired if he feels it is balanced and fun. House Rule: Since spells are inherently limited by charges, Delayed Effect simply accepts that limit and no additional limit need be applied. This construct can be adjusted a lot, but it is a starting point to show some ideas.

OK, some history, from one man's perspective. Back in 1985 when Fantasy Hero was first published, it was a single game in one book, $15 for 155 pages. In that space it contained everything needed to play, including a bestiary and a spellbook, plus some sample items and two adventures The 6th edition rules required two rulebooks plus fantasy Hero: $125 for 1250 pages. Those 1250 pages still did not contain a spellbook or a bestiary. Rules have been trending toward simpler and smaller. Many people do not have endless hours to read books, or a lot of spare cash, and they want a pick-up-and-play game. Savage Worlds was 150 pages and only $10, and was as complete as the original Fantasy Hero, and has been enormously popular, while Hero 6th was languishing. The size of the rules scared off new players, and the large minimal investment eliminated impulse buyers from giving it a try on a whim. Back in the 1980s Hero was simple, and it was grown. Much of the growth is good, new powers and better ways to do things, but along with the growth came explanation. Hero always appealed to tinkers and do-it-yourself types; the old books gave you a toolkit and let you figure out how to use it. I was drawn to the game (from AD&D) as much for its simple and lightweight rules, and the interpretive freedom they gave me, as for the mechanics themselves. They were easy to memorize. I enjoyed creating new modifiers or thinking up new ways to apply existing modifiers. Much of the length in 6th edition came from explanation: each power and modifier had pages upon pages of explanation, examples, discussing every possible way anyone had ever thought to use the mechanic and providing an official ruling for the correct way. The system was no longer simple and lightweight, there was no interpretive freedom, no creating new modifiers or thinking of new ways to use them. That is because in 30+ years it is well trodden ground, I rarely through of anything that hadn't been thought of before, and the 6th ed rules were the encyclopedic reference for it all. It was predigested. Fantasy Hero Complete was (in part) an attempt to go back to what made original Fantasy Hero great. It contains all the rules that were in 6th edition, incorprates errata and tweaks a couple of things, and cuts away the explanation to again make it "the GM's game" instead of "someone else's table rules." It should probably be thought of as 6.5th edition, and it officially supercedes 6th edition, though I believe it is 99% identical. It is cheap enough every player can afford their own copy, which was not true of 6th edition. It is much easier to GM in my opinion, because when I see a modifier I want I can just use it without needing to check every power and related rule to see if there is an official editorial on how it can and cannot be used. Still not perfect for me but a huge step in the right direction. For those that want a more complete treatment, the 6th edition PDFs are still available as reference. I avoided 6th edition initially, but after FHC came out I went out and bought the 6th edition rules and FH hardbacks on ebay. FHC is the game I use in play, the others are on the shelf to consult. In my opinion FHC makes the game playable and digestable. The rest is optional. Since FHC supercedes 6th edition, I don't feel like I'm cheating if I don't bother to look something up, and that frees me to just play. Also FHC does have weapons (p.249) and armor (p.248). Money and equipment is left out because most people have their own game worlds and don't use it anyway. I always found the old FH price lists to be useless because they had too much stuff to wade through, and because they denominated prices in iron pieces and stuff. At my table I just grab an old Expert D&D book and use that. YMMV as we used to say, but seriously use whatever you like and/or already know. If you are using 5E D&D, just use those prices and equipment. For weapons and armor, a good way to do it is mass(kg) = D&D gold pieces for armor, and real cost = D&D gold pieces for weapons. That way prices are directly tied to utility. Something else to understand is that not everyone likes how weapons were statted up in 6E. Older editions used a different weapons list, with different design principles. And GMs may need to modify the list, removing some and adding others. That is why FHC lists "sample" weapons and armor. In the end, most Hero GMs have a house rules document that contains all the non-rules information players will need: duplicate and adjust the weapons list, add other equipment, assign prices, make your own mini-PHB.

I like using roll high for damage and attacks, and roll low for skills, as it requires fair dice. I know I have dice that obviously prefer high or low and its an easy "cheat."

3d6 + OCV - 10 = DCV hit is what I use. When OCV = DCV (not uncommon), I use 3d6 >= 10.

Smartphone is a VPP, only one power at a time (apps are full screen), only for information/communication powers, takes 1 full phase to switch powers (wait for app to start) and an activation roll (do you know what app to use and have it installed?) All powers bought with: OAF fragile expensive, requires concentration 0 DCV (you are glued to your phone when using it), extra time: full phase to do anything useful, 32 charges (decent battery life but eventually it runs out), (recoverable charges if you have a replaceable battery), activation roll (do you have coverage), Side Effect: Mind Control (distracted by social media and/or games whenever you look at the darned thing) All that as a piece of equipment that everyone gets for free. If you lose it, you have to wait till next session to get another one. But I never meet anyone without one, no matter how often they seem to destroy theirs or how poor they are. People find a way.

As mentioned, a continuing charge is a good way to represent a very long term effect. 100 years on the time chart should be synonymous with "forever" in most campaigns - at some point the time scale ceases to be meaningful and shouldn't cost anything. if you want to burn permanent CP like you would with Indepedent, you could use a single nonrecoverable charge (-4). That way the points are gone permanently, and if you want to cast it again you have to invest more CP. Independent also makes the power entirely disconnected from the PC, so you no longer have any ability to control it or turn it off. You could simulate that with Persistent, so it doesn't end when the caster goes to sleep, and Uncontrolled, so you can't turn it off. A continuing charge is automatically Uncontrolled, but you have to define a way to turn it off just like defining a way to reverse a Transform. Could be a remove curse spell or something else. So: one nonrecoverable charge continuing 100 years (-1.25), Persistent (+0.25) Instead of buying CP, you might make it very difficult to recover the charge. For example, a curse that is only usable once a year, or requires the tears of a baby dragon to recover a charge (which I'd put at -2).

Nomunah, the Ghost Bear, is the Guardian of the Valley of the Ancients. The valley is a circular sinkhole in a tableland, ringed by vertical cliffs, open on one side to the outer world by a winding slot canyon. The valley is virtually unknown as the plateau is covered with thick clouds, which eddy and descend through the valley in a sluggish vortex, and exit through the Whispering Canyon. The Treasure of Nomunah is the Will of the Ancients, even their Testament, and is inscribed on the cliffs overlooking the valley in hoary and puzzling petroglyphs. The four thousand, three hundred and twenty-one petroglyphs are found at regular intervals on the faces of the rocks, descending in a spiral around the circumference; some covered in mosses and lichens, some behind wispy waterfalls, and others concealed by fog and protected by vertigo. The few who have found a petroglyph have neither understood it, nor been made aware of the others, for all must be known before even a single one is understood. Nomunah the Moaning One dwells in the slot canyon, where the foggy wind sighs and caresses the meanders of the canyon, his form obscured in the billows and his voice lost in the wind. Do not seek him at the shrine of Bear Rock, where the superstitious leave offerings of flowers and honey and fish, for he is not a stone nor does he grant blessings. Neither seek him in the cave of the obsidian throne, where the glittering gold of the ancients mingle with their bones in a deep cenote*, for he may not enter there. But for those with ears to hear, he murmurs the Song of the Ancients, of their Will and Testament. For the Song of Nomunah is the melody of the Inscription, and the Inscription is the words of the Song. And what is this Will of the Ancients? That their last Necromancer-King should rule forever from his obsidian throne, and that his enemies should mingle their bones at his feet. And so he shall, when the Seeker sings the incantantion of the glyphs while sitting on the obsidian throne, and thus breaks the spell whereby Nomunah is ensorcelled. The Seeker shall certainly have his reward, and shall be made an arch-lich and shall be a pupil at the feet of Nomunah, to learn all his black secrets and become his heir. For necromantic lore is his treasure, and power. And Nomunah shall cast down the Couatl that imprisoned him and the Sun, and shall bind them in darkness forever, and the Black Moon shall ascend and shine forth its black radiance, and the Seeker shall be his vizier and lieutenant. Such is the Will of Nomunah, the Ancient Demon, the Ghost who shall be Great once again. *Indeed, besides ordinary gold, the cenote contains the Dragon Orb, a head-sized crystal that stabilizes and strengthens the Dragons, but which also destabilizes and weakens Nomunah. If removed (by Gothormr for example), it will set into motion the inevitable escape of Nomunah, allowing him to immediately call and instruct some depraved and weak-willed madman to do his bidding. But a very clever seeker could wield the orb, such that when Nomunah is released he may be commanded through the orb. Doing so would require defiance of both Gothormr and Nomumah, and involves the weaving of a counter-spell into the incantation that releases the curse. Unfortunately that counter-spell was inscribed on a golden scroll, which Gothormr has already liquidated and lost, not knowing its value. Next: The Secret of Sorcerer's Spire

For a thing to be given, it must be acquired. So what can be given away but never acquired? What can only be lost? Virginity / purity / innocence

It seems to me that demons are just the SFX of a class of NPCs. To rephrase the question in this light: Normally, NPCs are sought out through roleplay and not managed through mechanics. For spirits, summon is a good way to get them in the same place you are, but now that they're here you still need a way to deal with them socially. Mind Control is the classic way to force someone to your will, but is expensive and temporary. More typically you'd build a relationship based on commonality, or lacking that you need to find some leverage. There are four basic ways to get someone to act contrary to their psychological profile: (1) threats or leverage, preferably exploiting Psych limitations. For a demon a threat could include something like the Spiritwrack spell in D&D, imprisonment, or some action contrary to their goals. Leverage could include non-mechanical coercion such as a Psych Lim or a True Name (which is probably a Phys Lim), gifts such as virgins blood or signing over your soul, possibly some connection like in Elric where your ancestors have made ancient pacts. In The Dying Earth, demons are trapped in pacts, and wizards bargain "indenture points" in exchange for tasks. If the demon wins back all its points it goes free. That sort of arrangement is pure roleplay, I see no need for or utility in a mechanical setup. One mechanic that seems apropos is Contact. (2) presence attacks. This of course implies some leverage and is basically a mechanical adjunct to a roleplay situation, but if you want a mechanic behind threat or persuasion, it could be useful. It could be enhanced magically. You could pull all sorts of setting or personal factors into this sort of mechanic. Status or authority could be worth a bonus (head of the guild? initiate of the third circle? has completed the test of the three vices?) and agreements or pacts could factor in. A handshake means nothing mechanically but may translate to +6d6 PRE when you want the demon to do something. Note this could cut both ways, an incautious wizard could give the demon leverage over him. (3) mind control. This is well defined and needs no comment. (4) change their psychological profile. This last could be accomplished via Transform, to add a new Psych limitation to the NPC/creature. Maybe the binding ritual is sealed by some gift or bribe (blood or a soul is classic) and takes time, but the result is a Transform that imposes a Psych or Phys Lim on the demon. It is very apropos to the Dying Earth: the BODY of the Transform becomes indenture points, and when the demon earns them all back through services it goes free. Demons and wizards are always trying to trick and swindle one another, negotiate how many points a service is worth (often in fractions), and demons can occasionally refuse outright; a wizard can impose a penalty (negative points) for a refusal or botched job, but ultimately service is voluntary. All of these except the Mind Control have a voluntary aspect, they are not puppet-slavery. I am of the opinion that not everything needs to be represented mechanically, and mechanics need not all be in Hero terms. (indenture points are an example of a mechanical accounting that is not Hero, unless you tie it to Transform or something) There remains the question: why does a demon allow itself to be bound? Can a wizard force the binding, and if they can, why bother with binding demons instead of just summoning and compelling them whenever you feel like it? You mentioned the demon being compelled against its nature. I think a key aspect of making this all work is to carefully define each demon's personality and/or nature. A random table could be used to assign traits or psych lims or whatever, or if there aren't too many demons you could create them all directly, or maybe there are classes of demon each with known characteristics. Whatever the case, you'll want to know what each demon wants (what can you offer it as a gift?), what it hates or dreads (what can you threaten it with), what its goals are, what its personality is. A lot of dying earth demons have interesting and distinctive personalities. A possible motivation for demons is that they are unable to come into the real world physically without aid from a willing accomplice. They agree to serve a wizard because the wizard brings them here and lets them manifest. maybe they have goals, or maybe they are just bored in the spirit world and enjoy interacting in the physical world. A classic motivation is that demons want to do evil, but can only do evil through willing human accomplices, so the agreement is that the demon will serve the wizard as long as the wizard enables it to do evil. A "good" wizard might have to bribe the demon with evil concessions, even granting it one night off a month to do anything it wants, in exchange for accomplishing good/useful tasks. A demon might be loyal to an especially vile wizard, especially if the wizard is a half demon himself, or worships a demon god. Conversely a demon could be belligerent and sneaky with a good wizard, always misinterpreting and twisting tasks as much as possible. Maybe some demons are no more intelligent than dogs and easy to trick into service, and slavishly loyal as long as you let them have some fun, but not especially useful; while the Einstein-level demons are notoriously tricky and unsafe to deal with, very powerful and capable, but it ends up the demon is the one using the unwitting wizard, only pretending to "serve" as he weaves a web and traps him in the end. Only very powerful, clever, and/or foolish wizards mess with greater demons. But even then, the greater demon might be bribed with sufficient blood or whatever it is that it desires. It may be that while greater demons are evil, they may become fond of especially wicked humans as servants and pets and proteges, and develop genuine affection for them, even develop a measure of trust in them. These are just examples. The more you develop the world, the easier it will be to define and play.

Conversely I would argue Hero already has AC, only it is called DCV. The only change necessary is to rewrite armor to provide a DCV bonus instead of PD. Of course the range of AC will have to be different since DCV is nonlinear.... but nothing changes in the game.

I cannot answer the question from a realistic maritime point of view, I suspect that this is going to come down to "real life considerations are not meaningful in a game." A good example is sleeping in armor, or for that matter wearing armor 24/7. In real life people can but they don't, mainly due to comfort or cleanliness or whatever. But they can and sometimes probably did, and in the game there is no downside. Gamers don't feel more comfortable wearing clothes than armor and they can't smell themselves and they can't feel the lice, but they definitely notice the disadvantage in a nighttime attack. Even if night encounters occur once in a blue moon, better safe than sorry. This happens all the time in a game, because gamers don't feel pain. Carry your max load. Every day is a forced march. Always sleep on the ground to save money on inns. Don't bother owning clothing because you never remove your armor. Choose the weapon that provides optimal damage. Speak disrespectfully to the king because you know his soldiers can't hurt you. Jump off a cliff because you know you can survive hitting the rocks. If you want to see a particular behavior, either you need very good players who make realistic choices because they are realistic, even though they are sub-optimal. Or you needto motivate the behavior with a reward or punishment that is meaningful to the players, as opposed to the characters. If you're looking for a reason to put in at night, and the players are afraid of land encounters... you can always setup nighttime sea encounters that are worse than land encounters. Maybe kraken only hunt at night, and only in deep water. Maybe sleeping on the ship is less comfortable so only half REC. Water stores need to be replenished. You need to check the ship for saltwater termites. (smiling)

I think Hero for me is a whole. I could point to various parts, but there are lots of little details, like how Concealment is used for both hiding and searching, or how normal damage is denoted by parentheses, particular point costs, or even even specific abbreviations like "RSR" or "NND". Even the dynamics of play are important, like the way CSLs can be used, the STUN lotto, etc. Some things like the Sweep maneuver I first encountered with Hero back in the day, and I feel like D&D stole it and 6E messed it up. When I think of Hero all these things come to mind. It is as much as feeling or mood as it is a set of features. I think 4E will probably always be my yardstick for Hero-ness, warts and all.

That aspect sounds like a Complication (that would be coupled with the power to represent the downside). Possibly a physical complication, but I think I'd model it as a Distinctive Features, only instead of being noticed when you don't want to be noticed, it is reversed and you are not noticed even when you want to be. DF already has a cost structure in place so you're just altering the sfx. The "make a scene" also suggests reduced presence - if two dice of presence represent normal everyday interactions, then buying presence down to zero means you have to work a lot harder (+2d6 pre attack) to get any attention at all, to say nothing of influencing people.

community well where everyone comes to draw water, and where gossip is exchanged job post where announcements are posted for events, wehre laborers gather and landlords come to hire them, and bounties are posted for wanted criminals a long wall overgrown with brambles where everyone picks berries in late summer, but in springtime is swarming with hundreds of bees and everyone avoids it wainwright who repairs carts and wagons, does a lot of business for the nearby farmers chandler who sells tallow, oil, and beeswax candles (everyone needs to light their homes) bakery and butcher (townsfolk have to eat) woodcutter who sells firewood in town. maybe he also has a business as a charcoal burner, supplying the blacksmith cobbler/cordwainer, there are probably enough people needing shoes to keep him busy all year. Gary Gygax was a cobbler. maybe also doubles as a general leatherworker who can repair saddles and other goods, make you some squeaky pants, etc. bonus points if the cobbler is an actual elf. (hmm, now I'm thinking the cobbler is a halfling named Squeaky) watchtower where a lone sentry keeps an eye on the surrounding land for wildfires and raiding parties. generally only manned on an as-needed basis, during the dry season or when there are orc troubles. apothecary who sells herbs and oddities, and who may also double as a healer. the apothecary is officially a disreputable foreigner and lives on a back alley, but most people respect him anyway and buy his wares. (thinking of the chinese in the old west, such as Kam Wah Chung Company in John Day, Oregon. In a fantasy world this could be a foreigner or a humanoid) teamster who hires out his team and wagon, taking loads to and from nearby farms, mines, or towns coaching inn. this is where the daily or weekly stage stops, passengers embark or disembark, and mail can be sent or picked up. could be a dedicated office, or maybe it stops at an inn. It could be a coach like was used in england or in the old west, a canal boat, a pony express type of service, the royal courier who carries the mail, or whatever else might link the town to the outside world. (this was replaced by a bus stop or train station in recent times. Greyhound buses often stopped at a diner or a general store, if the town was too small to have a dedicated station) the town hall might double as a grange hall for farmers, a miner's guild hall (or other trade), or a "secret" society like the freemasons or elks or oddfellows you didn't say whether the mill was a grain mill, sawmill, stamp mill for processing ore, or something else. depending on the local economy there could be multiple mills. if a stream is available water mills will be preferred, probably with a duck/goose pond; a windmill if there is no water; or a horse mill if neither wind or water is available

Do you consider DEX 23 and CV 8 outside the heroic range? You don't hit superhuman until DEX 30 according to 6e so that's still well within heroic range. In my games the average is a bit lower, probably 15-20. But it is really easy to hit CV 8. I'd peg average CV around 6-7, but once you add skill levels it's in the 8-10 range, so 8 seems like a pretty good approximation.

Ah, thanks for that, I wasn't understanding the reason for the 3 pt. The player IS using these with martial arts and creative tactics, and could also throw the weapon. I agree, 3 pt is the way to go here. I don't understand your use of "only for strike" -- isn't that implied in the Offsensive PSL?

I think that interpretation of Independent is kind of extreme. It's like a GM punishing a player for using a wish by deliberately twisting it. If it's the same as an 8- activation roll (and that is a clever observation!), then it should be equivalent to not having access 75% of the time... that's not the same as permanent. If I keep it for a session and then you take it away, you should give it back around the fifth session, or refund me the points I spent at that time. (yes I refund points in some situations, or replace in kind) My interpretation is thus: an independent item means you CAN lose it, not that you WILL. In all likelihood it will be stolen, lost, and otherwise removed, but that doesn't mean you can't get it back with some effort, nor that you can't prevent such loss with care. A big part of independent is the paranoia factor as well: ti is said that a rich man is never truly free or relaxed, because he is worried about losing this wealth. Likewise the owner of an artifact is constantly worried about loss: keeping it safe, not flashing it around, never letting it out of his sight. The player can create his own hell in this regard. Similarly, if I send assassins to kill you and take your shiny stuff, now I'm treating Independent as a hunted with deadly force. Hunted doesn't mean I absolutely WILL kill you, it just means I'm going to make your life difficult in certain ways. As far as I'm concerned, if it is complicating your life and negatively affecting your choice of actions then you are getting value for the limitation. An item that is NOT independent is part of the character: you can never lose it. Even if it if stolen or lost or destroyed, you will get it back, guaranteed. Wonder woman never (permanently) loses her lasso, and you will similarly never lose your non-independent magic sword. I consider that all equipment purchased with money or given gratis as treasure is Independent. It is all fair game. If as GM I feel you have too much magic, I am free to take or destroy any and all of your independent items, and you cannot complain. Independent means they don't belong to you, and you only keep them as long as I permit it. Likewise if I give you points-as-treasure (for example 10 CP worth of dragon hide) then any item you create with it MUST be independent. Easy come, easy go, you do NOT get to add those points to your character sheet. This is my preferred way of paying for magic items, not actual character points. If you spend points on an Independent item and then I remove it permanently, I will replace it with similar-value item at some point or maybe refund the points after a time. Sort of like a "floating mystery item" that you only sometimes have access to. You will get the use of your points, just not always when or how you'd choose. In short, I love Independent. It is a complex and useful limitation, is properly valued, creates proper expectations for players (similar to all other fantasy games, and in contrast to superhero games), and takes away the players' right to complain about the GM taking away or shuffling his magic. That latter is really a nice feature, unlike some games where players feel attached and entitled to their items. If it's really a signature item you never want to lose, then pony up and buy off the limitation.

That's not the difficulty, and I already addressed that with the player. (We're probably going to reduce it to +2 or +4). My question was more whether this was a legal way to build it, and whether I was calculating the points correctly. It seems clear that it is the correct power (per the thread Hyper-Man linked), but I am allowing too many limitations on it. I suspect that the 1 point PSL is the correct one, since "offset hit location with a specific weapon" is the explicit example given in the book for it. Nothing stops the player from just taking these PSLs directly instead of attached to the item. But I think that allowing OAF on a PSL that is already designed to use a specific weapon is doubling up. It doesn't add any further limitation to what is already built into the PSL. So that would give me: PSL +8 to offset hit location, real weapon (-1/4), cost: 6 The real weapon is still a limitation in that if the weapon is not maintained, the PSL could be reduced or lost.

I did a search (admittedly cursory) and couldn't find a thread on this, but after a game last night we got to talking about points and someone remarked that they are useless for balance. Why do we have them at all? Why not just make up stuff like you do in D&D or GURPS or Fudge? I am sure this has been discussed to death many times over, and my purpose here is not to kick the hornet's nest. After discussing this its on my mind and actually comes up every time I play Hero. I would love to lay it to rest and don't know how. We discussed dumping points completely and just making point-less characters, but then we have to ask why we're bothering with the whole meta system if we're not deriving point costs, and that leads to the big question: Why are we playing Hero at all? The answer of course is that we like Hero, and the point system actually is fun. But it needs to have a purpose, and it needs to work as advertised. If everything always boils down to GM discretion, GM override, and GM fiat, then there really is no point. Every time the question comes up about balance, everyone says it has to be manually balanced by the GM. It strikes me as a dodge rather than an answer. So I am looking for perspective and possibly fixes. If there are great threads you can point me to I would be interested in reading up on this. If anyone has a great idea or a fix I'd love to hear about it. To provide some focus: (1) The whole "point" of a point system is balance. In theory you could tell players you have X points, go build characters, and you'll get back balanced characters. That works brilliantly in Savage Worlds, I seem to recall it working in GURPS, and it probably does in most point based games... but it doesn't seem to work in Hero. Or is that just perception? Does it work 95% of the time and I'm not noticing? How effective is Hero at points balance in your opinion? (2) Was there ever an edition of Hero that the point balance was effective? I pretty much started with 4E and maybe this worked better in the earliest editions. I am wondering how we even got to this point... I'm guessing evolution.Hero has grown dramatically in complexity over the years. It's been patched and re-patched, reinvented, re-balanced, re-scaled. Has balance improved or gone awry? It seems to me that most issues seem to arise out of "newer" mechanics like Penalty Skill Levels and such, but maybe not. (3) Is Hero too complex? Are there are so many moving parts maybe it can't be fully balanced because nobody fully understands all the nuances and dynamics? Lack of understanding seems unlikely, as some here have been playing it for more than three decades. (4) Can it be fixed? This is the million dollar question. By fixed I mean that: there are no gaping holes to create an unbalanced character, and all characters built on X points are reasonably balanced with one another, at least enough that the game doesn't completely break down. Some inequality is desirable, but there should be compatibility and the character should all be able to work side by side or against each other without major issues. And if it can be fixed, what would we need to look at? I don't think it's a question of this or that power being a little off, I think it is more systemic and fundamental. For example, the meta-rules behind the system... is the game (cost/effect/both) geometric or linear, and how does that affect things? Modifier arithmetic is assymetric and non-associative and gives diminishing returns; that limits the system, but is it meaningful to the question of balance? Most of the powers are essentially duplicates or special cases of a few underlying meta-powers, should that be fixed? Is the design of the system itself baroque or inelegant or working against itself? Part of this question is: if there are no limits and no sacred cows, how would you address THIS issue? Or would you address it at all? (5) I guess for completeness, another possibility is that there is a mode or approach for which it does "work." Or maybe balance is not the intent at all, that it is meant to be only a toolkit and not a complete game. I can't help thinking that it was not always this way. I think that about sums it up.

Can you put PSLs in a magic item? If so, do the OAF, STR min and similar limitations apply or are those only on the damage part? A player added +8 to offset hit location penalties, effectively doubling weapon damage for only 2 CP. This seems like it should be illegal! I thought you had to use at least 5 pt CSLs in a power, but Hero Designer allowed 1 pt PSLs without complaint. Edit: oops, posted from phone and messed up subject line, apparently I cannot edit it. (shrug)