hybris

Originally posted by ChuckB

I'm only going with what Patriot told us and based on that , it sounds like the staff was ok working with super-terrorists.

I'm rather fond of:

Dr. Destroyer

Firewing

VIPER

Foxbat

Originally posted by Hugh Neilson

So, the fact that this is the most-viewed topic of all those #'d questions doesn't say anything about the ol' gamer stereotype, does it?

Originally posted by Glen Sprigg

Tyrannon the Conqueror (please, PLEASE update him to 5th)

The Mystic World: Lurking in the shadows of the Champions Universe is a mysterious world of magic, sorcery, and terrifying threats from beyond this plane of existence. The Mystic World takes you into this exotic realm, describing the nature of arcane powers in the Champions Universe and providing full write-ups for dozens of mystic places and villains — including the immensely powerful dimensional conqueror Tyrannon, the corrupt but magically powerful Vandaleur family, and evil African warlord Joseph Otanga.

Author: Dean Shomshak

Tentative Release Date: Mid 2004

Tentative Size: 208 pages

Originally posted by Col. Orange

Something else to think about...

 

A mage, knowing about your magical defenses uses magic to transmute air into high velocity plasma.

The plasma isn't magical, only the manner in which it was created was.

 

see also: magically calls down natural lightning

see also: throws sharp things at you with telekinesis

see also: ...

 

Have fun mage-slayer

Re: Champions Battlegrounds is great... But...

Originally posted by Mike Basinger

I think WoTC still includes stats for all the monster in an adventure, even if they are already listed in the Monster Manual.

Hey, that's cool enough for me. Thanks much!

What will the Grimoire's approximate page count be?

Originally posted by Alibear

When will it hit Europe?

D&D 3.0/3.5

Originally posted by Old Man

Since when did light fighters work in D&D? Admittedly I haven't played D&D for decades but the last time I checked it didn't have penalties for armor either.

It takes time to put on armor.

Armor makes you slower. (There are now three "classes" of armor: Light, Medium, and Heavy. Medium armor reduces your Speed and Heavy armor also makes it impossible to run.)

Hm. By the way, I'm pretty sure that heavy armor reduced your speed even in some earlier editions of the game...

The heavier and bulkier the armor, the less you can depend on your reflexes for protection. (Every armor has a Maximum Dex statistic. This is the maximum bonus Dex can give you to AC when wearing that kind of armor - no matter how much your actual Dex score would give you when unarmored.)

Armor encumbers you in other ways. (E.g., penalties on certain skills. Heavier armor types generally give you higher penalties.)

Arcane spells (e.g., spells cast by a wizard) have a certain failure % chance depending on armor type.

An unarmored combatant avoids these problems; a lightly-armored one, most of them.

Well-made ("masterwork") armor has a slightly lower penalty to skills. And armor made of special materials (e.g., "mithral") often has even less disadvantages.

Anyway, some examples:

Chain shirt: AC Bonus +4; Maximum Dex Bonus +4; Armor Check Penalty -2; Arcane Spell Failure 20%; Speed 30' (assuming you're a human, elf, orc, etc.)

Chain mail: AC Bonus +5; Maximum Dex Bonus +2; Armor Check Penalty -5; Arcane Spell Failure 30%; Speed 20'

Full plate: AC Bonus +8; Maximum Dex Bonus +1; Armor Check Penalty -6; Arcane Spell Failure 35%; Speed 20' (and can't run)

So a character with an 18 Dex (+4 bonus to AC) might prefer the chain shirt; a character with a 13 Dex (+1 bonus) might want a heavier armor. Might.

There's more to D&D 3.0/3.5's AC system, of course - this is only a summary of the most important stuff.

Now, one more consideration of note for the "light fighters vs. tanks" debate: Armor doesn't help against "touch attacks" (i.e., attacks that only need to, well, touch you to be effective) and your Dex bonus doesn't help in certain circumstances (e.g., when you're surprised).

So... Yes, there are now some distinct downsides to being a tank in D&D. Still, heavy armor is hard to beat when it comes down to sheer protection value - the only question is if you're willing to pay the price.

If I was a warlord in a setting where heavy armor was both very effective and rather cheap, I'd equip as many of my warriors with it as I could afford.

But I'd also look for ways to defeat heavy armor - especially if my usual tactics made the use of heavy armor impractical. (Maybe I'm a Mongol-style ruler who doesn't have the resources or technological know-how to get sufficient numbers of heavy armor, and who also wouldn't really want to since his entire army consists of light horse archers.)

That is, if something is both powerful and plentiful, everybody will try to use it.

But there will also be an arms race to develop something to defeat it - whether to gain an edge over the competition or because of bare necessity (i.e., if you can't use this cool thing yourself). And people will try to develop not only gear, but also fighting techniques that are effective against it.

So... If heavy armor is so plentiful in your world, maybe armor piercing weapons should be common, too. And many experienced combatants might know Find Weakness.

(Note the added benefit that neither of these tactics will significantly harm swashbuckler characters. Much the opposite, even. If they have access to such things, the gap between them and the "tanks" will shrink.)

The Vampire: The Masquerade conversion on Michael Surbrook's site handles this rather well, IMO.

Originally posted by Cyberknight

There's nothing like watching an entire Viper attack gape as a 22' man-mountain looms over their puny selves

Doesn't Viper also have a very powerful Growth-based brick - Ripper? - among their ranks?

If so, he might be a perfect match in a fight for your character.

Originally posted by Super Squirrel

Oh yeah, well D&D 3rd is broken because Monks can jump themselves into orbit at like 12th level.

If so: Wizards can do the same at 1st level, assuming they have access to the jump spell.

This might be helpful, or at least amusing:

The Grand List Of Console Role Playing Game Clichés

Originally posted by Enforcer84

Then I shouldn't mention that Warlord is a woman?

Originally posted by Killer Shrike

Exactly, but none of the other base classes have this capability. The difference between an Archetype and a Meta-Archetype is that the Meta-Archetype spans categories, whereas Archetypes are categories.

with the possible exception of the Metamorph

Hm. One could make a point for the Druid filling this role, at least in a limited way (i.e., animal shapes from level 5 on and elemental shapes from level 16 on, plus some spells).

Absolutely right, assuming you don't use the Epic-Level Handbook.

Originally posted by tiger

I have to admit even in D&D I always thought it was a bit unfair to those who decided to run a human that the non-human races had an advantage for free.

 

Oh! there were level resriction but I don't know anyone who used them.

Originally posted by Templar Jakob

Why would people want to play a human in D&D when elves get so many better advantages (at least in 2nd Edition. never really looked at 3rd)?

Oh yeah. But they fixed that in 3e, making humans more versatily than other races. That is, they get more skill points per level and also a bonus feat at 1st level. (Feats are neat abilities a character can have, slightly similar to Talents in HERO. And you always get too few of them so even 1 bonus feat is a very neat thing.)

What's more, humans can now multiclass more freely than everyone else (well, except for half-elves, who can multiclass just as freely).

Level limits have been abolished, too.

Re: I'm sorry if I missed it, but I can't find Hero System 5th edition...

Originally posted by Corpse

Also, for a superhero campaign would I need to buy the Champions Universe book, as well, or just one, or both, if I want to run a Champions game. In other words, is the Hero System a generic rules set, while if you just want a super hero RPG, you get the Champions book? I'm a little confused on that.

And Champions Universe details a specific campaign world.

Here are some reviews that might be helpful:

Champions

Champions

Champions Universe

Champions Universe

Originally posted by Susano

For what its worth, I hope to be able to do a Ninja Hero companion come 2004. More sample powers, more maps, (lots) more NPCs, and a full-blown anime/video game level setting -- Student Warrior University!

Will it be a .pdf file or a more physical kind of book?

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

What's your opinion, folks: do you think that a huge Fantasy book is going to attract the average gamer (HERO or otherwise) who sees it on a shelf, or intimidate them into passing it by?

I like huge books on topics that interest me, RPG and otherwise.

And the 'average' gamer probably won't be too intimidated by it, either; the D&D core rulebooks aren't much smaller, after all. Especially the 3.5 version that's due soon.

Also:

Originally posted by Steve Long here:

Right now it adds up to 299,760 words -- making it longer than the 5E manuscript by about 1,000 words, and also making it the longest single book I've ever written. However, I don't necessarily think it'll be quite as many pages as 5E, since Andy gets a little cleverer with layout every book we do and will probably work his usual miracles of space-saving.

Oh, yeah. I need this book.

By the way, we talked about this a bit here on the boards, including a very few details about playtesting, etc.

Wow! Damn cool, Nato.