Panpiper

Hey there. Sorry for the late response. The Hero game I 'was' in just ended yesterday and I am only now checking the forum to see whether there might be something else happening with room. I'm not quite sure how you mean to implement 300 point superhero rules for fantasy. I presume you have some sort of guidance document. I am very familiar with Hero though and am sure I can adapt to whatever it is you intend. You can find a sampling of my character build style here on the forums. I've been playing Hero pretty much since the first publication box set back in the 80's. There is little I have not done in Hero. Fantasy is my preferred genre however, so I am especially interested in seeing what you have in mind. I am retired and so am available most days and times. I live in Montreal, Canada on Eastern Standard Time.

No one apparently has yet mentioned a Potion of Haste. +1 Speed, +4 meters of running and +2 meters of swimming.

The key word in my OP was "aspires" to a Legolas like competency. My problem is that I can easily build a starting character nearly that powerful without any sort of cheese whatsoever. Some strength to wield a decent bow, a few ranged martial arts maneuvers, a few combat levels with said maneuvers, several penalty skill levels for range modifiers and eight penalty skill levels for called shots. That leaves plenty still for characteristics and skills. My question is just how close to Legolas would most GMs be comfortable with for a character in a Fantasy game? I suppose Christopher's "It Depends" answer is an answer of sorts. I've got two GMs both wanting to run Fantasy Hero who are both very new to Hero, and "I" don't know what to tell them. They don't understand the power level effects of things to make a judgement on their own.

Say I as a player have a wood elf archer who aspires to a Legolas like competency with bows. Legolas is able to nail headshots at extreme distances. How as a GM would you handle this? Would you permit high levels of reduced range penalties? Would you permit levels with called shots, and if so, would you allow eight of them? How would you feel about the character adding damage to their arrows from ranged martial arts maneuvers? It is a pretty trivial matter for me to build a character, for a fairly reasonable expenditure of character points, who can nail a headshot at long distance for 3d6RKA. How much is too much?

I guess there is still room for improvement in a seventh edition. Because that is pretty clearly a "bad rule".

I want to create an effect that adds exactly 5 points to a stat, say strength. To do that I select standard effect. If I select for levels one die, it will give me a standard effect of 3. If I select two die, it will give me a standard of effect of 6. However I want five. So I reduce the die to just one and hit +1/2 die, expecting that to give me a standard effect of 5. It does not, it gives me a standard effect of 4. Selecting +1 'also' gives me a standard effect of 4.

Exactly like those, thank you!

Tracking turn order and who goes when is a fairly simple matter for those experienced with the game. Write down all the player characters and opponents in a column on the left hand of a sheet in order of dexterity. Make twelve columns to the right of them and label them segments one through twelve. For each character put a mark in their row corresponding to their speed in the speed chart. All fine and good, except perhaps for needing a ruler to make nice neat columns. This is only slightly tedious. In the old days when I used to run games, I would have a small stack of printed sheets already set up with those rows and columns for making such turn charts. Now however I have a newbie (to Hero) GM who is floundering trying to figure out how to handle initiative and turn order. His life would be made VASTLY simpler if I could point him to a premade sheet he could print out and fill in by hand. I have looked all through the downloads section however and not found anything that even resembles what was endemic in my old days, such a sheet. Does anyone have anything printable they could share?

The real world ratio of silver to gold mined is roughly 1/16. It would make sense to have a similar ratio in terms of coin valuation, but that assumes identical weights of coin. If gold pieces were about 60% of the weight of a silver coin, the value of the coins would be ten silver to one gold. Identical to what the Fantasy Hero book postulates, so no stretch of imagination there for me. The only stretch for me is just how low value all that precious metal seems to be relative to what it is buying. If I were to change anything, I would substitute coppers for what is now priced with silver (which would be relatively large coins) with the lower valuation 'change' being pennies which are a tenth of the weight of full coppers. That would make it more realistic and put gold into the realm of truly rare.

If I am building a character for a Fantasy game, and the magic system imposes a strong probably of failure if my mage tries to do as much damage as my fighter or archer build could do without risk of failure (other than hit probability), then I am NOT building a mage. Done deal. Yes, there are loads of utility spells one could have a mage around for, but I am not interested in playing the jack-knife support character. I want to be able to shine when push comes to shove. Now it may well be thematically appropriate for your campaign setting that magic is NOT particularly useful in a combat situation. Gandalf did use a sword. But it is germane only to a rather small subset of fantasy RPG settings I think. The VAST majority of people playing such games (usually using other systems) have mages either at the top of the damage dealing spectrum, or on par with other character archetypes.

I played in such a campaign some years back. The characters 'started' at 600 points. (!!!) The campaign lasted five years running weekly, and ended when we resolved the main quest that involved literally saving the universe. We had a technologically ignorant Tarzan, a super Vampire, a Sorceress, and my character, essentially a melee tank who was an Immortal, like literally. He resurrected once from a nuke. It was more than a little freeform, and wildly fantastic. We could hop dimensions, we dealt with godlike entities both malevolent and benign, we vanquished Godzilla like threats, confronted armies and demon hordes. That campaign remains my favorite campaign of any I have ever played. The GM too told us that ours was the only campaign he had ever run in over thirty years that had ever successfully run it's course by completing its ultimate quest. My (starting) character in that game, Vestige. https://www.mediafire.com/file/fr1y4w14hd7k0gh/vestige.hdc/file https://www.mediafire.com/file/lstc7tmc59aiclh/Vestige.pdf/file We are now playing D&D.

I don't recall what the 'official' limits were in the 600 point campaign I played in were, but for the most part even after five years we were still roughly in the 60-100 active point range for the most part. The 5th Ed character I played in that: https://www.mediafire.com/file/fr1y4w14hd7k0gh/vestige.hdc/file https://www.mediafire.com/file/lstc7tmc59aiclh/Vestige.pdf/file

Within the last decade I played in a weekly campaign that lasted five years, with 'starting' characters built on 600 points! We had an absolutely wonderful time. I have never had a problem coming up with challenges regardless of point levels. As a player, I too very much appreciate the opportunity to grow and evolve my characters. That is half the fun of the game in my opinion. Sadly this ambition is all too frequently stymied by the fact that GMs are often notoriously stingy with experience, many awarding all of a single XP for a session. This as often as not in a game played every two weeks with a likely lifespan of six months. WTF? The five year campaign mentioned averaged two experience per game, and the growing range of ability was never an issue. At one point the regular GM suffered a personal tragedy and needed time off from running the game. I took over for a year, but continued a 'version' of the existing game in which the characters found themselves whisked into a different universe, summoned there by an ultra-powerful mage. The summoning was cast just as that mage got hit with a stasis field, and while the summoning worked, it also only came through partially. All the players came in as 0 point children, in the middle of a battlefield. They had to survive and get out, with effectively no power. 'HOWEVER', at the end of that session and every session thereafter, they got SIX experience because they were fast recovering their power. Everyone REALLY enjoyed the rapid evolution of their characters.

I've spread the word a bit to some Hero GMs I know who use Roll20 and have a pro account. Hopefully one or more of them will nibble. A Hero Designer export function for a Roll20 character sheet would be a HUGE boon, even if it isn't perfect, as it could always be tweaked manually.

Serpent's breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making. Old Irish. https://www.evertype.com/misc/charm.html

Oh! Look! A half page of basic guidelines meant to give people an idea of relative balance. I shall then with my superbly honed rules lawyer talents, interpret this then to mean a half page of iron clad rules rife with loopholes to exploit, so I can legally create the most godawful combat monster and lay waste to the very idea of game balance. Anyone taking this approach to an attempt to give people an idea of what I consider reasonable would be kindly invited to NOT play in my game.

This is a dark ages fantasy horror game in which I am a player. The GM has no problems at all with my character having a fief. My character already has a well established background around his being a knight of some prominence. He currently has three points in a nobility perk (Baronet), three points in wealth and 5 points for a follower. My character does not yet actually have a fief. I am banking points in the requisite perks so that when it is convenient for the GM in the narrative, my character can be granted one. By no means am I expecting the GM to start using the fief as the center of any and all adventures. This is not me attempting to end run or hijack a game or anything. Shortly after asking this question here on the forum, it occurred to me to look up bases in the actual rule book. (D'uh...) Therein I found this rather clearly spelled out: "In Heroic campaigns, characters should pay for Bases and Vehicles with money. In Superheroic campaigns, characters must buy them with Character Points." This comes as a bit of a relief, as buying both a wealth perk commensurate to a fief AND paying the ~20 character points needed to define an appropriate fief is a MASSIVE investment for a 100 (starting) point fantasy character, especially given that this would be little more than RP chrome really. It won't help one whit in a fight or figuring out a mystery. I am thinking now a wealth perk in the range of 6 to 10 aught to cover it AND defining the appropriate fief. https://www.mediafire.com/file/q9rjfqyn6l42pms/Léonard+Vaillant's+Character+Sheet.pdf/file

So I've got a character who is currently lesser nobility, complete with oaths of fealty, etc... I want for him to gain a small fief. This would be essentially a small village with some surrounding land that he administers, and the right to build some sort of manor there, though he might not start with one. He currently has a 3 point nobility perk and 3 points in wealth. Would you handle this as a special effect of a wealth perk, or would you go so far as to define a base? If you built a base, how would you build it?

Thank you. I don't know what I did to cause the issue, but I will do as you suggest. And it worked. A thousand more thank yous.

It's not just one power or pool, and it's not just one character. I am not able to add modifiers to anything, the button is utterly unresponsive. I click on it and nothing happens. Does anyone have a clue what the issue is or what I might do to fix it?

Clearly I need to figure out better ways to phrase all of this. A 'total' of 50 PD/ED of which any amount may be resistant. The 37/37 you referred to would be over the limit by 24. Yes they can have martial maneuvers. Extra damage classes however would count against the AP limit, 5 points per damage class. CSLs can be used for anything CSLs can be used for, including boosting damage beyond the limit. It means you could have 20 of OCV and DCV as a combined total, or any variation thereof. So you could have a 10 OCV & 10 DCV. Or you could have an 8 OCV, 8 DCV and 4 combat skill levels. Etc.. This is oriented towards a balance of (standard) 400 point supers.

It's not 'all' the martial arts maneuvers, it's the 'right' to buy 'any and as many as they like' martial arts maneuvers. None of the above are actual points spent, but are spent in the abstract to establish a relative balance. They establish ceilings to which the various stats/powers may rise, but they may not reflect the actual points spent.

My basic balance guidelines for supers. The idea is to keep characters roughly in league with published examples of supers at this point range. These are not rigid rules as exceptions might be made in exceptional circumstances, but they should give an idea as to what to shoot for. The idea here is to give new players a basic idea of what I consider reasonable. Characters still need to be approved and I will help beginners make sure their character is viable. Characters MUST have at least 20 points in skills. This does NOT include any sort of skill levels. No pure combat builds. Only in alternate ID and OIF power suit characters (and the like) MUST have a reason in their backgrounds and disads to NOT always be in their alternate ID or power suit. (Changing into an alternate ID will always take at least a phase and an OIF may take longer. Be warned.) If you use unified to save points, expect the bad guys to figure this out and find a drainer, just for you. Be very wary of using 'gratuitous' limitations. They WILL be used against you and will haunt you. The following are the basic standard which characters should hover around. I'll refer to these limits as 'Campaign Limit Points' or 'CLP' so as to differentiate them from the actual character points spent. 60 CLP - 12 damage classes maximum. This includes advantages like armor piercing, etc. Reduced endurance does not count against this, buy that as you will. 50 CLP - An average total of 50 divided between PD & ED. As much of that 50 points of defenses as you want can be resistant. Mental, power, flash defense etc., can be bought with no limit. 100 CLP - 5 CLP for each OCV or DCV for a total of 20 between adding OCV, DCV 'and' skill levels. So 10 OCV/10 DCV, or 8 OCV/8 DCV & 4 CSLs, etc.. Negative penalty skill levels do not count against this, within reason. 50 CLP - Between 4 & 6 Speed. Speed 5 is the norm. 50 CLP is equal to 5 speed. You can drop one speed to put 10 CPL elsewhere or or raise speed by one and take 10 CLP from something else. However... See below. These point limits can be modified in a few ways. The first way is that for every 5 points you remove from one limit, you may boost another by five points. None of these categories can be boosted by more than 10, except for strength based bricks (see below). (Players are strongly cautioned to not drop any category by 'more' than 10, lest you severely hamstring your character.) The other way is that you may buy a custom talent called OP Boost. For however many points you spend on that talent, you may increase any of these limits by the same number of active points. This functions much like characteristic maxima, except for powers. No limitations of any sort may be taken on this custom talent. A tweak to these rules, just for strength based bricks; if you restrict yourself to a speed of four and have no ranged attacks other than throwing cars and the like, you may boost either strength or defense by 15 CLP dropping some other category by only 10 CLP. Spending 10 AP out of the above allows the character to buy Martial arts maneuvers, as many as they want. These do NOT otherwise count against the limits. 10 AP covers it. This does NOT allow the purchasing of additional HTH damage classes to exceed the 60 AP limit. Any such would count against the limit, 5 AP per.

The Hardest Lessons (Warning; Potentially 'dark champions' disturbing.) Morgana was a mere seven years old when she encountered her first predatory pedophile. The fellow saw the strange-looking, but still quite attractive child running around the carnival alone. He figured he got lucky when she chanced past the shadows he was lurking in. He grabbed her from behind pinning her to his chest far more strongly than she could resist while covering her mouth, her muffled screams utterly swamped by the noise of the carnival. By this point in her life, she had been introduced to most of the spells that were in the grimoire but had little experience with casting any of them, so she could do nothing while he carried her off. In the back of a van, he tied her up, gagged her, and most worse of all, covered her head in a sac. That done, he drove off to some unknown destination. The drive was a good twenty minutes, during which time she was able to calm herself to concentrate. She spent her time remembering everything she could about the "Ghostly Chill" spell her mother had tried to teach her. Her mom knew there were dangerous people in the world and had tried to convey that lesson. But sometimes lessons need to be learned the hard way so they really sink in. That lesson now learned, she recalled all the instruction with deadly seriousness, rehearsing it repeatedly in her mind. She whispered the old words over and over like a mantra, invoking their power to aid her memory, "Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis ’s bethad, do chél dénmha!" The ride done, her abductor carried her into a room where he took off her hood, preparing to do his worst. She didn't scream, she didn't struggle, she just took a good look at him. The predator was confused at her odd lack of apparent terror. Then her eyes went white as she looked into his soul with Blindsight. She wanted to see what such a person truly looked like, so she could more easily identify such dangers in the future. At the sight of her eyes suddenly going white as she stared at him, the villain stood with a start! He opened his mouth to speak, but Morgana had seen enough. She nailed him with Ghostly Chill and he dropped like a sack of potatoes, right on top of her! She was trussed up too much to use her arms to get out from under him and struggle as she might, she couldn't wiggle out. Again she calmed herself. There was another spell, "Spirit of Akasha" that she had studied but not yet accomplished. Now her life might depend on it. Once more she recalled her lessons, again with the mantra, and while it took some time, the seriousness of her plight catalyzed her success. She phased to spirit. Her ropes fell through her as she glided up and through the unconscious body of her abductor. She looked around the room, a large closet really. There was little in it save a mattress and a bucket, no window. There was a pile of discarded children's clothing in a corner. Then she noticed that the mattress was covered in bloodstains, and the pedophile had a big knife sheathed on his belt. It was a day for lessons, there are some truly dark evils in the world as her mother had warned her. She understood what had happened here, apparently at least several times. Morgana was torn now with a hard ethical choice, a really tough choice to face at the young age of seven. Her mother had long counselled her on the extreme necessity of their hiding their magic from the world. She had learned the histories, especially of what was done with those simply suspected of witchcraft. She dared not go to the authorities to report this man, there would be too many questions she could not answer. Yet if she simply left, he would continue to perpetrate this extreme evil. She nailed him again with her Ghostly Chill, just to be sure he stayed down. She wasn't going to take any chances. She stood there and stared at him for a long while, just wrestling with her choice. It was a futile struggle really, as she knew pretty much right away what she had to do. The time was spent convincing herself she 'could' do it. It was during this mental struggle that she discovered a few more of her cantrip magics, as the room glowered from her mood, and as she got closer to her resolve, her eyes started to burn and her hands started to crackle with red arcane lightning. As her resolve to do what needed to be done reached its fruition, she invoked the Charm of Making once again to catalyze her Arcane Lightning, "Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis ’s bethad, do chél dénmha!" A red lightning bolt erupted from her hands and with one fell stroke, killed the monster as he lay. He would harm no more. Morgana searched the house, in case there were any other kids he had kidnapped still there and alive. She found none. She resolved to hide the evidence of how this monster died by setting fire to the house. She'd already ascertained it was in the middle of nowhere. Not more than a couple of hours had passed in the evening since she's been taken. The carnival would be in operation for a few more still. They didn't drive so far she couldn't maybe see the carnival lights from a height. This one she had done before, I mean what child wouldn't learn to fly first and foremost. The "Wings of Aether" bore her aloft. She had to fly quite high up to see more than the occasional street lamp, but soon enough fortune shone upon her, and she did indeed see the telltale light shape of the carnival's Ferris wheel. She flew home while pondering what she should say, or if she should say anything at all. She knew now that she could take care of herself. She feared though that her mother might overreact and seek to curtail her freedom so as to "keep her safe". In the end, she resolved to say nothing. No one would know that this night, she had killed someone. She knew she had done the right thing, and as long as no one knew, there would be no consequence. She slept soundly that night. Her demons were already defeated that day.

Ok, I've been working on this character for a while now. I think I've finally got her at a matured state. Note some of the powers she has in her power pool might not pass muster with all GMs. Tailor as necessary. Morgana Lefey - The Witch - Teen Supers Morgana is descended in a line of witches from the Morgana of legend, and named after her. Morgana is primarily a 'utility' mage with the wide variety of abilities one might expect for a character built with a magic power pool. That said, she can hold her own in a fight, though she won't be moving fast, nor is she particularly tough despite her damage reduction. Just a few more XP in characteristics could toughen her up quite a bit. As an NPC she could be a superlative clue giver or quest seed as a soothsayer the players visit. To make a lower power version, dump the reduced end and force 'restrainable (gestures and incantations)' on all her magic. To bump her to 400, improve her VPP to zero phase to change and lose the bottom of phase limitation. Add a bit of mental and power defense, and spend the rest on beefing up her characteristics as you see fit. https://www.mediafire.com/file/lpvb16m58mqbjee/Morgana+Lefey's+Character+Sheet.pdf/file https://www.mediafire.com/file/0wkkaloac2ddjh8/Morgana+Lefey300.hdc/file