Panpiper

Re: Fantasy Economies: How closely should we examine them? If one assumes that the laws of magic in your world conform to the point system of Hero, and mages can have any effect they pay points for, then yes, your economy is going to be all handwavium. Mages will be able to conjure gold (and anything else) out of thin air and there is no such thing as economics anymore. There certainly would be no currency. On the other hand, if your world is somewhat less magic heavy in that there are laws of magic that go beyond simply whatever a mage wants to spend points on, then it is quite easy to conceive of a functioning economy. The Hero System already has mechanisms in place that helps a great deal from keeping magic from obliterating the economy of your world, delineated by the 'stop signs' associated with certain powers and the suggestion that the creation of permanent magic items (or effects) require character points. In our real history, the feudal dark ages were rife with a poverty we can scarce imagine. 99 out of 100 people lived in absolute squalor, barely able to feed themselves. It was a prosperous kingdom where a peasant farmer family could produce enough to feed itself and one other family. The fantasy worlds we create tend to be vastly more prosperous than this, rivaling periods seldom seen in our own history. My assumption has always been that the effect of magic upon the economy is similar in it's economic effect to that of technology in our world, and that is the source of the greater prosperity. Mages do tend to be prosperous in my worlds, and long lived races tend to be extremely wealthy and skilled (and with very low birth rates). I do not allow transform effects and such except in extremely specific and well justified circumstances. This most specifically includes excluding the transmutation of metals such as gold. Gold remains the ideal barter mechanism (money) because it is both rare and impervious to magics and forgery (among other things). (I did once before let a player find a 'traveler's purse' that gave him a few silvers every day. Unbeknownst to the player, the silver was not being magically created, but was in fact being teleported out of the king's mint. This was not in violation of the laws of magic despite being 'very' much in violation of the laws of the king. And such magic would of course not void the utility of metal as currency or otherwise cause any price inflation.) Magic items while not exactly rare, are not common place, as someone had to give up 'life force' (character points) to create the item. There is in the world however the practice of paying people for the surrender of a small portion of their life force to be used in the creation of permanent effects or items. People are very well paid for that, as it is not something anyone would do lightly or often. But the desperate might on occasion be willing to surrender some of their strength (or whatever) if it means getting out from under large debts or such. So a wealthy city 'might' have permanent lights in special places, but most of the city would still be dark or torch lit. Currencies between nations are not an issue because ultimately a price is simply a weight of gold. If two nations use differently sized coins, the merchant will simply get out the scales. Paper money would only be accepted as long as it truly was redeemable on demand for a specific weight of gold. Anyone wanting a realistic economy should simply leave it at that, unless they have a degree in economics and want to make a political statement about fiat currencies to their players. Diverging now from economics: In an earlier part of this thread, people brought up the question as to the realism of fortifications when dragons and flying creatures might exist. Unless one assumes that such mounts are absolutely common place, they would not render fortifications obsolete for purely economic reasons. A fortified wall will largely neutralize any part of an enemy army that does 'not' fly, and such walls are vastly cheaper than fielding the vastly larger standing armies one would need otherwise. Flying creatures would certainly change the nature of fortifications to a small degree. A castle or fortification would be more likely to have concentric walls and a much greater quantity of separately defensible towers. Those towers would house archers and ballistae. Dragons, pegasi or flying troops should be considered expensive and not to be wasted on mass assaults. They are specialty 'special ops' troops.

Re: Creating items with magic D'oh!

Re: Younger PCs; Older Players The game I am playing these days is mostly a 40's/50's crowd. Our characters (superpowerful 600 point characters when initially built, now with 100+ XP to boot) include 200 year old sorceress, a 400 year old vampire, and a 15 trillion year old remnant of a dead god (my character, yes, he's seen many universes come and go, and fortunately doesn't remember most of it). A few months ago, the GM got a new job that was taking a lot of mental energy so I took over GMing for a few months (ongoing). Not wanting to get too heavily GM involved with the campaign I was playing in, I conspired to have them intercepted enroute through a Tport gate by a summoning from an extremely powerful wizard in another world, a summon that went rather wrong as the wizard who was summoning them was under attack at the same time. So the characters popped into the world as the 12/13 year olds their characters 'were' back when they were 12/13, built on zero points (+25 points of complications). They are getting triple XP while I am GMing based on the idea that they are effectively buying their adult characters back. We are getting the extremes of both worlds and loving both.

Re: Eccentric but plausible ways a character could be rich? I have a character with a 5 point wealth perk justified by a great many other skills that go into defining and paying for his secret Id as a Nobel prize winning physicist. (A Nobel prize has a cash award of 1.5 million dollars, which if well invested easily justifies a wealth perk.) The super ID is a fairly interesting energy projector who really has no need for an Int of 23 and 30 points worth of sciences and related skills/perks, but it makes for a much more interesting character to play than someone who is simply a plumber, or reading novels in their down time by the pool they paid for with an inheritance.

Re: Creating items with magic I disagree with everyone. (I often find myself in this boat. I should perhaps seek therapy.) If magic item creation in your world happens simply by virtue of having a transform effect that has enough body for the item, why do mages not mass produce Tolkien's "One Ring"? Why would a player not create a decently sized transform of their own with variable effect and outfit the entire party with anything they might desire? I would allow that with normal items the party might otherwise purchase, but not 'magic' items. In my games, if a player wants a magic item that they have not found in the game, they can buy it with points. They buy their normal armor and weapons with cash. Magic item creation in the game world also happens with actual points, which keeps items relatively rare, as few mages in the world are willing to sacrifice their own life energy to create items. However I also stipulate that one thing that 'is' done in the world by mages wishing to create items is that they pay people to siphon off some of their life force (character points). I define this as a transform effect that transforms the donor into a slightly lower point character, with the difference going into a point pool that the mage can then vest into created magic items (the creating mage needs other appropriate skills and knowleges). Needless to say, donors expect a pretty penny to be paid for their life force. Of course there is also the evil variant on this, where such life is stolen by an evil mage through a sacrifice ritual.

Re: Stone Molder (hoping for feedback) 12 body of stone is very roughly 3 tons of stone, precisely what the telekinesis can lift. However the 20' x 20' x2' stone wall mentioned in the notes contains roughly 50 tons of stone. In order to create that wall section, the character will need to spend 15 odd segments casting. The way I envisioned the power working was that the transform would liquify the stone and the telekinesis would move and mold it while it was liquid. I suppose technically the molding effect could be considered a 'special effect' of a cumulative/partial transform. But the way it is defined now, the player could conceivably use the power in fairly creative ways, that a pure transform would not permit. Also a pure transform would need extra advantages to permit the great flexibility in what could be constructed, reducing the cost savings of using a purely transform effect. Defined with a telekinetic effect, the limits to what could be built is largely up to the imagination of the player and their character's knowledge skills, as it simply becomes a sculpting tool.

This is much more of an empire building, role playing character than a typical adventurer. He is just leaving his previously cloistered educational environment to make his fortune in the world and while extremely well educated, has not yet accumulated many of the general purpose life skills that most well rounded adventurers might have. Technically, Peter's skills are such that he should by rights either be or quickly become fantastically wealthy. However his soft spot for other people's hardships, his naivete to corruption in general and his propensity to be the victim of thieves will likely forever keep him in a constant state of boom and bust. Character Name: Peter Tremain, the Stone Molder CHARACTERISTICS 8 STR -2 11- 11 DEX 2 11- 10 CON 0 11- 13 INT 3 12- 8 EGO -2 11- 13 PRE 3 12- 3 OCV 0 5 DCV 10 3 OMCV 0 3 DMCV 0 3 SPD 10 2+10 PD 0 2+10 ED 0 4 REC 0 20 END 0 10 BODY 0 Total Cost 20 STUN 0 24 SKILLS, PERKS, & TALENTS 3 Scholar 2 1) KS: Architecture 12- 2 2) KS: Civil Engineering 12- 2 3) KS: Fortifications 12- 2 4) KS: Geology 12- 2 5) KS: Sculpting (artistry) 12- 2 6) KS: Waterworks 12- 3 Linguist 0 1) Language: Common (imitate dialects) 2 2) Language: Dwarvish (fluent conversation) 1 3) Language: Elvish (basic conversation) 3 Bureaucratics 12- 3 High Society 12- 3 Trading 12- 1 Riding 8- 3 PS: Stone Molder 12- 4 +2 OCV with Bullets 38 Total Skills, Perks, & Talents Cost POWERS AND EQUIPMENT 11 Stone Shield Resistant Protection (10 PD/10 ED) (Impermeable) (30 Active Points); Ablative BODY or STUN (-1), Gestures (Requires both hands; -½), Incantations (-¼) 0 26 Stone Bullets Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, +1 Increased STUN Multiplier (+¼), Armor Piercing (+¼) (45 Active Points); Beam (-¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼) 4 12 Geomancy Detect geologic structures and compositions A Class Of Things 12- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Penetrative, Sense (27 Active Points); Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (½ DCV; -½), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -¼), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼) 0 64 Stone Molding (Total: 224 Active Cost, 64 Real Cost) Telekinesis (35 STR), Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (94 Active Points); Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (Requires both hands; -1), Only to move and mold stone (-1), Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (½ DCV; -½), Linked (Stone Molding; -½), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -¼), Incantations (-¼) (Real Cost: 21) plus Major Transform 4d6 (standard effect: 12 points) (Natural stone to reshaped and structurally perfect stone., Geological time), Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Partial Transform (+½), Continuous (+1) (130 Active Points); Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (Requires both hands; -1), Concentration (½ DCV; -¼), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -¼), Incantations (-¼), Linked (Telekinesis; -¼) (Real Cost: 43) 0 Notes: Can mold a 20' long, 20' tall, 2' wide wall in roughly one minute and a 20' tall, 10' thick, 200' long curtain wall in one hour. The stone structure of a 40' x 40' two story and basement manor house with a strong stone roof also takes about an hour (detailed finishing such as doors, windows, etc., are not created with stonemolding.). Moves 45 tons of worked stone per minute. Any construction above 20' takes double time due to the extra work of lifting the stone higher, triple time for higher than 40', etc.. Obviously any major construction requires the ready presence of stone in close proximity, bedrock close to the ground surface being ideal. 113 Total Powers/Equipment Cost MATCHING COMPLICATIONS (50) Cost Complication Roll 5 Rivalry: Professional (Traditional construction/engineering companies and guilds), Rival is As Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival, Rival Aware of Rivalry 15 Psychological Complication: Too kind hearted for his own good (Common; Strong) 10 Psychological Complication: Will honor his word and contracts (Uncommon; Strong) 0 Distinctive Features: Dresses as a bit of a dandy (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures) 5 Social Complication: Beholden to his university (Incl: 10% tithe) Infrequently, Minor 5 Social Complication: Naive to corruption Infrequently, Minor 5 Hunted: Pickpockets and petty criminals see him as a mark. Frequently (Less Pow; Mildly Punish) 5 Hunted: Organized thieves who want a big score. Infrequently (As Pow; Mildly Punish) 50 Total Complications Points 175 Total Points

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Hi KS, Sorry, I've been very much distracted the last few days by more than just my usual distractions. I've not checked in till just now. I really like where you took L'Éminence Nocturne as it permits interfacing with this world, pretty much any and all other vampire society mythologies the GM might personally find appealing. Shoot, one could even go the full 'Underworld' route with war between vampires and lycan, and then throw in Blade, and it would work with how you've outlined this. Just one little tweak. In your Dossier, on a occasions you write; "The L'Éminence Nocturne", which to someone who speaks French reads very badly. The 'L' in front of L'Éminence Nocturne means 'the' in French, so I read this as; "the the nocturnal eminence". I think simply leaving out the 'the' will work just fine for the readers. I also really like the mystic lore skills. You folded the effects I was looking for very nicely into also addressing the downside for a player who actually invests in knowledge skills that typically get short thrift in most games. Nice job.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Technically that should be L'Éminence Nocturne. The write ups for the vampires are very different from the package deal which I whipped up a while back. Yours is much more dead than mine. ;-) But yours works works very simply and elegantly. I would like a text explanation of what the vampire bite powers are meant to simulate. Makes crunching the power dynamics easier on the intellect. I am still absorbed in other things but check in here often enough to stay abreast. And one never knows when I will again find myself re-inspired.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Here is a very loose thought on a vampire scenario, a very minimal seed of an idea... Corpses have been showing up in the city bearing clear evidence of a vampire. The evidence has been sufficiently clear that it has been with some difficulty that the nature of the attacks has been kept under wraps. This vampire represents a threat not merely to the victims they choose, but also to the secrecy of the Accords. Stopping it is a high priority. What is not obvious to the players when they start is that there is not just one vampire, or rather it is one 'rogue' vampire that a cabal of hitherto unknown vampires are also trying to stop, lest he reveal their existence. The rogue vampire has even been turning some choice victims into more rogues, so stopping him is an even higher priority for the cabal. The Cabal in turn is a secret society of vampires that exists to support a feeding network of blood slaves. Vampires that feed normally and leave corpses are too obvious and too easily hunted. They have learned that the easiest way to not be found out and hunted is to do what is necessary to not leave corpses. This does not make them any less evil by nature, it is just a practical matter. The cabal is quite happy to 'eat' a normal human if it can be done without risk of exposure.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Hey, sorry KS. I've pretty much tuned out of late, due to my ongoing addiction to some other thing completely unrelated. I am still involved in Hero and will be back, re-attuned at some point, likely soon, but I have only given your latest work a very quick read. It all looked good and I got a thorough sense of how to run the scenario. If there are any niggling bugs, I did not see them.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters I'm still around, but putting less time in due to binging on a computer game (I am an addict). I did take the time to read through the characters. It is amazing how much more real they are with proper backgrounds rather than just a bunch of stats. I've always offered my players the carrot of 3 bonus XP if they write up a one page background story for their characters. Maybe I am undervaluing them? ;-)

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters I had no clue as to the true nature of Doctor Allosius Jones, and I heartily approve. I have only one quibble, you've got a Fringe Benefit described as: Accredited Instructor (Professor). I really think that should be 'Tenured Professor'.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters A cellular network of demonologists/satanists that span the game, is not only a set up for some far flung future adventure, but a ready made plot device for any game session. I like very much. And I remain quite freaked by the power level of the top brass of this cult, appropriately so no doubt. I'm wondering what you would think the appropriate power level of the players aught to be before they finally unlock the secrets to the inner circle? I have a 325 point immortal Tai Chi master I would be ok (though still worried) with handling this crew, as long as he was backed up with his own crew. ;-)

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters I like the skill selection you made for Aurhabazu, along with the hodge podge of languages and such. It's very thematic for a demon out for a joy ride, and a demon with some history. I am thinking that the no range limitation on possession might make for an interesting mechanic. I am very familiar with the movie you reference, 'Fallen'; I own a DVD of it and have watched it a couple of times over the years. I agree that it is a great movie and offers clues as to a potentially very interesting game mechanic as well. There does not seem to be anything restricting a demon from jumping from body to body and being able to do that at line of sight could be quite problematic. The hunters show up with Father Max to do an exorcism and before they can initiate, the demon looks out the window and hops into the driver of a passing car... Next scenario... What I might recommend is this; possessor demons have no movement ability in this dimension. In order to move they must hitch a ride. Usually that is done by possessing a human, however it can also be done by attaching themselves to an object. This permits them to be summoned into existence without being possibly permanently rooted to the spot where they were summoned, as they could reside on an object like a coin or amulet, until such a time as an appropriate victim was in close proximity to that coin or amulet. This ability to hitch a ride on an object can only be accomplished with some difficulty, taking time and concentration (so as to prevent a possessor demon from too easily hiding itself amongst a cluster of object when cornered). Also, and very importantly, possessor demons are utterly unable to jump hosts, either human or objects, if an exorcism attempt has been initiated against them. The exorcism must be resolved, for better or worse, before any host transfer may again occur. If the demon is exorcised, it is gone from this dimension, no more possessing possible. An exception to the no range rule is that a person attempting an exorcism that fails may at that moment be possessed by the possessor demon regardless of the range the exorcist is from the demon. Link? :-) Er... Doh. You mean maybe the general 'example' for possessor daemons...

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters For comment and upgrading. Preliminary Hero Designer files sent by Email Ghosts, Poltergeists, Apparitions and Whispering Demons These supernatural threats have among them the commonality of being non-corporeal and not typically visible to ordinary senses. And the manner in which they manifest their impact upon the world can make it not immediately apparent just what one is dealing with. Identifying them properly is important, as often the manner of dealing with them can be quite different. Ghosts - Poltergeist Spirit.hdc There are many ghosts, lost souls who for reasons of trauma or deep emotional attachment either do not realize they are dead or cannot let go of their mortal attachments. Most often these pour souls have no impact upon the world and will simply linger until they are fortunate enough to be discovered by a sensitive who cares enough to help them make their transition. There are other ghosts however who for reasons of anger, revenge or just plain insanity would seek to frighten or even do harm to people. Almost invariably these ghosts haunt a specific thing, be that a place, an object, or even occasionally a person. Rarely are they rational, they almost always are acting on a very strong compulsion. These ghosts often are the lost souls of individuals, in which case the key to eliminating them is typically the proper disposal of their remains. Doing that of course requires identifying the individual who has resulted in the haunting and then finding the remains. Unfortunately some hauntings are the result of constructs created by mass trauma or terror and ridding the world of such can be much more difficult. Ghosts that attract the attention of hunters typically are the sorts that are powerful enough to have a telekinetic and/or environmental effect upon the world. Usually this is not a powerful effect, but it need not be to cause terror and destruction. For some reason, most malevolent ghosts typically manifest not as simple poltergeist spirits, but rather as apparitions. Poltergeists - Poltergeist_Human.hpk Poltergeists are often simply ghosts, manifesting their hauntings in a manner that does not reveal the ghost itself. Much poltergeist activity however is actually rooted in living persons who are unconsciously manifesting a deep seated emotional turmoil. Obviously in such instances, salting and burning the bones is an inappropriate course of action. Such individuals can often arrest their poltergeist manifestations by getting psychological intervention or having the source of their emotional turmoil addressed. This is very often manifest in children and teenagers in abusive or otherwise troubled homes. Investigators are cautioned however to not automatically suspect the parents, as the emotional trauma can easily be caused by siblings, other relatives or persons of authority that the child is regularly in contact with. Apparitions - Apparition.hdc Apparitions are ghosts that visibly manifest in some manner beyond the effects they might have upon the world. Sometimes these apparitions, just like most ghosts, do not seek to cause any harm. Often they are not even sentient, merely lingering remnants of intense emotion. Sometimes however these spirits can be truly malevolent and can with the terror they inspire in those that see them, have a disproportionate effect upon the world, far beyond what their telekinetic abilities might otherwise cause. Whispering Demons - WhisperingDemon.hdc A whispering demon can in many ways be worse than a possessing demon. A person possessed by a demon usually evinces this in some way that makes it easy for hunters to identify the subject. A person haunted by a whispering demon may show no evidence of it whatsoever until they show up at a crowded place and open up with a shotgun. While whispering demons share many similarities with non-corporeal spirits, they are not spirits at all, but are in fact demons. They can be summoned and banished as can demons. And while spirits are typically non-malevolent, just misguided, whispering demons are truly evil. They seek to corrupt humans into doing things that will cause the most destruction possible to themselves and those around them.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Yes, very, and thank you. I really have to get my hands on the Advanced Players Guide, and actually read it. ;-) I am confused about how this creature moves, how it is able to find and thereby 'possess' it's target. Is is a form of extra dimensional movement where it does not physically exist on this 'plane' unless it possesses it's target? (How then does it identify a target?) Is it related to 'formless', meaning is the ability of formless the thing that causes the creature to not need movement, as if it exists in all space at once? Edit: By the way, I just sent you a possible rebuild of shotguns, suggesting defining them as multipowers rather than straight up single effects, due to the range of possible shot loads; buck shot, solid slug, rock salt, 'Dragon's Breath', etc. I am far from certain I have done a good job of it however.

Re: Lowering CVs from imported 5E characters? Easiest way to handle it is to use your monster stats straight from the book, but, and this is an important 'but', take it easy on your players for the first couple of months. Let them get used to the idea that they are 'starting' characters and have to build up to the 'combat levels' of the monsters that exist in the game. And then let your players spend their first 20 or 30 character points buying levels as they gear up to the higher OCV/DCVs of the monsters. You will find at the end that your player characters will be both highly specialized and be making much more tactical use of maneuvers.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Heh. Er... Comfortable? I guess that depends on how many 'points' my character has got. I'm playing in a fantasy campaign right now where my starting character is a 600 point 'dead' god. I am comfortable with 'that' character in this context. ;-) You already stated that this vignette is "a very tough upper end adventure, demonstrating the deep end of the pool", that after I freaked out about the lesser powered (before possession) Michael Blaise. I am fine with that. It is useful for a player to be able to look at such things so as to know what they should build towards. In most campaigns I generally will not spend experience to boost combat power and such unless the GM 'tells' me to or it is otherwise made extremely obvious that I need to. Having an adventure like this 'on the books', stipulating a suggested point level, simply tell me as a player that by the time I get to that point level, I should be able to deal with this. So the essential thing in the case of this adventure is to post a suggested point level.

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Spirit 'guides' are actually extremely common amongst 'real world' mediums.

Re: (Equipment) Axe vs. Sword Yes, but the average fighter does not walk around with a two handed sword either. For the most part, a typical 'average' fighter would carry a shortsword. The real question is what is the average 'elite' fighter, what is the average player character fighter? The rule books tell us that a typical bodybuilder has a strength of 13, and while that is all nice and pretty for the game designer to write in their rule book, the fact remains that with a 13 strength costing all of 3 points, a weapons dependent fighter, player character is going to have a 'lot' higher than that on average. The weapon's chart that KS created assumes 'that' average strength spread, the 'real' spread amongst players and their equals. Otherwise all players will automatically wield the biggest weapons that exist in the world, all the time, and other weapons might as well not exist.

Re: (Equipment) Axe vs. Sword I would reiterate Mayapuppies' suggestion. Simply use Killer Shrike's weapons chart. It has all the differentiation you could hope for, is quite realistic and creates for some interesting tactical choices. Here is a direct link to the page in question: http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/shrikeArmsArmament_Weapon_Chart.aspx

Re: Urban Fantasy Setting: Here There Be Monsters Great picture for Michael Blaise! :-) This guy is seriously scary. He can pretty much one shot kill anyone he so much as sees (line of sight, mental, invisible, 3D6-1 KA!!!). Combat luck sure won't count because they'll never see it coming. With him possessed, I would be shitting bricks. May I suggest maybe making his 'slayer' ability an EB effect? That will still do a 'crippling' damage to most characters (most do not buy up their ED) and two shots will still kill. Might I suggest giving him the complication of causing him to use his 'stormcaller' power unconsciously when under extreme stress? It suits the trope.