Panpiper

Re: Castle Base and Followers It is a 5th Edition character. Apparently I omitted to properly update the figured characteristics. They weren't 'sold back', they were just written down without the 'figured' additions. I've updated the original post of the character.

Re: Wolves Lair The original Kamarathin worldbook made a number of changes to the cost of characteristics, attempting in it's own way to make the sorts of improvements that 6th Edition has now done with the 'official' change in characteristics. Would we be correct in assuming that we would be using the 6th Edition rules along with the 6th Edition characteristic costs? And related, would we then be making 175 point characters instead of 150 point characters? The change in the characteristic costs for all intents 'require' higher point totals with a 6th Edition character in order to create similar characteristics to a 150 point 5th Edition character. Relatedly, would package deal costs also reflect the changes made in 6th Edition? And is the taking of package deals at all obligatory? Is it possible to have a 'Writ of Carriage' perk for instance, without taking a Lordling or Secular Knight package deal? Can I for instance purchase 'Trained Herbalist' as written up in 'The Seal of Aegia' package deal, without taking the package deal? How about martial arts outside of packages? No doubt, questions like these are for the conversation on Saturday, but I throw them out here to start things rolling. I'm likely going for a Dwarven (Ehem... Mathar) Armiger with a tad of Healer thrown in (herbalist if nothing else). He'd be an extremely hard nut to crack, but with a 'relatively' low OCV. Precisely what one wants in a healer. If there's going to only be one left standing at the end, you really want for it to be the healer.

Re: Castle Base and Followers

Re: Chao Attack Well, first off, 3d6 blast is such a wimpy effect that it wouldn't faze any but the least combat oriented character. Secondly, it looks like an awful lot of dice rolling work and power choosing/building each and every phase. I might suggest instead some sort of multipower with 6 ultra slots. Roll a single dice each time to see what the effect will be. I would recommend using effects that might have an actual effect though (not a 3D6 blast), otherwise it is just superfluous dice rolling. Even easier perhaps is to define it more as a variable change environment and give it a list of 6 environments.

Re: Excited about the system but totally unfamiliar

Re: New DM looking for some 6th Edition character creation Help This thread is actually a duplicate thread of another that is at the time of this posting, up to three pages. Please continue with that other thread so we don't wander off into two different conversations. Thread at: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/76816-new-to-hero-looking-for-some-guidance

Re: Excited about the system but totally unfamiliar

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance A sword wielding martial artist with scientifically augmented reflexes and tons of skills. 20 Str 10 18 Dex 16 20 Con 10 20 Body 10 18 Int 8 13 Ego 3 20 Pre 10 8 Ocv 25 8 Dcv 25 3 Omcv 3 Omdv 8 PD 6 - 17 PD with Combat Luck 8 ED 6 - 17 ED with Combat Luck 4 Spd 20 10 Rec 6 50 End 6 50 Stun 15 Total Stats: 176 22 2D6 KA, Zero Endurance Cost +1/2, Sword. OAF -1 (4D6 KA with Strength and Martial Strike) 18 9 PD/9 ED Luck Martial Arts 4 Martial Block - OCV 10 DCV 10 Block, Abort 4 Martial Dodge - OCV 8 DCV 13 Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 Martial Escape - OCV 8 DCV 8 +15 STR vs. Grabs 4 Martial Strike - OCV 8 DCV 10 +2d6 Strike 1 Weapon Element: Swords 12 +4 Levels with Martial Arts 7 +3 DCV Levels, Only in Hand to Hand -1 Total Powers: 75 8 +8 meters Running 3 +6 meters Jump (5 meters vertical, one story rooftop) 2 +2 Lightning Reflexes for All Dex 3 Acrobatics 3 Climbing 3 Breakfall 3 Stealth 3 Concealment 3 Tracking 3 Security Systems 3 Lock Picking 3 Streetwise 3 Conversation 3 Persuasion 3 Extra Skill Total Skills: 49 Grand Total: 300

Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: What do you have in your coinpurse? In the context of a fantasy game, it is far more dangerous to ease of play in my opinion, if you try to account for the machinations of renaisance and later governments and bureacracies. Yes, all sorts of strange things started to happen to currency in the last five hundred years. But if we focus on the years prior to that, things get 'much' easier to understand. Currency at the level of fantasy is simply a barter mechanism, where the easiest commodity for the barter is precious metals. Only the weight of the metal counts in such a barter economy. Things like 'face value' are relatively modern inventions. Rulers did attempt to fool the public by shaving metal off their coins so as to have more of them, but the effect of that was simply to create an inflationary effect upon the coin price. It had no effect on the metal weight price. For the sake of fantasy, it is best for a GM to assume that the ruler is not shaving coins, lest the GM have to rewrite their price list repeatedly, of factor in an inflation modifier for every transaction made by their players. Economists have done a magnificent job in the 20th century of obfuscating the entire field and magnifying the complexity of the subject so far as to occult understanding by even the best of economists. If economists really understood modern economics, we would not be in the economic mess we are in today. Indeed, it is my contention that we are in the crisis we face these days precisely 'because' economists don't know the first thing about economics. And I've studied economics!

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance OK. This one was hard to get a decent effect going and still keep it balanced. I think I've succeeded but this one could use some serious scrutiny. A gravity controller whose power is the ability to create and control singularities (teleportation, flight, blast, telekinesis, etc) 10 Str 11 Dex 1 18 Con 8 13 Body 3 13 Int 3 10 Ego 15 Pre 5 6 Ocv 15 6 Dcv 15 3 Omcv 3 Omdv 8 PD 6 - 17 PD with Combat Luck 8 ED 6 - 17 ED with Combat Luck 4 Spd 20 10 Rec 6 50 End 6 40 Stun 10 Total Stats: 104 43 Points - "Point of Singularity" See description below. 60 90 point multipower, Linked to "Point of Singularity" -1/2 6f 30 Meters Flight, area effect +1/4 Usable by 8 others +3/4, Zero Endurance Cost +1/2 6f 12D6 Blast (Gravity wave turbulence caused by the Point of Singularity being moved rapidly towards and then away from the target.), Zero Endurance Cost +1/2 6f 640 meter 'Gate' Teleportation - 5 Meters Teleportation x 128 non combat multiple - One normal human mass (100 Kilos), Area Of Effect (2m Radius) +1/4, Usable On Others +1/4, Constant +1/2, Zero Endurance Cost +1/2, Usable one person at a time. Gate Limitation (two ways) -1/2 5 One Floating Fixed Location for Gate Teleport 1 Fixed 'Safe' Location for Gate Teleport 18 9 PD/9 ED Combat Luck Total Powers: 145 12 +4 Levels with Multipower More Skills, talents and perks to be defined. Maybe this is a scientist with lots of appropriate other knacks? Total Skills: 51 Grand Total: 300 "Point of Singularity" Build: 29 Inter-dimensional Teleport - One Dimension 20ap, double weight +5ap, Usable As Attack +1 1/4, Indirect +1/2, Usable at Range based on Strength +1/4, constant +1/2, Zero Endurance +1/2 100 Active Points. Must be cast into empty space (2 meter clearance from any object *See exception below*) -2, Extra segment of time to activate -1/2 14 20 Strength Telekinesis 20ap, Area Effect 8M Radius Explosion +1/4, Indirect +1/2, Zero Endurance +1/2, only to suck people and objects towards the center of the explosion -1, Linked to Inter-dimensional Teleport -1/2, Extra segment of time to activate -1/2 Description: A point of singularity can be built and maintained, and it can be moved about. However due to the nature of the power, it cannot be either built or moved directly into a solid object, but must be maintained at least two meters from any existing object. The exception to this is that objects can move 'towards' the point of singularity. The GM should adjudicate that the Singularity becomes more and more difficult to control as it approaches mass, so it cannot be moved about easily or rapidly. It would be easier to recast it than to move it if it is near to ground. However moving through empty air is far easier and the singularity can move as fast as the character's flight through empty air. Note that normal characters with a normal strength will be extremely vulnerable to being swept up by the Singularity's gravity field (the area effect explosion telekinesis). At the outer edge of the field 7-8 meters, it picks up objects weighing up to 50 Kilos (Strength 5)) and sucks them into some other dimension. Humans are too big for this but they will be grabbing something to move out of the way. Between 5-6 meters the field will be at Strength 10. Normal humans will be swept up by this and hurled into the singularity if they do not grab something. They should be able to climb out of the effect as long as they can keep a hold of something firmly affixed. Between 3-4 meters the strength of the gravity is at strength 15, and normal humans may well no longer be able to hold on. Ego rolls may allow them to push their strength, it is the GM's call. Between the singularity itself and 2 meters, the force of the gravity is at Strength 20. Normal humans have no chance of being able to hold on at that range. Exceptional humans of great strength might be able to fight it, depending upon circumstances. Note also that the Point of Singularity is both visible and takes a segment to form. Most people will notice it forming, start to perceive it's pulling effect even before it is fully formed, and instinctively abort to move away from it. Only in unusual circumstances would the singularity successfully form with a conscious human being already in it's area effect. The best 'combat' use of this effect is as a form of area denial. *Exception to the empty space limitation* If indoors, there may not be a full two meters in all directions of empty space. The GM may adjudicate that with a great effort, the singularity may still be formed, but it must form in the most empty space in the room, usually the center of the room. Note: The area effect flying is an extremely uncomfortable experience, and quite possibly dangerous for normal humans, as they are tossed and turned like leaves in the wind as the gravity of the singularity lifts them off the ground and carries them along as it moves. Landing would require a dex roll to not land on one's arse, or worse.

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance The advantage to the variable power pool approach is that you can give him the bestiary and just let him pick anything in the book, up to 300 points. Of coarse the way 'I' designed the power is that he would have to have touched the animal at least once before. With the power pool however, he could also turn into a snail, or garden snake, etc. And I am certain he would not either find them in the Bestiary or think to list them in a selection of 16. But he might want to turn into a cockroach after he get's locked in a dungeon...

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance

Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? I should perhaps not be answering this as I have not so much as 'seen' Ultimate Martial Artist, so I do not know what it contains. It is likely it contains a write up for Hsing-I, but if not, it definitely needs one. It is the classic 'internal' style of Chinese striking forms. A lot of other Chinese styles have a difficult time injecting power into their movement. The classic advice of many Chinese artists is for anyone devoting themselves to one of these many other Chinese styles, is to also spend a few years studying Hsing-I, as it's emphases upon Fa-Jin power (internal explosive force) can be applied to any and all other styles. Hsing-I is actually a fairly simple style consisting for all intents of short powerful striking. A package might well simply be but the standard Defensive Strike, to account for the defensive stancing, along with two Damage Classes. The suggestion that so many receive to study Hsing-I in order to learn power for their other style would be neatly explained by those two damage classes. Hsing-I does not have blocks per say, as all movements are simultaneously striking as they block, hence the Defensive Strike. Very likely a style that is 'not' in the book is Chen style Tai-Chi. Chen style was the precursor to most of the other Tai-Chi styles that people 'are' familiar with. The whys and hows of the evolution of those other styles is an interesting telling, but that is another post. Chen Style Tai-Chi is a fighting art, first and foremost. Any health benefits are a mere happy coincidence. It is practiced slowly because it is difficult to practice internal movements quickly. That said, the slow movements in the Chen Tai-Chi form are used to build power, to coil the spring as it were. The distinguishing feature of Chen style Tai-Chi, that differentiates it from other forms is that throughout the form, there are numerous instances of explosive power as the coil is released (Fa-Jin). Here are a couple of not great videos showing extracts from a couple of forms: Completely aside from a mechanics point of view, is a bit of a critique of the martial arts system itself. From a pure min/max point of view, a player is usually better off buying the bare minimum of maneuvers necessary to fit the rules, and simply use those techniques in combat. Returns on points spent diminish rapidly as one buys more and more techniques. Given two martial artists built on 150 points, one who bought the full package of martial arts for 35 points, and the other who bought less than fifteen points worth of maneuvers but spent the points saved on extra levels, strength and PD, is going to wipe the floor with the other character who technically knows more martial arts. I would like to see a system that either confers a point break to the purchase of new maneuvers, the more one buys - the cheaper they get, which from a point balance "getting what you pay for" point of view would be the fairest mechanism; or come up with a system that breaks maneuvers into basic, intermediary, and advanced techniques. Require that a minimum of 5 points be spent on basic techniques (and then sneakily don't provide any five point basic techniques) before intermediate techniques can be purchased. And then require that at least 20 points be spent on basic and intermediate techniques combined before any techniques can be learned from the advanced category. Further stipulate that once one has learned five points of advanced techniques from their own style, they are then free to purchase any technique from any other style without restriction. That would create a points worthy incentive to spend more than the minimum ten points on Martial Arts. In the rules for building maneuvers, stipulate that basic maneuvers may not be built for more than four points. Intermediate techniques can be built normally, and advanced techniques get all sorts of extra advantages, so they can be made to be truly special. Advanced techniques are/could be Wuxia level techniques.

Re: Traveler's Purse - Magic Item

Re: Excited about the system but totally unfamiliar I agree, but that depends to some degree on what game you wish to play. Some of the characters mentioned, namely... "A shapeshifter that can turn into any animal including other humans." "A gravity controller who's power is the ability to create and control singularities (teleportation, flight, blast, telekineses, etc)" ...Could not be built with 210 points, at least not with stacking on all sorts of extra limitations on powers. And that would not make the game simpler, rather the contrary.

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance Variable Power Pool - Only for Animal multiform and replicating powers from those whose shape character is in. 60ap Base, 30ap Control Cost, No Skill Roll Required +1 Limitations: +1 segment to change -1/2. Must have touched the creature to be changed into -1/4, DCV 0 Concentration to change -1/2 Control Cost Real Points: 27 What I did there was to add a +1 advantage to the control cost of 30 points, bringing it to 60 points. Then a limitation of -1 1/4 gets applied to the control cost bringing it to 27 real points. I added that to the pool cost of 60 (which likely was the source of the confusion, I should probably have itemized the two separately) for a total of 87 points spent. I would tend to agree with you. Unfortunately a character who can do the things this player wants to be able to do cannot be realistically designed with 300 points without using limitations. Note as well that the limitations are quite consistent and reasonable given the power, and not really that hard to understand. The character does not have instant change, and there is extra time involved in changing which makes the character vulnerable. The character has to have had physical contact which whomever or whatever they wish to change into. Besides, they want to learn the system, and having a few limitations to understand will help. True, that is a hassle. But they want to be able to turn into animals. I think if he's got a 300 point tiger written up, he's not likely to need anything more than that for combat. Anything else he touches is likely to be used out of combat, and therefor doesn't really need a writeup. If 300 points is enough for a tiger, it's likely enough for anything else, so the GM can just wing it, and say, Ok, you're an elephant and can push the truck over. Now you are a bird and can see the whole city... Etc.. Yes. You have omitted entirely the fact that this character wants to be able to shapeshift to look like any human they wish. That is not accounted for in the slightest by a skills and powers power pool. And even if one used the powerpool to as the basis for a shapeshifting (which would be legal) they would then have no pool with which to mimic powers and special abilities.

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance Note: I am assuming that Characteristic Maxima are in place, which is the norm in low powered Dark Champions campaigns. It means that this 'Strongman' above is probably the strongest man on the planet with a strength 30 points above the normal human maximum.

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance Super strongman who is tough, strong, and can jump high 50 Str 70 13 Dex 3 23 Con 16 20 Body 10 10 Int 10 Ego 20 Pre 10 6 Ocv 15 6 Dcv 15 3 Omcv 3 Omdv 8 PD 6 - 25 PD with "Tough Skin", "Hard-bitten", and "Heroic Toughness" 8 ED 6 - 25 ED with "Tough Skin", "Hard-bitten", and "Heroic Toughness" 4 Spd 20 10 Rec 6 50 End 6 50 Stun 15 Total Stats: 198 7 +7 Meters Running (Total 19 Meters) 3 Leaping +6 Meters to characteristic Maxima 20 +20 meters Brings Leap to 30 meters, 15 Meters Vertical (5 Stories) 3 "Tough Skin" 1PD/1ED Resistant 16 "Hard-bitten" 8PD/8ED Resistant, Active Points: 24 Does Not Protect Vs. The First Point Of Body From Each Separate Increment Of Damage Taken -1/2 16 "Heroic Toughness" 8PD/8ED resistant (Only stops half the body of an attack, up to 8 body. -1/2), Martial Arts 3 Martial Grab 3 Martial Throw 5 Offensive Strike 20 +4 Levels with Hand to Hand Combat 3 Persuasion 3 Interrogation Total Powers & Skill: 102 Grand Total: 300 Note: The "Tough Skin", "Hard-bitten", and "Heroic Toughness" on this character means that he can't quite 'bounce' bullets off his chest, but they do 'far' less damage to him than they would to virtually anyone else on the planet. A little one body nick that would leave you or I bleeding does absolutely nothing to him, his "Tough Skin" would stop that. A bullet that would leave you or I dying, will instead leave him bleeding as if he were nicked. Any killing attack between two and ten body will inflict a single body of damage on him. Beyond that, if a single killing attack did more than ten body, half of that would be stopped by the "Heroic Toughness", up to 8 more body. Any body done in excess of that would simply go through normally, but that would be one insanely huge killing attack, like being shot by a tank or something.

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance 6th Edition, volume one. Page 279 Imitation: This +10 Character Points Adder allows a character to shift shape to resemble specific persons. Page 280 Makeover: For this +5 Character Points Adder, a character with Shape Shift (Sight Group and/ or Touch Group) can alter his Striking Appearance within the range of standards the GM defines for the campaign...

Re: new to hero, looking for some guidance A shapeshifter that can turn into any animal including other humans. 15 Str 5 13 Dex 6 18 Con 8 13 Body 3 13 Int 3 10 Ego 15 Pre 5 7 Ocv 20 7 Dcv 20 3 Omcv 3 Omdv 8 PD 6 8 ED 6 4 Spd 20 10 Rec 6 40 End 4 40 Stun 10 Total Stats: 102 41 Full 'Mystique" Shapeshift (see description below). Can replicate a maximum of 60 active points of a power. 87 60 Active Point Variable Power Pool - Any animal touched up to 300 points. (Create Animal Character Sheet.) 18 9 PD/9 ED Combat Luck Martial Arts 4 Martial Block 4 Martial Dodge 4 Martial Strike 1 Weapon Element: Traditional Martial Arts Striking Weapons 1 Weapon Element: Improvised Weapons 12 +4 levels with Martial Arts Total Power: 172 3 +1 Striking Appearance 5 Eidetic Memory 6 Speed Reading (Reads a Book in Two Minutes) 3 Conversation 3 Persuasion 3 Streetwise 3 Bureaucratics Total Skills 26 Grand Total: 300 Shapeshift Base - All Sense Groups, Any Shape 28ap, Imitation 10ap, Makeover 5ap, Cellular 10ap. Advantages: 0 Endurance +1/2, Persistent +1/4, 93 AP active Limitations: +1 segment to change -1/2. Must have touched the one to be changed into -1/4, DCV 0 Concentration to change -1/2, 41 Real Points Variable Power Pool - Only for Animal multiform and replicating powers from those whose shape character is in. 60ap Base, 30ap Control Cost, No Skill Roll Required +1 Limitations: +1 segment to change -1/2. Must have touched the creature to be changed into -1/4, DCV 0 Concentration to change -1/2 Control Cost Real Points: 27 Note: The variable power pool can either be used to emulate the powers of whomever the character has turned into up to 60 active points OR it can be used to turn into any animal built on up to 300 active points (pretty much covers all real animals). It cannot be used for both at the same time. When the character is an animal, they really are an animal, they can't be a lion that flies (unless maybe the character actually touches such a lion).

Re: Excited about the system but totally unfamiliar I recommend posting an introduction to yourself, your situation and your gaming group to the 'champions' forum itself; http://www.herogames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/5-Champions Ask for people's help there, and you'll get much more response I expect. Specify that you are looking for a low powered group ment to play in a "Dark Champions: Animated Series" level game, similar to early X-men, and you are looking at 300 point characters (my advice).

Re: Classical Greek-Roman Campaign That was a useful book. I read it and much enjoyed it, way back when. The advice in that book was to makes it a fairly high powered game with stat maximums in the 30-40 range. Actually I think he had a mechanism where players could define one or two stats as being above the standard max and the rest were normal. In any case, the idea was that the game had to be structured to allow for the likes of Achilies and Heracles. Demigods and superhumans were a staple of the mythology. With regard to having Rome around, there is no reason you cannot define an alternate history in which Greece and Sparta, and Carthage for that matter, never declined. Indeed, keep much of the ancient world intact at their peak. India is an empire, Egypt is planning even greater pyramids, China is united and filled with early Wuxia, the Druids who built Stonehenge weild awesome power. Rome flexes their legions' might, Persia with a million man army marches on Greece, and three hundred Spartans, bolstered by a half dozen other heroes, stand ready to hold a pass against them.

Re: Excited about the system but totally unfamiliar What I might suggest is to get together with your players and ask them, without even referring to the rules, what sort of characters they would want to play. Write down in a few lines each, the essence of their character concepts. Then come onto this forum and post the character concepts and ask people if there is anyone who would care to design a set of X-men like characters at a 'Dark Champions' power level based on those conceptions. I am quite certain a few people would post their ideas, likely even complete builds. Take your pick of those posted builds and start playing with them. Don't worry about designing your own characters at first, just learn to play those that were posted. Allow your players over time to make changes to their characters, selling back a bit of one thing to buy something else, as they get comfortable with their characters and the system. It's a lot easier to get started in the system using characters someone else has prebuilt than trying to learn enough to build them on your own before ever playing. Perhaps even after a couple of months playing, once everyone has gotten comfortable enough that they 'could' build their own characters from scratch, have your characters innocently walk into an interdimensional-transmogrification device and get knocked unconscious at the end of the game session. Tell the players that they can design completely new characters if they like for the next week,, keeping all their XP earned, or simply redesign the characters they've got now, their choice. You as the GM can also redesign your world as well, because more than the characters may have changed when that device got triggered.

Re: Ranged attacks while engaged in melee A very young Legolas 10 Str 20 Dex 30 13 Con 6 13 Body 6 13 Int 3 10 Ego 13 Pre 3 Com NA 3 Pd 1 3 Ed 4 Spd 10 5 Rec 26 End 25 Stun 3 +1 Striking Appearance (Girl Magnet) 8 Combat Luck 6 PD/6 ED Does not stack with armor -1/2 21 2D6 RKA, 1/2 Endurance +1/4, Weapon of Opportunity -1/2, Beam -1/4 ("Quiver of Infinate Arrows", Arrows are a 'special effect' only.) 8 Offensive Combat Penalty Skill Levels w Placed Shots 6 Offensive Combat Penalty Skill Levels w Range Penalties with RKA 6 Penalty Skill Levels w Sight Range Modifiers 10 +5 OCV with RKA 7 +3 DCV Only in Hand to Hand -1 1 Longevity 200 Years (and climbing) 3 +1 Perception 3 Stealth 3 Concealment 3 Tracking 2 Forest Survival 2 PS: Ranger -12 -6" Running 17 +7" Flight, No Turn Mode +1/4, Invisible Power Effects +1/4, Only In Contact With A Surface -1/4 (Must move along some at least exceedingly, remotely plausible surface.) Total: 150