Kaimont

So, I've been going through the 6th Ed Basic Rulebook, trying to make some characters, and I can't make sense of the skills section at all. I'm trying to build a thief character, so the main skills would have to be Concealment, Lockpicking, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth. (With Security Systems and perhaps some other if I have enough points to squeeze them in.) All of those skills cost 3points base, and 2points for each additional +1. (I think I got that right.) So, to buy a 5 in lockpicking costs 11 character points, and fails a lot because rolling under 5 on 3d6 is hard to do? But then characteristics figure into it too... That's not even getting into Skill Levels... And I guess some skills just don't improve at all, you just either have them or you don't. I don't get it. Can someone please explain this more clearly than the Basic Rulebook, perhaps with some examples of both buying and using skills?

Re: Unsure how, why, where... or _whether_ to start! Well, I only got the 6th Edition Basic Rulebook a few weeks ago, and I've been getting into the system pretty well, I think. I ran a basic combat about a week ago that went awkwardly slow. It involved a lot of "what do I need to roll to see if I hit you?" and "How does this power work again?" types of questions, and it took a while because both characters had pretty good defenses, so they were just chipping away a little damage whenever they'd hit. Oh, and I didn't know that his BODY-Draining claws should only deal half damage. (Thanks, TorchWolf!) That said, the first time I ran any combat in any system wasn't really elegant. It's one of those things that doesn't go so well at first, but after a while, you learn the new system, and it goes far more smoothly. I expect HERO to be that way as well. I'd say the most bothersome things about combat in HERO are the SPD system, which allows certain characters to act more often than others, which takes some adjusting to, and the option to abort into a defensive action, which I've never actually tried yet, because it looks confusing. Also, as far as Hero Designer goes, I haven't tried it yet. So far, all I've got are the Basic Rulebook and a spreadsheet I created to calculate Power costs. Thanks to the Advantage and Limitation cost tables in the BR, even the spreadsheet isn't that important, although it can be helpful to have a calculator handy.

Re: Several questions. I'm a noob. Do'h! I was in a hurry when I posted before, and I forgot to mention that the ring also reads his thoughts (and possibly memories, too). That requires telepathy, right? And it'll probably have some other powers of its own, that it can use when it feels like it. I'm thinking Mind Control, Mind Blast, and maybe Telekinesis, and whatever else I come up with. For the sound-blocking Barrier, how much would the "only stops sound" Limitation be? One of my friends built a character with mystic claws that Drain Body. The combat test against him was quite messy. When his claw attack hits, we can choose to use the Drain that he linked to it, and it takes no additional time. Then he rolls his Drain dice and subtracts the target's Power Defense, which in my case was none. Did I do all of that right? Is there supposed to be an extra cost for Drain BODY or something, since it's so nasty? Also, I've found rulebooks from 5th Ed, revised 5th Ed, and 6th Ed. Do they all play somewhat nicely together, or are things a real pain to convert from one revision to another? I've noticed there are a ton of 5th Ed books, (more than 6th Ed, at least for now) and I'm wondering how well I could incorporate rules from them, or if I'd be wasting my time. Speaking of additional rulebooks, Are there any specific HERO books you'd recommend? (Other than the obvious Full Rulebooks of course, since I've only got the 6th Ed Basic Rulebook.) Oh, if I want a character who attacks by using their powers to light objects on fire, and throwing them, could you just build that as an Energy Blast that requires a flammable object to throw? Or would you perhaps make a physical attack with the object, and then have an Energy attack linked to it, so that you still get some physical damage in there, but also get the Energy Damage from the fire? How would you make a character who electrifies himself? Anyone attacking him in hand-to-hand combat takes energy damage from his electrified skin. Would this be some sort of constant Energy Blast, without range, or am I a long way off?

Re: Extra Time ?s; or How do you halve a -3/4 Limtation? (Math fun) Hi, Ender! That name sounds familiar. Have we met before? 3/8ths in decimal would be .375, I think. (It should be .125 above .25 and below .5) I'd use 3/8ths. I can't think of anything I've seen in the rules that says a limitation has to be in quarters, so I would figure it just like the say, as half of 3/4, or 3/8. Well, I feel like it was intended to mean constant powers, but I suppose it could be instant ones, too. For example, I've you've got some sort of energy rifle that takes a while to heat up, but after that, it can fire shots every round until it overheats or runs out of energy. Of course, I'm still new to this system myself, so what do I know?

I'm totally new to the HERO System. I just got the 6th Ed Basic Rulebook this week, and it's a lot to absorb. But right now, I've got some questions, mostly relating to how to build certain ideas my group has had. Number one is a spell called Sphere Of Silence. I looked at darkness, and figured that affecting the Hearing Group instead of the Sight Group might work. But how I imagine it, there's a major problem with this plan. One of the favorite uses of this spell is giving a conversation an added level of privacy, but Darkness on the Hearing Group mutes all sound inside, instead of allowing a conversation to take place inside, inaudible to everyone else. So, I looked at Barrier, and sure enough, there's an option to make it opaque to a sense group. Choosing the Hearing Sense Group covers that aspect, but it's really not much of a Barrier. It stops sound, including Sonic Attacks, but arrows, lightning bolts, lasers, and even people can pass through it freely, either direction. So, I guess I'm looking at a limitation. Maybe -1? Or 1 and a half? Would that be about right? The other fun use for the spell is blocking outside noise, allowing for better concentration when casting long complicated spells. Would this be Aid, with an Area Effect advantage? And to make both the Aid and Barrier effects last long enough for that, she'd need to buy some advantages for both. Right? To make them Persistent? The Second power is a spell to make herself more persuasive. I've thought about simple boosting her Presence, but that targets her, so how resistant to magic her target is never really comes into play. Could she instead use Drain to reduce one of their stats so she could more easily persuade them? Which stat would that be? What should the defense be? EGO? DMCV? Finally, let's say for example, I want to build a character whose ring has a mind of its own, literally. And it speaks to him Mentally. Mind Link would be good, except that it only works on a willing target, which the wearer won't always be. So, there's another good option called Telepathy. I don't want it to have to spend into Telepathy all the time, so Reduced Endurance Cost is good. But it makes me wonder how exactly Telepathy works normally, as well as with the Constant or Persistent advantages. From what I can tell, it doesn't have much need for Persistent, but I'd like to be sure.