WalkerGrae

Re: Graininess Oops. I don't have the Ultimate Brick. Nice to know its already been done. Anyhow, I actually did these calculations back in 1995 when all I had was Hero 4th. I noticed Phil mentions useing CHAR/3 or even CHAR/2 for Skill rolls. Anybody applying that in an active game? Good results?

I've noticed a few comments on the "graininess" of Hero in lower powered heroic campaigns. I suppose an example of this can be seen when looking at the Strength Table. I lists scored that end in 0, 3, 5, or 8 and leave a little to the imagination when considering the differences between say Str 11 or Str 12. I havn't seen a breakdown of this anywhere (so please excuse me if I'm pointing out something obvious) so I'll pitch in 2¢. The progression is given as +5 pts. equals +100% effect and looking at the Strength chart, the Lift(kg) column specifically, strength ending in 3 or 8 fall about half way between the scores ending in 0 or 5 (+50%). I once figured out a nice little formulae to fill in the gaps for scores ending in 1, 2, or 4. The formulae to calculate Lift(kg) for Strength is 100kg x 2^((Str/5) - 2). Using this to calculate for Strength scores from 10 to 15 (I picked this range because it directly corresponds to percentages) you get the following results: STR__Lift(kg) 10___100.00 11___114.87 12___131.95 13___151.57 14___174.11 15___200.00 From this you can get the following: STR__Lift(kg)__+Pts___+%_____+Approx.%__+Approx.Fractional 10___100.00___+0___+0.00%______+0%__________+0 11___114.87___+1___+14.87%____+15%_________+1/6 12___131.95___+2___+31.95%____+32%_________+1/3 13___151.57___+3___+51.57%____+52%_________+1/2 14___174.11___+4___+74.11%____+74%_________+3/4 15___200.00___+5__+100.00%___+100%__________+1 Taking this one can fill in the Strength Table thus: STR__Lift(kg)__Damage__Leap(Hexes) 5______50______1d6_______1" 6______58_____1d6+1____1 1/6" 7______65_____1d6+1____1 1/3"___<-- Could use 1d6+2 here, but that's 8______75_____1½d6______1½"_______probably better than 1½d6. 9______88_____2d6-1______1¾"_______1 1/3d6 (1d6+1d2) maybe. 10____100_____2d6________2" 11____115_____2d6+1____2 1/6" 12____130_____2d6+1____2 1/3" 13____150_____2½d6______2½" 14____175_____3d6-1______2¾" 15____200______3d6 _______3" 16____230_____3d6+1____3 1/6" 17____260_____3d6+1____3 1/3" 18____300_____3½d6_____3½" 19____350_____4d6-1_____3¾" 20____400______4d6_______4" Well, it was fun fiddling anyway. Aargh!! One day I need to learn to format columns on this board.

Re: Off beat question from one of my players about how Hero would handle something. Couldn't this also be a Conversation skill on the part of the hero. Possibly with a bonus to the skill roll as the target thinks the hero isn't in a position to use the information. I've seen it done in a few TV programs, books and comics. The "helpless" hero strikes up the conversation and usually learns all he needs to know. Occasionally there are times when the villian relises that he's being pumped for info and infers that perhaps his victim is not as helpless as he originally thought and attemps to subdue the hero before he escapes.

Re: Growth Momentum!!! "The assumption is correct. Just put a -1/4 limitation [No Growth Momentum] on the shrinking power and you should be fine." Thanks MitchellS, I considered using just that limitation but wasn't sure what the value would be. -1/4 sounds about right and would counterbalance the +1/4 Only Costs End to Active Advantage already applied. More comments welcome.

I was toying with a character concept this weekend based on the animated superhero (tongue-in-cheek) The Tick. Basically a brick with 60 Strength, high Con, and lots of defense. I thought maybe I'd call it "The Flea" and was thinking of throwing in some extra Leaping and maybe Shrinking. I wrote in 60 pts Shrinking (he's The Flea after all), deleted the +38" Leaping in favor of x8 non-combat leaping because the 12" base Leaping from 60 Str and the +18" when shrunk seemed quite adequate. That's when I remembered something about added damage when a shrunk character delivers an uppercut while growing back to normal. You can imagine my suprise when my eyes lit on the paragraph Growth Momentum and the sentance that says +1d6/pt of DCV gained from being shrunk. Hmm . . . 60 Str equals 12d6 plus +12 DCV equals +12d6 for a grand total of . . . 24d6!!! YIKES! Somehow I don't see this construct being ratified for play by the average GM. Or am I wrong in this assumption?

Re: "Impaling/Pinning" Your Oppenent Good ideas all! I don't expect it to come up much. Perhaps in a Fantasy Hero campaign. I like the multipower Strike and Grab as a possibility and NuSoardGraphite's twist on Twisting the Blade. As far as killing things, I don't without reason. O'possums have a tendency to keep coming back when they find a chicken yard. The last one ate three baby chicks and crippled two hens. I apologize for the long period before commenting, but I was spending the weekend at the other property and wrote the original post while back taking care of a few quick chores.

What I'm looking for is a maneuver where an oppenent is impaled on a long weapon (boar spear, trident, etc.) and pinned to the ground, a tree, or some other surface where they are held immobile so that allies can attack with impunity. What brings this up is a few months ago I had to get up at two a.m. to dispatch an O'possum that was killing chickens in our coop. Now a possum doesn't seem like much . . . at least 'till you've cornered one by flashlight. O'possums are tough little critters. This one I clobbered with a club and before disposing of it I decided to remove its head with my machete as possums are famous for (wait for it) playing possum. That's when I found out that they're really tough. I keep my machete nearly shaving sharp (brush the blade down my arm and it readily cuts the hair off), but it took a few good blows to the neck before it cut through (and the first blow immediatly pissed off the "dead" possum). Where the pinning maneuver comes in is the next month another possum had me dragging myself out in the wee hours to dispatch it. This time I went with a different tactic. I impaled it, pinning it to the ground, with a pitch fork. Satisfied it wasn't going anywhere and definately not thrilled with the idea of pulling the fork out for another stab and letting it have even a moment to do more than show me those fantastic rows of sharp teeth, I promptly fetched the flounder gig/fork and set about perforating it thouroughly. In doing so I found that while possums seem to be extremely resistant to bludgeoning and resist slashing quite well, they are quite easily pierced (perhaps a subject for another thread about weapon types and how they compare: bludgeoning vs. slashing vs. piercing). Now that I'm through with the long winded tales. Anyone know if there is a Impaling/Pinning maneuver in the Hero rules or if it would have to written up using some Power construct with Advantages and Limitations. And while I'm asking, if it requires a power write up, does anyone have any ideas.

Re: Ultra Low Start Campaign Essentially -25 Base +10 Disadvantages for a Total -15 points. Even less than "Incompetent Normal." Sounds like fun! A few of the best AD&D 2nd ed. games were ones where the characters started out as non-classed, 0 level individuals with 1d6 hit points. We got the idea from a module (I don't remember the name now) where the characters started the game in the surf of some unknown island after the slave ship carrying them wrecked in a storm. Something satisfying about raising your characters from marooned, escaped slaves to powerful heros (0 level nobodies that eventually reached somewhere around 15th level).

Re: Hero System 5th Edition, Revised now in Online Store Picked mine up at the local comic/game store in Pensacala, FL yesterday. Other than the white "REVISED" lettering under the cover title, some changes to the text on the back and the black chapter marks on the page edges it looks practically identical to FREd; except that its 1/2 inch (13mm) thicker. The only flaw it seems to be that the glue job holding it to its cover wasn't done very well on this particular copy. Some loose spots where the paper insert is glued to the covers. However, the pages seem to be well secured to the inserted binding. I expect it will be as durable as FREd and if the insert does come free of the cover it'll be a minor repair to fix it. Unfortunately the store I purchased mine from only ordered one, and that only because I had been by looking for it last week. I haven't went through cover to cover just yet, just thumbed here and there, but it looks first rate so far. I don't have to take a magic marker to the edges of the pages in each chapter, it's been done already and the titles are printed at the edge for quick reference. Looks like lots of information have been pulled into 5ER so that one doesn't have to keep reaching for a supplement to find it (size/mass templates and physical limitations for same). The "Genre by Genre" chapter and the actual sample character write-ups should make 5ER immensely more accessible for people new to the system than FREd.

Re: Martial NND Manuevers That's my major gripe with Hero System. ERRATA! I'm avidly awaiting the 5th ed. Revised with hopes that the Errata Demon will be banished.

Re: Martial NND Manuevers Ahhh . . . In other words: See Nerve Strike in the UMA on page 148. Thanks Lord Liaden!

I thought I had the answer to this question before, but don't remember it now. When NND maneuvers are listed in martial arts packages they're followed by a number in parenthesis in the notes section. Examples: Low Blow - 2d6 NND (3) Choke Hold - 2d6 NND (2) Tien-hsueh Strike - 2d6 NND (1) My dumb questions for the month: What do they reference and where do I find it?

Re: FH Grimoire Index I spent some time putting the major spell names, their arcana, and page number into a database (MS Access). I'm planning on adding the costs (AC/RC) and possibly a brief description later. I primarily did this so I could use the spells, but split them into my own arcana and allow for some overlap and be able to print separate and complete lists for each arcana (spells that belong to one or more arcana would appear in each listing).

Re: Shelf life for potions and scrolls Outsider's suggestion of using Trigger instead of Delayed Effect and considering wear and tear based on the product and its environment looks like your best solution. Using Extra Time (6 hours or more to brew/write) and Expendable Foci (hard &/or expensive to acquire) should provide a reasonable limitation on availability as long as you don't allow player's to say they're taking a month break between adventures and brewing potions and writing scrolls around the clock.

I had something along Kristopher's idea in mind. I was basing it loosely on the character "Ka-Si-Ohma" (sp?) from a book titled "Enemy Mine." I don't remember the author's name. The character was native american shamen in south-west north America who had "retired" and went into the mountains die when he stumbled into a spacecraft mining for radioactive elements to refuel and was injured. He awoke later to descover he was young again, but was rejected as being some sort of bad spirit by his tribe and old apprentice. Later in his escape he found that his "new" body would adapt on the fly as he used it like when he was running to escape his former tribe it kept getting easier to run and even increased speed outdistancing the fastest runners of the tribe with ease. Further, after losing a leg in an incident he found that his body could regenerate itself. Later afeter many years he found that he didn't age and that he could alter his bodies shape and abilities, albiet slowly and taking a hours for more radical alterations. He could sleep in his altered forms, but I do remember that his body had a tendency to do what was needed to keep him alive if he was unconcious which could lead to a few problems. However, as the rules read it's a constant power so the character would revert when unconcious and it wouldn't cost end to return to normal (otherwise he wouldn't revert). But, I think Persistant with Costs END Only To Change makes a viable concept without being unbalancing. And as always, there's almost certainly another route through the rules that will work just as well. Have fun.