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Armitage

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Everything posted by Armitage

  1. This was why I was thinking about the Entangle I remember seeing (Man, I wish I could remember where). Remove the Only Against Targets Touching The Ground that it presumably had and it would work against any movement passing through the radius. I remember seeing it and thinking that it would be a good way to create the Solid Fog spell from D&D, which even slows you down if you fall through it.
  2. I hate to be the guy who nitpicks, but... Page 34, Number of Supers. (Details redacted to maintain spoilers.) "Conservative estimates suggest that, in recent years, one person in a million on Strike Force Earth has innate powers that can be considered paranormal or even superhuman. With a world population between X and Y billion ...(REDACTED)..., this yields a figure of X to Y million paranormals." One billion divided by one million is one thousand. Either one person in a thousand has powers or the paranormals only number in the thousands. Page 35 then discusses one paranormal in a thousand being powerful enough to be a hero or a villain, with those then numbering in the thousands, suggesting that the earlier millions is correct.
  3. Got my PDF today. At first, I thought that my name had been misspelled on the backer list, but it seems that there was another backer whose name is one letter different than mine. Also backing at a completely different level, but I didn't remember what level I was.
  4. One of the Fantasy Hero books, I think, I can't remember which one, had a spell that turned the ground into an adhesive mire in a large area, dramatically slowing anyone passing through it. As I recall, it was built as a Constant Entangle with a Limitation that it only reduced movement to 1"/2m per Phase instead of completely immobilizing anyone in it.
  5. in 5E, Change Environment was area effect by default. Usable As Attack was used to make the power "stick" to the weapon and move with it. (I was just copying directly from the 5e Grimoire.)
  6. I've been tinkering with adapting elements of 3.5 D&D to Hero System off and on for ages. One of the things that was always an issue was D&D applying Vancian-style "fire and forget" rules to things other than magic, effectively giving everything charges. I realize that it's a game balance issue, in order to prevent a paladin from wading into an army of orcs and just smiting them every round, a monk stunning everyone he fights, or a cleric turning undead over and over and over. Resource management has always been part of D&D. For spells, I prefer using long-term Endurance, so a wizard can cast a Fireball every Phase if he wants to, but he's eventually going to exhaust himself. It also helps avoid the notorious "15 minute work day". The question becomes applying the concept to class abilities while retaining some of the flavor of D&D. I had a thought... Basic Smite Evil: Smite Evil: Deadly Blow: +1d6 (Against Evil Targets). Total cost: 16 points. Modified Smite Evil: Smite Evil: Deadly Blow: +1d6 (Against Evil Targets) (16 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Costs Endurance (-1/2) plus Buy-Off Costs END and Increased END Cost (10 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2). Total cost: 9 points. For a savings of 7 points, you have a paladin who can Smite Evil once per day normally, and then each time he uses it after that, it costs 6 END. At +2d6, it's a 13 point savings and 9 END. The same thing can be applied to other class abilities that have limited uses in D&D. The END multiplier and number of Charges can be modified according to personal preferences for a campaign. A character still has to carefully consider when they want to expend their abilities, but they're not left completely helpless if they unload on a lieutenant, thinking he's the Big Bad.
  7. There's actually a spell in the Divine Magic chapter of the 6e Hero System Grimoire and the 5e Fantasy Hero Grimoire that temporarily makes a weapon sacred to take advantage of Susceptibilities and Vulnerabilities. Sanctify Weapon (6e) Change Environment (make a weapon sacred), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Time Limit (duration of 1 Turn, +1 Turn per point by which the caster succeeds with his Magic roll; +¼) (9 Active Points); OAF (holy symbol or the like; -1), Extra Time (Full Phase; -½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), No Range (-½), Only When Serving The God’s Purposes (-½), Requires A Magic Roll (-½), Spell (-½). Sanctify Weapon (5e) Change Environment 1" radius (make a weapon sacred), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Uncontrolled (duration of 1 Turn, +1 Turn per point by which the caster succeeds with his Magic roll; +¼), Usable As Attack (+1) (15 Active Points); OAF (holy symbol or the like; -1), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Only Affects One Weapon (-½), Only When Serving The God’s Purposes (-½), Requires A Faith Roll (-½), Spell (-½).
  8. There was a rule in 5eR that didn't make it into 6e until the Advanced Player's Guide. It's part of the Increased Return Rate Limitation for Adjustment Powers. 5ER 113 or APG 56. Every doubling of the number of points that return per Turn is a -1/4 Limitation. If all of the points return at once in a Turn or less, it's a flat -1/2, -1/4 if it adds or subtracts 10 or less points. The final part is what's relevant. "If an Adjustment Power has the Delayed Return Rate Advantage, the Limitation described above simply reduces the value of the Advantage, but the Advantage has a minimum value of +1/2." For example, a 3d6 Aid that fades completely after an Hour would have a +1 1/4 Advantage; +1 3/4 for an Hour and -1/2 for 20 points of fade per Hour. EDIT: Also, regarding the second version, when a power has a Limitation that can fall within a range of values, the smallest value is used. I believe it's reversed for Advantages, with the larger value being used, but I can't think of any existing Advantage examples off the top of my head. For example, The Ultimate Vehicle has several long-range missile launchers for which the missiles travel a fixed distance per Segment. The weapons are bought with Extra Time at the -1/2 Extra Segment level, stating "Extra Time (travels at the rate of 200" per Segment, taking a minimum of one extra Segment to reach its target; -1/2)". The same thing is done with Gadget Pools that require "at least -1/2 in the Focus Limitation". They take a -1/2 Limitation even though the Powers could take Focus at -1. If the Aid fades between 20 minutes and 1 Hour, for example, based on some variable, the Advantage would be at the 1 Hour level with the statement that that's the slowest possible fade rate, but it could be faster.
  9. They always draw his beak too big. Why, that beak's big enough to land fighter planes on!
  10. Back in 2011, I asked a related question in the Rules Questions forum. http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/82229-barrier-versus-class-of-beings/
  11. If the gadgets use the same base powers, you could use Variable Special Effect. For example, Sunbeam's flash is a blinding beam of light while Spooky Man's Flash is a swarm of bats, but they're both one Flash with a +1/4 Advantage. Back in the days of 5e, I had an idea for a hero called Martyr, except nobody ever called him that. He had Flight, Force Field, and Energy Blast, all with Variable Special Effect, and Regeneration with the Resurrection Adder. He would choose a special effect, create a hero identity based on that special effect, and be a hero for a while. He would eventually die heroically and publicly, generating good PR for heroes through his sacrifice. Eventually, he would come back from the dead, choose a new special effect, and start the process again.
  12. I actually forgot to include the additional section of shelves holding the 3-ring binders that contain hard copies of Digital Hero, Supermage Bestiary, New Bedlam Asylum, Widows & Orphans, and various other electronic publications.
  13. I'm a little late, but here's mine. Rulebooks, then Adventurer's Club, then everything else alphabetized.
  14. Technically, Damage Over Time was an optional rule for 5e that Steve Long introduced in Digital Hero #47, but that's nit-picking. As several people mentioned, Gradual Effect was how it was done before that, but it required buying a much bigger attack. For example, 5e cobra venom was 4d6 CON Drain, Gradual Effect (4 minutes, 1d6/Minute) and RKA 5d6, Gradual Effect (5 Minutes, 1d6 per minute).
  15. This was how I considered designing an adaptation of the Maze spell from D&D. The target is trapped in a labyrinth that can only be escaped through using intelligence to find your way out. There's also the whole "transported to a pocket dimension" bit, but that's a secondary portion of the power.
  16. The most I normally do for conversion between games is the establishment of benchmarks, e.g. what's peak human, what's superhuman, what strength makes someone a Brick, etc. The way armor works in Heroes Unlimited is particularly difficult to convert. Studded leather armor and a hard composite plate bulletproof vest have the same Armor Rating (12), meaning they both have a 60% chance of absorbing all damage from an attack. The difference is the total amount of damage they can absorb before being destroyed. Then you have Natural Armor, which either makes you completely immune to damage from an attack or offers no protection at all, depending on your die roll against the Armor Rating. I suppose you could use strength as a baseline for damage. A 40 STR in Hero System deals 8d6 damage. In terms of lifting capacity, this is equivalent to roughly 352 PS, 71 Extraordinary PS, 47 Superhuman PS, or 29 Supernatural PS. Punch Damage: 352 PS: 1d4 + 337 71 Extraordinary PS: 1d4 + 56 47 Superhuman PS: 1d4 + 32 29 Supernatural PS: 4d6 That... doesn't seem to work well. Maybe only use Supernatural PS as the baseline? Since Heroes Unlimited lifting capacity is linear, every doubling would be +5 Hero. 14: 2d4 HU. 7d6 Hero. 58: 2d4 x 10 HU. 9d6 Hero. 116: 4d6 x 10 HU*. 10d6 Hero. *Maybe. The table only goes up to 70 PS. I'm extrapolating the progression.
  17. There was a story in Knights of the Dinner Table in which they were playing themselves during the start of a zombie apocalypse, so Brian began doing net searches of local gun shops, explosive recipes, places to obtain chemicals, etc. Cut to a military base, where the searches are setting of alerts. The commander starts receiving reports from his subordinates when suddenly... "Wait...did you say Muncie?" "Yes sir." "Sigh. Cancel the alert. Those damn gamers again."
  18. Something amusing that just occurred to me. Aaron Williams had a fantasy comic called Floyd in Dragon Magazine years ago. At one point, the world was being invaded by disembodies demons that could assume physical forms by tapping into the fears of mortals. It was possible to use a victim's subconscious primal fear, but it was discouraged. It could produce extremely powerful forms, but it could also produce extremely stupid forms, depending on the subject's mind. The Unbodied that used to be Zeus makes his way to Earth. Wanting to regain his former sphere of influence, he senses an entity of thunder and lighting with millions of devoted followers. Assuming the form of this entity, Zeus materializes in a flash of lightning and shouts a dramatic..."Pika! Pika!"
  19. That wouldn't really work, because a lot of these entities used to be those deities, but lost their forms due to lack of worship.
  20. Years, ago, in the Champions comic book, some of the Olympian gods resurrected themselves using the life forces of the Champions and magical relics that had been left behind when the gods died. Recently, the Black Enchantress dismissed them as "...pale shadows of gods two millennia dead. No one worships you. You have no followers." Last September's issue of Astro City introduced the Unbodied, gods that have lost their powers and identities because they no longer have worshipers. When they make their way to Earth, they attempt to find new forms that will give them new followers and new powers. Mention was made of a group of Unbodied that tried to become the Great Old Ones, and the villain of the issue was an Unbodied that had become the master villain of an MMORPG. It seems that something like this might make an interesting recurring threat in a Champions campaign. Otherdimensional entities that assume the form of fictional beings to gain their powers and draw strength from their fanbase. Darth Vader Sauron Assorted comic book characters
  21. If a Power with Requires a Roll is targeted with an Adjustment Power, either positive or negative, is the penalty to the Skill roll based on the original Active Points or the new Active Points? i.e. does a Power become easier to use after it's Drained and harder to use after its Aided, or does the roll remain constant?
  22. Hell Rider first appeared in 4e, in Creatures of the Night.
  23. Deathstroke. The PR agent they hired made him change his name, saying that Shockwave better fit his explosive blast power, and it was dumb to call himself Arrowhead just because he had an arrow on his mask. Unfortunately, his original power was an Energy Blast with Armor Piercing, not Explosion - an arrow of force, in a sense. His mask came from his name, which came from his power, not vice versa.
  24. Old issues of Adventurer's Club mentioned an upcoming Guardians sourcebook, but that obviously never happened. Gargoyle had left the team by the time the comic started, so he never received a write-up in the comics like the other characters did.
  25. He seems to be the exception; he has an established vehement dislike for effect-based systems The attitude toward Hero System is much better than it used to be. There is quite a bit of positive anticipation in response to the Strike Force Kickstarter, for example. Regarding which version of the rules receives answers, part of the problem is all of the rules that are in 6e but not Champions Complete. For example, there was a recent thread in which someone asked how you would create a Multipower with Charges on the reserve, in which one or more slots had Continuing Charges. There's a specific rule for that in 6e, but it's such an unusual situation that it isn't in Champions Complete. I answered the question by citing the pages in 6e and 5eR where the rule appeared.
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