Diamond Spear

Pulp sounds like a fun project. Makes me wonder if you could do a pulp setting but put it in the modern time frame. Thoughts on that?

So which genre do you think is most in need of a fresh new setting? I’ve got that creative itch and thought I’d give working on a setting a crack. Now I just need a genre and can’t seem to settle on one so how about a little help?

I just keep reminding myself that the man was lucky enough to make a living doing what he loved and that he leaves the world having made it a better place. It helps a little.

So I've gotten the itch to run a HERO game again after a long hiatus. I'd love it if there were enough HERO players in the Savannah area to run a game but I'm perfectly willing to run one online, most likely a hybrid chat/PBP style. I've been working on a Dark Champions setting and would love to give it a shot. It is, in fact, the one that I tried to recruit for last year but between hurricanes and a work schedule that usually had me working closer to sixty hours than forty I was never able to get it going. Things have calmed down now so I'd like to give it another try. The Setting (spoiler blocked for length): If you'd be interested let me know. Any group between one and six players works for me. As always, please post interest or questions here and I'll be happy to respond.

I'm in the (very slow) process of designing a setting for Fantasy Hero and one of the things I'm including is different fighting styles for different regions. For instance, a traditional early middle ages land might have warriors wearing chain armor or the equivalent and trained mostly in sword and shield, while another region might have developed a fighting style based on lighter armor and using a long weapon in the primary hand and a shorter one in the off hand and so on. The issue I'm facing is that I've always disliked how HERO automatically uses martial maneuvers to build fighting styles. I think it works fine for "traditional" martial arts but for something like a sword and shield style I've always wondered why not just buy bonuses to the regular combat maneuvers along with designing things like a "shield bash" attack. Other than the martial maneuvers giving a cost break, combining several bonuses (and sometimes a penalty) to a single maneuver and allowing the purchase of damage classes, all of which result in a lower cost than buying all of those individually, I don't see a compelling reason for me not to design the styles without using Martial Maneuvers. For instance a character might buy +3 OCV Only to Block with Sword or the like. So am I right? Does doing it my way mean the ability to create more customization by modifying existing maneuvers with the only drawback being that it costs more points? Thoughts? Comments? Observations? Thanks.

I'm trying to decide on how one would go about designing a magic system like that used in Glenn Cook's Black Company books. Variable Power Pools are the obvious answer and I'm fine with that but the size of those pools and how they can be utilized is what I'm struggling with. A cap of around 40 points for most "regular" sorcerers seems about right, perhaps with a 1/2 or x2 effect for illusions (based largely on how Goblin and One Eye's magic is described in the first three books). It's after that where things get tricky. For the most part the extremely powerful sorcerers in the books don't seem to use much "fast cast" magic and mostly weave spells that buff or debuff or protect an area. When they do cut loose with heavy duty magic it's usually when they have had time to prepare and it seems like they are mostly triggering prepared spells rather than casting them cold. My first thought was that for every "x" points over 40 you have to add one step on the time chart to reflect the amount of preparation that very powerful spells take. The problem there is that if I set "x" at 5 or 10 points then the kind of magic that the Taken or the Lady can wield would end up taking a month or more but if I raise "x" to 15 or 20 points per step on the time chart it doesn't limit lesser sorcerers like it should. I'm stuck. So please HEROdom assembled, hit me with your best suggestions, thoughts and ramblings. Thanks.

When I was six I ran through a sliding glass door at my house. The door shattered into pieces but the sum total of my injuries was a slightly scratched left knee. Now it's possible I just rolled six 6s on my luck dice but that was my experience. It did scare my silly, so there's that.

For a less severe version you could create a side effect: Drain vs. BODY, with the return rate bumped down to once a week/ month/ year depending on how much of a hinderence you want it to be. That would allow the character some flexibility so they could use a lot of power in a short period of time if they really needed to but then would have to really restrict their usage for x period so they could recover. Otherwise they could go with low usage as their normal mode. It kind of reduces the drama factor but makes the character more viable for a long running campaign.

May I ask why the federal government should have a department of education? What does it do better than individual states when it comes to education? I'm not trying to be hostile and I don't have strong opinions one way or the other it's just that I keep hearing how vital it is to have a deprartment of education but not really any reasons other than a) of course we do and b ) we have to keep certain states in line.

What kind of Urban Fantasy? Magic is secret? Magic is known? If magic is known how long has it been out?

I hadn't considered Dark Fantasy. That's tricky to do well but, yeah, it's possible.

Pretty much what it says on the tin; which of the settings in the poll would you prefer to see for the HERO system?

53 miles one way. But things could be worse.

You're welcome. I miss gaming with you guys but I've changed jobs and now work six days a week commuting from Annapolis to Mount Airy so I have little free time. If you ever decide to fun an online game though.....

I absolutely reccomend Bob's games. Although changing work circumstanes forced me to drop out his games were always fun and the group, at least back then, rotated through different games/GMs often enough that things never got stale.

Does anyone know of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer HERO adaptation?

Those of you who joined the yahoo group should have received an email on Friday but I haven't heard from anyone. Can you let me know if you received it?

Quick question: Where do you come down on hypotheticals? The classic "If this happens what do you think the effect will be?" kind of question? By their very nature they would not be fact based but there are some topics that could make for a lively, friendly discussion when it comes to hypothetical questions. Just wanted to check before posting one as I've no wish to run afoul of the rules. Thanks.

I've set up a Yahoo Group for the project. Anyone who is interested in helping can subscribe to it here: http://herobegins-subscribe@yahoogroups.com If you were in volved in the PM discussions ealier you should have recieved this same message. I'd like anyone who wants to help to get in touch no later than this Thursday, April 7. If you have any questions or if the link is not working for you please feel freem to PM me or email me at Diamond_Spear@yahoo.com

Sorry about that. As soon as I'm back at a steal computer as opposed to my phone I'll send it out to you. What were you interested in working on (writing, editing, art, etc.)?

Ok, I have sent a PM to everyone who has expressed an interet in the project. I look forward to hearing from you all.

I'll be getting in touch with people by tomorrow night to confirm participation and assignments.

Now that I've got a computer again I'd like to try and get as many people as possible in the chat room tomorrow night around 7pm eastern time. Will anybody be able to make it?

Just got my new computer tonight as a matter of fact.

And my computer died last night. I'm hoping to have a replacement in the next couple of weeks.