Shaddakim

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

Those are very cool. Any chance of a short blurb on what each issue covers?

Re: Biggest Shock!

My last campaign ended a month ago. It was a follow-up to a previous campaign that had occurred 16 years earlier (game time). At the end of the previous campaign, the PCs had fought a supergenius who had been making clones of superheroes.

 

For the follow-up campaign, the PCs were teen supers (14 or 15 years old). I didn't tell them that they were all clones of adult supers. Instead of being force-grown to adulthood, they'd been implanted (in vitro) into their parents.

...

There were several other clues dropped, but the players never caught on until the last session. In that session, one of the PCs (who had water powers) ran into the original version of himself. The original looked at him and said, "Now this is just freaky." At that point it finally occurred to the player that they were all clones.

Very cool and well done.

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

So.

Halloween was last week.

Any news on Part 2? I ask because I really want to know what happens next, both with Nina and how the Foxbat/Mustard hostage negotiations turn out.

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

"Amish Hammer"

Amish Hammer?!

That's just brilliant.

And Blowdry? Fabulous!

Congratulations on graduating! I look forward to "Curse of the She-Vampire"

Later!

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

Good to hear from you again and I look forward to your new work.

Keep up the excellent work!

Also, would I be correct in assuming you've graduated?

Re: Magic systems, Magic costs to much?

Actually, that's the exact opposite of what I recommend. A spellcaster can do so many things that other characters cannot, it seems a waste to dedicate resources to "shooting things" - an archer is likely to be better at it anyway. We've just added a new character (a weather mage) to the players in my game and he has no overtly offensive spells at all. He does, however have a whole bunch of useful spells (especially for a group of PCs travelling by boat) - and he's built on only 100 points.

 

cheers, Mark

Maybe so, but I think it depends upon what style of spellcaster the player wants to play.

Most of my players, at least those playing a character who is primarily a spellcaster, tend to want the stereotypical wizard. I have a rogue-type with some magic for creating a pool of darkness and a mage hand spell for manipulating locks at a distance and no "blast 'em" spells. However, a typical spellcaster with a single attack spell of whatever type might as well be a fighter with a bow. Adding the variable advantage allows easy simulation of a wide repetoir of spells with similar SFX.

Personally, I prefer characters with a wide level of utility and many skills. My point in responding originally was that 200-250 point characters have plenty of points for magic and should look at putting together spells that are not superpowers. In D&D terms (the default lingua franca of roleplaying), I evaluate 125 point spellcasters at 3rd to 5th level (depending upon actual build) and the 200 point range as 18th to 20th level (again, depending upon the build). This is using the published monsters as a guide.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

I think it is legitimate to say that an idea is "from" D&D when a lot of gamers will be familiar with that idea primarily from D&D, or from games influenced by D&D. Everyone's heard of vampires and dragons; the idea that vampires can drain away your experience in your chosen profession and make you more like a beginner, or that dragons are color coded "for your convenience," is, as you put it, a "D&Dism." Even if you can find some color coding scheme for dragons that predates D&D, that may prove Gygax didn't invent it, but doesn't change the fact that without D&D most of us would never have heard of it.

 

 

Lucius Alexander

OK, I can roll with that definition.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

And did you ever notice that Vance is an anagram of Vecna?

I hadn't. Thank you for adding to my stock of D&D inside references.

Re: Working on my Home Grown Campaign: Fantasy Hero game

My hat is off to you, sir.

Re: Magic systems, Magic costs to much?

I am abit inexperienced in the ways of the hero system. I have Star Hero, Fantasy Hero, a lot of Champions. Now while I can understand the more free flow form of the point payed system like champions, I get confused on trying to make lower point character/games.

 

How do you pull of a respectful magic system when you have say 200 or 250 point character point systems?

It is possible to run Fantasy Hero at the 125-150 point level and still have useful spellcasters - this is the level my FH campaign starts at. The key is for the spellcasters to have a small selection of truly useful spells. I recommend an EB or RKA with Variable Advantage (with at least +1/2 to play with), a FF spell, a Detect Magic, and a movement spell of some sort (Flight or T-port) as the bare minimums. Put Gestures, Incantations, OAF or OIF, and Requires a Skill Roll as a minimum set of Limitations and the costs are not terrible.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

And, Phil?

I only replied more to your issues than anyone else because you posted more issues than anyone else.

None of my replies invalidate any of the other issues raised. particularly the ones about alignments.

Perhaps especially the ones about alignments.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

53) Most modern (or near modern) ideas can be retrofitted into a fantasy campaign even when it makes no sense whatsoever.

 

53a) Everyone has "equal" rights, even kings, nobels, merchants, peasants and slaves.

 

53b) Even though magic and water are supposely rare, everyone is immaculately clean.

This has more to do with fantasy novels than D&D. Additionally, few players want the level of cultural accuracy the negation of the above points would require. There is nothing in the rules that mandates any of the above.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

54) The mileu contains scads of different "planes of existence" which anyone can travel to via magic. All of these planes are fully detailed in a concrete and absolute way' date=' and defined in terms of the "prime material plane": it's hotter on this plane, time goes slower here, there's no ground beneath your feet here, this place is filled with water, the air is poisonous here, etc.[/quote']

 

Most PCs are from the "prime material plane" making it the common yardstick and point of reference. The number of campaigns starting elsewhere and travelling to the prime are finite and the GM can (generally speaking) reverse the description in those cases. ("Hi, we're from Bifrost. Why is it so hot here and where is all the snow?")

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

45) No amount of study and research at any institute or university will enable a Mage to learn more spells. They must go out and kill things. Killing things makes you powerful. Knowledge does not.

Same thing in Fantasy Hero. Going out and doing things makes you powerful, not your Knowledge Skills.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

46) The price of everything is fixed. There are "standard" goods available just about anywhere and they always cost the same price, according to a specific price list that all the players have access to. Despite the common-sense laws of economics that even the most magically-influenced quasi-historical world would be subject to.

 

47) There is a functionally infinite amount of money-metal (gold, silver, copper, and perhaps others) around such that there are always enough coins around. Dragons can sit for a thousand years on a huge pile of gold coins without having the slightest impact on the local economy.

Both of these set squarely upon the shoulders of the GM. If the GM wants to handle a variable economy, they can. If they don't, no fair complaining about being forced to.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

12) That it's normal for people (even "adventurers) to walk around in full armor in their daily lives. In city, over land, etc.

In city, not so much, but when travelling overland - yes, particularly in areas with little in the way of law and particularly by individuals whose profession involves fighting. The power of the law only extends as far as there are lawmen. Travelling in medieval Europe was not particularly safe away from cities, settlements, and well traveled roads.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

5) The idea that each race has their own gods. There's a "god of elves" and a "god of dwarves," but never a "god of humans."

Not true for over twenty years. Each race has its own pantheon, whether they are used is up to the players and the GM.

7) The assumption that large amounts of metal disrupts certain types of magic.

I'll quibble here - the current definition (3.x) is that magic requires unrestrained movement to cast. Why you need to be able to limbo to cast spells is still beyond me, though.

8) That magic always comes in individual, discrete spells. And there's a specific number of them, and each one is precisely defined.

This is a product of the Jack Vance Dying Earth books which were (some of) the sources of the magic system. Therefore, D&D is the carrier of the tradition, not the source.

Re: FRPG Ideas from D&D that ain't necessarily so

58d) All gods believe all other gods also exist' date=' as do all their followers. There are no disputes on the existence of any god by the followers of any other god.[/quote']

 

As Terry Pratchett pointed out, it is hard to be an atheist when the gods themselves can come around and throw rocks through your windows.

 

In most FRPG games, the gods can directly intervene in the affairs of mortals. This leaves little doubt as to their existance.

 

A more egregious sin is:

 

58e) You do not have to believe in anything in particular to gain access to divine spells. You can "worship" generic Good and be granted spells.

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

Doctor,

I've been active on other boards, but it is good to see the latest issues of Hero Talk.

Re: The New Issue

This stuff is so cool. Someone should base a campaign around your covers.

Umm... he did. That's where these come from.

Re: Doing your own calendar: is it worth it?

I do think creating your own calendar is worth it if you can make a cool looking prop like the wall calendar in Rome.

Cool idea! I thought to have a map of the area on the wall during games, but missed putting up the calendar. Good call. I need to put that together soon while I have access to a plotter.

Re: Doing your own calendar: is it worth it?

For a campaign I'm putting together, I've put together three calendars. The oldest one is the Mayan calendar straight up and was used by the ancient evil empire from way back in the day. They were overthrown and the druids put together a different calendar, attempting to eliminate the influence of the evil empire.

This second calendar named the years by matching up a series of 12 animal names and 5 element names, which was similar to the Mayan, but different (actually borrowed from the Chinese calendar if I remember correctly). They named the months after the holy trees of their religion and the days after the order things came into being (Godsday, Sunday, Moonday, etc.).

Later (after an invasion and occupancy), a third calendar was adopted. This third calendar kept the month and day names, but numbered the years instead of naming them. This is the calendar the PCs will be familiar with and generally corresponds to the real year with festival weeks marking the end of each season.

With this, I can introduce the older calendars as the PCs investigate old ruins and such. I can create things for the players to puzzle out and learn about the world as they go along without constantly working out the current season.

While it is easier to just use the Gregorian Calendar, it always seems jarring to me and breaks the suspension of disbelief. Admittedly, I did sit down and work out the orbital periods of the two moons (and their mass and distance from the planet) so when an NPC told the PCs they had to get reagents for a ritual quick or it would be hundreds of years before it could be done again, he was telling the actual facts. I like it when the actual numbers back up what I as the GM am telling the players.

Plus I had some down time at work and access to the internet to get the formulas. I hate being bored.

So yeah, I think it's worth it when you start the campaign. I wouldn't recommend doing it mid-stream, but it is worth doing.

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

Ha! Great ending and the porcupine quill fight was well done. The grammarian in me says you need some more paragraph breaks, but the content was good. A very enjoyable read.

Now I'm ready to read June's issue.

Re: Build this power

I'd recommend the following:

Telekinesis

Explosion

LIM: Only to perform Martial Throw

LIM: Only to drop target in hex (may not throw)

LIM: Only targets standing on struck surface

This uses established rules on being knocked down (what you can and cannot do), scales to properly handle heavy opponents that would not be as effected by the ground shaking, and avoids the problems of a Normal being permanently "unbalanced" because they cannot get free of the entangle. The explosion simulates the effect damping out with distance. Also, anyone flying would not be effected, but the player would have the option of doing it to a wall that targets are clinging to, possibly making them fall. Change environment does not do that. This also clearly deliniates what size inanimate objects (mass of object, really) would be effected which CE does not do.

Plus, by matching the size of the TK to the characters STR, there is a direct correlation between cause and effect.

I don't list modifiers for the LIMs as that is your call as GM, but I'd recomment close to a -1 1/2 for the first one, a -1 for the second, and another -1 for the last. Individually, these are hefty limitations, but combined they whittle the power down to the single intended use. Your mileage may vary.

Whether or not striking the surface counts as gestures is entirely up to you.

Re: Hero Talk Magazine

I can tell you that The Doctor has been working on this' date=' although he hasn't sent Pt 2 to me for proofreading yet. RL has gotten in the way a bit. The Doctor moved 2 weekends ago and last weekend was Mother's Day. He's been busy. Hopefully, we'll be seeing it soon. [/quote']

 

Good to hear this will still happen. I've always been a big believer that RL trump games, especially moving and moms.