JMHammer

Re: Staff of Power [d20] Neato! Staff of Power as Quarterstaff: Perhaps you should add the Always Direct Limitation to the Stretching component. Also, this Compound Power should be small enough to fit into the Multipower if you want to get the total cost of the staff down a little bit. Levitate: Probably should either include the note about all recipients of the power needing to be adjacent (as you do for Globe of Invulnerability) or you should add the Ranged Advantage. Power Blow: Why do this as a Succor instead of just a few extra dice of Hand Attack? If it's an issue of adhering strictly to the "Powers in a framework can't add to powers outside a framework" rule, then add the extra dice of damage to the Staff of Power as Quarterstaff Compound Power and have the last batch of dice cost END from the Endurance Pool. I'd just add extra dice of Hand Attack to represent this regardless of the strict reading of the rules becauses, as Mr. Spock says, "A difference that makes no difference is no difference," and Hand Attack is an easier and more intuitive construct. Fireball: To work as an old-style AD&D Fireball, I think this needs the Conforming Advantage. Lightning Bolt: I assume that the 9d6 EB (9 Damage Classes) converts to a 3d6 Killing Attack (9 Damage Classes) vs Grounded Targets, not a 9d6 Killing Attack (27 Damage Classes). Nice work, John H

Re: Dodgy area TheRealLemming said: I think that if you had a sit-down with your GM and said something to the effect of, "I want my character to be continuously spewing a smoke screen out of his ass. Probably it will make him and everything around him harder to target, but what effect do you think that would that have on combat and how should I build it?" and your GM came up with "#2" then go right ahead. (Although I doubt if any GM who isn't trying to get you into the sack would come up with that particular effect.) If you're just trying to find some way to screw attackers with Area Effect attacks and you'll come up with some (likely bogus) justification for it later, then pah-tooie. Start with an effect/special effect, and then figure out how it should work from there. If you shop through the rule book there's no doubt you can come up with all sorts of things which are worth far more than one might infer from their point cost and which your GM should simply disallow straightaway. John H

Re: Multiple Power Attacks: Abused? Excerpt from TUB: While I'm certain the writer of this passage meant to imply that a character must pay Endurance each time Strength is used in an attack (my certainty coming from the earlier "On the other hand..." portion of this excerpt), that is not what is said. The writer states that one "has to pay END once for each attack," which means once only. The writer should have stated, "... the character has to pay END for each attack," or, "... the character pays END for each attack attempted." The use of "once" in the published document changes the entire meaning of the sentence. John H

Re: Protection from own movement damage. Mark, The value of the Limitation depends a great deal on the particulars of your game and the other abilities of the character who wishes to purchase this limited defense. If nearly every attack he makes is going to be a Move-By or Move-Through, then -1 seems just about right. If he doesn't have very high movement velocity, and has paid for a number of other attack types (either martial maneuvers without a movement component or some Energy Blast-type ranged attacks), then he probably won't be doing Move-Bys and Move-Throughs all the time and therefore the Limitation should be worth more than -1. In addition, the Limitation might have a larger absolute value when applied to a character with a PD which is already pretty high and a lower absolute value to a character with a lower PD (because it's worth more to the character with the lower base PD). This is something that came up all the time in the games I ran. For some characters it makes a lot of sense. For instance, a super-speedster whose "super-speed aura" increases in defensive power the faster he moves (especially as such defense would not apply only to Move-By/Move-Through reflected damage). For others, the character's player wants to do Move-Throughs without worrying about the reflected damage without regard as to why that should be the case. I would tend to just disallow it in such latter cases. John H

Re: Please review Evil Witch for Champions game JmOz, I love your writeups and am hesitant to offer criticisms to someone from whom I've learned so much. But here goes: 1- Why does an evil witch have a Dex of 24 and a Spd of 5? Does it make sense for her to be better equipped at general combat than an elite member of the US Special Forces? Perhaps you could lose 1 point of Spd and 4-7 points of Dex and add a batch of Combat Skill Levels for use with her Multipower and VPP; make them 5 point levels to cover any of the magical effects she can generate from either Power Framework. 2- I understand what you're trying to accomplish with the Spell Rituals (Aid) slot of the Multipower. I generally don't like Aid because the limitations, either the "Limitations" taken as modifiers or the "limitations" inherent in using Aid, get worked around too easily. Now, if this is to be a strictly GM-controlled character this doesn't matter. If it is to be a player-controlled character, then it would be better to add 72 active points to all the powers and then put in a Limitation on those extra 72 points along the lines of "Only if a complex one-hour ritual is performed and no more than one other power is currently receiving the "bonus points" from the ritual." That would sure as heck be a lot more expensive than the 2 points being paid for the Spell Rituals slot and would be more fairly representative of the extra power afforded by this ability. 3- Unless Shield of Sorcery is the only way she can get a Force Field out of her VPP and Demonic Wings is the only way she can get Flight out of her VPP, perhaps the "Not vs Holy Magic" and "Not On/Over Holy Ground" Limitations shouldn't be allowed. Since the VPP can be changed at any time (albeit with a Full Phase and a Skill Roll), the character can simply create a different Force Field spell or Flight spell when she knows she'll be dealing with those specific vulnerabilities. If this were a Cosmic-type VPP, I would definitely not allow those kinds of conditional Limitations unless the character could not create effects that were essentially identical but without those Limitations. Hope this helped, John H

Re: What's the best way to learn Hero? Shem, Great writeup of Jack, and if it's the first fictional adaptation you've done, very impressive indeed! You might want to consider appropriate Perks such as Military Rank and Contacts. Another 1-point Perk to consider for Jack is "Possesses the Ancient Gene" or something similar. Weapon Familiarity should be just 2 points. Unarmed Combat is a 0-point "Everyman" skill in most cases (although it certainly doesn't have to be so in your game) and Small Arms is a 2-pointer which should include most if not all of the specific weapon types you listed. Jack appears to know how to use common Goa'uld weapons, too, as do most members of SGC. Skill levels with range modifers are known as Penalty Skill Levels. In Hero Designer 2, you'll find Penalty Skill Levels in the Skill Tab. For equipment, check out the many, many free files available with common equipment already all statted out for you which you can then load and add to your characters as "Prefabs" in Hero Designer 2. Hero Games sells packages with "official" prefab packs, too. But yes, normally you would define equipment using various powers/skills with appropriate modifiers and then add them to the character on the Equipment tab. Items added in the Equipment tab will not add to the character's point totals. Best wishes, John H PS- Yeah, I guess "Capture and then slowly torture to death over and over again while slowly driving the victim insane and destroying his soul," qualifies as Harshly Punish. edit- Small Arms (2 points) + Blades (1 point) = 3 points. Check. Sorry for the confusion above.

Re: Hindu Teen Avatar Radha O'Reilly aka Elephant Girl from the Wild Cards books edited by George RR Martin might make an interesting template. Depending on your daughter's age, the books – with their strong sexual content and extreme violence – might not be appropriate but the character would make a good model. You can find a writeup for Radha here, done as a Multiform: Radha's Human Form Radha's Elephant Form And here is a very brief description of the Wild Cards books along with a list of a few other Hero System writeups of Wild Cards characters: Wild Cards Characters Surbrook's Wild Cards Conversions Of course, what might be even more interesting is to explore with your daughter the option of playing a young, female, Indian PC who does not use a stereotyped or ethnically/culturally-derived theme for her superpowers. John H edit: If you're interested in beginning an exploration of the Hindu religion or mythos, this book, written by a brilliant young man of my acquaintance, is a good place to start: The Ramayan: A Poetic Translation by Ruchir Gupta

My Two-Weapon Fighting House Rule My TWF houserule To make Two-Weapon Fighting worth its points, I use the rule as written and add the following: 1- If a character with TWF makes a sweep attack composed of exactly two attacks defined as one attack from each of the two weapons in use, and makes both of these attacks against the same target, the character does not suffer any DCV penalty from the sweep. 2- If a character with TWF (HTH) has one valid weapon in each hand, but uses only one of them - or neither of them - to attack, he gains +1 DCV vs HTH attacks and +1 OCV to perform the Block maneuver. This bonus is not cumulative with any DCV bonus that might be provided by the weapon type (such as that provided by a main-gauche as defined in the Fantasy Hero book). 3- A character with TWF may ready for combat use two weapons already on his person with a single half-phase action unless some other rule or accepted practice allows this to occur more quickly. John H

Re: Help the noob: powerplaying OddHat said: That's very close to what I've done the few times a player has tried this: Max damage from such an attack is limited to appropriate Defense + 2x Max Body (w/o regard to current Body total) + Str (or whatever power is most appropriate) in damage classes. I often disallow Megascale on a player's movement powers unless the player understands in advance that it is exclusively to get from one place to another and is not to be used in combat except against characters/objects moving at a similar relative velocity. Similar restrictions need to be enforced by a GM on applications of Megascale to non-movement powers or things can get really silly really fast. "I can destroy the Earth with 5 points." I forget who said that, but I remember his example and it's absolutely true. John H

Re: What's the best way to learn Hero? mudpyr8 said: For character building, this is a hugely important idea. If players leaf through the rulebook and build a character out of skills and powers that they think will be "kewl" - regardless of what concept and special effects they use to justify them all after they're done shopping through the book - the GM will almost certainly have issues with such characters in combat and in general play they will simply be less fun for everyone in the game.

Re: Help the noob: powerplaying S41NT said: I assume you don't know of any other groups using Hero in your area. You might want to play a simple battle scenario or three on IRC, AIM, or some other chat client with someone else GMing so you can get a feel for it. This is very easy to do if set up in advance (so everyone participating has all the character sheets and has a numbered hex map). I bet someone here would be willing to do that with you. Send me a private message and maybe I can help. John H

Re: Combat Maneuvers Ah! I understand. Thanks for taking the time. John H

Re: Combat Maneuvers Killer Shrike, I enjoyed reading all the material you put together on weapons and armor. I definitely see myself adapting some or all of this for any future fantasy games I will run. I'm curious: You seem to have invested a great deal of effort to develop all those modifiers and characteristics for different weapons, yet you state that in your own game you use a generalized system where the weapon type is just a special effect of the damage being done. I'd very much appreciate it if you could walk me through the logic of that decision. Thanks, John H

Re: Help Needed!! Perhaps in recognition of his great service to Canada and humanity as part of the hero team, he is "sentenced" to continue to serve with the team for 2 years as a form of suspended jail term. edit: Or, what Rapier said...

AJL Green Arrow "first draft" Here is a very early draft of the Animated Justice League's Green Arrow. --- Green Arrow Player: Val** Char*** Cost 18** STR 8 23** DEX 39 18** CON 16 13** BODY 6 13** INT 3 14** EGO 8 15** PRE 5 18** COM 4 * 8** PD 4 6** ED 2 5** SPD 17 8** REC 0 36** END 0 40** STUN 9 *7"**RUN22"**SWIM03 1/2"**LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 123 Cost** Power END 51** Bow and Arrows: Multipower, 76-point reserve, (76 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) [Notes: The quiver of arrows cannot be targeted as a focus during combat. The bow can be targeted as an accessible focus in combat when GA is using it; it is otherwise considered to be inaccessible. Arrows can be used at no range, sometimes with reduced effect at the GM's option, without the bow. The bow can be used as a club even if no arrows are available or if the bowstring has been cut.]* 3u** 1) The Bow as a Club: (Total: 72 Active Cost, 33 Real Cost) Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) (Real Cost: 12) plus Missile Deflection (Arrows, Slings, Etc.) (10 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 5) plus +4 with All Combat (32 Active Points); OAF (-1) (Real Cost: 16)* 0 3u** 2) Normal Arrows: Killing Attack - Ranged 1 1/2d6, Invisible to Hearing Group (+1/4), Autofire (5 shots; +1/2), Indirect (Can "bounce" arrows off any reasonable surface any reasonable number of times but cannot pass through barriers, and arrows can "arch" over certain obstacles; +1/2), 125 Charges (+3/4) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4)* [125] 3u** 3) Counterfire: Missile Deflection (Arrows, Slings, Etc.), +14 to Missile Deflection, Full Range (+1) (76 Active Points); OAF (-1), Each Deflection attempt uses one charge from the Normal Arrows slot (-1/2), Will Not Work Against Heavy Missiles (-1/4)* 0 2u** 4) Pin: Entangle 2d6, 3 DEF, Invisible to Hearing Group (+1/4), Entangle And Character Both Take Damage (+1/4), Autofire (5 shots; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1) (75 Active Points); Set Effect (Hands Only/Feet Only) (-1), OAF (-1), Each shot uses a charge from the "Normal Arrows" slot (-1/2), Entangle has DEF 0 for anyone other than the target attempting to break the target out of the Entangle (-1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4), Requires a nearby surface to which to pin the target (-1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4)* 0 1u** 5) Line Arrow: Entangle 3d6, 3 DEF, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Area Of Effect (18" Line; +1) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only To Form Barriers (-1), Each shot uses one charge from the Normal Arrows slot (-1/2), Barriers formed are only the width of a thin line, would require several shots to block even a narrow passage (-1/2), The entire Entangle is destroyed if any part of the area effect Entangle is destroyed (-1/2), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4), Must have anchor points (-1/4)* 0 2u** 6) Attachment Line: Stretching 10", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), Cannot Do Damage (-1/2), Each use requires one charge from the Normal Arrows slot (-1/2), Can only be used to grab something and hold on or reel it in (-1/2), No Velocity Damage (-1/4), Range Modifier Applies (-1/4), Always Direct (-1/4)* 0 1u** 7) Zip Line: Gliding 30" (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (-1/2), Only in straight lines between two anchor points (-1/2), Each Zip Line "setup" uses a charge from the Normal Arrows slot (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -1/4)* 0 2u** 8) Swing Line: Swinging 30", Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (45 Active Points); OAF (-1), Each establishment of a swingline attachment point uses a charge from the Normal Arrows slot (-1/2), Extra Time (Full Phase, Only to Activate, -1/4)* 0 2u** 9) Net Arrow: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF (Larger Wall (+1")), 16 Charges (+0), Area Of Effect (2" radius; +3/4) (73 Active Points); Does Not Prevent The Use Of Accessible Foci (-1), OAF (-1), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4)* [16] 3u** 10) Glue Arrow: Entangle 5d6, 5 DEF, 16 Charges (+0), Sticky (+1/2) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4)* [16] 3u** 11) Boxing Glove Arrow: Energy Blast 12d6, STUN Only (+0), 12 Recoverable Charges (+1/4) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4)* [12 rc] 3u** 12) Drill Arrow: Killing Attack - Ranged 3d6+1, 16 Charges (+0), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4)* [16] 3u** 13) Taser Arrow: Energy Blast 15d6, 16 Charges (+0) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Knockback (-1/4)* [16] 3u** 14) Explosive Arrow: Energy Blast 10d6, 16 Charges (+0), Explosion (+1/2) (75 Active Points); OAF (-1), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4)* [16] 3u** 15) Smoke Screen Arrow: Change Environment 8" radius, -2 to Sight Group PER Rolls, -2 OCV, Multiple Combat Effects, Uncontrolled (+1/2), 12 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Minute each (+1/2) (76 Active Points); OAF (-1), Gradual Effect (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12); -1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4)* [12 cc] ** * ** Expert Archery [Notes: Expert Archery can add up to +1d6/15 Active Points to any bow and arrow attack except GA's own multipower. Autofire can be applied to a maximum of 30 Active Points, so GA will often not be able to apply both of these modifiers at maximum effect simultaneously. Do not consider Reduced Endurance for purposes of determining the maximum Active Points to which Autofire may be applied.]* 10** 1) Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (22 Active Points); OAF (Bow and Arrows of Opportunity; -1), Cannot be used with the Bow and Arrows Multipower (-1/4)* 0 13** 2) Naked Modifier: Autofire (5 shots; +1/2) for up to 30 Active Points, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1) (30 Active Points); OAF (Bow and Arrows of Opportunity; -1), Cannot be used with the Bow and Arrows Multipower (-1/4)* 0 ** * 7** Knockout Blow: Hand-To-Hand Attack +2 1/2d6 (13 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), Not vs Resistant PD greater than 6 (-1/4)* 1 ** * 6** JL Communicator: Radio Perception/Transmission (Radio Group) (10 Active Points); Sense Affected As More Than One Sense Hearing Group (-1/2), IIF (Earpiece Transceiver; -1/4)* 0 Powers Cost: 124 Cost** Martial Arts Maneuver ** Super-Archery* 8** 1) +2 Ranged Damage Class(es)* 4** 2) Quick Shot: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +4 DC* 4** 3) Offensive Shot: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +6 DC* 5** 4) Distance Shot: 1+1 Phase, +0 OCV, -2 DCV, Range +6, Strike +2 DC , +1 Segment* 5** 5) Offensive Trip: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, Strike +2 DC +v/5, Target Falls* 4** 6) Ranged Disarm: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +0, Disarm, 43 STR to Disarm* Martial Arts Cost: 30 Cost** Skill 5** Accurate Sprayfire* 5** Concentrated Sprayfire* 5** Rapid Autofire* 5** Skipover Sprayfire* 3** Climbing 14-* 18** +6 with Bow and Arrows ranged attacks* 6** +2 with Dodge, Dive For Cover, and Roll with the Blow* 3** Concealment 12-* 3** Conversation 12-* 3** Deduction 12-* 1** High Society 8-* 3** Inventor 12-* 2** KS: Archers and Archery 11-* 2** KS: Chili Recipes 11-* 3** Paramedics 12-* 16** Penalty Skill Levels: +8 vs. Hit Location modifiers with Bow and Arrows* 20** Penalty Skill Levels: +10 vs. Range Modifier with Bow and Arrows* 15** Power: Bow and Arrows 17-* 2** PS: Short-Order Cook 11-* 5** Rapid Attack (Ranged) * 3** Shadowing 12-* 3** Stealth 14-* 3** Streetwise 12-* 1** Survival 8-* 3** Tracking 12-* 2** WF: Common Missile Weapons* 3** Weaponsmith (Arrows, Bolts, And Darts, Muscle-Powered Ranged) 12-* Skills Cost: 143 Cost** Perk 5** Fringe Benefit: Membership in the JL* 5** Money: Well Off* Perks Cost: 10 Cost** Talent 3** Absolute Range Sense* 8** Combat Archery* 4** Rapid Archery* Talents Cost: 15 Total Character Cost: 445 Val** Disadvantages 20** Dependent NPC: To Be Defined Later 8- (Incompetent; Unaware of character's adventuring career/Secret ID)* 15** Hunted: To Be Defined Later 11- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)* 15** Psychological Limitation: Code vs Killing (Common, Strong)* 10** Psychological Limitation: "Robin Hood" Complex- The rich and powerful don't deserve his protection (Common, Moderate)* 5** Psychological Limitation: Unusually strong attraction to Black Canary (Uncommon, Moderate)* 15** Social Limitation: Secret ID (Frequently, Major)* Disadvantage Points: 80 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 165 Total Experience Available: 165 Experience Unspent: 0 My Notes: -It would certainly be easy to add some additional trick arrows to GA's quiver. It would be just as fair to reduce the number of charges of his various trick arrows. The Drill Arrow, Glue Arrow, and Taser Arrow have not appeared on the show but were added to give Green Arrow more options. All the other arrow types listed were seen in use on the show or are reasonable alternate uses of arrow types used in the show. I know that carrying 229 arrows in a quiver is far more than any archer would normally tote around. 229 arrows would be very bulky and have some weight to them. In competition, for instance, I usually had less than a dozen at a time and most often a lot less. It wasn't just that more were unnecessary, but it's difficult to pick an arrow out of a quiver stuffed with other arrows without popping out some of those other arrows, especially if you're trying to do it quickly. Of course, we didn't use "quivers" at all except in certain oddball contests, and combat archers usually put their arrows into the ground in front of them before battle. Anyway... Personally, I find it no harder to suspend disbelief about this than I do with Batman's utility belt or Superman's ability to fly; but if it bothers you, reduce the number of charges on all his multipower slots. -I didn't buy any HTH martial arts for Green Arrow, but note his Knockout Blow and The Bow as a Club slot of his Bow and Arrows Multipower. With the bow, he can do a 10d6 "punch" and without it he can perform a 6d6 punch. -I'm not sure it's worth keeping the Rapid Archery talent but I'll leave it in for now. I suppose it will be of some use if he picks up some random bow. It will be easy to delete if it proves to be worthless in combination with his other skills and abilities. -Very fragile, with no resistant defenses at all and, for a superhero, low normal defenses, too. As is The Batman, he is a normal guy with exceptional skills; but he's certainly not in Bats's league. Against mooks, he should dodge, dive for cover, and roll with the blow frequently to save his delicate person from mortal harm. If you don't like this fragility, add armor through a focus (his costume). But making him bulletproof obviates the entire point of him being a relatively "normal" person among a group of characters with abilities which range up to the nearly god-like. I'm still on the fence about his Speed; I've defined it as 5 for now but possibly 4 would be better relative to the other JL characters I've put together. -We haven't seen any of Ollie's off-duty life yet. However, I'm assuming this Oliver Queens is past his destitute days and has some dough because in the Supergirl/Question team-up episode, Ollie buys a plane ticket and vacation for a security guard so he can take the guard's place and infiltrate Power Girl's base. I put in the cooking and the chili recipe know-how because it was a central part of GA's Secret ID from the comics I read 20+ years ago which covered his financially strained period. -Green Arrow needs more Disadvantages and needs the existing DNPC and Hunted defined.

Re: Combat Maneuvers I'm pretty sure there are examples of things like this in the varous 5th Edition books. Here, off the cuff, is one way of doing it: Naked Advantage: Armor Piercing on up to 30 Active Points (+1/2) (15 Active Points), OAF: HTH Thrusting Weapon of Opportunity (-1), Real Cost: 7, END Cost: 1 (You could add additional Limitations, such as Only with the Lunge Maneuver (-1/2), or something similar.) This will allow the character to apply the Armor Piercing Advantage to any thrusting weapon he purchases, steals, finds, picks up, or otherwise gets into his hand. The character can use up to 30 Active Points of that weapon's damage while applying the Advantage. He can use a 2d6 sword, for instance, and use all of the sword's damage; when using a 3d6 spear, on the other hand, if he applies more than 2d6 of the weapon's base damage he cannot apply his Armor Piercing. This is a Naked Advantage applied to a weapon the character uses; it is not a combat maneuver. Therefore, the character can use any of the Hero System's standard maneuvers (or purchased martial maneuvers) while using this Naked Advantage. Note that with the Naked Advantage, the character is paying only for the Advantage, not the entire attack. The base damage of the attack, and other Advantages and Limitations, are part of the weapon of opportunity for which the character does not pay character/experience points. As a further example, I've attached a Hero Designer 2 file of an early draft of the Animated Justice League's Green Arrow, which I am working on for another thread. Now, he isn't a Heroic-level character but he has a pair of Naked Advantages (some extra damage and Autofire) which he can apply to bow-and-arrow attacks which are based on weapons of opportunity – although he has defined those Naked Advantages so that they do not apply to the weapons for which he paid points (i.e. his Bow-and-Arrows Multipower). I hope this helped, John H edit 1: Technically, Green Arrow's added damage on "pick-up" bows is not a Naked Advantage, although the Autofire is. In practice, the extra damage is more like the Deadly Blow Talent. edit 2: I've attached an HTML file of the Green Arrow character so you can see the "naked" advantage construct if you don't have Hero Designer 2. Remove the .txt suffix in order to view it in your web browser.

Re: Speedster question I'm surprised this became a point of contention between the two of you. If your player wants to do damage to an object; and that object has defined defense and body values; and the player's character has defined attack values; then the basic mechanics of the Hero System should cover this situation completely. The only exception is if the GM wants to allow something to happen without recourse to the mechanics of the game by using his narrative exercise of power in order to move the story along or accomplish some other goal for the good of the game as a whole. This is one of the strengths of the Hero System. There should be no arguments about whether you can or can't pound down that wall as you either have a power with enough dice of effect and advantages and whatnot to get the job done or you don't. A player arguing that his character should be able to do something means he needs to spend some character points to enable his character to do that thing. Or at the very least, have an appropriate Power Skill and make a die roll against that skill with an appropriate bonus or penalty to the roll to attempt the feat. But if the feat is to get the Double Armor Piercing Advantage or to add more dice of damage, that should only happen on a roll of 2 or less on 3d6 regardless of the base roll of the Power Skill. Best wishes, John H

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced? Gary said: Do you think if you repeat this argument two or three more times on top of the two or three times you've already stated it that you'll convince somebody?

Re: Hulk game stats PDF I think if you look here: http://homepage.mac.com/johnmhammer You'll find a copy of that PDF.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced? Gary, When you say: You are cherry-picking the rules to support your case. Both the rules FAQ and later-published rules in UMA overrule that reference from FRED. From the rules faq: See page 97 of UMA. There isn't a "relative vel/5" maneuver and a "target's vel/5" maneuver and another "attacker's vel/5" maneuver. Any maneuver using this element, such as Martial Throw or Passing Strike, relies on relative velocity. As this rule also points out, of course, GM's are to be free to apply whatever makes the most dramatic sense based on the special effects of the maneuver. -If you're charging into someone from the side, only the attacker's velocity should have any effect. (But isn't that relative velocity, anyway?) -If you're sticking out your foot to trip your opponent, then probably only the target's velocity should have any effect. -In most other cases, such as when the attacker and target are moving toward each other, or the attacker is chasing the target, relative velocity is easy to calculate and should be applied. But the general rule is relative velocity. And he needs to spend 5 more points so he has the minimum 10 total points of martial maneuvers, and he has to have some kind of reason for having that maneuver beyond "It will really let me kick some serious patootie!" and his GM has to agree that it's not an abusive synergy with his other purchases. John H

Comparing Apples to Apples PhilFleischmann said: Consider other martial maneuvers, even. Someone earlier in this thread said that they believe that martial maneuvers in general are "broken" and maybe they are, at least if compared to the standard maneuvers. The good 'ol Martial Throw is surprisingly similar to the Passing Strike. They both give a +1 CV bonus (Passing Strike gets +1 OCV, Martial Throw gets +1 DCV) and they both do Str + Vel/5 in damage (remember that all maneuver-based damage bonuses are based on the relative velocity between the attacker and the target). The only real difference is that Passing Strike allows the attacker to take a full move and attack and, perhaps, move away from the target after attacking; while Martial Throw has the "target falls" modifier so the target is always "prone" with a successful attack without regard to knockback. And Martial Throw is only 3 points compared to Passing Strike's 5 points. The only complaints I had ever heard about Passing Strike before this thread started related to the lack of any damage reflection and the ability to move away from the target after making the actual attack; never about the damage it could do. John H

Re: how to build this sword Altamaros, Would you also add the Disadvantage "Always Direct" to this item?

Re: Naked Advantage Cheese Factor Myrmidon said: David, I think this is a great way of representing what you want. To join the nearly-unanimous chorus: No cheese here on this 120 Active Point power. Metaphysician said: Frankly, if a character has a power with Variable Advantage I allow him to use the power without applying any advantages if he wants to do so, and without paying Endurance for the active points he isn't using. Variable Advantage is pretty expensive for what it lets you do compared to a Variable Power Pool and what it lets you do. I like to give my players good reasons to avoid using VPPs which otherwise start to become very attractive in cases like this. I'd rather have a player use David's construct than something like this: 76 Variable Power Pool: 76 Real Points 14 Variable Power Pool: 38 Control Cost, Requires a Skill Roll to Change Powers (-1/2), Limited Class of Powers Available (only Telekinesis with any Advantages and Limitations, -1), If any Advantages are applied to Telekinesis the entire power must take Requires Concentration Throughout (-1/2 Limitation on the constructed power) (-1/4 Limitation applied to the VPP Control Cost) Total Cost: 90 Yeah, yeah, the VPP requires a full phase to apply an Advantage or otherwise change the power, but the -1 for the Limited Class of Powers Available is probably too small. And certainly there are other differences, such as a 76 active point cap on a power from the VPP compared to a 90 active point cap on a power built with David's construct. But the majority of players I know who would want a power like this would look at these two options and take the VPP. Allowing the relatively minor advantage of not having to apply the +1/2 of Advantages when using the power with the Variable Advantage (+1) would push quite a few of them in the other direction. John H

Does it fit the character concept or is the player "gaming" the system? I think Hyper-Man makes some good points. Earlier in this thread I mentioned that my own house rules require attackers using Passing Strike, Charge, and the similar damage-causing, velocity-based martial maneuvers to absorb 1/3 of the damage they inflict. Of course, there's still the issue of what to do with characters who use foci to inflict their damage but whose foci are either Unbreakable or just have an exceptionally high defense (but I've house-ruled that problem away, too). Hyper-Man said: Take another look at UMA: Those full-move maneuvers are reserved for specific martial arts styles ("football" gets running tackle, for instance) or to help represent a character concept, such as one which revolves around being a swift runner or flyer. They're not supposed to be on the menu for anyone who just feels like buying a couple of them because it will make their character stronger. The way I approach this, it would be reasonable for The Flash or Jet Pack Rocketman to take the "Speedster Martial Arts" package or whatever subset of those moves they could afford to purchase; but it's not appropriate for Superman or Massive Space Marine Ultraguy. Such martial maneuvers are outside their character concepts and shouldn't even be on their "menu" of things to buy as their players continue to develop their characters, any more than Jet Pack Rocketman should suddenly develop 50 extra points of Strength or The Flash develop a Transform Man to Frog spell. Others have mentioned that balance issues like these have to be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis, and I completely agree. Anyone who knows the system can create abusively powerful, yet not immediately obvious, powers or synergistic combinations. This is why Hero/Champions is a terrible competitive wargame. I used to try to run "combat arenas" at conventions where players could bring any character they wanted within a certain point limit (with no character Disadvantages except common Vulnerabilities and a shortish list of Physical Limitations and a shorter list of Psychological Limitations) as long as it was built legally and then compete in a big free-for-all. Even after fixing all the characters who broke the rules and removing the sillier Power Limitations, there would always be two or three players who still had characters that were unstoppable and could roll over all the other players who just came to the con with their favorite character from their home campaign game. Anyone who "games" the rules can get his character to a place that will make the GM uncomfortable and the other players feel like sidekicks. That's where a GM has to step in and enforce character concept. I remember a Tokienesque fantasy campaign from years ago: After the first play session, everyone wanted to buy Breakfall because the one nimble rogue-type character had it and all the others wanted it once they saw how it kept Nimble Guy from taking a half phase to recover every time he dove for cover or got knocked down. The GM let Massive Swordsman Guy buy it, but Old Wizard Guy and the player who insisted on playing a horse (don't ask...) were out of luck. The Wiz and the Horse bitched about it for a while, but in the end everyone agreed that the campaign was better for it. IMO, this was good GMing. I see this issue in supers games even more often. If anything in the rulebook is available to any character regardless of character concept, things get out of hand. Everyone's Speed starts to go up, up, up far beyond what their character concept calls for, everyone takes Martial Dodge so they get +5 instead of +3 when they want to dodge, everyone buys Breakfall, etc. Avoiding this isn't a matter of some characters having to be the "weak links" – every player's character needs his own bailiwick where he is supreme, or at least superior. Only GMs can prevent the "growth toward similarity" that can plague Hero campaigns if gaming the system is allowed to overwhelm adherence to the character concept. Best wishes, John H

AJL Skeets "first draft" Skeets Player: Val** Char*** Cost 5** STR -5 10** DEX 0 5** CON -10 5** BODY -10 18** INT 8 10** EGO 0 10** PRE 0 12** COM 1 * 6** PD 1 6** ED 1 2** SPD 0 2** REC 0 10** END 0 15** STUN 4 *0"**RUN-120"**SWIM-20"**LEAP-1Characteristics Cost: -25 Cost** Power END 6** Tiny: Penalty Skill Levels: +3 vs. Range Modifier (attacks and perception rolls) with a tight group of attacks* 47** I'm A Machine: Life Support (Eating Character does not eat; Immunity All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Immunity All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Longevity 200 Years; Safe Environment: Zero Gravity; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in High Radiation; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing; Sleeping Character does not sleep)* 0 12** Metal Body: Armor (4 PD/4 ED)* 0 24** Internal Antigrav: Flight 12"* 2 ** * 43** Internal Component Reorganization: Variable Power Pool, 25 base + 18 control cost, Cosmic (+2) (61 Active Points); Only for effects with little impact on combat and which a little robot could reasonably produce ((see examples); -1)* 0** 1) Ego Boost: Aid Presence and Ego (50% each) 2d6, Usable By Other (+1/4) (25 Active Points); Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Only works on Booster Gold (-1/4) Real Cost: 12* 0 0** 2) 2-D Projector: Sight and Hearing Groups Images Increased Size (4" radius; +1/2) (22 Active Points); Only to create 2-D, TV-like images of stored memories or crafted sequences (-1/2) Real Cost: 15* 2 0** 3) Bio-Scan: N-Ray Perception (Sight Group), Discriminatory, Analyze (20 Active Points); Only to scan and analyze internal structures for damage and function (-1) Real Cost: 10* 0 0** 4) BG's Home Entertainment Center: High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group) (12 Active Points) Real Cost: 12* 0 0** 5) Air Purifier: Change Environment 2" radius, Multiple Combat Effects, Varying Combat Effects (25 Active Points) Real Cost: 25* 2 0** 6) Repair Machines: Healing BODY 2d6, Can Heal Limbs (25 Active Points); Can only repair electronic/mechanical devices (-1/4), Requires replacement parts for major repairs (-1/4) Real Cost: 17* 2 Powers Cost: 132 Cost** Skill 3** Computer Programming 13-* 3** Electronics 13-* 9** KS: General Knowledge 18-* 3** Oratory 11-* 3** Paramedics 13-* 3** Security Systems 13-* 3** Systems Operation 13-* Skills Cost: 27 Cost** Talent 3** Absolute Time Sense* 5** Eidetic Memory* 3** Lightning Calculator* 6** Speed Reading (x100)* 20** Universal Translator 13-* Talents Cost: 37 Total Character Cost: 171 Val** Disadvantages 10** Can be affected by anything which "only affects machines" or "only affects computers"* 15** Distinctive Features: Small, Flying Robot (Not Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)* 20** Physical Limitation: No Limbs (All the Time, Greatly Impairing)* 5** Physical Limitation: Small: +3" Knockback (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing)* 25** Psychological Limitation: Completely Devoted to Booster Gold (Very Common, Total)* 20** Psychological Limitation: Code vs Killing (Common, Total)* 0** Rivalry: Romantic (Anyone who might get between Skeets and Booster; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Unaware of Rivalry)* 20** Social Limitation: Not a legal person (Very Frequently, Major)* 10** Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x STUN Electricity (Common)* Disadvantage Points: 125 Base Points: 46 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 My Notes: -Skeets is Booster Gold's robotic pal and majordomo, part best friend and part PR hack. Physically, Skeets is an AI in a small flying pod. Skeets is devoted to Booster, constantly kvelling and propping up BG's ego. Even though Skeets is a machine, Booster has a lot of affection for him and feels very protective of his little buddy, treating him in all ways as a fully sentient being... which he apparently is, in fact. Skeets has no hands, tractor beams, or other manipulatory devices but can "plug into" other computer and electronic systems both directly and remotely.