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Nuke

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Posts posted by Nuke

  1. Re: A terminology question

     

    First off, thank you guys for your responses. I think you've sort of touched on what I'm wondering about.

    A lot of this is going on what I've seen in HERO Designer v2's skill prefabs, and in Killer Shrike's High Fantasy notes: Crafting skills are expressed more or less exclusively as KS's, such as KS: Scroll Scribing, KS: Painting, KS: Carpentry, KS: Bookbinding, and the like, with very little overlap, except with things like PS: Carpenter. This goes against FRed, which states that a PS is the actual skill to do something, and that a KS is simply the knowledge of what makes something tick.

     

    Perhaps in the case of crafting, a PS represents the overall ability for one to create something and market it, and a KS is the ability to access some specific facet of that PS. So, PS: Artist could have KS: Painting, KS: Sculpting, and KS: Engraving. Or, if one gets more specific, PS: Sculptor could have KS: Metalsmithing, KS: Woodworking, and KS: Pottery.

    Going into the magical crafting sector of things, a PS: Mage might access KS: Scroll Scribing, KS: Wandcrafting, and KS: Enchantment.

     

    What do you guys think?

     

    This is how we did it in our campaigns, and I've always thought it made the most sense.

     

    -- Nuke

  2. Re: Ultimate Grimoire... One letter at a time...

     

    Ok, right off the bat something isnt coming out right

     

    This spell allows the caster to make the victim feel as though he rested poorly the previous night. The victim will feel tired, move sluggishly and yawn continually.

     

    Power: 1d6 Dex Drain

     

    Specific Modifiers: Points return after 5 hours (+1), triggered by waking (+1/4); Can only be cast on sleeping target (-2).

     

    Active Cost = 67 points. END Cost: 7; Magic Roll: -7; Casting Time: 1/2 Phase

     

    The problem being its coming off way different when I plug it into HD2

     

    Bad Night: Drain DEX 1d6, Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; Triggered by Waking; +1/4), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per 6 Hours; +1 1/4) (25 Active Points); Custom Modifier (can only be cast on a sleeping target; -2)

     

    the active points are way off between the 2 versions

    did things change that much between editions or did I miss something?

     

    If I were to make a simple guess, it is because somebody simplified 3d6 of DEX "points" drained as 1d6 of "DEX" drained. That changes the base cost from 10 to 30, and is where you get 67 AP. This used to be very commonly done in older material. A 10d6 drain speed would be written up as 1d6. This saves a lot of dice rolling, but added the difficulty of making you read the fine print to understand what the power REALLY was.

     

    -- Nuke

  3. Re: Summoning Spell Limitation Question

     

    If the intent is moving people around, I'd probably also require the subject to be willing and let them feel a ping that somebody is trying to summon them.

     

    I played a MUD online for years, and "summon other player" was a common group activity to bring the group back together.

     

    -- Nuke

  4. Re: D & D Diatribe

     

    So' date=' what - there are no skilled craftsmen in D&D land? Or as part of their apprenticeship they must spend 10 years killing monsters so they have enough skill points to make a decent piece of jewellry?[/quote']

     

    This is a great argument against DnD. However, the players are adventurers and therefore the rules work well for them. You can very easily bend the rules for the non-adventuring NPC craftsmen of the world and say they gain X skill points per year or something.

     

    I really like playing in a high fantasy milieu' date=' mainly because of the very odd things that happen as a matter of course.[/quote']

     

    I find this a common and strange argument on this thread because this seems to be a comment about the setting rather than the rules.

     

    I'm not 100% for either system, I just think they each have their place and you can have fun in either. The best thing I think about Hero is that you can be a more focused craftsman adventure much easier than you can in DnD because DnD has no method of converting XP into skill points if you'd like to keep your level lower but be more skillful. Also, it is much easier to play somebody "multiclassed" in Hero. Also also, I think it is much easier to match your character to what you see in movies or books.

     

    -- Nuke

  5. Re: D & D Diatribe

     

    p.s. loved the quote re d&D characters are only differentiated by their magic items...I think D&D can be used to play a good Fantasy game but it takes good players / DM to overcome the system first...

     

    A good DM and players will make almost any system fun, because the system should be the secondary reason why you are playing. Good roleplaying and DM cooperation can allow you to play the character you want under any system.

     

    I think FH and D&D each have their places. Here recently, we had 8 players in our higher powered FH campaign that had been running for around six years (started on 175, ended at around 550). As you can guess, combat took so long it wasn't fun. At this point, we revised the FH rules to become more D&D-like so that it was possible to move from 1 combat encounter every other adventure to nearly 2 every adventure.

     

    I will disclaim my thoughts by the following facts:

    1) My D&D experiences were always with custom DM written adventures.

    2) My DM always modified monsters here and there to keep you on your toes. I was fighting 3rd level goblin wizards 15 years ago.

    3) I have been very lucky to have always played with "pretty good" players. Sure, we all maximized to the best of our abilities, but we also were focused on story development.

    4) As a group, we worked to extend the rules as needed when something was impossible to do that we thought should be there.

     

    Even though it may have copied, I think 3rd edition did a good job integrating some important features it was missing. And yes, hands down, I will always believe that Hero is superior in creating "the EXACT character you want". I have not seen anything to compare with it in that aspect.

     

    -- Nuke

  6. Re: Spells that work against pain

     

    GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!! That was' date=' almost to the letter, the exact thing I was going to post. FREAK![/quote']

     

    Ah, thanks for the strong emotions. That opens the door to reading more vital information like credit card numbers...

     

    *grin*

     

    In regards to the other responses, on day to day life, being able to feel pain is a good thing, protecting us from many minor injuries. But you're right, in the circumstances listed, it would definitely be a useful power.

     

    -- Nuke

  7. Re: Spells that work against pain

     

    Also, to me there are two concepts to consider: enduring pain and reducing pain. Enduring pain feels to me like the EGO roll, where you use your willpower to overcome the effects of feeling the pain. On the otherhand, reducing pain would be eliminating the feeling of pain, which could be both useful and dangerous.

     

    I'd say if you implemented the optional rules somebody mentioned, an "endure pain" spell seems easy to write, it would be +EGO levels, only to resist pain effects. Eliminating pain would be more difficult to write, unless you have a standardized AP rule for pain. The damage reduction method somebody suggested seems to work fairly well, because that will work regardless of the implementation of the pain inflictor.

     

    I could easily argue that eliminating pain would be like inflicting a physical limitation on a character as well!

     

    -- Nuke

  8. Re: Anybody ever play Fantasy Superheroes?

     

    It took over 5 years, but my most recent FH campaign took the characters to near immortal status (not quite demi-gods). We have since retired.

     

    I did play an interesting Champions adventure once where our supers were placed in a fantasy adventure.

     

    -- Nuke

  9. Re: Thoughts on Shields

     

    Anybody here have any thoughts on the issue? Should a shield bash do less damage than a punch by the same character?

     

    I agree with everything people said here. In addition, you might consider allowing "Shield Bash" to do knockback. I wouldn't allow it to knockback if you increased the stun multiplier, though, it seems like it would be one or the other...

  10. Re: Did anyone else...

     

    I did roll my eye's when I noticed that "Chaos Magic" isn't in red. See it? Right between Black Magic and Monster Magic? Lack of conformity in formating is almost as bad as a typo' date=' and having it happen on the [b']cover[/b]! Just shameful. I don't mind it so much if it's a once in a while thing in the text, but the cover is what sells the product (some of the time, if the person is kinda stupid). Still, nice cover art. Gotta get one of those tops for the hot chicks . . .

     

    Ah, but see it is CHAOS magic! It is so wild and unpredictable that it affected even the cover art!!!

     

    -- Nuke

  11. Re: Deadly Blow talent too powerful?

     

    I don't believe in creating an environment that forces characters to purchase unusual defenses mainly to counter the effects of ONE extremely potent talent/power. THIS in my opinion is promoting inflexibility' date=' when every character has to buy countermeasures for a power/talent in order to have a chance of survival.[/quote']

     

    The only comment I'd say to this is that the defenses are only unusual because the power is restricted. If everybody knows ahead of time what is out there, I think the defenses will scale appropriately.

     

    Another thing: Why would I buy extra DC's for my martial arts maneuvers if I could just buy Deady Blow??? Even at the 10-point level' date=' +1d6 of Deadly Blow costs less than +1d6 of extra damage classes for martial arts, it is more versatile/less restricted, AND it raises the base damage where extra MA DC's don't. I guess one could argue that the cost of MA extra DC's is arbitrary, but an inequality does exist.[/quote']

     

    If I remember right, doesn't buying a DC for Martial Arts give you bonuses with ALL your Martial Arts abilities? In other words, you gain +5 STR for escapes, +1 DC with all your attacks, +5 STR on holding, etc...

     

    I'm not too familiar with 5th edition, but I'd have to ask what is the difference between "deadly blow" for killing attacks and "hand attack" for normal attacks? Hand attack is gobs cheaper than buying strength outright to get damage?

     

    -- Nuke

     

    P.S. I admit that I am speaking from ignorance on the subject, so take my opinion for what it's worth...

  12. Re: Doulocracy: how's it work?

     

    At a guess' date=' you've never seen Mony Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail.[/quote']

     

    Apparently not. For your benefit, cyst13, there is a scene in the Holy Grail (a Monty Python comedy about King Arthur et al) where Arthur is scouring the lands searching for knights to join him at his court in Camelot. He approaches a peasant outside a castle and has a political argument with him. The castle is ruled by the peasants who don't have a lord. Arthur explains how he was handed excalibur by the lady in the lake, signifying by divine providence that he should carry excalibur, and that is why he is king.

     

    Dennis, the peasant responds with something like:

     

    "Strange women lying around in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derived from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. Just because some watery tart threw a sword at you is no reason you should be king. I mean, if I was to go around saying I should be an emporer just because moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!"

     

    It's sad how many times I saw that movie in college that I can remember the lines so well after 10 years since I've seen in last.

     

    eek

    -- Nuke

  13. Re: Doulocracy: how's it work?

     

    The best historical examples I'm aware of are the previously-mentioned Mamelukes and (in some aspects) the eunuch bureaucracy of Imperial China.

     

    What about in medieval England?

     

    -- Nuke

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     

    DENNIS: I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.

     

    ARTHUR: Yes.

     

    DENNIS: But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting--

     

    ARTHUR: Yes, I see.

     

    DENNIS: By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,--

     

    ARTHUR: Be quiet!

     

    DENNIS: But by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--

     

    ARTHUR: Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!

  14. Re: Trying to write a magic system...

     

    This is a Partially Limited Power. I think you can find it at the beginning of the Limitations Chapter. I think it works something like this:

     

    Let's imagine the generic Hero Power, the EB

     

    6d6 EB (RSR: Matrix) 20pts

    +2d6 EB (RSR, Extra Time-Full Phase)

    +2d6 EB(RSR, Extra Time-Extra Segment)

    +2d6 EB(RSR,Extra Time-Full Turn)

     

    I don't have my book here and will leave the cost as an exercise for the reader...

     

    If all magic works this way, I believe you could probably just double the cost of the magic and say each level of ET increases the power one notch. Sure, you theoretically have "infinite power" from a single dice of EB, but it also would take infinite time to cast it. Start the base power at ET: Full Phase and let them "fast cast" it for 1/2 power for a nice change of pace.

     

    Just another viewpoint, but basically it is what you described. I'd have to investigate the convergance of the extra time limitations, but my guess is that it will end up either at double or triple the cost of the power.

  15. Re: Divine Grace?

     

    Some call it Charisms. Others just call it Miracles. Whatever one should call it isn't really relevant. Though, perhaps; Prophets make an appearance in your game. If so, maybe you can help.

     

    Some powers of the Prophets: Healing, Precognition, Parting the Sea, Tongues, Summoning/Banishing Angels/Demons etc. A big etc.

     

    I am currently thinking about using VPP with the Cosmic Powers Ad (+2). Though, this is about as far as I have gotten. I am not sure about the Pool amount or Control Cost amount.

     

    Any help would be nice.

     

    It's difficult to describe properly, but our campaign handles priests by having a VPP. Priest's have a special power called "divine intervention". Basically, they make a skill roll and they get a power effect equal to the AP they make their skill roll by times 10 (or how much END they have left in their battery times 5, whichever is lower).

     

    Doing so is very tiring to the priest, and it lowers their END/Recovery in their battery to 0, and they get back 1 recovery a day (makes that END battery recover slowly since the recovery is bought at ET: 1 hour).

     

    This gives the priest a way to "control" his miracles, at least on when to call them. It gives the GM a good idea of the power the priest can command (which is based on the priest's "faith", which is the size of the priest's VPP). And it gives lasting effects that are hard on the priest.

     

    (as a general "rule of thumb" it is understood that you should avoid calling upon "divine intervention" often or for frivolous use, because you'll get in trouble with your deity).

     

    -- Nuke

  16. Re: If magic cost full price...

     

    There's a few comments above that make this basic point - I'll pick this one as representative. My question is this: do the warriors just stop spending their xp? If not, it has to go somewhere making the warrior more powerful, or more well rounded. Maybe they buy Deadly Blow abilities. Perhaps they buy KA's with Trigger to simulate multiple sword swings in a phase without Sweep penalties, or Area Effect KA's to simulate firing multiple arrows to hit multiple targets. Penalty skill levels, anyone? 8 PSL's for hit locations means all my shots are to the head.

     

    Or do they just by more and more skill levels that are less and less useful since they always hit at max damage and get a 15 DCV anyway?

     

    Responses are always hard to deal with on these posts, and I broke my own rule of replying without explaining how our campaign works. I play in a high fantasy campaign (although I'd really call it medium fantasy). We are based on 100+75 points (yes, some of you will gasp), but everybody in the world is scaled accordingly.

     

    Our GM did some stuff similar (yet very different) to Killer Shrike, and has created several wonderful warrior and mage progression paths. This limits both classes on what they can do and when. For example, a newbie mage does not know how to mage a "triggered" spell, but an advanced warrior can do a "weapon storm". Overall, the progression has proven to be very balanced between the "classes", and the classes aren't mutually exclusive. My character has followed the path of a priest and a warrior.

     

    The classes have abilities that are limited by gaining certain knowledge skills. This gives the GM good control over when the players gain powers, and gives wonderful roleplaying opportunities for the characters to seek out and learn new stuff. I know that Turakian has a lot of these things as well, I think our campaigns just implement it in a completely different way.

  17. Re: If magic cost full price...

     

    Thank you for your response' date=' Gunrunner. I am not questioning [b']why[/b] the Turakian Age uses the 1/3 cost. I simply disagree with it. I am looking for input from others who have had experience with magic costing full price.

     

    We pay full price for magic in our campaign. Sure, the mages may start out weaker, but they end up more powerful in the end. Warriors hit brick walls with weapon strength maxes whereas a mage just buys up his attack. Warriors can only sweep so many foes where the mage fireballs.

     

    Most fantasy games use this concept where mages start a little bit underpowered and then pass up later. I consider this the norm.

     

    We have plenty of variety in our spells from our casters. With a good -3 in limitations being typical (gestures, incantations, focus, side effect, skill roll, extra time), spells aren't all that expensive?

  18. Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

     

    I've only loosely followed this thread, but my comment in response to your initial question is that for every enjoyable hobby, there are those whose mind is such that it can be influenced by it. Some people are ensnared by good food, some by alcohol, and I'm sure some people by the violence in RPGs (where it's racial or not).

     

    It was always my belief that the reason why the arguments of the 70s regarding the evils of D&D faded away was that people began to realize that it did not globally affect gamers. However, inevitibly, some gamers had the weaknesses I described above and could not separate fantasy from reality.

     

    It's my belief that in general, racial stereotyping in gaming does not affect gamers in much the same way that playing Monopoly does not cause you to want to drive others bankrupt for your own gain. Our minds are pretty good at separating reality from fantasy, it's only the few isolated incidents of those with a mental "weakness" (if you will, knowing that we all have weaknesses in some area).

     

    My characters (note that I purposely do not say "I) have slayed orcs, goblins, and kobolds by the thousands, and yet I have been called one of the gentlest and non-aggressive people my whole life. Killing them has not been a release for me because I had no aggression pent up. It is more that in the world of fantasy, often concessions are made that reduce realism and add enjoyability.

     

    The world we live in is grey, and the world we live in is dull. Most fantasy gamers long for the world of simplicity, where being heroic means avoiding the greys most of the time. Not all of the time, a good GM always puts in scenarios every once in awhile to make the world more real (the "evil" orc family that on your way to slaughter you find out had just had all their children killed by the local community just for being orcs and made a retributive strike).

     

    Lots of people on this board seem to thrive on "grey" campaigns, and more power to them. To me, though, I have enough grey to deal with watching the news! In fact, I'm longing more and more for a nice 4-color supers campaign, now those are a nice escape! *giggle*

  19. Re: When Heroes become Villians

     

    .

    .

    .

    It's that blase' attitude that, I think, is what causes Heros to turn to Villans. That and the "I'm a PC, I don't have to worry about what happens" attitdue.

    .

    .

    .

     

    This is a good point. Our GM whacked our conscience in one adventure when we fought cloud giants in their hovering fortress, and when we had cleaned the place and sunk it, it fell into the waters causing a huge tidal wave that wreaked havoc on the eastern shores of our homelands.

     

    We gained a "heroic deed", which basically means we did something so awe-striking that people will remember our names for it. Granted, this one probably more on the villainous side, but either way, it was a moment in the campaign where our "heroics" did something we didn't think it would do.

     

    It sounds to me like your players handled it very well around the campfire. We had a similar discussion in our campaign, and we're still trying to atone for our deeds, although it is all coming from ourselves (no GM prodding to atone). The best thing a GM can do in these case is make it clear the severity of the actions, even if they are "right".

  20. Re: Why must humans rule?

     

    I think human's are mostly written as "dominant" in the society because often, there is some inkling of viewing fantasy worlds as a "long ago" current world. Typically, histories will have the other, ancient races once ruling, but fading away, and humans beginning to take over. The current times will be during the "rise to height" of humanity, and is often the transition point between then and now.

     

    Since we are humans, it's natural to see this setting as desirable, because it portrays US as the heroes. It's just like watching the Patriot and cheering for America when you're an American, because "hey, that's us winning!"

     

    I don't think that ever closes the doors for other settings, especially if you close the ties between your campaign world and the real world. But I would say that Tolkien made special points about how humans were taking over as they were learning the important things to "be in charge".

     

    Just my 2 cents =)

  21. Re: Once more in English, please?

     

    In general, it could be shown pointing in one of the eight compass directions. So I named each position after the compass direction. Most words describing the position of a heraldic charge end with "-ant," so if the sword points upward (north), I call it "noant" (pronounced "NO-unt") If it points to the upper right (northeast), it is "neant" ("KNEE-unt"). If it points to the upper left (northwest), you could call it "nwant," but that looks a little strange, so I first changed it to "newant," and then to "nuant" (NEW-ant).

     

    I think we found the language of the "Keeper of the Sacred Words". Niet, pang, and "NEEEWANT". They were just talking heraldry?

  22. Re: [Campaign World] Clockwork Fantasy

     

    Plea for Help: What's an Englishesque name for the counterpart of a Saint? Every culture will have a different name for Saints and Angels and Demons' date=' but I want an Englishesque name for an evil person elevated to immortality.[/quote']

     

    I didn't have much luck at dictionary.com looking in the thesaurus. What about a "Scoundrel"? Or using a cool sounding word in a different way, like a "Nemesis"?

  23. Re: Why play Fantasy Hero over other fantasy games?

     

    I checked out a few more websites and have decided that between my Champions game I'm going to do a Fantasy Hero and a Star Hero Game. I'll do one then another and find which my group prefers to start a campaign in' date=' or go hog wild and combine all 3. What I would like to know from you guys is this, how long would you say it taked to throw a game that would last for 4-6 hours together? Plus that would be easy to get a new group introduced to the game. I'm thinking maybe I should just throw a couple of characters together and have them play those until they get a feel of the game and the mechanics and them let them make their own. Your thoughts.[/quote']

     

    It's very easy, just like in any fantasy hero campaign, to throw together a single adventure to get the feel for things. Balance isn't important for a "trial" adventure, and it will be just as much a learning experience for you as it is for them.

     

    I'd suggest taking someone's predefined magic system, or just use the old fashioned approach of writing them up as Champions powers, but require all the limitations you'd expect from a spell (gestures, incantations, focus, side effect, concentration, requires a "magic skill roll" .. INT based skill, 3pts, 2pts for +1). It's pretty easy to write up a "fire bolt" spell and a "shield" spell in fantasy hero since it's almost identical to writing up a "Human Torch" superhero.

     

    Some famous "first adventures" I've always came up with:

    - The small town everyone is from is being badgered by bandits

    - The local (insert figure of power) needs the local adventuresome types to go do something for him

    - Something spooky is happening and it is approaching a full moon (typical cult adventure)

     

    All three of these threads can easily be expanded some time in the future into a campaign, or can easily be thrown out if you decide to start fresh after your trial.

     

    I suggest using a small town (less NPCs to write up) and forcing the trial adventure such that all the PCs know each other before the adventure starts. It leaves less explanation on the details of the "rest of the world", which is something you want to avoid when you're just trying to see how well you like FH...

  24. Re: Speed in FH

     

    To give you some perspective' date=' most of my characters are speed 3 with around 15 Str (2 end) and a recovery in the 4-6 range, so they effectively don't take an END hit during a normal turn of combat.[/quote']

     

    Similar to the other post, I'd suggest adjusting the END on stuff. In every non-supers campaign I've ever played, END was 1/5 AP instead of 1/10. So 15 STR would use 3 END per swing (50% increase).

  25. Re: D&D 3rd ED convert

     

    I'm against this. If you're playing a combat savvy guy' date=' but you aren't, why should you be pressured to screw up.[/quote']

     

    The combat savvy comes from your character's ability to hit and the like. I don't ask my players to describe their sword maneuvers in detail because none of us are swordsman. If the players go fast, then I hold myself (the "GM") to the same rules. I could be fair and take several minutes for each of my NPCs to come to decisions, but then everybody loses as the battles would take hours.

     

    I understand your point, though, it's a difficult thing very similar to dealing with a player that has "Tactics" or "Deduction".

     

    That being said' date=' I tend to be rough on those who don't pay attention and expect them to have an idea of what they want to do when their segment comes up. If they suddenly need a run down of everyone on the battlemap and what they've been doing, then I might impose a penalty.[/quote']

     

    This is mainly why I have the time constraint as well. People have already had time to think about their action. I don't ever set a specific time limit (like 15 seconds), personally, but I do count down the DEX actions while my players think if they are taking too long. If they decide quickly, but are slow at doing the rolling, I'll often deal with a different character at the same time.

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