DoctorItron

Re: I present the Atlas Assault BattleMech!

Are the OCVs correct? You wrote Melee OCV 14, Ranged OCV 4.

DEX is 10. That give a 3 OCV, and I don't see combat levels or anything else that would modify OCV.

Re: Superhero Images

That is a heck of a picture! Who made it? How can I see more from this artist? Or is it form a comic book?

Ian Sokoliwski.

http://www.angelfire.com/comics/red_bee/

Re: Entangle, Desolidification, and the Quest for Truth

Don't be. I still do play Magic. More frequently than HERO games (gasp!) simply because of the level of interest in my area. It's a good intellectual challenge (although I will heartily admit the quality of people you tend to meet is...somewhat less than perfect).

Re: Can't see me!

What's that lim worth' date=' you think? Only versus electronics and sensors? Think that's a -1? More? It's probably no less than a -3/4 lim, but probably more- since most of your enemies will have "natural" senses.[/quote']

 

I think -1 is about right for a standard superhero game, but the lim could have a wide range of values depending on the campaign. For example, in a mecha-inspired campaign where all the villains use power armor, then the limitation might not be worth any points.

Re: Magnetic Powers

SNIP

So w/out crippling him against non-ferrous material, how would you showcase his magneticness.

SNIP

Magneto's powers are effective against any material, but they are most effective against ferrous metal. Here's one way to showcase his increased effectiveness against metal:

Give him a multipower or VPP that has no limitations. Include an energy blast, telekinesis, and a lot of other powers, as Hawksmoor and CDad did in their examples.

Then buy a 2nd, much smaller multipower or VPP, with powers similar to the 1st, and the following limitations:

-2 (?) "only against ferrous materials"

-1/2 "linked to 1st framework"

Re: Jane's Superhumans

Publius and The Mad GM, great work on your Jane's Metahumans and index card samples. I started working on a Rogue's Gallery program to track NPCs, but dropped it when I started studying for my MCDBA (Microsoft Certified Database Administrator). exams. Now that I have that certification out of the way, your ideas have me looking forward to resuming work.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

Personally, the following valid character concept is what ruined Passing Strike for me: The character is a genetically engineered warrior with futuristic combat armor (Warhammer 40K Space Marine). 25 (?) STR normally plus a few martial maneuvers. The armor, when compared to a typical superhero in power armor, was a minor focus - it added 20(?) STR, a little bit of superleap, and some PD/ED.

Passing Strike worked great when the character was out of his armor. He could do something even when caught without his gear. In the armor, though, he dealt out far too much damage with Passing Strike.

It didn't occur to me at the time, but changing Passing Strike damage to (STR/2)+(v/5)+2d6 would have kept the maneuver reasonable whether the character did or did not have the boosted STR.

(?): I'm working from memory. It was 2+ years ago. The PC now has 200+ XP and doesn't need the armor anymore.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

One of my posts that proposed STR/2)+(velocity/5)+2d6 damage may have been overlooked. That's a Move By + 2d6.

IMO, this solves most of the issues when Passing Strike is used in a superhero game. 10 STR characters would see a minimal 1d6 improvement in total damage, 20 STR characters would break even, and stronger characters wouldn't do the excessive damage that the official version of Passing Strike allows.

Comments?

Re: Has anyone ever:

Figured out how many Sq feet are in a hex?

Let's see what I can do from memory. I'm too lazy to do actual research right now.

1" = 2.54 cm

2m hex = 200 cm

200 / 2.54 = 78.7 inches

78.7 / 12 = 6.56 feet

Okay, I thought that a 2 meter hex was 6.5 feet, and those members seem to confirm it.

The area of a 6.5 foot diameter circle is PI * (6.5/2)^2 = 33.2 sq ft.

The circle described above will completely inside a hex - the hex has some extra area at the 6 "corners". So, the area of a hex must be a bit more than 33.2.

Hmm, now that I'm thinking about it, a hex is really 6 triangles that share a common vertex. That's probably one way to get an exact answer.

Edit: I see that 2 posters already came up with 37 sq ft as the exact measurement.

Re: Speeding Up The Game

Looks what I just found on the web...I'm gonna order one...I'll let everyone know what it is like...

Big Foam D12

Did I read the dice size correcttly? 8"?

You can use it sort of like a GM screen, hiding your d6 rolls behinds the big foam d12

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

Or you can have the brick buy only +39" leap (55" total)' date=' spend the extra 5 pts on Passing Strike, and do 27d6 damage...[/quote']

 

Yep, this is yet another example of why Passing Strike is such a problem. It's a fixed cost power that behaves like an advantage on STR.

 

I don't understand why people are digging in and saying that Passing Strike is fine, but, just like all powers, it needs to be reviewed as part of a whole character. I understand that any power *can* be abused. Passing Strike, though, is abusive on most characters that exceed 20 STR ... in other words, way too many superheroes.

 

Imagine if Armor Piercing was changed from an advantage into a 5 point maneuver. "Oh, it's not broken, just don't use it with any character concept that has more than a 4d6 energy blast" (note: Find Weakness can have similar issues, but that's a thread for another time)

 

After speaking with my players this weekend, and thinking about it some more, I've pretty much decided to change Passing Strike damage to (STR/2)+(v/5)+2d6. The same as Move By + 2d6. I'm gonna email my players and see if I get any objections.

Re: Speeding Up The Game

I experimented with an alternate to the SPD charts in today's session. My plan was to speed up combat and add a little uncertainity to "playing the SPD chart".

[/understatement mode on]It was not good. Segments flowed much quicker, but we also needed 36 segments for a combat that would ordinarily finish in around 15 segments.

Next week we're back to the SPD chart.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

I personaly like the FMove abilities' date=' it helps ALOT when making speedsters (always were hard for me before FMove's). I have not seen any truly broken things from them... (but them I can destroy the earth on 5 points)[/quote']

 

I agree that classic speedsters with only 10-20 STR can use Passing Strike without issues.

 

Have you seen the FMove maneuvers used by fast semi-bricks - characters with 40+ STR or so, lots of movement, but perhaps a low SPD? Such characters are "balanced" because they swap a speedster's high SPD for extra STR, but can become too powerful with Passing Strike.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

I understand what you're saying but all martial arts maneuvers are all the same basic process. Let's take another example. Offensive Strike costs 5 points is -2 OCV' date=' +1 DCV, and +4d6. Haymaker is -0 OCV, -5 DCV, +4d6, and +1 segment. If you choose to buy Offensive Strike you gain 4 CV and save a segment of time. That's not that much different than gaining 5 CV and 1d6+ extra damage with the Passing Strike. Passing Strike is no-more screwed up than most other martial arts maneuvers, in my opinion.[/quote']

 

Offensive Strike always gives +4d6, and is priced as such. Whether Martial Arts are priced right is arguable, but most maneuvers always give the same bonus, so a group of players could easily adjust costs if they want a house rule.

 

Passing Strike gives +(STR/2) when compared to the nearest standard maneuver, Move By. That means Passing Strike gives a variable effect. That's the crux of the problem. Whatever Passing Strike costs, it will either be too expensive for the value gained by low STR characters, or too cheap for the value gained by characters with high STR.

 

Everyone's free to keep posting, of course, but this thread has served its purpose by giving me enough information to clarify my thoughts. I'm now ready to work on a house rule with my players when we meet tomorrow. Tahns to all who posted.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

Your numbers are scued to make your point but they are not what would normally be considered correct for a beginning character within the game. There is no experienced GM who would allow a 60 Str brick to take passing strike in a 350 point game. It greatly over-shoots the damage class caps. In higher-powered games like the one I play in it does not make that much of a difference because everyone is using 15-20d6 attacks.

 

The passing strike was primarily designed for speedster characters to give them some advantage in the system. Those characters seldom have a Str higher than 20. You need to use the maneuver within the context of what it was primarliy designed for. That doesn't mean it doesn't have other uses but the GM needs to look at characters and make those decisions on a case-by-case basis. Giving a mentalist x-ray vision and 1" tunneling is not very expensive either but would ruin a game. Does that mean those powers are too powerful? No. I just means that anything can be abused if the GM allows it.

 

There are few bricks I can think of in comic books who do passing strike attacks. Most bricks do Move-throughs not passing strikes. There are dozens of examples of speedsters who do passing strike attacks though, and for them it works whether at a heroic or superherioc level of play.

Even a 30 STR character gets too much from Passing Strike: +3d6 damage on top of the 5 OCV/DCV levels. As the STR increases, the "brokenness" becomes more apparent.

If Passing Strike only works for characters with low STR and high velocity, then, IMO, the rule is bad. It should be changed to something like ((STR/2)+2d6+velocity) damage rather than (STR+velocity) to remove the unfair advantage that Passing Strike gives to strong characters.

With that change, a 10 STR character will do 3d6+v, a 20 STR character will do 4d6+v, and a 60 STR character will do 8d6+v. The 10 STR character comes out 1d6 ahead of the official rule, the 20 STR is even, and the 60 STR brick does 4d6 less. That goes a long way towards making Passing Strike a balanced improvement over Move By, rather than the game-breaker it currently is.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

Consider:

-The character has paid points for its Strength, Martial Arts, and Movement. The character could have put all or most of those points into Strength and a few Combat Skill Levels. Does this generate a very different result in terms of damage and OCV/DCV bonuses for the same number of points?

-If one uses the optional falling/velocity damage system, the effect of high speed on damage is not as great and produces results, especially from falling damage, which are a better simulation. It is not more difficult to use; it's just a different chart.

-Such a character must use maneuver in order to get the best effect from his combination of powers and skills; it can't just go toe-to-toe with opponents. In confined spaces it will have some trouble getting all three elements to synergize.

-Shouldn't any "passing" or "flying" maneuver which receives a velocity-based damage bonus score reflected damage on the attacker in the same manner as a Move-By (1/3 damage scored to target)?

-One of the issues I've had with Hero for more than 20 years is a lack of zone-of-control. A fast character can move to melee range of another character, then away, then into melee range of another character, then out again, ad infinitum, and unless one of those other characters has a held action the moving character will be unmolested. I won't go into the exact mechanics of how I've house-ruled this, but in general the inactive character has a chance to make an attack at a small OCV penalty against any character moving out of its zone-of-control unless the active character took an action against the inactive character.

 

John H

Joining DoctorIron's game tomorrow with a flying character...

Good to see the footnote at the bottom of the post. That confirms you'll be showing up. Remember, if you're running late, call ahead if you want in on our junk food order.

We can try the character with Passing Strike and see how it works out. IIRC, your character will do ~11 dice on a flying Passing Strike, because you're neither a brick nor a speedster. That's fine.

The gliding, on the other hand, needs some sort of house rule. Avianne can zip along at something like 54", IIRC. Maybe I'll cap Passing Strike at STR+4d6 damage, just like the 5th ed. Haymaker.

Re: 6-2 Stun Multiplier Method

Another minor balancing factor on KAs (and, incidentally, Martial Arts) is the reduced Knockback.

 

John T

Knockback can be your friend, but it can also be your enemy.

For HTH KA's and martial attacks the reduced knockback acts somewhat like an advantage. If a PC HTH fighter runs up to a villain energy blaster and does a lot of knockback, then the PC gets shot while trying to close the distance again.

Re: Passing Strike (martial maneuver) Unbalanced?

I don't see it as being overly-powerful. On average it adds only 1-2d6 of extra damage over a Move-by (full Str over 1/2 Str) and +3 Ocv' date=' +2 DCV compared to it. If the OCV/DCV issues bother you then just decrease them. It is a 5 point maneuver though and should give more perks than a free maneuver, in my opinion.[/quote']

 

Of course something for which you pay points should give you something in return. However, "only 1-2d6 of extra damage" only applies to a heroic campaign where virtually no one has more than 20 STR. My original post said superhero campaign. Let's look at what a slow brick with 60 STR gets by taking Passing Strike:

 

+3 OCV w/ one maneuver: 6 active points

+2 DCV: 10 active points

+6d6 damage: 30 active points

+1d6 damage with the default 6" running: 5 active points

 

There's 51 active points! IMO, it's not the movement adder that causes the problem. The problem is that you can use your full STR.

 

Passing Strike is priced correctly for heroic campaigns, but breaks for superheroes because, rather than adding a fixed amount of damage, it adds damage proportional to STR.

I'm GMing a supers campaign and disallowed the Passing Strike maneuver. It seemed too powerful when compared to a Move By: better OCV, better DCV, and better damage.

The effectiveness of Passing Strike over Move By isn't much of a concern at lower point levels, but as characters' STR and velocity increase, Passing Strike becomes ever more powerful.

I wonder if the rest of Herodom agrees or disagrees...

Re: 6-2 Stun Multiplier Method

I agree that the STUN lottery problem is the 1 in 6 chance of getting a x5 multiplier. Most villains crumble under such withering firepower. As a GM, I don't want to give every master villain 50% damage resistance in order to avoid going down in one shot.

My current campaign tried a few house rules, and the best fix for us seems to be 1d4 for the multiplier. Works out to an average of 2.5 - close enough to the 1d6-1 average of 2.67. A minor advantageous side-effect of the switch to 1d4 is that someone can roll their killing dice and the multiplier without having to declare which die is the multiplier.

The x3 multiplier was no good when we tried it. Killing attacks use less dice than energy blasts with the same active points. The killing attack has more variability because of fewer dice, and therefore still involves a bit of STUN lottery. I crunched some numbers and decided a 2.7 fixed multiplier would be okay, but the math would be awkward.

We also tried keeping the standard 1d6-1, but turning a roll of 6 into x4 (rather than x5). Possible results were 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4. The ends of the bell curve came up too often.

Re: Please evaluate this Midnighter clone?

I dislike Aid in combat situations because it requires too much bookkeeping. This character will have a fluctuating DEX and STR. More work than I like as a player, and as a GM I'd only allow it on a trial basis until the player can prove that it doesn't slow down the game.

Character has too little versatility for my tastes. No movement power, no attacks other than PD damage, no enhanced senses, etc.. Depending on the opposition, the character is either unstoppable or helpless.

Character has a "wastefully high" OCV. Remove the DEX Aid, boost the DEX a tiny bit, and put the leftover points into skills.

The violent, short tempered, and vigilante disads seem to overlap quite a bit. Maybe the violent and short tempered should be replaced with an Enraged Whenever He Sees A Potential Enemy?

Re: Spider-man of Many Nations

Spider-man: India looks good. The similarity between the Indian version and the original English version of each character name is interesting - it's obvious who everyone is, based on name alone.

I like the art. Story seems interesting, too; better than most of the stuff Marvel has been putting out lately.

(speaking of the Marvel Disassembled line, I just checked the Marvel website and it looks like the Disassembled fiasco won't be over until December.)

I see that one of the authors is named Jeevan Kang. With a name like Kang, he was destined to work in the comics industry.

Re: How would you build Temporal Immutability?

How would you build a character that was innately resistant to temporal changes? That is' date=' if someone changed the past, they would remain unaffected and remember the original timeline?[/quote']

 

The "remember the original timeline" portion suggests some Mental Defense is in order, too.

Re: I'm building this power...

My $0.04 (inflation).

Option 1: AE any area +1. Base 3". x4 area, raising it to a +1.5 advantage. Then make it a limited advantage "only a fixed 3x4 shape". Perhaps -1/2? So +1.5 / (1.5). Total advantage = +1.

Option 2: AE radius would, in this case, cover more than 12 hexes. So, make your fixed 3x4 area cost the same as radius, a +1 advantage, and call it even.

Either way works out to +1.

I forget the exact rules when putting No Range on an area power. Does the character have to be the center of the effect? If yes, then get rid of No Range, and instead take very limited range (-1/4).

Re: SuperVillian Combat problems.

Hi,

I was wondering if I could get some tips about how more effectively I can run my supervillians in combat. They seem to get beaten rather easily because it is more difficult to run 5 or more bad guys in combat as a GM than it is for the players to just play one.

 

Could you please help me beat up my superheroes?

Players only have to build one character. They get a lot of time to debug that character. As a GM, you have to make a lot more characters, and you'll likely forget important things for your new villains. The first time you use a villain, feel free to do on-the-spot adjustments while combat is going on.

Example: You build Doctor Klon,Villainous Master of Martial Arts. On the first phase of combat, one of your player characters grabs the evil Doctor. No problemo, you get ready for the Dr. to break free. You look up the numbers on the character sheet and are shocked that Martial Escape is missing!

Easy solution: Pencil in Martial Escape.

Don't get carried away with this. The villains should probably lose most of the time. As another poster said, the objective is for the players to have fun, not for the GM to "win".

No need to thank me. "You have my gratitude".