Rapier

Re: GM's "rights"

I think the basic idea is that its a two way street. GMs have final say as to what flies in their world' date=' but you should give the player a chance to explain his character concept fully even if you don't get it at first. Unless the matter is purely mechanical (It violate restrictions or the gm thinks that it would be unbalancing) a dialogue is good. I've run into some issues with the GGU and I consider myself pretty flexible, but some of the audit reports do have a "My way or the highway" feel to them with no explanation or discussion excepted. I have some pretty tight restrictions on what I'll allow compared to other games, particularly if I'm trying to go for a certain mood or feel.[/quote']

I once had words with one of my players. To really understand the humour you need to know I'm 6'9" and 225 lbs and Cindy is 4'11 and about 80 lbs. We were both standing there face to face (well, I imagine I was bent over quite a bit) screaming at each other until we were red in the face. Then the rest of the group just about fell off their chairs laughing because we looked so ludicrous. We stopped shouting then and chucked ourselves.

 

This all came about because I was auditting Cindy's new character and had to disallow SIGNIFICANT portions of the powers and the backstory. The problem was that I couldn't tell her WHY. Explaining why I was disallowing all of that would have given away SIGNIFICANT portions of the current plot and upcoming subplots. She thought I was just be a tight-assed snot. What it came down to was I asked her "do you trust me?" A kiss on the cheek and a hug later all was once again right with the world.

Re: GM's "rights"

I have no problems finding players.

 

Also, the problem players I am talking about have been perhaps ten or twelve out of three or four hundred since I started the Guardians in '98. I didn't mean to sound as if it was a constant problem for me.

I'm glad to hear that. That last bit was more of an observation than directed towards you. I keep hearing stories from all these GMs that are not as fortunate as you or I.

We started out roleplaying together and over time, players have gone and joined etc. What we have been left with is a core group of REALLY, REALLY good friends.

Re: Nature control

I loathe VPPs. Doesn't mean I don't use 'em' date=' I just don't like them.[/quote']

Me too. I've found that they are usually MUCH more of a pain in the butt than they are worth. Granted sometimes its the only route, but I don't have to like it. I would never allow a Cosmic VPP into my games. WAY too much potential to bring a well moving game to a screeching halt (dispelling any kind of mood, impetus or feeling that has been built) as Dr Anything flips through the books to design his next greatest effect.

Re: "Dark" Champions Plots

I'm currently running a subplot (run amok...el grande subplot) where a serial killer is possessing people and commiting his murders while inhabiting their bodies. The victims are entirely aware of what is going on with their bodies. A number of them have committed suicide or gone WAY off the deep end afterwards. This is about as dark as I like things to get. Too much more and the games get very draining and our group has enough bad things going on RL that we don't need to drag even more into it when we game.

Re: manipulation powers

While I applaud your efforts, the list if infinite. You can manipulate any matter or energy (which pretty much encompasses all of creation). Those you have listed is a fair start at the most common.

Re: held action

I personally would stick with the Dex roll off, the harsh ruling of the official rules, because it makes more logical sense.

 

Even when we try to get the drop on someone we don't always suceed - I've been on the losing as well as winning end of that enough times to know such.

 

The other option is perhaps more hero favoring, but I tend to prefer a hard outlook where neither success nor failure is ever a given.

I'm almost thinking that, especially in FH, a good skill would be:

PS: Magical Combat

I can't decide if its INT or DEX based (maybe the average of both).

Having given it a little more thought I'm thinking this:

Mage A casts Fireball at Mage B

Mage B announces he is aborting to defense

Mage A rolls his DEX (since he doesn't have PS: Magical Combat) at -3 (since he doesn't have Magical Combat)

Mage B rolls his PS: Magical Combat.

Whomever wins the roll off, has their action take effect first.

Or maybe instead of PS: Magical Combat use Lightning Reflexes (for Magical Combat Only). So many options. Definately needs some further thought. I do like the fact that defensive actions don't always get precedence. The only reason we've been using it that way for so long was after the Hero concept of DEF is always cheaper than attacks.

Re: Shapeshifting

Good point - why is instant change derived from Transform instead of Shape Shift? Shifting shape to Hero form seems like Instant Change in a nutshell!

I've often wondered. The only thing I can think of, is that with the Sense Affects of SS, Transform seemed more appropriate.

After giving it a little more thought:

There is also the fact that InstaChange had the "Any suit of clothes" option/adder (don't have the BBB handy). SS would mean that even though it looks like a leather jacket, it is still only a windbreaker. Not quite the effect we would want, neh?

Re: How to create water

Taking the scientific route leads to some concerns, in my view. By the same logic, transforming a human being to a frog is a much greater change than transforming a live human to a dead human (hey, that happens naturally over time!), so that should also only be minor, maybe even cosmetic. However, it has a huge game effect, so it is a major transform.

 

As well, with this logic, a big enough Transform should render the oxygen content too sparse to support human life, making this potentially a very deadly power in any enclosed space.

 

I don't see the creation of water as a "major game effect", but I do see the ability to create something out of nothing (even water out of thin air) as a pretty major change.

I agree. The game effect is more what drives the Cosmetic vs Minor vs Major question. I mean, at some point you could granularise and say that there are neutrons, protons and electrons all around and that you are merely rearranging them (a cosmetic or possibly minor transform). This means that as long as there is matter around, you could create anything for cheap.

I/We have defined transforms along these lines:

Comsetic: Changes only the appearance (new hairstyle, change colour etc)

Minor: Rearrange/alter form (turn water into ice, turn sand into glass)

Major: Significant alterations (create something from nothing, change FlameGal into a frog)

Sometimes you get an effect that rides the edge of a definition, but by this point we have enough previous examples that if Johnny Transform had a similar power and it was a Major Transform then Sally Semantic's power is a Major Transform.

Re: Nature control

I'll be more spefic. I am talking about the laws of nature' date=' as in what happens in nature.[/quote']

Unfortunately, even that isn't very specific. This is also one of the bad points of Hero. While in D&D you could just get a control weather spell or something, in Hero you would have to define it via a power.

 

Not that it can't be done, but it could get expensive and involve a dozen powers.

 

Your best bet, for non-combat effect nature powers is gonna be one huge Major Transform (with Megascale). We had one foray into weather magic with a druid character. His control weather was a Major Transform with Megascale (with Weather Effects Only and lots of Extra Time). He couldn't hit you with a blast of cold, but he could bring in a cold front or stop it raining.

 

He also had a rather small Transform that was Fortify Plantlife. It made plants grow big and strong. We considered using an aid, but copped out and went the easy way with Transform.

 

Maybe post some examples of what you mean by Laws of Nature. Give us some examples of how this would be used. From there, we can come up with some constructs.

Re: Quantum manipulation

This is' date=' in fact, my theory of how "magic" works in the Hero Universe -- it's based on how flexible and interfacable (is that a word?) quantum strings are at the time. They're loose in the 20th century, very tight in the 22nd, and incredibly loose in the 31st.[/quote']

That seems to be a common theme in how magic works. I can't tell you the number of resources/fiction/etc has stipulated that magical power has "waves." Sometimes magic is at low ebb and sometimes at high tide.

Re: GM's "rights"

Unfortunately' date=' what usually happens is the player sends me a note saying something like "Screw you, you ignorant hack! How dare you demand I change an iota of this precious, perfect, ideal character I sweated my entire week on! Only an ignorant power-mad baboon would have disallowed that power!" and stomping off in a huff.[/quote']

Player, meet door.

Door, meet player.

Player, use door.

Buh-BYE!

 

IME, a player with an attitude like that is going to be nothing but trouble at every step of the way. Personally, I would have no problems at all (and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep) if that player left and never returned.

 

I am distressed by the number of GMs that have such AWFUL and MEAN players. In many cases the GM feels that he has no choice because he (or she) has problems finding players and beggars can't be choosers. Its too bad, really.

Re: Does your Team have a Charter?

Of course a charter would require you to be more of a team' date=' rather than a collection of superheroes who don't wanna have to face Mechanon alone.[/quote']

Hmm. Our take is that we would rather have a loose group of heroes who are together because they want to be and have similar goals. If the character finds that their personal goals and the goals of the team are no longer along the same path, they can leave.

 

I think charter's drive characters down a specific path, and mandate certain responses to situations. I'm more of a free-wheelin kind of guy. Of course, it also depends a lot on the campaign. In a campaign where super teams are a dime a dozen, a charter might be all but required by circumstance.

Re: [Release Schedule] Dark Champions Battlegrounds?

Sure, here's a list of genre books in order of number sold (though obviously I'm not going to reveal specific numbers) as of October. However, it's important to keep in mind that sales depend on how long a book's been in circulation. For example, NH has sold more than DC (barely), but it's been out ten times as long. By the time DC's been out as long as NH has as of last month, it will have significantly outsold it -- in fact, it'll probably outsell it in the next couple of months.

 

Champions

FH

SH

NH

DC

Huh. Who knew? I mean, I've always really enjoyed the DC stuff. I was always more of a fan of the gritty street level than the standard 4-colour boy scouts. I just didn't realise that it was all that popular. KUDOS! I'm really looking forward to the darned UPS man. I can't wait to get my grubby lil mitts on DC and FH.

While we are on the topic, what was your greatest surprise (what genre is performing better than you expected)?

Re: How to create water

Personally I think that you are looking too hard at the game effect you are trying to achieve rather than the mechanical effect. It's a common problem.

 

If you are trying to get a spell that allowed water to be created so that life might be sustained (enough to drink, not enough to do other stuff) then you could use Life Support - does not need to drink - usable by others. The special effect of the spell would be a cup that never emptied.

 

If you are trying to create large amounts of water for other reasons then you want to look at the effect you want to create.

 

If you want lots of flexibility then you should be looking at a VPP that is limited in effects to those that might be accomplished through summoning quantities of water.

Doc is right on the money. Hero is Special Effect (SFX) neutral. Creating water could be:

Never Emptying Cup (as above): Life Support, No need to Drink UBO

Tidal Wave: Energy Blast vs PD AOE: Line, x2 KnockBack

Wall of Water: Force Wall

Drowning: EB NND (Def is being able to breath underwater or self contained breathing)

Create Water Elemental: Summon Water Elemental

Body of Water: Shape Shifth

Water Form: Desol

And all this just off the top of my head! Summoning water can be as complicated or easy as you need!

Re: GM's "rights"

Last night I read through all of ab3s website. Quite funny. He has a player that is ALWAYS a ninja.

I knew a guy in High School that was the same way. EVERYTHING he played was a ninja. If we were playing zombies, he was a zombie ninja. If we were playing Dr Who, he was a timelord ninja. If we were playing Boot Hill, he was a 1st Lt ninja. If we played TMNT, well....that one is actually funny...he played an ice cream man.

Sometimes a player needs a little coaxing to get his concept in line with the campaign. As a GM I have a duty to the rest of the players to ensure that no single character will overshadow everyone else. The rest of the group has just as much right to enjoy themselves as NinjaBoy .

Re: [Release Schedule] Dark Champions Battlegrounds?

DC has sold quite well. But that doesn't mean that all its supplements will sell equally well. While it's difficult to generalize about the gaming industry' date=' there's a truth here that I think virtually everyone who produces RPGs would acknowledge: supplements virtually never sell anywhere close to as well as core books. To give you an example from our own lineup, our best-selling supplement (Champions) has sold significantly less than [i']half[/i] the number of 5E core rulebooks we've sold. Believe me, I wish our supplements sold as well as you're thinking!

 

Another example: FH has sold really well for us. Many of its supplements have also done pretty darn well. FHB is one of the worst-selling books we've ever produced. Given the quality of it, and the ideas I have in mind for DCB, that makes me really sad, but so it is.

That is amazing. I mean, I guess it makes sense. Hero being the generic system that it is, any single genre is only going to grab a fraction of the player base. I, personally, have back-burnered all the Star Hero and Vehicle books since they aren't going to give me any real benefit for my campaigns (granted, I'm sure there are some juicy rules tidbits in there).

D&D comes out with a new mage book or something and they can pretty much bank on it selling to a significant fraction of the playerbase.

Its strange seeing into the other side of the system. I bought a bunch of books from FRPGames a week or so ago and I did notice that SideKick was on their BestSeller list.

Any chance of getting some kind of ranking on the most popular genre (maybe by core rule book sales)? I'm curious to know how the genres split out.

EDIT: I bought both the BattleGrounds books. Haven't received them yet (CMON UPS MAN!), but I bought 'em.

Re: Ramifications of "Powers NOW"

The USA could break up into three or more countries as well' date=' but I doubt we'd fall all the way down to the city-states level. Too much cultural and historical baggage.[/quote']

There is a book called F.R.E.E.L.A.N.C.E.R.S by a guy named Odo (last name), I believe. Michael Odo? Scott Odo? No ODOM! I think it's Odom, Scott Odom. Heh. Odo was that shapeshiftery guy on Star Trek.

 

He posited a similar thing. The USA was broken up into five or six "sub-countries." The Great Lakes states banded together, the southwest etc. I stole shamelessly for one of my Champion subplots (an alternate earth scenario...sometimes you gotta bow to the genre conventions). Well, I stole the whole principle of the USA breaking up into sub-countries that were still loosely affiliated as the USA (mostly for trade concessions and old time's sake).

 

The book itslef (and its sequel) are well worth the time on their own. Its a very interesting take on near future superheroes in a pseudo-cyberpunky setting. I've considered putting more time and effort into my campaign setting. I think it could be a right good time.

Re: New To Hero: Character Advancement

I've known players who banked it and never spent.

FREAKS!!

Re: How would you do this concept?

DEX is pretty low. Id check with the GM. In my campaign the average DEX is around 20.

Re: Quantum manipulation

Hi' date=' I have a question. I am trying to figure out several powers for "Quantum Manipulation" (As in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory). Whether it's powerful or not, what powers should I use for this? Please help.[/quote']

Quantum Mechanics (and this is rather dumbed down for the non-physicists) is the study of how each and every object in the universe relates to every other object. Its applications usually involve effecting objects that are not near each other. Thus, range effect powers are most likely.

 

Consider TK, Desol, Teleportation, NND EBs and Indirect advantages. I would start with those.

Re: held action

We also play with a 3 pt Talent called Counterspell which allows a mage to abort to any spell used in a defensive manner. This allows for a defensive entangle (i.e. wall) and other things' date=' while accounting for slightly increased utility, yet not making such an ability too expensive that a dedicated mage would most certainly have it.[/quote']

I allow the same thing, but without the Talent. I've had people who have "Gone Defensive" (ie held an action to defend against incoming attacks) to use TK to throw an object into the path of incoming spell, create a force wall to block a spell, dispel an incoming spell and a few other things which are entirely defensive in nature...even if not so in SFX or by power.

 

I think actions like this are necessary in a heroic level game. The potential to dish out vast quantities of BODY (ESPECIALLY with spells) all but demands a "fudging" of the rules in favour of defense. Of course, the villains get to do this too.

 

I've got to say that it certainly does liven up combat. I'm gonna mull it over. I might add a talent, or might just let things lie as they do. Good thoughts though, good thoughts.

Re: held action

Oh' date=' let them have their Phase 12 Haymakers. Just fine them their Post-12 recovery when they do it. (They are in the middle of launching an attack, so obviously they are not pausing to catch their breath...)[/quote']

Hmmm. I like that!

Re: Does your Team have a Charter?

Doing a standard Internet search' date=' I found the Avengers' Charter and it got me to thinking, does your PC group use or have a charter for their team? Ever write one up? Or is it just assumed that it's 'there'?

LOL! We were sitting around chatting IM tonight after ER. I asked them if they wanted a charter.

Chad's response: Do we REALLY need something on paper that says we shouldn't kill old ladies and kick puppies?

Brian's response (the smartass): As long as its still ok to kick old ladies I'm good.

The general feeling was that a charter is unnecessary. Hey, if they wanted to write one...I was all for it. They felt (and I can agree) that a charter would make things too much like work and we are here to play. They also don't think they need some bylaws and papertrail to kick someone off the team. They aren't going to kick someone off the team for not participating in the Pancake Breakfast, and if someone has just skinned alive a member of the clergy there is not going to be much debate about keeping that character around.

Re: Speedster Construct Question: One Man Starship Crew

Technically no' date=' because PSLs only apply to combat OCV.[/quote']

Da Hell? Damn.

(looks through FREd)

So it is. So it is. Not that it's happened often but I can think of one character OTTOMH I let have PSLs for Time Mods with a KS (SFX was his Eidetic Memory). Oh well, thats easily fixed.

 

See, GMs do make mistakes. Oh wait. My GM just informed me that this is all a Danger Room scenario and no mistake was made. Whew!

Re: Duplication and Transformation Question

I'd like to create a villain character for my campaign who can do the following:

 

The villain can infest others with his nanites, and take control of their body, gaining a duplicate of himself who can act as his agent.

 

Basically, my villain's body is full of nanites. He wants to be able to transfer some of these nanites into innocent victims (or heroes!) and transform them into duplicates of himself. How you guys suggest this power be built?

 

Should I start with a Transform that changes victim into host body for the nanites, then follow up with Duplication, Only with Host Bodies, with the limitation "must touch host body to duplicate?"

 

I'd appreciate any help you guys can supply.

 

Thanks.

Eh. I would just go for the Major Transform. I would suggest a Time Delay or Gradual or something...say a week. Give the little suckers some time to work. This would also work better as a plot device as the heroes vainly search for a cure. Remember, this is only going to Transform the person. No equip. You are also going to need some way to heal the damage (taking 5 BODY in electricity damage will kill the nanites and the body will heal normally).

If this isn't intended as a plot device, I would just go with Mind Control. Its a lot easier on everyone, and could logically work fairly quickly (within an extra phase or so).