Jkeown

Re: Beast of the Dark Essence Magic in Caleon, my homebrew game, is flavored. Noble Essence is "good" energy; it builds, reinforces and can destroy if applied correctly. Left to its own, an area of Noble Essence becomes natural and beautiful. After a few undisturbed centuries, it can bring a strong man to tears. Dark Essence is "evil" energy; it is the force behind Chaos and Entropy. It hurts and cannot be used to heal in any decent fashion. Where Dark Essence intrudes, life mutates, decays and becomes selfish and sullen. Channellers of the Dark Essence are vile, chaotic beings. Deep Essence is just plain magic. It is not wonderous or chaotic, directed or random. It isn't evil or good; it just ravages and consumes, it may actually be the raw form of magical energy. There are Noble Essence and Dark Essence channelling spells, and theoretically, Deep Essence can be used to cast spells. This has yet to be seen in play.

Beast of the Deep Essence Extracted from Meditations upon the Deep Essence by Amataru Zhorne Thuun of Vesh'kaia In my dealings with the creatures of and relating to the magical force known as Essence, I have happened upon repeated references to a thing called the Beast of the Deep Essence. What little I can glean from these texts (which invariably are simply bad copies of one another requiring lexigraphical cladistic skills that I apparently lack) the creatures are Demons, not of other dimensions, but formed of the Essence itself. These beings, variously named "Children of the Immaterium" and the "Harbingers of Saarn" are of the height and shape of a man, but possessed of many features entirely lacking in even the most extreme of the Elven Abominations. Boney spear-like projections of shattered bone that can peirce thick armor, wings of deep purple fire, and legs structured so as to give the creature remarkable leaping ability. Even its whip-like tail is a weapon, the purple flame at the tip can generate a bolt of deep essence strong enough to kill a man. Few are the described encounters with the creatures, as supposedly few, if any, survive such a dire event. One survivor is told of by Ardileen of Ashur, in his otherwise questionable volume "Touching upon the Essence" In it, he describes a third or fourth hand account of a run-in with the Deep Essence Demon, told to him by a care-giver at a roadside inn near Dead Orc, in Saduria. Apparently, the bite of these things can, in a matter of hours, change a victim into one of their own kind. Boney wings tear through the flesh, the second metacarpal develops a jagged spur that erupts through the back of the hand and bristling purple hair grows in, covering the body in minutes. The howling beast then slays all in attendance, and goes out into the night to seek a source of Deep Essence on which to maintain it. Ardileen says the dread critters live on the stuff. That, and sheer carnage. I, for one, don't believe a word of it. Beast of the Deep Essence Player: NPC Val Char Cost 20 STR 10 21 DEX 33 18 CON 16 18 BODY 16 10 INT 0 10 EGO 0 30 PRE 20 5 COM -2 5 PD 1 6 ED 2 5 SPD 19 10 REC 4 50 END 7 50 STUN 13 8" RUN 4 2" SWIM 0 8" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 143 Cost Power 90 Deep Essence Seeding: (Total: 240 Active Cost, 90 Real Cost) HKA 1d6 (2d6 w/STR) (Real Cost: 15) plus Major Transform 6d6 (Victim into Beast of the Deep Essence, Remove Curse or somesuch spell), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Continuous (+1) (225 Active Points); Gradual Effect (6 Hours; -1 1/2), Only If Bite Does BODY (-1/2) (Real Cost: 75) 7 Wellspring of Darkness: Endurance Reserve (40 END, 5 REC) Reserve: (9 Active Points); REC: (5 Active Points); Only near Deep Essence Nodes (-1/2) 67 Deep Dominion: Suppress 10d6, Expanded Effect (All Noble Essence Powers Simulteanously) (+2) (150 Active Points); Double Endurance Cost (-1/2), Self Only (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4) 36 Bone Spear: HKA 2d6 (2 1/2d6 w/STR), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (45 Active Points); Reduced Penetration (-1/4) 10 Child of the Immaterium: Power Defense (10 points) 18 One with the Immaterium: Desolidification (affected by Essence Magic) (40 Active Points); Activation Roll 10- (-1 1/4) 12 Claw: HKA 1d6 (2d6 w/STR) (15 Active Points); Reduced Penetration (-1/4) 31 Deep Essence Bolt: RKA 1 1/2d6, Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) (31 Active Points) 10 Demonic Skin: Damage Resistance (5 PD/6 ED/10 Power Def.) 4 Legs: Leaping +4" (8" forward, 4" upward) 6 Perceptive: +2 PER with All Sense Groups 6 Tail: Extra Limbs , Inherent (+1/4) (6 Active Points) 15 Veiled: Negative Combat Skill Levels (-3 to opponent's OCV) 13 Wings: Flight 10" (20 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2) Powers Cost: 325 Cost Skill 25 +5 with HTH Combat 12 +6 with Deep Essence Bolt 3 Climbing 13- 3 Concealment 11- 3 Contortionist 13- 2 Navigation (Other Underground) 11- Skills Cost: 48 Total Character Cost: 516 Pts. Disadvantage 20 Vulnerability: 2 x Effect Noble Essence (Common) 25 Enraged: Berserk Near Noble Essence Sources (Common), go 11-, recover 14- 25 Psychological Limitation: Intolerance of Essence Casters (Very Common, Total) 20 Distinctive Features: Hairy Demonoid with Purple Flaming Appendages (Not Concealable; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures) Disadvantage Points: 90 Base Points: 75 Experience Required: 351 Total Experience Available: 351 Experience Unspent: 0

Re: What might a Gliesian be like? Tidal locking can also occur in a 3:2 ratio, so you might not have a permanently dark hemisphere.

Re: Running jokes in your campaign In every game I've run for the past 15 years, there has been a blonde woman named Daphne. The players wait for her like Christmas Day. When she does appear (as a villian, PC, Computer AI, hologram, annoying transdimensional girl-scientist) cheers erupt. She's not shown up in the D&D game on Saturdays, but she's an AI in our Sunday Champions game. Her avatar is the same face she's always had, and whose voice you hear when you call the base. I've always thought she was the same person, reborn over and over in each time period or alternate dimension. One day, all these Daphnes will appear at once to cause the PCs no end of grief, probably in my BESM version of Lords of Creation (rep to you if you know that old game)

Re: Just for fun... a Campaign Ad! The Hair is CT's Manga Hair... the skin is Dazyl... the character herself is Katie Watson... who after ingesting Jenova this week will start calling herself Meta-Katie, but the press, SNN and HEROTalk Magazine, will call her Punk. Oh... and here's a HEROTalk, I did this after seeing The Doctor's great works.

Re: Just for fun... a Campaign Ad! The folks who took the first run of Jenova weren't quite so miserable. But it was used as a great moment of humor in yesterday's game. SOLDAT's character asked his contact in VIPER about the last few hours and subsequent autopsy of a kid who'd taken the drug. I pretty much hammed my way through the whole thing, trying tosound as dramatic as possible, like the voice-over in a drug commercial. Still, it wasn't as bad as those poor Panexa-takin' bastards. (I never laughed so hard this week... great stuff!)

I'm gonna check with Steve before posting this. I don't think I can display it publically without talking to him, can I??

... or is Villainy Amok not the coolest thing on wheels? I won't spoil the book for anyone, but...WOW. I hadn't looked at it before, but this new campaign my group has begun has caused me to go looking for inspiration. I found it... VA is the best.

Re: Religious Serial Killer Idea.

I was going to write this up as a mega-post, but the idea was so obvious to me that I felt sure it's been done before. I'm certainly not going to use it in my current DC game, as it's just too offensive to a few of my best gaming pals. Okay... Look at the Catholic calendar. Full of the dates on which saints were martyred. Our killer finds a pure soul, waits until the Feast of a given martyr and kills them in the fashion that the saint in question died. Now... I'm sure it's been done, but I couldn't find a source. Clue me in. Is it an original idea, or unintentioned plaigarism?

Re: Vast Underground

Re: Vast Underground Thanks for the kind words. The article was born of a bit of a disappointment. The players had been hearing of "Deep Aura" in my game for a while (2 years, at least) and had wanted to delve it at last. I drew a map. It covered one page in my notebook, roughly 1/4 hex=2m scale. I was really annoyed at myself. Hardly the epic experience I had imagined. Then I thought maybe it was a vast underground city in and of itself. Vast Underground? Nice title. All sorts of things have occured to me since then...Big things. I'll type 'em up when I get home from work.

Vast Underground Megadungeons in Fantasy HERO by Jeffery Keown "Deep Aura don't fit on no treasure map, son... it goes on for the rest of your life." --Overheard at Delver's, Chalkcliff Merchant Quarter In Caleon, we have a few dungeons that rival cities in their vast scope. For miles their tunnels and passageways stretch, vast open spaces acheived by precious few tunnels only a meter or two wide. Their names send chills down the spines of the most seasoned delver; Deep Aura, Twilight Caverns, Besmirk, Ancient Regio, Yathlaan and probably a dozen others. The older your world, the more of these you are likely to have. There are resources Down There. The nations of the world know this and have, from time to time, sent bands of talented individuals into these nightmare realms only to find they are beyond the ability of small parties. Entire legions have gone into these places, only to have scattered, maddened survivors limp home with a pittance of loot. Why do the guilds and governments raise troops to throw at these Megadungeons? The reasons are as numberless as the powerful people who commission these doomed delves. Guildmasters, Kings, Merchant Princes and military men are all fond of sending hundreds to their deaths to secure a large diamond, enchanted scepter or a scrap of parchment that might lead to yet another sunken, accursed city. Even worse is the notion of Gamemastering one in your own campaign. In a white hot burst of inspiration, I will herein try to capture the logistical nightmare of a Megadungeon. Such heat often leaves in its wake deep scars and certainly dire burns. Corrections, clarifications and after-market assistance are, as always, quite welcome. Justification Why do this? Why go to the headache of designing a Megadungeon if you're only going there once? Simple... that one trip will take months to game through! This will keep parties busy for weeks on end, provide ample loot, throw political intrigue, stealth, magic and all-out brawls into every episode you run for a good long time. Some Terms Faction - One "side" or force of creatures struggling for control of a megadungeon. Hall - An area of relatively easy access, somewhat cutoff from it's surroundings. An example, using the idea of a vast underground city would be a residential area. One or two ways in, but each area inside is very open and accessed quickly. Loot - Anything of value; magic swords, treasure, slaves, art objects, armor and weapons. Natives - The lifeforms (or automata) present in the megadungeon when the struggle begins. Trap - A mechanical deterrent. Often of a one-shot nature. Sophisicated ancient cultures might have created auto-reloading magical traps, however, but those might be called wonders. Wonder - Non-mechanincal traps assets and features, usually recharged by ambient magic, Magic Healing/Buffing pools, Teleport chambers, Illusory rooms and objects. Room of Regeneration anyone? These will always be coveted by one or another faction. Design Considerations Location Where is the megadungeon situated? How was it constructed? Is it square miles of twisting natural caverns and water-carved tunnels? Or is it some ancient Dwarven city, built by stubby hands over thousands of years? While the concept begs for a location removed from polite society, the image of a teeming labrynth below the campaign city's streets is appealing. Entrances How do you get all those troops down there? Perhaps a vast bridge over a waterfall leads to a great set of doors that have recently been opened. Or the entrance is more mundane, a simple rune-carved hole leads to glory and doom. Each entrance is likely to be controlled by a faction, or is the focus for an active contest for control. If there is only one entrance, it can be the scene of constant fighting Factions Present How many factions are struggling for this bit of real estate? Even if you do not include guilds, cults, more litigimate religious organizations or governments, there's still the current tenants versus the Player Characters. That's two right there! Faction Territories Depending on the layout, number of entrances and so on, factions may have secured certain areas for themselves. This, as in the case of Entrances, is one of determining preparedness. Factions will want to secure areas that are easy to defend, or contain the loot they wish to claim. It helps their cause immeasurably if these features are found in the same Hall. Most of the time, anything worth taking home will be very hard to get to, so this might not seem so unreasonable. I like to keep things simple, and break things down by security level (see Encounters, below). At a glance, the SL of a hall determines a great many things. Faction Size How many in each faction? This ranges from around a thousand low-point troops and support personel to six people roughly equivalent to the Player Characters in point cost. In fact, start with those six. One of them is the leader, his point cost is 110% to 150% that of the Player Characters. He's got five buddies almost as dangerous as him. They have points roughly equal to the Players. Or, more fitting, they are just as capable, but perhaps built with more "Economy of Design" that allows you to concentrate on their combat-oriented abilities, rather than producing a detailed character sheet for each one. They are teh group with the most complicated motivations. Everyone beneath them in power is probably just here to do their job and hopefully get out alive. Below those folks are Scouts, Elite Troops, Guards, Loremasters and bookkeepers, cooks, and skilled and unskilled laborers. As the points go down, the population increases. Not that you'd have hundreds of 25-point cooks, but you might, it depends on how much a given faction likes its food. That brings us to how many of each type a given faction brings along. One designed to get in and out fast won't bring a cook, but if they plan to colonize the place, expect to see everyone you might normally find in a city environment. Size of faction is also determined by how long the faction has been involved in the conflict. After a few weeks, one would expect reserve forces, smiths and a supply train. Encounters Encounters are based on the Hall in question. If it is newly entered by a rival faction, there may be "natives" to deal with in addition to the rivals. Random Encounters usually take the form of a chart, keyed to each hall. The chart will consist of encounters with every faction who claims the area, plus any remaining traps, wonders or native life. Programmed Encounters should be more than just bumping into the enemy faction around a corner (though it might be just that). They should be scenes that PCs interrupt, view from a safe distance or hear from afar. An example would be a research team in the process of opening a vault. The Player Characters hear the Spells of Opening, listen for a while to the conversation of the rival team and rush into replace them at swordpoint. The treasure in that encounter is relatively light, consisting of the rival's gear and tools, and a puzzle to work out (the vault). Some GMs prefer to never use Random encounters, instead coming up with programmed ones on the fly, or in a burst of activity, write an entire Hall's encounters before the game, which allows a good deal of realism that off-the-cuff encounters can lack. Programmed encounters can also be a drawback, what with no scene ever going off as planned due to player action, which is highly unpredictable. Security Level Security Level tells you what sort of encounters, loot and native life you might have to deal with. Think of security level as a palette of colors you will paint the area with. Unexplored - Newly discovered by one or more factions, the area is ripe for picking! Native life will be at its peak, treasures will be undisturbed (unless the natives are intelligent folks like Orcs or Drakine or what-have-you). In that case, the area is most likely Secured by the native faction. Any rivals will be scouts. Eliminate these, and you set into motion a whole slew of encounters with natives who heard the fighting, reserve forces investigating the scout's absence and finally, the high-end party who shows up to really clean house. Claimed - One or more Factions claims this area. Any fighting is sporadic, no units will have been committed to the area as yet. Only scouts and maybe a guard force will be present. Even then, they will only be encountered near their faction's entrance to the zone. Native life is present and possibly aware of the actions being taken to destroy them. Contested - Regular clashes between rival factions is the order of things in a Contested Area. Expect to see all native life driven out or killed by the fighting, probably a quarter of the loot is missing, but then, a similar percentage of traps and wonders will have been set off and not re-loaded. Hotly Contested - Constant Dungeon Wars action! Night and day, troops are being sent into prevent the loss of the Hall to a rival faction. Any loot discovered is either being used in the fight, or awaiting other Faction members to haul it off. Secured - One faction has won out over the other(s). The area is relatively secure, troops and support are able to actually sleep in some state of comfort and peave of mind. Research teams are scouring the place for un-tripped traps, loot and resources Encounters in such an area include well-fed and well-rested troops who know the terrain like the back of their hands. Any loot uncovered in this area has been moved to the Faction's base camp (either outside, or in another secured Hall), or is awaiting shipment. Conveniently, Player Characters who win through this kind of area have their loot boxed, labelled and ready to steal. Abandoned - This area has been well and truly picked clean, perhaps it contained nothing of value, or such resources were not discovered. Encounters in an abandoned hall almost certainly include critters driven from their homes in other halls. This motivates them to extra voilence against the first thing they encounter. Creating Halls and Areas Name it. Even if the Player Characters never hear the name, the inhabitants certainly call it something, and the rival faction's troops have names for the areas for quick reference. While you can call the Hall just before the Big Open Space Area A, its much more fun and flavorful to overhear an enemy sergeant refer to troops moving into Vile Demense north of The Canyon. Names should be based on the type of native life encountered there, as well as archectural features such as wells ("Well of Life"), narrow passages ("Noosfal's Squeeze"), high-sided open areas ("Ambush Alley") or just really cool design ("Awesome Arches"). Sometimes a bit of statuary or a fresco can give rise to a name. Alternately, what the Faction's commanders call Area 521 North, the troops refer to as Lemmy's Deathtrap in honor of a fallen comrade. Define it Pick features that will define the Hall to the players. Was this area an industrial sector, filled with rusting armories, cold forges and memories of ringing hammers and long-silent work-chants? Or was it a magical college, filled with traps that summon demons, crumbling libraries and hidden tomes of knowledge. The better you define an area, the more the unusual will stand out when encountered. A perfectly preserved book among piles of rotting tomes will be a signal to all but the most daft of parties. Populate it. Each Hall will have creatures, traps, wonders and loot. If the above example of an armory is used, consider having armored undead, fire elementals and secret caches of enchanted metal waiting to be discovered. The magical library example might be populated by the spirits of dead wizards, lore-elementals and new powerful magic spells to fight and be fought over. Game it! Once the population is fixed in your mind, ideas for "side quests" and scenarios might fill your head. This is good. Using the two examples, suppose the armory contains the ghost of a long-dead smith, and she cannot rest until she knows the fate of her love, a wizard of no small talent, now a dread lich who controls the library. Perhaps he can be calmed by the sight of her spirit, or she can laid to final peace by knowing her love's condition. Sounds like you need to get these two crazy kids together, but between those two halls lay several secured zones, the bastion of an undead hunter and his powerful entourage. Cinematic Effects Lava - Extremely silly to have molten rock running like a babbling brook through your megadungeon, but it makes for neat lighting, hazardous travel and provides a hook or theme to the monsters encountered there. Water - Not quite as dangerous as magma perhaps, but certainly good for forcing swimming, air supply issues and providing secret passages that aren't immediately obvious. Sure there's a pool in the room the PCs are sleeping in, but that's just good drinking water. When the evil guys show up, dripping wet, to kill them they'll know they should have been a few points more observant. Heights The ruddy light provided by all that magma can give hints as to the height the PCs are above the floor, narrow bridges spanning deep cracks provide a certain dramatic flair and fighting on precarious ledges a thousand feet from the unseen cave floor can make any fight more interesting. Vermin - Albino cave creatures, swarms of rats or beetles, bats by the thousands..not to mention the dreaded fairy swarms found in some particularly awful megadungeons. Controls The Big Boss In Deep Aura, the whole place is ruled over by a being called the Deific. He doesn't mind the player characters coming in, he doesn't mind them killing a few dozen Ur-Grubs. He does take them to task for shutting off the Fire Fountain and stealing the Eye of Chaos. In the case of Deep Aura, there is a limit to the active points he'll allow to be cast in his domain, as well as a list of specific actions he won't tolerate. Consider having a powerful creature, demon or undead automaton as a Hidden Faction. Hints of this character abound, but he does not reveal himself and his forces until some specific action is taken. Multi-layered battles Similar to seiging a castle, a multi-layered encounter can be great fun. If the party is pleased with uncovering the Tomb of Laarn, perhaps they'd enjoy fighting for it not with folks rushing down a narrow hallway at them, but a large force of archers in balconies four stories up? They will be pleased with both finding the tomb and the victory over the rival force. Give them 5 archers and six guys rappelling down the walls, plus a wizard throwing fireballs from one high and they'll never forget the battle. They also won't forget to look up on occasion. I'm sure there's more to write on this subject, look for it soon. Specific topics include barricades, salvaging, example factions, some spells and wonders, and of course a few worked examples of Halls to fight over.

Re: Failed PS: Artist Roll? I just can't see saying "You failed." Some tasks, clearly, you know immediately that you've screwed up (EOD comes to mind), others are not so obvious. I think social skills should be in that category... The "Delayed Failure" of "Oh...Hey... nice talking to you" and then consequences drop on you later. Diplomacy and Seduction results could be held off a while too. Especially if you're the type of GM to make such rolls in secret. I'm thinking of moving all such "Fuzzy Failure" rolls behind the screen. As players, would you be annoyed if you couldn't make your own rolls in this fashion? I think it's not only fair, but that any sense of tension and drama demands it.

Re: Herophile Fantasy art Here's the latest bad guy to fall prey to my players... Gadzooks, the Fire Afflicted Goblin.

My son, who is at best an erratic person, wanted to flush out elements of the Cult of the Fiery Twilight in last evening's game. The PCs knew the cult's symbol, a ring of steel surrounding a ruby, that having a twin-forked flame leaping from it. The boy (for that is what I call him), in his role of Zaff Paffodel, does not have PS: Artist. I let his character buy paints and brushes and make the roll anyway. He painted the symbol on his shield and breastplate. The result was a 14. I grinned and told him it "looked alright." He then set off about town, trying to attract the attention of the cult. I knew where they were, and unless he went down to the docks, he wasn't going to encounter them. He did encounter a guy outside of a warehouse who shouted to him. "Hey! I recognize that symbol! I've got a shipment for you!" "Oh, yes?" replies Zaff, hoping for the best. The warehouser made him sign for several crates and barrels, some of which contained live chickens for Hasselfarn's Poultry over on the other side of town. Without the proper skill, the flame symbol looked a lot like a chicken... and I didn't tell him. Eventually, the found the cult, defeated the Bad Guy, went back to the inn for chicken... Is that bad GMing? Or just mean? or too clever? or what?

Re: Another JKeown Speculation Thread... I knew this was a good idea...

... I had this idea that ties a Fantasy HERO character's magic abilities to a set of Disadvantages. AFFLICTIONS Too much spellcasting, magic item usage or exposure to high intensity magical fields can leave one Afflicted. When a certain magic power has overtaken your body, you display outward signs of the malady. You more easily control that element, but find yourself taking extra damage from opposing elements. In my Caleon Campaign, the opposing forces of the Universe are Essence, Chaos and Unlight. The three of them unite beyond the Thaumic Barrier as the awesome power of the Void. The Classic Elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water can also Afflict a character. The Special Effect is always one of these elements, or it can be tied to a magical style or college such as Necromancy or Shadow Magic. One is never just Afflicted by "Magic." It has to have flavor. Basic Affliction manifests as a slight physical or mental change, perhaps a distinctive feature, or some low-level lust for your Afflicting Element. A well-known example of this is the malady known as Spellcasting Addiction. An addict will think that his Afflicting Element is the answer to everything, and may develop a Dependance on it. As these Disadvantages grow in strength, they are balanced by new abilities. Ex: Value Disadvantage 10 Dependence: Essence Addiction Takes 3d6 Damage (Easy To Obtain, 6 Hours) If struck with Essence Addiction, this Character would pick up 10 points of magic powers with his Essence. One option for those points might be a tiny Essence Aura Damage Shield, glowing eyes that raise his PRE, or a bonus to Essence Channelling or Essence Formulaic Magic rolls. Essence Aura:Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1 point, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Damage Shield (+1/2) (12 Active Points); No STR Bonus (-1/2) Real Cost: 8 points Essence Eyes: (Total: 10 Active Cost, 10 Real Cost) Detect Essence Magic 11- (Unusual Group), Discriminatory (Real Cost: 8) plus +2 PRE (Real Cost: 2) Total Real Cost: 10 Points Essence Junkie: +6 with Magic (12 Active Points); Essence-Based Spells Only (-1/4) Real Cost: 10 Points Later Still As the Affliction progresses, the character displays a high degree of affinity to his element, now taking extra damage from opposing elemental attacks. Note that in Caleon's 3-element system, a character is vulnerable to the two other points on the Thaumic Triangle. Value Disadvantages 20 Vulnerability Essence Affliction: 2 x Effect Chaos and Unlight Magic (Common) He or she would be entitled to 20 points of bonuses and magic powers. As these are not spells, they may or may not have the RSR limitation, depending on how evil the GM is feeling. Now, he channels Esence constantly, and cannot be mistaken as anything other than Afflicted. Essence Touch: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2d6+1 (35 Active Points); No STR Bonus (-1/2), Reduced Penetration (-1/4) Real Cost: 20 points Essence Barrier: Force Field (2 PD/10 ED/4 Mental Defense/4 Power Defense) Real Cost: 20 points Final Stages Distinctive Features disadvantages intensify and he might be feared or loathed by his culture. Soon, the power will overtake him completely, and he will be driven out into the wilderness... where so many have been driven before. What horrors wait out there, beyond the borders of polite society... what insane, magically-addicted wretches, gazing back at civilization with malicious, envious and hungry eyes? Afterward So that's the idea... just a thought, and I have a headache and the pizza will be here any second. I'll polish it, and include any refinements you wonderful people suggest.

Re: A funny thing happened on the way to the Dungeon... I don't know. maybe someday.

This Post over at Tetrapod Zoology is pretty cool. I think they'd make great aliens in a Star HERO game. A little drowsy to be scribling them up myself, but a non-primate, non-"guy in a rubber mask" alien is sure to be welcomed by your players. Of course, any carnivorous species given a large brain and a fleet of starships makes an awesome enemy. But Bad Guys with Feathers? Even better. In any case, Tetrapod Zoology is a great source for ideas, especially if you use animals at all.

Re: Skybreaker That particular look arose from a doodle-fest I was having to invent new things for my game. I drew a falchion-like object and cut those ovals out of it, and bling... new sword shape. Since then, magic weapons have looked like that to aid the flow of magic through the blade... or similar thaumobabble. That... and it's just plain cool-lookin'!

The Ashureen Blades In ancient times, it is said, the Ashureen could enchant items as look at them. Plagued by summoners such as the Sarkeen and the Doshar League, they devised the Elemental Blades. Unlike most blades with an elemental theme, these are designed to destroy and banish elementals, rather than project elemental attacks or summon such creatures. Skybreaker was the first of the blades, others exist to deal with elementals of fire, earth, water and (as rumors would have it) darkness. Normally, a blade of this power would be a major artifact in most campaigns, but its limited utility suggests special placement at a lower level than first glance might warrent. "Air Magic" on the other hand, might be relatively common in your game, leading to a higher level placement. Enjoy! 20 Skybreaker: Multipower, 80-point reserve, (80 Active Points); all slots Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1) 1u 1) Vs Non-Air Elementals (Total: 35 Active Cost, 7 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1 1/2d6 (25 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1), STR Minimum 6-14 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 5) plus +2 with HTH Combat (10 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1), STR Minimum 6-14 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 2) 2 1u 2) Vs Air Elementals (Total: 57 Active Cost, 12 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1 1/2d6, Affects Desolidified Body of Air (+1/2) (37 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1), STR Minimum 6-14 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 8) plus +4 with HTH Combat (20 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1), STR Minimum 6-14 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 4) 4 1u 3) Unsummon: Dispel Summoned Air Elementals 26d6 (78 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1), Air Elementals Only (-1/2) [1] 1u 4) Skybreaking: Suppress Air Magic 16d6 (80 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), Independent (-2), OAF (Sword; -1) [1]

Re: Steam Power in Fantasy I started using steam in my Fantasy Heros game in '87 or so. Its a background feature, but fun. My page is at http://www.geocities.com/jephkay@sbcglobal.net

Re: Mount Up! Buying Mounts in Fantasy HERO! You gonna make me write an Equipment and Tack article? I'm just typing up a list of breeds and such... gotta consult with Horse-Lover over there... she's watching Tank Girl (why is anyone's guess) but I'll grill her about tack and stuff... That is to say... excellent idea!

Re: Anger Management