Jkeown

Re: Still walkin' the beat, 25,000 years later...

 

Doesn't Immortal take care of that?

Not all alchemists work with eye of newt or peacebloom... I know it's not standard Package Deal format... but I'm sleepy and I have to get to work.

 

Zo drink a lot. It was only natural that some of the brews started... evolving. Now several brews have magic powers and more are on the way...

 

Brewmaster

 

Cost	Skill
5	Analyze: Alchemy 12-
3	Cryptography 11-
3	Inventor 11-
5	Brewing 12-
2	PS: Brewer 11-
	9 pts of the following:
3	1) Bribery 11-
3	2) Bureaucratics 11-
3	3) Conversation 11-
3	4) Deduction 11-
2	5) Gambling (Dice Games) 11-
3	6) High Society 11-
3	7) Paramedics 11-
3	8) Streetwise 11-
3	9) Trading 11-

Skills Cost: 44

 

Cost	Power	END
30	30 pts of Recipes: Custom Power (30 Active Points)	3
	Zoish Brews
2	1) Zung Stout: Aid STR 3d6, Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (45 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), 4 Charges (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2)	[4]
1	2) Malt of Shielding: Armor (3 PD/3 ED), Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (13 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2), 4 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (-1/2)	[4 cc]
1	3) Beer Goggles: +5 PER with Sight Group, Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), 4 Charges (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2)	[4]
3	4) Ale of Healing: Healing BODY 5d6, Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (75 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), 4 Charges (-1), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2)	[4]
1	5) Mong Genuine Draught of Invisiblility: Invisibility to Sight Group , Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (30 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2), 4 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Minute each (-1/4)	[4 cc]
2	6) Giant's Draught: Growth (+10 STR, +2 BODY, +2 STUN, -2" KB, 400 kg, +0 DCV, +0 PER Rolls to perceive character, 2 m tall, 1 m wide), Delayed Effect (x2 number active; May have available a number of Brews equal to character's INT; +1/2) (15 Active Points); Extra Time (6 Hours, -3 1/2), OAF Fragile (Mug; -1 1/4), Concentration (0 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Brewing Roll (-1/2), 4 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Turn each (-1/2)	[4 cc]

Powers Cost: 40

Re: Still walkin' the beat, 25,000 years later...

 

Thanks for the advice, and thanks to everyone who stole it! I revised the Herdstone, so please, use the shootier one...

Re: Herophile Fantasy art

 

One More... Last one... The late Emperor was born a mere six months before this titanic Fire Beast was summoned to destroy his home. To this day, the summoner remains at large. As for his pet...

Re: Herophile Fantasy art

 

Here's an Elemental Beast... as I've said before... I'm ramping up the cheddar in the Homebrew...

Re: Herophile Fantasy art

 

I also do critters.

Re: Herophile Fantasy art

 

I do ink as well as 3D stuff... This is Dyson Voog. He's one of the campaign's bad-asses. 1300 pts if he's 1...

Re: Still walkin' the beat, 25,000 years later...

 

I've been ramping up the cheddar for some years now in Caleon... I suspect it will only get worse...

HerdstonePlayer:

Val	Char	Cost
10	STR	0
20	DEX	30
15	CON	10
15	BODY	10
20	INT	10
0	EGO	0
10	PRE	0
10	COM	0
8	PD	21
8	ED	21
3	SPD	0
5	REC	0
30	END	0

 0"  RUN-120"  SWIM-20"  LEAP-2Characteristics Cost: 86

Cost	Power	END
50	Central Rune: Multipower, 50-point reserve
5u	1) Unfocused Ray: EB 5d6, Area Of Effect (3" Radius; +1) (50 Active Points)	5
4u	2) Repair Beam: Healing BODY 3d6, Ranged (+1/2) (45 Active Points)	4
4u	3) Focused Beam: RKA 2d6, Armor Piercing (+1/2) (45 Active Points)	4
4u	4) Rapid Shot: RKA 2d6, Autofire (5 shots; +1/2) (45 Active Points)	4
5u	5) Lifter Beam: Telekinesis (33 STR) (50 Active Points)	5
5u	6) Dispel Beam: Dispel 16d6 (48 Active Points)	5
75	Restraints of Perp Binding: Entangle 6d6, 6 DEF, Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4) (75 Active Points)	7
20	Herdstone Ping-Sense: Active Sonar (Hearing Group), Tracking	0
60	Herdstone Construction: Automaton (Takes No STUN)	0
10	Herdstone Construction: No Hit Locations	0
15	Herdstone Construction: Does Not Bleed	0
45	Herdstone Construction: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%	0
45	Herdstone Construction: Energy Damage Reduction, Resistant, 25%	0
24	Herdstone Resiliency: Damage Resistance (8 PD/8 ED)	0
16	Levitation: Flight 12" (24 Active Points); Levitation (-1/2)	2
5	Detect Life: IR Perception (Sight Group)	0
20	Utterly Silent: Invisibility to Hearing Group , No Fringe	2
9	It's a Rock...: Lack Of Weakness (-3) for Resistant Defenses	0
50	Herdstone Vitality: LS (Eating: Character does not eat; Immunity: All terrestrial poisons and chemical warfare agents; Immunity: All terrestrial diseases and biowarfare agents; Longevity: Immortal; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in High Radiation; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing; Sleeping: Character does not sleep)	0
60	Defense Field: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack)	0

Powers Cost: 531

Cost	Skill
3	Concealment 13-
3	Criminology 13-
3	Deduction 13-
3	Interrogation 11-
4	KS: Law 13-
3	Navigation 13-
5	Rapid Attack (Ranged)
20	+4 with Runic Multipower

Skills Cost: 44

Cost	Talent
20	Universal Translator 13-

Talents Cost: 20

Val	Disadvantages
25	Distinctive Features: Large Floating Rock (Not Concealable; Extreme Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)
20	Susceptibility: Anti-magical Fields and NMZs, 2d6 damage per Phase (Uncommon)
25	Psychological Limitation: Must Enforce "Order" (Very Common, Total)
25	Social Limitation: Relic (Very Frequently, Severe)

Disadvantage Points: 95

Base Points: 75Experience Required: 511Total Experience Available: 511Experience Unspent: 0Total Character Cost: 681

Height: 2.14 m	Hair: n/a
Weight: 700.00 kg	Eyes: n/a

Appearance: Herdstones look like large floating rocks with glowing runes on one surface. The rune pulses when the Herdstone speaks and is the source of their heat ray attacks. Personality: Herdstones have appeared from time to time to enforce order. The question remains, whose order? It is thought they were servants of the original Dharzooni Masters who have gone rogue or malfunctioned. Some behave rationally, learning local laws and enforcing them peacefully. Others have evolved into power-mad dictators. Quote:"You are in violation of local codes of conduct. Report your actions to the constabulary or I shall have to disable you and deliver you to them myself." (or just as often) "This area is now under my control. All things of flesh must cede to my will or be destroyed."Background: Unknown. The fact that the Herdstones speak modern languages, as well as ancient tongues suggest they are either given new abilites by their (presumably long-lived) creators or are capable of learning. The symbols engraved into their "front surface" are Dharzooni letters. What they might mean is unknown. It is perhaps a ranking system or just a way of keep track of them. Powers/Tactics: They usually warn you first, then actually blast you with their heat rays. They have never been observed attacking by surprise.Campaign Use: Herdstones, both the "good" and "bad" flavors are meant to give a mysterious air to the ancient civilizations of your campaign. Were they created to provide a simple police force, or is something more sinister going on? If you increase their number over time, perhaps they are a way of ensuring the rule of the ancients long after they have faded from the world.

Re: Is this a legal construct?

 

I use trueSpace 4.3. It's not as well known as lightwave and Maya... but it gets the job done. Yeah... I was gonna add hoses. But after a while, I got sick of working on them. I have the attention span of a gnat.

 

The model is Aiko3, btw...

Re: Is this a legal construct?

 

I remember somewhere Steve said you can't use Characteristics as Powers... that we should use Aid. Perhaps... Self Only?

 

I made the arms objects myself... slowly getting better at 3D modelling...

See, in Caleon, we have steam and magic... And I thought it might be fun to combine the two with a hot redhead to produce this:

 

Steam Angel: (Total: 83 Active Cost, 46 Real Cost) Aid STR 4d6 (standard effect: 12 points) (40 Active Points); OIF (Honkin' Big Steam Powered Arms; -1/2) (Real Cost: 27) plus Armor (6 PD/6 ED) (18 Active Points); Activation Roll 10- (-1 1/4), OIF (Honkin' Big Steam Powered Arms; -1/2) (Real Cost: 6) plus HA +4d6 (20 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), OIF (Honkin' Big Steam Powered Arms; -1/2) (Real Cost: 10) plus Stretching 1" (5 Active Points); OIF (Honkin' Big Steam Powered Arms; -1/2), no Noncombat Stretching (-1/4) (Real Cost: 3) Total Real Cost 40 points.

 

Or would a multipower work better?

Re: Class in Fantasy

 

I use a modified form of feudalism in the Empire of my campaign. Nobility are born to their station, but others may be invited to join one House or another. Clearly, this is the mobility Keith was talking about. The various Houses are often looked at as a goal or reward by the lower classes. This makes the game very political. My players are less inclined to play the political end of things, but it does make a nice backdrop.

Re: The Power of Unbelief...

 

Whatcha think? Too wacky? Too normal? I picture Disputers as academics who go too far in their denial of things and draw power from it...

Disputer PPD

 

Cost**	Power	END
5**	+5 INT*
6**	+3 EGO*
5**	+5 PRE*
**	Optional Powers*
3**	1) Deny Spell: Dispel 10d6 (30 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses almost all of its effectiveness (Only if cast before target interacts with caster; -2), Requires An EGO Roll (-3/4)*	3
4**	2) Deny the Pain: Healing BODY 2d6 (20 Active Points); Requires An EGO Roll (-3/4)*	2
4**	3) I Am Not Here: Desolidification (40 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses almost all of its effectiveness (Does not work against things that have touched caster.; -2), Requires An EGO Roll (-3/4)*	4
7**	4) I Am REALLY Not Here: Teleportation 10", MegaScale (1" = 10 km; +1/2), Can Be Scaled Down 1" = 1km (+1/4) (35 Active Points); Requires A EGO Roll (-3/4)*	3
4**	5) Oh, no you didn't...: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack) (20 Active Points); Requires An EGO Roll (-3/4)*	0
5**	6) Unbelieving: RKA 4d6 (60 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses almost all of its effectiveness (Only if cast before target interacts with caster; -2), Requires An EGO Roll (-3/4), Beam (-1/4)*	6

Powers Cost: 43

 

 

Cost**	Skill
3**	Acting 12-*
3**	Bureaucratics 12-*
3**	Conversation 12-*
3**	Deduction 12-*
2**	KS: General Science 11-*
3**	Oratory 12-*
3**	Persuasion 12-*
3**	Seduction 12-*
3**	Streetwise 12-*
2**	Survival (Urban) 12-*

Skills Cost: 28

 

Cost**	Perk
1**	Favor*
1**	Contact 8-*

Perks Cost: 2

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 73

 

Val**	Disadvantages
5**	Reputation: Contentious and Skeptical (Rarely invited to parties and such), 8-*
15**	Psychological Limitation: Overly-critical (Common, Strong)*
10**	Distinctive Features: Uniform (Easily Concealed; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)*

Disadvantage Points: 30

Unbelieving: RKA 4d6 (60 Active Points); Limited Power Power loses almost all of its effectiveness (Only if cast before target interacts with caster; -2), Requires An EGO Roll (-1), Beam (-1/4) Real Cost: 14

 

I'm working on a Professional Package Deal for Caleon that involves "Not Believing" as a source of magical power. Is this a decent simulation of not buying into an objects existance? Other powers might be defensive in nature. "Oh... you did not just shoot that green **** at me..."

 

Thoughts?

Re: Evolution and Magic.

 

I had, in games past, hinted that such things might be possible. It's also cool because Caleon has always been the opposite of Star Wars. Star Wars is Fantasy disguised as Sci-Fi. Caleon is Sci-Fi pretending to be Fantasy. The inhabitants know not only that the world is round, but that stars are suns, and that around those suns are planets. They aren't sure where this particular bit of lore comes from, but it's accepted by everyone.

 

That said, the whole idea of Dr. Moreau style bioroids is appealing, as they'll look just like ordinary Cat-people.... but will be so much more. And they won't be called Bioroids either... Chimerae has appeal... It's both a fantasy term and a real world biological term (admittedly, I think it was coined because of the fantasy beast... but that's still cool...)

Re: So you want to start a revolution

 

Why no mention of magical llamas? We are innately mystical.

 

Re-read my original post, O Furry One.

Re: Evolution and Magic.

 

As an aside, I have a largish city-state run by mages in my game called "The Minglers of the Blood" whose economy is based on making magical creatures for sale. They buy up slaves or animals and then alter them to their customers specifications. Such creatures are, of course, very expensive, but The Minglers of the Blood make good patrons for adventurers who want to earn some cash by capturing dangerous creatures or acquiring rare magics to infuse into their creations. They also make a good source (though only one such source) of magical hybrid thingies for me to torment players with.

 

Duuude, I totally wanna steal that.. the whole concept is great. They are an established presence in your game, yes? If given permission to nick that off of you, I think I'd introduce them slowly.... get some PCs to capture some beastie, then 5 episodes later, something like it goes on a rampage...

Please... let me snatch that...

Re: Encounter Paradigms

 

Ah well' date=' I've just got a personal opinion that combat is too over-emphasized in roleplaying.[/quote']

 

I don't think that's an "opinion." I'd say it was a "fact."

 

This is because a skill system with the complexity of (almost) any combat system would be insane. Let's face it... you don't normally have a chance of dying while digging up a T. Rex in Utah... So task resolution is simpler.

 

If, by the above quote, you mean players over-emphasize combat... you are absolutely right... I've had players who frequently wrote combat oriented characters... but some are more... mysterious and wonderful... The combat players are fun and I love them... but I have one who just loooooves a mystery...

As a periphery to the whole "Encounters Paradigm" notion... how do you folks handle magical physiology? In a setting where magic has been around a while (for example, my world of Caleon takes place in a universe 12.5 billion years old) natural selection might select for "mage genes" and certain critters would develop spell-casting ability. Or, more likely, abilities would develop that resembled spell casting. Think of it as the difference between a bird's wing and a 747... they do the same thing, but one was a naturally-occuring evolutionary change and the other was purposefully designed. This is also handy for explaining a system where Mages are born, not trained or where magic is an inherited trait.

 

For example, say a latent gene allows wolves to use Lightning Magic of some form... the same mutation causes the fur to crackle and turn blue shortly after birth. Or a predator that cooks its food with a handy fireball before eating it. I think in all cases evolution would provide physiological changes to "warn" the environment... like the wacky colors that poisonous animals adopt. Heck... there could even be genes for elemental affinies, turning ordinary squirrels into Fire Squirrels and normal flightless waterfowl into Infernal Penguins From Hell.

 

I think some fudging might be required to explain why there are still normal, non-magical variations of some animals... if Lightning Wolves are so superior, why are there still Timber Wolves? And do llamas really need to be improved? I think not.

 

Now, most fantasy worlds are only a few thousand years removed from their Creation Event. I think some really wild beasties arise from using Darwinian Concepts... Even if you do have to break the Fantasy trope of the Thousands-years Young concept. Then again, Theistic Evolution is considered by some to be a realistic viewpoint, perhaps the gods made them that way... and it's genes that do the gods dirty work...

Re: Encounter Paradigms

 

The "why emulate D&D?" thing was to suggest that FH is in fact, it's own animal. Instead of piles of encounter tables, I think the idea is to form a ...philosophy? of how this thing is done. I had all sorts of ideas ranging from mapping out areas based on "threat value" to concentric circles representing power bases... As usual... an excellent example of my magpie syndrome... totally obsessed with one aspect of gaming before flittering off to the next shiny notion.

Re: Encounter Paradigms

 

Had some thoughts while I was at work... it seems that maybe one could map encounter difficulty with respect to civilized areas. As in, the less authority an area has over it, the more dangerous encounters can be.

 

This is, of course, obvious, but how do you incorporate Spheres of Influence in your game. Authority that is friendly to PCs might cause low-difficulty encounters, while areas hostile to them might map out as tougher.

 

I guess the idea isn't fully formed yet... I'll think on it some more.

Re: Encounter Paradigms

 

Good thoughts, everyone. I see that the "FH Paradigm" is prevalent. That is, no "random encounters." I think we all run "realistic" worlds, even though any one of us could describe action in terms like "The Essense Master beat the Dryad with a Dragon Bone until she dropped the Healing Potion." Clearly, this is not happening in the real world, but we seem to run those worlds in a very "real" fashion.

 

Excellent. I'd long known the HERO community was sensible like this, and it's nice to see it. I think this whole concept plays into the "Why Emulate D&D?" notion from a while back.

 

Interesting....

In discussing my upcoming Caleon FH game, I've talked to my girlfriend and my "lead" player about encounters.

 

Returning to FH after a year long D&D game, we find that we have certain expectations when it comes to "monsters." I've never done monsters in Caleon, preferring enemies of a more intelligent nature. However, D&Der's expect slavering beasties and awfulness.

 

In D&D you have the Encounter Level system where:

 

(Party Average Level)/(Monster Level)=1=(25% of resources needed/consumed to beat the enounter)

 

Or something very close to that. In my opinion, the only reason that ever works is because of d20's reliance on "Classes" and "Levels" that provide certain abilities, hit dice and other factors in an easily predicted manner, so the GM only has to look over a few numbers and whamme-whamme (hi) you have a "Balanced Encounter."

 

In HERO this is not so simple. My 150 point warrior is not the same as Killer Shrike's (Again, Hi) 150 point warrior. He might go for more combat effectiveness over skills or design for roleplaying potential, or what have you. I might just design something weird. So why not just have "life" happen, and let the players know that encounters are their doing. If you attack unknown critters, or go into a dangerous area, and you get snuffed, it's your fault.

 

If you use wilderness areas as an example, those two 150 point warriors are near a lake, a bright iridescent fin breaks the surface, and lightning crackles... this might be a good time to run. The PC that jumps in the water gets what he deserves. Should the GM have not had the Thunder Fish show up in the first place? Is the GM or the player to blame for the PC getting turned into fish food?

 

To put it another way, you don't only encounter baby bears in the forest, there must be Mommy Bears and Daddy Bears, otherwise the world sucks. Good PCs will use their heads to avoid "random" encounters that appear too tough. At the same time, more civilized areas will contain very easy encounters, as civilization tends to crowd out nature, even in a fantasy world. (Therefore, PCs are warned not to go too far when alone...)

 

Is that unbalanced?

 

In my view, the PC is to blame for turning a sighting into an encounter. Plenty of things in the real world are dangerous, and we Just Don't Go Where They Are.

 

So, how do you determine "Balance" in a game?

 

In sharp contrast to the player-initiated "unbalanced" encounters, the GM must do his best to provide balance (as hard as that might be...) in scenarios where he, acting through NPCs, sends PCs toward an encounter.

 

I think there are 3 kinds of GM-written (pre-planned or programmed) encounters.

 

1. Too Easy
   
2. Just Right
   
3. Too Hard
   

 

One might add Cake Walk and HOLY **** to that list, but let's keep it simple.

 

How do you balance these? I think balance is provided for Too Easy on the back end. Say, Baron Florwax asks the party to bring him 50 nose-rings from the Sky Vomit Goblin Pirates. They are physically weak, magically inept and are poor pilots to boot. The party prevails with a few scratches and a drunk familiar (don't ask). When returning to Town, they discover that Princess Topheavy has been kidnapped. Back end balance! The encounter was a distraction so somebody could nab the Princess. The plot thunders on to the Baron, who has a lot of explaining to do...

 

The Too Hard encounter is a simple Killer. It's a Deep Aura Deific with a vast appetite for Player Characters. If they survive the trip to Deep Aura, they can't face the Deific alone. The GM must provide help in the form of an NPC who knows a secret of defeating such a thing, or a side trek that provides an item of power that can help ease the dying. Both the NPC and the IoP are Balancing Effects.

 

Returning to the Baron and the Goblins, if the Goblins are waiting for the party, or have reinforcements in the form of Ogres Of Player Slaying, then something else is afoot. Not only is the Princess missing, but the surviving player characters have reason to believe they were set up to be killed.

 

In other words, the GM must balance the encounter with a story- or plot-based reason for the odd difficulty. He is not "to blame" the world is at fault.

 

So... the Caleon Encounter Paradigm.

1. Real World animal/monster behavior. (i.e. many critters will be too tough, most will be about right, large numbers of easy sightings of critters)
   
2. Player Responsibility
   
3. Back End Balancing.
   

Any discussion? What is your Campaign Encounter Paradigm?

Kyoona, the unfinished character you see here below, is dreadfully fashionable... she's a parody of a number of sources... does what I have here take the idea too far? She'll have other spells, and be a capable contact for the PCs in my game, but are we going overboard?

Kyoona Relsarmin

 

Player:

 

Val	Char	Cost
10	STR	0
15	DEX	15
13	CON	6
11	BODY	2
15	INT	5
13	EGO	6
15	PRE	5
18	COM	4
4	PD	2
3	ED	0
4	SPD	15
7	REC	4
30	END	2
23	STUN	0

 6"  RUN02"  SWIM02"  LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 66

 

Cost	Power	END
6	Makeover: Shape Shift (Sight, Smell/Taste and Touch Groups), Instant Change, Makeover (26 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), -1 1/4), OAF (Mirror; -1), Requires A Magic Roll (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Requires Light To Use (-1/4)	3

Powers Cost: 6

 

 

Cost	Skill
19	Magic 20-
3	KS: Arcane And Occult Lore 12-
3	KS: a type or school of magic 12-
12	KSs (12 points' worth)
1	Literacy
3	Conversation 12-
3	High Society 12-
3	Inventor 12-

Skills Cost: 47

 

Cost	Perk
1	Fashion Sense

Perks Cost: 1

 

 

 

Total Character Cost: 120

 

Val	Disadvantages
20	Psychological Limitation: Fashionista (Very Common, Strong)
10	Social Limitation: Fashion Model/Delver (Frequently, Major, Not Limiting In Some Cultures)
10	Reputation: Total Bitch, 11-

Disadvantage Points: 40

 

Base Points: 75

Experience Required: 5

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

 

"Look, this is a science, the Ur-Grubs in Deep Aura West give off a green glow... If I don't adjust my make-up, I'll look positively horrid... Here... hold my torch... I can't hold my mirror properly... "