UltraRob

Re: Spell: Animate Object. Help... me.... Exactly, it's TK with an Obvious Acessable Focus (prob -1/2 only since losing the object doesn't take away the power exactly...). The rest can be handled by special effects, I think. The STR of the TK will determine the power of the object, unless you want to link the object's body with the amount of STR that can be used with it. (ie 5 STR for every 1 BODY the object has) If the object is destroyed, the spell is lost. The only problem would be if you don't want the Mage to have to burn up their own actions to tell the object what to do. If they are independant, then things get a little trickier. Although a certain amount of GM handwaving can also solve the problem. Not to say your method isn't valid too, but this is how I'd do it. Rob

Re: FH Prefabs: Armor,Weapons,Gear etc. Thanks Trax!!! Great work! Rob

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use? A related thread... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15901&highlight=wuxia

Re: Great Inspiration for a FH Summoner-Based Game

Here's a fan-translated manga called Monster Collection: http://www.animewaves.net/animewaves.php?goto=m-mc Based off, surprise, a Magic-type card game about dueling monsters, the author instead decided to take a more serious approach to it instead of something like Pokemon or Yugi-Oh, with the end result being a very cool D&Dish comic with a bit of slapstick humour and very nice art. Download the first volume and try it out, if you read to about halfway you should be nice and hooked like I was. Rob P.S. Remember to read each pair of pages from right to left! They translated it to English, but they didn't flip them.

Re: If magic cost full price... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306&highlight=xiawarr

For a Heroic level game I am planning out now (a Western Hero game to be precise) I am thinking of using the (Average of DEX and EGO)/3 as the basis of a character's CV instead of the usual DEX/3. (Or (DEX+EGO)/6, same result.) The logic behind this being that often a character's coolness under fire can be more representative of how effective they are in combat than how fast or co-ordinated they are. While DEX would still determine who goes first, and factor into SPD, I believe it would lose much of it's focus as the obligatory stat to "pump up" in HERO. I am also hoping, since this makes a single point of CV cost 15pts to achieve on average, that suddenly Combat Skill Levels would become much more attractive and worthwhile to players. Skill becoming more of the focus again instead of stats. Has anyone else out there tried this or something similar? Did it work? Any negative side effects you found? Rob

Re: Some Package Deals I need help on. No prob. Although I was unable to find a good old fashioned map that you can print out and use, which annoys me. That clickable one is a start, though. Gives a good sense of general geography, although I'm still not sure if it's a continent or a penninsula. Looks like a Penninsula, Korea in fact. Actually, no, I'm not a fan of the SuiKoDen RPG, but since you posted this I did get curious about the setting and went looking. I thought I would share my research results, although I do have to say the setting does seem pretty cool. I'd almost be tempted to use it myself. Rob

Re: So I'm thinking of running a Western HERO scenario... Hmm, all good points... Maybe 0 Body is dead is the better way to go, I rather like that one. Rob

Re: New Justice League anime tomorrow? Loved it, especially since I'm geek enough to name at least 90% of the people we see in the background. In general, I rate it at A+! And I gave the original JL a B+. Two things I didn't like... 1) Transporters, so now we get the stupid Trek logic flaw of "why didn't they just beam X out, or beam X in when they needed to" which the writers will probably have to deal with constantly. (They already did a "trek" today with the line "we can't use the transporters, too much radiation", are they gonna do it every week?) Nice idea, but they're a real pain, at least one comic league just used the "boom tube" site to site transporters which required a station at each end... 2) Yay! Superhero army! And then they all apparently sat and ate popcorn and watched while the only four people who got sent down fought for their lives ...At least league could have tried to send help, and had them show up late...T-port fast people (Flash, Superman) to the edge of the radiation zone and let them rush in, since radio did work. (See, there's that transporter problem already...) Rob

Re: Some Package Deals I need help on. Oh, although I know you must know about this already... http://www.suikosource.com/history/ Contains an amazing sourcebook of history, geography, characters, and pretty much everything else regarding the SuiKoDen setting...Heck, a GM could literallly just use this to run even if they never touched the original video games. Click on Characters, go to the alphabetical listings and click on the tiny pictures to get big and really cool pics of many characters suitable for any Fantasy RPG art purposes. Now if only this site had maps... A continental map with clickable locations can be found here: http://www.suikox.com/geo.html And, in case you need more info about the Runes and good info lists of the many kinds of runes, go here: http://spores.net/suikoden/suikframe.html Actually, this Rune system reminds me a lot of the Magic System Killer Shrike just posted in a lot of ways. You might consider using his system to represent the runes in fact, or a modified version thereof. Good luck! Rob

Re: Some Package Deals I need help on. HA! ^__^ I have to say I like this package! I can really visuallize what creative PCs will do to make their "signature gadget", and it has a lot of flavor potential as well. Good work! Rob

So, I'm thinking of giving a Western HERO game a shot, but the way I look at it, using HERO I see a whole lot of unconscious characters from gunfights instead of dead ones. It's the Fantasy HERO problem all over again, going back after the fight and "cleaning house" on all the unconscious dead guys. I want this to be like the good old Westerns where most people drop after a single hit, with maybe enough time for a short speech at best unless they're a hero. That said, I see a few solutions. 1) Make all ranged weaponry do X2 damage as a default, and this includes arrows and thrown knives...they always just seem to take people out in a lethal way after one hit. 2) Have people make CON shock rolls when they get hit not to die, maybe with the amount of damage taken subtracted from the CON roll or somesuch just to make it hard. A few people might survive, and anyone with Combat Luck sure would, but that's about it. 3) Encourage Deadly blow, saying it reflects characters skill with the weapons and levels of accuracy. These sound good? Any other ideas? I want quick clean gunfights with lots of guys falling over everywhere and a high mortality rate. Rob

Re: Gathin Interesting idea, but I do have to ask two questions... Why should I want to play one? Why would Gathin's ever have sex if they know it's gonna be followed by an hour or so of pain? Rob

Re: Old Man Ko (WuXia Villian/NPC)

Old Man KoPlayer: NPC Val** Char*** Cost 11** STR 1 19** DEX 27 17** CON 14 13** BODY 6 24** INT 14 25** EGO 30 25** PRE 15 11** COM 1 * 10/12** PD 8 4/6** ED 1 6** SPD 31 5** REC 0 50** END 8 50** STUN 22 *8"**RUN42"**SWIM06"**LEAP4Characteristics Cost: 186Cost** Power END 45** Dart Throwing Skills: Multipower, 90-point reserve, (90 Active Points); all slots OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)* 4u** 1) Golden Needles: Energy Blast 5d6, No Normal Defense ([Not versus 1rPD or greater armour.]; +1), Autofire (5 shots; +1 1/2) (87 Active Points); OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)* 9 1u** 2) Silver Darts: Killing Attack - Ranged 1 point, Autofire (3 shots; +1/4), Penetrating (+1/2) (9 Active Points); Requires A Find Weakness Roll (-1/2), OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)* 1 1u** 3) Distracting Hit: Sight, Hearing and Mental Groups Flash 1d6 (standard effect: 1 Segments) (15 Active Points); OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)* 1 2u** 4) Paralysis Needle: Entangle 3d6, 3 DEF, Works Against EGO, Not STR (+1/4), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+1/2), Based On EGO Combat Value (Mental Defense applies; +1), Range Modifiers Apply (-1/4) (75 Active Points); Requires A Find Weakness Roll (-1/2), Mental Defense Adds To EGO (-1/2), OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)* 7 3u** 5) Darts Cutting the Leaves: (Total: 77 Active Cost, 35 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Ranged 1 point, Penetrating (+1/2), Autofire (5 shots; +1 1/2), Area Of Effect (9" Cone; +1 1/2) (22 Active Points); OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) (Real Cost: 11) plus Energy Blast 2d6, No Normal Defense (Immunity to Poisons or Toxins; +1), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1), Area Of Effect (8" Cone; +1), Autofire (5 shots; +1 1/2) (55 Active Points); OIF (Darts, Needles, or small thrown objects.; -1/2), Linked (Killing Attack - Ranged; -1/4), Gestures (must be able to move hands to throw; -1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4) (Real Cost: 24)* 2 ** * 40** Finding hidden holes.: Find Weakness 15- with Darts, Needles, and other small thrown objects.* 0 27** Essense of Black Dalia: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, Must successfully hit with preprepared darts or needles first. (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), No Normal Defense (Immunity to Poison; Can be dispelled or cured with antitoxin.; +1), Does BODY (+1) (120 Active Points); Independent (-2), Gradual Effect (20 Minutes; -1), OIF Expendable (Easy to obtain new Focus; Darts or Needles; -1/2)* 0 Powers Cost: 123Cost** Martial Arts Maneuver 8** +2 HTH Damage Class(es)* 4** Martial Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort* 4** Martial Disarm: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, Disarm; 31 STR to Disarm* 4** Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort* 4** Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 36 STR vs. Grabs* 3** Martial Grab: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 31 STR for holding on* 4** Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 6d6 Strike* 3** Martial Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 4d6 +v/5, Target Falls* 4** Nerve Strike: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, 3d6 NND* 5** Offensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +1 DCV, 8d6 Strike* ** * 8** +2 Ranged Damage Class(es)* 4** Basic Shot: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +2, Strike, +4 DC* 5** Distance Shot: 1+1 Phase, +0 OCV, -2 DCV, Range +6, Strike +2 DC , +1 Segment* 5** Offensive Ranged Disarm: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +2, Disarm, + 20 STR to Disarm* 4** Offensive Shot: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +6 DC* 4** Quick Shot: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +0, Strike, +4 DC* 4** Ranged Disarm: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, Range +0, Disarm, 36 STR to Disarm* 4** Trip: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Range +2, v/5, Target Falls* Martial Arts Cost: 81Cost** Skill 20** +2 Overall* 12** +4 with Martial Maneuvers* 9** +3 with Darts, Needles, Balls and other small thrown objects.* 24** Penalty Skill Levels: +8 vs. Throwing modifiers with All Attacks* 3** Acrobatics 13-* 3** Acting 14-* 3** Analyze: Combat 14-* 3** Breakfall 13-* 3** Bribery 14-* 3** Bureaucratics 14-* 3** Climbing 13-* 3** Concealment 14-* 3** Contortionist 13-* 3** Cryptography 14-* 3** Deduction 14-* 10** Defense Maneuver I-IV * 3** Disguise 14-* 3** Fast Draw 13-* 2** Forgery (Documents) 14-* 6** Gambling (Board Games, Card Games, Dice Games) 14-* 3** High Society 14-* 3** Interrogation 14-* 4** KS: Cult of the Holy Maiden 15-* 3** Lipreading 14-* 3** Oratory 14-* 5** PS: Cult Leader 16-* 2** PS: Musician 11-* 5** Rapid Attack (HTH) * 3** Riding 13-* 3** Security Systems 14-* 3** Seduction 14-* 3** Shadowing 14-* 3** Sleight Of Hand 13-* 3** Stealth 13-* 3** Streetwise 14-* 8** Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical, Mountain, Urban) 14-* 3** Tactics 14-* 3** Teamwork 13-* 3** Tracking 14-* 3** Trading 14-* 10** Two-Weapon Fighting (HTH) * 11** WF: Common Martial Arts Melee Weapons, Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Off Hand, Staffs, Steel Olive, Thrown Chain & Rope Weapons, Wishful Steel Ball* Skills Cost: 212Cost** Perk 50** Followers: 200 Competant Normals* 5** Money: Well Off* Perks Cost: 55Cost** Talent 4** Deadly Blow: +1d6 ([very limited circumstances])* 3** Ambidexterity (-2 Off Hand penalty)* 3** Bump Of Direction* 15** Combat Sense 14-* 16** Crippling Blow* 5** Eidetic Memory* 10** Fascination* 14** Fearless* 11** Inspire* 3** Perfect Pitch* 4** Speed Reading (x10)* 2** Trackless Stride* Talents Cost: 90Cost** Equipment END $40** Padded Cloth: Armor (2 PD/2 ED) (6 Active Points); Independent (-2), OIF Durable (-1/2), Real Armor (-1/4)* 0 ** Stick: Energy Blast 2d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 1-5 (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4)* 0 Equipment costs shown above are for reference only, and are not included in Total Cost.Val** Disadvantages 20** Hunted: by the Martial Arts Clans 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)* 5** Reputation: Cult Leader, 8- (Extreme; Known Only To A Small Group)* 25** Sense of Duty to Holy Maiden: (Very Common, Total)* 10** Sense of Honor: (Common, Moderate)* 15** Watched: the Holy Maiden of Mount Lily 11- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)* Disadvantage Points: 75Base Points: 75Experience Required: 597Total Experience Available: 0Experience Unspent: 0Total Character Cost: 747 Height: 1.54 m Hair: Black, Grey and White Weight: 63.00 kg Eyes: Brown Appearance: Ko looks like a scruffy poor old musician in his 60's, with long pepper-coloured hair and a kindly grandfatherly face. He wears clean but worn grey robes, carries a chinese harp and a gourde of wine, and a small pack with his personal things in it. The most distinctive feature of Ko is the deer antlers he wears as a headdress, small thin ones attached to a deerskin headband he almost never takes off. Personality: Ko is actually a kind man at heart with a pixish personality who loves to laugh and enjoy fine things such as good company and good music. (He is too old to care much about women, as the cult leader he's had enough women to last a lifetime, and doesn't really trust them much.) He has seen enough cruelty (and done enough of it) that he has no taste for it anymore, and would really rather just live his life as a musician, but his first duty is always to the Holy Maiden and her cult. He can and will do whatever it takes for her and her cause, and can be extremely manipulative when working in her name. It should always be remembered that as friendly and jovial as he is, he is a complete sociopath and can kill without remorse, having done it a great many times in his life. Quote:"Why that's a fine instrument, can you play it well?"Background: Old Man Ko's past is mysterious as the cult he serves. It's known he grew up in the shadow of Mount Lily in Shangdong Province of China, and at some point joined the cult of the Holy Maiden, to which he has given his life's service. At times he has left the cult to travel, following his personal passion as a musician, but in the end he always returns to the cult which has been his life. Powers/Tactics: Ko is a master of the thrown weapon, perhaps one of the greatest masters of his time. He can kill, paralyze, distract or do just about anything with his darts and needles, and always keeps a supply of poisoned needles handy somewhere on his person just in case. His normal tactic is to poison his opponents at first chance, knowing the poison will take a while to set in, and then if he decides he doesn't want them to die he'll give them the antidote which he also carries on him. (Although the bottle marked "poison" is the antidote tablets. And, the bottle marked "antidote" is the poison paste...) When facing large groups he will often resort to his pre-prepared "Darts Cutting Through the Leaves" attack, which is done using a special tube he sets up in advance and which is capable of mowing down whole units of soldiers or attackers. (It should be noted that nothing he uses has charges, and that is because he seems to have an endless supply of darts and needles hidden on his person.) Campaign Use: Ko is meant to be the main lieutenant to the cult leader known as the Holy Maiden in a 16th century Chinese WuXia setting. In that setting, he is a wandering man most of the time, travelling around with his attractive young female assistant (who usually poses as his granddaughter or niece) enjoying his golden years and playing the aging musician. He is as likely to work with the heros as he is against them, depending on his mood and the situation, and is as appreciative of noble deeds as any man. That said, if they are working against him, he will kill them or use them with only minor regret. Old Man Ko is based on a similar character or different name found in the Chinese Novel/TV Series called State of Divinity.

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg Apparently I REALLY need to go read them again.... Excellent! That should be perfect, I am really curious as to how you put them together...I just looked up the Bangdoll weapon's listing on that site you're helping out on....The listing for the Bangdoll must be huge from just the weapons alone...I Now understand why you never finished the Jagd Mirage... If you post the Mortar Headd stats here, you might as well start a new thread for it since it doesn't relate to this one anymore. Also I'm not sure it will fit in here...^_- Rob

Re: "Magic" Through Scientific Laws? Just to add, something you might consider tracking down for anyone interested in "magi-tech" is a Japanese comic by a dude named Masamune Shirow called "Orion". It shows an entire spacefaring civiliation based on "psycho-science" (as the English translators called it) which is a highly advanced form of magic with regular science as a subset of the true science, which is "psycho science". The damn thing is so complex I can only barely begin to explain it, but so cool that I've always planned to use it as my template for an advanced magitech setting someday... Some Info About Orion and it's Setting Rob

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg Nice to see he got back to Mortar Headds again, last time I was reading it (back around Volume 7) he was fixated on Divers, Biyas and Fantasy stuff for a while there. That's kinda what killed some of my interest at the time. My god...O_o! The words "THANK YOU" just don't cut it! Wouldn't the logical thing to do be to post a baseline Mass Produced MH like the Berlin (if you made any up), and one of the more high grade ones for comparison so the HEROs here can see the difference? Did you make them up using Hero Designer? Rob

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg WOW! O_o! I think I'm going to have to revise my thoughts on MH's, I definitely thought of them more as unstoppable juggernauts than as fast killer machines. (Of course, it does depend on which MH we're talking about, and how heavily loaded down it is too...) For those who have no clue what we're talking about, go here: http://www.heika.net/html/fss.htm or here: http://simsrule.tripod.com/ And, I highly recommend reading this guy's Five Star Side Story fanfics which can be found about two-thirds down the page here...they are a different perspective on the setting, but an excellent read: (warning, they start a little nasty, but there's a reason for it...) http://www.gweep.ca/~hagen/wrt.html Rob

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg Whoa! Sounds great! Thanks for the tips... Question! I assume since the Fatima is needed to boost them that most Mortar Heads are actually not that impressive in the stats department. They are extremely tough, but probably not very quick. If I remember right, they even have a form of shields/force fields don't they? (Sorry, it's been a while, I have to go back and read some of my old source material...) Rob

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg

Re: Hero points? I've been using this for years, and it works so great my players hate it when I don't use it...My system: PCs can spend a single unspent XP to... 1) Reroll any roll in the game after it's made if they declare it within 10 seconds. 2) Not die, a lethal hit becomes a knockout hit with stats only going down accordingly. (Unless there's flat out no chance they can live, or they die stupid....) 3) Control chance, either I will roll to see if the store has what they desperately need, or they can spend a point (or more, if they're wanting something BIG!) and voila, they have it in stock. Trains can arrive on time, and flagpoles can be there where you need them... In my experience players who spent more often made back more than their XP by the end of the game by virtue of being very entertaining. I never penalize them for using this system, and they happily make use of it. Rob

Re: Doulocracy: how's it work? Small bit here: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/collections/slavery/history.html In “The Great American Question, Democracy vs. Doulocracy,†William Wilson characterized the 1848 presidential election as a contest between democracy and doulocracy, “the government of servants or slaves,--the 250,000 slaveholders being governed, through the medium of their fears . . . by their slaves, and they controlling the Republic . . . by threats of secession from the Union if they should not be allowed to rule,†And here: http://www.people.virginia.edu/~pnm3r/kituwah/Chapter%202-02.htm Throughout the Southeastern United States, there existed independent as well as integrated Afro-Indian communities led by African and mixed-blood religio/political leaders such as Asi Yahola (Osceola), Black Factor, Luis Pacheco, Mulatto King, and Chief Wildcat: 85 Kenneth Wiggins Porter described the importance of these Africans among the Seminole in Florida, "But not only were there chiefs of mixed Indian and Negro Blood among the Seminoles, and free negroes acting as principal counselors and war-captains, but...the position of the very slaves was so influential that the Seminole nation might present to students of political science an interesting and perhaps almost unique example of a very close approach to a doulocracy, or government by slaves." But except for these, I can't seem to find much else on actual examples...or even close examples...I think the aformentioned Chinese and Ottoman examples are probably the best ones I have heard. Rob

Re: Heavy Combat Cyborg Hey NuSoard, out of curiosity how is this campaign going? Are you still planning it or did you run it? I'm curious because I'm thinking of running a FSS game in the future, having been into FSS since the late 80s. Rob