UltraRob

I solve this in HERO through a simple method... They can use unspent XP to do 2 things at a cost of 1pt. 1) Force any roll made by them or the GM to be rerolled. (Although I still reserve the right to say "no" at any time.) 2) Not die. In a situation where they should have died, they end up unconscious and at Zeros for Stun, Body and End. This has produced great results. If they die, now it's their own damn fault for not saving the points...And also they can use their points to have a second shot at critical times in the story when the dice say they missed. Of course, you have to be careful that you don't get a "bidding war" going on those re=rolls, which I have had happen when my NPC major villians spend THEIR Xp to make the heros re-roll. Although I almost never allow critical hits or failures to be rerolled... Rob

Make X = 1/2 of the target number. So if they make it by more than half the required number, the attack is a "minor critical" which reduces defenses to half. ("Major Criticals", such as rolling a 3 (or 4) would be up to you, maybe no defenses at all!) This will make your game pretty deadly, though. You'll have to prepared for that. Rob

Hahaha Sounds like it was indeed worth it. Shocking players is half the fun of being a GM! Rob

What I meant is, if you assume (as HERO does) that 400kg is the Human Maxima, and you are using a linear system (at 1 STR point = 10kg) then STR:20 is 200kg of lift capacity, and STR:40 is now 400kg of lift capacity. Make sense? Now, going with the HERO concept of lift capacity maximums (max human is 400kg), you'd now need a STR of 40 to equal that. That STR of 40, however, does 8D6 damage, not 4D6, and costs 8 END to throw a punch with. It also costs 30pts, as opposed to the cost of 10 points having that lift capacity had before. In addition, STR Mins for weapons go as high as 19 for a Great Pick, which would be roughly 370kg in the old system, or STR:37 under a linear system. (Just in case you still planned to cap STR at 20 under the linear system.) In fact, most STR:Mins for weapons seem to be 13-18 old system, which would be roughly STR:15-30 linear. Which means capping them at 20 would be too low. My point is, this small change does change the balance of the game, although it does offer more realistic play options in a lot of ways, and a wider variety of stat possibilities for STR. I can see great advantages to it, and it might make the game more realistic. Rob

I thought of another issue if we go with the idea of 1STR=10kg of weight...It would mean that STR:20 would now become STR:40! The cost would go up 3X, and not only that, now damages are all doubled! The END is increased and you'd have to reconfigure a bunch of the STR minimums. Rob

Yeah, that does solve the armour problem. I thought about how I'd do what you're doing, I think I'd go with the idea that a bunch of Shaolin Monks came to Europe around the 1400's and taught them Martial Arts (very plausible, but it does make it an alternate history) and then the martial arts caught on from there. Rob

One thought I had about combat luck is that it's supposed to represent the hero's ability to avoid or at least minimize injury, but not negate it completely. So therefore I think if I were finding players overusing it (in my current campaign isn't not really an issue because they haven't pushed it...) then I would make them take the disad "Minimum 1 Body Must Pass through" (-1/2) on it. The idea being their "luck" has made the damage non-fatal, but they still very much took the hit. The end result of this would be that characters would be able to take a lot of hits, even when naked, but they are still going to get banged up. If I were applying this stacked on armour (as per the rules..) I would say that combat luck obviously applies last, so if BODY gets through to the combat luck, they will still be in a position to take at least 1 point of it. A character with 9rPD from Combat Luck and 6pts of Chainmail may have 15rPD in total, but if he takes a 7 BODY Axe Hit, he's still takeing that 1 point of Body. However, if he takes a 12 BODY Axe hit..he's still only taking 1 Body! (Which seems quite heroic to me!) Not that I'd ever let a PC have more than 3pts of Combat Luck anyways... Rob

Sounds interesting...Wasn't there a movie based on this kind of concept called "The Musketeer"? (Kind've a HK-style retelling of the The Three Musketeers, I heard.) So, you made martial arts the focus of a euro-style fantasy game? Did you add more hand-to-hand styles? Or keep the focus on swordplay? Oh, and how did you keep them from loading down on armour? Which limits lightswordplay and martial arts? I find this idea really cool, actually. Sorry to ask so many questions!

Seems reasonable. Out of personal curiosity, why kind of non-magical fantasy game are you running? Rob

Which leads into the question of how important magic is to a fantasy RPG? Isn't what defines most fantasy worlds their magic systems or the influence of magic elements on society? If you are running nonmagical fantasy...why not just run historical games anyways? Rob

I was reading a review of a WuXia (Chinese Swordfighting) based RPG recently which used a setting that the reviewer (being familiar with the real thing) pointed out was in fact just a real period of Chinese history with a few name changes in important figures. And, the reviewer asked, quite reasonably, why bother to change them at all? Which got me thinking (and I'm not just talking about Chinese-themed campaigns)...Which is better? To set campaigns in "real history"? To set them in "unreal history"? (real history with small modifications, like the presence of magic...) Or to set them in completely fictional fantasy worlds? I used to be oriented 100% towards completely fantasy settings, after all, world building was half the fun. But, I have found myself slowly starting to see a great appeal in running in real settings. Our history is filled with so much cool stuff, and half the fun can be doing the research to make it authentic! I remember a GM friend of mine told me about a campiagn he ran very much set in a real historical world...and before the game was over the players had become so engrossed in the whole thing they were checking out books on the setting from the library! To me, this is one of the benefits of using a real setting, if they want to know stuff, they can actually go look it up! (Although I find most players too lazy to do so....^_-) Anyways, I was wondering what people here thought about the subject? Do you guys think it's better to go "real" or go for the full fantasy setting? (Which we all know will generally be based on elements of the real world anyways...) In my own current campaign, I set it in Qing Dynasty China circa 1672, allowed for unreal/cinematic elements (it's a WuXia game after all...) and we were off and running...real maps, real setting, real culture and clothes and money...and everything I need to know I can find with some reading and researching. To say nothing of being able to use books also set in that era as supplementary materials and inspiration. I'm finding it a nice change.

There's a book kicking around called "1421: The Year China Discovered America" by Gavin Menzies that is about a story I heard long ago. China sent out huge trade fleets that sailed the world, and although they never went to Europe, there is belief they did visit America. (The fleets were eventually scrapped because of a change in leadership in the Empire...) I have always thought a very cool alternate history scenario would be if China and Europe had started to colonize America at roughly the same time from different shores. (Which very well nearly happened!) How would things have turned out? Especially since it would have been likely the chinese colonists would have been more or less left on their own to develop in the new world due to distance and regular changes in government. You'd end up with Americans (and Canadians) meeting up with a Chinese state (or states) which had been there for hundreds of years by the time they worked their way to the West Coast. And the Chinese had gunpowder too, and would have been more that happy to arm the Natives to keep the Europeans at bay... So many possibilties! Rob

Re: Gurps Deadlands Actually, the only problem I have run into is players wanting to spend a point to make the badguys reroll their attack damage...:s One badguy rolled a critical success last game and the player wanted me to reroll it so he wasn't knocked out...I let him do it, and it was fine...but it seemed a trivial way to spend an experience point when his side wasn't losing or anything.... This group was used to Hero Points from the "DC/Blood of Heros" system to begin with, and love the idea of being able to add their own creative touches to the story. I have to admit, I have gotten used to it too, and it's nice to have a way the players can save themselves when luck goes against them without having to resort to GM intervention. As long as you don't let the points produce "absolute" results (except for "not die"), I think they don't get abused really. They can't use them to get out of traps, or really defeat a bad guy, just boost their odds at critical times and play with chance a little. (Which ends up just making the game all the more heroic.) Rob

I dunno, this chipped system is nice, but seems overcomplicated just to add a little cinematic flair to a game. I still use the system I borrowed from GURPS based on Unspent Character Points. Characters can blow their extra points to produce effects like re-rolls, not dying from lethal hits, and occasional cinematic effects. ("Why YES, there is a crowbar in the closet" or "yes, there is a table in the right spot for you to vault up onto the chandelier in this room", etc) All of it under GM rule, and I usually give them an extra point or two of experience to balance this, because I know they will save it anyways. If I want tough villians...the villians can do the same thing. Only the major villians, though. I started this since my players were used to DC/Blood of Heros and so they complained how much they missed being able to do cinematic stuff when they needed it and it would be cool. Rob

Someone once pointed out that Japanese mecha tend to come in two flavours...Walking Tanks and "Big Guys With Metal Skin"...The quickest way to tell the difference between the two is whether they have a "face" or not...If they're supposed to be a realistic vehicles they will have some sort of boxy sensor setup...If they're supposed to be anthropomorphized then they'll have a "face" of sorts with "eyes". So, in hero terms (if you look at it my way), the "Walking Tanks" would be made as Vehicles or automatons, and the "Big Guys with Metal Skin" would generally be made as Characters. (Since that's what they effectively are for all intensive purposes.) Therefore, I would build Transformers like this guy did, and build them as characters. And, would probably do the same for most "Robot Superhero" shows, and possibly even Gundams. (The "pilot" becomes the character when they enter it, perhaps subtituting for the INT and EGO of the mecha.) They tend to take "stun" and react like characters do (because that's what they effectively are), so it just seems logical that they be made this way. You could skip things like "life support" if you wanted, since there's no reason for them to need it, or include it at your whim if you want to be really completist. I guess about the only issue at hand is how to handle the size issue, but then a few levels of Growth can do that nicely enough. The idea of including "Damage Reduction" as well to simulate tough armour or just plain old size was also a cool idea too. Good luck! Rob

I want outside opinions on Martial Throws, I was thinking about them the other day and I thought to myself that the martial throw maneuver as listed isn't quite right. The theory behind defensive throws in such arts as Akido and Judo is that you're using your opponent's strength and energy against them when you throw. Something that I have never felt the Martial Throw as listed reflected well. It reflects it when someone runs at you (+v/5) but doesn't seem to reflect the idea that your opponent's strength is being used against them very well. One option I thought of to solve this apparent problem is to say that when a throw is used defensively (when someone takes a shot at you) and you successfuly throw them you get to add half of the damage classes of their attack to the throw damage they take. ie Xia Guo throws a Punch at Li Mu Bai, but Li had a saved action and uses it to grab Xia's punch and send him smashing onto the ground behind him. Xia has an 8D6 punch and Li has a STR of 15. Normally Xia would take 3D6 from the attack and land on his butt, but if I do it this way Xia would take (3+(8/2=4D6))=7D6 from the throw. This has a few advantages I think, since it makes "soft" martial arts practicioners more dangerous than they currently are, and can explain why when the powerhouse goes after the frail old guy the powerhouse always seems to end up in a heap on the floor. The other way I thought to look at it is that characters who are skilled at throwing simply buy extra damage classes, and that reflects their ability to use their opponent's energy against them. However, those extra damage classes would apply to all throws, even if the person was being grabbed and thrown, which doesn't quite seem right. Does my alternate approach to throwing seem unbalanced or unfair? I am considering using it in my current WuXia campaign, but wanted some outside opinions first. Rob

By sheer co-incidence, I happen to be running a WuXia campaign right now based on "The Book and the Sword" novel by Jin Yong, a translation of which can be found here: http://www.spcnet.tv/jinyong/jyreadingroom.shtml Jin Yong, by the way, is considered one of the greatest WuXia novelists in Chinese history, his novels originally presented as newspaper serial stories. He didn't invent the Genre, but he sure as heck influenced it a lot! The Book and the Sword was his first novel, and is highly highly recommended to anyone who wants to get into the genre. (Unfortunately it's one of the only complete works by him available online.) Also, if your players need to understand the concept of WuXia have them read this: http://www.heroic-cinema.com/eric/xia.html Good luck, and if you have any questions just ask. I am a newbie to the genre too, but I have a strong background (a degree in fact) in Asian studies. Rob

Snarf, How do you handle the monsters growing/evolving and the whole aspect of controlling them by the PCs? Rob

For this one, Modern Day. I was even thinking of using my home city as the setting, since the players know it, and unleashing the mysterious monsters into the population. Hmm, this is going to take some thought, since I was going to use the beastiary from Fantasy Hero to represent the monster forms of the cards, which the players then have to defeat to gain the cards in question. Of course, people are kinda gonna freak if they have all these monsters running around, unless of course they only take physical form rarely, as they do in Card Captor Sakura.... Maybe I'll have the monsters possess things and people, which is where they "hide", and then they have to be flushed out and defeated to gain their cards. That should add some roleplaying challenge and thought to the game. Anything which requires the players to deal with other people is good. Another idea is that each card has taken a person such as a PC as a "host" in an effort to stablize itself. The players gain cards by defeating their owners, or being defeated and lose their own cards. The players are up against all the other people of the city who gained these cards, and are either hunting for more or must be forced to give up their cards... Rob

You're not the only one...I just told my group the idea...I guess the campaign starts in two weeks...I have no say... Rob

Here's a topic, since a lot of modern anime shows involve collecting things/animals/spirits/people/magic/etc what do you think is the best ways to simulate this in a HERO system campaign? It can be trickier than you might think, since you are supposed to pay points for most of this stuff in a HERO campaign, especially one where the PCs get some design or modification options to the collected items. (As the items "grow", "evolve" or otherwise advance/change.) To start things off as an offshoot of the Magical Girls campaign, how about a campaign where you are collecting magical cards with spells embedded in them? The cards exist in "monster" forms until the players defeat them, then they shift to a "spell" form and become part of the player who defeats them's arsenal. Thinking about it for a few minutes. I was thinking the best way to handle it would be to make the PCs competant normals (prob 100pt characters) who would have whatever backgrounds they felt were most appropriate. Each character would be required to buy a multipower with say 50 active points, and all slots would be fixed ones. (so, say 5pts each) The mulitpower comes with a "requires magic card skill roll" (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4) and Incantations (-1/4) which brings the real costs down to 25pts and 2.5pts for each slot. The characters would buy 1 (and only one) slot for their multipowers to begin with, each has a "trap card" (GM decides how to make this up, have to think about this one more, but it's used to "capture" other active cards and make them part of the player's "deck") or alternately they start with a "card" of the player's own making. The players would be required to pay character/experience points for the cards as they capture them and wish to add them to their "deck". They could either set aside character points during creation for this, or they could use XPs to pay for the new cards at the end of most adventures. One of the nice things about fixed slots is that again, they are so cheap, so most PCs could easily earn enough XP in a single adventure to afford one card. If they didn't earn enough, or captured more than one card, those cards sit in their deck, but they aren't "experienced enough" to use them normally. The GM might choose to let them use the cards, but at a severe magic roll penality, or with dire consequences or side effects if they fail the roll...(like the monster is loose again...which might happen to normal cards on critically failed rolls too...) Hmm, could be fun... Rob

PhantomGM6101- Sorry guy, but I'm a little busy these days. Besides, you should easily be able to do it yourself using my outline and in a much more appropriate to your campaign format than I could. Just apply the template to the existing character concept and decide what her original "power" was, adding as you see fit. Remember they tend to start off with just one real "core" power, and then evolve from there to add new ones. Rob

Tech, Well, I think it's a matter of what you plan to throw them up against. While I could see raising their "personal power" to 45 or 60 active points if you wanted to give them a little more bang, I still think this is appropriate power level since 13 year old girls just should not have massive stats or skills. I was actually thinking as I made the package that making them 100pt normals was seriously off itself...A 100pt normal is a 1st class nonpowered adventurer, which Sailor Moon is most definitely not to start with. :-/ Watching the original SM series myself, I found they tend to function more like magical howitzers rather than front line superhero fighters. A few distract the enemy while the rest chuck energy bolts at them. Most other series are pretty much the same, with varying degrees of fighting skill. Rob

Steriaca, Sorry, I am a 3rd and 4th edition HERO GM, I have a copy of 5th Edition on order. I didn't realize Instant Change was among the things they got rid of. Oh well, Cosmetic Transformation then. Same Same. They change clothes and get powers! Rob

Instant Change is there to be the trigger to allow all the other powers, which are bought with the Only in HERO ID limitation to function. Without it, she can't change into her costume, "be reborn", and get the powers she needs to triumph over evil!