UltraRob

Re: Balancing Magic Use

Thread- Ressurect!

Just to add my 2 cents.

END Reserves bought with a max of INTx5, and a max REC of INT/5 that recovers once per hour will pretty much bring those mages right down to earth with the rest of the PCs pretty fast. It means the PCs just can't sling without consequence, and worry about resting a lot.

Sample:

Merlon the Magnificent: INT 10- 50 END/ REC:2/hr

Harkon of the Golden Sun: INT:20- 100 END/ REC:4/hr

Rob

Re: Naruto

http://www.herocentral.net/campaignInformation.htm?campaignId=421889

Linkage to the Naruto game being run on HERO Central. If you want a good idea of what we did, just check out the characters page. Mine is Naizen Keiichi.

Yeah, I was looking at your campaign just last week. I'm thinking of doing a new Naruto campaign myself (not online), and have been debating how to handle the Jutsu. My current line of thinking is doing them as a VPP, with the characters being limited to ones they know from their personal list and having to use one of the three skills: Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Ninjutsu to actually use the Jutsu.

I felt this would allow them to learn new ones fairly quickly, and reflect the large variety of minor Jutsu that the Naruto characters would normally have they don't mention much. (ie using Chakra to boost movement, accuracy, and other more skills-oriented Jutsu.)

The only trick with Naruto I thought of is keeping them from constantly using Jutsu since the Naruto characters actually only use them rarely outside of combat. I've considered making Jutsu simply cost Long-Term END, using End Reserves and even Charges, but haven't picked one yet.

edit!

Oh, and one other thing I came across in my Naruto research, I noticed nobody seems to have mentioned that Naruto has the elemental strength-weakness system in effect. (It's not mentioned much in the comic, but it IS there.) Not sure whether to model it or not. To quote Wikipedia:

Depending on the ratio in which physical and spiritual energy is mixed, different types of chakra can be formed. Elemental chakra is the most common product of this, and is used to perform elemental jutsu. The five elemental natures are earth, fire, lightning, water, and wind. Most ninja have a natural affinity to one type of chakra, but have the capacity to create elemental chakra apart from their own affinity. Each element is both stronger and weaker than another. The order is fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water, with each being weaker than the previous and stronger than the next. Water loops back into fire. Additionally, elemental techniques can be countered by techniques of the same element, provided the technique being countered is of equal or lesser power.

Rob

Re: Team Iron Angel-BDGA: A Superheroic Audio Adventure Serial

Is this a CD or something on the web?

No, it's a pack of sound effects made available by a group who are fan-dubbing the "lost" Japanese transformers series's into English. You can find it here in case you want to snazzy up your PC sound effects.

Rob

Re: Team Iron Angel-BDGA: A Superheroic Audio Adventure Serial

Re: Attuning to Magic Items

Random thought as I was reading this thread:

Why not treat items bought as focus for points more as a kind've right to have something worth that cost than the cost of that particular item per-se. Kind've like an odd gadget pool, but with a lot more GM whim-based limits. So if a player loses an item he paid points for, he has the "right" to use those points to buy something else to replace it further down the line. Maybe even something costing more if he's willing to invest more points into it.

I realize this could be dangerous, since you could have players losing weapons whenever they want to upgrade, but if the GM is making them work to replace those weapons in a good adventuring and roleplaying way, even that's not much of a problem.

Rob

Re: Naruto

In honor of the debut of the "new" Naruto Shippuuden (Hurricane) anime (which is really the old one continued with a jump forward in time), I thought I'd post the link to the Wikipedia entry on Jutsu, which literally contains writeups for every Jutsu (funky weird ninja power) used in the anime and manga! Hundreds of them! Be warned though, some of them are probably too nasty for a lot of campaigns.

Your chance to terrify your players is HERE!

Enjoy!

Rob

Re: Opposing Magic Systems

Hey, that's a cool idea! I like that! Get too many of those darn Dark Elves in one place and your ability to cast say, Light Magic, could be extremely screwed or hindered. +1 DCV against attack spells, and -1 to the casting roll for other spells could be a nice way to do it.

One mechanics question, though. Wouldn't you need to buy culmulative on the power for it to stack like that?

Rob

Re: Team Iron Angel-BDGA: A Superheroic Audio Adventure Serial

Windfall, look for new ones every two weeks on Tuesdays, give or take a day. This one was a week late due to Chinese New Year, which where I live now is a week-long holiday and I was on vacation. I'll do my best to keep them as regular as possible.

Thanks for the feedback!

Rob

Re: Team Iron Angel-BDGA: A Superheroic Audio Adventure Serial

Thanks Oddhat, glad you liked them! There will be 10 of them in the first "season" when all is said and done. It's been an interesting challenge to do a Supers story in audio format, luckily I like challenges!

Rob

Re: Team Iron Angel-BDGA: A Superheroic Audio Adventure Serial

Re: Challenge Lists

A Gambler

A Princess

A Poisoned Woman

A troupe of Street Performers

A bowl of Soup

Rob (if you want to add me in too, I'll be impressed! )

Re: [Warming Rant] GM feeling uninspired

GM burnout is my diagnosis, and my recommendation is 6 months to a year away from gaming. I've done it a few times, and it's worked wonders for me and my GMing. If you don't have to worry about the whole group falling apart it makes it easier, but even if they do, you're better off taking a rest. Gaming is supposed to be FUN.

Rob

Hi All,

Well, I decided to take my years of HERO GMing and combine it with my new love of Podcasting to produce what I call a "Superheroic" Audio Adventure Drama Serial. I managed to pull together a cast of talented amateur actors and we've begun our bi-weekly trip into adventure!

Episode One is here. (it's short, an intro of sorts)

Episode Two is here. (the story begins!)

I'll post other episodes to this thread as they come out, if people find them interesting.

Enjoy!

Rob

Re: Weapons of the Gods Mini Review

Make sure you visit the EOS website and download "Auspicious Beginnings", perhaps one of the best intro adventures to a game ever written.

I have actually run the game (and the module) as-is, and I found it fun to run and play once you get your head wrapped around a few ideas. One thing to consider if you run it is that PCs are REALLY durable, they're not meant to die unless they really screw up. They can get really screwed up, but won't die often, and a fight between major characters can take a while. Characters are meant to retreat long before they actually die.

WotG's "followers" rules however are inspired and very well done, I've run games with PC's versus 20 thugs or more and had it fly by in a cinematic flash. The LORE system also works well, but requires a lot of GM planning.

Overall, a good game, but like you, I still prefer HERO.

Rob

Re: Naruto

I make this comment as someone who has only seen a handful of episodes, but it seems to me that Naruto characters would be using an End Reserve to power their special abilities. Specifically, an End Reserve which recovers slowly enough that they can't just keep whipping off attacks without quickly running out of End. If you want them to mostly focus on their martial arts and only use their special abilities sparingly, then have the ER recover every 5 minutes, if you want them only used at the most crucial times, then make it once per hour.

It's been my experience that with ER's, the REC is actually more important than the END itself in moderating the effect it will have on the game. I generally limit the ER's in my WuXia games to 5xEGO and the ER's REC to EGO/5, but you may have other limits in mind. (ie someone with EGO:10 will have a max ER of END:50 and REC of 2.) Since Naruto characters seem rather strong willed, this seems appropriate. If you want higher powered games, then max it at EGOx10 and EGO/2 accordingly.

Rob

Rob

Re: House of the Flying Daggers

Yeah, the inability of daggers and darts to do much according to the HERO rules for armour always bugged me. Characters in WuXia stories just don't wear much armour and darts get a little tricky too.

Rob

Re: Some GMing Advice? Please

Just to add some things that occured to me afterwards...

1) Keep It Simple Stupid: Come up with a really basic plot outline and then make up some NPCs to go with it, then let the players do the rest through play. Don't try to overawe them or feel you have to give them the best GMing experience of their lives, just try to have fun with the material and let things evolve naturally.

2) Steal Shamelessly: By which I not only mean steal plots and hooks, but also whole setting ideas. As Thia pointed out, you're all going to need to be on the same page as far as the campaign concept goes. If the simplest way to do this is "We all just saw X-3, right? Make characters for that world and go!" then do it! Your first campaign doesn't need to be brilliant, it just needs to be fun and interesting. Nothing kickstarts a campaign like a familiar setting to all involved, and then that's one less thing you have to worry about. (WARNING: State at the start of the first session that this is an "alternate reality version of that setting", that way they can't argue with you about story points if they know it better. )

Oh, and a suggestion: for years I always started each Supers campaign I ran with villains taking over a giant shopping mall. I told them to make/pick superheros, and then the situation, and then let them play "tag" with a group of villains I'd chosen. Of course the villains were up to something in that mall, a different thing each campaign, but in a public supers game nothing beats lots of property damage and bystanders.

Rob

Re: Some GMing Advice? Please

Go read:

Essential Avengers 3+4

Essential X-men 1+2

These are the big cheap phonebooky black and white ones from Marvel, if you read these, I will promise you that you will "get" superheros (Well, Silver Age heros (Avengers) and Bronze Age heros (X-men)) and be damn entertained. Part of the reason I suggest this is because getting them in the "phonebook" format like that really lets you see them flow in terms of the bigger picture and how they were plotted and structured. It will probably help a lot in letting you see how a good Supers story is set up.

I'm sure others will be along shortly with real GMing advice...

Rob

Re: Asian Character/Campaign Visual Inspiration

It's Hamlet....

Very cool sets and scenes though. Thanks!

Rob

Re: Final Fantasy: Academy

It seems like you're setting this up to use static school campuses where the characters study, but I'd like to suggest an alternative. Instead of having the PCs hang around a campus, why not (at 2nd year or perhaps 3rd) send them on a walkabout of sorts. Have them journey through a network of temples, monasteries and other places where they can learn from experts in various fields, and perhaps pass various tests too (to gain entry, or to leave). They might even be able to learn different things at the same temple, but each PC can choose which things to learn, differentiating their studies more.

Just a thought.

Rob

Re: Mounten Continental Campaign

Hmm, I like the premise. Reminds me of One Piece. Very cool, the more I think about it, the more I might steal it sometime!

Also, Con means he'll take a lickin' and keep on kickin'! In a way, it's a more useful stat than Dex. Although, since it's obviously a 150 campaign, why are you letting 3 points go to waste and not putting them into Dex for Dex 11? It would be a major improvement all around.

Rob

Re: Things you do to acheive immersion

I've made use of pictures of major NPCs (via artwork found on the net since I can't draw) and music in various languages when characters have attended concerts and such.

When I was running a Macross game years ago, one of the characters was the resident Minmei clone, and when there was battles at various points she would often sing to try to influence the enemy. The player actually prepped lyrics and proceeded to sing whenever she did this as a way of getting me to give bonuses. He was actually not a very good singer, but the effort was worth the bonuses, and it fit the game. Music is power, after all.

Heh, that reminds me of a "multimedia moment" many a year ago. In a Champions game the party was pretty much dead, they'd finished off the villians but secondary explosions had gotten them. Only one party member who was elsewhere in the base was left up and around, and he had to reach the rest of the group before the obligatory big bomb went off. I'd set up a clock to show when the bomb would go off, and the clock was counting down fast...

Suddenly, on it's own, the CD player in the background set to play random tunes kicked on a new song....the theme from "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

I still remember the looks on the player's faces.

On another note, I always wanted to make up a set of Powerpoint slides to go along with the briefing my heros got. Either that or do a Flash one, but I think the Powerpoint one would be easier. However, since I've been playing mostly Fantasy games for the past few years, it hasn't been appropriate.

Rob

Re: Warrior Nymphs

Going with Michael's idea -- the Warrior Wood Nymphs could be a form of homunculi brewed up from some sort of magical process involving the wood specified. In fact... ooohhh... Warrior Wood Nymphs are grown in groves! So you have these dedicated tree farms used to create armies of Warrior Wood Nymphs. Might be a little too modern seeming... but nothing says the grove has to be organized into straight rows or anything. It might also be possible to run with the idea that a single tree produces warriors like fruit. Complex magics are used to make a tree produce nymphs -- in fact' date=' there's a nymph mentioned in AB I that works like this.[/quote']

 

Sounds like the people of Twelve Kingdoms. Hmm, I have been going more from the idea that they're spirits than physical beings, except for their tree-self.

 

That said, the idea of groves dedicated to certain types of Warrior Nymphs is a good idea. They'd probably be strategically located throughout the kingdom, and a good target if you wished to eliminate the kingdom's defenses with a little black ops.

 

Rob

Re: Warrior Nymphs

You know, the more i think about this the less i think of these as "artifical" beings (created by the kigndom's mages for a specific purpose) and more as a race of beings that were always there and has, for some reason, chosen to ally itself with the humans and/or the royal house of this particular kingdom.

 

which means that each nymph, like each human, is a person with a personality.

Hmmm, taking that to it's logical extreme, you end up with a race of effectively Elf-types which would probably work to replace "Elves" in most fantasy settings.

I did have an idea floating around in the back of my head that the Nymphs weren't made by the people making use of them. They're either naturally occuring, or were made by some greater magic users/gods at some point in the past to act as guardians for some area. At some point humans found them and convinced them to work with the humans, perhaps against a mutual foe. Over time, they formed a kind of symbiotic relationship of the humans acting as caretakers while the Nymphs act as defenders. However, given human nature this symbiotic relationship has reached the point where the Nymphs are virtual slaves to the humans, having been bent to their will for so long and having no cultural identity except as defenders of the human kingdom.

A very real story for Nymph emancipation could come from this.

I know this diverges from the original concept, but it is an avenue to explore.

 

It also raises the question of what bthe population of the kingdom uses for construction materials and fuel, since this setup means that cutting down trees is generally a bad idea and is going to get important people (not to mention dangerous warrior nymphs) very angry at you.

That assumes they hold "normal" trees in equal value with themselves, which might not be necessarily true. If you take it too far, you end up with a race of eco-tyrannist types defending the plant world! Can you imagine how the Nymphs would feel about us EATING plants for food?

That said, the humans could easily make use of rocks, metals and ceramics, or they could say special prayers before they actually cut down trees or harvest crops out of respect for the Nymphs.

Cool questions!

Rob

Re: Warrior Nymphs

Ideas for a few more types:

 

Beech: They have perfectly white skin, and pale hair. They are the record-keepers, planners, and technicians. (Beach bark has been used to write on.)

Something no army should be without.

Thorn (aka Hawthorn): These appear as old, short, bent women with dark brownish skin and white hair. These are the mages of the warrior nymphs, with a wide-ranging command of "witchcraft-ish" magic (you may want to remove the "battle-magic" of the maples, and make them simply the commonest warrior). ("By Oak, Ash, and Thorn" is an ancient invocation, and you've already got Oak and (potentially) Ash covered.)

Well, the Maples could be be sorcerer-type mages (raw mana bolts and such) while the Thorn are Druid-types who can control spirits and plants and such. That would balance them out against each other, since both would be needed.

Yew: (If not using for healing). These tallish, supple nymphs are archers par excellence. (Yew has been used for bows for centuries.)(I don't know any connection between cedars and archery. However, cedar-wood is great for defending against insects and other pests; perhaps Cedar-nymphs work with Olive-nymphs [see next].)

The truth is I know very very little of the symbology of trees (looking back I should have researched that first, but live and learn) and just slapped tree names on what I thought might be cool. Yew should definitely the archers, not Cedar, who as you say could be a kind of support-mage type, perhaps the Quartermasters of the army.

Olive: These "wide" nymphs are the cooks, sutlers, carters, etc. of the warrior nymph army. If it has to do with logistics and supply, Olive nymphs are the ones doing it. (The connection to food and cooking is obvious.)

Hmmm...As I conceived of them, they wouldn't need to eat, but that's something I could play with. Also, there are humans with the army as it's led by human officers, so they would definitely need to eat.

(Douglas) Fir: These are the giantesses of the nymphs. They have dark brown, rough skin and long, shaggy hair. Give them 4 to 6 levels of Growth, with "reach" Stretching and +'s to STR. (The Douglas Fir is the second tallest species of tree, and other (Old World) Firs are tall, too. Good one to use if the redwood seems to "out of place" in a fantasy world for you. Also, they are not so limited in range and ecological niches, nor so delicate, as redwoods.)

I just had a vision of Firs battling a squad of Trolls. Now THERE would be a really nasty fight!

I'm trying to think of a tree that is associated with seeing long distances, detecting the hard to see/smell/hear/etc., and other spy-like activities.

 

BTW, this is a very cool idea.

Thanks, your ideas are equally cool. I will definitely use them. I posted this "seed" of an idea here for exactly this reason, to see what other people could make of what I thought was a nifty idea.

Rob