The Horror

I'm thinking of the Predator here... Really, I do like the idea, but would rather it was built with a delay on it, like a clock counting down. That way the characters would have to race against the clock to disarm it, or even find the body then disarm it. The Horror

Ok, here is the situation. In a month or so I shall begin my first Champions Campaign. This is my first use of the full blown Hero System (I've previously used only the playtest Sidekick rules). The characters are using 300 points base + 150 points disadvantages. There will be two groups, one of Supervillains (4 players) and one of Superheroes (5 players). Both of the groups have to build a base and vehicles from their points, but the Supervillains each get to pick 3-4 free Henchmen that will be about 250 points with disadvantages each. Some of those evil henchmen will have goons under them in turn (like the ninja school for example). The Supervillains are not aware that a Superhero group is out there to foil them, and depending on how well the Supers respond to the problems they may not even be an issue for the Villains. The Villains have to concern themselves with accomplishing the objectives of their evil master, with competing Supervillain groups within their evil organisation, with the government authorities, with each other, and possibly with the Superheroes as well. The Superheroes concentrate their game on their secret identities, relationships around them and with their communities, and with foiling the plots of the Supervillains (as in meeting and beating up the henchmen when they are sent out on missions). At some stage there will likely be cameo appearances from one group into the other, and maybe even a full blown fight between the groups at the climax. What sort of limits should I put on character design? I have to be very careful not to unbalance things because at the final battle one group could potentially absolutely anhilate the other way too easily. I know the villains have 12-16 henchmen extra, but the vast majority of them will be always away on missions, captured, killed, imprisoned, etc. Right now I am working on the assumption that it's going to be a 60 point cap on active costs, with an 80 point cap on their main gimmick power. A limit of about 4d6 on Killing damage, and of 12d6 on their main attack (8-10d6 on the rest). As far as armour goes I figured a cap of about 10 rPD/rED, and of 20 PD/ED on top of that. I figured that 4d6 KD would mean about 4 body on average would get through from nasty attacks. A cap of 20 PD/ED on top of that would mean about 12 Stun points on average would get through from a 12d6 hit. The problems I see. If they pick these allowed defences, an average 8d6 hit would do no Stun. A 10d6 hit would do an average of 5 Stun. None of the normal damage attacks would do any body, except for the 12d6 hit which would do usually 2 body damage. I was also going to set a cap on stats and skills points (subject to individual exceptions based on character) based on the recommended limits in the Champions book for 350 point characters. Does this sound ok? I'm worried because once the characters are made it will be too difficult to go back and change them all, as well as all the NPCs. One of the characters wants to go a Colossus type brick. What sort of armour should he have (probably a little higher than the limit)? Any help is very much appreciated. The Horror

Re: Character: LV-426 Life Form Very nice! Do you have a write up for the Predator as well? The Horror

No, that is all perfect. Thank you very much for your answers. Quick and to the point. The Horror

I read quickly through the VPP rules, but am still missing something. What is the cost exactly? Let's say you pay 60 points for the VPP cost, then another 30 for the control cost. How much extra do you pay for each power? Are there slots for powers like in a multipower or can you just use any power you want (restricted by the special effects of the VPP)? If you want a VPP with Transform, EB, Flash, do you have to pay for any of them (like 60 points for each or something, modified by limitations and advantages) or do you just use any of them you want as long as they add up to 60 points total? (changes to the use restricted by the VPP limitations of course). Thanks, The Horror

I am very impressed! Very impressed indeed! You are the first person to recognise that avatar either here or at RPGnet. Sometime next year I plan to start running a game progressing through those books in order. Will put up the details here for your perusal and for any recommendations you may have. It's nice to know that other fans are around this group. The Horror

He wants to create a character similar to Kyle Raynors GL. It will be a 300 base + 150 disad character, with about 60-75 active point cap on powers. I'm thinking an OIF, with charges, every power in a flexible multipower. Should most be based on EGO or something similar to represent the usage of willpower to create things? Powers include your suggestions of Summon and Transform. Since I'm very new to the Hero system I'm going to have to take another look through FREd and see if there are any other powers he'll need as well. One of the earlier posts mentions EBs and a Force Field. Does this sound ok so far? The Horror

So did these characters actually ever get made with the Hero rules? One of my players to be wants to play a Green Lantern like character, so I figured it would be nice to show him what the Green Lantern actually looks like with the Hero rules. The Horror

Excellent. Thanks for that. I'll see about them in that order, and maybe the ultimate vehicle and bestiary if I feel the need afterwards. The Horror

I've posted this same post at RPGnet today. However, I figured you guys here would probably be of a lot more help to me. I'm looking for a system to run games set in the Perry Rhodan universe (some obscure sci-fi series that most of you won't have heard of). Military style adventures and characters, mutant powers (teleport, telepathy, etc), hyperdrives, laser guns, alien races, primitive to ultra-advanced worlds, force fields, etc. Anyhow, I was wondering if which of the Hero System books I would purchase to make this setting a reality. From what I have read the Hero System is indeed the best suited for my purposes (I am not a big fan of GURPS), but I need to decide what books to buy. I know I'll be needing Hero 5th and Star Hero. What else should I get? The Spacer's Toolkit and the Ultimate Vehicle seem appropriate both for ideas and for designing spaceships and personal futuristic gear. I understand that the Toolkit is very much oriented towards the Terran setting, but is it still worth getting for the setting I have described? Should I postpone getting the Ultimate Vehicle guide until the Vehicle sourcebook comes out and get that instead? Is the Terran book of use to me even though I don't plan to use the setting (as in does it have details of planets and people that I can just transport into another setting)? Is Alien Wars going to be of use for designing different Alien races, or is it just for the Terran setting? What book do I need to design things like Dinosaurs and other Alien entities? Advice would be very much appreciated. Alternative system suggestions are also most welcome. The Horror