badger3k

Re: DEX vs. CSLs To be honest, I've rarely ever seen any superheroic character take NCM, since it doesn't fit the genre. For sidekicks and the rest, sure, but when dealing with supers, I always went by the idea that the campaign sets what is "normal human range" and what is superheroic/mutant/power/etc. Some characters were able to achieve superheroic levels of ability through intense effort (and good but non-mutant genes). As for Batman, I really haven't thought of it, but whatever way is used, he has so much experience that it is really pointless. Either way would work for him. Considering DCs use of the metagene, I'm surprised no one made the hypothesis that for non-super-supers (like Bats and Nightwing), maybe their metagenes are active at a very very low level (which would make the "best human" line a joke, but it already is) or else that even inactive, it gave them a higher potential than other humans. Whoever said that human potential had to be even across the board? For heroic level games, where the normal human potential is preset as 20, then NCM works just fine. You can push beyond that, and many have done so, it just takes more effort.

Re: Yes, but what about the other guys? Not if the EDM can cause a change that renders the past different. If all that exists is the present, then the past exists only as a remainder (memories, physical effects, etc) - if you change the present, you can change the past. It's the same as the stereotype of last-Tuesday-ism, where we were created last Tuesday and everything before that is artificial memories - I think "Big O" made a bit of this, although it was a bit confusing at times. All you would be doing is expanding the wavefront further (ie - opening the possibilities further than normally possible, but this is magic or superpowers, so what the heck). The idea that the character is central or unique is absurd, except for that moment. There is nothing to suggest that further wishes couldn't affect the previous wisher. It could completely return things the way they were, or worse. Likewise, the hypothesis that every action we do creates another possible universe where we did the other thing suggests that we all are gods, creating new universes all the time, yet we don't even know it. Since Time seems to be defined as movement through space, we are falling through time the whole "time", so to speak. If we fell faster, we would move slower through time. I find the hypothesis that gravity is the effect of something in another universe that we are feeling the effects of an interesting idea, and one that could make for interesting game ideas. What if people were dying, being killed by something in another universe. How to stop it....

Re: Need some wierd alien illos for your next campaign? Wayne Barlowe: http://www.umtoquedearte.com/diamond/gtoextwb1.htm

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares I thought that Fire Down Below was either a porno or a sex-ed/health film.

Re: Incarnation Awareness For knowledge, I'd make that a VPP for knowledges and skills (the character remembers things, or in this case, is told something or how to do something). For others, I'd go with Luck, maybe with a skill roll (the communication with ancestors skill). Since Luck is a pretty subjective power, it can have any of the results you want (such as finding the hidden tunnel your great-great-great self had built). Edit - maybe put a limitation on this that the power can be limited to his incarnations only, which can start out undefined, and would get narrowed down as the game progressed - "you can't dig a tunnel here, you have been travelling in South America those years, remember?"). It would require more paperwork, but if you wanted an outlet for creativity, this is one. I'd only suggest a -1/4 for this limitation, though.

Re: Yes, but what about the other guys? The simplest solution is that while the character moves to an alternate reality, the old one disappears, written over by the new one. This of course, destroys the old, but since the new are the same to the Nth degree, there is no difference. It's the same as the Star Trek transporter, since the person is not sent. They are encoded and transmitted to somewhere else and reconstructed, so essentially they are killed and remade anew. If there was an original James T Kirk, he has been dead and gone a thousand times over. The same can be said of us, where our cells and molecules are replaced over the years - there might be very little of the you that was born all those years ago - you are essentially a new person in a similar configuration to the old person, enough for us to handle continuity. Same thing. You are not so much "retreating" as you are "rewriting" the universe at a fundamental level. EDM can be viewed as the cosmic etch-a-sketch. Now, the Noble Causes comic book used a similar EDM plot device in their story. A bit weird, since we're not used to looking at things like that, but it hasn't stopped them.

Re: Questions from a New Hero For the bow, if you want to give it more "oomph", you can go with ranged HKA (so that you can add strength to the damage) - a 4d6 RKA costs 60 active, but: Bow 1: HKA 2d6+1 (4d6 w/STR), Ranged (+1/2) (52 Active Points); OIF Unbreakable (-1/2), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), No Knockback (-1/4) Active 52, real 21 is a bit cheaper. Of course, a 4d6 KA is real strong. I made the mistake of letting a character with high strength have this and in our practice run it was too much - he cut a norm in half (in his defense, he didn't know he had no powers, in going against him, he definitely had no code vs killing). I just present it for completeness. (is that a word?) I am not sure I would use "Expendable" for an Unbreakable Personal Focus. Expendable is meant to refer to something that is used up each time the power is used. Using that would mean that she would have to find a new bow each time it is used (the meaning of "fire and forget"?). (edit - whoops - I meant to say that I would not use the Expendable option for this. I'd roleplay that part of the limitation if it ever came up. There are a lot of options if she did lose the bow - developed powers that replace it, discovered a new magic bow, have a high-tech one built for her, take an opponents weapons of similar point costs...lots of replacement options if you didn't want to run an adventure to get a new bow).

Re: Questions from a New Hero I didn't really look too closely at her, but I wanted to make a quick comment on this. I wouldn't put the weapon in the MP since it is not the same power (why would her bow become her foot stomp?). There isn't a connection, unless you buy the entire thing as her bow (using the weapon as a club, etc). Not that easy with the thunderclap and foot stomp. The individual slots for extra +d6 for the HTH attack does not make a lot of sense. You can buy one slot, and you can just choose to limit your attacks to +1d6 or +2d6 instead of using all +4d6. If each were different, such as one that has "no knockback", one that does double, one that is AP, and one that is...penetrating maybe - give each slot something unique. Using 4 slots for what is really 2 attacks (one +2d6 HTH, no knockback; the other +4d6 HTH) is a bit of a waste. Make them stand out as really worth the extra slot and point cost. Just a couple of thoughts. I haven't looked at the rest yet.

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others I would definitely not agree that adding this type of codswallop would not improve Hero, except as an option, of course. I grew up with real wargames, and don't want to make my RPG a tabletop war game. Real life isn't like that. There's a difference between a tactical game, and a tactical wargame. 4e has really gone more to being a tactical wargame, where such arbitrary things as position on a board matters more than actual (let's say "realistic" tactics - such as "move around that ridge and flank them"). It encourages more of "let's move to this square, where they will have to provoke an AoO if they try to move here" - to me, that is more artificial and less about real tactics. I grew up on real wargames before I got into RPGs, and I prefer to keep them separate (for fun, why not look up advanced Squad Leader for real wargame fun). D&D's combat system is meant to reflect that the one strike you roll for represents the one that may hit out of the many swung in that time increment, yet you still can get in that one extra strike when your opponent could potentially be up to 10' away? This is because each square is 5' across, and both characters could be at opposite sides of their respective squares, giving a large distance between them. But, if you cross into that magical space, you can get attacked (unless you have a Controller who yells at you, then you can shift without getting attacked). Yeah. No thanks. Hero lets me have more options that are not limited by arbitrary lines on the table. Edit - my 4e Ranger thread has my take on the Attack of Opportunity mechanic.

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others One thing that I have noticed on the WOTC forums (other than the predominance of character optimization boards that were purposely put there so that people could "pimp their character" for the most possible power - and there are some idiotic builds there ) is the idea that a character is balanced if they are about the same as every other character. A character may excel in one area, but it can't be any more than any other character. This was usually argued through the player vs player mechanic, although there were the whole "cleric is the greatest, druid is the greatest, wizard is the greatest" threads as well (and the "fighters suck" threads). Most involved the same kind of cheese as the optimization boards. I think that idea, that all characters have to do the same kind of damage (which is usually what it boiled down to, IMO) that lead to the changes in 4e. Every game needs some kind of balance so that everyone has fun. Despite (or because of) 30-odd years of gaming, I've never had any of the problems that people complained about. As in Hero, balance is a player/GM thing - even the best "balanced" game in the world can (and is going to be - I give it 6 months) abused. 4e takes the player v player idea, and the equal damage is balanced ideas and runs with it to the hilt, instead of giving options and letting the players make their own. It is easier for people to pick up - they don't have to do anything but plug in creatures. But it also takes away possibilities from the game. That's why I like Hero - we can set it up any way we like, and while it involves more work, I still follow the old adage that what you work for is better then what is given to you, since you earn it. Granted, I won't turn down any millionaires giving away money.... For me, 4e is...bland. I have heard that the newer splat books will expand upon the basic game, with more feats, and I assume more classes and paragon paths (the new name for prestige classes, basically, although you have to take one or lose out on powers and abilities, so you better hope there is one you like). How the game will stay "balanced" when you go back to 600 classes....

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others

Re: Spectre of 6e I know people playing 2nd ed D&D, I've run old Pacesetter Chill campaigns, and I've actually thought of running a few "nostalgia" games, with Tunnels and Trolls, Runequest, and others.

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others I've never seen any problem in 3x that discourages multiclassing. From the Munchkin level dipping to my own players doing it to greater depth, there wasn't any problem with it. Of course, if about all you were concerned about is damage, then according to the boards if you multiclassed you made a useless character. But I've never personally seen it. With 4e, you take a slight penalty in your own class, spend some feats, but gain just about the same ability from your single multiclass. Since you lose abilities and gain higher ones, all you do is lose (pulling it out of my tail) a 15th level power from your class and gain a 15th level power from your other one. Story wise, how you explain going from being able to light a candle to suddenly tossing fireballs that fry mountains...well, that's on you. Instead of working for higher power (at a cost), you really pay very little for full power.

Re: Spectre of 6e And so long as my HD program doesn't suffer major trauma - I just bought the 2-year deal!

Re: Spectre of 6e As long as there isn't a massive break like they did elsewhere, shunting the older version of the game's forums off somewhere, locking a lot of others, and making the new forum a sewer (although I admit I have some fascination with train wrecks). Hopefully the forums won't suffer major changes. If I see 6eVengers and garbage like that here.... Just my concerns for the forums, but to the OP: Welcome, learn it now - you won't regret it, because no matter what happens with 6e, you'll have learned a great system and way of looking at games (I admit to being a system junkie, but since Hero I have a habit of looking at other games and thinking of how I can do it better in Hero ).

Re: Mac compatible? I meant native original system. I can run XP, Linux, and whatever else this thing can run, but it's not my main system. That's what I mean. I have to use Windows at work, and I have a few programs that need it at home, but I do not really like using it. Of course, I prefer consoles for games, I have better things for my computer (unless I could get the ps2-style gamepad to work). The other problem I have is that I hate paying monthly fees; I share the internet, and hogging it for a game is not something I like; and I'm not very social online - unless I know you (except in forums like this), leave me alone. I almost tried the Everquest for PS2, but there was a problem putting in my card so I never did. If I could be a solo hero, that would be fine. If I have to rely on others...I'm not really interested. But if the game helps bring people to Hero, I'm all for it.

Re: Mac compatible? Meaning, "we don't want to have to hire one".

Re: Mac compatible? Oh well, I get to save money then. I have parallels, but if it ain't native, then I'll pass. Until they decide to give Mac (or PS3, my preferred game machine) a go, they'll just pass on my money (like they'll notice ). I guess they don't want the Linux market either. Now I'm curious about market demographics and online subscribers. Of course, if you never make games for a demographic, then they'll never show up. Catch-22.

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others I still have a bunch of Metagaming's games - I was looking at WarpWar the other day, as well as Melee and Wizard. I just have to find my copy of Sticks & Stones. I've got to introduce my group to these games one night.

Re: Traveller Hero Good ideas. Thanks for the work and advice. (again)

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others As a DM, I disagree - it's far less fun for me, and it's been so-so with my group. There are issues of "balance" between monsters and players so far. Two-hit near kills from monsters, even with player HP jacked up, from level-appropriate encounters is not fun for the players. They've (the characters) actually rested more than in the last games we played in 3.5 (mainly because they could heal better in 3.5, and had no real powers that had to be recharged). Irony. If I get colors like that, I could get arrested and lose my job - I've seen the commercials. It's an English-language thing, but it's not "you should see it", but "you could see it". I got into RPGs from board wargames and an interest in real tactical miniature wargames, and from that standpoint, I agree with your assessment - it's very much like Chainmail (in spirit, that is) (Damn, now I want to dig out my copy and play a bit with miniatures and rulers.) It uses similar language and similar themes, but since D&D and computer/MMO games have been closely tied together, I'm not surprised. So, you admit it's not D&D? A bit older than you, been there, done that...now, did you understand the FGU Chivalry & Sorcery magic rules?

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others

Re: Learning from the mistakes of others

Re: Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fish! I like the Kane series (Karl Edward Wagner) for that type of Lovecraft/Howard setting with ancient magics in a Swords & Sorcery setting. Bloodstone is one that I really like. This type of setting can have a lot to go for it - ancient golems gone amuck, magical diseases or transformative effects being released by unknowing people...lots of fun things.