badger3k

Re: Brooklin Rage! (part 2)

Re: Is it Flash or is it me? Getting off the Mind Control bit, how come nobody brought up the guy who flashed you. Sure, both the SPD 2 and SPD 6 lose half their phases (I agree that this is fair), but neither has anything to do with the guy who got them. He still has all his phases, and his actions are more important then yours - he's the guy who is going to clock you one. If both targets (2 and 6) get flashed for 6 segments, and Flashman has a SPD 4, he still has only two actions that might affect the targets. Neither target is at an advantage or disadvantage. Offensively, both targets lose 1/2 their phases. Defensively, both targets have the same disadvantage, since the villains SPD determines his actions, not the target SPD. Heck, if the GM is willing, I'm sure that a Dispel or Healing (or Aid even) could be built to counter the effects of Flash. Flash Recovery: Dispel Flash 6d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (36 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Self only (-1/2), Always On (-1/2) I know that for a fantasy game, a spell like this might get rid of the effects of a magical flash effect. In a superhero game...perhaps. This is more of an all or nothing, but even a supress might work, if the GM lets it. You can also buy penalty skill levels or CSLs that are "only to counter Flash effects" as well, if the Flash Defense does not work for the character concept. Maybe the 6th edition needs to have some power that works on penalties like this?

Re: Brooklin Rage! (part 2) I went with this when designing my D&D in Hero abilities for my players (to get them into the Hero System from what they were familiar with - oddly enough they really didn't want to use them ): Further levels expanded on those. You can do more - remove the DCV penalty, add other abilities, or what have you. Not the greatest ability, but it simulated a short term burst. I had toyed with the idea of adding a point or two to SPD, but most of the characters were 3 or 4 already, so I decided not to.

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power Maybe a Set Effect is also appropriate. I put it in mental and detect (for detect life, etc). A bit clunky, and it doesn't protect against telepathy, but it should work for general detects.

Re: Handling day and night on infinite plane? I was going to run a world that was at least as large as a galaxy, and there were numerous suns going around it. Some orbited an area, others went as bands across huge (light year) areas. Other areas were indeed all in darkness. Such areas would be freezing, with creatures adapted to darkness and cold. It was going to be a mix of sci-fi and fantasy (Elves were related to dragons, and the Star Dragon, as big as a battlecruiser and living in the void of space, were two ideas I liked). Of course, there was no sense to it, and I kept that as a mystery (of course, since I knew it was all writer fiat, I really wasn't happy with it). I did have another idea for inside a dyson sphere, where the land was broken up into levels (like a layer cake), with upper (closer to the sun) levels being tropical, down to the freezing lower levels. There I had the "sun" in the center just dim out on a regular cycle, so there was night and day over the entire world at once. Heck, you can have the "apollo's chariot" idea over a larger area - he is more like a herdsman, sending his solar cattle over the skies, so that there are many suns. Depending on the scale, you can have areas that get one sun, two, or even more. Do it that way, and you can even add in periods of darkness where there is no sun (the cattle strayed). Hmm. Maybe they could help the god out and find the missing sun? Don't forget the Discworld idea where the light from the sun is influenced by a magical field and it's speed varies. Perhaps there are areas of magic in the sky that causes night by slowing down or shifting light. A day of normal light, a night of "anti-light"?

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power Sorry to post so much on this, gemphyre, but the more I look at it, the more I like your idea. I may have to...borrow...it. I'll give it right back. Promise.

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power For your second point, yeah - I agree - you would only detect living (or dying but not yet dead) creatures, not dead bodies or ex-parrots. I should have made that clear (I did think of it, then had to stop my puppy from chewing a gamebook, and lost that thought - books ok, just a few toothmarks). I think the OP was correct - to even detect bacteria, I'd agree that microscopic should be needed. Which does make me think that the character would need that to be more effective. Not having to run a culture to detect a virus or pathogen could be a lifesaver. Not sure of the point cost, though.

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power No more than telepathy or some kinds of enhanced senses (tracking with scent, you'd be able to identify them by their smell). If the bad guys know of this, suitable countermeasures could be made.

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power Here's a short example, edited to leave out source specifics (I'm not sure what the policy is): That is with discriminatory. I don't know how much more you can get out of such a general power :shrug: - the best way that I can see such a power being is: A. Is there life? B. What kind of life? (animal, plant, etc) C. What general information (carnivore, sessile, etc) - may include movement or being able to track (see below). D. What species? E. What sex, age, general health (sick, healthy)? A real good roll would probably allow the character to recognize individual life signs ("Oh, Dr Death is beyond the door, and he has Mighty Munchkin with him"), or allow the character to track individual life signs (with appropriate related powers or a power stunt). Obviously, the broader the detect, the less information should be gained; otherwise, why go into a deeper focus such as the other one she has. If that doesn't help, then I don't think I can come up with any more.

Re: Skrull vs. Avengers Well, if you mean active avengers at one time, I think there was a "Kang" type situation where just about every avenger was active at once, but why would the skrull have to be limited to just those active at one time. It looks like the skrull gene-splicing (or whatever it is) doesn't need to scan the heroes like the Super-Adaptoid or Amazo. Why did they leave off wolverine? Wasn't he a member of every superteam that ever existed?

Re: Questions from a New Hero If the character can call the bow to her from a line of sight, then I'm not sure I'd go with a focus at all. Sure, you can put a towel over it and prevent her from summoning it, but...either way. I agree with the carrying bit - if it's a superheroic campaign, I wouldn't worry about the cost, and for the arrows I'd go with either a multipower and ultra slots or use charges (the MP seems a better fit if she has different "arrows". Also, if you can, the Until Super-Power Database (and the ultimate books) have many variations of common powers that make it extremely easy to set someone up (even if you enjoy tinkering, they can give some base powers).

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power I'd go with detect life force as the "bloodhound" - she might be able to tell where a person is buried under rubble, and with disc/anal (boy that looks really kinda obscene written that way ) might be able to tell that it is a 5 year old human male with tapeworms, and maybe that his life force is flickering, but would need the other to get to the problem itself. edit - I think that Star Hero might have something, since they do the "tricorder' bit as technology. Either that or Terran Empire (I found the powers under the TE-STK folder in Hero Designer). edit 2 - also, the USPD might have something similar.

Re: Sexy costume power Definitely - maybe it can be a proportional power - as the COM goes up, so does the bonus. As the COM goes down, so does the bonus (to negatives as needed). There are some people who should go nowhere near a fur loincloth or chain mail bikini.

Re: Magic Jar D'oh! Failed my reading comprehension roll. I blame it on my undiagnosed neurological complication and my new puppy.

Re: Opinion wanted about coverage of Detect Life Force power Well, if depends if you count androids as robots shaped like humans or synthetic life forms (such as the Vision - "synthezoid"). I always read a detect life force power as being more for actual life forms, rather than what might be wrong (as a medscanner, perhaps - what is the basic power for that?). For me, discriminatory and analyze might give me information on what a creature is, and in finer details it might allow detection of microbes and such inside another creature. Just checked, the bioscanner was detect life, medscanner was detect medical condition. Not that big a deal - it all depends on what is agreed upon.

Re: an emulation of the Harp/RM Study effect You can also borrow a mechanic from teleportation - each creature studied fills a slot, and each slot has a fixed cost, say, 5 points each. Maybe they have 3 as part of the power (using the example given), and they can buy more as they desire. Or the limit could be Int/5, or Int/10, with the same restrictions. You could also build the Study as a detect:analyze power, and the VPP can only work for these creatures that have had this power used on them. Just a few thoughts.

Re: How to write up this power Here's one idea, based off the Fantasy Hero sword, using ideas given: Sword of Fireballs: (Total: 153 Active Cost, 34 Real Cost) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6+1, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (30 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), STR Minimum 12 (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 6) plus EB 4d6, Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2) (30 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (sword; -1) (Real Cost: 7) plus EB 12d6, Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2) (90 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (sword; -1), Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2) (Real Cost: 20) plus Endurance Reserve (20 END, 1 REC) Reserve: (3 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (sword; -1) (Real Cost: 1) The END cost for the fireballs is 3 END/4 dice. Hmm. I'd drop the reserve to 18 then, to make it even (making the most power you can put into the fireball would be 18/12d6. You could also build it as a multipower, with each fireball as an ultra slot. That would get you a varied amount of fireballs (1-hex, normal, AP, etc). How far you take it depends on what campaign you are running, of course.

Re: Magic Jar Which is what he wrote: "Hi there everyone! I'm converting D&D spells to my personal magical system configuration and now I'm stuck trying to heroize Magic Jar. Usually, when this things happen, I look up on Killershriek site to find inspiration, but this time, somehow, his spell version doesn't seem to appeal me. Any alternative ideas?" Damn. I wasn't aware that what I wrote is what you have. Ok, so I have no real ideas then...

Re: Magic Jar I don't think I can post from the USPD, but there is a bodyjacking power that lets the character possess others. Generally built with Mind Control, Desolid, Clinging, and Telepathy. That might work for the possessing part. The other part .... hmm. Not sure. exdim movement from the world to a world where the caster's body is an inanimate object is always a possibility, albeit a cheesy one.

Re: Lance of Faith You could also do AE, or environemental control, or... (ain't Hero wonderful!) - there is also the optional negative skill levels under the combat skill level. The dex drain (and other) constructions would also work, they just won't be as specific for who attacks the target. We could put in a short duration for the drain (one turn? phase? hmm), or set the recovery to be one of the creatures phases or the first attack that hits it. Of perhaps do it as an aid triggered to the first character to attack it. Hmmmm. This simple exercise already has me eager to play around some more.

Re: Lance of Faith Thanks for the replies. The book gave an option of +1/2 so that the target gaining the level doesn't have to stay in sight, and I used a custom modifer in HD for it. It now looks like this: Lance of Faith: (Total: 51 Active Cost, 15 Real Cost) RKA 1d6 (15 Active Points); OAF (Holy Symbol; -1), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2), Limited Range: 5" (-1/4) (Real Cost: 5) plus +2 with All Combat, Usable By Other (+1/4), Ranged (+1/2), Line of Sight not needed after initial use (+1/2) (36 Active Points); Custom Modifier (Only for next attack & only for this target; -1), OAF (Holy Symbol; -1), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2), Linked (Lance; -1/4) (Real Cost: 10) If this looks good, it can serve as the basis for other "aid other" powers. Does the -1 limitation for both limits seem good (I had to spell it out as this is only good for the very next attack the gaining character makes, and only then if it is for the same target)? edit 2 - I also did not think of whether the ability to choose who gets the aid would be an issue. The linked power goes off on a hit with the lance, and I didn't see anything about it having to affect the same target. This only seems to apply with attack powers.

Ironically, getting 4e has renewed my interest in Hero. I'm not thrilled with the abilities that the players get, but I was curious as to what they would add up to in Hero. Here is my idea of the Lance of Faith power that a cleric has. It basically does radiant (the new word for "Holy" apparently) damage and gives another player a +2 bonus to hit the same target for their next attack. I'm basically trying out this "I attack and it aids my ally" mechanic, so what do you think of this: Lance of Faith: (Total: 43 Active Cost, 12 Real Cost) RKA 1d6 (15 Active Points); OAF (Holy Symbol; -1), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2), Limited Range: 5" (-1/4) (Real Cost: 5) plus +2 with All Combat, Usable By Other (+1/4), Ranged (+1/2) (28 Active Points); Custom Modifier (Only for next attack & only for this target; -1), OAF (Holy Symbol; -1), Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2), Linked (Lance; -1/4) (Real Cost: 7) I deliberately kept the limitations low, and only threw in the focus and "god's purposes" more as a cleric standard than any system reason. I figure the link and usable by other is the way to go. Any thoughts on this type of ability?

Re: Immune to Magic I had a way that could be expensive: (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=670095#post670095) Missed that area affect - I guess my way wouldn't work like that (you'd need more modifers), but supress, 0 end, persistent, always on, area affect (probably one hex), mobile. That sounds like the way to go, but it would be expensive.

Re: Good D&D style setting to use to bootstrap? I am currently using the Forgotten Realms setting (and have templates and such made up for races on my gaming site) - especially since I have a ton of books on the world just sitting collecting dust until I go back to run D&D campaign. I am thinking of adapting more of the Hackmaster game material and running my campaign in Garweeze World for a bit. Following the KODT comic material, if you want a place to "Hack! Hack! Hack!" in a lighthearted way, that can be a good place. For me, the crossover from D&D to FH was easy on the players, since some of the things they knew were the same - it only took a little shift of thinking rather than a bigger effort learning a new setting and a new system. That doesn't mean everyone would react the same - some people do better if they learn a new system and world at the same time. YMMV.

Re: Is Hero Fantasy for me? Why? I was looking at this, then saw that I had posted to it already, back in Nov 2003! I've been here that long? This is like one of those "Remember when..." stories....