trechriron

Re: Eberron Hero

This stuff is awesome. How would you recommend marking a creature as an Aberrant? My current campaign centers around this. I am going to introduce the group to HERO this weekend over the holiday and see if I can convince anyone to convert. :-D After all the class work I would love to see Ebberon specific spells and possibly some creature write ups.

Thanks for the great work!

Re: Weirdest Hero question yet

Sticky? So if someone touches a pregnant woman they automaticly become pregnant themselves?

 

I think you forgot Restrainable.

 

Doc

Yes. Touching pregnant women is dangerous. Everyone knows that.

Can a Transform be penetrating?

Re: Weirdest Hero question yet

How about this for starters?

Impregnation: Major Transform 10d6 (standard effect: 30 points) (non-pregnant to pregnant, time, surgery), Requires A Skill Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll; +0), Personal Immunity (+1/4), Penetrating (+1/2), Sticky (+1/2) (337 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, Character May Take No Other Actions, -2 1/4), Gestures, Requires Gestures throughout (Requires both hands; Complex; Thrusting; -1 1/2), Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Concentration (0 DCV; Character is totally unaware of nearby events; -3/4), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Conditional Power Power does not work in Common Circumstances (Male to Female only; -1/2), Physical Manifestation (Sperm; -1/4), Ritual (2 casters; -1/4) - Real Cost: 42

Re: Jovian Chronicles HERO

I don’t have anything, but some suggestions…

Star Hero, the Spacer's Toolkit, and Alien Wars will help the concepts/conversions. AW is the harder sci-fi setting stuff for HERO and may have some good equivalencies.

Another piece of advice. When converting stuff from (blah blah blah) to HERO don't let those other game designer's neurosis cloud your good HERO gaming goodness. You are going to witness piles of weird "balance" things and allocations and who knows what. HERO is smart. Don't pigeon hole it too much, especially when you are looking for in-game constraints. Capture the setting and feel and then emulate, do not expect perfect copies. Besides, the HERO system works better than (blah blah blah) system anyways. It is difficult to emulate grilled cheese with fillet mignon.

Reason from effect is the coolest idea in the universe. Let the rules facilitate a great story and a great game. Don’t get trapped into defining everything with a number and a dice roll. I am going to do a conversion for something, depending on what my game group decides. But it is not JC. Good luck. If you do run a HERO JC game and make some easy conversion notes, you might consider sharing them here for HEROdom to share.

Just my two cents…

Re: Which NON-Star Hero Book For Star Hero?

Educated? Why? Emotional giddy fanboy responses are WAY more fun. I hate educated opinions. BOOOOring.

I say get them both. Don't choose. Stop pretending to be some conservative budget conscious gaming geek and take the plunge. I mean, the vehicle book is super nifty keen. If you ever WANTED to use a vehicle for any game BAM there it is.

Now, MMM is juicy monster goodness. No cheese here. Good stuff all around. We recently came across a gaggle of black Orcs that made us cry like little girlies. Now black Orcs in space? That scares me. I mean, give them a different name of course, but, OUCH, that is going to hurt.

You need both. Stop kidding yourself. It hurts more.

Re: We are known by our enemy

... One part is definately not Conan' date=' Kal-Turak... [/quote']

 

Huh? TA is high fantasy (LOTR, etc.). The Valdorian Age will be the Sword & Sorcery setting (ala Conan, Elric, etc...).

 

I agree that the players should form the group of heroes opposing the dark evil force. Having some organizations or nations that are willing to bankroll that would help (or at least as advisors and safe-havens). Could be a way to get characters involved faster. I imagine they would do so cautiously and secretly, to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Re: "Magic" Through Scientific Laws?

Also, Isac Bonewits wrote a very cool GURPS book called Authentic Thaumaturgy. It discusses the common laws of magic and they operate with some "science" as it were. His book Real Magic is supposed to be an interesting read (have not read it yet).

Ars Magica has "laws" as well. It confines things and gives magic a flavor that is different than the typical fantasy fair.

I like the idea from two angles.

One is that magic must follow certain laws, rules, etc from a "scientific" outlook. It constrains things and gives them flavor. You don't really need game rules at this point, it simply defines the "physics" of magic. If it is impossible to affect the moon, it is impossible.

The other is having magic replace technology for power, communication, manufacturing, etc. So you have crystal lattice main boards with magically created gem stone processors. They are powered by magic like laptop batteries and store information in crystals. Communications are facilitated by magic as are the magical engineering of super-substances that are not possible in the real world. I like it as a rubber science explanation for things as it gives you some leeway to play around with stuff and explain it with magic. Especially if you don't want to try and give it some basis on physics or current scientific theories. Just because that star ship has plasma screens with configurable touch sensitive controls does not mean the underlying technology is based on real science or technology. Essentially replace physics with some type of magical scientific laws that allow for more flexibility.

HERO is perfect for emulating this kind of stuff. The system does not care where the stinking power source came from or why the plasma screen works. These concepts are great for adding flavor to a setting. OTOH, you can make required limitations like expendable focus, RSR, etc. that emulate the nature of your scientific laws of magic. If magic only works with a commensurate expenditure of an equal valued focus, then magic is very special indeed. “Honey, where did I put the Hope Diamond? I have that ritual…†:-D

Do you have a specific setting or game in mind for this? Just curious.

Here is the link to the GURPS book in case you’re interested. http://www.sjgames.com/thaumaturgy/

Re: Anyone else have Eberron and wonder how it would look converted to Hero.

I have. Have not picked it up yet, but the setting intrugues me. It looks cool.

Re: Conspiracy X HERO

That is the fun part . I was going to look at doing Ebberon with HERO, but the group wants to do something dark future/cyberpunk for the next game so I am doing Transhuman Space (using the HERO system of course...). It is the prep work that'll kill ya! At least I have several months to prepare...

Re: Conspiracy X HERO

No, but...

You might look at the GURPS book for Conspiracy X as converting from GURPS might be easier (point based system, roll under, has some simularities).

The Dark Champions book is going to help on the HERO side of things - only 1 more month (or so...)!

Anything in particular stumping you or just looking for a good kick start?

Re: Is anyone gaming the Iraq war?

I have a cyberpunk setting I am writing at the moment, that includes the Iraq war in the history. A pivotal event surrounding it and the current election tie into the setting's history.

Re: If magic cost full price...

In the comparison of CP cost and Money cost for both warriors and wizards, keep in mind that nearly all the basic spell write-ups in FHG require a OAF Expendable spell component (usually a fairly expensive one)...

 

Wow. Good points all around that I had not considered. The OAF thing combined with multiple skills and spell limitation requirements does make the 1/3 cost balance out with a lest restrictive magic system with full cost spells.

It still essentially makes magic more expensive than being a warrior, but intelligent spell choices could close that gap by giving the mage abilities that simply cannot be accomplished with a sword...

Thanks Brett.

Re: If magic cost full price...

The current game I am playing in the GM started using magic at full price. I later convinced him to reduce the cost of spells. Mages were essentially more expensive warriors with a flare. In this I agree with Hugh. We have rules that you must take a talent for magic. I would go further and give them some similar requirements like martial arts. They must belong to a school or have a master, they must possess the skill, and they must possess a KS of the art.

I think the big kicker here is not "fairness" which is really subjective. It is about flavor and what you want in your game. If you like mages to be specialized and fairly combat oriented, then the full price thing is not a bad go. You will more than likely NOT be getting well rounded mages, but if that is not what you're shooting for, then no problem.

FH's magic section steps you through the magic system creation process. It is fantastic. You should start from scratch and follow that process and then tailor the rules to fit your idea. I would not be as concerned with the "fairness" of reduced cost spells, in the grand scheme, in my experience, those HKA/RKA attacks for gold are a nice counter-point.

Just my two cents...

Re: All HEROes Must Be Eaten: zombie survival horror

All you really need to up the lethality of the Survival Horror - Hit locations and up the Body Multiplier (suggested in FH I think...).

I would come up with some disadvantage for a zombie that does even more damage with a head shot. A head shot should kill a zombie, unless head shots don't kill your zombies....

I also don't feel much needs to be done for a conversion. Grab the AFMBE book, generate some characters, and terrify your neighbors. The concepts are important, the rules are easily done in HERO without any conversions I can think of.

Re: All HEROes Must Be Eaten: zombie survival horror

How worthwhile a resource is All flesh must be eaten' date=' I thought it was just another WW game ... [/quote']

 

AFMBE is made by Eden Studios. It is a great book. It is very inspiring and it will horrify you guaranteed or you get your brains back. I like all the dead world examples in there. The history of Zombie films and myths is awesome. The other books have some interesting ideas in them as well. These people know zombies!

 

It uses the Unisystem (a d10 system, single die, roll over TN, some other weird add or go over stuff), same as Buffy, Angel ,Witchcraft, Armageddon, et al. Not a big fan of the system (obviously) BUT the source material is well done.

 

Now as far as it being a WW rip off? Nope. This is classic Zombie survival horror. If the baddie is dressed nicely it’s cause he just got done eating his way out of HIS funeral NOT because he’s living in the past.

 

I recommend you check them out.

Re: Losing items or death?

... he was only ever a life-support system for his magic items anyway.

 

cheers, Mark

That is hilarious.

I agree with Markdoc on this idea. Although, I have met players who do not appreciate character death at all AND expect to keep their magic items at all times. Games quickly die when ALL a player cares about is their character to the exclusion of all others, the story, or even reason. It cripples the story if you can’t enter loss, conflict, or drama into the game and these players tend to tantrum at the slightest hint of injury, loss, or challenge. They go bye-bye. Video games are a perfect medium for them, they can get pissed at the AI and restart over and over until it is just “perfect†and I don’t’ have to deal with the tantrums.

I agree with Kraven Kor in that if the items are Independent, you should not be wily nilly destroying them. Even excessive suppress stuff could really be a bummer, but that is really a style/story issue. Now how to do this story-wise gets hairy for me. I would personally require all magic items to be Independent so I don't have to worry too much about it. IF the player really wants a personal magic item that is not Independent, I would require a good back-story for the item to help describe it's survival from theft, destruction, and litigation as stronger magic or fate. I need some causality as to why the stinking thing survived the spell, ship wreck, etc.

If magic items are more common I would not feel as bad about having one destroyed, un-enchanted, etc. In a game where magic items are rare, I would not make it so easy to destroy them.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Thanks for the response Cyst13, I figured your net access was limited in one aspect or another with those auto-fire posts across the board at certain times.

You may have a theory, but I feel it would take some leg work, interviews, and serious social study before I would consider it a solid theory.

Have you seen the movie American History X ? I imagine some of my more racist friends got sucked into that flick on the premise of the violence and tone as it was advertised. Then the tables got turned on them. A great movie with an interesting intent.

IF (and this is a biggie IMO) stereotyping races as evil could lead towards a stress induced racist outlook (stress induced racism SIR…), then offering situations that break those stereotypes could lend to breaking that auto-response. Under this theory, that would be a possibility, even if I consider the theory to be remote.

In some ways I guess I have a hard time with the SIR theory as it is really a specific idea within the whole social engineering theory. One could assume that racist parents produce racist children. I pointed out before that my parents (and especially my Grand Father) were racist. I am not racist. This outlook has been repeated many times over the years in some of my friends. I also have a friend I would consider racist whose parents are decidedly NOT. So it is hard for me to grasp the idea that a persons environment influences choices to this degree. In the end I feel each person is responsible to make these choices. In movies and literature this theme; the racist person who sees the errors of their ways and CHOOSES to change, is repeated frequently.

I still feel our social responsibility lies within us. To ourselves we can hold a standard of equality and to ourselves we should practice it. A company or a group cannot be responsible to teach these values to others or to even regard the inclusion of any of these factors in a fictional work to impose such responsibility upon them. If they choose to use any influence to bring light to these issues, great! But it should be viewed for what it is; Not the manifestation of a company taking responsibility for enforcing values but a group of concerned people using their influence to educate their customers to an issue that is important to them. I am grateful for the courageous people who have created movies, literature, and even games that highlight these issues, as they have taught me humanity like no other lesson could.

A person choosing to do the right thing or make a difference is far more valuable in the end than any implied responsibility is ever going to be.

Thanks for the lively debate, I apologize for the tone of my first post. I have some strong feelings about racism and I harbor some deep hope that my nieces and nephews will grow up in a very different world I am seeing today.

See you around the boards,

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

The system works after all…

I think you have mistaken your opposition’s stance to be “since your opinion is wrong/bad/stupid you have no right to foster a dialog on the subjectâ€. I think, more to the point, your opposition 1) finds the suggestion of social responsibility in fictional gaming content by the part of gamers and publishers to be misled and 2) you have yet to provide evidence of either a current problem of intentional/unintentional racism in gaming or the existence of intentional/unintentional racism in current products.

So going against my original protest of “who cares?†and inferring some sincerity on your part to actually foster dialogue on this subject, I repeat my previous suggestion with more seriousness and less anger.

What exactly IS the subject? Please outline your problem and your concerns. I would like you to provide some evidence of both existing products supporting your theory and cite examples of actual play that you feel fosters racism (even in a generic manner would be fine for me). I have a hard time believing this is some random act of curiosity. Something inspired your inquiries.

I asked you to pen an essay (might I suggest a PDF attachment?) and that is precisely what I think you should do. If you truly feel this an issue, I think you need to present your idea clearly and do so boldly as to avoid any misunderstanding from your readers. Stating that “the existence of evil dark elves in games is racist†is not a point. I cannot grasp your reasoning from that bold assumption. Further clarifying that statement with “well, what if those dark elves were actually Kabalistic Jews?†only further clouds the issue. I need more theory. Connect the dots for me. Pretend I am an idiot. It helps relieve stress when dealing with me anyways. My friends do it all the time (actually supporting the theory that I AM an idiot, but I prefer denial over debate more often than not…).

I look forward to reading your thoughts if you are willing to take the time. If this is really just the simple question of “Is "evil race" an intrinsically racist concept?†then I stick with my original answer. No it is not.

On a related note – just because I disagree with your opinion does not mean I think it is stupid. I simply disagree.

Regards,

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

...if anything in this universe has a strong link to evil, it is ignorance.

 

There is no one in Heaven or Hell except the Almighty Himself that can tell me what I should or shouldn't say or how I should run a Hero campaign. So don't tread on me!

I sit in here in reverance and appreciation for those words. I thought for a moment there I was losing my mind.

Thank you, Mr. Gunrunner.

Re: 11- or better 10+

I still really like the OCV + CSLs + Manuever + 11 then subtract your roll = DCV hit.

So my Elf has an OCV of 5, plus 4 CSLs, plus 11 is a 20. I roll a 12 on 3d6. 20-12 = 8. I hit a DCV of 8.

Nice thing is, the GM can keep the DCV of the opponents secret (for the most part).

Your idea is quick and cool, I am just used to the method above AND it keeps the HERO roll under feel going on.

Ciao for now,

Hogwash

Warning. I am angry. This post is angry.

For those of you who think it is a simple thing to separate one's imagination from reality' date=' would you consider it acceptable to play in a campaign in which Jews are an evil race who are using Kabbalistic magic to enslave the world? It would be the role of the Aryan PCs to stop the evil Jews by any means possible? This would be just imagination, right? So, is this okay?[/quote']

 

Yes. If that is what the group wants to play. And, yes. It is simple. I categorically disagree with the idea that an RPG game has the moral responsibility to abide by value guidelines in an attempt to protect it’s participants from racist programming. I appreciate your right to intellectual debate, but you my friend are making some implications that frankly I find absurd. Based on your previous posts asking for the racial and gender make-ups of HERO playing groups and the implications of those inquiries only adds to my frustration. Perhaps you should pen an essay, get to the point, and make your accusations.

 

I had a long justification for this and then realized it would most likely be lost on Cyst13 in his/her/it’s obvious attempt to start a debate on the evils of the white male dominated game industry and the racist agenda they are pursuing through fantasy stereo-types or the fictionalization of real-world groups. Uh huh. Right. I say bump-kiss, hogwash, propaganda disguised as curious inquiry. I am a white male RPG player. I have oodles of angry racist friends (of different races...), oodles of angry friends of all colors, genders, sexualities, and ethnic origins, and oodles of angry white male friends who frankly don’t care. At least we all have one thing in common. We’re angry. Perhaps that should be our next great debate here at the HERO boards. Who here is an angry person? Then we can root out the emotionists amongst us.

 

Unfortunately, if this is the great focus of your hobby right now, I am afraid you have missed the point. My final words of wisdom on every thread of this nature here - Who cares?!?!

Spiritual Attributes in HERO

These things rule! SAs are by far the one of coolest ideas IMO. The kicker here is that they not only improve your chances to do stuff BUT they are also the experience engine for TROS. By pursuing your SAs you earn more SA points. At then end of the game you can trade in SA points for XP. It is the only way they award XP in the TROS.

The SAs are things like courage, faith, compassion, drive, destiny, etc. They need to be something specific regarding your character. You can also change them out when you want to allow them to better apply as the character evolves. These are tantamount to telling your GM “This is what is important to my character and this is what I am striving for in the gameâ€. You then get rewarded in several ways when you pursue your SAs. You improve your odds to accomplish things, you get awarded more SA points on the spot for drama, impact, etc for using them, and at the end of the game you trade them in for XP.

Here is how I would do this in HERO (this has not been play tested).

Spiritual Attribute: Luck 1d6, Inherent (+1/4) (6 Active Points); 4 Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; -1), Conditional Power Can only be used when situation deals with nature of spiritual attribute (-1/2), Luck is rolled and total equals number of dice that can be re-rolled for the remainder of the situation (as determined by the GM), maximum of 4 charges can be obtained for one spiritual attribute. Real Cost: 2.

The max for this would be four charges, only recovered as the GM awards them for dramatic play regarding the spiritual attribute. Then instead of the normal XP awards, allow the players to trade up to 3 charges for 3 XP in a session. Also allow them to change the SAs as the character evolves. I would limit this to no more than five SAs (like TROS), however you should allow them to spend as many charges as they want in a situation dealing with their SAs. You should allow characters to start the game with five spiritual attributes and give them 10-15 charges for free. I would still track them as CP in their totals, but giving them free charges will help you as the GM see what is important to them from the beginning.

Note that if your characters are working hard towards their SAs, at 3 XP per session they are going to improve quickly. Some sessions may not get into any of the characters SAs and not all characters SAs will be addressed every session so this may balance out over the long run (as they spend them and do not receive any SA awards for a session or two). I would have to actually play this out to see if it works and what adjustments are needed, but this is the general idea I would shoot for.

Re: KULT Conversion? Anyone?

L. Marcus?

You still want to work on this or perhaps wing it?

Re: Getting Started

 

And always remember, BODY = #of dice rolled, minus #of 1's rolled, + #of 6's rolled.

That is brilliant. That is so much easier to describe. Super coolness.

Thank you,

Re: Taking the plunge into Fantasy Hero ... help!

My bad. I was typing fast at work and not thinking thinking.

So no. You can't have one. So there. nany nany boo boo. Unless it actually is made of Nurf foam and shoots small blasts of processed cheese spread. In which case I would surely allow a RKA Long Sword.

The Nurf Cheeser (Deadly Long Sword of the Soft Way) -