Sketchpad

I initially thought Side Effect but those are supposed to always go off. But I'd do it with a Linked XDM Power with an Activation Roll and a Limitation on the Shrinking that locks it on for that Xd6 weeks.

An update on Strike Force Organizations.
 
Cult of the Beast, Carousel (et al), Wanderers, and Yooso are go.
 
That is all.

An update on Strike Force Organizations. I have emailed Jason and we are in discussion. I have asked him about either including Cult of the Beast, Carousel (et al), Wanderers, and Yooso, or creating a second book. I have been given the OK to create a stand-alone Aaron Allston's Martial Arts Styles as a Surbrook Press PDF product.

I'd just go with Martial Arts. I wouldn't use Blast, no range. I'd go with extra damage defined as Energy to your Str. If necessary, add weapon proficiency. I don't think we need new martial arts.

Well, if you're running a game where weather takes on major role, it could be useful to know. For example, a pulp game where a plane crashes into an arctic climate, or running a fantasy game where survival is part of the game. How would someone build something like this? 
 
EDIT: Another interesting example are the X-Men costumes, which had a rated weather resistance in the MSH RPG. They protected to an extent (as well as providing some armor, communications, etc.).

Okay, so here is the latest Strike Force Organizations update.
 
It's done.
 
Okay, maybe not totally done, but ALR, Blood, and Circle are done. Total count is 72,982 words. I have taken the contents of the two Org books, added in what I could from Aaron's digital files, updated everything to 6e, and added new content and characters. I have sent an email to Jason outlining what i have done and what we may want to do next.
 
I have asked about adding the Cult of the Beast, Carousel/the Reapers, and the Wanderers. I have also mentioned the Wanderers as a stand-alone product. I have also asked about releasing Aaron's suite of martial arts styles as a Surbrook Press PDF-only product.

Oooh!
 
Excellent question, Sir!
 
I guess it would boil down to the exact nature of the character and what those conditions do to him.
 
If, going from the original text, the character _is_ a magic illusion, then it stands to reason that "suppress magic" or the like would somehow affect him.
 
There are now two questions that would have to be answered (assuming everyone is willing to have the character actually be affected, because this is deep into "no-rules-for-that" territory):
 
Question One is "how is the character affected?"   No real reason for us to declare anything; that is for the player and GM to work out.  For me, I would say "it diminishes your existence (if I allowed it, I mean.  Not that I wouldn't, but it isn't in my game, so my approval is irrelevant).
 
The much harder question, I think, is where does one apply the Limitation?  By the rules, a character can "just be."  If he wants to be a robot, then he is; no charge.  If he wants to be a cyborg dolphin, then "he just is."  As before: no charge.
 
So we can't put it directly on "being a magic illusion," as he (so long as the GM is okay with it) "just _is_" a magic illusion.
 
It stands to reason that he can buy his powers and abilities with this limitation- he isn't _required_ to (unless the GM says otherwise), but certainly it would work in with several concepts.
 
What about his Characteristics?  To my thinking _at the moment_ (meaning that first blush inspired by an excellent question; I haven't done any deep thinking on it just yet) is that putting a limitation on each and every characteristic is the closest approximation of affecting the character's actual existence or ability to "just be."
 
I can only answer for myself, obviously, but if the question came up and I, as GM, decided that the character _should_ be so affected, that is probably how I would do it: apply the Limitation to every characteristic individually.
 
Thus, when someone rolls say 20 points worth of suppress magic, each Characteristic would drop by twenty Character points--  that is probably uglier in 6e that in all the editions before, honestly, given the new pricing.  And of course, when the suppression is removed, he is right as rain again.  If that took his EGO to zero or lower, I might rule that, from his perspective, he blacked out, and it is as if he had leaped forward in time with no memory or awareness of the rime that has passed.
 
 
Still:  that was an awesome question!  Thanks, Sketchpad!
 
 
 
 

Just out of curiosity, could there be a limitation be used here? "Affected by Magic/Power Defense" or something? It sounds like it should...

Honestly, from my understanding, that's not far from how prisons work IRL. You can be a burglar and be in the same jail as a serial killer or spree bomber. The jail itself is supposed to be prepared with the systems and employees that it uses for containment and, hopefully, rehabilitation. 
 
Mind you, there are also different levels of prisons, ranging from Minimum to High Security. If you're a one time thief and get caught, you probably aren't going to something like Stronghold. But a career thief that can phase? Yup. He's going to the supermax.  However, villains like Eurostar I would image going to something more like an UNTIL secure facility, as they'll want to question and isolate members. 
 
In the campaign I run, there are several prisons that specialize in superhuman criminals. Each is in a remote area and have superhero staff, as well as well trained (and vetted) guards. It usually doesn't come up where the villains go unless the adventure needs the players to know. I once ran a game where a few of the players were surveying a base and a breakout happened. They ended up having to defeat one of their big-bads to restore order, and hunt down a few C-listers that made an escape. Fun stuff.

Honestly, from my understanding, that's not far from how prisons work IRL. You can be a burglar and be in the same jail as a serial killer or spree bomber. The jail itself is supposed to be prepared with the systems and employees that it uses for containment and, hopefully, rehabilitation. 
 
Mind you, there are also different levels of prisons, ranging from Minimum to High Security. If you're a one time thief and get caught, you probably aren't going to something like Stronghold. But a career thief that can phase? Yup. He's going to the supermax.  However, villains like Eurostar I would image going to something more like an UNTIL secure facility, as they'll want to question and isolate members. 
 
In the campaign I run, there are several prisons that specialize in superhuman criminals. Each is in a remote area and have superhero staff, as well as well trained (and vetted) guards. It usually doesn't come up where the villains go unless the adventure needs the players to know. I once ran a game where a few of the players were surveying a base and a breakout happened. They ended up having to defeat one of their big-bads to restore order, and hunt down a few C-listers that made an escape. Fun stuff.

There are a few in the Downloads section. You may want to search the boards as well. 

Here are the old articles of mine I could find -- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Q-1oKphlwDWQe3LWZX2dt1DHB5S-iUq0?usp=sharing
I think the timeframe (for me, at least) was 95-ish to 2000-ish.
I'm pretty sure I lost my physical copies to some basement flooding many years ago.
 
The APA was part articles and part superhero fiction. The fiction eventually split off into a sister APA, The OmniVerse.
There were annual awards, called The Grimmies.
 
From memory, some of the contributors were: Ben Bellott, Will Geiger, Bill Jackson, Martin Maenza, John Moorman, Michael O'Connell (RIP), K.C. Ryan, Tim Watts
 

For those of wondering about my sequel to Aaron Allston's Strike Force, (Strike Force Organizations) , it goes like this:
 
1) I have completed work on Alien Research Laboratories, which is what Aaron renamed M.E.T.E. to. Everything has been updated to 6e, including the NPCs (some of which have more modern designs thanks to finding select files in Aaron's notes), the base, the computer, and several vehicles. I have completed work on the Blood. There are a lot more Blood characters than what appeared in Org Book 3. Several of them have character sheets while many of the original Blood NPCs have updated character sheets due to finding them in Aaron's notes. Also, Commodore has his base and vehicles included. I am currently working on the Circle. I found updated character sheets for almost everyone, as well as detailed backgrounds. Thus, the Circle will be more lore 'heavy' than the other sections.

Current word count is around 60,000 words. Once I complete the Circle I will talk to Jason about adding additional groups or seeing about some smaller releases of (perhaps) PDF-only content.

For those fans of theCircle, I have this teaser:
Previous to 1945, the Sensei [the Master] was much more powerful. He possessed many personal defensive powers, and his Power Pool was much stronger 900 active points, but with a 90-active-point limit on any power in it.

(This will need to be reworded, but what it means is he could have spells with up to 90 Active Points, and 900[!] Real Points of spells in his pool.)

Okay, I have run The Blood through Google Docs to edit the content and fix errors. The final word count is 34,142 words. This puts the project at 50,091 words so far.
 
 

Fantastic news on the Strike Force front. I did a high-level search and found PILES of character sheets for the cast of the Circle chapter. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

Also, I am presenting the Circle as seen in Org Book 1, meaning the mid-1980s members, who are all built on a base 300 points.

You know you're a Hero player when you see "PS: The Blood" and think it's a professional skill.

Despite being a long-term Hero turbonerd, I found out today about The Clobberin' Times, a Champions zine put out by a group of players from Sacramento, California from September, 1988, to January, 2000, finishing its run after 67 issues. There was a revival of sorts in the form of The Clobberin' Times Online, an online-only form of zine which lasted from April, 2005, to February, 2010, for a total of 30 "issues." The Online form can still be found (in a form) on the Wayback Machine here: https://web.archive.org/web/20150405000329/http://forteuniverse.com/cto/30main.htm
 
I'd never heard of any of it. And I'm a guy who religiously read every issue of EZ Hero and Digital Hero, and the old Adventurers Club (when it was around), and even has a copy or two of Haymaker around (I was never a prolific-enough writer to contribute before deadlines, so my participation in an APAzine is always intermittent). But I've at least heard of Haymaker -- until today I'd never even heard of The Clobberin' Times. Does anybody know a contact who sells copies of the old physical zine? As both a Hero fan, and a fan of the old zines, this ticks all of my boxes and I'd love to check it out!

I, for one, would be sad to see social justice removed from D&D products. I happen to think social justice is a good thing.

Right, thanks, Rogers art.  Another top notch 70s artist who never seemed to get enough work.  I think he was really slow.

That's actually Marshall Rogers doing the art. "The Laughing Fish" was written by Steve Englehart, with art by Rogers. Great story and pretty well adapted into the BTAS cartoon. 

The original.  Not very complex but man that killing attack is brutal.  I used him several times when I just want a near unstoppable villain.

If you're thinking of using the latest edition, Fantasy Hero Complete is your pony. The current Fantasy Hero still needs the rule books, which can be difficult and pricey to find. FHC is a one and done book that includes rules and genre info. 

So, The Circle just became a LOT easier to develop. Sure, Aaron has 43,000 words, but most of that is in character backgrounds I don't need. He did write a complete history, which isn't that long, and I can work with that.

We've all seen the vast number of Custom Limitations on Power constructs that have appeared in HERO System published books since, well, forever. And undoubtedly many of us here have come up with our own Lims over the years. Tailoring Powers to function in particular ways or under specific circumstances is a well-established feature of the system.
 
I'm wondering if anyone here has invented their own Custom Advantages for Powers that they'd care to share? Obviously the official system already gives us a huge variety of them, but perhaps you identified some deficiency in the rules you felt could be filled by a new Advantage? If so, other people might benefit from your sharing them here.
 
One that I've used for quite a while is for Energy Blast/Blast, "Strength Adds To Damage" (+1/2). The mechanic, and the cost of the Advantage, is based on Killing Attack, Hand-To-Hand, with the Ranged Advantage, which has been part of the core rules since Fifth Edition. That construct has three components, the base Damage, additional Damage added due to Strength, plus the addition of Range. Since Blast has base Damage plus Range already, the custom Advantage adds the third, making it work the same way as Ranged HKA, except for Normal Damage instead of Killing Damage.
 
A Ranged HKA is explicitly described in the rules as most often representing HTH weapons which can also be thrown at a target. But there may be times when your intent or your concept is better represented by using Normal Damage. The example I usually think of is the hammer wielded by comic-book Thor.
 
Does anyone else have examples you'd like to offer?