Lord Liaden

Re: Superman Returns Score I expect it to be a split decision, so they can promote the rematch.

Re: Turakian Age Question. And for the rest of the world. Could make for an interesting PC adventure, though: Kal-Turak recruits adventurers to stop the Thunese plot to free the Worm. Most would be reluctant to assist the Ravager of Men, but a Prince of the Elder Worm would make for even more grief.

Re: Robyn's straightforward and HERO-compatible Block house-rule Well, how about just making it a House Rule in the groundrules of your campaign, that a successful Block does not in itself negate Knockback? You would have to brace against the attack (which would automatically bring the STR of the attacker into the equation), or buy Knockback Resistance. Then you can calculate Knockback from any attack normally, regardless of whether it's Normal or Killing Damage, or from a Martial Maneuver. Speaking of Martial Maneuvers, you could rule that the extra STR from certain maneuvers, such as those with the Root element, would also count against resisting this Knockback. If you only want this effect for some characters in your campaign, you could give those characters a Physical Limitation, "Block Doesn't Negate Knockback." Alternatively, if only certain attacks have this result, buy "Does Knockback" for them even if they already do Knockback - that would account for the added utility of that attack.

Re: Superman Returns Score John Williams' track for the title sequence in the Superman films is my favorite theme music for the character from any era. It captured the common majesty and dynamism that other themes have strived for, but with a richer emotional range. And watching/listening to the "approach to Krypton" sequence from the first movie always gives me goosebumps.

Re: Anime based game prep help. ShinDangaioh's suggestion is similar to a concept that's been around in HERO since the first edition of Champions: the "Radiation Accident." A character can have a pool of unspent Experience Points that are not assigned to any particular ability. When appropriate circumstances arise these points can be used to buy new abilities, according to the desire of the player or the GM. If you want these points to be reflected on the characters' sheets, you can give them a Disadvantage, "Doesn't Know Full Capabilities Of Mech," which they can "buy off" when they do discover those abilities.

Re: Name Help: Super Patriot Modern women tend to find that name quite amusing.

Re: [Help] A Villain and Four Followers Oh, so "mutant" is the essence of what they are, and the armor is very much secondary. I see I was misunderstanding. Well, perhaps the armor and other gadgets are purely there for backup. They cover particular weaknesses that the villains have, e.g. the Reaper's lack of a physical attack. Perhaps a character whose Defenses are low would carry a force-field based shield, or one without any movement Powers would ride a motorized skateboard or glider. Also, if your campaign features any mutant-power-suppression technology, this equipment would keep the villains in the game even if their powers were removed. In that case the armor for all of the group should be similar, giving them a "team look," except for the unique compensatory items carried by each of them. Those items might also suggest names for the villains, or you could simply base them on their mutant powers, whichever works best for you.

Re: And Now For Something Completely Different During a recent board discussion I was doing an analysis of the differences between HA with Range, and a HKA with Range. I'm going to briefly look at the possible problems with such a construct which may have contributed to the official prohibition, but I also offer a possible solution. If you want to go directly to the solution, skip to the bottom of this post. IMO the problem with 5E Hand-To-Hand Attack in this context is twofold. One is the logical contradiction: part of the definition of Hand-To-Hand Attack is that it excludes Range, so adding Range via a Limitation is a direct conceptual conflict. The other problem is that HA is a Limitation on STR or EB that changes how they function mechanically. It's only partly the loss of Figured Characteristics from STR, or Range from EB, that makes the difference. HA also adds STR damage without prorating it for the Advantages on the HA; OTOH HKA is prorated for Advantages, including Ranged. E.g. if you were to Limit an EB with HA, but add Ranged back in via Advantage, you would get something with all the abilities of an Energy Blast, plus the capacity to be used HTH, plus the lack of prorating, for the same Real Points as an unmodified Energy Blast of the same Damage Class. Granted, the Active Points and END use would be greater for the ranged HA, but there are still balance issues there (again IMO). However, when I was considering a Ranged HKA, I noticed that it has three components. HKA is comprised of the basic Damage that it does, plus the extra Damage due to adding STR. The Ranged Advantage adds a third component, the ability to do all that damage at range. OTOH an Energy Blast has the basic Damage and the capacity for Range. What I propose is adding the third component as a custom Advantage, "STR Adds To Damage." I would rate that as +1/2, the same as Ranged. I would define it to work the same as for HKA - STR can increase Damage up to double the Damage Class of the Power, and STR is prorated for any Advantages. Now you have a Modified EB that functions the same mechanically, and has the same Active and Real Points, as a Ranged HKA of equal Damage Class. The only difference is that between Normal and Killing Damage. To me this seems pretty logical, fair and balanced. And you could easily apply the "Ranged Based On Strength" Limitation to this construct.

Re: Sentinel Robots Guys, the Growth subject is a valid one, probably worthy of its own thread; but that probably isn't helping Freebooter with his request.

Re: Name Help: Super Patriot

Re: [Help] A Villain and Four Followers Ah, I think I get it now. Well, since the Reaper has his trademark scythe, how about giving each armor wearer his or her own distinctive technological weapon based on an archaic weapon or implement? Their names could be derived from associations with that weapon. For example: Maul, with a hammer that returns when thrown; Shaft, using a bow that fires gimmicked projectiles or "energy-arrows"; Thresher, whose flail can also stretch to snag opponents; Aegis, carrying an impenetrable shield that can project blinding or hypnotic light.

Re: [Help] A Villain and Four Followers While I like Oddhat's concept, the "Four Horseman" have been done a number of times in comics and other media (including Champions once). Let me suggest that since the main villain is styled as the Reaper, i.e. Death, that the other armor wearers be patterned after figures associated with Death in particular cultures. For example, you could adapt gods/creatures serving Hades in Greek mythology: Charon, pilot of the team vehicle; Persephone, having cold-generating powers; Cerberus, with some type of triple-weapon array; Hypnos, using a more versatile variant on the Reaper's mental attack. Alternatively, you could combine death-figures from several traditions. A few examples: Yama, armed with high-tech versions of the Hindu death-god's mace and noose; Anubis, with deadly mechanical jaws, and possibly enhanced senses; Hela, having polar attacks on each side of her armor, e.g. heat from one side and cold from the other, or light and darkness; Azrael, a winged high-mobility flyer, possibly with stealth capability.

Re: Champions Space Campaign Plot Ideas But seriously, folks: if the psi-energy that the queen needs to feed on is produced by humans, it would make the most sense for her to be essentially humanoid herself. Now, whether that would carry through to the Hlung warriors would, IMHO, again depend on whether you want the warriors and the heroes to be able to identify with each other and interact, or whether you want them to just be characterless "monsters" for the heroes to defeat. There are pros and cons to each approach.

Re: Sentinel Robots I would suggest basing their capabilities on this interpretation of a "baseline" Sentinel model: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/mathew/cssentinel4.html Note that this writeup is based on 4E HERO, so there are a few minor design differences from 5E.

Re: Champions Space Campaign Plot Ideas I would expect him to be well Hlung.

Re: Missing: Fantasy Hero

Re: Champions Space Campaign Plot Ideas

Re: Champions Space Campaign Plot Ideas Test of the Cosmic Entity: The heroes have attracted the attention of a near-omnipotent being who wants to determine their worthiness and that of the civilization they defend. He captures or lures in the heroes to his testing venue. This could be a world where they are forced to battle various menaces, possibly including former foes, either en masse or in individual gladiatorial matches. Or, the heroes might have to race across the galaxy to find and recover various artifacts or data-clues, perhaps with competition from one or more villainous parties. The incentive for this is either something that the cosmic entity offers the winner that the heroes or their sponsors really, really want; or the threat from the entity of something really, really bad happening if the heroes fail. Cracks in the Foundation: The stability of the galactic federation is rocked by political upheaval. Relations have soured between member worlds, and there are even threats of revolution or civil war. The heroes' loyalties are torn between the federation and their team, and their individual homeworlds. If you want this situation to be solvable by team action, the heroes could discover that a particular agency is responsible for the rising tensions, but will have to confront and defeat that agency to prove it - and may be opposed by the duped forces of some of the federation worlds. I'll give it some more thought and get back to you.

Re: Spellbook I think the person you're thinking of is Mark "Markdoc" Doherty, whose Ultimate Grimoire is indeed a marvelous collection of spells and magic items of all sorts. I also recommend exploring the rest of his excellent website, Mark's Astounding Cyber Empire O'Doom. Killer Shrike's High Fantasy HERO website is another tremendous resource for HERO fantasy games, and creating/converting magic systems is one of his specialties. You can access his extensive efforts from this webpage.

Re: Shaowrun Conversion Well, have you checked the PDF version that Damon_Dusk put up on Star Hero Fandom.com? Perhaps it has that change. http://www.starherofandom.com/h_shadowrun/index.php

Re: How would you use Takofanes? Thank you, that's very gratifying. It's exactly what I started this thead for.

Re: Ultimate Speedster Question.... sorta Two-gun girl looks like a shoo-in for at least one "Enraged."

Re: How would you use Takofanes? I was thinking about those "pocket dimensions" that Takofanes is said to retreat to if he runs into more opposition than he can handle. The text in Conquerors, Killers And Crooks makes them sound like hidey-holes, but there's really no reason that they have to be so limited. They might even support a fair amount of extra-dimensional real estate, and in lieu of a base for Tak on Earth they'd probably be the main repository for the vast resources his writeup says he's supposed to have. It could make for an interesting adventure if PCs who have dimension spanning abilities, either through magic or technology, were to accidentally stumble into one of these pockets. Particular ones could contain all sorts of different things, like demons or other monsters left over from the Turakian Age, armies of undead awaiting their lord's command, or fabulous magical treasures (potential source of hero or villain origins). One such dimension might even contain the souls of those unfortunates who were rendered undead by the Archlich; freeing them could be the key to eliminating his principle minions (over and above being an act of compassion). Some of these dimensions could have very different environments from what the PCs are used to, dangerous and challenging in themselves. They might even have different physical laws that affect how the heroes' powers work. When you have a justification to change the ground rules that your players take for granted, it can be good for them and fun for you. These places could provide a Takofanes-related adventure that doesn't even have to involve the Ravager of Men. OTOH finding a way to sneak in through his "back door" can be a real strategic advantage when the heroes finally decide to take him on.

Re: Ultimate Speedster Question.... sorta Not to mention p. 272 of the original Hero 5th. "That piano just won't die!"

Re: Plot help! Yes, they had them tied up in those Monster Manuals. I'm sorry. I couldn't let it pass.