Lord Liaden

Re: 3rd-party systems: Convert or Emulate? Having collected conversions from other games for the past year and a half, I've seen efforts that cover the whole spectrum. Some people create precise conversion matrices with direct correspondences; these normally cover attributes that are functionally similar to Characteristics, but can include Skills, Damage Classes, Combat Skill Levels, and the abilities related to "levels" in level-based games. Other efforts eschew correspondences, but do attempt to model specific elements described in the game, such as magic spells, psionic powers, technology, or racial abilities. Often the conversion will try to mimic the in-game effect of these elements as closely as the differences in the game systems will allow - some mechanics just don't translate, although I've occasionally seen those concepts ported into the HERO version to retain the flavor of the original. Some people forego the attempt to model how a particular game handles certain things, instead looking to the setting and trying to capture the "spirit" and "feel" of it in HERO terms. This has been most common for licensed games based on a particular setting from another medium, or games based on an historical era or distinct culture. The "converter" bypasses the existing game and goes right to the source material. I can't really say that one approach is any better or more successful than the other, although in general the closer a game is philosophically to HERO, the more detailed and precise the conversion is. By that I mean a game which has precisely defined and quantified elements which have specific and measurable in-game effects, and is based on external conflict either with another character or some task or obstacle. Game elements such as "life-paths" which direct a character's actions and personal development, or conflict resolution through narrative and role-playing, don't translate as readily, being either foreign to HERO or less easily quantified within the standard HERO mechanics. It's certainly possible to apply such concepts to HERO, but that often requires looking at the objectives of the game differently. And of course, I do believe in the sentiment expressed in my signature.

Re: Neutron bolts I'd go with Robyn's recommendation. Build the kinetic damage part (EB or RKA as you think appropriate), then Link a NND attack Power to it. (Linked is a Limitation on a Power that means it can only be used with another Power, not by itself.) The Defense can be Not Being Alive, Immunity to Radiation, and a successful Constitution Roll. You could use the degree to which the CON Roll is failed to determine how much damage the target takes, e.g. for every 1 that the roll is failed by, the target takes 10 Active Points worth of damage. Note that if you want the NND to do Body damage as well, that's an extra +1 Advantage.

Re: StarHERO Fandom forum hacked The guy calls himself "NoKisSMe." From that you already have to guess that he has time on his hands. At least AFAICT the forums themselves seem to have survived intact, so it appears it was merely an unsightly hack rather than a destructive one.

Re: Help - good starter characters for PH needed! I couldn't speak to the website creator's choices in gun writeups, st barbara. However, if you want to see HERO writeups for the guns you mention, I heartily recommend this website: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/6532/ . All the entries are illustrated, and most have the weapon's history plus descriptive text. Bob, I dug up a few discussion board threads with characters you may be able to use. The ones here are higher-powered than you asked for, but they're good concepts that could be toned down: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39104 Here are some characters from the stories featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's protagonist, Professor Challenger: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33894 Only one of the characters on this thread survived legibly after the HTML feature on these boards was turned off; but I could probably clean up the other two if you wanted them: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28828

Re: Help - good starter characters for PH needed! Thanks to the several HEROphiles with their own fine pulp gaming websites, there are a number of interesting characters to choose from, from diverse backgrounds and with varying power levels: Daredevils The Odyssey League Thrilling True Tales Amazing Adventures!

Re: General Hero Question..comepletly new to the system Welcome aboard, Tony. I hope you enjoy your visits here. Glad you stopped by to ask - we're generally a pretty friendly and helpful bunch to HERO newcomers. That's actually an interesting question. HERO System Sidekick is one of the best sources from which to learn the system, especially if you're picking it up on your own - it was specifically designed for that purpose. The great tome that is HERO System Fifth Edition, Revised can be rather intimidating to a first-timer. There is a lot to absorb. SK really is a complete playable game in itself; for the most part its smaller size compared to the full Fifth Edition rulebook is just the result of the many optional elements and detailed clarifications being trimmed out... most of which you wouldn't be using just starting out, anyway. However, there are a very few elements appropriate to a martial arts game that were left out, probably because they were either too complex or potentially unbalancing until you're more familiar with the system. Overall I would say that Sidekick, Ultimate Martial Artist and Ninja HERO would be very serviceable for the kind of game you plan to run. There might be a few references in the latter two books that you won't find in SK, but I wouldn't expect any of those to be crucial. If you do decide you want to explore the full potential of the ruleset later, you can always upgrade to Fifth Edition, Revised at that time; it will likely be easier to grasp with experience under your belt. SK is a pretty small initial investment, after all, to get in on this great game. BTW you might be interested in looking at these HERO writeups for various characters from the Street Fighter video game: http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptionsvideogame/videogamechar.html#SF

Re: Rolling High But if it's so easy to adjust (as demonstrated by the examples above), why bother trying to counter it? The game is supposed to be fun, and fun is rarely completely rational. If some people have more fun rolling high, that's cool.

Re: How does Mass Combat work in FH? Very true , but the mass combat rules in 5E FH are essentially the same as those in that 4E version, just with a little more refinement and more options. And the majority concensus on the current Fantasy HERO is: if you have any interest in fantasy games using HERO, you must buy this book!

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits! Okey-dokey. I went back over a few of the current Champions books, looking for characters who might fit with BP's Dark Kingdom, especially as "knights." Here are a few suggestions in addition to the ones above: From Arcane Adversaries, I recommend the Lamplighter. He's a sort of spiritual vampire, drawing power from the torment of others. He willingly works for tyrants or others who give him access to new victims, so I could see him joining with BP if the prospects looked good. From Vibora Bay, I think Deadman Walkin' could work. He's a skilled and ruthless assassin who also happens to be a kind of freewilled zombie, with the durability of the undead. The force that reanimated him is unknown, so that could have some connection to the Paladin. From DEMON: Servants Of Darkness, Cloaca should be useable. She is infected with Qliphothic energy that she projects outward as dark force. She's committed to evil but still unschooled in it; she sought out DEMON so that she could understand her own nature. She could just as easily have encountered the Black Paladin first. From Champions Worldwide, Lightning Man looks like a natural. He's a powerful and brutal warrior armed with twin magic axes which have tainted his soul. He's also a straightforward fighter who would probably make a good footsoldier as long as he's given plenty of opportunities to fight. And he's an Aussie. Well, I guess that's a start. Actually a team of Black Paladin, Talisman, Black Harlequin, Lady Crow, the Gryphon, Morningstar, the Lamplighter, Deadman Walkin', Cloaca, and Lightning Man would be pretty formidable, especially if BP used their varying abilities strategically. All of them are also pretty thoroughly evil, so they'd likely have no objection to following BP's lead.

Re: name for a Shaman type character? Second that recommendation. The man seriously studies these traditions. You might trying PMing him - even if he sees this thread, he may not pick up on your specific interest from the title.

Re: Rolling High I have to emphasize that the complaint about this part of HERO that I hear most often, in person or on the Internet, is not that it's more confusing, but that it seems "counter-intuitive" to some people. Quite simply, they don't like the way it feels. Gaming esthetics, I guess.

Re: Build your own Eurostar True enough, but in the current CU Dr. Philippe Moreau is the more established figure using that schtick. I would be concerned about redundancy if Sanchietti hung around. Mind you, Pantera tore his throat out before he could produce any others like her, so a repeat of that scenario would solve that problem. IMHO Aldo Sanchietti was introduced to allow for the future recreation and recruitment of Pantera into the 5E Eurostar.

Re: Build your own Eurostar You mean Dr. Aldo Sanchietti? The Italian geneticist researching man-beast hybrids? Who in his Fourth Edition CU incarnation experimented on his daughter Gina, aka Pantera of Eurostar?

Re: Hunting Disadvantage I think Champions III (pre-Fourth Edition HERO) introduced the "Hunter" Disadvantage. IIRC the Fourth Edition rulebook recommended handling it as a Psychological Limitation rather than its own distinct Disad. From the magnificent online Master List of Limitations, you can scroll down to a link to an example of the Psych Lim approach: "Hunts (Person or Group)".

Re: Rolling High And yet there continue to be folks who are just plain more comfortable doing it that way. Since it's easy enough to accomodate them, why not? I find a method proposed by our board colleague, tetsujin28, to be simpler: 21 minus your current Skill roll (after appropriate modifiers) gives you a number to equal or exceed on 3d6. The probabilities are the same as for the normal roll-low method. And I've seen this exact formula suggested several times.

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits! Weldun, are you looking for specific characters to add to the Black Paladin's roster, or general ideas for the types of villains who would serve him? If the former, do you want published Champions characters, or fan creations, or both?

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits! It's a PDF Champions adventure by Allen Thomas. 69 pages, new characters and maps, $12.00 US, dowloadable from the Online Store. High quality - award winning in fact. Here's where you can find out more about it: http://www.herogames.com/Products/SOB.htm

Re: Brainstorm: The Black Paladin Recruits! Well, I would think that the best fit would be evil supernatural beings with a "medieval" theme, willing to follow orders. The adventure Shades of Black creates two minions for the Black Paladin, the Gryphon and Lady Crow. I also think Morningstar from Conquerors, Killers And Crooks would be appropriate. I'll have to think about it more, and get back to you.

Re: Find weakness? You still with us after all this, Schwarzwald? Or have you just concluded that you stumbled into the lunatic fringe of Digressors Anonymous?

Re: PSI West Looking again at the NewConn map, I thought of another municipality to help flesh out the vicinity around the main city: Wayborn. The town of Wayborn, situated on the coast to the west of North Way, was originally a part of the city of Glennport. After New Constantinople annexed part of that city as North Way, Wayborn became a separate entity (rather ironically renamed). Wayborn was initially a small and relatively poor fishing community, but its economy was given a shot in the arm when it was chosen for construction of docking and repair facilities to service the ferries running from Argo to Crescent. Several local entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to expand on this development, and persuaded businesses in NewConn to invest in more drydocks and machinery. Today Wayborn is dominated by small but diverse boatbuilding and boat repairing businesses, servicing not only the ferry line but New Constantinople's fishing fleet and the water taxis that ply the tourist trade, as well as private commissions by the city's wealthy boating enthusiasts. Wayborn's population has more than doubled over the past five years, leading to a local boom in the housing market and retail and service sectors.

Re: PSI West This is a pretty fresh set of "psionic" concepts, Hermit. I would be interested in viewing their builds to see how you model their abilities mechanically. I can definitely see the PCs finding themselves in the middle of a conflict between PSI West and the IHA.

Re: Thrown non-killing weapon Conceptually true enough , although the former would require more Active Points, and perhaps more Endurance, than the latter. However, the point seems to be a disputed distinction in how that +1/4 Advantage affects the addition of STR to the HKA damage.

Re: Thrown non-killing weapon If you mean pro-rating, I can certainly see your point. OTOH the current damage-adding structure for HA does distinguish it from STR with No Figured Characteristics, which it otherwise would cost the same as but be inferior to in the range of benefits it confers.

Re: DC versus Marvel: different styles Hmm... not completely with you on that one, Arac. That distinction was probably fairly accurate in the 1960's, but by the early '70's DC was doing some pretty sophisticated and ground-breaking work, such as by Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams on the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow series dealing with topics like antiwar protests, race relations and drug addiction; or Steve Englehart and Marshal Rogers with Batman, returning him to his "dark vigilante" roots and introducing the psychotic, homicidal version of the Joker.

Re: Gurps Space 4th edition One of the reasons Cambias was hired to collaborate on SH was his excellent work for the Third Edition GURPS Space product line.