Lord Liaden

Re: I need an "S" Shell Solenoid

Re: The limits of the toolkit approach I've noticed that there are more examples in Fifth Edition of specific effects, sometimes things that were discreet Powers in earlier editions, being built by modifying other Powers. For the most part I think that this is a good approach. Some of these effects - and I include Instant Change among them - are "niche" abilities which only have use in certain genres or a narrow set of circumstances, and IMHO if it's possible to create them consistent with the larger system framework, without a lot of complication, it's better if they can be done that way. Another concern that I have is that every time you create a specific Power to cover a specific effect, such as Bodyjacking, you are defining the system parameters of how that specific effect should be achieved. There may be people who don't agree with the function of that particular Power for what they want to do, but feel constrained and coerced by the "official" definition. Keeping the parameters of the various Powers in the toolkit as broad as possible allows gamers to customize them to suit their personal preferences; and while there are example builds for these effects in the published books, making the way they were constructed transparent allows and implies greater freedom to change those builds. That said, I do feel that the appropriateness of this approach is case-sensitive. For example, I have no problem with Instant Change being built as it is - it's a simple construct covering a common but minor element of the superheroic genre, and the way it's handled seems reasonable. However, I'm not as comfortable with another of your examples, Regeneration. This is a very common ability in a number of genres, which Fourth Edition HERO (and earlier) defined as a separate Power. The official modification of Healing in Fifth Edition attempts to reproduce that Power through a very convoluted application of Modifiers, but the end result still requires a violation of the maximum which can be Healed based on the number of Healing dice purchased. So, in the end, attempting to build Regeneration out of Healing this way is internally inconsistent. I would have been happier if the old style of Regeneration had been kept, but as a subset of Healing that just works differently, but has access to the new Adders. That's not unprecedented in Fifth Edition; Succor is a subset of Aid that works differently from regular Aid, but is costed out like its own Power rather than being modified from Aid... which it probably could be, with as much effort as Regeneration takes. I guess my position is that I prefer a toolkit that is as broadly defined as possible, because in the end that allows the greatest flexibility to craft specific effects to our satisfaction. It's only when attempts to do so are excessively complex, and/or don't fulfill the desired effect without actually violating the rules as given, that I believe a separate Power should be added. Of course a given individual should be free to define where those standards fall for him or herself, but the official rules have to do so as well.

Re: HERO combat - somewhat abstract or entirely specific? When I've watched matches between boxers or other trained fighters, I've noticed that actual exchanges of forceful blows, large movements around a ring, or significant efforts to block or avoid a blow are explosive, interspersed with periods where the fighters are bobbing and weaving, shifting their stance, feinting and watching each other closely looking for an opening to strike. I've always played/run the time in between Attacks like that, sometimes describing it in those terms to add color. There are times when I think that a "flurry of blows" are best represented by a single attack roll (Sweep and Multiple-Power Attacks can both fit this bill), and other times when the "look" of a single Attack should be one carefully-timed blow. For me it's contextual, and the context of a fight is constantly shifting. I rather enjoy how that keeps my creative imagination on its toes. And I like that HERO can readily accomodate either interpretation.

Re: Death Owes Me a Favor Which was a riff on the classic 1930's film, Death Takes A Holiday, remade in the 90's as Meet Joe Black. And of course Piers Anthony's previously mentioned novel On A Pale Horse uses the same gimmick at one point. Very few original concepts left.

Re: How to do a weapon that has a free trip attack? Or, a Linked Change Environment which causes Dexterity Roll penalties. By common convention in published writeups (e.g. ice patches or oil slicks), CE used this way can force the victim to roll DEX to stay on his feet.

Re: Thinking of GMing, any suggestions In that case, I think you'd benefit from the advice here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9188

Re: Norse Gods

Re: Death Owes Me a Favor Fascinating. This is the "Death Takes a Holiday" effect, isn't it? So, from what you're describing, it sounds like the bodies of the victims can still be injured, still experience pain, still suffer all the detrimental effects of damage - but the animating force, spirit, whatever would remain attached to the victims' flesh. So, all the rules for loss of Stun and Body, Impairing and Disabling Wounds, and Bleeding would be in force. It's only the final result that's being witheld. And the way you describe it indicates that for most people experiencing this effect, it would be a Very Bad Thing. In HERO VBTs are normally quantified as Disadvantages. Transform is used to give characters Disadvantages, but Physical Transform doesn't feel right to me. You're not really changing the body, you're preventing the spirit from leaving. I'd say this is a good case to use Spiritual Transform. So, if I wanted to run this as a mechanical build rather than a plot device, I'd go with Major Spiritual Transform, Target to Target with Physical Limitation: Cannot Die (All The Time, Fully Impairing, although that's debatable), healed back by the being with this power declaring it "turned off." Add Area of Effect, MegaScale to make it global. If you're concerned about characters with Power Defense being immune to this, you might add No Normal Defense... but I'm not sure what I'd consider a proper Defense in this case. "Immunity To Death" would be another philosophically-draining exercise to define, and I'm at my limit for tonight.

Re: Thinking of GMing, any suggestions Welcome aboard, Ladikn! I hope you enjoy your visits here. It's a fun community, and we're generally pretty friendly and helpful to newcomers. I can point you to a couple of threads from these forums filled with good GMing advice. Although a lot of it is general (which you may not need with your experience), there are many HERO-specific tips on them: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3304 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34843 From your initial post I'm a little unclear as to whether you're switching from Exalted to a more traditional fantasy game and want to use Fantasy HERO for that; or whether you're thinking of converting the characters and conventions from Exalted into HERO. In case it's the latter, there have been some efforts at conversion made on these forums and elsewhere. There's no detailed matrix yet, but enough guidelines and examples to get you started. If you look to my signature, below, and follow the link in it, you can scroll down to the listing for Exalted to find them. Don't hesitate to post again if you have more questions - we all love to show off how much we know.

Re: Questions regarding multiple-attack Powers We can certainly try. From my reading of the rules, you can do a MPA on an area. Since you're targetting a hex with both powers, you'd roll against the area's DCV. Yes, you have to have enough points in the Power Framework (Multipower or VPP) to allow both to be active at the same time, e.g. two 60 AP attack Powers as slots in a 120 AP Multipower. Note that if you can vary the size of the AP in the Powers used, as with Variable slots in a Multipower, you can always opt to use them at lesser power so that both would fit within the Framework. For example, if you have several 60 AP Powers in a 60 AP Multipower, you could use two of them at the 30 point level simultaneously in a MPA. Any answer I gave would be purely my opinion. If you want an "official" ruling you'd need to ask Steve Long. Not really. There's no conflict with Paragraph 1, and Paragraph 2 explicitly allows the GM to make exceptions where warranted. Paragraph 3 merely suggests one of those exceptions. You're very welcome. BTW not to sound critical, but the font size you're using is a little overwhelming to read.

Re: The Invisible World Very well put, CC. I'd only disagree with this point:

Re: Supervillain Monologues My character monologues tend to be fairly short, but pithy. Probably my favorite was for Lung Hung, the "Red Dragon" from VOICE of Doom: "Among my people, the dragon is second only to the gods in magnificence and power. You shall now witness the truth of this." I'll see what else I can remember.

Re: The Invisible World Only if you want to do it that way. Many HERO gamers do, many others don't, and are quite happy with that for their own games. Just as lots of other games make assumptions without building them mechanically. We have to be careful that this doesn't turn into one of those "right and wrong way to have fun" debates. From what CrosshairCollie is describing, it sounds as though these effects are somewhat different depending on which WoD game you're playing. Moreover, sometimes the effects pertain to normal folks, whereas others are imposed on the exceptional magical beings. Given that, my impression is that the best way to deal with this game-mechanically is through various Physical or Psychological Limitations, applied to either normal people or supernatural creatures as warranted, which can either be overcome like Psych Lims, or bought off like Physical ones, under the right circumstances.

Re: Champions "What Ifs"

Re: Death Owes Me a Favor Yup, when in doubt Transform will almost always get you there. Which seems to be what many people despise about it.

Re: The Invisible World I'm not that familiar with the World of Darkness, so I have to ask if this "invisible world" is actually invisible to normal people, like Faerie, or just not public knowledge? If it's the latter, and if it's a matter of normal people being unable or unwilling to perceive this world, it could be run as a default Physical or Psychological Limitation which may be "bought off" when a person encounters the supernatural. OTOH if the supernatural creatures actively work to avoid being noticed, I'd suggest that they all have the Deep Cover Perk, possibly as an "everycreature" element. If it's an actual power of imperceptibility, I'd need more details as to how it works before I could recommend anything.

Re: Death Owes Me a Favor Let's look at this the standard HERO way, by reasoning from effects. What do you want "unable to die" to look like, game mechanics aside? Do you want people to be able to walk around even with lethal wounds, limbs or organs missing, blood all drained away and the like? Or do you just want them to be conscious and suffering, perhaps able to express their pain, but otherwise functionally incapacitated as they would be if they actually were dead? Or something else? If it was Option Two, I'd probably allow Change Environment to do it. For Option One I'd recommend Succor BODY, only to stave off death (probably a -1 Lim). Or just go with Keith's suggestion: Plot Device.

Re: THE ULTIMATE SPEEDSTER -- What Do *You* Want To See? I'd like to see some exploration of what it's like for a person to exist and function at a rate far greater than that of other people. This gets touched on from time to time in stories dealing with super-speedsters: traits like hyperactivity and impatience, and how they affect the character's relationships; problems such as accelerated metabolism leading to increased food consumption or aging, or the (possible) dangers of friction, or of rushing through crowded areas; practical uses for enhanced speed such as rapid travel to make appointments, or cleaning house in seconds; jobs that public speedsters might be particularly qualified for, like courier or paramedic. I recommend that some attention be paid to speedsters who move rapidly through use of non-innate gimmicks, from fancy tech like jet packs and rocket skates, to more mundane transports such as motorcyles, or even animal mounts of real or mundane nature (which would broaden the non-supers applicability of the book). And I assume that the Speedster Martial Art from UMA will at least be reprinted, if not expanded upon.

Re: THRILLING PLACES -- What Do *You* Want To See? Well, what would you say to a sunken treasure ship? Ancient Spanish galleon, or a more modern steamship, just waiting for brave treasure hunters to salvage it? Labyrinthine chambers ready to collapse at any moment; sharks prowling the decks, and giant octopi lurking in the corners; chests of riches for the taking... if you can get past the pirates who await the chance to jump your claim. Or perhaps a watertight safe with sensitive documents that the Forces of Evil want to keep out of your hands. (Nazis anyone?) Perhaps you could thrown in a small island or reef near the shipwreck, so that the action could readily move to a surface location. And if you'd like a more supernatural twist, maybe some of the ship's crew decided to stick around after they drowned...

Re: New Year's Eden Aha! Right-clicking did the job. Must be one of those websites that won't let you download off the page. I'll check this later, Sketchpad, thanks! One more thing, though: have you considered sending this to Ben Seeman for inclusion in the "Free Adventures" section of the Hero Games website? Since you're offering it for free anyway, why not put it where folks are most likely to look for it?

Re: New Year's Eden Sketch, that link takes me to the "Free Web Page Hosting" home page. Could you please tell me how to get from there to your adventure?

Re: Homages you would like to see officially From proditor's remarks, I at first suspected he was going to use CLOWN. I received confirmation from him that it's not them.

Re: CHAR: Wonder Woman Probably as much detail as most males would take in at first view.

Re: Rethinking Growth DI and Shrinking There is something about Growth and Density Increase that you may be overlooking: Both of those Powers cost Endurance every Phase that they're used, in addition to any Strength that the character may employ. DI Man will be using END at least twice as fast as Strength Man unless he buys some Reduced Endurance for Density Increase. Almost every character I've seen with those Powers does so, otherwise they're very inefficient. If you have an Active Point cap in your game, that Advantage should count toward your AP total.

Re: Your government anti-paranormal agents Nothing terribly original, I'm afraid. I run a modified Champions Universe campaign, and I use Shelley Chrystal Mactyre's excellent PRIMUS sourcebook. PRIMUS handles the most obvious cases of heroes gone rogue, framed for crimes and the like. Between their agents' equipment, the Silver Avengers and the Prime Team (that last being among the toughest NPC heroes published for Fourth Edition), even the strongest supers would have to take them seriously. I also use Executive Sanction from Allies as the team the government sends to take out supers when they don't want a lot of publicity. The team has a lot of investigative and reconnaisance capability, so their efforts include gathering intel the government can use against their targets. I did buff up the membership to be more combat-effective.