Solomon

1) Before. 2) Yes. 3) No. I know Misterdeath already said that, but why turn down a chance to pad my post count?

I actually used a "move after attack" rule in my first days as a Champions GM because I had a poor grasp of the rules. I didn't like the results and was quite happy to find out there was a rule preventing unrestricted movement after attacks. I felt that allowing "Move after attack" led many energy projectors with high Movement scores to do a "ranged attack two-steps" pattern: "fire then withdraw", "close then fire", rinse and repeat. Unrealistic, un-fictional and just plain silly. Of course slower opponents could prevent that by holding actions, but this in turn tends to slow down fights. The "two steps" pattern becomes even more of an issue if you take into account unusual movement powers like Teleport or Tunnel. Plus, if you allow movement after attack, there is no logic reason against allowing "0 phase" actions too, which opens a whole new can of worms. Shifting combat levels, shifting Multipowers and VPPs and pesky powers like Desolid come to mind. "Turn solid, attack, turn desolid and move" anyone? Not horribly powerful, of course, just too annoying for my personal tastes. Such issues simply do not arise under "standard" HERO rules.

Allowing characters to move normally after attacking would give a decisive edge to characters with high Movement scores. They would be able keep without reach of slower characters too easily. Of course there are ways around that. Look at optional manouvers that combine full movement with attacks. For instance, you can keep on moving after performing a "Move By". The kind of action in which you start behind cover, move out to attack, then get back under cover, is handled by the "Snap shot" manouver.

Despite having a few "words" or his own (ie S.O.S. being universally known as a request for help), Morse is just an alphabet, not a language. You can send Morse code in English, Italian, Spanish, etc., much like you can write English in Cyrillic.

I think the Language skill should not be used for artificial languages, or at least should be limited to artificial languages that are almost as broad in scope as a natural language (ie Esperanto). I don't feel it's fair to have players pay Character Points just to learn an alphabet. Most alphabets consist of roughly 25 symbols. You can learn them in a few hours at most. I feel most simple codes/alphabets and even complex artificial languages could be considered part of a related skill. You shoudn't need "Language: C++" to write lines of C++ code. That's what "Computer Programming" is for. Of course you can expand the use of the Computer Programming to allow for specialization in different programming languages, much the way Surrvival or Weapon Familiarity work. As for Morse. I think any character with so much as Familiarity in "PS: Sailor", "Marine Navigation" or "System Operations" should be considered to automatically know Morse.

Hi all, I need help with a character who's going through a major reconstruction. I'm running a standard Champions campaign (200+150 points). One of the characters (Bjorn) is a wimpy human with a powerful beast-form (Fenrir). The two forms have different personalities and have a Banner-Hulk kind of relationship. This has been built as a Multiform into a 400-points form. Bjorn is a 150 points character. Yes, he didn't spend most of his points. I can hear what you're thinking - no, the player is not abusing this power. He spends most of his time in his human form and he's very loathe to transform. Most of the time he enters combat in human form and turns to beast-form only after having been injured - which might as well be fatal for him, since he's really weak. He's really roleplaying this to the hilt. Plus, the beast-form still falls within my campaign caps. Due to a recent turn of events, Bjorn might be able to "steal" part of Fenrir's power. This would basically turn Bjorn into a full-blown superhero and remove the need for the Multiform. But Fenrir would feel "betrayed" and get even more angry and destructive. So occasionally Bjorn might still change into a berserk Fenrir. How would you build this? Instead of being a useful Multiform, the Fenrir form would be a serious drawback. I don't feel it's fair forcing the character to keep a costly powers so that he can Accidentally Change into a berserk brick who's likely to attack his friends. Suggestions?

Hmm. Interesting. Cooked human meat is white, too. Just a coincidence, of course.

Only one writeup, but a ton of slashfic on Midnighter over the Internet.

Re: Midnighter from The Authority I only read the Authority series. Was he featured in Stormwatch as well? Edit: There's a verion of Midnighter here: The Great Net Book of Real Heroes Slightly underpowered, IMHO. Also, it's dated 2000 and is for 4th edition.

Hi all, I need help with a plot arc I'm writing for my current Champions group. It features a rogue PRIMUS officier as the main villain, but I have little working knowledge of the military so I'm not sure if the plot sounds plausible. The bad guy (let's call him Melville for now) is an high-ranking officier, probably the local office's Director. He's obsessed with vengeance against a much more powerful enemy ("Bad Guy 2", probably Doc Destroyer). His foolish obsession will ultimately drag him to his final doom, along with a lot of innocents. Melville contacts several metahumans who, for one reason or another, need help, protection, etc. He tells them he's willing to help them found a team of their own and build a base. He will say that PRIMUS will not publicly acknowledge ties with the team because working with metahumans is their policy, and because some of the heroes are not Americans and others have a criminal record. In return, he'll ask them to occasionally perform secret "PRIMUS-sanctioned" missions. That's the theory. The truth is, PRIMUS knows nothing about this. Melville wants to use the heroes to push his own private agenda, including vengeance against "Bad Guy 2". Despite his claims, Melville is not pulling funds from PRIMUS, he's pulling them from criminal organizations (like VIPER) that want "Bad Guy 2" out of the picture. However, he's accessing classified PRIMUS data, like for instance files on known supervillains. So I'm asking you, fellow HEROphiles: - Is this scenario plausible (at least in a comic book world)? - How likely is PRIMUS to find out the truth, and how much would that take? - How likely is a PRIMUS director to access and divulge classified data? - Melville can't do all of this alone. How many people should partecipate in the conspiracy to make it work? - I don't want to paint PRIMUS as an untrustworthy organization. Suggestions on how to make PRIMUS come out (mostly) clean when the truth is revealed?

Ok, I was about to reply to the Batnman vs Moon Knight thread. But I was just too bored to actually write down how Bats could mop the floor with his puny Marvel lookalike. So I present you with this new superheroic smackdown: Sauron vs Ronald McDonalds! Much more of a close call. Note: In case you're wondering, I mean Sauron from the Lord of the Rings, not that Marvel winged freak. Note 2: Sauron got his ring. Ronald got small fries and a Coke.

Soo... I assume Caps got his shield, right? But what about Courtney? Does she have her belt?

Turning into a swarm of bats would most likely be a Multiform power. You can find the stats for bats and suggestions on how to handle "swarms" of creatures on the HERO system bestiary. Or you could consider the swarm to be just the special effect of some other power, like a form of Desolidification and Flight. Summoning a swarm of bats would be, urm, Summon!

Running a group of HERO novices was a strong incentive for switching to full 5th Edition. There was really no reason to stick to 4th and send them looking for an out-of-print book. Overall, I like FREd better, through I still have a few issues with derived characteristics, STR/CON being underpriced etc.

I loved the first series. It had a veneer of realism on it that set it apart from most anime mecha series. "Wings" rates high on the looks department, but plotwise it's much like any other giant robot smackdown.

I like playing and GMing equally well. However, I usually end up GMing. When I play I have a non-competitive style, and I really like helping the GM push forward the story. Most players in my area are fiercely competitive, though, especially the young ones.

I'll second that, except that adjustment powers actually changed quite a bit.

Re: Superhero Showdown #3: Black Cat v. Catwoman Superhero Showdown #3: Black Cat v. Catwoman I'd give this to Catwoman. Selina often gives Batman (arguably one of the best DC universe close-combat experts) a run for his money. Plus she's smarter and meaner. Experience is on her side. I disagree. Selina rates higher on my personal babe-o-meter.

250 points henchmen probably are supers, albeit low-powered ones.

Re: [Help] Suggestions for Campaign Limits Good luck for your campaign. I second Jhamin and others in suggesting you should start at 200+150 points, especially if this is your first HERO campaign. I woudn't worry too much about players having high resistant defenses and BODY damage rarely getting through. Bouncing bullets off your chest is just a staple of the superheroic genre. Besides, being bulletproof is not a sure-fire path to victory. If a player wants to exceed your set maxima, I would let him. But ask him to keep below your maxima on another characteristic. Colossus wants high defenses? Let him, but ask him to tune his Speed down, for instance. As for henchmen not being able to damage heroes... An 8d6 will overcome a 20 defense about half the time. So just keep the 8d6 attacks plentiful and you can easily bring down the hero. Also, henchmen can do haymakers too. That's +4d6. And Henchmen can have Find Weaknesses.

Supes mops the floor with Wonderman Superman wins hands down. He can do wirtually anything Wonderman can do, and then much more. Superman vs Wonderman sounds quite like, say, Captain America vs Hulk Hogan. They're not even playing in the same league.

GrooveD70, I'm very partial to anything written by Aaron Allston, but from what you said I think you might find Hero Designer and/or Until Database to be more useful to you. Especially if your player's main problem is that they're unfamiliar with the HERO system. If their main problem is that they're unfamiliar with the superheroic genre, then I suggest getting them the Champions book. And a few good comic books too.

Looks like a Physical Limitation to me. Infrequently, I'd say, unless you're having an attack every other day. And I think it fits the bill for Fully Limiting. Why shoudn't a PhysLim cover the debilitating effects of an attack?

Ombra: He would lose his longevity, but woudn't mind about that. He would also lose his dependency on unusual chemicals, I assume, as this is tied in with his powers. Ombra is crafty an determined, and would adjust quickly to his new life, even though he lacks outdoor skills. He'd keep moving, looking for any trace of civilization and a way back home. He'd never lose hope, even if he was forced to wander a barren Earth for the rest of his life. Tempest: He never had inherent powers, just a bunch of gadgets. And he's not even that good at maintenance. He'd probably take a long time for him to adjust to his new life, but that would be a chance for him to grow up.

I'm running a Champions campaign with a group of inexperienced players. Only one of them ever played HERO before, and one never played RPGs at all. So I was kind afraid that running large battles with this group would turn out to be a time-consuming affair. Also, I was afraid they coudn't handle all the number-crunching. Their first real super-battle was a large and involved one, a three-way fight featuring a grand total of 21 supers. The first serious test for the game system. Now they'll either learn to love HERO, or they'll hate it, I thought. Alea Iacta Est! The game was a blast! It ran smoothly and was over in three hours, there were a lot of memorable scenes, and everyone had fun, lots of it! Of course they screwed things up big time, caused a lot of collateral damage, and learned the hard way not to send a mentalist hand-to-hand against Grond. But they had fun a-plenty, and HERO just won six new players.