Fedifensor

Re: Selective AoE is an advantage?

Has the APG stuff been added to HERO Designer yet?

Re: Your Version of FRANKEN-HERO

I'll play either straight 5E or straight 6E. At this point in my life, I don't have the time to create HERO characters without electronic assistance, which makes HERO Designer a necessity. It speeds up the time to create a HERO character tenfold...at least for me.

For now, since most of my material is in 5E, that's what I'll use when I run HERO. If I create a campaign from scratch where I'm not using previous material, I'll have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each version.

That said, if I ever had unlimited time to work on HERO (and a way to hire Simon to customize HD for me), things would be much different. I'd probably take the 5E and 6E books, read them over in detail, then try to distill things down to a book with the level of complexity of 4E. It would involve a lot of combining of powers, removing redundant systems for doing things, and a ton of simplification.

So, I was reading through the 6E book, and came across nonselective and selective AoE.

Nonselective reduces the advantage value by 1/4, and forces you to make additional attack rolls versus each target in addition to the roll to hit the area.

Selective raises the advantage value by 1/4, and forces you to make additional attack rolls versus each target in addition to the roll to hit the area, with the ability to exclude people from the effect. In other words, Selective comes with the inherent limitation "must make second attack roll versus target's DCV".

Reverse-engineering the values means that the value of attacking a person at DCV 3 is +1/4 (the difference between nonselective and normal AoE). It also means that the ability to exclude allies from an AoE attack is +1/2 (the difference between nonselective and selective modifiers for AoE).

Now, I don't have the Advanced Player's Guide, so this question may be addressed there. Is there a way to make an AoE that hits only the targets you want to hit, but still goes against DCV 3?

Re: How do fighters hurt/kill a dragon?

Well, I like using the classic film Dragonslayer to illustrate the problems with fighters taking on a dragon, even though the hero ends up taking out the dragon in an unconventional way.

#1 - Range

To fight the dragon, you have to get into melee range. Dragons can fly and have a ranged attack (breath weapon). If the fighter can't get into range, the fight is over before it begins. The best way to counter range is to pick the location for the fight. If you're fighting in a cave, a dragon can't get airborne (most dragons can't hover or turn on a dime). Another way is to force the dragon to come to you by having something it wants sufficiently for it to risk going to melee range.

#2 - Defense

A dragon's attacks are powerful. Many dragons can incinerate entire towns with their breath weapon. The fighter needs a way to survive the ferocity of the dragon's onslaught long enough to strike back. Dragonslayer did this with a shield that could block the dragon's flame, and attacking from above so the dragon couldn't bring its natural weapons to bear. Even then, the hero ended up running (due to #3, below).

#3 - Offense

Dragons are hard to hurt. The typical dragon story involves either a weapon powerful enough to wound the dragon, or a weakness in the dragon's armor that can be exploited. The only time I've seen mundane weapons harm a dragon in fantasy fiction were when the hero exploited a weakness (Bard hitting an unarmored spot of Smaug's hide in The Hobbit, or the thief hitting the dragon's eye in Lodoss War).

Re: Multipower are so common, why not just cut every cost by 2 ?

Fair enough, but if the shuriken are built with recoverable charges and Batman is on his swing rope when, across the city, the kid decides to throw the shuriken at the wall, the slots shift to shuriken and the Batman falls to his death.

 

I don't recall that scene in the film.

Maybe the kid paid points for the shuriken. What else is he going to spend points on?

Re: A Storeowner's First Impression

Where does one get a "pregenerated 4E adventure"? Is it part of the PHB? Do they cost money? Are they free resources?

Living Forgotten Realms. The RPGA is free to join, and you can download their free adventures.

It's important to recognize that there are multiple issues here - cost of rules, rulebook size, completeness, and ease of use, which I'll discuss below.

To be honest, cost doesn't bug me. I have enough disposable income that the difference between $50, $100, or $200 for a rules system isn't going to break the bank.

Rulebook size is a bigger issue - this is mitigated somewhat by PDFs, but I prefer a physical book for things I refer to frequently in the game. You need both 6E1 and 6E2 at the game table, which is a lot of rules to carry around.

Completeness - well, I don't think anyone can complain that 6E isn't comprehensive enough to handle just about anything you can throw at it.

Finally, we have ease of use - and that's where 6E has a problem. It's just not easy for the new player or GM. 6E doesn't have a sample adventure to show a new GM how things are put together. Really, you need to add a genre book to the mix before the new GM has enough information to put together a campaign without assistance. Even the player needs that genre book, as you only have one example character per genre in the core rules.

Re: A Storeowner's First Impression

You make of point of saying how you can play D&D with just the Player’s Handbook' date=' then complain that a new player couldn’t [i']run[/i] a game with the Hero Basic Rules. Seems like a double standard to me. Could a player new to D&D run a game with just the Player’s Handbook?

With a pregenerated 4E adventure - yes. Stat blocks are in the adventure, and the information on combat is in the PHB. I've run multiple 4E adventures without having the DMG or MM present. Now, if the person new to D&D was also new to roleplaying, then that would be a different story. Much of the stuff in the 4E DMG is tips on DMing, rather than 'crunch'.

Oh, and "we" don't have 25+ years of experience with the system. You might. Many others do. But there's plenty of us on the boards with just a couple years (I'm just barely past 1).

I was addressing 'teh bunneh', who I know has 25+ years with the system (he's stated this in a recent Non-Gaming Discussion thread).

Re: Multipower are so common, why not just cut every cost by 2 ?

Multiblast man would need at least two slots' date=' which would reduce his MP pool to 50 points, or 2d6 less than single blast man: assuming average defences around 24, that makes the difference between 18 points through defences for the 12d6 and 11 for the 10d6 - it is likely to take one or two MORE hits with the weaker blast to put an opponent down - so that makes using the total active cost of a MP unattractive. A few DC is a lot in Hero because what matters is damage over a certain threshold.[/quote']

I was only adding the cost of the slot the power is in, not every slot of the multipower. No matter how many slots Multi-blast Man has, the highest slot cost is 5 for a 55 point multipower. Thus, the highest AP cost would be 55, so 55+5=60.

 

The system could use a bit of revision - multi slots shouldn't drop the cost more than ultra slots. There is a simpler approach - just have characters using mulitpowers suffer a -1 DC or -5 active points versus characters who pay for their powers outside a framework.

 

Still, it makes sense to lose a bit of power versus Single Blast Man. Multi-Blast Man could switch between Blast, NND Blast, Entangle, Flash, etc. All Single Blast Man can do is a straightforward 12d6 Blast.

Re: Multipower are so common, why not just cut every cost by 2 ?

If you use Active Point limits, you could give a lower limit for powers in a Multipower, or add the cost of the slot to the Active Points of the power.

For example, Single Blast Man uses a 12d6 Blast, for 60 effective AP. Multi-Blast Man uses a 55-point mulitpower, with ultra slots costing 5 points each. Adding the cost of the slot to the AP total, he also has 60 effective AP for his powers using this system. Single Blast Man does 1 DC more damage with his Blast, but Multi-Blast Man may have a Blast, an Armor-Piercing Blast, an Entangle, etc. His powers are slighly weaker, but he has more flexibility.

Re: A Storeowner's First Impression

I remember, once upon a time, when games were 64 pages. Even then I had a blast. You either made a judgement call, or filled in things if you thought they were missing. Bare-bones and ready to rumble.

 

Over time games got longer. Often the "more robust" systems provided many improvements, but sometimes they just bogged you down. Or made your head hurt.

 

I loved the 4th Ed. Rules. Short, sweet, to the point. There were some things that needed fixing, but overall it was rock solid. 200-300 pages is "the zone."

 

5th/6th Edition have brought many good things to the table. But they do come across more like a legal tome than a game.

I have to agree with this. I've scared away more than a few players by the sight of 5ER, and just the character creation rules for 6E are almost as thick. Plus, you need both 6E1 and 6E2 to play, which is a thicker package than 5ER. Even after many years of experience, I need to look up both powers and combat options during the typical game session as a player. By contrast, I really only need the Player's Handbook to play D&D 4E. Actually, with DDI and the character creator, I can play an entire session with just the character sheet (which contains the rules for all the powers I'm using). There's a reason why 4E remains the dominant system on the market.

It's a good game, but it isn't user-friendly unless you do a LOT of work to make it so (like a certain Bunny's character sheets for convention games). It also doesn't help that certain vocal advocates for the system adopt an elitist attitude that drives people away. Sure, it may be annoying that some people are "completely illiterate morons", but badmouthing people for it doesn't draw new players to the system, and ensures that HERO will remain a niche product for gamers...which are already a niche market.

The BBB had its problems, but it truly had everything you needed to play Champions in one book. You get rules, sample heroes and villains, a complete adventure...it is not just a toolkit, but showcases those tools in action. After flipping through my 6E books, I have to wonder whether we've made that much progress. The rules may have less holes, but is it worth the extra complexity?

Ahem. Hero System Basic Rules. 136 pages. Everything you need to play. Just sayin'.

Anyone else remember the confusion between D&D and AD&D? Now we have Hero System 6E, Hero System Basic Rules, and (forthcoming) the Advanced Player's Guide. That's without including the genre books...which aren't available yet. Is the confusion factor worth offering a simplified version of the rules.

Sure, you and I could run HERO with just the basic rules...but we each have 25+ years of experience with the system. I doubt someone completely new to HERO could create everything they need for a campaign with just the basic rules, unless the new book is massively different from Sidekick. It's like setting someone down at a worktable with a bunch of parts and saying, "make an engine that works". Having the tools and having the knowledge to use those tools effectively are two different things.

Re: Considering an Alt with Munitions.

I'm going to have to disagree with you. 2GM allows mobility' date=' has no cooldown, buffs you with Enrage if fully maintained, and from what I've read because of the multishot aspect it has more chances to proc with Killer Instinct than most other munition attacks. 2GM to rank 3 is a staple of my muni character. Don't be fooled by Close the Gap, lots of testing has gone into showing that Close The Gap is inferior to rank 3 about 90% of the time[/quote']

I agree 100% with this.

 

I recommend either DEX/EGO with lots of REC items, or DEX/REC with lots of EGO items. Recovery is pretty important, especially if you pick up powers like Lead Tempest or (going outside the powerset) Orbital Cannon.

 

Here are my most commonly-used powers:

* Two-Gun Mojo - Overall, I consider it about equal to Assault Rifle (less damage, but has several advantages listed in the quoted text above. TGM procs Accelerated Metabolism and Killer Instict about as often as they can trigger.

* Orbital Cannon - This can start AND end fights quickly.

* Sonic Device (with AoE advantage)/Lead Tempest combo - Great for tightly-packed groups.

* Lightning Reflexes - Your DEX will be your highest stat, and it shines against tough single targets. With Orbital Cannon, Sonic Device, and Lead Tempest, large groups of weaker foes can be taken care of quickly. LR gives you good protection against what's left.

* Munitions Bots - Gives another target on the field and extra firepower when taking on tough foes like Master Villains and Supervillains. The bots have allowed me to win fights that were unbeatable without them.

Re: Online Fantasy HERO: Campaign genre

I'm going to have to differ with most of the people here. I'm not a fan of "grim and gritty". Many people are dealing with lost jobs or other real world problems, and there are a lot of horrible things going on in the world. I want something optimistic, and grim and gritty tends to make PCs feel that they cannot change things. The PCs may have small victories, but regardless of their actions bad things will happen to good people - frequently.

For an online game, I'd prefer high fantasy to low fantasy. You can deal with the bigger powers easier in an online game because the game is slower-paced. Plus, high fantasy tends to be less about shades of gray, which can really show things down in an online environment.

Now, high fantasy doesn't have to mean lots of magic items, or mage characters outshining everyone else. With the HERO system, you can have mundane characters with exceptional abilities, like an archer who can shoot the wings off a fly at 20 paces, or a martial artist who can paralyze a foe with a touch.

Re: College of Blademagic

So, I've finally started to rework the Blademage spells for 6E. I've decided to remove Bladespirit, and replace it with Featherblade - which I believe to be the defining spell of the college. I've also decided that Spellslicer is a more advanced spell, so I've taken it out of the basic spell list.

Here's what I've got so far. I'll update this post as I convert more spells.

College of Blademagic - Basic Spells

7 Featherblade: Telekinesis (18 STR), Reduced Endurance (1/2 END; +1/4) (34 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only with attuned blade (-3/4), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Affects Whole Object (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The blademage uses this spell to make his blade as light as a feather, enabling him to accomplish amazing feats with it (such as wielding a Greatsword with one hand).

5 Interposing Blade: Resistant Protection (5 PD/5 ED) (15 Active Points); OAF (-1), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The caster's blade deflects incoming attacks, partially nullifying their effect.

1 Spellfinder: Detect Magic (INT roll) (Unusual Group) (5 Active Points); OAF (-1), Costs Endurance (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The caster's blade points toward the location of nearby magic and glows.

College of Blademagic - College Spells

8 Animate Blade: Telekinesis (20 STR) (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), Only versus blades (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Affects Whole Object (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The caster targets a blade (perhaps one held by a foe) and begins moving his own blade. If successful, the target blade will move in concert with his own, and can be used to attack as if it were his own weapon.

9 Blade Barrier: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6, Area Of Effect (1m Surface; +1/4), Constant (+1/2) (26 Active Points); OAF (-1), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The blademage begins to spin his blade in a pattern, creating a wall of steel that will injure anyone who attacks him.

10 Bladehurling: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6 (30 Active Points); OAF (-1), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The blademage throws his blade, which flies at a target to strike it before returning to the blademage's hand.

3 Bladesharpen: Naked Advantage: Armor Piercing (for up to 2d6+1K) (+1/4) for up to 35 Active Points (9 Active Points); OAF (-1), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The blademage makes his blade exceptionally sharp, so it can slice through armor.

7 Deflecting Blade: Deflection (20 Active Points); OAF (-1), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The blademage uses his blade to deflect incoming missiles and spells.

10 Spellslicer: Dispel 9d6, Affects any one magic spell (+1/4) (34 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

The caster swings his sword, causing it to go briefly incorporeal as it cuts into the target spell, destroying the magic.

16 Whirling Blade of Doom: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, Area Of Effect (2m Radius; +1/4), Selective (+1/4), Constant (+1/2) (60 Active Points); OAF (-1), No Range (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Power: Magic; -1/2), Only up to normal damage of blade (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4).

One of the deadliest spells available to the blademage, the Whirling Blade of Doom allows the character to spin about and attack anyone within reach as long as the spell is maintained.

Re: Best of the Best

For my primary character (Shootist), I have three powers that really change the course of a combat. The first one is Orbital Cannon. It wipes out henchmen with the initial blast, and can even take down villains with the Anvil of Dawn enhancement.

The other two powers are Lead Tempest and Sonic Device (the latter with the Deafening Dissolution advantage). I can activate Sonic Device, get close to a packed spawn of henchmen, and decimate them with a single maintain of Lead Tempest.

Given the timers (30 seconds) on Orbital Cannon and Sonic Device, I usually alternate between these two methods, using my energy builder in the middle to regain energy for the next attack. If my energy is high and I'm waiting on a timer, I use Two-Gun Mojo to whittle down tougher targets (and activate the Enrage buff via a full maintain).

I used to use Sonic Arrow (with Deadly Dissonance), but after getting the powers listed above I very rarely (if ever) use it.

If you're going to insist on a list format, I nominate Orbital Cannon for best ranged AoE (and a contender for best single-target ranged attack), while Sonic Device is the best self-buff. Force Shield (with Force Sheath advantage) wins the best Block power easily - the lingering effect pushes it over the time.

Re: CHAMPIONS 6E -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Do you think it would be worth the page space to take one character and show a version of the write-up at the 5 main superheroic power levels? So we could see the steps from Low-Powered to Cosmically Powerful?

Even better...do it with one writeup. Batman spends a day fighting thugs in Gotham, and the next day helping take down Darkseid. How do you write up a character that is challenged by both situations without being overwhelmed?

(My vote is on Damage Negation, cannot reduce below X DC's)

I like the suggestions about example Silver/Bronze/Iron Age examples. I'd also like to see ways to create characters who can bounce bullets and punch through bank vault doors without making them 1000+ point characters.

However, I thought the 5E version of Champions was one of the best books of the line. I'd like to see Aaron's work built on and added to, instead of replaced with completely new material.

Re: Confessions of an Online GM

So, any more confessions from the various online GMs?

I guess I'll chime in with my own lesson learned - avoid linking real world time to the game world in any way, shape, or form. Better yet, don't mention a month or year unless absolutely necessary (such as the obligatory Christmas adventure). If you say it's 2009...you may find yourself one week forward in game time after a year has passed in the real world.

Re: The Avengers Legacy

The healing throws me off' date=' but with the other powers I'd guess Power Pack.[/quote']

 

From the Wikipedia entry:

 

Other Versions

 

X-Force

 

A young girl called Francine Power appeared in the pages of X-Force Annual #1, operating under the name Powerpax. She had all the powers of the various members of Power Pack, and wore a costume similar to the one later worn by Alex Power in the pages of New Warriors. This story took place in an alternate future (but as with all alternate future timelines and out-of continuity series published by Marvel, the world in which the story is set is also an alternate reality somewhere in the larger Marvel multiverse).

Re: Well Rounded Heroes

What I've heard for long term strategy is End and Con. Recovery isn't terribly important as you can build up the end anyway. However a high End means you can drop your most expensive attacks more often.

I open every fight with Orbital Cannon (roughly 90 energy to use). It defeats henchmen with the initial blast, and will drop many villains before it is over (thanks to Anvil of Dawn). Because I have enough Recovery to use Orbital Cannon without first building energy, many fights are over within a few seconds.

Re: X-Men: The Next Generation campaign on Hero Central

X-Activity needed ... badly!!

I didn't respond to this at the time of the post, but now I have to agree...

Re: So I have the game....

Also check to make sure you don't have a firewall blocking the patcher. That happened to me, and I needed to adjust my firewall settings to fix the issue.

Re: Well Rounded Heroes

If I understand things correctly each Framework revolves around 2 core Stats. When crossing power frameworks you run the risk of seeing vastly diminished returns for your power's capabilities because of this. So here's the question. What framework combinations work well with just 2 Stats' date=' 3 or 4 and which are they?[/quote']

Well, I feel every build can benefit from a high Recovery, as it determines the amount of energy you have at the start of a fight. It limits what power you can use as an opener, and how many powers you can use before resorting to an energy builder. So, any power or framework combination that relies on Recovery is good, as it focuses on a stat that most people will improve regardless of build.

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

(Posted from my G1 phone)

Catalyst: Silverstone update

Currently, the Silverstone game is at 5 players, and I'm not planning on increasing that amount for the short-term. I'm focusing on individual plotlines to help flesh out characters and do some foreshadowing. I also plan to start another group thread in the near future.

I had some HERO Central problems last night, which is why the only thing posted was a message meant for two players but only seen by one. I hope to have better luck tonight.

Re: Abilities Discussion

I picked up Lead Tempest, and its pretty sweet. I can chain it twice if at full END, and it helps clear a room, though I draw a lot of hate when I use it.

 

It also looks really really cool. Whoever made the Munitions set was obviously a fan of Equilibrium.

I just saw Equilibrium tonight. Very interesting movie, though I wonder if I'm the only one who thought the fight scenes (particularly the ones with the 'named' foes) were too short.

I may pick up Lead Tempest next level, though its a pretty expensive power and a bit random in the destruction.

However, I picked up Orbital Cannon at level 26, and it's now maxed out at Rank 2 with Anvil of Dawn at level 28. While I have Dexterity and Ego as superstats, almost every item I have raises Recovery. With enough Recovery to fire Orbital Cannon as my opening volley, the power is amazing. Henchmen generally die from the initial blast, and many villains don't have the sense or speed to get away from the continuing blast of Anvil of Dawn before they get pasted.

The best part...I can throw this every 30 seconds. If I were to take on the spawn without Orbital Cannon, it would take at least that long to finish off the typical group (3 henchmen or 1 henchman and 1 villain) and get enough health and energy back to go after the next group. I've gone through entire missions where all I do is start Orbital Cannon and then block with Force Shield until the enemies drop.

Re: Escapist reviews CO.

Champions Online is schizophrenic.

In the tutorial, you have an alien invasion.

In the desert crisis, you have individuals turned into monsters by radiation, with little to no hope of recovery.

In the canada crisis, you have zombies.

Once you're in the regular zones, you progress through a combination of the above, plus the following:

* Sinister ghosts

* Not so sinister cowboy ghosts

* Gun-toting secessionists

* A sinister group of mentalists, at least one of which is a murderer several times over.

* A costumed supervillain wielding a ping-pong gun, and his army of foam-fingered fanboys.

* A deadly serpent-themed organization...with silly costumes.

* Wacky robot cowboys

* A prison with a bunch of rioting criminals and villains, many under the control of the most powerful mentalist on the planet.

* Aliens that are either engaged in the most inept invasion ever conceived, or so utterly xenophobic that they shoot anything they see instead of asking for help to fix their downed spaceships.

* The most powerful supervillain on the planet, who destroyed a city and many of its most valiant defenders.

* ...and, coming soon, a lich that walks his way across the country, killing anyone in his path and raising them as undead.

So, is Champions Online a Silver-Age game? Bronze Age? Iron Age? Or did someone just throw everything into a blender and serve it up as a milkshake?

Re: Respecing Might based on Test Server notes

So, going back to the original post - isn't having Roomsweeper, Haymaker, AND Uppercut a bit redundant? I think you'd be better served cutting one of them. You already have plenty of attack powers.