Mister E

Re: Hero is broken Consequently... do you pronounce it "Submariner," or "Submar-een-er?" It's a pet peeve of mine...

Re: Hero is broken "Emergency Blow," hmm...? I guess all the rumors I heard, were true. Were you ever stationed at Bangor?

Re: The Quintessential BODY Oh, I caught it. I'm a total ego-maniac.

Re: The Quintessential BODY I'm sensing sarcasm... Oh well. Yes, the BODY of a character is different (and more) than the BODY of an object. But a character is an object, and that should be taken into consideration when rolling a new one up. BODY doesn't really follow the same rules that all of the other stats follow. It is something very different, in many ways, and it took me a while to really figure that out, because it wasn't explicitly described anywhere in the book. ?

Re: The Quintessential BODY Honestly, I've heard your arguments, and I don't want to be rude, because I like you, but I don't think you know what you are talking about... +5 STR = +1d6 Normal Damage = + 1 BODY = x2 Mass Everything about this equation is simply an aspect of the game mechanics of the HERO System, except for the "x2 Mass" part; which is the real world/physical/tangible effect part. And it's exponential. +5 STR allows you to both lift an object that is twice as heavy, and destroy an object that is twice as big, with one hit. Peroid. Nobody can effectively argue this. Yes, there are situations where this (in my opinion) very obvious expomential aspect becomes difficult to see clearly, but it is still there, and is always there. Taking Math 111; spending 30 minutes fooling around with a scientific graphing calculator; or simply understanding the difference between exponential and linear; should reasonably be enough to convince anyone of this. Regardless... What did you think of my discourse on the BODY stat? I thought the last paragraph was really good. Did you already know all this stuff? Do you feel like you understand BODY better? Am I a total idiot? Is there something you would like to add?

Re: Hero is broken

Re: Hero is broken Having been in the Navy, I think I can safely assert that there are very few hexes on a major sea vessel that have the potential of destroying the whole ship if damaged. I think this issue could be very easily managed realistically by any competent GM, (and maybe even by "Skilled" or "Average" GM's ). Zornwil's issue about a super-high dice attack targeting only one hex is interesting, but just as a comment, I don't think high dice attacks inherently should have any kind of Explosive properties beyond special effect. Knockback is itself a fairly explosive biproduct of most attacks. There is no reason not to simply add Explosive to these large-scale attacks, if it is appropriate. Conversely, balistic cavitation from a bullet inside the human body, could be considered a mini-explosion. A needle, maybe not so much, but its's all about scale. To a transdimensionally size-shifted character, that is another matter. Transferal of kinetic energy always has some kind of entropic dispersal effect. Zorwil is no doubt an extremely good GM, and has a very strong conceptual grasp of the HERO System, and its game machinics.

Re: Hero is broken Gawd... I love Star HERO.

The Quintessential BODY. Okay, because of the arguments against BODY and Damage being exponential in nature, (and many of them are very valid and true), I have gone back to square-one, and meditated on the subject in a effort divest myself of all prior potentially false misconceptions, and get to the heart of the issue: what is BODY? [All page references are from 5er, because that's the only book I'm using now, in an effort to become more familiar with it, and because it's the most current book.] Glossary definition (pg 16) - "BODY: (1) A Characteristic representing how much injury a character can withstand before dying." [I would add on to this definition, (and I'm sure everyone would agree with me), "...and how much structural damage an object can withstand before being broken."] Characteristics Comparison Table (pg 40) - BODY: Weak = 1-2, Challenged = 3-5, Average = 6-10, Skilled = 11-13, Competent = 14-20, Legendary = 21-30, Superhuman = 31+. [I think it's interesting that "Average" and "Competent" have two separate categories. From what I've gathered from this Discussion Board, it's because of the fact that in the original builds of superheroes, back in 1st ed., all of the example characters had fairly inflated stats... especially for DEX and CON, and that this trend has continued on to this day for game-play reasons... which is fine.] Characteristics Benchmarks Tables (pg 41) - BODY: Weak = Infant, Challenged = Child/elderly person, Average = Average person, Skilled = Pro Football Player, Competent = Rasputin/Horse, Legendary = Elephant/Rhinoceros, Superhuman = Hercules/Thor/Whale. [Now I would say that Rasputin (a man that had to be stabbed dozens or hundreds of times, poisoned, and drowned to be killed... and it's rumored that he lived); and a horse; were something more than "Competent". But this totally jives with my current interpretation of the BODY stat, points-wise. The 'average' average human has a BODY of 8.] Determining The BODY And Defense Of An Object (pg 447) - "On the Object BODY Table, an object's BODY depends on its total mass; each doubling of mass is +1 BODY. The GM may wish to increase an object's BODY based on its size or the materials it is made of." [This pretty much spells it out for everyone. Any real arguments against BODY being exponential in nature, after this, better be very creative or inspired. Otherwise, the argument will showcase the persons lack of the basic concept of what the word exponential means. Regardless, many of you have made many excellent arguments championing the linear aspect of BODY in game play, to your credit.] Object BODY Table (pg 449) - 100kg (man) = 10 BODY. [Fascinating. The 'average' average person has a BODY of 8, but here, we see that as an object, people should have a BODY of 10. This, to my knowledge, is representative of the 'ineffable' drive/physicality/spirit of sentient beings in a story-telling/game environment... and I extremely like this. Your 'average' average person lives a bland/mundane existence, and lacks that 'special something' that would make them both heroes, and objects with the proper BODY for their mass/size and composition. Player Characters, (and NPC's of note), on the other hand, live... breath... and eat heroic lives. They are creatures beyond the kin of normal physical capacities, and are able to push their bodies (and BODY's) to impossible limits through the sheer force of their being the focal-point of destiny and story-telling. Other characters are just ridiculously tough, which is also cool.] Cheers. Link

Re: How would you write this up as a Champions super-power? I would fully go with the Dependence Disad.

Re: Need Help With SFX Names! Quantum Rage Channeling? Edit: Woops... to late. Good one, BTW.

Re: This Thread is broken So you think a 20 DC attack does twice the damage of a 10 DC attack? Hm... interesting. No seriously, BODY is exponential by increments of +1, the same that damage is exponential by increments of +1d6. Check this out: If the Mass of any object is doubled, it gains +1 BODY. If a character gains +5 STR, it gains +1d6 DC's, and is able to do an average of +1 BODY damage per hit. +5 STR = +1d6 DC's = +1 BODY = x2 Mass (a measurable aspect of the physical world) ... the same as... +5 STR = x2 Lifting Weight (likewise, a measurable aspect of the physical world) These quotes were taken from the "What is Casual STR meant to be?" Thread...

Re: Spray: Flash + AVLD I will second Edsil's opinion on using NND. I would also like to add, that it is my opinion that Flash DEF, like Power DEF, should be given the appropriate Limitation if it has a weakness specific to a particular Special Effect, however. (Usually a -1/2 Limitation) Cheers.

Re: a few BoECV Questions It is my understanding, that you would require Resistant Mental DEF in order to defend against RKA BOECV. EDIT: I think I am wrong, here. Resistant Mental DEF should only be required, if Does BODY was added to the attack. Still, this is a pretty mean surprise for the victom with only normal Mental DEF.

Re: Always On (and Inherent): okay i'm abusing it... Better than my Italian.

Re: Ay Yi Yi! GM advice needed! I have an idea... This is a solution to #2."How do I let my PCs figure out there is a spell to break out of..." Finn, the super-genius robot Sorceror Supreme of your world, has a virus that causes him to over-look Biv's spells, right? Well, what if Finn started having other secondary problems as this computer virus continues messing with his perceptions of reality, which begins to threaten his viability as a super-natural protector of Earth? Not able to know what is wrong with himself, the machine could go to the party for help, and ask them to 'TRON' into his mind! Or, if Finn ('Finn' I just got the obvious Disney reference) is like Doctor Strange, and tends to manipulate other heroes, rather than ask for help politly, he could simply, and unexpectedly, lure the party into a trap and then 'TRON' them into his mind. Once in his mind... you hac make it obvious somehow, that there is an alien intruder destructively taking over the poor robot's mind, and that they need to intervene. The player characters will then take on the mythical role of the prophicied "Anti-Virus" saviors from "User-Nirvana". This could be a lot of fun, as they get treated like Messiahs and Demi-gods, after a few displayes of their powers. Anyhow, once the Virus is destroyed, and the source of the problem 'integrated' into the heroes minds, Finn can return them back to the real world, where they can begin dealing with the Presedential problem.

Re: Three or more Eyes

Re: Three or more Eyes I have three eyes, and it's a bitch... let me tell you.

Re: Dear G-D, NOOOOOOOOO!!! I hate Hollywood! You know what would really suck... is if the writter desided to change the source of mutant powers from a evolutionary genetic deviation, into a mystical... say "force-like" energy field that surrounds and penitrates all life. That would just be lame.

Re: hit location Makes sense. It's kind of like the Beam limitation for blasting through walls. I'll buy that.

Re: Straight up easy question . . . Just have your character pick one up at a sporting-goods store, and save the character points.

Re: Three or more Eyes That's a good question. I'm speculating, but I suppose if you had extra eyes, you chould continue seeing after certain Flashes... that would be nice. If the character were blinded in one eye, you would still have depth perception, and shouldn't have any penalties for Ranged combat. There may be more... None of these benifits are extremely common, or useful... but I think they are on par with having extra limbs, or doubled equipment. As an example, Grond has extra limbs, and took the Extra Limbs power... but he also took extra SPD, to be used only for attacking. So sure, also give yourself +1 or more to Perception Rolls, and some Flash DEF. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a number of other powers that could be accredited to having extra eyes, but when you get right down to it, if having extra eyes was really all that useful, from an evolutionary stand-point, we would all have one or two more than we have. So that's why I think, at a mimumum, having extra eyes should cost 5 points, and that having extra eyes should give you no more benifit than the ability to see should a few get impaired. Honestly, that's just my two cents. I'm not married to my opinion.

Re: Flashing Paralyzing attack How about instead of creating a power that similates a specific weakness in an individual, you treated this as a Disad: Susceptibility to Light based Flash Attacks: 3d6 damage, Instant Effect (Very Common): 25 Character Points? I'm sure you could convince one of your NPC's to take it...

Re: Three or more Eyes I would say 5 character points for any extra eyes... which is just like Extra Limbs, and similar to the 5 point doubling rule for equipment.

Re: hit location I like Hit Locations, as well as Called Shots. We used them both in all the games we play. In a Fantasy genre game, I would say that it is even more important to use Hit Locaitons, because of the emphasis of equipment in the game. It's also much easier, because you don't have to worry about characer point costs, and can just write in the armor values where you need them.