Mister E

Good news!  According to his Twitter, which I don't have a link for right this second, he's gone into remission!
 
Edit to add:  https://mobile.twitter.com/nyrath/status/1509944269796171782
 

Make all PCs have the same Speed. It's just easier that way. YMMV 

yeah. i things have changed around here & I've been gone long enough that i need to relearn all the basic post composition skills. 
 
e.g., posting the above video like i did left me with no text bar available to allow me to edit that whole post... ∨('.')∨

[the following is a snippet of my first session using open ai chatgtp]:
 
Tron Identity Disc Multipower
 
 
 
Build a TRON IDENTITY DISC as a as a Multipower for HERO SYSTEM 6th Edition. 
 
Here is a Multi-Power for a TRON IDENTITY DISC in HERO System 6th Edition: 
 
Name: Tron Identity Disc 
 
Power Framework: 15-point Multipower 
 
(-1) Physical Disc: 10 Points 
 
(-1/2) Limited to Two Bounces: -1 Point 
 
(-1/2) Requires a Physical Attack Roll: -1 Point 
 
(-1/2) Requires a Continuous Gesture: -1 Point 
 
(-1/2) Physical Disc May Be Deflected or Destroyed: -1 Point 
 
(0) Cannot Cut Through Metal: 0 Points 
 
(-1) Light Projection: 5 Points 
 
(-1/2) Requires a Physical Gesture: -1 Point 
 
(-1/2) Limited to a Short Range: -1 Point 
 
(0) No Continuous Effect: 0 Points 
 
(-1/2) Requires a Physical Attack Roll: -1 Point 
 
(0) Can Be Dodged: 0 Points 
 
(0) Cannot Blind: 0 Points 
 
This Multipower represents a TRON Identity Disc, which can be used as both a physical weapon and as a light projector. The Physical Disc component has a range of 2 hexes, does BODY damage, and has a +1 OCV for the purpose of striking targets. The Light Projection component can be used to temporarily stun opponents within 2 hexes, doing STUN damage instead of BODY damage, and has a +1 DCV for the purpose of dodging. 
 
Note: The actual statistics and effects may need to be adjusted based on the specifics of the HERO System campaign, including character creation rules, powers allowed, and GM discretion.
 
To construct the TRON Identity Disc as a Multipower for HERO System 6th Edition, I followed the following steps: 
 
• Determine the Power Framework: The TRON Identity Disc is a physical object that can be used both as a weapon and as a light projector, so I chose to create it as a 15-point Multipower. 
 
• Assign Points to the Physical Disc Component: I assigned 10 points to the Physical Disc component, which represents its use as a physical weapon. This gives it a reasonable BODY damage and a +1 OCV for striking targets. 
 
• Apply Limitations: I applied a number of limitations to the Physical Disc component to balance its power and accurately reflect its limitations in the TRON universe. These limitations include being limited to two bounces, requiring a physical attack roll, requiring a continuous gesture, and the physical disc may be deflected or destroyed.
• 
• Assign Points to the Light Projection Component: I assigned 5 points to the Light Projection component, which represents its use as a light projector. This gives it a reasonable STUN damage and a +1 DCV for dodging. 
 
The following is a martial art style inspired by the TRON identity discs in HERO SYSTEM 6th Edition: 
 
Name: Disc-Fu 
 
Description: Disc-Fu is a weapon-based martial art that uses the TRON identity discs as a primary weapon. Practitioners of Disc-Fu are known for their lightning-fast strikes and acrobatic movements. They are able to deflect incoming attacks, control their discs telekinetically, and use them for a variety of offensive and defensive techniques. 
 
Required Skills: Disc-Fu requires the following skills: EK (Disc), Disc Throwing, Acrobatics, Parry (Disc), and Weapon Familiarity (Disc). 
 
Stances: 
 
• Basic Stance: A wide-legged stance with the disc held at waist height, ready for quick strikes or blocks. 
 
• Defense Stance: The practitioner takes a low stance with their disc held out in front of them, ready to deflect incoming attacks. 
 
• Aerial Stance: The practitioner jumps or flips in the air, spinning their disc to deflect incoming attacks or set up their own strikes. 
 
Signature Techniques: 
 
• Disc Dash: The practitioner launches themselves forward with a burst of speed, striking their opponent with their disc as they pass. 
 
• Disc Whip: The practitioner flings their disc in a whip-like motion, striking their opponent from a distance. 
 
• Disc Barrage: The practitioner launches a rapid-fire series of disc strikes, overwhelming their opponent with a barrage of blows. 
 
• Disc Shield: The practitioner uses their disc to defend against incoming attacks, deflecting them away from their body. 
 
Weapon Stats: The TRON identity disc has the following stats in HERO SYSTEM 6th Edition: 
 
• Damage Class: 4 
 
• Length: 2 feet 
 
• Weight: 2 pounds 
 
Note: These stats are a starting point and can be adjusted based on the desired balance and power level of the martial art. Additionally, advanced practitioners may be able to use their telekinetic abilities to control multiple discs at once, increasing their potential damage output.
 
[wow!]
 

 
[images made with stable diffusion]
 
 

The AI advancements made in the last year alone have been staggering. 
 

 

I'm sure this has come up before, but I couldn't find any threads devoted to it, so I thought I'd just see what people think.
 
Premise/Thesis:
 
There is only one limitation: Limited Power.  Every other Limitation is simply a version of this, so instead of all of them, have one Limitation that goes from -1/4 (very slightly limited) to -2 (only usable in rare circumstances)  (-1 is "about half the time, the power doesn't work when you want it to). Nice, easy sliding scale.
 
Would it be easier and more balanced to simply have one limitation (a single thing or a combination of things) that shape the way a power manifests in the game?
 
example: Instead of buying "Focus" and "Charges" and "Beam Weapon" and etc., etc. to make a gun-like power... why not simply "Limited Power: Laser-Gun!"  and then assign a Limited Power to it that fits the player/GMs feelings on how limited it is. -1/4 and Gun Gal! can use her gun unless completely bound/captured... -1 regularly dropped, disarmed, runs out of charges, whatever... -2 cosmic nullifier gun, only usable against TALLMANINPURPLESHORTS!, whatever.
 
Seems much easier, and fits the goal of a power working in "dramatically appropriate ways" rather than playing the reverse engineering/micro-detail version... where you can deconstruct something ad infinitum and is either a pointless intellectual exercise, or someone trying to max point savings.
 
You could even have most of the list of current Limitations as "Examples" for comparison... but the idea of needing to stack together a bunch of them is not correct. Any 'combination' of limitations is grouped into its own single limitation, with a value that reflects how the player wants it to come about IN PLAY.
 
(This comes out of playtesting Champions Now as well as the Density Increase discussion, etc. Limitations as a guide to play, not as a point saving mechanic.)

Thoughts?

I still want to interview that guy. Who commits to a bit that hard? Hundreds of hours, thousands of posts, with no con, no scam, no plea for money that I ever saw. Two Spanish Prisoners but no ransom.  It was so brilliant in the simple stupidity of it, the whole premise of the bit was ridiculous, but the commitment sold it. Because who would lie like that so constantly for years for no reason? And why lie about being two nice people instead of just being one nice person? I just frankly long to know what the heck that was all about. It’s been more than a dozen years and my wife is still amused at my surprise, because duh, obviously those weren’t real people. But seriously, who would commit to a bit that thoroughly? No one would except some dude named Fred ( I think it was Fred?) in Missouri somewhere, because that would be insane. 
 
I promise you all, if this subject comes up twenty years from now, I will rant about it just the same way I am now. 

Today is the eighteenth anniversary of me joining this forum. My forum membership is old enough to vote!
🥳🎉🎊💥🎊🎉

Some of you may remember Winchell Chung, aka Nyrath. He owns the Atomic Rockets site and used to be active in the Star Hero forum. 
 
I just learned on another board that he is gravely ill. I wanted to confirm it before posting here. I have found his tweet about his condition.
 
If you want to send him well wishes, you can add to the notes here. I'll be cross-posting this in the Star HERO forum.

Up front, Doc Democracy is correct.
 
I find it convenient to think about PSL's in this way: they can be applied to external situational penalties, not intrinsic penalties. 6e says this on the subject (v1 p84):
A character cannot use OPSLs to increase OCV generally, to increase the damage an attack does, or to increase DCV. He can only use them to reduce or counteract a specific type of negative OCV modifier. A character cannot buy “generic” OPSLs that apply to more than one negative OCV modifier; he must specify which penalty a OPSL applies against when he buys it. Nor can he buy OPSLs to counteract the standard OCV penalty imposed by a Combat Maneuver (such as the -3 OCV for a Grab By), or to counteract the Unfamiliar Weapon penalty (6E2 51). And that checks out against the provided examples...range, hit loc, and throwing penalties are all ambient external modifiers that apply across the board to all characters and attacks by default. On the other hand the -3 OCV penalty for Grab By is intrinsic to the Maneuver, and the Unfamiliar Weapon penalty is intrinsic to the character themselves. 
 
Multiple Attack might initially seem weird because the Maneuver's OCV penalty is variable, dependent on the total number of attacks and thus it might seem more like a situational penalty than something intrinsic. However Multiple Attack is technically a Maneuver and while its OCV penalty is variable in the abstract, once it has been calculated for a specific usage it is no different than the -3 OCV for Grab By. For a similar case of a Maneuver with a variable penalty, see Move Thru.
 
---
 
The distinction between what PSL's can and cannot be applied to does seem arbitrary and unnecessary to me in principle, however from an accounting perspective it does make sense that it should never be possible to buy PSL's to offset a penalty for less cost than paying for an ability that would allow you to not take the penalty in the first place. 
 
The reality is, PSL's could be eliminated entirely from the system, and could be replaced as a limitation taken on Skill levels and Combat Skill Levels..."Only to Offset Penalties". The value of that lim is debatable, but I'll just swag a -1/2 as a placeholder. 
 
 
 
 

As discussed on 6E1 263-64, knowledge of the target’s location depends on the strength of the Mind Scan lock-on:  at Greater Than EGO, the attacker simply knows the direction to the target, all the way up to EGO + 20, in which case the attacker knows the target’s exact location. (The GM may also provide further information, such as “He’s not on ground level,” depending upon the strength of the lock-on, as discussed on 6E1 263.)
 
Me fully getting into the complex subject of “tracking” a mind via Mind Scan will have to wait for APG3, so consider these general guidelines to tide everyone over until then:
 
1. To “track” a mind that a character has a Mind Scan lock-on to, he must have a lock-on that’s at least EGO +10 strong. A weaker lock-on than that breaks as soon as the target begins to move substantially. Determining what “substantially” means is up to the GM, but I generally consider it to be a significant form/amount of movement. Walking between floors in a building doesn’t count; nor does walking around in a small, defined area (such as a corner park or a restaurant). On the other hand, getting into a car and driving away, the target activating his Flight and zooming off, or teleporting halfway across the city probably are “substantial” enough to break the lock-on. The attacker does not know which direction the target started to travel when the lock-on broke. (Alternately, depending on the situation the GM might let him learn that one bit of information if he succeeds with an EGO Roll at the same penalty to the character’s OMCV from the table on 6E1 261.)
 
2. If a character has a Mind Scan lock-on of EGO +10 or greater, he is able to track the target as he moves, with a few caveats.
 
First, if the target moves into an area with fewer (or the same number of) people than the area where the attacker established the Mind Scan lock-on, the attacker can automatically “track” the target without having to make any rolls. (This assumes, however, that the target’s moving at a fairly slow rate of speed, such as walking, or driving in a car at normal urban speeds. If the target’s moving with “significant” speed, see the third point, below, for further guidelines.)
 
Second, if the target moves into an area with more people than the area he was in when the attacker established the lock-on, the attacker must make another EGO Combat Roll (at the new, harsher, modifier) to maintain the lock-on (regardless of the target’s velocity). If he succeeds, the lock-on remains intact; if he fails, the lock-on breaks (but the attacker is aware of roughly what direction the target was traveling).
 
Depending on how fast the target’s traveling, the attacker may have to make EGO Attack Rolls on each of his (the attacker’s) Phases to maintain the lock-on. If appropriate, the GM may add up all the people in the areas through which the target traveled since the attacker’s last Phase and use that larger figure to determine the OMCV penalty.
 
Third, if the target travels with “significant” velocity — such as activating FTL Travel, driving at high rates of speed (60 MPH or more), or Teleporting over a metropolitan (or longer) distance — then the GM may rule that the lock-on breaks automatically. At the very least, the attacker should suffer a large penalty to the OMCV roll to maintain the lock-on:  double (or more) the penalty listed in the Mind Scan Modifiers Table on 6E1 261.
 
3. In any case described above where the attacker has to make an EGO Combat Roll to maintain his Mind Scan lock-on, if he succeeds with that roll he does not need to re-roll his Effect Roll — all he’s doing in this case is maintaining the existing Effect Roll. However, he may choose to re-roll the Effect Roll (perhaps because he hopes to establish a stronger lock-on to make it easier to keep tracking the target). If he does so, he must accept and use that second result.
 
I think that covers everything in your question. If not, please PM me or post a follow-up. Thanx!

Deleted
 
 

Well, it’s been 10 years, so I can’t say for certain, but I don’t recall using any specific formula (or anything of the sort) to determine the mass of shields listed in the Shield Table on 6E2 211. I might have looked up some figures in my arms and armor books to get a “realistic” average, but that’s probably all I did. As long as the DCV and STR Minimum follow the Table (which is the primary game balance consideration), the GM can assign whatever mass he wants to a shield.
 
I think that covers your question, but if there are some implications of the issue that I've missed, feel free to PM me and we'll figure it out.

Re-arming Roll:  (Total: 5 Active Cost, 3 Real Cost) Fast Draw DEX +1  (5 Active Points); Conditional Power Only to pick up weapon from ground or floor (-1/2), Requires A Roll (Skill roll; Can choose which of two rolls to make from use to use; Breakfall or Acrobatics; -1/4) (Real Cost: 3)
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary has a dinner roll

Buy the magic as Requires A Skill Based Roll.  Buy the corresponding skill.  Buy two levels in the skill, Usable Only During Daylight. 
This achieves the two point difficulty swing without any fancy business on the Requires A Roll modifier, since it offloads the variability to the skill itself. 

I had a villain with a cream pie power like that.  A standard drain on Presence.  It did not flash, it instead made you look so stupid you had a hard time doing presence attacks.

Well, the 6e Characteristics Maxima Table gives the suggested max OCV / DCV of 8 for "maximum normal capability". Of course in the Hero System characters can go over maxima by paying double by default, but one could posit 10 CV as an expected extreme value for a supposedly "normal" / non-superhuman character. 

Of course, with OCV / DCV the more broad CSL's tend to start making more sense than going over NCM, but their cost tends to be sufficient curb in typical heroic level campaigns. A GM could also implement a To Hit Maxima of say 14- on a heroic level campaign rather than try to cap CSL's / CV, disincentivizing players from over-buying if they wanted to tone down cinematic play in favor of more realistic play.
 
But a concerned GM might want to put some limits on CSL's if they were worried. I would suggest that if you put caps on Martial Arts Damage Classes, double the # of MADC you would allow and there's a reasonable limit for higher order CSL's.
 
If you want a more mathic approach, 4 over campaign average is the "sweet spot" for CSL's on a 3d6 bell curve. It doesn't matter what the campaign average is, a character with 4 more than that is very accurate or very hard to hit relative to the campaign. 5 would be the extreme outer edge; +5 DCV is the equivalent of a permanent Martial Dodge and +5 OCV is the equivalent of ignoring Martial Dodge, for instance.
 
In my personal experience, in heroic games the best curb on characters is simply keeping the total character points available low; this beats all caps and limits and restrictions for effectiveness. In superheroic games I follow a more Darwinistic approach. CV is intrinsically "balanced" in as much as particularly high values face diminishing returns pretty rapidly; each increment purchased provides less value than the increment before it and more than 4 more than your target is largely a waste. 
 
Also, in superheroic games, or games where characters can have custom powers or gear such as grenades (etc), AoE's (particularly one hex AoE Accurate) have to be taken into account in your CV considerations; characters with a lot of OCV are not necessarily more accurate than a character with a lower OCV + AoE, and characters with a lot of DCV are not more difficult to hit than a character with a lower DCV vs AoE. The presence of AoE in the campaign reduces the importance of CV and the absence of AoE enhances the importance of CV. The GM controls how much AoE is prevalent in the campaign. 
 

I agree. Point shaving is a thing, and most characters I design should have a lot of things that can't fit into the point total. That means they need to be bought with experience.

I'm also fine with people buying abilities with the excuse of "he's always been able to do it, it just hasn't come up yet".

Whatever you built, it can not be put into the sight group.
Invisibiltiy like all Sense Affecting Powers (unless Limited) affect a whole Sense Group by default.
 
That makes it both expensive and quite possible
That is the way you have to go.
 
Now if you asked for something like Fearie Fire, it would be actually hard to simulate.

Who?