Steve

Re: Fixin' what's broken - switching from d20 to HERO

Re: Mythos of the Werewolf Thanks. I wonder if they are set in southern California like a lot of Koontz's books are.

Re: Fixin' what's broken - switching from d20 to HERO Well, the RAW gives all characters the standard Normal Characteristic Maxima (NCM), whether you are a Storm Giant or a Halfling. So in the example of a Storm Giant (with say +50 STR in the package deal for its race) the first 10 points of that package deal raises the STR to 20, then the next 40 points are affected by the NCM and only adds 20 more points to the STR stat. You can't change the maxima in the RAW, so all builds are effectively equal as far as a mechanics standpoint is concerned. The prior edition of the rules did have cost mechanics for modifying the NCM which many people found objectionable, since you were effectively paying for an ability you might never use, but the current RAW do not. Example: an Elf could pay 3 points and get a +2 raise to the NCM maxima for DEX, but it was wasted points if they never took their DEX over 20. No, there isn't a 100% version in the RAW. You could fake up one by taking the costs for 75% and doubling them again, but it's a house rule at that point. Rounding is done in favor of the character, so the half point just goes away. Poof. Yes, the defense does protect against STUN, but you can also take a -1/2 Limitation, if it only protects against STUN or only protects against BODY.

Re: Mythos of the Werewolf

Re: Aid Succor and 0 END

Re: Combat Manuever: "Crack The Whip" ghost-angel's Hero-fu is most powerful.

Re: Fixin' what's broken - switching from d20 to HERO

Re: Fixin' what's broken - switching from d20 to HERO First, Thia, let me join the others in saying "Welcome to the boards." I've been very impressed reading your postings. It's rare to see a newcomer who is so darned eager to learn the ins and outs of the system. Consider yourself repped. I just wanted to chime in on the commentary to mention that there is a way to do an invulnerability type of ability that I didn't see the other posters mention. 5th Edition suggests that a 'total invulnerabilty' type of power to a specific effect can be done using a limited form of Desolidification, but purely as a defense. I believe it is a -1 Limitation on the power. This would be how you could do something like a fire elemental and give it invulnerabilty to fire.

Re: Quantum Leaping How large would you judge such a VPP to be? 5 points? 10? In the series, Dr. Beckett seems to have a decent number of skills he carries from situation to situation that allows him to deal with them, like his martial arts skill, what seems to be decent Conversation and Persuasion rolls, etc. I suppose some skills could also be picked up with experience and made permanent, like WFs or TFs. How would you treat Al? I was thinking, as a hologram, he is a type of Contact, since he is mainly an information source. The roll could be how useful his information on a situation is, not necessarily how often he shows up.

Re: Chronicles of Gor

Re: Healing/Regeneration power build There is a vampire template written up in Fantasy Hero that would be useful as an example for other templates. I can't recall if I saw a lich one though. That might be in Monsters, Minions, and Marauders, I think. An aura of EVIL is definitely a type of Distinctive Features.

Re: Quantum Leaping It is certainly possible to do such a Skill-Based VPP, but legality depends on the GM's call. For something like trying to replicate Quantum Leap, it may be the cleanest option, and it would only require a few skills. Opinions vary though as to whether it would be the right way.

Re: Healing/Regeneration power build Actually, I believe you could also use Summon for a Resurrection-type effect, with the judicious use of Trigger, Reduced END, and Extra Time. Hero is good about providing a variety of methods in creating an effect. If you tie either the Healing version or the Summon version to a Focus, then I would assume the Resurrection would take place wherever the Focus lies. Evil liches could have a grand old time this way, especially if they also play such cutesy tricks like surrounding their phylactery Focus with a 0 END, Persistent Area Effect Images against Detect type spells or N-Ray (no phylactery to be seen here, move along).

Re: Chronicles of Gor Would you call Gor stories Fantasy genre or Pulp genre? The first book reminded me a lot of John Carter that I can recall, so maybe it is more Pulp than Fantasy.

Re: Chronicles of Gor What? No write-up for Tarl Cabot, the anti-hero?

Re: Quantum Leaping Hmmm, perhaps a personality change could be done by adding the Mental group to the Shape Shift, maybe with a Side Effect on the Shape Shift? How would you do a skill change?

I was browsing the web tonight and came across links to the Chronicles of Gor, which I confess to reading a few books from when I was in high school. Anyone else out there read them?

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished .... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home... 78 [b][i]Quantum Leaping[/i][/b]: (Total: 290 Active Cost, 78 Real Cost) * Extra-Dimensional Movement (Travel Through Time Within The PC's Own Lifetime, Any Physical Location), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (82 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Side Effects (Magnafluxed Memories/Partial Amnesia), Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the recipient of the benefits of the Power; -1/2) (Real Cost: 23) * [b]plus[/b] Shape Shift (Sight, Hearing, Smell/Taste and Touch Groups, any human shape), Imitation, Instant Change, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2) (88 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Always On (-1/2), Linked (Extra-Dimensional Movement; -1/4) (Real Cost: 23) * [b]plus[/b] Healing BODY 8d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (120 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Self Only (-1/2), Linked (Extra-Dimensional Movement; -1/4) (Real Cost: 32) - END=0 I was taking a break from writing up characters to play around with this power build on a whim. It seems to replicate how Dr. Beckett moved from situation to situation in the series Quantum Leap, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something. Drop this power on a Heroic Level character, and you have an interesting solo campaign.

Re: Character: The Man With No Name

Re: Sexual Orientation=Psych Lim? I just want to say thank you to everyone who has posted on this thread. My original reason for my questions on this matter has to do with my recent character posting of White Phoenix, a teenaged martial artist character that combines aspects of Ranma 1/2, Captain Marvel/Shazam, and Peter Parker/Spider-Man. The character has two limitations that I thought were appropriate: Uncertain Gender Identity (15 point Psych) and Harmful Secret (girl who is really a boy, 5 points). White Phoenix is 16 years old at this time, a boy who is able to physically transform into an attractive girl, a kung fu fighter straight out of a video game. I am currently working on an adult version of the character, one who has been living with this ability for 3-4 years, and I am trying to work through what his/her personality would be like after going through puberty and entering young adulthood able to experience life as either gender. All your comments have been very helpful.

Re: [Character] White Phoenix - Ninja Hero/Teen Champions I just realized that I missed a limitation on the Shapeshift: "Only Affects Body" -1/2. Hmm, that frees up five points, it looks like.

Re: [Character] White Phoenix - Ninja Hero/Teen Champions I guess you could read a bit of Prime into it. I'd forgotten about that comic. I was really shooting for Ranma 1/2 with a touch of Peter Parker/Spider-Man mixed in. I thought about doing it as a Multiform construction, but I was trying to hold the character to 250 points. By judicious use of the limitation OIHID, I was able to get more bang for my buck than Multiform would have given me, since I would have had to duplicate all skills and pretty much anything else that the base form of Bobby has. Doing that would have certainly pushed the Qi Yin form over 250 points. I also tend to save the use of Multiform for really major changes, like a man to a dinosaur or something.

Re: Economics 101: Character Building in a Point-Based System I don't know. Is character building a science or an art? It seems to be a little of both, since creativity with advantages and limitations can come up with some amazing things. I find building the character and crafting the concept I have in mind with points to be almost as fun and sometimes more satisfying than actually sitting down and playing the character.

Re: Aid and Engergy Absorption Maybe it should be working the other way around: Absorbtion to Aid which then can improve Absorbtion?

Re: Sexual Orientation=Psych Lim?