Steve

Re: Penalty Skill Levels for noncombat skills?

Was thinking about this today--since noncombat skills often incur specific types of penalties' date=' couldn't one reasonably buy levels only to offset penalties(and not to improve the unmodified roll)?[/quote']

 

This is done in the new Valdorian Age book. An example would be penalty skill levels to offset time modifiers.

How would you model narcolepsy as a disadvantage on a character? A Physical Limitation or maybe an Accidental Change?

How would you set it up as an attack? A big Ego Attack, an NND, a STUN Drain? Something else?

I thought I'd see what the creativity of the Hero community could come up with for episodes for the Champions Universe hottest weekly soap opera.

This week: The beautiful Charisma has been replaced on the team by her evil sister Hecate, utilizing an illusion to make each appear as the other. To make matters worse, Charisma has been mind controlled to believe she truly is the vicious vixen. Can the team foil Hecate's dastardly scheme, or will Justice Force Omega fall prey to her attempt to destroy them from within?

After reading through the recent threads on drains and transfers and recovery from them, I was wondering how you would build a character that could recover faster than 5 CPs a turn. It feels like a regeneration variant, so maybe just add on a +2 Advantage when building a regeneration-like power, so it affects all stats and powers on a character? Would such a power add on top of the 5 CPs a character got back from drains/transfers?

One interesting notion about having a power like this would be that the character would be like a battery of sorts for anyone with transfer, since the drained character would recover CPs faster than the draining character lost them.

I could also see doing something this way to give a pair or team an almost symbiotic power structure. Together they are more powerful than they are apart. However, doing it with the power structure above would be like a weak form of Aid, only for more points in cost, so instead I would propose each member of the team buying an END reserve that is only there to act as a source of "points" for another teammate to transfer from, that they can then use to add to other stats or abilities. Add in a good Teamwork skill roll and a "DEX Aid Array" from UMA to each character on the team and watch them wreak havoc with their combined powers and ability at teamwork.

Re: My DNPC versus my Base's DNPC

I think it is reasonable, assuming the followers in question are part of the base and don't do anything but base-related things, that they could be bought as part of the base, for 1/25 cost. In that situation, they are like a piece of equipment in the base. It is not to the letter of the rules, but it seems to me a reasonable setup.

Another related issue would be crew for a vehicle. Assuming they are bought as followers as well, would they be bought as 1/25 cost if they were only there to do vehicle-related things? That feels a bit more iffy to me, but I guess it still seems reasonable, just pushing the outermost boundaries of the "reasonable GM" test.

Re: Character: Sir Merriya de Blackmere, knight and paladin

Susano, I would suggest one change in her disadvantages. The 10 point Style limitation doesn't seem to fit the genre of medieval fantasy, especially since "Swordfighting" seems sufficiently generic to not rate a Style disadvantage.

Perhaps instead, to go with her Rivalry with male knights, you could give her the social limitation "Woman In A Man's World" for those same 10 points?

Re: Romantic Villians

Well, for the noble alien prince, I think Firewing could fit this role, maybe with some tweaking.

Re: Need help designing...

Actually, you could still do the suit as a Focus or OHID and just add in an AI as being part of the suit, taking the Focus or OHID limitation. The Galactic Champions version of Defender is done like this. This would be the simplest way to do it. It then becomes a sentient Focus.

Re: Help with balancing fighters with magic users

This is a quote from the FAQ. It covers what I think you are looking for in a non-magical way to increase weapon damage.

Q: How can I make my character do more damage?

A: The first thing you should do is take a look at the Adding Damage section of the HERO System 5th Edition (pages 270-72). It describes the five ways you can add damage to an attack: Combat Skill Levels, STR, Haymaker, Martial Maneuvers, and movement (velocity). Any character who's willing to accept the penalties for doing so can perform a Haymaker. Combat Skill Levels, Martial Maneuvers, and increased STR are things you have to pay Character Points for.

 

All of these methods suffer from one significant restriction: no matter what you do, you cannot more than double the damage of the weapon or base attack (there are a couple of minor exceptions to this rule, but for the most part it's set in stone). That means, for example, that if you're using a dagger (HKA 1d6-1, or two Damage Classes), you can't more than double that damage (1d6+1, or four Damage Classes), no matter how you add damage. So there's an absolute restriction on your character in that respect - beyond a certain point, all you can do is pick a bigger weapon.

 

However, there are ways around this difficulty, if you have the Character Points to afford them. You have to buy the ability to do more damage with a weapon than you normally would. For example:

 

Lethal Warrior: HKA +1d6 (plus STR) (15 Active Points); OIF (any standard weapon; +1/2), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2). Total cost: 7 points.

 

This ability represents the fact that the character who buys it is so skilled with weapons that any attack he makes strikes a vital part of the target (since the ability reflects his skill at "targeting," he can't make a Placed Shot when using it). This adds HKA +1d6 (three Damage Classes) to any weapon attack he makes - and that's base damage he's adding. (If the weapon has an Advantage on it, this ability adds to it at a lesser rate; see page 272 of the 5th Edition.) That increases his ability to add damage to the attack with STR. If you're willing to spend enough points on an ability like this (and your GM lets you!), you can create a character who can strike deadly blows with even the smallest weapons.

Has anyone ever done a Fantasy Hero campaign using a setting like Xcrawl?

http://www.pandahead.com/Xcrawl/background.php

It looks like it could be pretty cool, and Hero System seems ideal to use for it, since I think you could combine elements of Fantasy Hero, Dark Champions, and maybe even Ninja Hero into the setting, since the characters are more like professional wrestlers or sports stars than traditional adventurers, complete with doing product endorsements and dealing with corporate politics. You can even have recurring enemies in the guise of NPC Dungeon Masters or "heels" like they have in professional wrestling.

Re: Help! I created a PC without thinking of good plot ideas for them!

Its a Homebrew Teen Champions setting somewhat inspired by the X Men Evolution and Mutant X TV shows. I picked it up and expanded it somewhat when the original GM was unable to continue.

Nexus, do you have a campaign write-up that you could post?

Re: Help! I created a PC without thinking of good plot ideas for them!

Sludge develops a crush on a beautiful girl at his school. Unfortunately' date=' she doesn’t even know he exists, and if she does, she doesn’t care. Sludge decides to impress her by pulling a series of elaborate (pranks, heists, murders).[/quote']

 

Romance subplots can be a great way to generate plot hooks, especially when you're talking about a character caught up in the midst of puberty with all those hormones going berserk.

 

1) Perhaps Sludge gets caught up by a fellow female student, a user type, who keeps him around as her muscle boy with promises of 'favors.'

 

2) Maybe there's some loner girl on campus, and Sludge befriends her, since perhaps he's kind of an outsider himself. What secrets does she hold? What are her powers and background like?

 

3) Romeo and Juliet anyone? Maybe Sludge falls for one of the Redwood Academy girls, and he tries to walk a more straight and narrow path for her sake. This can generate lots of additional plot hooks, since Sludge's friends may try to frame him for things to get the good girl to give up on him or tearfully order him to stay away from her. Maybe one of his female teammates doesn't like the idea of some 'goody two-shoes, stuck-up girl' from Redwood poaching on what she sees as her territory (ie any boys in her class/team). Maybe the reverse happens, and the former good girl falls in with bad boy Sludge and starts taking a walk on the Dark Side.

 

4) Girl fight! What does Sludge do if two girls start competing for his attention? When you add in superpowers to a romantic triangle, things can get very interesting. Maybe there is someone else who is subtly mind controlling the two girls as a prank on Sludge?

Re: Variable Power Pools.. Again

Well, my understanding of the rules is that it is 100% illegal to put a Multipower and associated slots inside a VPP. If a player wants to do a VPP of gadgets, then he has to take each one as a separate slot in the VPP. Putting a Multipower or Elemental Control inside it is a flat no-no.

Re: Contact and favor pools

I've started using Dark Champions Resource Points as a way to do this as well, but that book also brings up another interesting way to do a character with a lot of "floating" Contacts, maybe people he will use once or twice in the course of the campaign, the super-skill "I Know Someone Who Can Help." It is built using Summon, with a skill roll required as part of the construction (Persuasion in the example build in the book). It's not cheap, since Summoning a 200-point character will cost about 40 points (50 if you add in the Amicable advantage on the Summon) once all advantages and limitations are factored in. If you drop it down to 100-point characters, it's only 20-25 points. In a way, it would work a bit like doing Contacts with a VPP.

While waiting eagerly for my copy of The Valdorian Age to arrive in the mail, I was wondering what sorts of characters people were creating, so I thought I'd start up a thread to post Valdorian Age heroes and villains.

Re: Hand To Hand Attacks

Well, the crazy thing is that I already have an 11 in strength - I put those three points into strength, that gives me a 14, so, rounding, wouldn't I get 3d6 anyway?

 

I'm thinking that I may have made a mistake there.

A 14 STR will only give 2 1/2d6 of normal damage, or if you are using the expanded strength chart from Ultimate Brick, then you will be doing 3d6-1 in normal damage.

Re: Hero System women are all insanely attractive

Personally, I have always favored making COM a kind of Perk, like positive Reputation functions, and it costs 2 points per level. Each level gives a +1 to certain Interaction skills (Conversation, Seduction, etc) plus also +1d6 for making friendly PRE attacks. Since the "average" person is listed as having an 8 COM, I have the player buy this Perk as regular COM, so selling themselves down to average looks is like a 1-point disadvantage. The first level of Attractiveness is only a point, basically half price. The range would run like this is:

8 COM=No Bonus

12 COM=+1

16 COM=+2

20 COM=+3

I usually set the maximum bonus at something like +4, especially with Heroic-type characters, unless we are talking about something rare like an incarnation of the Goddess of Love or something.

Re: Hand To Hand Attacks

I copied this from the FAQ:

Q: How can I make my character do more damage?

A: The first thing you should do is take a look at the Adding Damage section of the HERO System 5th Edition (pages 270-72). It describes the five ways you can add damage to an attack: Combat Skill Levels, STR, Haymaker, Martial Maneuvers, and movement (velocity). Any character who's willing to accept the penalties for doing so can perform a Haymaker. Combat Skill Levels, Martial Maneuvers, and increased STR are things you have to pay Character Points for.

 

All of these methods suffer from one significant restriction: no matter what you do, you cannot more than double the damage of the weapon or base attack (there are a couple of minor exceptions to this rule, but for the most part it's set in stone). That means, for example, that if you're using a dagger (HKA 1d6-1, or two Damage Classes), you can't more than double that damage (1d6+1, or four Damage Classes), no matter how you add damage. So there's an absolute restriction on your character in that respect - beyond a certain point, all you can do is pick a bigger weapon.

 

However, there are ways around this difficulty, if you have the Character Points to afford them. You have to buy the ability to do more damage with a weapon than you normally would. For example:

 

Lethal Warrior: HKA +1d6 (plus STR) (15 Active Points); OIF (any standard weapon; -1/2), Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2). Total cost: 7 points.

 

This ability represents the fact that the character who buys it is so skilled with weapons that any attack he makes strikes a vital part of the target (since the ability reflects his skill at "targeting," he can't make a Placed Shot when using it). This adds HKA +1d6 (three Damage Classes) to any weapon attack he makes - and that's base damage he's adding. (If the weapon has an Advantage on it, this ability adds to it at a lesser rate; see page 272 of the 5th Edition.) That increases his ability to add damage to the attack with STR. If you're willing to spend enough points on an ability like this (and your GM lets you!), you can create a character who can strike deadly blows with even the smallest weapons.

Now, based on this, I could make a similar ability using Hand Attack.

Skilled Brawler/Streetfighter: HA +1d6 (plus STR) (5 Active Points); Hand Attack (-1/2); Cannot Use Targeting (-1/2). Total cost: 2 points.

The character basically knows where to hit, so they do more damage than a lesser fighter, either armed or unarmed. So, you could keep adding dice in this ability and make your character that much more skilled in inflicting damage. Could you use a similar ability without the "Cannot Use Targeting" limitation? I don't believe it is strictly illegal, but since the ability would then cost about 3 points per level you would be better off buying some kind of martial arts skills instead, as was suggested by another poster.

Re: Character: The Blue-Eyed Killer

I like your suggestions. Would it be okay to add them to the Designer's Notes as suggested alterations?

Sure. I'm glad you liked them.

Re: Character: The Blue-Eyed Killer

I've been considering the build, and I think that she could be better built on a Heroic basis on the same final point total. If you do that, Kikka can be taken as equipment instead of a power, and those 20 points can be switched to pay for a 23 DEX for 48 points (+6 over current cost), a 5 SPD for 27 points (+11 over current cost) and +3 Lighting Reflexes with Kikka (+3 points). For the same points, she then ends up with a 26 effective DEX when swinging her sword.

Another way to go would be to add a 2-point level with Kikka and a +1 Lightning Reflexes with Kikka, giving an effective 24 DEX as you have her now and picking up +1 to attack with Kikka.

Re: Character: The Blue-Eyed Killer

I'm guessing that the other two errors are: 1) that the total PD should be 16 not 14, and 2) that the EGO should cost 24 points, not 20.

Re: How to do Split personality

One of the more interesting ways I saw to do a character with MPD is from the new Hudson City sourcebook, the Kaleidoscope Man. Instead of using Multiform, he used Shape Shift (Mental Group and a limited set of personalities), a small VPP that has No Conscious Control at -1 (the idea being that each personality represented a specific skill set), and also a couple of "Floating Psychological Limitations" listed in the disadvantages that would also reflect the partcular personality currently dominant. All this for about 20 or so points in powers and 35 points in floating psychs. Then all you would need to do is write up a small skill list for each personality in the pool and a corresponding psycholigical limitation or two. After seeing it, I think it is an easier method (and less point intensive) than doing a full Multiform write-up in order to do MPD. Of course, YMMV.

A nice thing about Hero is that suggestions for doing things in one genre can have similar uses in other ones. One of the suggested Fantasy Hero magic systems involved characters buying spells by taking a spell's real cost and then dividing it by a number like 3 or 5 to see how much it cost in character points. Has anyone ever considered trying this with the costs of Dark Champions superskills? If this is done, it brings down the points needed for characters to have a few cool abilities.

Or am I a heretic for suggesting this?

I thought I'd throw this out to Herodom.

How would you define a computer firewall in game terms? Mental Defense against those mental powers that affect computers? A Change Environment that provides a minus to hacking into a computer hooked up to the firewall and maybe to any mental attacks that affect computers? A straight minus to skill rolls? Some combination of the above?

Also, how would Star Hero tech levels affect things? Would there be further modifiers or increased protection as an inherent effect to a difference in tech levels?

Re: Near-Future Cyberspace Gaming

I'm actually looking for commentary on the power structure for the interface. Am I missing anything in the way of Power effects? I also wasn't sure if I should take the various Damage Reduction powers as Resistant or not. Even though they are affecting STUN damage feedback, the characters in game will be affected by both normal damage and killing damage attacks.