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palehorse

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Posts posted by palehorse

  2. Eliminating Killing Attacks

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Eliminating Killing Attacks

     

    Hmph... Well, I'm not yet convinced one way or another on making a rules change for Killing attacks, but I do think I'm going to drop them altogether for my next Champions game for a couple of other reasons. One, because I like to run non-lethal, Silver Age-y type games, and they're not really appropriate anyway. And two, because I have a bunch of HERO newcomers, it'll save me from having to explain the two different types of damage and two different types of armor to them, which has thrown some newcomers I've gamed with in the past.

     

    So I guess however this thread turns out, I still got something good out of it. :)

  4. Stage Magic

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Stage Magic

     

    Hmm... well, I don't have the means to do a full write-up at the moment, but I'm thinking something like The Art of Distraction, which you could do a few different ways:

    1) Mind Control ("Don't look at what I'm doing with this hand, look at the other one instead!")

    2) Images ("You don't really see me doing A, you see me doing B instead.")

    3) A very specific Invisibility ("You can't see what I'm doing with this hand over here.")

     

    Where'd He Go?: You step out of sight for a moment - into a closet, behind a curtain, under a table - and seemingly vanish! Could be done with Images (which would keep it more 'realistic'; you haven't really gone anywhere, and you're not really Invisible, you can just hide really really well. It'd be a simple, static Image, no Range, and you couldn't move or take any other actions while it was in effect), Invisibility (a more potent version), or even a short-range Teleport (only to places the character can reach through normal movement; you didn't really Teleport, you just dashed out of sight while no one was looking).

     

    He Catches Bullets in his Teeth?!?: You could do this one with a specialized Armor or Missile Deflection (maybe he needs extra time to prepare for it, it'd only work against a single attack - maybe once a Turn, or even just once a day - and it'd only work against attacks he can see coming). Penn & Teller did a great bullet-catching stunt in their act for awhile; not sure if they're still doing that one or not...

     

    And of course, the great Ricky Jay card-throwing bit, which'd be a small RKA (1 pip maybe) with 52 charges.

  6. How would you create a Wish?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: How would you create a Wish?

     

    I don't mind the "You go to another dimension" trick for wish granting, but in my campaign I'd take it at face value. The Character making the wish is now gone, off in another dimension, and out of the campaign.

     

    With that option, too, you can make it so that that's not the ONLY thing different in the new dimension, particularly if they didn't word the wish very well.

     

    (Personally, I don't care for wishes, but that was a whole 'nother thread already!)

  7. Highlights in Champion's books

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Highlights in Champion's books

     

     

    Gadgets and Gear

    I've read that Doc Ocks tentacles should be in the book, as well as Captain A.'s shield, and the green lanterns ring. Are there any more famous superhero stuff to look forward to, like Green Goblins glider?

     

     

    The Glider is in there, as well as pumpkin bombs and some other Goblin-y goodies.

     

    Also, Boom Tubes, Green Arrow's (and/or Hawkeye's) trick arrows, Wolverine's skeleton, the Legion of Superheroes flight ring, Batman's belt... A fun little party game (well, fun if you're friends are a bunch of comic geeks) is to pass the book around and give everyone 5 minutes to write down as many comic-referenced gadgets as they can find. It's a great book; I only wish it'd been longer! It does for gadgets what the UNTIL Superpowers Database does for powers, just on a slightly smaller scale.

     

    And if you get a chance to pick up VIPER: Coils of the Serpent, I'll also put in a big thumbs up for it. Amazingly good stuff.

  8. Conan vs. Elric

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Conan vs. Elric

     

    It would depend on if Moorcock or Howard were describing the fight. Either of them could come up with some rationale - reasonable or otherwise - for the other one to have his ass handed to him, steaming, on a silver platter.

     

    If it wasn't one of those two writers, it'd end up being like one of those Marvel vs. DC comics, where they start off fighting, and later join forces.

     

    (Although you can't beat Superman vs. Muhammed Ali; Ali whooped his ass, but only because Supe's lost his powers: http://www.techknight.com/gallery/ali/aaa )

  9. Ultimate vs The Authority

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Ultimate vs The Authority

     

    Generally' date=' you get a much better representation of a character by reading the source material and then building from scratch to fit your campaign than by following set conversion rules.[/quote']

     

    Ya know, I say the same thing over on the M&M boards, and get 'poo-pooed' about it... To me it just seems like common sense; what's the point of writing up a character in your favorite game system if you can't freakin' use it in your game when you're done? (Well, OK, writing up characters is fun, sure, but you get my point.) :)

  11. Sell me on Hero!

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: You guys are amazing

     

    I know someone mentioned this already, but if you check out Sidekick and decide you want to take HERO for a spin around the block with a supers game, there's one thing you should keep repeating to yourself:

     

    UNTIL Superpowers Database.

     

    Man, that's a great book! I wish I'd had something like it when I first got into HERO lo these many years ago...

  12. Sell me on Hero!

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Sell me on Hero!

     

    I can't recall off the top of my head now who is working on the new GURPS Supers (Steve Kenson, maybe? Someone like that...) but whatever they have in store for 4th Ed. can only be an improvement. I think the old version was just terrible all around... 9 times out of 10, I know I can get a GURPS supplement no questions asked, and know that it's going to be rock-solid, but that was one of the few stinkers to make it through.

  13. Sell me on Hero!

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Sell me on Hero!

     

     

    The trick with HERO is that character design can take some time if you choose to build a complex character but actual play is pretty simple. The rules concerning senses and combat are VERY easy to learn. So, if you find HERO intimidating, start with basic character designs and you'll pick up the combat rules and other such rules fairly quickly. Once that is done, the background on actually playing characters will make it easier to build those tricky characters that you really can't even begin to build right in any of the other systems I've seen.

     

    Yep, what the Agent said. :)

     

    A lot of the work is front-loaded in HERO; that is to say, you do a lot of work in character creation, but once it's done, you'll save a lot of time in-session because much of what the players need is right there in front of them.

     

    HERO can be just as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it, which is one of the things I love about it. I can spend an hour lovingly writing up some little detail, or just hash out a quick one-liner or describe it, and both tend to work equally well.

  15. Power Defence... Ugg

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Power Defence... Ugg

     

    If someone hits me for 5 points of stun, big whoop. If someone hits me for 5 points of drain - hey now! It seems to me 5 points of drain are going to mess me up much worse. PD/ED are cheap because they are necessary. Power Defense is a nice to have and generally esoteric so you have to pay a bit more. YMMV. It also costs more to buy an attack that drains than an EB. 1D6 of drain costs 10 points while 1 point of Power Defense costs 1 point. 6 points spent on defense means that there is no way (without advantages) that the drain is getting through. That seems fair to me. If you don't think you'll be drained because its a rare form of attack then don't buy the defense. Its the same type of tradeoff you have to make in all other aspects of Hero. Do you want the defense to be free???

     

    Yep, that's always been my experience; power defense doesn't get used nearly as often, but when you need it a little goes a long way.

  17. A Guide To Villainous Motivations

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: A Guide To Villainous Motivations

     

    Hey, it's a good swipe! I printed the original off a couple of years ago and put in my "Oh crap! notebook".

     

    (That's the one I grab when I realize it's only an hour til everyone is going to be over to game and I don't have any idea what I'm going to run. It's just packed full of odds'n'ends I can use to put something together on the fly. S. John Ross's Big List of RPG Plots is in there too, for example.)

  20. Cellular Phones

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Cellular Phones

     

    Personally I haven't charged for mobile phones unless they were substantially better than something that you could get after 10 minutes in a shop filling in a form and promising to pay them £10 a month.

     

    Ditto... (Sort of like when I was running my long Fantasy Hero campaign, I didn't bother writing up healing potions. "Drink this and you get back 1d6 Body" was the extent of it.)

     

    For some other equipment I've charged a 1pt perk to get access.

     

    Partly this was to avoid the whole comparison of real world technology with the cool stuff I want them to pay points for and partly because I couldn't be bothered with the details. :)

     

     

    Doc

     

    I like that 1 pt Perk idea! Good stuff; may have to yoink that one. :)

  22. [4color] Why do you dislike the Iron Age style? (No flames, ok?)

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: [4color] Why do you dislike the Iron Age style? (No flames, ok?)

     

    For the record, I'm an equal opportunity comics lover. If it's well written and reasonably well illustrated - writing always comes first, though - I'm all over it.

     

    And I'm not against roleplaying the darker side. I didn't particularly care for the ruleset in Haven: City of Violence, for example, but it's an intereresting setting and I'm looking forward to the d20 Modern interpretation of it. I can have a lot of fun running and playing in games where the characters are flawed (broken, even) and there's no black and white, just shades of grey.

     

    That's just not what I want from my supers games, though. It's nice every once in a while to put that aside and play people who are better than me, who never give up, and who will always do the right thing when the chips are down.

  23. Are you Judge, Jury, and Executioner?

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Are you Judge, Jury, and Executioner?

     

    Well, here's my thing... When I started my most recent supers campaign, I sat down with the players and said "OK, I know you guys are interested in doing a supers game, here are a few ideas I have." The folks who are playing in it are all my age, and have fond memories of the old Silver Age comics, so that's the flavor we decided to go with. So this sort of thing has simply never been an issue, because of that agreement: they wouldn't go around killing people, and I wouldn't put them in situations where killing is the only solution.

  25. Ultimate vs The Authority

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Ultimate vs The Authority

     

    Wow... I just popped into this thread because I was vaguely interested in reading at least the first collection of the Authority (interested in reading it, not in basing a game on it; I'm very much a four-color/Golden & Silver Age-y kinda guy), but these last couple of pages...

     

    ::shakes head::

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