Black Rose

I'm currently trying to put a supernatural martial arts high school romantic dramedy campaign together (say that ten times real fast). One of the things I decided to implement was the Fragile World rules from NH, which basically means that, well, let me chart it out for ease of reading. everything and everyone not a Martial Artist (not just somebody who practices martial arts) take double effect from all Martial Arts techniques (this does not include MA maneuvers from TUM) everyone and everything not a Supernatural Being (priests, miko, spiritually enlightened beings, magical girls and sorcerers all qualify) take double effect from Supernatural Abilities Now, in order to prevent someone from going all Son Goku on my setting, I also decided to make a "practical limit" of 40 Active Points on virtually all powers; there might be some that will need to be higher and I'll let them through on a case-by-case basis. Thing is, I realised that this means my Martial Artists are running around with effectively 80 AP powers for very little cost*. Is there anything HEROdom Assembled would suggest to keep these guys from pulverizing the environment and any innocent bystanders? As an example, Kaneda has 20 STR and is using his Meteor Fist, which gives him another +4d6 but has ET - Delayed Phase and x3 END. His 8d6 punch will be effectively 16d6 versus this unsuspecting building. This power would normally cost 7 real points, but due to being in an EC-like construct... it costs 4. Jesus Clooney Frog, that just looks wrong. Help? *I also ruled that various MA Techniques can be placed in EC-like constructs, which would halve the cost.

Re: Wuxia abilities My own ramblings about some of these.... I can't tell if it would be better to make such abilities straight stat adds - i.e., you simply have a 30 STR and forget the fiddling - or if they should be actual "power constructs". Oftentimes it seems wuxia, at least at the young end, have to make a conscious effort to be seriously strong/quick/tough/hardy/whatever. Once they get going, they're usually hell-on-wheels, but they have to "start up", as it were. Doesn't seem to take that long (ET: delayed phase, if that?), though. This is so common to the genre it's almost like a membership card: "You must be able to bounce like a meth-addled ferret to ride this ride." The thing I think we often forget is just how bloody far they're going in some of these stories; a good 5" Leap is over thirty feet! From what I've seen, the range is rarely more than 30 meters or so. Obviously, authors are going to do whatever they feel is most dramatically appropriate, but I like less than 50" myself; it keeps things a little more up close, and if you can't keep within a football field of your opponent, you need to. Gotta love Dim Mak, too! Oh yeah! One of my personal faves for the "you really don't want to mess with me" tricks. More "I'm so nifty" powers. I'vew only ever seen this as a ninja trick, but I wouldn't be surprised. Another example of "I'm far too sexy for this to affect me."

Re: For a *fresh* look at some of our faves. "Me too! Me too!" Repped for general coolness.

Re: Relics of the Arch Mage I like the idea of the morphing Symbols of Office. Gives the community something to gossip and ponder, especially if the items change from time to time regardless of whether there's a new office holder or not.

Re: The Ultimate Disadvantage, talk about it here Don't forget some kind of moderate-depth look at kinds of Disadvantages: physical injuries (and the kinds of Disads by which these can be represented), psychological disorders (fears, hatreds, loves, etc.; remember some 'psychological disorders' can't really be treated medically, so do these qualify as PhysLims?), addictions (to substances, actions, situations, etc.), social "flaws" (bigotry and other negative reactions on the part of the character and/or the "public"), etc. Needless to say, I think this could be a great book. I admit it would be rather HERO-specific, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Re: Urban Fantasy... I remember this one! IIRC, people ended up hiding in subways and caves, because with the increased "heartpower" the alligators had, they were able to move faster, longer, and then they started to grow. A lot. And they budded wings out, and.... Anyway, it was a cool story. I liked it. Could work for a low-power Heroic game, say 25+25 or 25+50*. Maybe even 50+50 if you want to take the fight to the Dragons. That could be fun. * I suggest such low levels so as to keep the fear alive. Basically these dragons are nothing more than big fast flying lizards. They aren't smart, they don't breathe fire, they don't cast spells. They just combine all the worst traits of pigeons (flying and crapping on things), rats (getting into every place you don't want them and breeding fast), and alligators (being a big nasty lizard).

Re: Opinions desired, Consequences of power/effect/disad combination I'd say that if he stops his teleport in water he'd short out. This presumes the Lim is -1/4 to -1/2; anything over that and the gloves are off. Also, if the Lim is over -1/4, I'd say that Water SFX hits (like the aforementioned glass of water or puddle) would act as a quick (1 Phase) Suppress, dice TBD by the GM.

Re: What's Up With Combat Skill Levels? Just to throw my tuppence into the ring. When it came to situations like this, and I got hit with this a lot when I was converting MA maneuvers to a MP structure, I simply went with a 5 pt level and then limited the heck out of it. I aimed for 2pt OCVs and 3pt DCVs, and 5pt DCVs for Dodges. Worked out pretty well. Though looking back, it would probably make just as much sense to use stan da ork's approach and simply use the levels that ought to be used and add -0 Limitations to fit the feel.

Re: Urban Fantasy... A not-terribly original thought comes to mind here. One develops technological (and sorcerous) solutions to problems because you either can't do in any other way, or the other way is not in your best interest (too expensive, too difficult, too tacky, etc.). If it's easy for you to create clean fresh-water pools anywhere, you don't need to develop and build aquaducts, but if you don't have any other choice.... If you don't have a chick around to hurl fireballs, you start looking for three things: anti-fireball defences anti-fireball-hurling-chick devices something to replicate either fireballs or the damage they can do

Re: Most Embarassing Champions Moment You know, someone should keep track of SNAFUs like these, and use them as "random" encounters when PCs are out and about. I mean, you could build (and by build I mean fake) a couple-three decently amusing challenges at 125+75 and let them cause some damage. You show up, clean house, and get to look good for the Live at 5 news crew.

Re: New Advantage: Stackable This seems like a good example of that "adding complexity where it is unneeded" thing. You could easily replicate the "Stackable" effect with Aid or Succor; I'd recommend Succor with Standard Effect for simplicity.

Re: The Ultimate Disadvantage, talk about it here For some reason I'm reminded of Phobias. An UD could (among a host of other things) explain how commonality of phobia trigger and degree of reaction should combine. Maybe give some solid ideas of how uncommon Uncommon really is, and just how strong a reaction is Strong? And a nice discussion on when a Disad should be a Psych Lim or a Phys Lim, or maybe a Dist Feat or Soc Lim. And an explanation on why all those things which should really be limiting Dependencies (and seem to cost 0 pts) are really Psych Lims and/or Phys Lims.

Re: What was your first character like? First character ever? Well, if you discount the 1st Ed AD&D Wizard 18/Assassin 15 with the truly obscene stats (sweartaghad, I didn't know you had to roll for them!) and a familiar that turned into a buckler shield - WTF was I thinking?!?!? - it would be the CN thief with a 20 DEX and an 8 everything else (the DM let us shift points on a 2/1 or 3/1 basis). About the only thing he was good at was moving fast and avoiding combat - I once distracted an entire orc stronghold by running around it over and over and blowing a battle horn. First HERO character? Okay, realize I was still learning the system... A high-DEX flyer with a pair of collapsing battle staves (I was into staff fighting at the time) that I could use to block attacks at range (throw them and they'd spin in front of the attack). About the only personality he had was being a professional bodyguard. The "still learning the system" part comes in when you realize I thought you only did STUN damage with HA and EB; you needed HKA or RKA to do BODY. So each battle staff (I bought both seperately) had all four, so I could hit you in hand to hand and at range (and the ranged version was throwing the staff. I should redo him....

Re: Incremental End Cost? I'd also like to see this one. Ever since I built my first Champions character (the one where I thought you had to buy EB to do STUN at Range, and RKA to do BODY at Range -shakes head-) I've wanted something I could add on to let me pay END over a longer time. If I can have "Costs END Only To Activate; +1/4", why can't I have ""Costs END Once Per Turn/Minute/5 Minutes/etc.; +???"

Re: Simplification of Combat IMO, if you're spending more than, say, half your actions involved in "elaborate events involving 'creative uses of powers' via the Power skill", well, you designed your character poorly. If you can't think of something vanilla to use your poweer builds on, talk to your GM about a radiation accident, or maybe invest some of the XP you're getting for your ky00l m00vz in MP slots so you can actually do the things you want to do with built powers. Sorry, pet peeve. I likes me the Power Skill, but I feel it's a good measure of power need; if you use it for similar things a lot, you need a real power to do the job, not 5-7 pts invested in Power Skill: Bull$#!t the GM 13-.

Re: WWYCD?: One Night At The Opera... Penumbra would be at the premiere because, hey, it's Phantom! As for the events outside, right up until the bus squishes that bottom feeder, he'd probably be laughing and thinking to himself, "This is what happens when you mess with a bigger dog, dumb@$$." The aura would make Pen pause and probably send him into a research spiral. The biggest problem for him would be if Blackthorn' powers actually were psionic in nature, because while he has some minor mental discipline himself, he also has an... object... that would render him all but unassailable. Unfortunately, it would have to be recharged later (which means owing people he hates owing) and the object in question is his grandfather's SS uniform cover (hat). For it to work right, he has to look every inch the Aryan mass murderer his grandfather was.

Re: Question on Elemental Controls Oops. I fell for the fanon that it was a 3rd ed artifact. Since I don't actually have 3rd ed, I trusted foolishly. I like that one, myself. At the risk of making 6th ed look like a soddin' cinder block, I think it would be very nice indeed if there were some of the more... "popular" options included that deviate from the standard mainline of the game. Perhaps with a small breakdown: HOUSE RULE NAME Description: Blah blah yackety smackety. What the HR changes and why. Rule Breakdown: Actual changes given here. Dangers and Pitfalls: Pretty obvious I think, but here you'd say what sort of things you'd want to keep an eye on to keep things running smoothly, and other things to avoid. Reasoning: Here you'd explain why you'd bother using this HR in the first place. And as always YMMV. Personally I like putting Characteristics in ECs if it's understood that they are a manifestation of the "power", and will be adversely affected by Adjustments, too. Also, I realize this might sound odd, but does anyone have an opinion on this idea: Since ECs are supposed to be "one power, many faces", why don't beneficial Adjustment Powers boost everything? I realize that it could get obscenely potent, but if you went the "Alter One Alter All; -1/4" route it could be quite effective. Then again, I think the Adverse Adjustments should hit the EC Pool first, the the targeted power, but that's me.

Re: Real-world rPD just went way up Remember kids, if I can put my whole fist through the hole in your ribcage, you need to sit down.... RDU Neil et. al.: am I understanding this correctly? X points of rDEF "converts" X points of K dmg to X points of N dmg, but if X+1 points of K dmg is done, then my rDEF offers no defence at all? And when you say " K dmg to N dmg" do you mean N dmg STUN, or it simply acts like a N attack. 'Cause that doesn't sound very effective; though that may be the effect you're going for.

Re: Question on Elemental Controls Somewhat tangential, I know, but for a while I've felt that we'd be better served by going back to the 3rd(?) edition version of Elemental Control, at least as far as power size is concerned. By this I mean powers in an EC can be of any size, and all powers but the one with the highest AP total are costed at 1/2. This would allow smaller powers to be included in the main elemental "power" without being too much of a good deal. Alternately, you could allow the Limitation "Affects One Affects All; -1" on any powers too small to be in the EC, but at that point you might as well simply let them in anyway, since there are simple ways to get munchkin-y by allowin ghte same Limitation on any powers too large to be on the main line of the EC. Any thoughts?

Re: Weapon Imagery Oh God is that pretty... -drools- I once came across a bronze gladius at a RenFaire (don't laugh). The stall faced west, and it was late in the day, so the wares had been in the sun for a few hours. When I picked up the piece (after asking, I'm not a 'dane), it felt like shaking someone's hand. It was so warm, almost alive. I decided that, before I die, I will have a piece like that, and that "warm" feeling is now the default description for "blessed" weapons (as opposed to magewrought) in my world; of course, it helps that the world in question is held at a permanent Bronze Age by very few iron deposits in the area (there's more falling out of the sky than in the ground) and iron's "impossibility to forge" (when iron eats magic, and everything in your culture uses just a little magic, it's hard to heat and pound it).

Re: WWYCD: A Devil No More? Penumbra would be (quietly) happy, and try to show whatever emotion he thought Russel was looking for; congratulations on his freedom, understanding of his pain or commiseration over his loss. If he had the opportunity, he'd try to get as much info about the infernals "from the horse's mouth", since that's an area he keeps getting tripped up by. If Russel needed help getting restarted or whatever, he'd be happy to try, but frankly Pen'd be surprised he didn't have more than a few rolls he could step into and live pretty poshly. Note: More than once, Pen's had his nose rubbed into the fact that trying to get "justice" on your antagonists for their past actions is rather like paper-training a puppy - unless you do it right at the moment of action, they only seem to get angry and make messes elsewhere deliberately.

Hopefully HEROdom Assembled can help me figure this one out. The concept I'm trying to build is this: the PC can, by using a very advanced form of chi sight, observe someone using their chi to perform normal actions better (increased STR, high Running rate, Double-Jointed Talent, etc.) or outright "superhuman" techniques (walk along walls, leaping from lamppost to lamppost, chi blasts, etc.). If they see what the subject is doing well enough and long enough, they can do it too; with a greater energy cost and at a possible risk of injury due to inadequate physical conditioning, however. Also, the PC's version won't be quite as good, at least at first. The thing is, if the PC gets the chance to practice and work with the technique, they can get it up to full power, or even greater. With a lot of experimentation, the PC might be able to make up something new but related to the techniques they already know ("I know how to walk on walls, and without sound, and how to "ground glide". Now I will learn how to walk on water!"); with a whole lot of experimentation, something completely new could be developed (I've played around with walking and leaping long enough; today, I learn to fly!"); though I think that will come much later. The idea I have come up with would use a limited VPP (and when aren't they?) to cover learning the techniques from another; I'm thinking of using some sort of KS: technique to cover knowing the technique well enough to use it at a higher level of power, as well as developing related and new techniques. I've been looking over the USPD's Mimicking and Reflex Memory power builds for ideas, but I wondered if anybody had any good ideas for the following points: method by which PC learns the techniques in the first place; Analyze Chi Flows/Power skill/other? should the degree to which they learn the technique, and thus its starting power level, be based on a skill roll, or simply declared for narrative's sake? should simply having the KS: technique be enough (RSR, no active point penalty), or should I make the skill level matter? by what means should PC be able to tinker with, and eventually develop, techniques? Inventor skill, Power skill, VPP Control Cost roll? Also, aside from Mike Surbrook's (by way of Feng Shui) truly wonderful Fu schticks, not to mention the fabulous Ninja Hero (can you tell I like Mike's stuff yet?), does anyone have a good source of wuxia-esque martial art techniques, freaky-weird accupressure point tricks, and nifty Japanese/Chinese magic. Thanks y'all!

Re: An Overall Evaluation of Fifth Edition I like this. As you said, T/T pts resemble Un/Luck dice, to the point where you could declare "I, the GM, am starting you all with two Triumph points and one Tragedy point each session. All Luck and Unluck dice are converted to double their number of T/T points as of now." I personally like the far-end probability of having both Luck and Unluck; it keeps things weird, and lets the GM know you're giving them carte blanche to screw with you, since you're gonna be playing fast and loose yourself.

Re: Adrenaline I think a moderate-sized STUN and END Succor, with the limitations "only adds X pts over starting values" and "Post-12 Recovery at one-half" would work. You get a small boost over your usual (the adrenalin rush) and don't easily get tired. When the adrenalin wears off, you suddenly lose all the Succor pts that were shoring up the losses you had. EX: PC A has SPD 3, REC 6, STUN 30, and END 30 (to keep things easy), as well as 5d6 Succor STUN and AID; 0 END (+1/2), only adds 5 pts over starting values (-1/4), Post-12 Recovery at one-half (-1/2). PC A gets into combat and triggers his Adrenalin Boost. Over the next minute he goes flat out on movement and attacks, spending 15 END/turn; his reduced REC makes this 12 END/turn. His Adrenalin Boost covers this and any STUN losses easily. When it wears off, PC A has do deal with the fact that he burned 75 END, RECed 15 of it and took the rest as STUN. Painful.

Re: Mental Powers Based on DEX AFAIC, this should only be a Martial Maneuver; making a big ol' power construct is going too far. It's not something that should be doable by Joe Schmoe, sure, but I think it's learnable. You'd need Attacker and Target to be in a straight line, with you between, and simply get Attacker to attack in a manner which would hit Target provided you weren't there. I definitely think it should be part of the Cinematic Fisticuffs style.