Black Rose

She's listed as "Bumblebee" here, a forgettable DC knockoff that is black, but this is clearly the Wasp.  Just... huge Wasp.
 

I got into Champions because a girl asked me to.  I was chasing after her and she was in a game and knew I was into comic books in a big way. I loved the game and stayed with it long after she and I were no more.  
   So you’ll have to ask her what game she would have been playing ‘cause she could have asked me to try laying down in traffic and I would have said OK.

Oddly, there's no Whirlpool power in Champions Powers or Hero System Grimoire.  If anywhere, I would have expected it to be in Atlantean Age, with its high-power elemental magic.  Not there either.
 
Maybe a large area Telekinesis only to pull targets toward the center, like the Gravity Field version of the Selective Gravity power in the Density Alteration chapter of Champions Powers.
 
Selective Gravity: Telekinesis (40 STR); Affects Whole Object (-¼), Only To Pull Objects Directly To Him And/Or “Stick” Them To Him (-½), Limited Range (24m; -¼).
Gravity Field: Add Area Of Effect (16m Radius Selective; +1), and replace Limited Range (-¼) with No Range (-½).
 
Maybe make it Explosion, so the effect becomes stronger as you approach the center.  Add a Limitation that it ony affects targets in or under the water, not above, like shockwave Blasts that only affect targets on the ground.
Then add a Blast or RKA in a smaller Radius in the center to damage targets that get pulled to the center.

Re: Faster Healing rate on Transform
 
Two things:
 
1. I'm not sure Ego +20 will take anyone out of combat for long, maybe it would be enough for "Hit somebody else! Pretty please", but I'm not sure it would be enough for "Stand around like a dope." and certainly wouldn't be enough to "Attack your fellow Terrorist!" or "Release the hostages" or "Surrender".
 
If I simply wanted to make someone stop, a Mental Entangle works much better.
 
2. Even at 11-, the breakout roll will succeed 65-ish percent of the time, and thus I get nothing for my endurance. At least with the transform, once it takes effect it'll work for at least 1 Turn.
 
You're right, I'm trying to get around the Breakfree roll, because I think it's a bad mechanic. A target shouldn't be able to absolutely negate a 50 or 60 pt. power 60% of the time, for 0 pts.

I'm trying to figure out how to do this effect in HERO, and would appreciate the help of the Assembly. This is specifically for Illusion spells, but any thoughts about doing it for other types of spells are appreciated.
 
When you have enough experience (high enough skill level) and power (big enough Multipower pool), you can try to "take control of another illusionist's spell", letting you make it do what you want. I've seen writeups in Champions Powers for using Mind Control to simulate "controlling" simple devices (effective INT is Active Points/5; this is covered in more depth in APG 72-73), and I could go that route. But I wondered if there was already something done that was a bit more elegant?
 
Anyone? TIA

With this draught, I gain the intelligence of five men! (-12 INT)

This is more about them out there than us in here.  “Is calling it an Arena Game really a bad thing for them?”
  For a very long time I’ve been noticing/complaining to friends about/ranting about the glacier slow change from games that were about interacting with friends around a table pizza & beer style with a game that had human (Elf, Orc, Dragon, Alien, etc.) emotional responses built into it.
   From the first time someone tried to get me interested in World of Warcraft, I looked at it and said “I go gaming to be with people.” Talking through a headset to strangers and thinking it’s a relationship is like calling the people on FaceBook your friends. I had seen Magic:The Gathering start to come up but everyone still had to sit around the same table for it back then.  All I see now are new ways to keep yourself amused while you’re alone at home. Even what’s called RPG’s now like Arkham Asylum contain no actual roleplay. Only chasing around on a preplanned story you can only win or lose at.   Try having your Batman call a temporary truce with Penguin and Two-Face so the three of you can go after the Joker. It can’t be done. The human element has been eliminated.
   Marvel’s new game could do very well with players who only want to match up stats and not have to/get to portray the characters they are representing.
    I feel like a dinosaur looking up at the pretty comet about to hit and wondering how much time there is left.

I also think this would be an interesting look at things.
Some would be annoyingly campy ("Look! The Vermont Vigilante is here to save the day... with... maple syrup guns?!" <shrug>)
Some would be regional or media-based cliches ("Oh boy. The Texas Ranger is here. I'm sure he'll... side roundhouse the bad guys." <sigh>)
Some, though, would be from-out-of-my-blind-spot fascinating takes on how parts of America is seen.
 
I'd buy it, if only as a PDF.

Its a little off topic, but the built-in limitations on Healing feels more like a campaign thing than a rule thing.  As in, they're trying to front-load limitations on a power that should be campaign rules or part of the setting, not part of the base rules.  Its like saying you can only use RKA once a turn so people don't kill opponents as easily.  The rules should just present the power then suggest ways of controlling or limiting it, such as the "spells per day" D&D thing.  But that's kind of a side issue.

Start the Patreon and take my money, please.

Hi, I'm Worf, a Klingon warrior. Let me prove how tough the alien of the week is by being stomped into the bulkhead

Fellow Hero System Fans-


I’d like to take a moment to talk about our plans for Hero Games in 2022. I believe they’re both modest and realistic, in that they can be accomplished on time and using our limited resources. At the same time they are also ambitious, as I intend to release four projects in 2022; one each quarter of the year. They will be the following:


(Quarter One) HERO2023 Champions Begins Created by a group who wish only to be known as “Hero Fans.” This high-quality free electronic product provides everything you need to play your first game of Champions! It’s designed to teach people new to Champions how to play the game, but isn’t a complete presentation of the rules set; it provides you with just enough to play for the first time. The zip file contains a 52 page GM book, a 20 page Player book, a villain book, hero book, paper figurines, and Hero Designer files.


(Quarter Two) HERO2017 IHA: Pride & Prejudice Created by Thomas Stadley. To most people the Institute For Human Advancement is best known for its boring spokespeople who appear on talk shows that only their parents watch. But the Earth’s superheroes know better: the IHA is an insidious, genocidal threat to the planet’s mutants – and anyone else who gets in the way of their plans! Packed with agents, villains, weapons, and equipment, IHA: Pride & Prejudice contains everything you need to introduce the IHA into your campaign.


(Quarter Three) HERO2018 Champions International Created by Steve Long and Jason Walters. There are a variety of imaginary and unusual locations that have been mentioned in Champions Universe books over the years, but have never been fully explored or detailed. Champions International does exactly that, providing an in depth look at locations such as Awad, Lugendu, Larisagrad, and Costa Azul. It also includes some new locations like Transnistria and Prosperidad. Previously released individually in 2021 and 2022, these articles will be further edited and reworked to become chapters in the final version of the book.


(Quarter Four) HERO2024 The Chimera System Created by Philip J. Guinchard. The Chimera System is a hybrid of the Hero and OpenD6 systems in which elements from both have been combined together by the author to create a unique, new game system. Like the recently published Champions Now, it’s a joint undertaking by ourselves and a creator to publish a variation of the Hero System fans will find interesting and useful.


Additionally, if things go well with Champions International, Steve and I are considering creating a Patreon account to fund the creation of the HERO System Advanced Player’s Guide III, Champions Martial World, and other projects starting in 2023. But we’ll see how this year goes before we commit to a long-term project like that!


If you have a manuscript you would like to submit to Hero Games, contact me at jason@herogames.com with a one to three paragraph description of your work. If it sounds like something we would be interested in, you can then send me the full manuscript for review. And, of course, feel free to post any comments or questions on this thread.
 
- Jason Walters, Publisher
 

That is actually a great idea and one that would be useful, not only for experienced players but new ones as well.
 
While they achieved their objective in sanitizing everything down to the lowest possible building block, such as Secret ID being a social complication.  They forget that it is easier for players to just call it Secret ID. 
 
Not precisely the same thing as your thought, but close enough for this thread.
 
A book of "Talent" builds would be extremely useful for people who just want to play today and get into esoteric build theory later.
 

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/excerpts-from-the-mad-scientiste28099s-handbook-so-youe28099re-ready-to-vaporize-a-human/
 
3 gigajoules to completely disintegrate a 100kg human, breaking down all atomic bonds.  That equates to roughly 26DC, about 8.5d6 KA, average is 30 BODY damage--3x the base Body stat.  That suggests the equivalent of the old Car Wars "confetti rule" for Hero System--if you do 3x the target's body in one hit, not only are they killed instantly, there's not really any "body" left--just smoking boots(if disintegrated), a fine pink mist (if struck with massive blunt force), or various cuts of long pig(if attacked with a slashing or impaling weapon).  

I was thinking about what I'd like to see for Hero last night and I realized a big book of Talents (and maybe Perks) would be pretty useful. Even if they were Powers-As-Talents, I really think a book of this level would be handy. Each chapter could dive into one of the big concepts (Fantasy, Action, Supers, Sci-Fi, Horror, etc.) with a bunch of new Talents to choose from. Some may emulate what other games called "Class Abilities," while some may be original to the Hero System. Size could be around the HS Skills book that came out. 

I'm trying to build a Dancing Shield; a physical object that can be snagged out of the air with difficulty (OIF) but otherwise hovers around the owner and serves as additional defense. It acts like a regular shield, but you don't have to waggle it around.
 
There is a magic item called Soaring Shield (5e Enchanted Items 146).
Game Information: Force Field (10 PD/10 ED); 0 END (+½) (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Independent (-2) (total cost: 6 points) plus +4 DCV (20 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Independent (-2), Linked (Force Field; -¼) (total cost: 4 points). Total cost: 10 points.
 
Cleaning it up for 6e:
Game Information: Resistant Protection (5 PD/5 ED); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼) plus +4 DCV; Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Linked (Resistant Protection; -¼). AP/RC: 15/5 + 20/7 = 35/12
 
No Shield Bash; the idea is it just floats around and blocks attacks but doesn't initiate them.
 
Does this seem to be a good design?

Let me preface this by saying I know that there have been changes from 5e to 6e that make this... problematic. Also that I find using Drain to penalize Characteristics and such to be clunky.
 
I'm trying to write up a "curse"-type power build. Do any of you have a more elegant way of doing  "I subtract 3 from that score right there", where "that score" might be Charm, or Stealth, or heck, all PRE rolls or even all Characteristic or skill rolls? I'm starting to lean towards Change Environment, Long-Lasting, possibly with Usable As Attack. I understand how Transform might work, but it seems like you need at least Major Transform to pull it off, and why should I have to build a 60 AP power just to say "you are slightly less stealthy until arbitrary condition occurs"?
 
I'm sure I'm neglecting some details that will become evident once people begin offering their opinions, but this is what I have right now. Any thoughts?

I'm trying to build a Dancing Shield; a physical object that can be snagged out of the air with difficulty (OIF) but otherwise hovers around the owner and serves as additional defense. It acts like a regular shield, but you don't have to waggle it around.
 
There is a magic item called Soaring Shield (5e Enchanted Items 146).
Game Information: Force Field (10 PD/10 ED); 0 END (+½) (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Independent (-2) (total cost: 6 points) plus +4 DCV (20 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Independent (-2), Linked (Force Field; -¼) (total cost: 4 points). Total cost: 10 points.
 
Cleaning it up for 6e:
Game Information: Resistant Protection (5 PD/5 ED); Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼) plus +4 DCV; Activation Roll 14- (-½), OAF (-1), Incantations (-¼), Linked (Resistant Protection; -¼). AP/RC: 15/5 + 20/7 = 35/12
 
No Shield Bash; the idea is it just floats around and blocks attacks but doesn't initiate them.
 
Does this seem to be a good design?

How about Barrier?
 
One of the oft-mentioned examples for that is mound of earth, etc.
 
Create a Barrier, lay it flat, and be done.
 
Barring that:
 
PSLs for Movement, Area Effect: Line(ish), usable by others.   Much like the Tunneling example (which, honestly, is my favorite idea so far; I'm just tossing out more stuff to play with).
 
"But you can't use skill levels / PSLs as a power" is something that--- well, frankly, I really can't tell you just how long I've ignored that.  Probably since I saw Marksman put Skill Levels into an OIF: Scope.   Since the company motto became "it's a toolkit to make exactly what you want," I don't even feel the need to justify what I ignore anymore. 
 
 
 

I think Duke the only reason why to break down Talents into Powers would be to show  GMs how to build their own Talents.

Hey, G-d created light at least a day before He created the sun.
 
I don't see why we shouldn't be able to do the same....

I don't want to be "that guy," but I do want it noted:
 
There are a lot of suggestions on what to leave out, what to work up to, etc,
 
I have taught this game to a group of kids, spendibg about 3 sessions (including character generation), all of whom can play without problems or confusion, and I have done none of those things.  We started out tracking END, STUN, BODY, figuring range modifiers, assessing skill roll penalties and bonuses, countong damage, figuring DEF (to include Resistan vs non), etc.   I didnt leave anything out, and they got it quickly, the same way we did when we learned to play.
 
These kids range from 7th to 10 (11th?) Grade, and frankly, they have had more problems letting go of the "he's an underclassmen so I shouldn't be seen with him" than they had learning to play.
 
I suspect that a lot of the "hard to teach" aspect centers on how sold they are on wanting do learn it in the first place.
 
We have all noted at some point that there is no difficult math ib this game.  There is more math than there is with other games, but again: it's not difficult, and it becomes rote in a session or two.
 
 

I agree. I would never charge character points for items the character(s) "found" in the game. I also don't buy the idea of "not a currency" either.
 
For example, let's say that Paladin character, who is wearing non-magical chainmail, finds in the treasure trove of the boss the party has just defeated, as shiny new suit of non-magical plate armor that fits! It will increase the character's effective point value even though it is non-magical. Do you charge the character CP's for the non-magical plate? If so, what if instead, the character goes to the local city and buys the armor from the armorsmith there for, say, 500 gold pieces. Should the character also have to pay in character points in addition to the gold? I'd say no.
 
Well, if you're not going to charge CP's for the non-magical plate (or sword or dagger or whatever), why charge CP's for a magical one? Sure, being magical may increase the item's capabilities beyond those of an equivalent non-magical version, but in either case, they increase the character's effective point value, just one more than the other. And, what about the case where you have a magical set of chainmail that has +10 resistant defenses but, there is also an armorsmith who can forge a set of non-magical plate that has the same defenses? Do you charge CP for one and not the other? That doesn't seem right to me. Do you charge CP for both? Then having weapons and armor price lists (in currency) is meaningless. It seems to me that the answer is don't charge CP for either.
 
Now, the GM will need to make sure that the character(s) opponents will more often have equally powerful items to offset the ones they let the character(s) "find". But, before anyone says anything about a potential arms race, bear in mind it's the GM giving out the magic items and the GM equipping the adversaries. So, effectively the GM is in an arms race with themselves. They can stop the arms race anytime they want simply by not giving out any more magic items.
 
That said, the GM will need to be careful not to give the character(s) too many, too powerful items, too quickly. To mitigate this, I could see using the experience points the character's have accumulated as a guide to how powerful an item to give. You wouldn't necessarily want to give a 50 point magic item to a character who had only accumulated 10 XP. But, if they'd been campaigning long enough to have accumulated 60 XP, a 50 point magic item might be appropriate. However, their accumulated XP would only be a guide and no XP would be spent on the "found" item.
 
The only time I'd charge CP's for a magic item would be if the character wanted to forge/enchant a brand new item, assuming I didn't have any crafting rules in place for creating new items. Then, I think it would be appropriate. It would be similar to the way in D&D you create magic items by spending XP (and gold for materials) to create a new item.
 
If you ARE going to charge him 20 points for the sword and it gets eaten, the way I'd work it would be to have him come across another (but different) 20 point item as soon as you can. That would seem to make it like an accessible focus in a supers game where someone can take away your focus, but it's never gone permanently. So, they're down 20 points but just for a short while. Making the item different than the sword makes it make more sense (to me at least). It's not likely that you'd come across a sword that is exactly like the one the dragon ate. But, you might find something just as useful.
 
Anyway, that's my take on it. YMMV (probably a lot).
 
Lee

This is my preferred way to do it. I generally like to have a "set" mount of stat augmentation - "with this draught, I gain the strength of five men! (+12 STR)" rather than "with this draught, I might get the strength of five men (Aid STR 2d6), or two. Not sure really. Maybe its a placebo effect?"
 
In my own ideal HERO System, Aid would be used to either boost a variety of things, or grant low-level powers to people. I really like UBO, but it can get tedious, and is one of the many reasons I think magic systems should frequently use VPPs with multiple heavily-limited Control Costs... but that's getting off-topic. 

I like this.
 
Edit: An idea to go with this. You could have setting templates, that multiplied the cost of certain powers by Y. For example, "Costly Teleportation" to multiply the market price of all teleportation magic items (whether they use Teleport or not) by some number.