Eodin

Gorns and Tholians Oh My Well, I've taken my first stab at the Gorns and Tholians, and I'll get in posted in the next day or two... I'm generating the PDF now, but gotta get some sleep. Gonna go see 'Return of the King' tomorrow. The Gorns and Tholians writeup will need some tweaking definitely, but it's a start.

Enterprise episode I think I saw that episode... didn't the corpse they find turn out to be part human, part vulcan, etc. and part Tholian ?

Disjointed My read on disjointed was disconnected territories, like islands in the ocean of space. By the way, I was reading on Amazon.com last night... the author of "The Tholian Web" was going for a high-tech ghost story... the Defiant being the haunted house, the Captain caught in Interphase being the ghost, the Tholians being the spiders to cause fear, etc. Funny, I never even thought of the story that way...

Impressions only Based on the viewscreen when the Enterprise crew talks with Commander Loskene of the Tholian Assembly, the part of the creature we see looks to me to be a crystalline shape - very straight angles and such. The fact that their technology mimics sort of a spider's web, the fact that they sell silk (ST:TNG), and their attitude in general just gives me the impression of a spider-like quality. Again, conjecture only. I don't remember which book I read it in, but some source suggested that since the Tholians were unaffected by the Interphase that affected the Enterprise & Defiant, that they were probably multi-dimensional beings. And either the Decipher book or another one mentions that the Tholian territory is disjointed - by human perception of dimensions, anyway.

Tholians and Gorn Thanks for the words of praise - I enjoyed creating it! The Tholians are very likely a crystalline being, probably a spider-like creature as well, from the picture in "The Tholian Web". Conjecture is that they also perceive space (length, width, height) differently from humans, perhaps even existing in multiple dimensions. According to ST:The Next Generation, they sell a silk that has no equal, and it was the Betazoids that mediated the peace treaty between the Federation and the Tholians. Lt. Riker's father was one of the few survivors of an attack by the Tholians when the Federation and the Tholians were at war. That's about all there is that's known about the Tholians - anything else I'd put together would be pure conjecture. The Gorns, slow-moving lizard-men, would be an easy package to put together.However, beyond the conflict over Cestus 3 colony, and the combat with Kirk, they were never mentioned -- even in ST:TNG. The Tholian 'web' is an energy barrier, the web strands acting like a force wall or an entangle constructed as a barrier. The Enterprise was able to get out of the web by using the dimesional flux that was going on -- essentially using Extra-Dimensional Movement to get out of the barrier. I'd probably write it up as a heavy-duty Entangle, that was a continuous (+1) attack because the Tholian ships continously draw the strands of the web, Limitation - only a barrier (-1/2), and requires 2 ships working in tandem to draw the web (-1/2). The # of d6? probably on the order of 10d6 Entangle. It's also 1 hex (or more) wide thread, so Area of Effect (1" by 10") would not be out of the question. I'd love to get the Decipher book on Star Trek races and convert it for use in the PDF, but I can't justify spending $40 on it right now -- too many other bills with priority. When I can justify the expenditure, that'll go in the PDF.

Many thanks! Missile Deflection, Reflection to Any, "Words of Gratitude" 18-

As I recall at the time, I just made it a special effect of the death throes, but yes. If someone creates an updated version, I'd be interested in seeing the writeups.

FWIW [already answered]

The Draconians They need a good rewrite, but here's what we used in my campaign about 15 years ago for the draconians... ... they'd need to be updated for 5th edition HERO but they worked well for us back then. KAPAK STR 15, DEX 13, CON 15, BODY 10, INT 10, EGO 10, PRE 15, COM 0 PD 5, ED 3, SPD 3, REC 6, END 30, STUN 26 Hide: Armor 4 PD/4 ED (12) Claws/bite: HKA 1/2d6 (10) Smell PER +3 (6) Discriminatory Smell (5) Tail: +2d6 Strike (10) 4" Swim (2) Flight 9", OAF Wings (9) WF: Common Melee Weapons Stealth 12- Tactics 11- +2 Levels with Melee (10) Poison: Drain DEX 2d6, Reduced END (0 END), Limited: Only if bite does BODY or if licked sword does BODY within 1 TURN (24) Shapeshift to single human form, Zero END, Persistent (20) LS: Draconian (4) AK: The Lands 11- Disads: -3" Run (3" Base) -------------------------------------------------------- SIVAK STR 30, DEX 16, CON 18, BODY 15, INT 13, EGO 11, PRE 20, COM 0 PD 8, ED 4, SPD 3, REC 8, END 36, STUN 39 Growth, 2 Levels, Zero END, Persistent, Always On (13) Armor 7PD/7ED (21) Claws/bite: HKA 1/2d6 (10) Smell PER +3 (6) Discriminatory Smell (5) Tail: +2d6 Strike (10) 4" Swim (2) Flight 9", OAF Wings (9) WF: Common Melee Weapons Stealth 12- Tactics 12- Tracking 12- Concealment 12- +4 Levels with Melee (20) Shapeshift to any humanoid form, Zero END, Persistent; Limited - only the form of the last victim (-1) (20) LS: Draconian (4) AK: The Lands 11- Disads: -3" Run (3" Base) Conditional Distinctive Looks: Radiates Magic (5) -------------------------------------------------------- AURAK STR 20, DEX 18, CON 15, BODY 14, INT 15, EGO 11, PRE 15, COM 0 PD 6+, ED 3+, SPD 3, REC 7, END 30, STUN 32 Armor 8PD/8ED (24) Claws/bite: HKA 1/2d6 (10) Smell PER +3 (6) IR Vision (5) Discriminatory Smell (5) Tail: +2d6 Strike (10) 4" Swim (2) Run +3" (9" Base) Flight 9", OAF Wings (9) WF: Common Melee Weapons Stealth 12- Tactics 12- Tracking 12- Concealment 12- +4 Levels with Melee (20) Teleport 10" (20) RKA 1d6, Variable Special Effect (+1/4) (12) Invisibility [to Sight] (20) Mind Control 8d6, Concentrate throughout (-1) (20) Breath: EB 2d6 NND 1 hex PLUS Flash [vs. Sight] 2d6, No Range on both, 3 charges Shapeshift to any living animal or person, Zero END (30) Disguise 14- Mimicry 14- LS: Draconian (4) AK: The Lands 11- various Skills - GM discretion (16 points) Disads: Conditional Distinctive Looks: Radiates Magic (5) -------------------------------------------------------- BAAZ STR 15, DEX 12, CON 15, BODY 10, INT 10, EGO 10, PRE 15, COM 0 PD 5, ED 3, SPD 3, REC 6, END 30, STUN 26 Armor 4PD/4ED (12) Claws/bite: HKA 1/2d6 (10) Smell PER +3 (6) Discriminatory Smell (5) Tail: +2d6 Strike (10) 4" Swim (2) Flight 9", OAF Wings (9) WF: Common Melee Weapons Stealth 11- Lockpicking 11- Security Systems 11- Concealment 12- +1 Level with Melee (5) Teleport 10" (20) RKA 1d6, Variable Special Effect (+1/4) (12) Invisibility [to Sight] (20) Mind Control 8d6, Concentrate throughout (-1) (20) Breath: EB 2d6 NND 1 hex PLUS Flash [vs. Sight] 2d6, No Range on both, 3 charges Shapeshift to single human form, Zero END, Persistent (20) [alternate is no flight and 7" running] Disguise 14- Mimicry 14- LS: Draconian (4) AK: The Lands 11- various Skills - GM discretion (16 points) Disads: -3" Running (3" Base) Psych Lim: Chaotic and Self-serving -------------------------------------------------------- BOZAK STR 15, DEX 14, CON 15, BODY 11, INT 13, EGO 10, PRE 15, COM 0 PD 5, ED 3, SPD 3, REC 6, END 30, STUN 30 Armor 6PD/6ED (18) Claws/bite: HKA 1/2d6 (10) Smell PER +3 (6) Discriminatory Smell (5) Tail: +2d6 Strike (10) 4" Swim (2) Flight 9", OAF Wings (9) WF: Common Melee Weapons Stealth 12- +1 Levels with Melee (20) Shapeshift to single human form, Zero END, Persistent (20) [alternate is no flight and 7" running] LS: Draconian (4) AK: The Lands 11- Magic Skill 17- 54 points in spells, typically * Detect Magic * Fouled Aire * Lightning Bolt * Mud Trap * Minor Earthquake * Dispel Magic Disads: Conditional Distinctive Looks: Radiates Magic (5) -------------------------------------------------------- That's the quick and dirty from 15-year-old character sheets in my old campaign binder. YMMV.

Next update Okay, here's the next somewhat minor update... I've added some ideas on canon-based Android characters in the Trade & Economy section under Automatons I've increased the STR Min of the Bat'leth to 12 to be consistent. I've added more information on Shields, Computers, Sensors, and a write-up for the EMH System (with EMH) in the Starship construction section. Here's wishing a safe and Merry Christmas to everyone!

Next update available Imperial One: Thanks for the info - I'll digest it for the next update I've updated the TNGHero pdf at both locations. I was lucky enough to pull down some good Klingon info, and a small amount of Romulan info off the Web I've added 3 options to the Vulcan package in the Federation Races chapter. I've added a lot of weapons to the Weapons chapter, including Klingon Bat'leth, Vulcan Lirpa, Bajoran Phasers, etc. I've added a LOT of information on Klingons (and some on Romulans) in the Other Races chapter (the one following the UFP governmental data.) I've added a write-up for the PADD in the Electronics chapter. And some miscellaneous things throughout. The whole thing so far is now 195 pages, so make sure you've got plenty of paper in your printer tray

What's the easiest writeup for a boomerang -- that is, if it hits it does damage and you've used it (but it's recoverable); if you missed, it comes back to you and you haven't lost it/ a charge ?

Projectzero, Looks like Seenar has posted some Prime Directive to HERO material, so you should be in good shape! I pulled down a load of information last weekend on Klingons, and on Romulans and the way of D'era. Anybody know if the way of D'era is [still] considered canon material ?

2 scenarios I've updated TNGTrek.pdf at ... http://www.rbruce.com/hero/My_Hero_Games_Files.htm since the Lycos/Tripod module is STILL unavailable. I've finished The Ruse and Profit Margin in the Missions chapter, more or less. I also ran all the chapters through a spell-checker, so most of my typos should be gone. Hope everyone had a great Turkeyday!

characters and scenario (partly) I've updated TNGTrek.pdf at ... http://www.rbruce.com/hero/My_Hero_Games_Files.htm The lycos web-page-modifier module is "temporarily unavailable", so if you want to see the latest version you'll have to go to the site listed above. I'll update the Lycos/Tripod site when it lets me. What I've added is more characters and villains in various states of completion in the Merchant Characters section, and am about halfway through a rewrite of the Orion Ruse/aka The Ruse scenario for use in Hero Trek in the Scenarios section. (stay tuned for it's completion). [fyi, Orion Ruse was a good scenario, but was badly arranged ... the kind you have to read through 3 times just to know who's doing what.] I am thinking about modifying the Characters and Scenarios chapters from 2 chapters into 4 chapters [TOS Star Fleet, TOS Merchant, TNG Star Fleet, TNG Merchant] ...so that each chapter begins with player-character Heros, villains they've met, and then scenarios that have been run against those characters...but that may be more work than I want to do. Feedback please...would that be helpful to the readers for me to do that? Also, please let me if there are any specific holes you would like to see filled (i.e. no Romulan star empire packages) that I may be able to track down info for. And if anyone has some of the other Decipher Star Trek books, with tidbits that are reasonable to include in this PDF, a good Christmas present would be to send me a text file of the information that I can convert/use Anyway, keep Trekkin' folks. Have a great Thanksgiving too!

3 vs. 3.5 Imperial One/Charles: No criticism taken! The reason I use 3 vs. 3.5 is the Standard Effect Rule as per HERO Fifth Edition, page 72 (left column, bottom). It says specifically for the SE rule to use a flat 3 points per dice. I think 3.5 would be better, as long as the half point is always rounded down (1d6 = 3, 2d6 = 7, etc.). So I will leave it as the official 3 points per dice, and any GMs (myself included) who think 3.5 is better can easily adjust the damage in their own campaigns.

Characters I've updated many of the characters in the "Rigel Queen" merchant section. Still pulling together the old character sheets and converting from the old Justice Inc/Danger International style/costs to my updated TNGHero style/costs. The big loser in the costs has been the Vulcan (Sorek), and I may just let his total be more than the 150 points that the other characters cost. Still, it WAS fun reminiscing about the old characters (and their players).

Haven't had a chance to run any starship combat. The DEF and Ablative limitations on the shields are the items I'm most uncomfortable with -- as far as how the converted from Spacedock. If you find something that seems to work better, please let me know! I would PREFER to stay with the Ablative limitation, but I'm not locked into it.

Jhaierr, it definitely is. BTW, If anyone has any canon info text that they think should be included in this, let me know.

Secondary website For anyone who had trouble getting to the Tripod website, try this location to get the PDFs... http://www.rbruce.com/hero/My_Hero_Games_Files.htm Apparently the "bandwidth limit" on the Tripod site is getting pretty heavy.

Text cleanups made I've made the text cleanups, added some more graphics in the Medical section. I'm torn between using the expanded Electronics and Systems Ops at the 2 points per group - to be compatible with Star Hero/Terran Empire - or going back to the 1 point per group that I had been using. Oh well.

Detect Physical Objects (Matter), Detect Energy, Detect Life, and maybe Detect Machines

Latest update I've added some things including ranks and perk costs, more alien race summaries, and other miscellany, but the biggest task is that I ported the whole thing into InDesign 2.0...now a 30-chapter book. Bought a copy and thought I'd give it a whirl. A lot of stuff is much cleaner than Word, but I haven't got all the imported text REformatted. So if you see some text that looks screwy, just be aware that I'm working on the rest of the cleanup.

Random thought I had worked on a system to replace ECs in my FH at one time, but here's the problem. If the overall cost is more than an the cost of an equivalent EC, no one will use it. If the overall cost is cheaper than the cost of an equivalent EC, everyone will clamor "unfair" or "too efficient" and the minimaxers will choose it every time. An EC is a wonderful thing - the idea that a group of powers are extensions of a special effect and that all can be theoretically used at the same time is a necessary construct. But the Electrical Engineer and Data Analyst in me find the current costing structure imperfect. That's not from a minimaxing standpoint, but from a realistic formulation standpoint. All costs should be equitable and logical. What needs to be addressed to alter it: Base Cost. You shouldn't have to refigure down the base cost when adding a smaller power to the EC. If you have 3 50-AP powers, and then add a 20-AP power, you shouldn't have to refigure the Base cost downward if at all. Scaling discrepancies. An EC with 3 50-AP Slots costs 100 points. To add a 20-AP power, the EC now costs 140 points. But to add another 50-AP power makes the EC cost 125 points. It shouldn't cost more to add a small power than a large power. What should be done? The equitable thing would be a Base cost based on a "contibution" from each power in the pool, say for example 1/3 or 1/2 or 2/3 the cost of each power in the EC. So the base cost might be, as an example, 1/3*(50+50+50) or 1/3*(50+50+50+20). Each slot would cost the fractional remainder, so the 50-AP slots would be 2/3*(50)=33 each. Keep in mind I'm not promoting specifically 1/3 or 1/2 or 2/3 as the base and slots, but some value that makes sense. I HOPE Steve revisits this in HERO 6 in 5-10 years. Until then, I'll either avoid ECs or come up with a house rule version. Just my 2 cents.

Testosterone RolePlaying Quotes... We kept a journal of priceless (to us) quotes, named after a running joke called the testosterone roll (indicated how good a male character's beard could grow, among other things). Here's a few of my favorites... From an adventure where the COM 24 Elven Druid, asking for aid from the visiting queen, seduces her... "Aren't affairs of state fun?" From the same adventure... WF: "Are you kinky?" CT: "No, he's a druid." Referring to the possible level of a monk villain... "I wouldn't speculate as to the height of his order." During a D&D campaign, in which Ninja agents were a problem... "Did he move like flowing mercury to envelope it, or did he catch it like a cleric?" From a chaotic neutral gnome thief during an encounter with a possible villain, to another character. "I'm chaotic neutral. Eat this." From a gamma world adventure, wherein the achilles heal of the attackers was the interior of the weapons' barrel, a 6 inch hole...in theory like the hole Luke Skywalker was aiming for in Star Wars... "Shoot for the blacks of their holes" Talking to a first level character... "Put on an air of several hit dice" After a rescue of a fair maiden by the Paladin in our group... DW: "Did you grab her nice?" CT: "I'm a paladin -- of course I grabbed her nice!" Needing to hide the presence of a monk character... "Are you the level of monk where we can stick you in a portable hole and forget about you?" From a Star Trek campaign, trying to check for disease... "Can a medical tricorder detect virulent micro-orgasms?"