Eodin

Heat There are many ways you can represent heat: Change Environment, Transform, or even Life Support as Steve did for his Multipurpose Energy Weapon in Star Hero, page 154. And that's the beauty of the system, multiple ways to write up an effect to get just what you want (or as close as possible). In my opinion, the heat is a special effect. If you put a piece of rock in a fire for a few minutes, you get a warm/hot rock. The fire is an attack (EB or RKA), but the special effect of the attack causes heat without destroying the rock because of the DEF of the rock and it's composition. If I energize the molecules of a rock by shooting it with a phaser, but don't do enough damage to bypass the DEF of the rock, it's going to heat up, and voila, warmth for a period of time, based on how much energy I pumped into that rock. So I don't feel that an extra slot for "heat" is needed. But keep in mind that's me, and I don't have a problem (usually) with the special effects on the environment. Your experience may differ!

Emailed TNGHero.pdf Thanks for the kind words folks! John sent me an email asking me to send him the Trek PDF, so I sent the TNGHero.pdf. That version uses charges for the phaser writeup. Now that I'm reading this thread, John, the TrekHero.pdf (based on the Original Series) has a writeup for the phaser using an END Reserve instead of Charges. If you can't access the website and want a copy of that pdf, let me know and I'll email that to you as well.

Nothing New ImperialOne, Sorry to report nothing new as far as Trek Hero stuff. I want to make some more updates, but life keeps getting in the way. How goes the gaming? When I get free enough to start making updates, is there anything in particular that y'all would like to see updated?

Steve, As you're very well aware of, each person's idea of Fantasy is widely varied. Some people like D&D monsters, some want nothing to do with D&D. Some people consider aliens visiting, like the movie Krull, to be appropriate fantasy. What I think would be the most useful is probably not going to fit in one book. First, there should be more templates to use in building critters, so that building an Aboleth is taking the basic large fish, adding to it the templates for telepathic species, for survive deep oceans, and making it intelligent and evil (appropriate Psych Lims). There should be some of the creatures from various myths, of course...the Welsh? black hounds, the Chinese ogres, and so forth. And there should be options/templates to convert them to other monsters. Also, some writeups of monster-like powers, such as a template so that the creature feeds on souls instead of blood, or mana intead of blood, the kinds of things that make a creature into a MONSTER. Creatures are somewhat scary...spiders and snakes, oh my. But Monsters should be SCARY. The other thing that would be really useful is groups of "generic" villains...bandits, pirates, bounty hunters, orcish raiders, and the like. With FH and HSB we can create some of those, but what I'm talking about is more from a group view. For example, if my group of 6 players is going to run into a group of pirates in one of the ports they travel to, what guidelines should I follow in point level, skills, tactics, for these pirates to make it memorable? funny? dangerous? deadly serious? etc. And finally, don't forget to put in the monsters you didn't put in HSB because you said they belonged in the Fantasy genre

Hmm... MONSTERS...Fleas that feed on spirits instead of blood, Animate creatures of sand that swallow whole caravans, cave of wonders (and horrors), mana mosquitos, elemental rats, and so forth. MINIONS...Intelligent amulets, pinnochio-style puppets, "Mordenkainen's Hound", Spirits of departed pets, as well as the usual familiars. MARAUDERS...Bandit gangs, Pirate crews, Viking raiders, Mercenary units (both all warriors and all wizards versions), Hill giant raiders, Werewolf packs, Slaver organizations, and tips on effectively and "realisiticly" (NOT B-movie style) using them.

Got mine! Got mine! Got my FH today! I scanned through it and am bowled away. THANK YOU STEVE!

Defiant! Well I've got the Defiant about 95% completed. It's lacking a cost on the computer, shuttles, warhead, and SDS, but I think everything else is there. And there have been corresponding updates to the chapter on starship construction. When Steve said he didn't have time to convert Spacedock and the ships, I knew what he was saying, but now I KNOW what he was saying...you know? Anyway, take a look at the Defiant writeup. If you notice something I missed or overlooked that I didn't list above, post a note. Enjoy!

You are indeed reading it right. For darkness to sight ( a targeting sense), it costs 10 pts per 1" radius. Back when there rumors that someone was going to buy HERO and publish Hero 5th, I was hoping this exception to the Area Effect rules would be modified. But Full Darkness, as opposed to a -3 Sight PER from a Change Environment, is a powerful difference. So you might want to go with a Change Environment instead. Plus, with the Change Environment, the -x to PER can be faded to nothing over time, unlike the Darkness that's either there or not.

Nightfly, Too much family stuff going on right now to have any updates on the Defiant. I'm hoping to have some time between now and first of August to work on updates, but right now I'm lucky to get time to scan the board. Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned... Oh, and if you've picked up the Decipher Games Starship book, you should also download Steve's "Spacedock" PDF. Someone posted the URL in this thread about the fourth or fifth item. Nightfly, Nightmask, Thanks for the kind words. Since this is a "labor of love", that helps give me a nudge when everything else is crazy.

My write-up of the old-trek phaser is: Cost Phaser 90 Phaser Energy Weapon: Multipower (180 point Reserve), OAF (-1) 4u 1) Stun: EB 15d6 (75 Active Points), Limited Effect: Stun Only (-0), OAF (-1), Lockout: No other slot usable when this one active (-0) 6u 2) Wide Angle Stun: EB 15d6, Area Effect (Cone 9†on each side, +1), Limited Effect: Stun Only (-0), OAF (-1), No Range (-1/2), Lockout: No other slot usable when this one active (-0) 6u 3) Disrupt: RKA 8d6, OAF (-1), Lockout: No other slot usable when this one active (-0)) 2u 4) Overload: RKA 8d6 Explosion (+1/2), Size of Explosion Limited to Remaining END in Battery (-0), OAF (-1), 1 Non-recoverable charge (-4), Extra Time (1 minute to overload; -1 ½) 108 Weapon Cost It has an END Battery of 180 END for the hand phaser. Light Stun is only 9d6 from slot 1, heavy stun is 15d6 from slot 1. If you're interested, check out my trek hero stuff at at http://rbrucecom.tripod.com/

Many years ago a friend of mine started a campaign in a way I'd like to try one of these days. Our characters started out as 25+25 point characters, had their first adventure -- which threw them forcefully into being adventurers. At the conclusion of the first adventure, he made the characters 75+50 starting the second adventure. They had points to spend fairly quickly over the next few adventures, to bring them up to "heroic adventurer" level. Since he watched over the expenditures like a hawk, it made for an interesting way to start a campaign...

More stuff added Well folks, in TNGHero.pdf I've added some thumbnail info on a number of other races (Acamarians, Pakleds, etc.), expanded a little in SFI mission types, did the rest of the Personal Advancement package deals, and some other stuff I can't remember. So far it's up to 70,000 words, 104 pages, 2.3MB... and there's still lots more I need to fix or add. And when Fantasy Hero comes out, I want to redo my "Might & Magic inspired" world and put it out there. And I still have to work, take care of my family, get my wife to physical therapy ...no problem Enjoy, folks! Next update will likely be end of July/first of August.

Roll your own You can (with GM permission) always make your own, as per p.88+ of UMA. An example would be: "Pin to the Wall" 3 pts 1/2ph +0OCV +0DCV Grab opponent +0 STR

Zen Archery is Kyujustsu (as stated in first paragraph of Zen Riflery), and is page UMA43. Zen Riflery is page UMA73-74.

Hey Shaddakim, that Lan wouldn't happen to be Lan Kelly, would it? If so, tell him Eodin from the Lubbock days says hi!

More starship construction stuff I've added some stuff to the Starship construction section of TNGHero.pdf, but not as much as I need to. Also, don't go crazy when you see the phaser damages and shield forcefields. It seems way out there, but it's a first take anyway. When I'm more happy with it, I'll replicate the Starship construction stuff into the TrekHero.pdf. I'd love to hear Steve's take on the damages, but since he's so busy doing great stuff, I'm not going to bother him (unless he feels like chiming in . dbcowboy, I would agree that the Entangle (with modifications) might work if the effect was paralysis rather than unconsciousness. Since the target does actually go unconscious, I don't believe it's viable. Not trying to shoot you down, just my take on it.

Quick and dirty example. [color=blue]Sir Gilbreath's Castle & Lands INT 10 0 BODY 25 23 DEF 7 15 Size 500 Hexes of Buildings 18 400 square miles Grounds 14 128 employees, 100pts ea 55 Cells, non-magical 0 Trebuchets, 4 27 Location: Distant 10 Total........................162.[/color] Consider this the standard assigned lands and castle for the sake of an example. All buildings constructed of DEF 7 Granite. Increasing size of castle or adding buildings would cost something like 10 gold per hex added and take 1 week per hex added (rough estimate). Additional labor could decrease the time at a corresponding increase in cost, e.g. x4 people = x4 gold, completed in 1/4 the time. Improvements to the existing structure, like adding a scrying chamber, torture chamber, magical gate to the city of X, and so on, should cost roughly 10sp per Real Point, and again take 1 week per hex modified. Hiring wizards will multiply the cost by 5-10 (based on your world) and take 1/2 or 1/4 the time, depending on the type of work. Employees should cost per person rather than per point in term of gold/silver. You can't hire 4 programmers for twice the cost of 1, after all See the upcoming Fantasy Hero for prices. So over a 3-month period, Sir Gilbreath could put his workers to the task of modifications, adding 12 hexes to the castle at a cost of 120 gold over their salaries. He could hire a group of wizards to modify a 4-hex room to be a scrying room, which might cost out to 20 real points, for a cost of 20 x 10 x5 = 2000sp. Food for thought, anyway. You'll need to refine the gold costs and times to match the available of funds and resources in your campaign world.

Saw this message from Steve in another thread. Steve, I hope you don't mind me borrowing somewhat from Spacedock...it's not the material so much as how to convert and what my translation is that I'm putting in TNGHero.

Next minor update Well here's the next minor update. I added some med gadgets from TNG, did some document tweaking, and started making the Starship Tech section into a sort of Spacedock conversion how-to. (Hope you don't mind Steve !) It's not a rewrite or reiteration of Steve's material so much as 'if it's this in Spacedock it's that in Hero'. The big thing is going to be the weapons. Considering what a TNG Phaser Pistol can do, my mind boggles at what the Starship Phaser can do. Arooo, I'm not sure I understand about the +1/4 on Continuous...I thought as long as it was Continous they took damage each phase. If they take 5*3.5=18 STUN each phase, MOST will eventually go unconscious (though not like in the series).

Vulcan Nerve Pinch D-Man, The only problem I would have with 3d6NND Nerve strike is that on average you get 11 STUN...it hurts but won't stun, much less knock out, an average humanoid. That also means they get to fight back, which never happened in the show. At a minimum of 5d6NND, at least they'd be stunned...that's my take anyway. Captain Obvious, I've added your 5d6Continuous version as Vulcan NP 1a into the manuscript, with the note as above about being stunned then eventually knocked out. I've had little time to work on the manuscript this week, so no published updates yet. I am checking back as time permits, so if you have any suggested tweaks to the existing stuff please suggest them.

Next minor update Added some stuff in the Starship building section...Impulse drives and Warp Drives. Added a placeholder for the Defiant, filling in bits as I get parts of the Starship Construction done.

Next minor revision I've made some tweaks to the racial packages, and made my first stab at the Dominion changelings, vorta, jem'hadar and the Borg packages. Added some 23rd century vs. 24th century tidbits in a few places. I haven't been able to find a 24th century Federation map with political borders yet online, and haven't had a chance to build any starships yet, but the work goes on. Peregrine, I started with my FASA TrekHero and started editing to make TNGTrek, so please bear with me. As I have time and information, the FASA bits will be replaced as appropriate. Captain Obvious, I'll have to give the Concentration limit some thought...I agree that expensive puppy needs to come down in cost if at all possible...

Wow! I've read about two-thirds of it, skimming some sections, and all I can say is Wow! Not that there was ever any doubt on my part, but that's DEFINITELY one book I'm buying. I love the various magic systems. Too bad we can't give you a medal for this, Steve.

Ben added link... I was doing a Google search for Trek stuff, and to my pleasant surprise I found that Ben has added my page to the Hero Links. Thanks Ben!

...Interesting... So the MPEW is just inspired by a phaser, it's not a phaser "without the lawyers". Okay, no problem then. ImperialOne/Charles, when you've run a game or two with the material, let me know how it goes. I'm always interested in possible tweaks. Same goes for anyone else using the material. Rule #3 of writing...Feedback is Good. Now if I can get the Dominion and the Borg done, find some valid and readable UFP/Cardassian/Klingon/etc. starmaps to pull off the web, and build a few starships, that would make for a good week or two...