Chaosliege

Re: Character Ideas I need some help with.

Originally posted by ShadowRaptor

Hi to all, I am new to these boards and new to HERO as I just got it about three weeks ago and I am so glad to be done with that 'other' game I spent so much time playing.

 

Ok, after practically reading the book a time or two, some things I totally understand, and some things I don't. The things I don't really understand come from the fact that there seems to be multiple ways to handle it, and I want to get it right for the right feel. Plus, these characters I am making just to get used to the system.

 

One character is somebody I am basing from the Guyver movies (if you have seen them, you know what I mean). The guy is basically normal except for the times he has 'called forth' his bio-armor, in which he gets enhanced characteristics, leaping, running, and claws/blades. I can see this being either a OIF or OIHID as for the power limitations.

 

The other one is probably more interesting and more complicated. This is a young guy in his late teens, just turning 18. On his bday he received a package from a relative he never heard of, and that night he had strange dreams. He opened the package and there is an amulet, and when he put it on he found that he could transform into a more powerful being (this is kinda like Thor from Marvel in a way). For this guy, I want to keep it where his practical knowledge and skills are the same, but obviously his powers are drastically different. My confusion is if this should be a Multipower, a OIHID, or some kind of focus but I don't want to take the chance of him losing the amulet (maybe it forged with him or something, but if there was the possible chance of losing it, then it would lead to decent roleplaying possibilities).

 

Any suggestions from any of you? I thank you in advance for any advice you may have.

 

Oh, and some newbie questions I am sure many of you have answered in the past:

a) how have you all done VPP or Multipower frameworks?

what general advice could you all give me? Anything helpful would be great.

Well if you want him to be able to lose it, then it's a focus. If you want it to be one of those "it always seems to come back to me" things, it's an OIHID. That's assuming her can change back and forth. If the amulet fused with him, making him permenantly like he is now, then he would get neither.

If you tell your GM tha DD needs to be "pumped up a little"

If you look at the stars and say, "yeah, I want that one", and then get it

If when the GM says he's throwing the whole (CKC)book at you, he means it

If Time Master doesn't have time to bother you

If you keep your damage dice in a 16oz cup...

and have to roll said cup-o-dice twice

You may be over-powered....

Originally posted by JmOz

Actualy you did not: The Summon is only on a Multiform, and on a single dup, the main vehicle does not have it (It is still digusting, will post it when I get it done...

If you're doing this with Hero Designer(plug), you could post the files to the thread on the Hero Designer Board(shamesless plug for thread I started...).

Originally posted by tesuji

Some large dice of HA

Damage shield

continuous

0 end

IPE (because it is not visible that you have this defenses up)

 

with disadvantages for

 

requires a to-hit roll -1/2

limited to no more damage than the attack would do -1/4 probably

 

you do not get anything for not when stun/ko since a non-persistent ds would not work then by default

I think he could still take the Restrainble limitaiton though. But I don't rememberoff hand what it's worth.

Originally posted by Oruncrest

And you don't have to be an ESPer to use it. for magicians (is that what your character is?), you can call it 'The Scary Strike of Spooky' which summons a ghost to attack an opponent (add visible to the Ego Attack to save points). A gadgeteer can build a 'Psychic Disruptor' that works on the psychic wavelengths of the EM spectrum. Heck, even Martial Artists can get into the act (Chi Blasts anyone?).

Hope I've helped.

I like some of those Ideas, I'm going to have to incorperate that Psychic Disruptor into my guys power armor..

I'll just chime in to say I also agree that the covered and held action rules are enough to handle this. The only attack we ever allowed a character to abort to was the martial throw. I don't remember if that's legal or not, but we used to alow it.

Originally posted by Syberdwarf2

Picture?!?!... what Picture?.......

The first post on this thread has an attachment. It's a picture of some dice a guy found at a con.

Re: House Rules? Typical point totals? Newbie questions.

Originally posted by Geryon

I have just gotten into Hero, and I was wondering if there were any commonly used house rules which I couldn't do without. I would particularly appreciate any regarding game balance. I switched to this system because I heard it was very balanced, and so far I have been pretty impressed overall, and particularly with that aspect of the game. What house rules (especially balance related ones) have you all implemented with success that you think really improve the game?

 

I have heard a lot of talk about ER, and I downloaded the excel sheet. Is there a way I can get the document which goes along with it without purchasing DH#3?

 

Finally, what is a typical point total for different Hero settings? I was thinking of starting my Champions game at 250 points total and allow either 100 or 150 disads. What is an acceptable level for fantasy hero? That is what I am planning to run next. 100 points total, 50 disads?

 

Thanks in advance.

Well, before FREd we always started our Supers out at 250, and this is a respectable place to start for a low-powered game. But we also kept the vilains around 250ish (except the main one of course). Now we run our guys off of the Standard Superhero template(HD). 200 base +150 In disadvantages, for a total of 350. For Fantasy I think 100 total is a good starting place. At least I wouldn't go any higher than that. We tried running a fantasy game at 150 starting once and our guys just semed too powerful for starting characters. But this depends entirely on what kind of game you want to run. If they're going to be fighting a lot of realy tough creatures, then you might think about raising that a little.

Originally posted by Steve Long

Brought to my attention? Heck, it's entirely possible that the description actually comes from a description I posted, months ago, of the Hero dice we'd like to create.

 

It's not that we haven't thought of it, because believe me we have -- over a year ago, in fact. And it's not that we don't like the idea. It's a matter of finding the money to do it. Producing the dice themselves isn't terribly costly -- but having a custom mold made to create them the way we want them is. I have some friends in the plastics industry on the lookout for deals for me, though.

Well, I know I, for one, would definately buy a set(or three). I think the FREd colors alone would be enough for me. The ones in the picture are close, but not the same. Please keep us up to date on this. I'll even pre-order if that would help..

Originally posted by JmOz

It's not as bad as it looks:

 

The vehiicle is a Mecha similar to the ones in Macross (a fighter/Robot/Hybrid) that can combind into a giant mecha. The dups are the other vehicles, the two multiforms are (1) the Mecha/hybrid/fighter and (2) the giant Mechas. the other vehicle with Multiform is the same type of fighter/Hybrid/Mecha, The summons is a missile. like I said not quite as bad as it sounds

 

It has two giant mechas, one is when all six vehicles merge, the other is when only five merge

 

So most of the multiforms have the dup power on it to some degree (3/4 have it, 1/2 have it at the same level)

And all this is played with one PC? Man.. My GM would never alow it..

Originally posted by Zaratustra

It would be nice if the 2, 3, 4 and 5 had a differently-colored dot, and the 6 had two of those, painted in such a way that would make it easy to read both STUN and BODY.

That would be cool.. Has anybody brought this idea to Steve's attention?

Originally posted by bjbrown

Re-reading the rules, you can't do the schtick of an NND attack with being solid as a defense. A Desolid character is immune to even NND attacks, unless also bought with the Affects Desolid advantage.

That's still not bad. A 4d6 NND is better than an 8d6 regular blast.

This is using 60 active points.

8d6 Affects desolid, 40*1.5=60

4d6 NND Affects desolid, 20*2.5=50

I'd rather get an average of 14 pure stun than nothing..

8d6 gives average of 28.. subtract even a modest 20 defense and you're left with 8.. I he has 25, you only do 3..

Also, you have a better chance of getting a good roll on 4 dice than on 8..

Re: Re: Re: Is there any way the HERO can do this power?

Originally posted by Fuzzy Gnome

I think it lets you duplicate the result of virtually any ally's attack, but doesn't require a roll to hit. It also doesn't require any preparation, spell components, charges, extra END, etc.

Ex.: Joe finally gets his Wave Motion Cannon Strike charged up, makes the 8- Activation Roll, and luckily hits the enemy even though he's dodged every other attack so far. And he gets maximum damage! You won't see rolls like that again soon! But now Joe is out of Charges and END and almost out of STUN.

Jim Bob duplicates the effect exactly and nails the villain again automatically. But he doesn't need any prep or take any side effects.

In that case I agree with the others.. You are looking at a HUGE mimic pool.. This is for a cosmic game right?

Originally posted by mattingly

Can I have a (normally 0 END) power cost 1/2 END, for a -1/4 Limitation?

 

Example: Mental Defense, 20 points; Costs 1/2 END (-1/4). Total cost: 16 points.

Just out of curriosity, Why?

Re: Is there any way the HERO can do this power?

Originally posted by Yamo

This one is just breaking my brain trying to write it up in HERO terms.

 

It's from an online PDF game called Console that I stumbled across. The game as a whole reads like a semi-serious attempt to do a tabletop version of Final Fantasy. Anyway, I stumbled across this power for the Time Mage class:

 

"Duplicate - You can force a particular event to happen again. For instance, if the Fighter just hit a nearly untouchable foe, you could use your action to cause that to happen a second time. You can't use this ability more than once in a row."

 

:confused: :confused:

 

Can it be done?

Well if you are talking about a spel that just lets you hit something a second time, than that could be represented with levels.

Ex.

22

+10 with All Combat, Usable By Other (+1/4) (100 Active Points); 1 Recoverable Charges (-1 1/4), Only usable with last attack (Power loses about half of its effectiveness; -1), Activation Roll/Spell Roll 14- (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Requires both hands (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)

Or you could try this:

18

Extra-Dimensional Movement (Single Dimension; Travel Through Time, x8 Increased Weight), Usable As Attack (+1) (110 Active Points); Limited Power (Only to send single creature back to previous phase; -2), 1 Recoverable Charges (-1 1/4), Extra Time (Full Phase; -1/2), Character May Take No Other Actions (-1/4), Costs Endurance (Costs END Every Phase; -1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4)

This is just a couple of ways of doing it. I'm sure there are other people out there who can give you better insite.

Originally posted by mattingly

Can I have a (normally 0 END) power cost 1/2 END, for a -1/4 Limitation?

 

Example: Mental Defense, 20 points; Costs 1/2 END (-1/4). Total cost: 16 points.

You can apply the "costs end only to activate" for -1/4 to powers that normaly cost no end, but there is no rule for adding "costs 1/2 end".

Originally posted by Gary

If you just want an effective damage shield, why not just make the EB an NND? For 75 pts, you'll get 4d6 nnd which will do more net stun against super level defenses on average than the 1d6+1 +4 stun multiple damage shield. I'm sure you'll agree that 4d6 nnd is a lot better than 6d6 normal.

I understand I could do that, but it doesn't fit the feel of the character. The guy I have is bathed in flames. Fire hurts, a lot.. So an RKA DS seemed to fit the bill.. By the same point, it's not very heroic to kill people, therefor it seemed natural for me to build the power the way I did. This way I can have only a little body and a lot of stun(potentialy) and still be true to my vision of how the power should work. I'm not saying that's the answer for evryone, but it is for me..

Originally posted by Shadow Dancer

ok, i'm now very scared!!! be very careful, when you click on the link above....

OMG.. I wish I had read this warning before opening the link...

Originally posted by MisterVimes

It's usually not a problem as I carry Hero Designer (buy it today!) with me on Disc so I can work on characters whenever I like... the book is a bit obvious.

I can just see you at work, behind the desk clicking and typing away when the boss walks by. "Boy he sure is a hard worker".

Originally posted by Alibear

Welcome. We're a pretty reasonable bunch around here, mostly, if you're polite, we love to help and talk about our beloved game.

 

So onto the discussion.

Low powered fantasy? How low powered are you taking here? First level D&D level? Okay, i'm going to assume that is in fact what you are talking about, roughly 25point characters with a maximum of 25 in disadvantages? That is just 50 points to spend, if half of those ponts go on skills(roughly speaking) that leaves 25 points for characteristics.

You are going to see some pretty average, or specialised characters and the difference between 10 and 11 dex might indeed be the difference between 2 characters.

10 dex guy has 3cv and 11 or less dex roll.

11 dex girl has 4cv and 11 or less dex roll.

 

guy hits girl on 10 or less.

girl hits guy on 12 or less.

 

That is indeed a big difference, especially if and when other factors come into play, like heavy armour, dodging, weapon etc.

 

Guy tries to hit dodging girl on 7 or less.

girl tries to hit dodging boy on 9 or less.

 

Huge difference!

 

Other posters are more eloquent than me so, I'll pass the ball to.....

I just wanted to add to this comment a little. And that is to say that if guy uses the 3 points that it would have cost him for that +1 DEX and puts them into STR, now he hits with 2 1/2 d6 or the optional 3d6-1 instead of 2. This may not seem like much of a difference, but then figure guy gets +1 pd for having 13 STR, and +2 STUN, and +1 REC. And since we're talking about a Fantasy game, you need to consider STR minimums on weapons. If they both use the same weapon and it requires 13 STR Min, then girl is at -1 because she isn't strong enough. It all comes out in the wash.

So long as it lets me make a damage shield that will actually do damage, I'm fine with it.

60

Killing Attack 1d6 +1 (vs. ED), Reduced Endurance Half END; +1/4), Damage Shield (+1/2), +4 STUN Multiplier (+1), Continuous (+1) (75 Active Points); No Knockback (-1/4)

Min dam 10

Max dam 70

average 33.75

66

Energy Blast 6d6 (vs. ED), Reduced Endurance (Half END; +1/4), Damage Shield (+1/2), Continuous (+1) (82 Active Points); No Knockback (-1/4)

Min dam 6

Max dam 36

average 21

Note: The regular EB is higher active points.

Steve,

I am currently making a fire based character with the usual powers (FF,EB,DS, Flight). I have given the limitation OIHID on his fire powers to simulate having to "turn on" and the I gave him the limitation accidental change when soked with water or knocked unconcious to simulate puting him out. Another effect I was hoping to add was that he has to remain flying while his powers are "on". I was thinking of placing the "always on" limitation on the flight, but in order to have "always on" it has to be "0 END" and "persistant" which doesn't fit the idea of a power that is OIHID. So my question is, What would be an apropriate limitation level for this effect?

Originally posted by SCUBA Hero

To prevent damage from movethroughs but leave the character otherwise normally subject to injury, drop the forcefield and have him buy PD "Only vs. Movethroughs and Move-Bys" -1

Also consider SFX during play.. If your vilain is a brick and is getting frustrated trying to hit this guy, it isn't unreasonable to have him pick up a car and swing it at the shrunkin hero. This would give the effect of AE hex on his STR.

I agree that there realy isn't nough limitation on what the ring can do to warent a limitation. I do think it should require a skill roll based on EGO. The GM could envoke modifiers to make the roll much easier for powers that Green Lantern gegularly does and more difficult for powers he rarely does or ones you come up with that you've never seen done. I could see a limitation requiring a rechage daily, but it would be small, -1/4 probably. I could also see a focus limitation, or more to the point an OIHID limitation( OIHID has been use to simulte a focus that cannot be taken away before). As far as the "doesn't effect yellow" or "doesn't effect wood" limitation, that would depend on which GL you're trying to emulate. I would also put a limitation on the active points in one power, to reflect GL being able to do anything and still scale it back to fit your campagn's active point limit.

I fail to see how what I said was nonsense, when you just said the same thing. In my post I said SFX often dictate the defence for an NND and you in turn gave a ludicrous example of exactly why I'm right...