devlin1

I don't know what you're talking about.

Originally posted by Rick

No my friends also the primary GM so I like to keep my promises to him.

Pfft. Dice-whipped.

1) Where'dja get it?

2) Can I buy your friend's from you before he pays you back?

3) Get your priorities straight. Go home and read it.

Originally posted by archer

It's not like they're going to Hell if they do it wrong.

Not going to Hell? What do you call this place?

Originally posted by BobGreenwade

PS: In case anybody's wondering where I got the name for that power....

Yeah... I don't think anyone is.

However, powers named after TV shows is a whole other thread with boundless possibilities/annoying consequences.

Yeah, but if it were me, I'd go with it. Or maybe the way to do it would be with Negative Skill Levels, AoE, Personal Immunity.

However, as a fan of Transforms and complex solutions... I like the Transform idea.

Sure-- although I don't think Unluck is inherently ranged.

Originally posted by Agent X

NCM is not recommended for superhero campaigns so I would ignore that suggestion.

Not recommended, sure, but if he has only one stat above the NCM and he's essentially a gadget-wielding, street-level crimefighter, it does arguably make sense, which is why I suggested it.

There is nothing wrong with the 3d6 RKA arrow if it is partially defined as the archer's skill or special makeup of the arrow. You might make a note that it is far less effective in the hands of a less skilled archer.

I'm big on justification. If a 3d6 RKA can be justified, I'm all for it-- and the justifications suggested work for me (spring-loaded arrowhead, well-aimed shots, etc.). But it did push my eyebrows up, and it might do the same to his GM.

Originally posted by allen

"Deus Est Mortem, Omnes Nox": I'm not clear on the Latin. I haven't pulled out the Wheelock's yet, but "mortem" is from "mors, mortis" which I thought ment coprse, and for some reason it's in the accusitive -- I would've expected a participle of "morior." "Omnes" also looks strange to me -- 3rd declinsion adjective, "omnis, omnis, omne" -- so male/female plural accusitive, but i think it should be singular and nominitive (literarlly: whole/all of the world)... "Deus Est Mortuus; Omnis Nox." eh, my Latin is beyond rusty at this point, I'm afraid.

"'People called Romans, they go the house'?"

Well... first I'm going to be a gamer.

If I were you, I'd take that DEX down to 20 and take the EGO down to 11, and use some of those points to buy up his INT. Just seems like he should be smarter than average to me. Also, it seems like he should have NCM, but that's pure opinion.

3d6 RKA for the Sharp Arrow seems awfully strong. A lot of powerful handguns don't even do that much. 2d6 seems more appropriate, to me.

Why No Range Modifier on the bow? IMO, a better way to reflect his own personal accuracy with it would be to buy Penalty Skill Levels vs. Range...

...and if you want to offset hit location penalties, buy Penalty Skill Levels, not vanilla overall CSLs. It'll be cheaper and less clunky.

I don't know if you're using Hero Designer to make this guy, but some of the Talents you have listed (Combat Archery, Trackless Stride, etc.) are generally restricted to Fantasy Hero. Not a problem if your GM's cool, but worth mentioning.

He can't have Public ID for his VIPER Hunted and Social Limitation: Secret ID. Those kinda contrdict each other.

IMO, there's something of a conflict of interest in buying a 21 DEX and Lightning Reflexes, and then taking a Psych Lim of "Doesn't Hurry." Not only are they a little bit in opposition to each other, but "Doesn't Hurry" is rather vague.

You've taken two Psych Lims ("Mysterious and Enigmatic" and "Always Calm and Collected") which, in some ways, duplicate each other. Most GMs would probably remark that you've taken too many points of Psych Lims anyway, and many might even say that neither of these is particularly Disadvantageous. What about taking something like "Feels disconnected from others" to reflect all that mystery and enigmaticosity?

In general, I think you should review your Disads with your GM, because (and I don't want to go into detail) I think he/she might find a lot of them objectionable in one way or another. It seems to me that you could draw on his background a little more for some Psych Lims to replace a couple "standard" ones you have now (especially the one that's marked as not recommended for PCs; you might want to delete that sentence before handing it to your GM...).

Otherwise, seems like a solid concept to me, although you're right: HTH, this guy is taking it on the chin.

Re: What Do You Want To See?: DEMON

Originally posted by allen

What kind of tone, mood, theme, etc. are you expecting from this organization?

One word: Cthulhu.

My own thoughts (currently, at least) are: the weirdly mystical with generous helpings of mephistophelian malevolence and over-the-top espionage action.

Yeah, that'll do.

Personally, I go for otherwordly Lovecraftian horror.

Otherworldly Lovecraftian Horror + Superheroes = Gold!

Originally posted by Vorvodoss

You have a good point here. CSLs were one of the hardest things for me to grasp and explain to my players so I could agree that getting rid of them would simplify things. However, I would also venture to state that without things like CSLs there becomes less of a reason to use HERO at all.

Agreed. The whole reason I like Hero is for the flexibility, and yes, maybe a little bit for its complexity as well. I think that for the amount of complexity Hero gives me, it gives me a reasonable simulation of reality (or fictional reality) as well, so I'm happy with it.

'Course, I also dig Rolemaster, so....

Originally posted by Rick

A cloud of Tear gas could be Darkness W/a NND linked to it.

 

Spider-man can flash you W/his webs and your gogles would be useless in responce.

Yeah, exactly. It's a Flash that totally bypasses normal Flash Defense. Although-- would that be an Entangle that only targets the head and bought with Opaque: Sight Group?

Man, I don't want to get into it. Anyway, I'm pretty much at my limit on this. I more or less said a few posts ago that whatever someone wants to do in his/her own game is his/her own business, but I've hardly lived up to that attitude in subsequent posts. Therefore, I'm out. Goodnight, and don't forget to tip your waiter.

-----

P.S.: Hey Rick. Another San Diego Hero gamer... huh. More of us than I thought (although to be fair, I was willing to believe I was the only one).

Originally posted by yamamura

Don't Forget the Brit sitcom, My Hero ie Thermoman

God, I wish I could....

Originally posted by Demonsong

First off I challenge you to show me where in Fred in stats that all flash attacks vs. sight are based on light.

*sigh* Yeah, I know it doesn't. I never said it did. I can see how you inferred that, but that's not what I meant.

You’re reading way too much in to it. It’s a special effect.

...that makes this Flash nigh-invincible. If the only actual, genuine Flash Defense in the entire world is nictating membranes, then that's pretty powerful, IMO. I hope those lizard-guys carry loads of magical tear gas on them, because they're apparently the only ones around who aren't affected by it.

Instead of a Flash, let's make it an Explosive EB. It's a magic toxic corrosive gas that bypasses normal Resistant Defenses and is only warded off by Force Fields, Force Walls, and the scaly skin of lizard-guys. You can't tell me that doesn't call for an NND.

Sorry human (even super human) reflexes are not faster than light.

Agreed. That one clause in the rules seems to have caused at least one gaming group some problems. Of course, if they hadn't put it in, arguments would surely have erupted anyway. "Can't I cover my eyes? I know it's not in there, but...."

I see where you are coming form but I don’t agree with your logic at all.

That sounds pretty hard to do, but good on you for doing it.

Originally posted by Demonsong

Nictitating membranes are a protective (see through) eye lids, I would assume there air tight. It’s not a continuous power. Just a quick blast of vapors, if you will, that is deflected off the membranes. Any way that’s how I figured it.

 

 

 

If you reread my post you will see I said goggles not sunglasses. I was thinking any thing that has a positive seal. From a diving or gas mask or ski goggles. As long as it doesn’t have vents.

Okay, then this sounds very much like NND to me. Ski goggles aren't normally Flash Defense (yeah, they're tinted, but c'mon). The Flash you've built seems to have nothing to do with bright light; it's magical tear gas. Considering how relatively rare airtight eye coverings would be in a fantasy medieval setting, I don't think NND is unreasonable. Hell, even in this day and age, how many people walk around with swim goggles or gas masks?

By your own admission:

In any kind of higher tech game any type of goggles would protect as well. But since it’s a fantasy campaign we will not count that one.

So you see my point on that one already.

2d6 Flash vs. Sight Group, Explosion (+1/2), NND: Not vs. airtight eye covering (+1): 50 AP

...except that nobody can really get airtight eye covering in the setting. I'm just saying: NND's well within reason.

Anyway-- your game, of course.

Sorry for the tangent, but....

Originally posted by Demonsong

I think it is entirely based on the special effect. In the Fantasy Hero campaign I am running an enemy Wizard cast a Blinding Vapors spell. Effectivaly a 4D6 Flash vs. Sight with the explosive advantage. Describes as a softball size sphere of goop that exposed in a cloud of Burning Vapors. Covering ones eyes is generally not going to stop the vapors. Anyone ever been gased while in the military? I have many times (they call it training). Any way the players were not expecting it and there is very little defense even if you are expecting it, so I had some fun that session. Of course the party Warlock went out of his way to learn Burning Vapors and now it is a stable and often use spell of his. In the fantasy environment it is very effective for such a low powered spell (only 30pts).

A little too effective, IMO. 30 points? Shouldn't it have an NND on it as well? It doesn't sound like standard Flash Defense would make a dent in it. What's the defense against this?

Originally posted by Vorvodoss

This wouldn't make things that much easier.

*shrug* I think it would from a player's standpoint, because there would be fewer variables to consider. The point was made earlier that in D20, for the most part, all combat bonuses are determined once (Base Attack + Str/Dex Bonus) and are consistently applied with few exceptions. In Hero, if there were no CSLs to think about, it'd just be Base OCV vs. Base DCV and would work a lot like THAC0, as you mentioned.

Originally posted by BobGreenwade

How about Tunnels & Trolls? Higher levels of experience bring increases in Attributes, with no upper limit; and many of the magic spells are very strange from a HERO perspective.

 

If I still had my T&T book I'd post a couple of specific examples.

Ah, T&T... love it.

In one sense, it'd be easy: Skills. T&T has none! Converting spells would be a little sketchy, yes, but fun. And totally possible, IMO.

What would Luck be? Hero doesn't really allow for Luck, apart from the power/talent of the same name, as a mechanic for resolution. Reflex actions come down to DEX Rolls, noticing things in the environment is a PER Roll, etc. It might be interesting to create a new Figured Characteristic called LUCK that would be an average of, say, STR, DEX, INT, EGO, and PRE.

Now I'm all about doing a T&T to Hero conversion. Thanks a lot, Bob! Like I don't have enough to do!

Originally posted by Vorvodoss

OK...that was a whole lot of what was in my head and I'm not sure if I even made my point. Let me know if I didn't and I'll try to explain my thought process better.

If your point was that the mechanics are similar but Hero is designed to take more variables (and variety) into account, then yes, point made.

D&D 3E (and 3.5E, I'm assuming) really does give the option for different variables on a round-by-round basis thanks to feats like Power Attack and Expertise (and even standard combat options like Bull Rush and Trip), but it's not nearly as widespread as in Hero. IMO, if those complexities in Hero are proving to be a problem, the simple fix is to disallow CSLs, or restrict their use (e.g., only allow 8-point CSLs).

Originally posted by Korvar

I prefer:

 

Roll three dice. Low is good, high is bad. If you roll 11, you hit the same DCV as your OCV. Each one above 11 on the roll subtracts 1 from the DCV you hit. Each one below 11 on the roll adds one to the DCV you hit.

 

So roll, and tell me what DCV you hit.

Yeah, that too. Maybe what throws people is that in Hero, there's more than one way to think it through. The way you described it makes total sense to me; I just wanted to present in a way that was as close to D20 as possible, for this particular instance.

Almost all of my Hero experience has been through PBeMs, so I practically never have to think the mechanics through all that much. As a GM in a Hero PBeM, I have yet to run a combat, oddly enough.

Originally posted by Vorvodoss

I was specifically talking about how combat works. In other words, if d20 and HERO are that alike, why couldn't a simple "roll die, add bonuses, check against armor class" work? Now, before I get flamed I want to clarify that I like the HERO way of combat now that I'm getting used to it. I just wanted someone to explain how combat in HERO is like combat in d20 (besides things like half-move, etc.).

Well, it's late, but....

In D20, to determine how hard someone is to hit, you take into account several factors:

*Dex Bonus

*Armor bonus (in D&D, anyway)

*Class/profession bonus (if applicable)

*Expertise/Feat bonus(es) (if applicable)

*Terrain/environment (if applicable, and if you want to bother with that)

*Special/magical bonuses, if any

Add all those to a base 10 AC, and you have the target number you're trying to hit on d20.

In Hero, it's a similar process:

*Base DCV (derived from DEX)

*CSLs (if applicable)

*Terrain/environment

*Special

Add all to 11. Subtract the attacker's OCV. Roll that number or less on 3d6 and you hit.

Nearly every game system relies on a system similar to the above examples to resolve combat. It's all just adding some stuff, subtracting other stuff, and rolling dice, not necessarily in that order. And while I appreciate that there are game systems out there that rely on wildly different mechanics (or none at all), the majority are still a lot like these.

One big (and good, IMO) difference between D&D and Hero is that in Hero, real armor doesn't make you harder to hit-- it just helps you avoid damage. That's the way it oughtta work, if you ask me, and that's more or less the way D20 Modern works, so good on them for fixing it eventually.

Apologies if, at 1:30 am, I got any of this wrong. I do know how it works, I promise, but without a constant stream of Coke and the chatter of gamers around me, 1:30 am is not my prime game-mechanics time.

Re: Sidekick questions

Originally posted by JeffB

1) Is this going to be a complete game? i.e. is this just a "bridge" product to FRED or is this going to be like the old D&D Basic/Expert/C ompanion etc where it's a complete, yet simplified game?

Both. It can serve as a complete game unto itself, or as an introduction to full-blown Hero. It will give you the ability to create fully-realized characters in a streamlined, customizable game system suitable for any genre.

2) If so, would I be able to pick up Champions, or Fantasy HERO and be able to run a game with one of those genrebooks and SK, or am I going to be missing so much in SK, I'll need to be looking stuff up in FRED all the time.

It will be functionally compatible with all existing products.

3) How many pages will this book be?

Eleven.

Seriously, I don't know the answers to any of these.

It's always tough in an election year, isn't it?

Originally posted by Arthur

The rules are there to serve me, not to be my master. [/b]

True. It all depends on your point of view. I want the rules to serve me by helping me build powers as accurately and correctly as possible. In fact, I even consider this to be an interesting challenge. And so I seek to be the master of the rules, and make them serve me like the prison-bitch they are.

I'm sorry-- what were we talking about?