ghost-angel

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero I was actually going simply sidestep the whole issue by not simulating Bettletech Armor as it played in B-tech, but make sure armor levels and weapon levels came across and then used Hero's system for determining damage. I was also considering using Hit Locations and each Ton of armor has to specify the location(s) it covers, but then the DEF value for each Ton would have to be increased if we keep with the damage values listed in files Shadowcat1313 posted. at +7 DEF/Ton you would need a minimum of 2 Tons in any given location, though I would say that the 2 DEF provided by the vehicle itself counts in all locations. I'll have to go crunch numbers and post results.

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero There's a problem with Ablative.. under standard rules it aquires an activation roll, which means the armor may fail entirely at some point - which may work, but I've never liked that idea. Under the optional rules for ablative the defenses only reduce when Bdy gets through them which leaves us in the same place as before. as for the computer game .. I've never played it so I don't know anything about it.

Re: Multiple Secret IDs Thanks on the build.. I just got done messing around with both powers on a multiform char of my own so I'd been reading all up on them. I think this idea is pretty damn cool personally and wish I'd thought of it first. I believe it is a FREd change, the other change to 5E with Multiform is that the highest point "character" no longer buys the multiform so it has a lot more versitality to it, now you only have to get your GM to approve any given use. Here's a further tweak: Add isntant change to the Multiform so it's a 75 Active Point power, costs 50 points with the -1/2 Limitation, Make the Duplication a 215 pt Character with +1 Completely different duplicate (84 Active/Real Points) and the points left over on the base form are 216 .. now the two "normals" are nearly equal point wise and can be two different people entirely that combine into the Super Hero.

Re: Battletech Hero Looks good.. though I don't know if I'd go up to 225 pts for a MechHero campaign on characters... But, few points: Weapon Familiarities- Battlemech Weapons - I'd probably make this a 1pt "Vehicle Weapon" defined as "BattleMech Vehicle", not 6. Since Battlemechs tend to use standardized weapons I'd allow for anyone trained in them to use any weapon mounted on them. Common Military Weapons tend to be Small Arms, which is 2pts, extra training would bring in uncommon weapons. Especially in a scenario that involves Mechs being the primary form of battlefield control/focus. Skills in general look good, though you seem to have spent 1 pt to bring an Everyman up to the 11- level, which I don't believe is techincally legal, but I've seen as a house rule in some places. Stats - the guy is your standard overacheiving hero type, which is cool. Seems fairly accurate.

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero Standardizing effects sounds like a good idea.. don't know if +3DEF for ton of armor is too much or to little though. Assuming 1 Ton of armor provides +3 DEF: 7 tons of armor completely blocks a Small Laser at that level. Assuming we stick to a SmL doing 6 1/2D6, standard effect is 19Bdy The problem with standard effect and armor is that smaller mechs that only mount smaller weapons will never do damage to larger mechs that carry large amounts of armor. rolling for damage means that 7 Tons of armor provides 21 DEF by itself, a small laser still has a chance of getting some damage through, but not often. Against mechs carrying 10 Tons of armor a SmL means nearly nothing to them even using normal damage. Looks like it might be a good level, but i'd recommend against Standard Effect. If Standard Effect were used then it'd have to be lowered to 1 Ton = +2 Def just so smaller mechs have some kind of chance.

Re: 3 1/2d6 vs. 4d6-1 You do realize a level of Hardened stops a level of Penetrating as well right? a triple hardened tank would require four levels of penetrating/armor piercing for one of them to have effect.

Re: Multiple Secret IDs Multiform Does Not go into the 1 for 1 at any point in time, it's always at the 1 for 5 ratio. A 100 pt Normal only pays 60pts for turn into the 300 pt Super. I think your best bet here is probably one character with a Duplication (+1 - completely different duplicate) and Multiform (can only change when Combined with Duplicate). It might be a bit expensive on the base character, but if all the powers are supposed to be in the MultiForm then you probably won't have much of an issue. Assuming you want the Hero Form to be a standard 350pt Super then you're looking at 70 Active Points for Multiform, maybe a -1/2 for "Only able to shapeshift when Combined with Duplicate". for a 47pt cost. The remaining character is a 303 pt "normal" that just needs to buy duplication. If you wanted the duplicate to be a 200 pt "normal" then your Duplication would cost 40AP with a +1 "Completely Altered Duplicate" for a total cost of 80 points on that. Those two powers are 107 pt, leaving you 223 points in your "true/base" form to finish him off with. that give you two nearly equal "normal" guys that combine into a 350pt Super Guy. That's how I'd make it at least.

Re: [HELP] Need various things for a scenario One of the things that constantly comes up in descriptions of the Pentagon circa the 50s and 60s that I've read are the cooridors. Apparently they were so long that the mail room guys rode bicycles around to delivery the mail in a quick/timely manner. Beyond that - make it up. Unless someone in your gaming group actually works there that one is easy to fudge. As for mapping a cargo ship... two to three VERY LARGE bays take up the ship from top to bottom, all other rooms will be above the main deck, the bridge being the top level. It's split in many ships just in case they need to seal one off for some reason... And an engine room in the rear.

Re: 3 1/2d6 vs. 4d6-1 It isn't exactly an "adder" in the traditional sense of an adder in game terms.. But in HD you buy whole dice as levels and if you want a +1 or a 1/2D or D-1 then it's a "choose one of these" option below that where Adders are listed. In game terms and mechanically they aren't adders, in HD that was the best way to deal with it. Afterthought: As for those who have trouble with basic math ... a couple of people in our group are numerically dislexic.. when more than a few numbers are involved they have trouble keeping track and occasionally add wrong because a number got translated incorrectly in their heads. Some of them can add just fine but do it slowly, if they hurry numbers get missed and miss-added/subtracted... division is strait out, and we almost always do the Stun multiples for them on KAs. [edit: added afterthought re math.]

Re: Locust Battlemech- another rough idea When I first thought of trying to convert B-tech, or at least make a Mech Hero genre for myself and my group the idea was to not directly convert the Battlemechs but come up with a set of rules based from Battletech and make it Hero System. With that in mind (and none of my battletech manuals around) I had to do things entirely from memory .. and I haven't played Battletech in nearly 10 years. I forget the mechanics of the game so that saved me some headache as I had no worries of trying to convert armor ratings and pips of damage and that kind of stuff. This also means I forget the specifics of actual mech deisgns for the most part .. I know things like a Locust is a 20 Ton mech, a Spider is a 30 Ton, Marauder is a 45, Battlemaster a 65.. well - I'm pretty sure those are accurate. One of the things I did know was that the difference between 45 and 50 tons actually meant something at a certain level so I was looking for a way to figure what that could be in Hero using Hero rules. Starting from Shadowcat's first post of the weapons and then the Locust in this post I hit into an idea that was only half formed at the time .. Active Points translates into Tons somehow.. This way you could actually compare Mechs .. a 20 Ton mech would have 1/2 the Active Points in powers/stats as a 40 Ton mech. Going from AP allows one to ignore real point cost to a certain degree. This would allow for equipment doubling and still let you know how much "space" you had left to add on other parts (A two ton small laser bought four times takes eight tons of space and costs only the RP of the Small Laser +10 pts for quadruple the number of them)... Basically what I didn't want was to have a 250 pt Mech and a 500 pt Mech and worrying about going over/under those point costs to make the mech as it should be (or going "I've got the points for 16 Small Lasers!" when the mech shouldn't have that many weapons).. i wanted a 20 Ton mech and a 40 Ton mech built with whatever could fit onto them and costing whatever that ended up being. With, I'll admit arbitary, assignment of 20 Active Points = 1 Ton you will automatically get comprable Mechs, Defenses and Offenses because the Hero system is built that way - assuming you believe that 20 Active Points in any given power is comparable to 20 Active Points in any given other power. But then I was left with how to actually make a 20 Ton and 25 Ton make different (I ddnt want all the makes to have that same Size/Str/Bdy of every other Mech in the same Size Range (Size 9 for example allows for vehicles weighing from 25.7 to 51.2 tons) and all have a Str 55 and Body 19 - easy but boring. The 50 Ton mech should be bigger physically than the 45 Ton mech and should have the Body to reflect that, and the STR. So I figure a method for that should be thought of as well .. what is the point incerments to simulate that 50 Tons is in fact bigger than 40 Tons beyond just saying it? STR is a good way, breaking down STR into the tonnage that can be lifted is a good concept and easily done. a STR 55 Mech can lift x-tons and therefore weighs x-tons is an easy mechanic to work with. So - while I'm trying to make a realistic conversion I'm also not trying to make a Completely Faithful Conversion .. I'm trying to make Hero-Mech faimiliar to Battle-tech veterans, mostly. [ok, that was long....]

Re: Cross-gender roleplaying I've played gay men and women and neither seemed entirely difficult to do, they mostly played like strait people - meaning they were just people in general. The key to playing someone of the opposite orientation, or of the opposite sex and same orientation [men playing lesbians and women playing gay men], is two fold. [preface this by stating this is my opinion and experience]... 1) you, the player, must be comfortable in your own sexuality - meaning, in short, you're not a prude and the idea of sex does not make you blush or giggle or looked shocked and in horror. Especially the idea of sex between people of the same sex. 2) it can help, if needed, to imagine in your skull that your character is hitting on someone of your prefered sexual prefrence: in other words play the gay man like he is hitting on another man but if you are a strait man think of it in terms of hitting on a woman instead - just make sure you flip the gender when you actuall speak in character. It may not be perfect, or entirely accurate but it can help you get into and stay in a flirtatious mindset when interacting and reacting to your characters sexual orientation (if it is opposite yours). On that note .. I've probably got few problems playing a gay man because more often than not I'm mistaken for one - which made for a fun time in public but useless for afterwards.

Re: 3 1/2d6 vs. 4d6-1 You can choose ... both are 10 pt Adders to a KA in Hero Designer. As for the difference between the two ... we use 1/2 D6 for those who can do math, D6-1 for those who can't to be quite honest. About 1/2 our group can do basic math and always use half-dice, the other half of the group cannot do math and use the -1 option. And I mean math in their heads quickly .. and some really can't do it.. the GM, Myself and one other guy can number crunch large amounts on the fly and usually end up telling people what they did if we wish to speed things up (but try to refrain from that often).

Re: I need help with a grenade launcher

Re: Locust Battlemech- another rough idea Here's what I've worked up for mech Strengths: Size: 7 [10 Ton Mechs] - 10 Ton Mechs: STR: 43 Size: 8 [15 - 25 Ton Mechs] - 15 Ton Mechs: STR: 46 20 Ton Mechs: STR: 48 25 Ton Mechs: STR: 50 Size: 9 [30 - 50 Ton Mechs] - 30 Ton Mechs: STR: 51 35 Ton Mechs: STR: 52 40 Ton Mechs: STR: 53 45 Ton Mechs: STR: 54 50 Ton Mechs: STR: 55 Size: 10 [55 - 100 Ton Mechs] - 55-60 Ton Mechs: STR: 56 65-70 Ton Mechs: STR: 57 75-80 Ton Mechs: STR: 58 85-90 Ton Mechs: STR: 59 95-100 Ton Mechs: STR: 60 -- I was trying to think on how to differentiate Body and Def for different Mechs by weight .. my first thought was 1 BDY/Ton .. but that got tossed quickly (it'd cost +80 pts for a 100Ton mech!) and larger mechs would never go down... I'll have to think about that one for a moment. The other is Def .. I'm not sure how to come up with a good consistent number by tonnage that will compare to the damages you have listed under the weapons you posted. If done by Ton Of Armor and we assume one ton is 20 Active Points of any power then each ton of armor is +7 Def.

Re: Locust Battlemech- another rough idea I think the best way to simulate that is to assume that the Size gives the maximum weights for that category.. a Size 8 vehicle could easily be said to weight only 18 Tons if one so wanted since there's no other way to vary weights and we all know things don't ramp up like they do in Hero. This also gives size ranges for Mechs .. 15-25 Ton mechs are Size 8, 30-50 Ton mechs are Size 9 and 55-100 Ton mechs are Size 10 (and the very few 10 Ton Urban Mechs are size 7). To get exact weight in Tons I'd lower STR so it could only Lift that much weight .. and since STR doubles every 5pts for purposes of Lifting a Locust would have a STR of 48. (derived by dividing the difference a 50STR and a 45STR can dead lift by 5 = +1 pt STR between 45 and 50 allows a lift of +2.5 Tons: 45 STR lift = 12.5 Tons; 46 STR lift = 14 Tons; 47 = 17.5 Tons; 48 = 20 Tons; 49 = 22.5; 50 = 25) .. every 5 pt increment of STR has to be redone since going from 50 STR to 51 STR gives an extra 5 Tons of lifting capacity not the 2.5 per pt from 45 - 50. In this case - even though the book states that the the weight lifted is "picking up the weight and staggering a few steps" for STR we could just ignore that bit for vehicles/mechs.

Re: I need help with a grenade launcher This is what a Naked Advantage is PERFECT for.. build the grenade launcher: 2 1/2D6 RKA, AoE, OAF, Limited Range, Charges: 4. (normally, a grenade made for a launcher can't be thrown as they use different trigger mechanisms). Now, buy Naked Advantages for Grenade types Frag Grenades are a Naked Armor Piercing Advantage; Gas Grenades are a Naked NND Advantage; Flash Grenades are a Naked Flash:Sight Advantage; etc... (putting those into a MP would best simulate using only one type at a time). a point break down as I would build it (assuming 1 clip of ea. type). Grenade Launcher: 2 1/2D6, AoE, Limited Range, Real Weapon, OAF, Charges: 4 (80 AP, 23 RP) Non-Standard Rounds: 40 pt MultiPower 2u - Frag: Naked Advantage: Armor Peircing; Charges: 4 (40 AP, 2RP) and from there.. The above assumes a +1/2 Advantage is being used in the Naked Advantage multipower. And while I was writing this .. realizing I was using on +1/2 advantages .. the Variable Advantage at the +1 level on the Laucnher would accomplish this as well.

Re: New to Hero Level GM'ing 1. I don't bother with point to dollar conversions. Get some costs and decide how much your average hero could afford and go with it... these are heroes so I wouldn't get very exacting. 2. I allow anything standard to be purchased, anything custom should be made with points, unless it's not to far fetched. 3. Make it deadly clear that anything not paid for with points may be lost, destroyed or stolen without warning, or don't expect to get it back anytime soon. So the custom auto-shotgun you let them buy with cash can go away real quick (this is a good way out in case you let something too powerful into the game.) Letting people buy most reasonable things with money allows them to focus on character builing and not "saving points" for equipment. While it should be clear that any equipment that wasn't purchased with points may disappear at any moment also make it clear that this won't happen on any kind of regular basis for their most common equipment (the gunslinger type should always have access to a gun or two, etc..)

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero Yeah ... having pulled out some of my old Battletech stuff ... the LRMs did less damage, I think the idea being they sacraficed damage for the range. Most meachs that had LRMs were considered Artillery Mechs and used against PBI anyway (at least, as I remember it .. been 10 years since I've played .. maybe that's just how we used LRMs).

Re: Locust Battlemech- another rough idea going start off by saying I like the mech, think it looks good... Tonnage: I think that the way weight is scaled with the game rules, it's easy to say that a Size 8 vehcile is between 12.5 and 25 tons, so call it even and say it's 20 tons. The one thing I remember the most from my battletech days was that more often than not you didn't have "stock" weapons on a mech, a weapon got shot and you replaced it with whatever works and fits .. most of the time my Locust's ended up stripping the machine guns for small or medium lasers since ammo cost money and lasers cost only heat... (and jump jets, but just once so I could Death From Above..) With that in mind .. one thing I've been trying to think of (in the precious little free time I've got) is how to simulate tonnage, what each weapon weighs and how to modulate the mechs a bit ... I've been thinking along the lines of Active Points translating strait to tonnage for the equipment, as long as all tonnage equaled out in the end you had a working mech... My original thought was for every 10 or 20 active points on the equipment it weighed 1 Ton. With the base size cost of the vehicle equalling Infrastructure Tonnage. Since you have the example ... I'll do some rough math and see what happens. (Tonnage: 1 ton per 10 AP / 1 ton per 20 AP) -Infrastructure (Characteristics) [note: not sure why STR was bought down to 45?] (68 active points, or if STR not bought down 73, same difference after rounding for tonnage) : 7 Tons / 3.5 Tons -Medium Laser (110 Active Points) : 11 Tons / 5.5 Tons -Machineguns (90 AP ea.) : 9 Tons ea / 4.5 Tons ea. (18/9 total) -Armor (60 AP) : 6 Tons / 3 Tons -Life Support (39 AP) : 4 Tons / 2 Tons -Ejection System (10 AP) : 1 Ton / .5 Ton -Fusion Plant (35 AP) : 3.5 Tons / 2 Tons [rounded up] -Sensor Array Total (131 AP) : 13 Tons / 6.5 Tons *or* Sensor Array MP Only (30 AP) : 3 Tons / 1.5 Tons [i think just counting the MP framework cost for this makes more sense.. it's what I'm going with] Totals: @ 1 Ton = 10 AP - 53.5 Tons / @ 1 Ton = 20 AP - 24.5 Tons If this is even something worth looking at it looks like 1 Ton = 20 AP in the structure is close to a working idea .. though this gives for a slightly heavier than standard Locust by 4.5 Tons (by Battletech standards at least). For Hero Mech it looks like a workable concept.. thoughts on that idea? Especially if you allow that the Tonnage of a Mech cannot exceed it's "Weight" factor as categorized by the Size Characteristic. This way you can remove a piece of equipment (usually a weapon) and mount something different and have rules for exacetly what can be mounted that aren't entirely arbitrary. I think several more mechs would need to be built before any flaws in the idea became apparent. This looks cool ... you're making me work on my ideas before I have the free time to spare to it ... ack!!

Re: Dogfighting Those look good ... also check the Red In Tooth And Claw martial art in the Bestiary book (p.14), it has some additional items that might be of use.

Re: Battlemech Sensor Arrays First thing is I don't believe that Can be Scaled Down can be applied to the first level on MegaScale since per the rules CbSD can only be scaled back to the first level itself. Either way, since these are senses I would allow for the MS to mean that it can scan upto 1KM out for every inch it can sense. (ie, it can scan everything within that 1KM radies). You don't just perceive everything 1" away, you see all the bits in between as well. Saves some active point cost on the array and, IMO, makes more sense (no pun intended). As for the array itself, looks pretty good - but then I forget all that a mech can detect so I'll have to go with you expertise on this one.

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero ok, that's something to go from.. I see how the idirect works now.. they look pretty good in that case.

Re: Battlemech Weapons to Hero I've been making notes to start this kind of conversion for a home campaign .. I was thinking of altering the END rules for heat issues, utilizing END Reserves and such .. but no real details worked out yet. As for these weapons.. on the LRM-5, what's the indirect for? Not sure about that. Other than that they look workable... But I really can't give accurate information until I know what the armor level of the mechs is that you have in mind, otherwise the damages look kind of arbitrary. But, I haven't worked up any kind of stats yet, so who am I to complain

Re: Help with Ego powers, please. Unless the Ego Attack is IPE the victim ALWAYS knows he was attacked and from where .. he just may have trouble tracking the invisible attacker once he recovers from being CON Stunned if he was and would still be at a negative to perception and OCV if he wasn't (but not at 0 OCV). Unless the invisible attacker moves after the attack but before the victim gets an action - then they have full inivisibility benefits again. Others in the area that do not possess Mental Awareness wouldn't know what went on beyond seeing the Victim's reaction to being mentally smacked. Those with Mental Awareness know who attacked, where they were attacking from and who got attacked. They will lost track of the invisible attacker the second that attacker moves however.

Re: Natural Healer I don't know if that would work, or rather if my GM would allow that one.. But to make Change Environment move with you make it No Range, and since you can always hit your own hex you could get away with it constantly "following" you as you moved. I think Healing with AoE might work better but wouldn't give you the effect you described - for the "hosptial effect" to work they've got to spend the entire time in the field. Just passing by them does not bestow any benefit (otherwise all injuries would be ten minute office visits to cut healing time in 1/2) so you're either staying put anyway, or moving the injured with you. So is everyone who needs to heal spending two weeks in his field (which costs END normally) to get the BDY recovery? Or are they gaining a smaller healing benefit in a shorter time frame? If the latter I'd look into the Healing power.