bluesguy

Re: Coaching from other GMs: How do you describe the combat effects All of you thank you very much. I don't have this problem when running Fantasy Hero because it is 'easier' to describe how an opponent is hurt when hit by a weapon. And getting cut by a sword or shot by an arrow can be described very graphically. "When you arrow hit him in the chest, you can see that the arrow penetrated his armor and blood is coming from the wound at a rapid rate." But I was having a hard time doing the same thing for Champions (a silver age style campaign) without getting 'graphic'. Each of these posts have given me plenty of pointers.

I got some excellent feedback from my players after our last session. Basically the problem is that during combat they really can't tell if they are having any 'impact' on their opponents. So they pound and pound and pound on an opponent and the opponent keeps getting back up (he hasn't been stunned or knocked out) and then they give him another blow and he is out or stunned. Basically I didn't say much about how the opponent was affected by their attacks. Everyone is very good at describing how an attack looks but as a GM how would you describe that the last attack from the PC did some stun to their opponent?

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Selling my Champions collection! I am very interested in a number of these items. I can't wait to see your auctions go up.

Re: Hello And buying the Hero Designer program along with some of the HD packs will save you a lot of time and pain.

Re: Hello The Hero system neither encourages or discourages combat. I run a Sword and Sorcery campaign based on the Valdorian Age (a product sold by Hero). It is setup as a 50/50 (combat vs. Role Playing) type game style. That means we have had sessions - sometimes a couple in a row - where no one has made a single attack roll. We have had other sessions where the entire session was combat. In fact there is one player character whose best combat move is 'dodge'. The player designed her character that way and is definitely plays her character in a way to avoid combat (she helps out where she can with her staff sling) but she is definitely a non-combatant. I am also running a superhero campaign, same group of people, called North Star Heroes. This campaign is setup as 75/25 (combat vs role playing) and the role playing mostly occurs during the combat . In this case everyone's characters are definitely combat oriented and the characters have few 'role playing skills (high society, persuasion, trading, etc). All of the characters do have a career/job outside of being a superhero, and they have the skills for that career.

Re: Mobile Bug/Tracking Device Thank you for the suggestions. Now I have more to mull over :-)

This is for a Champions game. I will describe the "special effect" and I am asking for how the 'build experts' would go about doing it. I have a few ideas of my own but I really am looking for a virtual brainstorming session. A character wants to have a device that is about the size of a fly or mosquito that the character 'targets' towards a villain or vehicle. The robo-bug 'flies' toward the target and 'attaches' itself to the target. At this point its main job is to provide tracking information to the character's base which has the 'radio equipment' and maps to track the where abouts of the robo-bug. The item is very small so it is almost impossible to see. If spotted it might be mistaken for an insect and easily smashed. If spotted there is a chance it would be recognized as a robo-bug. Also every time the robo-bug sends a signal back to base there is a chance that the signal will be picked up and possibly tracked down. I am guessing the signal itself would be encrypted but knowing that you are bugged is enough to put people on 'alert'. I am guessing the character might have as many as 6 at anyone time. And that when they are used they have to be 'recreated' or at least recharged. Your advice....

Re: Do you use Teamwork? I like the idea of everyone in the group just agreeing that using Teamwork in the first turn of combat against a solo villain will not make for an interesting story.

Re: Do you use Teamwork? Sorry about to hijack the thread for one post... My apologies in advance No I specifically planned on them fighting a villain team of four bricks. Each brick had their own 'special' thing they could do and that made it interesting. The players were able to put down two of the bricks pretty easily (the least versatile). But the last two... It was very comic book. They all smacked those last two bricks as hard as they could. Eventually the telekinetic, who has an entangle based on grabbing nearby objects to 'wrap up opponents' got enough metal chain wrapped around one of the bricks and then two others KOed the guy. The last one just coming back for more until someone remembered - Oh I have a flash attack. After the villain was flashed he gave up. The nice thing about brick villain teams is the players can let loose with everything they have and be sure they won't kill the villains. I would never have them face 4 flying EP that would be wrong because only one character can fly (well aside from doing fastball special telekinetic throwing the brick).

Re: Do you use Teamwork? My players are already looking to buy teamwork. They see its value. They went up against four bricks in one game and they started complain - we hit them with everything we've go but we can't keep them down.

Re: Strange Background Complications I think learning Hero in a Superhero campaign - especially for D&D players - is a good way to go. There is such a huge break between the goals in D&D and Superhero. I would highly recommend a Silver Age style campaign to reinforce the move away from D&D. Do Not go Dark Champions because they will fall into the D&D mode "See enemy. Kill enemy. Take loot." (I exaggerate).

Re: Conduct Codes Bushido - Code of the Samurai can be found here and here. Sometimes it helps to ask the player what they believe the 'code' means. If that doesn't match the GMs then it is up the GM to explain what it means in their campaign. In my superhero campaign, which is a Silver Age campaign, every hero has code vs. killing (total). I have explained to the players that means that if the choice is kill the villain or letting them get away today, they will let them get away today. They are expected to 'ramp' up their attacks - don't start with your biggest attack on a villain. And their powers have been built around that idea. They all have 0 END attacks which have lower DC than their full power attack. What has been great is that they players have naturally fallen into this mode. In every combat they have been very careful with their first attack to make sure they don't kill anyone by accident. In the last session the villain (martial artist) was getting away so the brick picked up a display case (AoE) and threw it at the villain which knocked out the villain. They had a couple of choices but those other choices were a lot more dangerous and deadly. Plus it was sooo comic book.

Re: Do you use Teamwork? The way to balance this, in a superhero game, is all in the setup. For instance if the superhero team is made up of 4 superheroes and you don't want them to use Teamwork have them face 4 supervillains are 'balanced' against that team. In that scenario the players aren't likely to use Teamwork just because of how the combat breaks out. In a scenario where the same team is facing a single master villain then of course they are going to use Teamwork to overcome the master villain. Will always work? No. There are some many variables for it work - need to hit, make teamwork roll, roll damage, etc. There is a darn good chance that only 1/2 the team makes their to hit & teamwork roll. As I GM I would probably cap the Teamwork roll to 11-.

Re: My Campaign Is Starting to Flesh Out... I Need Help! Well Valdorian Age is a Sword and Sorcery world (think Thieves World, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Conan, etc) which means few monsters and 'low magic world'. But that doesn't mean you have to use the product that way. The Valdorian Age has a very unique Hero Game System Magic system - which looks cool in theory but it appeared that it would become a book keeping nightmare. If you were to buy the Valdorian Age get it for Elweir, which is about 70% of the material in the book. With that book you can run months of adventures without having the players leaving town. There are thieves, sorcerers, slavers, political intrigue, lost ruins under the city which might be accessible via the sewer system, etc. There are villages around Elweir that probably have regular caravan runs. Plus there are Bandit Lords nearby.

Re: Paladin Martial Art? I guess it depends on when you expect they could use the martial arts. For instance in my campaign there is a dwarf who has 'brawling' as a martial art. In armed combat he wears heavy chainmail and a shield. He doesn't even try to brawl in that situation. He just throws his heavy ax at this opponent (2.5d6) and then chops them to bits w/ his sword ... He is also the bouncer at the inn the characters own and the occasional brawl happens. Having that brawling skill comes in handy in those situations. I think appropriate martial arts for a knight/paladin do include boxing, wrestling, and combat styles/skills that include throws and flips. I have seen those movies where the knight flips his opponent onto the ground and then tries to stab him with his sword. And of course you have sword fighting and weapons combat in the martial arts list.

Re: My Campaign Is Starting to Flesh Out... I Need Help! What I would suggest is a city based adventures. By having the adventure in the city you can have 'changing' party members from session to session. Also you can easily grow or shrink the opposition depending on the group of players. Here are some good adventure ideas: Murder most foul; Committing/Preventing theft; Spying on a noble (find out who his mistress or her lover is); Deal with an evil under the city; serial killers; shopping trips (really great role playing opportunities); bounty hunting; Commit/Rescue kidnapping; Tenement building on fire; Crazy mage; Crazy monster; Circus comes to town and the 'animals/monsters' get loose; etc; etc; etc... Sorry but getting orcs, ogres, giants, dragons, and a bunch of other 'standard' fantasy monsters would be hard with city adventures but that is the price you and your players get when you can only schedule 2-3 hour sessions every other week w/ minimal commitment. I would also suggest that you have everyone create 2 characters (and make them very different from each other). So lets us say that Joe, Alice, Mary, Mark and Steve show up week but don't quite finish the adventure. But the next time Joe, Alice, Ted, & Trudy show up... Now what are you going to do? Well if Joe and Alice have a second character they can team up with Ted & Trudy's characters for an adventure. You would also have to let Joe, Alice, Mary, Mark & Steve that they have to commit to a session to finish up otherwise there might be a GM fiat decision about what happens (haha just kidding). I would encourage you to look at the Valdorian Age. Elweir is an extremely detailed and complete city. You could play in the city for months and barely scratch the surface.

Re: AoE Damage Sink defensive power So Joe wizard shots his 10d6 6" radius fireball and Simon Earth Guy. Simon Earth Guy uses his power and the earth (this is my imagining) flies up into the area to partially fill the 6" radius of the fireball. The effect on Simon Earth Guy and his friends (all within the 6" radius) is that the amount of damage from the 10d6 is reduced but the three villagers who are 8" away from the center of the fireball are also caught in the fireball. Assuming my understanding is close, I think I would build it as a compound power: The defense could either be Damage Reduction (50% or 75% vs. Energy) or Damage Negation, which would be an area of effect and usable on others. As for the additional AoE I think I would use a naked advantage to model that. How often do players in your campaign run into AoE attacks? Here is what I am imagining happens when this character uses this power is that an attacking area of effect is 'spread out'. The resulting 'spread' reduces the damage but increases the area of effect.

Re: 6E - Low Fantasy Hero - Game Balance Issues - Advice Requested I would go look at armor & weapons from the time period you are considering. I would only allow armor & weapons that are appropriate from that period. You might also consider that iron weapons and armor are going to be heavier and less durable than steel. So if you are using encumbrance, wearing a suit of 'chain mail' might give you lots of rPD/rED but the encumbrance lowers your DCV & DEX so much that you go with a lighter armor to manage the encumbrance.

Re: 6E - Low Fantasy Hero - Game Balance Issues - Advice Requested As I suggested in my earlier post you may have to 'reboot' your campaign based on what you now know. I would highly suggest that you limit this kind of character to a 'light fighter'. This is what I have done. And I have basically ignored the 1/2 DCV rule because this is a light fighter and she doesn't do a lot of damage with either of her hits. But if she gets hit she could be dead. Please see what I suggested about 'rebooting' your campaign because that will 'free' up experience points. By getting the players to assign experience points to non-combat skills you have opened up role playing opportunities. Now here comes the hard part for you (as the GM) is that you have to create adventures which don't require combat to succeed and in fact if they use combat to try and solve the adventure they will fail. In my campaign the players operate out of a big city called Elweir. Here are some examples of adventures: Finding and capturing a 'Jack the Ripper' killer in town. For months the players heard about the "Slayer of Women". He killed women about every 2 weeks. It 'appeared' random. Now the players went a number of adventures while all this was going on. And that was by design. Eventually there was a 'killing' that was close to home. The players then worked out how to catch him. In the entire adventure there was blood drawn one time, when the archer shot the villain in the butt to keep him from getting away. The players got involved in a deep political intrigue type adventure. It took a couple of sessions to finish. They never drew a weapon in the entire adventure. It was all about shadowing, streetwise, high society, and going around and asking lots of people around town to get information. There was a two part adventure that involved rescuing a bunch of people which they were able to accomplish without 'fighting'. They spent time laying traps, watching the encampment, and figuring out how 'poison' the encampment. That was the first part. The second part involved an epic battle. It is more work to create adventures that are more role playing than adventures where their is armed combat. It is harder to create a role playing adventure with 'conflict' and tension. Combat oriented adventures always have 'conflict and tension'. I hope this helps you out. Finally - where do you live? I think I would like to play in your game!

Re: 6E - Low Fantasy Hero - Game Balance Issues - Advice Requested I am running a Sword and Sorcery campaign, the Valdorian Age - Rising Power on the Frontier. I am using the Valdorian Age Hero campaign material, but I did toss out the magic system (love the concept but the book keeping of favors looked like it could be a pain). I wanted to have a campaign were the 'king in combat' is going to be based on muscle/skill (i.e. swords/axes/bows) vs. magic. I wanted magic to be difficult, limited, and dangerous for the caster. I developed a set of rules to help maintain a balance in the game. These rules in many cases are arbitrary but they are set up so you don't have a brick swordsman (wielding a 2 handed sword in plate armor) with the same combined OCV (base OCV + CSL) as a fencer (wielding a rapier or saber w/ Combat Luck). That would make a light fighter (fencer) a non-viable character. So I came up with a list of Characteristic & Skill Rules. These rules have allowed for some very viable and varied combat fighting styles. We have a dwarf (brick) who just wades into fights with his sword and shield. We also have a fencer who dances/bounces/flips through fights pricking and stabbing her opponents until they either die or pass out from being stunned. We have the archer who could give Robin Hood a run for his money. And we have a bounty hunter/sorcerer who uses his sorcery to befuddle, confuse, and sometimes disappear and sneak up to nail his opponents. And we have priest - who hates to fight. She typically uses her staff sling from a distance or now that she can summon a lightning bolt will occasionally blast opponents. If they get to close she does a lot of dodging . I think one of the problems you have is that you have a character that can use Combat Luck & armor at the same time. No no no. Don't allow armor layering ("Well he is wearing a leather armor suit for 2 PD/ED and over that he is wearing plate armor and that is 6 PD/ED, so that means I have 8 rPD/rED"). This applies to combat luck. Also I would not allow combat luck to be higher than the best armor in your campaign. That can also be another issue - what is the technological level of your world? Plate armor is expensive and not particularly easy to make. In my world I have basically made it clear that leather armor (3 or 4 rPD/rED) is about the best that most warrior types have. Some people have chain mail (4 to 6 rPD/rED) but that is as high as it goes. I won't let anyone get better armor than that. I suggest that you sit down with your players and say "Look I was learning how this system works and I made some fundamental flaws in how I allowed characters to be built. We are going to go through a 're-envisioning' of the game mechanics to get them more balanced." I would then take their characters, remove anything that puts their characters out of balance in the campaign world, and ask them "what non-combat skills and knowledge areas would you like?" Then as a GM you have got to create adventures where the players have to use those non-combat skills and knowledge areas to accomplish the adventure. And drawing a weapon will prevent them from succeeding.

Re: Batroc the Leaper (5e, 400+ pts) Great write up. I was also in a game where Batroc showed up with a few other foes. The adventure was a 'rewrite' of a Captain America where someone was trying to blow up a Natural Gas Supertanker in the harbor. Very exciting.

Re: How to balance mages in high fnatasy. The whole concept of the Megascale in a high fantasy magic world could be 'problematic'. For instance what happens if a wizard wants to have a 10d6 fireball (more like a nuke) that has a 1km radius, is indirect, and has 10 or more kilometer range. And they have bought specific range mods to make it likely they will get a close hit ("getting close only counts in horseshoes and nuclear warfare"). The effect would be something like a battleship lobbing a shell 20 miles away and blowing away a city block. And to lower the 'real cost' then there could be some expensive focuses, extra time, concentration, huge end spend, etc.

Re: How to balance mages in high fnatasy. I have to jump in... I know Darkarus and we have had a few conversations about this as well. My one recommendation is to read Magic System Design on Killershrike's site. IF the goal of magic is to make it big and flashy then he has some really good suggestions. He has some recommendations on how to balance that with non-magical types. Giving PCs the ability to buy magic items w/ character points is a very good one as well.

Re: So Easy Even A Nine-Year-Old Can Do It! You win GM of the month!

Re: GM Help: That Player I Want to Strangle