Hyper-Man

Something else that is somewhat unique to HERO is that each player can define the special effects of what it 'looks like' their character is doing down to the point that two mechanically identical character can 'appear' to have quite different abilities. A very simple example is a character that literally Blocks punches with his chin. Even though I've been playing HERO from the earliest days I really didn't fully grasp this until I started using Hero Designer and got into the habit of giving unique names, above and beyond the the mechanical ones, to as many character abilities as I could. And this is not just limited to Champions/supers. HM

What other systems refer to as 'hacks' to get them to simulate other genres is just fine tuning in HERO. HM

Um... did you actually read the build? It's not a traditional gadget pool. edit here is a more straightforward version of the same example: It's a 20 real point investment in points that can be thought of as representing his consistently repeatable ability to "super-MacGyver" a situation with the tools at hand. This is the same cost as Universal Translator and the Universal Scientist ability introduced in one of the APG books (he has this as well since he is acknowledged as one of the smartest people on earth). Any 'sciency' character can probably pull this off one time via the Power Skill. If the player wants the character to be able to repeat it though they'll need to build something like my posted example though. HM

Bump! With tax season just around the corner I have to decide whether to focus on getting the really old but expensive missing parts or instead focus on completing the 5e/6e hard copy holes in my collection. ? HM

See my rookie Reed Richards in the downloads section for a basic example of how to build this. HM

The lack of official advertising is the #1 reason I have accounts on several other multi-game websites, The most notable are RPGnet, RPGgeek and ENworld. All have a small core of longtime HERO fans. And each group is fractured further by what they consider to be the best version of the rules (4th is the one has the widest familiarity). I try to promote HERO whenever I have a chance (without badmouthing other systems in the process). RPGnet is a much much nicer place now than just a few years ago. There are occasionally more active HERO threads over there than on this website. RPGgeek is an even friendlier place but the structure of the website is so 'quirky' it's hard to get many people involved in a discussion about any single RPG. The gaming database is absolutely fantastic though. ENworld is... disapointing to say the least. It puts on airs of being a multi-game site but it's really D&D centric at its core. HM

I'm half tempted tempted to write a HERO themed song titled "Would you like to build a squirt-gun?" to the tune of "Would you like to build a snowman?". HM

Right you are. I forgot about that change in 6e. Funny that Hero Designer does not incorporate that rule though (no warning pop-up). This is doubly interesting since HD does prevent the combination 'Boost' (Aid with Costs End to Maintain) with Charges to create Continuing Charges of a defined length without any 'Fade Rate' calculations. The book has nothing to say about this combination. HM

There is also the trap of diminishing returns when attempting to build the full granular detail you might imagine that an ability should have when created in HERO rules. A speedster's flury of rapid punches is a great example. While it is possible to build a HA (Hand to Hand Attack) with Autofire to represent multiple superspeed punches it is usually easier and more effective to actually build a bigger HA without the Autofire advantage. The same logic applies to your Barrier/shield. You could focus on the shot by shot creation/defense action and even use the Deflection Power, it would probably be easier to just build a personal Barrier that moves with the character and consider adding Indirect to all of the character's attacks to allow him to 'shoot through' his own 'shields'. HM

Barrier and its predecessor Force Wall can typically be activated as a defensive action using the Abort rules. I think your confusion may be from the use of the "attack action" terminology. In the case of Barrier that only applies if it is being used to englobe a target. Block, Dodge and Dive For Cover are also considered Attack Actions. The term is used primarily to denote that it ends the character's phase. HM

There are some Aid, Healing and Regeneration examples buried in my rookie Superman and Flash builds. Here is a quick link to both. Only Superman has Regeneration. The Aid and Healing builds are in the VPP's for both which are at 60 active points. Granted, the active points is high for a FH game but I believe the math is still sound. The points needed to Heal a significant amount of STUN is better spent on an Aid to REC as long as the target does nothing except take normal and post phase 12 recoveries. Also, Aid could be applied 2 phases in a row since unlike Healing, it does not need any Decreased Re-use Duration Advantage to do so. HM

For what it's worth, the Trail Advantage was introduced in the 5e Ultimate Speedster and later reprinted in the the 6e Advanced Players Guide 1. As written, it is a (+1) Advantage. Adding Selective to it would be an additional (+1/4) and require a normal 'to hit' roll for each target in the 'Trail'. A second application of AOE Accurate (+1/2) could also be applied so each individual attack is still vs. the DCV of the area instead of each character. To stack both on to my rookie version of the Flash would reduce the HA damage to +4d6 and reduce bonus damage to ~1/3rd of normal (15 STR adds +1d6, movement and maneuver damage adds at 1/3rd the normal rate). HM

Easy. click on one of the images click the save option on the bottom right of the pop-up copy the url from the new window that opens paste this image url into the post via the 'Image' option on the toolbar. example: You've already done the heavy lifting by uploading the images. HM

IF all undead could be thought of as a type of 'summoned' being, Then the 'Holy' Presence attack could be thought of as a form of Dispel. Then any 'Holy' person could attempt to 'Turn/Dispel' undead but more experienced characters could actually learn a ritual/spell based on the Dispel Power that is further boosted by their PRE. Just an idea... HM

It's worth noting that the Power Healing is not the only way to help another character recover Body or Stun. For the same amount of points it can be more effective to instead use Aid on their REC (help them heal themselves quicker) vs. Stun damage. A complex to build but similar effect can be created with Regeneration using the Differing Modifiers construct to temporarily 'Give the Power of Regeneration' similar to the the 'Arkelos Gift of Flight' example in 6e1 page 359. A very brief description of Differing Modifiers is also in Fantasy Hero Complete on page 142. HM

Bonus DCV won't work any more than a regular or martial dodge. Dive For Cover and Flying Dodge both allow for movement as an Abort. If the character can move far enough or behind cover they can escape the Area of Effect. HM

I think the number of charges is low as the average paintball hopper can hold 200 'rounds' of paint. Autofire is also worth considering since the rate of fire on some PBguns can get as high as 20/sec with none of the recoil issues associated with 'real' firearms. HM

Hah! Familiarity with riding a Unicycle! HM

I think the relative lack of increases in CSL's in most supers games compared to heroic stems from a couple of things. In previous editions of HERO it appeared to be more 'cost effective' to buy up DEX since CV was 'figured' from it. This also led to DEX inflation issues as well. GM's tend to to try and put the brakes on CSL XP increases as they essentially require the GM to do the same for any recurring villains they use (home brew or published). HM

It is probably worth noting that Multipowers and VPPs can be setup where the total Reserve/Pool is more than the Active Points in any single slot. The typical Multipower example for this would include all Slots as Variable. However there is another less obvious option. If the Reserve is exactly double the highest Active Point Slot then all Slots can be the cheaper Fixed version instead. A high-end version of this can also be done for VPPs now as well. This shifts the choice options of the Framework from the typical binary one of Attack vs Defend to a more broad range of choices. These can be setup in such a way that it boils down to choosing the best combination of 2 Slots when 3 Slots simultaneously would be optimal (if possible). If done with a VPP, I recommend pre-building most if not all slots ahead of time. I would caution against building such a construct for an inexperienced player since this could exacerbate any decision-lock problems they might have at the game table. HM

http://www.happyjacks.org/tag/hero-system/ http://www.drinkspinrun.com/2015/05/dsr-actual-play-dsr-learns-hero-system.html https://systemmasterypodcast.com/2016/12/05/champions-system-mastery-83/ http://www.podcasts.com/rpgmp3-actual-play-podcast/episode/hero-system-super-agents-01-mystic-force http://trenchmonkeys.com/tag/hero-system/ http://www.playontarget.com/the-superhero-genre-in-rpgs/ http://www.doucheydm.com/hero-system-6th-supplements/ https://rpggeek.com/rpgfamily/993/hero HM

I watched it. Not bad for a first time out. I would recommend researching edition history beforehand and be clear which edition you are referring to rules wise since there are differences between 6e and earlier regarding CV and other specifics. FWIW, Michael Surbrook did something similar live via google groups recently. I don't know if he's posted a recording of it yet. I believe there are other various HERO specific podcasts (sound only of course) available as well. HM

Nice. I recommend adding something to the NOTES section for the Naked Power Advantages in the first multipower that GM permission is required to be included in a Framework. HM

I recommend asking Steve Long about the differences between HSS and 6e1. I'm guess it's due to HSS being mostly a repackaged version of the 5e Ultimate Skill but I'm not sure. HM

In a game with Mind Control I can see a character with defenses that are Always On (-0) getting some of the value that would otherwise require Inherent. Example: Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Superheroes has a force field belt that provides defenses comparable to those of Kryptonians and Daxamites. Saturn Queen can use Mind Control to force Brainiac 5 to turn off the belt. She can't do the same with Superboy or Mon-El. HM