Rebar

A hex is 2m across. A hex is 2m from centre to centre.

Are you talking about calculating the area? well, everything in HG is rounded to easy-to-calculate numbers (people are 2m tall, weigh 100kg, semo-log scale of weight is rounded)

Ooh! This is good stuff! 

Have your neanderthals look different than the PC.  Describe them initially as big, brutish men.  And honestly, when you said your PC woke up in the body of an ape-like creature, I imagined him to be all hairy.  Just describe the two as looking quite different from one another.

Yeah, but it seems silly to have two ape-like species-with-mysterious-origins in the same campaign, yet have no connection between them. You'd never see that in a book - comic or otherwise.

I don't understand...if this was going to be a problem why did you let a PC like this into the campaign at all? Did I miss something?

1] Complete creative freedom for the PCs. I don't want to have to say 'Great idea. Now here's a clean sheet of paper, try again.'

2] I am still forming the campaign end-story. At first, it was enough to have them in episodic A-team like adventures, but any good story will still have a story-arc. Even if it's not revealed what the campaign end-game is, I have to start foreshadowing it.

It is actually a Pulp Campaign, yes. But the question I'm asking isn't genre-specific, and this way I have a broader pool of creative thinkers (not to mention a much more active forum).

Question: I know you've done this by the rules, I'm questioning the rules.

Why is the 'unified power' lim allowed on a multipower? I thought the very definition of multipower is that the power are unified for no points.

When playing Champions I always use the city I am living in (or cities - since I am in the Twin Cities).  I do this because it makes it easy to describe a certain location or look up a location.  My players have had a fight in the Mall of America, local Science Museum, one of the big parks in town, University of Minnesota, the Governor's Fishing Opener, and the West End.  Their headquarters happens to be in a building right next to where my family and I go on Sat. mornings for a Sat. morning coffee jam.

 

If I want to twist things around it isn't a problem.  I just create 'fake' officials.  Also since I am running a Silver Age Style game (not time period but flavor/tone), corrupt city officials are few and far between.

I too have always set my campaigns in my home city. There's a touch of vividry that comes from battling Mechanon at the very intersection where you're actually stood.

The way we deal with any discrepancies is to put the campaign set 10 years in the future. This kills two birds with one stone:

1] 95% of the city is familiar to all, but anything I want to change is simply something that's changed in the last 10 years of the campaign (still in our future).

2] It explains where all the extra tech came from that my games invariably have. There was (is) a technology revolution.

My thought is that, in a world where people are running around that can fire energy bolts from their hands, the fragility of ATMS is the LEAST of their problems. ALL forms of violence and crime would be scaled up by an order of magnitude. And that means crimes much more heinous than grand theft will be scaled up too.

Frankly, the idea of a demigod deciding he wants a few grand in small bills is an artificial construct, made up by the genre, to keep things normal. If there were such a demigod for real, he would set his sights a LOT higher than cash. He'd take over the world.

And therein lies the problem. The whole genre is highly contrived specifically so that we get serial, episodic action. The moment you pick at one thread of the artificiality, the whole thing will start to unravel.

It can be fun picking (and modifying our games). But there's not much logic to it aside from the fun.

On a similar note, how could a character inflict a "Groundhog Day" loop on another? If it was like that movie, not even dying would let the victim escape the loop.

Teleport, alternate dimension, Usable as attack.

Putting someone in such a loop is tantamount to isolating them completely from this universe. (We continue to move forward in time, they are marooned.)

And I note that defining the properties of this alternate dimension is trivial. It is identical in all ways to our universe in terms of history and space-time dimensions (x,y,z,t), except that the extent of 't' has been shrunk to 24 hours. (Thus just like a spatial dimension, once you reach the end, you find yourself back at the beginning.)

Dr. Who used this on an attacking war fleet in the only episode I ever saw.

Wow, is the judginess really necessary?

This is the only board I've ever heard the expression used on. I thought it was endemic to this board.

I keep seeing this phrase. What does it mean?

It can be pretty useful to have everyone forget you.

How about an INT Drain - only memories of character (-4?) area effect, megascale.

 

How do you build a rainmaking ability?

HG is effects-based. What effect do you want your rain to have on combat? L. Marcus has suggested a couple.

Check under Growth in 6E1. As compared to Normal sized character, a Huge character's hands and feet can count as AoE Attacks. That's three Size Categories -- how many categories are there between an adult human and a housefly? Six?

 

This applies in 5E as well. It might go all the way back to III (anyone remember III?).

Multiform exacts a hidden cost on any character built with it. 

 

Some of the experience (XP) spent on the forms also has be spent on the Multiform Power of the base form.

Wouldn't exactly call it hidden. And it's not unique.

You could say the same thing about a multipower. As you increase the slots beyond starting limits, you will have to put more points into the multipower itself to cover it.

I like the guideline in Ninja Hero 4th. PCs are allowed to choose one maximum stat such as DEX or DC. Then everything else must fall in the range for those stats. Btw the maximum is usually two "units" higher than the range. For example DC might be listed 8-10 max 12 and DEX could be 18-23 max 26.

For my pulp campaign I have implemented the 'one stat free' meta-rule.

All characteristic maxima are lowered from 20 to to 15. Beyond 15, they cost double.

BUT - each character gets one cha that they can raise up to 25 at normal cost.

Now the brick is strongest but not the fastest. My knife-thrower doesn't have to have an arms-race with the brick to distinguish himself as highest DEX.

And all without me having to disappoint the brick by having to tell him that his 18DEX is not very brick-like in a pulp campaign.

I also very much like the Amber Diceless idea of player contributions. Get points for helping the game somehow. Hosting the game, keeping a campaign log, drawing maps to GM specification, and my personal favorite: keeping a character diary. Character points for things not truly in the game. And most groups have that one player who has no time for homework because they have a good job. They often find the simplest contribution is buying munchies for each game session.

 

I would like to see these in hero system. A diary might be worth 20-25 points, and if the player didn't make an entry for this session (of in game or out of game events in the character's life) then they get that many points of unluck for this session.

Cool idea.

I've always liked the idea of XP for out-of-game things.

Then again, maybe I like it more as a player than as a GM. Being the only artist in the group, I churn out all sorts of pics and strips and stuff. (Gotsta have something to do while I'm  unconscious!)

GM: "Hex map please. It's Phase 12!"

Me: "I tune my Electro-VPP to a 60PD electro-force-field and electro-superleap 30" into the compound!"

GM: "Great. at the top of your arc, you are hit with an 18D6 missile for. 63stun and 18body against your ED. You make a small crater when your unconscious body lands. You will regain consciousness ... mmm... tomorrow."

Me: "I'll get my sketchpad."

True story.

I balanced my Force-field after that. Also, next time the GM said "This is a dangerous mission." I listened.

Doomtrain - a powered Armor/Brick with a railway/industrial theme (but not so blatant as to be an Anthropomorphic Thomas the Tank Engine)

 

We had a character many years ago called Train. Powersuit with a locomotive's headlamp and a cowcatcher grill for a mask.

He evolved over time (got less campy). We based v2 on one of the original cardboard miniatures. (Wish I could find that mini online. A power-suit in black, white and red  with scoops over each shoulder and instead of gloves, he had mittens.)

The scoops got larger - much larger. And he acquired a ridiculous amount of running - only on train tracks (-2).

Had an awesome presence attack when he blew the train horn and charged.

My group is just starting out with MHI, and during character creation one of the players noticed that Mental Defense in the MHI book lists has the following clause: 

 

I checked the NPCs in the book and the only one I saw with Mental Defense was Harbinger, and he didn't have the bonus for his Ego, nor do any of the monster entries with Mental Defense. I also have Champions Complete, so I checked the power there and didn't see the same clause.  If I'm reading that correctly, a character with Ego 15 who spends one point on the power will actually get 4 points of Mental Defense (1 for 1 point, plus 15/5=3), making a single point investment in the power a great value.  

 

Part of me wonders if the bonus point of mental defense is something that everyone should have regardless of whether they spent points on the power, much like everyone starts with PD and ED 2, but since none of the NPCs are showing that I don't think that is right. I'm also not sure if the additional points are referring to points of Mental Defense, or character points spent on Mental Defense (normally the same, but could be different due to power advantages or limitations).

 

Has anyone else noticed this, and if so, how did you handle it?

Doesn't Mental Defense have a minimum of 5CP? That way, you go from 0 to 9.

But yes, for 0 points you get nothing. As soon as you buy the minimum (whatever that is), you also get your Ego/5.

"I kkhug him until he skktops."

- Beartrap - Russian brick with one attack: Crush

It's probably not Danger Sense but increased arc of vision due to the compound eyes. It can't see behind itself, so maybe 240 degrees?

 

A fly might also have a higher SPD than a person, maybe a 4 compared to the average 2. This gives it more opportunities to abort to dodge or maybe dive for cover. It's flight speed limits how far it can dive for cover, so a swatter can nail it.

Yep. SPD 4, so that it always always has a saved phase.

It occurs to me, it might works better the other way around.

Consider the fly as default size, with the human as having 9 levels of growth.

With its inches of flight not limited to <1"/segment, the fly's flight, combat pilot and acrobatics can come into play.

I don't think it does, it just has an insanely high Tactics roll and Danger Sense.  

It'll have a +18 DCV for size alone. (1cm = 9 levels shrinking)

As far as roles go you might consider:

 

Great White Hunter: Lion/tiger tamer

Athlete: Trapeze artist/wire walker

Cowboy: Trick rider/lasso stunts

Psychic Detective: Side show fortune teller (possibly instead of the magician)

Aviator: Barnstormer (Shadow of the Egale serial)

Sailor: Ship Crew

Oh, I've got a whole page of Pulp archetypes.

If you wanted to simulate different abilities associated with reach arm, it could be as simple as buying two multipowers, one for each arm. If your right arm has both the pistol and the smoke bombs, then they would be purchased in the same MP, so that only one could be used at a time.