DrFaust

Re: Which are the optional bits? Knockback, for the record, is right out. I couldn't stand calculating it in M&M, never mind HERO.

Re: Which are the optional bits?

Re: Which are the optional bits? For the record, the turn mode comment was just a for-instance. I don't (yet) actually have anything against that rule, aside from it seems time-consuming. And man, what about adjustment powers? Seems like you'd have to calculate individually how each separate power fades or returns. I'm really starting to think about picking up Sidekick. I don't want to because hey, I just dropped forty-plus bucks on 5ER and my bandwidth blows, so the PDF is right out. If it really is that much easier to use Sidekick and swipe from 5ER as needed, I may bite the bullet. Liaden, thanks for the links and references. I'll check those out.

Re: Which are the optional bits? This I like to hear. What sort of things have you done to streamline combat?

Re: Which are the optional bits? Aside from the part where you can't run up buildings or over chasms or things like that? Are you suggesting there's nothing in the HERO ruleset that could be removed or streamlined for speed of play?

So I just bought 5ER. I'd read through 5th before, but this is my very own copy, to read and annotate. And I'm trying to figure out which are the optional bits. I mean, f'rex, how crucial are turn modes? I could very easily just say, "Okay, everyone maneuvers equally well, regardless of their velocity." That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

Re: X-men characters Was writing up Dazzler's ability to store transduced sound ever a consideration for you? I like this version, because it eliminates the need to track whether she has enough juice -- END aside -- for any particular power, but I remember liking that aspect of her powers for some reason. Also, I've been really enjoying your write-ups of the X-Men. It's nice to see versions that people could potentially play out of the gate. I try to do that when I write up characters as well.

Re: Things I'd like to see in a superhero RPG citybook. "Hermanos, the devil has built a robot!"

Re: Hero 5th vs. M&M

I know, technically, PCs spend END whenever they perform an action that costs such. But what I'm wondering is: how many GMs actually track that kind of thing? My first reaction, when thinking about how I might run a game using HERO, was that it was only worth tracking END when it really mattered; in other words, in combat or other high-stress situations. All other times, just assume the character could do what they wanted and regained their wind without problems. Y'all are pretty hardcore about HERO, so I'm wondering if that's a common take on this board, or even one that exists at all.

Re: Hero 5th vs. M&M

Re: Hero 5th vs. M&M You just hit on my biggest peeves with both systems. Whenever I've played in either system, too often combat eventually wore down to "*roll* Did I hurt him enough yet?" "No." Just sucked the life out of the whole session. I think the unspoken assumption is that for any non-combat flying, players should take the Super-Flight stunt and the GM hand-waves any need for faster speeds as "You get there in time." The nice thing about M&M, in comparison to HERO, is the power system more easily lends itself to on-the-spot improvisation, particularly when you've a player with the Gadgets power.

Re: How would you build a racial package for NIMH

Re: Suggest Mayhem For My Game! Some area within the city has been transposed with that from the demon dimension. Aside from the pressing issue of a demon stronghold within the city, how will they rescue any people trapped in the other dimension? Perhaps, a la "Buffy" and "Angel," some demons have decided they like it better in LA and want to make a go of it. Assuming they behave themselves, is it still the PCs' job to beat them up and boot them back home? Put another way, what happens when demons go native?

Re: Hero System 5th Edition, Revised now in Online Store Hoo boy, I've been waiting for this book to get started with HERO. Out of curiousity, how was it bound? I've been reading some posts over on RPGnet wondering if the binding will be able hold all those pages. Was it glued, sewn, what?

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate I'd just like to say that as someone who only started reading FRED a week ago yesterday, it's very intimidating to a newcomer, both physically as a tome the size and heft of a textbook, and as a system, with all you hear about calculus level maths. When I first read about HERO, I decided it was too complicated for me. Then when I played it with a pregenerated character, I disliked it because combat took so long -- we spent two hours on an initial confrontation. That, I admit, probably had as much to do with the GM being only just a bit ahead of we players on the learning curve as any inherent cumbersomeness of the system. But having read through and repeatedly skimmed FRED, as well as drawing on the USPD book for examples in power creation, I'm finding it, while not entirely intuitive -- there seem to be lots of exceptions and special cases and differences between situations -- then at least comprehendable. And I am an admitted point monkey. Not a powergamer, mind you. I just like playing with the math. Mutants & Masterminds was my first somewhat complicated point system. I still like it for its straightforwardness and intuitive nature. But I'm liking HERO's ability to more finely grade and distinguish effects.