JohnTaber

Re: Your Gaming Group's Jargon Here is one that my group uses... "Ill conceived" When referring to a character that is missing a very obvious skill/power OR bought something in a way that does not fit their story. A good example is a private-investigator without PS:Private-Investigator.

Hi Gang: I was wondering if folks noticed that Fred Hicks posted a couple of pages from Book Of The Machine on his blog. Here is a link. My take... "Wow...nice...[drool]...[digs hand in pants pocket for wallet]..."

Re: Immunity to Electric Attacks

Re: Bloodlust (+3 OCV HandtoHand, -3 DCV) I would do this buy maybe use +10 Strength instead of +2 CSL.

Re: Interview that Corpse! I agree with MrAgdesh. It is just Retrocognition with a special effect.

Re: Cursed Amulet You can put Disadvantages as Side Effects. At least I allow that...it is a good way to mimic devices that may cause the wearer to go berserk in combat or something similar.

Re: Somewhat Confused As with everything in Hero there are multiple options. If this is for a fantasy game and ANY mage can do this you may want to "hand wave it" as part of the campaign rules. For example, you could set a campaign rule that says you can cast spells that normally have incantations at a faster pace and take a 50% hit to your active points. You could set the numbers but you get the idea.

Re: Hero Rokugan. Sounds rad! I am working on a new campaign that has a vaguely similar Anime Fantasy feel. You will have to let me know how it goes for you. When I get my campaign docs cleaned up I will post them for everyone. My campaign is called Spirit Storm.

Re: Scourges of the Galaxy (Quick-Review) I got the opportunity to read an early version and I thought it looked great. I LOVED the "what others are saying" bits! Not only does it reveal info about the character it reveals stuff about other characters in the same book. For example, a character on pg 6 might have a quote from the character on pg 15. Neat. They are also very funny. The best part of the book when I read it were the stories. They are very fun and extremely creative. Many of the stories read differently and are very well crafted. The entries cover a wide gambit of power ranges and styles as well. I think a lot of folks will find something in there to love. I could easily port many of them into my recently completed Star Hero campaign even though it was not in Terran Empire. Now I have to call my FLGS and see if they have it in stock...

Re: Playtesters Characters Wow...what a strange sheet. Good for online I guess...

Re: The Most Alien Place on Earth Great stuff! You rock as usual...

Re: YOUR RL Skills Boy...mine would be pretty simple...I'm a software QA engineer with an Electronic Engineering degree from Cal Poly...and obviously a gaming geek... Stats...assuming a 10 base... Body 11 (Barrel Chested) Dex 8 (Clumsy) Int 11 (Analytical) +1" Swimming (Water Polo...grew up in the pool) Skill... PS: Software QA Engineer (14-) Computer Programming (8-) Electronics (Basic and Computer) 11- KS: Geek Culture (11-) KS: RPG (13-) Oh yeah... Contact (Very Cool Gaming Buddies Who Like To Play Hero, 17-) My disads...hummm... Psych (Naive/Too Trusting) DNPC (Wife and Kids, 14-) Phys Lim (Bad Eyes) That's it!

Re: A different way of doing Disads Hi Teh B: These are obvious ideas but they have worked for me. I typically allow these things... + If a player is having a hard time coming up with disads I let them float some points for a couple of games. Often after playing the PC a couple of times they come up with stuff. + I also allow players to trade around disads for the first couple of game session or even later if they ask and I think it is ok. Again...as long as the points break even then hec everyone is happy. + Sometimes I tell the players that 20 points of disads are Mystery disads which are revealed during the first few sessions. Sometimes they are hunteds, DNPC, etc based on my stories. Different characters can have different mystery disads. Just some ideas...

Re: Aid Armor Yes. I'm not sure where it is in the rules but that sounds fine to me.

Re: Building Things Instantly

Re: Spell Advice Triggered Body Aid or Healing sounds right to me.

Re: Building Things Instantly If you really want all that flexibility use a VPP with the proper limitations. In a Champs game I ran one of the PC could magically cause a copy of any item he touched to appear in his hands. It was in the exact state he touched it in...we used VPP and it worked GREAT!

Re: Buoilding Things Instantly Could you use Entangle for most of these effects? It stay around forever until torn down...

Re: Dresden files anti-tech aura Sounds a lot like suppress. Just build some of it as always on with no range. Add dice that cost endurance, extra time, etc to get the effect you want.

Re: Random cave maps Bookmarked. Awesome.

Re: Jumping mouth! Enough to completely kill them (i.e. negative their Body total). Remember also that head is a 2x BODY location.

Re: Random cave maps Really awesome...can't believe they are randomly generated! NICE!

Re: Jumping mouth! Sounds like you need just two things...a KA and levels to remove placed shot penalties. The "50% of the time" should probably be related to the defense of the target (i.e. not their DCV)...in other words...if the target has low defense then it will often kill the person in 1 hit. Hope that helps...

Re: Tapping the magic Here is what I am toying with now. Note the Spirit Surge section. Not exactly what you are after but kinda close. 1.1 Spell Casters And Spell Casting 1.1.1 Background Spirits are the source of all magical energy. Spirits are found in all living things. The more majestic the being the more powerful the spirit. Thus the spiritual energy in a blade of grass is much less than that of a large majestic oak tree. In concept this is similar to the belief of American Indians and Japanese folk stories. Spells are the summoning and control of called spirits. 1.1.2 Character Requirements A character who want to cast spells must have at least 20 real points spent on spells. This will help prevent mystically enhanced fighters. 1.1.3 Bind Spirit The main skill for casting spells is called Bind Spirit. Bind Spirit is a 3 pt skill based on INT. It can be increased by +1 for every 2 additional pts spent on the skill. The highest maximum starting Bind Spirit roll is 17 or less. 1.1.4 Casting Spells To cast a spell the character must make a modified Bind Spirit roll then an attack roll if required. The bind Spirit roll is modified by the active points in the spell divided by 10. Thus if the spell is 40 active points the magic roll must be made by 4. Note that there will be ways to get modifiers to Bind Spirit. Modifiers could come from magic items, enchanted locations, etc. Sometime modifiers might only apply in certain situations when certain kinds of spirits are called. For example, in a magic glen forest spirit magic might get positive modifiers. By combining this with Spirit Surge (see below) spell casters will be able to have sudden boosts in power. Spells costs 1 END per 5 active points. Spells that do not normally cost endurance must take the cost endurance limitation. Casting spells is tiring! J A caster may only have INT / 5 active spells running at any given time. Spirits are hard to manage after all! 1.1.5 Spirit Surge A spell caster may take a -1 penalty to their magic roll for an additional 5 active points in their spell. Note that this has the effect of increasing the power of the spell, the END cost, AND the required Side Effect. CAREFUL! J The maximum that a spell can be increased with Spirit Surge is double the active points of the spell. Here is an example of how this works. Example #1 – Arc has a 16 or less magic roll and a 6d6 lightning ranged normal attack (30 active pts). This would be -3 to the magic roll (13 or less). Arc decides he is going to tweak a dragon and make the attack 9d6. This means 15 more active points (-3 to his magic roll). If he rolls a 10- he casts the spell as desired. If he misses the magic roll the associated side effect is greater. The END cost also increases. 1.1.6 Buying Spells Starting spells have a maximum of 45 active points unless specifically cleared by the GM. Power Frameworks (i.e. Multipowers and Elemental Controls) are not allowed. All spells must have the following limitations. · Costs Endurance – Only if it does not already cost endurance. · Incantations – Spirits must be called so this limitation is required. · Requires A Skill Roll: Bind Spirit – Note that this must be taken at the normal level of -1 per 10 active points or -1 per 5 active points. This cannot be bought at the -1 per 20 active points level. · Side Effect: Spirit Whim – Spirits are by their very nature creatures with their own wills. Sometimes they don’t always do what the caster wants. Thus this limitation is required. The side effect should be defined when the spell is created with help from the GM. Some form of Focus (Spell Components) and Gestures is commonly taken but it is not a requirement for buying a spell. For some spells these limitations do not make sense.

Re: A few questions Just an FYI...balancing combat in Hero can be tough...especially for new Hero GMs and especially for heroic style play (i.e. Fantasy Hero). My recommendation is to make the first combat heavily in favor of the PC so you can get a feel for their combat ability. I call it..."attack of the dogs". Use wolves or dogs or something REALLY wimpy to get a feel. If your PC wipe them up then adjust accordingly for other encounters. Note that I have adjust down too.