Chris Goodwin

Include the Incomplete Character rules!

Originally posted by BasilDrag

You have a point, and can do things that way if you want. However, in TUV p74-83, out of 12 examples, only the 3 I mentioned have sold back their Running. And 7 of the 9 that didn't are Real World� airplanes.

 

So, I don't think you're supposed to taxi with Flight.

True, true. Just make sure you have at least as much Running as your stall velocity.

Originally posted by Acroyear

Not for the first 3 editions they didn't... or at least such usage was so rare I never saw it happen

The way I heard it, that's how it was supposed to be all along, and that's how the original Hero partners played it. Apparently someone forgot to actually put it in the book.

I believe I got this from a conversation with Steve Long a couple of years ago.

First edition Fantasy Hero had an Advantage called Variable Result. It let you do things like change the allocation of PD and ED in Force Field, change the target of your Aid or Drain, etc. I used it on a Champions character with Multiform. This was under 3rd edition rules, my Multiform was something like 130 base points. So I ended up with the ability to basically be any 650 point character I could think of.

The GM went with it, probably because it was a solo campaign. And I ended up sticking with one single form, a character that had a 300 point Variable Power Pool linked to Shapeshift.

Originally posted by Geoff Speare

I actually knew someone who thought that you could fire two powers together in 4th Edition without taking the Linked Limitation.

Interestingly enough, apparently Bruce Harlick and Steve Peterson thought that too! Boy, they musta had egg on their faces....

Originally posted by AlHazred

As far as the vehicle's mass, my reading of TUV seems to indicate that it's the "size" of the vehicle that goes into determining the Size stat; in other words, it's the physical dimensions that count, as far as length, height, width, etc. From what I read, it seems to me weight is meant to be variable within the range of "zero" to "the weight based on Size".

I personally prefer the other way, basing it on mass; I guess it's from cutting my teeth on Robot Warriors. But that's me.

Originally posted by BasilDrag

It should not have all its Running removed, as it needs it for takeoff. Compare to TUV p74-83, where only the Flying Carpet, Airship (Zeppelin), and AH-64 Apache Longbow Attack Helicopter have had their Running sold back. (BTW, I think it's an error to have sold back all the helicopter's Running)

I thought this at first, but think on this: you can use your Flight while on the ground, and don't have to worry about falling if you're below your stall velocity.

And, following my own post up....

AlHazred, I apologize. I seem to have been a bit argumentative, which was not my intention, and I didn't mean to hijack your thread.

Uhhh.... wow. I'm wrong. That's like a shift in my worldview. I'd always assumed that the vehicle's mass included stuff like the crew, some allowance for cargo, and so on.

Originally posted by AlHazred

That would normally be true; however, TUV also states that it's okay to adjust the weight, as long as the other Size effects stay the same. They even give the example of aircraft carriers, which have a weight based on Size of 400 kilotons, but which should actually weigh about 50-90 kilotons. The Wright Military Flyer is actually an incredibly light plane, almost a kite; you're probably right that the STR should be higher, but I wouldn't place it higher than, say, 25 or 30.

Right; probably +2 or +3 STR would be enough for a pilot and passenger. I followed the link you posted and looked at the Military Flyer's stats, which is why I posted. Given TUV, I'd probably let someone fudge it by about 5 STR worth at most, otherwise I'd want to see extra STR; given the example of the aircraft carrier, I'd say buy enough Size to get it to 100 kilotons and take a Physical Limitation to represent additional loss of DCV due to size, etc. Actually, I'd question the need to buy enough Size to represent a 400 kiloton ship when the fully loaded vessel isn't going to exceed 90 kilotons. On the Flyer, I might go Size 3 to give a loaded mass of 800kg tops and fudge from there.

If it matters, I assume that the mass you've gotten from Size is the final mass of the vehicle.

I'm actually not wanting to argue your stats on it at all; we've got different assumptions of what the vehicle's stats represent, which is cool. Mainly, I'm working up, off and on, a set of house rules, at least mostly compatible with the default vehicle system, for tracking mass of crew, weapons, etc. a bit more closely. My thinking on vehicle rules, and my desire for more detail, is colored by Robot Warriors, which tracks mass more closely than do TUV and the Hero default vehicle rules.

More later when I have more time.

FREd p. 314 and TUV p. 10 are a little unclear. Where it says:

[sTR] indicates how much the vehicle can carry (in addition to its own mass).

It's the "in addition to its own mass" part that's throwing me. Does a vehicle's own mass count against what it can carry with its STR? In other words, can a vehicle with no extra STR over its mass carry anything more?

For example, can a Size 2 vehicle (STR 20, mass 400kg) carry an additional 400kg, or is it limited to the 400kg from its STR?

Later on TUV p. 10 it seems to indicate that it would be limited to its STR; specifically, the passage "Generally, a vehicle loaded with more weight than its STR can lift cannot move..." would indicate that it is limited to its STR (barring the exceptions listed on TUV p. 10).

That's never been my understanding, and I've never seen any vehicle writeups that would reflect that. I've extrapolated it from the general idea that a character whose mass is greater than his STR has to push his STR to move, and the fact that a character's STR is the amount he can basically get off the ground and stagger a step or two with before having to put it back down (FREd p. 20). Ummm...now that I think about it I've never seen where it says one way or the other (FREd p. 314 is a little unclear to me).

Posting on rules questions.....

Edit: TUV p. 10 sez "Generally, a vehicle loaded with more weight than its STR can lift cannot move..." I've got a rules question posted on this.

Just so you know...a vehicle of Size 7 has a mass of 12.5 tons...its STR can't lift its mass, therefore it can't move. I'd make it Size 2 with perhaps +5 STR to lift the pilot and a Physical Limitation to represent its awkward size (wingspan and length). Otherwise, looks good.

I've occasionally thought about house ruling that all noncombat skills (except for maybe Stealth, Climbing, Disguise, one or two others) are 2 for base and 1 for +1, and make all background skills based on a CHA.

Take 2d6 of Aid. Apply the +2 for any characteristics you want. Give it the Delayed Effect and/or Trigger Advantages. Buy it Autofire and buy the max way up. Pile about -5 worth of Extra Time, Costs END w/Increased END Cost, Focus, Gestures and Incantations, et fricking cetera. Put it in a Multipower. For just a few Real Points you've got effectively as many characteristic points as you want (depending on how many Triggers you set up). Once you've maxed out your Aid, switch your Multipower points to something else.

That's why 5 point per d6 Aid is abusive.

Yes, I played alongside a guy who did this regularly.

Sounds like Requires Skill Roll based on a CHA roll, with Burnout, Extra Time, Continuing Charges, perhaps Side Effects representing the possibility of being injured by failing the test.

Originally posted by James Gillen

On RPG.net, this quote is my new sig.

 

JG

I saw that. First time I've been sigged.

If you don't want superhero level mages, and also don't want superhero magically enhanced fighters, try this: require anyone who wants magical abilities to buy like a 10 point Power or Perk. Perhaps it is The Sight, or perhaps it is some funky genetic or spiritual thing. That'll burn up 10 of the mage's points, plus it makes it unlikely a non-mage is going to pay 10 points just for a couple of abilities. You might also see fewer mages overall.

Try 50+50 or 75+25. As for rapid advancement, give out lots of XPs.

A penny is probably something like 4 DEF, 1 BODY, and therefore could never do more than 5d6.

I would say no go on the Invisibility, on the same theory that Darkness vs. Hearing stops a Power with Incantations. IOW, if you can't make any noise, the Power fails.

Go with the "Buy Off Incantations, Costs END." I believe that in a published character there is an example of a naked Modifier applying to more than one Power, though off the top of my head I can't think of which one.

Ok. We've learned what you've done with Hero (though that thread isn't closed by any stretch). What would you like to run with Hero? Or not Hero?

One thing I've been mulling over is something I'm calling Tank Wars. There's a new online video game called Tank Wars (possibly on your GameBox III, possibly in the arcades), networked all over the country. You and all your friends are really into it. You get credits (100 credits = 1 point) with which to build your tanks, then you run them against each other in the arena. You can play in a free for all or have teams. The idea is that each player builds his character as a middle- or high-school student with a Multiform, Only In Tank Wars; the Multiform represents your skill at the game. Though, theoretically, Tank Wars the video game isn't limited to kids, my initial concept had school age kids or groups thereof at school talking trash to each other all day then waiting till they get home to settle it in the Tank Arena.

Oh, don't forget the cheat codes. Once a month your system downloads a patch with new cheat codes; the old ones go away. You're expected to trade 'em with your friends, find 'em on web sites, etc. Sometimes they get released at odd times; it sucks if they come down while you're at school, even worse after you go to bed cuz there's always someone who stays up later than you and has all the cool cheats before you!

Originally posted by PhilFleischmann

When I said that the Original Magic System Design Sheet was useless, I meant that it doesn't help a GM to design an original magic system. It's just a list of all the Powers in the game. We already know what those are. They're in FREd. There's nothing on the sheet that indicates an actual style: D&D-type one shot spells, Mana pools, inherent magic abilities, etc., or gives any abitiy for a GM to design such a system, original or otherwise.

A list of the Powers can be really useful in designing a magic system. Heck, it can be really useful in other games. There's no reason not to include it unless you absolutely positively need the space for something else.

And if a new player or GM can't decide whether to make his fireball AE or Explosion, or agonizes over which way is the "right" way to do it, then this person doesn't understand the basic concept of HERO: You can use your own creativity, your own vision, and your own decisions. You get what you pay for, you pay for what you get.

It was kinda my point that there are people who are new to the system who are still getting the basic concept of the system. Not everyone who picks up FH3 is going to have ten years playing HERO under their belts; we've been seeing that for months now already with Champions.

Do you actually need to define it?

Call it an active Detect IR Beam, Only For Detecting Possible Combat Hits. The definition of an active sense is that it emits some kind of beam detectible by others with the same sense. SFX it away that it takes an OCV vs. DCV roll rather than a PER roll to "paint" your target. So you roll your to hit roll and... BEEP!

One night some friends and I discovered the joys of going hand-to-hand with Laser Tag.

Major Transform -- X into brightly glowing X.

You're giving X the Images Power mentioned above except it's Persistent and Always On (perhaps Inherent) instead of Uncontrolled.

Or the spell is an Images Power, Usable By Others. Use the UBO option and make it Uncontrolled.