Starwolf

I got some great input for starship engine design for my Alternity Hero conversion. Now I would like to pick the forums collective brains for ideas on how to model a couple of other things in Alternity. 1. Weapons in Alternity are scaled as to the damage they inflict depending on how well the hit roll succeeds. For example, a Render Rifle's damage is listed as d6+1s/d6+1w/d4+1m. What this means is that on an ordinary hit (just barely made the roll) the weapon does 1d6+1 stun only damage. On a good hit (rolled better then marginal but not a critical) the weapon does 1d6+1 wound damage (this would be a normal damage roll in hero). And finally if the hit roll is an amazing hit (in Hero you rolled Half of what was needed to hit) the weapon does 1d4+1 mortal damage (this would be killing damage in Hero). My initial gut reaction is to make a judgement call as to the most likely type of damge a weapon would do in Hero and then convert the damage to either Stun, normal, or killing as appropriate. Another approach would be if you needed a 12- to hit, on a roll of 10, 11, or 12 you would roll stun only damage. On a roll of 7, 8, or 9 you would roll normal damage. And on a roll of 6 or less you would roll Killing damage. 2. a second facet to all weapons and armor in Alternity is their Firepower/Toughness rating. The toughness rating are as follows: Ordinary - most weapons Good - most man portable heavy weapons Amazing/small Craft (ground vehicles & ships wth less than 40 hull points )- Vehicle mounted and emplaced weapons Light Craft - Ships between 79 and 239 hull points Medium Craft - Ships between 240 and 719 hull points Heavy Craft - Ships between 720 and 2399 hull points Super Heavy Craft - Ships between 2400 hull points On each shot you compare the firepower rating of the weapon to the Toughness rating of the armor. If the ratings are the same then damage is rolled normally. If firepower is higher than toughness then damage type is increased. If Armor is higher then damage type is decreased. For example; a ordinary hit is scored with the render rifle against a normal man the weapon does 1d6+1 stun. On an amazing hit the weapon does 1d4+1 mortal (killing). The same weapon on an amazing hit against amazing armor, such as a vehicle does 1d6+1 stun (and you can't really stun a vehicle). These concepts especially the Firepower/Toughness effect of armor vs weapons IMHO is one of the best parts of the Alternity system. So what are your ideas for how to best model these concepts in Hero...or should I even try, would it be better to do away with them and just use standard hero concepts?

Re: Star Hero Idea: Starship of the week I will start posting Starships from my Alternity Hero conversion in a few days of days... I still need to work out 2 conversion aspects before I am ready to start posting.

Re: Stardrive Engines, how would you do it? That actually sounds more on point than what I had originally considered. Thanks for the idea.

Re: Tripply Disagree There are in fact two "settings" canned for Fantasy Hero, The Turakian Age and The Valdorian Age. Each includes suggestions for magic systems that are quite different from D&D. Between the FH Grimoires (I & II), along with the Hero System Beastiary, and Monsters, Minions, and Maruaders, there are lots of pre-published spells and critters to keep your heroes occupied without having to generate these things from scratch. If you add in the Hero Designer program and the appropriate character packs you can generate characters quickly, and print out mountians of creatures with very little effort. In order to speed battle and add some realism/lethality I use another program called GMAid (an old DOS app, but there are a couple of WIN/Java apps in development) to track my combat. THis way I can include hit locations, and bleeding/impairment/disabling results with almost no effort.

Re: Stardrive Engines, how would you do it? Thanks for the help and input....and thanks Ben for moving this to the correct forum

Re: Stardrive Engines, how would you do it? So far I like the RSR for recharge and the Multipower for the overcharge with burnout ideas. I am also leaning towards a Stardrive modelled after the Hyperdrive engine on page 192 of Star Hero. I found the write-up after I started the thread. It would be the primary slot in the Multipower. I will post a preliminary engine write-up later today for comment. And thanks for the input.

Re: Stardrive Engines, how would you do it? I like to use point total constructs for the same reasons as Black Lotus. There are several types of starship engines including the Inertial Flux, listed in the starship construction sections of Alternity, but they are not used in the Stardrive campaign setting, only the Stardrive, and the Drivewave are used.

Re: Stardrive Engines, how would you do it?

Oh Stink.... Ben or Dan could you move this to the Star Hero forum, I goofed an put it here by accident. Thanks

I am working on a conversion of the Alternity RPG system to Hero. THe two main settings I am concentrating on are the Stardrive and Dark Matter settings. I would like to solicite the communities input on the best way to build Stardrive engines. Here are the particulars.... Each starfall takes approximately 5 days. When a ship makes starfall it passes through a featureless extra-dimensional void. While in starfall the ship cannot interact with or be affected by anything outside the ship. Once a ship makes starrise it cannot starfall again until its Stardrive has recharged which takes from 2 to 5 days. A competent or lucky engineer can reduce the time required for recharge by up to 1/2. Starfall engines are rated in 5 light year increments with the slower engines going to smaller ships ( in other words the smallest stardrives allow a ship to travel 5 LY in 5 days while the next larger class of ships could travel 10 LY in f days). The largest vessels can travel a maximum of 50 LY in 5 days. The next generation of Stardrive engine called the Drivewave can make the same trip in 11 hours. Starfall detectors can detect a ship 11 hours after it has made Starfall, but the detector is massive and can only be mounted on the very largest of Ships. Stardrive communicators can send messages up to 50 LY in 11 hours, and are sent through a series of relay stations. Usually only permanent installations and capitol ships are equipped with Stardrive communcators. Stardrive engines can be overcharged for a roughly 20% gain in travel distance, but this causes a huge strain that can burn out engines or cause starrise to be "off target" by as much a 100 AU. There is also always a slight chance of being "off target" on starrise by as much as 100 AU. There is also a very small chance of making starrise in the wrong system altogether. So Herophiles..... How would you write this up in Hero terms?

Re: Helping a Newbie No, the Revised rules contain all of the core rules for any genre. The Champions book shows how to apply those rules to a superhero game. I would recommend buying the new Dark Champions setting book and the Revised 5th edition between those two you'd have everything you need to get going. If your players are new to Hero you might also consider a copy or two of Hero Sidekick, it is a pared down version of the core rules designed to introduce new players to the system. Then if you want to convert your other books it is not too far of a leap. Good luck!

Re: nice picture for a fantasy backround Awesome thanks for the link

Re: Horror Setting: Eidolon I like the title bar....now that I have seen it on a computer screen, I suppose I'll die in three days

Re: Back to the fold If you have access to a computer during your game sessions (preferably a laptop) here is a great program for tracking your movement/combat Phaser Combat Manager . It is still in development but at this stage is already very useful.

Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time OK if we get to add camp like "Support your local sheriff" then we can't forget "The Apple Dumpling Gang" and "The Shakiest Gun in the West". As for TV Series....my top ten would be The Rifleman Have Gun Will Travel Branded The Lone Ranger Rawhide Wagontrain Alias Smith and Jones Briscoe County Junior The Wild Wild West And the original Maverick Some other great older classics.... The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance And anything starring Audie Murphy or Randolph Scott...

Re: Greatest Western Movies of all Time That would be Shanandoah with Jimmy Stewart. My list would be: Lonesome Dove Open Range Quigley Down Under The Quick and the Dead The Unforgiven Chatta's Land They Died with their boots on For a few dollars more A fistful of dollars and the all time greatest western of them all RUSTLERS RHAPHSODY

Re: Back to the fold Another thing to consider is if your group is not familiar with the Hero system you could pick up a copy of Hero Sidekick. It is slightly trimmed down and covers all of te game mechanic basics. It retails for about $10.00 and I believe they have it in PDF format for about $7.00. It is a great way to introduce new players to the system.

Re: Hello and question about powers and such Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks is the Champions villian source book. It is chock full of villians and each villain has some plot hook ideas that can be adapted to your characters. Here is an example of how you might write this up for a STR brew (of course you could use any stat). Power Brew: +10 STR, Delayed Effect (x1 number active) (+1/4), Uncontrolled (+1/2), 6 Continuing Charges lasting 1 Week each (+1 1/2) (32 Active Points); Independent (-2), OIF Fragile Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; Flask of brew; -1), Slowly Fades (Character loses 2 points of STR per turn after 3 turns; -1/4) Active Cost = 32, Real Cost = 7

Re: Hello and question about powers and such 1) I am not sure as I haven't really considered this type of game but it's certainly do-able. 2) As a GM I would not allow any mod on this as a years supply (even though it could be destroyed) is really not a limitation. This works almost like having a magic potion in fantasy hero. One possibility you might consider is while granting the extra stats the formula is addictive and your character has become depedent on his doseage. So long as he takes the brew he maintains his powers, but if he misses a dosage he begins to suffer damage. I would allow other mods if for instance the brew took 2 hours to create and required the special lab, and had to be taken daily rather than weekly. 3) You can certainly give the brew more than one effect by creating a compound power. You can also have it gradually fade away but the longer it takes to fade the less of a limitation this is and thus the fewer points its worth.

Re: Ch'i Ki Qi ... Depends on what you are talking about. Chi and Ki are related (I have never heard it spelled Qi, though it is a possibility). Chi is more of a manifestation of internal balance or harmony with your body and the world around you. Your Chi must be balanced and in tune to be useful. When Chi is out of balance it can even cause you to become ill. Ki on the other hand is an external projection of your internal power. By extrapolation the more balanced your Chi the more powerful your Ki may become.

Re: Star Pulp Hero GAHH! I don't believe I forgot that one...it's a classic and one of my favorites.

Re: Star Pulp Hero Many of the early Heinlein novels were very pulpish. Especially Space Cadet, Have Space Suit Will Travel, and some others. These have been called very boy scout meets science fiction type stories....but they are some of my favorites.

Re: HUDSON CITY: Base Design Heh...nice job. Kind of reminds me of Doc Savages HQ on the 89th floor of the Empire State Building...

Re: Western / Steampunk Hero Idea Bouncing: "Bone Falls" For inspiration/research I'd recommend watching the Wild Wild West TV series starring Robert Conrad as James West. And don't forget the movie remake starring Will Smith as James West. This setting was definately Wild West meets Steampunk. It is set after the war when President Grant was in office, but could easily be adapted to before the war when Lincoln was in office.

Re: SCUBA Tank Info? It depends on what you need the weights for. Divers use additional weights to gain "nuetral bouyancy". Basically regardless of the weight the goal is to make the weight nuetralize the bouyancy in your lungs/body and air tanks so that you neither sink nor float. This gives the diver the most control over his/her dive. It is also one of the reasons it is so easy for a diver to lose site of wether she or he is ascending or descending. If a diver is properly weighted then the weight of the tanks doesn't matter while in the water. Now if you want to leave the water while continueing to carry the tanks around....thats another matter.