LittleDevil

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

Also, before I start rewriting this, what needs clarification?

Everything? It seems the part on the Succor needs rewriting, at least.

I know I forgot to include the explanation about College Powers, I didn't bother to explain what the Spheres of the Colleges dealt with, I need to come up with some decent setting fiction regarding the Colleges (which is a bit hard, considering I don't have a setting to add them to *sighs*), I should probably add something about casting methods (basically, it's up to the caster himself) and I should add what I've written here on the purpose of the system.

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

Ah, then I understand completely.

And, on a sidenote, my respect for you just went up a few notches. I hadn't even considered half of those arguments. :hail:

And, yes, a Metruvian more than likely could whip a Thematian's behind any time, assuming the Thematian didn't have anything special prepared.

I guess it isn't a High Magic system.

It's supposed to be a common system, which is one of the reasons why the power is capped, that's very flexible.

The reason why I went with Psych Lims is mostly that I like the Mad Mage archetype a lot (and Colours of Magic: Orange had some really nice setting fiction) and it came after thinking:

If they store their spell in their minds... What happens when that storage becomes larger? Draw some parallells to Final Fantasy VIII, and this is the result.

Essentially, the Thematian in the village is the person you'd go to if you had a problem that normal means couldn't solve. He'd go over it for a while, a few days probably, then sit and chant for a few minutes (Gathering the Strands) and finally cast a spell.

They're not the fellows you'd want as walking artillery tanks (that's for another system), but as someone you'd expect to be able to come up with a solution to most problems, hopefully in time.

It could be a lot less restricted, but I want to avoid a system as flexible as this ruining every plot within a Full Phase with a nasty 40 AP power.

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

And Killer, it's actually intended to be more High Fantasy than Low.

But that's a matter of definition, I guess.

And I think that these fellows, who can do nearly everything (assuming they've studied the Colleges) with their powers belong in the High Fantasy spectrum.

They just have to use their powers to their maximum extent. In other words, think like a munchkin.

Plus, don't you feel a little bit more proud of your Mage if he uses a 5 STR TK and the environment to bring down his foes rather than blast them with a 10 DC EB?

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

Well, that's for certain.

I'm not used to writing these kinds of text, and in my defence, most of it was written in the night.

I'll try to write a better version tomorrow (and I should probably study the ones you have created, Oh Great Killer Shrike).

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

That's a College Power, they're not meant to be purchased in the Pool itself. They're signature abilities that practioners of a style of magic can use when they've reached a certai level. They're very similar to spells mostly, but some aren't.

And if it had been a spell, they could fit in the Pool with the Succor (5ER, p. 109).

Or, as a Perfected Spell (essentially, a Talent), which would mean you use the RC as the AP (this is the most rule-breaking thing about this system, but it's still semi-canon).

Re: How to use the President

You should be able to define your powers as Summoning presidents as a special effect.

 

10d6HA, "Lincoln Log!"

 

10PD/10ED Personal Force Wall "Get Behind the President"

 

5d6 Entangle "Deep Inside Bill Clinton"

You know, that gives some rather disturbing mental images.

I'd rep you again, but I just did.

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

Also, 10 AP really shouldn't be underestimated.

+5 Running? That's nearly twice the speed of a normal man!

Flying with nearly the speed of a running man? Powerful!

Sure, Attack Powers are a bit weak, but that's why those are Perfected Spells or boosted with Gathering the Strands and used from ambush (so they can run in, take care of what's left and get something for the headache the Mage has after using the Succor).

Simply, they are not blasters and those who are (the Reds), have College Powers that help them to do that efficiently. Like this one:

Conjuring the Wrathful Rays of Mother Sun: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6-1, Indirect (Always from the sky; +1/4), Penetrating (+1/2) (44 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x3 END; -1), Power Does No STUN (-3/4), Gestures (Requires both hands; -1/2), Requires A Red Magic Roll (-1/2), Beam (-1/4), Inaccurate 1/2 OCV (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), Noisy (-1/4)

Also, many favour HKA instead.

Re: [Magic System]Thematis Magica

You are quite right, powerful mages ARE bonkers (the Orange College is FULL with powerful mages that are completely bat**** crazy), or they use the different ways to overcome the small size of the pool, such as the Succor they learn as part of the basic training or developing spells as Talents.

So, either they learn to use the small Cantrip-level powers to the maximum, or they take a lot of time to get around the limits.

Essentially, mages from the Academy are the true Swiss Army-Knife. They have LOTS of tools, but I wouldn't want to carve a statue with them.

This is a design choice.

Yo! Haven't been to these forums for quite a while now. Have I missed anything?

Anyways, I whipped up a quick magic system today, which I hope I've given the right name (latin isn't something I've bothered to learn) but I think it means Magical Subjects.

It's an academic system and it's very Vancian..ish.

In fact, the Colleges are ripped straight from a series of D20 supplements called Colours of Magic.

It's also an amalgamation of some of the better ideas I've seen here and in some HERO books.

I'll write up some example spells later, maybe.

Comments, questions, pats on the back, go ahead and write.

Re: Good News For Time Travelers!

Man, Kill Doctor Lucky is great (though it takes a wee bit too long to play), as is Save Doctor Lucky. Thanks for the reminder, Michael. *checks their site* ...Okay, the premise behind Unexploded Cow is just ...brilliant.

...Oh yeah, sorry for the derail. Yay for time-travel, or something.

Re: [Character Concept] Mutant w/ Latent Telekinetic Power & Activator Foci

1. The "TELEKINETIC TRICKS" Variable Power Pool is flexable, but is it too munchie?

Well, VPPs always have a degree of munchkinism to them, but I think Telekinesis is one of the few SFX that can justify a large VPP. It might be good if it had a few Limitations, though, like Reduced By Range or RSR, or Only One Power (if guys have trouble multitasking with their normal limbs, how hard wouldn't it be to use several telekinetic limbs?). Mostly for flavour and so he won't intrude too heavily on the other PCs' schticks (how is this spellt, anyway?) too often.

2. Are his Characteristics too High?

Personally, I'd cut them down a slight bit, to 15- in most, keeping Ego and Int as they are; though his mutant nature and what appears to be at least some serious training may have given him a few boosts.

3. What should the FOCI be?

Well, crowns and such are suitable for most mental powers, though gloves or a visor of some sort would fit a TK, I think.

Re: "Stances" for magic wielders

Nice!

Definately yoink-worthy. *Bookmarks*

Re: Magic system question

However, I want the indigenous magic to have almost the exact opposite feel. Casters in the tradition of the Forest Man have only a few spells, but they can be cheap (so many people have one or two little spells, or "gifts" as they are called) - buandt they can also be powerful. Also, spells in this style of magic are essentially personal: so mages buy spells that affect them. So for combat, instead of fireball, you have a spell that makes you strong and fast. Instead of flight, you have a spell that lets you leap huge distances or run really fast. What I am going for is a "weird martial arts/Celtic battle magic" feeling: so it's OK for people to have astounding physical abilities, but not so much to have things so that onlookers go "Ooh! Magic!"

 

At the moment, I have simply said that magic users can buy their powers straight. With -2 1/2 in required limitations, that means that most spells will cost between 1/3 to 1/4 or real cost. It has the advantage that you can buy one spell, with no other investment. It also has the advantage that active points are no limit. If you want one butt-kicking Gift with 120 active points, that would be OK (assuming I OK it: though I'm more concerned with "feel" than actual power levels). My only concern is that it's TOO limited - that nobody will ever buy more than one or two gifts (that might be OK: I'm pondering here).

 

One possibility I am pondering is to keep the "buy spells straight" approach but require people to sacrifice some of their life-force - ie: they buy the spells with the independant (-2) limitation - and tie that to a sacred mark or Geas. For example Grimm the Black Hound could buy Mystical Dangersense, add independant (bringing the real cost down further) but take a geas "Cannot Ambush" (that's part of the limitation on the spell so it qualifies as independant - not necessarily a psych. Lim). If he ever breaks the Geas, the power and the points spent on it go away permanently unless he can atone for it somehow. Or Atlach the Strong has a spell that allows him to double his STR, which is tied to the bull tattoos on his arm: If they are destroyed, his power goes buh-bye (for good).

 

In this setting it might be possible to "steal" someone else's powers, which is an intriguing thought, though I am undecided as whether to allow this...

Just wanted to say: This ROCKS! I wish I had thought of this earlier, when I was in the mood for Celtic saga-esque gaming. *Bookmarks this page for future yoinking*

Anyway, any suggestions for a magic system that fits this pattern: easy to buy a few spells, hard to buy a lot. Can buy one or two powerful spells, but can't buy lots of powerful spells?

One method I can think of immediatly is cost divisors that scale depending on the number of powers one has. For instance, the first spell is bought at RP/5 or whatever, the second at RP/3, the third at normal cost, the fourth at RPx2, and so on.

Of course, this is slightly bothersome, and easy to abuse, but tell me what you think of it.

Re: Be like unto a god

I definately agree with OddHat. Limiting yourself to Olympic champions will mean that you'll lose out on a lot of interesting concepts.

Go with the Awarder granting powers and also influence to those that excel in any area. Most of the uplifted might come from the athletic circles, but not everyone.

If you want, the Awarder might not be the only entity capable of this...

Re: Vari Lim with Limited Use question

Actually, this is a rather nice solution. The normal build would be "Only vs. technological Devices -½" instead, but then a single spell could smash everything in the area (I'm assuming it has AoE, based on your description), no mather what the technomancer has in mind.

On the second question: It seems to be more of a Dispel instead of an RKA. You could have them both in a MP or just go with the latter build. Then, Variable Limit would be exchanged for Expanded Effect instead.

Something like: Dispel xd6, Area of Effect [Radius, Selective] (+11/4), Expanded Effect [Any technological power, one at a time] (+1/4). 7.5 points/die. Add limitations for flavour and stir.

Re: Help me model this disad

Isn't this covered in "Multiple Foci", 5er p. 295?

(Love the .pdf. Took me less than ten seconds to find this.)

Re: 5ER question

??? :cry:

 

 

They said there wouldn't be any new rules, no new anything... :cry:

 

What the hell is this!?!?!?!?

It isn't really a new rule, I think it's just the Usable Underwater advantage that got a bit expanded. It's a minor thing, really.

Re: Eberron Hero

Great job, AlHazred. to the !

This will be really useful for me, so thanks for doing this. *Snatches the Warforged conversion*

Re: How to create water

Well, since Summon isn't in Sidekick, it wouldn't be that useful.

Summon might work, as would Transform (probably Major for creating water out of thin air), but the best would probably be the Object Creation power in DH #7, from what I've heard of it. If you don't have that, Transform will do just fine.

I saw that there was an article in Digital Hero #1 about playing Hero without dice, has anyone tried playing this way?

If you have, did it speed up or slow down combat, was there something that didn't work out well (I'd imagine that hit locations wouldn't work so well, besides placed shots), and was it something you'd recommend?

Re: REcommendations!

For wuxia elements, The Ultimate Martial Artist and Ninja HERO are both very useful, but each does different things. UMA is a vast compendium of many different martial arts styles, abilities and weapons, real and fictional, modern and historic, from around the world, described in game mechanic terms. NH is a book of campaigning advice, showing you how to emulate the conventions, plots and characters in campaigns for several different subgenres of martial-arts gaming, with sample characters for each, at power levels from gritty to near-cosmic. The two books actually complement each other very well.

 

For a fantasy milieu I think you could get a lot of use out of the Fantasy HERO genre book. That volume has tons of advice on worldbuilding, fantasy campaigning, and how to construct characters, races, and especially magic systems using HERO. (That magic chapter is probably the best I've seen anywhere, for any game.) If you're building your own campaign world this stuff would likely be very helpful.

 

Certainly the two Fantasy HERO Grimoires have a lot of pregenerated spells covering a wide variety of styles and flavors, so if you're interested in that they'd save you a lot of time; particularly since they tend to be most suitable to "high fantasy" campaigns.

 

For creatures I think I'd recommend the HERO System Bestiary before getting Monsters, Minions and Marauders. The latter book concentrates mostly on fantastical creatures and races, while the former has broader coverage: not only a good selection of fantasy beasts, but numerous real-world animals, dinosaurs, movie and sci-fi monsters. It also goes into great detail on typical animal abilities and how to build them in HERO, with many customizable templates. If you want to build or customize your world's fauna, this is the book for it.

 

Since you're interested in steampunk you'll probably want to create machines and vehicles: The Ultimate Vehicle does for vehicles of all sorts what the Bestiary does for animals. It has examples for everything from chariots to starships, with all the building guidelines and options.

Okay, now you guys have made me want to go out and buy all these books. Damn you for that. =)

Thanks for the advice of all of you, it's been a lot of help. I was mainly looking for books that provided world- and campaign-building ideas, a few (or a lot of) pointers, some nice crunchy material that could provide some inspiration, and things like that.

At the moment, the list looks like this:

5th ED-RE,

UMA and Ninja HERO,

Fantasy HERO,

TUV and the HERO System Bestiary.

Maybe the second Grimoire. (Naming magic, rune magic, song magic and professional magic is a lot more interesting than the things you find in the first Grimoire, with the exception of Alchemy, from what I've seen in reviews and such.)

If I get around to starting my space-opera mecha campaign, I'll probably pick up Star HERO as well. It's not like I don't have the cash.

Thanks for the tips, everyone, and thanks a lot for the websites, Liaden, I hadn't found a few of those before, and they look rather interesting.

EDIT: Just sent an order for Sidekick (it will have to do until October), UMA, NH, FH, TUV, the Bestiary and Grimoire 2. Though, unfortunately, they will not arrive for quite some time =(

/ everyone,

LittleDevil

Hello, every HEROphile in the thread!

I've recently come across the HERO system, and it's captured my interest.

So, I've decided that my Amith Yetheran campaign (think high magic, steampunk and wuxia) will be played with the HERO system.

My question is this: What books would be good to have for this kind of campaign?

FRED-RE is a must, of course, as I can't play without the core rules.

Fantasy HERO, to give me a couple of good pointers.

I'm not sure whether I should go with the UMA or Ninja HERO, or with both. What would be the most appropriate for my campaign?

Any other books I might find useful? The Grimoires or the Bestiary perhaps? Though, from what I've seen, it's not THAT hard to fix new powers or creatures, so these might not be needed. (Indeed, since I usually tend to micro-manage and write a lot down myself, they might be (nearly) totally worthless to me)

Also, I'm looking for good resource pages. Killer Shrike's and Surbrook's are damn good, are there any others like these? (I'm SO going to use Killer's Metier system, and probably a lot more.)