Hal Owen

Re: Looking for NEW words of transformation: (SHAZAM, Thunder! Thunder!...) I didn't have time to read the entire thread right now, but I do have a suggestion. Hyper (pause) Active! As in 'Hyper' will now become 'active'. But also 'hyperactive'. Hal Owen.

Re: Robotics in the Marvel Universe You know, I don't know how badly Marvel has twisted things since the things I have read, but I have to cast another vote for Arcade. I was just reading the reprint of Uncanny X-Men #197 in Marvel Essentials, and in that issue Kitty and Collosus are kidnapped by Arcade. They are told that Dr. Doom is out to kill Arcade, and that they have to save him or their loved ones will be killed. The plot hinges around the idea that shortly after they get started, Kitty goes back to watch Arcade, while replacing herself with one of Arcade's robots. Colossus never knows the difference. And this is a guy who is in the Danger Room every day, knows that Arcade is up to something, and is totally wary of some kind of trap. Plus, they seem to stress the idea that Arcade built these X-robots himself. Not to mention Dr. Doom robots, giant transforming train robots that turn into battle monsters, robot hunter-seeker drones, etc. I also think it would offer a cool 'out' if things go badly. I can even imagine a scenario where Arcade figures out that someone is kidnapping the greatest robot engineers and manages to take the place of one of the less powerful ones just out of ego. Then, when the big mind-meld occurs, Ultron will be left with just enough of Arcade's insanity that he won't just snuff the heroes outright, he will want to toy with them for a while. This sounds pretty good, when does the game start and how do I get there? Hal Owen.

Re: Bypassing Armor that has Activation rolls It is possible that someone else suggested this already, but why not just use the Concealment rules? They may seem a bit harsh, but if you are foolish enough to go into combat wearing armor that only protects part of you, when people are shooting at you, you really should expect to get hit. The Concealment rules are: Head and Shoulders exposed, -4 to hit. (about equal to 14 or less Activation) Half exposed, -2 to hit. (about equal to 11 or less Activation) Now to mitigate this somewhat, I would say that, unless the armor is visibly and obviously there in some places, and not there in others, you would need some type of appropriate skill to pull this off. Armorsmith SS : Force Fields PS : Powered Armor Design something. I wouldn't allow every Viper agent with a Blaster to be able to do this. But, on the other hand, if you go into battle with Dr. Destroyer, with a freakin' HOLE in your armor, you should expect that part of your body to get vaporized! I have always found the idea of Armor with Activation rather insane. I know that, due to the limitations of our current technology, military and law enforcement people are not fully covered, but in most genres we are a bit beyond what is currently available. If a normal human were actually going into battle against a known super, anything less than full coverage would be suicidal. After the first few 'special response teams' came home with pieces melted off, there would either be mandatory full coverage armor of some sort, or normal humans would flat out refuse to willingly fight supers. I know that in other genres partial coverage might be the only realistic way to go, but again, if you are walking into a full-on firefight with automatic weapons, then you are either going to stay behind hard cover (buildings, etc.) or you can expect to catch a bullet. Also, for the Supers genre, I would allow "full coverage" Armor that didn't look like full coverage, and just have the SFX be that they 'always managed to position their armor in the way of the attack.' Sort of like Captain America always gets his shield in front of attacks. I would buy that as full coverage Armor with the SFX of 'incredible skill and experience' in using his shield. Just my opinion, Hal Owen.

Re: Naked Modifier Cost. How does this work, and does it make sense? I haven't checked the thread lately, but I think the poster was headed down the same path I was so recently on. If it doesn't look like they figured it out, I may post a link to this thread. Thanks again.

Re: Naked Modifier Cost. How does this work, and does it make sense?

Re: Naked Modifier Cost. How does this work, and does it make sense? Thanks to ghost-angel and John Desmarais. That makes perfect sense. I knew there was something I was missing, I just could not see what it was. So why aren't there Naked Limitations? Or is that something that I don't really want to know, like the exact ingredients of sausage? Hal Owen

Re: Naked Modifier Cost. How does this work, and does it make sense? Thanks for the reply. I understand that the Naked Modifier is not buying the DEX itself, just a modifier on the DEX. But, since the modifier in question is a "Limitation" overall, in that it costs END, and twice the END, but only when the Power is activated, shouldn't the point cost be negative rather than positive? For what may be a clearer example: Let's say I bought 45 points of Life Support, and bought the exact same Naked Modifier. Life Support does not normally cost END. The net result of the Naked Modifier is that it will now cost me 8 END every time I activate my Life Support, when it would have not cost me any END before. The cost of this is 6 CP. I am just trying to figure out how and why this works the way it does. Under what circumstances does it make sense to use a Naked Modifier? Why would it cost points to Limit a Power? I don't mean to be dense or argumentative, I just don't understand it.

Okay, this is a carryover from a question someone asked on the Hero Designer board, but it got me to thinking. Let's say that I want to buy some Extra Dexterity for some kind of mystical Martial Artist. He can, at great effort, summon up some "chi" that gives him higher DEX. (This is just an example, so please don't point out better ways to do this, I am just trying to put it in some context. ) I decide to buy an extra 15 points of DEX for 45 CP. I then go to put a naked modifier on that DEX to reflect the "great effort", so I buy a Naked Modifier: "Naked Modifier: Costs END Only To Activate (+1/4); Costs Endurance (-1/2), Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/4) for up to 45 Active Points" (That is what I got out of Hero Designer, and I have no reason to think that it is incorrect.) My question is: I start out by paying full price for the 15 points of DEX (45 points). Then, I put a Modifier on it that not only costs me END, it costs me TWICE the END. The only "benefit" is that it only costs me that END when I first activate it. According to Hero Designer, which, again, I believe to be correct, this costs me 6 points. Now if I just buy the Power: "+15 DEX; Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4)" It costs me 26 points, which seems pretty reasonable. Now I am not writing this to question how Hero Designer works, or I would have put it in that forum. I am trying to understand how the Naked Modifier works, and why it costs points to add a Limitation to something. What is the underlying thing I am missing that makes this make sense? Thanks in advance, Hal Owen

Re: Ohmygod! SirViss, This is not in any way your fault, and no apology in necessary. As one of the first people to tweak this guy, I must say that I am sorry if the thread I started about his initial posts led to any of this. (On the other hand, after the first couple of posts when he was chastising Steve for 'closing his threads', without taking a second to read the answers or look into the board policies, I kind of figured he was a loose cannon. ) In any case, if having him post a few rambles here kept him from having a negative impact on your game, it was well worth it. For myself, I would rather find out sooner than later that someone was this argumentative and hard to reach. Hopefully, he will take some time to reflect, actually read the rules and some of the posts here, and finally figure out what Hero is supposed to be about. I do give him credit for being energetic and willing to speak up for himself. A bit more tact would be welcome, but that is true of most of us, myself included. But, whatever you decide about having him in your game, you certainly haven't done any harm to the boards. You sent him here to learn something, and maybe he did, or at least will. If nothing else, he may figure out that you aren't doing things 'wrong', after he sees how many people agree with you. Hal Owen

Re: Need help with my PC Being serious for a moment . . . I think that there is a factor in the "book legal" vs. "GM allowed" debate that has not been given the attention it deserves. (Insert quote about power and responsibility here) I have no idea how aware of Hero the general RPG populace is. I also have no idea how aware those who know about Hero are of this message board. However, since The Hero System can be quite complex, and it would be normal for new GM's and players to seek out some information online, there may be more people looking here than we think. Based on that, bringing up the concept that the GM defines what is legal for his campaign in nearly every thread that concerns the legality of a construct is quite proper. I understand that there is a such a thing as "book legal", and that you can have a perfectly valid discussion of what is and is not. But, I would be horrified to think that the one time someone asked about some disgusting piece of munchkinism that they were trying to get past their fledgling GM, someone would reply with a simple "It is book legal." Just because, that post would probably be printed off and nailed to their GM's door like Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses. After all, the greatest thing a munchkin can ever find is something "official" saying that what he wants to do is okay. I am not saying that every response on the boards concerning rules should have some sort of mandatory warning label on it. I am just saying that there is nothing wrong with someone bringing up the GM approval topic. Other than Steve's posts and the faq's, the posts here could hardly be considered any sort of 'official' interpretation of the Hero system. But that doesn't mean that someone could try to use them that way, if they helped to prove their point. So, while I am not trying to suggest that we should in any way edit ourselves or not discuss weird, wild, or barely-legal builds here (why does that sound like something concerning porn?), I am just saying that anyone who feels like it has the right to interject the "Only if your GM allows it." warning. That way, if for some perverse reason the only thread on this board that a newbie GM looked at happened to be the one his player started, he would have a reminder to say: "Wait a minute! I don't have to let you do it this way. Let's try to come up with something a little more balanced." Okay, that's it, back to teasing people. Hey Rage, your shoe's untied! Made you look! Hal Owen.

Re: Need help with my PC And to think that I always believed there would never be a practical use for the "you know what" system. Look how quickly it took care of this thread. Hal Owen

Re: Need help with my PC Dr. A, I actually meant it as something of a compliment. I may be recommending his own system to him. Either that or this is just Mightbec or RFK's latest romp. However, if Greywolf2001ca is entirely serious in his questions, comments, and responses, the link I provided may very well be exactly what he is looking for. It is a unique game system for those who prefer things that aren't so "abstract". After all, most of the values, at least as far as I can remember, are derived from other in-game values, and/or real-world data. Hal Owen.

Re: Need help with my PC Greywolf2001ca, It seems as if you do not really find some of the basic concepts of the Hero System to your liking. Based on your posts, here is a game system that you may find more suitable: http://philippe.tromeur.free.fr/hybrid.htm It is quite good at handling things in a more detailed way than Hero, and you may find the author's style more engaging as well. Best wishes, Hal Owen.

Re: Villain Summary Charts/Tables In Books Steve, Even though it is more work, you might want to consider keeping some sort of Master List of Villains here on the site. You could take the same information you already have, and just add a column for which book they came from. Not only would it be handy for us, it may help you sell more books. It is possible that a GM who needs a "450-point Energy Blasting Alien villain" for an upcoming scenario, might buy the book that this character is featured in. But unless he has time to go to the local store and thumb through all the books, he may not know this villain exists. If no one on staff has time for this project, there are probably people on the board who both own all the books and wouldn't mind scanning in the information. Or if you guys could post it in it's raw form, there would be people happy to organize it into a spreadsheet format and send it back for you to put up. Just an idea.

Re: Does anyone know where I can get... For more information on Heromachine, you may want to check out this thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18912

Re: Group based DNPC or Follower This may only help so much, because the ultimate answer in Hero is usually "How do you want to do it?", but here goes . . . Hero is not about fitting the object to the rules, it is about fitting the rules to the object. So, the question is, how do you see this NPC? If she is loyal to the group, and will do just about anything reasonable they ask her to do, and rarely causes them any sort of trouble, she is a Follower. Note that a Follower could occasionally require help or a rescue themselves, but that is just 'flavor' and doesn't mean they are a DNPC. How much should she cost? That depends on her usefulness to each member of the team. If she is not usually forced to choose between helping Hero A and helping Hero B, and is equally useful to each, then each of them should buy her as a follower. If she is really only loyal to Hero A, and only helps Hero B because he is Hero A's associate, then only Hero A should pay for her. Also remember that if there is ever any conflict between Hero A and Hero B, she should nearly always take Hero A's side. Bearing in mind that she is neither a slave nor a robot, she is only going to devote so many hours a day to this anyway. The only way I would allow the team to split her cost, is if each member's use of her skills was limited by the demands of the rest of the team. Example: Hero A needs her to do some research at the library on South American Death Cults. Hero B needs her to infiltrate a teenage gang to gather information about illegal arms sales. If she can basically do both these things at the same time, while leading her normal life, then both heroes are getting the full benefit of having a Follower, which means they should each pay full price for her. The only way they should split the cost is if she says, "Sorry Hero B, I am doing something for Hero A right now. I can't do that until next week." --------------------------------------------------------------- If she is more trouble to the group than a help, then she could be a DNPC. A DNPC can have useful skills, but they also must demand a lot of the heroes time and basically be more trouble than they are worth to be worth the points. Math-wise, this is pretty much the reverse of the above. Each Hero could have her as a DNPC, 8 or less, Normal, Useful Skills Meaning that each Hero only has to rescue her once in a while. However, the cumulative effect of this could have her needing to be rescued nearly every day, since that 8 or less is going to come up for someone pretty often, depending on the size of the group. As above, the alternative is to have her as DNPC for one Hero, who is the only one who gets points, and the other Heroes may have to get involved from time to time just as a courtesy to the first Hero. Again, in the event of conflict, she will be seen as Hero A's "problem" and the rest of the team will not feel responsible for everything that happens to her. -------------------------------------------------------------------- After all that, my suggestion is to have her be something I like to call a Person! Just a plain old NPC. She is part of your campaign. Sometimes she will help the Heroes. Hopefully, based on that, they will rescue her if she needs it. But above all, she is an independent being with goals and desires of her own. The team can't control her like a Follower, and they aren't constantly having to rescue, protect, etc. her like a DNPC. She is just part of the campaign. The work there will be for you, as a GM, to remember that. If the Heroes want her to do something dangerous, or against her nature, she will refuse. She will act in her own best interest. Hope this helps.

Re: Ww 219 / Omac 4 -- Spoilers! Here you go: http://www.mykey3000.com/cosmicteams/profiles/snapper.html As I said, the first I heard of it was in the DC Encyclopedia.

Re: Has the game made anyone like comics even more? First, exactly which edition are you talking about? The current one is the 5th Revised, the 1st came out in the early 80's? If you just bought it, feel free to post the eBay item number and someone here can probably figure it out and answer any questions about what it contains. Second, I usually end up re-reading comics I have from the type of game I intend to play. Most recent comics are way too dark for me, so I don't get interested in them even when I am actively playing Champions. Hope this helps some.

Re: To Map or Not To Map? Thanks a lot, ghoyle1, and you too Shadow Warrior. What I meant to say in my post was that if I did a search for: "Download PDF TSR module" or some such, I would end up with a bunch of hits for pirate download sites. Now only do I never do that, I would also never be rude enough to mention doing it on a game publisher's board if I did. Thanks again.

Re: Ww 219 / Omac 4 -- Spoilers! I just started reading this thread, so pardon me if I seem to be rehashing things, but this topic brought up something that I just noticed recently, so here goes: I stopped buying new comics in the early 80's. Before that I had been a fairly regular purchaser of both DC and Marvel, but things just seemed to be going in a direction I didn't like, and prices were skyrocketing, so I just quit buying. Just last week I started reading the DC Comics Encyclopedia: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/075660592X/qid=1124130508/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8313881-3612759?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Take a good look at the cover. Batman - Grim (normal) Superman - Grim and Smug Looking Wonder Woman - Grim The only smile I see is on the face of the Joker. Now I know that this is just a picture, but then I started reading the contents. DC was working its way toward becoming an Iron Age slaughterhouse all through the 80's. Almost every single entry I read, for major or minor characters I remembered from the past, had some ridiculous 'dark' twist added in, usually in the 80's. Everyone, it seemed, either turned evil or had some atrocity committed against them. Snapper Carr had his hands cut off for goodness' sake. As annoyed, angry, and betrayed as I feel by this pile of crap being heaped upon my favorite genre, I don't really have much more to say about it. I don't mean to stifle anyone else's opinion on the topic, and believe me I understand your suffering, but it is ultimately pointless. If my favorite restaurant decides to add raw squid to the chili, and refuses to serve it any other way, all I can do is walk away. The owners have the right to make decisions about their product, even if those decisions are disastrous for them and upsetting for me. All I can do is find somewhere else to eat or start cooking at home. The only comics I buy are reprints of things from the time when comics were enjoyable to me. Who knows, perhaps this act, in itself, might someday help. Maybe someday, someone from the sales department will drop by the editor's office. "Hey how are sales going on Wonder Woman : Total Castration?" "Not so good." "What about Superman : The Last Son of Krypton Rapes Your Daughters?" "Not so good." "Odd. What is selling?" "Well, the Golden Age Archives are flying off the shelves, and the Silver Age archives are selling even better." "I don't know what's wrong. Don't our customers have enough sophistication to see the difference between the kewl, edgy, Iron Age stuff we publish now, and all that heroic crap we used to publish?" "I think that's the problem, Sir. They do."

Re: To Map or Not To Map? Pardon my ignorance, but could you give a link to this? I could probably find it myself, eventually, but I only want to find things that are offered freely, I don't want to end up with a bunch of pirated stuff.

Re: Help: Mr. I Can Do Anything You Can But Better Man! Simple enough. Remember that there is no such thing as a "free ride" in Hero. Just because your description says: "I can beat anyone at hand to hand combat." It doesn't mean you can start slapping around Superman unless you buy the STR SPD DEX PD ED etc. to do the job. Based on what you have said so far, this guy has spent about 100 character points. Assuming he bought high INT, better than average in other stuff, some Martial Arts, and an Ego Attack, it should look something like this: Savant Val Char Cost 20 STR 10 20 DEX 30 20 CON 20 15 BODY 10 30 INT 20 30 EGO 40 15 PRE 5 14 COM 2 4 PD 0 4 ED 0 4 SPD 10 8 REC 0 40 END 0 35 STUN 0 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 4" LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 147 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver 4 Martial Block: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort 4 Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort 4 Martial Strike: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 6d6 Strike 3 Martial Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 4d6 +v/5, Target Falls Martial Arts Cost: 15 Cost Skill 5 Cramming Skills Cost: 5 Cost Talent 5 Eidetic Memory Talents Cost: 5 Total Character Cost: 172 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 As you can see, with 150 points of Disadvantages, this guy still has 178 points to spend. Let him spend them in the game, to pick up the Skills and maneuvers he wants to "instantly memorize". But, I would limit him as to what he could buy with the points. No "12 Damage Classes for my Martial Arts" or crap like that, just Skills and additional maneuvers. Also, no Stats. I pick up things pretty easily myself, but I can't watch a weightlifter and 'learn' to be stronger. I am not trying to slam this character, but I would be very careful not to let this player ruin my campaign by outdoing everyone else.

Re: Chickens? You may want to take a look at this, from Gamma World, the legendary Gallus Gallus 5/13: http://netflames-rpg-bunker.us/GammaWorld/gallus.txt

Re: Villain Concept for your review/input. First, thanks for taking the time to even read it. I admit to muddying up the story a bit, mostly so that the parts that are already a part of my campaign wouldn't look too familiar to my players if they just happened to read this. The real story is not quite as convoluted as it may seem. The character in question is basically this: One with the serial numbers filed off, and enough changes that I am not impinging on anyone's IP. The idea I had was, what if this character ended up on the Earth of the present. (If you have actually seen the episode you get a better grasp on him.) He wants to prevent an invasion at all costs, and does not have much of a grasp on the finer points of "freedom" or "morality" as we see them. He would see all of his actions, however horrific they might be to us, as necessary. So far he is responsible for one PC's powers, even though the PC is unaware of this, and he has "converted" a couple of NPC's. It may sound a little goofy in this format, but in the campaign it is working quite well, so far. What I am really concerned about is the "reveal" when the players find out what is going on. Thanks again for taking the time to look, Hal Owen.

Hello there, I am a regular poster here, but I have chosen a pseudonym (pseudohandle?) for this thread because I do not want my players to see my name and read this. While some regular posters here may guess my identity, please don't post guesses in the thread. (If you just have to know if you are right, send me a Private Message) I don't think my players are evil or anything, I just think they are human, and this concerns the major big-bad of my campaign, and is completely unknown to the players at this time. They would not go out of their way to ruin the campaign, but they might be tempted to "peek". Also, I am sure there are some similarities between this character and some published character somewhere, but I didn't intentionally "steal" it. I came up with this a couple of years ago, and it has been percolating for some time. The character is already part of the campaign, but is "hidden in plain sight" and the players have no idea of his true nature. On to the concept: You are a hybrid of a humanoid cyborg race, and an Earthling. You appear completely human, at least on the outside. The other race you are from is extremely warlike. It exists only to conquer other races. In addition to being a hybrid, you could also be considered, for lack of a better word, a mutant. You possess abilities above and beyond those of both your parent species. And you possess other things that no member of the humanoid race has ever possessed compassion, a conscious, and a belief in the inherent value of intelligent life. You become aware that the cyborg race will be coming to invade Earth, it is only a matter of time. At its current level of readiness, Earth does not stand a chance. If they had the proper time to prepare, the Earthlings could survive. But how? A scientist, your Earthling mother, has discovered a way to predict the formation of rifts in the timestream. Theoretically, her device can place you at the exact coordinates necessary to travel backwards in time. You enter a tiny scout ship and take off. As predicted the rift begins to form. A small holographic projector in the device activates itself when there are five minutes left before the rift appears. An image of your mother appears: "My son, by the time you see this I will no longer be alive. I and my lab will have been destroyed in an "accident". I could not risk the possibility of my work falling into alien hands. They might be able to undo everything you are trying to accomplish, and the timestream could be so constantly ripped by changes that all existence could come to an end. So, I am ensuring that your trip will be the only one. Don't feel too badly about my sacrifice. If you accomplish your mission, it will not have been unnecessary, and my alternate self will live out a life of peace. Good luck. You hold the fate of everyone on Earth in your hands." Your trip through the rift is terrifying, but you survive it. The stealth technology on your craft is so advanced that the primitive Earth systems are not able to pick up any trace of you. Your ship buries itself deep under the ocean, where you enter a state of hibernation, during which your ship scans all Earth broadcasts and downloads them into your mind so that you can become familiar with the culture of Earth. You also learn all of the common languages. When you emerge, you know a lot about the humans of this time period. They are suspicious, especially of outsiders, and people who talk about intelligent alien life forms are considered insane. So the original idea you had, of presenting yourself openly and offering to help them prepare cannot possibly succeed. You are going to have to find a way to prepare them without them realizing it. You see three possibilities: 1) In this era there are "Superhumans" that possess abilities far above those of the common human. If these beings could be trained and tested, they would be a great asset in the coming battle. But, since they are not likely to believe your story, and they have the power to prevent you from completing your mission, they must never know your real purpose. 2) Standard humans could be "improved". You have access to the technology of the cyborg race. With some minor changes, you could make subtle improvements in humans that would make them better able to fight for themselves. You never discussed this possibility with your Mother, but you cannot escape the logic of it. By "converting" the humans in a benign way before the cyborgs arrive, you could prevent the hostile conversion to come. Of course the humans would resist this, so you must be very subtle, converting one human at a time, and doing so in a way that is not obvious to anyone, including the subject. 3) A combination of the two. Through a series of experiments, you might be able to find a way to "create" Superhumans by using cyborg technology, without the subjects being aware of the process. This could be the solution. An army of cyborg Superhumans would no doubt repel the coming invasion easily. How to proceed? a) Become familiar with the human anatomy, and how to make beneficial changes to it using cybernetic implants and nanotechnology. By posing as a Doctor, and starting a free clinic in a poor neighborhood, you could find willing subjects. Conduct a series of tests on existing Superhumans to determine the scope of their powers, and their suitability for fighting the coming invasion. c) Begin creating a group of cyborg operatives that you can use to help you in your work. By using advanced technology, these operatives will become more capable than standard humans, and with the proper cerebral interface will be both totally loyal and have no memory of the tasks they perform for you. Now, there is no more time to waste, you must get to work . . . Questions? Comments? Observations? "Hal Owen"