Merlin273

I'm looking to build a unique magic item for my FH campaign, but am not sure how to do it. This is what it is and does... The Questing Map When someone wants to use the Questing Map, you just unfold it and state your desire (example: "Map, where is Arandor Larethian?" or, "Map, where is the greatest threat to my life?") The Questing Map (which is an intricate map of the Campaign World will then swirl and finally settle on the subject of the asked question. This includes even areas of the world not known to the general population. The visual effect of the map is similar to the A-Ha video "Take Me On", including an animated face of the individual in question (Arandor, for example. The questioner would see an animated drawing of Arandor on the Map). I was thinking of the Images Power, perhaps linked with Clairsentience on a world scale? A limitation like Invocation (must always start with addressing the Map) Any ideas? Thanks.

Hey gang, I am trying to create a new monster called a 'book golem', but I need to know what the DEF and Body of a big medieval-type book be (for its inherent toughness). Thanks

I'm looking to build "Psychic Paper" as seen in Doctor Who. When shown to a person, it could usually induce them to see whatever the user wished them to see printed on it. However, it proved useless on people with strong, disciplined minds (such as geniuses or those with psychic ability). I'm thinking maybe... Mental Illusions or Images Doesn't really work well on people with high INT scores (15+) and can be resisted by Mental Defense IAF (looks like paper) ...or maybe it can be done by Telepathy with the paper as a Focus. Any thoughts on this?

I would love to have a HERO system podcast out there. Savage Worlds does, d20 System does, Dresden Files RPG does, Call of Cthulhu does, everybody but HERO! And that's sad because Champions/HERO came out before them all...where's the love? Where are the Actual Play podcasts? Rules discussions? One Shot scenarios? Someone get something going because all I've been able to find out there is Thistledown's "Extreme Minority" (which is quite good, BTW).

Thanks for the input, guys. I'll try to use what serious advice I can.

I'm trying to make a giant chicken for my Fantasy Campaign characters to fight (the result if a 'World of Warcraft'-like gnomish Gigantisizer Beam; an attempt to create large eggs to feed a starving population enmass). Thing is, I havent got a clue how to stat up a chicken, let alone a 30'-50' one. I'm guessing it should be about 9-12m tall (Semi-Huge, APG pg 100), have a HKAs with claws and beak, and maybe some Damage Reduction (and maybe Fire-breath?), other than this, I'm stumped at building this thing. Does anyone have any ideas on building 'Cluck-zilla'?

I'm trying to make a giant chicken for my Fantasy Campaign characters to fight (the result if a 'World of Warcraft'-like gnomish Gigantisizer Beam; an attempt to create large eggs to feed a starving population enmass). Thing is, I havent got a clue how to stat up a chicken, let alone a 30'-50' one. I'm guessing it should be about 9-12m tall (Semi-Huge, APG pg 100), have a HKAs with claws and beak, and maybe some Damage Reduction (and maybe Fire-breath?), other than this, I'm stumped at building this thing. Does anyone have any ideas on building 'Cluck-zilla'?

I seem to remember a Champions supplement that had the stats for Queen Mab. Does anyone have that supplement or can you give me a basic idea of her stats?

Re: How do I determine this... I thought of a Power Pool called "Blood Powers"... But how to do a recharge? They'd recharge by drinking blood. Link it with a HKA? How? Also, if a typical person is 2 SPD, then wouldn't x20 SPD be 6 SPD? So a vamp could run as fast as a speeding car, say 60-70 mph. DEX 30 is good, STR 30 is good, SPD 6 with the Running power through a multipower or EC?

In a book (Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris), I read that vampires had x20 the strength and was x20 faster than a human. How would this convert to STR, DEX, SPD, and PD? Thank you

How much STR would a character need to lift a decent sized boulder? How much does a typical boulder supposed to weigh. A ton?...two tons?

I want to make a Hercules: TLJ-like character for my Champions Fantasy campaign and I'd like to ask if there are any fans of the Kevin Sorbo series who could give me an idea on what his characteristics might look like if he was converted to the Hero system. I'm thinking his Str might be around 30 with a Con of 23. If anyone could give me some benchmarks to shoot for and work with, that would be cool. Thanks.

Re: Looking for help with character My bad. The conversion I'm using had MN Edged damage doing 75 Active pts., or 5d6 HKA. I was adding that to the STR. If I use the STR to HKA rules of +15 STR = +1d6 HKA, I can get by with a 2d6 HKA.

Re: What is YOUR favorite Champions character? I have to get in on this, 'cause it's so kewl. Okay, my favorite Champions character is the villain, Foxbat! Freddie just is sooo fun to play with his Foxbatmobile, his ping pong gun, his Foxbat-this & Foxbat that. AS for MY fav character, it would have to be a 14 year-old Teen Champion (the name of MY teen group YEARS before HERO came up with it, I might add! Way back in 1985, in Berlin!) named Stephanie Nymph, codenamed: Spellbinder. Spellbinder was a Journeyman Sorceress from the Dimension of Ix (a small 'pocket dimension' like Xanth where everything is magical). Her father was a Bard named Kevin, who was eaten by a dragon. Her mother is a tree spirit (a dryad) named Laurel. Stephanie's special ability(ies) was Teleportation. She could teleport in space/time/dimension. This was in addition to her Magic VPP. She was smart, precocious, mischevious, arrogant, and had a Disadvantage: Weirdness Magnet. Her basic personality was like a toned-down Tasselhoff Burrfoot from DRAGONLANCE. One of the best stories she was the center of was "History Lesson". Steph and the TC's (her fellow students) got bored listening to their teacher going on about history, so she "borrowed her Master's spellbook, cast a time-travelling spell, and took all of the kids on a little "History Lesson" of their own, where they travelled in the past (her powers enhanced by a spell) and skiied with Gen's. Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge, nearly got hanged at the Salem Witch Trials, hitched a ride with Columbus to find the New World, and a few other "wacky stunts". It was a mad romp through time. Eventually, Chronos (Father Time) contacted their teacher (who's name was Warlock, the Sorcerer Supreme/Dimensional Guardian of Earth) and told him what his little 'apprentice' had done, and how bad she'd cocked up the timeways, and that it would take him a while to get things back to normal. Well, we ended it like in the Sorcerer's Apprentice. Ouch!

I'm trying to create a comics-style Valkyrie character for a Champions campaign and I need some help. I'm basically using a converted Marvel Valkyrie (Brunhilde of the Avengers). I need some advice on their ability to see the "Death Glow". This ability allows the Valkyrie to "Sense Death" on a person, in the form of an aura that surrounds the person. This death isn't absolute, and might be avoided. I was thinking of making it a: Detect (Approaching Death), Sense (Sight), or perhaps some form of Clairsentience? Help, please. Also, here's what I got so far for stats. I'm looking for anything else a "lesser god"/Asgardian might have. Note: These powers, etc are at best still in developmental stages. KARA, THE VALKYRIE CHARACTERISTICS STR 60 DEX 23 CON 35 BODY 16 INT 10 EGO 15 PRE 25 COM 20 PD 15 ED 10 SPD 5 REC 20 END 70 STUN 65 POWERS: Divine Sword: 3d6 HKA, Armor Piercing, Penetrating Divine Sword: Missile Deflection Dense Flesh: Damage Resistance 10 rPD/10 rED Death Sense: ?? +2 Levels Overall PER +6 CSL w/all Combat

I don't have the UNTIL Powers Book, so I'm kinda stumped on how to duplicate these powers. I'll give the power and what I think should duplicate it. BTW, these powers are from the old Marvel Super Heroes Player's Book: TIME CONTROL POWERS Speed Up Time: Aid SPD 4d6 Slow Down Time: Drain SPD 4d6, AE (Radius) Slow Down Time (Slows Injuries) - Not a clue Traveling In Time: Extra-Dimensional Movement (any place within 50 Billion Years, future or past) Summon Temporal Duplicates: Summon (Past & Future selves) And one of my own that I thought appropriate,lookin at Speedsters: Mach One Punch: +5d6 H-t-H Attack Any other time-based powers or corrections on the ones given would be welcome. Thanks

Re: Hero 5th vs. M&M This thread seems done, but I'll throw in my $0.02. I play both M&M and Hero. I belong to both Discussion Boards. I started with Hero back in 1985 in Germany when it was really just Champions, and Dr. Destroyer was a realistic, beatable villain...not a walking god. Any reason he keeps getting more powerful with every incarnation of Champions?. Anyway, I liked the 3rd Edition and loved the 4th. I've played many a Supers RPG, including V&V, Superworld and Marvel Super Heroes, each has their own style and appeal. When M&M came out, it came out about the same time as Silver Age Sentinels. I already had FRed, and I was in a quandry because I liked diversity. I settled on Mutants & Masterminds, since it was a D20 product, and I'd played D&D 3.5. To me it was okay. That is until the Freedom City setting came out. I fell in love with Freedom City. To me, it is a Fanboy's dream. If only Hero had the FC Universe. I'm not thrilled with Millenium City or Hudson City. But what about Champions/Hero? God, the inner geek in me loves rolling those handfuls of 6-siders and tallying up the Stun & Body. I especially love calculating "Knockback". So, the Hero system will never go away. It will and is always my game of choice. When I get burned-out on Hero, I've always got Mutants & Masterminds. Either way, either system, I have fun. Both games rawk! It would be soooo kewl if Hero Games teamed up with Green Ronin and did a crossover book like they did with Guardians of Order. IMHO, Mutants & Masterminds is hot and Silver Age Sentinels is so last Tuesday. NOTE: Sorry for the cliched verbage in that last sentence. I've been having a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon and I'm still in Buffyspeak mode. Sorry.

Re: New to HERO and looking for advice on some issues... So, if there were benchmark ranks after Legendary (21-30) and Superhuman (31+), what would they be? Is there any official rank? I'd go with Mythic and then Cosmic. BTW, I'm only asking because I'm trying to create a Fantasy RPG based on the old Marvel game and I'm using the Alphabet Soup stats, but trying for a Fantasy feel for the Ranks.

Re: Question on Spell skills I like that! I think that's how I'll use the magic in my campaign. Good thinking! So a spell write up would look something like this ?: EXPLOSION ARRAY Description: With the caster at the center, this spell can blast anything upwards within a circular range of the ground, including dirt, rocks, or anyone inside. Since this spell's effects aren't lethal (though the resultant fall might be), it can be used to knock targets unconscious and capture them. In addition, the pillars of displaced dirt and rocks can be used to hide from or blind the target. There is a chance that nearby party members or hired help will also be blasted, but there's little chance they'll perish, so, in a way, there's no need to worry when casting this spell. Of course, there's no harm in exercising caution, either. Game Information: 6d6 EB (vs. PD), Area Of Effect (2†Radius; +3/4), Double Knockback (+3/4) (75 Active Points); Incantations (-1/4), Only Affects Targets On The Ground (-1/4), Knockback Can Only Be Straight Up (-1), Requires A Shamanism/Earth Roll (No Active Point Penalty; +0), Side Effect (-1 to casting roll; -1/4), Spell (-1/2). Total cost: 23 points. BTW, I still use END on these spells, right?

Re: New Spell I've reworked the Dragon Slave and added Fireball

I am trying to incorporate the idea of Spell Skills (FH, pg. 240) to coincide with my D&D approach to spell-casting (characters learn the spells as 'skills', and can cast them if they have them), but I don't understand a few things: 1) When designing a spell using this option, do you determine it's END cost to cast as if it were any other power? 2) How do you succeed with a Spell Skill roll? Say I have a 'Fireball' spell, it costs 60 Active Points. Normally I'd have a Magic Roll Penalty of -6 to cast this Spell. Is this ignored? Do I just roll my Fireball Skill 13- on 3d6, and if I roll 13 or less I succeed? 3) Is there any way (perhaps a new modifier) of making certain spells more difficult to cast using this system WITHOUT reverting to the old -1/10 Active Points penalty? I'm thinking of something like a level system, or simple (-0), common (-1), difficult (-2), etc. up to around Extremely Hard (-5). I hope I'm clearly expressing my questions, but they are hard for me to word exactly what I am looking for.

Re: What is the Soul/Spirit, and how do I attack it? Okay, so if I have a spell described as: "A spell which creates a lance of light that damages a target's spirit. The spell deals no physical damage, and even a direct hit only causes the target to fall unconscious for a period of time. A useful spell against spirit beings such as Mazoku." I can translate it like this: 10d6 Energy Blast, Affects Desolidified (+1/2), Transdimensional (Astral Plane; +1/2), Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2), Only Does Stun Damage to Non-Astral Beings (-1)

Re: What is the Soul/Spirit, and how do I attack it? What I'm trying to figure out, is what Characteristic(s) should I think of for the term Soul or Spirit? Should it be Body? If Soul/Spirit means 'Life Force' then yes. Could it mean Ego? If an attack is considered a 'soul-crushing' attack, could that mean Ego Attack? Could it mean PRE? Several spells in the FH Grimoire have 'soul' in them, but they vary in effect and description. I'm just curious what the 'official', or even 'officially un-official' definition of Soul and/or Spirit is in terms of the Hero System and it's mechanics.

Re: What is the Soul/Spirit, and how do I attack it? ROTFLOL!!! Honestly, guys, I wasn't looking for the answers of life, death, and the afterlife. I'm just looking for the mechanics that would best simulate this scene: Living target is grabbed by a spirit/demon (whatever) that exists in the astral plane. A sorcerer or priest casts a spell at the hex and even though both the spirit/demon and living target are hit by the attack, only the spirit/demon takes damage. See, the way I've worked demons and spirits is that they exist in the astral plane, which makes them immune to most standard spell effects. Only a spell that draws energy from their world can hurt them. Any ideas on this?

I'm trying to create some spells that drain or damage the soul (in living creatures) and disrupt/hurt/kill ghosts or undead creatures. How do I do this? What Characteristic(s) do I use?