gojira

Re: Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains when will it be on the shelf? Probably because if they were smart they stashed most of that money away in a retirement fund.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I changed my global a while back to match my forum name: gameboy1234 There's also the Hero Boards global channel which is still around. It's currently public, anyone can join. You can chat with other hero folks no matter which server you're playing on.

Re: Speed for Limited Purposes - wrapping my head around it For certain concepts though it works well. For example, +3 Speed, Only In Hero ID. The character is a "normal" who only has super powers when he "transforms" into his hero identity. While potentially wonky rules-wise, it's also so well represented in the source material I'd allow it and even give it a lot of latitude how it works in play. Obvious meta gaming, or even suspected meta gaming, gets stepped on hard.

Re: Chucking things into orbit - Advanced Player's Guide This is where I'd go with it. Figure how fast/far you can throw an ordinary object, then translate that into an orbital mechanic. Most supers have speed 4-6, which is a 2 to 3 second phase. So you need to be able to throw an object 22 to 33 km in your phase to reach anything close to escape velocity. QUERY: Escape velocity implies a complete escape from Earth's gravity, yes? You are effectively moving an infinite distance away. Does it matter that most satellites orbit at around 100 miles above the Earth? Besides that point, there's both a horizontal and a vertical component. You need to escape Earth's atmosphere (~100 miles up) or the friction will bring you down quickly, and still have enough horizontal velocity to KEEP ORBITING. Fun fun.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game You saw the above posts saying that soon you can play (at least some of) your old characters for free? You'll probably have only 2 slots to spend, since I don't think you subscribed for very long, but it's still free. I still play. I've been spending some time on the Beta server lately and I also play on Champion. I have a few 50's (only one "tricked out") and while I play a couple of times per week at least I'm pretty casual about it. Lately I've been doing trials (level 50 raids) and getting badges from old missions. 870 badges so far.

Re: Hypothetically and unofficially, what would you like to see in a Mecha Hero book? Personally, and without having read the thread, primarily this. Mostly, I think I'd like a decently developed setting that I can just grab and go. If there's other mini-settings, great, but mostly I just want at least one good mecha setting.

Re: Hero Games needs a new printer Insanely busy is probably better than insanely quiet. I'm sure both can be stressful though. Yay for you guys. How is the new business, IPR, coming along?

Re: Need Plot help for Urban Fantasy game!

Re: What does routine skill check, easy skill check & difficult skill check mean to y Write a computer program: (I don't have my books with me, so I'm going to wing the numbers a bit.) "Average" time for a computer project is about 18 months. Since I don't have my books with me, I'm going to guess that the "taking extra time table" will give you about a +6 to a skill roll for taking one year to do some task. I'm also going to assume that to make any task "routine", you'll need a 14- final skill check. So, write an "average complexity" program in 18 months: routine, if your base skill is already 14-. Write an "average complexity" program in 18 months: skill check at -2, if your base skill is 12- (14-12 = -2). Write an "average complexity" program in less than 18 months: skill check at -1 per -2 months. Write an "greater than average complexity" program: +3 months for each complicating factor. Same penalty above for reducing time: -1 skill check for each -2 months. -- embedded program (requires firmware or specialized hardware support): +3 months -- manpower shortage: +3 months for each person the project is short (18 months assumes a reasonable sized team. If a project that would take 10 folks to do in 18 months has only two people, add 8 * 3 = 24 months.) Write an "easier than average complexity program: -3 months for each mitigating factor. -- simple e-commerce website: 1-2 months total. -- medium complexity webiste: help desk for large corporation: 6-12 months -- medium complexity website: e-commerce with accounting back end and order fulfilment for medium company: 6-12 months * * * I'm thinking this sort of extending engineering chart could be used as a basis for other engineering projects. Use a base of 18 months, assume "the right" amount of people, and scale up or down from there based on whether the project is "complex" or "easy" and if you have enough people. Lots and lots of GM handwavium required here, just make up something that fits the plot well. All this is for "PS" skills, i.e.: "PS: Computer Programming". The Computer Programming skill is basically combat programming: doing in phases what should take months or days at least. Shorten times greatly for skills like Computer Programming, Mechanics, Security Systems, etc. when dramatically appropriate. If your gadgeteer has Computer Programming and needs to whip up an "average complexity" program in a couple of days rather than 18 months, let him!

Re: Networked computers Yeah, or just handwave it. The AI is one unit, and looses capability as each part is lost, damaged, taken over, etc. Otherwise it's just one big thing. Maybe some disadvantages for being big and needing special support (lots of electricity).

Re: Gunslingers, Shootists, etc... In large part it's the music that makes those movies so great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PwpOmjAu1M

Re: So I want to "build my own solar system" (for things like astrology, solstaces, e From what I understand, it would work just like our solar system. Just replace one of the planets with a really bright star, and you've got your orbits. If the home planet passes between the primary and the secondary, then the home planet will see the secondary with an orbit similar to Jupiter or Saturn. I don't think there's any way to have a secondary behind a planetary moon all the time, any more than there's a section of the sky now that's always behind our moon. Two stars that are orbiting each other... there can't be any planets in between. You'd get sucked into the gravity well. You can have planets orbiting both, around their common center of gravity. Secondary and primary work if the secondary is orbiting far enough that the secondary works like a planet.

Re: What does routine skill check, easy skill check & difficult skill check mean to y

Re: Help!!!!!!

Re: Sound of one hand clapping Player: "I'm waving my hand around like clapping." GM:" ... Good?"

Re: July 7, 2011 Hero Chat archive Thanks for doing this. I reformatted your chat log to make it a bit easier to read. Note the forum software made me delete all the smilies because there were "too many images". Steven S. Long (08:00.08 PM) Good evening Herophiles!! Rod Currie (08:00.12 PM) hey steve Gregory (08:00.17 PM) hi steve Archie (08:00.19 PM) wolfman Indiana Joe (08:00.21 PM) Hi Steve Gregory (08:00.38 PM) small group tonight Steven S. Long (08:00.41 PM) Hope everyone's doing well this evening. Archie (08:01.07 PM) ya, taking a break from DEXCON to be here. Rod Currie (08:01.08 PM) cool -- I played Invisible Agent when he ran it a few years ago Indiana Joe (08:01.18 PM) Things are resolving themselves. :-) Steven S. Long (08:01.42 PM) Darren's "all-star" games are usually a lot of fun. Archie (08:02.14 PM) Looking forward to the Champions LARP on Saturday Steven S. Long (08:02.18 PM) We'll give it a few minutes more and I'll start announcements -- just in case there are any stragglers. Narf the Mouse (08:02.51 PM) Hi, Steve Lord Liaden (08:02.53 PM) And in I come a' stragglin'. Rod Currie (08:04.16 PM) I hopoe to make it down to DEXCON one of these years -- maybe next year with Origins being a month earlier Steven S. Long (08:04.39 PM) I enjoyed DexCon the one year I was a guest there. Rod Currie (08:04.40 PM) um, hope not hopoe Gregory (08:04.57 PM) whats a hopoe? Chris Reynolds (08:05.22 PM) It's kind of like a hobo but not quite Lord Liaden (08:05.37 PM) A nomadic Hobbit? Steven S. Long (08:05.40 PM) It's a Canadian hobo. Indiana Joe (08:05.52 PM) I've done teh hobo thing at cons... wasn't pretty. Lord Liaden (08:06.17 PM) Computer's still eating my posts - this could be a long night. Rod Currie (08:07.34 PM) Archie, you should post about the Champions LARP on the boards - will be interesting to hear how it works out Steven S. Long (08:07.54 PM) OK, time for announcements! Archie (08:08.04 PM) I intend to and possibly video also Steven S. Long (08:08.11 PM) First up, as you know we were at Origins recently... and as usual we had a great time! It was a lot of work, since we were running the IPR booth as well as our own, but sales were steady. And we were using Square for the first time to process transactions, which turned out to be *awesome.* Chris Reynolds (08:09.02 PM) Until you ran into my card that didn't want to read... Steven S. Long (08:09.12 PM) One of the hghlights of the show was Rod Currie's "Champions 30th Anniversary" game, which Darren, Jason, and myself played in; you can read more about it in last week's news update. Dave Mattingly also helped out by playing Foxbat. Rod Currie (08:09.50 PM) and contributed a lot of good ideas to the game Steven S. Long (08:10.13 PM) Our new release for the show was THE HERO SYSTEM GRIMOIRE, which we had a few of specially printed up for the con. We sent the remainder on to GenCon and should be getting the full shipment into the warehouses at some point soon; I'm not sure on the exact scheduling of that. Lord Liaden (08:10.14 PM) I can see Dave as Foxbat. Hopefully hardcopies of the Grimoire will quiet a few of the forum gadflies. Steven S. Long (08:11.20 PM) The IPR big new thing was Jason Morningstar's excellent FIASCO COMPANION, which also sold well. And the Evil Hat folx, Fred Hick and co., took home two Origins Awards for the Dresden File RPG! Archie (08:13.08 PM) BRB, need to get food before stores around the Hyatt shutdown Steven S. Long (08:13.21 PM) Now that I'm back, I've been hard at work (and so has everyone else; poor Darren had to turn around and head out to DexCon this weekend after having barely recovered from the last con!). Lord Liaden (08:13.53 PM) That's why Darren pays himself the big bucks. Steven S. Long (08:14.09 PM) My first chore was to finish up THE ADVANCED PLAYER'S GUIDE II, which I did earlier this week! Rod Currie (08:14.26 PM) which in the game industry is about $1.98 a week Steven S. Long (08:14.27 PM) It's now on its way to layout, and it's chock-full of all sorts of interesting new rules and related stuff for your HERO System games. Gregory (08:14.34 PM) how many pages for the APG2 guide? orjust APG2? Narf the Mouse (08:15.32 PM) Many many, I'd guess. Gregory (08:16.17 PM) $1.98/week? before or after deductions? Chris Reynolds (08:16.26 PM) before of course Narf the Mouse (08:16.33 PM) Gross. Lord Liaden (08:16.48 PM) Steve -- how were sales on the IPR side of the con over all? Steven S. Long (08:16.48 PM) Gregory -- don't know yet; it hasn't been laid out. I'd guess 124-144, but that's a shot in the dark right now. LL -- just fine. I think overall it forecasts a strong GenCon. Nothing like last year, when the DFRPG was new, but still quite a good year I'm thinking. Thomas (08:17.31 PM) What would you say are the biggest additions in APG2? Steven S. Long (08:18.00 PM) Thomas -- well, there are several new optional Powers, but I'd say the biggest things are probably the Social Combat rules. And maybe the expanded rules for designing Foci. Third, now that APG2 is done, I have moved on to THE BOOK OF THE EMPRESS. I started up a What Do You Want To See thread on the Champions board, so stop by and give me your two cents' worth if'n you're interested. Gregory (08:18.45 PM) foci with brainnnssss!!!! Steven S. Long (08:19.18 PM) Well, possibly. Lord Liaden (08:19.20 PM) Oho, better try to scrounge up a couple of cents! Do you take Canadian? Steven S. Long (08:19.38 PM) LL -- yes, at the usual rates of exchange. Lord Liaden (08:19.55 PM) Then you'll owe me. Narf the Mouse (08:21.47 PM) *Waves a Canadian Flag* Lord Liaden (08:22.01 PM) I wonder if anyone has told the real George, Steve, and Ray about Foxbat's plan to shanghai them? Steven S. Long (08:22.05 PM) The thread has already yielded some good ideas and suggestions, as expected. Also some suggestions that are waaay too big to pursue. LL -- I told Ray. Rod Currie (08:23.12 PM) actually, since Ray played a big part in getting me to run games at cons, it's all his fault in a way Lord Liaden (08:23.24 PM) I'm often surprised at the unrealistic expectations some people seem to have about the outcome to expect from a WDYWTS thread. Steven S. Long (08:23.58 PM) LL -- I think that's all par for the course. Ask for opinions about something online, you'll get a wide range of things, particularly in a hobby as diverse as RPGing. They're always valuable to me, one way or t'other. Dave Mattingly (08:24.57 PM) Howdy, gang. 9:00 sneaked up on me. Steven S. Long (08:25.02 PM) Hi Dave! 9:00 is tricky that way. Dave Mattingly (08:25.22 PM) 9:00. We hates it! We hates it forever! Rod Currie (08:25.23 PM) hey dave Lord Liaden (08:25.26 PM) Hi, Foxb... uh, Dave! Dave Mattingly (08:25.55 PM) My one regret in the 30th Anniversary game was forgetting to explain Foxbat's "real" origin. That he was bitten by a radioactive game show host. Indiana Joe (08:26.21 PM) I thought that was Wink Martindale's origin? Lord Liaden (08:26.22 PM) Huh. I thought that was the Galloping Galooper. Dave Mattingly (08:26.44 PM) Foxbat can change his origin anytime he wants. It's one of his special abilities. Lord Liaden (08:28.35 PM) Just looked in on the Empress thread -- pretty darn busy! I'd better see if I have any suggestions left that haven't already been brought up. Dave Mattingly (08:28.41 PM) Archie, I second the idea to post about the Champions LARP on the boards. I'd like to hear about it. Narf the Mouse (08:28.48 PM) ...Doesn't "Radioactive game show host" contain a redundancy? Steven S. Long (08:29.13 PM) LL -- yup, it was slow getting started, but once it got going some good ideas poured in. If nothing else, some of the questions people ask make me think about things. Lord Liaden (08:29.32 PM) Narf -- no, that's "toxic game show host." Steven S. Long (08:30.46 PM) I'm sure the next thread I start, about Mythic Hero, will be even busier. Dave Mattingly (08:30.47 PM) I can't believe GenCon is so close. Matthew Martin (08:30.59 PM) What's the current pantheon list for that one? Dave Mattingly (08:31.02 PM) I'm completely unprepared. Steven S. Long (08:31.21 PM) Yeah, Dave, just a few weeks. Trying to decide which route to drive, but either way should be a decent drive. Dave Mattingly (08:32.41 PM) If all goes according to BlackWyrm's Master Plan (Foxbat helped), we'll have a big pile of Star Hero supplments with us. Narf the Mouse (08:32.51 PM) @LL: Ah; good correction. Steven S. Long (08:33.00 PM) We're just going to have STAR HERO itself. Narf the Mouse (08:33.29 PM) So, at GenCon, you're going to Star Hero? *Baps self* Dave Mattingly (08:33.36 PM) We'll be running a special. Buy Star Hero, get a BlackWyrm supplment at regular price. Rod Currie (08:33.46 PM) sorry to hear that Foxbat helped, Dave -- I assume you would've had a bigger pile if he hadn't Dave Mattingly (08:34.03 PM) He shared all those leftover XPs. Well, I'm going to get back to editing a novel. Catch you guys around. Steven S. Long (08:35.51 PM) have fun! Dave Mattingly (08:35.55 PM) See some of you in person next month. Rod Currie (08:35.59 PM) take care Dave Indiana Joe (08:35.59 PM) Yeah, doubling the amount of copies of Star Hero you have for +5 poinbts really adds up. Rod Currie (08:36.07 PM) lol Thomas (08:38.33 PM) Is there anything in Star Hero devoted to the technological singularity? Such as personality recording and storage and how to handle that in Hero terms? Mental stats only for char sheet phys stats used like vehicles for example? or anything else to cover that concept... Steven S. Long (08:39.40 PM) Thomas -- no. Thomas (08:39.44 PM) sorry I was looking for the wdywts thread and couldn't find it. ahh ok. Steven S. Long (08:39.47 PM) That sounds more setting-specific to me. Thomas (08:39.58 PM) cyber hero then, perhaps? Steven S. Long (08:40.02 PM) If we ever decide to do an APG3, ask me again... maybe it could go in there. Thomas (08:40.13 PM) You can bet on it. Steven S. Long (08:40.20 PM) Possibly... but I doubt it. I'm not sure I want to open that particular Pandora's box. Thomas (08:40.34 PM) Thanks Steven S. Long (08:40.39 PM) In the meantime, I suggest just handling it as a plot device. That usually works pretty well. Thomas (08:41.12 PM) Infinite character rearrangements I saw that.. it's going into the campaign, just hopinh for something official in the new book, but thanks for the reference Steven S. Long (08:45.17 PM) All right, folx, I think I'm going to end the chat a bit early tonight. Gotta return a call 'fore it gets too late. See you next week, same time same place! In the meantime... see ya on the boards.

Re: Making Hero 6E More Dangerous (Skyrealms of Jorune Conversion) ? "Can't," I think you mean.

Re: Making Hero 6E More Dangerous (Skyrealms of Jorune Conversion) ?

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER This thread sure is getting pretty long....

Not exactly CO related but the Neverwinter site looks like it just went live. http://www.playneverwinter.com

Re: Am I doing this right?

Re: Am I doing this right? Specifically, 17 PD is a heck of a lot. You're getting into superhero territory there. Now if your barbarian is named "Conan" and you're playing a fairly high powered fantasy game, then that might be all right. But it seems at least likely to me that your GM would put the kibosh on that much PD.

Re: STAR HERO Cover Sneak Peek! Yup, agree there. I've never tried Star Hero, but the cover is darn cool.

Re: ADVANCED PLAYER'S GUIDE II -- What Do *You* Want To See? During the 6e discussions, I think the concept of Perception as a stat separate from Intelligence was mentioned. I didn't see this in the 6e Basic Set rules that I have, so I assume it got left out. Nevertheless, some players might still be interested. So: Perception as a separate stat. How to do it, whats the cost of adding a + or a -, plus any other impacts. A short discussion of what genres this might be most useful for (Horror Hero?). * * * OK got one more: was just thinking about saving throws. Is there such a thing in Hero System? I can't think of one. I want a Advantage/Lim for a power that says "Target can roll X- to prevent damage." X might be a skill, a stat, etc. This might work best as a modifier on NND or AVLD, where the limited defense or the NND defense is making the roll. Plus, additional costs or limitations for bonuses or penalties to the roll. Example "Target can roll (Int-)+3 to prevent damage" (That's figure your Int roll, then add three to it, then roll under the result.) This should be a lim, like maybe -1/4 for each additional +1 to +3 to the roll, since your power is easier to resist. Or you can have a power with "Target rolls (Con-)-4 to prevent damage" which would be an advantage since your power is harder to resist. Plus, what's the advantage/limitation for "Target takes full damage if he fails, or half damage if he succeeds." I basically want to build a power like "Player catches magical disease is they fail a CON roll at -2" type stuff. OK, sorry if that's be covered elsewhere, or rejected already. Thanks for readin'!

Re: ADVANCED PLAYER'S GUIDE II -- What Do *You* Want To See? This is a fun idea. Steve could even take power builds from the forumites here, for builds that are questionable but might have some applications. It could be a fun little "build a cheesy power" contest. Builds like Christopher's above strike me as "pure cheese" and should just plain be disallowed by a GM. But maybe a few examples of cheese might help out Hero Gamers who don't visit these forums. The emphasis I'd like to see would be on builds that might actually be reasonable, with some provisos of genre, character concept, and power levels.