Archon

Re: New Avengers

And then he can work in mystical pseudo-religious origins for everyone on the team.

 

Sorry. Read it in ASM, then he did the same thing in FF, gettin' kind of old.

 

Isn't radiation good enough on its own anymore? Does there have to be some cosmic force manipulating all events that lead to person X being hero Y?

 

I like JMS as a writer, but don't like that part.

SS,

I agree with you completely about the mystic origin addition or the "affair" of Gwen Stacey with Osborn.

OTOH, I think his character interaction and actual action sequences (re: Hydra base with the Avenger's knockoffs and Avengers) were fun and well done. I still think he's a better touch for the Avengers than Bendis. JMS just writes a better action book then Bendis ever could.

Re: New Avengers

I like that Peter threw Logan out the window.

This happened over in Amazing Spider-man. After reading the AS-Avengers issues, I want Strazinski to take over on Avengers. JMS just seems to have a better feel for how the group should act.

Re: CHAR: Iron Man

Over the years Tony has been an adviser in Korea, Vietnam, South East Asia, and lately Afghanistan. AFAIK, his present story is he was advising in Afghanistan when he was wounded by a mine.

Unlike DC, Marvel just adjusts his history rather than rebooting him.

Re: Star Trek: Legacy - New game by Bethesda Softworks

ST: Legacy looks like a simplified version of Star Fleet Command that came out a few years ago. If so, then it could be a fun game.

SFC was based on the game Star Fleet Battles which I've been playing for longer than I really want to think about.

Re: Spell Construction - seeking advice

Wow. Third time I've had to write this post in the last five minutes. Now I'm late AND cranky.

 

Archon: You note that both sections of the spell should take the advantage, "any minor item" or "any minor change." However, the campaign has a 15 Active Point per level cap on spells, and I'm recreating Cantrip as a 0 level spell, which shockingly keeps it more balanced than its d20 counterpart. Giving both spells a +1 would put the active cost to 25, no can do.

 

However, I'm curious as to why you suggested it - in fact, I don't want any minor item summoned; I only want small, decorative useless items summoned.

The reason I suggested the advantage is by strict rules without the advantage a summon may summon 1 thing. For example, summon blue china cup. To get a blue china plate, you would need 2nd summon. But with a +1/4 advantage, group of related items, you could summon a blue china cup, then a blue china plate, etc. However, if you're working with a 15 pt cap, I've changed my mind. Don't worry about it. After all, it's in the VPP and you'll keep control of what the player does with the spell, and the spell is fairly minor.

Although, when I played in d20 one of the first things my group would get was a magic item that cast Prestidigitation. We found so many uses for that spell. We even found a few useful combat applications.

Re: Spell Construction - seeking advice

Okay, with all of that in mind, here's my current "Prestidigitation" model:

 

Prestidigitation

1d6 Cosmetic Transform (5 AP), No Combat Effects (-1/2), 1 Charge Lasting One Hour (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4) (2 Real Points) PLUS, Telekinesis 2 STR (3 AP), No Combat Effects (can neither throw nor deal damage) (-1/2), Effective STR -20 (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), 1 Charge lasting one hour (-1/4), Requires Concentration to Move Object (1/2 DCV) -1 (1 Real Point) PLUS Summon (5 AP), Inanimate Objects Only (-1), No Combat Effects (-1/2), Only For Decorative Purposes (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), One charge lasting one hour (-1/4) (1 Real Point) Total: 13 Active Points, 4 Real Points.

 

This spell is one of the first taught to young casters; it covers a minor range of effects, which are generally for entertainment purposes and studying the effects of magic on things. For the duration of the spell, the caster can alter colors, flavors and smells - he can improve the taste of food, enhance a dull flower, clean up a small bit of dust, and so on. None of the effects of the spell are enough to fool anyone or bring them to any harm. Changing the taste of food with Prestidigitation could not mask the taste of poison. Items summoned are small, fragile and useless as anything other than a moments decoration.

 

Why I built it: Because one of my PCs has this spell, and uses it for... everything. It's a staple of her character concept. In d20, the changes are instant and unresisted; in my campaign I'm using a house rule which states so long as the caster has time, they can get the 'maximum effect' out of spell; for example, a Simple Healing would recover full BODY and STUN so long as the character had Extra Time. The same applies to Presto - so long as you have the time, you can make a cosmetic change to anything, or move a small brick, and so on.

 

Why I'm doing it: Because one of my players has this as a signature spell; she's used to being able to clean her clothes, alter the taste of her food, create minor, meaningless objects, all on a whim. I don't mind it per se, but it has occassionally gotten out of hand. The spell is referred to as a 0 level Wish, because it's so dern handy to have around.

 

Also, the same player has insisted that when the Final Battle between Good and Evil occurs, his character will win the game... with a cantrip.

You need to add an advantage to the summon and transform, +1 any minor change/+1 summon any minor item.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

Archon...Archon.

 

Forgot it already, eh?

 

Archon's B13 game: The quotes.

 

 

Clyde (Right Turn): Damn it, stop moving him around already!

 

Archie: Okay, okay. I'll get get him behind the counter while you Probe his a**.

 

and...

Clyde: Hold him down. I'm not done with him yet!

 

Needless to say the Gay jokes went flying.

Ah, but now I've remembered the second part of the scene.

Clerk realizes his mind is being read and runs for the back door.

Shogi, the samurai, tackles him as he runs past the drink dispenser, "Quick, I've got him down. Hurry up and finish him off!"

More laughter ensues.

Re: Don't want to be out classed

Since armor doesn't cost end, it is not usually visible.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

This one is going to take some set up.

The second session of my Bureau 13 HERO style game. This is set in the Champions Universe with only rare superheros. The characters are all 200pt specials.

The characters have teleported into the small town that's about to be the site of Cthulu/Edomite summoning ritual. There's a blinding rainstorm, and they've just stumbled across a 7-11. One char has Sense Auras and the other is an empath. Both realize that there's something wrong with the attendant. The empath (we're calling him Right Turn because his first name is Clyde) has an ability to probe thought, but it takes a minute to activate. The other three characters have to keep the attendent in line of sight for one minute.

Our aura reader, Archie, asks him where the gas cans are because their car ran out of gas a mile or two back. The attendent walks over to where the cans are. You guessed it. This was out of LOS. Right Turn comms back over the mind link, "Stop moving him around!"

Archie takes him back to the counter, pulls out a map, and starts asking for directions.

Shogi, our modern samurai, takes a Double Gulp of Coke up front and spills it on the map, Archie, and the attendant. The attendant goes into the back to get a mop and bucket.

After watching this Keystone Cops parade, Right Turn really loses it and says, "Will you guys quit f*****g moving this guy around?!"

Archie answers back over the link, "What do you want me to do? Hold him down while you probe his a**!"

At this point we broke down into laughter for the next 5 minutes. It was a good laugh and we enjoyed it.

I should have written things down because there were two other lines that I wanted to use and can't remember.

Re: Don't want to be out classed

*twitch*twitch*twitch*

No active point caps?

Boy is he going to regret that...

Agreed. Has your GM ever used HERO before?

Re: Mystic Masters campaign (old vs. new)

OTOH I greatly prefer the Clairsentience-based Astral Form from Mystic Masters to the later Duplication/ Desolid designs. IMHO it perfectly captured how Astral Forms are depicted in comics, particularly Dr. Strange (the king of AF), without having to modify how the base Power works. If not for the default rule in 5E that Mental Powers can't be targeted via Clairsentience, I would recommend the MM approach for this type of campaign.

This is an easy one. Change the rule so mental powres can target.

Re: Speedster - something new for me

This is a speedster I'm about to use in a filler campaign.

This campaign uses a variant on megascale. You can scale up and down your levels without needing an extra advantage. Two extra lower levels of megascale are added. +1/4 - " converted to *10 meters. +1/2 " converted to *100 meters. This fills in a gap between NCM levels and megascale. It also means Tornado doesn't go at quite so a tremendous speed for only +1/4 advantage.

Tornado

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

40 STR 30 17- Lift 6400.0kg; 8d6 HTH damage

26 DEX 48 14- OCV: 9/DCV: 9

28 CON 36 15-

12 BODY 4 11-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-

11 EGO 2 11- ECV: 4

18 PRE 8 13- PRE Attack: 3 1/2d6

12 COM 1 11-

20 PD 12 Total: 20 PD (10 rPD)

18 ED 12 Total: 18 ED (10 rED)

7 SPD 34 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12

14 REC 0

56 END 0

46 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 190

Movement: Run: 20"/NC"

Swim: 2"/NC"

Cost Powers END

50 Kinetic Thrust: Multipower, 50-point reserve

5u 1) Flight 20", x8 Noncombat (50 Active Points) 5

5u 2) Flight 14", Variable Advantage (+1/2 Advantages 0 End; 1/2 End, Mega x 1; Mega x2; Underwater, 1/2 End; +3/4) (49 Active Points) 5

3u 3) +14" Running (20" total), Position Shift (33 Active Points) 3

10 Wind Blown: Damage Resistance (10 PD/10 ED)

6 Eagle Eyes: +3 with PER roll (15-)

5 Squint Eyed: Flash Defense (8 points) (Sight Group) (8 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2)

3 Big Lungs: Life Support , Self-Contained Breathing (10 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost 3x END (-1), Extra Time Full Phase (-1/2), Costs Endurance Costs END Every Phase (-1/2) 3

3 Mask Radio: Radio Listen and Transmit (5 Active Points); IAF (-1/2), Sense affected as Radio and Hearing (-1/4)

Martial Arts: MA NAME

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes

3 Akido Throw +0 +1 STR +1d6 +v/5, Target Falls

4 Boxing Cross +0 +2 STR +3d6 Strike

4 Kung-Fu Block +2 +2 Block, Abort

Skills

3 +1 with Commando Training

3 AK: Dallas (INT-based) 12-

2 AK: Texas 11-

3 Breakfall 14-

3 Combat Driving 14-

3 Criminology 12-

3 Interrogation 13-

1 Language: Arabic (basic conversation)

1 Language: Farsi (basic conversation)

3 Language: Spanish (completely fluent)

3 Mechanics 12-

4 Navigation (Land) 13-

3 Paramedics 12-

2 PS: Cattle Rancher 11-

2 PS: Military Police 11-

3 Security Systems 12-

3 Streetwise 13-

5 Systems Operation 13-

2 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles, Wheeled Military Vehicles

2 WF: Clubs, Small Arms

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 160

Total Cost: 350

200+ Disadvantages

15 Social Limitation: Secret ID: William "Billy" Billings (Frequently; Major)

5 Social Limitation: National Guard Status (Subject to recall and practice) (Occasionally; Minor)

30 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN From Poisons and Toxins (Very Common)

15 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x BODY From Poisons and Toxins (Very Common)

15 Psychological Limitation: American Patriot (Common; Strong)

15 Psychological Limitation: Overconfident (Common; Strong)

15 Dependent NPC: Billings Family (Visits Dallas on occassion) 8- (Normal; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs)

10 Hunted: Bulldozer 11- (Less Pow; Harshly Punish)

20 Hunted: Viper 8- (Mo Pow; Harshly Punish; Extensive Non-Combat Influence)

10 Hunted: Dallas criminal organizations 11- (Less Pow; Harshly Punish; Extensive Non-Combat Influence; Limited Geographical Area)

Total Disadvantage Points: 350

Re: CHAR: Captain America

Cap has used the shield to absorb the damage from a terminal velocity fall. He did do a breakfall roll after hitting the ground, but I think that argues for a Def of at least 30 for the shield.

Re: CHAR: Captain America

Considering the damage levels you're going to have Thor kicking out, you might want to upgrade Cap's shield. After all, it has a 20 Def and your Thor sans hammer will have around a 115 str. That's 23 body and blows the shield away. Cap's shield has taken direct hits from a Thor powered Mijolnir and never flinched.

Re: Monster Hunter Campaign?

I've run Monster Hunter/X-Fileish campaigns over the years' date=' a lot of which were used the Bureau 13/Stalking the Night Fantastic setting, and 150 pt characters, it worked out reasonably well using hero.[/quote']

 

I've used/gamed in the Bureau 13 setting with HERO a few times. The 2 synergize great.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

Another one from my last session of Exalted.

For those who don't know, you make a roll of Charisma + Performance when you make a prayer to a god. The more successes the more likely it is you get some sort of assisstance from said diety.

We're competing an air race that's something like Cannonball Run II crossed with Autoduel. We need a clarification on some of the race's esoteric rules. My character makes his prayer and rolls 9 successes. The GM describes the arrival of the prayer at the god's palace like this.

SLAP!!! A golden glove smacks the god in the face as a voice goes, in the best English sergeant's accent, "Message for you, sahr. A reply is requested."

Re: Captain Atom?

Actually' date=' that's the other way around. Doctor Manhattan is a redux of Captain Atom.[/quote']

 

Yeah, the Watchmen characters were created by Alan Moore based on the Charlton comics characters. DC didn't want Moore using the Charlton characters because of the death and destruction he described to them.

Re: CHAR: Martian Manhunter

The comics MM has about 15 Deep Covers. he's been many different supers around the world over the years. he's kept up most of the identities.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

From my Exalted game tonight.

Asked to a Twilight Exalt artificer.

"You've just given birth to an essence cannon. How do you feel?"

"Manly"

Later in the same session.

GM describes the oncoming flying creature as a Chinese style dragon with the head of a bear.

Said by me, "It's an air bear!"

Various dirty looks immediately ensue. Also various take offs on the Care Bears begin.

Re: CHAR: Green Lantern

I'd take the Can add and remove Adders off the VPP. By definition, any power in the VPP can have any adder you want. That additional +1 advantage is useless.

Re: Higher Point Characters in FH/Heroic setting

Its important to remember that higher point totals don't always amount to significantly higher power levels. This is doubly true when heroic characters grow in organic rather than linear ways (their experience is spent based role-playing concerns' date=' rather than roll-playing concerns). Certainly, wizards will pick up new spells (maybe more powerful, maybe not), fighters will pick up martial manuevers or corresponding talents/etc, new skills will be learned over time, or skills will be improved, and then there are a gazillion background skills and perks to pick up that, while useful and colorful, won't shift the campaign balance (at least in combat terms) too far out of the original conception (unless the idea was to dramatically increase the overall power level). And don't forget skill levels, which will become necessary, especially if you are relatively stringent about buying characteristics up beyond starting levels (I usually allow one stat to be defined as a specialty, and in that the player may exceed NCM at double cost, or start with it in the 21-30 range).[/quote']

 

Don't forget the equipment you pick up can have game shaking effects. Gryphonclaw's sword, armor, and mini-crossbow didn't have too much effect on game balance, but that bow of his!

 

It was called Thruma, the Bow of Thunder and Lightning. The AOE lightning blasts from it let him slaughter groups of 5-10 guys per shot. It also had autofire and a really powerful single shot setting. In addition it could blind and deafen people over a 50' plus radius. Or if the battle was at night, it could light up an entire battlefield and deprive the enemy of the cover of night.

 

While Gryphonclaw's was the most powerful single artifact in the group, the others had items with a good deal of non-combat power. One of them could build walls and small forts in a very short time using the magic of her hammer.

 

So as I said, never forget the equipment you pick up can have more effect than the xp you gain.

Re: Higher Point Characters in FH/Heroic setting

Most mages in our games have some sort of force field worth 8-12 def. They're actually the hard ones to kill because they have the same def all over. It's the knight in shining armor that are easy. After you kill their horse with an arrow or 2, you slice their throats while they're trying to get up. If they do get up, an arrow through the eye slit is fairly easy. All that armor really lowers their DCV.

Re: Thinking of GMing, any suggestions

As a side note, I play in an Exalted game also. I'm debating on trying to convert the game to Hero just the level out the power differences.

Re: Thinking of GMing, any suggestions

Hi, Ladikin, welcome to Hero and the Boards.

Thia is another new to Hero GM and a couple of the threads he's created have some very good advice in it. Check those out.

I have a couple of thoughts also.

1) Decide on total character points, an active point cap, damage class cap, and OCV/DCV cap. This will pretty much set your power and effectiveness level.

2) Decide on the type of magic system that you are using. You can simulate just about any style of magic system that you want in Hero. All the way from spell that are just scaled down super powers with extra limitations to Exalted's Sorcerous mega spells.

3) Decide on your tech level. Will it be fantasy medieval, sailing ships with cannons and musketeers, horse barbarians on the plains?

In Fantasy Hero, assuming using the Turakian setting, the final real point value of spells is divided by 3. Steve apparently thought that spell casters needed a power boost as compared to the sword swingers or wanted casters to have more spell versatility. My own experience contradicts that, but I think it really depends on if you're allowing spell casters to wear armor or not. I personally am against the divide by 3 rule.

I could go on and on, but I think that's the basics. Also the FH book covers most of these options in the Campaign section. It really does help with that sort of construction.

Re: Higher Point Characters in FH/Heroic setting

8 more xp from the GM and guess what? Eye balls are going pop all over the game map because I'll have 8 ranged penalty skill levels usable against any penalty.