Intrope

Re: Culture Shock: Slightly less 'cuddly' STAR HERO equipment High-lethality HERO? Pretty sweet! I've never done such a thing, though. That would be very good for Cyberpunk, or Bug Hunting Star Hero. BTW, did the big STUN from stun multipliers cause a problem? I'd think with a normal human STUN amount, big defense and huge damage you'd see almost all survivable hits be KOs, which strikes me as unrealistic. Not that I've got any real-world combat experience, but I read a lot of modern combat accounts and people are frequently wounded but functional (as in, shooting people). With KAs and STUN multiples, I'd think you'd see a lot of people who are wounded and at GM's option instead.

Re: How would you build this I'm not sure Variable SFX is necessary. The way I see it, VarSFX is an advantage because it lets you tune an attack to match a vulnerability or a limitation on a defense. But in this case, all the weapons are likely to match the same vulnerabilities/limitations--so VarSFX isn't needed. (Would you make someone take VarSFX to be able to shoot an EB of any color?[1]) In a fantasy game I would require VarSFX though: it's reasonably common for Fantasy creatures to be vulnerable to blunt weapons but not edged ones, so being able to switch from a sword to a mace is an advantage. But I can't imagine that it would be an advantage for a Super in all but the rarest of cases. [1] I grant that a DC energy projector who can shoot any color beams has a mighty advantage--against *1* person. But, only lame-o's would be vulnerable to a *color*

Re: Shoujo HEROine Very nice write-up! Reminds me a bit of Hitomi from Escaflowne, actually. BTW, is that your art or a borrowed pic? It's quite nice as well.

Re: In Real World Terms... To get back to the real world items for a moment: A tank column (Abrams tanks; with 8d6 RKA, massed fire could probably take him down) Guns on naval vessesl (5" and up) various Bombs and Missiles (many of these will have a hard time hitting, unless they're precision munitions like JDAM or Tomahawks--and even then, this assumes he either doesn't move real fast, or at least stops once in a while) Traps involving large amounts of high explosives Dropping him in an active volcano, or vat of molten steel, perhaps. Stuffing him into a blast furnace for metal smelting. Sink him into the Marianas trench in the Pacific ocean. (Note that 30rDEF is the same as the front armor of an Abrams as a reference point) On the NND/AVLD-type attacks: Drop him into a holding take for spent nuclear fuel Find out where he sleeps, and asphyxiate him with Nitrogen (that is, fill his sleeping chamber with pure Nitrogen. You can't smell it or see it, and unlike CO2 poisoning it doesn't trigger any gag-type reflexes). Hope that helps...

Re: Re-imagining the Star Wars universe. My pet theory about Sith/Jedi works like this: Long ago, the Sith ruled the galaxy as an empire for many generations. However, their rule was occasionally threatened by two things: Succession and Factional wars inside the Sith. At some point, one of the Sith wised up. He then elminated *all* other Sith, and all of his acolytes. He then took one (and only one) student and taught him up. This eliminates pretty much all Succession/Factional wars, since no other Sith exist! (This explains the One Master, One Student thing). The Second problem was a result of the above solution: Force users arise naturally. Before, the different Sith factions would recruit them. Now, they just ran loose. Many of them never developed very much power--but the remainder were trouble. To control this, the Sith Emperors set up a an order of assassin/enforcer/inquisitor consisting solely of force users--the Jedi order. They 'recruited' all force users in the empire, to properly 'train' (indoctrinate) all of them. Note that Jedi seem to invariably prefer to operate as solo, stealthy forces capable of mind control and optimized around close-quarters battle. (the jedi v. droid battle in the arena being the primary exception--and boy, that went well!) Eventually the Jedi order overthrew the Sith, which eventually led to the Republic. But note: the Republic seems to be kind of a UN of feudal states in a lot of ways (just how did Queen Amilada get 'elected' at 16, anyway?) Like all the old Sith empire governers either switched sides or were replaced by Jedi-friendly ones? Anyway, that's my pet theory. Make of it what you will. (Note that I've never read any of the Star Wars books, so I have little enough idea what the EU contains)

Re: Down with active points I noticed this same problem during the Mechanon v. Champions thread. I've been think about this for a while, and have some thoughts on this: 1. That 1/2 and 0 END probably shouldn't be advantages; they should be adders. Mainly, because the value of not spending END isn't usually proportional to the Amount of END you're saving. 2. That for attacks above the 'standard' for a given campaign, virtually all simple advantage structures are too expensive. In other words, in a typical Champs game a 12d6 and 8d6 AP are fairly similar in power--but 18d6 and 12d6 AP aren't even close. I guess what I'm saying is that the increase in combat effeciency for advantages drops drastically once you get past the 'standard' for the campaign. 3. That the only combat effecient high-point advantaged attacks tend to be heavily degenerate attacks (e.g. 1 pip KA penetrating AoE Autofire and the like). 4. That Steve's just flat wrong about 1 pip KA Penetrating: it should do 0 penetrating, not 1 penetrating--penetrating should do jack until you have at least a whole die of base damage. Anyway, I don't know if I have any solutions, but I thought I'd babble incoherently for a minute or two

Re: The Patrol Laser This looks good. For extra power cells, well I'd say that the limitations there are: practicallity (how heavy and expensive are power cells? they may not be able to carry extras, what with all their other gear) genre (if it isn't in genre, just say no) regulations (if regs call for 1 power cell/soldier, someone may ask questions about the 'extras'). BTW, I have to ask: why does the flashlight have autofire? I'd probably actually make flashlight mode free; we're talking about a device that can crank out incredibly powerful laser blasts 100 times--a nice, bright LED flashlight could go forever without coming anywhere near the output of a single blast.

Re: Stun Problem in Fantasy Hero (Double it) Very true. I'd think that in a heroic campaign where being BODY-dropped is a real possibility that the defenses are probably too low for a tighter stun multiple grouping to negate the damage. But it will reduce it at least somewhat (especially since you'll never get 4-5x results that can really pile on the STUN).

Re: Stun Problem in Fantasy Hero (Double it) That will actually leave you doing slightly more than normal STUN on Killing Attacks (x3, instead of x2.67). You could make a custom multiplier die, with sides 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3--which eliminates the lottery but has the same average. I do like the idea of using double stun as a way of handling the 'stunned by the blade' effect, mainly because it would be so easy to handle in play.

Re: What Would You Like To See In Upcoming HEROglyphs Columns? It's a bit late to add to this list, but: I'd like to see some examples of Minor Transforms. It seems like 90% of transform powers are Major, and the rest Cosmetic. Some examples of minor transforms would be nice...

Re: Neon Genesis Evangelion I think that *all* the EVAs were possessed, not just 01. They kind of hint that it requires a soul to work. They apparently thought they could make the system work by just putting a piece of the person's soul in. The first time, it didn't work right (killing Yui outright). [The attempts to get her back created Rei & her clones]. Later transfers worked 'correctly'--but it looks like half-souled people tend to kill themselves, or something. 02 was possessed by Asuka's mom (it's why she recovers in End of Evangelion) [she commits suicide because of the soul transfer] 00 was possessed by Ritsuko's mom (which is why 00 beserks and attacks Gendo twice--she died because of his betrayal, more or less) 04 was probably possessed by Toji's mom--when talking about his injured sister, he mentions that he's the only one who can go to her during the day--my guess is because his mom is dead. 05/06 would probably have been Hikari's and (the weird military kid's). The only hints about their family is that the weird kid apparently has almost no home to go back to, and Hikari makes lunches for herself, her sibling(s), and dad (IIRC). Anyway, we know that Shinji's school is a set piece (it's no accident that pilot 4 was Toji). My guess is: that none of them have both parents, because the qualifying characteristic is that your mother has taken up residence in your EVA. OTOH, I'm not sure the director actually knew where he was going with the story anyway so I could just be speculating wildly.

Re: Help on two powers (well one anyway) Actually, just buy the position shift adder (+5pts) on his 'running'. It's normally only for flight or teleport, but it suits the character so why not? And I like the smoke bubble trick--very clever! Don't suppose you've posted this character anywhere?

Re: I don't think I can move It's fair to note that even at +1 1/2, Mental Entangle is still very efficient. With 3 DEF, 2d6, a 62ap Mental Entangle: Will cost a 20 EGO character a phase and a half Will cost a 15 EGO character about 4 and a half phases Will cost a 10 EGO character many phases (they only damage it 1/12 of the time) A Mentalist with 6d6 EGO attack will lose a half phase, unless they roll 7 BODY (fairly likely), in which case it's zero-phase. All this ignores pushing. I'd say that's pretty powerful--most 350 supers probably don't have a 20 EGO unless they're mentalists--and 4-5 phases is frequently the whole combat! (not to mention that whole 0 DCV bit). Moreover, most of the escape powers probably wouldn't apply to mental entagles (you might be able to teleport or fly if it's triggered mentally, but you still couldn't move). It seems more powerful than 60ap of entangle on average--I'd think more people could escape the normal entangle (or ignore it, in the case of the mentalist!) Perhaps the total advantage value should be greater than +1 1/2?

Re: If you could add one more... On steal-power: their are actually several missing meta-powers in hero: steal-power clone-power (replicate someone else's powers) grant-power (since Aid doesn't do this) hack-power (the ability to alter someone else's power--like changing the special effect or advantages) control-power (the ability to make use of someone else's powers against their will--especially helpful for altering someone's magical traps, or the like) For my part, HERO is missing a Traction Control power: like clinging, but allows more 'alternate surfaces' for running (like water, clouds, or whatever). Mainly, this would eliminate stupidities like 'Flight, only to not fly' that are used for running speedsters.

Re: Temporarily enchanting an item Transform does sound like a reasonable way to do this. Summon (with the Slavishly Loyal advantage) would probably also be usable (and abusable, naturally). I grant that summon isn't usually the choice for summoning raw powers. However, think of it like this: you could easily build a 0-point vehicle, then add the power to the vehicle--so why not just summon the power itself?

Re: Temporarily enchanting an item That sounds a bit like the focus limitation to me, applied to a usable by others power. In this case, the focus is 'any suitable weapon' so a slightly reduced value for the limitation seems appropriate. In the limited case of an enhance damage spell, Aid could be used instead.

Re: Making Money If her metasensory powers include precognition, the lottery is a good idea. Also, some places (like Texas) offer scratch-off games with remarkable payouts--being able to see 'under the silver stuff' could pay out big! Telepathy could also be used to make money off of criminals: at some point, big stacks of drug money have to flow back toward the source of the drugs. Find one of these shipments, and intercept it. (this is a good way to get a hunted, though) If you can somehow justify a 'value' sense (as in, how valuable is this?) you could troll antique places looking for stuff that is being sold well below value due to the owner's ignorance. You could also run a service dedicated to finding missing persons (via mind scan); there's often a reward for such things. Likewise, bounty hunting.

Re: Monty Haul DnD vets: need your help for NPC villain team I think that's more commonly known as the bag of rats technique, but it could be fun! Summon, Many Rats + Linked AoE Unselective HKA + Linked Autofire HKA (number of shots limited to the number of rats killed) Heh! For bonus geek points, you should also have the invulnerable coat of Arnd make an appearance. (Essentially, you're invulnerable--except for your head, lower legs, lower arms, hands and feet; the coat itself absorbs all damage). A vorpal sword or sword of sharpness would just be mean, though. A Deck of Many things would be real trouble...

Re: Twisted magic items How about a 1d6 EB, NND (+1), Fully Invisible (no visble damage, either) (+2), Does BODY (+1), partly limited (only does body if target at GM's option). Naturally, you'd need to either give the power a trigger or build it as an automaton (if you build it as an automaton, make it a no-range AoE hex power).

Re: Team Tactics So far, lots of good ideas--but I'll throw on some more! Marvel Man should try mentally commanding enemies to do plausible, time-wasting things in combat (like, you're too far from the battle to use your blast--get closer! and find some cover). Anything that wastes multiple enemy phases is good (assuming the enemy doesn't greatly outnumber you). It sounds like Cereberus has a powerful but underutilized AE attack--Bolt and Marvel Man could probably help (MM by 'repositioning' orders or TK, Bolt by picking his knockback direction carefully). Does your GM allow Rapid-fire? if so, then Marksman might want to use any AoE nuisance attacks via rapid fire (darkness all over the place!) Another thought: against flying opponents (especially high-DCV ones), a 6d6 AoE EB is potentially very valuable: one character (presumably Marksman) uses the AoE EB, which basically guarantees knockback or knockdown on a flyer--setting up an easy shot for Minotaur's Boulder, and costing the opponent a half-phase in any case. Along the same lines: Bolt gets lots of attacks (and apparently a high OCV), and will almost certainly knockback targets. If he knocks a target back, one of the other characters should try to follow-up with a hit on the half-DCV target unless he's already unconcious. Bolt should naturally try to do KB towards the others, rather than away.

Re: Monty Haul DnD vets: need your help for NPC villain team Heh! buy the 'save for half' power with recoverable charges (bag of dice); they have to scramble after the d20 to recover the charge If your players are into Knight of the Dinner Table, you could do the Knight's characters (well, except for Sara's characters): Teflon Billy: Fireball VPP El Ravager: Huge Sword man Knuckles: Autofire crossbow Anyway, let us know how this session goes, cause it sounds like it'll be a blast!

Re: Low Berth/cryotube/statis/etc? I think the word you're looking for is corpsicle, actually. I'm not sure I'd make someone pay points for Usable against others--It's not normally used against others, and I'd think you'd probably have to incapacitate someone before you froze 'em down. Otherwise, it's just LS:No need to eat, no need to breathe, longengevity bought in a bulky focus, with a couple of extra limitations (like occupant is totally out of it, occupant must be properly extracted or die, power must be maintained or occupant dies, extra time (to start and stop) ). Naturally, a space ship would probably have a large number of 5pts for x2 qty levels bought as well.

Re: A black hole in orbit: what would it be like? I'd expect the Moon-hole to be basically invisible: it's so small that you'd never see it, even if backlit (0.1 mm == small!) and any accretion-disk like effects would probably be too small to see at any reasonable distance. On the other hand, this would be an incredible boon to the human race: as I understood it, you could use such a thing to turn matter into energy with about 30% efficiency! Then, just beam it home as microwaves. (my understanding is that a high-speed particle beam that is shot just close enough to be captured by the hole will spiral in, gaining immense energy as it goes--much of which will be radiated off before it enters the hole. This has the effect of releasing a large percentage of the beam's mass as energy) Anyway, if it's a tech civilization that's got this, they may have tapped it for power, which probably requires putting a power station around the hole.

Re: Trebuchet Challenge That's pretty cool. Got 2157 first time (628yds, 2x250pt targets, wall destroyed on 5th throw). But some of the people on the high score list must be crazy!

Re: Bulletproof Another thought: make the 'Real World Weapon' limitation mean that the weapon always does standard effect against higher-grade targets. Small arms are designed against normal people/animals; against a vehicle or super, they'd do 3 BODY/d6 (and x2 STUN). This also fixes the issues about tanks needing really high armor values to be immune to small arms.