Tom McCarthy

I't s not necessarily kosher, but you could give zombies the Multiple Attacker bonus, or surround the PC with enough of them that someone gets a shot from behind. If the zombies are grabbing, then when one of them does get 3 or 4, it may be much worse than just landing a blow. 1/2 DCV target for the rest of the zombies is bad news. Alternatively, maybe the zombies have levels with grabbing blades and impaling weapons since they don't mind trapping the blade in their own flesh. Once disarmed, the ninja will probably be at a real disadvantage. Maybe create Zombie Fu. Buy martial arts maneuvers which are heavy on DCV penalties or elements where the attacker falls. The zombies don't mind if one or two of them fall, so long as their dinner is also prone, damaged, or at a disadvantage for the rest of the horde.

A simple error this one, but it lead to a ridiculous situation. A hero with a 2D6 RKA and FW 14- sets, braces, and rolls against Grond (4th edition, no LOW) 5 times ! Because he forgot the -2 per successive roll, poor Grond has about 1 rPD when the guy finally pulls the trigger. It took two shots to down him, and practically hospitalised him.

I'm a big fan of the rule, "If you don't see it three times, it's probably not worth points." That sounds like OIHID with a one-time story element that emphasises the underlying objects used to transform into hero ID. On the other hand, I think the G-Force transformation was actually virtually instantaneous, so I might even argue it's "Activation of Powers", not OIHID (i.e. no limitation).

I'd certainly alow it as a VPP, but I might try building it as a Multipower for a cost comparison. A multipower with flight, HA, HKA, clinging, stretching, and armour might be cheaper than a VPP. If it was a VPP, I'd probably give it something like a -1/2 limitation "All powers are physical and have shangechange SFX". That seems like roughly the right limitation. I wouldn't allow any of the powers to be inherent, nor would I force them to be restrainable. I'd probably pay for some advantages on the VPP, perhaps No Skill Roll (or Power: Shapeshifting skill roll), perhaps Half Phase To Change.

I have notes on the OCV, DCV, SPD, DEX, PD/ED, and Dcs of attacks typical of the heroes as a whole. I typically put them up against villains who outclass them in one or at most two of those categories. If the villain outclasses them in one, he can fight (but will lose to) two heroes. If he outclasses them in two, he might beat two of them, but might balance 2 and a half heroes. For example: Heroes OCV 8-12 DCV 6-9 SPD 4-6 DEX 20-30 PD/ED 15-26 (22 average) DCs 9-12 Dr. Megala will probably give two of them a good fight (OCV 12, DCV 8, SPD 5, DEX 24, PD/ED 25, DCs 14-15).

Well, Steve Kenson did post 4th edition writeups of the Freedom Patrol, the Atom Family, and some villains. While they've been tweaked and had power levels adjusted along the way, they're quite playable. Given that starting point, one could get playable ballpark designs of most or all characters in Time of Crisis.

On the flip side, Blowtorch's fuel tank has more than doubled in DEF, and now outclasses a main battle tank.

Star Hero talks about stone being roughly 5 DEF and 19 BODY per hex, and the Earth being 67 doublings of a hex in size, for about 86 BODY for the planet. So 91 BODY (26D6 KA) totally destroys it, but they go on to say that it only take about half that to split it into two pieces. Under 4th edition, the same numbers apply, or a 0 END continuous uncontrolled 2D6 KA with enough area effect to cover the planet (+1 for AE radius, +16 1/2 for extra doublings), so about 600 active points.

My players typically go full out, but they were built under 4th editions standards, where characters typically have 10 DCs and 20 DEF and 23 CON, rather than 12 DCs and 20 DEF and 23 CON. In the former, it takes 44 STUN (maybe 6% of all hits) to stun an opponent; in the latter, just an average roll (maybe 40% of all hits). Of course, it is dangerous to try and one punch a normal. Sure, it's 'just' 5 BODY. It also only takes 3 BODY to sever a limb in some campaigns.

I assume you're aware of Powers and Top Ten. Some of my favorites: - A supposedly invulnerable hero is found dead - A man is found dead in bed in a seedy hotel, and ID'd as a superhero - A man is killed and the murder is video taped. He's talking to the murderer just before he's killed, but the murderer is invisible to cameras and recording devices (and that's not a well-known power of any given hero) - A god named Baldur has been killed. Who done it ? (and why do the veterans on the force just chuckle and ignore the case) - Women are getting pinched or manhandled in public places, but the groper is invisible - A member of a superhero 'family' or team is found dead in the base. The team was known for spats and domestics. Did a teammate kill him ? - Extradimensional drug dealers Other interesting questions: - What superpowers are criminal to use ? If mind control is illegal to use except in self-defence (in a parallel to weapons or lethal force), can you place the characters in a moral dilemma ? What about telepathic intruders who serve as whistle blowers ? Mind controlling a (guilty) suspect to confess ? - What superpowers replace actual police procedures ? Supersenses instead of forensics, etc. Plot seed: An animalistic hero is called in to track a prison escapee. Normally, they'd track him with hounds, but he can mind control animals and turn the hounds down a false trail. Is the hero's tracking scent up to the job ? Is the hero vulnerable to the mind control ? - What variant crimes arise in a new setting ? Hate crimes against mutants ? Hate crimes against aliens ? Hate crimes against robots and automatons ? Labour unrest against superstrong construction workers ? If duplicators have multiple bodies, and the bodies marry different women, is it polygamy ? If a duplicator absorbs a dupe who is unwilling, is it murder ? Plot seed: What if the biggest flawless diamond in the world is actually the left arm of Diamond ? How do you Mirandize an alien who doesn't speak English ? Let's say the alien is telepathic and can broadcast his confession of guilt, but you can't prove you successfully conveyed his rights to him via broadcast telepathy. Do aliens, mutants, and AIs have rights ? Can they be effectively prosecuted ? Robert Sawyer's Illegal Alien novel is a first contact story where an alien kills a human. But which alien, and why, is the key to the story, and it comes out during the trial. A couple of neat twists, like an alien taking 'the 5th' to avoid DNA testing, because he believes that the differences between the aliens is so slim (genetically) that DNA might implicate him. From Robert Sawyer's Frameshift: A scientist is asked to make a sperm donation for an infertile couple. He agrees, and even impregnates the egg for the impoverished couple (ie, performs the IVF in his lab). But he doesn't use his own genetic material; he uses DNA from an archaeological find. To what degree is he legally culpable ? What is the status of the genetic throwback he's spawned ?

Just out of curiosity, had you looked at Grond in CKC with his extra speed ?

I have met my match... One of the players wanted an animalistic close combat brawler (Arctic Cat) and wanted him fast. So I whipped out Fenris, tweaked a couple of numbers, and voila. Instant hero. It's a few months later, the player has wracked up some XP, added a point of DEX, some nifty attack powers, and is quite happy with his character. And he runs into Fenris. And loses dramatically. We're talking 2 BODY and 4 STUN on one hit from his 2D6 APx2 HKA (Claws). He switched to his 3D6 HKA (bite) and got 4 BODY and 12 STUN. He pushed the 2D6 HKA (Claws) for 2D6+1 and did another 4 BODY and 8 STUN. Meanwhile, Fenris hits him for 10 BODY (4 BODY after defences) in the Vitals. And 3 BODY is enough to sever a limb... With the Cat down, he got to run the NPC Kinetik, though he was warned that if he 'lost' another hero, they wouldn't give him a third one to run that night. =================== Prior to running the Cat, this player ran an electrical EP with a forcefield, Vandegraff. vandegraff was overly worried about his secret ID, to the extent that when VIPER attacked and he was among the crowd, he picked up a folding chair and attacked the agent in Minotaur Exoskeleton armour without activating his forcefield. A turn later he regained consciousness under the stage, and realizing he had just 4 STUN and 4 END, elected not to activate his forcefield when he emerged and fired his EB. The agents returned fire, hit him (8D6 EB vs. 5 ED), and he 'retired' beneath the stage for the remainder of the fight. ============= The dice know who's at the plate. - quote inside the cover of the APBA baseball game rulebook

Pathetic fallacy, IIRC (and I probably don't), is a literary term for the weather mirroring the action. In this case, it may be just the trick. The winds pick up whenever the players are about to enter combat. When things look bad for them, trash blows in the villains face. When searching for clues, the wind blows the papers and uncovers the important information. When flying to a crisis, the winds are highly favourable. The former lover experiences bad weather if he is romantically approached by a sympathetic female character. None of these need points or writeups. Just weather and air related things subtly going the players' way in the background.

I liked looking at the articles. It was interesting to see how the Hero System writeup was much longer and more detailed than the others, and the author claims he had to trim and edit to fit. SAS took half a sheet, M&M didn't even use their most compact format, and the Marvel Universe RPG looks like it could be boiled down into a very short paragraph. I don't know the Marvel Universe RPG very well, but it's interesting that Hulk (while very powerful) looks like he could be defeated by characters from each of the other universes. Grond, at only 410 points, could stand toe to toe with Hulk for a while. Dr. Destroyer would probably even win. Kreuzritter or Sentinel would give Hulk an incredible battle, as might Capt. Thunder or some of the really powerful M&M villains. Kind of makes me wonder what SAS Hulk, ported through the Reality Storm conversion system, might look like compared to Darren's Hulk.

If you go ahead with a Hero SF campaign, I'd recommend: 5th edition rulebook Star Hero Possibly Terran Empire Probably the forthcoming Spacer's Toolkit As Steve says, The Ultimate Vehicle is very similar to Star Hero for spaceships (though it has an edge in its mecha rules).

Failure to proofread Yeah, I was too busy to read Star Hero manuscript, and then cringed with a twinge of guilt each time I found an error in the published book.

There's been enough talk about the Military SF genre book (Xeno Wars ?) that I think Apocalypse Hero might be done someday, but with the schedule already full into 2005 or 2006, someday is a long way away.

I think it's 80 active points to have a total of 6 forms at 325 points each. It may be hard to find sufficient disadvantages for each form if the GM enforces the reduced values limitations. The END cost looks quite high. If you're down 50% of your END after a change, then lose 24 END to the multi-form change, it will be noticeable. Extra Time (1 turn) to change is half of -1 1/4 (or -1/2), based on the assumption the character can initiate the change and act during the turn while waiting for the change to occur. I guess it would be -3/4 (and well deserved) if the character was unable to act during the turn the change takes place.

Just a little anecdote. I included Blowtorch in a recent battle. I'd used him under 4th edition many times and felt I had a good grasp of his capabilities. I used the 5th edition writeup and was dramatically shocked by the result. Although he's still limited to 67 active point attacks, Blowtorch's main attack seems to have gone from 9D6 Autofire EB to 3D6 AP RKA. And he still has Find Weakness with it. In my campaign, where defences are typically 20 PD/ED, with 10-12 resistant and no hardening, he's gone from a worthy opponent to a no-nonsense killer. For some reason, the revised Bulldozer had jumped right out at me, but Blowtorch's tuneup snuck by me until it nearly killed a PC.

A sentence you never thought you would utter The players are traveling to Destruga, Dr. Destroyer's mobile island base. Wall-E: So what altitude is the island flying at ? GM: The island doesn't fly. Wall-E: I thought it moved ? GM: Yes, but it doesn't fly, it sails. Wall-E: It has a big sail ? GM: (sigh) No. It's a mobile, non-flying island but no sails.

There's no shame in showing Nighthawk dodging or blocking a lot of attacks; if you've tried to play him, you've done the same.

He is, sort of, Seeker's replacement.

As a GM, I might allow it so long as the VPP isn't actually Cosmic. If it's only to give Multiforms, and the multiforms only are your base form plus 125 points of physical powers instead of your VPP, I'd probably allow it (subject to typical restrictions; the new form has to fit campaign damage and speed limits, the new forms should usually be written up ahead of time whenever possible for speed, etc.)

I'm facing this question right now. A team spokesman and sometimes leader is a brick, but not an indestructible one. In fact, he only has 12 rED (non-hardened) and 10 BODY. In a run-in with Blowtorch, he got hit twice with the 3D6 RKA AP, and both times rolled 14 BODY. With the villains holding the field after the battle, would they save him ? If so, why ? I can easily say they want to interrogate this team leader, but the player (who doesn't know the Silver Age) finds it a weak excuse.

I don't think you can take Visible to save on the VPP as some of the powers (flight, HKA) are inherently visible. I might want to look at the cost of building it as a VPP (probably with shapeshift outside) versus a multipower with specific slots. 45 VPP ? VPP control cost (perhaps 36 for no roll, 1/2 phase to change, physical powers only) vs. 45 Multipower 9m 3D6 HKA 9m 20" Flight, x4 NCM 5m 15 rPD 15rED Armour, costs END, visible etc.