Lightning91

Re: Status of Narosia

I am thoroughly looking forward to the release of Narosia. At the risk of sounding impatient, I was wondering if there was any recent status update. The last update on Kickstarter was on January 19th.

I figure that good news is better then bad news, but that bad news is better then no news. By any chance could we get an update (or better yet, pseudo-regular updates)?

Re: Champions Villains 3: Solo Villains Kickstarter is LIVE

Currently (as of 04/27/2012) it is at $3,535 of $14,000. Still plenty of time to join us backers!!!

Re: HERO System Grimoire

I ordered the dead tree and pdf tonight. Not sure if I like or understand that the book's cover is not included in the pdf. Instead the pdf is a zip file containing three files: the book, cover, and index. I hope in the future they return to including the cover in the main pdf.

Re: Delete this, please...

So does Escafarc have the record for the longest period prior to thread necromancy? Almost seven years!!!!

While perusing my copy of Fantasy Hero 6e, I realized there were multiple references to Hero System Skill (HSS), including page references. I had not seen any announcements for this 6e book, but assumed it would be The Ultimate Skill updated for 6e. What really attracted my attention were the page references, since I could not imagine these would be available unless the book was in the layout stage. After a quick review of The Ultimate Skill, I realize the page references matches without exception.

Has anyone heard if they plan to re-release The Ultimate Skill with a new title and/or new cover when it is time to re-print? I doubt any major revisions are planned given the inclusion of page references in FH6e. Was there an announcement that I missed?

Re: Steambirds

CURSE THIS THREAD!!! And my loss of sleep. However, I finally finished all the levels without being injured and achieved the rank of National Hero. Yay me!

Now I return myself back to my regularly scheduled life.

Re: Title Tag Returns!

Ring of Dragon's Flame

Having followed the regal wizard back across the wall between our dimension and his, the heroes are taken to "the prison". There, they are shown Traxis, a venerable and immense dragon, breathing his fire at a mystic circle, where the flames form a wall from floor to ceiling.

The wizard explains to the heroes, that before them lies a mystic cell, which contains the immortal scion of the dimension's god of battle and a demon. In the distant past, the "Prisoner" was narrowly defeated and then entrapped in the most powerful mystic bindings that could be devised. The benign Traxis has dedicated his life in the service of the people, powering the enchantments.

Alas, the "Prisoner" is an immortal and although dragons live scores of human lifetimes, Traxis is ancient for even his kind and will soon breath his last. The heroes' assistance is needed to protect the people of the wizard's dimension and our own.

Title List:

1) The Europe Connection

2) The Blind Date

3) From the Mind of a Child

Re: No more Figured Characteristics?!

DCV Man, DCV Man

DCV Man hates OCV Man

they get in a fight, OCV wins

OCV Man

I need to add to Chris Goodwin's rep so badly.... but alas the system says I need to spread it around first!

P.S. I think removing figured characteristics allows for more options in character generation and otherwise makes the game more accessible to new players.

Re: 6th Edition Books on eReader?

I have a Kindle 6" US. The new pdf functionality makes the pdf's readable, since you can now rotate the screen manually and there is some zoom functionality. Unfortunately, when zoomed, you move around the page in large chunks. Since the Hero pdfs have 2 columns (or more if you cant the side bars), the level of zoom may be less then optimal if you want to read the entire column with out have to page back and forth. However, it is at least now an option.

I moved all my Hero pdf files to my Kindle. They all open and display reasonably well, with the exception of Champions Powers. The cover shots and the interior title page of Champions Powers (first 3 pages of the pdf) cause my Kindle to run slowly and/or lock up. Additionally, when those pages are displayed, an error box appears which says that not all elements of the page could be rendered. I advise Kindle users, to open the pdf and press the page next and wait patiently until it advances. Repeat until you are at the table of contents. Then never go back to the cover. The remaining portions of the pdf that I have reviewed, seem to work fine.

Re: Great White Hunter's Bestiary - 6e or 5e?

Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately I can't rep you at this time.

I was curious. Was the Great White Hunter's Bestiary listed in the Online Store written for 5e or 6e?

It is listed under 6th ed Rule Books, but I thought it was completed last year, before the release or 6e.

I noticed a slight change in the velocity addition in 6e2 vs. Champions 6e martial throws (Str + v/5 vs. Str +v/10). The new velocity addition seems consistent throughout the Champions pdf (Kinetik, Green Dragon, Pulsar and Agent minions). Was there an errata or change between the volumes, or is this a reduction intended for just supers campaigns?

Re: Announcing Kazei 5, Second Edition

... Well' date=' there's a repetition in the top of the left column, p. 233: "[...S']o to her, the needs, wants, and opinions of your average non-esper is pretty much meaningless to her".

 

I could have sworn there was really a word missing in one of the sidebars, but I can't for the life of me find the place!

In the Plot Seed side bar is the text:

Smart PCs may realize that with hair like Shion’s there’s sure to some

stands scattered inside, which then leads to the next question: “Who would want her DNA? And why?”

I think you meant, "there are sure to be some strands scattered inside."

Re: Post "gotchas" here

I was also surprised to see that Change Environment can be used to target an individual in 6e. In fact it is now the base for buying it, with comments indicating that it is commonly bought with the Area of Effect advantage. Interesting change!

(and yes, I meant that I had not seen the others in 5er, but I forgot to look at force field. Thanks! )

Re: Post "gotchas" here

I do not believe there was anything like the Allocatable advantage to Resistant Protection (previously Armor) in 5e. (6e1-276)

I also do not see the Impermiable or Protects Carried Items adders either.

Re: Post "gotchas" here

Apparently, Defender's reconstructive chin surgery, scheduled between 5er and 6e, was a complete success!

Re: Post "gotchas" here

10 pt CSLs (previously 8 pts in 5er), can not be used for Mental attacks. I know this was discussed elsewhere and may not come up often, but it's a bit subtle.

Re: Lifetime Subscription

Yes!!! I now have a lifetime subscription. Now I need to research a new computer.

Re: Lifetime Subscription

One of the reasons I held off, was that I was researching a new laptop. With Windows 7 not coming out to Oct 22, I think I may wait until then for both laptop and game. I just don't feel like dealing with a MS upgrade, and I am hoping 7 is more gamer-friendly then Vista.

I will likely still play.... I just might wait until this season of DWTS is over.

Re: Lifetime Subscription

The lifetime subscriptions were closed earlier today (08/25/09). There seems to be some ire about Cryptic closing the offer prior to 09/01/09.

I guess I snoozed and lost.

Re: The unofficial: I Have 6th edition thread

I also bought the mega-bundle on Wed. I have only had a chance to skim through them so far. It seems easier to read somehow, whether from having more familiarity or from the additional white space of 6e.

Re: Reactions to 6e

But pivoting the monitor does work well for reading pdfs....

That is after you troubleshoot why the setting won't stick since you updated to SP3 and then have to download a new driver. But working great since then.

Re: Dramatic use of Skills

What I envision is a system where a character using skills during a dramatic scene would be as heavily engaged as the character next to him that is engaged in combat.

An example from the Movie Transformers:

....and he did all this while his friends were fighting in combat, and yet it was the focal point of tension at that point of the movie.

I guess I have never played in that many games where the use of skills was required/desireable during combat.

I think the lack of depth in skill resolution in many systems springs from early AD&D, which at best considered skills as an afterthought (they did better in 3.0). The ShadowRun system sounds similar to what I am describing (sorry never played).

:help:My first post on these boards was in a thread soliciting input for the Ultimate Skill. While reviewing the 6th Edition Discussion, I decided to repost it here for possible discussion:

The vast majority of RPGs are combat-centric, but several genres of novels, movies, TV shows etc... use skill-driven characters as their primary source of drama. Examples would include: many episodes of Star Trek, Dr. Who, Mission Impossible, car racing shows, and heist/thief/spy.

With a single die role determining success or failure, RPGs do a poor job at recreating this tension. I believe that the lack of importance on skill resolution encourages players to forego skills in favor of munchkin combat-monsters. Therefore, I present the following discussion, in hopes that this issue might be addressed in the TUS.

I believe that the key, to increasing dramatic tension of skill use, is the use of time constraints and allowing tactical options in the use of the skills. However to create tension from the time constraints, some mechanism to allow for progress prior to success might also need to be included.

By time constraints, I mean some factor encouraging the character/player to accomplish the desired goal as quickly as possible, not an explicit time constraint. Examples of time constraint factors could include:

- Disarming a time-bomb before it goes off (succeed in four turns or else).

- Skill vs skill contest (time constraint is succeeding before ones opponent)

- Negative effects to PC or party until success is achieved. Negative effects could include: radiation damage until the reactor is shutdown, spaceship is unresponsive (neg to pilot role) until hydraulics are repaired, injured character can not be removed from a combat zone until stabilized by a paramedic, etc...

- Overmatched spaceship's engines must be repaired before superior enemy warship is able to lock on lasers.

- Prison guards continue to arrive until bluff attempt succeeds, increasing possibility that they will notice the concealed escape tunnel.

- K-wing fighter stabilizers are going bad, with a negative accumulating each turn, although the situation can be repaired slightly each phase by the engineer (-4 to piloting each turn, with a +1 for each avionics roll success (time constraint is race against increasing negative effect).

However, just adjusting a single die roll by a time factor will not capture the tension. This will require some mechanism, where the skill determines the extent of the progress. This way, when the star-gunner is rolling for his laser blasts each round and increasing damage against his opponent, the engineer is rolling to determine his progress on the stardrive as well (who wants to wait 3 turns and then roll once to see if the ship's engines work and it can get away?). I see a few different ways of introducing multiple rolls for progress:

Success could requires multiple steps (and therefore skill-rolls) (e.g. disarming the bomb requires role to remove cover, identifying components, accessing wires to be cut, and cutting wires without tripping motion sensors). This would require some imagination and flexibility on the part of the GM; plus care would be needed that the PC did not interpret the GM as just piling on more tasks to extend the situation.

Another way is to set a threshold that needs to be overcome for success, and roll to determine amount of the threshold accomplished. Examples of methods for overcoming the thresholds could include:

- Totaling the amount die-rolls exceed the minimum skill roll success (i.e. I made my computer programming roll by 3, so I only need 15 more points until I bypass the firewall and I can access the mob-boss's network).

- Rolling dice equal to the skill level and totaling body, possibly subtracting an amount for the difficulty (i.e. I have a 12- for Ancient Runes. Therefore I roll 12d6, total body, and subtract 7 for difficulty; continuing until I reach a total of 25 and have completed translating the hieroglyphs representing the spell to dispel the ancient mummy killing my comrades).

- Same as previous, but total stun... Nah, who wants to add up stun?

- A given number of successes means success (i.e. three interrogation checks convinces the terrorist to telephone and distract his comrades, giving a tactical advantage to the approaching SWAT team).

- A mechanic similar to the non-mapped vehicle combat rules.

The final element I see in increasing the dramatic effect of skill use, is allowing the PC to make strategic/tactical decisions with tradeoffs impacting his speed and chances of success. This will largely be determined by the GM based on specific circumstances. A PC in combat can choose combat maneuvers, to hold actions, to recover, methods of attack etc... Examples of decisions for skills could include:

- Using strength or finesse to return a hydraulic ram to its normal position. Strength is faster, but if the PC fails by 5 or more the ram cracks or breaks.

- During interrogation, PC could claim to have evidence that he does not have. A failure by 5 or more indicates that the interrogated individual realizes the bluff, requiring the PC to start from scratch rebuilding his credibility (total reset to 0).

- PC can attempt to accomplish two tasks at once (both with negatives), or concentrate on a single task.

- With gambling, a PC could just change the amount wagered on average per roll.

- Disarming a bomb could involve a laborious dismantling and slicing of wires, or a more risky, carefully throwing the @#$%@# thing into the lake.

Easiest way to provide PC choices, is if a player suggests a possible approach, offer that approach benefits and drawbacks compared to a more straightforward approach.

Obviously a single roll would be allowed in normal, unrushed usage of skills; nor should these elements be used in every situation. However, by placing pressure (time constraints) on the skill-user, allowing for a measurement of progress (thresholds), and allowing tactical/strategic choices in skill usage, a character who focuses on accumulating skills will become just as exciting and interesting to play as one who buys martial arts and lots of CSLs and PSLs.

Re: Fantasy Hero Hardcover

Any word on whether the hard-cover FH will have:

• Corrected errata
  
• Page numbers referencing 5er vice FRed
  
• Updated bibliography (one of the hi-lites of the book imho)
  
• Sample characters which reflect racial package deals
  
• New material:D
  

Just curious. I will attempt to purchase one if they go on-sale in the on-line store, regardless.