Killer Shrike

This is the House Rule I've used for Dispel in various settings...works for me but YMMV:
 
DISPEL (5e & 6e) DISPEL DICE OF EFFECT + DICE ROLL When used as per the rules, Dispel suffers from point disparities which generally result in a Dispel ability either being very narrowly defined and corner case, or so encumbered by advantages that the dice of effect are too low to be reasonably capable of affecting equivalently pointed target abilities. Due to this lack of teeth, Dispels are rarely ever actually taken by player characters, unless their cost can be subsumed into a Multipower or Variable Power Pool, and in general Dispels tend to go unused during play as they hardly ever work vs creditable opponents. This house rule allows a reasonably defined Dispel with some degree of Expanded Effect to still be viable vs abilities with equivalent Active Points. Dispel grants a base effect equal to the number of dice the character has in Dispel, plus the roll. Thus a 6d6 Dispel confers +6 points of automatic effect, while a 12d6 Dispel confers +12 points of automatic effect, and so on. ABORT TO DISPEL Even though Dispel has a defensive use (countering attacks before they can take effect), the Power is not flagged as a "Defensive" ability, and is flagged as an "Attack". The rules more generally allow a character to Abort to a defensive action, but does not allow characters to Abort to an attack. It has been a long standing house rule of mine that a character can abort to a Dispel if it would protect them from harm. A character with a relevant Dispel can Abort to Dispel an incoming attack that would harm them.

So after some self deliberation I think I will go with a cumulative -1 to the RSR per failure.  It fits the description of the style being quick and flashy.  I see that as being prone to mistakes that add up over time.  And I know in Hero a -1 sounds little, but when it gets to -3 then it really will begin to hurt.  

This is the House Rule I've used for Dispel in various settings...works for me but YMMV:
 
DISPEL (5e & 6e) DISPEL DICE OF EFFECT + DICE ROLL When used as per the rules, Dispel suffers from point disparities which generally result in a Dispel ability either being very narrowly defined and corner case, or so encumbered by advantages that the dice of effect are too low to be reasonably capable of affecting equivalently pointed target abilities. Due to this lack of teeth, Dispels are rarely ever actually taken by player characters, unless their cost can be subsumed into a Multipower or Variable Power Pool, and in general Dispels tend to go unused during play as they hardly ever work vs creditable opponents. This house rule allows a reasonably defined Dispel with some degree of Expanded Effect to still be viable vs abilities with equivalent Active Points. Dispel grants a base effect equal to the number of dice the character has in Dispel, plus the roll. Thus a 6d6 Dispel confers +6 points of automatic effect, while a 12d6 Dispel confers +12 points of automatic effect, and so on. ABORT TO DISPEL Even though Dispel has a defensive use (countering attacks before they can take effect), the Power is not flagged as a "Defensive" ability, and is flagged as an "Attack". The rules more generally allow a character to Abort to a defensive action, but does not allow characters to Abort to an attack. It has been a long standing house rule of mine that a character can abort to a Dispel if it would protect them from harm. A character with a relevant Dispel can Abort to Dispel an incoming attack that would harm them.

OK some analysis:
 
The thing is, bare Dispel works well: on average you're going to get exactly the active cost or better on average that you paid for the dispel.
 
ACTIVE                AVG
COST      DICE    ROLL
   10         3d6       10
   20         7d6       24
   30        10d6      35
   40        13d6      45
   50        17d6      59
   60        20d6     70
 
Its when you start adding modifiers to it that things get odd.  
 
+¼ Advantage
ACTIVE                AVG
COST      DICE    ROLL
   10         2½d6    9
   20         5d6      17
   30         8d6      28
   40        10d6     35
   50        13d6     45    
   60        16d6     56
 
+½ Advantage
ACTIVE                AVG
COST      DICE    ROLL
   10         2d6        7
   20       4½d6     16
   30       6½d6     23
   40       8½d6     30
   50        11d6      38
   60        13d6      45
 
Now, this happens with damage too; a 60 active point blast with penetration is 8d6 (28 average stun) or with armor piercing is 9½d6 (33 stun) with damage instead of 12d6 (42 average stun).  That's usually not a problem because the advantages increase effect on the target, such as halving defenses. 
 
But dispel is all or nothing; it works or it does not, and modifiers don't increase that effect.  You can buy armor piercing, for example, but it doesn't do anything unless the target has power defense.  So advantages just strip down power and you get less and less effect.  In a fantasy campaign, for example, you're going to tend to have fairly broad advantages on dispel, such as "affects all magic" which will strip down the effect of dispel significantly and making it fairly weak.
 
So if that effect was true of damage, it would be as if none of the advantages actually increased impact and instead was stuff like Variable Special Effect, Reduced END Cost, and Increased Range.  You'd just do less damage to your targets and it wouldn't feel like it was ever worth advantages.
 
The problem here is that Dispel acts like an attack, but isn't really.  It acts like a defense too, but its aggressive; it targets and takes effect as Shrike noted.  So its a hybrid that is neither fish nor fowl and the rules don't work precisely on Dispel.
 
The trick is to find a way to combat that effect, without making it too effective.

This is the House Rule I've used for Dispel in various settings...works for me but YMMV:
 
DISPEL (5e & 6e) DISPEL DICE OF EFFECT + DICE ROLL When used as per the rules, Dispel suffers from point disparities which generally result in a Dispel ability either being very narrowly defined and corner case, or so encumbered by advantages that the dice of effect are too low to be reasonably capable of affecting equivalently pointed target abilities. Due to this lack of teeth, Dispels are rarely ever actually taken by player characters, unless their cost can be subsumed into a Multipower or Variable Power Pool, and in general Dispels tend to go unused during play as they hardly ever work vs creditable opponents. This house rule allows a reasonably defined Dispel with some degree of Expanded Effect to still be viable vs abilities with equivalent Active Points. Dispel grants a base effect equal to the number of dice the character has in Dispel, plus the roll. Thus a 6d6 Dispel confers +6 points of automatic effect, while a 12d6 Dispel confers +12 points of automatic effect, and so on. ABORT TO DISPEL Even though Dispel has a defensive use (countering attacks before they can take effect), the Power is not flagged as a "Defensive" ability, and is flagged as an "Attack". The rules more generally allow a character to Abort to a defensive action, but does not allow characters to Abort to an attack. It has been a long standing house rule of mine that a character can abort to a Dispel if it would protect them from harm. A character with a relevant Dispel can Abort to Dispel an incoming attack that would harm them.

Doesn't have to be a Drain vs a Skill Roll. Penalties to Skill Rolls and how long or under what conditions they apply are entirely in GM's discretion land (see rules on Skill Modifiers, generally). 
 
Obviously scope, degree, and duration considerations apply here, as does consideration of combat vs non-combat impact.
 
For instance a cumulative -1 penalty to Preciat that lasts for a Day per failed RSR: Preciat or a cumulative -1 penalty to all 3d6 resolutions made by the caster that lasts until the end of the current combat per failed RSR: Preciat might both be appropriate as a Minor Side Effect but have different ramifications. 
 
If one must mechanic absolutely every little thing however, 5th edition also offered the notion of Negative Skill Levels as a kind of No Range, Constant, END costing custom power that could be applied to a target to impose a skill penalty. One could model a 0 END Persistent version of such as an SE effect if one were so disposed. I likely wouldn't bother as I'm not uncomfortable using GM's discretion for this sort of thing, but it's an option.

In 6e Skills, pg 54 an alternative is suggested of treating skills as Defense Powers and having adjustment powers only have half effect on them.
For Characteristic based skills (magic rolls are often, but not always, characteristic based), you can drain the characteristic itself, either with or without the limitation "Only for calculation of skill base" (which I would value at -1 generally). 
 
Personally, I use a mix of CE and Killer Shrike's "GM Fiat" method. If the effect is imposed externally (another caster creating a field that disrupts the ability to call magic) then I generally use Change Environment because I prefer to have mechanics available in case the players come up with something innovative to offset or mitigate the effect via their own magic. If the effects is self imposed (Side Effects or other penalties built into the system itself for improper materials, rushing, etc.) then I generally lay out those penalties for myself and don't worry about mechanics. If a situation comes up where someone has a great idea to work around it and it works for the flow of the story I just go with it.
 
- E

Doesn't have to be a Drain vs a Skill Roll. Penalties to Skill Rolls and how long or under what conditions they apply are entirely in GM's discretion land (see rules on Skill Modifiers, generally). 
 
Obviously scope, degree, and duration considerations apply here, as does consideration of combat vs non-combat impact.
 
For instance a cumulative -1 penalty to Preciat that lasts for a Day per failed RSR: Preciat or a cumulative -1 penalty to all 3d6 resolutions made by the caster that lasts until the end of the current combat per failed RSR: Preciat might both be appropriate as a Minor Side Effect but have different ramifications. 
 
If one must mechanic absolutely every little thing however, 5th edition also offered the notion of Negative Skill Levels as a kind of No Range, Constant, END costing custom power that could be applied to a target to impose a skill penalty. One could model a 0 END Persistent version of such as an SE effect if one were so disposed. I likely wouldn't bother as I'm not uncomfortable using GM's discretion for this sort of thing, but it's an option.

So...I think you are referring to my Metier magic system, and the Preciat style specifically? 

http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/MagicSystems/metierStyles.aspx
 
I'm going to assume the answer is yes, and proceed. Note: I'm going to refer to Side Effects as SE and Requires Skill Roll as RSR throughout to save typing.
 
A few things:
 
1) In both 5e and 6e Minor SEs (such as what the Preciat style has) are 15 AP not 30 AP...

 
2) SE paired with an RSR occur when the skill roll is failed (unless the Always Occurs modifier to SE is also applied). In the case of Preciat and other Metier Styles that take a SE that is not also Always Occurs, the RSR is the corresponding required Metier Style skill, and thus the SE only occurs if that RSR fails.
 
3) You can do a lot of things with Side Effects, not just inflict damage.
 
Personally, I like self-referential SE's which tie back to the thing that caused the SE; in the case of magic use diminishing the caster's ability to cast further magic has a nice feedback loop component. An obvious one is a temporary penalty to the Metier Style skill itself for a period of time...dialing the penalty amount and the unit of time to suit your preferences or the situation. For endurance using magic systems I liked to use a fatigue based model. I used Long Term Endurance rules generally in most of my Fantasy Hero campaigns, and piggy backed on that for magic systems that used END. But a Drain based option also works. Anyway, I describe both approaches in detail in the following document:
 
http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/GeneralSpellRestrictions.aspx#SideEffects
 
You could also define a cross-cutting ambient notion (such as ley lines or Darksun-like defilers, or what have you) and have SE do something like deplete the ambient magic of the local area for some period of time...you could go further and tie it into Change Environment to apply a flat penalty to something within the affected area. And so on.
 
But, there's an entire section in the SE write up talking about all the various creative things one can bend SE to do for a reason. IMO "takes damage" is the least interesting / least creative / least useful option. If you put a little thought into it, you can use SE on a magic system or individual spell type effect to dial up the flavor and feel of that particular type of magic. 
 
4) The GM is explicitly told they can adjust the impact of SE to suit their campaign.
 

 
So, if even after considering the above points and possibly settling into a version of SE that isn't just "you take a lot of no-defense damage and maybe die", you still feel like SE is to punitive for your tastes...just turn the dial a bit to ratchet it down. This is how I approach universal "toolkit" type systems, and Hero in particular...  

 
I hope some part of this response is helpful, and I'm glad to hear people are still using my Fantasy Hero material...let me know if you encounter any specific things you have questions on and I'll try to answer them.
 
 
 

So...I think you are referring to my Metier magic system, and the Preciat style specifically? 

http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/MagicSystems/metierStyles.aspx
 
I'm going to assume the answer is yes, and proceed. Note: I'm going to refer to Side Effects as SE and Requires Skill Roll as RSR throughout to save typing.
 
A few things:
 
1) In both 5e and 6e Minor SEs (such as what the Preciat style has) are 15 AP not 30 AP...

 
2) SE paired with an RSR occur when the skill roll is failed (unless the Always Occurs modifier to SE is also applied). In the case of Preciat and other Metier Styles that take a SE that is not also Always Occurs, the RSR is the corresponding required Metier Style skill, and thus the SE only occurs if that RSR fails.
 
3) You can do a lot of things with Side Effects, not just inflict damage.
 
Personally, I like self-referential SE's which tie back to the thing that caused the SE; in the case of magic use diminishing the caster's ability to cast further magic has a nice feedback loop component. An obvious one is a temporary penalty to the Metier Style skill itself for a period of time...dialing the penalty amount and the unit of time to suit your preferences or the situation. For endurance using magic systems I liked to use a fatigue based model. I used Long Term Endurance rules generally in most of my Fantasy Hero campaigns, and piggy backed on that for magic systems that used END. But a Drain based option also works. Anyway, I describe both approaches in detail in the following document:
 
http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/GeneralSpellRestrictions.aspx#SideEffects
 
You could also define a cross-cutting ambient notion (such as ley lines or Darksun-like defilers, or what have you) and have SE do something like deplete the ambient magic of the local area for some period of time...you could go further and tie it into Change Environment to apply a flat penalty to something within the affected area. And so on.
 
But, there's an entire section in the SE write up talking about all the various creative things one can bend SE to do for a reason. IMO "takes damage" is the least interesting / least creative / least useful option. If you put a little thought into it, you can use SE on a magic system or individual spell type effect to dial up the flavor and feel of that particular type of magic. 
 
4) The GM is explicitly told they can adjust the impact of SE to suit their campaign.
 

 
So, if even after considering the above points and possibly settling into a version of SE that isn't just "you take a lot of no-defense damage and maybe die", you still feel like SE is to punitive for your tastes...just turn the dial a bit to ratchet it down. This is how I approach universal "toolkit" type systems, and Hero in particular...  

 
I hope some part of this response is helpful, and I'm glad to hear people are still using my Fantasy Hero material...let me know if you encounter any specific things you have questions on and I'll try to answer them.
 
 
 

So...I think you are referring to my Metier magic system, and the Preciat style specifically? 

http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/MagicSystems/metierStyles.aspx
 
I'm going to assume the answer is yes, and proceed. Note: I'm going to refer to Side Effects as SE and Requires Skill Roll as RSR throughout to save typing.
 
A few things:
 
1) In both 5e and 6e Minor SEs (such as what the Preciat style has) are 15 AP not 30 AP...

 
2) SE paired with an RSR occur when the skill roll is failed (unless the Always Occurs modifier to SE is also applied). In the case of Preciat and other Metier Styles that take a SE that is not also Always Occurs, the RSR is the corresponding required Metier Style skill, and thus the SE only occurs if that RSR fails.
 
3) You can do a lot of things with Side Effects, not just inflict damage.
 
Personally, I like self-referential SE's which tie back to the thing that caused the SE; in the case of magic use diminishing the caster's ability to cast further magic has a nice feedback loop component. An obvious one is a temporary penalty to the Metier Style skill itself for a period of time...dialing the penalty amount and the unit of time to suit your preferences or the situation. For endurance using magic systems I liked to use a fatigue based model. I used Long Term Endurance rules generally in most of my Fantasy Hero campaigns, and piggy backed on that for magic systems that used END. But a Drain based option also works. Anyway, I describe both approaches in detail in the following document:
 
http://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/GeneralSpellRestrictions.aspx#SideEffects
 
You could also define a cross-cutting ambient notion (such as ley lines or Darksun-like defilers, or what have you) and have SE do something like deplete the ambient magic of the local area for some period of time...you could go further and tie it into Change Environment to apply a flat penalty to something within the affected area. And so on.
 
But, there's an entire section in the SE write up talking about all the various creative things one can bend SE to do for a reason. IMO "takes damage" is the least interesting / least creative / least useful option. If you put a little thought into it, you can use SE on a magic system or individual spell type effect to dial up the flavor and feel of that particular type of magic. 
 
4) The GM is explicitly told they can adjust the impact of SE to suit their campaign.
 

 
So, if even after considering the above points and possibly settling into a version of SE that isn't just "you take a lot of no-defense damage and maybe die", you still feel like SE is to punitive for your tastes...just turn the dial a bit to ratchet it down. This is how I approach universal "toolkit" type systems, and Hero in particular...  

 
I hope some part of this response is helpful, and I'm glad to hear people are still using my Fantasy Hero material...let me know if you encounter any specific things you have questions on and I'll try to answer them.
 
 
 

I like the Monster Hunter RPG that Hero publishes, and I've played in KillerShrike's Here There Be Monsters game, which shares some of the same aspects as Monster Hunter. I also really liked Grimm and its masquerade concept.
 
My setting preference is something more along the lines of Feng Shui, especially if I've rewatched Big Trouble In Little China again. I like guns, martial arts, monsters and mysticism in the right mix.
 
 

So you are probably better off either PM'ing him or emailing him (killershrike@killershrike.com) than posting here. But I can tell you he is pretty busy in RL with his job at the moment. I did most of the DnD 5e spells to Hero 6e conversions for the site and not much changed from Hero 5e to Hero 6e in terms of actual cost changes. There was a philosophy change at Hero that increased points at various scales, to my mind with the goal of encouraging more background skills, perks, talents, etc. That change does not materially alter the way you convert characters from D&D (or other systems) until you reach step 7. Figured characteristics are no longer used, you should have more points for "I've always wanted to be able to..." kinds of skills, perks, etc. 
 
There are a few things that changed, got more or less expensive or just work slightly differently from Hero 5e to 6e, but those have been covered many times and you can find them in a quick search.
 
- E

If you are determined to have PDF's, you can use any of the html based exports for HD, and then "print to PDF" from a browser. Depending on which browser you use the exact labels will vary, but its pretty basic functionality to "print" targeting a PDF format which results in a pdf file being distilled.
 

Joey Manegarm.pdf

Yes, coming up with a character sheet format that works for you and the players for Hero System is more difficult than it seems. I remember printing off the character sheets from Hero Designer directly and it was a hot mess of font that was difficult for the players to read unless they had a magnifying glass. 🤪I later developed a character template that I liked for 6th Edition that was adapted from what I saw on Killer Shrike's website. It's attached as a reference and is in Microsoft Word format for easy input. If you like it, please let me know and I'll post it in the downloads section.
WonderWoman.pdf

Here's how I did it for my MetaCyber campaign back in the day:
 
http://www.killershrike.com/MetaCyber/MetaCyberCharacters_BodyTech_Cybernetics_Skills.aspx
 

"Dear Penhouse, you'll never believe what just happened to me ..."

Fortunately there are two new bundles at Bundle of Holding that for not much money can get you an amazing start with 6e!
 
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Hero6E
 
https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Champions6E
 

I used them all (and others) in a campaign setting back in the day _in theory_ but not all of them actually made an appearance "on camera" so to speak. Many of the example characters are of that setting, actually.
 
Long story short, it is viable but exercise GM discretion as you go.
 
You might also want to look at the Here There Be Monsters content as I reworked some of those magic systems (and introduced new ones) in that context. 
 
http://www.killershrike.com/HereThereBeMonsters/Origin_Mystic.aspx

I ran an MHI campaign using the magic systems from Here There Be Monsters. It worked pretty well and was balanced for the setting. We ended up with a psychic, a Daemonsouled, a professional / gadgeteer, a professional / sharpshooter and... well the last was an innatus but basically he had spells laid on him by his dead wife to protect him from her enemies. It was a nice mix and played pretty well. 
 
I have used variations on the Alchemy system and will be using another variation in my new campaign. The base magic system in my new campaign is very loosely based off of Runecrafting but has since morphed into something that would likely not be recognizable from the original. 😃
 
- E

I like the alchemy section so I think I'll add it in for all cultures!

Agreed. This was part of my 5th edition character creations guidelines for "Champions Universe" superheroes...were I to run a 6e supers campaign in the CU I would just update this and go.
 
Setting is a separate Dimension For reference purposes, the Champions Universe setting as described in the 5th edition era as used by me can be referred to as CU5-KS1 and by the book Champions Universe can be referred to as CU5. The official Champions Universes of today (5th edition) and yesteryear (1st thru 4th edition) can be thought of as alternate dimensions in classic Comic Book style. A few key deviations between CU5 and the CU5-KS1 dimension: Magic is not the seed of all superpowers. The Champions went missing a year ago. No one seems to know where they went. This isn't necessarily a campaign plot point, I just wanted them out of the way so that the PC's can have the stage. Their base and other accoutrements are in the care of Dr. Silverback in the meantime. The smart chips used in MC are not generally known about by anyone, even most cops. Turakian Age, Valdorian Age, Terran Empire, Galactic Champions, and other published settings are not in the same timeline as CU5-KS1. Campaign morality is a little darker than CU proper. Not Iron Age dark, but a little grittier. People do get killed, and Killing attacks are used from time to time. Killing people as a hero will result in legal action and/or issues with other non-lethal heroes.

First thought: eliminate VIPER's serpent-god patron, Nama, by attacking him in this low-magic time when he's most vulnerable. This era is when Nama and his brother and sister first found the caves whose strange vapors granted them immortality. They could be killed while they're still normal serpents, before achieving enormous size and sapience. Kind of like the concept of murdering Hitler as a child. Mind you, The Valdorian Age specifies that the serpents aren't from Il-Ryveras, the part of the globe which VA describes. They'd be from elsewhere in the world surveyed in The Atlantean Age, but that book doesn't mention them. I have my own theory, though, which I think fits the available histories quite well. (Steve Long admitted that he forgot to include the three serpents when he wrote AA.)
 
Another target could be the Towers of the First and Last Sunset, abandoned capital of the Drindrish and apparently a place of lingering supernatural horrors. They could contain some artifact of magic or book of lore that heroes from the future need to acquire; or perhaps there's a reason why those heroes want to learn the final fate of those descendants of the Elves.
 
I'll give it more thought and get back to you.
 
EDIT: Oh, I thought of another possibility: magical materials. As Il-Ryveras is part of the same global configuration containing the island of Atlantis and the Lemurian Archipelago, time-travelers could travel to those lands when they were on the surface, and before the Atlanteans and Lemurians inhabited them, to take all the orichalcum and/or ignaetium they want. Of course they might still have to deal with hostile natives and monsters, but that's better than confronting whole magic-packing armies.
 
 

One in what, three decades?  I'm not sure anyone can match your knowledge or track record.  I know I can't.
 
I was only confident because I argued for the change in 6e due to the 5e FAQs.
 
The problem with Transfer was, once again, that it was a Drain (which should keep working as an attack) and an Aid (which has a cap). 
 
Once the call was made that Transfer stops Draining if the points have nowhere to go, the AoE became a problem.  Remove that call, and it's clear that Transfer is just a Drain with a Linked Aid, so why not get rid of all the problems with "Transfer as one Power" by making it the construct KS cited above?
 
I am pretty sure changes to Hand Attack over the years all arose from its effectiveness in prior games being problematic.  Aid acting as Healing - same issue.  Rules often change to address problems encountered in play.

From the 5e FAQ (which I think ended up in the 5er rules):
 
 
That FAQ also noted that you had to buy delayed fade rate twice, once for the Drain and again for the Aid, and do the same for Variable Effect.
 
BTW, Killer Shrike, Transfer was in 5e.  It was revised to a Linked Aid and Drain in 6e.