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Darkhope

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Posts posted by Darkhope

  1. 9 hours ago, DShomshak said:

    Heh. The last time I looked at Traveller (almost 40 years ago, ye gods) the Tech Level table was a lot simpler. I see they also moved beyond the obsession with fitting everything into a hexadecimal scale.

     

    Naturally, I could not resist designing societies that broke their crude scales of what must associate with what, such as my steam-tech belters, or nomads that carried universal-assembler microfactories on the backs of their camels. :rolleyes: (Though these were cases where interstellar colonists started out with a full suite of technology but couldn't, or didn't want to, maintain all of it.)

     

    My only comment on the posted scale is: Decimal points?

     

    Dean Shomshak

    Each tech level is supposed to be a pretty big jump. So, if someone has a 6.7 tech level for example they can slowly, very slowly, move it up decimal point by decimal point. Also, some technology comes a little easier than others but still fit on the same level. For instance, Atomic Power and Orbital Spacecraft, tech level 4.1 - 5 on the scale above. Atomic power came along in the 40's but orbital spacecraft was later in the 60's. Both similar in complexity and technology but many advancements had to be made to get to orbital spacecraft. So, I use a decimal system to differentiate the difference in tech on the same level. Players can spend 1 character point to move up their tech level by 0.1 if they "qualify." Or they can wait until I move it up based on their actions over time in game. Also, since each level is supposed to be a significant jump, I want the players to see their progression through the tech levels rather than waiting FOREVER to see a jump. 

     

    1 hour ago, DentArthurDent said:

    Darkhope, your list seems to mesh well with the existing Traveller list. Your list has some interesting techs, like “Size & Density Physics.” Is that for Shrink ray technology?

    Thanks, I think. Not very familiar with it and when I looked at the link above, I didn't like it that much. Seemed too repetitive. (Major Terraforming, Complex Terraforming, Global Terraforming, Total Terraforming for example. I'd rather just put it once at a level and of course the higher tech level you are, the better you are in that field. Terraforming on my list starts in the 12 - 13 range, but a tech level 18 race is doing some badass terraforming that a tech level 12 race can only dream of.)  I do see the benefit of organizing tech levels for each field separately, but I didn't feel the need to go that detailed. Just kept it an overall list for ease and simplicity for my players. Exactly that. Honestly, it's the most rubber science I can think of and should probably be much higher on the list, but we have Antman, so can't be that far out of reach for the players. This is why I put it a little low.

     

    Thank you guys for your feedback. I love hearing input and learning. So I appreciate it very much!

  2. 1. Each level is supposed to be a pretty big "jump." Players get a -2 to each skill roll per level. The book makes huge jumps as well and only goes to 10. Kinda bland imo.

    2. Nothing to railroads is technically 3 levels.

    3. Rubber science is the fun of star hero. So "any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic" works makes sense, to me at least.

    4. The buzzwords for my players are pretty self-explanatory and if not, I can explain it. Thats the fun of it too.

    5. Hyper drive doesn't break speed of light rules, gravity drive does. Gravity drive isn't anti grav, Gravity drive uses the gravity abundant in space to propel a ship at FTL speeds using a negative mass generator. Anti grav tech is really advanced. Canceling the effects of gravity. Flying a ship past a black hole unaffected, massive capitol ship entering atmosphere unaffected by gravity that would cause a normal ship of that size to break apart, etc.

    6. AI is artificial Intelligence as we know it, Ascension programming is "the next level AI." 

    7. Jump drive opens a gateway or portal and teleports through space at vast distances without the ship actually moving. Star Drive is a gravity drive on massive steroids. Able to travel at FTL speeds that can jump galactic rims and travel to other galaxies. 

    8. Not over thinking, made my list pretty quickly and tried to follow "common sense" progression in the high-tech realm of magic lol. Just having trouble with creative juices for a third option on the last tech level. I haven't read or scene a lot of really high tech sci-fi. Highest tech I've seen in fiction is Vorlons and Shadows in B5. I put them in the 16-18.5 range roughly.

     

    Thank you for your feedback. I enjoy explaining my list and hope you see it better now. Any more questions feel free!

     

  3. Hey everyone, looking for some feedback. For my game this progression makes a lot of sense but still interested in hearing some feedback. I don't like the one in the book going only to 10. There isn't enough examples and not enough diversity. The book recommends a -3 to rolls for every tech level you are short. I use -2 because the list is much larger going to 20. I only use 3 examples of tech in each level range for simplicity. If my players ask about something not on the list, I just assign what tech level it would be around. Each example has a range. For example, particle beams at 11.1 - 12 is just the beginning, could easily have tech level 18 particle beams. Also, theoretical understanding of a topic begins 1-2 levels below where it lies on the list. Currently I'de put the tech of our Earth in the 4 - 6 range.  I can't think of one more example for the last tech level though, 19.1 - 20. My brain isn't working. Any insights or recommendations of super powerful tech would be wonderful from you guys. 

     

    • 0             No technology
    • 0.1 - 1     Animal Power, Fire, Stone tools
    • 1.1 - 2     Wind Power, Clockwork Mechanics, Gunpowder
    • 2.1 - 3     Steam Power, Railroads, Wired Communication
    • 3.1 - 4     Electric Power, Internal Combustion, Aircraft
    • 4.1 - 5     Atomic Power, Orbital Spacecraft, Aircraft
    • 5.1 - 6     Laser Weapons, Genetic Manipulation, Quantum Computing
    • 6.1 - 7     Fusion Power, Cloning, nanotechnology
    • 7.1 - 8     Hyperdrive, Quantum Mechanics, Plasma Weapons
    • 8.1 - 9     Artificial Intelligence, Force Field Physics, Cloaking Fields
    • 9.1 - 10    Antimatter Power, Ion Cannons, Teleportation
    • 10.1 - 11   Psionic Engineering, Climate Control, Negative Mass Generator
    • 11.1 - 12   Particle Beams, Matter Replication, gravity Drive
    • 12.1 - 13   Zero Point Energy, Terraforming, Solid State Shields
    • 13.1 - 14   Bio-organic Engineering, Size & Density Physics, Temporal Mechanics
    • 14.1 - 15   Singularity Reactor, Phase Shielding, Anti-Grav Technologies
    • 15.1 - 16   Jump Drives, Pulse Cannons, Planetary Engineering
    • 16.1 - 17   Time Travel, Ascension Programming, Phase Weapons
    • 17.1 - 18    Dimensional Engineering, Dark Reactor, Genesis Physics
    • 18.1 - 19   Star Drive, Dark Energy Weapons, Null Technology
    • 19.1 - 20   Neutronium Harvesting, Photonic Engineering

     

    Also, if anyone wants to use mine for their games feel free. And if you have any questions on where I'de put other tech I'd be happy to answer!

     

    PS. Moved this from Star Hero thread to hopefully access a larger community response.

  4. Oh most definitely system matters. Has to be big enough and powerful enough to hold him as "information." I just wasn't sure how to build it. He has a machine mind link, so currently we are using that for his ability to upload/download himself. And I went with the multiform like you thought of. One for the ship and one for the robot. He wasn't happy about having to pay for the ship, thought he could just be his computer self and control the entire ship. However I am running into another problem. Each player has 10-15 points invested in the ship, however when he is in the ship multiform, he has paid for the entire ship. So, can he effectively "lock out" the other players? Are their points worthless now? Nothing has happened yet but trying to plan for future events.

  5. Hey everyone, looking for some feedback. For my game this progression makes a lot of sense but still interested in hearing some feedback. I don't like the one in the book going only to 10. There isn't enough examples and not enough diversity. The book recommends a -3 to rolls for every tech level you are short. I use -2 because the list is much larger going to 20. I only use 3 examples of tech in each level range for simplicity. If my players ask about something not on the list, I just assign what tech level it would be around. Each example has a range. For example, particle beams at 11.1 - 12 is just the beginning, could easily have tech level 18 particle beams. Also, theoretical understanding of a topic begins 1-2 levels below where it lies on the list. Currently I'de put the tech of our Earth in the 4 - 6 range.  I can't think of one more example for the last tech level though, 19.1 - 20. My brain isn't working. Any insights or recommendations of super powerful tech would be wonderful from you guys. 

     

    • 0             No technology
    • 0.1 - 1     Animal Power, Fire, Stone tools
    • 1.1 - 2     Wind Power, Clockwork Mechanics, Gunpowder
    • 2.1 - 3     Steam Power, Railroads, Wired Communication
    • 3.1 - 4     Electric Power, Internal Combustion, Aircraft
    • 4.1 - 5     Atomic Power, Orbital Spacecraft, Aircraft
    • 5.1 - 6     Laser Weapons, Genetic Manipulation, Quantum Computing
    • 6.1 - 7     Fusion Power, Cloning, nanotechnology
    • 7.1 - 8     Hyperdrive, Quantum Mechanics, Plasma Weapons
    • 8.1 - 9     Artificial Intelligence, Force Field Physics, Cloaking Fields
    • 9.1 - 10    Antimatter Power, Ion Cannons, Teleportation
    • 10.1 - 11   Psionic Engineering, Climate Control, Negative Mass Generator
    • 11.1 - 12   Particle Beams, Matter Replication, gravity Drive
    • 12.1 - 13   Zero Point Energy, Terraforming, Solid State Shields
    • 13.1 - 14   Bio-organic Engineering, Size & Density Physics, Temporal Mechanics
    • 14.1 - 15   Singularity Reactor, Phase Shielding, Anti-Grav Technologies
    • 15.1 - 16   Jump Drives, Pulse Cannons, Planetary Engineering
    • 16.1 - 17   Time Travel, Ascension Programming, Phase Weapons
    • 17.1 - 18    Dimensional Engineering, Dark Reactor, Genesis Physics
    • 18.1 - 19   Star Drive, Dark Energy Weapons, Null Technology
    • 19.1 - 20   Neutronium Harvesting, Photonic Engineering

     

    Also, if anyone wants to use mine for their games feel free. And if you have any questions on where I'de put other tech I'd be happy to answer!

  6. No he wants to permanently get rid of his body. He wants his consciousness to be in a computer, like the movie, Transcendence. He can control and manipulate pretty much any tech hooked up to "the computer." He is building a robot body that he will download into so he can go with the party and do stuff. So i get using EDM to "download/upload" himself to and from the robot and the computer. And the robot would be a multiform of the computer. If he wants to one day control both at the same time it would be duplication, but thats for later. As for now I'm just running into problem building the AI computer part. So there is no physical stats, Str, Con, Body, Com, PD, ED, END, and STUN. He will have to purchase life support total since computers are immune to all that stuff. His "self" will be downloaded into a ship from time to time when the party travels, in the base computer, and the robot. He wants to be able to "be the computer" of the ship so he can fly, fire the weapons etc just like the other crew members. They have spent points on the ship, will this change though? Any thoughts on what else I am missing?

  7. On 10/29/2015 at 3:16 PM, Balabanto said:

    High Range Radio Receive/Transmit (12), Usable Against One Recipient (+1/4), Unwilling (+1), Grantor Controls Power (+1/2), At Range (+1/2), Recipient Must Be within Standard Range when Power is Granted (+1/2), Can Only Grant the Power to Others (-1/2), OIF (-1/2), 2 charges (-1 1/2) (45 Active, 13 real points)

     

    Now he transmits to you, and the cost is not unreasonable. 2 charges so you can keep it in your gadget pool and switch it out after the tracker is applied without losing those points in your pool.

    This was completely overlooked by everyone. This is a masterpiece of power building. Kudos!

  8. I once saw a character with a power that had a conditional limitation, “active points Ego x 3” -1/2. It was explained to me that the power limited the player from spending points on it to make it better, by placing a maximum active point cost that cannot exceed the characters Ego x 3.
     

    For example, a character has an Ego of 20, then the most active points the power could have would be 60. I believe it was on an VPP that was a focus. Has anyone ever seen or heard of something like this? 

  9. I just think that is a little ridiculous and extreme. A chart? On one page of one book? Whatever happened to fair use? If I manually typed the information out is it any different? I’ve seen people ask about hit location rules and power build questions and these questions are answered all the time. So if I typed out

    E 1-3 0 points

    E 4 1 point

    E 5-6 2 points 

    etc... 

    is that ok? Because people answer questions like that in this forum every day. And it’s information from a book. How is the screen shot of the chart any different than a person answering a system question about points.

     

    Edit: to clarify, if that’s what you guys rule is then ok. But are we allowed to type the information out as long as it’s not a copy? And I don’t mean typing a whole book out. Just the power, chart, rule etc information needed for topic of discussion 

  10. Question for Hero company. I had a question on a discord server for Hero System about military ranks and points. I thought I remembered seeing it in my dark champions book but it was in storage so I couldn’t check. I found the information online and took a screenshot of the chart in the book. Is sharing that screenshot allowed? I see people asking questions about rules and costs of points all the time. But wanted to make sure it was permitted.

     

  11. Wow you guys are amazing. I see several possibilities I have to think about. Luckily I don’t believe in power caps so the high point powers could work. It’s a super game anyway, radiation fallout has genetically altered humans over the hundreds of years and they are 250pts. Thank you so much guys, very helpful!

  12. I swear the search engine on this site is the worst. I hate to bother with a question that has already been asked. But I need ya’lls mastery of the system. 

     

    Im trying to build a Harpoon gun in a post apocalyptic setting. (Think mad max meets death race.) The harpoon gun is attached to a cable hooked to a power supply. If the harpoon gun hits, you can flip a switch that channels the power through cable and harpoon and short out a vehicles electrical system so it goes dead. I was thinking a multipower with one recoverable charge? I’m having a problem building the second power, to short out the car. Any ideas?

  13. I know you can’t do it with missile deflection. I have a player that wants to have a power where any melee attacker has his attack hit him as well, like a damage shield. But there are many different types of attacks. I was thinking maybe a naked advantage damage shield on so many active points but limited to duplicating the attack that was made against him? Just not entirely sure a naked advantage can be that versatile. Any help is appreciated

  14. I’m trying to make a power that simulates clarity of mind for the day after performing a complex meditation technique. 

     

    My initial idea was:

    +1 Overall Skill Level

    (Extra time 1 Hour -3, 1 Continuing charge lasting 1 Day +1/4, Requires Meditation Roll -1/2)

     

    My question is about the charges. I want the level to be able to be used however the players sees fit throughout the course of the day. Not “expended” the first time they place the level. Also I don’t want them to have access to the level if they get knocked unconscious or stunned. They would need to refocus their mind by performing the hour long mediation ritual again. Is this built correctly within the rules? I’m running a 5th edition game btw. Thanks in advance guys!

  15. I have a fantasy campaign going on and a current PC wants to be a better Weaponsmith. He wants to be so good with his knowledge of making alloys that he can transform base metals into other rarer metals. So I was thinking of this:

     

    Secrets of the Smith

    2D6 Minor Transform (Extra Time 6 Hours -3 1/2; Concentration 1/2 DCV while working in forge -1/2; OIF Immobile 'Forge and smithing tools' -1 1/2; Requires SS: Metallurgy roll -1/4; Limited Effect 'Only alloys' -1/4; 0 End +1/2; Improved Results 'Various metals' +1/4)

     

    Active: 35

    Real: 6

     

    Just curious if this is how a "Skill based" transform would look like. Any help or thoughts is appreciated. 

     

    Thanks in advance

  16. It was in Horror Hero book. Really really old, about 20 years ago. They had several new powers in there. Shift Spirit, Consume Spirit etc... Had rules for astral characters or formless characters. No str, dex, con, body etc. Everything was based off Ego and Int. Was really neat stuff. Just doesn't fit in current game rules. I'm currently restarting a 5th edition game and a player wants to astrally project, leaving his body behind. Desolid works for that, but then he wouldn't be able to move at the speed of thought or have the other benifits of being Astral. I was considering a Multiform with the appropriate limitations. Thats still expensive though. A 3D6 Shift spirit with Self Only limitation and a few others makes it rather cheap though if one still uses the Astral rules from that book. Was just hoping some more experienced people here could help me out with how it would work using the new rules/system.

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