Fox1

Re: Question about shotguns and different ammo loads Dark Champions has extensive rules for shotguns if you want the official (but not very realistic) line.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds Even if they did inspire, I'd still do it myself. Frankly I don't like the official construction methods in HERO. I'd have to re-write everything anyway. So from a mechanical PoV, all space given over to package deals, write-ups, equipment, etc. is wasted. As for setting, if they aren't doing adventures I have no need of their backgrounds and 'seeds'. Again I can do that very well myself, and do it specifically for my own needs. Any cool special ideas is likely to show up on the back of the book or in reviews- places that I can steal them from without spending a dime. Adventures is the only thing I'd buy in a on-going basis. Even if I have to convert the builds, it's fun to have maps and drawn out plot lines. That actually saves me time. But HERO isn't going to adventures. And a world without adventures is just plain worthless to me.

Re: Find weakness If it doesn't have the limit -> then it doesn't have any meaningful disadvantages as a result of inherent -> then it doesn't take special abilities to render medical aid. You get what you paid for. The buyer in this case didn't get paid for the disadvantage you're forcing upon him. Calling upon SPX in this case as an objection is rather odd; it would seem obvious that the whole intent is to override the victim's powers and SPX. Thus Transform "target to target who can be medically aided" is a perfect solution.

Re: Bluffing Skill I'd use simple Persuasion vs. an single person, not acting. Acting and/or disguise would be used if you're attempting to 'order' or command someone to do something they would normally do for that person. Example: A General does not convince or ask a Lt. to do something- they command it, and thus persuasion is not the skill in question but rather your ability to 'be' a General.

Re: Vehicle Search Yes, they need to be images. And they do add something to the vehicle, they increase awareness of its stopped location in normally moving traffic areas and thus prevent collusions- i.e. the reason they have them in real life. And no, they aren't a DF disadvantage unless being a tow truck is somehow worse than being any other vehicle. You don't get DF: Blue Van. Just looking odd isn't a DF, it must cause problems of some significant type.

Re: Campaign Ideas: Why are they on this ship? I liked the concepts in a really short lived TV show: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/SciFi/SpaceRangers/ Basically a group of wild west style texas rangers trying to maintain order on the fringe worlds.

Re: Find weakness Inherent typically comes with the 'always on' limit I mentioned. And I included Transform as a work around inherent up front as well.

Re: Prone Problems

Re: Find weakness Two points: 1. Unless the character has taken a limit (like "always on") or some sort of disadvantage, the normal medical skills will work fine. 2. IMO find weakness is very much the wrong way to go with this. Rather consider Transform, Dispel, and/or suppress.

Re: Prone Problems The old rule was 1/2 DCV then +4 DCV vs. ranged attack. Seems that has been dropped in 5th edition. Wonder why... I'd go back to using the old rule for ranged attacks at over 4" distance.

Re: Shrinking I wouldn't.

Re: Lack of Fully Developed Worlds I'll have to agree with this. Nothing HERO has ever done caught a spark with me. As a result I use HERO in either settings of my own creation, or in the settings of other rpgs. They are just dull. And it doesn't help that I construct characters/items completely differently than they do.

Re: Move Through without Knockback or Knockdown I can see not using either the knockback or knockdown rules for most cases as a matter of taste and/or realism. I'd still keep knockdown for move-throughs, those do have the neccessary force to move people. If you want to do away with them completely to simpify the game... A few thoughts occur. 1. Don't worry about it, i.e. always assume that the move-through is completely successful: i.e. 1/2 damage to the attacker. 2. Same as item one based upon a comparsion of attacker/target. Say STR of the target can't be 10 point or more higher than the attacker. If it is, the attack takes full damage from the move-through. 3. As 2, but resolve with a STR vs. STR roll giving the attacker velocity bonus.

Re: Hero is broken It's not a significant one unless you want to do a lot of vehicles and/or planet killing. I don't do either using HERO, so the point is moot for me. Even if I did, I have no problem tossing a limit on weapons to indicate they just blow little holes in things no matter what (beam and real weapon already do this).

Re: Is Flying Dodge too good? Agreed. I don't care how much it costs myself, it's an ability I don't want in the game.

Re: Make it Unseen Question Ack. This children is an example of where too much thinking gets you. The power now being duplicated is invisibility. The transform rules include details on what is required to grant new powers to targets.

Re: More use of Power Frameworks? Skills in any framework is asking for problems. For example: VVP- Skills: 12 points. Control -12 points, 0 phase to change, No skill roll required. Only skills (-1/2) For a total of 24 points, you now have every skill in the book (and all KS, PS, SS) at Char/5 + 4 at least (more for some skills). That's way too much bang for the buck. Characters that know *everything* should be expensive characters.

Re: Scaled damage and armor effectiveness With respect to point #1: I wouldn't attempt to duplicate this effect in HERO. What they are most likely attempting to simulate is the effect the range of normal weapon combat, i.e. non-penetrating hits on armor or the effect of near misses all the way to solid central nervous system hits. Much like D&D where armor makes you harder to hit, they do this with the attack roll rather than handling it all in a damage roll. There are pluses and minuses to the approach, but HERO shouldn't work that way in any case. IMO, just make up the weapons you want them to appear in HERO (stun, normal, and kill) and run with it.

Re: Quick Force Wall Question Correct.

Re: [Rules-fu] Resistant Power Defense Welcome to the world of game design Let's return to the first Champions ruleset, and the throught processes behind it. The core offensive pricing was driven by what was in effect a value decision- "it is better not to kill or injure". By nature, that concept is of greater value to heroic characters (which Champions intended you to play) than to non-heroic characters. That is, the Masked Marvel may well wish to capture his foes, while the SS has no use for non-lethal ovens. As power pricing is primarily for the players (GMs can have any number of points), and players are assumed to be running heroic characters (in the first version of Champions, even now we don't have Ultimate Villain- yet) it was only natural that the current cost structure was settled on. As with any pricing system- you were not paying for effectiveness, you were paying for value. That's fine for offensive powers, what about defensive? A heroic player may well see the the advantages of being non-lethal, however he can also certainly see that his non-heroic foes will not come to the same conculsion. Thus while he's on the high road, he will likely face lethal fire from the low road. Being able to deal with such is under such conditions a pure advantage with no countering disadvantage (other than the point cost). Thus it is only reasonable to charge for the ability to handle the non-heroic attacks of his foes. Any better?

Re: [Rules-fu] Resistant Power Defense You're correct, with a couple of minor points... Any body over the resistent defense goes through, and a character must take at least 1 stun per point of body damage.

Re: [Rules-fu] Resistant Power Defense

Re: [Rules-fu] Resistant Power Defense While it would be in keeping with HERO's apparent view of the advantages and disadvantages of lethal force, I'm not sure that it is something that should be given serious consideration. But if someone could provide a rational reason (not mechanically based, but setting/genre) I don't see a problem. Didn't Fuzion have KA and EB roll the same dice with only this one element being different?

Re: Always On (and Inherent): okay i'm abusing it... The already includes rules for nerve strike. And a Supress build isn't needed for drugs as we have Entangle for that. The tendency in 5th edition towards off the wall builds has clouded the issue in this area. Just because an idea of a build occurs, does not mean that it should be selected. You're free to do as you like in the respect. However inherent is there for those of us who want to use it as its intended. I'll make no call for forcing you to use it, if you make not call to remove it from my game.

Re: Always On (and Inherent): okay i'm abusing it... Requires a kill attack or the like to destroy (or a transform to change). Can't be dispelled or supress by the HERO rules. HERO includes the point totals of these. As I recall, they don't come inherent. Desolid to a ghost. They have no physical form, so a dispell or supress would in effect kill that- HERO does not allow that so a killing attack (or transform to give them a body) would have to be used.