Statikk HDM

Re: Most Feared Disadvantage I'd glady take the ten-point disadvantage "Can't get a break" before a comparable ten point susceptibility or vulnerability. Once the villian comes around who wields banana slug slime or mind controls you to wear polyester you'll be praying that you had unluck. It reminds me of the classic of the whole group taking the -1/4 disad. "Doesn't work in magnetic fields" and having their GM own them with a character who specializes in magnetic fields. Except with the 2 disadvantages your GM is obligated to thrash you once or else he is just giving out free points.

Re: The Rodney Dangerfield Effect Maybe there is a way to make this a little less crippling. Take the -5 on Dust Raven's suggestion and define the accepting culture as the group you are in. It doesn't make sense for a super squad to be saving the world with someone they don't respect for.

Re: Focus = Too Great a Price Break? That's a good point games, David. The more realistic the campaign and the more likely a PC is to die the less likely people are going to be playing vanilla or cute characters and inventive characters and more likely to crank out foci and characters pulling out the stops. I've never really seen it get quite as bad as some people have stated but an arms race(so to speak) could quickly escalate into one-hit kill terrritory.

Re: Focus = Too Great a Price Break? I think foci are good, but to a point. OAF does get used, not a lot as the inaccessable stuff, but a lot. The main thing that people are bringing up is that the focus should be able to be screwed with but if people can't reach it they're in a world of hurt. If the weaponmaster with the flaming kendo stick of badassery is causing too many problems you mess with the stick. If the guy with an implanted, force-fielded amulet in a pillbox is ticking you off your options are that much more limited. Lots of cool superheros use focuses so banning them out of hand is out of order. You can't take away Green Lantern's ring or Spawn's suit and expect them to hang with Superman.

Re: Focus = Too Great a Price Break? Its somewhat unbalancing because it gives a plethora of powers to one object all at half cost. It can break a game in 2 ways The Object just dominates everything. Its no fun seeing a guy with a ring showing up 2 or 3 superhumans and in some cases demigods. The only real solution is stealing or destroying the object. Unfortunately, that usually neuters a player or at the very least severely cripples the player. Using the 75 point power cap and essentially bumping it to 150 can result in game-breaking things happening.

Re: Focus = Too Great a Price Break? Yes, Focus is definately far too big a price break. The fact that a GM has to always keep thinking "Gee, if the ring/gauntlet/staff/headband/belt of PWNAGE that only costs 50 points but really ought to cost 100 points is too much of a problem how can I screw with it?" shows it is broken. And the limited use example is perfect. Not even using your power 20 times: Half price. Unlimited use but everyone knows what is whupping their arse: Half price.

Re: What is being asked of new Hero Players? A constructive criticism thread. My view is this HERO is humongous, both in size and scope. As compared to D and D HERO costs about the same. 50 bucks for HERO, another 40 to 60 for supplements. Bang, you can GM a world and with a little bit of experience you can start to create your own worlds. Sizewise and costwise they are about the same. Buying them from Amazon, used, or in auctions you can get them for 40 to 50 dollars, maybe 10 or 15 dollars more if you pay retail. 640 pages versus 594 for HERO, but they have a lot of room taken up by indexes. Thats all fine and dandy, but you can't do dick without a Monster Manual, thats another 20 to 25 bucks. Get the HERO Bestiary and you're even. Moneywise you're about even too, with a 15 to 25 dollar edge to Dungeons and Dragons. But HERO is so much more flexible. No core classes, you can be anything, from a hardboiled detective to a demigod. furthermore, you can do just about any setting you put your mind to but D and D forces you to run fantasy. Want to spice it up with Eberron or Forgotten Realms and thats another 25 to 30 dollars.