bigdamnhero

In a different power, I might say that "Side Effect: Death" and "Condition: Already Dying" are duplicative. But in these circumstances, both are severe enough that it's probably not worth arguing over. Tho this build does assume the dying character has time to take an Attack Action before expiring, which is why I like the Trigger idea. That does beg an interesting question: what constitutes "dying" for these purposes? Technically any character at BODY <0 is "dying", but there's usually still the possibility of saving them, with Healing or just a Medic roll. Death itself, when it comes, is mechanically a binary state: above negative 2xBODY and you're alive, drop 1 point below that and you're dead. Narratively a lot of GMs will give dying characters a chance to utter some final words, but mechanically that typically happens retroactively after the character has actually been killed in game terms. (ie: "OK, Badman takes another 5 BODY, that's enough to finish him off. With his dying breath, he says...") Normally that's not a big distinction, and letting major characters get in some good last words is always in genre. But if those last words can have major game impacts, then we'll probably need some sort of guidelines for when characters do or don't have time to utter a curse. In books/shows/movies, sometimes a character dies suddenly or in such a way that they don't have time to say anything: they get their heads cut off, or they're completely squished by something heavy, or whatever. But in Hero, like most RPGs, damage descriptions like that are largely subjective. And of course as soon as the PCs learn that the Bad Guy(s) can utter dying curses, you can bet they're going to do everything they can to prevent them from doing so. ("OK, Badman is finished. With his dying breath, he..." "Screw that - I chop off his head before he can say anything!") Maybe if the killing blow is an Impairing or Disabling wound to the Head (and/or torso & vitals) is enough to prevent a dying curse; otherwise, they have enough time to mutter a few words before expiring?

That makes sense to me. Just curious tho - are you using the tables to do this, or "mathing" it based on the points?

[i know we're off-topic, but hey it's my thread and I'll digress if I want to.] You wouldn't even have to do that. You can keep Killing Attacks, just remove Killing Dice. So a 12DC Killing Attack instead of rolling 4d6 K, rolls 12d6 like a Normal Attack - the only difference is that the BODY ignores Nonresistant Def. The math is slightly different, but not enough to be significant. You basically make it a very limited type of AVAD. (Maybe reduce the STUN by say -1 per die to balance it and call it a +0?) Everything else works the same but now you don't need a second set of rules for how [everything] applies to a different dice mechanic. Easy.

OK, that makes sense so far, thanks. Sorry, you lost me again. Wouldn't 8 DCs * 4/5 be 32/5 => 6 rather than 32/6 => 5? Either way, how does adding that to the base of 8 DCs wind up with 11 DCs? But you came up with 3 1/2 d6 K AP for the Martial Strike (w STR & +2 HTH DCs), whereas I came up with 4d6 K AP? I'm not saying you're right & I'm wrong, mind you. I think I'm getting more confused - maybe Friday afternoon wasn't the best time to tackle this...

This is all just reinforcing my conviction that the one thing Hero could do to reduce the most complexity would be to simply drop Killing Attacks as a separate damage mechanic and simply make it a +0 Advantage on regular damage. Heresy, I know...

Well, I'd say blocking laser bolts with a sword counts as pretty impressive. I don't think non-Jedi could do that even if they could activate a lightsaber. But it's a valid question: how much are the Jedi badasses, vs how much are lightsabers badass and it just so happens that only Jedi can use them?

Depends on the setting of course. In some worlds it's something anyone can theoretically do, but only Truly Powerful Heroes/Villains have enough juice to really make it stick. In others, like the Dresden Files, it's something only wizards can do. Which kinda makes it sound more like a Perk than a Power per se...

But 0 END isn't considered an Advantage That Directly Affects Damage per 6e2 p98. It affects the cost of the AP/RP Power (obviously), but not the DC, right?

OK, I should know how to do this, but my brain is misfiring today. If someone could glance at this and tell me what I'm missing, I'd really appreciate it. Superheroic game, using 6ed. (I don't think the DC rules changed from 5ed?) The PC is a knife-fighter with 20 STR, Martial Arts, and knives purchased as OIF Powers. (Because he has multiple knives; if disarmed, he can always grab another one.) Regular Fighting Knives: 2 1/2d6K, 0 END, OIF [60 AP, 8 DCs] 20 STR adds 4 DCs => 4d6 K Martial Strike adds 2 DCs => 4 1/2d6K +2 HTH Damage Classes => 5d6+1 K Using Offensive Strike instead of Martial Strike would add another 2 DCs => 6d6K Diamond-Tipped Fighting Knives: 2dK, AP (+1/4), 0 END, OIF [52 AP, 8 DCs] 20 STR adds 4 DCs => 3d6 K, AP Martial Strike adds 2 DCs => 3 1/2d6 K, AP +2 HTH Damage Classes => 4d6 K, AP Using Offensive Strike would add another 2 DCs => 4 1/2d6K Is 8 DCs right for the AP knives? 2d6K with AP is 37 AP (not counting the 0 END), which should be 7 DCs, but the table on 6e2 p101 shows it should be 8? Thanks in advance. Only been playing this game for ~30 years and all. Another 30 years and I should have it down.

I generally like to stat out things like curses that affect the PCs just so I have a sense of how to quantify the effect. OK, so it gives them bad luck: are we talking 2d6 or 3d6? Depends on how many dice I'm willing to throw into the Transform. And what happens if he curses the Thief (ave Body, no/low Power Def) vs. the Brick (high Body & Power Def)? That sort of thing.

Interesting. My wife the city planner could give you a lengthy rant about just how badly they've oversimplified a very complex subject. And they overstate an awful lot of their points. ("Cities must have..." rather than "It's generally beneficial for cities to have..." and so on.) But for gaming purposes, yeah close enough. When researching my 11th Century historic fantasy game, I was struck at just how little "wilderness" there was in Europe & the near east even in the Dark Ages. Walk in any direction for a day and there'll likely be some sort of town nearby, especially if you're following roads. Not much need for camping out. FYI, the stuff about Eurasia having an advantage from being oriented horizontally instead of vertically comes straight out of Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs & Steel." (Tho IIRC, Diamond didn't originate the idea, just popularized it.) One thing I did find pretty humorous in the video tho was that immediately after talking about how cities can't survive without water access, their very next shot (@ 6:17) was of Denver. But the overall point is valid.

Depending on how you want the curse itself to work, you just add Triggered by Dying, +1/4, followed by one hell of Conditional Lim for "Only With Their Dying Breath." A more interesting question: given how common Resurrection is in most high fantasy games, if the character is brought back to life, does that negate the curse? One PC in my last game actually had "Only While Dead" as a Limitation on one of his Contacts (God of the Underworld.) But the character also had Resurrection, so it wasn't quite as limiting as it sounds.

He got over it. Actually he got his 15 minutes of fame out of it (in his SID) and no one connected it with his HID, so it didn't turn out too badly for him.

The PCs in my last straight-up Champions game were roughly 50-50 on tragic backstrories. Inertia: Flighty college student/activist suddenly gets powers. Basic do-gooder motivations. She has family back home in Ohio or something, but they seldom come up in game. (ie they exist but not as DNPCs.) Nothing remotely tragic. Promethean: Overly-serious medical student gets killed, comes back with superpowers. Nothing tragic here aside from Crushing Student Loan Debt. Enigma: Mom was actually a Sylvestri, walked out when PC was little and hasn't been heard from since. Dad was a cop who was killed in the line of duty years ago. Moderate tragedy, but mostly a set-up for The Quest To Find Mom. Built To Last: Charles Manson's love-child, except in this universe Manson had power armor. After dad was killed, PC was raised by crazed apocalypse cultists obsessed with Beatles lyrics. Eventually found dad's old power armor and used it to escape The Family, now trying to atone for the Sins of the Father. Izzat tragic enough for ya?

Yeah, but *I* own both APGs and I still consistently forget to check them before posting stuff.

Yup, APG2 p19. Note to self (again): next time I catch myself thinking "I'm surprised this hasn't come up before," check the APGs. Short answer: it looks like the correct interpretation per RAW is: In which case taking Unified Power would be an appropriate Limitation. Edited to be more accurate.

True dat. I usually find it easier to just build that as "Only with Move-By/Through." But then that doesn't address what happens when my Running gets Drained to 1/2.

We sometimes use 8+(Char/3) or 8+(Char/4) for heroic games, especially modern games where everyone tends to fall in the 13-18 range - it adds a little more granularity to things. But I would second the suggestion that you try the standard rules at least once before you start tinkering with them too much. Characteristics do a lot more than just Skill Rolls, as has been discussed. 6e2 p19. That's a fairly common house rule; certainly quicker than making DEX Rolls every Phase. Also: we have a house rule that when spending XP you can't raise a CHAR more than 1 point* at a time, rather than jumping straight to the next breakpoint. So in initial character creation, we see a lot of scores min-maxed at the breakpoints, but they don't stay there long. * Or 1 XP for STUN & END.

I think it also depends on how often your players use their powers at less than full power. I can't say it never happens in our games - there's the occasional "pulling my punch so I don't kill this mook" moment - but it's certainly not something that comes up frequently enough to warrant a Limitation. YMMV.

Hmm...I think it depends on how we're interpreting "Proportionally." If Power A and Power B are both normally 60 AP, and Power A is Drained to 30 AP, how much can you use Power B at? My assumption has always been that you could only use B at 30 AP because that's proportional to A. But I guess an alternative interpretation would be that as long as you're using Power A at its current full power (ie 30 AP), then you can use B at its current full power (ie 60 AP). I don't think the latter interpretation makes much sense, but I can't say it's wrong based on a plain reading of RAW (6e1 p385).

I like that example, and wish I'd thought of it for my last precog character!

My standard rule for years has been "You can move after attacking...as long as it isn't abused." It's literally never been a problem. I wouldn't let people combine it with Move-Bys/Throughs, as that could be unbalancing, but that's about it. After all, it's not terribly hard to find examples of "I take a shot and then duck behind cover" in any genre. "Boy, Boy, Crazy Boy! Get cool boy!"

Here's one I haven't heard in a long time: Digitalis by James Lee Stanley. I first heard James in concert back in 1980-something, and have seen him a few times since - he has a fairly small but loyal bunch of fans that shows up wherever he plays. (Unfortunately, he's pushing 60 and doesn't tour outside of SoCal much these days.) He sometimes does Digitalis live but AFAICT it's not on any of his 31 albums. Fortunately YouTube has provided! The first 4 minutes is his comical "explanation" of how he tried to write a Carlos Santana-style song despite not not knowing any Spanish, and was saved by Divine Intervention in the form of a medical encyclopedia salesman. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LYok-GDC9k You're welcome

Right, but while they're often described that way, the point is they don't have to be: it's up to you. You could define it as a Smart Flamethrower* that can shoot around obstacles; that would have Indirect. Alternately, you could define a Cause Spontaneous Combustion attack as being blocked by Barriers, etc (maybe because it uses nanites/phermones/whatever that still have to travel from A to , in which case it would not have Indirect. The important thing in Hero is to separate out what's a mechanical effect vs what just sfx/visual description. Ask yourself how you want the power to work, rather than just what it usually looks like in other games. The two are often related, but they don't have to be - that's the beauty of Hero. The downside is when you ask "How does this work?" questions around here, the answer you often get is "How do you want it to work?" * Patent pending.

Happy 2017, Steve! I'm scratching my head wondering how Dispel should work against a Transform that has affected a target multiple times? Ie - Say a character has a classic Turn People Into Frogs spell, defined as Severe Transform 3d6 [30AP]. Target A has been hit with the Transform once, for 11 points worth of effect: that's not twice his BODY so he's not transformed, but maybe he's starting to look a little green. A friend hits him with a Dispel Magic spell, which presumably just needs to exceed the 30 AP in the spell. Target B has been hit with the same Transform spell 3 times for a total of 31 points of effect: that does exceed twice his BODY, so he's now a frog. In order to counter the transformation, does the Dispel only need to exceed the 30 AP in the Transform, as above? Or do the 31 points of cumulative "damage" come into play, and if so how? Or do you need 3 Dispels, one against each of the 3 Transforms the target was hit with? Or 1 Dispel vs. 90 AP? Or something else? If the Dispel is cumulative in some way, does the target turn back into a human as soon as enough damage has been countered to drop him below 2xBODY? Or only when it's fully Dispelled back to 0 effect? Lastly, does it make a difference if "Dispel Magic" is specifically listed as one of the Healing methods for the Transform or not? Edit: If the Transform spell has the Partial Transform Advantage, does that change anything? (Besides the AP totals involved.) Thanks!