Arthur

That's correct. More technically, smokeless powder is made with nitroglycerine: C3H5N3O9. Note the nine oxygen atoms. That's plenty to support combustion. Furthermore, even in atmosphere, a lot of the reaction in a cartridge takes place inside the cartridge before any external atmosphere can intrude. Even black powder is 75% composed of potassium nitrate: KNO3. Three oxygen atoms are enough to support combustion. Well, the question was "vacuum". Vacuum can occur in gravity (on Luna or Mercury, for instance). Geez, I've been hanging around lawyers too much. I'm sure "zero-G" was probably implied. Or the rounds could cook off. That is, they could fire from the heat without the trigger being pulled. Good question. I suspect it would work, but I don't know for sure.

Re: Does Hero need... Hero is a point-based system that uses the set of positive integers. It is an elementary axiom of mathematics that for any integer n there is a larger integer n+1. How does this apply to Hero? Simple. You cannot truly have an absolute within a point-based system. Not without introducing a discontinuity, effectively defining something outside of the system. In other words, the only real way to have an "attack that never misses" is to have an infinite OCV. The only way to have Total Invulnerability is to have an infinite number of points in defenses.

You can easily meld that approach into the "official" system by simply stating that certain items or substances come with intrinsic "character points" that can only be used for certain purposes. For instance, dragon scales may come with 10 Real Points toward making a suit of armor. Fits your ideas (which are perfectly in genre, BTW) and the point-based item creation system together.

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I just started running my Champions game. He stopped GMing after that. Everyone wanted to play in my game. So you live in Denver? Whereabouts? Have any games going? I probably wouldn't be able to play anytime soon, but schedules change... Feel free to email me: asamuels0725@yahoo.com

GMs who impose their idea of what character "classes" you should play in Champions. I designed one character who had gotten his super-strength and toughness from super-steroids. Now, one of the ways steroids work is by vastly improving how fast your muscles recover from workouts. Therefore, it seemed obvious to me that my PC should have Regeneration. I couldn't justify more than a few points of Resistant Defense based on dense muscles. However, this bozo GM had a D&D mentality and disallowed my Regen. "Bricks don't have Regeneration". As though "Brick" were some kind of straightjacket label. So I had to increase defenses and lose the Regen. Bah.

Well, I wrote the "Realistic Supers" article that appeared in DH some time ago. I'm a big fan of "let's inject superhumans into the real world and explore 'what would it REALLY be like?'" Would they dress in spandex and shout everything? Would you? I like my Champions campaign at 75+75 or at most 100+100. However, the characters can purchase things like Weapon Familiarities and use mundane weapons at no further point cost. If I were to play in a four-color game where I had to pay points for everything, I would still stick to 250 total (I prefer 125+125 over 100+150).

Re: Simple solutions to try first I started playing Champions back in 1984 (before it was even called Hero System). I AM an expert (he said semi-modestly). I wouldn't go that far. However, I do concur that many players take the rules thing too far. For instance, if a rigorous application of the rules is too complex, use the "roll your own Modifier" approach. It's there for a reason. Think of the effect FIRST, then see if a simple application of modifiers will simulate it. If not, then write up what it does, then make up modifiers if necessary. I remember that going too far in Fantasy Hero. It almost got to the point of defining rocks: (six levels shrinking Always On; Automaton; -6" running; etc.). Hmmm. I dislike a completely arbitrary "I don't allow that". One of the beauties of the Hero System is that it never ever says "you cannot do this". It just gives a point cost. Now, before someone brings up the old "it doesn't do absolutes" argument, well, that's a function of the real number system, not the game. An infinite effect requires an infinite number of points. However, some things are not in genre. Rather than disallow it completely, I prefer to use a "Rarity" modifier. For instance, in FH, I will let PCs buy natural Resistant Defenses ("Toughness"). However, I require the Armor Power with a +1 "Rarity" Advantage. If the rPD or rED goes beyond 3, then the extra points require a +3 "Extreme Rarity" Advantage. Etc. Reminds me of an old AD&D game I was in where our nemesis (a high-level fighter) kept showing up even after we'd killed him. The opposition can use Resurrection too, you know. You have some good ideas. Notice I'm not really disagreeing with you much.

Thanks! Have we met? (Yes, Arthur is my real name).

Had this problem with a particular character concept. Powerboy absorbs energy. He has a certain amount of energy storage capacity. It does not recharge on its own, but must be fueled solely by energy absorbing. Also, the character would die if his energy reserve was completely depleted. Here's how I did it: 15 150 point END Reserve 5 REC 10 for END Reserve (-1: only to offset Absorption Fade Rate).

If I did this, I would rule that it is a less efficient use of barehanded STR, and cut the damage in half for an HKA. No real reasoning. It just feels right. I'd also consider making an optional maneuver at -3 OCV or somesuch.

Allow the characters to purchase Regeneration, but at a maximum of 1 per 6 hours (or 1 per hour, tops). Call it "Rapid Healing". Allow the characters to buy very limited amounts of Resistant Defenses (1/1 or 2/2, tops). Call it "Toughness". I have used both, and they go a long way toward modeling the Cinematic Tough Guy Type.

I too went through the phase of "power-mad" GM. I figured I was the GOD of my world and the players had to bow to my desires. I saw some other GMs with the same traits. We soon found ourselves as GMs without players. In my final stages as GM (when I actually used to play RPGs), I realized that the game was an implied contract: as GM I was there to make and adjudicate an entertaining session for the players; their obligation was to go along with the reality of my game-world. Running roughshod over the players made it non-fun for them, as did knuckling under to any of their demands. Either style shifted the balance too far toward GM or player.

My point exactly. Since I can define any Modifier I want, anything I come up with is "legal by the rules". Just because there may be a complicated set of existing modifiers that does the same thing means little. Granted, if there is a relatively easy way to do it with existing pre-defined Modifiers, it should be done that way. However, the more Modifiers are piled on, the more likely it becomes that the point cost will be wildly out of line. It's just not feasible to playtest every combination. After a certain point, it becomes more - elegant - to just make up your own Modifier. I like to think of it as a variation on Occam's Razor. I guess it's a matter of style. For the record, I started playing Champions just about 20 years ago, give or take a year. KS, that wasn't meant as a slam on you or an "I'm better than you" comment. I'm just trying to say I'm probably at about the same level of expertise as you. Roughly. Please try not to take it as an insult.

I remember that movie. The main thing I recall is that the super-character had an amusingly thick Swedish accent. That became a running gag with me and my pal at the time. "And he hasss soooper powers". With a Swedish accent, especially on the 'sooper'.

I think that this is possible only if the character is forewarned somehow. He would have to have a phase available (aborting to this as a defensive action would be fine). I think this is intended for the allies of a character who recognize that he has pulled out a flash grenade or somesuch (or he yells them a coded warning: "Code Yellow!"). Also, a precog could use this.

When I ran FH, I just made sure that the PCs were significantly more powerful than most of their opposition. The few foes who were as or more powerful than the PCs either attacked one at a time (like dragons or demons) or wanted them captured rather than dead (The Cult of Shadow tries to recruit them). To me, this fits in with most heroic fiction. However, I do not fudge results after that. The PCs are either up against inferior opposition, have the beastie outnumbered, or up against opposition who wants to capture them, not kill them. I have stacked the deck, now the chips will fall where they may. The result is that PC death is quite rare, but it does happen. When it does, it is usually due to poor PC judgment (even then, if a character is about to do something stupid, I ask for confirmation - "Are you SURE you want to tell the King what you did with his daughter last night?") or really bad luck. Usually the former.

That's closely related to the point I was trying to make. If I were making this character and the GM insisted on all this hoop-jumping, I would just say "F*ck it. It's a plain 2d HKA and the special effect is a magic sword I can summon at will. Let's get on with the game". This is doubly true if the GM way actually wound up costing more points for a Power with more drawbacks. Reminds me of a player who made up a version of Marvin the Martian (the alien foe of Duck Dodgers and Bugs Bunny). He had "Disintegrator/Re-integrator pistol" on the sheet. I asked him "why isn't this a Focus?" "Because he always has another one" Exactly. I was quite surprised to be accused of an ad hominem. This was more of an ad system.

Sounds like a pretty standard Move By. Use the STR of the truck. Figure 35 MPH in inches/phase based on the SPD of the truck (yes, that can lead to weird results; it is one of the most glaring holes in the system). There might also be a modifier for the mass of the truck.

Maybe you are technically correct by a strict reading of the rules. However, I play Hero as a game, not a legal dissertation. Granted, if you ignore the rules too much, then it stops being Hero. I don't think my approach is anywhere near that. This strikes me as a good example of why it's so hard to attract new players. I, too, went through that phase of trying to write everything up as rules-purist as possible. Then it dawned on me that it could easily become a lot of extra effort for little or no return in play-balance. Out of curiousity, how many points does your method come out to be? Is it really that much different than mine, bottom line?

See now, this looks to me like a very standard HKA with a Focus, after it has been conjured. The only clarification I can think of at this point would be to ask what happens if the wielder is disarmed. Does the sword disappear? If not, what happens when someone else tries to pick it up? Assuming it disappears, this is how I would do it: 1d HKA. RSR: -1/4 (halved because it is required only to activate the sword). Costs END only to activate: -1/4. OAF: -1 AP = 15 RP = 6 Now an HKA costs END anyway. The extra Lim is for the activation END. I think some of you are taking the whole Instant/Constant thing a little too far. In this case, the FOCUS is Constant while the attack is Instant. That's true for any HKA with a Focus. Do you really want to jump through all those hoops for any Focus HKA? If not, why only for this case? Once the sword is conjured and in the caster's hand, it is just an HKA with an OAF. It is created in an unusual fashion, but that only applies when it is created.

It's legal by the rules if I define the modifiers correctly. There may be a balance issue if I don't price the modifiers right, but that's not quite the same thing. This is so close to a standard HKA, it shouldn't require all this hoop-jumping. The rules are there to serve me, not to be my master.

I would add the TV version of the Hulk. Even though nominally derived from the Marvel character, he is different enough to rate an entry here, I think.

It's just a matter of how you define the Power Modifiers. So it may not be "Requires a Skill Roll" or "Instant" or whatever as exactly described. So what? One of the ways to make Hero unnecessarily difficult is to try to shoehorn every effect into the existing list of Advantages and Limitations. It's much easier to define exactly how you want the power to behave in the first place. Next step is to see if it can be done with the Modifiers that are listed. If not, then just make up your own Modifiers! Often, it can be just a twist on an existing Modifier. For instance, in this case, RSR may be a modified version that is half value.

Sorry, but I don't get the issue. This is really not that much different than Wolverine popping his claws out. It's as if Wolverine maybe had to make Skill Roll to get them out. Once they are out, they can be used normally. Just because the HKA Power is Instant has no bearing on it. You seem to be trying to apply the Instant part to the Special Effect.