Roy_The_Ruthles

Re: Aid's to Stun/End, do you allow it?

Not unless you tack on a HUGE Advantage to reduce the re-use duration on the Healing' date=' or there's special intervention by the GM. Remember that Healing is not cumulative by default unless 24 hours have passed since the last use. No, that's not just for Body.[/quote']

 

I agree with this. The way the healing is built, it only works once, then it needs to beat the highest previous effect to get any effect through.

Re: Mental Powers Contest

In 6th, there is a subsection about competing mental powers in book 1. IIRC the way it works is you need a higher effect to break the mind control and at GM's discression a lower effect can give them bonuses to breakout checks.

The way I understand the "higher effect" to work, it means a higher (rolled #) - (Ego + Bonus). So if you get a 54 but the NPC is strongly opposed to killing everyone he sees with anything he has (a pacifist or probably anyone), you need a +30 effect (or ony 12 after EGO+30). If I want him to stop, and he is not very opposed to this (normally, barring the mind control) then I need an EGO+10 effect or so (thus a 35 would work).

That's how I understand it works.

Re: Creating a "wake" side effect

So 15 STR TK will not move very strong people because they will just casual out of the grab. Just wanted to point that out. Another way to build it woud be damage with increased KB and only to cause KB

Re: Creating a "wake" side effect

By things, do you mean people? or just unattended objects?

Other than that, this looks fine mechancially but might lag your game when you use it.

Re: Special Effects Interactions: Burden on the defender or the attacker?

I'm with Fearghus on this one. SFX has very little impact on how powers work, and I've almost never seen it come up as far as granting bonuses based on the interaction. I've had SFX limited VPPs come up a great deal, where you justify what you are building, but that is not relevant to the OP.

Re: Death Traps #2: The Gas Cubicle

One problem: A pushed Haymakered normal can break the glass eventually (doing 6d6 damage, 2d6 base, 2d6 push, 4d6 haymaker). IIRC a foci has 1 def per 10 AP and each point of body damage removes a power. I might be wrong and it is 1 DEF per 5 AP which makes this fine.

Other than that, looks great.

Re: Mind Link w/Targeting?

Oops my bad then. I was trying to address the "is this legal" question.

I'd use clairsentince personally. Maybe with Indirect so you can shoot through walls (depending on the power)

Re: Cover Fire ability. Comments?

I have issue with any build which imposes a penalty to the target's CV without taking into account their PRE (or INT/PER to ignore 'distraction'). If the purpose of the build is to actually increase the chance of hitting the target with the bullets then don't use CE or Adjustment powers.

 

To do otherwise violates a core idea of HERO. For every effect there should be an appropriate defense.

Ah, I think I understand your position now. Thank you for explaining it.

One thought that occured to me is that this maneuver might be similar to the Interpose maneuver. Maybe you take a DCV penalty to gain an OCV penalty later if they don't attack you? Same idea only with guns (i.e. if you don't shoot at me, I will get a bonus to hit you)?

Technically true. I was unspecific with the use of the term nobody. I should have said "what if you had a fire so hot the average character..." In reality it depends on how hot the fire is and how resistant the fire elemental is. If it's a 10d6 Blast and the elemental has 10 levels of Energy DC Damage Negation' date=' the fire elemental is not going to get burned.[/quote']

 

This makes sense, but didn't fireg0lem's build just make you immune to the drain if you were immune to the bullets? the same idea should apply to a similar power based around flame jets.

Re: Mind Link w/Targeting?

IIRC mindlink isn't a sense and thus cannot be targeting. Either mindscan or possibly clairsentience would be a better way to go

Re: Cover Fire ability. Comments?

I just wanted to say, that if you have a jet of flame so hot that nobody would try and fire for risk of getting burned, then by definition it would burn a fire elemental. The fire elemental is a body, it is risking getting burned.

Also, I'm not sure what the disconnect seems to be about. It seems like some people think this should be a physical "spray bullets and if you don't duck you get hit" which would ignore your force of personality, and another group of people seem to think this is a mental effect, "I shouldn't stick my head up or I'll get hit" sort of thing. In the physical build, it doesn't matter if you are fearless, the bullets won't care. Is that what the disconnect is about?

Re: Skill Levels--limits?

How many time increments is that? Probably a -10 at least.

Re: Requires A Skill Roll: Skill Vs. Skill Contests?

So it is a mechanic and not a power? In that case go ahead but I don't think a mechanic needs any limitations.

Re: STAR HERO Reading List

After reading the thread (great souce of stuff for me to read too), I only have one suggestion that hasn't been made already:

Vacuum Diagrams by Steven Baxter. It is a collection of short stories set in the Xelee Sequence, which goes from late 2000s to the year 4million AD. It is a very good work, showing humanity in several different ages of technological advancement plus lots of aliens. If you like that, then I can suggest more to you but I suspect you will be quite busy.

Re: Clinging for only two hands

I think this just falls under "define the origin of the power", since it being her feet helps her as much as it hurts her, I think a -0 is appropreate.

Re: Requires A Skill Roll: Skill Vs. Skill Contests?

So the powers are basically: opposed roll, if you win you get a bonus?

Is this a power a player buys or one that the GM has constructed (such as finding the enemy plans, or interrogating a captured spy)?

Finally, if you lose does your opponet get a bonus? (false information?)

Re: 6th Edition Mega-Scale and Movement

I don't think it's a problem if you just buy the minimum purchase amount of base movement and then megascale it for your travel. I don't think Fireg0lem was implying that there was one, just that there was no reason to buy 2" teleport with megascale (if minimum purchase is 1").

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

The Hero System is bland.

 

Anyone got some Tabasco Sauce?

Hero System is a kitchen. You cook your own food. Blandness depends on the chief.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Like, Werewolves, Mages, Mummies, Vampire Hunters, Changelings, Revenants maybe?

World of Darkness is an OK generic system when you leave out the blood points, or replace them with something else like they did in their other major lines.

So all of those are in the same setting: World of Darkness. Let me try and explain myself better:

Mechanics:

These all use the system of "roll some d10s, get some hits", but that is like saying HERO is "roll 3d6, roll low". When you look at Disciplines, Gifts, Circles? (whatever that Mage thing is), Spells, Those things hunters get that I think are abilities?, Whatever changelings get (and Revanents which is Vampire for people who want to see the sun but get pwned by real vampires), they are all different. They each use different "powers" and use different "skills" (the defalt character sheets actually do have different skills listed). They also use different "play the way we want you to" mechanics (Paradox, Humanity, Balance, Sanity, Mummy Humanity). And they all have different points: Blood/Rage/Gnosis/Paradox/etc. You get these points for different things and spend them differently.

The only thing they have in common is attributes, willpower, and health levels (but those greatly change). So mechanics wise, they are actually pretty different (besides the d10 hits thing). Think about it in HERO if you actually used a different book full of powers for each genre. That would be fairly different. You'd have "Space Movement Powers" (running in Space!) and "Pulp Movement Powers! (running in Nazis!).

So they actually do have different games. The core mechanic is as similar as d20 modern and D&D (roll d20, add some number to it).

Also remember none of these games play nice when you mix them together. It's really hard to have a vampire, a werewolf, and a mage all adventure together because their power level is so different (and I'm assuming combat optimized characters). Even different Were creatures are different power levels. I've played games that were: "were-cheetah kills everything, then were-wolves are sad because +4 STR is not as good as +4 DEX".

Setting: They are all in "ostensibly" in the same world of darkness. Either that, or they are all in different but similar worlds of darkness. Either of those answers supports my point that VtM is a game with a spoon fed setting. Sometimes you can go to the Umbra, or Chicago, or Egypt, but they all are either the same setting or unique settings per game. And then you have Demon which just messes everything up (why is there God in my Gaia?)

Notice how if you just take the VtM book (no others) and try to use a different setting, such as "Vampires in Space!" or "Vampires who fight Nazi's" or "Vampires who run around in Exalted", you have no support. That's because the setting is World of Darkness and you are spoon fed it.

Remember my point is not how well the system preforms in different genres, but if you are spoonfed World of Darkness

Re: The HERO Basic Game Box

I actually think it should have plastic minis and some dice. Remember the target audience is new players so money spent on impressive looking stuff should pay off (We all know that HERO's big draw is the rules, but slap "we got minis and dice, No experience needed! ready to play!" on the cover and it will sell better.

Re: Psionic powers -- any comments?

1)I agree with bigby as far as the Stealth power works. Why is it 3 charges that are "instant" (the default for charges), with a power that lasts 1 min (according to the time limit). I think the way it works as written is you can flick the stealth on for 3 phases if you burn all the charges back to back, but during the segments between phases, you are visible. Also, why is it 0 END? Powers with charges are inherently 0 END.

I suggest just using Invis, 3 Continuing charges: last 1 min (+?), Bright Frindge, IIF, and UP.

Then figure out how the charges recover, by day? by charging? per session? can you recover them between fights?

2) Does everyone sport a Phasor Rifle? Is that considered to be "default gun"?

3) I think Phasor Rifle is just as good (if not better) than any psychic attack. Thus if you take an attack (and don't just use a gun) you are going to be a sucker most of the time. This should be made clear (or possibly give discounts on psy powers that are worse than tech).

4) I assume Phasor weapons work against PD?

5) Are Power Armors supposed to work against Energy weapons? I don't see any ED. Maybe that is why you use the psy powers? so that they ignore armor?

6) The only defense against said psy powers is combat luck and psy powers (and buying up natural ED).

7) CSLs in a framework, just pointing that out (you are the GM so it's legal, just making you aware).

8) Armor + Force Field = Immune to Phasor rifles (max damage on them is 15 Body, you can get above that with your Forcefield on in any armor), Average damage shots only do 9BODY, 18 stun (or 27 with hit locations). If I'm rocking a psy shield, and combat armor + Force Field up, I have 25 PD (if I calc'd correctly). This means you are basically Immune to Phasor Rifles.

9) Maybe Damage Negation for the Force Fields? Experiment with builds

10) I guess the heavy armor is supposed to be like the load lifter from Aliens, because it doesn't seem to wear itself (most power armor is supposed to be reactive to the user, allowing them to do regular activities such as pick up an egg).

Those are just gut responses to your gear chart. I hope some of them help.

Re: "Normals" gaining superpowers: how would they change in terms of mentality?

1. The ability to shoot lasers from one's eyes.

2. The ability to see through objects (X-Ray vision).

3. The ability to become invisible.

4. The ability to fly under one's own power.

5. The ability to alter luck to their benefit.

1) Not much, save on sodering things, be better at welding, and possibly use it as a laser range finder.

2) See through stuff. I'm not nearly optimistic enough to tell you that i'm going to use it for good, only for my own convience (i.e. is my friend home? or his is door just locked and he's gone?). I'm probably too moral to use it for sketchiness.

3) I think I'd have to use this one immorally at least once, for "the lulz" (also known as my power source)

4) Reach things on high shelves, clean gutters easier, maybe even overcome my fear of heights.

5) Kick ass and take names. Play the stock market, solve world hunger (man, it sure is lucky that none of Roy's fields ever have droughts or pests), build a giant mansion with my money and retire to play RPGs all day (which luckily are always game balanced)

Thank you guys for the answers so far, and for those that haven't answered, please do so!

I now need perspectives on the following powers:

6. The ability to read minds.

7. The ability to conjure permanent items that weight up to ten pounds.

8. The ability to regenerate from even mortal wounds and ignore illness.

9. The ability to teleport (closely related to flight, but it differs significantly).

10. The ability to selectively enhance your senses at will: see vast distances, hear ordinarily inaudible sounds, function in the dark as if it were day, track by scent, and so forth.

6) Morally, I should probably kill myself because I'm not going to resist the temptation to violate people's privacy. Realistically: violate people's privacy.

7) Build a kickass computer 1 part at a time, make money (literally), make food, make cloths, never work, and basically see answer 5, except w/o luck powers and instead with the ability to create anything of 10lbs or less. This includes babies, replacement limbs/organs, gas for my car, etc.

8) Not die? I mean I still hurt, so I'm not going to go out seeking pain. So you just don't get sick, and that's about all.

9) Be lazier and walk less? Don't pay for entry to the pool?

10) This one is pretty useless to me. I'm not sure what I would use it for in my every day life, and it takes a great deal of effort to turn this into money/power/fame. Either that or I'm clearly not creative enough to use it well.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Just curious here: what is an example of a system with a setting that is spoon-fed to the reader?

Vampire the Masquerade is a game with a spoon fed setting. They start you off with fluff, and make sure to add in little tidbits about how "yes, you can use the disciplines to break the setting in half but no one ever does that because you're stupid."

Try adapting VtM to anything that isn't "dark superheroes with blood batteries" (it does that genre ok though, if you hate game balance)

Re: Psionic powers -- any comments?

How does this compare to the gear you were going to use? I would like to compare the attacks and defenses to the guns and armor you can get with money

Re: Advice needed for balancing my first 6E campaign

I agree with everything Hida Tsuzua says, and want to repeat one point he made indirectly, directly.

PCs will use "Wolf Pack Tactics" on single boss monsters. If all the PCs have 3 speed, and the boss has 6, they will all hold, abort when attacked, and the others will then hit the boss with impunity. You need to cut down on this by:

1) having enough speed that the boss can keep hitting one guy and they can't abort fast enough (double or so works pretty good). This does mean your boss will punish one PC and be shafted if he switches targets

2) Hit many targets on a single phase (AoE, Multiple Attack, Autofire, whatever)

3) Be built with either secondary speed or duplication to take many actions on his phases

or something along those lines. That's not an exaustive list, but a starting list. I will also look over your equipment and psychic powers

Re: Supers vs. Military

so I think the point of this thread is to talk about metahumans who can go up against a "realistic" (by which I mean competent and real world) military, especially 60's era metahuans. If that's not the point, then disregard everything else.

I don't actually know so much about these characters in the 60s, so take everything with a truckload of salt, but: Modern Wolverine can regenerate from anything as long as he is popular enough, so he can probably just die, respawn, and corps drag his way through a wall of artillery fire. I'm not sure if he's taken a nuke, but he's probably popular enough to do so.

Prof X & Dr. Strange both have vast amounts of "plot based" powers (mentalism and magic). Both of those can mess up a modern military simply by issuing a few commands at the righ time. It's a slow process but they will eventually kill everyone in the millitary.

Those are the ones that come off the top of my head, and beyond this it's mostly "how much damage can insurgent metahumans do to an army?". Most of them tend to live in cities and can probably do a decent amount of urban warfare. OTOH most of them would in fact die if they nuked the city then hit it with artillery to make sure (except Kitty Pride, I'm not sure if she could survive by phasing through the ground?)