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Cantriped

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  1. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from Edsel in How would you build...   
    In reply to the original post. 30 APs for 1st level spells, and (imo) +15 APs per level thereafter is a good place to start when breaking down spells into tiers. It's what I typically use.
    In an attempt to provide another example for you before I go off on a tangent, while also keeping it within the AP limit: I present the following very shady, but legal in CC/FHC, power construct.
     
    Sanctuary as a 1st-level Clerical Spell   Change Environment: Requires an EGO roll at -1 to attack a single designated target within range, Long Lasting (1 Minute) (7 base Active Points)
    Area of Effect (1m Radius; +1/4), Megascale (Whole Planet, 1m = 10,000km; +2) (23 Active Points); Limited Range (10m; -0), Instant (-1/4), Conditional Power (Effect ends if the designated target performs a hostile action; -1), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), IAF Expendable ("Small Silver Mirror" Fragile, Difficult to Obtain; -1).
    Total Cost: 6 points
     
    Explanation: The rules for Change Environment in CC/FHC allow it to require an affected character to make a roll at the listed penalty. Nowhere in the power is it defined what the penalty for failure is, leaving it up to the GM to decide what is fair based upon the type of roll being made. Since EGO rolls are used to resist temptations, an EGO roll to attack the cleric/spellcaster seems reasonable, as it is very tempting to kill the healer/glass cannon first if possible.
    The base active point value of the power would be 3 APs before Adders, and the standard range would be 15m. Limited Range makes this spell's range equal to that of 5e Sanctuary. However, since this modifier normally requires you reduce the range by at least 1/2, and we are only reducing it by 1/3, it's value in this case is -0.
    The Long Lasting adder makes the duration equal to that of 5e Sanctuary, and since you cannot maintain it via concentration it also takes the Instant modifier so that the power is no longer Constant.
    Area of Effect and Megascale as purchased allows the spell to affect the attacker regardless of distance (or as close to it as HERO system can get), as per 5e Sanctuary.
     
    This version of the spell is written with the common limitations described in the 5e version of the spell. Gestures and Incantations obviously represent the somatic and verbal components, and the foci is built as an IAF because having a small mirror doesn't obviously provide the benefits indicated by the spell. Mirrors are fairly easy to break, ergo why it is Fragile. Moreover you have to purchase them from a craftsman, you can't just go collect them in a cave like you can with bat guano, ergo why it is Difficult to Obtain.
     
    Normally a spell like this would be harder to resist (have a higher EGO roll penalty) if you have a higher primary spellcasting stat, but I simply couldn't think of a good way to work that into the power construct. However CSLs could be used to improve it (as per adding damage) at the rate of plus -1 to EGO Rolls per 9.75 APs (or 4 CLS used to increase Damage/Effect), so characters that would normally have high "Primary Spellcasting Stats" should be encouraged to instead purchase an appropriate number of such CSLs.
     
    *Steps up to Soapbox*
    You will find that some spells simply cannot be accurately converted into HERO while staying within an Active Point limit. This is because Active points versus Real points are not concepts which apply to how spells are tiered in DnD's spellcasting system. Instead spells are tiered largely depending upon when the designers wanted certain types of characters to gain access to certain spells, and how often they think casters should be able to use them, and not at all based upon how powerful those spells actually are.
    This is why Animate Dead might be a 3rd level Cleric spell, and a 4th level Wizard spell, even though the mechanics of the spell don't change. Or why standard Invisibility is usually a 2nd level spell, even though it can be built on the same APs as many far less useful 1st level spells. This is also why certain low-level spells (like Protection from Evil) make you completely immune to powers used by certain high level creatures (like a Succubus).
    Moreover, the scaling nature of many spell's effects, and the existence of metamagic feats in certain editions complicate the matter further. For example, a 1st level wizard's Magic Missile isn't nearly as useful as one cast by a 9th level wizard. For another example, one Metamagic feat might improve damage scaling, another might remove a common limitation (like gestures or incantations), or add a small advantage (like transdimensional), and another doesn't really change anything about the spell at all beyond it's special effect. Yet all of these feats will have the same opportunity cost of one feat and increasing an affected spell's level by one tier.
    *Steps down from Soapbox*
     
    I've been thinking on this for a while, so I hope it was helpful.
  2. Downvote
    Cantriped got a reaction from cbullard in Balanced Starships   
    Ahh yes... a niche optional rule from a genre book that isn't used in any of that book's builds, and cannot be used in most vehicles because it explicitly only works in the vacuum of space...
     
    No, this is so very incorrect.
    "A character [or vehicle] can accelerate at a rate of 5m per meter, up to his maximum normal Combat Movement in meters per Phase." (CC 131)
    Your Noncombat Multiplier has no effect on your ability to accelerate (unless you take Noncombat Acceleration). It only affects your maximum velocity and the number of phases taken to reach it. Or in the case of Leaping... the total distance of the leap.
     
    Functionally both methods limit the Character to an amount of acceleration per phase equal to their Combat Velocity, and a multiplier of that as their maximum velocity.
  3. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from iamlibertarian in Magic System Design   
    Over the years that I've been a Herophile, I have written a version of almost every magic system presented in Fantasy Hero​. When I was young(er), I believed that a magic system should be exhaustively documented and detailed, in large part because I came from a D&D background. So my early designs tended to attempt to categorize everything. As I have matured I've come to hold the opposing opinion that doing so only limited my creativity as a GM (and that of my Players as well). Today, I believe that a "Magic System" should be as loosely defined as possible. Where it is defined, those definitions should serve to shape elements of the Campaign Setting.
    If I had to pick only one word to define how I prefer to present magic, it would be "Occult" or "Supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena.". Certainly it is the most generic description possible, but it has connotations people often eschew when designing magic systems. I also like the word "Arcane" or "Understood by few; mysterious or secret." Which probably better describes how I tend to present magic. I like for magic-users to understand their art, but refuse to pass that understanding on for various reasons; such as the selfish desire not have less competition, or the noble desire to see their legacy fall into worthy hands.
     
    Of the common types of "Magic System" there are three general systems which I hold a particular fondness for.
       The first is Alchemy (and its cousin Artifice). I've always liked the idea of magic-users who craft things, both as a justification for the existence of various magical items, and also because I enjoy the aesthetic of them. I like the image of the Alchemist as an eccentric who sometimes blows up their laboratory, but produces goods that make the lives of civilians and adventurers alike easier.
       I usually prefer to use some variant on the Alternate Item Creation Rules (from Fantasy Hero​) for such magic users. However on occasion I've also used the Standard "Delayed Effect & Usable By Others" model when that was more appropriate to the campaign or campaign setting.
       A distant relation to Alchemy (and Artifice) which I also like is Rune-Magic. Although I typically find that it is simply too much of a bother to represent it with game mechanics. It works well as a more combat viable form of Artifice however.
     
       The second is Invocation (and its cousin Conjuration). In my mind an Invoker is magic user who "invokes" the powers of phenomenon or entities more powerful than themselves to produce magical effects. What I most enjoy about invokers is their cinematic quality, and the opportunity such magic user's have to add depth and mystery to a campaign setting. Invocation is most commonly seen as the so-called "Divine Magic" of the cleric, however there are many settings where invocation does not require or indicate worship and devotion of the entity or phenomenon being invoked.
       In terms of Game Mechanics, usually a simple Multipower with Incantations on All Slots will suffice for most of your spells. Although since it is generally a bad idea to have your primary Defense and Movement spells in a Multipower, I rarely required that all spells be bought through a single framework. Most of what makes Invocation (and Conjuration) interesting to me is the flavor and depth you can give it without resorting to complicated game mechanics.
     
       The third is Necromancy. First off, I love the aesthetic of the Necromancer commanding an Army of the Dead. It just appeals strongly to my preference for Dark Fantasy. As a GM I think Undead make the perfect "Monster" for numerous reasons. Rarely do players have to debate whether it is okay to kill/destroy them, or question where they come from, or how they replenish so quickly. They mesh well with common encounter/adventure design principles in that you have a Master Necromancer as the final boss, their Apprentices and/or special undead as sub-bosses, and countless Skeletons and Zombies as mooks/trash mobs to fill out encounters with. There are also so many types and origins for the undead; so even in a campaign where the undead are the primary threat, players don't have to get bored fighting the same stat-block over and over again. Yet at the same time they provide the opportunity to terrify the players both tactically and narratively. For example, how to you protect a town from plague zombies that raise their victims as more plague zombies, or how to you put the spirit of a great warrior to rest while battling its ghost in narrow corridors which it can pass right through. Then there is the necromancer themselves, you can justify a huge number of different Powers with necromancy. Summon is simply the most obvious example, you can create armor, walls, or projectiles by manipulating bone, you can divine "lost" knowledge through traditional necromancy, you can afflict enemies with plagues or justify spells which target unusual defenses. The options are almost limitless, and that appeals to the evil power-gamer in me, yet still thematic, which appeals to my inner roleplayer.
       Mechanically, I tend to follow the same pattern as Invocation (see above) regarding how I design a magic-user, except that Necromancy tends to be much more ritualistic, and therefore tends to have lots of Limitations, such as Extra Time, Expendable Foci, Gestures, Incantations, etc...
  4. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from nostalgictravel in Modelling Modern Smart Phones   
    Note that my Smart Phone build doesn't let you have Universal Translator, or Cramming, or give you any practical skills (such as Mechanics).
    Smart-phones are principally still just a very sophisticated communication device that can relay messages by via audio, video, or text in real time or in a staggered format. This feature alone make writing mysteries which allow their existence a real challenge. Control of the flow of information between characters is often how such stories create dramatic tension, and the writers have to jump through some serious hoops to keep that in a world where you can speak to a person almost anywhere on the planet in real time, leave them a text message to be read or referenced at their convenience, or send them a video/picture of [fill-in-the-blank important visual clue].
     
    Most of the other features I wrote in are fairly unimportant in a superheroic world, or to most such stories... but I think you are underestimating (or taking for granted) the impact information technology has on our daily lives Massey. Having a flashlights allows us to perceive and maneuver in environments where we would normally injure ourselves if we tried. Clocks, and alarms allow humans to tightly and reliably schedule their interactions on a global scale. Access to global databases of information renders ignorance of choice rather than a circumstance for those with access to such technology.
     
    This last point affects our lives in ways which game system often choose to ignore for the sake of balance. For example, I was able to quickly learn to tie a neck-tie because of the existence of a graphic diagram on the internet, I have learned more about chemistry, engineering, physics, and history through perusing wikipedia than I ever learned in an American Public School.
  5. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from PhilFleischmann in The Jolrhos Field Guide   
    I like the idea of magical food. While not every GM would use it, it feels like a really nice element to add depth to a setting. The Kingdom of Grischun (FHC's included Setting) makes mention of Makers (artisan-spellcasters) who Make magical food and drink. It even includes a few examples, such as Sweet Beer​ (Healing END), and Waybread ​(LS: Does Not Eat for 1 Day). Briefly my wife worked on a campaign idea that involved the party investigating an island with magically altered plants whose berries were mutating the local animals.
  6. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from Christopher R Taylor in What are your favorite Champions opening adventure ideas?   
    The two most iconic Opening Adventures I can think of for Champions are:
     
    A villinous agency is robbing all of the local banks. The heroes must stop them.
     
    An arsonist is setting a series of apartment buildings on fire. The heroes must save as many residents as they can before the building collapses, as well as find and defeat the arsonist or discovery why these apartments are being burned down.
  7. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Spence in Re-entering the hardbound, store-centric model   
    Also not arguing ? But I don't think I really clarified myself very well on a few points. 
     
    Also I have no idea how to make this forum break up a long quote into sections.  Its the old in me.  So I will manually insert the items I want to quote below
     
     
    Here I believe I was really unclear with my example. D&D has three basic ways to publish support material for their RPG. 
    1. Standard Licensing
    2. OGL
    3. DMs Guild
    They actually have a matrix on the general differences between OGL and DM's Guild.
     
    Their OGL is pretty standard and allows you to use the 5th Ed rules to publish and sell your own unique world/setting/adventure.  But your cannot directly use any of their published material, such as Sword Coast, Waterdeep or Monster Manual entries.  In a broad sense you can use the SRD stuff but not the color or defined creatures/treasure/setting material.
     
    DMs Guild is different.  You can use pretty much all of the setting material, monsters, classes etc.  But you can only sell it as a PDF on the DMs Guild site and must conform to the format requirements.  You retain the IP of your original material, and they retain the IP for theirs.  They also may approach you to purchase material that is really good to incorporate into the main IP.  They also get a small slice of the profit form each sale.
     
    So Bob the gamer has the opportunity to create content without the need to commit to a formal license.  Mainline D&D players can easily create a short adventure in the existing D&D world and sell on the DMs Guild site to test the waters.  Is my stuff really as great as I think it is.  The caveat of WotC being able to buy it from you pretty much eliminates full blown campaigns on DM Guild, but does all initial entry.
     
    OGL is OGL and requires you to be completely unique and not use any setting related material. 
     
    An agreed license has requirements.  Time lines, costs, legal guarantees, etc.  It is a contract.  It might be completely super reasonable.   But it is a secret, you do not know what they entail until you enter into negotiations.  Which is fine for people in the industry and is 100% the way to go for serious projects.
     
    But WotC apparently decided they didn't want to deal with small content items.  But they also realized that their is a market so they have established a pipeline to allow others to make them while maintaining control and getting a small slice of the profit for basically no effort on their part. 
    Players and DM's get access to a lot of low cost material and WotC gets a few cents to a couple dollars each. I just looked at the DMs Guild and filtered to Adventures.  There are 2462 as of this post for D&D.   That does not include WotC material or licensed material.
     
    Champions/Hero System on Drive Through only has 74 items listed under Adventure and most are not actually adventures Hudson City, the campaign setting that doesn't actually have any adventures.  NPCs, organization info, and some plot hooks.  But no adventures.   What adventures there are, are for Pulp Hero or mostly older editions.  You can't filter for edition, but less than 10 are for the current edition. 
     
     
    Not wrong, but the current, ever shrinking Herodom fan base isn't the target.  Yes, the established Hero player has their rule book.  But what else do they need?  Nothing.  One sale and done.  A person who has not seen the game before does not have anything to deviate from in the first place.  Viper?  There is a organization book.  But no adventure.  There was Vipers Nest in the early editions and we have all played it.  But Champs Complete has the write ups of The Champions and a few Villains.  But no adventure.   It isn't a case of "You don't want VIPER in your campaign, simple, remove them".  Rather "remove them from what".  There is not a playable campaign organized for novices to run Viper.  There is a 5th Edition organization book for Viper (which also does not include an actual adventure) that you can convert.  But a novice to Hero buys the current edition Champions Complete and discovers that the majority of material available has to be converted first???
     
     
    Yes the current 150 active Hero gamers....err 149....148... ?  Semi Joking here...
     
    But on the serious side, yes that is the priority of the majority of people here.  Most of them are the same ones for years or decades.  But for that slice of gamerdom, once they but a copy of Champs Complete, they are done buying. 
     
    The target needs to be the vast sea of casual gamers that are flocking to the "lame" and "derivative" works that everyone here shows disdain for, and yet out sells Hero products by magnitudes. 
     
     Exactly.
     
     
    Yes yes yes.  Do what Pathfinder does.  Publish each adventure and then later put out a combined "Campaign Book" that puts them all into a hardback with full art and a extra chapter on GMing it as a campaign.  The Rise of the Runelords came out in 2007 and people still order it. 
     
     
    Pretty much...yep.  The thing is that Champions Complete does not need a rewrite.  It needs a new layout and format.  People here that already own CC or 6th Ed vol 1&2 are not going to buy it.  In fact people here are the slice of gamers that really don't buy anything from Hero anymore.  We have the rulebook, we can make it all. 
     
    The target needs to be the guy holding CC in one hand and D&D's PHB or the Pathfinder Core in the other.  Which are they going to take up to the register.  When CC released and was available in general distribution, I covered/donated three copies for my FLGS. 
     
    For the next couple of years...
    Customer picks it up.  Puts it back.  Moves on.
    When they did carry it to the counter they would ask a few questions.  The store staff would talk it up. If I was there I'd do the same with some information.  And then the "Question of Death".   They would ask "What kind of adventures are out?" followed by "Oh it's new, what are the planned releases?" Followed by a surprised "It's been out since the 80's?" and then "Adventures need to be converted from previous versions, really?". 
     
    In a three year period, one sold and I now have two extra copies. 
     
    Yes, the current players that frequent this board are committed to designing their own cool stuff.  
     
    But they are not the target. 
    The target is the new player that is scooping up D&D 5th, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Conan, Star Trek and on and on. 
     
    Champions/Hero rules have been hammered and squeezed down until there is nothing left to alter.  There absolutely nothing to be gained from yet another iteration.  What Champs/Hero needs to present a reason to play it. 
     
    To catch the eye and get the players into a flashing super battle. 
     
    Or a rousing adventure with the Heroes saving the village from the goblin horde.
     
    Or SOMETHING to ignite the prospective players creativity and wish to use Hero.  
     
    Everyday I watch $60 RPG books leave the shelf.  A LOT of adventures and a never ending rotation of RPG games.  
    When someone does ask about Champs they normally already have their books and if someone does ask about getting a copy, the store recommends ordering direct from Hero.  My FLGS's primary distributor is the local GTS (no shipping because they can drive there in 30 minutes) and their secondary is Alliance because they can get virtually anything not carried by GTS.  They cannot justify opening and maintaining a new account for the purpose of a single item.  And I already have multiple copies of the books and pretty much everything 4th, 5th and 6th edition.  I will spring for new material, but I just can no longer buy items just to buy.  Heck that was what CC was.  I also have most (all?) of the third party material/adventures.  But none of it is suitable for a teaching game.  Great for experienced teams and I have folded them into my games, at least a few years back I did.  But as an intro to supers adventures they are not the easiest to use, and for a novice Hero GM/player they can be daunting. 
     
    Simple, introductory, playable. 
     
    What is boring or blase for a veteran player can be new and exciting for a new player. 
    D&D's Curse of Strahd and Storm Kings Thunder were basically updates of old adventures, Ravensloft has been retooled for multiple editions.  And yet it was new and exciting as Curse of Strahd for the current generation of players.
     
    Well now I am preaching. 
    Time to stop trying to hold back the dike with my pinkie
  8. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from MrAgdesh in How to Build: Dancing weapons?   
    I'm not sure how Nega-Beam is relevent, besides being highly illegal and abusive. It is the second most terribly written power I've ever seen (the first being Captain Chronos in general and his NND Entangle specifically). Nega-Beam uses Summon to create a "Character" that represents an Attack.
     
    HERO System should have long since included an Advantage for representing Homing attacks... so that we did not require such an atrociously built construct to represent a fairly common trope. For Example:
     
    Homing (+1/4): Allows the Attack to function similarly to a heat-seeking missile. If a Homing Attack misses its target, it will bank around and attempt to attack the target again next phase (using the same OCV it initially attacked with). A character must normally pay END to maintain a Homing Attack (but needn't take any further action to maintain it). A Homing Attack is considered to have a number of meters of Flight equal to its maximum range. Homing Attacks have a normal Turn Mode (unless it takes No Turn Mode) and must obey all of the standard rules for acceleration/deceleration; meaning that it is fairly easy to block homing attacks (compared to other ranged attacks) or trick them into hitting something else (a Sucker Attack).
  9. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Ninja-Bear in Rethinking Growth   
    I assumed that is the way Growth is bought now. I must have missed something.
  10. Like
    Cantriped reacted to incrdbil in Champions Now Information   
    Confusion in the market. Misinformation travels faster than fact a thousand times.  Some may think this is the new Champions, that 6e is being dropped. . Division in the player base fragmenting sales; there's already those refusing to advance to new product nightstick to older stuff out of nostalgia, fragmenting the potential ability to sell new product. I can understand a pure nostalgia product. But if you really want to attract new players, pushing a newer, nicer, newbie friendly version of Champions Complete is the way to go, instead of this diversion back to these rules which are just old and outdated, ( not intrinsically better (or really that much simpler) at reflecting the superhero genre.
  11. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Ninja-Bear in Champions Now Information   
    I keep thinking that whatever Ron Edwards wants to do with Champions Now, why couldn’t he have done with CC? Sure figureds is out but really if the game is less about the mechanic and more on playing then going back to 3e is a bogus argument.  Now Jason Walters said that Champions Now can be easier to learn for younger kids. Great! Again why couldn’t that have been done (as supplement) for CC? We preach how Hero System can be changed to have the game YOU want. Well apparently it can’t.
  12. Like
    Cantriped reacted to incrdbil in Champions Now Information   
    Exactly. Thanks for saying it better than I did.
  13. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Lord Liaden in Still Confused By UBO   
    Also keep in mind that in the supers genre, whatever the character makes to give to his friends, if they want to keep it permanently they'll have to invest their own Character Points to buy it. Otherwise the GM is pretty much required to contrive some way for them to eventually lose it.
  14. Like
    Cantriped reacted to ghost-angel in Are Champions and HERO System "indie" games?   
    IMO "indie game" is a lot like "alt music" - a useless title that tells you nothing, makes someone sound pretentious, and ultimately fails to help anyone figure out if the product is any good at all.
  15. Like
    Cantriped reacted to zslane in Are Champions and HERO System "indie" games?   
    If you are producing your product exclusively through vehicles like Kickstarter, then that means you are operating independent of an established publisher, and that is the very definition of "indie" (i.e., indie being short for independent). The nature/style of your game design is orthogonal to your publishing stratum.
     
    By this definition, most RPG "publishers" out there are indie, yes.
  16. Like
    Cantriped reacted to zslane in Are Champions and HERO System "indie" games?   
    Well, Champions started out as an "indie" game, and then grew to become a major product brand (mostly thanks to I.C.E.). Post-4th edition, however, it shrunk back down to indie status, and now it is more of a community project than a legitimate, fully commercial product line, at least in my view.
  17. Like
    Cantriped reacted to incrdbil in Champions Now Information   
    That is chief among the reasons I honestly hope that it doesn't meet funding. It will be bad for the Hero system, not good.
  18. Like
    Cantriped reacted to randian in Champions Now Information   
    As noted by others, this is going to look like 6E is being dumped (to the extent that, it not being in print and thus very difficult for new gamers to discover, isn't already considered a dead product line) even if that's not the intent.
     
    I am disappointed there isn't a pledge just for the 3E, Champions II, and Champions III pdfs (with errata, preferably, since that's not specified in the kickstarter). I would think there'd some interest in that.
  19. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Spence in Champions Now Information   
    Well, I wish it all success, but I'll be passing.
     
    I really haven't been doing much of anything with Hero even though Champs is my favorite RPG
     
    Pretty much the only gaming I do now is with fully supported systems.  And by fully supported, I mean systems that put out pre-built adventures.   I only know 2 people that are running anything homebrew, and one of them is running a full on crawl.  The primary reason is ee all work full time and most have family obligations.  Limited free time.
     
    So I am playing in a D&D 5th league game and when I run itbis usually a GUMSHOE or Call of Cthulhu scenario. 
     
    I love to run mystery/investigation games and have been working on a Supers campaign for a while.  But constructing a investigatve based campaign is detail intensive.  Once I complete the spine and enough side branches to a viable level, I'll decide on game system and begin plugging in Villians and stat'ing them out. 
     
    But for now I really do not need yet another ruleset or yet anothet advice document. 
     
    What I need in a gaming product is self contained general adventures that can played stand alone or pluged into a campaign if I ever start having enough time to actually write/run one again. 
     
    Pretty much every successful RPG found in full distribution in actual stores have full lines of adventures.  The local FLGS's can't keep them in stock. 
     
    For me I will have to shift my attention and funds to games I will actually have a realistic expectation of playing.  Ones with not just rulesets, but also a solid support in adventures/scenarios.
  20. Like
    Cantriped reacted to Old Man in Trying to build a healer...   
    Healing is one of those self-inflicted problems that Fantasy Hero has always had.  First of all, it matters whether you're playing with hit locations and bleeding or not, and whether your healing spell is per-injury or not.  Then somewhere along the line it was decided to roll Healing into Aid, causing it to get caught up in all the efforts to fix Aid (which was admittedly broken).  At this point if it's 1st ed FH, I might know how Healing works, and if it's any other version, I definitely do not know how Healing works.
     
     
  21. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from Ragitsu in How to Build: "Dragon Charm of Dissipation"   
    Okay, so despite being described as a magic item that summons a flying ghostly dragon to go around doing this or that... what I think we actually have is an Automaton in the form of the figurine (or a suite of powers controlled by a Computer integrated into the Focus, as per the 4th ED Dancing Sword example in the other thread).
     
    Most of the things it is described as doing can be acomplished by applying an Uncontrolled, Obvious, Area Of Effect Mobile (large enough to represent its size, and fast enough its speed) Attack to the area and moving it appropriately.
    Being an automaton (or computer) gives the figurine its own SPD and Initiative to control whichever power however it needs to too follow your commands.
     
    Slots 1&2 should be a massive Dispel built as described above (uncontrolled, mobile AoE, etc), the only real difference is which of the Automaton/Computer's Programs you call. However, Dispel doesn't destroy magical items on their own. The items must have been created as a result of the activation of a power.
    The common, legal examples being any Physical Manifestation, potions created by Delayed Effect, mines created by Trigger, walls created by Barrier, ropes/chains created by Entangle, and Summoned object-like beings (which includes summoned vehicles and automata).
    If the GM uses the "Alternate Magic Item Creation Rules"* from Fantasy Hero, any item can be assigned a threshold of effect for being destroyed by Dispel. 
    *(which are basically a variation on Summon that is slow and tiring, uses the real cost of the item to determine its active point cost, and lasts until the object is dispelled or destroyed.)
     
    Slot 3 could be described as a Limited Dispel (if you hold an action you can use Dispel against any incoming attack, like a D&D Counterspell). Except that such a power would also work on AoE attacks just fine.
    Alternatively, as a combo of Deflection (which the figurine holds or aborts an action to activate) and Usable By Nearby 75% Damage Reduction that only applies to AoE attacks.
     
    Slot 4 actually is a Summon (Demi-Dragon), one whose conditions for activation are largely arbitrary (dispelling enough magic, however you choose to measure that) and that Locks Out all the other slots for as long as the summoned being exists
  22. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from BoloOfEarth in Earth bending how do I do it?   
    You'll need a fairly large suite of powers for Earth Bending. At its highest levels of mastery you can justify a VPP...
     
    But the basic techniques I would require as GM are:
     
    Geokinesis + Martial Maneuvers: This is Fine Manipulation Telekinesis Limited to Only Affect Earth And Stone (or sometimes Earth, Stone, and Metal)* with a Martial Art bought for/through it (both to enhance damage and provide additional versatility). I suggest Martial Maneuvers such as Defensive Strike, Martial Block, Martial Grab and Martial Throw.
    Given the SFX, source material, and the fact that I've suggested Martial Block through a pseudo-ranged power... as GM I would also require you purchase Deflection Linked to your Geokinesis**.
    * I would rule that either form could still be used indirectly on other materials by "making a hand out of earth/stones" or some-such, but it would have half the maximum lift capacity while doing so (making it akin to carrying something one-handed). Other GMs might (very reasonably) reduce the value of being Limited to Only Earth and Stone, or require you buy a less limited version of TK, or even a second version of TK with Physical Manifestation instead of Limited Target.
    ** on the other hand every character in that world seems to be able to block projectiles one way or another... so in a World of the Avatar campaign deflection might be an Everyman power for PCs.
     
    Dissmissable Earth Barriers & Entangles (pretty self explanatory, you can find the stats for generic dirt and stone in CC/FHC/6e2). Generally speaking earth and stone have very little rPD, but fair rED and lots of BODY (makes them strong against Fire Benders).
     
    UAA Earth & Stone Tunneling:  Dirt walls have 0 rPD, Stone Walls generally go up to 8rPD, while Metal can reach 19 rPD. I suggest (and would allow) UAA so that the bender doesn't have to move down the tunnel to create it (this version wouldn't target characters, for the sake of game balance)
     
    Everything else could be a Power Trick (at low levels of mastery) or a VPP slot (at high levels of mastery).
  23. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from Chris Goodwin in What sort of books would you like see published for Hero System?   
    Those are all good wishes!*
    *Bearing in mind that this is a "wishlist" thread, not a "is it practical to publish X​" thread.
     
    Really the best ways I can think of to avoid 'supersizing' are to exclude the massive example excerpts Steve Long was (in)famous for, and fewer optional rules. However I kind of feel like Genre books generally deserve their larger page counts. Each of the genre books I've read (​Champions, Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero...) contained tons of invaluable research and advice, much of it relevant to any game engine capable of simulating multiple genres. We could cut some of the page count down by removing the excerpts from cinema and literature, but they give a lot of flavor to an otherwise somewhat dry read.
     
    Other Wishlist items:
    "Harry Potter" Hero as an urban fantasy campaign/setting with the students at Hogwarts as its cast.
    "Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra" Hero as a high fantasy campaign/setting featuring a party of warriors and benders.
  24. Like
    Cantriped got a reaction from Chris Goodwin in What sort of books would you like see published for Hero System?   
    I understand the intent, however I find the principle behind it inexcusable. It is foolish to publish a document that assumes the existence of documents you intend to publish in the future; precisely because no one is truly in control of their future. Any given publication might be your last, and the publication you think is your last might be the one that saves the company.
    If I had been given a choice between Hero System Vehicle and say Fantasy Hero (July 2010) or the Advanced Players Guide II (August 2011), I'd have taken Hero System Vehicle... To be fair though, I don't really use either of the APGs, and I actually prefer my 5th edition copy of Fantasy Hero to the 6th edition version.
     
    Regardless, we got what we got, and I can gripe about it all day long but that won't change it...
    If wishes were fishes, I'd cast a net for a PDF edition of Hero System Vehicle​, and FHC compatible versions of the Iron Kingdoms* campaign setting sourcebooks and a nice series adventures to do with it.
    *The Iron Kingdoms is one of my favorite settings, and the rules for the IK Wargame (and likely the RPG too) have a few noteworthy similarities to Hero.
  25. Thanks
    Cantriped got a reaction from sunny the goth in Earth bending how do I do it?   
    You'll need a fairly large suite of powers for Earth Bending. At its highest levels of mastery you can justify a VPP...
     
    But the basic techniques I would require as GM are:
     
    Geokinesis + Martial Maneuvers: This is Fine Manipulation Telekinesis Limited to Only Affect Earth And Stone (or sometimes Earth, Stone, and Metal)* with a Martial Art bought for/through it (both to enhance damage and provide additional versatility). I suggest Martial Maneuvers such as Defensive Strike, Martial Block, Martial Grab and Martial Throw.
    Given the SFX, source material, and the fact that I've suggested Martial Block through a pseudo-ranged power... as GM I would also require you purchase Deflection Linked to your Geokinesis**.
    * I would rule that either form could still be used indirectly on other materials by "making a hand out of earth/stones" or some-such, but it would have half the maximum lift capacity while doing so (making it akin to carrying something one-handed). Other GMs might (very reasonably) reduce the value of being Limited to Only Earth and Stone, or require you buy a less limited version of TK, or even a second version of TK with Physical Manifestation instead of Limited Target.
    ** on the other hand every character in that world seems to be able to block projectiles one way or another... so in a World of the Avatar campaign deflection might be an Everyman power for PCs.
     
    Dissmissable Earth Barriers & Entangles (pretty self explanatory, you can find the stats for generic dirt and stone in CC/FHC/6e2). Generally speaking earth and stone have very little rPD, but fair rED and lots of BODY (makes them strong against Fire Benders).
     
    UAA Earth & Stone Tunneling:  Dirt walls have 0 rPD, Stone Walls generally go up to 8rPD, while Metal can reach 19 rPD. I suggest (and would allow) UAA so that the bender doesn't have to move down the tunnel to create it (this version wouldn't target characters, for the sake of game balance)
     
    Everything else could be a Power Trick (at low levels of mastery) or a VPP slot (at high levels of mastery).
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