mallet

Some possible idea for how to make the cross special, but not being able to be duplicated: Maybe it contains a bone shard or a small amount of blood of a Saint in it. It is these remains that give the cross its holy power, not a spell or a ritual. So your mage isn't going to be able to duplicate it unless he can find more remains of Saints. As for the more traditional Holy Areas, maybe for them to exist there needed to have been either a miracle performed at the site sometime way in the past, and the remaining aura of that miracle is what makes the area sanctified (and why someone might have built a church there in the first place). Or if a miracle didn't take place there, there needs to have been a standing and operating church and/or graveyard present for many years or decades or centuries and it is that constant expression of faith and masses and proper burials (with all the attending rites) that slowly built up the "holy energy" of the place making it sanctified.

Looking for thoughts on how Herodom at large would handle this (no pun intended). So there is a Player who wants to have his character only have one arm (Fantasy Hero, Lost his arm in a heroic way before the campaign begins). He doesn't want this missing arm to have any real drawbacks, only more of a story thing. So he wants to take it as a Distinctive Feature not as a Physical Complication. His rational is that it has been long enough that the character can now function just as well with one arm/hand as a normal person with two. The "realist" in me says, no, if you are missing an arm you get all the drawbacks that go with it. But the Hero GM in me realises that just like the "You get what you pay for" aspect of the rules, the same applies in reverse to Complications. So if he doesn't take the points of having a Physical Complication then he also doesn't suffer the drawbacks. The Hero Gm in me is winning in this situation, because A) it is kind of cool to imagine a one armed hero carrying on and doing everything a normal hero does, and B ) that is what the rules state and I'm against forcing a player to take specific Complications on their character if they don't want to. But, here is the thing, how does something like this situation apply when dealing with things like 1 1/2 or 2-handed weapons, Grabs, etc... things in the rules that specifically mention needing or using two hands or suffering penalties? In those situations it is basically either assuming the character is choosing to use one hand or has the Physical Complication preventing him from doing so, neither is the case in this situation. Again, if he doesn't get the points from the Complication, then he shouldn't suffer the penalties, but... Another though I had was to "meet him halfway", and say yes for most instances you can carry on as if you had two hands, even though you only have one, but you will need to either spend some points at the start (or during play to represent the character getting more skilled one handed) by buying abilities like: "+5 STR only to wield 1 1/2 and 2-handed weapons with one hand", or even an "extra limb" that is invisible, intangible, etc... but that simulates having a second hand/arm. But again, this is making the character pay points to overcome a Physical Complication he doesn't technically have. Anyway, any thoughts on this?

The 6th Ed Grimoire has the Sanctify Area spell which is kind of what you want. The basic version is: Change Environment (sanctify area), Long-Lasting (duration is permanent until defiled), Area Of Effect (16m Radius; +¾), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (45 Active Points); OAF (holy symbol or the like; -1), Concentration (0 DCV throughout casting; -1), Extra Time (1 Hour to cast; -1½), Gestures (throughout casting; -½), Incantations (throughout casting; -½), No Range (-½), Only When Serving The God’s Purposes (-½), RequiresA Magic Roll (-½), Spell (-½). Total cost: 6 points. This spell allows a priest to sanctify an area, thus preventing demons, some types of undead, and other such creatures from entering it without feeling pain. Typically this is done as part of the construction of a temple, but there’s no reason a priest who wanted to take the time and effort couldn’t sanctify other places of importance.

I agree with Hugh. The game is supposed to be fun and if the improvements fit the setting, genre and power level of the game then no or very little explanation should be required. And a player definitely shouldn't be punished for not working out some big backstory and reason for it. If anything players who do get involved and do all that "extra work" should be rewarded for the effort and interest they put into the game with maybe a discount on the cost of the abilities or something. If you want to get involvement and depth a carrot works better then a stick. I don't know if anyone here ever player the Amber Diceless RPG, but in that game there was "meta" ways for Players to get bonus points for their character. If the player was will to keep a log/journal of their characters adventures, maybe writing up a page or two, first person recap of each session then they would get extra points for their character, if they didn't write it up or stopped, then they lost those points. If the Players was more into drawing, then if they did up a picture or painting or what not for each session then they got points, etc... This built buy-in and interest in the campaign for the players that wanted to put more effort in by rewarding that effort. It didn't punish the Players that didn't.

Western Hero and Horror Hero are the two books I'd most like to own.

It is in the store.

How about a Drain STR and DEX with enough effect to get them down to Zero in both Stats, with the Limitation One Limb at a time?

I'm not to sure. It seems pretty dark for most settings. it would all come down to the actual adventure itself. Does Viper have away to reverse the effects turning it back into a normal baby? Looking at the character sheet, given the baby has an intelligence of 1, and the attention span of a toddler, I think most of its powers should have Uncontrollable on them. As it is not likely the baby would know what power to use in a situation or how to best use them and will be easily distracted, etc... probably attacking Viper and the Heroes in equal measure. Also, since it is a toddler with 1 INT, there isn't any real way to safely capture it as it is so powerful, unless there is a way to reverse the effect that created it the odds are they would have to either have kill it (for the greater good). Maybe the team could knock it out and keep it knocked out long enough to get it to a supermax prison for super villains before it wakes up. but that is also pretty dark putting a baby in a cell until it grows up enough to control its powers. I assume being fed by robots and machines since it can't feed itself. And with an upbringing like that it might as well stay in prison its whole life because it would definitely become a super villain if ever released.

Are there other in game benefits to the cheek pouches? Allowing the character to hide small gear, weapons, lockpicks, etc... from casual detection? If so, then it should probably cost some points (maybe as + Skill levels in Concealment) with limits on the objects size and weight?

Well for contacts, the Universal Contact perk from the Ultimate Skill book (5th and 6th Ed.) is exactly what you want. From the description: "A character with this Talent has friends everywhere — literally. No matter where he goes or what sort of help he needs, he always seems to know “just the right person” to turn to for information or assistance. Universal Connections costs 20 Character Points" More rules follow that, and you can spend extra points to make the Contacts more useful, etc... and work with the GM on extra, etc... All the "Universal" skills, Perks, etc... seem to have a base cost of 20 character points, so that might a good jumping off point for stuff like "Universal Wealth", etc... So maybe the GM would allow you to spend 20 Character points, to have "Universal Wealth" which is equal to having 5 points of Wealth in almost all dimensions, then maybe have an activation roll (11- or something) to start with to see if it applies to any particular dimension you end up in.

The equipment book (and I think the 6th Ed 2nd book) has some optional rule ideas for HtH weapons and what a great success when hitting with those gives characters. If I remember right, if using a piercing weapon you get Armor Piercing with it for that hit, a bashing weapon gives you a +1 STUN Multiplier, and a Slashing weapon gives you +1 DC. So using that might give some ideas for Critical Success roles. A punch might do extra Knockback, a blast might get Armor Piercing for that hit, etc...

For the first one, you say they existed all along in the setting, but before electric technology existed, how did they live, move, etc...? A lightning bolt only lasts milliseconds, static electricity builds up and then is spent, maybe they lived in the high atmosphere? And how do they reproduce? To be a "race" they must be able to reproduce somehow. Same for the second one, plus how do they move? Do they latch on to a beings brainwaves and follow them around and then "jump" to a different person when they are close enough and then follow that person? For either one, to make them "playable" I guess you would need to give them Desolidification with Always On. Sell back all STATS and Movement they don't possess to 0. The electrical being would then need the Possession power from the APG with Only works with machines. The mental being would also have Invisibility; Always On. And probably Flight; Always On and Uncontrollable with the movement based on the Character they are "following" and maybe a little bit on Flight; Always On with a very limited range (so they can "jump" to another person). And how much time does the mental being have to find a new "host"? For example it is linked to a person's brainwaves and following them, but that person is teleported away, the mind being doesn't get teleported with them, so now it has to quickly find another brainwave to follow. Can it move a few dozen meters to find someone else, or does it die instantly? And with the electrical being, can they move outside of being in a conductive medium? For example, it is travelling through a wire, and the wire is cut at both ends. Is it now stuck in the wire forever until the wire comes in contact with another medium it can travel through (another wire, water, a metal pipe, etc...? And can the being sense or somehow know if jumping out of its current medium (the wire) into another medium (a pipe) is a good thing or a bad thing? Ie, the wire is being carried around so it might eventually get to a computer or electrical grid, but the pipe might be stuck in an old building for the new 100 years. And if the wire is thrown into a fireplace and melts, does the electrical being die because it can't jump/move a few feet to another "home"?

I think part of it will be based on the setting, and how other characters are built, how NPC's are built and what other technology is available and the groups doing the breeding and the technology they have access to. For example, if every Player Character is going to be part of the Breeding Program, then you might start them all off with 15 in each STAT for free (rather then the normal 10) and set the Maxima for all Players at 22, with a Cap at 30 for every STAT. This assumes that the groups doing the breeding programs had the resources (and lack of government oversight and morals) to get in on Genetic manipulation early on in the late 70's or early 80's and without legal restrictions began experimenting on their already bred to exceptional subjects making them even more capable to reach above human STATS (so 30) rather then the 20ish a normal person could reach. If you have different groups doing competing Breeding programs, then a different group might not use genetic manipulation, so characters from those programs, might start with STATS at 15, with a Maxima set at 20, and a Cap set at 25. But these programs might focus more on training, rather then the "brute force of genetic superiority", so they might have higher OCV and DCV caps and maximas then the genetically modified groups to represent the focus on training. As for special abilities, I would think Enhanced Senses would be possible, with a +1 to +3 for All Sense Groups, or just one or two Sense Groups (as I don't know if it would be common or desirable to have most of your super soldiers having super touch or taste as it could be debilitating in some ways (depending on how "realistic" you want these enhancements to be). Double Jointed and other talents, as mentioned above. Their movement STATS will probably be higher for running, leaping and swimming. Low Levels of Life Support might be acceptable (able to go longer without sleep, or Food, or holding their breath for a long time, and maybe immunity to some diseases (common cold, flu, etc...)) Maybe a +1 Overall Skill Level to represent just being a bit better at everything because of their great genetics. Very Low Level Regeneration might work, although to be realistic, it might be better just to have a very high REC stat (or something like +10 REC; only for healing BOD) so they recover from injury a lot quicker then normal people, but not quite at the superhuman levels that Regeneration gives. Hardened Bones might give a +1d6 HA (similar to wearing Brass Knuckles), and some extra PD. Depending on the optional rules (if you are using them) for hit locations you might say that it takes more BOD damage to sever a limb for characters that have hardened bones then with a normal person. They might also have a little bit of Kockback resistance (if you use Knockback in your game). Characters raised together in a specific breeding program would probably start with a very good Teamwork skill (with + levels for working with each other) and they might even have their own "language" or code for communicating with each other, even if it is just a very old or ancient language not in use any more in the "real" world. Latin, Ancient Persian or Greek, etc... That's is all I can think of right now off the top of my head.

I would say maybe an Entangle? If fact doesn't one of the examples in the rules (can't remember is it is in 5th or 6th) have something similar, causing seizurers using the Mental Paralysis options.

My thoughts on capturing a generic sci-fi feel with game mechanics... First lets cut out gear, vehicles, weapons and equipment and the access to them from the core discussion, as they are very setting specific and is very different from Star Wars, to Star Trek, to Traveller, to Cyberpunk. Second, we also need to cut out powers and special abilities as they are also very setting specific, the Force, Psionics, neural implants, cyber limbs etc... are all "sci-fi" but not in every sci-fi game. So what are we left with? Skills. I personally feel that skills and how they are used is the best way to capture a sci-fi feel to a game. Skills should be the main focus of characters in a sci-fi game. I would use almost all of the detailed rules for skills from the Ultimate Skills book, and possibly breakdown the skills into even more specific components. (An aside: One of the big things I miss in 6th Ed. is all the subcategories in the System Operations skill. I feel they should never have taken those out. I still use the lists from 5th Ed when running campaigns in 6th Ed and I think everyone should use them when running a sci-fi campaign). As technology gets more advanced specialisation is more and more necessary. Even in semi-realistic modern games just having Computer Programming isn't detailed enough. Just because a character can program in C++, doesn't mean they could reprogram a computer running Ruby, Python, Java, etc... Knowing "Security Systems" shouldn't be enough to do everything, it should be broken down into more specific types of skills (the Ultimate Skill gives details on this type of breakdown for lots of the normal "catch-all skills".) And like I mentioned above a character shouldn't just have "System Operations" and be able to run the life support, engines and gravity generators on a ship, each should be its own specialised skill. This type of attention to detail, especially involving technical skills, knowledge, science & professional skills really can add the "sci-fi" feel to a game. Besides, if it is a Heroic level game, characters won't be spending points of weapons and gear, so they have to spend their XP on something, and skills are the way to go.

If you only get points from one limitation, then why would people take more then one limitation on a power? They would just take one limitation and call it a day. And if you do that, would you also want it to be that you only pay for one advantage on a power, even if it has multiple advantages on it? Either way, I think this road leads to point creep in practice. 500 point start "Standard" superheroes, rather then the current 400 point, or the like.

Is neon blue a color no one in this campaign world has even seen before? If so, the very fact that these stones can be ground up, mixed with water, and used to turn something neon blue could be worth tons of money. Very wealthy nobels and priests, etc. would pay a fortune for clothing with colors that no one else in the world has seen or owned before. Could become a major status symbol of the very rich. Just like historically when new fabrics, dyes, etc... made their way to Western Europe for the first time. Not as adventurous as other possible storylines, but interesting in a non-traditional fantasy role playing way. Merchants, craftsmen, Nobles, crime groups, etc... trying to steal the stones because of how valuable they are. Probably even worth them trying to kill the PC’s for. Then if if it is discovered that the dyed clothing is also now magical it would make them even more valuable. Maybe clothing dyed with the stones offer protection vs magic, or alternately boost alteration magic spells? A secret group of mages who all want to have robes dyed with the blue stones. And are willing to kill to get them.

If I remember correctly in the 6th ED Martial Arts book there is a power removes an opponents armor. One of the examples is cutting off an opponents armor by targeting the straps with a sword. In that book it was built as a drain vs the armor with each roll causing some of it to fall off (lowering its DEF) and once all of it is drained then all the armor has fallen off. I guess that could be adapted here but instead of attacking the foci, you drain the BODY of the material holding the Foci to the Targets person.

I don't think the 3rd part is a power or an attack. It would just be falling damage based on how deep the hole is. As Lucius said, characters with flying wouldn't be damaged. Same with characters who maybe had swinging, teleport, desolidification, clinging and probably a few other powers I'm forgetting right now that could help stop them from falling. As for the 2nd part of the power, how deep is the abyss you are thinking of? Characters fall at a velocity of +10m a Segment, so the deeper the hole the more chances that they will get a phase to act and/or another character has a phase to save them (fly after them and grab them), etc... So in the first Segment they have fallen 10m, Second Seg 30m, Third Seg 60m, Fourth Seg 100m; fifth Seg 150m, sixth Seg 210m, then they reach maximum velocity, so the distance increases by +60m each segment after that. So, Seg 7 they have fallen 270m, Seg 8 330m. Obviously everyones take on what an "Abyss" level of depth might be, but I would say 100m would be the very minimum I would consider an Abyss and you could still see the bottom from edge of that. But going with it being 100m deep hole we see that it would take 4 segments to fall that distance. A SPD 5 character would get at least two full Phases to act before they hit the ground. Also, assuming this is a modern day superhero campaign, this power would do a ton of damage to the city it was used in. Subway tunnels cut in half, sewer, water and gas mains ruptured, electrical lines severed, etc.... I guess this would be a badguy power, because any hero using it would be hated by everyone in the city for all the damage caused. Can you imagine how much money it would cost and time it would take to fill in an abyss sized pothole on Main st.?

Well an old school way of making a character invulnerable to things (like Fire) was to use the Disolidification power with the limitation "only vs. fire" or something similar. You could probably find a way to use that to get another Takes No Body effect. Like Disolidification Always On, with the special effect that it still looks like you get injured. Then I guess you buy "effects physical world" on your strength. Or something like that. Probably a bunch more Advantages and Limitations on the power and other powers you might have.

Also, you could add Concentration to the Extra Time to activate, as I assume your character would be at 0 DCV during that time as he is meditating. Possibly with Unaware of Near by Events.

I read a book on Frank Sinatra once, probably the master carouser of the last 100 years. In it, when asked how he was able to handle drinking so much and still being social and the life of the party, he said his trick was to first when entering a party make a big deal about ordering a bunch of champagne for everyone and make a big deal of it toasting everyone, pouring for everyone, etc... then later secretly switching to only ginger ale in his champagne glass for most of the rest of the night. Everyone thought he was drinking just as much as they were or even more, but while everyone else was getting drunk, but he would stay sober. So maybe a Carousing skill would also include a bit of Acting in it. In fact Carousing might apply to lots of skills at different times, from Conversation, to Oratory to Acting. Some maybe it would be best simulated by a Skill Levels in All Interaction Skills (4pts per +1) with the Limitation "Only when Carousing"

I think it would need to have Selective on the Area Of Effect, otherwise it is granting the ability to all your allies and enemies alike.

But the question is does this only apply to the Power Leap or does a characters normal Leap work this way as well? If Character A buys 4m Leap as a power (adding to their base Stat), and Character B just buys +4m Leap to his/her base of 4m, can they both use their Leap to reduce falling damage as per the rules? A starting Character has a Leap of 4m (2m vertical), does that mean every character takes no damage from any fall up to 2m as long as they have a Held Action?

Would this be legal/correct? This would only be for the "Infectious" part of the build. It would need to be a Compound Power, with the first part being the normal Drain attack against the target, and this being the second part of the power. Spread Disease: Drain BODY, STUN & END 1/2d6, Persistent (+1/4), Inherent (+1/4), Constant (+1/2), Expanded Effect (x3 Characteristics or Powers simultaneously) (+1), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Day; +2 1/4), Damage Over Time, Target's defences only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (4 damage increments, damage occurs every four Segments, can be negated by Proper Level or Form of Life Support; +2 1/2) (40 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Day which Never Recovers (-1 3/4), Always On (-1/2), Limited Range (-1/4), Usable By Other (-1/4), Grantor can only grant the power to others. (Actual Cost: 7) Basically you are giving the Target the power Drain, which is always on, and that the Target can not control.