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Would having the proper amount of Life Support protect a character from this attack? For example Full Immunity? Or if it is airborne would self-contained breathing offer protection? If so then that should be another Limitation on this attack power. Maybe it should be a NND attack, with the correct Life Support being the only Defence?

If the game is played using the Ultimate Skill books (5th or 6th) then most practical skills do include knowledge of the skill. A quick look at Lockpicking in that book does include uninstalling, building and installing locks, and while I don't notice any mention of of things like "factory that manufactured" the lock, etc... other "active" skills in the books do list knowledge as being part of the base skill. For example, or or In fact many of the Active skills in that book include some form of the above, showing that having the "active" part of a skill still gives knowledge of a wide range of facts and details of how that skill is used in the real world and the history of the skill. How this differs from have a PS or KS of the skill is, I guess, a determination for the GM to make in their games.

Now that I’m thinking on it. Other disadvantages (at least from comics & movies) seems to be the bigger you get, the slower you get. So maybe at a certain point you start getting your Speed reduced? Maybe some version of the Encumberance Rules could be used/modified to represent this? Maybe this should be a limitation (-1/2?) that a character could take on the Growth power?

Another disadvantage to consider (if you are rebuilding growth, heck even if you aren’t) is that a giant characters PER should start getting negative modifiers the bigger they get. If you are 60’ tall you aren’t going to be able to notice the same details of events happening at ground level as a 6’ tall character. You aren’t going to be able to read newspapers or iPad displays, or make out slight motions. You probably won’t hear normal sounds as well, not just from distance, but from scale. The easiest way way to represent this might just be using the range modifiers for Perception checks, with the range being how far away the ground is from the giant characters eyes/ears. So a 60’ character is at minimum “60’ away” (19m) for all perception checks they need to make. So they would be at -4. Should be worth at least a few extra disadvantage points or complications.

Oooo... I like that idea.

Good points, and I am interested in this. What were the issue you had with Require A Skill Roll based magic systems? Before I get too far into campaign building I'd like to hear more about these types of drawbacks people might have encountered. I've personally used RASR in a few games, as a player, but they were always shorter 1-5 sessions long and it didn't seem like a major issue (except for requiring an extra roll in combat situations and slowing things down slightly), but what other issues have you encountered?

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll try and answer your points here. -Yes, it was going to be more expensive then that standard skill. I was going to make it an 8 or 10 point skill. I worked out the cost as being 3 (for the normal Power skill as in the rules and fantasy Hero) plus the True Jack Of All Trades talent (20 points, but with the limitations Extra Time, Concentration, and Only usable by others which drops it down to an real cost of 5. Even then this is not as restrictive as the skills actually is, as the skill can only be used for complementary skill rolls, and not as actual skill checks, but then it also covers non-PS skills, not always being able to use it, etc... so it kind of balances out). Thats how I got it to 8 pts, but then figured it with the other stuff it can do the extra 2 points might make sense. So, yes, 8 or 10 point cost. -It is based on Ego because that is the example given in Fantasy Hero for all of their Priest character builds for the Faith skill. Plus, for the social aspect, it still is more of trying to boaster the targets faith, rather then win them over with his own personality or presence. Much like a logical science debate would be handled with INT rather then PRE. -Yes, the Gods help those that help themselves, but the obviously like people praying to them as well, which is why they grant priests powers, have religions, perform miracles, etc... It is also why the suggestion in there of only when things are desperate and why they can ignore the request if the GM feels the character is abusing the skill. But I do see your point Lonewolf that the divine intervention aspect of it might be better suited as an actual spell, although since this is going to be a Turakian Age campaign then it will be even cheaper for the character as the real costs of all spells are divided by 3, so in this case it would be 3 points for the Faith Skills, 2 points for the Divine Intervention spell, so 5 points total. Oh, and as for the distinction between spells and special religious abilities, in Fantasy Hero there are both religious spells and religious magical powers (I'm referring to them as special abilities), the difference being that Special Abilities don't usually require all of the limitations spells have, although in this case I will be requiring a Faith check to perform them. And, yes, I know this is Hero and I can build spells any way I like, but I'd rather make as little changes to the example spells given in the book as possible to save me the time and effort of reworking them all.

How about this... Decades ago the Sorceress used her powers to slowly kill her way up the hierarchy of a neighboring kingdom. The people all hated her, but she was too powerful to stop. At her coronation she wanted her royal portrait painted by the greatest artist in the land. This artist happened to be an elderly Bard who knew a powerful spell involving painting. He came and had her pose while he painted her portrait, but the portrait was also a spell/trap. When he was finished and she looked upon the final work she was transported and trapped inside it. The painting was taken and given to a powerful mage in the next kingdom over to safeguard and prevent her from ever getting free. The powerful mage happened to live in " a seven-story hexagonal tower that sits adjacent to the residence. What makes the tower so special is that its foundation/walls incorporate meteoric iron; as such, it cannot be breached by mystical attempts to spy within." and he kept the painting safe for many years until he was killed by an assassin who them took over the tower as his own domain, without ever knowing the the beautiful painting in the study was actually a magical prison for the Sorceress. The PCs free her and was she recovers she takes off, with the goal of reclaiming her old kingdom leaving a path of destruction in her wake. PCs have to follow her and stop her from punishing the descendants of those who imprisoned her and killing everyone currently ruling the kingdom and taking her throne back.

The bad guys will want the PCs dead or captured, but probably aren't willing to destroy their own base to do so. So... Drug labs can explode, so no shooting in or around them or the floors they are on. If they want the PCs they will have to do it hand to hand and smart PCs can use that to their advantage. Weapons can also explode or catch fire, so the bad guys have to be careful in those rooms/areas also. Plus they don't want to damage them. And PCs can gain access to better/high powered weapons if they get to one of the rooms. PCs can go out windows and climb a floor or two from the outside to bypass certain very dangerous areas, or smash a hole in the roof of the room they are in to gain access to the floor above. PCs can/could take an important criminal hostage (or a visiting corrupt city official who the gangsters don't want to risk killing) and use them as a shield to get further up in the building (until they get too far and the bad guys decide enough is enough and kill the hostage). PCs could set the people being smuggled free to create chaos and give them cover. Not exactly safe as innocent people might get hurt or killed, but bad guys might not want to kill their "merchandise" as they would lose lots of money and risk getting other criminals mad at them for missing "shipments". So bad guys spend time and resources rounding up the escapees. PCs could set the lower floors on fire, creating a big rush of everyone trying to escape or make it to the top of the building to avoid the spreading fire. In the crush/race to the top they have a better chance of being undetected or stopped as everyone is panicking/looking out for themselves.

Hi all, I am building a campaign and working on some new skills. One of those skills is going to be a Faith skill used by Clerics, Paladins and other religious based characters to cast spells (and activate other special abilities) but I decided to give it some other uses as well. I envision it not so much as a normal skill, but rather as the characters connection to their God(s) so I'm looking for any feedback and thoughts you all might have.

Oh, for sure. I was just thinking of it Hero System terms.

I wonder if the effects and changes seen in the series can be explained by spending XP? The hosts have have been gaining XP for 30+ years, but keep getting reset so they could never “spend” it. But now depending on how “awake” they are and how much they remember they can spend that XP. Dolores spent it on “takes no stun”, access, etc... while Mauve has spent it on higher INT and mind control, access, etc.... that at is why they are growing so powerful so quickly because they’ve had tons of XP saved up.

You summon an invisible, desolidified spirit that wields the sword. It has all its own characteristics (int, speed, dex, ocv, dcv, etc...) can fight and make intelligent choices, attack, block, etc...

Sounds like a Summon to me. Maybe the ghost of the original wielder is inside the sword until summoned by the current owner. Then his invisible, desolidified ghost form (with effects real world, only to wield the sword) comes out and uses the sword to do the owners bidding.

I'm also in the camp that Anime is a style of media and not a genre in and of itself. It would be like asking for "North American Animation Hero" which would focus on lots of Princesses, different eras, Intelligent and talking Animals, Sentient toys, giant robots, Superheroes, etc... That said, a series of smaller guide books for each genre of Anime might be popular. One book could focus on cybernetics and far future sci-fi anime, another on mecha, one on horror anime, one on martial art/combat anime, etc... each one could pull large chunks out of other existing Hero books (The 6th Ed. Martial Arts book has a whole chapter on Anime style combat and powers for example) and then expand on them. I doubt Hero itself would do them, but an enterprising 3rd party could make a go of it.

This question pertains to an ability for a Fantasy Hero campaign I'm building, but the Limitation I want to create could apply to any genre so I'm asking here. Basically I'm trying to get some opinions on a Limitation on an ability (Healing) that takes Extra Times based on how many dice the Healer decides to use. The sample power currently is this: Healing Prayer - Healing BODY 3d6, BODY & STUN (+1/2) (45 Active Points); OAF(Holy Symbol) (-1), Extra Time (Full Phase, -1/2), Requires A Roll (Skill Faith; -1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Incantations (-1/4) What I am looking for is what you all think the Extra Time limitation should be valued at if the Healer wants to roll only one die then it takes a Phase, if he/she rolls 2 dice, then it is 2 phases to cast, if he/she uses all 3 dice, then it takes 3 phases, and so on. Eventually when the party raises in power I can see the Healer eventually raising this ability to being 6d6 or more, so at that time using it would take 6 phases or more. Obviously a -1/2 is too low a value, -1 1/4 (equal to a one turn limitation) might be closer to the mark, but eventually when it gets to 6d6 range, in a Fantasy game where average speed is generally 3 for most characters, then it would actually take 2 turns to cast at full power, but then that is so far off in the campaign that maybe that would work? It a cost/value benefit early on in the game, but later not nearaly as much. I'd rather not have to re-work the math/ability everytime the character raises the power, so I'm looking for a general consensus on what people think a good value on this new type of Extra Time limitation might be. Thanks for any thoughts!

Dude, this is awesome. I've been working on something similar on and off for the last year, but this is something else. Well done.

Honest question here, but has anyone actually ever played with the HS Grimoire spells, plus going back to the 5th Ed spell books as well, as they are actually written/built? I honestly doubt most people have. I tried way back when with my first Fantasy Hero game set in the Turakian Age and after one session knew it would have to change, and after the second one I had to go back and we work all the spells the magical characters had. The spells, as written, make spellcasters useless. Just look at this example and spot the problem: FireBolt: RKA 2d6, Area Of Effect (32m Line; +½) (45 Active Points); OAF Expendable (small gold rod tipped with garnets, Very Difficult to obtain; -1½), Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), No Range (-½), Requires A Magic Roll (-½), Spell (-½). Total cost: 10 points. You see it? OAF Expendable. OAF Expendable. A gold rod tipped with garnets. And it is an Expendable Focus. Even if you allow all the Magical characters to start with one of each focus item they need for each spell they know, that means they can cast Fire Bolt once. Once. Before they have to go out and find/build, or pay for a small gold rod tipped with garnets before casting that spell again. What? Unless you are allowing the players to start with dozens of each focus, the spell is useless. And is a mage going to carry around 12 small gold rods tipped with garnets? Those are probably very valuable (they are very difficult to obtain after all) so why not just sell them and make a ton of cash? And that is the same for 99% of all spells in the book(s). Most have Expendable Focuses as part of their build, allowing for a huge point saving, but at the cost of making RAW spellcasting useless. I had to go back and rebuild/cost each spell the players wanted and change the focus to being not expendable. Anyway, end of rant about the spell builds in the Grimoires. Another thing to factor into your magic system and general campaign, is the fact that unlike D&D, magic users in Fantasy Hero generally don't suffer any of the limitations that the D&D ones have. A magic user in Fantasy Hero can wear armor. They can use swords and such if they spend the 2CP for WF. If they have a good OCV (which most will have since it is the same STAT used to hit with a spell as it is to hit with a sword) then a magic user isn't limited to just casting spells. When needed they can throw down next to the fighters. In fact if a spell caster is willing to sacrifice a spell or two they can get the WF common melee weapons, and Combat Luck, for 5 CP total. Then wear some leather armor or something not super heavy (assuming you are using encumbrance rules and that the magic user has a STR of 8-10) and they can now hold their own in hand to hand combat, plus cast spells when needed. Sure, they won't be a good as the pure fighter, but they be at least as good as the thief who spent a bunch of points on stealth and lockpicking, Traps, etc...

I agree with all of the above ideas of what being caught in a flood of mud might cause, but from a Hero System standpoint I don't know if a standard Breath Weapon would normally cause any of those. Maybe if it was built with a few Linked Change Environment powers it would get those effects, but as a standard Attack I don't think it would as that is too much "free" effects for an EB Attack. Because if that was the case then other Breath Weapons would also have many additional (and similar) effects, but we don't see that in any example powers that I've been able to uncover (I just flipped through The Book of Dragons to see how they were built). For example, a Fire Breath weapon could/should also burn off people's clothing and causing all their gear to fall to the ground, hair to be burnt off (leaving the character bald), water and potions to boil away, metal to melt, swords and armor being too hot to hold or causing ongoing damage until removed. The air would also be super hot so it would cause damage to breathe, smoke and heat would obscure vision (if the character could even keep their eyes open from the heat), etc... An Icy Breath weapon would also cause slippery surfaces, damage to breathe, metal being to cold to touch/use, water and potions to freeze, etc... But none of those are listed as effects of any of the Breath Weapons that the dragons in the book have, because in Hero an Attack is an Attack, and the look/feel of it is a special effect that should add color and flavor to the game, but should only have minimal in game consequences. Any other effects need(should) be built as separate powers.

Ah, okay. That makes sense. But dang, had my hopes up that someone had invented/figured out a work around so it could be used on a PC.

Ah. yeah, thats a bit far of a commute for a game. Haha.

A character using Two-Weapon attack is at 1/2 DCV in 6th Ed. As all the Multi-Attack modifiers apply (unless you have the Two Weapon Fighting skill, which allows the first -2 OCV for a multi-attack to be avoided (but character is still at 1/2 DCV)

PC? Can you let me know how you are able to make it run on your PC? I'd love to use the app on my laptop during games (and all my players would also). It works on my iPhone, but I have an old phone and the screen is small. Being able to use it on a laptop would be amazing.

Hey Paul, where in Canada are you located?

It can also go the other way as well. Although it is not stated directly in the rules, I also have a house rule with Feints that they can only be used against sentient/intelligent beings. A zombie or a wild boar isn't going to be tricked into "falling for" a feint, because they have no real concept of attack - counter attack, etc... they just go full out to the best of their abilities, there is no attempt to "out think" their opponent and they don't have the awareness that they opponent is trying to out smart them. And now that I am writing this down, I also think that Feint should also not work against a character that is Berserk as those characters are also going all out attacking and not caring if they get hit or what their opponent is doing.