Zeropoint

Re: Metric HERO

Why not just replace every instance of "Inch" with "hex" and be done with it?

I think the 2-meter hexes are a very good idea because they allow a hex to be about the same distance across as it is tall, which makes thinking in 3-D a lot easier: moving one hex forward is the same distance as one hex up, etc.

Zeropoint

Re: DNPC: My Cat

Well, it could be argued that DNPC is less about how the NPC relates to the PC and more about how the PC relates to the NPC. If this character REALLY cares about his cat, I suppose it could qualify. The character would have to be willing to risk his life to save the cat, to react when the cat is in danger as he would for a wife or child, and basically regard the cat as being much more important that most people would consider appropriate for a cat.

Maybe he could take the same number of points as a Psych LIm: Thinks His Cat is a DNPC.

Zeropoint

Re: D20 style character sheet

I'm very confused as to how this would be different. Going from memory, a D20 sheet lists:

Characteristics and their associated rolls

Figured characteristics

To-hit bonus(es) not gained from characteristics

AC bonus(es) not gained from characteristics

The character's main weapons/attacks, including damage and applicable to-hit rolls

Skills

Equipment carried

Feats

Class abilities/spells

Whereas the Hero sheet lists:

Characteristics and their associated rolls

Figured characteristics

OCV bonus(es) not gained from characteristics

DCV bonus(es) not gained from charactersitics

The character's main weapons/attacks, including damage and SFX

Skills

Talents

Powers, including cinematic abilities, superpowers, spells, or built-in equipment

Disadvantages

What would you leave off of the Hero sheet? What would you add? Or is it just a matter of putting the information at the same place on the Hero sheet as the corresponding information would be on a D20 sheet?

I really don't see anything to be gained here, although it's quite possibe that I don't understand what you mean. Please feel free to correct my misunderstanding.

Zeropoint

Re: Adding value to COM

Now Randy is very attractive, but he does nothing for me. What's his COM? From my viewpoint, does his COM change?

It sounds like his COM is high, and you recognize that fact, but just aren't responding sexually. In fact, I disagree with the assessment of COM as "first impression sex appeal". Even as a straight male, I can tell that some men are better-looking than others. I'm sure that straight women can tell that some women are better-looking than others. A person can be aesthetically pleasing, but this is neither necessary nor sufficient for them to be "sexy" to everyone of the appropriate gender/orientation.

In closing, I have two comments for those who find COM to be useless:

1) that's why it's so cheap

2) so don't buy any!

Zeropoint

Re: Specialized Defenses - "Only vs Z" Damage Reduction

I would expect that all attacks from the same SFX would be applied against the same defense, and thus only one Damage Reduction would be required.

For a special effect that could reasonably be expected to generate all three types of attacks, I'd go for a single Damage Reduction, priced about the same as a normal Damage Reduction. Maybe a little less; it would depend on the expected frequency of the special effect.

Zeropoint

Re: WWYCD?: The Shakedown.

After calling the police with his radio, Agent Trent steps through the door, with his force field up (visible as a shimmering in the air next to his body) and his badge held up.

"FBI!! Freeze!" As the unidentified man tries to sneak out, he is pulled back by an unseen force and dropped roughly on the floor.

"That means DON"T MOVE!! YOU, put the gun DOWN!"

Basically, Trent will hold everyone until the police arrive. If Air Raider tries to attack or flee, Trent will stop him, with whatever force is needed. Otherwise, Trent will approach this with standard police procedures.

Upon hearing that Air Raider's girlfriend has (probably) been kidnapped, Trent will report this fact to the local FBI office. Kidnapping cases are (in part) what the FBI is for.

If Air Raider is wanted for any crimes, he get arrested. If not, Trent will of course let him go free (after questioning, and assuming the police don't want to charge him with brandishing a firearm, or assault), but won't be friendly. Trent doesn't like supers OR vigilantes.

Zeropoint

Re: Further thoughts about the UES Centauri and the AW space combat environment

If you're going to use a "top speed" for spacecraft, it should be pretty high. 30,000 kilometers isn't even up to geostationary orbit. 100,000 kilometers is only about a quarter of the distance from the Earth to the moon. A ship, especially in a "space opera" environment, should be able to cover distances like this pretty quickly.

Realistically, a ship should be optimized for either high-thrust applications, like lifting off of or landing on a planet, OR high delta-v operations, like getting around the solar system. Most engines that are good at one won't be good at the other, although some can switch modes.

Remember that even a small accelleration, if applied over a long enough time, will get a vessel moving quite fast.

Zeropoint

Re: Most Embarassing Champions Moment

Well, there was this one time I was playing my psychokinetic FBI agent, and I was trying to find my way out of an abandoned Viper base that we had dealt with earlier. I climbed about halfway up a ten-story ladder before I remembered that I could fly. That's not the embarrasing moment, though.

That ladder eventually led to the sewers. Since it was dark and smelly in there, I decided not to hang around, and teleported out. Agent Trent has Safe Blind Teleport, but I don't know how far underground the sewers are, and I don't want to teleport right in front of a truck, so I teleport 100 feet straight up.

That's when I realized that I didn't have my Flight on.

Lucky for me, I had my force field up, and only KO'd myself when I hit the street.

Trent usually only teleports when he's at least hovering, these days.

Zeropoint

Re: Unused Bird/Flying Creature Motifs

I'm kind of partial to dragonflies. I suppose they've already been used, though.

Zeropoint

Re: Further thoughts about the UES Centauri and the AW space combat environment

It doesn't seem logical that Dooku would choose an escape craft using outdated or older technology. He needs to be able to outrun whatever is chasing him. I would guess that they engines are just designed to run more efficiently on solar energy to give the ship the needed edge required to make him faster than everything else; and it did look cool too.

Well, the Star Wars galaxy is supposed to have been at a technological plateau for thousands of years. Just because something is old doesn't mean it doesn't work as well.

On the other hand, we seem to be operating on the assumption that the Star Wars universe would make perfect sense if we had all the information. As a work of fiction, that's probably not true.

Zeropoint

Re: Magic field names

So necroscopy would be a really boring discipline, I would imagine.

Zeropoint

Re: Further thoughts about the UES Centauri and the AW space combat environment

Of course the Solar Sail, like the one used in the last Star Wars movie, is much cooler looking

For the record, that was no solar sail. The acceleration of the craft was higher, by a factor or thousands, than what a mere solar sail would provide (especially one that small).

Solar sails need to be HUGE and still don't generate much thrust.

The official (and only sensible) explanation is that the sail is an old-fashioned hyperdrive system that Dooku uses simply because it IS cooler looking.

Zeropoint

Re: Magic field names

Yes, I realize that I am making up words. I'm just trying to make them out of pre-existing pieces, the same way we get words like "television" and "microscope".

Zeropoint

Re: Goofy Villains

Blue Jogger and Zeropoint are you talking about the Horton Plaza in San Diego?

If Blue Jogger is talking about the same Horton Plaza that I am, yes.

I like the idea of a demon who wants nothing more than to leave that place, but can't figure out how.

Zeropoint

Re: "Classes of Minds" (for Mental Powers)

How about:

Non-sapient organic

Non-sapient machine

Sapient organic

Sapient machine

Thing From Beyond the Veil of Reality

?

Those classes should cover pretty much everything, I would think. For some campaigns, the categories might need to be broken down further. For instance, in a cyberpunk campaign, the "non-sapient machine" category might need to be broken up by system type (embedded, PDA, personal, supercomputer, distributed processing net) or by operating system ("Sorry, your program grants telepathy vs. 'Windows' class minds. This one is Unix.")

A fantasy or space opera game might need more "sapient organic" categories, and in a hard science fiction campaign (obviously not TOO hard!), maybe psionics would only work on one's own species.

Just a thought.

Zeropoint

Re: Teleportation

The "official" explanation of a Star Trek transporter, as described in the "Start Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual" breaks the subject into subatomic particles after scanning them "at the quantum level", then sends the particles down an "annular confinement beam" and reassambles them at the destination based on the original scan. Writers are, of course, free to completely ignore this explanation if it is dramatically necessary.

Zeropoint

Re: Supers without costumes

It might make a difference whether the supers are in the public eye or not. If I was going to be filmed flying around and tossing energy bolts, getting my picture in the paper and on the news, I would probably take the time to make sure I would look good doing so.

That being said, "costume" doesn't necessarily mean "spandex". Maybe I just always wear a leather bomber jacket, old-fashioned aviator's goggles, and a scarf. Maybe I throw on a pair of welding goggles, some elbow-length black electrical gloves, and get myself a tailored calf-length lab coat. There are a lot of options.

Zeropoint

Re: Things that are cool about Alien Wars

If you still have conventional power sources, you'll still have to haul the fuel for the rifles. Granted, if the fuel for the rifles is just more general purpose diesel that can be used in a generator, tank, truck, jet, or helicopter, it's a lot more convenient than hauling something that only works in the guns.

If you have nuclear-powered generators, then, for all practical purposes, you can use the lasers as much as you want without using any consumables.

I'm not familiar enough with that particular setting to know whether they have nuclear generators in the field or not.

Zeropoint

Re: Magic field names

Hey, that's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

So, "pyromagy" would be the general study of fire magic, with "pyromancy" being divination through fire (stare into the fire and see visions among the dancing flames?), "pyrology/pyronomy" being the more theoretical side, "pyrurgy" (I don't really know how to combine these roots) being the practical side of making fire DO something, etc.

Zeropoint

Re: Interpreting "Body"

Ever see "Snatch"?

Bullet Tooth Tony looked like he had a huge BODY score, or maybe some Damage Reduction. In any case, he took ridiculous amounts of punishment and stayed on his feet, despite being a fairly normal-looking guy.

I realize that that was just a movie, but that is the sort of "heroic* reality" that Hero is meant to simulate.

Zeropoint

* not that anyone in that movie was really a "hero"

Re: Goofy Villains

Demon stuck in Horton Plaza - (If you haven't seen this place, it is an outside mall, several levels and designed so people would end up looping several parts of the building). The poor demon just wanted out, but because of its design, he could never get to an exit and he couldn't safely fly because of its strange geometry.

No kidding! What is up with that place? Buildings should be designed for simple, easy acess to and from all parts. This place sure isn't.

The big clock down on the lowest level is pretty cool, though.

Zeropoint

Re: Usning nanotech in a campaign

I have been doing some more thinking. I don't see why the nanobots need any energy. The difference liquid and a gas is that the particles in a gaseous form have more energy than they do in a liquid state. The process of cooling a gas to change it into a liquid involves removing energy from the system. It seems to me that the nanobots need to extract energy from a gas to get it to form into a liquid.

 

To do this, one does not need to even build a true nanobot, just an nano-construct. If one built a nano-sized ball with a number of specially designed hooks for latching onto a gas molecules. When they are injected into a gaseous system, they float around until they are hit by a gas molecule which they latch onto. As a result, their added mass would slow that particular gas molecule down and carry the nano-burr on throughout the system hooking on to more and more molecules forming clumps. During this process, some of the other nano-burrs would form their own clumps and some of them would latch onto other clumps, forming even larger clumps, each time, draining energy from the system thus slowing(cooling) the gas down into a liquid.

 

Using this model, I don't see how this would violate the laws of physics or require lots of energy either?

If you only know one thing about physics, know this: "Follow the energy."

In this case, you're talking about an inelastic collision between the nanoburr and the hydrogen molecule. Momentum is conserved, so the momentum of the burr/hydrogen complex will simply be the sum of the pre-collision momentum of the burr and the pre-collision momentum of the hydrogen molecule.

But what about energy? Energy is also conserved, but unlike momentum, can change forms. Kinetic energy is specifically not conserved in anything but a perfectly elastic collision (indeed, that is the definition of an elastic collision!)

In this case, the burr/hydrogen complex will have less kinetic energy than the pre-collision burr and molecule did. That excess energy didn't just disappear, so where did it go? Two options exist, as far as I can see: first, the energy could go into breaking the atomic bonds holding the nanoburr together. Second, if the nanoburr is strong enough not to break, that energy could take the form of vibrations or oscillations in the nanoburr's structure. The nanoburr would keep vibrating indefinitely until it could transfer that energy to something else...like the surrounding gas.

Also recall the second law of thermodynamics, which basically states that the universe always tends toward a lower-energy state (just one of its many implications). Your gas isn't going to sit there and compress itself without an energy input. But we're talking about removing energy here, right? Well, energy doesn't naturally flow from a cold substance to a hot substance. It's the other way around, actually. You can't remove heat from the gas in question without some kind of active process which will consume energy based on its efficiency and the temperature difference between the substance being cooled and the surrounding environment.

The laws of physics are a harsh mistress. Producing a given amount of usable fuel will necessarily require more energy than you can get from the fuel.

Real-world energy sources rely on finding something that has been raised to a higher-energy state by an outside agency, and converting that energy into a useful form.

Nanobots could be useful in collecting fuel that exists in very small, well-distributed bundles, but they can't just make free energy. It has to come from somewhere.

A real-world example of nano-scale energy concentration is . . . plants! They use the energy extracted from sunlight to assemble the raw materials of hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon into energetic compounds such as sugars, proteins, and cellulose.

Expect nanotech to look a LOT like biology.

I'm done ranting now.

Zeropoint

Re: Here Be Dragons!

Well, if you need any thatched-roof cottages or peasants burninated, there's always TROGDOR!!

Zeropoint

Re: Magic field names

But am I right in assuming that -ology comes from logus beaning "book" for words that are "a study of"?

 

The study of magic could be thaumatology.

Beats me. I have to use the web to back me up on this stuff.

Zeropoint

Re: Magic field names

Well, that's probably the best bet from a lilnguistic standpoint. That would give us fields like necrology, pyrology, demonology, etc. The only drawback I can see, and it's pretty minor, is that in many cases the appropriate combination is already going to be in use meaning the scientific study of the subject matter.

That makes a lot of sense, actually. In a world with magic, "oceanology" becomes the study of ocean-based magic, because people naturally turn to magic when they start studying things.

Hmm. This could stand further thought.

Zeropoint