BeZurKur

How would you build a "Time Pause" power that affects one person at a time. My first instinct says entangle, but that strong characters can step back into normal time easier doesn't seem right. I then considered an Ego Based Entangle, but as Nitrosynchretic pointed out above, that only affect the attack value. What would you suggest?

Hey that's me on episode 114 of Canon Puncture advocating for HERO! Just thought this crowd may be interested. Check it out. http://www.canonpuncture.com/

Re: Help with Old West Weapon design Tasha, why Reduced End and Charges?

Re: Help with Old West Weapon design Tcabri, you're right. Those costs don't match up. I believe it is an error in the active cost. A 2d6-1 attack is 25 points; 31 points with a +1 Increased STUN Multiplier. The books lists it as 34. It should read an A/R of 31/8. Let's run down building the power. First is Base plus Advantages 2d6-1 RKA is 25 points +1 STUNx is a +0.25 Advantage That comes to an Active Cost of 31 Then apply Limitations Focus -1.0 Charges -0.75 Str Min -0.5 Beam -0.25 Real Weapon -0.25 Total Limitation of -2.75 31 / 3.75 = 8.3 rounds to 8 (FWIW, 34 / 3.75 is 9. The books error was in the Active Cost.) Some things about those limitations. Don't be afraid to edit their values or remove them entirely for your campaign. You know the effect you want; adjust to suit them. For example, I don't like the Real Weapon limitation. The rule of thumb is a -1/4 limitation should affect you about a quarter of the time. The games I run are not so meticulous about the things the Real Weapon Limitation affects. If I were running a French-Indian War in the colonies, then yeah. Things like keeping your powder dry are a big part of the flavor of the game, but otherwise, I wouldn't use Real Weapon. Other people do. It's all about how you want your campaign.

Re: Help with Old West Weapon design The STUNx is an advantage, so it is done first and modifies the Active Cost. Treat the bonus to OCV as an adder: in other words, buy the Combat Skill Level bonus to OCV and just add (no multiplication) the cost to the active cost. Then apply the limitations.

Re: Help with Old West Weapon design The order of operations for HERO is you first figure out the cost with Advantages to come up with the Active Cost. You then apply the Limitations to get the Real Cost. The distinction between Active Cost and Real Cost may seem like just semantics, but it is critical -- especially when designing Campaign Guidelines. For the .38 Derringer, it has no Advantages, so the Active Cost remains at 15. Now to figure out the total limitations... OAF: 1 Two Charges: 1.5 Beam: 0.25 Real Weapon: 0.25 Str Min of Four: 0.25 Total = 3.25 but when you do the math, you add one to that value for a final 4.25. 15/4.25 = 3.5 In this case round down. The final cost is 3. Make sense?

Re: What Comes Next: Champions variant Your NPC is more interesting than the background, and IMO, that's good. Hero was designed in the 80's and has mechanics that reinforce an old-school way of thinking: that is, the game is about the PCs and not the setting. Complications are central to that design. I encourage you to have your players design their characters first. If they want to work together, let them make that arrangement. Then, based on the setting, ask them what the conflicts for their characters should be and create the complications from that. Once you have all that, you'll have all the story hooks and NPCs you'll need, and they'd all be interesting to the players because they choose them through the mechanics of the game. Complications are another facet of character generation and they directly impact the campaign, including NPCs.

Re: How would I do this? I can't speak for the OP, but Hugh's scenario doesn't seem so bad providing the campaign has firm guidelines, or even better yet, guidelines plus statted equipment/weapons. In the case of the latter, the DC 3 or 6 weapon may already be bought to zero Endurance or charges, leveling the advantages between both. I don't know. We'd need the OP to confirm that. Doc, I don't think Hugh was saying "nay" to the idea, so much as pointing out the implications, which as he said, maybe the desired effect. Also, your example I think assumes +1 per DC of the attack. (Was that 4th edition?) Based on the OP, I was figuring very low DCs, so the plus one was to the final result -- not a multiplier. Regardless of all that, a new player to the game has a vision of what he is looking HERO to do. There is a lot of know-how on these boards, but before we all pile on him saying it's, "It's not the HERO way," lets use that know-how to have the system flex a little and let it be the toolbox it is. Personally, I don't think what the OP is looking for is all that hard. It will require some tweaking, but as long as we're aware of the pitfalls and avoid them, it's possible. If the OP is still around, we'd just need some more info. Right now my primary question is: how much control do the players have in designing powers? I'd also like to know what the campaign guidelines are.

Re: How would I do this? How about having damage done be standard effect so the damage roll is eliminated? To throw the variable back in, use the margin of success to add to the damage. You replace a damage roll with some simple math. Every point of MoS adds one point of damage. KA would need to be scaled proportionately to normal damage. It is capped at the max damage. It still gives CV an added bonus, but everyone benefits from it.

Re: Solo Adventure Combat System Bob, checkout these two products: Chain Reaction and Mythic. The former is a table-top miniature game that can be played solo. It uses a reaction table with different outcomes based on the situation, the model, and the roll. Mythic is for role-playing solo or automating other aspects of an RPG. It may be bogged down a bit for combat, but it produces incredible situations based on a series of yes/no questions that you ask the system. Because you always ask the questions, they will always be of interest to you. Anyhow, these are two different approaches to solo gaming. Chain Reaction is free and Mythic is under ten bucks. Maybe they can serve as inspiration for your system.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated To be fair, saying you need anything other than the core books -- actually, just the PHB -- to play D&D 4e is like saying you need the Hero Ultimate Powers to play Hero. Neither is true. I'm getting the vibe that some posters are defending their point personally. I certainly can't speak for everyone, but just to reiterate, my points are: This tread started because someone posted a youtube video that made a side comment of Hero that it was bland and complicated. Without making any judgement of the system itself, I agree it is presented -- let's use -- generic and thorough. Many other gamers agree with the youtube video, hence the fanbase consists mainly of gamers in their 30-40's who began playing pre-5th ed. Is any of that up for debate?

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated Why does it have to be either or? I say have the mega-volumes, but then create a complete (as in one book) setting with the necessary rules included. If the players want to do more with it, they are directed to the toolbox.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated What does YouTube have to do with anything? I'll discuss why Hero has the stigma by some as being bland and complicated (and many would agree), but if this thread is shifting to "he is wrong for having an opinion" or "wrong for sharing it on YouTube" then we are the elitists. EDIT: Just wanted to add I agree with this:

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated I'd agree to that. Now, how about a cookbook to show me around the kitchen?

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated I don't think more basic is the way to go. Today's gamer is neither stupid nor lazy. He was just introduced to the hobby via different games. Imagine a kick-ass setting like Hite's Ragnarok as a complete game powered by Hero. The game is simple: we all know that. New players can spend their energies getting into setting versus constructing elements for it. However, always in between the lines, and sometimes outright is the promise that the players can be empowered to contribute and shape as much as they like with the same tools as the designer. It's like the PC video game market. There are gamers who simply play the game as is, but if the game is good, a mod community develops. Some will only play the mods, but others -- once turned on -- will want to get under the hood as well. Something like that will go a long way in breaking the stigma that Hero has that it is unnecessarily complicated.

Re: The HERO Basic Game Box If it had the setting sampler, at least one of the settings would be tactical in scope. It would include a simple scenario with a map and paper stand-ups. But only for that setting. The others would show off how to do the theater of the mind play-style.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated That's probably very common at these forums, but it is considerably less so elsewhere. Looking at the average age around here, we're mostly in our 30s and 40s -- with the occasional exception. When we got into gaming, it was mostly about creating your own stuff. The focus has shifted from the GM designing the world and the players exploring it to everyone sharing the world and living it. That's not a judgement; it is just an observation. HERO is a toolbox. It needs to show how to use it if it is interested in attracting new fans. Lucha Libra Hero is a complete game?

Re: I'm curious, why is Dex still more expensive than other characteristics? Exactly. That's why arbitrarily increasing the cost because it is more "useful" in the campaign is, IMO, not the path to take. Break down the costs; see what it's worth, but stop right there. Let the utility beyond mechanical bonuses be determined by the player when he decides to sink x amount of points in. It should not be determined by the GM increasing the cost on a whim without the numbers to back him up.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated d20 Modern is pretty generic. Bad Axe games used it for a sword and sorcery game, essentially copying the d20 Modern SRD into their book. WotC also published supplements that took the system into different directions: Past, Cyberscape, Future, Apocalypse, and Dark Matter. All of them use the d20 Modern SRD as the core and bulk of the rules.

Re: I'm curious, why is Dex still more expensive than other characteristics? I understand the utility argument: the more things it does, the more it should cost. However, I don't quite get the campaign's importance on the stat argument. I mean, yeah, if the campaign puts a higher value to combat, won't it autocorrect itself because people would simply spend more on the stat? What does it matter if someone spends 20 points to get a 20 Dex, or if he spends 20 points to get a 30. After all, it's relative; a 30 Dex is only high if other characters don't have 30s as well.

Re: The Hero System is bland and over complicated

Re: The HERO Basic Game Box It would have the basic book and a setting sampler -- similar to this -- that showcases, with guidelines and examples, how to build a setting complete with archetypes and equipment. The basic book would reference those items and areas. Of course all that setting info would be done with use of only the basic book.