Delthrien

Perhaps... It might be better to buy Luck with non-recoverable charges. Independent is part of a focus limitation and if purchased that way, could be taken away by someone else... which could be cool if the Luck is gained through a token or something (lucky coin, rabbit's foot, etc.) I'd use the Optional Rule for Luck where you roll your Luck dice and the total is used as modifiers to die rolls and the like. I don't have FREd with me so someone else will have to supply the specifics... You could either allot the Luck to each player or you could just make them buy the points when generating the character.

An alternative You could keep costs the same, but put a limit on how many skills could be used at once. This could easily be done by limiting the size of the VPP or Multipower. In addition, make it a requisite that the skill chips would need to be upgraded every so often (with the corresponding cost of doing so) or start assigning penalties to the skill rolls for outdated information. After all, skill wires aren't much use if the info no longer applies...

Curious... Has anyone tried the "countdown" variant that Steve had discussed in the DH#12 article? Of the ones presented, I think that one appeals to me the most. I was thinking of trying it out in my next combat to see how it works.

The ones... That my characters have absolutely no chance of affecting in any way. Kind of sucks when you use your best attack and you're ignored...

Perhaps... DOJ might look into doing more "shared" adventures with Green Ronin that can be used with different systems (such as the "Reality Storm" book). Having an adventure that would work with one or more systems would certainly broaden the appeal. Including the stats for both SAS and HERO systems (or even Mutants & Masterminds) might be the kind of thing necessary to make publishing adventures worthwhile. A sudden and meandering thought... or perhaps just cranial gas. Who knows? Charlie (again) Edited because of the aforementioned crainal gas...

Errr... Huh? Hmmm... If that's an accurate statement, then it seems you have your answer -- don't do any more. If you're still going to be losing money even with a potential revenue increase (through higher volume) over current anticipated sales then it wouldn't be in DOJ's best interest to continue. I don't see myself picking up SoB any time soon, mostly because I don't run games often enough to justify picking it up. Even if I ran games more often, the $12 price tag would make me hesitate. For something in the $12-$15 range, I'd hope to have a bound booklet in hand when I walked out of hte store. Interior art, while nice to have, takes a back seat to the meat of the adventure. I'd rather have a good write-up and some roughly sketched (though fairly accurate) maps than something painstakingly done in Campaign Cartographer. I'm certainly not saying it wouldn't be worth it (everything that I've read/heard tells me it is). I'm just enough of a geezer to want to have something in my grubby paws after shelling out the cash. Heck, even going to a movie you've got the ticket stub and a candy wrapper. My three bits (sorry. inflation) Charlie

Hey, no fair using "non-displayed" (and perhaps nonexistent) footage for an argument... However, if you just take the Moria footage as an example, Elf-boy was dropping orcs and goblins at well over 100 yards in lighting conditions that were, at best, dim. And with shots in the eyes/face, no less. Someone who's been kicking around for a millennia or two can be expected to be obscenely good with his chosen weapons. But you're right, though. Those OCV levels are both cheap and useful.

Amen!

... to another thread. Has anyone actually used the info in the random character generator as the basis for a computer version of the same? Perhaps as an Excel spreadsheet or something? OR perhaps the Hero dudes are planning something along these lines... Just wondering along... Edited for cranial gas emissions...

Many thanks! I'll probably end up requiring the skill roll (or INT roll). I'd added the Inobvious Inaccessible Focus as a minimum focus limitation so that every gadget he "makes" is definitely a focus, even if not obvious. Using a more obvious focus is still an option. At the moment, I'll likely leave the size of the VPP as is. It isn't intended to be the primary focus of the character I have in mind, merely a "flavor piece." But who knows, the next villain I throw at the players may indeed have something a little more hefty...

I'm trying to simulate the "Omni-gadget" from the DC Heroes RPG (2nd ed.) not a powerful one, but it is going to be extremely flexible. To this end, I'm going to make it a small but very versatile utility belt (figure 20 active points). Now the snag. In the DC game, if you wanted to change the power the gadget had, you spent the requisite Hero Points and voilá, you had the new gadget. I'd like to do something along the lines of having the VPP be a blank slate and then state what gadget (or gadgets) are in the pool as it becomes necessary. Once stated, the gadget is "locked in" (i.e., he can't change/redefine the gadget without returning to his base). The special effect is that, through superior tactical planning, deduction, intuition, and/or foreknowledge, the character knows what he's likely to need when the situation arises and just happens to have it handy at the appropriate time. I currently have it written up like this: 37 Variable Power Pool, 20 base + 17 control cost, Powers Can Be Changed As A Half-Phase Action (+1/2), No Skill Roll Required (+1) (45 Active Points); Limited Power May not "free up" points initially allotted to a gadget without returning to lab/base (-1/4), IIF (-1/4) Does this look right or did I miss something?... Inquiring minds and all that...

okay, one more time for us idiots... Well... Okay, for me. The question regards advantages on a Hand-toHand Attack. If a character w/STR 30 has a 2d6 HA with Penetrating, how is the damage resolved? Does the penetrating advantage add to all 8 dice or would it max out at 4d6 (2x the HA dice)? Charlie "Tell me once, tell me slow, and I'll remember every word for the rest of my life..."

A Character has a multiform in with the Limitation "Extra Time: Extra Phase". The "normal" form has a SPD of 3. The alternate form has a SPD of 4. If the changes begins in Seg 12 and is completed in segment 4 (I'm assuming the faster SPD doesn't kick in until the change is complete), what phase does the character act in his new form -- Phase 6 or Phase 9? Inquiring minds and all that, Charlie

Ooooo... If you could zip them up and post them, I'd very much like to see 'em. I keep stumbling on the way that spirits are handled for conjuring. The bestiary added the "services" limitation which helped a lot, but Spirits are often better described as SFX for enhanced movement or even just an EB. I'd like to see someone else's take on them... Charlie

Format query... I notice under the Multiform entry, there is a question that has a "Strike through" format applied to it. Is this intentional? Charlie

Titans of Tomorrow... Looks like his ToT character. We (primarily) use the Hero System rules for this, but since it's more of an interactive fiction "game," nearly any system would fit... Charlie P.S. Damn fine rendering of the character, BTW. You've given me a few ideas for some nasty things to do to the character...

Hmmm... I feel a theme coming here. Mine is called "Brother Gunn" -- ex vice cop who'd had seen enough of the dark side and entered a monastery... but the dark side wasn't done with him yet... (cue ominous music...) I haven't actually played the character but I pull the sheet out every so often and try something new once in a while.

So... what's the scoop? If you can spread an attack it loses a DC for each hex spread (or +1 OCV garnered), how does that apply to an entangle? Will it lose both 1d6 BODY/1 DEF per hex or is there some other bizarre mix?... or is it even an option? I've gotten some minor discussion on the Hero System Discussion board, but figured I'd get it from the source, if possible. No rush, just curious. Inquiring minds and all that, Charlie

If memory serves... ... and it rarely does, I think the option to use it as a barrier allows you to cover 3 hex sides (i.e., one hex wide) with the normal BODY/DEF of the entangle. This would just create the barrier, not actually entangle anyone. It was suggested, for the sake of reducing the book keeping, that extending the barrier an additional hex would merely drop the BODY/DEF by -1d6/-1 DEF, instead of the normal 1DC per hex as in a spread energy blast... I think. The downside of not having FREd on hand. Charlie "FREd-less at work" Ball

In a situation where a character wishes to spread an entangle, how does "spreading" affect the DEF/BODY of the entangle? Since normally, spreading an attack subtracts 1 DC per +1 OCV(or per hex it's spread), how would you work that out for the entangle? Right now I'm leaning toward alternating between reducing the BODY then the DEF per OCV bonus (or hex traversed). For example: a 5d6/5DEF Entangel is being used to attack 3 targets. The targets are spread out over 5 hexes (i.e., one empty hex between each target). In order to cover all the targets, the Entangle is reduced 4DCs to be able to hit the two additional targets which would drop it to a 3d6/3DEF entangle (-1d6 for the first hex, -1 DEF for the second, -1d6 for the third, -1DEF for the fourth). Does this sound right or am I grossly off somewhere?

Hmmm... Well, based on the difficulty in getting drunk, I'd say a -0 Limitation, but unless you have access to "the good stuff" (not always easy on a college student budget), you'd have to drink a fair amount. I'd tack on an "Extra Time" limitation (say 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your constitution and drinking speed...) Charlie

Re: Cool Hey, why not the original? Perhaps his using an experimental (and horribly unstable) power source for his new FoxBatWatch was not quite the clever idea he'd originally thought. "I dunno... One minute I was checking the accuracy of the bus schedule for a potential getaway option, the next I'm standing in line for a sample grbnfflx... whatever the hell that is..."

How is this handled? Does the attacker have to make a new attack roll in order to try to hit the Deflector again? Or does the attacker's roll remain in effect, requiring the Missile Deflector to make a new deflection roll each phase? Inquiring minds and all that... Charlie

Very Cool! I like the theme too... nicely done! Charlie

When buying a program for a computer, what level of detail (or how much info) is necessary when defining the program? Also, how much info can be included in a single program? I ask only because some tasks would seem to be more detailed than others yet the cost remains constant regardless of the difficulty. For instance, "Pilot starship from System X to System Y" would be a bit more complex than "Drive ground vehicle from Address A to Address B." Charlie