Lemurion

Re: Characters Places Things and Groups Needed for the Perfect Superhero Universe? A sense of family and continuity. A feeling that the heroes are connected to the world and to each other. Things like an early issue of Young Justice where Batman could not show up to deal with something regarding Robin, so he sent Nightwing instead. Nightwing is the perfect example of what I'm talking about. He started as a sidekick, then moved up to be a character and team leader in his own right, taking what he learned from his mentor and applying it in his own way. That and villains who aren't dead until you've done the autopsy, and even then you can never be sure that was really...

Re: open door spell I'm surprised no one has come up with this method. Use time travel to send the door to a time when it was open. EDM Time travel to a related group of times 25pts, UAA +1, Only works on doors -2. You can add whatever other limitations or advantages you want.

Re: Does anyoen use spell-multipliers? Jumping into the middle of things-- I've an idea for an option for Wizard-balancing. Just let the wizard have more disadvantages. If you think about it, that fits very well into the genre with wizards having more total power than a standard character, but being subject to more problems and limitations.

Re: Golden Age Myth? I've read a number of the real Golden Age comics-- and as has been said before they are far deeper than the post-code junk. The real miracle is that they were able to tell any stories at all under the code limitations.

Re: Clubs, Lethal Weapons? (Killing Damage Not Normal) However, I can see an idea of making an iron-shod quarterstaff a killing weapon. Those things are NASTY.

Re: High Fantasy - Low Fantasy I would generalize it to any sort of problem solving. The closer the character's methods of problem solving are to the real world (no use of hand-waving or "handwavium" in an SF setting) the lower the fantasy. Low fantasy is where they solve problems through hard work, and things have a real cost. High fantasy just does it.

Re: A new look at shields A lot of good information here-- and as I'm still working up the campaign I'll take it into consideration. I will use hit locations and sectional armor-- the reason for the activation roll (skill roll is probably better) is to reflect the fact that sometimes you can't get the shield to cover the part of the body the weapon hits. I do like the disposable shield idea-- I knew historically most shields didn't last all that long in battle and having to get a new one is a good money siphon.

Re: A new look at shields More trying to emulate how shields actually work, they not only make it harder to get hit but do also directly stop damage. I did see the optional rule you mention, and simply twisted its efficacy.

Re: An idea on making the system a bit more dangerous Use hit locations, sectional armor, impairing and disabling wounds, bleeding, and all the other good things Hero gives you. You can also base encumbrance on casual STR and run with LTE and all the other rules so players don't load up on heavy armor. Add in some of the neat extras like maces doing penetrating hits and you can make Hero very dangerous.

To introduce myself, I'm just getting back into Hero after a number of years away, and am going to be running a Harn campaign. One thing I have never liked is how most games handle shields. A shield should not only provide improved DCV, but it does also get directly in the way and provide additional defense to the user. I've divided shields into three categories (in additional to the standard size classes); wooden, metal rimmed, and metal. A wooden shield has a DEF of 1, a metal rimmed one a DEF of 2, and a metal shield has a DEF of 3. In order to deal with the fact a shield cannot always be interposed I also add activation rolls based on the size of the shield. A small shield activates on an 8-, a normal shield on an 11- and a large shield on a 14-. I haven't done out the point costs as this is for a Fantasy Hero campaign and they won't be paying points for them anyway. Any one have any thoughts?