Duke Bushido

Yeah, I'm a bit paranoid. Can someone from this board tell me precisely what Discord is? (I have sort of a history with you guys; I trust you more than those _other_ random strangers on the internet.... )

What makes you think Soylent doesn't taste good? To quote Leela: "It varies from person to person."

Joe: I've _got_ the covers. Send me a screen cap or something showing you paid nice and legal, and I'll get them to you. Still waiting for the change myself. Of course, I'd also like to get a better copy of 2e (mine's colorized, so I'd have to start from scratch) and a better copy of 1e (with the actual 1e sheets in it), but time-- I just don't have as much as I did when all this started....

I'm a bit lost: Are we talking about for the players or for their opponents? I wouldn't do this to a player, but I do it for their opponents, yes. All the time. As in I've never heard of anyone saying "okay, the Look Tater has eleven hit points left and it looks like it's Koloth up to bat.... He steps out of the box... A couple of practice swings..... Okay, he's dropped the weights and back into the box- did you see that? Six donuts! This kid's swinging for the parking lot.... " Wow. That got away from me. Sorry about that. Duke

I've still got crossed fingers that there will be some way to buy them; I found out about the thing way too late to actually back it.

First Edition, p22, second column. In the first two editions, it's called "usable on others," which is a bit vague. It remains unchanged in 2e, It's poorly worded, as Chris points out in the 3e rules, but the examples given are defensive and movement powers, suggesting that the intent is more sharing powers than forcing them on someone, though the requirement to make an attack roll against he person to whom you wish to give the power.... doesn't really clarify things much.

Give that thing a beard and blue eyes, and I could use it for a mirror!

Is it too late to nominate this for the "most annoying song" thread? (asking for all of humanity a friend)

Pre-roll them, too. Then when the covering guy decides it's time to assign his pre-hit damage, you can assign your pre-dodged miss or your pre-approved deflect.

Bull snuckles. I'm not going to have yet another conversation about this, so here's my once and done: The write up specifically says its a build to represent being missed using a mechanic (armor ) that does nothing until after you've been hit _and_ the damage has been rolled. If that's not enough, look at the usage: I've got no flack jacket; I've got no hard plates-- Hell, I've got nothing but well-tanned pecs while my nips remain embarrassingly pink.... Imma jump me inna some combats! Here I go, nothing but but a set of cotton boxers and my reliable ol' revolver. Oh noes! Gitted shot! Point blank! Inna nekkid chest! Woo-hoo! thanks to my "Combat Luck" (and his crap roll) I am unhurt! So which is that? Did it miss? Or are there painless holes in his torso and lungs filling with damage proof blood? Maybe his skin got really thick and impenetrable for the briefest of moments, or perhaps pink nipples on tan pecs are one of the secret signs of telekinetic missile deflect--- no.... No; it can't be Missile D, because if it was Missile D, he wouldn't have had to both hit _and_ roll damage first...... Combat luck means it missed. Rules say so. Write up says so. Usage says so. Take away any form of protection _except_ Combat Bull Snuckles then explain why the attack that clearly should have left him serious impaired did _not_ leave him seriously impaired (Amazing! The used the Kennedy Bullet, only it's been re-trained to circle you, looking for an existing opening, make all the twists and turns necessary to pop harmless out of which ever was the other end of your digestive tract, then fall to the ground!) or even touched, given the right values for damage rolls and Combat Bull Snuckles, or accept that you have to tell they guy who just finished rolling his damage: "you missed, Tony. Oh, and the rules say I should bitch slap you with Volume 2 when you aren't looking."

And for ideas on near future tech, hit up cyberpunk source books. You'll have to build your own HERO stats, but you'll have an idea of what might be in the near future. I like talisorian's "Cyberpunk: seven years ago". Stuff, personally (now rebranded as "Cyberpunk: a couple of months from now") and _early_ Shadowrun stuff. You'll have to downgrade it to the appropriate level of "after the collapse" for your campaign, as well, but for near future inspiration, those sources work well for me.

Are you looking for write-ups, concepts, or ideas?

More to the point: You do you. As I said above: if you and yours are happy with the way covered currently works, go for it. I'm happy with the way this system works; I've been going for it for almost thirty years (so it's got a good bit of play testing behind it) , and have zero in changing.

Oh: one last thing: Those of you who's arguments against breaking out of cover are along the lines of "but the attack has already hit" now completely understand my outrage at "Combat Luck means it missed me!" [edited]

(yo, MT: i've managed to split the page break. If you didn't see the example I promised, it's on the bottom of the previous page)

And the more the rules and even the fans try to beat everything into the exact same shape as everything else in the category, I find stuff like this to be _critical_ to the game: this is one of those things that makes T-port _different_ from Running: it's not just a way to get from point A to point B. (for the same reason, I rule that, barring an SFX that says otherwise, T-port movement is resolved before all other movement) It just helps it to _feel_ different. Really gotta run!

Okay-- I'll take a simple stab-- sorry, but I just walked in for real about twenty minutes ago and cycled the kids through the eat-and-shower routine, I'm due to pick up the Leviathan and the wife left her lunch in the kitchen (she works nights), but I said I'd try (though technically, I'm really rushing things) First: Why would someone "use cover if it's such a waste?!" [paraphrasing my own] I don't know. Morality, perhaps? A desire to _not_ have to shoot someone? Lack of choice? "I'm supposed to bring in Bad Granny for questioning, but all I've got is my 4d6 RKA blast pistol...." And of course, the fact that it works on mooks without having to _actually_ splatter them. Anyway, this was supposed to be just a quick example, and I'm wasting time. First off: this works best for a super escaping a normal. And let's be honest, it makes sense that a super _should_ have a chance to escape a normal. Also would like to note that I use the Cover rules from 4e, simply because at the time we adopted them more players owned 4e than anything else (it was the "new" book back then ). I will state up front that I don't know ( or -- and this is not rude; it's just to head off a rush of corrections that may be coming-- really care if it's different in later editions. This works for us, and I'm not changing now). If you have HSRB 4e, you can find Cover on page 155. Probably there in BBB, too. I know it's in there somewhere, just don't remember where. As folks have pointed out, I looked to Western HERO-- it is my single most well-worn sourcebook. I use it the way the rest of you use Ninja HERO or the MA book for whatever generation you're playing at the moment. Anyway, the idea was inspired by the showdown ideas. Moreover, page 40, bottom right: Hilariously, there is no list below. Not here, and not in that book. Talk about a need for an errata. If you go to p155 of the HSRB 4e, you'll see this helpful phrase: Now it doesn't specify if it's referring to the Hit Location Chart, of if there are special penalties for where the two of you are standing. Presumably the HLC, but who knows? At any rate, it mentions distractions, and the Western HERO book starts to give us some stuff to play with and utterly fails.... I can't help but think that at some point, there was meant to be an option or two-- at least one-- outside of PRE Attack. Right or wrong; doesn't matter: you do you, after all. If your players _enjoy_ being auto-hit by everyone who manages to sneak up on them, then go for it. I'm not here to tell you they don't, after all. If your players enjoy auto-hitting everyone they get the drop on, then the more the merrier. Personally, I'm looking at the source material: the super-fast sleight of hand that let's the ninja stare at a gun in his face (which I am going to argue suggest's he's pretty much _covered_) and in the blink of an eye he's holding the gun and his attacker is nursing a sprained wrist. (yeah; that's Disarm, but given that the source material is chock-full-o-nuts _packed_ with this sort of exchange, I'm inclined to think that cover should _not_ be auto-hit. And don't get me started on "covering" Speedsters..... Though as noted, I'm also inclined to think it should be a scary damned thing when you're both on roughly the same level. Hence the DEX-off. At any rate, -- well, never mind. Phone is ringing (looks like the phone at the wife's job, so let me hurry this up) Important thing to remember: I don't generally just up and tell my players what SPD their opponents are, and between held actions, etc, I don't make it easy to figure out (though I don't go out of my way to make it difficult, either) Other important thing: Remember what the SPD chart represents: you don't do everything in a single second, then wait for your next single second out of twelve; you are assumed to be "doing the thing" at a rate that carries you from the start of your Phase until the start of you next one. Both of those are important. Why? Because it doesn't matter _what_ you do the Phase your opponent Covered you-- he is in the active process of getting a bead and deciding whether or not he's going to pull the trigger. If you do something (that isn't "instant" or that has a Tell of some sort, Bang! you have made up his mind for him; he has decided _not_ to wait, and you get hurt (maybe. You definitely get hit). Best thing for you to do (I've heard my older players teach this to new players ) is take a Recovery or two and hope he doesn't have a SPD under 3. The way I figured it when we started cobbling these rules, during that Phase, he is _intent_ on getting a bead on you and waffling as to whether it's worth it to go non-violent. The other important thing is how _well_ he has you covered. So you're ready to try something? Jimmy Crookneck has the drop on you! He made his Cover roll by 4 (think of this as "how well he has you covered"). Remember this, because it's going to work against you if you try something. Jimmy Crookneck is a local thug, working for the mob you're investigating. Obviously, you're getting close to something the mob doesn't want you to get close to. You carefully, obviously stop moving and let him see that you've stopped moving. Take a minute; think this out. Look around, see what might be of some help to you. (Probably not the manila folder you're still holding after rifling through it. Jimmy is standing at your back. Break: Let's look at Jimmy's "covered" success: this is a raw bonus he gets if you try something stupid. If there's more than one of you, and he's trying to cover _all_ of you (or at least more than one), then this bonus is divided across the number of people he's trying to cover. The bonus he gets for standing directly behind you, though-- that's just for you. Let's say you've got a sidekick with you. Jimmy's Covering bonus is divided by two as he wants to cover both of you. Your sidekick is pretty much head-on to Jimmy, so no extra bonuses there: he can see Jimmy's every move, and you can't. Oh, if only you had a telepath for a sidekick! You spend a few moments doing _nothing_; letting Jimmy get comfortable with the idea that he's got you dead to rights and you're smart enough to know it. You take that recovery while you're standing there, and maybe one more. You've decided you're going to make a break for it! You don't know if Jimmy's in striking range, and you can't draw a bead on him with Electro Bolts until you can actually aim at him (unless you want to try a hip shot. Turns out you don't.) You are pretty sure you can drop and spring into a leap and get behind that heavy desk long enough to re-orient yourself and maybe get a shot off. Dex off: Jimmy's a norm-- and athletic normal, sure, but he's only got a DEX of 15. You, on the other hand, have the twitchy reflexes of living lightning, and your DEX 22 shows it. You give a wink to your sidekick, and he knowingly activates his IPE Desolidification. He can only keep it up for one minute, but he's safe for a moment... you drop, hoping to screw up the bead he has on you, roll your shoulders forward, then spring into a leap to get behind the desk--- Fortunately, it's a new phase for Jimmy, or you'd feel hot lead somewhere just north of your foramen magnum! You make your DEX roll by 9; Jimmy makes his by 4. Subtracting his from yours, you have a 5 pt bonus(the new editions call this a penalty skill level, but we didn't have that word when we came up with this. At any rate, you can apply that toward the original "Covering" roll. As Jimmy made his original roll by 4, and your bonus (his PSL) subtracts from that, wo-hoo! You _almost_ got away with it. He has now made his cover roll by exactly zero, but hey-- he made it. Bang! You've been shot! Better for Jimmy, not only have you been shot, but he's still got that bonus +2 (his covering bonus of 4, divided across the two characters) he can add to his roll to cover you again, if he should so desire. Or, since he's tracking you so well, he can use it to flat out shoot you. You're not very cooperative, after all. Fortunately, Ghost Boy used this distraction to phase through the wall behind him, and is safe. Now let's say you had made your Dex roll by 10! Then subtract Jimmy's Dex success of 4, and you can assign a PSL of _5_ to the covering roll. As it made it only by 4, you manage to pull it off! You manage to to get out of harm's way (for a moment!). However, Jimmy still has his Covering bonus of 2 (since he voluntarily split it) he can apply to re-Cover you, or just open fire. Note: Characters covering a group can _voluntarily_ relinquish some of the targets to "get back" some of the bonus, _provided_ they do so before they lose Covered status. For example, in the above, Jimmy could have decided that Ghost Boy was not a real threat, and decided to focus his attention entirely on you, granting him the full +4 in the event you tried something and succeeded. However, once he loses track of any of the covered people (say one teleports away or something), that option is no longer available: he has divided his attention too far, or something like that, and only has whatever his bonus was after the initial division. Similarly, he can voluntarily split the bonus further to cover additional people who come into the area, should he want to. I have _really_ got to get my wife her lunch, so I'm going to go. I trust you can see how this is still a deadly option for "heroic" normal-v-normal type stuff, and nearly as dangerous for super-v-super. That's pretty much what we wanted: a chance for super characters (not just super heroes, but the Ninjas and fast aliens and what-have-you in Heroic stuff) to actually _be_ action heroes, and for that "little bit better than normal" to be the deciding factor (dice willing, of course ) I'm sorry if this doesn't answer your questions, but if you want to know more, just ask. I'll try to get them answered tomorrow. There is no point in saying "feel free to point out all the flaws and problems and anti-HERO System things in these house rules (crap! I need to track down Chris Goodwin's House Rules thread and put a cleaner version there at some point in the future), so long as you understand that I'm not changing the way I do this at my table. It's worked since '92. I have absolutely _no doubt_ it will work until I'm dead or too damned old to draw players.

If I remember, I'll look him back up when I went home (I only remember him now because I couldn't rationalize a shapeshifter keeping his power _but_ being turned into a snake. It may well be the MP tied to shapeshifter was a fast work-around for the idea of multiform. Yes, multiform existed, but you know how this game goes: more than one way to do anything.

You have two options that make sense to me: Either the surm robbed him of his shapeshift ability, or his shapeshift ability prevented him from being all snake-deformed. Honestly, I've thought that for a couple of decades now. Or, if you really want him to be all snakey, but still have shapeshift, limit it heavily: maybe only into people (the Cool serum wants him to be a snake, and not a badger or a mushroom (thanks, Tribble)) or a limited duration or even upping the End. Alternatively, limit it to "snake stuff" with a few related snake powers he can only access in different shapes: a bulky python for extra Str and grappling or a long thin racer for bursts of SPD and movement. Go all out and multi-form him. Hope something there gets the juices flowing. Duke

As you can tell, I heartily agree.

Right: just remember that there are also "giveaway" limitations such as gestures, incantations, etc, that, depending on how they are defined, are going to provide negative mods (there are no rules for this, so you will have to wing it) or make it flat out impossible to pull off without the guarantee of getting zapped. To that end, I also allow a player (I don't usually do this for the bad guys, as I feel they would be less self-sacrificing) to make a maneuver even knowing he will get hit. I don't know if your edition is using these rules, but I essentially use the "roll with the punch" as presented in Champions II (combined with an ego roll, since you _know_ you are going to get hit). If he is successful, then he may continue to act even while getting attacked, though he will take CV penalties (unless his ego roll is a 3). Also remember that the moves are considered simultaneous, with preference to the guy doing the covering. Thus, if the attack being used for the cover does knock-back or knock-down, etc, that will be resolved and applied _before_ the defender does his thing. Essentially, yes. If I find time when I get home tonight--and I remember-- I will be happy to do so.

Almost forgot: Dex-off: Compare "level of success" for each character. If the Diving character has the higher level of success, then subtract the covering character's success level, and the covering character takes that number as a negative modifier against his previous "to-hit" roll. (it is in this way that the diving character may still get hit). All characters hit while diving are assumed to have fallen prone. Here's where it gets a bit wiggy, but my players feel it to be fair: If the covering character has the higher level of success, subtract the diving character's success level from the covering character's success level. In addition to hitting the diving character, he may apply this difference as a positive modifier to hit the character on the covering character's next Phase. The idea is that he _is_ covering the character, and though he didn't react _quite_ fast enough to "pull the trigger," as it were, he managed to keep the character "covered" and tracked him as he moved. This bonus must be used immediately, or it is lost. As I said, it's a bit wiggy, but my players all seem cool with it, as it gives them a _chance_, and a pretty good one versus "normals," but not a really great one versus someone on their own level.

If it's an "instant activation" power, I usually do a Dex-off between the person covering and the person wanting to activate the power: if the, say Force Field-- gets up before the other guy fires, he _still_ hits; if it penetrates the FF, oh well.... That's why he was covering you in the first place. I have also allowed Dive for Cover when an player is covered, taking the covering character's "level of success" as a negative modifier for the diving character. They get winged a lot, but not always.

APPLICATION FOR ENTRANCE TO THE CITY 1) Full name Koloth the Virile 2) Mother's maiden name The Fertile 3) Any titles you have and where they were granted The Virile: Koloth have eleventeen wives, some his own. Have tens and tens of childs. Deathbringer: former village in the hills Iron Doom: Gatekeeper at former fortification before hill village The Sapper: numerous walled cities other side of hills Rat bastard: guy who cheats at dice 4) Place of birth On horseback. Mom plenty tough 5) What is your reason for visiting our fair city? Look around. Find wives. Study walls. 6) Education Know wenching, math to seven. Also architecture and which pot for drinking, which pot for peeing. Good sapper. 7) List your previous three jobs Break walls a fortification before hill village Break walls at hill village This job here 8 ) List of references (preferably at least one within the city) Good article about Koloth in Sapper Monthly. Let me in; I show you. 9) Preferred religion Big fan of statues with battle axe. Battle axe means best god. 10) Any outstanding tax debts Owe nothing to any currently-standing village, city, or kingdom. 11) Any outstanding bounties and the circumstances of why a bounty has been placed upon you Bounties on Koloth all based on poor survival skills of someone with too much coin. No bounty on Koloth by any living person. 12) Declare all dangerous companions and all dangerous items in your possession Koloth peaceful traveller. Have only shovels, axes and scrolls on "how to sap" for barbarians. 13) Declare whether you are possessed Koloth possessed of great strength, great stamina, and cool hat made from skull of ogre war chief. 14) Do you eat carrots? Sweetens rice dishes and removes gaminess from orc stew. Also makes roast bear taste like food. 15) Emergency contact information Deity who owes you best favor. Contact now. 16) Are you literate? No; parents married. 17) Do you have a horse or other livestock which you are bringing into the city? only horse for riding and two horses for eating. Horse for carrying potions of fireball way in back. 18) Are they literate? Yes. Horse parents never married. All horses literate. Giving false information on this form is punishable by fines, imprisonment, and/or execution as deemed necessary by the local magistrate and such punishments may be inflicted in any order. Koloth not lie, but amenable to perform executions and inflict punishments for local master gate when current job over.