Duke Bushido

The spell caster is not using equipment, whereas the archer is. I may well be mistaken (and apologize appropriately if I am), but I had thought we were discussing charging for equipment. In you example, the archer- at my table- would have paid _zero_ points to chuck arrows into the citizenry. However, he still has the peoblems associated with using equipment: he can target one person, suffers for lack of skill, equioment needs maintenance, can break, can be taken away, has finite ammunition, requires both hands-- if it is a longbow, he likely takes a penalty for setting, penalties for attempting to fire and stay behind cover and all those other things, The wizard who bought the ability to his magic missile suffers no real chance of not being able to use it whenever he wishes, is never going to lose it- best of all, after taking a recovery or two, the archers arrows are not automatically replenished. The wizard takes a breather and lobs a few more bolts of damage, etc. Looked at from the other end, you are charging the archer two points to get screwed in relative ability. I suppose this all boils down to the level of realism you are looking for in your Martial Arts game. From my perspective, this makes complete sense: weapons were invented for a pretty solid reason: they give considerable advantage over the guy who isn't using one. Weapons still exist to this day for that very same reason. Weapons have continued to evolve because we want advantage over the guy who has last year's weapon. Revisit the thoughts in the Star HERO thread about swords in sci-fi. Even today, long before star-spanning human empires and FTL travel, we have stopped carrying swords. Why? Because as a whole, we have learned that brandishing a sword is a good way to get shot- once upon a time, by an arrow, and then by a lead pellet, then a shaped lead projectile from much further away, then depletes uranium, then large hypersonic steel or tungsten rods- The barefoot monk- while fun to play in a game heavy with barefoot monks, has realistically little chance against a flamethrower, or a knife taped to the end of a stick. Now as far as the more popular and inlmpressively unrealistic martial arts games, I really can't discuss those knowledgeably: they have zero appeal to me, as the source material has zero appeal to me. I am more along the lines of the old Ginsu commercials: "In Japan, the foot can split wood. But it can't cut a watermelon!" I tend to think it is also a poor choice for stopping a sword, too, and functionally hillarious for stopping a bullet. In all honesty- while your points make me wish I could still acces this site through my computer so I couos use a proper screen and keyboard to discuss them, I have to call attentionntion to fact that you are making my point that "balance via character points" is absolutely nothing less than a deeply-held mythology with a devout religious core that refuses to accept that.

Not having tried it, I am not going to say you're wrong. However, it really seems like a leftover Halloween trick- right up there with candy-coated onions....

"Helped trim." What an odd way to say "saved lives by casually tossing into the trash while no one was looking."

Rumor,is they arent allowing OGL or fan-created stuff for DnD1, meaning that if you want to contribute or create something for publishing, you will still have to write it for 5e. As for card games- and do keep in mind that this is entirely a personal opinion: given the toll they have taken on the RPG hobby and the changes they have caused in gaming stores and tables lost to card games, I dont care if all card games dry up and blow away.

And That sums up exactly why I dont do points for equipment. For all fantasy games outside of HERO, it isn't possible to "just know" that you get to keep your favorite doodad. In practice, I have found this knowledge to be disruptive to suspension of disbelief: If I jam my +2 OCV magic sword into the bridgework where the logs are broken, the caravan can cross over safely, because it can't be broken, or I wouldn't have it, and that isnt fair, because I paid points for it. There are more extreme examples from my own experience, but two thumbs, touch screen, etc. If I am playing DnD and have an heirloom item and I break it or lose it, well... That's that. It is a bit offensive to me that HERO fans demand otherwise, but only because I spent points on it- points that I am not going to require them to spend on it anyway. Points that they did not get to spend on Characteristics, Skills, Talents, etc, because they had the misfortune of playing under someone who really, truly believes that points are the be-all end-all of game balance. Now let's remember who I am: I am the guy who thinks that points are nothing but a limit switch that keeps new characters from starting out with everything (like the threat of death in Traveller character generation does: eventually, you are too satisfied with what you have to keep rolling) and a means by which character progression can be somewhat controlled. I am also the guy who still allows "extra life" from that old Dragon article, because I cannot accept that "points gone forever" is somehow unfair: in order to believe that, I would have to accept that all points spent have equal value and equal utility, which would require rejecting forty-odd years of evidence to the contrary. All that is part of my decision-making process, which ultimately leads me to "heroic level characters don't pay points for equipment, period."

I also forgot the name (and I just stumbled across this earlier today... ) I do remember he is credited as a playtester and contributor to the disrt Fantasy HERO and to BBB. (Was it John something?) still- that's a phenomenal piece, Sir.

I also forgot the name (and I just stumbled across this earlier today... ) I do remember he is credited as a playtester and contributor to the disrt Fantasy HERO and to BBB. (Was it John something?) still- that's a phenomenal piece, Sir.

Gotta level with you: I make them up on the fly when I feel they can add something to the plot. Forty-and-a-bit years as GM, I can say with one-hubdred-percent certainty that the Players have yet to notice, or even reference a prior a holiday. Now in Champions, Seven Day is a recurring holiday, but since we have never really tracked the passage of individual days that closely, again, if it adds something to the story then how about that! It's almost Seven Day.

Was there ever a time when you weren't good at this?

I cant say I have the files- mostly because I have only now heaed of Harn (typically I am not a fan of fantasy, so I dont keep up with it. Reading this thread, though, makes it seem as though Harn was a setting I could agree with as far as magic not outclassing everything within a few levels, being kind of rare, etc.). However, the tree links posted above still work (just checked) and seem to have a xonsiderable amount of information that may be of use to you.

Except for that game Dr Ohz is running, you mean. Tease not the furries, for the internet runs on them.

I miss being single and living a xouple hundred miles from my nearest relative. Back win I could just stay home and bake me a spam.

You shouldn't feel guilty. Since Pariah put up the image, I have been gnawing at my fingers to not say that myself.

I am definitely not using Firefox, and I cant see it either.

Explain below: I handle it exactly,the same,way that I handle it in games that are not HERO System: whatever is appropriate in the moment. Did Colonel Thennec find an antique carbine and a few shells in the back of the ship's locker? It's his now. Does Koloth the Virile admire that coal-black battleaxe with the standby thing on the other end? Does Koloth have forty gold? It's his now. Did Cartier steal an elegant walking stick with a concealed .38 single-shot in one end and a dagger in the other? It's his now. On the other side of the coin: Did Thennec fire the last of the shells for his carbine? Well, it's useless now, except maybe as a fragile club. Did Koloth lose his axe over the sides of the vessel? Well, it's gone now. Did Cartier manage to break his cane? Well, he doesn't have thise anymore. Without any malice or snidery intended, I would lay a small wager that everyone here has played a non-HERO, non points-buy game. Considering that, I find it baffling how often this discussion comes up.

Dont do it! You will end up with a husband like me! (Spoken as the husband of a feral housewife). You will end go married to an extrovert among extroverts, just because we are haeder to put off with annoying habits.

Well done!

I dont know, Hugh. For me, _a lot_ of the 80s and early 90s were spent renting low- or no-budget fantasy movies that built their entire plots around transfereing "life force" or youth or vitality or magical aptitude or souls or- you name it, and there was C-movie fantasy that was transferring it.

Unless you are refering to New Millennium, then I have missed something along the way! Is this Next Generation a thing that happened?

There would be way less super-villains.

If we are in a rules forum, I am going to get burned as I am not one of the anointed. I have always taken it to mean that in this instance you would need 12" of stretching. I have always assumed that this was the total the character could stretch for whatever justification is necessary: balance, concentration, what-have-you. Kind of like saying that controlling one limb doing one thing at 12" was the best he could do (for whatever reason- maybe he is "only so pliable" or "only has so much mass to stretch." ) He is at a similar limit when stretching two limbs two directions (possibly, but not necessarily, doing two things) six inches each, or four limbs three inches ech. Ultimately, it is a meta thing: you can buy X inches, and a crafty player can find a way to convince you that he should get more, but ultimately, he didn't buy more, and it can step on the toes of the guy who did.

There would have to be, else it is not a Limitation.

Okay, from 4e: Five points to change identity and one set of clothes (both elements are listed). 10 points to change into any set of clothes. Change identity is not listed separately, so my assumption has always been that you must buy the five point level to actually change identities. Curiously, it is not "an additional 10 points," which suggests that a character not wishing to change his identity but simply wanting to be able to instantly change into up to ten different outfits (I have never understood and have largely ignored the 10-sets limitation) may purchase only the 10-point version. I allow appropriate limitations, such as Spiderman's symbiote suit, where "all clothes must be black," and other such things.

Out with the family right now (I am taking a breather while everyone else runs around the store) if we what back at a reasonable hour, and no one else has offered the pricing, I will (barring memory issues) get the pricing for you.

I have an opposite problem: The Speedo on the Valks only reads 145- there is a decorative bit of brushed metal at the bottom, and at 145, the needle drops behind this trim bit and I lose all idea of how fast I am running. Not a big deal on the street bikes, which are really struggling at 145 anyway (which kind of shoots down all the press for the Valkyire, which alleged it would top out between 112 and 120), but my strip bike- the one with the supercharger and a couple of other mods- is still pulling pretty hard when the needle disappears. I need _more_ speedometer! (yes; there are _easily_ thirty faster bikes, without mods, straight off the showroom floor, at least these days. My Valks are a pair of 1995s and a 1997. However, there are _no_ faster thousand-pound bikes. :D)