actingkeith

Re: How to do: Twins

Re: WWYCD 101:A question of faith

I'm now looking at an Area of Effect that hits a big Vehicle or the walls/floors/ceilings/tables/chairs of a building... I know that every critter and object in AE gets hit, but what happens to the things that fill more than one hex? And specifically, if you hit the hull of a starship with an AE, and the area you hit has three airlock hatches and 4 viewing ports (all of which have lower DEF than the ship's armored hull), do the hatches and windows get hit? And if they don't, why would anyone put AE on a Space Weapon? Thanks Steve, -keith

I'm curious about the application of a power that is MegaRanged, bought with AE Radius... Since the closest one can use the MegaRange is 1km, I'm making the assumption that one cannot dump the AE Power right on top of the attacker... It must attack an adjacent hex, right? and that hex is 1km away, right? Thanks, Keith

Re: Ruling on this situation... I have no idea what the rationale was, sorry. Real Life and Real Physics have nothing to do with the game mechanics. The rules say that you can fly, carrying up to your STR, period. Stop thinking about it. How that Flight works with your character (or in your game world) is completely up to you (and/or your GM). Maybe Defender's Boot Jets have a Force Governor on them that keeps velocity to an arbitrarily safe speed, so that they put out more force when the mass they need to lift is greater... The SFX and the Mechanics are completely separate. Peace, -k

Re: Ruling on this situation...

Re: Ruling on this situation... And I think that this is the root of your 'problem' The player was not using Flight as an 'immune to Grab' power... rather he was using the non-limited power of Flight fully within the scope of the rules. You as the GM made the error of reading into the rules of Grab that somehow Grabbed characters were held down... ...completely untrue. What they are is held. And that's all they are... the Grabber can do damage every phase, and restrains limbs. That's all. HERO System rules are very well written, literarily speaking. They've evolved and been critically considered over the course of 25 years. The words tend to mean exactly what they say, nothing more, nothing less, and all the logical consequences that follow from their meaning tend to be reasonably intended. Peace, -keith

Re: How would you have handled this (GMs)? Here's the thing you said that stuck with me in your last series of comments... that the player plays (and plays violently) for 'catharsis' That's a bad sign. I think that what you've done in-character is probably the most appropriate response. The more that you can make your game world repsond like the real world would - given the weird circumstances of the super world - the more the players will be able to relate. It is especially appropriate since the character has black-outs. Such a character is not the sort of liability that a governmental organization can afford unless there's a HUGE benefit that can be demonstrated to the voters. I think you're handling what's going on quite well. Try to stay realistic with your (and everyone else's) expectations, and you'll be fine. Peace, -keith

Re: How would you have handled this (GMs)?

Re: Tattered Plot Threads

Re: Tattered Plot Threads

Re: Radio Direction Finder... sort of Thanks for all the thoughts, guys. It helped me greatly. Fortunately, I'm not interested in triangulation... just direction, signal strength, and maybe some information about the transmitting device. I think I'm going with HRRP, Tracking, and Discrim which covers all that stuff. Thanks again, -keith

Re: Radio Direction Finder... sort of Yep. The concept goes like this... I'm flying happily along in the middle of space, minding my own business, not bugging anybody, when all of a sudden I come across a distress beacon from an stranded freighter (...or maybe it's a trap, planned by nefarious space pirates)... either utter jeopardy for innocents or certain death at the hands pure evil... The question is, how do I build my HRRP so that I can follow the distress call back to its source so that mischief can ensue?

Hey all, I'm trying to understand a 'proper' build for an HRRP that has the ability find the physical location of a specific radio signal... Targeting would definitely get me what I want, but the character with this RDF power doesn't have any attack powers at all. Tracking looks like it would be adequate. ...and what do Discrim and Analyze do with HRRP, seeing as all it takes is an INT roll to identify a given frequency. Thanks in advance, -keith

Re: If YOU have been playing Hero since the 80's why do you still keep coming back? I started with Champions back in 1981. I still have my 1st printing, black-and-white book up in my closet somewhere. The thing that I really like, that I haven't seen mentioned specifically in this thread (and apologies if it was, and I missed it) is that not only can you play in any genre you want... but, because HERO uses a mathematically balanced creation system, you can also seemless play any sort of mix/cross/uber genre you can think of. Mages and Demons and Bears, oh my! can play in a high-tech/space world. Mutants and Pirates and Bears, Oh My! can play together in a Time Travel campaign. Manga and Politicos and Bears, OH MY! can play together in sureal, art-deco world. Any kind of character idea and be reasonably played in any kind of setting with any other kind of character ideas. All you have to do is compare character point totals to know if you're realtively evenly matched. Awesome. And I'd like to take exception to the title of this thread... what do you mean 'what brings you back' Who left? I didn't. -k

Re: VPP with XTime I'd agree. As I recall, 5E says that at its base a VPP must be changed out of combat, taking between a turn and a minute... For me, the key phrase is 'out of combat' and not anything having to do with timing. Remember that a limitation must be limiting to provide its bonus. If the GM is planning on making an issue of the jump from 1 to 5 minutes, then maybe it might be worth something. Now, if the character has to concentrate for the whole time she's shifting her pool... use concentration... but I'm rambling on after already having made the point I wanted to make after starting my post, so I should consider ending my diatribe before people start to notice and as a result of the useless meandering, stop paying attention to the real and profound point that I originally made before I started on this senseless... Cheers, -k

Re: Having a painful movement I think I fall into the camp of buying TPort with room for two, linked somehow with the NND EB (both with similar Act Pts). The Grab would just be a Special Effect of the TPort. After BAMPHing, the target would be released (ie not affected by the 'Grab'), Which could get hostile if you teleported straight up, stunned the guy, and let him go... Follow the rules for teleporting an unwilling victim (require a single attack roll for the No Rnage NND and the teleport) and I'd call that pretty fair. It's probably not the most comprehensive solution, but it's simple and it follows the spirit of what you're trying to accomplish. Peace, -k

Re: Regeneration: And Other Examples Power That Violate The Rules Well said! I couldn't agree more. Rep to TB. -k

Re: Regeneration: And Other Examples Power That Violate The Rules I agree. While I see the similarities between Healing and Regen are their, I like the original mechanics of Regen which, I feel, don't at all fit within Healing. ...and my ardent apologies for my errors in fact in my previous posts. My mouth (my typing) got a bit ahead of me. Peace, -k

Re: Regeneration: And Other Examples Power That Violate The Rules Here's the seem: And in that seem two things happen: 1. The folks who don't like Regen drive a truck-full of objections through 2. It works and costs exactly the same and the way it did in 1981 My observation/point is that Regeneration hasn't changed in form or function since it was first invented with the original rules. And since it works, and it's reasonably balanced, why try to contrive something... If you want to 'take Regen out of the Healing Power'... so? If you want to use Regen like it was in 4E or 3 or 2 or 1stE... so? The Power itself hasn't changed... 10 points for 1 BOD/Turn... It doesn't matter how you twist it. Regeneration isn't going away, and it'll always cost 10 per 1BOD/Turn. -k

Re: Regeneration: And Other Examples Power That Violate The Rules I guess I have something to say on this, but it's a kind of general thing. Regeneration, like Killing Attacks and Energy Blasts, was part of HERO since its inception. The mechanics of these three legacy powers have not changed since late 1980. It's the same with the way STR is/has been built and works. Even though they moved Regen into the more general 'Healing' power in 5E, they didn't change the mechanics of the power; it still works exactly the way it did 25 years ago. So what they did was they said, "It's a kind of healing, so we'll group it like that, but it has its own rules so we'll just include that in Regen's particular description." And here's the thing I wanted to say... It worked 25 years ago; it works today. It was reasonably balanced 25 years ago; it's still reasonably balanced today. And that's all. Regeneration works and is reasonably balanced. For all the poeple who are trying to make Regeneration work within the Healing design (or worse, merely complaining that it doesn't), please remember that Healing is the new kid on the block... an evolved critter from three variations on an idea (Drain... it's reverse (Aid)... and Adjustment Powers in general). It was only after that that people (who were actively looking to make things more concise) started to see the similarities between Healing and Regen... and only after much debate did they decide to shoehorn Regen into the Healing power in 5E. Knocking Regeneration is a lot like knocking the 8th Ammendment to the US Constitution... sure people do it, but no one is changing it. Regeneration isn't changing unless someone finds a miraculous way to blend it seemlessly into some as yet undiscovered Power structure. Thanks for listening, -k

Re: Regeneration: And Other Examples Power That Violate The Rules It's called Legacy... Regeneration has always been a power in Champions... always. So as people started trying to standardize and consolidate, Regeneration couldn't "go away" because it's a legacy. Quit raking muck, you muck raker! And you can't use Regeneration as a precedent for any perversions of the rules that suit your fancy. Your attempt to point out that Regeneration doesn't 'fit' is ridiculous because Regeneration is a power/rule unto itself. Regeneration isn't broken. It doesn't violate any rules. It fits squarely within the rule for the power, Regeneration. -k, feeling snippy

Re: It stays that way

Re: Painful Entangle Ok, after having said the above, I often simulate pain with a STUN only attack... You might consider building the Entangle with Feedback and calling it pain. As I recall, that's what Feedback was designed for with regards to Entangles. Peace, -k

Re: Painful Entangle You're thinking about Special Effects and not Game Effects. Since there is no Game Effect for pain, you can just define the power saying it causes pain, but no real damage and be done with it. That's how HERO System works. Now, if on the other hand, you want the pain to actually do something to the entangled character... then I'd have to ask you what you'd like the pain to do to her? Does she have to make an EGO Roll to try again? You need to think about it backwards in this game... don't think about pain and ask how to build it... think about what game effect you want and then call it pain. It'll save you a ton of headaches when you finally figure that out. Peace, -k