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TheRealDeal

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Everything posted by TheRealDeal

  1. Point to Point means center of 1 Hex to the center of the other Hex. Thus, it means from the center of a Hex to the edge (a perpendicular bisector) is 1 meter. This is called the apothem. The triangle formed is then a 30-60-90 and this means that the side opposite the central Hex angle is 1/root(3) or root(3)/3. The area of the triangle is 1/2bh or 1/2(root(3)/3) x (1) = root(3)/6. There are 12 such triangles in a Hex so the total Hex area is 12 x root(3)/6 = 2xroot(3) or about 3.464 or perhaps just simply 3.5 square meters.
  2. Sounds like a Transform vs. EGO (not BODY) or PRE would work. Each insanity event would inflict some Transform damage on the victim's EGO/PRE and when enough has been transformed they become insane. You could have the partial effect be in play so they suffer progressive effects as the transform increases (when 1/2 EGO is affected they suffer some Cosmetic Insanity side effects, at Full EGO they suffer Minor Insanity side effects, perhaps at 1.5 EGO they suffer Major Insanity side effects, only losing All Sanity at x2 EGO). Healing this transform would be whatever you think is appropriate, time should heal it (perhaps EGO/5 points per month, double that with good psychiatric treatment). Mental Defense could provide resistance to these Insanity inducing events. Cosmetic: Paranoia, Phobias. Minor: Severe Paranoia/Phobias, Isolated from others who do not "know" what they know, Trust no one. Major: Debilitating Paranoia/Phobia, Cannot meaningfully communicate with others, Excessively Violent (more so that usual PCs!) Total: PC no longer in control of player, sky is the limit here
  3. I use sectional armor like you in a HEROic game. I just calculate the above (in my last post) one time per PC and have it on their sheet as Average Armor. Then when they are hit with an AoE they just read off the already calculated Average Armor value. Simple really, not something you do every time, you just do it once and then it is set.
  4. For the hit location fractions, it is based on the roll needed to hit that location, the % chance to hit that place equals the % of the armor over that location that counts toward the person's overall defenses. Roll Area To Roll% 3-5 Head 4.6% 6 Hands 4.6% 7-8 Arms 16.7% 9 Shoulder 11.6% 10-11 Chest 25.0% 12 Stomach 11.6% 13 Vitals 9.7% 14 Thighs 6.9% 15-16 Legs 7.4% 17-18 Feet 1.9% So if say I had 10 Armor on the Head (4.6%) and 8 on the Chest (25.0%) and 8 on the Stomach (11.6%) and nothing anywhere else. My overall Armor would be 10 x 0.046 + 8 x 0.25 + 8 x .116 = 3.388 which rounds to 3 Armor Overall. So if I got hit with an AoE attack, I would use 3 Armor against it.
  5. For the shotgun: 1) If it is treated as an AoE 1 HEX it means when you use it, you choose the target HEX (not target creature) and modified by the usual Range Penalty (if any) you make an attack roll against that HEX. A HEX has a DCV 3 (relatively easy to hit) or if it is adjacent to you, a DCV 0 (almost an autohit). If you miss the HEX, for each point of DCV you missed it by, the actual HEX you end up hitting drifts by 1 HEX per point you missed in a random direction. So if you fired at a foe 3 HEXes away and hit only a DCV 1, you roll randomly to determine the drift direction, and move the attack 2 hexes in that direction and that ends up being the place you actually hit (even if nothing is there or perhaps even an ally!). In any case, whatever is in the HEX you end up really affecting, they take the damage of the attack and apply the average of their defenses against it. So to figure out the average, just use the hit location fractions and calculate the overall average of the target's armor and use that against the AoE attack. So having some uncovered points will tend to reduce the average overall defenses by a little, but that is all. 2) If it is treated like a Cone, since the start of the cone must begin at the gun, you make an attack vs. DCV 0 and if you miss somehow (you have no range penalty for this attack) it would mean your Cone direction you wanted to use would randomly move, I would suggest moving the end of the Cone by 1 HEX (roll if it is left or right randomly) per 1 DCV you missed by. Whatever HEXes are in your Cone, those targets take the damage and apply the average defenses as detailed above in (1). So target's personal DCV offer no protection. The only way to avoid this kind of attack is to use Dive for Cover maneuver and hope you can move far enough so you are not in any of the eventually affected HEXes.
  6. I might also buy Double Knockback for it, since thematically you expect dynamite to blow things back and a mere 1.5d6K (5 DC) will not knock anyone back most of the time, not even knock them down. Most will roll 3d6 vs the body of the damage to see if they get knockback (an extra 1d6 because it is killing, so from 2d6, the usual roll, to 3d6 because it is killing), so if you double the knockack, that is 11 then on average (since average of 1.5d6K is 5.5 Body) which happens to be just slightly over the average of 3d6 (10.5) so you will see knockdown and knockback around 50% of the time, which seems right to me.
  7. Make it 5DC Killing instead since 5d6N is for superhero feel where no one gets hurt. 2d6 flash will only last 2 segments on average (flash works on the body of each 1d6 not the full roll) so either reduce the recovery time to per Phase instead of per Segment or add more flash. 2 segments will not even last long enough to reach most SPD 2-4 people's next Phase (since they have from 3-6 segments between phases).
  8. If you are limited to one or the other, Dispel is better as it accounts for the Active Points of the target you are dismantling and is more balanced that way. Transform requires the target to have a BODY amount and not all things have such readily given for them. Also a powerful item (like focus for a powerful gun) may have but 1 BODY making your Transform seem to be too powerful against it. I think Dispel is the power that respects game balance in this case better than Transform.
  9. I think the reason for Regeneration not stopping Bleeding as a default is because you can buy Regeneration of a very weak amount (like 1/Day) to represent a fast healer but really still just a natural healer, just faster than usual. The spirit of the rules seems to indicate that if you manage to Regenerate 1/Turn at least, you should be allowed to stop bleeding (GM can simply say so). I would probably say if you choose to not heal 1 of the Body you should on that Turn from Regeneration, you can end Bleeding instead. No Hit Locations, at least how I run it, also means no Critical Hits against the target. You may not use that optional rule of Critical Hits (which in my game means you deal maximum damage) and if you do not this does not matter, but I think if you do use Critical Hits, you should consider making creatures with No Hit Locations immune to them. The only time I might make an exception to this is if the attacker had Luck and rolled well enough to get a Critical against say a golem or animated dead or even a wall. In that case I would probably just give it to them (they got Lucky and found a weak point) and if they made their Luck by enough, they could point out the weak point to others and allow them to also get Criticals against the target (maybe I would require a -2 OCV to obtain it, like a called shot).
  10. For growth, just build the creature you want to summon first (include the growth in their build and all else) and then buy the summon for them. It should be cheaper that way. If your GM wants it so you summon only normal versions of the creatures and then your blood magic grows them after they arrive, you can still include the growth as part of the spell, unless you have to spend a separate action to cast it, so you spend an action to summon and then later another action to growth them. If it takes 2 actions, you may be able to put growth as another slot in your framework (I think once you summon it is done, and can swap to another slot later without losing the summoned creature, not sure) and save points that way, using the summon slot to summon the normal version, then next phase use the growth slot to grow them. If the spell does all this in 1 action, you just make the power so it summons plus grows and put all of it in a single slot. If you want to (or have to by your GM) buy Growth outside the framework, you just buy it once as you can apply it as often as you like, just make sure you have the END to sustain each use, unless you buy them as charges or 0 END.
  11. Also one thing to consider is that not all "daily" charges recover after a literal day for all GMs. I for one do not work in actual days, but rather I restore "daily" charges when the PCs reach an important Milestone. If they reach it in a few hours, they get all charges back, if it takes weeks, they get nothing back until the Milestone is met, even after weeks. Some of my games see the PCs traveling long distances with encounters happening along the way. Until they reach their destination and achieve the Milestone they get no charges back. So for me, as a GM, since I do not mark my game progress in terms of literal game time, but mark it in terms of events (Milestones, Encounters, Goals, etc), and game time is really just flavor text most of the time (some times it matters in a rush against the clock type goal), I would not use a per hour charge but rather a per Encounter charge or per Goal or per Milestone (which for me is how I work the "daily" charges).
  12. Maybe it is not any better, but would Growth work (enough so he literally covers those squares he wants to block movement through) with the Limitations: Only to Take Up Space (-1), No STR Increase (-1/2), No KB Increase (-1/4), No BODY Increase (-1/2), etc. It avoids all the need for so many dice rolls and basically prevents enemies from moving past him unless they take a wide berth. This forces the enemy to either go around him in a wide berth, or push him, or whatever would be needed to be able to move through a persons hex. The growth also covers the vertical element making jumping over him a bit harder as well:) Maybe keep some of the STR and KB from Growth, but with a limitation of Only to Resist being Moved or whatever.
  13. For you Archmage1, a few pointers since you come from D&D: When trying to design powers for your PC, especially if they were from another system, ask your GM to help you design the equivalent HERO version of those effects. This may require a significant application of limiations and weaknesses to the raw HERO powers used as a base. The first thing to focus on is to make sure the power works the same in both feel and power in HERO as it does in the other system, taking into account the different status tracking other systems have. D&D uses hitpoints and HERO Body and Stun. So the GM needs to set the damage of the power so they fit his feel for the damage it should do, since converting a hitpoint damage to a Body/Stun damage is not always trivial. Once the GM feels good with the power level, then you can put your optimization mind into action to find a way to make that power cost the least for you, without increasing its actual power. This makes the GM happy in that the power will not be too much, but also lets you be happy to find a way to optimize the cost to be as low as you can make it. This may be a way to make both of you happy.The GM really does not care so much if you manage to shave off a few points of cost by creative accounting leaving you more points to spend elsewhere, provided the power itself is kept within his power limits. The problem comes up when you start with say a D&D idea and try to make it in HERO and naturally if you are a power gamer/optimizer (nothing wrong with that BTW) you will focus FIRST on making the power as potent as possible, this is just built into most power gamers mentality. This leads to powers being made that constantly frustrate the GM. So instead of giving yourself that leeway, ask the GM to set the power level limit of the power, and then work within that power limitation to find a way to make it the cheapest you can. This is a way to put your optimizer mind into play without driving the GM nuts. Do not try to make the power better, once the GM sets the limit, stop and respect that, do not try to sneak in anything that makes the effect better, instead restrict yourself (self-discipline) to only working on making the power as cheap as possible in point cost. This makes your PC more broad and able to have more points to be useful in more situations (which is more fun) without being broken in any given situation (too powerful). See if that method is helpful.
  14. 96 charges/day would allow you to always have 4 charges/hour, since if you used only 4 (at most) each hour, that means you use 96/day. However, if you also set a hard limit saying you cannot exceed 4/hour, then I agree you should get some extra limitation on it. This was being discussed because the OP was trying to find a way to price per hour charges. I started off with suggesting a method, that basically says there are 24 hours/day so just buy 24 times more charges than you want per hour and that gets you on your way to finding the right price for a per hour charge. However, depending on the game, if your GM agrees, and basically decides that your PC will sleep on average 6-8 hours a day (and you do not need charges during this time usually) he could say only pay x16-18 for your per hour charges, not the full x24. This would be the way, I think, to get at the correct value for a hard per hour limit. If your GM agrees, and say only has you pay x16 for each per hour charge (granting you 8 hours per day of down time in effect where you need not pay for the charges), then the GM could say you only get at most X charges/hour, but always get them each hour, even for those hours you did not technically pay for them (such as those 8 hours of downtime), so you get more charges than you should get, but since it is rare to need to use them during those hours, it makes up for the fact you are limited to only using X charges per hour. This seems to be a fair way to work it, IMO. For example, you want 4 uses per hour of something. You agree you cannot use this thing more than 4 times per hour as this is how the power's flavor and concept works. So your GM tells you buy x16 those number of uses as daily charges, with the extra limitation (cannot use more than 4/hour) for which you get a -0 limitation (since the bonus is from only paying for x16 not x24). In this case, instead of buying 96 charges for this effect (+3/4) you only have to buy 64 (16 x 4=64) which is only a (+1/2). So in effect you get a reduced advantage of -1/4 from this rather than a Limitation of -X. It depends on the GM and player and how the power in question works. If the power were some triggered defensive type which was always ready to go off when the trigger happens (requires no conscious action, could go off just fine even while you sleep), but only 4/hour at most, then as a GM I might not give the x16 and require the full x24 but give an extra -1/4 Limitation of No More than 4/hour. This would not be as good at the x16 method, but for this type of power it would seem more fitting. If the power requires you to be conscious and use it with at least a 0-phase action, then I would be more than willing to grant the better x16 instead of x24 cost method.
  15. Not sure if this helps, but my take on being a GM and running a game (I have run D&D 2E, 3E, 3.5E, 4E, and HERO) is that the Campaign cannot exist apart from the PCs. What do I mean by this somewhat arcane statement? Basically, the PCs are as important to the game as the entire rest of the Campaign (NPCs, Genre, Power Level, etc.) combined. So if a GM spends (and is willing to spend) hours and hours on his NPCs, genre storylines, plots, background, etc. he MUST be willing to spend the same hours on each PC. This is an upfront time sink, yes, and until you are done with this, you cannot run the campaign at full bore. Inform the players of this and let them know you will run the game for the first few sessions in "play test mode" while you iron out with each PC their powers and how they fit into the game. Once you do this, giving each PC your full attention and working out with the players (yes back and forth many times perhaps) their PCs, you can finally have a stable set of PCs to really get into the game with. You can during these communication times explain any power limitations you are concern with in the powers they build, ask them what they are trying to achieve (this is critical, and you cannot let them dodge around this, if they are trying to get away with something, they will be unwilling to answer with clarity and will be very general, just keep pressing them for more specifics and this will eventually lead to a resolution). After the base PC is well established, any new powers they get with XP will be much faster under this process, as at that point their main concept is set and they are just adding on a few XP at a time. I usually wait until the PCs gain 25 XP before I allow them to spend any of it, just to keep things smooth and have this oversight time in manageable chunks, but it probably would not be a big deal if you let them spend XP in chunks of 2-3 or however many you give at a time. So far it has worked well for me, and the players usually have a solid and stable PC after the 2nd or 3rd gaming session. The players get into their PCs and really see how they are unique and special in the game and this really clinches it for them. I make sure each PC is special in some way during this oversight time with each player. I let them know they are co-GMing with me in effect when they create their PCs, and we have a gentlemen's agreement that I will not find ways to sabotage their powers and such, but if I find that a power is too much, they agree to alter it in cooperation with me. This way, they know their powers will do what they expect most of the time (there are always rare exceptions which are part of the plot and enjoyable in that they are just that, rare) and if I find something is disrupting play, I take the blame on myself as GM for missing it, learn from my error, and ask the player to work with me to tone down the power. This way I can avoid trying to find underhanded ways to gimp the power which is a violation of our gentlemen’s agreement. I also allow them to buff up powers that they find are not doing what they expected, so I allow some flexibility and we weave these changes into the plot somehow if needed, and it seems to work out well. I have found that any game system really requires this up front effort from a GM. Yes many game systems claim to be balanced out of the box, but honestly, while they have good intentions, they have holes, sometimes, glaring ones. HERO gives it to your straight, and does not try to sell you an illusion. The HERO system tells you point blank the system is not balanced by itself, but requires significant GM to Player cooperation and communication to work, but once you put in that extra effort, you are well rewarded for it. Along this same line, I do not punish players who find out they have not built something as well as they later learn they could have to achieve what they were after, by forcing them to keep it, I allow them to change it. At the same time I ask the same from them, asking them to change something I find too disruptive. The key here is to tone down such powers a little at a time. Make minimal changes as much as you can, and see if that is enough, and if not, make more as needed. I just am upfront with the players, telling them I will make minor change requests and see how they work, but this may mean I need to ask for this several times until I find the sweet spot. Or I can just make a more significant change request which will likely be too much, and then boost the power back up a little as needed. I let them decide. If you do this with the players, it takes more time at first, yes, but it is worth it for sure. Just be willing to be flexible in game and allow retraining as needed, finding a plot reason for it if you need to, which is actually pretty easy once you do it enough times. This works for me in addition to the general rule limits you may also use (like AP limits and DC limits and such). I have never found I can enjoy GMing a game with PCs made only by the players with little input from me as GM. I do not subscribe to the hands off GMing approach, I avoid micromanaging, but I most definitely must approve each PC and only after I have spent the time going through each one with the player. If this takes several hours over the course of a few sessions even, so be it. Once your players get used to this, they know they will not be getting away with tricks, and will eventually give up trying or find another group. This is good, if somewhat frustrating at first, as going through the disruption the loss of a player imposes is worth the long term effect of ending up with only players who are willing to work as a team with the GM and other players, and not demand self-gratification or else. So I suppose my advice may end up with you losing a player, if that is not something you can accept at the moment, then do not take my advice
  16. The x3 Defenses Cost applies only to Takes No Stun (45 AP or 60 AP), not to Cannot Be Stunned (15 AP) or any of the other Automation powers taken individually.
  17. My group (I am the GM) plays in the SPD 3-4 range also. I have 4 players, 3 of them have SPD 3 and 1 (an elf archer) has SPD 4. The SPD 3 PCs however have special abilities the SPD 4 PC does not. For example, the Slayer PC (plays a high damage fighter) has a Combat Block power. This is a triggered free action that allows him to Block without using an action. It still suffers the usual -2 OCV for each time it is used, but it lasts the whole Turn, so he can use it even after he gets another Phase. He gets 1-3 good blocks per Turn out of it, so this makes up for his SPD 3 vs. the elf at SPD 4. As long as the players get something to make up for the lower SPD compared to other PCs, they seem to be happy. Off action powers are a great way to make up for lower SPD. One PC has the equivalent of the D&D Opportunity Attack, so he can make attacks with it is not his Phase, this makes up for loss of SPD for him. Hero offers powerful creative openess in its system, so I do not get bogged down in the "normal" rules for how it should always play out. SPD is the normal way to have more actions, but I use the great flexibility of Hero to come up with concept relevant, non-SPD based actions to give diversity in the PCs, allowing variations in SPD but still preserving the balance of actions between players. If you want to simulate a fast reaction time, for example, here are some ideas I would try other than the already suggested More DCV, More DEX, and Lightning Reflexes: 1) Give the PC the Deflection Power, Limitation perhaps of No Range (so it is like a normal block), this allows him to take off-phase actions without increased SPD 2) Give some triggered actions, like a free attack if an enemy adjacent to you moves away, or if they use a Ranged attack next to you, or if they attempt to get up from Prone next to you, etc (an Opportunity Attack in other words) 3) Give the PC Damage Reduction 25% (or 50% in extreme cases) with the limitation Only While Conscious and Not Surprised, to represent your quick reflexes at lessening the impact of attacks, twisting just right or rolling with the blow just enough to lessen the impact. This keeps your DCV within reasonable ranges, but lets you still take more hits, whereas someone with more SPD would use 1 action or Block or Dodge, you always get the ability to reduce harm. 4) Riposte Action: Trigger is You make a Successful Block, Action: make an attack against the target you blocked 5) Defensive Disarm: as (4) above but the attack is a Disarm 6) +3 to DEX Checks, Only When Using Dive for Cover Maneuver plus 7 points in Breakfall so you land on your feet after doing so 7) Precognition: Only to foresee attacks only to Allow an Abort to Defense AFTER the attack was made. This is powerful and lets you Abort only once you know an attack hits you. Represents your superhuman reflexes and combat skill which allows you to predict when an attack is so good you need to do more than just make passive defenses against it. 8) Invisibility: Only while Moving, not while attacking. This represents you move so quickly with just quick reflexive bursts of speed you are a blur to your foes who lose sight of you while you dance around them in combat like they are standing still. Lets you potentially get sneak or surprise attacks on them as well, you are so fast and they are not able to keep up with you and maintain eye contact on you. I am sure I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea.
  18. I would suggest, for Maximums mind you, these rough values: For a Max Damage Class (DC) = 9 Max Resistant Defense = 9 (Max DCx1) Max Total Defense = 27 (Max DCx3)
  19. I look forward to your write up Lucius if you decide to do it. It sounds like it would be cheaper than the UOO DR path.
  20. The power would only be usable 1 time per encounter at most, so it is really just a way to soften the blow of an extreme result that would put the PC out of action. I use Fate Points for this currently, and the PCs get them rarely, and one use of a Fate Point is to allow them to Roll with the Punch even if they already acted that segment. I was looking for a way to build this so it worked always when used (Roll with the Punch may fail). Because PCs get attacked so much more often than mobs (who get attacks a few times and then usually are killed/defeated) it is only a matter of time for an extreme result to hit them. This is my way to mitigate that, as I do not want bad luck to outright kill a Hero in a single blow, unless they did something to invite it. This allows me as GM to use some more risky and threatening encounters without worrying too much about killing off PCs with lucky rolls. Fate Points help in this way, but I wanted to give a better Fate Point option than the Roll with the Punch which can fail to achieve its result if the unlucky Hero rolls poorly on it. I wanted the same result as Roll with the Punch (half damage after defenses) but more as a power that will always work when used, no roll needed. I explored the option of giving this to another PC (Sir Frances) since it fit his concept, with the drawback he would suffer the damage the other PC avoided. So, since this would be usable by any single PC only 1 time per combat at most (thus the 1 recoverable charge idea), and even then, he would need to use a Fate Point to recover this single recoverable charge, so it would not be a balance issue based on how we play. @Lucius: I like your idea, of reconfiguring Deflection to use Roll with the Punch instead of Block. I just wanted this to be a sure thing, no attack roll needed like Roll with the Punch requires.
  21. You should have waited until tomorrow to post this, and people would have wondered if this was an April Fools joke:)
  22. One way to think about this is to determine how many Daily Charge equivalents you get. So say I want to have a power recover all its charges each Hour. That would be equivalent to having 24 times that many Charges that recover each Day. So say I wanted to use a power 4 times/hour, I would buy it with 4 x 24 = 96 Normal Charges and just ask my GM to phase in the recovery over time rather than all at once. That would give me back 4 charges each hour. The advantage you get for recovering in this phased in manner is offset by the fact you cannot use all 96 charges in an hour (you would be capped at 4 per hour). This should get you the proper value for the quicker recovery time.
  23. In the build of Hyper-Man, could I link (-1/4) the other DRs to the first for some extra point saving? @Tasha: they still control the power on them, they just cannot use it unless Sir Frances is around and active. If the power was only useable during a full moon, they still have control, but cannot use it unless a full moon is out. Do you object to the limitation being the requirement of a person's presence? Sir Frances is a regular member of the party, and if he should die or leave permanently, I would allow them to re-train the points into something else.
  24. Just buy them for him, they are not that expensive, it is a one time thing and the issue goes away, right?
  25. In general, I suggest always pairing hard DC, Defense, and CV caps with Active Point caps. The hard caps keep powers within reasonable ranges and the Active Point cap keeps advantages within reason. So do not just say the cap is 55 APs, also say: 8 DC, 8 rDEF with 16 DEF total (e.g. 8 rPD & 8 PD, or 4 rPD & 12 PD, etc), and 8 CV. Those are just for discussion, not suggesting you use those hard caps for your game. But if you do this it keeps the expections clear and helps with balance. You can then allow limited powers that cannot be used very often or reliably to break these caps. So a Full Phase action only if 1 ally is flanking the target with you and only if you hit the target on your last phase grants a power with a DC of 10 for example, 2 over the above cap.
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