Amorkca

It was in the name of the images. From top to bottom they are
Black Out
Flanker
Mechanix
Rally
Zap

Something that I've done as a result of rolling a "3".
 
You have a 12d6 EB, you roll a "3" to hit;  I've added 6 more dice to the pool to be rolled, roll 18d6 keep the top 12.
 
Just throwing this in the ring...

It would be easier to buy Invisible [Sight] Only against characters who have a Mental Entangle Attack.

If you have more questions about rules and what not, try the Hero System Discussion thread. Lots of good explanations and ideas there!

Still is fun!

From The 5th Edition it's a psychological limitation in which the character respects authority, always keeps their word, and protects the innocent.  It's what Superman has along with the Code Versus Killing.

I've had RSI issues, though in my shoulder.  Adjusting the height of my chair helped, as did going to a thumbball mouse.  Took a few weeks, but it cleared up with only over-the-counter anti inflammatories (mind you, prescription ones are pretty much out of consideration; if I so much as look at a bottle of naproxen sodium tablets, I get an ulcer).  But ... unless I go on a real jag of 10 hours a day in that work seat for a week or more, I don't have those issues any more.

My daughter:  "The rooster-duck goes 'quack-a-doodle-doo.'"
 
Mind you, this is my 22 year-old daughter, saying that today.
 
 

Many years ago, a friend ran a Fantasy Hero game, and I decided I wanted to run a summoner, but summoning things rather than creatures or people.  We created a VPP, powered by an END Battery which only recovered END when I paid XP into it.  The amount of END spent controlled how many points worth of summoned item I got.
 
One running gag was that this fantasy wizard could summon things from a modern or sci-fi world, so he may not know how to operate what he summoned.  For example, I might try to summon a sword and instead get a lightsaber.  Or a Ginsu knife, depending on how much END I had spent.  If I was going for, say, a Wand of Fireballs, I might get a flamethrower.  Or a Bic lighter.  After a while, the summoned object typically disappeared, returning to the world from whence it had come.  Though sometimes they stayed with him.  (He had a huge collection of pens, keys, mismatched socks, and so on.  So now you know what happens to all those things you lose along the way.)
 
The other running gag is that I didn't actually control specifically what was summoned -- I just told the GM what I was trying to get and how much END I was spending, and he'd figure out what I actually got.  More often than not, I either way-underspent or way-overspent the needed END for what I was hoping for.
 
One adventure, we were trying to break into a walled compound and were trying to figure out a way past the wall.  We also knew that the bad guys had a wyvern chained up as big nasty guard dog.  We successfully snuck up to the wall, not alerting the guards at all.  I decided to summon "a creature to dig under the wall," saying that my character was thinking something like a Dire Beaver but that I figured on something like a VIPER tunneling machine.  Apparently I didn't spend enough END because what I ended up getting was a backhoe.
 
Still game to try, I hopped in and (having accidentally summoned someone's minivan before, so I kinda-sorta recognized some of the controls) turned the key, starting up the rather loud diesel engine, alerting everyone in a mile radius.  I even put it in gear, thus smashing through the brick wall and allowing my compatriots access to the compound.  They started shooting arrows at me (who was now huddled in the bottom of the operator's cabin shoving random levers back and forth), which made the compound guards think the other PCs were on their side.  Then the wyvern showed up and saw the hoe as a tail, thus thinking the backhoe was a big yellow metal wyvern infringing on its turf.
 
Overall, it was a great distraction - my teammates went in and got what we were after, while I kept the guards and wyvern busy.  I don't recall how I got away, but it was certainly a hoot.

5
Tribe felt the pain rolling through his body. He tried to hold himself still while he
looked at it with his mind. Clonus had done a number on him. That was what he got
for not paying attention to his surroundings.
 
He supposed he should be happy to be alive. He cracked a small smile. He could be
hurt, but he couldn’t be killed.
 
He reached out and touched the city. Resources flowed into his body. The cracked
bones and bruises flowed out. He dispersed them over a wide area so no one would
notice what he had done to heal himself.
 
It was time to get out of the box he was in and look for his enemy.
 
Tribe climbed on top of the cargo. He felt the steel ceiling with his hand. Then he
punched a hole through it, mending the bones of his hand the same way he had healed
all of his earlier battle wounds. He pushed the steel back out of his way so he could
climb on the back of the moving truck.
 
He looked back. The headquarters was rapidly receding from view. Did he jump
down and go back, or stay with the truck and hope it led him somewhere?
 
Maybe he should stop the truck so he could figure out what to do.
 
Tribe walked down the trailer. He paused at the end, watching the truck for a second
as he thought about what he wanted to do. One of Clonus’s clones drove. He could
tell that from the arm sticking out the window.
 
If he attacked, the clone could spawn an army to overwhelm him. On the other hand,
it would have to stop the truck to be really effective. He could possibly attack and
take it out before it could do anything to stop him.
 
He wondered how well it would do in the dream time.
 
Tribe waited for the traffic on the highway to thin. He had no interest in disrupting
other people’s plans. He only wanted to stop Clonus to keep his garden straightened
out. Causing a pile up would not serve that in any way.
 
The truck entered a lull with no other car around. The thin man dropped down on the
cab and grabbed the arm. He commanded the clone to go to sleep. The hive mentality
tried to fight his command, but he had the will of the city behind him. The clone
driver slumped over the wheel.
 
Tribe climbed down and opened the door. He pushed the clone out of the way. He got
behind the wheel and slowed the truck down into the shoulder of the road. He set the
blinkers as it rolled to a stop.
 
Tribe grabbed the clone’s face. He exerted his will to peer around inside the brain. He
found the link to the rest of them. He almost smiled. Following the link in the real
world should let him get close enough to capture Clonus without a real fight.
 
He didn’t like the shadow at the back of the clone’s memories. Assault had been a
constant foe of the Arc. He had supposedly died in an explosion.
 
Tribe considered what he should do. He could turn things over to the authorities, but
he didn’t see how they could do a better job than he was doing. He doubted they
would believe him. And the dream time and his place in it was his to defend.
 
He had to find Clonus, put him down, and then use that to find Assault somehow. It
seemed easy when he said it in his head.
 
Finding Clonus should be easy since he had a piece of the man in the cab with him.
Dealing with him would be much harder.
 
Tribe decided that he could use the truck to get where he had to go until he was done.
Then he could call the police to come get it wherever he abandoned it. That made his
plan easier to carry out.
 
The next thing to do was turn around and head back to the depot and pick up Clonus’s
trail. Then he could drive to where the mastermind had set up his new base and have
a quiet talk with the man.
 
Barring that, he would have a loud talk with the man while committing violence
against his expanding horde.
 
Whatever Assault wanted had to be opposed. He had made a name for himself as
someone as dangerous as Dr. Hoz. He had to be stopped before he got what he
wanted.
 
Clonus should know better than to work with Assault. His reputation for ending
partnerships was notorious. The horde would have a fight for his life against the
villain.
 
Tribe doubted he could do anything to the villain, but he couldn’t stop at that point.
Someone had to stop Clonus and Assault. He had to be the man. He hoped he had a
bigger spot for the turtles when he got home.
 
He pulled out on the road. He drove down to the next exit, crossed the bridge, then
turned down the ramp to go back to where the truck had come from before Clonus
had stolen it.
 
He saw the fence where he had been ambushed. The rental trucks had rolled out. He
paused for a moment. Which way should he go from there? He decided to head out
on the surface streets. He had a vague idea that Clonus had decided to settle
somewhere on the other side of the city.
 
He made sure that his captive still slept. He didn’t want to deal with a one man army
pushing him out of the truck at high speed.
 
Tribe followed the mental link pointing out of the clone to the rest of his bodies. He
drove slower than usual because of the split in his attention. It took a certain amount
of concentration to sift a hostile mind. Doing that and driving could lead to a bad
accident if he wasn’t careful.
 
He rolled to a stop when he saw the property sign on the road. He looked around. He
didn’t see the one man army. The link pointed off the road.
 
He climbed down from the cab. He doubted Clonus had time to make his security
proof against common burglars. He had a window to get things done.
 
He looked at the lights from the city. He didn’t feel as strong as he should. He
decided that he had moved to the edge of his range. He only possessed the strength
he could draw from the Dreamtime.
 
That had to be enough to take care of the next part of this. Clonus could not be
allowed to run free. And as long as one clone was out there, he could switch bodies
and flee while the rest of him fought a delaying action against anyone trying to arrest
him.
 
Tribe felt that if he could take down the main mass and keep them under, then he
could track any free clones moving around away from the scene.
 
He crept from the parked truck. He hoped that it was out of sight of the house. He
needed all the surprise he could muster if he wanted to win the fight.
 
Clonus had shown he was hard to beat if he knew you were coming. Tribe wondered
how much of a lightning bolt Arc had to generate to capture him the first time they
fought.
 
Tribe crept closer to the house. He was a shadow among other shadows. He found a
guard looking out into the night. He put the clone to sleep with a grab and a mental
command. He propped the body next to a single tree in the yard.
 
If he was found by the other clones, they would think he was goldbricking.
 
Tribe moved closer to the house. He didn’t see any artificial security. He moved to
the back door. He could enter there and try to take Clonus by surprise.
 
If he succeeded, he could think about how to deal with Assault. He wasn’t looking
forward to that.
 
He checked the door to see if it was locked. The doorknob turned in his hand. He
could go in and settle things, but he had to be quick. Clonus could easily stop him
with his multiplying power. He had to prevent the cloning process no matter what.
Tribe eased the door open. Two clones played cards at the kitchen table. Another
cooked at the stove. He hit the two at the table in passing on his way to the stove.
He slammed that clone into the cabinets above the stove before dropping him.
He turned and put the other two asleep.
 
Tribe went to the kitchen door. He expected a small army coming through the door.
He needed to make sure to do as much damage as he could before they carried him
away.
 
Nothing happened. He expected something. Maybe Clonus’s attention was on
something else.
 
Tribe went to the door to the rest of the house. He peered around the frame. Clones
walked everywhere. They carried furniture and decorative fixtures to places on the
empty floor and walls. He realized Clonus was still moving in.
 
Could he fight all of the clones he saw? What happened if he wasn’t fast enough? He
didn’t want to take another beating. Then a plan came to mind and taking a beating
seemed to be the only option. He closed his eyes and thought. He didn’t see any other
plan that would work in the time he had. Assault might call at any minute.
 
He hated the thought he was going to allow Clonus to beat on him unless he was
lucky and knocked all of them out before they could start splitting apart.
 
Tribe sprinted forward. He flew into the closest clones. They dropped the couch
they were carrying and slammed into others like pinballs. He kept moving forward,
aiming for the next closest clones. His strength allowed him to send men flying
without having to use any special technique. He took down one more before being
engulfed by a wave of Clonus.
 
He concentrated on ignoring the pain of his beating. He had to hold on. He felt bones
being broken as the beating of a drum. He waited, holding on to the pain. He kept his
focus.
 
“You’re relentless, Tribe.” said Clonus. He came to the front of the crowd. “You just
take a beating and come back for more. I respect that, but I can’t have you following
me around. I have important villain stuff to do.”
 
Tribe channeled his beating into the speaking Clonus, reasoning that the controlling
brain was in there. The man screamed at the sudden pain wracking him. His clones
looked at him with surprise and bewilderment. The thin man shut down the link and
all the clones dropped to the floor in splashes of material.

I included a section on Critical Hits in my "Lethality Guidelines" 
 
http://www.killershrike.com/fantasyHero/HighFantasyHERO/shrikeLethalityOptions_Unofficial.aspx
 
CRITICAL HITS Some other games have a concept of "critical hits"; strikes that randomly do more damage than normal. The HERO System tends to shy away from "random" and lacks such an option natively. However different variations of critical hits have been suggested at or described as possible options in some supplements over the years, and some play groups have versions that they use. Described below is my version of "critical hits", which I call the "Rule of Three", that I've used successfully for years. I also describe a Critical Hit concept based on a "lucky die" mechanic, and a mechanic based on degree of success. NOTE: You should probably only implement one kind of Critical Hit rules in a given campaign; two or more can get severely out of hand. RULE OF THREE If a character (PC or NPC) rolls a natural three on a 3d6 roll under type of check then they have the option of either taking "max effect" or an "epiphany". MAX EFFECT If the three was made for an Attack Roll max effect is the maximum possible damage or effect with that attack (treat all effect dice as having rolled 6's). If the three was made for a non attack roll, not only does the character win any opposed roll (even if the opponent made their roll by more) or succeed at their task, but they do so in a stylish looked-cool-doing-it fashion which is also justification for gaining a "Display of Power" bonus to a Presense Attack made sometime within the next few actions against anyone that observed them. EPIPHANY The character has a flash of insight regarding the skill or ability that they rolled a three for and their competency with that ability is expanded. The character gains +2 character points to allocate towards a bonus with that skill or attack. For attacks this translates into a +1 OCV Combat Skill Level with that attack. If a skill this translates into either a +1 or +2 with that skill depending on whether the skill is on the 3/2 or 2/1 costing model. If the three was rolled for a familiarity, the familiarity becomes a full skill instead. This can not be used to upgrade existing levels; for example a character could not opt to bump an All Combat level to an Overall Level with the 2 free points gained in this fashion -- the 2 pts must be spent specifically for the task they were gained from. However, levels gained in this fashion can themselves be upgraded later with experience. For example a 2 pt +1 OCV level with a specific kind of pistol could be upgraded to a 3 pt "Pistols" tight group level later on. LUCKY DAMAGE DICE Some other games have the idea of a "lucky die" which is rerolled and cumulatively added if its max value comes up. In other words, if the lucky die is a d6, then if it rolls a 6 it is rerolled and the result adds to the original 6; if another 6 comes up it is rolled and added in again and so forth until it stops rolling 6's. The HERO System already grants more damage to a 6 when doing Normal damage in the form of +1 BODY inflicted but Killing damage gets no such consideration. In the interests of increasing lethality you as the GM can decide to up the ante further by implementing a "Lucky Damage Dice" House Rule for Killing damage. You can specify that this rule applies to all Killing damage dice, which is a powerful / dangerous kind of critical hit that will occur often and can result in one-hit kills vs. even protected targets, or you can specify that only one die (represented by a physically different die) is "lucky" which is much less extreme. DOVETAIL WITH LUCK POWER Alternately, you can converge this with the Luck Power and allow characters to buy Luck dice defined as "Lucky Damage Dice" instead of the normal function of Luck dice, and a character can roll as many Lucky Damage Dice on a given attack as they have purchased up to the limit of the attack (a character with 3d6 Lucky Damage Dice using a 2d6 Killing Attack would only roll 2 dice but both would be "lucky"; if they later picked up a weapon that does 4d6 Killing they would roll 4d6 and 3 dice would be "lucky"). CRITICAL SKILL / DEGREE OF SUCCESS Some games feature a mechanic whereby more skilled attackers inflict more damage due to their increased skill. The HERO System allows this to some extent if Hit Locations are being used since a more skilled attacker can overcome to hit penalties for choicer hit locations, but using Called Shots can result in a total miss which can seem very odd in practice. An alternative to relying on Called Shots (and even Hit Locations in general) is a mechanic whereby characters that hit by more than they needed inflict more damage. The base mechanic is +1 Damage Class per 1 point a character made their Attack Roll by; thus in a 3 OCV vs 3 DCV scenario, an Attack Roll of 10 is made by 1, which grants the attacker +1 Damage Class. This is easy to remember and scales evenly, but doesn't overly reward characters that make truly impressive to hit differentials. BASIC EXTRA DAMAGE SEQUENCE Hit by: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extra DC: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 This can be scaled up or down by the GM to suit their campaign by varying the ratio of extra success to extra damage; for instance a GM could set the ratio at +1 Damage Class per 2 points a character makes their Attack Roll by. LESS EXTREME EXTRA DAMAGE SEQUENCE Hit by: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extra DC: 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 A GM could also make hitting by a little not make much differenct but hitting by a lot being extremely lethal by basing the to hit vs DC ratio on a Fibonacci sequence instead as displayed in the following table. Basically using this kind of progression hitting by 5 or less is not much different than the basic progression (and is in fact more moderate overall), but an Attack Roll that hits by 6 is more comparatively deadly, and anything that hits by 7 or more is almost absolutely fatal. FIBONACCI EXTRA DAMAGE SEQUENCE Hit by: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Extra DC: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 Any other progression of this sort is equally valid based on the GM's preferences, of course. The following displays the same concept on an exponential progression which is easier to remember and more consistent with HERO System doubling rules but would result in excessively higher damage if on the same scale as the Fibonacci sequence; thus this chart is based on a progression of hitting by 2 more than needed per step. EXPONENTIAL EXTRA DAMAGE SEQUENCE Hit by: 0 2 4 8 10 Extra DC: 0 1 2 4 8 And so on; it's just a numbers game. Any approach that is easy to remember and apply at the table that rewards hitting with a margin of succes at a rate acceptable to the GM and players is equally valid for that group.

Monthly ask for an update.  Going to do the same on the kickstarter.

There is a nice illustration of “Code of the Hero” in Issue 2 is Chuck Dixon’s comic,”Avalon”, where there is Superhero duo of a Brick and. Ghost. (Selective invisibility, and desolid but takes concentration).  The Brick is an idealist, and follows the code of the Hero. The ghost is a pragmatist. When rading a drug lab, the ghost runs across a satchel of cash, and takes it home. Later he shows it to his roommate, the brick, which seems to trigger the brick’s “enrage “ over violations of The Code of the Hero, and threat is the ghost to get rid of the money and donate it to an”good cause”. The ghost is not happy, as they both have trouble coming up with rent, and they are both “unlicensed vigilantes “.  But the ghost complies and a mysterious satchel with the note, “For the Kids” appears at a
nurse’s station at Children’s Hospital. Later, they find
out that the lab was a project by a regional crime boss. So they go raid his penthouse apartment. The brick caves in the front door and laughs at the kooks and their guns. The ghost slips in unnoticed and phases through walls looking for evidence. Well, he finds the safe, and as their mall food court jobs haven’t been adequate to make rent, the ghost  robs the safe. The crime boss, alerted by the brick ignoring the bullets and pushing over walls, runs to the safe, and finds it empty.  He yells to his looks to look for another accomplice. The brick, putting two and two together, flies into a rage, and starts bulldozing through the apartment after the ghost; completely ignoring the mission. Having his roommate charging after him, calling him a thief, ruins his concentration, and eventually he gets tossed in the swimming pool, with the brick making sure he can’t get out until the police arrive. The cops take everyone in for questioning. The Brick turns  in his partner for theft. He does a sorry perp walk to a cell. The brick expects a cell as well, but because of him catching and turning in a thief, he gets recruited by one of the UN approved super teams. 

I don't care what anyone thinks about Australians and their accents---
 
Canadians are, hands-down, the greatest people to converse with.
 

 

With Slinging you'll need a Blade, and maybe some Fried Potatoes.

"The Wandering Doris Table"
 
2ed D&D, this was in college.  One of my players was running a necromancer and had in his background that he had the stereotypical nagging mother ("He'll talk to the dead, but he won't talk to his own mother!") and the running joke was that Doris would always show up to complain. So, to nip that joke in the bud, I came up with a percentile table of if/when Doris would ever make an appearance again.
 
Cut to a few months later, when my party was dealing with a red dragon -- and I rolled on the table.
 
Doris was there.
 
"MA!  What're YOU doing here?!"
 
"He's my bridge partner!"
 
"DORIS, DO YOU KNOW THIS GNAT?"
 
"Oh, it's just my ungrateful son..."
 
"I COULD EAT HIM FOR YOU..."
 
"No, dearie...*long sigh*  He may not appreciate all the sacrifices I've made for him, but he's still my son!"

Just wanted to give Lord Liaden some well-deserved kudos, not just for sharing this, but also sharing other similar things online to help other Hero posters.  And doing so while properly crediting the original source up-front - you're a class act, LL.

When I updated them in my last SIDs Report I went a bit middle ground. I used their original write-ups but did incorporate some into their background. For Diamond I gave two versions one old school and one changed into diamond form

Black Tie
 
Englishman Patrick Wallace discovered early on in life that he had an odd ability to change objects directions but only when they were moving. He would have just used this for an occasional prank on his friends. However, when his gaffer laid him off for no apparent reason, he used his power for revenge to make the gaffer fall down a set of stairs instead of walking by it. It occurred to him that he could actually use his ability to make money while gallivanting around the isles. However, he needed to do this with style, to stand out from the rest of those boorish supervillains. Adopting a 'white tie attire' but using a black tie instead, he used what money he'd saved to have a special cane made. His first robbery was at a fine society dinner, which was a huge success. It was so successful he could travel where he pleased, at least for a year. It was fun but he knew of the real possibility of running into a superhero someday. He spent a large amount of money to train for fighting, and enhance his attire. Finally, Black Tie was ready.

Patrick has an innate ability to change anything's trajectory but it must already be in motion: it can be as simple as making someone move slightly to the left or right, or as severe as making a moving truck make a 90 degree turn. In combat, Patrick is very hard to hit because he wills objects to avoid hitting him, even a punch aimed at him. If he can react fast enough, he can even change a blast of energy to strike somewhere else other than his person. When using his power, he decided to occasionally use the phrase "Here's a little english for you." His suit is durable and protective, but not bullet-proof. His cane shoots a dazzling laser to stun or blind his opponents. He uses his cane to direct attacks away from him, making heroes think that his cane is the source of his power. This way, if he is captured, he can use his power to get away at a later time before being locked up.

Topper is known as the gentleman bandit due to his manner of dress and his habit of targeting the rich and famous at various gala events. His band of Merry Men usually work on crowd control and gathering the loot as Topper monologues. By now, most people realize if they play along that they will escape with no harm but that anyone who resists is likely to end up as the hostage who goes along for the ride in the escape vehicle.
 
UNTIL theorizes that Topper's mask makes people suggestible (which might explain how Topper and his Merry Men gain entrance to some venues) and it is well-documented that his cane can produce a variety of destructive and stun effects. The Merry Men use painful but non-lethal stun weapons on civilians, security guards, and normal police but resort to more potent weapons when confronted with more capable opposition.
 
Topper has a certain...shall we say "over-the-top" personality and has been known to fixate romantically on notably beautiful famous women (movie stars, superheroes, supervillains, etc.) and some of his crimes are staged to gain him the one gift he can give to his newest "true love" and gain her heart. For example, once Topper staged a crime to steal the Stenwick Diamond while announcing he was going to give it to charity, then days later presented it to Charity, Seattle's own resident superheroine at an event when she was supposed to be receiving the key to the city.
 
You have to admit, the man has style....

I went looking through the Master List of Disadvantages now called Complications (see link below)
http://www.cellularsmoke.net/rpgs/masterlistdisads.php
 
I didn't see anything that stood out as a particularly good Psych lim but you may...
 
You could have the Accidental Change happen off camera; where you have the character wake up really tired the next day, as though he hadn't slept.  And the AC was something that happened over the last few hours.  A mystery for the team to unravel!
 
 

Speaking as a veteran Kickstarter supporter, I can say it's not a good sign when the creators go silent.

One of the web comics I read had this interesting snippet about secret ids and costuming,  I'd thought I'd share it. Enjoy!

Edit: Original web comic link to image http://shotgunshuffle.com/comic/hit-list/

Another future issue

Berserker Beast
 
Alexander Monroe believed he had discovered the perfect weapon of mass destruction--a biological agent that would induce intense rage and hysteria among dense populations, i.e. cities.  As fighting and rioting would break out everywhere at once, government's ability to respond would be overwhelmed, utilities and transportation would collapse, and VIPER would move in and clean up among the mess.
 
On second thought, forget VIPER.  Maybe Monroe could keep this for himself.
 
Of course, everything changed after the lab accident exposed him to his own agent.  Perhaps it activated an unknown mutative element in his own DNA, or perhaps it was mutated itself.  Either way, Monroe was transformed into something not entirely human--and something much more powerful.  The creature he became possessed vastly increased strength, resilience, speed--and of course, rage.
 
But Monroe retained his identity and intelligence, and realized that if VIPER couldn't control him, they would certainly kill him.  So he ran, as far and as fast he could.  And if any of VIPER's retrieval teams ever caught up with him, they paid a price for it.
 
Today Monroe lives in complete seclusion, emerging only to commit crimes to get the money he needs for his research, either to make himself human again or ideally, to transform from human to beast at will.  Anyone who opposes him--police, federals, or superheroes--finds him a lethal and effective opponent, whose speed and rage serve him well in the attack, and whose speed and agility enable him to escape any pursuer.  Only time will tell if anyone is able to bring an end to his spree of berserk fury.