The Main Man

Re: LET'S HACK: Terran Empire To me, the Galactic Federation is basically the Federation from Star Trek; peaceful and idealistic. As TNG eventually suggested and DS9 drove home though: is it really all that upstanding?That's how I'd run GF; a projection of idealism, hope, and tranquility with something of a necessary evil (or at least rather gray) side that holds it together. Perhaps it consists of organizations and institutions that were started during the Terran Empire era but were only officially disbanded in the record books.

Re: LET'S HACK: Terran Empire I had a reverse idea: not the Terran Empire, but the Galactic Federation. That said, I do like the idea that it goes through both phases. Would make time travel adventures interesting.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age Reminds me of a campaign concept I once had: the Crowns of Kilbern - a good counterpart to the Crowns of Krim.My main motivation behind the possible removal of Trolls is that they are a variety of "Orc-Kin" in Ambrethel. Comes from the same logic of merging Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings. That said, maybe Trolls aren't an Orc-Kin, or maybe Orc-Kin can be reengineered.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age The fact that elves, dwarves, and gnomes seem to change with every setting is why I like the idea of them all being the same race that simply adapts to different environmental or elemental niches.I think Orcs and Goblins could be merged for the same reasons. The Erqigdlit could fulfill much the same niches. Maybe remove Trolls all together, our more appropriately just change their role in the world.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age Oh yeah (haven't read too deeply into Atlantean Age).Anywho, I looked into the idea of removing Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Halflings and came upon the idea of a compromise; they become a single race familiar to each depending on culture. I think something along the lines of "Fairy Folk" or "Fey Folk" would suffice. It plays off of the similarities between the four races when non-Tolkein-based depictions are considered.These "folk" are further specialized by environment and culture. Elves are replaced by "Forest Folk"; Dwarves by "Stone Folk"; Halflings by "Hill Folk"; and Gnomes by... "Urban Folk" perhaps? Each variety fills the niche of their more differentiated precedents. This further expands the possibilities - River Folk, Sea Folk, Desert Folk, etc.I even worked on the template - a simple averaging of Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling templates. I'll post it tomorrow, but it is meant to be a base template and thus not the be all, end all of the race.

Re: LET'S HACK: Terran Empire Since it was mentioned, I never bought nor thumbed through Worlds of Empire. Is it available on PDF? That said, I'll have to give Champions Beyond another look because I didn't notice the Xendron Network.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age The kit and kaboodle; maybe exclude Il-Ryveras - a trade if you will. On a similar note, may as well toss in Arcadia, Lemuria, and Shamballah from Hidden Lands.

It's another "LET'S HACK" thread, in which we discuss the ways that we might change an official/published campaign setting as well as exploring other possibilities i.e. we "hack" the setting. This time around it's the Terran Empire, HERO's very own Space Opera setting. To start this one off, one thing that always felt like a glaring omission was a killer robot race a la the Cybermen*, Cylons, or Daleks*. Terran Empire needs just such a thing to me, and late into 5e, a book was provided that gives everything you need for such a race: Book of the Machine. Mechanon and all the myriad units he employs are ready made for space opera. I have other things to say, but I like to start threads lightly. So let's hack! *I know, I know, one is a race of genocidal mutants (encased in their iconic... vehicle?) and the other is a transhuman race bent on converting all life into cybernetic organisms. They're both very much associated with robots and the like though. Admit it.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age If one wants to expand the setting, I say toss in the Atlantean Age continent and forego its background. It starts with the discovery of a new land after all. Maybe power it down or at least give it more Heroic sensibilities.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age Interesting counterpoints. If I did the opposite (remove the usual suspects), I'd keep at least the Erqigdlit,, Pakasa, and Seshurma. I think an avian race wouldn't be an unreasonable followup, nor a fish race. Cover the vertebrate bases and all.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age I'd agree with that notion if the races reflected the same. Instead they are largely Western European in flavor. Furthermore, everything important seems to come from that set of flavors. This sounds like, for the diversity-oriented GM, like an avenue to take towards balancing the setting from a cultural representation standpoint. Make new races that reflect those Earth counterpart cultures and complement the various human ethnicities. I'd still cut down on the Western nonhuman races, but if I took this route I would at least trade them out for similar races from other mythologies.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age I think if I were to remove any races, the first to go would be the Erqigdlit, Leomachi, and Pakasa. They seem to fit in the least and add little to the setting to me. The Seshurma probably would follow after them. I feel like the Erqigdlit, Pakasa, and Seshurma races would be better for a separate setting centered around animalistic humanoid races. The Leomachi feel like they bring a Greek flavor to a largely Nordic/Germanic/Celtic setting. Clashes to me.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age Speaking of which, why was there never a published sheet for Kal-Turak? Was Takofanes supposed to suffice?

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age Going off-canon is where campaigns get to breathe IMO. Just like off-vocals and off-instrumentation allow music to innovate and off-model makes animation shine.

Re: LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age I was never bothered by the HERO timeline. That said, I think the handling of magic could have been better integrated by use of Clarke's Third Law. That is, the same concepts that are presented as "magic" in TA might be represented in, say, Terran Empire as "advanced scientific concepts." Are the gods really gods as we know them, or are they really Galaxars who we see in our image a la Galactus? Are the realms presented in The Mystic World really magic or simply other realms with different physical laws? Could they be entered through sufficient hyperspace travel in the future? Are psionics a crude form of raw magic? Is magic a refined use of psionics? These thoughts are more useful for someone aspiring to make the most of the unified timeline, but I think they are worth considering.

Re: Fantasy worlds you had to "rework" years later once you've grown up and knew bett I finally started LET'S HACK: The Turakian Age; so there you go, folks who were interested. I hope the theme catches on with the general community. I plan to start more for other settings.

This is a thread theme I conceived some time ago. The concept: we discuss how we as individual players/game masters might change (i.e. "hack") an official/published RPG campaign setting based on our tastes and preferences. We bring our ideas, discuss them with others, and perhaps come up with new ones along the way. Hopefully such discussion and exchanges of ideas shall be fun and stimulating as we learn ways to refine settings more to our liking. Let's get to it. So the first subject of the "Let's Hack" threads is HERO's resident High Fantasy setting: The Turakian Age. To get the ball rolling, something about the Turakian Age setting always felt bloated. It's detailed to be sure, but it feels like an impenetrable wall of a setting - it feels too detailed; too complex to run without forgetting facts and details that will need to be retconned back into the setting once realized. I think the setting could lose a few races such as the Pakasa and the Leomachi. Furthermore, I feel like there are a few too many human ethnicities to properly keep track of them all. I'd have to give more thought to which could be cut with minimal effect.

Re: Fantasy worlds you had to "rework" years later once you've grown up and knew bett This reminds me of an idea i had for a thread series i would call "Let's Hack," in which posters discuss a particular setting and how they would modify it. For example, "Let's Hack: Turakian Age." I guess I'll ask now: anyone interested in the concept?

Re: Race based were-creatures for a high fantasy setting. I think the first step is to declare what your world's races are before giving them corresponding animals. Regardless, I think it's an interesting idea. It reminds me of Ravenloft having alternate vampires for other races.

Re: 1000 Star HERO Weapons 20. PBR-1000 Plasma Blast Rifle: What it says on the tin. Expels bursts of superheated plasma to melt through targets. Can leave significant holes unlike a laser or ion beam, making it mildly effective at blasting past barriers. Edition: 6e Power Build: PBR-1000 Plasma Burst Rifle: RKA 3d6 (vs. ED) (56 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 14 (-3/4), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), 32 Charges (+1/4) Real Cost: 16 CP Weight: 4.6kg Weapon Familiarity: Energy Weapons 21. PBR-1002 Plasma Burst Rifle: Similar to the PBR-1000, but with the additional feature of being able to crank its firepower up a notch, if at the risk of burning out. Edition: 6e Power Build: RKA 3d6 (vs. ED) (67 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 15 (-3/4), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), 32 Boostable Charges (+1/2) Real Cost: 19 CP Weight: 4.8kg Weapon Familiarity: Energy Weapons 22. PBR-1006 Plasma Autoblast Rifle: Similar to the PBR-1000, but able to fire small blasts with but the pull of the trigger. Edition: 6e Power Build: RKA 3d6 (vs. ED), Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) (67 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 15 (-3/4), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), 32 Charges (+1/4) Real Cost: 19 CP Weight: 4.8kg Weapon Familiarity: Energy Weapons 23. PBR-1018 Plasma Autoburst Rifle: As PBR-1000, but fires small bursts that can be cranked up. Good fun. Edition: 6e Power Build: PBR-1000 Plasma Burst Rifle: RKA 3d6 (vs. ED), Autofire (3 shots; +1/4) (90 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Minimum 16 (-3/4), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Real Weapon (-1/4), 64 Boostable Charges (+3/4) Real Cost: 26 CP Weight: 5.0kg Weapon Familiarity: Energy Weapons

Re: Has anyone built The Doctor from Doctor Who? I think Regeneration has Charges that Recover Under Limited Circumstances (Time Lord Renewal). The return of Rassilon in "The End of Time" also lends support to the idea that the Time Lords can give more Regenerations.

Re: dumb Modifier Question 1. Yes. Normal attacks do BODY, thus Reduced Penetration applies and for the same value as Killing Attacks. 2. No, but there was an "Increased STUN Damage" advantage at least back in 5e that increased total Normal STUN Damage by half the base Damage Classes IIRC.. It was a +1/4 Advantage and could be stacked.

Re: Something all SF gamers should have. Found a couple of links that could be inspirational to the other thread. 1. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=12928963500A42471600&page=0 2. http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/toys/namegen/8588/

Re: Has anyone built The Doctor from Doctor Who? Well... Regeneration seems to be limited by the Time Lords. The Master suffered for burning through all of his, until he received a new set for The Time War with the Daleks. The Doctor locked away the Time Lords, so I guess it's a question of chronology. The first eight Doctors probably should have Charges (each one more than the next) but the 9th Doctor and on might not have Charges.