Erkenfresh

Re: The Echoes of Heaven It sounds very interesting. I couldn't stop reading your summary. I'm looking forward to the final publication.

Re: Genre conventions I actually got what you were saying Robyn. That would explain why all those villains are just so dumb. Except, why would an evil overlord overlook all threats just to find the prophecied hero? Surely, he should understand that any mistakes he makes in finding such a person makes it possible for anyone to become that person. That is, holes in his strategy make it easier for him to be defeated and thus the first one to defeat him becomes the prophecied hero. Whereas, if he had kept a good strategy all along, he'd never be defeated and thus there would be no prophecied hero. I'm sure this makes no sense to anyone since I'm not explaining myself well, I'm sleepy.

Re: Power idea - flashing sword Who has Ninja Hero? Anyhoo, the whole idea of "Not even Miyamoto Musashi would be able to reflect light into his opponents eyes any time he wanted to. So the roll (for my use) stays to reflect having to maneuver things just "so" such that everything comes together to blind his oppponent." is taken care of by the attack roll IMO. To require a skill roll on something like "PS: Swordsman" seems odd to me. If you paid points to have the flash technique, you already know it right? Also, using the argument of "it makes the power cheaper", doesn't justify a limitation. Even a 1d6 sight flash can be quite nasty in the right situation so it should cost a few points. Then again, that's up to the GM and the campaign setting certainly matters.

Re: Fantasy Hero You gotta have it. It's got a nice cover on it. Seriously though, it was a great read for me so I think you should get a copy of it too. Anyone running a FH campaign should.

Re: Power idea - flashing sword I'd suggest no RSR limitiation. You've already got to make an attack roll to see if the flash hits so requiring two rolls is a bit annoying.

I'm going to Italy for a couple of weeks. I don't expect anyone to miss me but I figured I'd share anyway. Anyhow, I'm hoping to startup my Fantasy Hero campaign shortly after my return. I've got an 8 hour flight... one-way so I've got 16 hours on a plane with nothing to do but be creative. Well, there's also sleep but I can't sleep on a plane very well.

Re: Question about Star Hero Fantasy Hero is a nice addition to any HERO collection. I've read through it all and it's definitely better than D&D. If you want a character devoted completely to skills but can barely hold himself in combat, that's A-OK in HERO (hard to do in D&D). I mean, why can't a fighter or a cleric track? Is it really that hard to learn?

Re: Replacing the AP Advantage 2 points per point of defense bypassed? So you could buy 1d6 of EB for 5 points or 2.5 piercing for 5 points. That seems odd to me since more dice of EB would be more useful right?

Re: Question about Star Hero So many confusing acronyms! Thanks for telling me what they mean.

Re: Question about Star Hero Oh and to go into more detail about 5th revised edition (also known as FRED or the Big Black Book "BBB"), it contains all the basic rules. You'll need it to understand how combat, skills, and equipment work. It also contains a list of combat maneuvers anybody can perform and "martial manuevers" that players can spend character points on to perform. It's a thick book though! You might consider buying Sidekick instead. It's trimmed down from the BBB significantly but from what I hear contains all the rules needed to play the game. I think the PDF version is only 7 bucks from the online store here. (I couldn't ever find it in print).

Re: Question about Star Hero Welcome to HERO! I got into Hero myself in order to run my sci-fi campaign as a change of pace from D&D. You'll need the following books: 1. Hero System 5th Edition Revised (basic rules for running any Hero campaign) 2. Star Hero (genre specific rules for sci-fi campaigns) Additionally, if you are planning on running a "space opera" campaign (for example Star Trek or Star Wars like), you might get these too: 1. Terran Empires (campaign setting book) 2. Spacer's Toolkit (extra equipment and ship writeups) 3. Worlds of Empire (isn't out yet but should be very soon, talks about some important planets of Terran Empires in more detail)

Re: Drago's Retreat Thanks for your thoughts. It's space opera, so artificial gravity is A-OK. I don't recall any episodes in Star Trek where they were left without gravity LOL. You're right though, I was imagining a cube for the area where people can walk around. This cube is essentially enclosed by a cylinder with large doors that can open and close to allow or disallow ships to come in and dock with the cube. Larger and larger ships will park in larger docking areas with larger doors too. I figure the bottom level may handle 4 or 5 "battleships" at a maximum, though such enormous ships would be rare. This place has been the safe haven for the players for the entire campaign. I'm thinking a major assault on it would add some drama and give them a passionate reason to fight other than personal gain. But, hey, they are pirates and might just run off to save their own skin too heh.

Re: I'm in the market for a house.... Bases don't have an INT score. Unless my template file in HDv2 is wrong.

Re: Necro spells Ray of Enfeeblement: Drain STR 1d6, Ranged (+1/2), 22 points Raise Skeleton: Summon 125 point skeleton, OIF-Expendable (Nearby corpse) (-3/4?), 25 active, 14 or so real Deathsight: Clairsentience to sight group (discriminatory), 25 active, OIF (Corpse or skeleton) (-1/2), 16 real

I was wondering if anybody has written up any details for Drago's Retreat in Terran Empires. Since my PC's spend a lot of time there, I decided to draw up a map of the place. I made the commons area 1 km x 1 km x 3 floors with an internal docking bay large enough to fit 150 ships comfortably. This is quite huge, but you gotta figure pirates are pulling in enough loot to keep the place running. I figure the station maybe had one floor with external docking starting out with more floors and a docking bay added over time. My next thought is to make up a sheet with it's weaponry. I figure a few lucky pirates steal some top end stuff from time to time with arms smuggling through the station also being common. This should make the station be pretty tough overall. Any other thoughts on this?

Re: [Campeign Building] Elves Ahh yes, the Tarsier monkey. I've petted a few in the Phillippines. I sure hope they don't evolve into Dark Elves though.

Re: Your Favorite Fantasy Weapon?

Re: [help] Divine Magic Don't forget "Powers Can Be Changed As A Zero-Phase Action (+1)", "Only When Serving The God's Purposes (-1/2)", and "Incantations (-1/4)". I think you might also want "No Skill Roll Required (+1)" which combines with the zero-phase thingy to make "Cosmic (+2)".

Re: Powers that come into effect only as you're hurt? Maybe something like this: Berserker Power: Endurance Reserve (12 END, 12 REC) Reserve: (13 Active Points); REC: (12 Active Points); Only up to STUN damage taken by opponents (-1/2) Berserker Power: Aid 4d6, all physical characteristics simultaneously (+2) (120 Active Points); Self Only (-1/2), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -1/4) The total cost is 77 points. If this is a villain, no biggie. But not a very good bargain for a player.

Re: Hero/D20 experts wanted I just sent an email too. Sounds like a fun project.

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One The Stranger could be anything: - A spy for the evil gods - The diety of balance, nothingness, or neutrality - A creation by the other gods as a side effect of other creations they've done I could go on, but I'm tired.

Re: How to end a dystopia... Perhaps a gradual change in the government replaces corrupt senators and presidents with very good intentioned people. The new government places heavy taxes on MegaCorps and bolsters a neutral police force that will enforce crimes committed by the MegaCorps. "Cyberpunks" are increasingly imprisoned by the new police and go extinct, finding it pays off to have an honest job instead. With the lack of illegal espoinage, the MegaCorps have to make an honest living which they don't know how to do, and they topple. Without MegaCorps making cyberware and no cyberpunks needing to buy cyberware, cyberware goes extinct as well. Only new corporations with fresh, legal ideas flourish but they can do so without fierce competition from MegaCorps. Cyberpunks are out, cyberware is gone, and MegaCorps are bankrupt. In it's place are lots of smaller businesses with a high variety of new ideas which advance science quickly towards the interstellar age. Does that sound feasible?

Re: Pantheon: The Six-And-One I knew I was picking up a tinge of Song of Ice and Fire in there. I would have to agree that the triplets are a bit odd. In Feast for Crows, that one dude talks about how the Cobbler blessed him with tough feet. Then he proceeds to explain that the Cobbler is one possible aspect of the Smith. Maybe that's what your going for, I'm not really sure. But, if that's the case, you could make the alternate aspects much less known to the common population. Think also of Catholicism where we believe in the Holy Trinity. It's comprised of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are all three unique parts and yet all one at the same time. I can't explain it, but it's beyond human comprehension. However, a similar thought may apply to your pantheon.

Re: [Campeign Building] Elves Looks good to me. I'm not a big fan of elves personally. When I run my fantasy campaign, there won't be any. In their place are a cat-people and a lizard-people. Hahaha, screw you elves!

Re: Regrowing limbs This is kind of like a scene in Dragonball where Goku hurts Picollo's arm so he rips it off and grows a new one. (If I was Goku I would have surrendered on the spot).