Thia Halmades

So for me, as I mentioned before, I roll everything in the open; when I want to keep the results a secret, I just don’t tell them the target number they’re going for (remember, if I didn’t mention it here I mentioned it elsewhere, I don’t use the “roll 11-“ thing, I handle skills like combat, where I set a DCV for success and determine it’s scale. This gives me a lot of flexibility to shield results on an as needed basis.

nope. Still lost. I’ll try again: so they roll dice behind a screen and don’t see their own results?

They are vile, evil things and I don’t allow them. They’re nigh impossible to balance and require a massive amount of buy in and trust. If there’s a VPP, then I’ve defined it, soup to nuts, to do something very specific. I have not, and would not. Just way, way too easy to break the game.

I think the question could be phrased a bit better, but the answer is: You can set a limitation at the framework level; most commonly something like Gestures, or OIF, and when you put it on the framework, then the framework is cheaper, and every power in the block inherits it. I don’t know of a limitation with charges nor would I allow it. I don’t know if that helps or not!

While back I wrote a whole post about this, that boils down to this core idea: HERO isn’t complex. HERO players make it complex. That’s not a dig in either direction; I find HERO remarkably straight forward and when managed well, the foundation of the system is very simple: roll low for skills and hit rolls, roll high for damage. The big thing to overcome is SPD and the Speed Chart, and unleashing the text on new people. If you want to introduce beginners to HERO, here’s how I would do it: * Get everyone together over Discord (or here, or wherever) and pitch them the setting; get buy-in (I have rules for what this actually means but we’ll skip that) * Once the setting is established, ask that most critical of questions: What do you want to be in this setting? If that’s too broad, give them some classic options: Gunslinger, Apothecary, Swindler, etc. * You write up the builds based on that input; this is absolutely crucial for new people; I never ask new players to build, just feed me ideas This way, you’re setting the balance, you’re setting the point limits, you see where I’m going with this. Then, send them their characters and walk them through the specifics and unique bits. Say the Gunslinger has “Fan the Hammer,” which is autofire, up to 6 shots, depending on how many rounds are left in the chamber and/or how many they want to unload. They also have “Speed Loader,” a skill check to reload, -1 for every 2 bullets, if successful it consumes no time. Once they’ve seen it, and they start relating limitations as form and advantages as function, they’ll be hooked. I mean. Assuming you’ve got GM skills, that is.

PennDOT. They may be the hardest working road crew in the 48, but no one would know it. Sinkholes are like their own hydra. Fill in one, and two more take its place.

Like terraforming, but without all the messy science!

Hey E; Sorry, I’m not actually following you here. I don’t mean to be difficult, I’m just not certain “what I’m looking at.” I see maps and trees, and I would assume that if I’m behind a tree I have some measure of cover. Am I just being dense? Am I missing something?

And if Chris doesn’t answer it first, I will, and odds are good I’ll go to the text exactly, rather than rely on a previously supplied answer. Bear in mind that CE is just that — it changes environment. If for some reason you have a CE +20 degrees, and it’s currently frozen, you could theoretically unfreeze it. But we’re talking super fringe cases. That aside. Where’s my hat? Ah, here we are. You’re talking about a Transform; damaged road to road, minor. Rough path to road is probably major, and “nothin’” to “road” is whatever 15 points is (I always forget the nomenclature). Now if you want to build a road through a mountain? Yeah, that’s Tunneling.

1) Absolutely not. Mainly because, it’s not in the rules and there’s no need to create a handwave/house rule that does this, it would be wacky bonkers unbalanced. The closest you could get would be if a bunch of summoned creatures cooperated with the mage, but just casting on its own? Nah. 2) Yes, because everyone is either using spells or innate abilities that operate like spells. I also use LTE because being in the Metaverse is draining.

In this case I’m specifically using the skill as a spell. Oh, I forgot; Only to Find Water (-1/2). That was important. But ultimately it’s a spell that finds water, and I used Survival as the most reasonable way to get there. Not actually a skill, but a spell the uses the mechanic of the skill to generate results. Although, this is HERO; you can call it whatever you want as long as you pay the points for it and adhere to the special effect, but the IDEA was “write me a spell that summons water.” So that’s what I did.

This is one of those topics, having GM’d almost weekly for the better part of 30 years, that I could go on about and still not have established my thesis. So instead of doing that, I’ll answer the question posed. Bear in mind, this is my answer, and I’m not poisoning the well by reading other people’s responses, which are no doubt many and varied. To a certain level, I expect it, and certainly I’m all for optimization. When optimization turns to cheese, I get annoyed. And when I offer a compromise and get an argument, I get flustered. And when the point gets pressed — and pressed. And pressed, I just start lashing out. Make a build. Make a case. Present your case. Accept the outcome and let the GM do their thing.

So this is actual “Magic,” right? You are effectively, mechanically, calling something out of nothing. Like. Bang. There’s water now. Both of the canonical ways to do it have already been covered: LS & Transform. And of course, neither of those is how I would do it. Call Forth the Wetness: Skill, Survival (14-). This spell allows you to call forth wetness from the ground, or in certain cases, from the very air around you. The wetness you call forth is specifically potable water; container sold separately. For every point the roll succeeds by, X amount of water is called forth (as an Advantage on the power; so at base, I would say 1 liter/per point; then 2 liters (+1/4), then 4, and so on, each doubling of effect doubling the cost). Call Forth the Wetness; As Survival (14-); Environmental Modifiers apply to roll (-1/4), Extra Time (1 Turn), Costs END (-1/2); Wetter is Better (4 liters per point the roll succeeds by, +1/2), RSR (-1/2, as the roll can fail and no water summoned; you can remove this), Enhanced Effect Roll (+1/4; every point the roll succeeds by adds one volume of water), Container not included (-0; the water “springs forth” or, if a basin is carved in advance, flows into it as reasonability allows). Plus Life Support (Potable Water), even if filthy swamp water full of weird bugs, parasites and alien diseases is used, the water provided is pure, clear and potable. — While the Survival skill already makes it clear that the point is to summon potable water, the nature of this Compound pushes it into the realm of magic and avoids any additional fuss or arguing. Season to your liking, but that’s how I would handle this. And pardon my notes, I’m writing off the top of my head because my iPad doesn’t JAVA and there’s nothing I can do about that currently.

Amusingly, I do the complete opposite; I make all my rolls on the table because I’m too prone to altering the outcome; I’ve found that having the result be public out of the gate to be sufficiently terrifying, and having done it that way for so long I wouldn’t go back. One of my players was on a streak, slinging his powers, attacks bouncing off, he got brave, and hard charged a boss. I rolled a 3 to hit — with a power that I legitimately unknowingly exploited his weakness. In the game in question, everyone always has at least one fundamental vulnerability; Slash, Pierce, Bash, Fire, Electric, Cold, etc. In that case I think the power was electric and ... he went negative stun and negative BODY. They dragged him out of that dungeon on a make shift stretcher. Took him 2 weeks to recover from his wounds. Or as we say in the lingo, “He got rekt.”

If I understood your question, does anyone make hidden rolls on behalf of the player. I’ve honestly never even heard of this. When I need to keep someone in the dark regarding success or failure, I ask for the roll without providing a target number. Oh. I use the alternative Target Number system, so every roll the players make is actually an “attack roll.” That’s just a me thing, because I found the whole “11 unless” system didn’t really work for me. Works for the vast majority of people, but I needed something more dynamic. So my solution was to toss the entire system and switch over to a bunch of fringe mechanics. IOW: I didn’t like the ice cream at the corner store, so I moved across the country to live next to a craft creamery.

@unclevlad I just want to go on the record saying “I agree with you that in terms of a legal case, take the win without muddying the water,” but I also want to point out, separately, if you will, that this is causal. Again, for the record: I am agreeing with your conclusion, but holding the line that this was related.

Six deaths, including the suicide of Officer Liebengood. I mention this because I know the family personally and it’s an A to A correlation. He was not killed by the rioters, but his death is directly attributable to the events that transpired.

@unclevlad That’s the point I was making — that they have committed crimes, I just wrote it in an illogical order.

I never asked for vengeance. I want justice. By the State. Despite they are seditionists, I want them treated fairly under the law. Actually, I want them treated like people of color, but that’s another thread. And no one is being punished through stigmatization; this is normal. These are people against whom charges were brought. It’s not just a list of people. They have been arrested and charged with one or more crimes, there’s no stigmatization as you’re framing it, this is the normal process of the law; they stand accused and that — specifically — is public information.

One other thing I would point out here, while I’m thinking about it: The “enemies list” was oppression BY the State against an ideology, specifically Communism. While he probably didn’t have the names in his pocket, there was a real list and those people were branded, unfairly, enemies of the State. These people are enemies of the State. The self described “Q Shaman” believes that they doing the will of God, fighting against Communism and the Globalists, that the Democrats are satan worshippers and drink the blood of babies. And if you think I’m making that up, please, fact check it. And be appalled. Even with all of that, I have always said “Hey man, you do you. You want to believe some crazy bull—, that’s cool, just don’t ask me to believe it or do anything, you know. Stupid, dangerous or treasonous.” Again, I assure you, these are things I have actually said in reference to this. I respect everyone’s First Amendment Rights. The thing is, they believe that they are doing God’s work, that God and Jesus Christ appointed Trump, and that killing a democratic member of the Legislative Branch is a blow for humanity because the liberals are going to destroy this nation, revoke all of their freedoms and install communism. We won’t even begin to point out that they already largely benefit from Socialism in how wealthier States pay for poorer States, the New Deal installing the social safety net that they are currently using, etc etc. Let it be known that we are operating on two very different sets of facts; actual, provable facts, and... baby eating satanic cultists operating out of a pizza joint’s basement... where said pizza joint has no basement. The First Amendment does not give you the right to yell “Fire” in a crowded theater, and it doesn’t give you the right to storm the Capitol with zip ties, build a gallows, or scream “Hang Mike Pence.” I think it’s easy to block out just how horrifying Wednesday was. So yes. It is an “enemies list.” A list of people who are self professed and self identified as having the singular goal of tearing down the existing constitutional government, rebelling to stop the peaceful transfer of power to a duly elected President and Vice President, and install their “God Emperor” — who is absolutely bonkers and Simon can wrap my knuckles for saying it — for four more years, or longer. That makes them seditionists, and that means they are, literally, enemies of the State. That the justice system puts the information out publicly only ties to what they were already doing on Social Media. Just something to consider. And if I’m coming off a little stronger than usual (which to some will be a comical statement, but Ive gotten a lot better) it’s because I am a patriot. My country isn’t lines on a map, it’s the promise of the rule of law and a fair shot for anyone who comes here. That promise is long broken and we need to unify to the facts and a way forward that embraces progressive thought tempered by conservative planning. I am angry. I am blind with fury. I do not want mercy. I want justice. —- I mean... is it a little fishy? A little... GOLD fishy?

Archer is absolutely correct, and I get what you’re driving at, LL, however. And I say this as someone with strong liberal leanings, who values their anonymity above almost all else: this is just the chickens coming home to roost. After the doxxing, the virtual bullying, the Proud Boys insisting on beating people up in the streets like a scene out of Fight Club, and the fact they’re exceptionally outspoken, they aren’t going to be ostracized by this any more than they already were by the company they elected to keep and those who they shunned. My wife’s Aunt has gone “full Q” as we say, and I can tell you that not only did she make my mother in law cry on her birthday, she’s never going to see my daughter again, even by video call. And I feel zero bad about enforcing that, but super bad about having to do it. I may be rambling. But this is our justice system functioning as designed and enforcing the law, rather than the vigilante justice these individuals have attempted to enforce.

It depends (as do so many things around here) on the build, the campaign assumptions, etc. I don’t use them at their core, however, if someone has been shot, is suppressed, etc., then I will add additional modifiers as necessary, but broadly, no. In a game with so many modifiers in every stage, anything that adds complexity without adding flavor I tend to skip.

It depends on the game; a game that focuses largely on firearms and using cover intelligently, I tend to not care about it. Games that utilize powers heavily (where everyone is a spell caster in one way or another) then I tend to use 2d10 or similar handy counter. And I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: I only speak two languages. English, and bad English.

Hello! The short version (without referencing the text) is that a Limitation defines a power, and an Advantage enhances the efficacy of a power; the use case you’re referencing speaks to the special effect of a power. For example, a -0 Limitation (or a limitation worth no points) means that something that would otherwise be worth points becomes flavor text for an ability, but it’s also a permanent fixture. So if it has -0 Perceivable, it always generates a roll if the player attempts to be sneaky, which for fire makes complete sense. A +0 Advantage is rarer, but similarly is doing something that reasonably aligns to the special effect. Let me know if that answers the question, or if you would like to deep dive on the topic, you can always post your question to the broader Hero System Discussion forum and the rest of the community can weigh in. Edited, now that I’ve eaten and I’m not merely existing between meetings: Your example, where it can have a -0 Perceivable Limitation, or, a +0 Provides Light Advantage, is actually an “and” construction; those two things aren’t mutually exclusive, so both can exist simultaneously and in fact, support each other. Just an additional point of consideration.