Thia Halmades

Re: Sports HERO

Re: Sports HERO Hey Tom. Read your post, re-read my post, did some thinking, actively didn't post for a while as I think this is a really worthwhile idea and easily implemented, all things being equal, but my version of "easy" is often very different from everyone else's. So with that. I look at it as a combination. I think that your concept of skills is really important, actually, as it represents skill players in skill positions. I think handling the ball is the primary concern, and that's most efficiently handled with combat manuevers, and without too much tweaking. Mind, this is a tool box, so there's no "breaking" the system, unless we ignore the guidelines.

Re: Why the "Big Release" Polls Are Flawed My meaninglessness is less relevant than yours.

Re: Ultimate Martial Artist BACK for an Encore As soon as the system lets me log in and order my freaking copy I will. *steam*

Re: Is Hero too preditable? I don't consider it "predictable" as much as I consider it "stable." In d20, the rule applies in a similar fashion, really - you add the insane bonuses you receive based on circumstance, strength, enchantments, etc. and toss 2d6 for great sword damage. The d20 provides a variable chance of a critical threat (5 - 15% for most weapons) and then is rolled again to determine if a critical hit is rolled. I suppose, from a PC standpoint, that's very exciting. But from the DM chair I sit in, I don't see a great deal of difference. Yes, yes, I know I tend to use a tilda to represent an equals sign more often than I should, but hear me out for a moment. In HERO with normal damage, each 6 deals 2 body, each pip is STUN. People have a to hit, they have defenses. You're still calculating damage, looking to make the most of opportunities, etc. Because there are so many ways to hurt people in HERO, I have difficulty thinking in terms of "This effect works the same every time, therefore it's boring." IMHO, d20 spells cap out to similar effects. A 10th level Fireball is no different from a 15th level Fireball - you've reached the maximum effect of the spell, but it'll never be Armor Piercing, any more than your opponent is likely to be Hardened. There are more variables in how damage is handled the deeper you get into HERO. I think what I'm saying is that you're comparing apples & oranges, so what I see as being roughly equating (dealing damage with dice to an appropriately powerful foe) may be a left field concept for some people. But as a convert to the Church of FREd, I can say with total honesty that HERO combat is far from boring. I consider it to have more options, and be more interesting, than d20 combat.

Re: Sci-fi wear swords? Without reading the entire post, I can offer some basic reasons: - Cost Efficiency. - It looks cool. - Lots of people have rED armor - there's a chance that in the construct of the world they don't have rPD, because melee weapons are so uncommon. - Stealth Kills are always better with a blade. - Guns aren't always the close combat weapons of choice - It looks cool. Seriously. Some thoughts. BNkagawa - Capoiera is actually well suited to cramped spaces - you may not do all of the full body twirls, but the hand stand manuevers, knee attacks, leg locks, etc. and the fact the art is built to allow you to fight with your hands bound is all very helpful.

Re: IK Hero? They weren't kidding - it is very similar to the setting I created. WACKY. I don't need a port. I've written half of this already.

Re: Summoning a creature with variable stats I'm just saying why double the cost when you could build it more cheaply with a modifiable VPP? That just seems simpler to me. Mind you, I've been accused of doing things "simply" as being "anti-HERO."

Re: Need a really good Marshal Artist Build NND means any number of things, primarily that if you have the defense, you take no damage from it. NND does Body isn't all that broken - what Sean's build suggests (if'n I read it right) is that any sort of Force Barrier stops this cold - hence, lots of people will have defense, but almost no normals will at all. That makes the attack extremely lethal. Without being able to give you raw numbers, I'd build a Martial Art for her that goes something like this: - 4d6 NND (Force Barriers) - Dodge (abort +4 DCV) - Block (abort +2 OCV) - Lacerate (must follow Block, 4d6 Strike, AP? - I don't know if you can fit all that on a martial manuever) - Cat's Grapple (Joint lock) - Go for the Juggular (2d6 NND(2)) - Twists Like a Cat (+X STR to Escape Only) See if that helps. Sorry I don't have UMA open to give you the costs, but that should at least cover some basics.

Re: First time Hero buyer Personally - and this is me - I see it as being well balanced and in line with EB in general, because equivalent costs deal equivalent damage. It's more cost-effective to buy HTH levels which are automatically half priced IIRC, and while STR is dern handy, it isn't the be-all, end-all. Further, a Brick should be able to buy up their primary characteristic to keep in line with the blasters living off an EB. IF you want to change it, than adjusting the cost to 1.5:1 or 2:1 is the easiest solution, but I disagree with the "STR is underpriced" argument. Part of this is because I have the naivete to believe that after nearly 20 years someone wouldn't've corrected a basic mathematical flaw in what is held up as one of the most balanced RPGs on the planet. And while I hate saying this, I must: YMMV.

Re: Complicate the Person Above L. Marcus - doing his best to raise giant rubbery monsters from their slumbers to wreak havoc on Tokyo. No one knows why he feels Tokyo deserves this, and evidently neither do they. But it makes for great home movies!

Re: Loot Eh, I fake it, actually. I let the players make it clear what they need and provide them with the opportunities to procure it; I don't generally "drop loot" because this isn't that sort of campaign, when I do, I prefer a random generator rather than staying in my mental box of what might or might not be appropriate. In d20, I randomly generated a pair of flaming leather gloves, similar to what a monk would wear. My PC Paladin took them, and then spent a Feat on Improved Unarmed Combat. Don't know why! Still don't! But that was his vision of the character, and I went with it. If it isn't balanced, and they didn't spend CP on it, you can take it away as easily as it was given. You've got options. My general advice would be to low ball it, rather than put something whose ramifications you weren't ready for into the hands of the PCs.

Re: Sports HERO Did he take Rivalry: The Evil Team?

Re: Defining Magic Mmm... END Reserve... still a personal favorite.

Re: Need a really good Marshal Artist Build Wait, are you looking for a martial art, or a character build construct for a Marshal/Law Enforcer? I don't mean to sound like a picky *** over grammar, but my answer would've been to construct a martial art, using "Cat Claws" as the HKA, and include dodges, blocks and evades with a grapple or two. Greywind interpreted your question very differently, which is where I'm getting a bit baffled. Can you clarify the question?

Re: Why the "Big Release" Polls Are Flawed Actually, Floating Head has a point here - "Turakian Age" has a definate feel of its own, distinct from "Fantasy HERO" - one is evoctive. It follows genre tropes. The other is vaguely descriptive without clarifying anything much at all in terms of what it is. It doesn't reach out - the title lacks a hook. Dugeons & Dragons - we all know what it is. The name rather says it all. However, I can't think of a better way to put it, either. Here's a good example though: Instead of releasing "D20 Environmental Book: Wind & Waves" they released Stormwrack, with high profile cover art. Not "Dag, it's Cold" but Frostburn. The titles are evocative of the setting. Points to the floating head, he has a great point here.

Re: First time Hero buyer AIGH! Floating head dude! Run! I know I have a spare mason jar around here somewhere... I'll store you next to Einstein's brain...

Re: How complete is Sidekick? *stares at the floating head* I'm wondering if I should justify this with a response. *glare* More I'm afraid that not enough other people are going to catch the reference. But I'll let it go. This time. Repped.

Re: First time Hero buyer STR is excellent, but you'll hit NCM caps in Heroic games, and as was pointed out, EB has range, and can do all sorts of other things (although nothing stops you from purchasing an NPA Armor Piercing for your HTH attacks). Oh, sorry. I've been here so long I've started talking in the short hand, and that's just from November. Thia Halmades, at your service. These folks are a'ight. Except that floating head dude. He freaks me out. Welcome, as my peers noted, to HERO. I've just flipped from d20 over to HERO myself, and sure enough, it's a better system. I'm still doing conversions and builds for new packages and races in my epic fantasy campaign, but the PCs in general are quite happy with it. There are plenty of discussions here on how things work and why they'll work better in some builds than others. Part of the joy of the ongoing debate about HERO. If you're concerned about STR, you can simply flip it to 2:1 instead of 1:1, that's the easiest way to "fix" it, although you'll get lots of arguments about that as well. As I said, I'm new, but I've got the basics down. Feel free to post if you need anything!

Re: Sports HERO Well, building Football HERO would actually be fairly simple. I'm going to do some quick shorthand here, but there are multiple ways to handle it. Instead of focusing on the entire field (which would take forever to resolve) you select a play, and resolve based on that. Your hex movement is reduced slightly (otherwise everyone is gaining 2 yards per play, and I'm not sure how to handle "1 yard of movement when you fail to break the line) and a (really, really early, off the top of my head, seriously don't flame me, I'm making this up as I go) build might look like this: * Team Structure, all team members are built using appropriate packages. Linemen, Down Lineman, Secondary (Spec: Safety, Spec: Cornerback) and what have. All of these people would have (as mentioned) Martial Art: Defensive Football Manuevers. These would include: Block, To Stop Movement Move Through (to overrun blockers and nail the ball carrier) Dodge (to avoid being picked up by another blocker) Strike (Hittin' fools wit da bawl!) Throw (Target Falls, Tackle) Horse Collar (Target Falls, damage is 2d6+7 on the location chart) Skill position players would have package deals to cover them as well, including additional running (Wide Outs) some form of brace (lineman) and what have you. Plays would be set up on the field with the line acting as a force wall of sorts, resisted by the Defensive line. This allows people to run around and break through. The quarterback would have Analyze Defensive Scheme, Precision Throwing, etc. and so forth. He would have to wait for the Wide Receiver to get open before throwing the ball, which means he may take extra time as the WR gets bumped at the line, doesn't make the right cut, etc. And this is the nuts & bolts version. A cinematic version wouldn't require half this work - just a resisted roll on the line, attempted sacks as grabs with the QB aborting to dodge (evade grab) losing a turn, recovering, making a skill roll to analyze the field and throwing the ball up. Everyone takes stun damage. On bad rolls, people take body damage. Enough damage breaks limbs. Then you just write the plot around the season and let the "football game" represent combat, in addition to all the other insanity you could do around it. Drugs, girls, hatred, insane fans, super bowl hype, evil owners (Playmakers) insane coaches who are alcoholic and hire prostitutes (Any Given Sunday) and so on. You'd have to have a group that would find it interesting, but it's totally doable. Minor Edit - Catching the ball should probably be built as a grab, if a defender and a receiver are in the same hex that the ball falls into range, they would make grab attempts - the one with better hands is going to have a higher chance at catching it. Also, making a roll to hit with the ball to a hex is going to make the QB more accurate, hence he'd have penalties associated with pressure, being harried, fatigue, and so on. Sometimes he's just going to throw one up, or be hit as he throws (which will really screw him up) thus putting the ball in weird places on his throw roll, which would allow a Defender to make a grab attempt at the ball. You would also be able to directly compare jumping heights and so on with absolutely no difficulty. You'd build each "star" player with the appropriate disads, including "Vulnerabilty to STUN" or "Psych Lim: Easily Rattled - takes a penalty on plays following a hit" "Hot Streak" as an advantage, "Cold Streak" as a disad (and you can take both). You can apply elements of Ninja HERO if you want to do more showboat style plays, and build "Rage Meters" as players get hit and they save up before unloaded the mother of all hits on some poor unfortunate with the rock. Then of course there're the dirty plays, the intentional attempts to end careers, all sorts of other insanity that I haven't even gone into yet. Oh, and one other thing I thought of: Forward Pass (abort). Since nailing the QB is a primary objective, "getting rid of the ball" is a Defensive action, whether to avoid a sack, etc. If a Defender is pressuring you and you're about to take a sack, you may attempt to abort to a forward pass so long as you have an abortable action in the queue. This simulates all of the normal throwing/etc. procedures, and would use similar mechanics to spell casting while taking damage.

Re: Your "2006" Pet Gaming Projects Reconstructing the rest of my Fantasy Campaign out of d20 into its core plasmic form, and then pouring it into HERO molds so at long last, the whole thing works the way I need it too. Continue my Ravenloft campaign, full of d20 board gaming goodness. I have some devoted players, but I need to build new and interesting ways to scare them brothers to death. Finish builds for Sea Orks, complete the write up of Aelfin history and Imperial history, map out the 'core' sections of the new wars that are raging, and get the main arc for the next section completed (which will take about a half year to a year to actually run the PCs through, if not longer). Revise the skeleton of the main arc to account for PC changes, dramatic events and intelligent design and plot reaction. Some lieutenants of the enemy were slain, some plans thwarted, the PCs are solidly "on the radar" the Adversary and that may or may not bode well for them.

Re: Everyman progress? Eh... what is it? Similar to what we've been discussing as an offshoot from the Ultimate Disad concept (i.e., a book on how to build better characters?)

Re: [Campaign] Third Eye Investigations Hey Gamera, welcome to the board! I'm always interested in seeing what other people post. If I thought I could get away with it, I may start posting material from my campaign, but I'm lousy at condensing it. Nice to see another SDer cross over!

Re: Why the "Big Release" Polls Are Flawed Did you post this on the thread about which book should be the next release?

Re: Horror/Fantasy Sick Concept I'm going to fall firmly on the side of "He's a necro, he uses magic about dead people and things. This is why we have characters who use magic, to do what would be scientifically impossible." So your necro has a spell that allows him to create a flute out of the pipes of a victim, which he uses for heaven knows what purpose. It may retain a piece of the vic's soul, it may be a focus for another spell, it may be the focal point of pain that resonates for his summoning rituals - the echoes of the wailing dead are his focus for a Soothe spell that keeps the Hungry Dead he summons from slaying him. All kinds of places you can go with this, absolutely do it.