naturaltwenty

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG

With licensed properties there are always going to be differences when converting to any system, even one as flexible as HERO (or any other effects-based system). The guns in MHI represent more of a character signature than anything, i.e. Franks = Glock, Z = Abominator, etc. The designer, ALL PRAISE STEVE, ahem..., has to reach that happy balance between the game and the source. One of the big misconceptions is that playing an RPG is like "writing a novel as you go". They are close but in the book did it really matter if Z wasted someone with the 40mm grenade launcher or silver buckshot? Not really. It was how the weapon was used that made you go "yes - take that silver bayonet you black-hearted hellspawn":)

I want a playable game, which I think I'll get, not gun porn.

Re: [Alera - Furies of Calderon] Advice on Summoning/Elemental Ally

Races so far:

Aleran - human (there are mutliple countries and governing factions)

Marat - non-human, pseudo-native American Indian, barbarian - no fury crafting but able to bond with their totem animals including gargants (beast of burden - large), herdbanes (predatorial birds that remind of velociraptors or axe beaks from D&D), horse, fox, wolf and maybe more.

Cane or Canim - think Wolfen from Confrontation.

Later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

Re: [Alera - Furies of Calderon] Advice on Summoning/Elemental Ally

Some more ramblings - (noticing the similarities between Codex Alera and Avatar I've found out that the book series was published October 2004 and Avatar debuted Februrary 2005 - I have no clue if one influenced the other or not. Codex Alera has a much more Roman feel with Aleran's having Citizens, Legionnaires, regional lords, high lords, and also emulating a very Rome in decline type aspect).

Some of the furies are generational and bound to city-dwellers. Those furies are less powerful but more controllable/respond better to direction.

Countryside furies that are bound/summoned farther away from the structure of the city are more powerful but sometimes have a will of their own.

Use of furycrafting is definitely strenuous, i.e. a windcrafter who flies (and alot of them do) can only fly for so long before tiring so most crafting abilities will cost endurance - although more experienced crafters can utilize their furies with more skill thereby reducing end cost.

People can have more than one fury - i.e. Fidelias, an antagonist, has two furies - a wood and earth fury.

Furies take on the shape of animals or humanoid forms when visible - which they are not always visible.

Windcrafter abilities that have been represented in the book so far -

-Flight

-Supplying air during high flights and perhaps increasing time underwater

-Increasing the speed of attacks thereby increasing damage with swords, thrown daggers

-Calming winds

-Creating winds

- Windcrafter flight appears to be disruptable by "cutting off their air"

more later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

Greetings,

I'm looking for some system advice on emulating the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher - http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/alera/ .

Most of the residents of Alera (I think that's the continent - I haven't done a thorough world guide yet) have the ability to summon and control one or more elemental allies and use the elemental's power to increase his/her physical attributes.

Furycrafter's (watercrafter, firecrafter, woodcrafter, windcrafter, and metalcrafter - I think) should be relatively easy to emulate, it's the summoning of the ally that I'm unfamiliar with modelling.

What power emulates this?

Later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

Re: Teen Champions Villians

While it's for Mutants & Masterminds there's a plethora of ideas at http://www.mecha.com/~conkle/mm/index.html , which is Christian Conkle's Ultra Teens are Go!

I've used the premise for a Sadie Hawkins dance one-shot that worked out very well.

Later

Re: [FtF Game] Midkemia (looking for material)

Nevermind - I spelled Midkemia incorrectly when I did a thread search.

Well,

I've shown some of my normal d20 face-to-face group Tuala Morn and they were really pumped about it. I borrowed one of the players my Hero 5th (non-revised) book and he freaked. Not by the sheer size but he's been playing class/level games forever and has never played an effect-based game.

I'm consuming Tuala Morn but don't want to introduce the players to that world just yet. While I'm intrigued by the TM stuff I want to make a go of it on my own. The stuff that I'm posting in the Tuala Morn discussion thread will be much more generic so I can use it for what I'm working on.

Anyway - I've done a search and couldn't find any info on HERO Midkemia or Feist. Does anyone have anything pre-built for gaming in that world?

Thanks,

Greg V.

Re: Forsaken Ground

If I was at work, or wasn't lazy and booted up my laptop I'd have a better example.

In the picture below there are two, top-level pages. Each of those has a group of second level pages, and below that there are third level pages.

The main thing to remember on a navigation bar is that I always want to be able to get to my main page for whatever tree I'm in. So if I'm at the lowest level I can get back to the start without having to click, back, back, back, etc.

At a minimum you should have links to the main page and whatever pages are at the same level. On pages that you can go down into the tree you should have the home page, the pages on the same level and the pages to which you can navigate below.

Think of it as a table of contents, which is what a site map truly is. Look at the HERO book for examples. Each chapter has sub-components that would be lower levels but there's a reason why the chapter is usually identified. You want to know where to go back to your main topic.

It's somewhat hard to explain and easier to layout on a whiteboard.

Re: Forsaken Ground

Lotsa work on the content (I have trouble keeping my mind focused on one game system long enough to generate system-based content). Looks like a solid background.

One critique on the FrontPage navigation bars - instead of the hierachical layout use a more flat layout. Drilling down for info makes me dizzy. At a minimum use the Site Map tool and create one of those for each of the sub-areas of your site. It'll make navigation easier.

Later

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

I missed that during the cut and paste from Hero Designer (I love that tool but I have to reference the books yet and look for examples first). Updated now.

I like them.

 

Your Beating Heart charm needs Does not Recover on the Charge to match your description of it, BTW.

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

Well, I'm trying to kick-start The Shadows Rise as an online campaign but response has been luke-warm. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54205

Be that as it may I'll start putting together some items, monsters, and an adventure seed or two.

Here's a preview of the "cover"

Here's a sample of the content. I'm still a HERO newb and have no idea if these are good - it's a low powered campaign so I'm avoiding alot of flash. Going for a Robin of Sherwood feel. The pdf download is here: http://www.naturaltwenty.com/downloads/three_items.pdf

Later,

Greg V.

And now' date=' back to Tuala Morn. I'm curious to hear what kinds of adventures and campaigns people are starting to cook up. I'm starting to have some thoughts, but I'm busy enough that I haven't had much chance to write them out and play with them.[/quote']

Re: Pulpish tittle

I went with Tales of Adventure. Standard but hey - it works for me:).

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

David Arkenstone has a CD called Celtic Book of Days which is pretty good. I'd also suggest Clannad's Legend which was created for the Robin Hood series on Showtime (originally broadcast in Europe) in the mid to late 80's.

Later

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

 

- Coming Soon -

More information to follow but the game will be held:

- online so highspeed will be necessary

- weekday evenings (-6 GMT or whatever it becomes after the whacky new DST)

- Skype for voice so a microphone on your PC/laptop

- an internet browser

I'll start a proper thread of it's own over in the Player Finder

Later

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

I'm awaiting the FedEx person with baited breath. While I wait does the bibliography include any of the Katherine Kerr novels (Daggerspell, Darkspell, etc.)?

Later

Re: Social Effects of the Undead in the Empire

It's a d20 product but for a great source of info on how a city run by Necromancers (that aren't evil) who use an undead labor force and army can be "realistcally" managed I can't recommend Hollowfaust highly enough.

A 10.00 PDF at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3279

In the shadow of a dormant volcano crouched the dead city of Sumara. Wandering necromancers rediscovered it in the wake of the Divine War, and from the bones of that slain nation, the wizards fashioned a new realm: Hollowfaust, City of the Necromancers. Today, this city-state grows and prospers, defended by legions of undead warriors and ruled by a secret society of powerful spellcasters. On the surface, there exists a curious culture that embraces both the joy of life and the inevitability of death, but 'deep below, in tunnels beneath the city, the necromancers delve into the secrets of mortality and the undead. Welcome, then, to Hollowfaust - one of the strangest cities in all of Ghelspad. Enjoy your visit. And don't die!

Re: Tuala Morn Discussion

I just ordered my copy from the Online Store last night so I can't wait to get this. From what I'm hearing this is exactly what I want. A product that assists with boundaries on how things should be. I tend to do this when I'm running a game anyway so it'll be neat to see how somebody else uses this methodology.

Later,

Greg Volz

Re: Remember the Arcanum!

Gotcha - I'll look at the book the next time I'm in one of my flgs's. I'll start up some grimoire-esque conversions of the Arcanum spell lists. I've already converted some of the races (Aesir and Zephyr will be posted soon).

Later

Re: Blacksmith God naming convention

Aid the Injured = Forge the Flesh (forging - blacksmith term)

Cleanse the Spirit = Forge the Will (forging - blacksmith term)

Discern Undead = Perceive the Impure Heart (as the blacksmith removes impurities from metal he also removes the unnatural from the natural. In your description though I don't know how many undead are going to be loitering around the forge:) )

Dispel Fatigue = Quench the Tired Arm (quenching - blacksmith term, tired arm - what the smith gets after a long days work)

That's all I got.

Re: Remember the Arcanum!

What a weird time for me to look back at the Hero Game's forums. It's been a while since my last visit but I just pulled out my copy of The Arcanum (yes the first edition was silver and the second was red) in the last few weeks.

When d20 first came out I briefly talked with S. M. Sechi, the owner of the property, about doing a d20 version for it. I had zero funding so I dropped it. Later, Morrigan Press, purchased the rights and produced the game using their house system, The Omni System. I don't have an opinion of the system as of yet but from initial appearances the rules don't lend themselves to flavor of the system. A HERO conversion would be better:).

Anyway - onto the Nethermen.

Netherman are not a true race of beings, but are a cross between humans and goblins. Though occasional interbreeding between the two species has helped maintain the relatively small Nethermen population, the majority of Nethermen are the descended hybrid stock created by the Atlantean sorcerers of the First Age.

If one were looking to run a campaign set in an Arcanum-esque time period, would the Valdorian Age product be of use?

Later

Re: They wont die

I wonder if there was an easily identifiable trait for the "red shirt" borgs or those that were destined to die? Perhaps those with the eye pieces on the left eye were the red shirt equivalents?

Now I'll have to go back and watch the borg related episodes looking for the commonality...or I could just get back to work.

Later

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com

Re: [Taern] My new campaign

Well it's almost the New Year and I've made the decision that I'm gonna run this campaign online via Screen Monkey ( http://www.nbos.com ) and use Skype ( http://www.skype.com ).

I'll start a thread over in the looking for gamers thread.

Initial play times will be:

4 players

Bi-Monthly (twice a month)

3.5 - 4 hours of play time

Starting 7:00 pm CST (-6 GMT)

Email me if interested: naturaltwenty@yahoo.com

Later,

Greg Volz

Re: Skilled with a pen?

You could always check out some of the stock art from http://www.rpgnow.com

For example, the bard who I use to explain rules in some of my handouts, Eldedd is from Mongoose Publishing. The rates are reasonable and the art can be so-so but it'll do in a pinch.

Later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com/taern

Re: [Taern] My new campaign

Side thread:

I'm pretty much a lurker here - I primarily post over on rpg.net where I'm one of the local online/virtual tabletop zealots.

I've been toying with a campaign like this for literally years. It's just taken me this long to decide on the system. My normal gaming group is pretty much a 7th Sea/ Star Wars d20 group. I've tried to create the feel I'm going for with d20 but I could never get it right. My ideal d20 game peters out at about 4-6th level.

HERO will allow me to make it the way I want. No fudging of feats, or mapping out my first level character so I can make so-and-so prestige class by level 6, ad naseum. You want to make a rogue with excellent combat skills and some magical enhancement - go right ahead. No creating a custom class, prestige class or what not.

Now if only I could find some more HERO dice:).

Later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com/taern

Re: [Taern] My new campaign

Continuation of the HCF idea.

There are some professions that are outside the HCF strata:

Mercenaries: mercenaries forgo their HCF affiliation and fight for whomever gives the most coin (this is a nod to Katherine Kerr's Deverry series). While mercenaries have joined together in the past to become a force to be reckoned with they all know that eventually the chaotic nature of a mercenary band could never hold on long enough to maintain order in a kingdom. Not that it hasn't been tried.

Magi - (Magus for singular): Those that dedicate their life to the Paths of Balance cannot split their allegience to an HCF and that which grants them their power. While Houses employ Magi as counsellors and advisors it is only at the grace of the Magi to remain there. While not unheard of it is rare for a Magus to go into battle or participate in a war.

There are five Orders within the Paths of Balance, one for each element: air, earth, water, fire and spirit. While not the only type of magic it will be the primary magic of humans on Taern.

More later,

Greg Volz

Natural Twenty Gaming

http://www.naturaltwenty.com