Vassoom

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? Excellent. It's always rewarding to hear that other GMs have opted for the same adjustments, and that it worked well for them. I agree completely. I was vacillating between options #3 and #5, with 3 being more "realistic", and with 5 being a nice balance between the extra hits and adjustable hits. Ultimately, however, I opted to go with #3. As you rightly point out above, the concept behind #5 is outstanding, but the mechanics are slightly confusing for the players and it would take even longer to properly adjudicate the effects of an Autofire burst. Option #3 is slightly more powerful than #5, but only marginally, and it's a little faster to resolve. It also easily passes the "realism sniff test", which is important in my campaign. So thank you all very much for your feedback! It was instrumental in helping me suss out the ideal solution for how to properly combine Adjustable Hit Locations with Autofire in my game. I announced my decision tonight (we game on Wednesdays), and the players were quite satisfied with the final decision to allow Adjustable Hit Location with Autofire, but only for the first hit. Now if I could only figure out how best to build my game's cybernetic "brainjack"... - Vassoom

Re: Modern Day Armor You should get a copy of the HERO System Equipment Guide. Awesome sourcebook for armor and weapons and such. It also covers related issues such as weight, encumbrance, DEX Penalties, Active/Real points and how to build them, etc. Straight from the Equipment Guide we find: [b][u]"FANTASY" GENRE ARMORS:[/u][/b] 4 Various Cloth and Hide Armors: DEF 1-3 3 Various Leather Armors: DEF 1-3 12 Various Reinforced Leathers: DEF 1-5 3 Various Scale Mails: DEF 4-6 3 Various Chain Mails: DEF 6-7 4 Various Plate Armors: DEF 7-8 A complete breakdown of Historical Sectional armors (e.g., Helms, Coifs, Greaves, etc.) [u][b] MARTIAL ARTS ARMORS:[/b][/u] 11 Pieces of Karate Armors: DEF 2r/6N 5 Pieces of Kendo Armors: DEF 1-6 Leather Hand Wrappings: DEF 4r/0N 7 Pieces of Samurai Armors: DEF 4-6 [u][b] MODERN BODY ARMORS:[/b][/u] [b]SOFT [/b](Broken into Levels I, II-A, II, and III-A) Kevlar (aramid fibers) DEF 3-8 Enhanced Kevlar (aramid+other): DEF 4-9 Spectra (ultradense plastic): DEF 4-9 Vectran (newer artificial fiber): DEF 4-9 BioSteel (synthetic spider silk): DEF 5-10 "NanoArmor" (carbon nanotubes): DEF 5-10 [b]HARD [/b](Broken into Levels III and IV, Typically inserted into special pockets in soft armor) Ceramic plates: DEF +3 Polyethylene plates: DEF +3 Metal plates: DEF +2 That's a quick summary of some of what's in the Equipment Guide. When deciding on the stats for armor in your campaign, one of the things that *I* recommend you do first is to decide on the baseline power for your standard attacks. For example, are people running around with .38 caliber revolvers, .45 caliber semi-automatics, 9mm SMGs, 5.56mm Assault Rifles, 12 gauge shotguns, phased plasma rifles in a 40 watt range, etc. And will Armor Piercing rounds be rare, or quite common? That sort of thing. Then, once you know the full gamut of attacks your characters are likely to encounter, I recommend that you then "tweak" the armor DEF ranges to best fit your campaign's lethality goals. If you want your players to be able to soak up more attacks with less risk or downtime, then bump up the armor types until you are comfortable. If you want a grittier game with more dangerous wounds as a real possibility, make body armor only nominally effective, rather than allowing it to bounce any and all attacks from small arms fire. Just a suggestion.

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Superbly written recap. Very engaging! Thanks for sharing it. - Vassoom

Re: Campaign Log: The J-Crew Definitely sounds like fun. I especially appreciate the long-term story arcs you embedded regarding the "mysterious" plant life as well as the players' emerging mental powers. Nice work. - Vassoom

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? Hmm. Another excellent option! Let me break this down into a few concrete examples so I can guage the effect. (Finding the extremes of the mechanism is the best way I know to assess how effective or possibly unbalancing a rule may be.) In my example, the player needed a 13- to hit with their 3 round Autofire burst and rolled a 7, so the first round hits plus they earn 3 "extras". (Calc: AF Attack Roll succeeded by 13-7=6 points, and 6/2 = 3 "extras".) Example #1: Hit Location is rolled for the initial bullet. Let's say it's a 15: "Legs". The player elects to spend 2 of their 3 "extras" to move that to 13: "Vitals". They could then use their last "extra" to be a 2nd hit with the Hit Location rolled randomly. The 3rd bullet in the burst is considered to have missed. Example #2: Hit Location is rolled for the initial bullet. Let's say it's a 12: "Stomach". They're happy enough with that and decide to use the first "extra" for another hit (bullet #2). They roll the location for the 2nd hit and get 13: "Vitals". Perfect...no need to use an "extra" there...so they still have 2 "extras" left. They use their second "extra" for hit #3. They roll a 10: "Chest". Acceptable, but with only 1 "extra" left, they can't improve on it. Since it's a 3 round burst, they are out of options...but if it were a 5 round AF burst, the remaining "extra" would have allowed a 4th bullet hit. (I would also rule in this case that once they decide to keep a Hit Location and "move on", they can't go back with any left over "extras" and change their earlier decisions, such as possibly changing that first shot from "12: Stomach" to "13: Vitals".) Example #3: Hit Location is rolled for the initial bullet. They roll an 18: "Feet". Even if they burn all 3 "extras", they can't get a decent location out of that one, so they skip it and use "extra" #1 to be another hit. They roll Hit Location for the second bullet and get a 7: "Arms". They use their last two "extras" to move that to 5: "Head". The third round in the Burst is then considered to have missed. Example #4: Hit Location is rolled for the initial bullet. They roll an 8: "Arms". They burn all 3 "extras" and move the location to 5: "Head", with the other two rounds being misses. So in this case they burn 3 bullets with the AF burst, but the end result is exactly as if they had fired a single "Adjustable Hit Location" shot. OK, this seems like a fairly well-balanced trade-off: They can elect to burn additional AF hits in exchange for fewer (but better) Hit Locations, if they so choose. Interesting. This would actually allow the players to effectively convert their multiple-shot Autofire attack into a single "Adjustable Hit Location" shot, depending upon their initial Hit Location roll. Very interesting indeed. Let's see where we stand now with all of the possible ways to adjudicate AHL + AF: Let them use AHL as is. If they roll low, they get multiple hits AND lots of adjusted Hit Locations. End Result: Autofire rules the world. All hail Autofire! Not gonna work. Don't let them use AHL at all. If they roll low and get multiple AF hits, all locations are rolled randomly. End Result: This completely removes the AHL optional rule, and reintroduces pure randomness for AF attacks. Im not keen on that, and my guess is this would also slightly decrease the players' enthusiasm for Autofire, since 1 ideal Hit Location trumps 2 or 3 poor/mediocre ones. Let them use AHL, but only for the first hit. If they roll low, they can move their first location by several points (using my usual AHL rules), but the remaining hits are all random. End Result: They get lots of hits AND a much better chance that at least one is likely to hit a critical spot. It also passes the "realism sniff test", since only the first shot is easily aimed before recoil takes over. Have them roll their first Hit Location randomly, but then let them "walk" each successive hit up or down a point. If they roll low, they get the multiple hits AND can control each subsequent hit's location, guiding them toward a critical spot. End Result: 74% of the time any low AF Attack Roll (made by 6 or more) will guarantee them at least one critical spot. Also, if they roll a good Hit Location initially, the target is utterly toast. This one is interesting, but too powerful IMHO. Basil's "Autofire 'extras' idea", in which they can trade additional shots to adjust rolled Hit Locations. If they roll low, they can have multiple random hits, or fewer "adjusted" hits, or a single "highly adjusted" hit. End Result: Maximum flexibility for AF attacks, which means no real downside for the players. But I suspect a lot of 3 or 5 round "bursts" would end up as one or two hits with ideal Hit Locations with the rest of the rounds missing. But is that a bad thing? So let's see... #1 is simply too powerful. #2 noticably weakens Autofire compared to single shots, which upon further reflection doesn't sit well with me. #3 seems to strike a nice balance between allowing Autofire its inherent advantage of multiple hits without having them all be adjustable. #4 is too powerful. #5 is a very flexible alternative, but it allows for a fairly major change to how Autofire works in that you would be able to trade extra hits for one really good shot. Hmm. Maybe I should create a poll and let people vote. - Vassoom

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? Hmm. That's a very intriguing idea. I'm wondering, however, why any player would ever take Option #1. Let's say they hit with 3 rounds as in my example. With both of your two options, the first location is always just a random roll. So they could get a great location like head or vitals, or a crappy one like foot or hand. So there's no difference between the two for the first round that hits. But by being able to "walk" the subsequent shots up/down the Hit Location table, they immediately have control and can steer the remaining shots away from poor damage locations toward the high damage "goal" targets of Head/Vitals/Stomach. So since the first round is identical for both Options, the only real choice is whether to have control over the subsequent rounds and steer them toward a goal location, or keep it random. I can't imagine any player choosing random. (At least not my players. ) Sure it would suck if their one location roll turned out to be 17-"Feet", but 74% of the time they'll get locations they can reach a "goal" target from with 3 shots. (I.e., only an initial Hit Location roll of 8, 9, or 16-18 will prevent landing at least 1 of 3 rounds on Head/Vitals/Stomach...and since an initial 8 or 9 can still get to "Chest", which is perfectly acceptable damage, 95.4% of the time you guarantee that you can get to either Chest, Head ,Vitals, or Stomach.) And then when you also consider the fact that they don't have to adjust once they reach (or if they initially roll) a good location, Option #2 would also give you the benefit of multiple rounds on critical spots when they roll either a good location initially or a one-off. An interesting idea, though. Very "out of the box". I like that. - Vassoom

Re: Clever Prop Idea Edsel, this is excellent! As a HUGE fan on props in the game, I can truly appreciate this one. Outstanding! (Repped!) I may have to lift this idea of yours for my game... - Vassoom

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? True, but it also just occurred to me that our use of the Adjustable Hit Locations optional rule makes "Penalty Skill Levels vs Hit Location modifiers" much less attractive to players. Whereas if I remove it for Autofire attacks, it might create a small incentive for the players to consider purchasing Targeting Skill Levels, and thus try to become that "truly GREAT marksman". BTW, I've fired several weapons on full auto thanks to the Las Vegas Gun Range and Firearm Center, including a 9mm Uzi, a .45ACP "Tommy gun", a 9mm H&K MP5, and a MAC-10. I don't wanna derail this thread into a gun bunny discussion, but I have to say, full auto is indeed tough! Heck, even with just short bursts it was impossible for me to land tight groups...lots of first shots on target and then up and right with the rest. But I guess that's just another reason why I'm not a marksman. So back on topic, I think I'm down to either completely excluding Adjustable Hit Locations from Autofire attacks, or only allowing the first shot to be adjusted. Hmmm... - Vassoom

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? A very good point. Fortunately, I keep a very tight rein on CVs and Skill Levels, and all of my players know that it is done to ensure balance in the game. But there are three things I really like about the Adjustable Hit Locations: It rewards the good shot. There is nothing more disheartening for the players than rolling a 6 on your Attack Roll and doing an impressive 10 BODY, but having your "killer" shot strike a foot. It heightens the drama of fights, and allows the player to be more "heroic". If they roll a great Attack Roll, they can suddenly pull off that devastating and "cinematic worthy" shot when things are looking tense. It works very well with the use of Heroic Action Points (some of which I borrowed liberally from a description of your system, Neil...and I must say, I am very pleased with the results. ), allowing the Black chip "drop a die" attack option to not only guarantee a hit but also help guarantee a satisfying high damage shot. This ensures that the use of their HAP chip is indeed highly likely to result in a more "heroic" action and be a worthwhile expenditure for their valuable HAP chip.

Re: Adjustable Hit Locations + Autofire? I think the latter option would actually be even more devastating, since if more than 1 Autofire round hits, then by default that first round can be adjusted a lot, so you definitely don't want to allow all of the rounds to use that location. As a for instance, in my example the player rolled a 7 and all 3 rounds hit, with the first shot adjustable by +/- 3 since they made the Attack Roll by 6. Having +/- 3 is pretty powerful on the Hit Location chart. An 8 or less can be dropped to 5 and become a head shot, a 9 can be moved up the chart to Stomach (12) for x4 STUN, and anything else but a 17 or 18 can be changed to Vitals. So in this example, I certainly wouldn't want all 3 rounds to hit the one location they can adjust, because it would likely be 3 rounds to either the Head, Stomach, or Vitals! Your first option is definitely intriguing...allowing them to only adjust the "first" shot that hits would guarantee at least one preferred Hit Location, with the rest being random. However, that still seems to reward a good Autofire Attack Roll twice as much as a regular Attack, since the single good Attack Roll already "benefits" them with more than one hit. I'm definitely trying to encourage lots of shots in the air to heighten the drama of combat, but my gut tells me that allowing Adjustable Hit Locations with AF would mean Autofire would rule the world. And for reasons of verisimilitude (and I strive for a high level of realism in my game), I would think AF would, by definition, be less accurate than single shots. Hmmm. It's a delicate balance... - Vassoom

I am currently running a Dark Champions "Cyberpunk" flavor game, and one of the optional rules that I am using is Adjustable Hit Locations (Dark Champions, p. 185). Since my game is a Hero level campaign (75 pt characters to start with), I adjusted the power curve of this optional rule downward by only granting +/- 1 to the Hit Location chart for every 2 points by which they make their Attack Rolls, rather than +/- 1 per 1 point. This makes it a little more challenging to get that critical "head shot" or "vitals" shot, which I feel is more appropriate for this power level, but still rewards the players with a much more desirable Hit Location when needed on a "good shot". The overall effect is excellent, and I am quite happy with the results. However, one of the team's members has recently acquired an Autofire-capable machine pistol as loot, which has raised an interesting dilemma. Here's my question: Since Autofire attacks already reward a very successful attack roll by allowing multiple hits for the one Attack Roll, how should Adjustable Hit Locations be used for Autofire attacks? Example: An OCV 7 player fires a burst of 3 rounds at a DCV 5 thug. They need a 13- to hit. They roll a 7. This means all 3 rounds strike the target. But if Adjustable Hit Locations were also applied, then they would be able to move the first shot (7) by +/- 3, the second shot (9) by +/- 2, and the last shot (11) by +/- 1 on the Hit Location chart. So in effect, the single fortunate low roll is even more beneficial: more shots hit and they will hit more ideal locations. Compare this to a Rapid Fire attack in which the player squeezes off 3 rounds at the target. They need to roll 3 Attack Rolls, so the likelihood of being able to adjust more than one "hit" on the Hit Location table is much lower. Whereas if the Autofire attack hits with more than 1 round, it automatically means they get to adjust hit locations at least n-1 times, where n is the number of hits...and with a single very good Attack Roll, they get to adjust them all. In summary, it appears to me that allowing Adjustable Hit Locations with Autofire can create a truly devastating attack with one single low Attack Roll. Have any GMs out there used this combination? Should I simply omit the bonus of Adjustable Hit Locations for Autofire attacks? Or should I decrease the power curve for Adj. Hit Loc. even more for Autofire attacks by making it +/- 1 per 3 points on the Attack Roll (or something similar)? Thoughts? - Vassoom