Christopher R Taylor

Yes, there has always been a language that the criminal and lower classes used to talk. Part slang, part trade language, and part "conceal what we're saying from the filth." The Barbary Coast (old time San Francisco) even had one.

I like the idea of saving throws against certain concepts. Stuff that you can resist through enough willpower or magical ability, or just being agile. A spell that isn't possible to dodge, but through force of will prevent taking effect

Well a lot of stuff is denser than depleted uranium, but it gets ridiculously expensive.

Why don't zombies eat each other?

We don't and I don't bother. I think statting anything really small and weak out is sort of silly, and only do so for very unusual or supernatural things.

The reason kitty has 8 DCV is the shrinking rules are extremely questionable in Hero. The rule of +2 DCV for half size is excessive and has always bothered me. It makes competitive target shooting and fighting anything small basically impossible. Shoot a quarter sized target at 150 yards, sniper boy. After 1800 rounds, he gets lucky and rolls a 3.

The reason I'm going to release a two part Players/GM book for Jolrhos Fantasy Hero is less about money or steady release, but about approach. The Player's book has information about building characters, basic rules and play, and simple information about the world. The intro to Fantasy Hero, in this campaign setting: 101 The GM book is about the world more in depth, running games, tips on combat and campaigning, scenario concepts, using the system, etc. The advanced stuff, rules and info the players don't need to know. I'm probably going to create a set of characters to kickstart play as well. So the two-book concept actually makes a lot of sense, particularly for a fantasy setting.

I see it more as how significant the chance is, not how common or easy to obtain it is. Transform is based not on defenses but on the complexity of the change. Making a peach taste like a pear: cosmetic. Making a peach into a pear: minor. Making a peach able to explode when you pull the stem off and throw it: Major. Making a peach into a squirrel: Total.

i would require players to use a transform (minor) to consecrate items, but NPCs should be able to just bless things.

Right, the test is bad because it starting out with bad data. A cat is nothing like that build, so of course it ends up a mess. Its like the 9 foot rattlesnakes with 40m movement in Western Hero; they're built poorly so you get poor results.

Sure, but I do agree we need a simple, fun interface with Hero. Allegedly we're working on that, but i've seen zero output from anyone except myself and BigDamnHero

So... like real life.

I think this is why 5 guys does so well. You could put their entire menu on a napkin. However, if you go to a really high end restaurant, the menu can sometimes be quite large, and you can ask the chef to make anything, and they can do it. So if you want fast food gaming, sure you can get that. But if you want quality gaming that lets you do what you want? Different story.

Sure,but most keep near or at 10 INT and EGO, and many 10 STR if they are not using strength for attack. So it varies. I've built a lot of characters with lower than 10 in some stats, to represent being handicapped or weak or just a bit slow thinking.

I would with some characters, but not with most. Some concepts are more simple than others, have less of a tortured background or strange weaknesses than others. But in my experience as a player and GM, the truth is only a few ever come up in play anyway.

Cats should have a 1d6 paw attack, normal. You might bleed if they claw you, but that's not really body damage because its so trivial. A normal human being is never going to be killed by 20 cat scratches. Believe me, I know. That's the problem with this entire test, the build of the cat, not the rules.

Yeah there was a long time between 4th and 5th, in fact Hero looked dead as a company, then they put out a competitor to Champions that enraged fans. It looked like Hero Games was over with. And Steve Long stepped in and took up the reins.

The human puts out an empty box. The cat jumps in. Seriously though, a cat doesn't do 1 body killing. If a cat scratches you 10 times you will not subsequently bleed to death in a matter of seconds.

Sure, they spend points to rise above the average... hero. The stats are a base level, this is what heroes start at and buy up from to show their distinction from others. Bob has 17 Dex, he's much faster than the average heroic type. Consider straight 10's to be an athletic type with no specialization who has a quick mind and charisma. That's your baseline for building up from. As for 10 being a "round number" that's irrelevant, the reason 10 has a given meaning is the strength chart. That's where the basis of the discussion comes from, if 10 strength meant "able to with great effort lift 100 tons over your head" then people would say average folks have, I dunno, a 1 strength.

Don't forget his foot stomp technique! Increased stun KA, plus a running drain maybe. The beast seemed to regenerate pretty fast too, but had his limits.

But... you're already aiming a rifle at the target...

Well, there's a difference between "average person" and "average hero" in my book. I am fine with 10's across the board for a hero, even if its a bit much for Joe Average.

I think once I get the Jolrhos project done, all the books out, I'm going to do a simpler fantasy hero campaign setting with a more humble, low magic approach. The kind where superstition works (you really do get bad luck if you spill salt, unless you throw some over your shoulder), where monsters are more simple than D&D, and where people are the main enemy. So dragons exist but they are alligator sized and dumb, not building sized and genius. Where goblins sneak around at night and steal children and alternate races are rare and frightening. The idea appeals to me a lot, and could focus more on political conflicts, wars, and small kingdoms rather than large established long histories. The kind of campaign that's more like Conan than Lord of the Rings. I think there's significant interest out there for that kind of thing.

Has anyone ever statted out the main characters from Kung Fu Hustle? Most of them are just martial artists with a few interesting attacks, that's all that would have to be listed, like the Lion's Roar But those two musicians and the Beast, now they would be interesting to build.

Dragonscale Dragons have a coating of strong, horn-like scales that is very durable and light. Not made from bone, Dragonscales are hard without being brittle. Dragonscale has a base PD of 9 and ED of 12. Working Dragonscale takes a -5 penalty. Armor made from this material has 50% resistant ED damage reduction of the elemental type the Dragon is (or the DEF x 3 in Power Defense). Dragonscale enchants easily, matching 1/5 BOD of the material made in real points of magic. Weapons can be made from Dragonscale such as maces or axes, or even crude swords. Such weapons have triple defense against the type of elemental attack the Dragon was of originally (or DEF x3 in Power Defense) and enchant easily, matching* 1 point per 4 weapon’s Body. *MATCHING POINTS: When an enchanted material has “Matching points” this means that it has free character points inherent in the material that someone enchanting the item it is made from can tap into. For every point the enchanter spends for a permanent magic on the item, the enchanted material will “match” that with a free point up to its maximum total. Thus, a sword made from Dragonbone will grant up to 1/3rd of its total Body in real points, each point added once the enchanter has spent one point.