Wardsman

Yep. If you look back into his first appearances in the early 60s, some of his spells invoked Dormammu. I think when the Vishanti first revealed themselves to him he knew who they were (it was in response to his plea for aid against Shuma-Gorath), but he later encountered Agamotto in caterpillar form within his own Orb and had no idea what he was dealing with.

They may have not known Dormammu was a bad guy then.

My reckoning is when he first met the vishanti he didn't who they were. But I could be wrong.

But to the OP it is your world, make some decisions.

What is Magic? How many types and sources? Why does it exist? Why do some entities lend their powers? What are their agendas?

What are the drawbacks and costs of using magic?

Magic should never be just another superpower! That destroys its flavour.

I am building a heroic level system urban fantasy where would be mages must gather the power into receptacle (end batteries) then cast from that.

The original DC heroes(Mayfair)  differentiated people like Constine from Zantana by stating normals like Constantine need to take AP's in time to cast equal to the AP's in effect they were trying to use. As opposed to super mages who didn't.

Maybe Super mages have to cast all their stuff in a long ritual (Turn or more) and hang their spells  with delayed effect so it only looks easy. Release would be 1/2 phase action with full DCV. So they have cache of spells to use but to renew takes a little time out of combat.

Maybe mages are the only ones who can do certain effects in your world, mind effects or size changes for example.

Consider unusual looks vs mystic sense, hunteds and watched, , Susceptibilities and vulnerabilities for mages.

In my Urban Fantasy Mages must take susceptibilities that act like bans and taboos that fit their tradition.

Example a Voudon can be stopped by a line of red brick dust which acts like a arcane defense force wall to him.

Hermetics and Wiccans it would be a line of Sea Salt.

Witches take damage if put a nail in their foot prints.

Things like that.

Yeah, the Circle of the Scarlet Moon is a good example of what I called "vending machine magic" above: anyone with access to the right grimoires, etc can with enough study and practice learn basic ritual magic. While membership does seem to run in the family, that seems more about inheritance and only trusting family, rather than a specific talent that's passed down through certain bloodlines, which seems more the case with the Sylvestris and Vandaleurs.

This gets to my theory about Pacters and Clerics.

I suspect priests who get their powers bestowed started out as pacters(those who make pacts with supernatural beings).

I suspect a lot of those patrons wrote grimoires that give power to those who normally don't. So they have the skill and power to pull them back to Earth after being banished.

You might call this Alchemy: the concept of scientifically transmuting matter and summoning the information that created the universe. Alchemy is the precursor of chemistry and atomic physics. But has a lot of esoteric concepts that did not prove true or at least by now can not be verified. Alchemists in most science fantasy backgrounds are seen as some kind of hybrid of magician and scientist. Normals treat them as mages, mages treat them as non-inducted into the esoteric and occult secrets.

 

 

Newton actually experimented with alchemy. His notes indicated there was some real chemistry hidden in it.

That's the system I've always used as well. Personal costs full END, Universal costs 1/2 END, and Dimensional costs 0 END. Limitations like Gestures and Incantations, especially at the higher levels as the mages entreat on powerful entities.

Though I think if you borrow power from a supernatural patron you should need a pact or bargain with it.

Maybe pursue its goals and agenda. And you powers may be tied to its approval of your actions.

I suspect Clerics started as pacters.

Wardsman, on 15 Nov 2016 - 7:39 PM, said:

Why would not Druid be a subset of Arcane?

 

The reason I would separate them would be their source. Arcane is dimensional magic, while Druidic is nature-based. In effect, both can do much the same things, although things like summoning will call different creatures. It does not say anything about the END cost, nor how easy or hard the spell is to cast. Casting through the dimensions would take as much effort and control as casting nature spells.

Is Arcane dimensional? Maybe,  maybe not

This is a question I pondered when I started converting D&D Characters. I really could not come up with a good reason for druids to be clerics at all. I could easily see them as arcane mages focusing on natural forces.

But then again most of my healers are hedge mages and witches anyway. 

I like the Marvel Magical Definitions.

 

Personal: The ability to tap into personal energys and will power to warp reality to cause certain effects.

 

Universal: Uses loopholes in the rules of reality to cause certain effects.

 

Dimensional: Asking beings of power for assistance. Warning: they will come and collect.

Parallels Role Master and to a lesser extent D&D.

• Mental lists/Psionics are fueled by the caster and are not limited to mental effects if you pay attention.
• Essence Lists/ Arcane draw upon ambient magical energies and are affected by the level of those energies. Though D&D usually doesn't get into the mechanics often
• Channeling/  Divine, you borrowing or are granted power by a supernatural being

The difference between Marvel's dimensional and standard divine is it seems to take awhile for the eponymous beings invoked in dimensional magic to notice you. But they eventually do. And you don't seem to need to need their permission unlike divine unless they actively block you.

What is even more interesting is that Dr. Strange didn't recognize his patrons when he first met them. And they were not at first necessarily on his side. Though one could argue they were playing with him or testing him.

 

Remember, "pure" does not necessarily mean "good".

That reminded me the punchline of this episode of Young Justice.

The Sword required the "Pure of Heart".

"The legend said the heart must be pure, not pure good"

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gg9nn

uk hero project types:

 

 

Ritual a catch all term for the various traditions of what most people would describe as magic that have developed from the older shamanic traditions. the words phrases motions chanting and prepared ritual spaces are designed to allow the caster to commune with beings of the higher or lower realms and then have them use their power to perform a working. the ability and power of Ritual magic has increased but slowly due to the secrecy and active obfuscation of what actually works to prevent rival factions from using one groups rituals against them.

 

 

Enochian the first of the modern magical schools devised by John Dee the royal Physician for queen elizabeth working with a talented psychic called  Edward Kelley who helped him in his research using the rigorous approach of a Mathematician his work with Kelley created the Enochian language supposedly the language of the Angels but actually a very pure system for accessing the higher and lower planes unlike ritual magic the Enochian language was codified and extraneous ritual and trappings where mostly removed.

Enochian is a ceremonial magick style and IS A RITUAL Style.

I would argue Ritual is just a technique that could be used by almost any style

From a 5th edition point view this is represented by Extra time, Acting in concert /or the Ritual limitation, Window of Opportunity limitation, Focus with prep, Incantation(constant) , etc.

Hey all. In my campaign I am classifying magic in my campaign in different classes. All magic will come from one of these areas. It won't have much of an impact overall but it will require players to specify where their magic is drawn from.

 

Right now I have:

 

Arcane which I am treating as an elemental force (think traditional wizards)

 

Natural which is another elemental force (think druids)

 

Divine which is basically granted by higher beings.

 

Infernal which is granted by not quite so higher beings if you catch my drift.

 

Psionic which is accessed thru meditation and harnessing the subconscious.

 

 

Another type is one that I don't know quite how to classify yet. Its those who can access magic via methods not belonging to the other five. Like my groups clockwork gadgeteer who can open gates (summoning) with his gadgets. He can manipulate magical forces with his clockwork toys by tinkering with time and mathematics and even sometimes chemistry. The followers of the other four disciplines don't always get along (especially the divine/infernal types) but they all have one thing in common: they all view this guy as an interloper at best and an affront to their craft who needs put in his place at worse.

 

As always input is welcome. Thanks.

Why would not Druid be a subset of Arcane?

I also suggest you look at the notes on the inventor skill in Ultimate Skill.

Steal some the ideas on spell research and use them for this.

Combine my idea with Wombles. VPP only for Create Effect effects. 

Requires engineering or inventor rolls.

Hay i am currently building a starship and came up with the ide of making some form of a 3d printer to help the group out to be able to build and customize wepons and armour that thay coud use druing the mision or by the ships crew any ide if that is posibel to make in heros

Use the Create Effect power.

It is something that has been kicking around FH since its first edition. I'm told 6th edition has a version. The latest I have is the Alternate Enchanted Item Creation Rules from 5th edition FH on page 279, second column. They characterize it as a version of UOO with Differing Modifier rules. But it is the old Create Effect.

You take an existing effect with its advantages and limitations use that as the base effect for Create effect which has its own advantages and limitations.

It could be used to model nano seeds or nano forges. Green Lantern using his ring to build a spare ring. Etc.

I think works quite well. Nothing stopping you having a Create Base, Create Automaton, or Create Vehicle.

If you can figure how stat a planet as a base, then Create Planet Size Base is a Terraformer.

Define "Pure Soul"

My question would be "why Traveller"? I'm assuming you're using Hero for the game system, since you're asking here. For me, though, setting aside the system, the implications of Traveller's J-Drive, both in how they affect the day to day lives of the characters and the consequences of wider stellapolitics are central to the setting, so if it's the setting you're keen on, you just "have" to choose J-drive over wormholes, unless the same constraints apply to wormholes as do to J-Drive, at which point it's just terminology... So, if your answer to "Why Traveller?

 

Other elements of transhumanism fit more readily into the milieu than a different way of getting about the "terrain".

Very good point. It also begs what makes traveller what is too you.

One thing I never got about Traveller is how you could misjunp farther than you normally move.I remember a tournament where we misjumped our way through the scenario.

Traveller at the basic level looks like baselines or NEBs of the fringe of Architect territory.

It also brings how to model higher sophic beings in Hero. People who can predict your reactions like you can predict a child's.

It It occurs to me I might need speedzone rules for those faster thinking Transapients..

"Mail" as in Play-By-Mail, aka Play-by-Email.

Correct. Though there was a time we used snail mail .

http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-intro

What is "Orion's Arm" you might ask? That is an excellent question, and in a nutshell here is your answer:

Orion's Arm is:

• The next step in the evolution of science-fiction
• A collective hard science fiction world building endeavor
• A space opera
• A communal background for science fiction stories
• A universe ready to be brought to life through illustration
• A forum for cutting edge science
• A roleplaying setting
• A transhumanist projection of what the future might look like
• A bunch of semi-sane sentients having fun together

Why are we here? The answer to that question can be found in our Statement of Purpose:

Traveller is a pretty poor match with the Culture.

 

The Orion's Arm link left me with a vague sense of "why bother?"

Respectfully disagree. Orion's Arm is one the richests setting out there. But it takes a while to digest.

Though I not a fan of the Current landing page.

Think Orion's Arm or the Culture sprinkled into traveller. Has anyone done this?

First decision whether to allow Jump and Wormholes or just pick one FTL tech.

Because of licensing restrictions imposed separately by both FarFuture Enterprises and DOJ, Inc., Traveller HERO requires that you have a set of core rules for Traveller (any version) and for HERO (5th edition). There are data files for Hero Designer available as part of this project; these require HERO Designer version 3 to use.

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/convert/travhero.html

So which traveller rules should I pick up?

I may or may not have the originals still.

I've actually found some success at running games via Google Docs and Google Groups. A lot of it depends on your players and how often they can post. If they're pretty steady in their schedule, there's not much need for modification. 

Thanx for suggestion.

I can throw up a server no problem. 

It is the PBP style that I need work with.

Yes, I do not really understand how this works, too.

 

But great you brought it up. I'm just building CATWOMAN for my Justice League Campaign. And many sources imply she has unbelievable luck.

 

So I could buy Jumping, Requires A Roll: Luck - for those daring escapes and saves from falling to death.

 

+5 with Dodge, Escape and Dive vor Cover, Requires A Roll: Luck - for those moves when she gets away from area attacks that even hit the BATMAN.

Regeneration, Requires A Roll: Luck - for those Nine Lives.

 

 

Anyone ever tried this rule?

 

Supers I get.  Having power that only activates if you  make a required luck roll I understand in a Superhero context

Magic in heroic level I don't. It strikes me more like a magical power than a spell.

And no I don't have any 6th edition books.

What adjustments need to be made?

I hear Initiative is a hang up on most PBMs.

I figure that can be handled by assuming hold actions by people late in posting.

Been thinking on this some more.

I'm back and forth on Aura. Part of me likes the idea that just because you are strong willed or smart doesn't automatically give you magical strength.

But Harn calculates its magic skill base as (Aura +Aura+ Int)/3 [or in other versions Stats or Skills appropriate to convocations or College, IE Strength for Metal element]

 

I think a simplified way of doing yet this while keeping some of the mechanics from Harn is to base Power Skill Shek-Pvar on Aura which is a new primary stat X1.  But allow each convocation to have unique complimentary skill related to convocation.

When building a Heroic-level character who has magic items (even something as humble as a sword with an extra OCV level or one extra Damage Class built into it), should it be classified as Equipment (using the Equipment Allowance for Heroic characters) or purchased as a Power with character points?

 

I'm inclined to view it as Equipment, but I wondered how others treated it.

Can he lose the equipment? 

I shy away from making them pay points for things they can lose permanently.

I know there is a GM screen in the downloads area, but it is more geared towards Champions and is oriented as landscape. I'm wondering if anyone has produced a portrait-oriented GM screen specifically suited for Fantasy hero?

 

Or, perhaps you can help me learn how to begin to extract tables and things from the .pdf and create my own screen?

 

All advice is much appreciated,

brian

Here is a link with some stuff I found including a nifty color coded hit locations chart.

The GM screen isn't fantasy per se but it is quite usable.

http://mojobob.com/roleplay/herosystem.html

My 2 pence worth.

As a player I like a setting where the GM has done the work and set up hooks that I can hang my character on.

As a GM, especially in Hero with its Disads , Limitations, or complications, I expect something similar from my players as a GM.

Now it may take a little negotiation to tweak those Disads and Limitations so they fit my world.

Maybe I'm odd but I come from a D&D and RQ crowd that ran Central Casting then adjusted the results to our game system and setting.

I'm thinking of using the Harn Master rolls in a similar fashion for my next FH game. 

They still pay for everything and can adjust things. But use the rolls to start the the design juices flowing so to speak.