JamesG

Re: Champions Villains 3: Solo Villains Kickstarter is LIVE I've been a forum member so long I have no recollection about consent or not. But my definition of spam is different than yours (or perhaps my tolerance of it is higher). To me spam is unsolicited email from an entity I have no relation to. As a member of the Hero Games forums I think it is safe to assume I have some interest in Hero Games products so I would not think twice about getting an email from them from time to time. Now if if they started sending something every week and I had not signed up for a weekly newsletter I can see that as getting spam-like. YMMV of course.

Re: Champions Villains 3: Solo Villains Kickstarter is LIVE I would suggest an email to everyone who purchased the PDF letting them know about the discount tier they are entitled to and a more general email to everyone with a Hero Games forum account letting them know about the Kickstarter.

Re: Champions Villains 3: Solo Villains Kickstarter is LIVE Personally I found the Kickstarter page clear enough, but I'm not a good judge since I knew what this Kickstarter was beforehand. I think the "problem" those CO posters are seeing is they were confused as to whether this was new content or merely a publication of something they already had (the PDF). Once it was made clear what the Kickstarter was for, I was sure to point out that there is a reward tier for buyers of the PDF to get the book at a discount.

Re: Help Me Convert from Silver ATs to Gold Freeform Goodness I think it is most likely d) Not enough CO players frequent this forum. I'm not enough of a build guru to really be able to comment on the builds themselves. Whenever I make a new character, I heavily use the CO forums for tips, WillBlack's guide is great though it may become out of date soon: http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=110987 Since they didn't change a lot of powers with On Alert, there is still useful info in the guide, though once they start the power set reviews again it may fall out date quickly. There are already some great guides on the forums for the new way Stats work and the Specialization Trees. http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=146818 http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=145720 http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=145568 I can answer your question on Enrage - it is not an Active Offense, it is a stacking buff. To get the most out of it you need powers that stack it. You have the Defiance passive, Roomsweeper, and Thunderclap which is a good start. This wiki page should help find more ways to stack it, I don't think its info is overly dated yet: http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Defiant/Enraged PS - I LOVE the golden age looks of Mister Midnight, Citizen Arcane, and Liberty Star! PPS - I don't think you can use the offensive Melee role with a Defensive passive like Defiance. You can either be in Tank role or the Hybrid/Balanced role.

Re: Star Hero? I disagree to a point. Many of the Hero genre books have large sections that are not rules specific, but rather more general advice and thoughts on running games in that genre. And even some of the rules specific stuff could be ported to another system. I'm not as familiar with the Star Hero book to say how much is general and how much is Hero specific but maybe someone who is can offer that. If you want to actually use the Hero system to run a Sci-Fi RPG, then yes you will need the core rules for sure. The other books mentioned are useful but not required. But if you just enjoy SFRPG in general then you might find Star Hero a good read just on its own.

Not sure why there isn't a sticky for this posted already, but here is the Kickstarter URL: Full color and hardcover. $50 for the book. (or $35 for the book, if you previously bought the PDF from the HERO store.) $60 for book + PDF $70 for book + PDF + Hero Designer Character Pack Additional tiers for bundling in copies of Villains 1 and 2, signed/numbered copies, etc. Let's get this thing funded!

Re: Champions Villains, Volume 3: Solo Villains The Kickstarter is up! Full color hardcover! $50 if all you want is the book.

Re: Champions Villains, Volume 3: Solo Villains I wonder if it makes sense to do a Kickstarter with two tiers. As in if they get $X they publish in black and white and if they get $X+Y they publish in color. That would allow us as fans to see what the cost differential is between color and b&w. I guess one issue with that is if there are people who would pledge for color, but don't want the book at all if its only going to be b&w...

Re: Horror Hero

Re: Atari unloading Cryptic Studios You have not had to play everything to level in quite some time. I skipped big junks of Canada after the upper 20s, all of Lemuria other than the Crisis, and left Monster Isle for Vibora Bay in the upper-mid 30s. And still I hit level 40 before finishing all of the V. Bay missions. Also this character didn't play through the Adventure Packs and only did moderate amounts of PvP so there wasn't a lot of XP gain via those routes either. I wouldn't mind seeing more alternate leveling paths, but to say that there isn't more than enough content to easily reach the level cap isn't being accurate.

Re: Changing the Hero system I’m responding/reacting to multiple posts here. As usual Hugh Neilson has stated my thoughts more eloquently than I could, both when it comes to why “nerfing” KAs in a typical Supers game is a good thing, and in elaborating on why the increased volatility of KAs can be useful against Defenses on the high side. (In his post #14 in this thread). Eh, I’m not a big fan on hard caps like this. It tends to lead to cookie cutter characters with everyone buying up to the cap. Our group has had more success using the ER System described in an early issue of Digital Hero, which keeps characters more or less combat-balanced while allowing for a wide variety of Speeds, CVs, and Defenses. To get back on topic of this thread, here is a change our group made in our 5E Champions game in order to rein in the stun lotto of KAs. If a KA does not do any Body damage to a target, halve the Stun damage it does after Defenses are applied. This has worked out pretty well in reducing the “one shot KO” chances of KAs vs. high defense targets such as bricks, and also means that bricks can all but ignore small arms fire. Though I’m thinking of proposing we adopt the 6E rule of a 1d3 stun multiplier instead, even though we are not planning a general switch to 6E. Seems that rule is simpler than the one we use and should have similar impact on the game. But I need to crunch some numbers first to see for sure.

Re: Changing the Hero system

Re: 10 pt CSL Something bothered me about this analysis when I read it yesterday, but it took some thought and research overnight to really put it together. There are actually two issues I have with it. First, I’m not sure Lockout is the correct Limitation here. If I buy a “power” that grants +1 OCV and +1 DCV but limit it so that only one of the two can be used at a time, I’ve just limited it to half of its unlimited usefulness. Limited Power: Power loses about half of its effectiveness is a -1 limitation. If we add to the “power” +DC but keep the “only one of OCV, DCV, or DC at a time” Limitation, the power has now lost two-thirds of its unlimited usefulness. Limited Power: Power loses about two-thirds of its effectiveness is a -1 1/2 limitation. But for the sake of argument let’s assume Lockout is indeed the right Limitation to use. This brings me to my second issue; the value of Lockout is -1/2, not -1/4. When you plug the correct value of Lockout into the above math, the result is: +1 OCV Lockout (3pts) +1 DCV Lockout (3pts) +1/2 DC Lockout (2pts) =8 points Once the correct value of Lockout is applied to your own analysis it shows the old 5e cost for all-combat CSLs on the money and the 6e cost is indeed inflated.

Re: 10 pt CSL You are not missing anything; All-Combat CSLs are overpriced in 6e. Hugh very eloquently demonstrates this in the post right above mine. I was really hoping 6e would finally make buying the high level CSLs worth it, from a point efficiency standpoint, when they decoupled CV from DEX. If they had not changed the cost of CSLs from 5e I think they would have gotten it right. (8 points would still maybe be a little too high for All-Combat, but it would be close enough not to quibble about). But when they upped the price of CSLs in 6e, they assured that anything higher than the 3 point CSLs are inefficient purchases when compared to the raw stats. Just like in 5e, except in 5e the raw stat was DEX while in 6e it is OCV/DCV.

Re: Impact of Figured Characteristics First off, I'd like to say I really like the way you think Hugh. Your thoughts in this thread make really, really, wish your ideas had more influence when 6th Ed was being developed. The problem with the new model is it has just shifted the problem somewhat. Now it is raw OCV/DCV, instead of DEX, that is way more efficient than CSLs. I'm talking about the higher level CSLs here. As in the old system, low level CSLs (3 points or less) can be efficient. But look at the all combat CSL which costs 10 points now. So for 10 points you can have +1 OCV OR +1 DCV, switching between the two as needed on your phases. Alternatively you can spend that 10 points to have +1 OCV AND +1 DCV at the same time, all the time. Granted, the CSL grants you other benefits that can be chosen instead of CV such as bouncing attacks, adding DC, adding to ECV, etc. But by the same token the raw OCV/DCV has the benefit of being on all the time; you don't need wait for your phase to allocate them. If you are surprised, or merely act on a lower DEX than your attacker on segment 12, your raw CV is active where your CSLs are not. I'm not really sure why they changed the cost of CSLs. The old cost model for H2H or Ranged CSLs at 5 points seems like it's balanced with raw CV at 5 points a point. 8 points for "all combat" might still be a bit high (7 may be better). But they actually raised the CSL costs keeping CSLs as the weak sister when compared to the raw CV stats.

Re: Impact of Figured Characteristics

Re: Question about Combat skill levels and damage

Hi again, Since the Brace maneuver is zero phase, it’s only real drawback is places the character using it at ½ DCV. But some attacks by there nature, already place the character at ½ DCV. Examples include firing a Bow or Sling in Fantasy Hero games. And non-genre specific, any attack power bought with the ½ DCV version of Concentration. Can such attacks use the Brace maneuver? It seems to me that such attacks are already requiring the attacker to “steady themselves” just to make the base attack, so they shouldn’t get the additional Brace bonus. Plus from a game balance standpoint, if such attacks are eligible to Brace, there is no reason for the attacker NOT to always do so, as there is no counterbalancing drawback. Thanks.

Hi, I was looking at this old question: https://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20597 In it you said a character cannot reload weapons and maintain their Set bonus. But what about if the character makes a Fast Draw roll such that the reloading action becomes a zero phase action? For instance, can a character maintian their Set bonus while they load a Bow, or chamber a round in bolt-action rifle or pump action shotgun, provided they make a Fast Draw roll? And if they fail the Fast Draw roll the Set bonus is lost. Thanks.

UMA and FH describe the Interpose maneuver by which a character can protect another character or block a doorway/window. Does it take any time to “declare” an Interpose? I can think of three possibilities. A) Declaring an Interpose is ½ phase Attack Action. But if another character “violates” the Interpose, the Interposer can immediately attack/block the violator. Declaring an Interpose is a zero phase action. But if an Interpose is declared at the end of a Full Phase action (say after a Full Move to get in position) the character can not attack anyone who violates the Interpose until they get their next phase (though they could Abort to Block the violator per the normal Aborting rules). C) Declaring an Interpose is a zero phase action. If anyone violates the Interpose the Interposer can attack the violator immediately whether they have a Held Action or not. (I tend to doubt this is the correct option since it can lead to “extra” actions and makes Interpose pretty powerful). Are any of these three options correct? Or is the answer something else entirely I have not thought of? (A distinct possibility in this case). Thanks.

Hi, This is in reference to your answer here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35189 If I am reading it right you are saying the entire first paragraph on 5ER page 408 is invalid. That paragraph says that in Heroic Games weapons with Advantages add damage at the "standard" rate of +1 DC per +5 STR. But I checked for any errata for page 408 and did not find any: http://www.herogames.com/errata.htm?bookTitle=HERO+System+5th+Edition%2C+Revised&page=408&keywords=&dateString= Am I misreading your prior answer, or am I misreading the paragraph in question on page 408, or is it just an oversight that this has not made the errata DB yet? Thanks.

Re: Why would I put Fast Draw on a superheroic character?

When it comes to determining who goes first, 5ER notes that Fast Draw can be used instead of Dex in the Dex vs. Dex contest when “two characters simultaneously use Held Actions”. What about the case when one character is using a held action to ‘interrupt’ a character trying to act on his normal Dex? For instance, say CharA has Dex 20 and CharB has Dex 15. CharA hold his action when Dex 20 comes up. Later in the segment when Dex 15 comes up, CharB says he is going to shoot at CharA. At this point CharA says he’s going to use his held action to try and shoot CharB first. Normally they would do a Dex-vs-Dex contest to see who gets to shoot first. If either CharA or CharB have Fast Draw, could they use it instead of Dex in the contest in this situation? Thanks.

Re: Why would I put Fast Draw on a superheroic character? Everything in that quote is factually correct. Please see my post a couple up that contains links to Steve Long saying basically the exact same thing. Of course any GM is free to house rule that OAFs must be readied if that makes more sense to them, but that is NOT the by the book rule.

Re: Why would I put Fast Draw on a superheroic character? lapsedgamer is correct, the general rule is that powers bought with character points, even powers with the OAF Limitation and with a special effect of "weapon", do NOT not take a half phase to be drawn/readied, unless the character puts an additional Extra Time or Real Weapon Limitation on it. See here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15887 and here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50075 GMs are of course free to house rule it differently, and I myself favor a house rule that OAFs must be drawn. But lapsedgamer's interpretation of the default rules is the correct one.