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Steve Long

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Everything posted by Steve Long

  1. Sorry about the delays, folks. Partly it relates to some health matters and other real life causes for delay, partly it relates to me being lazy, partly it relates to what Hugh pointed out -- since I don't work full time for Hero/DOJ anymore, sometimes other things ambush me and take priority. But I'm working out some things, and Jason and I have figured out an arrangement that will give me the ability to answer rules questions on a regular basis. First I will have to clear out the backlog and delete all responses from other people, but that's what I get for taking so long.
  2. Dan, please turn that functionality off if you haven't already. I apologize for my delay in responding to Rules questions, but it couldn't be helped and I'm ready to get back to it. Once you change the board to "only I can answer," I will delete all answers posted by others and leave only my own, official, responses to the original questions. Thanx! And thanx to those who stepped in to try to help. It wasn't necessary, but as always, I deeply appreciate the enthusiasm and helpfulness of Hero fans!
  3. Hopefully there will be lots of other customers who share your enthusiasm! While there is a lot more material in EMMA than I ever expected there to be -- 130,000 words so far, mostly consisting of 1-2 line entries defining terms for "magic" or "guy who uses magic" or various related subjects -- I don't think I'm likely to get as far as The EMMAnator. Though I suppose if I ever want to tackle subjects like Alchemy or Voodoo in-depth, they might qualify. But I have so many other projects to deal with I'm not sure I'll ever get that far.
  4. Excellent. Progress is definitely being made. I still have several large stacks of books to enter into the manuscript, but as long as Real Life doesn't ambush me and disrupt my work (as it has this week, sadly), data entry is going pretty quickly, all things considered. But when I'm done with the stacks of books, I have some decisions to make about whether to cut bait and start the layout and publishing process, or to continue doing research (mostly in books that I will have to read to research Mythic Hero, so in a lot of ways it may make more sense to read them now and incorporate the relevant data into EMMA, too. Still, expanding an existing book is what second editions are for... )
  5. Ah, I see Spence beat me to the punch. Thanx, Spence!
  6. I swear I answered this question somewhere along the line, but if so I can’t find it right now. I reserve the right to update my answer in case I ever run across the previous response. Just as the minimum damage from Penetrating is not multiplied by the effects of a Vulnerability (a previous Rules FAQ answer I did find), it is not multiplied to account for a Hit Location (either positively or negatively). For example, suppose for an RKA 2d6, Penetrating, you roll 3 and 4, for 7 BODY. That means the attack does a minimum of 2 BODY. The minimum remains 2 BODY, whether you hit the target in the Head (x2 BODY) or in the Arm (x1/2 BODY).
  7. If a character spends Character Points on a power which has Charges that Never Recover, when he uses all the Charges, the power is done and he never gets those Character Points back — they’re gone forever. If a character were foolish enough to put Charges that Never Recover on a slot in a Variable Power Pool, then he’s locked those Pool points into that slot permanently, and once he uses up all the Charges, that portion of the Pool remains inaccessible and useless to him permanently (as do the Character Points he spent on that portion of the VPP). As for whether buying a power with Charges that Never Recover is foolish — sorry, but I don’t answer game design/philosophy questions here. If you haven’t already posted about this on the Discussion board, it might make for an interesting conversation there.
  8. First -- there's a paragraph on 6E1 184 that discusses how Penetrating and Damage Negation interact. Is that maybe what you were thinking of when you searched the forums? Second -- there was a question a couple years ago about Damage Negation and heavily Advantaged powers, in which I answered in part: "As noted on 6E1 183, when you apply Damage Negation to an attack with Advantages, you have to take those Advantages into account, using the rules on 6E2 97. Putting Advantages on an attack changes the effective cost of each Damage Class, but it doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of Damage Negation." Is that maybe what you were thinking of? Given those two bits of information, the answer to your hypothetical is as follows. First, you have to subtract 6 DCs from a Normal Damage attack with a +1/2 Advantage. So you consult the table on 6E2 101 and count 6 DCs down from 4d6. Unfortunately for the attacker, this reduces the damage of the attack to 0d6, so the target takes no damage at all (since, as noted on 6E1 184, Damage Negation does affect the minimum damage amount caused by Penetration, and the Penetrating effect of 0d6 is 0 points of damage). I think that covers your question, but if not, or if you find the reference you were thinking of and it affects this answer, feel free to PM me or post a follow-up.
  9. No, firearms do not typically cost END to use. Any power with Charges uses up Charges instead of costing END (except in some very unusual circumstances). One caveat: in the full rules (which you aren't using, since CC uses a slimmed-down, "easier to learn and use" version of the HERO System), as noted on page 131 of the second volume of the 6th Edition rulebook, any action costs a minimum of 1 END. So a GM who was being a real stickler for the rules would make your character pay 1 END for using his gun. However, in 40 years of playing this game I can't recall a single instance of any GM using that rule.
  10. I wrote EMMA because for the past 20-some years I have been looking for just such a book. I figured someone somewhere along the line must have written a reference book on the subject. But apparently not -- so finally, last year, I realized how by my file on the subject had gotten, and I said, "The hell with it -- I'll write it myself!" I doubt it will sell all that well, but at least now I will have it available for my own use.
  11. I'm sorry, but generally I don't answer game design/philosophy questions. If you want to discuss whether this power costs too much for its effectiveness, please post on the Discussion board, where anyone can respond (here, only I can). P.S.: Cool art.
  12. For books like TUV, where we haven't updated them to 6E, I don't mind answering 5E questions -- but fortunately you seem to have figured it out on your own.
  13. My apologies for the delay in responding. No — and even if it could, it would be pointless. As noted on the bottom left of 6E1 226, once a character’s Flashed, he can’t be “more Flashed” until the first Flash wears off. But as always, if the GM thinks you’ve got a clever idea that would add to the campaign, he’s welcome to change whatever rules he likes.
  14. My apologies for the delay in responding. 1. No; it means what it says: a Desolidified character cannot touch or be touched, feel or be felt. 2. Not necessarily. That’s up to the GM based on special effects, common sense, game balance sense, and other factors. 3. I’m going to re-state the rest of your question for ease of future reference: Q: If a character has the Affects Physical World (+2) Advantage for his STR so that he can use HTH Combat and Martial Maneuvers against solid targets while he’s Desolidified, does he have to account for the +2 Advantage when adding damage from Martial Maneuvers or other methods, per the rules on 6E2 99-102? A: As noted on 6E2 97 and 100, when determining the Damage Classes in an attack with Advantages, the GM has to take into account “Advantages that directly affect how the victim takes damage[.]” 6E2 98 has a non-exclusive list of Advantages that fall into this category. Unless the GM rules otherwise, Affects Physical World (+2) should be considered as an Advantage that directly affects how the victim takes damage.
  15. I'm not sure I understand what it is you're asking. The best response I can give you is to refer you to various rules regarding characters of different sizes: 6E1 160, 442-46; 6E2 12, 51. After you check out those references, if you still have a specific question, please PM me or post a follow-up. Thanks!
  16. I would build that by buying the "Let Me Lend You A Hand" power on page 48 of Champions Powers, which does exactly what you want. It's built with Summon, so you have to create separate character sheets for each body part, but that's easy enough.
  17. Welcome to the HERO System! We hope you’re enjoying it. My apologies for the delay in responding; normally I get back to people with questions more quickly, but sometimes real life gets in my way. Before I delve into your question, I need to issue a couple of caveats: 1. I don’t answer questions about Hero Designer; Dan Smith, the creator of the program, has a forum here on the boards where he helps people with the program. Any answer I give you will be based strictly on the 6th Edition rulebooks. 1a. (Furthermore, Hero Designer is not an official interpretation of the HERO System rules. If for some reason the two differ, there’s probably a programming reason for that which Dan can explain.) 2. I didn’t write Champions Complete and don’t answer questions about it specifically. However, I can answer general 6th Edition rules questions and that’s typically enough to resolve the problem — but my page references will be to the 6E core books. Derek Hiemforth, the author of CC posts here on the boards, so you may be able to ask him your question directly. (He can’t respond in this forum; only I can. But he can answer in Discussion and the other fora.) If you buy Growth for your character, you aren’t required to use “all or nothing.” If you only want to Grow halfway to your character’s maximum size, you can. (Among other things, that’s a good way to conserve END if your character is getting tired.) So in your example, you could choose to have your character only Grow to “Large” size, in which case he’d have the STR, defenses, height, etc. of a Large character. I’m afraid I have no idea about the cost differences in CC. I suggest posting on the Discussion board about this — anyone can respond there, and no doubt someone’s come across this already and figured out the problem. Does that cover all your questions? If I missed anything, please PM me or post a follow-up.
  18. My apologies for the delay in responding. 1. Whether a character with a Multipower of Ranged attacks has to buy one WF per slot to use them with Martial Maneuvers, one WF for the entire Multipower, or some other option is up to the GM. Depending on special effects, common sense, game balance sense, and so on, I can see how the answer might differ. For example, if the Multipower’s slots all represent different aspects or manifestations of the same power, then maybe one WF would suffice. On the other hand, if the Multipower’s slots are each distinct attacks that don’t directly relate to one another, then maybe the GM would require one WF per slot. 2. The rules on 6E2 100-102 discuss how to add damage to Advantaged attacks. Martial Maneuvers specifically are covered on 6E2 102. If you still have questions after reviewing those rules, please post a follow-up or PM me.
  19. The damage is the same, but using a 1½ handed weapon with only one hand increases the STR Minimum for the weapon by +2, or imposes a -1 OCV penalty. See 6E2 200 for the rules on "handedness" for weapons.
  20. My apologies for the delay in responding. The Cover Optional Combat Maneuver lets a character make his Attack Roll, and if he succeeds, then he doesn’t roll the damage yet. He “holds” the damage (so to speak) so he can threaten the target or do other things that might help him in this situation (such as making a Presence Attack). When he decides he wants to go ahead and do the damage, he just rolls it — since he already succeeded with his Attack Roll, he doesn’t need to roll to hit. Covered does not allow a character to make two Attack Actions in a Segment. If a character is maintaining Covered on a target and the Segment in which he began Covering the target ends, the character can continue to maintain the Covered, but doing so automatically uses up his next Attack Action in his next Phase (this is similar to Aborting an Action, but isn’t precisely the same because it’s not exactly a defensive action). If he doesn’t want that to happen, then before the Segment in which he began Covering the target ends, the character either has to go ahead and do damage to the target, or he has to declare that he’s ending his Covered. If a character uses his next Phase “in advance” to maintain his Covered, when the Segment in which that Phase occurs begins, the character is automatically considered to act first, regardless of everyone’s DEX, but all he’s allowed to do is maintain or use his Covered. He cannot take any other Actions until he either uses his Covered, or declares that he’s ending it. If he wants to, he can do the damage from Cover in one of the intervening Segments in which he ordinarily wouldn’t get to act. (The character is also automatically considered to act first in the intervening Segments, but again only to maintain or use his Covered.) Example: Captain X (DEX 20, SPD 5) declares that he will use his Phase in Segment 5 to Cover a thug (DEX 11, SPD 3) with his handgun. He succeeds with his Attack Roll, so the thug is Covered. If Segment 5 is ending and Captain X still hasn’t done anything further, he has three options. First, he can go ahead and do damage to the thug, per the rules for Covered. Second, he can declare that he’s going to stop Covering the thug, in which case the thug takes no damage and nothing else happens. Third, he can declare that he’s maintaining his Covered into Segments 6 and beyond. His next Phase isn’t until Segment 8, so maintaining his Covered requires him to use his Phase from Segment 8 “in advance.” Segment 8 arrives. Ordinarily the first character to act in Segment 8 would be Blaze (DEX 25, SPD 6). However, since Captain X is maintaining his Covered, he’s considered to act first automatically — but all he can do is maintain or use the Covered. (He could, if desired, use the Cover to do damage to the thug in Segments 6 or 7, even though he normally doesn’t have a Phase in those Segments.) Does that clarify things? If not, please PM me or post a follow-up question, and I’ll try again. Sometimes issues of who acts first, and how many actions a character gets, can become confusing.
  21. Before I answer further, let me clarify something: only I can answer questions in this forum. The way you wrote your question, you seem to want input from pretty much anyone, but no one else can answer here. As if that weren't frustrating enough, I didn't write Champions Complete, so I don't feel comfortable answering questions about it. The author, Derek Hiemforth, is here on the message boards, but as I mentioned above, he can't respond here. So, I'm going to move your question to the Discussion board. That way Derek, or anyone else who'd like to, can help you out with an answer.
  22. First off, no apologies necessary on your part (if anything, I owe you one for taking so long to respond). There are no lame questions here! That’s one of the main reasons we have this forum — to give me a chance to clarify things that confuse people when they read the rulebook. This is a naked Advantage, so we start by looking at what it would apply to. It’s a +½ Advantage that applies to “up to 90 STR.” 90 STR would cost 90 Character Points, so a +½ Advantage applied to 90 Character Points costs 45 Character Points. But we’re not done yet, since this naked Advantage has an Advantage of its own: Hole In The Middle (+¼). 45 Character Points with a +¼ Advantage yields an Active Point cost of (45 * (1 + ¼) = ) 56 Active Points. Make sense now? If not, feel free to PM me, or post a follow-up question, and I’ll keep trying until it does.
  23. I’m not sure I understand your question, so I’m going to re-state it. If I get it wrong, please PM me or post a follow-up to tell me where I made a mistake, and I’ll give it another try. Q: Can a character perform a Multiple Attack with an attack that has the Area Of Effect Advantage (or otherwise somehow affects an Area)? If that’s not allowed under the rules for an ordinary Area Of Effect, would it be allowed if the Area Of Effect were Selective? A: A character can make a Multiple Attack with an attack that has the Area Of Effect Advantage (or affects an Area for some other reason, such as the Power Darkness). He suffers the standard OCV/DCV penalties for doing so (though since an Area-affecting power targets DCV 3, he’s still got a good chance to hit his target point with at least the first one or two attacks). The Area Of Effect doesn’t have to be Selective, but of course that would help him avoid hitting his allies. Example: Firemaster wants to use his Fireball attack (RKA 3d6, Area Of Effect (8m Radius)) against two targets who are 6m apart. He wants to shoot four Fireballs, two at each target — and since the targets are within 8m of each other, they will each be affected by all of the attacks that hit (assuming the Knockback from one of the attacks doesn’t separate them by more than 8m). Because he’s using a Multiple Attack, Firemaster is at ½ DCV. Because he’s shooting four attacks, all four will be at -6 OCV. He hits with the first three, but misses with the fourth. (Technically the GM should use the rules on 6E2 40 to determine where the missed Area-affecting attack hits, but we’ll skip that to save time in this example.) Now Firemaster gets to roll damage for the three attacks that hit. (Again, I’m skipping that since it’s not really relevant to your question, AFAICT.)
  24. Excellent -- glad we got it worked out. Now -- go forward and Crush our enemies!
  25. I had thought about that, but there are several reasons (that I'd rather not go into on a public forum) why I don't think McFarland would be a good fit. But I won't dismiss the idea completely; you never know what might happen. Thanx for the suggestion!
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