Jump to content

Steve Long

Administrators
  • Posts

    17,622
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    7

Everything posted by Steve Long

  1. My apologies for the delay in responding — I’ve been ill. 1. Yes, because the character is just maintaining a Darkness he already established. That being the case, he can keep it functioning by paying END (see 6E1 127) and it remains in effect. He can make other attacks (or take other actions) at the same time. (Of course, he could not activate Darkness and then use another attack in the same Phase — using Darkness that way qualifies as an Attack Action, which would use up his Phase. But once the Darkness is in place, keeping it going doesn’t use up his Phase.) 2-5. I think these are moot based on my answer to #1, but if I missed something or you have further questions, please post a follow-up.
  2. 1. Yes, it's 0 END -- the Size Templates on 6E1 443 show how the ability is built. 2. Although Area Of Effect is normally an Advantage that characters have to take into account when determining the effects of adding damage (see 6E2 96-102), this does not apply to characters who have Area Of Effect on their STR due to buying Growth (see 6E1 229), a Size Template (see 6E1 442-43), or some similar Area Of Effect-based ability that represents their size. Of course, the GM can change this if he prefers to be more strict about the Adding Damage rules.
  3. I’m not entirely sure I understand what you’re asking, so I’m going to answer by creating an example and hope that I work my way around to what you want to know. So, for a DoT power I start out with a base +1 Advantage. I want 5 Increments, which is another +1. I want the Time Between Increments to be 1 Hour, which reduces the value by 2. That gives me an overall value of +0. But wait! I only want the target’s defenses to apply once. So, as noted on 6E1 329-30, that doubles the value of the “Number Of Damage Increments” modifier. Thus, instead of +1 it becomes +2. So that means I have (+1 + +2) + -2 = a +1 Advantage. Let’s suppose instead that you also didn’t want to be able to use the power on the target a second time until the first use has run its course. That requires you to double the “Time Between Damage Increments” value. So that means I have (+1 + +2) + (-2 x 2) = a -1 Limitation. Does that make sense and answer your question? If not, please PM me or post a follow-up and I’ll keep tryin’.
  4. In both Heroic and Superheroic campaigns, a character must pay for a Weapon Element to use a weapon with his Martial Arts, even if he spent Character Points to buy the weapon (rather than getting it “for free” or for in-game money as he would in most Heroic campaigns).
  5. Thanks for the post. I don’t have time to go read a whole thread, but at least I have a better understanding of where Hugh’s and your questions are coming from. 1. The rules do not restrict how many Power Framework slots (either from the same or multiple Frameworks) can add to the same outside power. However, the GM could, and should if he considers it necessary to preserve game balance, dramatic sense, or common sense. As I mentioned in Hugh’s thread, if I saw something like this I would suspect Shenanigans and want an acceptable explanation from the player before I’d allow it in my game. 2. Because I don’t want to have to deal with all the possible exceptions and problems, and I suspect most GMs don’t want to either, the rule is that all the slots adding to an outside power, and that outside power itself, have to be, as you put it, “exactly compatible.” They have to have the same Advantages, Limitations, and whatnot, or they cannot add together. Of course, the GM can change this if he wants to, and is willing to deal with the possible implications. As long as something like that didn’t have the potential to slow down or unbalance the game, I might be willing to allow it in one of my games — but another GM might feel differently. 3. The rule on 6E1 398 notes that STR from a slot in one Framework (including STR from DI or Growth) can’t add to an HA/HKA bought as a slot in another Framework. But if the HA/HKA is outside of any Framework, then any STR gained from a Framework slot could add to it — provided that no other slot from any Framework already adds to that HA/HKA. So in the example you describe, if Bob uses Framework Slot Z (“+1d6 to my HKA bought outside the Framework”) to add to his HKA, then he can’t also use STR gained in any way from another Framework slot to improve the damage done by that HKA. However, as long as he doesn’t use Slot Z to add to his HKA, then he could use his STR gained from other Framework slots to increase the HKA’s damage. As with any situation that involves increasing damage, this is definitely a situation the GM should pay close attention to so that it doesn’t unbalance the game. The important thing here isn’t following the Rules As Written so much as it is that everyone have fun playing the game. As long as the game’s going well and none of the players feel like they’re riding the pine while Many Multipowers Man does everything better than they can, whether you’re obeying every little rule in the book doesn’t matter — at least as far as I’m concerned.
  6. Unless the GM rules otherwise, the Absorption applies after the Damage Negation (this includes Defensive Absorption and any other “specialized” forms of Absorption).
  7. Yes, it stops functioning as a defense — see APG2 22 for further details.
  8. I don't recall any such rule from previous editions. But assuming it did exist, it doesn't in the 6th Edition. What you're describing isn't necessarily illegal under the rules, but I think most GMs would want an explanation of why a player wants to do things that way -- I certainly would. Offhand it doesn't strike me as particularly logical, and I would suspect the player of Shenanigans. If you want to continue this discussion further to get at any related issues, or to dive into this further, feel free to PM me.
  9. Yes, it would. As noted on the DCV Checklist on 6E2 37, Combat Skill Levels are applied before the halving of DCV (since halving is always the last step in the calculation). So in your example, the character’s DCV would be 5.
  10. Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the books. As a “Yield Sign” Maneuver, a Multiple Attack is, of course, under the GM’s control; there may be some things he doesn’t want to allow for game balance considerations, or other reasons. But if a character’s willing to take on the usual penalties and drawbacks for a Multiple Attack, I (and I think most GMs) would let him do a Grab-and-Throw at another target as a Multiple Attack. As you note, a Multiple Attack can mix HTH and Ranged attacks, and I don’t think what you’re describing is likely to cause problems in most situations.
  11. Check out The Ultimate Vehicle, which discusses ways to build mechs in the HERO System, and includes plenty of sample weapons and such for them too.
  12. OK, there are two issues here: how to write up diseases, and then how to cure them. For specific diseases, check out the "Chemical And Biological Weapons" section on pages 214-18 of The HERO System Equipment Guide. For more "generic" examples of diseases, look at various powers in the "Body Control Powers" section of Champions Powers, the Pestilence spell in the "Black Magic" section of The HERO System Grimoire, and similar examples in published books. As for curing disease, the best way to write up an ability like that is shown by the Cure Illness spell on page 88 of the HSG. There are other spells in that section (such as Healing Spell) that might also apply, depending on how the GM has built the disease in question, but Cure Illness -- which uses Transform to stop and then reverse the effects of the sickness -- is your best bet. Anyone else have a suggestion to make, or an example you can point to from a published book?
  13. That’s entirely up to the GM — there are far too many possible situations this question could apply to for me to provide more than the vaguest answer. When a character uses a power with Extra Time, how noticeable this is depends first and foremost on the Obviousness of the Power itself. Beyond that, it’s generally going to be apparent that the character’s doing something unusual, but onlookers won’t necessarily know what. That’s going to depend on the circumstances, special effects, prior knowledge of the character using the Extra Time power, and other factors. If a character wants to conceal the fact that he’s using a power with Extra Time, use the rules for Stealth and Power use (6E1 125). The GM can, of course, adjust them as necessary for his campaign and the situation.
  14. Pages 8-10 of The Ultimate Vehicle discuss this exact subject (along with some related issues). It's a bit too much to cut and paste in here, unfortunately, but if you don't have a copy of the book, PM me and we'll figure something out.
  15. Good question! Let me rephrase this to address the broader issue: Q: How can a character Push a power whose “increments” cost more than 10 Character Points, such as Growth? A: Assuming the GM is willing to permit a character to Push such a power, the charaacter can Push for the minimum amount needed to get to the next “increment” of effect. This still costs 1 END per point Pushed, so it could easily deprive the character of END or force him to spend STUN in place of END. For example, a character with “Enormous” level Growth (costs 50 Character Points) could Push to gain “Huge” level Growth (costs 90 Character Points), but he would have to spend 40 END (in addition to the 5 END he ordinarily spends for his Growth).
  16. First off, just to clarify, on this Rules forum, “someone” is only me — only I can reply here, to provide official answers. If you want input from the group at large (and it’s a great group with lots of helpful ideas and suggestions), try the Discussion forum, where anyone can respond. OK, so on to your question. Page 12 of Vol. 1 of the 6th Edition rulebook (6E1 12, as I usually write it) has a sidebar that specifies the standard height, weight, and lifespan for characters: 2m (about 6 feet), 100 kg, and 100 years. If you want to vary that, you usually buy various Powers and Complications — see the Size and Mass Templates on 6E1 442-46. For Vehicles and Bases specifically, there are rules defining their mass based on the size you buy for them. See 6E2 186 and following for more information. The STR Table on 6E1 43 lists the weight of various objects by way of example, but it’s by no means comprehensive. Pages 10-13 of The Ultimate Brick has a much more detailed STR Table, but it still has plenty of gaps too. Pages 103-112 of TUB has a lot more information about the weight of objects, breaking things, and related subjects. Beyond that, you’ll have to do your own research about how much a given object weighs, but fortunately the internet makes that pretty easy in most cases. I hope that helps! If you have further questions about this, please post a follow-up or PM me.
  17. Yup, things are going fine here with me. I hope it's the same with you and yours! A character must decide how much END to put into the pool that fuels the power when he uses it, and cannot change that amount thereafter. He cannot alter the pool later by “taking back” unused END, or adding more END to keep the power going for more time. As always, of course, the GM could change this. I could see where it might make sense in some campaigns featuring lots of psionics or weird magic. In that case, the GM might want to increase the value of Uncontrolled by +¼ to reflect its greater utility.
  18. Hey, it never hurts to clarify. Yes, in this situation a character could allocate his applicable CSLs to DCV as part of his Abort action. The “Defensive Actions” table on 6E2 23 includes “the allocation of Combat Skill Levels that can improve DCV” as an explicitly allowed defensive action, without any restriction such as “provided they’re not already allocated to OCV in a previous action” (or something similar).
  19. I can't dispute any of your analysis, DShomshak -- you make some good points. Because TA had to be our "typical High Fantasy that appeals to the broadest swath of gamers," I had to make a lot of decisions, and present things in a lot of ways, that I might not have without those pressures. Our other FH setting books, such as Tuala Morn and The Valdorian Age, diverge significantly from that standard "form" because in those books I (and Allen) had the opportunity to do different things, things not necessarily found in a lot of setting books, because we had our "standard setting" already in place. Unfortunately setting books just don't sell well enough for us to keep doing them, or to expand on the ones we have -- which is a shame, because I'd love to have the chance to do that. I'd love to do my own Swords & Sorcery setting (different from Valdorian Age, which was primarily Allen's creation), try some Low Fantasy ideas, and maybe some really weird High Fantasy stuff. (I do have a couple of Urban Fantasy settings I may publish at some point. Those are pretty common these days, but since that's what I happen to be running right now, it's what I've got material for.) Perhaps sometime in the future.
  20. I haven't seen that (or heck, even heard of it AFAICR). Is it any good?
  21. She'd certainly be on my "short list" for casting the character.
  22. Sorry for disappearing there for awhile. Just had a bunch of stuff going on that got in the way of other stuff. Hopefully it shan't happen again.
  23. If I ever get the chance, I definitely want to expand a bit on Chaos Blades -- how the setting and its magic works and whatnot. Not a full book or anything like that, more like an article. Or a chapter in a larger book.
  24. Thanx for the kind words, folx! It's always great to hear that people enjoy what I've written. While I definitely don't have time to tackle any book-length works related to TA, the next time I get the itch to do a little Fantasy work in and around researching MYTHIC HERO and whatnot, perhaps I can come up a group of bad guys, or an unusual cult, or something else fun for TA. Hmmm -- I am not familiar with these. I will have to check 'em out, since I've enjoyed the four or five of her "Miles Vorkosigan" books that I've read. Thanx for the suggestion!
  25. One of these days I should update her to 6E. She's always been one of my favorite characters.
×
×
  • Create New...