Steve Long

Unfortunately we have some terrible news to report. Darren Watts, who used to be one of our business partners in DOJ Inc./Hero Games and has also worked for many other companies in the RPG industry, suffered a very serious heart attack last Thursday (December 22, 2022). It appears that his brain was without oxygen for an as yet unknown period.

Darren's currently under sedation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. While he isn't conscious, his wife Diane tells me he can receive visitors.

We'll keep the forum posted as the situation warrants. In the meantime, please keep Darren in your thoughts and prayers.

Unfortunately we have some terrible news to report. Darren Watts, who used to be one of our business partners in DOJ Inc./Hero Games and has also worked for many other companies in the RPG industry, suffered a very serious heart attack last Thursday (December 22, 2022). It appears that his brain was without oxygen for an as yet unknown period.

Darren's currently under sedation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. While he isn't conscious, his wife Diane tells me he can receive visitors.

We'll keep the forum posted as the situation warrants. In the meantime, please keep Darren in your thoughts and prayers.

Unfortunately we have some terrible news to report. Darren Watts, who used to be one of our business partners in DOJ Inc./Hero Games and has also worked for many other companies in the RPG industry, suffered a very serious heart attack last Thursday (December 22, 2022). It appears that his brain was without oxygen for an as yet unknown period.

Darren's currently under sedation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. While he isn't conscious, his wife Diane tells me he can receive visitors.

We'll keep the forum posted as the situation warrants. In the meantime, please keep Darren in your thoughts and prayers.

Unfortunately we have some terrible news to report. Darren Watts, who used to be one of our business partners in DOJ Inc./Hero Games and has also worked for many other companies in the RPG industry, suffered a very serious heart attack last Thursday (December 22, 2022). It appears that his brain was without oxygen for an as yet unknown period.

Darren's currently under sedation at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City. While he isn't conscious, his wife Diane tells me he can receive visitors.

We'll keep the forum posted as the situation warrants. In the meantime, please keep Darren in your thoughts and prayers.

I don’t currently have access to all of my books and materials, which have been packed up as part of my home renovation project, so I reserve the right to edit or change this answer at a future time.
 
1. The mook only rolls 2½d6 to break out. To get the full 3d6, he needs 15 EGO, and he only has 14.
 
2. Mental Paralysis isn't built with Takes No Damage From Attacks (+1), but with Takes No Damage From Attacks (+¾). The text in the rulebook notes that the difference is because Mental Paralyses do take damage from, among other things, Mental Blast. So you’re correct that the Takes No Damage doesn’t stop the Mental Blast from affecting the Entangle — you’ve simply paid too much for the Advantage. Point savings!
 
3.  If a character uses his EGO to break out of a Mental Paralysis Entangle with Backlash, he takes Normal Damage from the Backlash, just like he would when using STR to try to escape an ordinary Entangle. So in your example, he’d take 18 STUN, 6 BODY. (Though again, he rolled too many dice, so that changes things.)
 
I think that covers all the issues in your hypothetical, but if I missed something, please post a follow-up or PM me.

I'm not sure -- perhaps Dan S. or someone else removed it (or changed its "pinned" status) during a clean-up session. I'm still working hard on MH, trying to get at least a little work done on it every day, and more than a little whenever possible.

Back by popular demand! This file, which is also available for free from the Hero Games Online Store, contains all the errata known to me as of today.
 
If you find an errata in the core rulebook which isn't listed here, please PM me to inform me about it. Please don't post it here, because I may not see it. Sending it to me directly ensures that I won't overlook it.
6E Errata 2020-02-09.pdf

Re: Does "must pass through intervening space" give "safe blind" teleport for free?
 
Good question!
 
The Limitation Must Pass Through Intervening Space (-¼) does not grant a character the Advantage Safe Blind Teleport (+¼) “for free.” All standard rules apply to such forms of Teleportation, and if a character wants to have Safe Blind Teleport for it he has to pay for it (or any other Advantage) just like usual. As you observe, it’s easy to think of a “special effect” for how someone might hurt himself moving through the intervening space — he could run into something, trip and fall, or what have you.

I'm not sure -- perhaps Dan S. or someone else removed it (or changed its "pinned" status) during a clean-up session. I'm still working hard on MH, trying to get at least a little work done on it every day, and more than a little whenever possible.

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 
 

Hey Herophiles! On the evening of September 27 I'm appearing on Marc Tassin's awesome Out Of Character podcast! Please come give us a listen to hear us talk about fiction, gaming, and all sorts of related topics!
 

Back by popular demand! This file, which is also available for free from the Hero Games Online Store, contains all the errata known to me as of today.
 
If you find an errata in the core rulebook which isn't listed here, please PM me to inform me about it. Please don't post it here, because I may not see it. Sending it to me directly ensures that I won't overlook it.
6E Errata 2020-02-09.pdf

Intriguing question!
 
I’d rather not establish any hard and fast rules for how much time Incantations (or Gestures) require to use (absent Extra Time or some other rule that provides a precise time requirement in a specific case). I don’t think it would be helpful, and might in fact cause more problems than it would solve. This is just one of those situations that no RPG handles well, because you can’t always model a dynamic situation (like combat or vehicle chases) with precise rules about who acts first.
 
So in this case, the answer is, “That’s up to the GM.” Personally, I would be reluctant to let the knife-throwing rogue always interrupt spellcasters; that could easily render a lot of enemies more or less powerless. But by the same token, the character has come up with an intriguing and clever ability, so I’d like to include it in the campaign somehow. So here’s what I’d do:  if the rogue character is likely to hit and do damage to spellcasters with this ability more than 50% of the time, I would consider requiring some sort of DEX Roll Versus DEX Roll Contest:  if he wins, he hits before the spellcaster finishes, and has a chance to derail the spell; if he loses, the spellcaster finishes first (but may still suffer damage from the thrown knife). If the chance of the rogue successfully interrupting spellcasters is 50% or less, then the requirements of (a) hitting the target, and (b) doing damage to him past his defenses are probably enough to keep the power from unbalancing the campaign.
 
And of course, as the campaign goes on, if necessary the player and GM can work together to adjust things to keep the knife-throwing power useful, but not unbalancingly powerful.
 
I hope that helps! As always, if I haven't answered all your questions, PM me or post a follow-up.

Believe it or not, it was 20 years ago today that Darren Watts, Jason Walters, the Secret Masters, and myself bought the HERO System (and its related IPs)!
 
It's been a wonderful, amazing journey ever since -- one with its ups and downs, like any journey -- but still an awesome one. My deepest thanks to all the HERO fans out there who have made it possible!

I'm not sure -- perhaps Dan S. or someone else removed it (or changed its "pinned" status) during a clean-up session. I'm still working hard on MH, trying to get at least a little work done on it every day, and more than a little whenever possible.

We here at Hero Games are deeply saddened to announce that our long-time friend, and frequent Hero Games author, Scott Bennie passed away earlier this week from complications due to pneumonia. As many of you already know, Scott suffered from extensive health problems for most of his life, and unfortunately this was one last struggle he simply couldn't win.
 
I personally met Scott in the early Nineties -- probably at one of the first DunDraCons I attended -- after I began writing for Hero myself and hitting the con circuit. In addition to being a talented writer and game designer -- perhaps best known to Hero gamers for his superb work on Classic Enemies and two VIPER sourcebooks -- Scott was quite simply one of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever had the privilege to know. I'm so glad I had the chance to work with him on several projects, including the VIPER and Villainy Amok sourcebooks for HERO System 5th Edition.
 
The world is a darker place without Scott's light in it, and all of us here at Hero Games shall miss him terribly.

I'm not sure -- perhaps Dan S. or someone else removed it (or changed its "pinned" status) during a clean-up session. I'm still working hard on MH, trying to get at least a little work done on it every day, and more than a little whenever possible.

OH my god.  I logged in to try and look Scott up to see this. 
 
Oh this is awful.  He was such a wonderful guy.  My heart is aching.

I still consider Classic Enemies the gold standard for Enemies books. Scott took characters, most of whose brief initial descriptions didn't go much beyond, "Embittered, he turned to a life of crime," and made them, well, characters.
 
Rest in peace, Mr. Bennie.
 
DEan Shomshak

We here at Hero Games are deeply saddened to announce that our long-time friend, and frequent Hero Games author, Scott Bennie passed away earlier this week from complications due to pneumonia. As many of you already know, Scott suffered from extensive health problems for most of his life, and unfortunately this was one last struggle he simply couldn't win.
 
I personally met Scott in the early Nineties -- probably at one of the first DunDraCons I attended -- after I began writing for Hero myself and hitting the con circuit. In addition to being a talented writer and game designer -- perhaps best known to Hero gamers for his superb work on Classic Enemies and two VIPER sourcebooks -- Scott was quite simply one of the kindest, gentlest people I've ever had the privilege to know. I'm so glad I had the chance to work with him on several projects, including the VIPER and Villainy Amok sourcebooks for HERO System 5th Edition.
 
The world is a darker place without Scott's light in it, and all of us here at Hero Games shall miss him terribly.