Deadman

I think you are on the right track here. In my opinion one of the biggest problems with Hero has been the artwork. Back in the days of 5e the art was terrible and that didn't lead people to pick up the books. Perhaps we, as avid fans would buy them but it did little to draw new fans in. I really thought that with the IP getting bought by Cryptic (and them sharing their art) there would be a big push to get great art out there but it didn't come to pass. Instead they stuck with the basic blue cover for most of the books. I get that people don't buy an RPG for the art but it does get interest going. Look at Mutants and Masterminds, they were able to get a large following based on good looking products. I'm not a fan of the system but the art was good. I am a big fan of the Dark Champions genre and honestly I was very upset with the art that they chose to put in the 5e book Predators. It was embarrassing for me to show the players. I would be interested to find out how many copies of the BBB sold with the George Perez cover vs. Fred with the black cover. I would think that there is a correlation. The art won't do you a lot of good without a good game but Hero is a great game that should be far more successful than it is. I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of the industry or the company. I just find it a shame that such a great game is struggling to stay afloat.

Here is a simple drone that we worked up for our Dark Champions Campaign. Keep in mind we use Segmented Movement in the campaign so the move is different. This one doesn't have a microphone but it can be easily added. Ryze Drone: Clairsentience (Sight Group), Mobile Perception Point (can move up to 100m per Turn), Telescopic: +2 (36 Active Points); OAF Fragile (-1 1/4), 4 clips of 1 Continuing Charge lasting 20 Minutes (Increased Reloading Time: 1 Turn; Drone Must Return to User to Replace Clips; -3/4), Concentration, Must Concentrate Throughout Use of Constant Power Or Limited To Specific Path (1/2 DCV; -1/2), Requires A Roll (Drone Piloting Skill Roll; -1/2), Radio Controlled Device (Requires Controller and Drone To Operate; May Be Jammed Or Hacked; -1/2), Sense Affected As Sight And Radio Groups [any other Sense] (-1/4), Limited Range (100m; -1/4), Normal Sight Only (Drone Provides Night Vision; -1/4)

Here you go Scott. Regards, Deadman GoingToAGunShow.pdf

Page 159 of the Hudson City book is what you are looking for I believe. Page 162 breaks down Chinatown. Regards, Deadman

After doing some digging into the books, Flying Dodge goes against the rules for Aborting an Action. In 6eV2, 21 it says... "A character cannot normally Abort to a movement Action, such as to run, fly, or Teleport out of danger’s way. Dive For Cover and decelerating or turning are exceptions to this — although they do involve some movement, characters can Abort to them. At the GM’s option, characters may be allowed to Abort to other forms of movement in appropriate circumstances." With that said, I feel that allowing the maneuver itself would require the GM to allow others to Abort to movement as well. They wouldn't get the DCV bonus that Flying Dodge confers but would be able to move as a defensive abort action. Of course if the GM allows this then it renders the Dive For Cover maneuver obsolete since no one would want to end up prone if they don't have to. Right? Therefore if you require a DEX roll for someone to Abort to movement I feel it is justified to require it for those trying a Flying Dodge. If they miss the roll they still have the +4 DCV but they are in the Hex when the AoE goes off. Just my $.02, T

Sure it does. It may not fit your concept but it is available to you. If you want to gimp your character by not taking it that is your problem, right? Now I do get where you are coming from. In a perfect system every character created with a set number of points should be every bit as capable as another character with the same number of points, right? I can't tell you how many characters I have rejected that have all had a combination of Desolidification and Invisibility. At one point it seemed like a standard for characters that were being submitted for my games. But ultimately I don't see every character coming in with Martial Arts and that leads me to believe that it isn't that unbalancing. Can it be powerful? Sure, but the more flexibility you buy with it (meaning more maneuvers) the more you pay for it and the more balanced it becomes. "Gun Fu" is certainly available as presented in Hero System Martial Arts, which is considered a Core book. Strength also requires your character be a hand to hand combatant, it just costs points to increase just as Martial Arts does. Well OCV can be used for ranged attacks right? The limitation ensures that it can't. Some people may see a Hand Attack like a touch taser which may not require a Strike, in this case you would have to use a Strike to do damage. It represents that it adds only to other damage dealt and cannot do damage by itself. I think the -1/4 is a pretty good representation overall. If you don't that is your prerogative. The HKA itself makes the Strike maneuver do Killing. Yes, it is more expensive but not dramatically so. The rules state that you must take at least 10 points of maneuvers to take any Martial Arts so that helps reign in many of the abuses of characters. So just taking Flying Dodge and Fast Strike (since the Weapon Element is not included per the rules) (6Ev1 pg. 82). I also find it ironic that you say that Ranged Martial Arts isn't allowed but you include two Maneuvers that are only available through HSMA. As for how I would construct that set without using Martial Arts. A 2 slot Multipower with one +4 DCV slot and another slot with +2 OCV and 2DC of Hand Attack. Probably 15 points or so.

I don't think that Martial Arts is really unbalancing at all. It is available to everyone so that right there means it is pretty balanced. Consider the Multipower below which could be used instead of Martial Arts to pretty awesome effect. 16 Martial Arts: Multipower, 20-point reserve, (20 Active Points); all slots Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) 3V Accurate: +4 OCV (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) 3V Evasive: +4 DCV (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) 3V Strong: +20 STR (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) 3V Powerful: Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6 (20 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) 3V Lethal: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6+1 (2d6 w/STR) (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4) In this example the character could use any one of the slots to bolster his HTH prowess or mix and match them (because they are Variable slots) to great effect. Martial Strike - +2d6, +2 DCV when performing Strike Fast Strike - +2 OCV, +2d6 when performing Strike Martial Block - +2 OCV, +2 DCV when performing Block Martial Dodge - +4 DCV (Total of +7!) when performing Dodge Martial Grab - +1 OCV, +1 DCV, +10 STR when performing Grab Offensive Strike - +4d6 when performing Strike Killing Strike - 2d6KA when performing Strike If you want to make it even more powerful you could drop the limitation and voila! You have the ability to do a Flying Dodge. Sure, it costs more than your average Martial Arts package but it doesn't have the Negatives on any of the maneuvers either. Just my $.02, Deadman

Thanks Jagged. I appreciate the work and fully understand the demands (well if your Misses is anything like mine ) of real life. If there is anything I can do to help let me know.

Any traction on this project Jagged? I am still using 1.4.0.5 but if any of the new builds have the functionality I would consider moving over just for that. Thanks, Deadman

Just to be thorough here are the last two members of the Coalition from Dystopia. Dart and Hammerhand

While I am at it here are a couple more. Dark Angel and Red Rapier from Enemies III.

Here you go. There are several versions. The one I use is HeroMachine 3. http://www.heromachine.com

Here are my latest designs. From Mutant Files, Ghoul From Enemies III, Demonfire From Dystopia, Piledriver, Fire & Ice, Ultraviolet and Diamond From Champions 3E Rulebook, Brick

Jagged, I think you hit the nail on the head. It would be great if the drawing and AoE Templates could be set to Hexes instead of the default Squares. Other than that I love MapTool and have been using it to run Hero for years. One other thing that would really help is an updated and accurate Hero System Framework. Nolgroth posted one way back and had been updating it but it looks like he's given up maintaining it now. I personally use a mix of an earlier framework with some custom macros of my own design. Nothing too fancy. I personally don't try to do everything for the players. Just enough to help the game along. I will think about it some more and post again if I come up with anything else. Deadman

Here is one resurrected back from Enemies 1...Frizbe A few more from Classic Enemies, Green Dragon, Thunder and Lightning. And another favorite from CLOWN...Beuford The Bard