Deadman

It was brought to my attention that Behemoth looked odd in the bent over pose. Here he is standing up.

Thought I would share a couple of the ideas coming out of my head on Heromachine. I am not an actual artist but I play one on HM. You've already seen Vulcan...here are a few others... Toxxyn Ace Behemoth

I did take a look at the Gestalt breakdown and I find it very interesting. Now I see what you mean by them using SPD as the measuring stick for all other things. I really find it interesting that it incorporates the same groups that I do (with the exception of Skills and Dex). I see what you mean about DCV being higher than OCV which I guess makes sense if you limit DEF. I personally set the average at 30/30 in my campaign (a little on the high side) which means that the characters take about 12 STUN per attack on average. This can make for some long combats but I think it gives the PCs a little leeway to actually get something done. They don't generally have to worry about being one shotted (well unless there is a World Beater to deal with). If I break it out along my averages for Experienced Heroes the campaign max in Gestalt is 14DCs, 11 OCV, 13 DCV and 25 DEF. Assuming Max level this would mean a character takes 24 Stun on an average hit...Ouch! But they would hit only 37.5% of the time. Seems to again somewhat work out since my averages hit +25% more but take half the damage. All said and done what I do like about the system I am using is that it forces the PCs to make some decisions as to their capabilities. They can't just max out at my campaign limits. If they want a status quo hero they take all 3s but if they want to be better in one category they need to compensate by lowering another. Thank you for your comments, Deadman

I think I see what you are trying to get at. Please correct me if I am wrong. You are having the character Haymaker a thrown dagger attack against multiple people and spread it to increase the OCV instead of the Damage. Is that right? Here is what is wrong with that plan. You cannot Multi-Attack with a Haymaker. This is specifically stated on pg. 75 6E2 which says, "A character may not Multiple Attack with Haymaker, nor Haymaker any attack that’s part of a Multiple Attack." Regards, Deadman

My system was designed with the idea that all of the components that make it up essentially have the same worth when above or below the established campaign average. While I like your formula it doesn't seem to take into account the campaign average for each category, which in my opinion is very important. I assume that you tell players that they can have a specific total point value (such as 75 which would essentially be the average for my campaign). You do seem to put a premium on Defenses (shouldn't they be divided by 5?). Other than Defenses, it seems that yours works out the same as mine when broken down. I guess what it boils down to is what fits your campaign best. I know I could add a lot more factors into my system but I have held back on doing so to keep it as simple as possible. At this point it seems to work out pretty well. Thanks for your feedback,

I added the Does Body advantage per your description that it did little body damage. So you purposely exploited the Stun Multiplier advantage? See #2 above. I would let a character build something like this but would insist they do so using Blast. That is a tactic and while it is certainly usable as you outline, it is not without pitfalls. As I said, all it takes is one person not effected by it with a held action to derail his plans. My campaign, my rules. Now you are adding in your subjective opinion. What you are missing is the fact that, while you are right, Desolid is a zero-phase activation, any attack you launch when under its power is also Desolid and therefore won't effect others. So since you can't both activate and deactivate the power in the same phase it has much the same effect as the dodge. You seem to want to argue every point and I go back to my first statement; My campaign, My rules . If you like the system, fine use it. If you don't like it, don't use it. I just wanted to share a system that my players have found very useful and has worked out very well for us. If they wanted to argue every point or specifically create characters to abuse it I suppose it wouldn't work so well. Regards, Absolutely, as could Flash or any other number of powers. Such is the way of the Hero. They have the same effect as any other power with regard to setting the DAM level. I haven't run across drains of this nature but that is very nasty. I like it. I would surmise that you could only drain them to 0 and could not effect Combat Skill Levels but they may be very overpowered for the points (especially OCV which isn't a Defensive power and is therefore not halved). Once again I would leave this to my discretion when the issue arises. Thank you for your comments,

I agree that the STUN/REC situation may need some looking into to make this system a more objective option. However, I never intended this to be the only way to judge a character's power. As I use it more this may change and I could look at other categories. If any of you decide to use this system or something like it by all means post it so that the rest of us may benefit from your work. I do allow some. For example I did let one of the characters take Defensive Attack. On the other hand I don't like some of them and wouldn't allow them in a game (I'm looking at you Possession). I also incorporate some of the new Combat Maneuvers such as Disarm By and Options for Grab (with the exception of Grab and Block which I feel allows a character to perform a defensive action after attacking which shouldn't be allowed). All in all I use what feels right for my game and use subjective analysis to get to that conclusion. I think I answered that a few posts back. Only Advantages that impact damage or hitting are considered. Thanks again for your input,

Hey Everyone, If you want to see this in practice you can visit our Campaign Website at https://champions-mutant-chronicles.obsidianportal.com/ All of the PCs have their Balance Points listed on the character sheet. Become a fan of the page! Thanks for you input,

So I would encourage your to take a look at the build of that power. It isn't really sound. For one thing, since it doesn't have the Does Body Advantage it would only do Stun. Secondly, he still has to be solid to launch the attack. So what you have here is an 82 Active Point power that Mr. 3 OCV can target next to him (since he can't afford to take any penalties). While he stands no chance of taking damage his adversaries may be taken down quite a few Stun. I don't feel, even with the creative construction, that it really breaks anything. It is an 82 point attack and should bring the hurt so to speak. To your point, yes, Personal Immunity can have an impact as you said. But the ultimate point here is that Mr. Vacuum is now in the middle of the battle with a 3 DCV. Kind of comes out in the wash in my opinion. What are the target's teammates going to do? I guess what you are missing is that everyone else can tell that you're Desolid. Why would they attack you? Why wouldn't they hold their phases until you are solid? Since you can't turn on Desolid as an abort to escape damage then turn it off and attack it means that at some point you would have given up an attack action to become Desolid right? You couldn't have attacked and then turned it on. You also could not have turned it on in the beginning of your phase and turned it off later and attacked. So it took the place of an attack at some point. The fact is that the Hero System is so deep and malleable that there will always be an attack that is nearly indefensible. Just as there will always be Defenses that are nearly impregnable. My system addresses the norm and in my humble opinion, does it quite well for as simple as it is. Thank you for your comments, ~Edited to take out reference to Rare attack as a Common->Rare is a +1/2 Advantage

Enhanced senses, while certainly useful, don't really fit into the standard combat formula. Now if they decide they are going to use those to add a Naked Advantage for attacks (like Armor Piercing for example) that would factor in. What I meant by saying a Defense that takes the place of an attack is this. If a Defense (whether Desolidification, Martial Dodge, Martial Block, Barrier or whatever) prevents the character from attacking it can pass the BP level as long as the character is impeded by it as well. In the case of Desolidification a character can't effect the real world either so it becomes a wash. In the case of Martial Dodge (or Block) the character essentially gives up his attack action to make himself much harder to hit. But it only lasts until his next phase. Barrier is a bit trickier but since a character can't attack through his own Barrier it serves the same purpose. Now as I said previously, if the character specifically buys powers to work around this it becomes a different story. I would have to deal with that on a case by case basis and balance it accordingly. Make sense?

I don't count KB Resistance in as it doesn't figure into the standard combat formula in my opinion. Can it be very useful? Absolutely but it acts more as a secondary defense against secondary effects of damage. I haven't actually worked out the BP per level of Growth or DI but a character could end up with several different BP levels if he is capable of shifting to many different forms. All things that effect the five levels should be accounted for so for example Growth, at the 25 point level confers +15 STR, +3 PD/ED, and effectively -2 DCV. So the BP would be +1.5 DAM, +0.5 DEF and -1 DCV. I also don't count Recuperative abilities into the BP though I can see how that could be a major failing of the system as a whole. Ultimately I don't think Regeneration will amount to much but Healing could play a big factor. In the grand scheme of things I think that Healing would be one of those items that takes the place of an attack but instead of damaging an enemy it would heal an ally. Seems to work out with the same BP as DAM all things considered.. With regard to Resistant Defenses (and Hardened, Impenetrable, Exotic Defenses, etc.) they protect against other types of damage that are outside my standard damage formula. I do generally look to see that a character has some resistant defenses so that he doesn't end up dead after one altercation with a thug with a gun. But ultimately it is up to the player to understand (with my input of course) that having no Resistant defenses is a bad idea. I find it far easier to simplify things by using just raw PD/ED scores. This decision was made easier with the change in the rules that made the Stun Multiplier on Killing Attacks 1-3 rather than 1-5. You're absolutely right, I could have used 0 as the baseline but I hate negative numbers. Personal preference I guess. I only take into account Advantages which impact Damage directly, or the ability to hit with an attack. Makes things easier. If they want to add Personal Immunity or Reduced Endurance it helps them but doesn't do anything to how they hit or how much damage they do. I do the same thing occasionally but I just don't like the practice of that. I don't want to have to throw Lodestone or a Magnetron in every 4th adventure to make them pay for something they did to save a few points. You bring up a great point with this and it is something I may have to deal with in the future. This is the first campaign that I am using it and haven't worked out all of the kinks admittedly. I ran into an effectiveness spreadsheet a while back and though it took many of the things that you and others have brought up into account, it was just overly complicated. I am going for simplicity and usability and so far it has worked out pretty well. Thank you both for your input. This is exactly the type of dialogue that I had hoped for.

I agree whole-heartedly but I have found that this system really helps with new or less experienced players and also keeps those rules lawyers from feeling that I am somehow biased against their character. "What do you mean that my 80 STR, 50 PD/ED, 6 SPD, 12 OCV powered armor guy isn't allowed? He is under the points." There it is in black and white, right? Oh, and I never said I was a good GM. You'd have to ask my players that.

Those powers are dealt with based on their impact to combat. Meaning that the STR that Growth confers (and other characteristics) would be applied to the system to determine his level. Similarly, the DCV that Shrinking confers would be applied to that. Desolidification is dealt with as a defense that takes the place of an attack. Now if the character is able to affect the physical world while desolid that would be a decision I would have to make outside of the system. Exotic defenses are brushed over as "other" and I would deal with them on a case by case basis. Not until they hit the ceiling that they have set with their DCV. If a character had a 5 DCV but an 8 DMCV he would then need to set his "DCV" score higher than his actual score would normally be. You're absolutely right. One of the things that I do while deciding whether a character should be allowed in the campaign is go by the rule of 2. Meaning that very few combats last more than 2 turns in a superheroic game. If a character has enough END to support him for that amount of time using standard attacks I call him good. I find that unless a character has an enormous defense (either passive or active) they rarely get past that point. If they don't have enough END to get to that point, they may want to look at their character's END. This, of course, does not address circumstances where the character is throwing Multi-attacks or pushing all of the time. I try to take that into account as well but do so during my evaluation of the character. Thank you both for your comments,

Obviously the "gaping holes" that you elude to are filled by the simple statement "I also take into account the construction of powers, conception and overall feel." I also state that this is "an effort to balance the combat capabilities of characters" it isn't intended as all-inclusive. I completely understand that there are creative players out there who wish to do things outside the box. With this said, my games include combat which means that a player who makes a character that has no combat capabilities is going to be missing out on a large part of the game and not help the team in this regard. If you are speaking about a character that has no damage dealing abilities then he would still be using Active Points to create his other powers. That would fill in where the DAM portion would be. There is a subjective element to every character and this model is merely a starting point. So to your point I am subjective with everyone. There are a great deal of game related elements that this model doesn't touch on (Endurance, Initiative, Variety, etc.). This is the subjective portion and some characters will require more of it than others. In your example of a VPP user (something that I am very skeptical of to begin with) I would base most things on the control cost or what he could put into any particular power. I also require all of my VPP users to construct a sheet of powers that they may use in a game and they can only go outside of that with permission during the game. If someone relies on AoE to hit there is a specific advantage tied to that which alters the Active Point cost. I have been playing this game for a very long time and feel that I personally don't need it to weed out abusive characters. On the other hand it gives me a way to show the players where their characters strengths are and where they may be lacking where combat is considered. There are all types of gamers out there and it is important for a GM to not let a min-maxing, rules-lawyer ruin the game for everyone. It is hard enough to balance gameplay with everyone without something like that entering into the picture. Thank you for your input,

With regard to Damage Reduction/Negation I use the Active Points of the "Normal" version (meaning that again Resistant Protect has no bearing). For Example: Rockboy DAM - 3 - (60 STR) OCV - 2.5 - (6 OCV and 2 levels with HTH OCV) DCV - 1.5 - (6 DCV) DEF - 6 - (15 PD/ED and 50% Physical/Energy Damage Reduction and -1 DC Physical/Energy Damage Negation) [basically he has 30 Active Points of standard Defense, 40 Active Points of Damage Reduction and 10 Active Points of Damage Negation which is above the 60 Active Point average by 20 Points so +2 Balance Points] SPD - 2 - (4 Speed) I hope this answers your question.

Hi All, I just thought I would share the Balancing System that I have been using in my latest game. It has been very well received and has done wonders to give me a measuring stick to pit villains against my PCs. Please feel free to share your thoughts, suggestions or criticisms of this approach. It is essentially a "Rule of X" method described in 6E2. Balance Points This is my way of attempting to balance the characters against each other and their opposition. Currently the Balance Points are set at 15 for starting characters. As the campaign progresses the Balance Points will increase allowing characters to become more powerful. This is dependent on the XP your character is awarded. For each 20 points of XP your character earns the Balance Points will increase by 1. So at 20XP you will be BP16, 40XP=BP17, 60XP=18, and so on. (I guess it pays to try to make every game In an effort to balance the combat capabilities of characters I will break down combat abilities into the following five areas. Keep in mind that I may impose other limitations on characters who work around this model (i.e.: Mentalists that use OMCV may be limited to 7 OMCV for balance, etc.). · Damage (DAM) – Overall Damage Classes in the character’s most powerful attack, though there could be a number of attacks at that level. · Offensive Ability (OCV) – Total OCV of the character with their most powerful attack. This could fluctuate with use of Martial Arts, Levels, etc. · Passive Defense (DCV) – Total DCV of the character when not using a maneuver that takes the place of an attack (Martial Dodge). This could fluctuate with use of Martial Arts, Levels, etc. · Active Defense (DEF) – Total PD/ED of the character when not using an ability that takes the place of an attack. Resistant Defenses are not included in the totals nor are Advantages that increase the usability (Hardened, Impenetrable, etc.) · Speed (SPD) – The Speed of the Character. For purposes of this campaign the Average is assigned 3 Balance Points. Each 10 Active Points or 2DC increases or decreases this value by one. Half points are allowed but further divisions are not. All Characters are limited to 15 total Balance Points to start. Averages are as follows: DAM – 12DC Attacks (Each level is 2DC or 10 Points) OCV – 9 (Each level is 2 OCV or 10 Points) DCV – 9 (Each level is 2 DCV or 10 Points) DEF – 30 (Each level is 5 PD/ED or 10 Points) SPD – 5 (Each level is 1 SPD or 10 Points) If you want to bump one area you will need to subtract from another area. Examples: ~Brickman wants a higher DAM than the Campaign Average and wants a higher DEF. He decides on the following. · 4 – 14DC (70 STR) · 2.5 – OCV 8 (OCV 6 and 2 levels with HTH OCV) · 1.5 – DCV 6 (DCV 6) · 5 – DEF 40 (He decides to actually have a 42 PD and 38 ED) · 2 – SPD 4 ~Ninja Guy wants to be fast so he does the following · 2 – 10DC (20 STR and Martial Arts with +4DC so a 10DC Martial Strike)* · 4 – OCV 11 (OCV 9 and two levels w/ Martial Arts)# · 4 – DCV 11 (DCV 9 and +2 DCV from Martial Strike)# · 1 – DEF 20 (10 PD/ED and 10 PD/ED Armor) · 4 – SPD 6 *Yes Ninja Guy does have an Offensive Strike which means he can do 12DC but it is at a -2 OCV to bring him back to the campaign average. #While he technically can have an 11 OCV or DCV I put them on OCV for this purpose. ~Blaster Boy wants more damage so he breaks his out like so… · 4 – 14DC (70 Point Multipower) · 3.5 – OCV 9 (OCV 8 and one level with MP) · 2.5 – DCV 8 (DCV 8) · 2 – DEF 25 (5 PD/ED and a 20 PD/ED Forcefield) · 3 – SPD 5 The Balance Points are how I begin to come to a decision on if a character is to be allowed in the game. I also take into account the construction of powers, conception and overall feel. I will not allow characters who are constructed in a way that abuses the system or tries to min-max to the point of including frivolous limitations. In other words no “Not in Magnetic Fields” or “Not in Vacuum” for a -1/4 limitation. I adhere to the philosophy that if it isn’t really a limitation then it isn’t worth points. With that said I do allow extensive use of the “Unified Power” limitation. This is a Mutant game and assigning this to all of your “Mutant Powers” within a specific concept is justified. Keep in mind that a Drain that targets one of your Unified Powers will also subtract from the others so be careful. The limitations for DCV or defenses are in effect if your character can launch an attack in that phase. If a defensive power takes the place of an attack (i.e: Martial Dodge, Martial Block, etc.) I will allow higher levels than normal. For example if your character normally has a 10 DCV and is in balance but also possesses the Martial Dodge maneuver it is okay that he has a 15 DCV when using it because it takes the place of his attack. Note: Keep in mind that Martial Arts are part of your character while Standard Maneuvers are not. Therefore martial arts abilities are taken into account for your character’s power level. I will also be looking into other Characteristics, Powers or Abilities which give the character an unfair advantage. No fair loading up on STUN and REC to compensate for your relatively low defenses. I strongly adhere to Character Conception. There is some trade off with certain Archetypes. I will allow Bricks to have higher STUN and REC scores but won’t allow that combined with High DEX scores. Conversely I will allow Martial Artists to have higher DEX scores but balance it against their STUN/CON/REC. Blasters and Mentalists have the benefit of variety with their capabilities which is an asset unto itself so I will scrutinize their other Characteristics accordingly.

Hi Steve, I apologize if this is covered somewhere but I couldn't find it. My question is, which (if any) Combat Maneuvers stack? **************Nevermind, I found it. I guess I should have read the individual descriptions in detail********************** For example: I assume that a character can both Set and Brace when using a ranged attack. What if that Ranged Attack is actually using Ranged Martial Arts? A Character wants to Hipshot a Martial Strike, would this be allowed? What if a character wants to Haymaker a Martial Attack? I have addressed this in my campaign by saying that Brace, Set, and Multiple Attack (as well as the Optional Maneuvers Cover, Hip Shot, Pulling a Punch and Snap Shot) can be stacked on other maneuvers. All other Maneuvers are stand alone and cannot be combined (unless specifically stated in the RAW). What is the official stance? Thank you,

I liked the idea of "The Viking" so much I just couldn't help myself. I went with an axe to change it up a bit.

Well it seems that art is at a premium and since one of my biggest criticisms of the third party work being released for The Hero System is the lack of cohesive art, I will offer to use Heromachine to draw the characters. Jeff Hebert, the designer of Heromachine has proven very amenable to allowing its use for published material as long as he gets credit. Of course he will still need to give his blessing. I think this is a worthwhile project and will also be happy to assist in the design of the characters. Are you thinking of using direct homages of the Avengers (i.e. Thunder God, Patriot, Steel Defender, Bowman...etc.)? It may be easier to do simple write-ups of the basic archetypes (Brick, Blaster, Martial Artist, Mentalist, Speedster) and staying away from complex builds using extensive Multipower (Power Tricks type) or VPP builds. I honestly think that the Champions are a perfect example of this. I would also highly suggest a detailed example combat which highlights many of the Combat Maneuvers and Turn progression. If you use the included characters it will give prospective GMs and Players a point of reference and hopefully make things even easier. Let me know how I can help,

This is probably the best drawing I have done with Heromachine. Giant Sized Fortress

Next up Power Force! Barrier, telekinetic and leader of the group. Cinder, the hotheaded blaster. Fortress, the womanizing, size shifting brick. Glory, the seductive mentalist. Panther, the wisecracking scrapper. And finally, Slip, the sneaky, intangible, martial-artist.

A couple of action shots of The Justice Squad Granite Smash! TechKnight Flying

The Justice Squad TechKnight Blur Switch Starlet Granite Psyche Next, a couple of artistic renderings of The Justice Squad...

Some of Freedom Incorporated's villains... Lord Dire Ansatsusha Carcass Captain Stalwart Zombie Smilodon (Uncle Smiley) Next up....a couple of other Hero Groups...

Well out of the 6e Villain Books... CV Vol. 1 Gravitar, Holocaust, Kinematic, Menton (presumed), Borealis, in the more powerful category. Augury, Rakshasa, Falchion, Tarantula, Blindside, Fossil, Overdrive, Displacer, Slun, Warmonger in the less powerful CV Vol. 2 Amnesia, Bobby Holmes, Dreadnaught, Requiem, Frost, Mentalla (presumed), Der Westgote, The Fiend, Hummingbird, Piledriver, Psimon, Mind Slayer, Deuce, Hypnos, Soulfire, Smoke, Mirrors, Graniteman, Summer Cloud all in less powerful category CV Vol 3 Alchemica, Ambush, Arrowhead, Blackguard, Brainchild, Cateran, Gargantua, Geos, Menagerie, Plague, Stormfront, Wildeye, Zephyr all less powerful I would surmise. Of course there are plenty more in other editions and others mentioned in the books who don't appear in print yet.