Heroman

Re: New Power: Scalable Immunity Isn't this basically PD/ED/Armor built with a "Only Works Against: Limited Type Of Attack"?

Re: Divide by Three I actually like the look of KS's Metruvius system alot. It seems to be a good balance between static raw/MP spells and the overly powerful VPP. It does lack the ability to readily use the different spellbooks out there, though I would guess after you establish a deck of Famillia and Facillia you could approximate them. I am actually hoping to write up a rune system based on this design (so each power/adv is a rune, the sum combination invoked being the spell). It certainly seems to reward one who goes deep into magic. I am curious, for anyone who has used it, does it work better in a design where you get weapons for free, or always a point cost? -hm

Re: just ordered the entire set. also have a question Oh, also keep in mind that there is a TravellerHero now which could save you some work if you wanted to run it in that campaign world....

Re: Elves I have elves, but they are short, made of cookie dough and live in hollowed out trees. The inhabitants in the game LOVE elves, especially during the hot season when they get a nice and baked....

Re: Sidekick (only) with Fantasy ? I guess related to that, if they only had sidekick and you wanted to make things easy for them, are there issues with sharing the FH templates (in example, having a HTML page describing the different packages, maybe sample CHAR builds, or even a PHP which allows em to click a CHAR setup, a class, and additional skills? I guess the question is about what is allowed to be reprinted...

Re: All Flesh Must Be Eaten Really, when you encounter an Against All Odds type scenario, the intended overall feeling is supposed to be hopelessness. All the pathetic people you encounter have succumb to the acceptance that they will die or are so strung out that they will try to go in a blaze of glory. That is the difference between them and our Heroes. The heroes do not want to give up, despite the odds. Perhaps it is that, admist all the running around, (hopefully) exciting and near death enounters in the fast action run, they finally find a path out of the horror that they must blaze thru. If there is no way out, then the Hero is the one who realizes they need to work on defenses and make a safe haven. The Hero is the one who never gives up (or if you are playing a fallen type hero, maybe they succumb to depression but during the course of the game find something to believe in). A Hero could also be the type who, despite all current evidence, believe there must be a way to defeat the enemy, just one not conceived of or discovered. That would lead the entrenched/running group to need to visit science labs, hospitals, etc, taking them out of whatever relative safety they have developed into the exciting world of danger with the hope of success. Feeding that hope is the sign of a healthy game. Even a heroic PC cannot live on just failure alone. They need little glimmers of light (even if offset by loss). The Grudge is a good example of more the Discovery Hero, something in common with good Call Of Cthulhu games. In this case, the enemy may be limited but is neigh invunerable. There is where Gun Heroes get munched up. You simply cannot get rid of them thru brute force. You need to evade or slow down the enemy while you try to gain enough information to finally get rid of the enemy. This type can be kinda hard for D&D type converts who usually are not challenged in this manner. In either case, if the scenario is a doomed one where, in the end, there is no escape, then the fun of the game must be built on survival (though the final doom may be outside the scope of the game). In example, for Call Of Cthulhu, you cannot really win; there will always be occultists, dangerous things will always come into our world, and there is the ever present threat that someone, somewhere will wake an Old One and make humans into skittles. The fun comes from confronting these and pushing off the doomed day while trying to keep your fingers around sanity.

Re: Building Tech for Original Setting The only thing I would say about the magshield/magblade item is this: if the technology is so prevalent, I would doubt they live with the 50/50 chance of having the right polarity. That would be like having a huge mastery of metals and making swiss cheese armor that only has a 50% chance of stopping a bullet. At *worse* I would build the shield as a DR (only vs magnetic weapons) as it likely cycles thru polarity to slow down the attack. By general rule of thumb, I would make the weapons and defenses on par with each other and any any unusual interactions with non-magnetic items, especially if the civilization developed this stuff well before any contact with other species.

Re: Ship travel times: speed-of-light vs. speed-of-plot I think the question, from a gaming perspective is more of a "can this affect you?" in determining importance of details. If your engine runs off an inexhaustable energy supply, details are not important. If you need to refuel, it becomes important. If ambushes and in transit combat are not done, how/how long is not important (aside from rough guesses). If you need to travel 100 planet diameters before you can engage your FTL drives, then it can be important. Heck, I had been running my space game far, far before SH and 5th and never really worked up details on the ship and space combat because the design of the game did not make it important. Only now, with a interest in fighter combat and the like does the science 'harden'...

Re: And in his wake ... desolation (Power Design Help) CE Would seem to work very well, except it likely will not cause the harm at a fast enough rate. I would definately go more for either Major Transform or maybe even a Killing Attack with invisible sfx, limited to affect the planet's resources/life. Even a couple D6 at megascale AoE would kill off life fast... As far as 'carriers', it would seem the best way would be some form of uncontrolled usable on others. Define how may active agents you want and bingo!

Re: Anime Champions? Hrm, I really never got the feel that A/C-Ko were a couple. C-Ko, while having the "Essence of Desribaility" also has the "Essence Of Naitivity/Innocence". Hers is much more of a big sister/best friend worship at most. I think A-Ko's lack of interest in boys merely comes from no time between C-Ko's need for attention and B-Ko's rampages. Related, Blue/Gray was a pretty interesting twist on the 3 characters.

Re: Anime Champions? True, but they do serve a higher purpose of introducing the question of who actually has ghosts in the age where organic and inorganic are freely traded. They themselves, I believe, resolve that they do indeed have ghosts and not just developed feelings. They are never really just thrown at the enemy, they actually are used quite tactically but are expected to be heavier in the firefight due to their armoring and nimbleness. I would think that any person equally powerful would be used the same though yes, the big difference is that few feel remorse when they get hit. I do wonder if it also had any correlation to hired mercenaries and how they may be considered 'disposable'. One thing I must have missed...when they were taken away, was it ever explained why they were brought back? Were they 'fixed'?

Re: Anime Champions? Hrm been a while since I saw that. Isn't the premise of BGC pretty much, for every episode..."BGC member 'X' has friend 'Y'. 'Y' gets into trouble with subtle, evil, gloating person 'Z'. Optional confrontation between 'X' and 'Z' where 'X' realizes something is amiss. 'Y' is violently killed by 'Z'. GBC member 'X' gets mad/pouts. They go nail the killer 'Z'." I don't remember there being much story beyond that to the point that after a while watching it, I generally thought "Hrm...that person is not a BGC person. They are a friend. Boy, are they toast!!!!" It is amazing they knew anyone in the city by the time it was all done... I liked the first movie far more than the second, but the SAC more. I love the politics and philosophy they draw up, but in the second there were just too many points where I thought to myself "just shoot someone already!!!!" The series I think help flush out the support cast far better than in the movies.

Re: Anime Champions? Actually, isn't the hinted premise that she in fact is the daughter of Superman and Wonder Woman (from the last scene where you actually get to see the parents)?

Re: Overwhelming PRE attacks I would definately approach it from a limit perspective. That and simply deny powers where the player is obviously trying to get a combination to circumvent your restrictions. While it is reasonable to have a hero with complimentary powers, when they directly add it is not abiding by the limits you place. You could also, for those pesky PRE monsters, introduce the BDR (Blind, Deaf, Radar) Villians. You need to understand what the attacker is trying to get you to do after all... Also, rampaging computer controlled vehicles will mock (well, can be programmed to artifically mock) PRE dependant people. Face it; the villian element will watch and learn about the heroes. They want to succeed so they will adapt. There even could be a larger villian that wants to rough up the heroes so they provide even these smaller gangs with tech designed to hit the heroes hard.

A few questions with regard to the -1 Ablative rule where the defense value degrades by 5AP. I am looking at this from a Heroic style genre, namely small mecha (4m), using hit locations and designing some damagable exterior armor. Where it states "...every shot against which an Ablative Defense Power provides protection and which could, if a good enough roll were achieved, do BODY damage to the target..." If a vehicle has layered defenses, such as DEF (Ablative) and normal DEF, does that mean the potental damage the attack can do must overcome both the ablative and normal DEF combined? When using Hit Locations, does that mean you take the damage multiplier into account when making this determination? Is the maximum DEF or current level of the Ablative DEF used when making this check? Thanks for the info!