Lee

ever

Yes, HSMA = Hero System Martial Arts.

It looks like a typo. At the beginning of the example they refer to the character sheets on page 122+ (Defender's is on 122). He has a PD of 20 like the example paragraph you cite says at first but then subtracts 22 from the BODY done. In either case, the result is the same: Defender takes no BODY from the attack.

But, it's still a mistake/typo (IMO).

Present

Pole

I'd say that the STR increase granted by the charge(s) does not cost END to use, but the base STR still costs END. So, if you have a 10 STR and a power that gives you +40 STR on continuing charges, you could use 50 STR where the +40 costs 0 END (because of the charges) and 2 (or 1 I don't remember) END for the base 10 STR.

I think they used the 5-point adder under the Summon power to double the number of skeletons summoned. With all the limitations attached to the spell, even 10 levels of the adder, resulting in 1024 skeletons (reduced to 1000 by fiat) would not be too cost prohibitive.

On 6/11/2020 at 8:36 AM, Hugh Neilson said:

If those who are not experts should have no voice, what does that suggest about the merits of allowing everyone to vote? 

 

Or even freedom of speech?

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“Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be a very silent place if no birds sang except the best.”

---Henry van Dyke, poet (1852-1933)

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“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

---Benjamin Franklin, statesman, author, and inventor (1706-1790)

20 hours ago, Chris Goodwin said:

Aside from opening a shop, casting a few spells for people who need it, or going full research... what might wizards do for a living that might get them involved in adventures?

Maybe change the question a bit. What might wizards need to make their living? Reagents. Some of them they won't be able to get for themselves and will need to join a band of adventurers.

On 4/11/2020 at 12:57 PM, Duke Bushido said:

Really, _really_ hard to take that seriously.

I don't think they were originally ever intended to be taken seriously. Remember, the original concept came from a pun.

(For those who don't know -- Spoiler Alert -- back in the day (it may still be true) that if you killed a Beholder and cut open it's big, central eye you'd find a diamond. That's because "Beauty is in the eye of a Beholder.")

15 minutes ago, IndianaJoe3 said:

As a side note, you can still use Boot Camp to dual-boot and run Windows games.

Also, most will run quite well in a Parallels virtual machine--I've run several Windows only games that way.

1 hour ago, Pariah said:

Fear can make even the best of us make stupid decisions.*

Indeed.

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“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or to think sanely under the influence of a great fear.”

---Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, author, Nobel laureate (1872 - 1970)

23 hours ago, L. Marcus said:

It's Africa that has the local locusts.

So, it's the locus of local locusts?

53 minutes ago, PhilFleischmann said:

I assume elves and dwarves and orcs and giants and dragons also poop.

Nope. They just explode once they reach a certain age.

It seems to me that, since canon is already established "fact" in the universe, as long as Luke Skywalker still destroys the Death Star 1 and Pickard is still the arbiter of succession for Gowron, that Wookies are not featherless, flightless birds on the plains planet Goobldorf and Vulcans aren't short, little blue elephants that get angry at the drop of a hat, canon hasn't been broken.

However, that's as far as it goes. Because, once the game begins, by definition, cannon will always be changing because the actions of the players and the story the GM is trying to tell are going to be different from any canonical source. The only other case I see is that the GM is running a scenario that _is_ a canonical story and the players are doing _exactly_ the same things the characters did in the original source material. If that's the case, they might as well be reading a book.

So, I think that anytime players and GM's try to play in an established universe, such as Star Wars or Star Trek, they will necessarily be breaking canon. Perhaps not what has already occurred, but certainly what is and what will be. If someone doesn't want to do that, they shouldn't play in an established universe.

Just my $0.00 (it's not even worth $0.02)

Lee

14 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Alternatively, you just _preiodically_ create a related nuisance for players who didn't.  No; it's not unfair: if you are allowing your player to spend that point, you are in fact allowing him to create a part of the way your world works-

This. But as an additional alternative, how about making all the mundane documents free (as already stated) but offering a complication (a small one) for those who don't? You can save points by not taking the "freebies" but you are likely to "pay" for it during your adventures.

Agreed, LL. Given that it takes a 2/3 majority to convict (which is never going to happen) the only hope I have is for just a handful of Republicans to vote to convict so that just more than half of the Senate votes to convict. It won't remove him from office but it will send a message that a majority of people think he's guilty.

1 hour ago, SteveZilla said:

On 1/1/2020 at 9:18 AM, massey said:

 

... particularly with Change Environment now having an adder that automatically stuns people, regardless of Con score.

 

Wait, what?  0.o

I believe massey is referring to the APG 1 p 83 "Change Environment: Stunning". But note that it is a "stop sign" power.

4 hours ago, PhilFleischmann said:

This is a pretty pointless argument, and it's not getting any more pointful.

As is the argument for roll high when the system is designed roll low.

In Fantasy Hero 6e (not FH Complete, though), on page 148 under "Fantasy Hero Powers":

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Archer’s Strength: The character has extra STR that only helps him draw powerful bows. +10 STR (10 Active Points); Only To Draw Bows
(-1). Total cost: 5 points.

Maybe that's what you're thinking of (or maybe it will help anyway)?

I'm like Duke in that I've never seen what the problem is. There seems to be angst about something that is simply a matter of perspective. To me, what it boils down to is this:

Which is more important: what you roll or what you need to roll?

If it is what you roll, then a roll high system makes sense. However if it is what you need to roll, then roll low is what you want. They are simply two sides of the same coin.

In my opinion (which is worth exactly what you paid for it, nothing), roll low makes more sense. For one, I view what I need to roll (even though it may be calculated on the fly) to be a characteristic of my character. High STR is better than low STR; High DEX is better than low DEX; High OCV is better than low OCV; High to hit roll is better than a low to hit roll. The dice are simply a random number generator and its results are strictly to be used to interpret the roll needed to hit. Nothing more.

Additionally, it meshes better for me from a probability stand point. If I have a 73 percent chance of success and am rolling percentile dice it is more intuitive to me to think "I need to roll a 73 or less" than to think "I need to roll greater than 27". But, that again comes back to an emphasis on what is needed to be rolled rather than what was rolled.

Your mileage will most certainly vary.

Lee

P.S. I really like the golf analogy. I don't play golf, so I would never have thought of using it. But, a lot of people do play it and could help them see things from the proper perspective in a roll low game. Thanks for the idea!

15 hours ago, Gnome BODY (important!) said:

Quote

Oh and since I work at a chocolate factory ...

 

I feel like I'm wading through a field of strawmen. 

Actually, since it was a chocolate factory they are less likely to be strawmen than oompa-loompas. 

From 6E1 p 447:

Quote

Deadly Blow Cost: Six 8-point Combat Skill Levels with these Limitations: Only To Increase Damage (-½), Only With Weapons (-½), and a -2,-1, or -½ Limitation defining the circumstances.

HTH

3 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

If we are really concerned when both cost the same but one of these  has better options available, STR should not add to HKA at all.  You want more KA, buy more KA.  You want it to require STR, add a limitation.

Agreed. In a FH context, I'd make weapons that did more damage heavier (or more unwieldy), requiring more STR to wield without a penalty and not allow STR to add to the HKA damage at all. So the "advantage" of a high strength is being able to use weapons that do more damage rather than adding to damage.