Robyn

Re: Energy Output of Attacks

While we're on similar subjects, what happens to an object's potential kinetic energy if you Teleport it from the ground to 60 feet up?

Re: Mental combat - when would dice be rolled here?

See' date=' I've never liked the idea of diceless systems, because they leave everything so vague and open to interpretation.[/quote']

 

I didn't say diceless, nor is it skillless, just not those skills or type thereof

 

Imaging that the above scenario was playing out not in the psychic plane' date=' but in cyberspace. If the character is an expert hacker, but the player doesn't know anything about the subject and the GM [i']does[/i], how is the player ever going to come up with what he needs to succeed?

 

This is one of the advantages of starting out all the characters as "normals". Techniques can be presented as observations in game, learned from other sources, or even stumbled across by guessing.

 

You break out the dice when you get to the point that it's not clear whether the character would succeed or fail' date=' and it [i']matters[/i].

 

So, at that stage, it's a "fast-talk the GM" skill, with anything less than persuasiveness on that level resulting in a dieroll?

Re: Your "2006" Pet Gaming Projects

I need more information in order to locate resources.

I've got the sourcebook and a few of the expansions; I've got everything I need rules-wise, really, except the HERO books. As for the gameplay concepts, I prefer this interview (short of quoting extensively from the book itself).

Re: Mental combat - when would dice be rolled here?

By the base rules as given' date=' the closest equivalent to this is a scanner managing to "hit", and getting more than the target's EGO+Mental Defense. He would actually know that someone is in the scanned area and their direction but not who they were or that they were unauthorised.[/quote']

 

I would want to allow for some in-character concept of fumbles, so the scanner would rather check and make sure something is there before scrambling an intercept team on the results of that single, vague impression.

 

GM: "Now the presence seems to you like a large pillow' date=' slowly but inexorably weighing down on you. In a matter of minutes it will squash you flat, unless you resist. If you do resist, though, it can feel that."[/b']

 

Hard to say what that really is. It could just be the enemy mind's attempt to get the higher level of mind scan being described as more of a threat than it is or having gotten it to then use Telepathy to read the intruding mind and

identify it.

 

It was an AOE attack, basically; hoping to apply enough pressure that something would crack.

 

This bit's tough. It sounds like a house rule that mind scan connections always work both ways so the intruder doesn't need to make a roll to locate his opponent's mind.

 

Damage Shield

 

And he does' date=' shooting for a undetected Mind Control to remove the memory of detecting the intruder before breaking free of the Mind Scan.[/quote']

 

I think it might be more of a Transfer mental DCV, or mental Shapeshift into the attacker's form; borrowing from the attacker's mind to shore up your own defenses, or adopt the appearance of something that the attacker's Personal Immunity would ignore.

 

I like the ideas you're posting, though. If only the Rep thingy would recycle

Re: Mental combat - when would dice be rolled here?

Barring some huge KS: powers, or awarenes,s or claristentience--its not even a feasible reaction except from an experienced emntal combatant. You can't tell what theorey an attack believes in unless you are somehow communiating with the mentality behind it.

 

Would this do?

 

you feel it sinking into the top layer of your mind. Since you're now both coinhabiting the same space, you can sense that it doesn't believe in the subjective perception theory

 

Maybe a Damage Shield for a Mindscan or the like? Surface mental Body has "No Visible Power Effect", so attackers can't tell that they've inflicted damage (using an AOE, basically, sweeping the entire area), until they do enough damage to penetrate the core of the mind.

 

Mich of the reactions of the player went beyond roleplay and into some form or enhanced skill or ability. Good roleplaying should be recognized' date=' but shouldn't replace such things.[/quote']

 

I'm trying to adapt from a system that has no skills for these things. I'll get there, but I keep trying to use skills that are too broad in scope, I think. Either that or Variable Function skills; they can accomplish whatever you figure out how to do, when you figure out how to do it (i.e. what the GM is thinking about how it could be done).

Re: Mental combat - when would dice be rolled here?

If you want it to play out exactly like that' date=' a player says something and it happens - go diceless roleplaying. It certainly has it's place in HERO.[/quote']

 

What place is that?

 

Mind you, the strength in HERO, the advantage I can see to using it, is its system - if I start taking away from that, how am I still playing HERO? And if I'm not using its best asset, might I be better off reverting to an older system for which I don't have to "kludge" rules?

 

First decide how this mental plane works - if everyone has it' date=' it's just a Game Effect like everyone having Arms. No mechanics really needed. In fact some Powers may take on a "Only in the Mental Plane" Limitation.[/quote']

 

Kind of like the side-dimension for Desolidification; adjacent, but not everyone can get there. Telepathic presences travel along with their host brains if they have one, or float/fly around if not. Some telepaths can reach anyone with an existence there, others can reach across and touch the minds of those who don't even know of it.

 

If this is a important part of the Campaign (and it seems it is) take a good amount of time to translate Skills and Talents into the Mental Plane for use specifically in these situations.... i.e. treat them just like Meat World stuff' date=' only it's all in the head.[/quote']

 

I've begun to suspect that this would all be a lot easier if I just dropped a level of two of reality and use Aid; say that the characters themselves don't have powers, inherently, but rather that more powerful entities act as Patrons and grant them such powers.

 

Like the laws of physics; "gravity" is a Game Effect like everyone having arms, but if that law exists only through its own strength, and indiscriminately applies to everyone (except those with enough power of their own to temporarily and locally neutralize it), it's basically using Aid to give everyone in the universe a Levitation effect.

 

On the other hand, if I let each entity have its own Cosmic VPP with more Aid to those who "roleplay out" their powers, I'm basically rewriting the whole rulebook and coming up with my own powers, which negates the point of having HERO's established system

Re: The Magic Trunk

Because with a VPP I could take out a shotgun then put it back and take out a hunting rifle then put that back and take out a six shooter.

If they take the trunk, can they get all the weapons out from inside of it? If so, you can build two separate Foci.

If not, the trunk should have the "calling" ability. Is this an extradimensional space that you can build another trunk to access?

Tell us more about the Special Effects of how this trunk works. Not how it could be done in the system, forget about that for a moment (I'm currently between a Multipower with slots for each weapon, and a Variable Advantage/Limitation Focus). Just what the mage is doing to make all of this happen.

I'm far enough along in the conversion that I can begin taking examples from play and asking "How would these take place in the HERO system?". Here, paraphrased from memory, is one such example:

GM: "You're scouting out their perimeter when you feel the gentle touch of a mind brushing against your outermost defenses."

Player: "I don't want to be discovered. I crouch where I am and focus on being invisible: no mental activity, I shut down my mind's defenses, all except an inner shell around the core."

GM: "You can dimly feel it sniffing nearer. Seems like a routine patrol."

Player: "I sit there and wait it out."

GM: "As it passes over you, it seems to sense that something is amiss. It's now hovering in one place."

Player: "Does it know that I'm here?"

GM: "You can't sense any direct awareness of you, so it probably doesn't know where you are, but it's definitely suspicious. It's increasing the intensity of its presence here."

Player: "Does it seem dangerously powerful?"

GM: "It's no threat to you from strength alone, no. You can probably just outwit it."

Player: "I keep the connections of my mind to the outside world dead, then. I'll disconnect my physical perceptions, too, just in case it can tap into that."

GM: "Now the presence seems to you like a large pillow, slowly but inexorably weighing down on you. In a matter of minutes it will squash you flat, unless you resist. If you do resist, though, it can feel that."

Player: "I squeeze my awareness down into the smallest wedge on top of the ground here."

GM: "It continues going down. It seems awfully persistent, still going after you would have given up."

Player: "I let my perception of my mind shift its feel into that of the ground, so I'm part of it."

GM: "It hits the top of your mind and keeps going. It doesn't seem to be aware that it can't go any further."

Player: "What it thinks doesn't matter, it can't touch my mind if it can't find a way in through my subjective perception pathways."

GM: "As you focus on your confidence in that, you feel it sinking into the top layer of your mind. Since you're now both coinhabiting the same space, you can sense that it doesn't believe in the subjective perception theory - it thinks that, no matter what anyone else is doing, traces will exist and it can find those."

Player: "But it's wrong. I should be perfectly safe."

GM: "Unless it's right - if the objective perception theory has more truth to it than you thought, it will find you, and you're too enclosed now to effectively fight back."

Player: "Damn . . . wait, it believes in the objective perception theory? Maybe I can use that against it. I use the overlap of our minds to find its certainty that there is an objective mental reality, and tap into it: then I temporarily commit to that belief myself, and focus on the certainty that, objectively, I have no traces about me."

GM: "It pauses and casts about aimlessly for a few moments, then withdraws in confusion. Since it's so close to you and you're using the same beliefs, it's just power against power and it's not strong enough to impose its version of the mental plane on yours."

I like this - it's a good example of how "figuring out how the other person thinks" can be so important in my game. But whereas in the other systems I would just do it all AMBER Diceless style, players in HERO might object to letting roleplaying alone decide the resolution of the conflict, especially when they have mental powers that could influence the outcome (what point in paying for them if you can't use them, right?). I'm wondering how something like this would play out within the system; when are dice rolled, what degree of effect do they have upon the outcome? If the idea is to make roleplaying the most significant factor in such matters, do I insist on not rolling at all, or do I just keep all mental powers under a low cap and offer heavy bonuses for good roleplaying?

Re: Power idea: Empathic Leech (help requested statting this)

Well' date=' actually I almost immediately had second thoughts about what I'd written since it didn't seem to really give you what you wanted, which is not to give people psychological disadvantages, but just to make them stop or start being angry or sad or whatever.[/quote']

 

Yep, that's it

 

That's why a minute later my first response disappeared. You apparently read it in the time it took me to write my second attempt.

 

I also lost the solution you had Oh well.

Re: Best way to model a booming voice?

I don't get this. He can boom his voice when he's not using his powers either' date=' right?[/quote']

 

I don't know. That's why I used "if" twice, I hope The Souljourner will come back and give us more information

Re: Your "2006" Pet Gaming Projects

Convert the DERPG to HERO.

Single-handedly support the headache medicine industry.

Re: Power idea: Empathic Leech (help requested statting this)

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to David Johnston again.

Well, I had some questions anyway.

Emotions are not a conserved property.

:raises hand: I'm not familiar with this term. Can you elucidate, please?

As far as the intensity goes

 

A cosmetic Transform would give your victims a moderate psychological limitation or remove one.

Do you think a discount would be appropriate (on the cost of the dice of Transform) if the strength of the emotion wouldn't qualify for a Disadvantage?

Or, wait: I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.

A cumulative Transform with 1/2d6 or less of effect, basically one point per unit of emotion transferred (because the system doesn't let us go lower). The SFX of the emotion can be roleplayed out, up to the point where it's strong enough to qualify as a minor Disadvantage.

The reversion condition for the Transform is a slow fade rate.

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

Why didn't you just SAY you wanted an Emtional Controlling villain. Yeesh.

Or hero. He's basically my world's equivalent of Shade from the Dragonrealms.

I wrestled with the character for a long time, and ended up peeling off half of the concept (the part that existed regardless of the character, and could potentially be used for other characters) and sticking it in this forum. Then, twenty minutes later, I posted the stripped-down character idea to the Dark Champions forum, linked it to this thread, and hoped . . .

Yes the system can do that without tossing out or adding things in.

Nice to know

Re: Power idea: Empathic Leech (help requested statting this)

This could be done with Mind Control and either a Side Effect or a second Linked Mind Control with "Opposite Effect of first MC Only, a different target must be chosen."

 

Mind Control is exactly the HERO Mechanic used to affect people's actions/reactions and emotions.

The rest is in SFX, then? I don't, for example, have to use a Limitation for "cannot transmit fear from subject A to subject B when subject A is not frightened"?

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

babble babble...

 

Emotion is a Roleplaying issue. The second I see Emotion statted into the mechanics of a game I leave, insulting people on the way out.

It's sad to hear that you don't think you can be mature about it.

Emotion controlling Mentalists are also fun to have come into play every now and then.

 

But it should in no way be a MECHANIC at the base level. But the SFX of certain desired Powers/Events.

But that's exactly the problem - converting this character, which I can implement with no problem in all the other systems I've used for this campaign, precisely because they don't have mechanics that already govern motivations and psychology. It can all be done in roleplaying and I don't have to worry about contradictions from the system.

But not in HERO. Here, part of that is already "statted into the mechanics", as you put it, and I have to either integrate them or toss one out. I sure as hell know I'm not tossing roleplaying out, which leaves me with integrating them or tossing the system out. But if I toss the system out I'm no longer running HERO, and I may as well go back to one of the systems which is fully compatible.

So what do I do? Give up, never run a game? Or do I maybe ask for help the people who ought to be knowledgeable enough to figure out a solution? The least you could do is offer constructive criticism on the ideas I've already thrown out there, such as eliminating Disadvantages (maybe just the Psychological ones?).

Re: Best way to model a booming voice?

The intent of this power is to make the character more audible.

If the power is only intended for use when the audio interference is present from the weather powers:

It's for a weather control character who wants to be able to have a loud, booming voice that can be heard over the howling winds he creates.

Then we can make it one of the manifestions of his power, only usable when he has the howling winds. At that stage it's a penalty to the Perception roll for every situation except other people when he's speaking. If that's the case, Flash is slightly appropriate with exceptions, but Darkness seems more appropriate since the howling winds are a continuous effect.

Re: Campaign: The Dying Earth

Are you wanting to run an online game within this setting? Where are you going to run it? HeroCentral?

Yes. Sorry for not putting that information in the main message, I have it within the attachment somewhere. I'll edit that appropriately.

Re: Power writeup: Alter Reality, Radius Effect

I like GM fiat as much as the next GM' date=' but I also like to know how to write an ability up.[/quote']

 

Repped

Re: Best way to model a booming voice?

I've got to admit' date=' I just don't understand the logic behind all the various suggestions for using Flash, when that's supposed to [i']take away[/i] the sense of hearing...

The "become audible" is important because it takes place within an area where people normally "cannot hear each other". If the character were easier to hear, but everyone else could converse normally, this would not be as meaningful.

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

So this is a setting specific discussion...

 

but we weren't given the setting information.

 

 

....wtf?

I've been working on the organization, fleshing out, formatting, and re-organization, of the information I had. Along the way, some problems with the future conversion made themselves known to me so strongly that I split them aside into a question that could be applied to any campaign treating emotion as a force equal to "point value Disads" in Strength, even though I'm only going to use the answers for one campaign at the moment.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a "ready to GM" setting. You may be able to steal ideas from it, or even reverse-engineer your own explanations for this world and run it steadily for a while - but it won't be the same. I have developed this setting over the last 5+ years, each detail following clearly and unambiguously from those before, carefully crafting it into a well-integrated whole. I will not casually share it with anyone I have not known and trusted for years; I will permit most players to explore this setting only through their characters.

Short blurbs

(If you're short on time, or have no interest in reading about a different world setting just for the fun of it, scrutinize this screamsheet for signs of whether it's worth your time to continue.

Alternate-history Earth with Europe the equivalent of Japan and China the equivalent of Europe. Mysticism is as commonplace and revered as science, whereas science has been relegated to the contempt we now hold "magic" in. Government exists only to coordinate large groups of people and protect the rights of the individual, that right being held highest in the land.

Details that have not yet been filled in may be supplemented with input from the players conditionally: I, as GM, will have the sole responsibility of representing the interests of those entities that have influenced and charted the course of history, but remain unknown to the characters.

The PC's will be Unimportant to the campaign world, but central to the campaign itself. They will be low-powered, and weaker than the average NPC on the street (they must rely on luck and their wits to survive). Survival itself is more a matter of finding food and temporary shelter through barter (the PC's are unlikely to have their own dwellings) than battling enemies, though duels are common. The PC's will be either police, or assisting the police in some capacity. Choose your desired characters accordingly, and post them to this thread for review and dissection.

I'll offer NPC slots in the sense that you can play just to see what it's like, even if you're not planning to stay, but with the equivalent of a single episode (or perhaps recurring) in the campaign: not going to play a major role, and probably going to vanish if the game starts to pick up in speed or complexity. These characters may be upgraded to PC status if you commit to the campaign, or you can abandon them and generate a new character.

You may pick up whatever rare or common items you come across, but only what you paid for stays with you reliably). As for all other aspects of the system, I am still working on the conversion, but if you can justify your abilities within the original system, an implementation is guaranteed "no matter the cost" in HERO (the primary standard of "point balance" is the original system; if conversions result in one PC having seven hundred points while another requires three thousand, they will still be considered equally low-powered). Experience will not be gained during the course of play; your characters are not weak "but learning", they are weak "and shall remain so indefinitely". It may be possible to change this destiny through one of the campaign crossroads.

Players who want to explore a new world and new characters, not just roleplay a character who is engaged in self-exploration and learning about the world, are desired. During the course of play, things that the characters thought to be true will turn out to be less than true, and their very understanding of reality will shift. The players will learn about the game world primarily through their characters, and be accordingly limited by the character's preconceptions. Because of this, an ability to separate your character's knowledge from the knowledge of other characters is necessary, but an ability to separate your character's knowledge from your knowledge is not.

Being able to enjoy action-paced adventure is highly recommended; contests will only seldom take place physically, however. The characters will also be challenged in social and mental arenas SFX-wise; the "action" will be descriptive, and rolls take place at appropriate intervals along the way. Dice will not be used for mental challenges - expect having to figure out how the other person thinks, or for introspective adventures, how your character thinks.

You can PM me for an E-mail address. I'm not interested in getting spam from spiders that crawl this forum. At this time I plan to run the game through HERO Central, but if the players all want PBeM I can do that instead.

More detailed information is available in a ZIP archive. A list of its contents follows:

Campaign setting - Historical (The history of the campaign world, as it differs from our own.)

Campaign setting - Characters (The characters that must, should, and may be played.)

Campaign setting - Characters (follow-up briefing)

(A copy of additional setting info already released to another potential player after inquiries were made.)

Campaign - Name and Direction (Why this whole campaign belongs in the Dark Champions forum.)

Gameplay - Combat (Getting hurt, healing, and staying alive.)

Gameplay - Mechanics (How we can manage to run/play this.)

Setting - Policework (Common knowledge about how it works.)

Gameplay - Truth (Why truth complicates, not eliminates, intrigue.)

Characters - Children (An optional, but valid, character. Also provides useful background information.)

Gameplay - Timing (Current plans for running this through the forums.)

Gameplay - Observation) (How the PC's will ever become entangled in the plot.)

System - Philosophy (An outdated introduction, but still useful for understanding the original gameplay theory.)

Style-RP correlations (A few conceivable criticisms of the system, and their counterpoints.

In closing, I am at a point in the development process where I find it time-inefficient to just randomly generate details for the area local to the PC's. This is where players or kibitzers need to step forth and present a character idea (native to New China), whereupon I shall fit it into the world and begin laying out information visible from that perspective.

So, what are you curious about? What more details would you like, in what area, before you begin to offer any details of your own?

[Edit: double-checking the file by downloading it from the forums, I found that the contents are obfuscated under another layer of compression. If you have this problem too, open the file as if it were another .zip archive, and you should be able to extract the original files.]

Re: The Magic Trunk

I know this about magic and proably sounds like it belongs in the Fantasy Hero board but I think it should go here.

 

I have a character who I bought a vehicle for (how many points the character and vehicle have doesn't really matter). The character is a mage in the vein of John Constantine. The trunk of his car (or the boot to you brits) can any weapon or weapon that he has in a special case in his apartment. He just thinks of the weapon he wants and opens the trunk and ta-da there it is. How do I build that?

Interesting. It sounds like the "Focus construct" power I was looking for with my first post, to have a character that could create focuses, each with their own unique powers. I can see a couple of ways to do what you're asking about, but unfortunately, I don't think any of them will help me with what I'm after

The first thing you could try, if you plan on putting the weapon back as you're finished with it (before drawing out a new one), is a weapon with variable form and effect (maximum damage, though), limiting damage to whatever is appropriate for its type, and limit the change to "only in trunk". Ammo for missile weapons would be an obvious exception here, though you might be able to get away (if they were preselected missile weapons) with saying "no ammo required, only for me, only when I have access to the trunk" or "recoverable ammo, limited charges". If you want to leave them out and draw forth more, essentially having a limitless supply of weapons (can you sell these to an antique collector for lots of money?), you might try Summon instead. But I don't think Summon could work for inanimate objects, so, on the other hand, there are the rules for building an AI in your base. You can put them in vehicles too. Have the "computer" be a fairly simple one, just intelligent enough (and with Mindscan or Precog) to sense which weapon you want and have it ready for you.

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

Interesting.

 

So then, the crux of the story is in learning that lying is natural, fighting against the establishment? Sort of a Kirk realizing he needs his 'evi; self' to be the full human he needs to be?

 

Or is it just a backdrop?

Just a backdrop. The cognitive aspects of different people in the setting will be of as much importance as different guns to a gunbunny, but neither guns nor minds are the focus of the campaign.

Actually' date=' in this case I may actually have the characters be the different ones, being able to lie somehow, and a disad psych lim based on that, or a physical lim, or social lim maybe... hell even a distictive feature for a differing brain pattern.... could make for a powerful story about the nature of humans.[/quote']

 

If the characters could lie, they wouldn't be playable; but don't worry too much about it. I'll finish the formatting and other organization later tonight, then you can read all about Truth

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

Wow. So' date=' when do you think you're going to be finished with that novel you're writing? [/quote']

 

Mu.

Re: Sudden impulses - the interaction between system and emotion

What?

 

Thsi whole thread was started by way too much overthinking, but the above has suddenly lurched into the realm of nonsensical.

That it doesn't make sense to you means that there's something about the characters in that setting which you don't understand. It is now possible to play a character you do not know everything about. The question is whether you want to

Every character must be honest/ Is it a game where everyone has such vast mental powers lying is impossible? A order or mystics dedicated to truth?

No need for anything that complex. Just a world of people with slightly different brains than most people would consider "normal". Or perhaps a police state where everyone is brought up to value honesty above all else, and those who display an ability to lie are summarily executed, resulting in a population that has had the ability to lie bred out of them. Or perhaps something else; I'm not saying that it is, or isn't, any of the above. If you don't think you can adjust to something that different from the world we know, don't play it.