Kraven Kor

Re: Variable Bonus Eh, seems to add an extra step, but I suppose in place of an activation or something... kind of hard to grasp exactly why something would have a random bonus...

Re: Limited Kinetic Powers (toying with velocity / direction of thrown objects) You could simulate it with Combat Skill Levels as a power... adding OCV or Damage Classes to other attacks, kind of like doing a raw modifier. Basically just CSL: Thrown Weapons. I'd definitely look at Missile Deflection/Reflection for such a character. You could do it with Telekinesis as well, then you are adding weapon damage to your telekinetic damage, probably the best method of doing this. Or, a combination of the three.

Re: STR Adding to HKA's But I just explained that bricks almost always end up with the lowest CV's in my campaigns, due to limits on how many SL's can be added to a single attack... Best Case scenario for a Brick in my campaigns, he'll have 3 to 5 less CV than a Martial Artist or Blaster. Usually, the Martial Artists get pasted when they decide to go full OCV and add some DC's then roll a 17, leaving their DCV well within reach of the Brick (or, more commonly, end up being forced to abort and block since their DCV is still nerfed from whatever manuever they pulled.)

Re: Little "b" bleeding I'm going to beat you.

Re: STR Adding to HKA's Well, the problem there is CSL's not STR adding to HA/HKA damage. Pretty much ALL my characters end up with about the same amount of CSL's, and I have limits on that so that Martial Artists aren't often matching CV's against bricks and such. A base CV of 4 and then say +5 from CSL's and +1 from a Martial Manuever from the brick is going to be up against base CV of 7 and then +5 CSL's and a point or three from Martial Maneuvers, and then the Martial Artist also bought extra HTH DC's so he isn't that far behind on damage. Campaign Rules and point limits and such can do wonders for making sure you get the level of realism and balance you want.

Re: Most Clever Hero System Builds I don't remember what character I saw that gave me the idea, but yeah AoE advantages on HTH attacks were one of my first really awesome builds. Or Autofire on HTH attacks. My old Star Wars-esque HERO Campaign (4th Ed.) put all the ship systems in a multipower so you could have those "transferring power from shields to weapons" type deal. At the time, I was awfully proud of myself for coming up with it, but doubt I was doing much that others hadn't already figured out. Unfortunately, sometimes "clever" = "broken" - had several players who figured out insane ways to break the system, that were nonetheless really clever.

Re: Little "b" bleeding First thought: Regeneration (blah), Only to Stop Blood Loss (-1). This lets them regen back to 0 and be stabilized, but stops once blood loss is stopped. Or, as an item another character might use, Healing, Xd6, OAF (-1), Only to Stop Blood Loss (-1). Probably "Requires a Skill Roll" and "Extra Time" depending on the realism level of the setting. Not a whole lot of other options, really.

Re: STR Adding to HKA's And, again, RKA w/ "Extra Damage from STR" is at a +1/2 advantage. HKA "Usable at Range" is a +1/2 advantage. I think it works out just fine. My only complaint over STR is the 1/1 cost with it affecting so many figured characteristics. But at the same time, bricks are the easiest characters to avoid damage from, so I again think (in my experience) that it all works out. You have to sometimes look past the point totals and wargame a build in your head, or on paper, or with a friend, to find out if it balances against everything else. In my experience, high STR characters are the least problematic build out there.

Re: STR Adding to HKA's If the RKA is a thrown weapon (or like a Compound bow), I do let STR add to the damage. I see it like this: Hand to Hand, you can add to your damage by: Using a Weapon, Extra Strength, Combat Skill Levels, Martial Manuevers, Haymaker... Ranged, you can add to your damage by: Set & Brace to free up CSL's for DC's, and the above methods. Range has the added benefit of being able to really use cover, or hit and fade tactics, etc. In hand to hand your options are a lot more limited, and you are much more in harm's way. I think it is a fair trade off, and again - HERO is about realism to an extent, be it dramatic reality or real reality... either way what makes sense often trumps what might seem balanced for a game system.

Re: Summoning Penalty Skill Levels should be CHEAP and more than enough to counter the summoning penalty, while also representing an expenditure of XP (time, effort, training, materials, preparation, POINTS) to beef up their control of the summoned critters. I'd say "+1 to offset Active Point Penalty on EGO Rolls for Summoning" would be the "Single Attack" option of a PSL; works out to about 1.5 points per +1, +5 was 8 points and would give them their full EGO at up to, what, 50 or 60 AP critters?

Re: What's Hero System good for? About the only thing I've found that HERO is not good at: Convincing D20 players to try a real gaming system HERO is a wonderfully realized gaming toolkit. If you take the time to learn it and tweak it to suit your needs, there is little it can't do. It is a bit overwhelming, and not only "at first", but eventually you see that the way everything is balanced against everything else, and how everything works pretty much on a very few basic concepts, it will all be clear. And this realization will happen in this beautiful epiphany where the whole universe seems to finally make sense, if it works for others the way it did for me, anywho.

Re: rocket and missle velocity-Limitation Value? You are much better off building ship-to-ship missiles as Vehicles, as noted above, since both speed and maneuverability can be worked in for such scenes as evading the missile with hot shot piloting or getting the missile to collide with something else. But yeah, Extra Time would work for more traditional missile launchers. I would use Extra Time: Delayed Phase for most RPG-type weapons.

Re: Storn Sci-Fi Character Art Thread OK here is my entry. A UTC Operative from my upcoming campaign, though the concept isn't campaign specific. A female Computer and Cybernetics specialist and Military Intelligence operative, image would be her watching around a corner while plugged into a computer terminal via a cord connected to her wrist. In the background, around said corner or around/above the terminal she is ducked behind, you would see two startled guards in front of an opening airlock door. She would be clad in lightweight body armor, and holding at the ready a small high-tech rifle (not a blaster, think Pulse Rifle - it would have a special sight that links to her cybernetic eye through implants on her palm, not sure if there would be any way to make this obvious in the drawing.) She would have a not-quite-obvious cybernetic eye and some assorted gadgetry on her outfit. Computer screen should give some evidence of her directing the airlock door to open. Armor should have a full helmet with a visor and breathing apparatus, but she should have that visor up. Airlock is not opening to vacuum, she is just opening the door for the waiting party of boarders Difficulty: No revealing clothing, yet should still be attractive / sexy.

Re: Storn Sci-Fi Character Art Thread Maybe I missed it, but how much info is needed? Do we need full character write-ups, or just a basic description?

Re: Divided Skies: Neural Weaponry Well, it simulates a weapon from the Miles books by Lois McMaster Bujold, and it did just that. Short term, a Nerve Disruptor pretty much incapacitates anybody. Long term, it causes severe nerve damage. This damage is repairable, to an extent, if the target survives and gets the appropriate high-tech medical assitance. It's going to use hit locations, a targeted suppress (checking now if I missed something necessary for that effect...), so a head shot will suppress 10d6 STUN and INT, which should take anyone under 0 INT and disable the head - death, coma, brain damage, etc. In addition, my campaign is going to have high defenses - Armor usually has 5 to 10 rPD/rED, a few more non-resistant PD/ED, Damage Reduction, etc. Looking at common RKA's in the 2d6 to 4d6 range, and average defenses of about 7r/21 or so. Neural Weapons bypass standard armor, you have to have expensive EM Emitters or "Neural Defense Mesh" built into your defenses (basically, the only way to get Power Defense is to buy special and expensive armor.) The Suppressor is a short term stun. The Disruptor is a nasty weapon - probably less lethal than a RKA, but with much scarier effects. I like it as a weapon because players tend to feel invincible to "just Hit Point damage," but my group has all read the books and will role-play the appropriate respect when a Nerve Disruptor is leveled on their characters.

I am toying with some builds (again) for various "Neural" weaponry. Sharing here in case anyone else can use or offer advice on them. Here is what I have so far: Neural Suppressor: The most common non-lethal weapon in known space, the Neural Suppressor is an energy weapon that disrupts the bio-electric signals of most living creatures. While different species versions of this weapon differ greatly in construction, they all create a similar energy beam. Suppress (STUN) 10d6, Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per 20 Minutes; +3/4) (87 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), 12 Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; -3/4), Reduced By Range (-1/4), Real Equipment (-1/4) Neural Disruptor: A much more lethal version of the Neural Suppressor, it works on a similar concept but rather than simply interfering the beam instead overloads the targets Central Nervous System, causing permanent nerve damage. Hits to an extremity can permanently disable the limb struck, while shots to the torso or head can be fatal. Neural Disruptor: Suppress (STUN + Variable) 10d6, (see Notes) (+1/2), Disabling (See notes.) (+1/2), Delayed Return Rate (points return at the rate of 5 per Year; +2 1/2) (225 Active Points); Independent (-2), OAF (-1), 12 Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; -3/4), Reduced By Range (-1/4), Beam (-1/4), Limited Power: Only vs. living creatures. Power loses about a fourth of its effectiveness (-1/4), Real Equipment (-1/4)

Re: ranged MAs - beat Steve to the answer? That chart is handy. I'm going to expand it out to the +2 Range at least, as my Star Hero campaign is going to use some fancy gadgets

Re: ranged MAs - beat Steve to the answer? Well, yeah, that's because I'm awesome.

Re: ranged MAs - beat Steve to the answer? I don't like telling players they can't do something, and I generally run all my rulings through a common sense filter. Let's say you have a Gun, and you use Gun-Fu. Gun is a 2d6 RKA with Armor Piercing bullets(+1/2). This is a 45 AP power. Now, if you had a 3d6 RKA, and wanted to do a "Quick Shot" which adds two DC's, and you have +1 ranged damage classes in your MA for 3 total DC's. This 3d6 Attack (45 AP) becomes 4d6. However, you have AP on your gun... so suddenly you can't add ranged DC's to it? I don't like the sound of that, and again I don't like handing down arbitrary rules to my players (in fact, I avoid it at all costs and this is one of the reasons I want them to play HERO over D20 so badly.) If you go by the (unspoken?) rules, your adjusted DC's should have the AP adjustment, which would mean your AP attack would only go up by 2 DC's instead of 3. In my example, the 2d6 AP RKA becomes 2 1/2d6 AP RKA. Works fine in this case, but on a power with lots of advantages it can get really confusing and slow things down. It is fairly simple to just roughly scale it - +1/2 = 2 DC's per 3, +1 = 2 per 4, +2 = 2 per 6, etc.

Re: running combat with the speed chart This is how I plan to do it, and more or less how I did things in the past. I usually give DEX ties to the player, especially since my campaigns tend towards grit - no or limited healing in fantasy games, lots of killing attacks in Champions / Star Hero, etc.

Re: How does this work? Damage Reduction can't reduce anything to zero, so no matter what % they have, a Penetrating 1-Pip Attack will - as defined by penetrating - deal at least 1 point of effect, unless the target's defenses are bought to the appropriate level of hardened.

Re: 3D Star mapping software Tried to download but it says it is a corrupt archive... might be my firewall at work, will try from home.

Re: Star Hero Campaign is GO! OK more links: ----- Discussion with some links to starship deck plans and such: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42512 ----- Some math and talk about movement in space (a followup to an earlier thread): http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42707 ----- My first ship (deck plans are down, I'll have to re-host somewhere, I have the original files.) http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42674 ----- Some notes on vehicle size and weapon damage, and how to best keep a 2d6 RKA Rifle from killing your 32km Mothership with a lucky shot: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42708 ----- 3d Star Maps thread: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68476 ----- That's about it for the threads I want to reference. Will be updating things shortly as I get my campaign background sorted out.

Re: Brainstorming: What would happen if we made contact? Well, again the Akashi are going to stick around for a bit, and their technology is... well, let's just say Nukes detonated near them don't detonate, their innate danger sense and psionic powers either identify attackers before they attack, or else contain things in psychokinetic force fields minimizing the damage. I think my game world's history will see that period of madness, but it will be contained by the Akashi peacekeeping force. The Akashi are practically immune to anything we could throw at them in the 21st Century. Eventually, our technology advances and we correct the many problems of Earth - genetic cures for most diseases, the achievement of cold fusion and satellite based solar power, etc. Akashi forces assist mankind in distributing aid to the poorer nations of Earth, erradicating hunger, and slowly bringing the third world into the first and beyond. Now, yes, religion does not - no, can not - die out. Some religions adapt - re-interpreting prophecy to account for these changes (the Mormons probably have the best current framework for this, already believing that God populated other worlds than our own.) The more fanatical become less influential, becoming secretive cults but unable to enact any nefarious plots. I suppose I will have some of these religions send out ships to some uncharted planet, probably through arrangements with the UTC. I don't think I'll have them play a major role in the campaign. Once the Akashi peacekeepers leave, things will probably get a bit ugly again, though by this time the UTC will have established their PsiOps organization, inspired by the Akashi's considerable psionic abilities (their weaponry might be fairly standard blaster guns, but their technology is tied into their natural abilities.) When humans launch their first interstellar craft, the Akashi become a little more helpful, inviting mankind into their loose alliance and providing much more assistance - though still trying to let humans figure things out on their own.

Re: Brainstorming: What would happen if we made contact? Well, the battle itself would have likely been simply incomprehensible to witnesses who weren't trained fighters. The D'hrek are from another dimension, when they come to our reality they kind of look like whatever the observer is most terrified of, more an effect of the human mind giving form to the formless. The Akashi in their armored suits look like a blinding white light of vaguely humanoid form. The weapons used by the D'hrek were equally incomprehensible, some killed outright, others incinerated or disintegrated, still others turned their victims inside out or just drove them mad. Akashi weapons are pretty standard blaster weapons, and their ships filled the sky over most every city on Earth while things settled. Most witnesses to the actual combat, mostly centered in Jerusalem, would be 100% sure who the "good guys" were, but that wouldn't stop them from being distrustful of the Akashi particularly after they basically said "Hey, we stopped the D'hrek, Galaxy is a big place, you're on your own, good luck." The worst damage would have been in Jerusalem and the route from there to the plain at Armageddon, but the actual D'hrek invasion occurred after a slew of coordinated terrorist attacks, so there is plenty of other "fallout" worldwide. The D'hrek, once defeated, vanished entirely but the damage they did did not. It would have been weeks or months before power was restored, longer in poorer nations. The Akashi stayed around and provided aid and peacekeeping forces while things were repaired, though again providing almost no technology or answers, the entire time fending off throngs of people thinking they were Angels and this was judgment day.