altamaros

Originally posted by MarkusDark

Heh, in my world, there is a group called "Bases, Inc." which is actually a construction company that has 'supers' that aren't quite as high in the points as your average super hero group - so they took their slightly better than normal abilities and created a company that builds bases as well as repairs damage wrought by super encounters. Such people include a couple who just have clinging and nothing else - for high scaffolding work, a welder with uber-hot hands, tunneler and some people who can work magic with metal.

It reminds me of the Aftermath Inc. company, in the 4th Ed Champions Universe : there was a super-strong ape-like guy, a energy sponge and a stone shaper (and maybe others)

Hi Dave.

I found these in my first attempts to create an european team (it was still EEC a this time) :

i removed the doubles :

Doctor Gulliver (size-changing powers, U.K. or Ireland)

Comte de (count of) Saint-Germain (time-displaced immortal sorcerer, France).

Holger Danske (Ogier the Dane, sword-wielding living legend, Danemark)

The Black Tulip (swashbuckling hero from Netherlands)

Das Heulen (The Howling, sonic powers, german)

Arlecchina (female form of "Arlecchino" (Arlequin) Illusionist, Italian)

Medianoche ("Midnight", Dark force/shadow powers, spanish)

Geyser (Icelander with geothermic powers)

Khroma ("color", half-goddess with light/rainbow powers, Greece)

From the Cyb-Gang (a bunch of cyborgs) :

Motormouth

Hand Job

Hot Wheel

the others are doublets.

(note to Death tribble :

Blackbird (the specie) : Merle (female : Merlette)

Blackbird (a bird who is black: a crow or else): Oiseau noir.

hope this helps)

Originally posted by Kintara

Here's how we ended up doing it.

 

HKA 1d6 for the bite.

 

Drain DEX 6d6, No Normal Defense (LS: Immunity; +1/2), Delayed Return (1 AP/Min; +1/2) (120 Active Points), Limited Effect: Affected Proportionately by Mass (-1/4), HKA Must do BODY (-1/2), Charges (8; -1/2), Linked (-1/4). Real Cost: 48 points.

 

The Limited Effect is bought to simulate the fact that a poison doesn't work as well against larger targets. It works better on lighter ones, but generally size correlates with power, so we figured it worked out to a minor limitation.

 

We're thinking we might buy more charges because we're not sure that that's enough effect total. Or perhaps SPD Drain is too much more effective.

Just a question : if the paralysis physical and mental ?

I mean if a mentalist is bitten and paralyzed; is he still able to use his mental powers ?

If not, then the SPD Drain is probably the thing to do.

If so, You should consider the Entangle effect as Insaniac said but i would personally ask the player to take the NND advantage to the entangle (i.e. either you have the LS:Immunity to poison(s) either you have to wait for the entangle to fade away). Yes, i know a NND entangle is an obscene thing to build but you can balance by the limitations :

EntangleYd6 Y Def

+ NND +1 (LS: Immunity to toxin(s), non-organic physiology, etc... )

+ Takes no damage from attacks (+1/2)

+ Cannot be escaped with teleportation (+1/4)

- Cannot form barriers (-0) - included in the NND option -

- Susceptible to antitoxins, healing effects, successful CON rolls, etc ... (-1/4)

- No DEF (-1/?) (maybe)

- no range (-1/2)

- Only if bite does damage (-1/4 or -1/2 according to HKA)

For the limited effect on large targets : a large target has an higher CON -> Susceptibility.

Multiple bites ==> just add Body to the entangle

The No DEF limitation is there to simulate the fact that the entangle will stop to work after a time but this effect is probably covered by Susceptible (the victim will probably succeed some CON rolls from time to time).

Originally posted by JohnTaber

Re: Bouncing. I THINK this is detailed in the Champions book isn't it? I vaguely remember reading something like this...maybe I'm wrong...

I've checked and i've just found the "Boucing ball set" in the pregenerated powers section. There's no "bouncing concept inside.

Can someone help me for the page ?

I call to your wisdom, my fellow hero-system worshippers.

I try to use 2-3 house rules on some powers and i would like to get some opinion/advice.

1) Clairsentience

I'm thinking about extending the concept of fixed locations from Teleportation to apply them to claisentienc as an easier way to define close circuit TV cameras, or bugs.

(i don't really like the way these concepts are done in the book)

1 fixed location (clairsentience)

5 floating location (clairsentience)

The thing i wonder about is : if a PC has both clairsentience and T-port. will the locations be common or limited to one power?

I mean : shall I use a "only for t-port/clairsentience" limitations on the locations or are they limited to one power basically ?

2) Leaping - Bouncing

I know that even dare to build a bouncing character in Hero System is a call to death stoning but i wonder if it would be possible to add a "bouncing" adder to "Leaping" but i'm unsure about the cost.

Note : the maximum distance is still limited by the amount of hexes in the power.

5 Pts : bouncing and you can bounce as many times as you want during the leap

(the "bounce hexes" have to be defined before the leap). Each bounce needs a attack roll on the targeted hex(DCV 3). each bounce attack roll after the first get a cumulative -2 (thus the range modifier is subject to the distance between the bounce points not the total leap distance)

Problem : the "Accurate" adder makes this really powerful.

5 Pts : to double the number of bounces during the leap (first gives 1 bounce then 2, 4, etc..).

There's still only one attack roll for all the leap.

2-3(?) Pts by bounce. each bounce needs a attack roll at cumulative -2.

any other ideas ?

what should be the best to keep the balance ?

Re: How would you do this?

Originally posted by Twilight

Then the solution hit me, Black Harlequin is an evil clown, why not have him be hunted by a GOOD clown?

 

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I'm officially bringing Merry Andrew out of retirement as a PC of mine. What I want to know is, do you have any suggestions on how to do him as a 350 pt PC?

Maube you shoul pick one or two issues of "Astro-City". A farily good (IMHO) example of "good" clown is Jack-In-The-Box.

( something like a AsC version of Spiderman with a clown theme)

Re: How Big is Big?

Originally posted by Susano

Out of curiosity... how much Growth would you need to create a fish 700 miles long?

 

And on a related note -- how much STR to lift/support the central island of Japan (Honshu, right?)?

Re: Mutant Twins Special Power

Originally posted by Brick

Two of my players want to create a pair of mutant twins. Aside from their individual powers, they want to have a special mega-power which leaves them totally exhausted (probably unconscious)after using it.

The exhaustion thing just seems to be a increased END cost x YY limitation or a side effect STUN/END drain (or both)

When they manage to touch each other,and both are not Stunned or Knocked Out, they can unleash an incredibly powerful energy wave. Now my question is: Who gets to pay for that power, and how much? Do I simply divide the total costs between the twins, or does one of them have to pay for all of it? And what value would the limitation be for the twins having to touch each other (s.a.)? I thought a -1/2 would be okay, what do you think?

I would use (for each of them) a

50 Multipower

5u 18D6 energy blast ( 18 as an *example* of course) : 90 BP

(+ Explosion or AOE eventually or whatever)

+ Personal immunity +1/4

+ personal immunity (22,5 AP) is Usable by self and one other: +1/2 ( adds 6 AP)

(total active points : 119 !! )

- Increased END cost x 3 : -1 (total END cost : 36 )

- Only when supported by brother: -1/2

(real cost : 48 points)

4u Succor : Energy blast 21D6 : 105 BP

- Only to succor brother's EB: -1

- Increased END cost x 3 : -1 (total END cost : 30 )

(real cost : 35 points)

So thanks to the multipower, each of the twins can either support his bro, either use the blast if supported by his bro.

Anyway, they both consume END when they use the energy wave. the SFX is just that they both release the blast.

You should decrease the real cost of the MP by reducing the number of dices, increasing the END cost (and give them a END reserve), charges or whatever you think appropriate.

Anyway, it may have a simpler way to do it but it needs a question to mr Long.

If X has a 5D6 EB Usable by Other, and grants it to Y who has a 7D6 EB on his own.

Y has :

a) 2 EB one with 5D6 the other with 7D6

or

one EB with 12D6 ?

in the case of the whole thing is simply a +1/4 advantage "usable by other/only on brother" on the power.

Note : the "twin brother" case is discussed in the description of personal immunity in the Fred. check it there (i don't have it here). you should not even need my trick of "advantage on advantage"

Originally posted by assault

On a more general note: how about some Vichyite "heroes"? After all, the Vichy government was the internationally recognized government of France for a couple of years

For the first years at least; it's unlikely : due to the restrictions imposed by the armistice on the Vichy govt. they would not have been allowed to "own" their own "heroes".

But after 1941, the Vichy govt installed a legion of french volunteers fighting with germans against (USSR) communists.

This legion became the Division Charlemagne in 1943 ( 33e waffen SS division).

So maybe you can use a agent called the "commandant Charlemagne". (by doing this search, i found neo-nazis websites who consider these guys as heroes, creepy! )

... with the Gaullists being seen as an appendage of Britain. ("Internationally" probably really means "by the US" in this case, of course.)

De Gaulle and Roosevelt hated each other apparently. the U.S. supported more the general Giraud who was later put aside by De Gaulle.

Siberian Tiger, to me Pax sounds like the Vatican's contribution to the war. As I recall they weren't terribly fond of Mussolini and his fascists and Pax just seems like a character a Pope would create.

I just read this morning in the newspapers that some newly released documents from the Vatican secret archives show the evidence of a non-agression pact between Nazi germany and Vatican.

Originally posted by Shadow Stalker

Followers are good but make sure they have powers with the advantage of useable on others with a disad on that so only the main PC can use thier powers. Or just the characters that get along with the main PC.

The player i told you about had a idea like this but he found that it could be very expensive to use (consumes END). he rather tried the "Gestalt" idea :

the followers have a MP with aid/healing/succor all BOECV & ranged and a psychic bond to the main character ...

Battle cry : Power me up, guys !

Originally posted by Space Cadet

BTW, the name of The Devourer is Sebek.

The name of the devourer is Ammit

Sebek is a crocodile god.

Originally posted by Shadow Stalker

Multipower is good so powers are cheaper than EC and you can adjust the effectiveness of them for different situations.

Even worse than Multiform : Followers.

One of my players attempted to come with a Pokemon-master style character :

40 pts :

(25) : followers : 125 base+125 disadv

(20) : x 16 followers.

If you give the followers mind link w/the master and XDM or/and megascale t-port only to fixed location (master) ...

9 x 250pts characters in one ...

shoot on sight.

Another idea of him was the "egg-head follower" :

on 75+75pts

all characteristics are normal except INT (40). it let still 120 pts to spend in INT-based skills and a HRRP or mind link : you have all the intellect skills of the game at 17- for 15 pts on your main character.

maybe this link can help to understand the abilities of the critter.

According to the text; th Tanuki can use his ... er ... things as parachute;

this adds some hexes of Gliding to the powers.

the balls are also supposed to bring good fortune so i guess it would be some dices of luck with the "restrainable" limitation.

the drum effect should be, as you said : images vs hearing group, fixed effect, restrainable.

hope this helps

Originally posted by Steve Long

Time Master -- never existed. (Though who can say, with time travelers? )

Does that mean that you would be likely to make a adventure on "Crisis on infinity of Champion Earths at Zero Hour" ?

(with a war of avatars inside )

It was used in the 4th Ed "Creatures of the night" book.

a character ("Golem" IIRC) has a multiform and a teleport both with the "let body behind" limitation.

Originally posted by McCoy

How about Headquarters? Done the mansion, the school, the undersea and orbital research stations, the hospital, the mall, where have your teams hung out?

For my team (as a player, i'm a GM with another group), we live in a jailhouse !!

Our campaign is based on the old DC's Suicide Squad stories : the PCs are all "former" supervillains taken as (hum) executives from a secret UNO organisation.

For the other team (as a GM) the headquarter is a former temple of a Evil Cult under a church (the priest is a DNPC).

Originally posted by Tamashii2000

Ok, so instead of using kiss, make the villians either superpowered backstreet boys or new kids on the block

AT least i would not need to give a motivation to the PCs to hit them ...

(thanks for the HOG explanation, Thirdbase)

Originally posted by McCoy

How steriotypical are you going to get with this? May want to give the leatherman some sort of absorption ability; the harder you hit him, the better he likes it.

LOL but i chose the VP because I suspect that my players won't have any superheroic culture at all. I needed comething :

- well-known

- with "flashy" outfits

- distinctive from each other

- and relatively "morally clean" (there may be spectators during the game)

The "morally clean" aspect means that the idea of the absorption is funny but could make soem people uneasy (parents)

Genre convention use to demand a distaff member on every team, maybe you want to give the flannel-clad cyborg construction worker a sex change?

True that it's a convention but it would alter the tone of the team.

Anyway the idea to use KISS as a villain team is pretty good (as DC's joker-like criminals). the name of the villain band (sorry, group) for their name (itch, itch) :

- the Psycho-Circus ?

- The Revenge ?

The "Glam's" as a whole is a very rich source for opponents My first thoughts included a David Bowie look-alike as the master-villain and Queen ( with their "mad max" outfit from "radiogaga") as henchmen and the characters of the "rocky horror picture show".

i didn't know this band "Stryper"; thanks for the reference; i gonna search some songs from them.

I used once this plot (even if it didn't go very far) :

All the PCs are caught on the scene by a camera in some corporate building/facility/etc... . they fight an unidentified ennemy (villain ?) and won over him/her but the Ennemy detonates a explosive device and the whole building is blown out.

Only problems :

1 - the PCs don't know each other

2 - they were all elsewhere at this time

The videotape is shown on TV News, the Company wants explanations, etc...

The logical reaction of the PCs should be to track each other and gather to understand the whole thing.

If your campaign allows time travel (it was my case) the PCs are to be sucked into a distant future/past a few adventures after (through a device found in the ruins of the factory), meet the villain, confront him/her.

The villain is then made to think that Earth is beginning to be increasingly dangerous and decide to travel back to the PC's time to trigger a doomsday bomb. The PCs follow him/her and prevent the plot. (the survival of the PCs are up to you)

If your campaign allows alternate earths, you can use counterparts to the PCs (who are a vilainous team ) hunting the PCs and commiting crimes together.

hope this help

Ok thanks to all of you for your clever ideas!

(note: for those interested, the picture is in Kingdom comes#2, p 28)

So :

The Biker :

Name : Harley, Hog (i'd like a explain for this one, i'm not american and i don't understand the pun), i thought about Motormouth, Black racer or Highwayman.

Powers :

Running,

SPD 6 (at least),

Sonic boom (Flash vs Hearing +does knockback+does body)

Personality : show-off and macho(-man!)

The Indian :

Name : Cloud Walker (i could hardly find something better in my mind, thanks to BlackCobra)

Powers : flight restrainable,

MP with TK AOE, affects all parts,

CE variable, megascale, gradual effect

Energy blast, armor piercing

Darkness to sight group

Personality : sorry, Asperion, the "brother earth" concept is cool but doesn't fit with the tone (the setting is urban -San Francisco, of course)

The construction worker

Name : Hard Hat is good, i keep it

Powers :

classical brick : STR, Armor

Cyborg : HRRP, mind link with the suit

Vehicle : the battlesuit

Personality : bitter, serious

The Military

Name : still to choose, the sailor outfit is only in the "In the Navy" video

Powers :

Enhanced STR, DEX, SPD

Martial arts

MP guns (RKA), blades (HKA), HTHA (OAF)

Personality : tactical leader, clever, straight-minded

The patrolman

Name : Authority is fine (i told you Alan Moore was my god)

Powers : The choice of a mentalist is clever. I won't make him a telepath (i.e. telepathy) due to a bad experience with them.

- EC Psy powers w/ Mind control, Mental illusions, mind link & Mind scan. probably a advantage with OAF (badge).

PRE, Mental Defense (with variable adv maybe)

Personality: team leader, cold-blooded, calm

The Cow-boy

Name : cowboy ?, Dust Devil, Lone Ranger?

Powers : the gun tricks are rather classic, i found the animal control idea original. i will think about it.

Personality : as show-off than th Biker , rivalry with him

I will post the first drafts in a few days

Thanks

Originally posted by Blue

L'Esprit (The Spirit) - A spirit that has served French kings for centuries, he has been summoned in the past to kill enemies and advise rulers. Now he has been called from the beyond to protect France. Charles DeGaulle, French Prime Minister, hears of the tale and summons the spirit, but in order to act in the physical world, it must possess the body of an heir to the long ago overthrown monarchy. And so a normal man whose family was hidden away during the French revolution to spare them the guillotine, and who doesn't even know of his lineage, suddenly finds himself possessed and with powers he never expected.

 

Hey, that last one's pretty good. I'm gonna have to copy these down

It's weird because one of my first write-ups on Hero System took exactly the same idea for a european character. He was danish could multiform to the physical manifestation of Ogier the Dane, protector of the Danmark. (Ogier the Dane is a ancient paladin from the years 800; he is supposed to sleep under the castle of Kronberg in Danemark and wakes up when the Danemark is threatened). The character was in the current time (1994) but his grandfather was the inheritor of the mantle during the WWII.

but the characters from the french Resistance should be "sneaky" or at least discrete rather than flashy. hostages and executions were common after acts from the Resistance.

So they might not like publicity.

(I had to try so hard not to make characters like "surrender man" and his sidekick "cheese eatin' surrender monkey". Oops. So much for willpower.)

and don't worry for your french it's very good

Hi.

I'm creating a team of pregenerated heroes for a 4-color initiation game i should run soon. The team, "the Village Warriors" are basically superpowered versions of the Village People (i took the idea in a picture of DC's "Kingdom comes"; once again, Alan Moore is my god)

The characters are based on 125pts+125 disadv.

The leatherclad biker is the speedster; maybe with some low-level martial abilities. (running, armor, HA?)

The Indian has wings (flight) and weather-control powers (lightning blast, wind TK, fog-darkness, CE) - energy projector

The military has enhanced physical attributes and a big gun (martial artist/energy projector)

The construction worker is a cyborg with the (vehicle) archclassical forklift-battlesuit. (brick)

here begin the problems :

i'm running short of ideas for the cowboy and the highway patrol policeman.

what kind of powers/abilities could i give to these characters ?

knowing that it must be beginner characters and that their write-up should be simple (the players are newcomers to HS5)

besides if someone had good names for the six characters.(out of gay-related jokes) it would help me as well.

thanks

Originally posted by Yamo

Why not use Trigger?

it should be possible but the trigger must be something the character can percieve with his own senses. so the character would have to take some enhanced sense ("detect malicious intents") as well.

besides, he would have to "reload" the power each time he has used it.

The value of this lim (-1/2) seems to be pretty high for the effect considering that it's rather helpful for him (unless you plan to make him attack by "helpful" people or robots. i would probably charge it -1/4 (or -0 depending of the PC).

(only vs living beings is -1/2 lim usually)

I think the kind of recognition you want is described in the FAQ or somewhere. IIRC, there is no difference from the normal construct. you just define that you see the past of the object/person rather than the place

Re: Cities that need heroes

Originally posted by Hermit

For that matter, I fully recognize population isn't everything. What would be your list of top ten super heroic cities in the U.S, and why?

Sunnydale,CA ?