Victor

Re: SciFi Colonists Well, no distances have been mentioned, so presuming the people you send will be the ones doing the work on arrival, I would say "training". Put together a Colonial Training Center, where prospective colonists are educated on probable conditions and situations, tested both on what they have and haven't been taught, and run through a year or so of a Simulated Colony Site (where they have no contact with the outside). Optionally, train them on operating/fixing the ship in case things go wrong along the way, or if the ship needs to be flown back for the next graduating class. Those that do well get to go, those that fail miserably may be dead or injured as a result, and everyone else eventually gets sent home, or ends up working in a support role at the training center. This also has some roleplay potential, particularly if someone "cheats" to avoid the law at home, or if someone wants to make sure someone else doesn't get to go. Or perhaps someone comes back on the ship that shouldn't have.

Re: Literary Write Ups When Denethor was young, there was a captain called Thorongil. Denethor's father Ecthelion, and many of the people, often overlooked Denethor in favor of him. Denethor was jealous of him because of this. He had guessed Thorongil was actually the heir to the throne of Gondor -- Aragorn -- and was correct. Denethor would lose much of the Stewardship's power if there were a King upon the throne. Gandalf and Aragorn were friends even then, and Aragorn advocated Gandalf's advice to Ecthelion. Denethor suspected that Gandalf and Aragorn were plotting to remove him from the succession of the Stewardship. When he did at last become Steward of Gondor, Denethor did not welcome Gandalf's presence in his halls. Boromir was more similar to Denethor (at least, prior to his wife dying) in terms of thinking and temperment, though Faramir looked more like him (probably more of the Dunedain traits in common, whereas Boromir presumably took more after his mother's side). Faramir eventually became friends with Gandalf, and that was probably a big wedge between them. Denethor probably suspected that Gandalf was again trying to meddle in the succession of Stewards to supplant Boromir as well. When Boromir's body was found mysteriously washed ashore in the river, covered with arrow wounds (and no arrows or arrow heads in them), after being sent to attend Elrond's Council, leaving Faramir as the sole heir to the Stewardship... well, that was probably "the last straw". "Slain by orcs. Yeah. Right."

Re: Need help with modern pirate concept

Re: Hypothetical Axis Amerika 2005 At risk of stirring up things better left unstirred, suppose Quebec decided that it had a better chance of autonomy without it's anglophile neighbors and entered into a treaty of some kind with the Nazi's (perhaps even negotiated in Vichy)? The Quebec government would then have a free hand to deal with the native peoples as they saw fit, as well as ejecting any anglophile undesirables. True, they'd have German as a second language, but better than English as a first, perhaps. The Nazi's would then have a political foothold, and a good reason to start their invasion from the North, to move troops and supplies into Quebec. If Canada were forced to submit, and the seat of government moved to Montreal, that would give the German Navy friendly (or at least, non-hostile) ports all around the arctic circle, and an additional production/logistics/supply capability. This would put increased pressure on Russia, preventing them from massing quite as many troops on Germany's eastern front. Okay, probably not realistic, but it's definitely imagineable. That's what we're after, right?

Re: Non-combat Magic items with plot hooks It's not exactly an item per se, but... Coinreaver Curse: Minor Transform 1d6 (Target into Target with 5 point Destitute Disad, Healed back by giving the caster a gift of equal value to the focus used in casting), Trigger (When focus given to Target; +1/4), Continuous (+1) (22 Active Points); Gradual Effect (1 Month; -2 1/4), Extra Time (1 Turn (Post-Segment 12), -1 1/4), IAF Expendable (Difficult to obtain new Focus; possesion of some value to Caster; -3/4), Requires A Skill Roll (-1/2), Spell (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Minor: Caster must accept any gift given to break the curse; -1/2), Conditional Power Power does not work in Uncommon Circumstances (May not be cast again on a target within a year of breaking the curse by the same caster, focus may not be bound or tied with a knot when given; -1/4) Basically, someone casts this on an item, and gives it to their target. The higher the value of an item, the higher the value of the item required to break the curse. If they're just trying to teach you a lesson, it might be about a month's wages worth, if they're really out to ruin you, it may be a priceless artifact, or an irreplaceable family heirloom with great sentimental value. Either of these might be grounds to send someone off on a quest. Unless, and until, the curse is broken by giving the caster an item that the target values to a similar degree (which the curse also forces them to accept), the target will soon find any matter of finance or property begins to go horribly wrong for them. Debts will be called in, demands made by those they owe fealty to, investments will go under, the voice of raze and ruin is heard, and they will clearly lose everything soon. The longer they wait, the worse it gets. This has also given rise to several superstitions, "Never accept a gift you can't afford", being a common related expression. Gifts are generally bound with a knotted cord, symbolising that the gift comes without obligations. Knots, in general, are a ward against unforseen complications, and many transactions are "sealed" by the parties involved tugging at opposite ends of a knotted cord.

Re: Reinforcement Side Effects aplenty; negative combat/skill levels (reduced agility/range of motion/reaction time) penalties vs. Paramedic/PS:Medicine on the user Power Defense vs. external Healing temporary/use-associated Disadvantages like "Dependant: ongoing medical treatments", "Physical Limitation: Cannot use powers/equipment with Concentration limitation", or "May not take extra time on INT/EGO-based rolls" Increased END Cost on STR (loss of flexibility) Extra Body pips may be bought with "Does Not Heal Normally, Requires Mechanical Repair" Defenses might be bought "Does not work against successful Find Weakness roll" (i.e., it's not half, it's 0). Make it an INT roll (with appropriate range and situational penalties) if it's really obvious where the gaps are. Extra Strength might be bought as Beam or with Cannot Be Pushed, if the systems/enhancements aren't particularly refined. Stage 3 mods may also have "attacker takes 1/X damage from attacks", if the forces generated exceed the tolerances of the frame improvements (as per move by, or move through, as appropriate).

Re: Gun multipower There's always rifle grenades...

Re: Robbers on the Road

Re: Robbers on the Road Another idea might be to turn the tables. Perhaps the local militia has been out looking for the bandits. Attracted by the sounds of combat, they soon gather and arrive en masse. Not knowing the PC's, they demand everyone stop fighting and disarm. Let the thugs grudgingly do so first, as a cue to the players that this isn't the time to press things. If necessary, have one of the bandits quietly urge the players to follow suit. PC's and bandits then get loaded into caged wagons, and on the way back to the militia camp (or the nearest town), the bandits start planning on how to get out, and require the PC's help (or vice versa, if the PC's are on the ball). Then again, maybe they've got some leverage back in town (thieves' guild, or something), and are willing to sit tight and wait to get released as usual. Another option, instead of having the PC's get ambushed, is to happen upon someone else getting ambushed. Only this time, not by nose-picking purse snatchers. Instead, it's group of heavily armored cavalrymen getting attacked by spell-tossing, robe-wearing finger wagglers (or vice versa). The scaled up power evident will give them pause, or should. Without taking a moment to figure out who is who, and what's going on, they won't know which side to take, or if they should just watch from a safe distance -- if they even get that option -- reinforcements might arrive from behind them.

Re: Twisted magic items Mat of Welcoming - When stepped upon by a visitor, will speak (Hearing Images) a greeting to them, and bid them enter. A more desirable variation is enchanted to discern welcome visitors from unwelcome ones (selective target), which it does not greet, or may even insult instead (variable effect). Fleeting Tankard - Created by absent-minded (or lazy) wizards who constantly misplace their beverage, this large, ornate mug has a pair of tiny legs. It was originally enchanted to follow the wizard around, and remain within easy reach. However, the common spell to to create such an item is rather widely known, and flawed. Many apprentices have thus altered the enchantment, causing the tankard to hide and/or flee it's owner, once it is out of arm's reach. Some even have additional movement speed or camoflage enchantments upon them, or a pair of arms to assist in climbing. Ever Burning Log - This log is enchanted with a permanant magical flame that provides warmth (Change Environment 1", +3 temperature levels, only up to one above normal). The flame does not consume the log itself, but may ignite or burn other materials it comes in contact with, making it problematic to transport. The log is not protected from other sources of flame either, which may lead to the log's destruction.

Re: How good is "good"? I think the Power skill would be more appropriate (and probably cheaper) for those sorts of stunts, unless you want them to have actual combat effects.

Re: Ship size, ship shape, and target aspect. Concealment (from Combat Modifiers table, p.247 of FRED) is probably a better way to go than buying limited arc DCV levels, IMO. It's just the nature of it's form, that part of it is "concealed" from certain angles. The simple version: If you're firing at the tip of a needle/cigar, it's -4. An oblique shot at the same would be -2. A shot at it's broad side is -0. For an airfoil/wedge or a flattened sphere, you probably get a -2 from any lateral attack angle, -0 from above/below, and maybe a -1 for an oblique. There's no real need in HERO to turn a vehicle's broad side to the enemy in order to attack with maximum effect, which is a shame. Without it, we lose "the dance". For that, though, we'd either need a system which requires surface area for weapons according to their size (which aside from missiles bought as vehicles, they don't have), or an unspoken agreement that ships have rational limits on weapon arcs, and adhere to them. Given that TUV is already out, I doubt we'll see the former. Going by published ships, we don't have the latter (at least, not consistantly). The only idea that comes to mind to "fix" it, is to treat the ships' weapons as members of a Mass Combat Unit (with the ship's DEF, SPD, CV, etc.), and play out combats between ships with a few variations on the Mass Combat System in FH5. Primarily, you'd need to be able to "Conceal" part of your formation of ship's weapons behind the rest of the ship, and you'd need to be able to conceal yourself from the enemy's weapons by taking advantage of THEIR orientation. You might also need some means of attacking the other ship's engines, or shield generators, or other systems, depending on the feel you're after in a fight. I don't have an off-the-cuff idea for that, though, unless you just treat them as unarmed members of that unit, there for the sake of determining casualties. It should create combats where ships lose their ability to fight through accumulated battle damage, without having to actually destroy every last BODY pip of the ship. The larger scale also allows more emphasis on relative velocities and orientation, rather than detailed movement, but without completely eliminating it.

Re: Stargate Hero

Re: Monk's Garb? Perhaps the restriction for the more moderate group would be limited to personal technology. Just as many Amish accept a community telephone at the end of the street, they won't have one in their home. In a similar vein, these folk might accept riding on a starship, but would never be pilots or crew, and might even make use of computers (even if they require someone else to operate it for them), but would not carry personal information devices or other electronics upon their person. They would be less prone to persecutory inquisition, I'd think. They might have a much stronger influence within the church on a political level, though. Perhaps the Church as a whole still has doctines (similar to what Major Tom suggested earlier) refuting that machines, having no soul, cannot prove the existance of the god, and that the god's work can not be done by those without souls, by machines, or by those without faith. This group might then be an important part of the church's intellectual and spiritual security, and thus the church tolerates (and, to an extent protects) the more hard-line anti-technologist sect.

Re: Stargate Hero Great work on the write-ups. One thing that cccurred to me during the revising of O'Neill, was that he ought to have an overall level that only applies while taking "the direct approach". Something that popped into my head now, is that Carter really is a very smart character, but I wonder if maybe her INT should be a bit lower, but with a level or two on INT rolls (or maybe just "all science skills")? Also, the Scientist skill enhancer wouldn't be out of place.