Scott Ruggels

I would not make it easy for them to learn about the wager. As a playwer I would be a little miffed at being manipulated. I wouild suggest if the players were curious, and do infact, recover the 5 items, that the items might be related to a goal of the Doctor's, past the wager. Such as the items are needed for him to recover the soul/body/ items of a lost relative, and he was going to hire more senior adventurers to do it, and perhaps leave something open for the original party to continue. Also remember that even Lawful Evil is going to be protective of their resources/ territory/ minions, so they would not be flagrant in their disposal of the iorigila party members. Remember, histoprically that a slave was worth more than a free Irishman in the south, b3ecause Slaves were a capital investment , and Irishmen were a payroll liability. XD.

Definitely, one would have morale effects when the weapons became unreliable (see the Canadian Ross Rifle controversy, or the Chauchat controversy, both in the First World War, that brought down politicians because of the reported unreliability of the aforementioned weapons, let alone what the troops thought of them.). It may appear then that in situations where that happened, the smart money would be in keeping "mixed units" longer than they were in history, keeping Pike & shot formations together until such time as an enemy mage was eliminated from the field. There may also be "spring loaded" backups such as Arbalests, and crossbows. A change in tactics will surprise an enemy for a major battle, or a season, at most. By the next season there is going to be a conservative shift in the tactics to take into account the change, other factors being the same. Look how fast the Germans adopted a smokeless cartridge rifle, after the French adopted the Lebel Model 1888, the first smokless cartridge rifle. It took about a year for the Germans to adopt/ Modify the Mauser rifle to a smokeless standard, A game with nothing but the ill educated and superstitious all the time is not very interesting XD.

In all cases, the firearm is discharged by introducing sparks or a burning coal into an open pan of powder welded to the side of the barrel of the firearm, a small hole, allows the flames from the powder to travel within the barrel and ignite the main charge of the weapon. A Matchlock, is defined by having a "Slow Match" usually a length of rope, dipped in various chemicals to cause it to burn slowly and continuously. In early models the match was held in a metal arm, called a "serpentine" which had no spring and was lowered by the operator squeezing the tail of the serpentine against the stock of the musket, causing the head to dip the glowing part of the match into the pan. The early variants did not have any springs, and the serpentine was usually just a bent piece of metal with a loop at the head, and a pivot in the middle, similar to some cross bows. as time passes, the match burns down and must be continuously adjusted by the operator, so the the glowing coal will hit the pan when he wants it to. Match rope tends to burn at a rate of of an inch ever two minutes or so, and operators would stat a battle with several coils held in the off hand. I've used one, and the "lock time" between when you decide you want it to fire, and it ignites and discharges the ball downrange calls for very steady nerves as you have to keep the barrel on target all through the firing sequence, including the near volcanic eruption of powder in the pan igniting not very far from one's face. This will effect accuracy, and modern shooters are strongly advised to wear glasses while shooting. The Wheel lock came next as a midification of the previous ignition system, in that the previous "serpentine" was now used to hold a wedge of iron pyrite, against a finely toothed wheel. The difference now, is that there was a "frizzen", used to cover the pan, to prevent the priming powder from spilling out of it, and to cover the powder and touch hole in case of inclement weather. In operation, the wheel was given a quarter turn with a key, which tensioned an internal spring, held in place by the trigger mechanism. In preparation for firing, the operator would Open the frizzen, and place the serpentine so that the flint was against the wheel. A pull of the trigger would produce a shower of sparks into the pan, igniting the powder as before. Wheelocks are very expensive, and needed a lot of maintenance and care, compared to the matchlocks. The Snaphaunce is essentially an early form of the Flintlock. In that the Serpentine was now spring loaded and released by the trigger. The Frizzen had an iron tail so the serpentine, striking it with a wedge of flint, would expose the pan, and shower the priming powder in the pan with sparks. below is an exotic flintlock, in that it's a breech loading flintlock, which means it loads faster, and can be loaded prone (preserving one's cover or concealment or DCV) Even More exotic was the Puckle Gun, which was a multi chambered flint lock weapon for use against Pirates Also Flintlocks can get fairly large Hope this helps.

Guns haven't eliminated melee weapons entirely. Well not until recently. it used to be that infantry would receive bayonet training and bayonets were basically pole arms. Your commentary about the use of primitive black powder weapons and how aa Wizard can mess with them are sound.

Why would magic die? If anything, I'd see magic getting incorporated into the manufacture and use of such weapons. In Game of Thrones, if Valerian Steel was made by the heat of the breath of dragons, would this not help in the making of high quality steel springs and barrels? Chiseling or printing runes into the lead projectiles to produce various effects once they hit. Making the blackpowder burn slowly, and without smoke? All that one would desire in a tactical firearm could be granted by magic, and the minds that come up with the solutions to the needs.

After the Spanish/ American war. the U.S. took possession of the Philippines, and were then up against the "Moros", a band of islamic fighters from the southern end of the archipelago. At the time, the U.S. Army was transitioning from a frontier guard force, into a force of international projection, much like the Navy has in the past few years. In doping so, the Army gave up their .45 Long Colt revolvers, for a more modern revolver chambered in the new .38 cartridge. Well the Moros, would wrap themselves with tarred hemp, smoke a few bowls of the untarred variety, and charge screaming at the bluecoats in the jungles, waving machetes. The US troopers would fire at the charging natives, often emptying their revolvers into them, before getting cut down. So, if you shoot the fellow and he still kills you with a blade before he bleeds to death, technically, he still wins. The army got as many of the old, slower to load Colts in .45, and the .38 Revolverw were relegated to reserve status tyhemselves, while the Army started pistol trials that eventually gave us the M1911 Pistol. The British used Hollowpoints in their Snider conversion rifles, as a way to insure that who ever they went against would lose a limb, and the American .45-70 rifles had a slogan of "Never left a wounded Indian". So yeah big bullets are the answer.

Resident gun nut, here. The thing one is talking about, with Civil war era weapons is that those weapons (The Three Band Enfield and the Model 1861 Springfield, both in .58 cal. Minie Ball projectiles) were at the end of the development cycle for muzzle loaders and the prepackaged paper cartridges invented by the British, and perfected by the Americans prefigured brass cartridge weaponry, very soon (like months) after the end of the Civil War. Loose powder and patched ball could be reloaded by a trained infantryman to shoot 3 times a minute. paper cartridges added one more time per minute, or so. The biggest effect on accuracy, were first, tight fitting ammunition, then Rifling, and then projectile shape, going from spheres of lead to pointed projectiles. the Civil War era "Rifled Muskets", were very accurate, being mechanically capable to hit a 22 inch target at 300 yards or more. the problems with muzzle loaders were of course the slow reload times, as well as the fact one had to stand up, and stand still whioe reloading (Low to no DCV?), and it's sensitivity to weather conditions, or water immersion. With the adoption of the cartridge fed breech loader (Taking the same 3 band Enfield, and turning it into the Snider conversion, and the same Sprinfield Rifled Musket, and turning it into a trapdoor springfield), boosted the rate of fire to once every few seconds, or in Hero terms probably one reload and fire per phase, and yes one could now reload on the move, or reload from cover or prone positions. The difference was notable, only a few years after the Civil war, when Prussia adopted the Dreyse "Needle" rifle, and the Austrians still had the muzzle Loading Lorenz rifled musket. The Prussians won a decidedly one sided victory. A few years after that, the Turks at the siege of Plevna, held off a numerically superior force using a mix of single shot Peabody Martini rifles, and American made Winchester Lever actions to resist attackers for a very long time, which started a run on Magazine rifles, so that by 1875, ten years after the Civil War ended, militaries in Europe were adopting magazine rifles, where the rate of fire climbed to one shot per action. by 25 years after the end of the Civil War, the first semi automatic pistols came on the market in Germany, and you have seen the rest in movies and television. What prompted that explosion in technological progress, similar to the progress we have just seen with semi-conductor based technology in our lifetimes, was the industrial capabilities of the first world, first with consumer goods, and then military equipment, both falling into standardization and parts interchangeability, as well as the ability to communicate ideas through books and magazines, and by travel. If you are talking about a high fantasy background, you will not have the industrial capability (Except if you are from dwarven lands), and the communication. This is pre-enlightenment, and pre-industrial societies, where guilds controlled knowledge and crushed competition, and wondrous and nigh unto magical firearms may be available, but as single, or matched pairs, made one at a time by secretive craftsmen who value a Royal endorsement as much, if not more than money. Any of the ides that followed the early matchlocks and flint locks might be available to various sages or guilds, but the production rate would be slow and there would be nothing in common between the various arms, except powder, and maybe shot size if you are lucky. Even a run of simple flintlock, smoothbore, muzzle loaders would have a fair amount of variation among them, and a run of 100 might take a smith several months to make, even if he had jigs, dies and special tools to make them in batches. The more labor put into the weapon, the better it might be, but also a much higher cost, as it's made by a professional guildsman, rather than turned out by peasant labor. the highest achievement of the firearms art, before Eli Whitney, would have been the puckle Gun, and there were four made, and even if it was a multi shot weapon, there was still a delay between shots to line up the chambers to the single barrel, and crank them shut and fire them. It was not a machine gun. Good sources for early firearms technology can be had on YouTube these days, with Ian McCollum's "Forgotten Weapons" Channel, or "British Muzzle Loaders", and "Cap & Ball". Damages for early firearms firing a ball of 1/2 in. or greater, may be around 2.5D6 RKA with them climbing up wards adding 0.5 D6 per pound of weight of the shot so a 6 lb cannon ball would be around 5d6k. Loading and firing a cannon would take a crew of men one turn to fire. Also remember that taking actions to set, brace, and aim, would increase accuracy, but also increase the time between the last shot and the next shot. So unless the firearm has multiple barrels, it would be unlikely to get off more than one shot in a turn. (depending on the character's speed, though). Hope this helps.

I would be available for artwork if need be fr a few pieces. I have a day job so I don't have a lot of time but a few pieces here and there would be do-able.

I keep mine in a filing cabinet...

I should probably go look at that.. This on top of starting a new thread? Wow, it's going to be a busy week. XD

I think it's also true. And with mention sin Hollywood of a few actors that have played, and still play tabletop, plus a couple of twitch and youtube games, things look a bit more "accepted" than they did back in the 80's

the book would be useful for ideas and advice. It was why I would buy GURPS supplements, even though I would never be running GURPS, they often had good ideas and good advice.

Well I put it out as a suggestion. 1.) to illustrate how and where something like the Primer would be very useful 2.)where and alternate source of newbies were. Sure, this can be split off on it's own topic if you would like. So a new thread for a project to Colonize Roll20.net?

we had a lot of bricks in our old campaigns, and we used this a lot, because 1.) at the time you got half damage for the maneuver, but (and I may be remembering incorrectly), you got double knockback? it's the only maneuver you could get after the to hit and damage was rolled, but it also took your next action.

I have shown the two introduction documents to a Hero novice this morning, and with a survey sample of one (1), preference has been to the Fantasy hero primer. The only suggestions were to put a Strength chart in there somewhere. I do think that there should be stat charts that describe assumptions on how they translate to real life. Strength, lift, carry, "is like" listed in a simple grid chart. same for dex and same for speed and others. maybe. Where I am coming from: Until very recently i as active on Second Life, there, running a business selling useable WW2 aircraft and some science fiction weapons to the denizens of that virtual world. while a lot of that time there was "work", in that i was constructing models, importing them and adding textures, a lot of that was downtime, and that was spent being social, standing around in alien environments, chatting with a group of other avatars about various topics. Often, especially with my German business partner, Kalle, we talked about tabletop gaming, as he is a very enthusiastic gamer, and LARPer. So we would trade old timer stories in the group, and that generated interest from other folks. Apparently there are a lot of former and current RPG players on Second Life. Talk moved to action when Kalle invited me to Roll20.net. he had convinced a few other folks from second life to play a game of FATE. Now I found FATE Awful, and decidedly unsatisfying, because i am not a showman, or much of an entertainer. Fate was more of a performance, than a "game" to me, so I was uncomfortable, and thankfully Kalle noticed, for we switched to Pathfinder. I am comfortable with social gaming on computer, and living in Los Angeles, but without a car currently, I found Roll20.net to be a useful tabletop simulator, and a hub for games, because from that first FATE game, the groups have blossomed into 5 other campaigns, though, not FATE. This has been the most gaming I have been doing since the mid 1990's., often playing with people that were born AFTER I stopped the first time. Roll20 has the capability of supporting Hero, but the support is not there yet. The two main systems that they support on the platform are 5th ed D&D, and Pathfinder, with strong showings by a few other games like Shadowrun and a few others. Roll20 itself provides maps, die rollers, and various GMs tools. With a premium membership, Gms get many more tools, map sets, counters, and access to a scripting language, which is what was used to create the dynamically updating, multi-page character sheets, that are used int he pathfinder game. These sheets, mimicking the paper sheet in appearance , track buffs, debuffs and ammo usage, real time, and the character counters/tokens, if clicked, have a health bar, and can track current Armor class, Hit Points and such, with editable, pop out, numbers. The GM can adjust the options to show what is hidden and what is not, as well. If one is looking for new blood, outside of game stores and conventions, roll20 is a place with a worldwide audience and a growing number of players. It's a place to play, without having to drive. all one needs is a decent computer, and internet capable of transmitting voice. roll20 does have voice tools, but they tend to drop or glitch, unlike the map and character sheet interface or the chat window, so we have used TeamSpeak (free), or Skype (mostly free) to carry the voice portion of the content. What I Need. if I am going to run Hero for folks on Roll20.net, I need, at minimum a finished copy of Xotl's Hero primer Document 9or something like it). Of the two documents i have show my test subject. Xotl's had the most rapid comprehension and positive impact. these are fairly experienced players and good roleplayers, but i don't want to scare them off, and want to obscure the slopes of the learning curve with some choice words and introductory simplicity. I would also need the Character Generation program, but then I would have to take time and hand build each character while on voice with each player, separately. Background materials i can provide, as this may just be a restart of an old campaign so NPCs and locations and maps are already done (mostly). but mostly what i need are materials that introduce the game to novice Hero players that are freely available. What Would Be Nice. If someone could program the back end in Roll20 Scripting language to make a dynamically updating character sheet, plus have the values on the sheet also reflect the values on the player token as they do for pathfinder, even better. What i can provide Though i am working full time, these days, i can provide a small amount of B/W art if need be. However if i am paid i can provide more. XD. Why This Might be important. As was stated above, pessimistically, with the current Hero economy, it has no shelf space, it has little presence at conventions and the player base is aging. The system has a rep for being scary complex and intimidating and some in the gamer intelligentsia, believe it's crunchiness is positively antique in the face of things like FUDGE, and FATE, and those One Die minimalist systems. I think that, if that complexity was "Black Boxed" into the character sheets, and the basic system was presented smoothly, the system may have a future on Roll20.net. Already there, you have hex overlays, tons of free, and premium 9for pay) basic artwork to use a map background. Plenty of token artwork is available, and the game information can be displayed as a searchable sidebar. In this situation, one not need a lot of layout, or paste up, and the need for art is alleviated. with experience GM here on thi forum, colonizing Roll20.net, it might be a lot easier (and cheaper) to introduce new people to the system to insure its survival for at least a few more years. we all know why this is a good system, and a great game. This could be the way to show others. Thoughts?

Then again, you have split the Possible product into two directions. (again). What is the aim? Are you trying to present a to the new players, a game world based on Hero mechanics? Are you trying to present an introduction of the game mechanics with a world wrapped around it? Powered by Hero, presents a problem of selling a background, and just presenting the mechanics. I think the aim for long term survival is the opposite approach is necessary. use the background to sell the system, or induce curiosity about the system. In terms of the presentation, many modifiers, special combat rules, and power frameworks should be avoided. What stats do, How stats work in combat, what skills do, what spells do, That should be the basic.

Speaking as a working artist. This is true. Every appearance of the artwork is (or must be) compensated to the artist, and each "new" appearance must be re-negotiated. This is why, unless an art contract specifies ongoing use, or exclusive rights, every new edition usually has new art. In a couple of cases R. Talsorian, and "Old" Hero Games, since i was friends with the publishers, i was cool with the re-use of the artwork in new editions.

That's a beautiful story with your daughter. especially how solidly she had the character Concept down. Even into the disads. Your friend, however, does bring up a different problem. What are you aiming this product at? A blank slate player new to the hobby? An experience Gamer, just unfamiliar with Hero? I think that is going to change the focus, quite a bit perhaps. I can see that for a blank Slate player, like your daughter, you would want something like the old "Package Deals" plus a skill list and spell list to allow for some customization, and also ease of use. something liek a mix and match of: [Racial Package Deal], [ cultural package deal], [ Professional package deal], Then pick additional skills and talents and Complications (is that what they are calling Disads these days?) where as, your friend might need the standard reference archetypes as pregenerateds, so he has context for the game and the power levels? Also in his case he will need simple spell lists with no, or hidden mechanics, until later.

I second this. I never used any power frameworks, and always bought them straight, or with a oiF or OAF focus, though if i needed a multipower built i would ask someone else to do it for me, after i had fleshed out the rest of the character, and had a block of points left to spend.

Too much for a beginner. and the presentation is the inverse of what would be attractive or instructive to the new player. Magic spell pool This ability allows you to use any attack spell known up to the level of the magic pool, one at a time. Because the caster must maintain control over the magic, an attack that continues to inflict damage phase after phase will stop if the caster begins to cast a different spell. This example provides three spells for attack, all of which do 2D6 of Ranged Killing attack against energy defenses, and targeted in an area, so that one can hit multiple foes with one spell. the caster chooses one of the following spells: Throckmorton's Conflagration, a spell that drops an explosion of flames [ describing the casting, targeting and effect of the spell; Zeus' Wrath, a spell that will produce lightining in a line of hezes [ect. ect.]; Polar Blast, a spell that produced a conic area of intense cold that will deliver 2d6 of Killing damage against energy defenses [Yadda yadda] ______________________________________________________________________________ Multipower, 60 points Throckmorton's Conflagration: Fireball -- 2D6 RKA Area Effect Radius +1. Zeus' Wrath: Lightning bolt -- 2D6 RKA Area Effect Line +1, Arctic blast: Cone of Cold -- 2D6 RKA Area Effect Cone +1. The problem is not that a multipower can be listed simply, is that the standard notation gives the entirely wrong and intimidating information to new players as to what the context of the spell is.

I think this version is probably the best presentation, and p[robably should follow something similar to expose the mechanics and acronyms to the new players, but without being obtrusive. I would probably format it more like Pikt's Bolt of Lightning By invoking the spirit of a storm elemental through arcane words and gestures, this spell allows the caster to strike their foes with lightning from their fingertips. When casting this spell, select a point within the caster's reach, and make an attack roll against every target within an area 2m wide and 30m long beginning from that point. Those struck by the spell suffer 2d6 points of Killing Damage versus Energy Defense; the caster cannot choose to reduce the damage of this spell, and when striking walls and other obstacles this spell does not blow open large holes in them. Casting this spell requires gestures, incantations, and the expenditure of 4 END; as such it cannot be cast while the caster is bound (including being Grabbed or Entangled) or gagged (including being Silenced by magic), and casting will fail if the caster is struck while casting. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Game Elements: RKA 2d6 (vs. ED), Area of Effect (30m Line, Nonselective; +1/4) (37 APs); Beam (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4), No Range (-1/2), Restrainable (-1/2). Total Cost: 13 points. Keep the Game elements there, but drop them into fine print, and have a notationabout the fine print and how to build spells elsewhere.on the book. Thoughts?

place the stones in a grid, with the horizontal number of collumn squares equal to their CON, and enough vertical lines to allow all their Stun stones to be placed. if the player removesa number of stones to clear a line, or equal to that number, they are then stunned. if their grid is empty, they are unconscious?

Bravo! This is exactly what I was thinking about in the above, quoted post.

Unfortunately, I think it would be unlikely for a group of newbies to pick up the system entirely from scratch. The problem from picking it up from scratch is two fold. The first is the "Hidden GM Knowledge" problem, which was adroitly addressed by the Player's Handbook / DM's Guide structure of AD&D. the players are going to want, as stated above, context, for their builds, equipment and a list of spells. The GM however is going to have to need more of the "Toolkit Approach" of the regular rulebooks. give the players too much to read and they succumb to MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over), and lose interest. Conversely a beginning GM for Hero, may see what is presented as rather limited after the first few months, and then he comes to the decision point whether to invest in new rulebooks or find something different. The Second problem is current taste. What do the new faces around the table look like? Are they people who came back to the gaming table after years away from it, with previous gaming experience? Are they new young people with no experience, but an interest due to the exposure of Tabletop gaming by Will Wheaton, or other people on YouTube and Twitch (or even curious about games after seeing it on "Stranger Things", even? What does the market look like now? I still think that the best way to learn the system (as I have said on another thread), is to have an experienced GM run the game for new players. Now that may falter, but the system really shines in play, rather than on the page (as it has been so far presented). I am not sure what the correct course is. If the booklet can be written in such a way as to guide new players to the system and guide them into future purchases of the full rules set, I think that would be optimal, but I have no idea how that would be done. Nut having a small short book, you can pass out for free that would allow for a basic game to be played, would help spread it (especially in PDF form, as well as a inexpensively printed pamphlet with a full color cover similar to the original SGJ Melee/ Wizard booklets.) having someting to take home from a con would be a good freebie to generate interest?

well now. That is unfortunate news.