eternal_sage

Re: The Heart of Hero

...its not called 1337 anymore....???

Re: The Heart of Hero

reason from effect.

nothing else is really that unique (as has been pointed out in several places thus far), but that doesn't matter. i see HERO as taking a titanium battle axe (reason from effect), gold plating it (other misc. goodies), and then using it to hack the other companies to bits. its the titanium that makes the system unbreakable, and the battleaxe shape that makes it so dangerous as a weapon. the shiny bits just grant a +5 PRE to the wielder because of it noble station and masterword design.

in other words, this, and only this, is what pushes HERO out so far beyond the reach of normal games. the very introduction of this idea into my mind has forced all lesser games to basically shape up or ship out. not many could face the terrible onslaught that was the mighty HERO axe!

ps: damn, aren't metaphors fun?

Re: Would you allow this?

ahhh, must have missed that somewhere....

still applies somewhat. breed could be determined, but not the exact dog. take all that stuff i wrote, fix it so that i don't sound stupid, and go with that...

Re: Would you allow this?

actually, i don't think you can be different genders. identical twins are always the same gender, while faternal twins have different DNA. also, the gender is determined by the possession or lack of a Y-chromosome, there by defining that THE ONLY THING that seperates male from female being genetics (and i really don't want to discuss the ideas of social gender constructs, mostly because i think its BS, but also because it is off topic).

but yes, these things would all be the same, as they are genetically determined:

eye color, skin color (not tone), hair color, general features (bone structure, overall shape), inheritable disorders (down syndrome, poly-dactylism)

these things are not inheritable:

height, weight, disfigurements (one arm, scars, tattoos, plastic surgery), complexion, dental records, fine details (width of nose, angle of ears, innie or outie belly button), etc.

so again, you could pare down a list of suspects to a few hundred without much work (and thats being generous, to say the least), but you could not just point at the guy exactly like him and nab the crook.

Re: Would you allow this?

it would totally depend on the mood of the game. is it gimmicky/rubbery/golden age? then yes. if its more iron age/"realistic" then maybe.

maybe, in that he may change into somthing resembling the person in question, obviously, without hair dyes, make up, glasses, scars (even birthmarks), or even the same height and weight. his id would be inadmissable in court, and would be similar in quality to the old lady who saw the perp in a dark alley. it could narrow it down to maybe a few hundred people in a given city, but it would take much more to convict. however, it is far easier to take a DNA sample from 200 possible suspects that from an entire city worth (regardless of the problems of consent and the 5th amendment), so it would largely be ineffective. even identical twin could look entirely different depending on lifestyles, cosmetics, and hygene practices, not to mention the sheer number of possible disfigurations that have nothing to do with DNA.

Re: Heroic Endurance and Stun

i haven't played it personally, but i hear Call of Chuthullu has a really short character life span, so that maybe also somewhere to look (because, lets not kid ourselves, these combats are going to be EXTREMELY dangerous, and i would expect a character to die every few sessions, otherwise nothing has been gained other than making the rules more confusing). however, and i don't know your players or the set up for this game, many players that i do know would not enjoy that sort of set up.

and yes, nexus, this is why i suggested SR, nWoD, and Star Wars Saga, because they have systems which, as you said, make combats short, brutal, and scary, which it seems is what the OP wants.

Re: Logic v Balance

i'd say "sure!" let her do it once, miss and nearly die (if not outright die) and never ask again.

she should have ludicrous penalties because of her free fall (fine trajectory manipulation is out of the question, especially at the scale and speeds we are talking about), it should take 2 phases, giving the target plenty of time to simply leave the hex, and her speed should be reduced towards 30" for the drag on her large form for an entire phase.

so you get a miss, only thing she can do with such a miss is hit the ground, and she takes fall damage (or the move through damage) which ever is... well higher or lower, depends on how much you wich to teach her a lesson. i would vote higher, because the idea is insane at best.

Re: Heroic Endurance and Stun

both ShadowRun (4th at least) and new World of Darkness have good ways of dealing with this (and apparently d20 StarWars does now as well), which is to induce penalties to actions if certain amounts of damage is taken.

for example, for every 10 STUN damage taken, the character gets an across the board -1 penalty to every action taken, which does not go away until they have rested for an appropriate amount of time. the STUN can recover, no problem, but the penalties will endure for the rest of the day, or maybe even week, depending on how quickly you want them to recover.

this doesn't really effect the heroism factor, as they still get REC, it just simulates the distractions of pain from the abuse they have taken in their adventures, because they can't REC away those penalties. in fact, i like this enough that this is my new house rule for non-super games. woot.

Re: HERO: Combat Evolved [Equipment Posts & Comments]

possibly the equipment thing, because i couldn't load on the wife's compy, but on mine, no prob (she was working on supers last, while i was working on Fantasy Hero stuff). not sure though. i was opening the vehicles, though, so i dunno. i also work with all of the source books loaded, while she only uses the one or two she needs. that may also have had something to do with it.

anyway, stuff looks good. are the files updated with the info in this thread (the changed missles, etc?) or do i need to make those adjustments myself? thanks again. this is AWESEOME (have been playing HALO all week before seeing this thread!)

Re: HERO: Combat Evolved [Equipment Posts & Comments]

is it just me, or is anyone else unable to open these in HDv3?

Re: Hero vs D20 Future

not only all that, but wielding the 5th Revised book as a weapon grants a +2 divine bonus on Intimidate Checks while forcibly converting followers of heathen systems, +5 divine bonus to your Cleric Level for Turning Checks against Evil Systems that Will Not Die, and a divine bonus to your AC equal to 1/4th your Character Level, rounded down.

i have to say, that profuse use of DnDisms can make any wierd thing sound really cool. i actually want this item now....

Re: Requires skill roll

agrees with Stevezilla on this. i only allow PSLs in heroic games for combat type skills (range penalty type stuff), and even then i only okay them if a character has/gets special training (joins the military/police, gets a membership at a local range, etc).

both AR and RSR are limitations, and shouldn't be able to be largely negated by a few cheap PSLs, it should take heavy investment into a skill or buying a lessened AP penalty to the roll. just my two cents.

Re: Heroic Endurance and Stun

LTE would be a decent idea, so would the idea of abolishing the post 12 recovery. possibly both. maybe only for END though, as STUN in that manner will see character's knocked out quickly, imo. you would also probably have to lower the END cost for several things, just to allow more than a single combat in a day without insane amount of END purchased.

my two coppers.

p.s. for mages, just give them a limited number of charges per day or some such.

Re: Why hasn't magic changed the world?

i think the idea of spreading around the misery to be very interesting, especially for a campaign in which the good guys. what will they do when they discover the real way magic works? plus it gives lots of cool stuff for bad guys to do that is really heinous in their quest for power. really neat.

Re: Horror Hero

this is true. i suppose. i'm just leary, i suppose, becuase of the DnD game i ran with a Horror emphasis, and it tanked. hard. and it was mostly mechanical (as in TOO mechanical) at least that was the feedback the players gave me. so... oh well. still plan on picking up a copy when it comes out.

Re: Cable TV Show Demonstrating Martial Arts

i also suggest the Discovery Channel's "Fight Science" in which they take physics equipment and dispel a bunch of myths and hype about martial arts, and prove a lot of them true as well (the tai kwon do guys reflexes are mind boggling). i own this on dvd from their store. i think it may be the only reliable way to see it in its entirety, but is it cool, and shows exactly what the human body is capable of with training.

Re: Hero vs D20 Future

i, also, am a fairly newly converted d20 player/GM, and i must also say that, overall, HERO is the way to go in all but one way.

1st - the mechanics of HERO is just better, overall, than d20 anything. they are more stable and reliable at ALL character levels, whereas d20 only really works level 1-5 (8 without mages) before it gets unweildy, unpredictable, unbalanced, and unplayable.

2nd - d20 for anything other than european fantasy is just not worth the effort (trust me, i've made an oriental fantasy game (being converted to HERO), a horror genre setting (being converted to nWoD), a futuristic game (being converted to HERO), and a couple of normal fantasy settings that i maintain in both systems). to get anything interesting, you need to build (or at least customize) your own classes (which is terrible, took almost a year to get the oriental game playable in d20, and about a week in HERO). the system is designed for complete customization. no muss, no fuss.

3rd - HERO battles are more fun than d20 battles. period. besides the aforementioned STUN & BODY vs HP arguement, you also have the martial arts options. way more fun than should be allowed.

4th - real people don't "level up" and i personally have no class levels to speak of. d20 modern and future just don't cut it as far as the characters you can build. i mean seriously, who the hell is a "fast hero" or a "strong hero"? blah.

on the other hand, be preparred to do somework to stat out encounters, because even with bestiaries and Star Hero, their is little that is premade and official, except their settings, which have left me a little cold in the past. if you don't have the time to spend to do some stating, then maybe HERO is not the best primary choice. although i basically learned the system via HERO Designer (best program on the market, and that includes Word ) so i do recommend it HIGHLY. plus, you can d/l other peoples stated out creatures, bases, etc, from the HD site, and save some time by just editing those to suit. you can also (for a fee) d/l the stat blocks from their setting books and so forth. pretty cool stuff.

good luck, and if you decide to use HERO, my advice to you is this: point level charts are not just there to be pretty, they will save your game. this lesson i learned from my 1st run of HERO, and now i pass it along to you.

Re: Hi, Gene! Magic, Sanitation and Cleanliness

i've always based my cities more on the Asian/Native American vibe than the European style, for just this reason. i know that the Native Americans "taught" the colonists to bathe regularly, and that Incan cities had actual sewers. the Japanese were also VERY into cleanliness, and i think also had some form of sewage system for their cities, but i am unsure on that. its mostly a cultural thing. i've heard (and this is hearsay, and not intended to offend anyone, just a simple declaration of things as i understand them) that dental hygine is still relatively unheard of in England (altough the source was Scottish, so take it with a grain of salt ).

you don't neccessarily need magic to invoke a sense of non-disgustingness, just give the people a viable cultural reason for being clean, and the situation solves itself (i've heard the Scotch believed that dirt kept in heat, so they didn't clean up often for fear of freezing to death, and even my own grandmother believed that taking a bath anytime other than the middle of the day was a sure way to catch cold).

research different cultures, though, and see what you can find, then just make something in your culture to mimic those aspects, and you are set.

Re: Why hasn't magic changed the world?

ok, Frodo, was a bad example, although Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas.... hell, everyone but Frodo, are examples of what i meant. only a few magical trinkets for everyone not the lead character.

and even Frodo's gear, other than the mithril mail, was largely just for show. i mean, the mail protected him in every battle he was in, but Sting just glows when Orcs are around, and has no other beneficial properties (unless it hurt Orcs especially like Glamdring did... not sure on that, been awhile since i read the Hobbit). and thats a cool weapon, imho, because it doesn't stack stupid amounts of damage on top of it's own, it just glows. much better than a +3 Flamming Shocking Icy Longsword of Speed or some other such nonsense.

the Light of Earendil was useful, but was mostly just a nightlight which a certain giant spider hated, because of her inherited fear of the Silmarillion, and not because it actually hurt her.

Narsil/Anduril was never said to be magical. it was LEGENDARY. it was simply a Masterwork Longsword (+1 to Attack, not to Damage ). if i remember correctly, that is, again its been years since i read the whole series.

the Elven Cloaks were less magical in the books than the movies, in that they were more modern camo-ish that actually "blending into their surroundings so that Haradrim two feet away cannot tell its fabric not rock", but again, its been awhile since reading, so the rock scene may have happened, and i've tried to negate it from my memory

so on, and so forth. sure, their were tons of gear in LoTR, but none of it even equivilates to 5th level DnD treasure, and these guys were level 20 at least! not that that is bad, but i've had players in the past who were just in it for the loot. drives me crazy, which is why i've decided (along with my wife) to largly remove that aspect from our Fantasy HERO games, and play DnD more along the Iron Heroes route. more "PCs have cool abilities" less "PCs have cool gear".

in the Oriental Fantasy game i've been hammering out (the original was DnD, which was a nightmare) i've strictly limited what effects can be used for spells (no resurection, no teleportation, no summonings) and capped the AP at 50, which is working out great, as this makes them a little more powerful than a standard warrior, but only by about 1 DC (before STR bonuses on weapons, of course, but the spells can still hit numerous people, while a sword can't).

many non-battle type spells are actually roleplaying moments, where the PC has to track down a kami, convince him to help him out, and then satisfy whatever demands the kami may inflict.

to enchant a weapon, it must be made by your hand, find a kami willing to inhabit it, then perform a week long ritual. and the ritual can only be done at certain times of the year, limiting the item production of one master forger to six items or so a year, on average. this in turn raises prices, and keeps such items rare and important.

its very much a Mage: the Awakening/Werewolf: the Forsaken/Legend of the 5 Rings lovechild, but its working out well, and the flavor is great.

Re: Why hasn't magic changed the world?

don't get me wrong, i like plot based games, but not everyone goes, hence the possibly. think of it as a limitation: Only Enjoyable For Non-DnD Players (-1).

no, hell, i would LOVE to play in a Silmarillion game (actually planning one, somewhat), but thats not my point. what i was trying to say (and obviously failed my Conversation roll) was that games are like books and movies, in that it is a personal taste issue. i do not, myself, like lots of crazy high fantasy DnD weirdness (like summoning horses to ride, or Heroes Feast, or Leomund's Tiny Hut for god's sake) but many do, and conversely, many people do not like my particular take on fantasy magic (see posts further back) because its "not fun". that's what i meant by the comment.

epic as a play style does take a gifted GM though.

Re: Why hasn't magic changed the world?

Also keep in mind that what makes for a good fiction setting doesn't always work for a gaming setting' date=' and the opposite is true as well.[/quote']

 

i fully agree with this, as a true, direct LoTR game would possibly be pretty boring (what with no magical trinkets, wizards, or wierd beasties to slaugter), and the DnD movies SUCKED, but were fairly accurate to the system...at least enough to be recognizable (that includes the stupid plots, btw)

Re: [Movie] Day Watch

this looks totally awesome (me being a Mage: the Awakening fanboy and all) and much cooler than the other Urban Fantasy movie thats been out recently, the Covenant (although i thought that was decent, but i also liked Underworld I and II, not as fine cinema, mind, just a fun watch).

Re: Okay, Lightsabres rule... but Star Wars is so-so.

if you've every seen Capoeira, it is very easy to picture it being disguised as a tribal dance oriented ritual or tradition, especially the emphasis on rythym, drums (which are played by practictioners outside the roda) and the lack of many punches (only an elbow strike exists in traditional styles). on this, i think i can agree with the idea of it being disguised as dance.

Re: Okay, Lightsabres rule... but Star Wars is so-so.

sais were actually used to bore holes for planting i thought. but i can't remember for sure one way or the other. and the correct spelling is nunchaku, and the modern versions of all said weapons have been altered enough so that there is some debate as to their farm tool origins. i know the sai existed in other south asian countries before arriving in Okinawa.

Okinawa (or RyuKyu to give them their pre conquered name) was a wealthy commerical state, and had a lot of trade with China, Thailand, etc. which is where alot of these weapons are thought to have come into Okinawa from, as well as the various forms of martial arts that became karate.

did a lot of research for a superhero character who billed himself as a modern day samurai (atomic powers, flight, and martial arts). anyway, thats my two coppers.

Re: Tricky END Reserve Question

hmmm.... i just pull -1/2 to -1 out of my rear before, but i really like that now that Outsider broke it down like a focus! hear hear!