LoneWolf

Skills like lockpicking normally require some sort of tool. For the most part a character that purchased the skill can be assumed to have the appropriate tool. There will of course be some situations where they may not have the tool with them. For example if the character was swimming in a pool they probably don’t have them with them. An ordinary tool does not really need to be written up as an actual item. Depending on the campaign you might need to include it on the character sheet, but that would be more of a notation then an actual write up. If the tool is going to give you some sort of benefit beyond the ability to make the skill roll at base level it should be written up. In Pathfinder and other game these would be the equivalent of a set of masterwork tool. The skill level with lockpicking through an OAF is a perfect example of this. In some cases the skill involves manipulating something. In many cases the item to be manipulated provides everything needed to use the skill. Combat Driving is a perfect example of this. Some computers would also fall into this category. Using computer programing to hack into a laptop in your possession does not require anything other than the laptop. In other cases you may need something more. Hacking into a server will usually require some sort of computer with access to the network the server is on. Most servers do not have monitor and keyboards hook up, they are in a rack that even the network administrator remotes into. So basically if a character has invested actual character points in a skill they should be assumed to have access to the tools necessary to use the skill without having to spend further points. Obviously circumstances will alter this. Just because I have PS plumper and access to the appropriate tools of the trade does not mean I am going to be lugging them around all the time. Something small like lockpicks would be ok, but not a full set of plumbing tools including a 50’ snake.

One thing that a lot of people new to the system don’t release is that the Hero System separates the special effect from the game mechanics. In the hero system any power can have any special effect. In most games Telekinesis would be specific power with a predefined special effect. In the Hero System it can be both a game mechanic and a special effect. Sometimes they may be the same thing, but they do not have to be. Each power allows you to do a specific thing as defined by the game mechanics. Often the special effect of a "Power"(not the game mechanic) will have many different applications. When that is the case the character needs to purchase all the abilities they want to be able to perform. Often these are grouped into a framework, or take the unified power limitation. So basically what it comes down to is that if you want to your telekinetic character to be able to move himself with TK you simply purchase flight.

When you have people who are capable of being so stealthy that they can get past any observer and avoid any security system they will need to deal with that. Super Stealth is probably the most common “Super Skill”, followed closely by lock picking and security system. In a world full of Harry Houdini’s the prisons are going to be a lot different than ours. What about people so skilled at manipulating people that it is written up as mind control? Letting that person interact with the guards is asking for trouble. What it really comes down to is how good these super skills are? If they are written up as just extremely high skill roll, then the prisons will probably not be all that different. If they are written up as powers the prisons will need to be a lot tougher.

Actually you cannot link a power to STR it has to be linked to a specific use of STR. So you can link it to punch or grab or whatever maneuver you want. To create an affect that injures a target whenever you touch them you to use Area of Effect (Personal Surface – Damage Shield)

It costs a lot less to be able to pull off a scry and fry with clairsentience than it does with Mind Scan. For 55 points I can purchase Clairsentience for the sight group with Targeting, Mobile Perception Point at a range of 1,600m and +5 to the perception roll. With this I can sit outside a dungeon or other structure and search the whole thing. For the same 55 points I can purchase 8d6 Mind Scan that affects Humans, Machines, and Animals. Assuming I hit the target I will on the average be able to affect a target of 18 Ego for about 1 round before he breaks the lock. Assuming the structure is about the size of an apartment building that means my attack roll is at a -6 DMCV. If Clairsentience establishes a line of sight it allows me to attack anyone within 1,600m an unlimited number of times. I will eventually find the target and when I do there is nothing they can do to stop me. With Mind Scan the target can use his own mental power to attack me.

The reason clairsentience does not establish line of sight is to prevent the old scry and fry. In an earlier edition of fantasy hero I saw a character use this combination to clear a dungeon without even going in to it. He used Clairsentience to find all the creatures and a low dice killing attack BOECV does body. Basically if you did not have resistant mental defense you were dead. With Mind Scan you at least have to know who and what you are looking for. You also have roll high enough to attack the target in addition to hitting the target. And last but not least Mind Scan is a two way street. If you can attack a target with a mental power you can also be attacked with a mental power by the target.

Actually Clairsentience does not establish line of sight even if it is purchased with targeting. This is specifically stated in the rules under Clairsentience. The GM can of course allow this but by default it does not. But any other targeting sense should work.

In all honesty there are very few concepts that cannot be done in any game system. Some concepts take time to develop and in class based games only come online at higher levels. Also depending on where a game system is in its product development it may not have matured enough to have all the options it will eventually have. Take 1st edition Pathfinder, it has a huge amount of classes and prestige classes. Then factor in all the archetypes and you have even more options. With a little re-flavoring there is nothing on the original list that could not be built with it. Hero system has an advantage in that it is essentially the same game as it was in first edition. When a new version of the Hero system comes out they don’t reinvent the wheel they basically refine it and add some options. The second thing to consider is that just because something is not fully optimized does not mean it cannot be done. A lot of times when someone says something cannot be done it is because what they are looking to do is often too powerful. I had a guy I knew who complained he could not write up Hercules. The problem is that his concept of Hercules was that of a 20th level character. So of course he was disappointed in anything he tried. He would have had the same problem with Hero System because a beginning character simply does not have the points to do somethings.

I am no lawyer but if I am an engineer who is required to take multiple training courses on intellectual property rights every year. This is probably going to get you into a lot of trouble. Be prepared to be sued for anything and everything you own.

You can combine powers in a slot as long as the active cost does not go over the cost of the pool. So what you are looking at would be something similar to this. Don’t link the stretching to the HA and you can use them separately. You can also use a fixed slot for them because the combined cost is less than the pool cost. Don’t bother with the Climbing bonus as the stretching allows you to pull yourself up 5M and your swinging should also allow you to get up places. STR Min is usually not used in a champions game so don’t bother with that. 15 30 point multipower OAF 1f 30” Swinging 1f 5” Stretching +5d6 HA 1f +6 DCV Bouncing can be done with a ranged attack but your stretching should cover that without having to actually bounce things. That is what Captain America does. You can do a ranged grab but unless you are letting go of your weapon it will not persist if you shift the points in pool. That makes sense because unless you are disarming yourself to grab someone they will not stay grabbed when you use the weapon for something else.

Another reason not having the skill levels added to the power is that you can only use a skill level for one thing at a time. So if you have a skill level with 3 defined skills you can only use it for one thing. For example let’s say you have a skill level with acting, disguise and mimicry. If you use the skill level for disguise it is not available to be used for the other two. The other two skill can often be used as complementary skills, but the roll for them would not be able to use the skill levels for the complementary roll.

From a readability standpoint the 5th edition looks better. It is cleaner and separating out the stat blocks makes it easier to find something. Bolding of the headers also makes those stand out more. If I tell the player to look for Heat Vision under powers they can probably find it faster. The 3rd edition template looks like a big wall of text. Everything seems to blend in with all the other items.

If you already have the 6th edition rule books I would go skip the Fantasy Hero complete, or really any of the complete books. From what I understand those are more designed to b standalone packages for someone who wants a complete game in one book. The Fantasy Hero book assumes you have the regular rule books so does not waste space reprinting those. If money is tight why pay for duplicate material when you can get more original content.

If you are putting the limitation on the VPP magic only obviously magic exists. In a campaign that magic exists there are usually at least a few villains or creatures that are highly resistant to magic. They usually purchase very high defenses with the limitation only vs Magic. By taking the limitation magic only that means that anything you create with your VPP no matter what the other special effect or game power is will trigger that limitation. Likewise any dispel or drain targeting magic as a special effect will be affect all your powers. Even if you conjure a supposed normal gun it will be considered magic and be affected by anything that affects magic. Without that limitation I could use a spell to conjure a non-magical gun with the special effect I am teleporting a normal non-magical gun into my hand from my lair or other location. With that limitation I cannot do that and the gun is still considered magic.

While magic armor can duplicate any power of a technical based power armor, it does not have the same special effect. By putting on the magic only limitation on the VPP you lock in the special effect. Without the limitation I could have a spell that creates a suit of armor but after the suit is created it is non magical and is not affected by things like dispel magic. Maybe the spell is summoning an ordinary suit of armor instead of actually creating it. With the Magic only the suit of armor I created will still be magic. The game effect is exactly the same, but the suits of armor are not. Likewise I can create a golem that has the exact game stats as the robot but all its special effects are magic. Both the golem and the robot may have the exact same game design, but subtle differences will exist. For example the robot may have a radiation blast, but that would not be appropriate for a golem. To most characters it will not matter, but to the character that has a vulnerability or susceptibility to radiation it could matter a lot.

Depends on what the drove does. A surveillance drone could be bought as clairvoyance with a focus. An attack drone could be bought as a vehicle.

One thing I have seen is that gadget pools tend to be smaller and used more for utility. Magic pools tend to be larger and are usually the main combat ability of the mage. When this occurs the mages get more scrutiny because it is more visible and affects the game more. If I have a 30pt pool chances are I am not putting in too many attacks in it, and those I do are usually less of a problem. If on the other hand I have a 60pt pool that allows me to put most attacks in it. The GM becomes conditioned to double check the mages spells, where the gadgeteer gets a pass. Take Batman vs Doctor Strange. Batman may have a couple of small weapons maybe a club or boomerang but probably won’t have a phaser or other powerful weapon. Doctor Strange on the other hand will have all sorts of attacks and can tailor his attacks to target any vulnerability the target has.

I think the main reason for Simon’s view is that it would be a royal pain to get the software to work properly. I am an engineer and I would not want to try and I would not want to be the one to have to try and figure a way to add this to the program. Chances are any way it could be implemented would create situations where it would allow a lot more things that should not be allowed. It would also probably be very complicated and error prone to implement. The program will not allow any partially limited framework so it is not just about a VPP. Using a negative adder is a much better solution. No tool is perfect, but as long as It does the job that is the important thing. The rules on partially limited powers state it can be used on frameworks, not just multipowers. Since they eliminated elemental controls the only other framework in the game besides a multipower is a VPP. To me that is makes is pretty clear that RAW partially limited VPP are legal. I think most GM would probably agree with me on that. Of course if a GM wants to change that in his game he is free to do so.

The rules on partially limited powers explicitly state they can be used on frameworks and part of a power. So applying an OAF limitation on half your VVP is perfectly legal. Technically it only reduces the control cost. The problem is that Hero designer will not allow you to do this without creating separate pools which makes it difficult to create slots that actually fit into the pool. Hero designer uses compound powers to create partially limited powers, but you cannot put a framework into a compound power which means Hero Designer has no way of creating partially limited frameworks. If you create two separate pools then it makes it difficult to create the powers in the pool properly. Now each power you have is duplicated and you makes it harder to understand what the power actually are. So instead of seeing 10d6 blast +10d6 blast OAF, you have one pool that list 10d6 blast and then way down the character sheet you have another pool with 106 blast OAF. I am using the negative adder because Hero Designer has some software limitations that do not follow the rules. It is strictly a workaround not a game mechanic. It is a useful trick to add something to the character that the rules allow and the software does not. Why should the player have to spend more point than the rules state just because the software does not work the way the rules do? I have used it before to allow me to add in the stats growth gives you to the character sheet. Since growth itself will not do this. It is also useful if you have a campaign where something does not cost any points. For example let’s say the GM gives every character some power, skill or perk for free as part of the campaign. Add the power, skill or perk and use a negative adder to 0 out the cost. You can even change the text from adder to an explanation for using it. By the way when I talk about a negative adder it is just an adder with a negative value instead of a positive. As I stated it is a way to adjust a power to match what it should be Also while you cannot put a limitation directly on the pool you can in an indirect way. Since the pool cost is the amount of real points you can have in the pool if you have a limitation on the pool you don’t need as many points in the pool. I have a pool that can have any 50 point power but has to have the OAF limitation I only need a pool of 25 points. That is not really any different than applying -1 limitation to the cost of the pool. Look at it this way a 50 point pool with a 50 point control cost will cost 75 points. If I purchase a 25 point pool with a control cost of 50 and put a -1 limitation on the control cost that comes out as 37 points. That is the same exactly half the cost of the pool without the limitation. The cost works out exactly the same.

The rules on partially limited power explicitly allows it to be applied to frameworks. Page 366 third paragraph. You can also apply this effect to Advantages, Adders, Power Frameworks, and parts of a power.

You need to think outside the box. Due to a software limitation you cannot have a partially limited VPP without some work arounds. So instead of trying to put a VPP into a compound power which hero designer will not allow you to do you adjust the cost of the VPP by adding a negative adder. Assuming you want a 100pt pool 50 of which is with no limitation and 50 is with an OAF. This works out to be 112 point. So what you do is to create a VPP in hero designer with 75 point pool and a control cost of 100. This will come to 112 points. So add an adder with a value of -13 to adjust your cost. Now the VPP cost 112 point like it should. This will allow you to put in a 100 point active cost power with a real cost of 75 which is what should be allowed in the pool. If you want to use hero designer to figure out the math for a more complex pool it is fairly simple. Start by creating the portion of the pool with the least restrictions. Now create another pool with whatever other limitations you want. Make sure to adjust the pools point to account for the limitations. In the above example you have a pool cost of 25 (the real points after applying the OAF) and a control cost of 50 (the maximum active cost). Now use a calculator to add the two pools together to get the real cost. Next create still another VPP with the pool cost of the combined pools and a control cost of the combine control cost. This will be more expensive then then it should be. Use a calculator to subtract the cost you got by adding the two pools together from the cost of the third pool. Go into the third pool and ad an adder with a negative value equal to the number you just got. Now delete the first and second pool. You now have a VPP that does what you want it to. When you create a power in the pool create it as a compound power and apply the appropriate limitations to each part of the combined pool. The only important things in a VPP from Hero Designers point of view are is the real cost of VPP, the total points in the pool and the control cost. As long as those are correct you do not have a problem. You may need to explain this to your GM but once he understand what you are doing it should not be a problem.

If you are using hero designer you are going to have to use a compound power regardless of if it is in a framework or not. As long as the number for your pool and the control cost are accurate Hero designer will allow it to be put in the VPP. About the only thing it will not do is to automatically apply the extra limitation on the power. So if you are using a 20d6 blast start with the compound power add a 10d6 blast, then add another 10d6 blast with the focus limitation. The negative adder is only needed to adjust the cost of the VPP itself. You don’t really have that much of a problem if you are willing to take an extra few seconds creating a spell. To me that is a lot easier then creating two separate files.

Before 6th edition came out we used to have a house rule that you could purchase a spell with a ¼ advantage Cost END to activate. Looks like lot of people were using that because it made it into 6th edition. Technically you can put a limitation on an advantage. So what you do it apply the +1/2 advantage 0 END and apply -1 limitation to the advantage that it cost full END to star the power. That works out the same as using the +1/4 advantage. You could even apply the advantage persistent to allow it to stay up if you are stunned or knocked out.

I think the problem he is having is getting Hero Designer to accept the partially limited control cost One way to force it in would be to use a negative adder to modify the cost. That would mean that you need to create all powers as compound powers. Add in a negative adder to the pool equal to the points the limitation save you. So if you have a 100 point pool but 50 point of it requires an OIF put in a -9 point adder on the pool. Just make sure when you add powers in the pool to make sure to apply the limitation to the second half.

Why is having rules about how fast you can accelerate or decelerate insane? There are advantages and limitation that can be applied to movement powers that can alter how those aspects work. Why should someone who purchased a purchased a power in a framework be able to circumvent the rules, especially limitations? Just because your power was bought in a framework does not mean it should be able to do something that someone who bought it out of the framework cannot. If the special effect of your flight should be able to accelerate or decelerate better than normal you should purchase the relevant advantage. So if I have flight defined as a jet pack and I am going full velocity into the water I should not have to shut it off and slow my velocity to safely enter the water? You can always take the ¼ advantage on your flight acts as a second movement to allow it to be used as swimming. In that case you would not need to decelerate. I have said it once and will probably say it again. A character should get what they pay for, but they should also pay for what they get.