LoneWolf

Are you already using the encumbrance and endurance rules? A suit of full plate weighs 40 kg, add a large shield for an additional 7 kg, plus a few more for all the other stuff the characters are carrying and you are easily over 50 kg. Unless you characters all have 18 STR this meanst they are taking -2 to their DCV/DEX rolls, as well as -2m of movement and paying 1 END per turn. This also means they lose 1 LTE per turn. If this is for heroic characters they pay 1 END for every 5 STR instead of 1 per 10. If you use the LTE rules this means the high STR character with a good SPD runs out of END very quickly. A character with an 18 STR and a 4 SPD uses 16 END per turn in just STR alone. If they are moving or doing other things that require END they can easily push this to 20+ END per turn. Unless they have over a 10 REC this means they lose 2 LTE per turn. Most combat focused characters have decent STR and above average SPD. Figure a character with an 18 STR and 3 SPD. They spend at least 12 END per turn when going full out in combat. That means they only last a few min. before they are exhausted. Out of combat they will probably need to reduce their SPD or they will be out of END all the time. Dropping down to a 2 SPD they can avoid exhausting themselves so quickly, but now are moving a lot slower. Most people don’t consider this, or ignore it. If you really want to keep amour in check this is one of the best ways.

I wish I had known that before I spent the money on the character pack. That will be the last purchase I make for this program. The program is turning out to be a big disappointment. The basic program itself is actually pretty good, but it is terrible at anything beyond that. I use Hero Lab for other games and have invested over $300 in it over the years and would have been willing to invest a similar amount in Hero Designer. If I have to load and unload prefabs each time I add something to a character they are not worth the trouble. I can create the item or power myself quicker than searching through all the separate files to find the item I know this will not change anything, but I wanted to give you my feedback about the program.

I just purchased the Hero System Equipment Guide character pack. When I try and load them into hero designer it runs out of memory and either crashes or unloads all the prefabs. I have already increased the memory available in the preferences to 512 MB, but that still does not seem to be enough. I did a quick search on this forum and from what I found is that is the only way to give the program more memory under Windows. My system is running Windows 10 and has 16 GB of memory there should be no reason for the program to be having memory issues. How can I give the program more than 512 MB of memory?

It depends on the character, but most of my characters have a decent amount of skills. Having the right knowledge skills often means not having to rely on others for information. Some of my characters actually have skills that are part of their power. I have one character that is a precog that has a lot of skills to allow him to be able to do what he should. For example his streetwise is not the fact he knows everyone, but rather he gets hunches and visions of where he should go, or who he should see. The same is true for things like deduction, concealment, or even shadowing. He has a good amount of knowledge skills to allow him to always seem to have the answer.

I would strongly advise against using a house rule like that, because you are actually doing your players a disservice. What happens when if they end up playing in another campaign run by someone else? By changing things around you are making any future gaming they do more difficult. A better way to handle the subtraction is to subtract the targets DCV from your OCV and add that to 11. For example if the player has an OCV of 5 and the target has an 8 DCV, subtract 8 from 5 to get -3. Then add -3 to 11 to get a 8 or less. Where most people seem to have problems is when dealing with large numbers. Since a lot of times the values for OCV and DCV are not that far off using this method avoids having to work with large number. 11+12-10 will confuse people more than 11+2.

What is the special effect of the usable by others? Special effect is everything and if the special effect does not match up with the powers they should not be allowed. In my games if the player cannot tell me how a power or a power modifier works they are not allowed it. Now somethings don’t really require all that much explanation, but something like this would. So if the player wants to buy some extra running I don’t question it. On the other hand if someone wants to be able to fly or teleport they need an explanation of how they do it.

My guess is that he would have some sort of limb reaching out to grab the other characters.

Another way to do it would be to use a PRE attack. You would get a bonus for appropriate use of any interaction skills you make. This would allow any character to try, but those with good PRE and appropriate skills have a much easier time.

The equipment section has an option for weight. I am looking to create a couple of Fantasy Hero characters and the game will be using encumbrance rules. Is there any way to have Hero Designer calculate and apply the DCV penalties automatically?

This is actually a compound power instead of a single power. The best way to build it is to purchase the initial attack however you want. Link a triggered power to the initial attack and this will do everything you are asking. If the initial attack can be different attacks each time you simply increase the value of the trigger, and do not link it to another power.

It is the right of any GM to do what they want with their campaign. But often a GM will get an idea that he thinks is a good idea, but it turns out to be a bad one. I have done this myself on occasions. If this is something that Brian’s players will enjoy than by all means there is nothing wrong with it. My concern is that while Brian may find the idea fun, his players may not. The limitations of the forms are that often people cannot fully explain their ideas at first and other may not fully understand what the other person is saying. This just means it takes a little longer for the discussion to be played out. It is not that uncommon for a warrior to be trained in the use of many weapons. They may not be experts with all the weapons, but they understand how to use them. This is what familiarity with common <group> represents. If I have familiarity with a weapon I should be able to use it fully without penalty. For example if I have familiarity with halberd I should be able to use both the blade and the spike. There used to be an optional combat maneuver that allowed you to convert killing damage to normal damage. I don’t have access to all my books right now so I cannot look it up. This is what you would do to use the flat of the blade. For weapons like the axe with the spike I would consider them to be custom weapons. They would still be considered part of their original group for purpose of familiarity, but would allow the wielder more option in combat. It may take a little practice to learn how to use it properly, but I should not require seeking out someone to train you. A day or two practicing with the weapon to learn it balance would be about all you need. I strongly disagree with some the ideas about the weapons vs armor type. The book states that plate armor is not as effective vs bashing damage. Plate armor is designed to spread the kinetic energy of the hit over a wider area. This allows the padding under the plate to absorb the energy so it never reaches the target. It also suggest that piercing damage be made armor piercing. The arrows used for hunting do not penetrate armor very well at all. They used a different kind of arrow when they were going against armor to allow it to penetrate the armor. In game terms the hunting arrows may have even been considered reduced penetration. By treating all weapons using a similar type as being the same it seems to make the situation worse.

This is a very bad idea because you are taking away something the player actually paid points for and are artificially limiting the character. As a GM I would never do this to my players. And as a player I would strenuously object if my GM did this. As long as the player paid for ability he should be able to use it the ways the rules permit. This also prevents certain concepts and fighting styles. Many martial arts have both a slash and a thrust. The thrust is obviously using the point of the blade and would be doing piercing damage. The slash is just as obviously doing slashing damage. My character bought weapon familiarity with common melee, and a martial art with blades with the maneuvers mention above. Under your rules my starting character is unable to use one of the maneuvers he actually paid points for. He also cannot effectively use many weapons he paid points for. Since my weapon familiarity is with slashing that would mean I cannot use maces, hammers, clubs, fist-loads, spears, and many polearms. You are also placing artificial limitation on my characters background. If I spent the last decade training under a master swordsman it is entirely reasonable that he would have taught me how to use the weapons to the fullest extent. It makes absolutely no sense that after spending decade training under the world’s greatest swordsman I need to run over to some local drunken teacher to teach me how to thrust with a with my sword. I can understand what you are trying to do, but you are needlessly complicating things. Let your players use what they bought and allow them to have full control over their background. Many of the weapons in fantasy hero already have some advantages. For example hammers typically have a +1 stun multiple. Stilettos are already armor piercing. A better way to make different weapons more appealing is to modify the weapon stats on a case by case. If you look over the weapon tables you will probably find that for the most part much of this has already been done. If you want to have more variation, create a couple unique weapons for your game and gives them an advantage. Be careful not to go too far or you will create a weapon that become better than any other weapon and that is all the players will use.

How do you deal with the fact that different weapons within a group often use different damage types? Does that mean that someone who picked up Blades (slashing) does not know how to use a stiletto? What about someone who picks up common melee? If I pay the points for a skill I should be able to use the skill for what it says. How do I pick up something during the game that does not cost points? Does it mean I simply have to do it once? If I am an expert with the sword and spent my life training with it should I not realize that the sword has a point and I can stab someone with it? A character that spent points for weapon familiarity, martial arts, and skill levels should be able to use the weapon in any way he wants. Most weapons are more similar to each other even if they use different damage types. Some weapons are designed with a particular purpose in mind, but for the most part they already have combat advantages. Stilettos for example are armor piercing not because they are a piercing weapon, but because they are designed to punch through armor. Some hammers may be balanced to hit harder (+1 stun multiple), but that does not mean my staff has the same effect. These types of adjustments should be handled on a weapon by weapon basis, not using overly broad house rules.

I think this is a gross oversimplification of weapons. The problems are that many weapons can actually be used to deal other types of damage besides their primary damage. Most swords for example have both a point and an edge. Polearms often incorporate multiple methods of damage. For example a halberd in reality can deal any of the three types of damage. It has both an edge and a spike. You can even use the haft of the weapon like as a staff for bashing damage. For the most part any advantage from a weapon should be built into the weapon. I do not yet have access to the 6th edition Fantasy Hero, but in 5th edition many of the weapons listed have advantages already built in. All armor has padding under it especially plate. What the armor really does is to distribute the force of the blow over a wider area and allow the padding to absorb the force of the blow. Without the padding the armor will not do the job it is supposed to. A person I knew made a helmet for the SCA but used substandard padding. One shot to the head knocked him out. The hit was not even that hard or fast. After the more experience members saw what he was using for padding they told him not to use that and to get thicker more absorbent padding. Once he did that it worked much better and he was not in danger.

Is the talent striking appearance allowed? If so that is a good way to get some extra dice on a PRE attack. Also don’t forget to look over the chart for way to increase the dice on a PRE attack. The key is to get your PRE attack high enough to do more than just go first. Don’t forget that you can also use your own PRE attack to counter those of other people. If interaction skills are not used that does not leave a lot to do with PRE. Are they outright banned, or simply your group does not use them because no one bothers getting them? I don’t see to create certain types of characters if they are banned. The whole just roleplay the skill does not take into account that most people do not actually have the skill in real life. Just because I am not able to lie worth a dam does not mean I cannot play a smooth talking character that lies through his teeth. If the interaction skill can be used I could give some ways to use them.

Damage Negation applies to AVAD even if the character lacks the specific defense vs the attack. Since NND is a form of AVAD the character can apply Damage Negation to NND’s. In most cases this is pretty obvious. If the NND is energy beam that can penetrate any defense except a force field than Energy Damage Negation applies. But what about things like a gas attack where the defense is life support? Does this apply and if so is it considered energy or physical.

Bluesguy is correct that it makes a big difference if the game is a heroic game or not. In a superhero game any significant equipment must be paid for. Most GM’s will allow some basic equipment like watches and probably cell phones, but almost anything else needs to be paid for. In a heroic game a character uses money to purchase equipment. Most mundane equipment is fairly cheap but some of it does cost a significant amount. Typically heavy armor like plate costs a decent amount of money. Unless there is some sort of campaign rule magic using characters can also use normal equipment. One of my best wizards actually uses light armor and knows how to fight with his staff. Due to a couple of lucky rolls while using his staff he ended up doing better in melee combat than the “fighters” of the group. I managed to get a critical hit to the head of one of the heavily armored foes we were fighting. In a heroic campaign all a warrior needs to do is to pay character points for the weapon familiarity and he knows how to use any weapons in that group. Considering common melee and common ranged weapons only cost 2 pts each that is nothing. For 4 pts you can use most weapons. Magic items usually cost a lot more, but are also usually a lot more powerful. In a heroic campaign even these don’t cost character points.

Ask yourself this game mechanic can you not do with either magic or technology? Is there any power you cannot buy with magic? Is there anything you could not build with technology? Since your character is going to be able to both and even combine them chances are there is nothing that you cannot do. Personally I would not allow either magic or technology to be any kind of limitation. If you wanted to further restrict them maybe. If you were only able to do elemental magic, or only able to do electronic gadgets those might be worth something. Why would you not be able to do psychic or mutant abilities with access to both magic and technology? Genetics is a science, and not just a rubber science. It is a real world science that we actually use today. There is no reason why a geneticist could not genetically engineer a mutant. Psychic abilities are often considered to be magic. Dr. Strange can easily do anything a psychic could do without a second thought. If you really are going for a Dr. Doom type he mixes them so thoroughly you cannot distinguish one form the other. When he teamed up with Dr. Strange he actually used his armor’s computer to analyze other people’s magic and used it to boost his own magic. Strange even noticed that Doom techniques were very precise, but seemed kind of mechanical, and strangely familiar. Just create one big VPP for both of them. You actually should take the advantage can choose which of two rolls to make from use to use (+1/4)

Why not the Moirai after the three fates from Greek mythology?

The best way to buy this is to purchase an NND attack. 2d6 NND, Continuous (30 active points). This way you don’t take the penalties for performing the maneuver. You also don’t have to worry about maintaining the hold, or the person being able to escape the hold. You make the attack which goes against his ranged DCV so you are more likely to hit. Once you hit the target takes damage, and cannot escape until you release them. They can move but still take damage.

What I mean by the statement the relationship between the speed of communication and travel is an illusion, is that there is no relationship between the technologies utilized. How does an advance in the technology of a jet engine affect radio transmission? The answer is that advances in jet engines do not affect radio transmission. There is no link between the two technologies at all. Just because technologies are used for similar purposes does not mean they are linked together. They develop independently from each other and an advance in one does not mean the other will see any advancement. Both the internal combustion engine and nuclear power can generate electricity, but just because there is a breakthrough in nuclear power does not mean the internal combustion engine advances at all. In fact advances in one technology may actually render another technology obsolete. The only relationship between travel and communication is that one can often allow us to become less reliant on the other. When communication improved beyond travel we became less reliant on travel. Why is it so difficult to envision that in some point in the future things may reverse and travel will become more efficient than communication? Going back to the computer industry we can look at external storage technologies. The original storage technology was punch cards, but that was soon replaced with magnetic storage. Then we developed optical storage in the form of CD’s and later DVD’s. Recently we have gone back to using magnetic storage in the form of memory cards. According to Zslane that should not have happened, we should have developed more sophisticated optical storage. But that is not what happened.

Hero system can quite easily simulate any setting. The thing is when you start changing too much of the setting you are not really using the setting. It seems pretty obvious that Zslane does not care for the traveler setting. Which is perfectly fine, everybody is entitled to their own preferences. I also don’t see why all technology needs to advance at the same rate. The relationship between the speed of communication and the speed of travel is an illusion. The advances in one have little or no effect on the other. Some technologies like computers have advance at incredible rates, where other like radio have not really changed all that much in decades. In some cases technology may be made completely obsolete by advances in other technology. Even today many manufacturing and construction technologies are being slowly replaced with3D printing. In a couple of decades we may look back on some of the things we use now as completely archaic and obsolete. Actually Traveler does have one technology that could allow for FTL communication, but it has been generally suppressed. I am of course speaking of telepathy. This is also a major factor in the writings of Christopher Stasheff. But telepathy and psionics in general are looked on with suspicion and fear in most parts of the Imperium.

Weapons and armor tend to cancel each other. So do like the game did and start them off with lower powered weapons and armor. As it progresses introduce more powerful weapons and armor. As to the talents and perks those also scale well. Some of the talents are expensive especially in 6th edition. Things like weapon master or deadly blow cost quite a bit. Most of the time starting players cannot afford them. Start out at a lower point value and you characters will have plenty to spend their experience on. It won’t all be on talents and perks don’t forget things like skill levels and martial arts. Most beginning characters cannot afford everything they want. If the beginning characters are too powerful lower the starting points.

One thing that a lot of people are forgetting is that the Traveler Universe does not have actual FTL travel. With a jump drive the ship is taking a short cut through another dimension instead of actually traveling at FTL speeds. It takes a week to make a jump regardless of the distance of the jump. Ships in J-space are not able to communicate with each other. To make the jump into J-space requires a significant amount of time and must be made each time. Failure to correctly calculate the jump can has disastrous effects, the least of which is a misjump. Since jump drives use 4 dimensional travel (3 of space, 1 of time) each jump is completely different from other jumps. It also takes anywhere between ½ hour to a day to calculate a safe jump. This is the only known method of traveling faster than light speed in the traveler universe. There are hints of other technologies particularly those of the Ancients being able to ignore these constraints, but those are myths. Jump drive technology is poorly suited for communication for several reasons. First is it is inherently unreliable. If calculations were wrong or something interfered with the transmission you need to verify this so the information can be sent again. This would probably something similar to what we use today that after a packet is sent the receiver sends an acknowledgment it received it. If the sender fails to acknowledge the packet it is resent. So each packet is going to take slightly over 2 weeks to send and acknowledge. Considering how many packets are sent back and forth for normal communication this is going to be completely unwieldy. You could reduce the amount of packets sent by increasing their size, but that would mean transmitting large segments of data. So you would in effect be sending long recordings. Instantaneous two way communication would be impossible. This is of course assuming that a signal can be sent through J-space. Now it is possible that there could be other technologies used to transmit the signal. But if they have another way to send something faster than light why don’t they use that for travel as well? Jump drives may be rubber science, but that is what the setting is based on. If you don’t like the technology use a different setting. Not every setting works for everyone.

The area of effect surface will also allow you to heat up other thing besides a focus. At the base level it can be applied to an area about 2m radius. Each +1/4 doubles the size. So it could also be used to heat up the floor, or a door. If you are only using it to disarm it is probably a waste, if you use for other things, it can be useful.