Toxxus

Well, if anyone had the right to, it's Steve Long. He wrote extensively for Decipher's LOTR game line, including their core book.

I don't feel there's any fair way to price the NCM point, just because if the stat isn't above the normal NCM it becomes wasted "points".  Also everything Lucius said. 
 
If you're really intent on differentiating races by characteristics, why not give characteristic bonuses from race template that apply after NCM calculations?  So an elf has +5 DEX, and that gets added after the character pays points, including NCM points, for their other points of DEX. 

Fourth edition for me as I primarily played Fantasy Hero and 4th edition Fantasy Hero was SO good.
 
In fact for my current 6e Fantasy Hero game I have retained the weapon, armor and encumbrance charts from 4e as I feel they did a much better job of balancing the effectiveness of gear.

At first I thought it was a typo and he meant 60 STR, but then that didn't work out either.  Nor did 30 DEX using NCM.
 
The point is still reasonably made though.  If a guy spends 50 points on X instead of 50 points on Y - Does it really break game balance?
 
My general thought - Yes.  Some stat ranges - depending on the campaign - can absolutely obliterate any sense of balance at the gaming table.
 
Keeping a group of players happy with game balance requires that both the reality of the balance and the perception of the balance be in a good place. 
Each Hero must feel like their particular strengths and skills are just as important to the groups success as those of the other players.
 
If StatMan does double the damage of his counter-parts while being nigh invulnerable and faster to boot then it will be difficult to keep SkillMonkey and MagicMarven happy unless the campaign throws obstacles that favor their abilities over the raw combat power of StatMan fairly often.
 
In my Fantasy Hero campaign I set hard caps on primary stats at 15 and - at their current power levels - my players can have two stats in the 16-20 range or one stat in the 21-23 range.  As the campaign progresses I'll raise the caps until it's just the standard NCM.
So far so good.  Everyone has found their niche.  We have crowd control elemental martial arts guy, spirit shaman brick guy, melt-your-face-magic-lady (my wife) and a guy playing a recreation of the Witcher.
 

I don't think that Martial Arts is really unbalancing at all.  It is available to everyone so that right there means it is pretty balanced.  Consider the Multipower below which could be used instead of Martial Arts to pretty awesome effect.
 
16   Martial Arts:  Multipower, 20-point reserve,  (20 Active Points); all slots Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
     3V   Accurate:  +4 OCV (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
     3V   Evasive:  +4 DCV (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
     3V   Strong:  +20 STR (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
     3V   Powerful:  Hand-To-Hand Attack +4d6 (20 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
     3V   Lethal:  Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6+1 (2d6 w/STR) (20 Active Points); Only To Augment HTH Standard Maneuvers (-1/4)
 
In this example the character could use any one of the slots to bolster his HTH prowess or mix and match them (because they are Variable slots) to great effect.
 
Martial Strike - +2d6, +2 DCV when performing Strike
Fast Strike - +2 OCV, +2d6 when performing Strike
Martial Block - +2 OCV, +2 DCV when performing Block
Martial Dodge - +4 DCV (Total of +7!) when performing Dodge
Martial Grab - +1 OCV, +1 DCV, +10 STR when performing Grab
Offensive Strike - +4d6 when performing Strike
Killing Strike - 2d6KA when performing Strike
 
If you want to make it even more powerful you could drop the limitation and voila!  You have the ability to do a Flying Dodge.  Sure, it costs more than your average Martial Arts package but it doesn't have the Negatives on any of the maneuvers either.
 
Just my $.02,
 
Deadman

I play 6th end write for 6th.  It has lots of ideas and concepts in it that are great and I strongly recommend people who play other editions definitely pick up and use.  It has others I don't care for.
 
But 4th is my favorite edition, as an emotional attachment.  See, the poll wasn't "which is the best?" or "what do you recommend?" but "which do you like the most?"

How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)?
Around 1995 I made a Shadow Knight in Everquest roughly themed after the god of disease (Bertoxxulus) so I shortened it to Toxxus.
 
What was the first tabletop RPG you played?
D&D when it still came in pastel colored cardboard boxes (Basic and Expert)
 
What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed?
D&D basic followed shortly by Boot Hill
 
What are you currently playing/GMing?
I'm playing Fantasy Hero using Pathfinder adventure paths for content.  My Saturday group (mostly D&D 5e'ers) is enjoying the new system though I admit I'm enjoying it more as it comes with 30 years of nostalgia for me.
 
When did you start to play Hero?
Right around 1980 when I picked up a softcover edition that came in a cardboard box (they all did back then).  Played Fantasy Hero extensively in high school and college.

How did you come up with your 'handle' (forum name)?
Around 1995 I made a Shadow Knight in Everquest roughly themed after the god of disease (Bertoxxulus) so I shortened it to Toxxus.
 
What was the first tabletop RPG you played?
D&D when it still came in pastel colored cardboard boxes (Basic and Expert)
 
What was the first tabletop RPG you GMed?
D&D basic followed shortly by Boot Hill
 
What are you currently playing/GMing?
I'm playing Fantasy Hero using Pathfinder adventure paths for content.  My Saturday group (mostly D&D 5e'ers) is enjoying the new system though I admit I'm enjoying it more as it comes with 30 years of nostalgia for me.
 
When did you start to play Hero?
Right around 1980 when I picked up a softcover edition that came in a cardboard box (they all did back then).  Played Fantasy Hero extensively in high school and college.

I do the multi-colored dice thing, exactly as you propose. Red for damage, black for hit location, and green for attack rolls. Didn’t roll knock ack, as it’s not common in FH games, but does come up when fighting against a Giant, Dragon, or some other large scale monster. 

I started with 2nd edition, which was a huge revelation to me at the time in terms of game design. Loved it to pieces.
 
3rd edition was a nice improvement, and HERO System really started to come into its own with the other HERO System games released at the time.
 
4th was wonderful. It brought everything together under one set of covers.
 
5th was OK. It fixed some things, and had some nicely crafted supplements.
 
5eR was too much of a good thing. To this day I still haven't read through the whole thing, cover-to-cover.
 
Same for 6e, only more so. But they're beautiful books!
 
Champs Complete is fine, and was a sorely needed return to marketplace viability in terms of rulebook size.
 
But 4e will always be my sweet spot, and the one I return to (albeit with some good ideas from 5e).
 
(I'd back a Kickstarter for a bugfixed BBB -- or even HERO System Rulesbook -- in a heartbeat.)
 

I'd do it as something along the lines of
Paralyzing Stench:  Entangle 1d6, 1 DEF, Works Against CON, Not STR (+1/4), Takes No Damage From Attacks All Attacks (+1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Persistent (+1/2), Area Of Effect (4" Radius; +1), Continuous (+1) (47 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Always On (-1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4)
Adjust number of dice to fit tastes. 
 
Anyone who walks into the area has to make a Casual CON roll.  If they don't get enough NDB on the CON roll, they're paralyzed until they get a good enough roll to break out. 

I'm currently taking my Saturday group through a pathfinder adventure path, but we're using Hero system rules and characters.  It's working very well.
 
Mostly I just adlib my creature / NPC conversions since there are so many good examples in the Hero Bestiary that I have a good rough-estimate for almost anything I'm trying to work with.
 
Coming back to Hero system hits me squarely in the nostalgia button.  I remember picking up champions when I was like 10 years old.

I'm currently taking my Saturday group through a pathfinder adventure path, but we're using Hero system rules and characters.  It's working very well.
 
Mostly I just adlib my creature / NPC conversions since there are so many good examples in the Hero Bestiary that I have a good rough-estimate for almost anything I'm trying to work with.
 
Coming back to Hero system hits me squarely in the nostalgia button.  I remember picking up champions when I was like 10 years old.

So far I like the following ideas best:
1-  Persuasion vs. Persuasion.
2-  Persuasion vs. INT roll.
3-  Persuasion vs. Analyze: (Motive / Honesty / etc.).
 
Thanks everyone!