ScottishFox

On 7/14/2019 at 12:00 AM, Spence said:

PLAYABLE Adventures and Campaigns. 

This is it - right here.

And the solution is not a collection of amateur adventures written by fans.  It is professional grade adventures written by real authors and illustrated by real artists.

Look at the amazing work done in the Pathfinder and D&D 5th edition hardcover adventures.

Time is precious and very few DMs have the luxury of enough time to crank out whole worlds and adventures from nothing but their imaginations.  Even if they did they would rarely match the quality of professional writers.

I couldn't have agreed more with you, Spence.  We need adventures more than anything else - by a lot.

Well, we can't have everyone with a permanent home starving to death so...

ScottishFox, Har’Ak God of the Hearth and Hospitality!

• Geography: Gardens, vineyards and open fields

• Sentient Life: 

• Gift to Civilization: Ripe Meat off the Bone and Strong Drink

• Fauna: Travelers' Mercy/Delight/Lament

• Interference: 

• Mythic Monster or Guardian: The Dour Man

• Secondary Domain: The Benevolent Flame

• Secondary Domain: The Homeward Glimmer

• Secondary Domain: Symbiosis

Har'Ak walked the many roads and he saw the struggle of the people to gather enough food to survive - much less share with strangers.  And so it was that Har'Ak brought the seeds of many good things and shared them.  Each was given the knowledge to nurture and tend their gifts until they could give back in return.  The gardens came first as the fruits and roots of the wild were protected from weed and wildling alike until they could bounty in return.  Over time vineyards and farms arose as the symbiosis of the people with the living gifts of Har'Ak grew and grew.

Those who whisper prayers to Har'Ak are generous with their gatherings as they believe blights of beast, crop and people to be a sign of Har'Aks disdain.  Share, they say, or you will have nothing to share.

16 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

Like I always say: Things aren't more expensive. Money's just worth less.

Back when currency was exchangeable for precious metals it was worth a LOT more.

We wouldn't even be having minimum wage discussions if currency was still tied to precious metals.  An old silver dollar has about $12.30 worth of silver in it.  How would you like to be earning a minimum wage of... $92.25/hour?

I'd take that deal in a minute. 

26 minutes ago, Lawnmower Boy said:

But I wouldn't mind it if the average house still cost four years average salary.

It's not too far off (quick internet search pulling up 47,500 and 226,000 respectively) at roughly 4.75 years average salary.

And I know this varies WILDLY depending on where you live and the tax environment of your country/state/county/city.

2 hours ago, theinfn8 said:

 

Didn't have access, had to ditch it to live, was too busy chasing someone to be bothered, and even the occasional not safe to be wearing any. Rust issues aside, while chainmail isn't the heaviest thing in the world, I certainly wouldn't want to go swimming with it on (should I get knocked of my boat while pirating). Especially if I was wearing Conan sized chain.

I use the old 4th edition Fantasy Hero encumbrance rules and if you get knocked into the drink wearing plate armor you'll have a negative swim speed aka sink like a stone.

There's a reason pirates didn't adopt metal armor beyond poverty.  It just wasn't safe to have heavy armor on when an unplanned swim was a possibility.

On 7/15/2019 at 10:34 AM, ScottishFox said:

ScottishFox, Har’Ak God of the Hearth and Hospitality!

• Geography: 

• Sentient Life: 

• Gift to Civilization: Ripe Meat off the Bone and Strong Drink

• Fauna: Travelers' Mercy/Delight/Lament  (*new*)

• Interference: 

• Mythic Monster or Guardian: The Dour Man

• Secondary Domain: The Benevolent Flame

• Secondary Domain: The Homeward Glimmer

• Secondary Domain:

Har'Ak wandered the endless paths of the world and came upon the will-o-wisp leading lost children into the depths of a deadly swamp.  The cruelty of the act rankled Har'Ak and he stretched his Will into the world.  Each will-o-wisp would have its twin - a glimmer of hope - that would lead the lost not to their doom, but homeward.  Those who walk the roads at night know to avoid the lure of a will-o-wisp, but those already lost beyond hope will often catch a glimmer of light in the distance and follow it towards safety and shelter.  Preparation is better than hope, but hope is better than certain doom.

51 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

 

I messed up the build, that Usable as an attack should have "grantor completely controls power" which makes it slightly more expensive.

Adding this to my current issue with triggered - teleportation - man....

Use Christopher's Castle as a triggered teleport only when targeted by an AoE to swap places with the person launching the AoE attack.  Enemy tries to Fireball you and then ends up in the blast radius of their own fireball as you swap places with them.

11 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

For example, you cannot use a multipower slot that you don't have active, so his triggers could not reset unless he had that one active.

Hmm, so unless he had that power active he'd have to Abort to activate the ability which would at least cost him his next Phase and prevent him from doing it at all if he'd already gone.  I may play test this during our next session to see how the group feels about it.  I'm worried about copy cat syndrome.  Trigger seriously impacts action economy and is like very cheap units of speed.

The same guy already bought a trigger so that whenever he blocks an attack it fires of a HKA counter-attack.  Block + attack is much stronger than Block then attack first next phase.

I also like the idea of combining that with a DEX contest along the lines of holding a phase to strike an enemy when they get close.  You don't automatically go first so there's a DEX contest to determine the order of events.

HERO is good about not having a lot of absolutes so I like to have some sort of roll involved rather than complete immunity.

2 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

The important thing is to make sure people understand the way powers work and the way they are going to act in the game when they are creating characters.  If they don't understand how life support works, its up to you as the GM to help them know that before the fighting starts and it comes up.

 

 

This I would allow, then work out ways to get around it as a GM   Like, the AE fills an area he can't see out of, so his teleport doesn't help him any or causes him to port into something that causes damage.  Its a legal construction, and I like to reward creativity.

Just can't.  If I allow (or reward) something like this the next triggers are for melee or ranged attacks.  Now for a whopping 9 points he's invulnerable to melee, ranged single target attacks and AoEs.

But wait, there's more!  For just another 3 points he can set a trigger on invisible to mental sense group plus invisible to sight group (limited:  Only to prevent line of sight for mental attacks).

I actually don't like the idea of being able to defensively activate multipower slots as it bypasses the key weakness of multipowers (having to allocate points to specific slots).

5 hours ago, death tribble said:

ScottishFox, Har’Ak God of the Hearth and Hospitality!

• Geography. 

• Sentient Life: 

• Gift to Civilization. Ripe Meat off the Bone and Strong Drink

• Fauna: Travelers' Mercy/Delight/Lament  (*new*)

• Interference: 

• Mythic Monster or Guardian. The Dour Man

• Secondary Domain. The Benevolent Flame

• Secondary Domain. 

• Secondary Domain. 

Fauna:  Along the well traveled roads between the wilder parts of the world there is a peculiar tree that is known to spring up bearing a strange red gourd.  The same gourd is known by three names as it passes through three stages of ripeness.  When the gourds are first ripening they are known as Travelers' Mercy as they are full of a thick, sweet red liquid and a thick, filling flesh.  Many a troubled traveler has found the strength to finish their journey thanks to these gourds.

Later when the gourds have lingered too long they harden, but their contents ferment and the majority of the flesh dissolves leaving a pint of naturally occurring liquor within.  These have come to be called Travelers' Delight and many have wandered the roads looking to harvest these dark red gourds that resemble lacquered wood.

Eventually the gourds soften and their contents splatter to the ground where they attract great numbers of insects and produce a sickly sweet scent much like that of rotting meat.  These are known as Traveler's Lament and road weary travelers find only disappointment and the risk of pestilence when they pass these by.  It is said that seeing a cluster of Traveler's Lament is an omen that one's journey is doomed and the more superstitious will turn back at such a sight and return the way they came.

--------------------------------

Secondary Domain:  The Benevolent Flame (which should produce some interesting interference options).  In the earliest days fire was a calamity that people feared and avoided at all costs.  It is said that Har'Ak showed the cleverest souls how to tame the smallest fires and make them into a cherished family member.  A well tamed fire keeps the Hearth warm, the food hot and drives back the terrors of the night.  A poorly fed fire dies and takes its blessings with it.  An untamed fire can kill host and guest alike.  Among those who call upon the name of Har'Ak skill at tending a proper fire is refined to the point of worship.

On 7/12/2019 at 8:56 AM, Hugh Neilson said:

our complaint is no different from the fellow who spends 2 points on life support:  safe in intense cold, and then cannot grasp why he is not immune to every attack with the special effect of "cold".

I've had this come up with LS:  All terrestrial toxins vs. The Stabbing Beast (avatar of a death god) who's scorpion stinger and spray blinding poison.  Sorry, sir, your LS: terrestrial poisons doesn't make you immune to poison-based attacks nor flashes.

Had another guy add a trigger to his teleport so it would let him teleport away from harm when targeted by AoE attacks w/out the drawbacks of Dive for Cover.  Sorry, you can't have immunity to AoE damage for the cost of a 3 point multipower slot.

Very open-ended systems like HERO require a commitment to good faith efforts by both the players and the GMs.

13 minutes ago, CrosshairCollie said:

So, Trump has said that social media is more influential than the traditional news media.

Am I the only one who interprets that as saying 'manipulating the populace is more effective than using facts?'

I believe Joe Rogan has a larger audience than any televised news show - by a lot.

Factor in the cumulative totals of the countless smaller contributors and traditional news media probably isn't even 1/3rd of the total.

Re-reading the Dive for Cover rules has me thinking.

You can Dive to avoid any attack?  Like unlimited OCV is negated by a simple DEX roll at -1?

Not sure I would allow that.

24 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

Gone With The Wind has them all beat and it ONLY was show in the USA.

I find the Gone with the Wind numbers pretty well cooked since it took in only $21-$32 million depending on sources and tickets back then were $0.23.

If you adjust by inflation you get the ridiculous number.  If you adjust by ticket prices then to ticket prices now it clocks in closer to $1,000,000,000.

Great movie, but it was certainly not the global blockbuster that Avenger's was or the MCU has been (Franchise total: 22 Billion).

Appearing as an auburn-bearded, broad shouldered man of 40 years and below average height the cheerful Har'Ak ignites the spirit of generosity and good cheer among the weariest of souls.  Whenever the people gather to share a meal and a drink He may appear among them.  Those who are generous with little find their bellies full, hearts light and the weariness of the day cast aside.  In time the appearances of Har'Ak would lead some to tell tales of a folk of master artisans that lived within the mountains.  The greatest among them would be said to be the brewmeisters, though many would doubt such things were ever more than fantastic tales told by friendly drunks.

Har'Ak's care for the people would sometimes manifest in menacing aspect.  Those who took their feasting and drinking to excess would, in the fullness of their folly, occasionally find themselves nose-to-breast with The Dour Man.  A towering brute that would stand between them and those they would harm.  The Dour Man is said to have hands like hammers and those too dim to walk away from trouble often find the truth of it.  To this day many places that serve a meal or drink to strangers keep a club nearby with a fist carved into the business end.  A reminder to all that to disdain hospitality is to risk the Hammer Hand.

• Primary Aspect: The Hearth and Hospitality

• Geography:

• Sentient Life:

• Gift to Civilization: Ripe Meat off the Bone and the Strong Drink

• Fauna/Flora: 

• Interference:

• Mythic Monster or Guardian:  The Dour Man

• Secondary Domain:  

• Secondary Domain: 

• Secondary Domain: 

Is the roster full or can minor entities be added at this point?

1 hour ago, Ninja-Bear said:

 Not to seem to pick on you but this is the mentality that seems to have gotten us to two thick tomes of rules.

The two 6e rule books are intimidating to even seasoned gamers.

It's simply too much.

You can't cover every edge case that every munchkin is going to try to use to break your mechanics.  Especially in a build-your-own-powers type of system.

I'm still so bummed that Endgame didn't beat out Avatar.  Technically the original release of Avengers:Endgame did beat the original release of Avatar, but Avatar made enough on re-release to keep the #1 spot to this day.

Garbage.

Avengers: Endgame is the superior movie.

On 7/26/2018 at 9:40 PM, drunkonduty said:

At this juncture I should point out that the game is pathfinder and the official rule is that it's negative energy animating the corpses.

The proper HERO move is to play Pathfinder with them for a bit and then convert their characters to HERO so they can experience the superior gaming system.  Fantasy HERO > Pathfinder.

Just out of curiosity.  Pathfinder 1.0 or are you doing the new Pathfinder 2.0 play test?

How about an advantage on the attack (AoE 3m radius) that only works when the target dodges.

On 7/8/2019 at 12:33 AM, Doc Democracy said:

Drought is really the time when things don’t work, don’t grow, wither and die.  I would think that he would suit a whole suite of drain, suppress and transformation attacks.  

I agree with this.  A lot.

Things that come to mind:

A large area change environment - Dry Heat - that changes temperature levels and causes REC/END problems.  Maybe even CON rolls at some penalty to avoid stumbling around desiccated at 1/2 DCV (roughly equal to DEX roll or fall on ice sheet).

NND Blasts as he drains the moisture from victims.

Drains vs. STR/CON/END as he withers the heroes.

More severe cases could be a Severe Transform into desiccated husk which he uses to shrivel victims to dust.

Drains vs. BOD against could be used as lethal attacks and ways to collapse wooden structures.

Change Environment vs. Movement can be very powerful.

One of my current players has a gravity well type of CE that reduces run speed by enough that most land-bound enemies are simply glued in place.  Unlike entangle, barrier, or TK there's no real mechanic to break-out.

I frequently have the enemies resorting to leaping after they waste a phase or two trying to move.

1 hour ago, Doc Democracy said:

One of the things that struck me when I used a chainsaw the first few times was that the saw really did pull me closer to the thing I was cutting if I had not placed it properly, once it has a target it digs into it.  I like the idea that it not only does you constant damage, it holds you there while it does it...

 

It is a horrid weapon and I do not think anyone would want to come close when they see it do damage, it is inherently a killing, lethal attack weapon, it should be scary to get close to and everyone should worry about being hit with it, if it does not do you damage right away then it should begin degrading your defences until it does do you damage...

 

🙂 Have a nice day!

 

Doc

I like this idea.

Maybe tag on a resistant defense drain with a long reset (I really miss Destruction and Transfer as power concepts) to simulate the chainsaw ripping away at the heroes' armor or bullet-proof hide.

15 minutes ago, DShomshak said:

 

My high school social studies teacher might have offered another suggestion: Ceremonial monarch. He thought Ronald Reagan was pretty bad as president, but thought he would have made a great figurehead king to make vapid speeches about how great the country is, have photo ops with foreign dignitaries, open sessions of Congress and new shopping malls, stuff like that. Do the emotional, ritual stuff while boring professional people do the work of government. He thought it unfortunate that the US combined the roles of Head of State and Head of Government.

 

King Donald could do the important work of making simple white folk think Someone Who Gets Them is in charge, telling them how great they are for being Americans, while wielding no real power.

 

Unfortunately, according to reporting the New York Times did some months ago, a significant portion of the Evangelical movement wants Donald Trump as real-and-for-true King of America. It's a Biblical thing, you see. God anointed a king for ancient Israel, not a Congress, Constitution or term-limited president, so monarchy is the only godly form of government. And whatever his personal moral failings, they think Trump is the man to institute Biblical, Christian monarchy.

 

(I'll try to get the citation for the article, for people who want to read it themselves.)

 

Dean Shomshak

Here you go.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/31/opinion/trump-evangelicals-cyrus-king.html

Sadly, I just ran by Madness Games & Comics - one of the biggest stores in DFW - and the HERO section has vanished.

Which saddens me because there are other niche games like Vampire the Masquerade and GURPS which still have their sections.

D&D 5th ed dwarfs everything else.