rjcurrie

Re: 6E: Weaponmaster, Deadly Blow, and Killing dice

The builds for the talents are given in the Appendix to Volume 1 on page 447.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Well' date=' you can still buy 3d6 Aid, Variable Effect (+0.5), Delayed Return Rate 5/hr (+1.75) [58'] and aid all of your powers by 18, one at a time (you can probably do around 10 powers in a minute), and it can still go in a multipower slot.

 

At this point, I'm sort of coming to the conclusion that Aid shouldn't exist; just use UoO power (or conditional powers, for absorption).

And of course, just because a Power can be abused, it doesn't mean you have to abuse it.

Re: Reactions to 6e

Oddly, whilst there is an advantage that allows you to re-shape barrier, there doesn't appear to be one that allows you to turn it off. That scuppers an awful lot of concepts, and might well make 'personal barriers' impractical - even though the rules allow them to be built.

"Costs END to maintain" comes to mind.

Re: Reactions to 6e

Thoughts as I read through; will update as I continue.

 

Reactions as I read through Hero 6th edition

 

• p40: Characteristics
  I kind of think Dex should be x1, Dex-based skills are more prone than others to being made redundant by powers, and winning initiative is not that big a deal. Otherwise, looks good; END and STUN actually look like rational purchases, though CON is iffy.
  

I disagree. The comment about powers only really applies (if at all) to supers games. DEX-based Skills are among the most useful in a typical action adventure game. Also, DEX Rolls themselves are pretty common. I guess the initiative order is an individual thing -- most people I know seem to prefer going first.

As for CON, I guess not buying it up is okay if you don't mind spending large amounts of time Stunned. If I'd been Steve, I would have considered leaving both CON and BODY at 2, but I think they will be fine at 1.

• p41: Movement
  Mostly traditional, though it might have been a good idea to reduce the defaults on both leaping and swimming. Still, as long as we're dealing with heroic reality, not a big problem.

You can always recommend that players buy them down.

• p41-45: Characteristics
  I like the section on attributes at 0; it becomes annoying but not fatal. The usage of 'must make a stat roll', when the stat roll will always be a 9-, is possibly overly verbose but does deal with people using levels to act normally.

Well, you've said it yourself, it deals with people using levels. I suppose you could say something like "must roll 9-. This roll may be modified by any levels that affect DEX Rolls." which is a tad more verbose. Part of what Steve tries to do in the rulebook is cut off potential questions. It is sometimes better to be more verbose if it makes the text clearer.

• p51: Skill Maxima
  It seems like the problem with levels and skill maxima could be handled easily by just saying "it requires 2 levels to increase roll by 1 in excess of the maximum".

Probably not a bad house rule.

 

• p59: Skills and the Time Chart
  Now it's possible to take my speedster, buy +15 PSLs vs time penalties, and finish a 1 hour job in one turn.

This rule has been around since 5e. And technically, it would not be PSLs, but perhaps Skill Levels with a Limitation that they only work against time penalties.

 

• p71: Cost of Combat Skill Levels
  Given that a CSL is basically a multipower of OCV, DCV, and some form of damage boost (at double cost), general-purpose CSLs really shouldn't cost more than 8 and even then are almost never going to be worth the cost. Given the cost of OCV, cost should probably be 3/4/5/6/7, not 2/3/5/8/10.

You may be right here. I'd need to do the math.

 

• p76-77: Forgery and Gambling
  Forgery (all types) is not so potent that it should cost 10 points. Cost should be 1 for a subcategory, 2 for a category, 3 for all. Same for Gambling.

Whatever, I don't see it being a big deal.

 

• p88: Skill Levels
  Overall skill levels usable for combat are now 12, which is probably a good change, though even then they have the potential to be an incredible deal. Certainly, buying 8 or 10 point combat skill levels seems like a poor choice.

Except perhaps when you don't have the points to buy 12 point Overall levels or don't see your character as being good at anything but combat.

 

• p89: Stealth
  Stealth applies to danger sense now. Not sure how I feel about that.

This rule was in 5ER and you're somewhat misrepresenting it. It's probably more accurate to say that Stealth can apply to Danger Sense if the GM feels it is appropriate. That's a very different statement in my mind.

 

• p124: Sensing Powers
  Visibility is now based on whether the power is self-only, not on whether the power costs END. A good change.

Yup.

 

• p142: Adjustment Powers
  Reduced fade rate is now vastly more expensive. Adjusting multiple powers at once is now vastly more expensive. However, variable effect lets you adjust multiple powers as long as you use separate actions to do so, so some degenerate adjustment power builds will still exist.

Overall, it's probably an improvement.

• p147: Impenetrable
  Typo; the text still says 'hardened', not 'impenetrable'

Oopsie. Oh well, there were bound to be a few typos.

 

• p153: Based on Con
  Sample power has AVAD (PD), which is inconsistent with the text. This should probably be a smaller limitation (-1/4 or -1/2) with a note 'should usually be given AVAD for a defense other than mental'.

Since no Modifier value is shown for AVAD in that sample, it's possible that Steve considered it a -0 Limitation and just used to clearly state that the Power worked against PD instead of Mental Defense.

Or you could be right

 

• p170: Barrier
  Um. Wow barriers are tough. 60 active points can now give me a barrier that's, say, 4m x 4m (9), PD/ED 12 (36), Bod 15.
  Can you deliberately attack a one-way transparent barrier? Otherwise englobing someone in a one-way transparent (attacks from inside pass outwards without penalty) might be abusive.

I have the feeling that this Power may need to be adjudicated on common sense of what the Barrier is as to what values a character is allowed to buy.

 

• p178: Characteristics as Powers
  Characteristics as powers remain immune to normal characteristic maxima. Blah. Should be something like 'characteristics as powers may have different maxima than normal characteristics; ask the GM for specifics. Characteristics in excess of whatever maximum applies cost double, as normal'.

I think the problem here is more with GMs letting players buy Characteristics as Powers that really aren't.

• p183-184: Damage negation and reduction
  Can now be by special effect, rather than by defense type. Generally good, though possibly overpriced if the special effect you're interested in is extremely rare.

Doing this for Damage Reduction was in 5ER.

As for being overpriced for rare special effects, this may be true for Damage Negation which doesn't seem to allow any Limitation in this situation, but for Damage Reduction, this is addressed in the final paragraph under Damage Reduction As Immunity.

 

• p319: Area Effect
  +1/4 for a 4m radius seems low, though the general concept of radius being a pure advantage has appeal. Area Effect (Surface) seems like a good idea, but overpriced; you get a smaller area for an effect that is generally less useful.

I think the usefulness of Area Effect (Surface) may vary from Power to Power.

 

• p328: Damage Over Time
  Good idea. Badly priced. Setting someone on fire for 3 phases at speed 6 is not worth a +3 advantage.
  

I'd have to study this more.

Re: The 2nd REALLY important 6th edition question

I still say the easiest way to get the effect of Figureds is to just set minimum values in your campaign:

PD minimum = STR / 5

ED minimum = CON / 5

REC minimum = STR / 5 + CON / 5

... and so on

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

I always felt it was far too cheap to buy a very high maximum by using that plus a low number of dice. It also severely messed with Active Points IMO.

 

My instinct is to either allow Cumulative to double the level bought, or add a Limitation that says only XD6 can be used at once.

 

It also makes sense with the way some Adjustment Powers were changed. Absorption is no longer Roll D6 Based, leaving only Aid and Healing in the Positive Roll D6 aspect. Healing has it's own rules for maximum, leaving Aid. Which makes the rule almost completely superfluous.

 

Perhaps the APG will re-introduce the idea for Aid, but only Aid would make sense at this point.

Can't you buy extra dice of Aid with the Limitation that they only increase the maximum but are not actually rollled?

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

One thing I am intrigued by is what has happened to 'Heal Limbs' and 'Resurrection' - do they remain with healing or have they migrated?

They're available for both Healing and Regeneration.

Re: What is your plans for your first 6th Edition game?

I(Wonders if the new "damage negation: Non-Lucha Libre moves" could replace the "x2 effect from Luchadores" on the Aztec Mummy)

I suppose. Just like you could buy extra PD and ED that doesn't work against Luchadores.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

So' date=' with all the talk of Damage Negation, is Damage Reduction unchanged? I am hoping Negation complements rather than replaces it....[/quote']

 

Damage Reduction is unchanged.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Some of those recommended NCM limits seem a bit high to me. A normal person can leap 10 meters? It seems to me the CV limits should have been based on what they'd have been if they were still "figured" - i.e.' date=' 7 each. But not a big deal.[/quote']

 

The Leaping maximum hasn't changed. It was 5" which was 10m in 5E.

Re: 6E Rules changes confirmed so far

Remember though that GURPS has a pretty solid core audience, much like Hero.

Re: What is your plans for your first 6th Edition game?

Run the one that appeals to you the most.

As for me, I've already run 5 game sessions using 6e rules, 3 were superhero, 1 was pulp, and 1 was fantasy. However, to a large extent, these were using characters converted from 5e as opposed to 6e characters built from scratch.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I glad they removed the "Energy" from Energy Blast. However' date=' I wish they changed the name of Darkness to something that is more generic. Darkness kinda implies sight-based. I kinda like the Mutants and Masterminds name for the same power: Obscure. I has a more sense-neutral ring to it.[/quote']

 

You're probably right, but they didn't.

 

To be honest, the names of Powers have never bothered♦ me at all. They're just labels and you simply have to separate the game definition from the real world definition.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Most of my questions have been already answered, but I'm still wondering about two things:

 

How is Telekinesis structured? Still the old 3:2 cost?

 

And what about Complications? How are those working? What changes are we looking at there?

No changes to TK.

As for Complications, you need less, but otherwise they are pretty much the same. The only real change (besides the name changes) is that the die rolls for Hunted and DNPC have been replaced by a frequency. Oh, and Reputation has been renamed Negative Reputation. Similarly, the Perk Reputation has been renamed Positive Reputation.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

For those who already have the pdf' date=' I was wondering if you could indulge another question? Do the following powers: Energy Blast, Darkness, and Flash have the same name or have they been renamed? Thanks.[/quote']

 

Energy Blast is now named Tom.

Darkness is Dick.

Flash is now Harry.

 

 

Actually, the only change is their names is that Energy Blast is now Blast.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

I would presume its based on the SFX interaction of the AVAD and the defenses in question (much as NND/AVLD does in 5E)..

Yup.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

so what is the cost per DC negated

and from your discription of regen it is now built like FTL

so can you go above per turn?(18 pts per phase,20 pts per segment)

if that is the case you could have regen as a defense

5 points per 1 DC Physical or 1 DC Energy. There is also an Adder called Reduced Negation that can be bought on Attacks that cancels Damage Negation (that is, 1 level of Red Neg cancels 1 level of Dam Neg).

Per Turn is the limit for Regeneration.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Does Damage Negation work like FRED's Damage Reduction and occur after taking off for regular PD/ED?

It's before taking off PD/ED - in fact, it occurs before rolling the dice.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

Rod could have listed them as major tweaks of exiting powers or taking the place of existing power(Barrier taking the place of Force Wall)

the devil is in the details

from what has been posted about Barrier I'd say it would be Force Wall with the adding of body in what you can buy to define the power

 

 

 

Damage negation looks(this is the first I have heard of it and it's effect)to be a new way of avoiding damage

I suspect it would be akin to a suppress power at range trigger effect

 

is Regeneration the old regen with tweaks to get it to work faster or slower than post 12(well you could always have gotten it to work slower than post 12 just not faster)

Yes, I could have, but since they have new names, I treated it as, for example, removing Force Wall, and adding Barrier.

Damage Negation is bought as Physical, Energy, or Mental and can be limited further by Limitations. Each "level" of Damage Negations removes a Damage Class from an attacking Power. So for example "Damage Negation (-6 DCs Physical), Only against Bullets" reduces a 2d6 + 1 RKA defined as a gun to a one-pip RKA.

Regeneration is 2 points per 1 BODY per 1 Week, 4 points per 1 BODY per Day, ... 16 points per 1 BODY per Turn.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

 

What I really want to know is the recommended point level for a "Standard Superhero game" ie base points and max Disads Also the same for the teir above Standard Superheros.

 

Tasha

Standard Superheroes are 400 Points with 75 Points in Matching Complications (or to use 5e terminology 325 + 75) with a maximum of 40 points of one type of Complication.

High-Powered Superheroes 500 Points with 75 Points in Matching Complications (425 + 75) with a max. of 40 points of one type of Complication.

Re: 6th Edition Question: New Powers?

New Powers:

Barrier -- expansion of the Force Wall power that can create real walls

Damage Negation -- reduces DCs of damage

Deflection -- lets you block ranged attacks at range

Reflection -- reflects attacks back at firer or other target

Regeneration -- recovers BODY faster - cost based on how often you regenerate a BODY point

Resistant Protection -- replaces Force Field and Armor

Re: 6E Rules changes confirmed so far

Sorry but Chaosium's BRP (Runequest, Call of Cthulhu) and FGU's Aftermath, Bushido, and Space Opera played a part as well. All allowed huge flexibility in skills / stats. I know Aftermath included disadvantages, I don't recall without doing some digging through boxes if Bushido or Space Opera did, but I believe they did. All of these games are too close to Champions release to have been influenced by Champions (1980-82).

 

As I recall even TSR's Top Secret included a disadvantage system, and it definately had a system for selecting skills.

 

None of this is meant to take away from Champions / HERO, it very much deserves a place in the top 10 most influential RPGs, but it was just part of a gaming evolution. Champions was definately a step forward doing many things more elegantly than others had to that point. Giving it credit for point buy and advantages / disadvantages is going a bit far, particularly when you consider it was another several years before the game branched out to other more popular genres where it had a wider impact (Espionage 1983, Justice Inc 1984, Fantasy HERO 1985). Chosium's BRP beat both HERO and GURPS to the universal RPG concept with their Worlds of wonder even though they didn't come right out and call it that.

Having played Aftermath! many times over the past twenty five years or so, I'd like to see a reference for what you are considering a Disadvantage because I am honestly not remembering it. I'd pull out my books and check it myself but I am currently at Gen Con. And I'm pretty sure that Space Opera didn't either.

The original Top Secret did indeed have something very similar to Skills with Areas of Knowledge but again, I really don't recall anything that I'd call a disadvantage.

Finally, I wouldn't call WoW a universal RPG concept. It was three very limited games in three different genres which shared a system. As far as that goes, Chaosium had already done that before WoW with Runequest and Call of Cthulhu.

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #8: APG Goodies

I know you can currently do it. The question is how is he removing it for 6e? Currently you have values in place for each characteristic to let that characteristic add to one or more others. Whether or not those values will still exist in the 6e version of HD is the question.

Well, those will still need to be there for the 5e template to work, so one would think you could mix and match but I could be wrong -- I have not even begun to look at that section of the manual yet. My current goal for having the documentation complete is Labor Day.

Re: One Last 6E Preview: The Covers!

Looks good, Steve.

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #8: APG Goodies

Wow. Lots of great stuff. I can't wait.