BenKimball

In last week's game our group of heroes was stymied by one villian's Darkness to Sight Group power. We were fighting the Crowns of Krim (sp?) and had taken down Temblor and the blood demon (I don't remember his name). The last remaining attacker decided to retreat, and picking up one of his comrades began to fly away. Ordinarily this would post no problem for us, but he then turned on his 4" AoE Darkness to Sight Group power, centered on himself. Now, I'm playing a Dr. Strange-like character with a 45-point "Elemental Magic" VPP. I know that the fleeing villian is hurting. First, I ask the GM if the special effect of my fire EB will counter the bad guy's darkness. No luck; it's supernatural darkness. OK, so I start firing away with my EB anyway. I'm at 1/2 OCV shooting into the darkness (no enhanced senses), so that's a 6, minus 6 for range. I think the bad guy has a DCV of about 7. I need a 4. I miss; he gets away. I can't help feeling like I missed something. So, my question to all you more experienced HERO champs out there: what 45-point elemental magic power would you have tried in order to bring down the demon? A big "wind vortex" Entangle? A "fireball" EB with AoE? Can you even target a hex that you can't see? Cheers! Ben

Great points, guys. I especially like "bright fringe." Or I could do it the way HSB does, with the -1/2 limitation "Only when not attacking" on Invisibility. The special effect would be that when the tornado "touches down" to come smack somebody you can see all of the dust and debris it creates, just like a real tornado, but when it's not attacking it isn't raising dust. Including JmOz's suggestions RE: EC, here's another version. Lesser Air Elemental Val Char Cost 15 STR 5 21 DEX 33 10 CON 0 10 BODY 0 8 INT -2 10 EGO 0 20 PRE 10 6 COM -2 3 PD 0 2 ED 0 5 SPD 19 5 REC 0 20 END 0 23 STUN 0 0" RUN-120" SWIM-23" LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 49 Cost Power END 15 Aspect of the Wind: Elemental Control, 30-point powers 8 1) Body of Air: Invisibility to Sight Group, Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) (30 Active Points); Only When Not Attacking (-1/2), Bright Fringe (-1/4) 15 2) Windrunning: Flight 10", Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) 20 Whirling Dervish: Physical Damage Reduction, 50% 10 Elemental Body: No Hit Locations Powers Cost: 68 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver Air Fu 4 1) Air Slam: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -2 DCV, STR +2d6 +v/5 Strike, FMove 5 2) Spinning Vortex: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +4 DCV, Dodge All Attacks, Abort; FMove 5 3) Thieving Gust: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Disarm, +10 STR to Disarm roll; FMove 5 4) Tripping Wind: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +v/5; Target Falls; FMove Martial Arts Cost: 19 Cost Skill 8 +4 with Flight 6 +2 with Air Fu Skills Cost: 14 Total Character Cost: 150 Val Disadvantages 20 Psychological Limitation: Flighty (Very Common; Strong) 30 Susceptibility: Vacuum 3d6 damage, per Segment (Uncommon) Disadvantage Points: 50 Base Points: 100 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0

No, no, not at all! Pick away! I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't want constructive criticism. It's only the second or third character I've built in HERO. Thanks again! Cheers, Ben

Ah! OK, cool. Any particular reasons for the above suggestions? I don't envision a tornado as being particularly dextrous. I'm interested in why you'd disallow the EC. Hard to Target is in there not because Find Weakness is common in our game but because it made sense to me; how can a normal character find a weak spot on a mass of moving air? The levels are high, I admit, but reducing them doesn't save any points. Again, I'm interested in why you'd do this. I'm not saying it's a bad idea at all, just wondering why you chose it. Thanks! Ben

Well, my thought is that he would spend all of his time doing grab-bys and move throughs, stuff like that. Notice his Air Fu is composed of all Full Move actions. I have, however, dropped one Flight skill level to bring his DEX up to an 11, giving him a CV of 4 (8 with Air Fu). Ultimately I agree with you, I just couldn't get the powers I wanted without sacrificing SPD. So he won't act often, but when he does, he'll move fast and hit hard. I hope. BTW: Nirvana in our game is the ultimate nothingness/oneness of the universe (my character is a Zen Buddhist monk). So I'm thinking about lots of mental attacks, the sort of thing that might happen if you were to see something physically impossible that your brain just couldn't assimilate... folded space, manifestations of higher dimensions. For example, look at something. Now, without moving your eyes, notice the highest thing you can see in your peripheral vision. Now: what's above it? Nothing. True nothingness: not black, not white, just nothing. Should be fun, though I don't know how to build it yet.

Here's what I came up with for a Lesser Air Elemental (a sentient mini-tornado). What do you think? Lesser Air Elemental Val Char Cost 40 STR 30 10 DEX 0 10 CON 0 10 BODY 0 8 INT -2 10 EGO 0 20 PRE 10 6 COM -2 8 PD 0 2 ED 0 3 SPD 10 10 REC 0 20 END 0 35 STUN 0 0" RUN-120" SWIM-20" LEAP-8Characteristics Cost: 24 Cost Power END 15 Aspect of the Wind: Elemental Control, 30-point powers 15 1) Body of Air: Invisibility to Sight Group, Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) (30 Active Points) 15 2) Windrunning: Flight 10", Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2) 15 3) Whirling Dervish: Physical Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (30 Active Points) 15 4) Hard to Target: (Total: 30 Active Cost, 30 Real Cost) Lack Of Weakness (-15) for Normal Defense (Real Cost: 15) plus Lack Of Weakness (-15) for Resistant Defenses (Real Cost: 15) 10 Elemental Body: No Hit Locations Powers Cost: 85 Cost Martial Arts Maneuver Air Fu 4 1) Air Slam: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, -2 DCV, STR +2d6 +v/5 Strike, FMove 5 2) Spinning Vortex: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +4 DCV, Dodge All Attacks, Abort; FMove 5 3) Thieving Gust: 1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Disarm, +10 STR to Disarm roll; FMove 5 4) Tripping Wind: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, STR +v/5; Target Falls; FMove Martial Arts Cost: 19 Cost Skill 10 +5 with Flight 12 +4 with Air Fu Skills Cost: 22 Total Character Cost: 150 Val Disadvantages 20 Psychological Limitation: Flighty (Very Common; Strong) 30 Susceptibility: Vacuum 3d6 damage, per Segment (Uncommon) Disadvantage Points: 50 Base Points: 100 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0

This seems like an appropriate place to ask: how do you get that nice character formatting when posting a character to these forums? I have an HDC file I'd like to post, and not just as an attachment. Cheers! Ben

So I'm playing this Standard Superheroic character with a 45-point "Elemental Magic" VPP. I'd like to add summoning to his repertoire, and because I'd like to use the +1/2 "Loyal" advantage on the Summon, that leaves me with the ability to summon 150-pt creatures. Elementals seem the most in-character for my PC. Here's the trick: the elementals in the HSB, while very cool, are more like 500 points. So I'm trying to come up with cool 150-pt elementals to summon without making them totally one-dimensional and abusive. Here's one idea I had: a "Lesser Wind Elemental" who is basically the Tasmanian Devil but never stops whirling. A sentient dust devil. Fast movement, good STR, some physical damage reduction (weapons get blown off track when they strike it), and he focuses on doing move by, grab by, and disarm attacks. (Keeping in mind that in a room full of 350-pt PCs and even more powerful villians, my little elementals are not likely to be useful taking on foes toe-to-toe.) Anyway, I'd welcome other suggestions, either for Wind or the other four elements in our campaign: Stone, Water, Fire, and Nirvana (nothingness/void). Cheers! Ben

Koan: Start searching the world for Doc's reincarnation, then put that infant into the Dalai Lama's care for training in a remote monastery. Side note: trying to portray a cinematic enlightened Zen Buddhist superhero is HARD. But fun.

Please to be excusing my ignorance. What is "bump", please? Ben

1) What does "Total Disadvantage Points" signify in the Bestiary? Surely a house cat (p. 143) doesn't cost 130 points? The only numbers I can find that add to 130 are the sum of the disadvantages and the powers & skills points (but excluding characteristics). On the other hand, for the Deer/Antelope (p. 151), I can't find anything that adds up to its 120 "Total Disadvantage Points." 2) What is the significance of the "75+" in front of each list of disadvantages? Thanks! Ben

I'm a relatively experienced GM who is fairly new to HERO. I'm building a cyberpunk-genre game in which characters will be able to purchase biotech to augment their bodies and minds, and I need some help with this "reasoning from effect" idea. Here's a simple example: let's say Hitman wants to buy the MilTech Mk III "WetWorks" package. The dealer promises that it will turn him into a close-quarters killing machine. Suppose this means claws, martial killing attacks, maybe improved DEX and/or lightning reflexes. The question: would you build this with a power framework? If so, what kind? A more complicated example: let's suppose Hitman next buys a four-slot expansion bay for his brain. Into the first slot he places an inexpensive foreign language comprehension card. Into the second goes a searchable Encyclopedia Brittanica. Into the third goes a Matrix-style "I know Kung Fu" card. Now, is it necessary to build the expansion bay itself, or just the "cards"? Suppose I want the character who indulges in too many of these implants to gain an increased chance of nervous/mental breakdown? I know that's a lot of ground to cover. Any suggestions welcome. Thanks! Ben