tomasina

Re: New to HERO Thanks a lot everyone! I have reviewed shields / armor and think I now understand my confussion. I was confusing defence and DCV... I had thought they were the same... I now see that they are very different. While a shield might help improve my DCV... I now understand that most armor acts simply as a defense against damage, while some items (shields) help against being hit, but do not help against damage. This makes entire sense... and is another justification for trying out the HERO system. Thanks everyone... I really appreciate the help! I will post if I have any other questions. I am really shocked how helpful and friendly you all are... quite a change from my experiences on the Wizards of the Coasts boards. Tom

Re: New to HERO Thanks... the idea that armor is meant to protect against damage... and not protect against being hit makes sense. I am still confused by the statement that armor is not added to DCV (which must be overcome by the attack roll). Page 91 of the SideKick book states that the Base DCV = Dex/3, it then includes a DCV checklist which states: The attack sequence is then spelled out as: Based on the above (specifically step 3 of the DCV checklist) I was assuming that the armor modifiers were added to the DCV, which must then be overcome by the attack roll. Thus in the example given earlier, I would have thought that Felixes armor (with 7 PD) and natural armor (4 PD) would have been added to his DCV. I now believe that this is incorrect. If so, what modifiers might armor / shields / weapons have that would aid a characters DCV? Thanks, Tomasina

Re: New to HERO Thanks for the quick replies... I was amazed that there were already responses to my questions. I really appreciate it. Your replies have resulted in a couple more questions for me.... 1 - You state that armor is not normally part of an attack roll... I believe you are saying that it is not part of the offensive attack roll... but armor (in whatever form the special effect states) would effect my roll in that an attack roll must overcome the defensice combat level of my opponent (which includes armor)... am I correct? 2 - How does a wizard's attack roll ever overcome the defensive combat level of a fighter or equally defensive opponent. In creating a wizard, I would not expect him to be a good fighter... but if he is not, how is he every going to succeed on an attack roll? Since a wizard already has to spend points on spells (powers) it seems that for the same character to also have to spend points on increasing their combat levels puts them at a disadvantage as compared to non-spell based classes. Thanks for letting me know about the modifiers which can make a power ignore armor... I had not seen those modifiers... they deffinitely help with some spells. 3 - Could anyone explain, in storytelling terms, why armor would help protect against spells? I am trying to find a reasonable explanation as to why armor would help protect against spells (other than it just does) that I could use to help the system make more sense for my players. Thanks again, Tomasina

Re: New to HERO Wow... thanks for the quick responses... I am amazed! As usually happens, your answers have created more questions for me: 1 - It was stated that attack rolls normally do not include armor. I thought most attack rolls went against the targets Defense which includes armor, combat adjustments, etc. Is this incorrect? If it is correct... I am confused about the wizard / fighter characters. In HERO how does a wizard (who has spent points on spells) ever fight against a fighter who can just buy a lot of armor in order to defend against hits and spells... while at the same time, spending a ton of points in combat skills with their weaponry... it seems that this would puts the balance greatly in favor of the fighter, rather than the wizard... since the Wizard would have to buy spells (powers) while also building a high enough combat to bypass the fighters armor. A wizard, in my mind, may not be able to use a sword well... but could be very powerful with spells... but how is this possible since without a high offensive combat level, the attack rolls would never succeed. 2 - Could someone explain, in story-telling terms, why armor would protect against spells? It would help me explain why this to my players. They are used to magic being compeltely uneffected by armor... so this is a huge paradym shift for them. Thanks again, Tomasina

Hello, I am new to the HERO system, although I come from a long gaming history using the DND system. We have been running into a number of challenges with the DND system and decided to try our hand with the HERO system. I have purchased the HERO 5ER and SideKick books which I read in depth. Although I still do not get everything, the system is beginning to make sense. I have ran into a couple points that are still quite confusing to me... and I was hoping someone here might be able to help me out. The first difference which I have encountered between DND and HERO is that when casting a spell the caster is required to make an attack roll against the target (which includes armor). This seems strange to me... why would armor protect against spells. In DND (the system I am familiar with) spells only require an attack roll if I need to touch them... and my players are confused by this new model. Could someone help me understand the reasoning behind the spell attack roll and why armor would help against spells? Thanks, Tomasina