JMcL63

Re: Metric HERO Yes, I can see that. So it's 10pts for 4 (1-m) hexes versus 5pts for 1. One way of fixing this would be to move to a radius- the 1" hex has a 1m radius. The increased area for Images is a radius anyway (+¼/+1"), so that would give: 1m radius for 10pts +¼/+2m Thanks tracer.

Re: Metric HERO Because I like the idea of the units of measure in the rules being in metres, so that distances in the game relate directly to the real world, eg. "that building is 20m high" instead of "that building is 10" high". This would strip out a level of arithmetic that I think that the game doesn't need. I don't use detailed tactical maps for roleplaying combat, so measuring in metres is more suitable for me really- it just makes things easier to visualise all round I reckon. And even if you were using a hexmap, with all hexes= 1m, and heights in metres too, I think that not having to translate game measure into real world measure and back again would make 3-D thinking at least as easy. I mean, how could it be more complicated? I happily agree that rejigging the numbers this way will prove confusing to players used to using inches. I'm arguing that the use of inches in HERO is illogical, given that the rules use metric measure anyway. If this is so, and a metric HERO proves more intuitive to use, not only would experienced players get over the 'hump' of the rejigged numbers, but new players would find the game easier to learn. This is why I'm going to try this out as soon as I can.

This is an idea I first mentioned in the 'Polishing the HERO system' thread a few months ago- removing "inches" from the game, making hexes 1 metre across, and rendering all other measures in the game directly in metres. My motive for doing this was to simplify play by removing the irritating divisor/multiplier of 2 from the rules' relationship to real world measure. The recent spate of threads about handling the sheer plethora of numbers that can define HERO characters has made me think that this little fix would be well worthwhile, so I have been putting some work into this to try it when next I GM. The first thing I have worked over is powers, advantages, and limitations. The results are summarised below. >[b]Powers[/b] </pre> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="378" border="1"> [center][size=3][b]Power[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Inches[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Metric[/b][/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Area effect powers[/b][/size] [size=3]Change Environment[/size] [center][size=3]5pts/1†radius[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Darkness[/size] [center][size=3]10pts/1†radius[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Force Wall[/size] [center][size=3]5pts/1x1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/2x2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Images[/size] [center][size=3]10pts/hex[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/hex[/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Movement powers[/b][/size] [size=3]Flight[/size] [center][size=3]2pts/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Gliding[/size] [center][size=3]1pt/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Leaping[/size] [center][size=3]1pt/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Running[/size] [center][size=3]2pts/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Swimming[/size] [center][size=3]1pt/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Swinging[/size] [center][size=3]1pt/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Teleportation[/size] [center][size=3]2pts/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/m[/size] [/center] [size=3]Tunneling[/size] [center][size=3]5pts/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/2m[/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Other[/b][/size] [size=3]KB Resistance[/size] [center][size=3]2pts/-1†KB[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1pt/-1m KB[/size] [/center] [size=3]Stretching[/size] [center][size=3]5pts/1â€[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]5pts/2m[/size] [/center] </t >[b] </pre> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" width="491" border="1"> [center][size=3][b]Advantage[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Inches[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Metric[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Effect[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Bonus[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Effect[/b][/size] [/center] [center][size=3][b]Bonus[/b][/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Area effect[/b][/size] [size=3]1 hex[/size] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¼[/size] [/center] [size=3]Radius[/size] [center][size=3]1â€/10pts [/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1m/10pts[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [size=3]Cone[/size] [center][size=3]1â€+(1â€/5pts [/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1+(1/5pts)m[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [size=3]Line[/size] [center][size=3]2â€/5pts [/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]2m/5pts[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [size=3]Any[/size] [center][size=3]1 hex/5pts [/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1 hex/5pts[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Explosion[/b][/size] [center][size=3]-1 DC/hex[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]-1 DC/hex[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¼[/size] [/center] [size=3][b]Megascale[/b][/size] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1m[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]10m[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¼[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]--[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]100m[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¼[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¾[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]10km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]½[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]10km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]100km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]¾[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]100km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1¼[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1000km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1000km[/size] [/center] [center][size=3]1½[/size] [/center] </table>[/b][/size][s The only thing which I have tinkered with at all here is Megascale. A 1 metre hex made me think that it was logical to introduce 2 intermediate levels of megascale, thus making the scaling work by a factor of 10 at each level, which seems neater to me. I don't think that the overall additional +½ to the existing levels of megascale is unreasonable given the power of this advantage. The other main issue arising from powers is range. I see two ways to go with this: keep powers' basic range at 5x Active pts, which will halve all ranges make powers' basic range 10x Active pts, which will keep all ranges as they are There are arguments in favour of either approach I reckon, though I tend to favour the first option at the moment. It will give a 50pt power a range of 250m, which seems about right to me. And that's it. I'm working on the implications of metrication on other parts of the system, some of which look like being a little less straightforward than the above. I hope to post these soon. In the meantime, what do my fellow HEROphiles think of this? Is this something you would like to use? Thank you.

Re: Need help naming Enviornmentalist team. A team like this would be most entertaining if it started off essentially as good guys who strayed to the 'dark side'. The name of such a team would really depend on how far along that path they were, but also on the outlook of the team of PC's that they are to confront. Imagine if you will a team of corporate agents. Even the most benign of super-powered defenders of the environment is likely to appear malevolent to a team like this, so the villains of the piece could easily have the most innocuous of names. A name like Violent Spring as I put forward above strikes me as being one appropriate to more self-consciously villainous villains (deeper into the dark side in other words), and so I think it would be a good name for a team of villains in a more 4-colour campaign, in which they were to be more obviously villainous.

Re: Need help naming Enviornmentalist team. Great idea for a villain team this. They could have some great concepts, and are ideal as morally ambiguous villains whose aims characters might sympathise with while decrying their methods. I like the Silent Spring suggestion so far (it is very suggestive of the rage that would drive the moral compromises that would make them villains in the end), though I think a more villainous twist is the Violent Spring (hey, who said supervillains had to be good at making up names?).

Re: Good "Four of a Kind"'s... OMFG!! Enforcer84 has made a serious contribution to a thread, without a hint of asshattery... Will wonders never cease? [Looks out of window for flying pigs ]

Re: Good "Four of a Kind"'s... Erm, this would strike me as sophistry were I to take your pyrotechnic wordplay seriously as aught than jest!

Re: Good "Four of a Kind"'s... And wasn't Caesar the first Roman Emperor, meaning that the death of Roman democracy preceded his death?

Re: Good "Four of a Kind"'s... Animism, polytheism, monotheism, and atheism.

Re: Most Embarassing Champions Moment Mine was an early game with my renegade ninja who had set out to destroy the evil that spawned him. He was dealing with a minor bankjob, a goon got a lucky hit with an energy blaster, and down my character went. His ED was puny, my GM had noticed, and he decided to bring this to my attention. This was rectified asap.

Re: Sex as a skill ROFL!!

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels" Yep, I could see that we were talking at cross-purposes somewhere through our exchanges on this subject! That's pretty much what I'm talking about, just a particular way of using this idea really. True. And it is also important IMO that the number of dice rolls is carefully balanced. Too few and you might as well be using a single dice roll; too many, and I believe you would spoil the tension by reducing the thing to a simple series of dice rolls (a sort of analogue of the 'willing suspension of disbelief' if you want). Oh, and in the situation as outlined above, you could ignore failures, and just count success.

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels"

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels"

Re: Voting results for the first Semi-Annual Champions Modding Contest Well, I voted for the winner, so congratulations man! And I'm a big miniatures fan myself, so I'd certainly take a look at a future contest.

Re: Sex as a skill Heh, this reminds me of a conversation I had with my dad and our next-door neighbour many years ago. I (in all my teenage naivety) expressed my perplexity at all the fuss made about such a '"simple thing like sex". The two guys looked at me, and with one voice exclaimed, "It's not simple!"

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels"

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels" Example of dramatic task resolution Well, I just thought I'd flesh out my previous comments on this subject with an example. Imagine a palace intrigue game. The PC's are trying to organise some kind of expedition (a la Christopher Columbus, although this example could work in most any genre), and they are seeking support and sponsorship from the reigning monarch. Unfortunately for our PC's, they have enemies at court who are trying to foil their plans, and they are operating under time pressure to boot (they have to get everything ready in time for the right season maybe). This example has all the elements that are intrinsic to the kind of situation I am suggesting would benefit from a simple dramatic task resolution system: an objective the realisation of which will bring the players some benefit in the game (in this case cash and other resources, plus perhaps some kind of official status); a time limit (without this, the whole idea of dramatic task resolution is meaningless, because it's then just a matter of making skill rolls until success is achieved, and then the game moves on); and competition. What we have then is a situation in which the players must use their skills to overcome the influence of their enemies in order to win the favour of the monarch. So, the GM decides that, apart from everyday court life, there are 4 big events upcoming at which the PC's will have the opportunity publicly to outdo their enemies so that their own influence and prestige proves decisive. So, here is how I would work this: the players would have the opportunity to make 5 decisive dice rolls for the party as a whole- one for each of the big events, and a general one for the everyday court life. They would make them in that order too, because how they get on in the big events (eg. the annual ball held by the #1 heir to celebrate something or other) would contribute to the effectiveness of their everyday intrigues. I would pick appropriate time periods for the skill use for each event (typically a day or a week I would guess). The players could then define what their characters were doing: which of their contacts they were using, which favours they were calling in, which skills they were using as complementaries, and so on. The appropriate rolls would be made. I might play out some parts of the big events to give the players the opportunity to gain some schmuck bonuses for good roleplaying, then the final dice roll(s) would be made for that event. And so on. At the end of this sequence (which could obviously include similar dice rolls by the GM on the part of the competition, or not, depending on how you chose to handle this), the decisive dice roll(s) would be made, and the monarch's attitude would be determined, leaving the players to embark on their expedition with or without the monarch's favour. And that's about it really. The whole idea of this, as I said, is to develop a simple way of making skill use dramatic, both by escaping the 'all-or-nothing' nature of a single skill roll, and by giving the players the opportunity to think up interesting ways of using skills to complement each other as they cooperate towards completing some kind of task, not to mention some roleplaying opportunities along the way. The idea is also to make this process fairly quick, because it is intended to contribute to the development of the plot, to give the players new ways of determining the future of their characters. So I'm not talking about something that would take a couple of hours, but something that could be a prologue to the session's 'main event'. And that really is it. I hope this makes sense, and that some people find these vague notions useful.

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels" You might well be right on the matter of social combat Frenchman, but my point was more general than that. What I advocated was the need for a dramatic task resolution system, one that make skill use more dramatic, eg. to create the classic dramatic device of the deadline, as outlined by Hugh Neilson above. And the basic rules for this are dead simple: set a basic number of task points that have to be accumulated to complete the task; set the basic task period (eg. a medico striving to develop that antidote to save themself and their buddies won't usually be making rolls every phase; more likely every hour, or more); and the degree of success or failure adds or subtracts to/from the player's accumulating total. This can also be done competitively, in various ways. There is no need here for anything like combat manoeuvres. It is just a minor development of the existing skills system.

Re: Sex as a skill Yes, the ultimate skill for the matter in question, or so we are led to believe!

Re: Sex as a skill

Re: Sex as a skill

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels"

Re: Sex as a skill I would say a basic DEX roll, with modifiers for how ambitious you were being, and for anatomical differences based on species variations, with KS as a complementary. PS would be if you were actually working at some sort of job I'd say. That might be a lot of crap, but basically I wouldn't favour the idea of a PS unless you were actually talking about a profession instead of just some kind of talent for intercourse.

Re: Something Star Hero needs, but hasn't. I think you are missing the point here John T. DrTemp's original post refers to DoJ's 2 Star HERO background books- Alien Wars and Terran Empire- both of which we are told have no setting-specific starship design templates. I have neither of these books myself, nor any of the Vehicle or other equipment sourcebooks that might cover this sort of material, but I do think that DrTemp has a fair point. Vehicle design is hard work in HERO (harder than anything else IMO), and a modular/template-based subsystem for integrating tech levels and similar stuff into a quick and easy starship design system would indeed be a boon I reckon. That's about it I guess.