Ermenegildo

A while ago, there was a discussion about making non mages feel special, and I made a comment about the Book of Nine Swords and how you could appropriate some of the ideas from there to use to make your warrior and rogue types feel special.
 
Well a couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out my closet, and found my copy, and so as an intellectual exercise, I decided to convert some of these ideas.
 
A couple of Notes if you decide to use them.
 
Stances 
the idea is that ONLY one stance can be used at a time, so my suggestion is to place them in a MP.  Most come out to about 30 AP.  Yes it is pricy, but some give you a real power boost.  Remember versatility costs extra!
 
As far as the Maneuvers (Strikes, Counters, Boosts) I would take a page from Killer Shrike, set up a VPP (with a house rule that the total number of real points you can use are three times the max of the Pool)  (Look here for reference  https://www.killershrike.com/FantasyHERO/HighFantasyHERO/MagicSystems/vancianPreparedVPP.aspx   ).  You will have to make the -1/2 Lim of only for BoNS techniques.
 
Also note that I did NOT do all the abilities as some were just … improvements to an earlier ability.  Like Hatchling's Flames later becomes Dragon's Flames then Wyrm's Flames.  Just up the damage and figure the new cost.
 
So I present the Book of Nine Sword (abridged)

1) I don't think that ChatGPT is trained on copyrighted material from HERO. They probably fund some material while scraping the internet (forum, fansite, etc...).
2) The legal aspect is still quite open
3) If you want the LLM to use the proper rules of the game, you need to encode them to clarify the causal relationship between the different parts of the system. This way, the LLM decides how many dice of damage are used for a certain power but not its price wich is directly calculated using the rules.

Well, it would be really interesting to see if one can integrate an LLM with a structured corpus of rules, examples and software like (Combat Manager or HERO Designer) to obtain an online help tool that can solve complex issues on the fly. For example, creating multiple PNG if the player decides to explore an uncharted place. Or suggesting combat strategies to inexperienced players.
 
The HEROsystem corpus is quite massive and should be enough to optimize LLM performance on a specific subset of queries that are HERO-related.

Kicking down a decent-sized tree in reality is extremely difficult.  The tree's structure either bends with the impact (smaller tree) or distributes it through the mass of fibers.  It's a lot more likely to hurt your hand/foot;  the decel as you make impact is delivering a force back into the extremity.  
 
I agree more with CRT, this isn't a heroic move...and the source material frequently is closer to superheroic in the high drama mode.  Writer fiat is the *norm.*

EDIT:  hmm.  Something that might work better than pure damage increase...situational damage.  The tree's a stationary target.
a)  Haymaker move with the sword.  
b)  CSLs, at least 3 points...and all applied to the damage.
 
So now you're adding 5 or 6 DCs of killing damage, that normally would NOT be translatable to a typical combat strike...which is why Haymaker rather than Offensive Strike.

I do not like the idea of using Transform but in a sense, Transform is the best way to replicate my idea of how this ability should work.
The power is not the weapon by itself it is the ability to create the weapon. This way is easy to differentiate between different levels of proficiency in the ability to create the weapon by adding different kinds of limitations/advantages to the power that creates the weapon. Adding the limitation to the weapon itself creates something different from what I want, for example, an activation roll would be triggered at any weapon use instead of only getting triggered at weapon creation.
I would have avoided the use of Transform for something that is only tangentially "transforming" but it seems to me that is the only way to give a new power to someone.
 
Maybe a VPP that is limited to creating only weapons and some specific type of linked power? This way I could apply the limitations/advantages to the control pool. Every time that the blade is broken, you dismiss the weapon, or you are disarmed the VPP changes to a "blank slot" and the user summons the weapon by changing the slot. This way every time you change the slot you can trigger whatever limitations/advantages you want to impose to the summoning of the mindblade.
 
Because I'm interested in HERO only for its flexibility and crunchiness. If I were interested in a rules-light RPG I would have selected a game with a lot of useful narrative mechanics and with a low page count, or D&D 5ed which is way more played.
And I want a crunchy game because it helps with my suspension of disbelief, for example, when I play D&D (3.5) the magic feels "magical" while the mundane combat feels (to me) "plastic" and "gummy".
Therefore I would like a game that properly represents the lack of a weapon during a fight even if only for a phase. If the mindblade is broken or disarmed or dismissed because the personage needs both hands to do something there should be consequences.

Usually, when we set up a campaign in a game without narrative mechanics (We have used this method for different games) we first choose a theme, a short statement that guides the events in the story. Then each character is created with a fatal flow that suits the theme, the player chooses the fatal flow based on the challenge he wants to face while playing.
This helps to reduce the "arms race" feeling around the table while also easing the creation of good transformation arcs that help the story development.
 
If you want to play the best swordsman of all time by a huge margin, that’s fine, but you also have to answer the following question:
1) What is your goal (taking into account the campaign theme)?
2) How can you fail?
3) How will your temperament be tested?
4) What is the price of failure?
 
 
Obviously, this method is not a silver bullet that solves all the problems, it doesn't cover any possible kind of story and it isn't the only way to create a good story. Nevertheless, I think that is a small trick to help players communicate their desires for the game and to reflect on their character from a different point of view.
 

Usually, when we set up a campaign in a game without narrative mechanics (We have used this method for different games) we first choose a theme, a short statement that guides the events in the story. Then each character is created with a fatal flow that suits the theme, the player chooses the fatal flow based on the challenge he wants to face while playing.
This helps to reduce the "arms race" feeling around the table while also easing the creation of good transformation arcs that help the story development.
 
If you want to play the best swordsman of all time by a huge margin, that’s fine, but you also have to answer the following question:
1) What is your goal (taking into account the campaign theme)?
2) How can you fail?
3) How will your temperament be tested?
4) What is the price of failure?
 
 
Obviously, this method is not a silver bullet that solves all the problems, it doesn't cover any possible kind of story and it isn't the only way to create a good story. Nevertheless, I think that is a small trick to help players communicate their desires for the game and to reflect on their character from a different point of view.
 

Usually, when we set up a campaign in a game without narrative mechanics (We have used this method for different games) we first choose a theme, a short statement that guides the events in the story. Then each character is created with a fatal flow that suits the theme, the player chooses the fatal flow based on the challenge he wants to face while playing.
This helps to reduce the "arms race" feeling around the table while also easing the creation of good transformation arcs that help the story development.
 
If you want to play the best swordsman of all time by a huge margin, that’s fine, but you also have to answer the following question:
1) What is your goal (taking into account the campaign theme)?
2) How can you fail?
3) How will your temperament be tested?
4) What is the price of failure?
 
 
Obviously, this method is not a silver bullet that solves all the problems, it doesn't cover any possible kind of story and it isn't the only way to create a good story. Nevertheless, I think that is a small trick to help players communicate their desires for the game and to reflect on their character from a different point of view.
 

Usually, when we set up a campaign in a game without narrative mechanics (We have used this method for different games) we first choose a theme, a short statement that guides the events in the story. Then each character is created with a fatal flow that suits the theme, the player chooses the fatal flow based on the challenge he wants to face while playing.
This helps to reduce the "arms race" feeling around the table while also easing the creation of good transformation arcs that help the story development.
 
If you want to play the best swordsman of all time by a huge margin, that’s fine, but you also have to answer the following question:
1) What is your goal (taking into account the campaign theme)?
2) How can you fail?
3) How will your temperament be tested?
4) What is the price of failure?
 
 
Obviously, this method is not a silver bullet that solves all the problems, it doesn't cover any possible kind of story and it isn't the only way to create a good story. Nevertheless, I think that is a small trick to help players communicate their desires for the game and to reflect on their character from a different point of view.
 

With regard to comics locking out new young readers, I don't think it's really the complexity that's the issue most of the time.  It's the cost.  $4-5 per floppy is crazy, especially in an era where standalone stories are almost unheard of and storytelling decompression is forced on everything to fit in trades properly.  Combine that with endless crossover events that try to get you to buy large numbers of titles to get the whole story (and interrupt ongoing stories in individual books in the process) and comics are a terrible value for your entertainment dollar even adjusting for inflation.
 
There are many other issues with modern comics, especially from the Big Two, but at the end of the day they just plain cost too much to compete with the thousands of other entertainment options kids have these days.  And among those options are countless free webcomics, some of which (eg Silverback and its side stories, Magellan) are as good as anything being printed on paper these days.  They have a tendency to up and die or go on eternal hiatus without much warning (eg Strong Female Protagonist, Edison Rex, PS238) but regular comics get cancelled the same way too.

I agree with the coarse granularity of 3d6.
The problem becomes even greater for non-heroic level games, like Western Hero or Pulp Hero. If, Sam wraps tape around the grip of her .38, that should be worth something. Even a +1% is an acknowledgement of a player’s ingenuity and immersion.
 
I will need a week or so to look more closely at the 3d30 for skills. But I like the underlying reasoning.

Premise 1: This House Rule was built based on the 5°ed but I think that can be used for any edition with small modifications.
Premise 2: I think that the majority of HEROsystem flexibility comes from its power-limitation-advantage systems (PLA-system), this means that the game allows for easy personalization of every character concept that heavily uses the mechanics of the PLA-system.
Premise 3: I think that details are one of the most important things in a GDR because they can create the story by themself and also they help the players to create a better story
Premise 4: I like to use software to manage the game and handle some of the bookkeeping or the dice rolling for example
Premise 5: I don't like automatic failure and success so I'll ignore them for now
 
Consequence 1: I don't like the 9+CAR/5 skill roll because it creates an artificial threshold in the CAR and reduces the overall level of details in the game
Consequence 2: I don't like the DES/3  in the calculation of the CV for the same exact reason
Objective: to increase the granularity of skill and calculation of the CV the HEROsystem
 
Skill
The idea is quite easy, instead of rolling under 9+CAR/5 with 3d6 one rolls under 41+CAR on 3d30 (the d30 exist also in physical form) and each skill level gives a +5 bonus instead of a +1. The same multiplicative factor (x5) should be used for each skill roll modifier.

In the figure the probability of success for a certain skill for the new system and the old one. On the vertical axis is the probability of success, and on the main horizontal axis is the CAR. On the upper horizontal axis is the older success threshold while on the lower horizontal axis is the new success threshold.
The new methods offer smoother curves without significant steps in the success probability.
If the +5 bonus for each skill level seems too high, and I think it is, the easiest solution is to multiply the point cost of all traits by five, then a +5 skill level will cost 10 pts, and a +1 skill level will cost 2 pts. This
 
Combat Values
The idea is similar but there are some difficulties. We will assume a defender DEX of 9
There are two methods
1) 33 + OCV - DCV <= 3d20
2) 31 + OCV - DCV <= 3d19
In both cases, all the bonus and malus to the roll should be multiplied by 3
 

 
The 3d20 roll provides a small advantage over the standard roll for really difficult and a small penalty for the easy task. the 3d19 roll is more faithful to the original roll but obviously finding a d19 is quite difficult.
Just as in the case of skills we have rescaled the skill levels here also we can multiply all the point costs by 3 to obtain the +1 combat skill level again.
 
If both HR are used at the same time all the pts. cost should be multiplied by 15. A new +1 skill levels cost 3pts and a new +1 Combat skill level with HTH combat will cost 25pts.
The Overall skill levels are quite troublesome and they should probably give +5 to all skill rolls and +3 at all combat rolls and cost 150 pts. Obviously, an old 200 pts hero became a 3000pts hero with this HR
 
I like this HR because it drastically increases the level of detail that I can insert in a game where the power aspect is not so central. It certainly needs some polishing for example on how it handles Overall skill level. Also, the decoupling of combat skill levels from DEX could help. I should also look at the rules for automatic success and failure.
 
Finally, I think that it's extremely interesting, from a general game design perspective, that using asymmetric roll bell curves one can "tune" the mood of a game making it easier or harder to succeed at particularly easy or difficult tasks. One can create a system that supports bold and risky moves by skewing the curve in favor of a difficult roll without significantly altering the success probability in the curve's belly where most of the rolls are rolled.
 
What do you think? How can I improve this HR?