dsatow

They were humans, but Nazis which seem to be everyone go to punching bags.

One of the reason I asked this question is I was remembering at a Con using agents in a game which were compared to the the heroes just Kobolds swarming the area. Players seemed to take great glee and wiping the map with them before taking on the larger menace.

In general, how powerful are your agents compared to the superheroes they fight? This is not to say all your agents are like this, just a majority (a reminder: majority is 51% or just over half). If your agent team is of mixed usage but are still DESIGNED to knock out a hero (like a 5 man team with 1 AoE Entangle or Flash, 1 Drain, 2 Blasters, and 1 Tank) then the answer is #2 even if they can do other things like #3-#5. Knocking out a hero means a fairly good probability of knocking out a hero (say at least 1/3 of the time) and not by random dice rolls. Most of my single agents with killing attacks could stun or knock out a hero by rolling max damage on killing attacks but that's less than a 1% chance of the damage generated. For me, back in college, the majority of agents were 20% less powerful in CVs and Damage compared to the heroes. A group of 3-5 could take down the hero. Today, my players will probably say they fall in the #2 category still, but I see them more as #4. While they still do stun and can be taken out easily, they can make life annoying to players from a tactical point of view. They tend to flash, entangle, or drain characters to the point that if the players don't address them within the scope of a turn, the villains will generally win.

In your games, do you use 1"=1m or 1"=2m? I've stuck to 1"=2m for Champions mainly because of knockback.

Rather than invisibility, wouldn't a low grade mental illusion work almost as well. Something like: 43 pts Mental Illusions 6d6 (Human class of minds), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), Area Of Effect (32m Radius; +1) (75 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Stops Working If Mentalist Is Knocked Out (-1/4)

Only in Hero ID without the time to change into the heroic ID is still a limitation if one is maintaining a secret ID. In that case, it is still a limitation.

In general, the question of how long it takes to change into Hero ID should be answered by your GM. The amount of time should be consistent within the game, so if player A has Only in Hero ID and player B has Only in Hero ID for the same value, then the amount of time it takes to change into Hero ID should be the same for both players. As for a rule of thumb on length of time, this is again dependent on the GM, which is why you should ask your GM. If you are the GM wondering how to rule on this, then in general, most GMs (but not all) I have played with, as well I GM, that changing into Hero ID generally takes about 12 second or 1 turn. But this is not necessarily what all GMs will say. I have been in campaigns where the GM just said it take a full round out of combat. The said game was a very high speed game and players being out of combat for a turn would have been too great a limitation for just a -1/4. I've also been in games where the GM said it took a minute but again the game played differently. You as GM should choose a baseline amount of time that you feel is both believable and is worth the -1/4 limitation. Note that Only in Hero ID isn't just taking time to don a costume. It could also be transformation time. The 1970s Incredible Hulk TV show could also be described as only in Hero ID rather than multiform or shapeshift. Instead of taking X amount of time to change, Bruce Banner took X seconds of repeating shirt and pants ripping transformation into the Hulk. Even the recent Thor: Ragnarok shows what happens when you don't time your transformation correctly. That being said, since 5th edition there are ways around this limitation. Shape shift and multiform are probably the two most common ways to form an instant change alter ego. A sidebar, IIRC, in 5th edition has the power 2d6 cosmetic transform, to change said clothes into any other set of clothes, including your costume. This would still hold true in 6th. Some older GMs still use a 3rd and 4th edition power called instachange even if they use 5th or 6th edition rules.

I originally email this response to SinedOL back on Aug 23. I am reprinting it here for informational sake in case others have similar issues.

I originally email this response to greypaladin_01 back on Aug 23. I am reprinting it here for informational sake in case others have similar issues.

I originally email this response to SinedOL back on Aug 23. I am reprinting it here for informational sake in case others have similar issues.

Isn’t mundane stuff what the power pool called Wealth is for?

I can see anything remotely large flying at Mach 10 towards a slightly paranoid country being shot down as a missile unless there was something to prevent it from happening. I can also see meter maids taping tickets on super vehicles and the vehicle itself trying to argue it wasn’t parked there. Vehicle: “You don’t think I’m handicapped? Let see if I can’t fit through the door of the court to challenge the ticket.” Meter Maid: “No license plate, no placard. Not disabled. $500 fine.”

Just as some side ideas for you if you don't like the entangle idea: You could also create it as a gravitational effect as: Strength Drain and/or Movement Drain, can also be treated as a suppress. TK only to force things down Change environment Mind Control vs. Strength (Ok, this requires a bit of leeway from your GM but I would think they should be okay with it given Mind Control vs Con exists and people tend to have higher Strengths).

I have an old XLS sheet for download. The phases will automatically adjust dependant on your speed. Just sort based on Dex then Speed. The ident column will change the mark on the trip sheets to whatever is in the ident column, so can be used to track stunning, flashes, and aborts. When I used it, I just kept Excel open and used the highlighted cell to determine what segment we were on.

Does your super team have a vehicle? I've been wondering about team vehicles and real life politics. For example: Does your team vehicle have a weapon? And if so, do foreign countries allow the entry of an armed aircraft into their air space? Does it have a cloaking or radar prevention device? Will a government allow a cloaked vehicle which can possibly penetrate secure military areas undetected? Does it go supersonic and does the public mind having lots of sonic booms? Is it powered by exotic matter or radioactive elements? If so, how does the country react to that? I mean, whether there is pollution from the energy source is one thing, but the vehicle is in the vicinity of supervillains, any of which might be able to destroy said vehicle and cause an environmental crisis. I've always wondered what the background radiation was in the Batcave of Batman in the '66 serials. How does one go about registering said super vehicle? What happens when the ambitious meter maid gives the vehicle a ticket?

Yeah, but look at what happened to gold leader. 🤣

While using the menu and a liberal GM, a basic presence attack can easily get up to 8-12d6 for even a 15 PRE character, most GMs usually only give out a bonus of say 2-3d6. A lot of players will compensate by buying powers (PRE or striking appearance) to beef their presence attacks up. From everything from killing intent you see in anime/manga to teeth sparkling when they smile, both of which I've seen on characters.

The next few stats were originally call figured stats or figured characteristics because their base value was derived from the characteristics we purchased in the entry before (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution). In previous editions, you could buy back some of the figured characteristics to save some points or if the concept didn't match your version of the character. You were allowed to only buy back one stat though. This was in 5th edition and prior editions. 6th edition made this simpler by removing the figured values. Because the starting values are set, there is no need to restrict how many stats you may want to buy down but then again, I wouldn't suggest buying any down below the starting values unless you have a good reason to and have enough experience with the game system to know how it will affect your character. We've already calculated OCV and DCV earlier. These stats and the next two were originally not characteristics prior to 6th edition. They were derived from Dexterity and Ego respectively. OMCV and DMCV are the mental combat version of OCV and DCV. Since we are not making a character with strange mental powers like Professor X or the Martian Manhunter, we are going to leave these values as is. If we wanted to make the character a little harder to mentally access, we could raise the DMCV value, but as noted perviously, I just don't see this character as very willful or psychically aware. Unless you are creating a mentalist ( a person with mental powers), it would be a waste to raise your OMCV. It has no use unless you have some power or the GM allows you to mentally block someone without training. The next two stats are PD (physical defense) and ED (energy defense). TBW

Just for people not up on current events, but wikipedia lists major events for a lot of years. For 2010 -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010 10 years from today, my characters would probably head to Christchurch, New Zealand to help prepare and the day of the earthquake disaster. Except for my telepath (selfish self absorbed hero), who would just stay in LA and party.

That's real life. Comic book bows and bows in action movies/shows seem to take a beating and keep on firing. There is a level of real life physics that gets suspended based on the genre. After all, to be honest, when you have the strength to lift 100tons, punching someone with your fist isn't a simple bashing attack to break a few bones. You aren't exerting 60-80 PSI (a normal punch), your exerting something like 60K-80K PSI. Your punch should probably go through most people.

I would think any independent contractor or work for hire person would be suitable. Independent Journalist/Photo Journalist selling stories to major publications. Private Detective/Security Analyst Criminal Stripper Day Worker Uber/Lyft driver Home Decorator Personal assistant etc. Part time jobs could also be flexible enough, but miss too many assigned shifts and that would be bad. That said, any job might be fine if you had need not sleep or only sleeps x hours a week.

For the next few stats (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Ego, Presence), your value will be probably somewhere from 8-20. If you were designing prior to 6th edition, you already set a value for Dexterity as part of setting your base OCV/DCV. We are designing a 6th edition character for now. An average, run of the mill human has a value of 10 in these stats. A value of 13-15 get you noticed with comments, "that person's fairly smart" or "they go to the gym". A value of 18-20 makes that one of the characteristics which kind of define you. Comments like "that ones a genius" or "they are a professional body builder/athlete" come up. Again these are levels for a normal person or even a heroic person. But for our example, Chill is a superhero. If you've read comic books, the smartest superhero there make a normal human genius look dumb by comparison. In those stats, you better off upping those comic book stats by about 10. This doesn't mean that if Chill isn't exceptionally smart, he should have a 20 Intelligence. No, rather, if he's noted in that characteristic, you should probably set the value 10 over normal. There are 3 stats where a value of 13 or 18 make more sense than a 15 and 20 respectively due to cost savings. Those stats are Dexterity, Intelligence, and Presence. The reason these stats can save you points is because they are the primary stats for skills. Especially for Intelligence. A Presence of 15 is a little more useful because it gives you a better Presence attack And a high Dexterity means you go earlier in a phase, but these aren't essential. In skills, a value of 13 or 15 (likewise with 18 or 20) are equal; they both give the same benefit to skills relating to those values. While there is not an urgent need right now on saving points, it helps to be prepared. So at times, I will choose a 13 or 18 for Chill just because its more efficient. One last note. In the first paragraph in this entry, you'd note I stated your values is somewhere between 8-20. What about that below average 8? If you want to be below average in a stat, 8 is probably the lowest you should go. 8 is a value where you are not considered disabled but your ability is mediocre at best. The overweight person who gets out of breath going to the refrigerator to grab the last piece of cake probably has a Constitution of 8. The person who barely graduated high school with a GPA below 2 and thinks the chicken of the sea is actually chicken is probably an 8 Intelligence. A value of 8 is substandard yet still functional. I would not suggest going below an 8. An 8 is effectively a disadvantage in play. Going less than that can severely hamper you in many ways. If you still want to go that route, in 6th edition, the two characteristics that you can probably go below that amount is Dexterity and Intelligence. Again, I would warn you not to do it though. Going back to Chill. I see him drawn as fairly buff and going routinely to the gym. He doesn't look like an professional body builder but you wouldn't think him physically weak in any sense of the word. So, I'd give him a 15. In comic book terms, he isn't doing any type of physical fighting or doing heroic feats of strength, so there isn't really a reason to bump this up any higher. He's not known for his strength, so no +10 here. Dexterity helps people go first before others. It helps set your initiative. So, in general, the higher up on the initiative table you are, the sooner you get to go or react to situations. Dexterity is the main stat which represents how graceful you are and how much balance you have. Chill isn't a klutz and I can see him dance pretty well on the dance floor. He isn't an Olympic gymnast or professional dancer but he has better reaction times than a normal person. I'd give him probably a 13. Constitution is very superheroic. If they didn't have super hero levels of Constitution, then every time they get hit with an attack, they'd just crumple up into a ball and wait till combat is over. Given that, if he wasn't heroic, I'd probably give him a 15. He goes regularly to the gym and engages in strength and endurance exercises. So, being in a superheroic game, I'd buff this by 10 giving a final stat of 25. Intelligence is hard to quantify for some people. Just using IQ score would probably put most people around 8-13, but it isn't relative to heroic action movies and comics. Besides which, Intelligence is not just about memory recall and logic. It also represents speed of learning and attention to details. I see Chill as being capable of going to college and probably a college student. He's probably quick on the uptake as far as more mundane things, but can't wrap his head around more esoteric items. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and place him at 13. Ego is strength of will. While not impulsively buying stuff from the home shopping network, I don't see him resisting strong temptations or shrugging off mental controls either. I'll just leave him as average at a 10. Finally Presence. Presence is the ability to take command of a room just by entering it. The ability to face fear in the eye and not blink. Chill is a comic book character and is probably less afraid of being hurt. He has the confidence of his powers. So a base of 15 + another 10 since this is a superheroic stat. A 25. This is a very good presence but in concept he could probably be toned down by 5 compared to other heroes. For now, we'll keep him at 25.

Love the pun. Cold hard cash for the win!

Next is a question of Speed. How fast is fast enough? Speed is the number of actions you can take every 12 seconds. Its not only how fast you are, it also represents how quickly respond to difficult situations. You can have a low dexterity but have a high speed. So a combat veteran may be used to combat and act 4 times in a turn (speed 4) but still only have an 11 Dex. A 18 Dex ballerina may never have had to deal with combat and thus only have a speed of 2. Personally, I believe if you know you can bounce bullets you feel a bit more invulnerable and won't hesitate as much when the fighting starts. So I tend to give characters with good resistant defenses a higher speed than what a normal human can achieve. Top that off with training and real combat experience, I believe most superheroes can easily hit a 5 speed. In our example, we are going to keep with the average of a 5 speed. There is a second reason to go with the game average, one which isn't talked about enough. If you make a character with say a 3 speed and every other player is sporting a 6 speed, you are going to be bored for a lot of the game. Unlike games like D&D/Pathfinder, instead of making all you actions occur on your time in a round, HERO micromanages actions. You don't get 5 attacks in 1 turn on your action like in D&D. You get 5 actions spread out evenly over the turn, interspersed with everyone else's actions. Unless you understand this and how it affects your play, I do not recommend going more than 1 speed below average.

OK, so we know what our power level is. We start to buy characteristics. The first characteristic I buy is OCV/DCV. It's your main mode to hit in combat. In games prior to 6th edition, this would mean buying Dex. In 6th edition, OCV and DCV is separated out. We are using an average of 8 in both CVs. So we set the value to 8. We have a starting value of 3 and it costs +5 points to go up or -5 points to go down. To go up to 8 means paying 25 points for OCV and 25 points for DCV. This is great for this example, but what if we want to hit a little more often or be more nimble and not be hit? Well, you could add one or two more OCV. In general, when you go up in CV, the GM expects you to give a little in another way. So, if you go up in OCV then most GMs will expect you to go down in the number of dice you do. Thus, in this example, if we wanted to have a 9 OCV, the GM might expect us to lower our damage from 12d6 to 11d6. With a 10 OCV, the GM might be expecting us to lower our damage to 10d6 and so on. Some GMs might allow a drop in speed so that you can hit more often but have less chances to do so. In comparison, if you want to raise your DCV, you should lower your PD and ED. Every 1 you increase your DCV over average, your PD and ED should drop about 3.5 on average. So for a 9 DCV, your PD and ED should be about 23-24. A 10 DCV and your PD/ED should be 20. So how effective is +1 OCV or +1 DCV over the game average? On OCV, +1 over the average means you will hit 12% more or go from a 62.5% chance to 74% chance( a difference of 11.5%). But going to +2 OCV over average just means going to 83.8% (a difference of 21.3%). And going +3 OCV over average is a difference of only 28.2%. So what is happening? Well, HERO uses a bell curve instead of a linear to hit chart. In D&D/Pathfinder, a +1 means a 5% increase in a chance to hit. This is a linear progression mainly because you are using a single twenty sided die. So a +3 in D&D is a +15% increase in your chance to hit. In HERO, the farther you get from a 10 on three dice, the less effective the bonus becomes. You don't need major bonuses to hit to change the odds in your favor. SImilarly, a +1, +2, +3 over average DCV will result in getting hit by an average OCV of 8 at 50%, 37.5%, and 25.93% on average. It's a balancing game for the GM who wants to make sure everyone has fun and are about equal. To be fair, this is much harder than just making a character. A GM usually has to do this for EACH villain and also make sure the players do not run roughshod over the game.