Jump to content

dsatow

HERO Member
  • Posts

    2,374
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from DeleteThisAccount in What is the difference between the limitation 'gestures' and 'complex gestures'?   
    This is just how I adjudicate complex gestures vs regular gestures.  Other GMs may adjudicate otherwise.
     
    If you have no issues doing something else with your hands, it's not worth the limitation gestures.  
    If you can do something else with your hands but it might ruin what you are doing unless you succeed on a Dex roll, its normal gestures.
    If you can't do something else with your hands, its complex gestures.
  2. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Scott Ruggels in Ghost   
    Power Level: 12Dc, 8 CV, 5 Spd
     
    Sex: Female
    Age: 29
    Height: 167cm (5'6")
    Weight: 55kg (121.25 lbs)
    Eye Color: Green
    Hair Color: Black
    Handed: Right
     
    Background: She was part of the Spetznaza or Russian Special Forces.  Her code name was призрак or Ghost.  She was a sniper/assassination specialist in the Spetnaza.  While in their service, she underwent genetic latency activation.  Her powers required an amplification suit but the transmaterialization of her body gave her an edge in her assassinations.  Unhappy with her lifestyle in Russia, she blackmailed several higher ranking officials into letting her go.  The ones who rejected her terms suddenly went missing.  She then emigrated to the European Union and then the United States, using the influence of several criminal organizations.  While she belongs to no specific organization, she contracts out her services to any who will hire her.
     
    Personality/Motivation: Her biggest goal is money and life style.  Her contracts always includes cost contingencies where she can bail from a contract if the cost exceeds estimates (her deposit is always returned but she has only returned 1 deposit in 53 assignments).
     
    Quote: Ваше бронирование в аду ждет. ("Your reservation in Hell awaits.")
     
    Powers/Tactics: She generally uses long range shots to snipe her target with her heavy duty sniper rifle.  At a range of half of a kilometer, it would take most supers over 12 seconds to come to where she is shooting from and using her powers she is very difficult to corner.  At times, due to the precautions of the target, she will need to get in close.  In those instances, she can usually perform the hit and get away with her powers but she is more likely to be caught by a team of superheroes who tend to cover for each other.
     
    Campaign Use: Assassin
     
    Appearance: She has black hair and green eyes and maintains a good physique similar to that of a gymnast.
     
    Notes: In my campaign, it took three heroes to catch her as she would phase through buildings, teleport blindly into hallways, and phase through walls and attacks.  The big limitation is the limited distances she can cover and the fact that she can only use one multipower ability per phase.  She never used her acid attack, as that is generally used for breaking into areas she can't phase/teleport through.  Anything not listed was never brought up in the game organically so why bother (like her name beyond her code name).
     
    Ghost.pdf
  3. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from jfg17 in Simple Combat for Newcomer   
    Not about what rules you should skip, but in general, I think running a heroic level game without hit locations is a good way to start.  I think the most daunting task to the new player is powers creation.  Something about the math drives new players off.
     
    The best scenario to start in the heroic setting is the bar fight.  Seems to work for any heroic level genre with generally low fatality rates and pretty easy foes to beat up to build confidence.
  4. Like
    dsatow reacted to Doc Democracy in KA d6-1 cost in 5th edition   
    It's not a problem, it is an inconsistency.  🙂
     
    Feel free to use whatever works in your game and then be consistent.  🙂
  5. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Duke Bushido in 'Usable Simultaneously' valid for Life Support?   
    Before the advent of usable by others, Life Support AoE was the way we used to make life support bubbles in games.  Though some GMs I have read still require Usable by Others even with the AoE.
  6. Like
    dsatow reacted to Duke Bushido in Swords and damage   
    Those are all _great_ questions, and the answer is "yes."
     
    To all of them.
     
     
    No; I'm not trying to be funny-- hey!  My "return" key is working again!-- sorry.  Where was I?
     
    These are questions best addressed to your GM, because he may have specific guidelines he wants you to follow, and we are all going to do things differently from each other.  Just as an example, I'm the only person on this entire board who thinks that Aaron Allston's martial arts system was fun as campaign thing, but has absolutely _no_ place in the official rules, and am baffled as to how it has managed to remain in them generation after generation.    Does that make me right?  No; of course it doesn't, but it doesn't make me _wrong_, either.  The GM will do that.  
     
     
    One helpful thing would be to know what genre this character is intended for. If it's a super-serious non-supers game, then the GM will probably want you to build a weapon appropriate to the setting (or chose one from a list), and at least buy Skill Levels or such appropriate to give the end results you are looking for.
     
    If it's supers, then all you _really_ have to do, at the very bare bones of the thing, is buy an appropriate hand-to-hand attack (Killing or otherwise:  remember that it is suggested that Killing Damage represents guns and swords and pointy things shoved into your entrails, but it is not _mandated_ that guns and swords and pointy things be built with Killing Damage, so you really either need to get with your GM to find out his expectations or, if you have carte blanche, make that decision for yourself.) and declare that this attack a sword / tonfa / sharpened stick with splinters / boat anchor with a razor's edge-- whatever.
     
    Remember that there are pros and cons to whatever you _do_ chose:  if you don't take the Focus limitation, your weapon will always be available.  That may not be appropriate for the game your GM has in mind, so again-- check with him.
     
    If you _do_ take the focus limitation, the weapon /  attack costs you less, but be prepared to not have ready access to it whenever you want it, either.
     
     
    The list goes on and on, but I see GB(i) has pre lied, so let me stop there before I duplicate anything he might have already said.
  7. Haha
    dsatow reacted to Duke Bushido in Swords and damage   
    Oh Dear God!
     
    REPLIED!  I swear I was typing "replied!"
     
    I did _not_ mean that!  I _swear_ to you that this was an honest typo!             
     
  8. Like
    dsatow reacted to Ninja-Bear in Simple Combat for Newcomer   
    Bar fight would be great! You can have Normal damage-day a tankard that adds +1D6 to STR. Oh I throw that tankard well that’s say a 2D6 Blast  let’s look at Range. I throw my beer in his face-that’s a Flash attack! He pulls a dagger well now that’s a killing attack.
  9. Haha
    dsatow reacted to Duke Bushido in Abort!   
    Rarely. 
     
    Held phases are pretty common.  Aborting is almost exclusively to save someone else: a leap in front of a civilian, things like that. 
     
    As has been noted, something about an Abort to Dodge turns the GMs roll-to-hit dice into d4...... 
  10. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Killing damage (yet again)   
    This idea was suggested a long time back when I think 5th was about to come out.  I kind of agree with Duke's idea and I can sort of see Hugh's point.
     
    1) The cost change of 1d6 killing from 15pts to 10pts, severely changes the effectiveness of point cost on the killing attack.  A 60 active point attack would be an average of 6d6 killing or 21 Body, 42 Stun.  Currently, a 60 active point killing attack would do an average of 4d6 killing or 14 Body and 28 Stun.  That's a big jump in power. (unless you are talking about treating a killing attack as calculating as a normal attack, if so, I apologize and please correct me as I scanned this quickly while on slack at work)
    2) We get very kludgy with advantages and limitations as Duke noted.  This applies here or there but not here or there.  It would be better to simplify it.
     
    My suggestion would be to do the following.  (note this idea has not been thought through)
    1) Get rid of HA and HtHKA.
    2) Have the advantage +1/2 to add a stat to a power.  Have a -1/2 to make a ranged power no range.
     
    This would alleviate the possible point cost effectiveness of the changing killing to 10 pts per die while adding possibilities with the +1/2 advantage to add a stat to a power (though that advantage would be extremely abusable so probably a GM warning).
     
    The +1/2 adv. to add a stat would make interesting builds, such as EGO powering a killing attack.  Another interesting build would be if it was powered by END or STUN, the power would quickly diminish as the character used the power or was beaten up in combat.
  11. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Grailknight in Killing damage (yet again)   
    This idea was suggested a long time back when I think 5th was about to come out.  I kind of agree with Duke's idea and I can sort of see Hugh's point.
     
    1) The cost change of 1d6 killing from 15pts to 10pts, severely changes the effectiveness of point cost on the killing attack.  A 60 active point attack would be an average of 6d6 killing or 21 Body, 42 Stun.  Currently, a 60 active point killing attack would do an average of 4d6 killing or 14 Body and 28 Stun.  That's a big jump in power. (unless you are talking about treating a killing attack as calculating as a normal attack, if so, I apologize and please correct me as I scanned this quickly while on slack at work)
    2) We get very kludgy with advantages and limitations as Duke noted.  This applies here or there but not here or there.  It would be better to simplify it.
     
    My suggestion would be to do the following.  (note this idea has not been thought through)
    1) Get rid of HA and HtHKA.
    2) Have the advantage +1/2 to add a stat to a power.  Have a -1/2 to make a ranged power no range.
     
    This would alleviate the possible point cost effectiveness of the changing killing to 10 pts per die while adding possibilities with the +1/2 advantage to add a stat to a power (though that advantage would be extremely abusable so probably a GM warning).
     
    The +1/2 adv. to add a stat would make interesting builds, such as EGO powering a killing attack.  Another interesting build would be if it was powered by END or STUN, the power would quickly diminish as the character used the power or was beaten up in combat.
  12. Thanks
    dsatow got a reaction from Grailknight in No Damage Knockback   
    There is a good point to what you said Duke Bushido.  A game should have it rules changed to suit the game master and the campaign.  And those changes as I have noted are all well and good and should be discussed between the GM and the players.  People do specialized formats of critical hits, penalties on skills, light, etc. 
     
    None of that is wrong, but its not a commonality. 
     
    The one commonality is the rules as written.  If you go to a HERO game on the West coast, then to a game on the East coast, and then in middle America, the only commonality is the rules as written in the book(s).  If you ask how to build something using the rules, then I will point out if something isn't in the rules.  It isn't that it isn't playable.  It isn't that its not GM OK'd.  Its just not how the rules are written to accept it.  This isn't about whether you like the rule(s) or how the power plays, at least not in this particular thread.  God knows, I've suggested tons of changes to the rules on this board.  Its not that the writers/creators of the game created a perfect game.  They are human and a "utopia game system" for everyone doesn't exist in real life.  The original poster asked about how to do something in the rules, so it doesn't help if you say just "change the system".  We don't know the GM/players.  We don't now the rule changes they will accept or play by.  We can only know the initial rules they have read or can reference.
     
     
  13. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Duke Bushido in Flight versus Throws   
    I'd allow it as both are uncontrolled forms of flight.  However, since the action is in reaction to an attackers move, I would make them abort and make an Acrobatics or Breakfall roll based on the distance thrown.  So, if they got thrown 10", they would need to make the roll by -10 to not move anywhere.  If they roll and get it by 5, they would move 5" and stop.  If in those 5" they'd hit something, they would take the full damage from velocity of the throw (10").
  14. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from massey in Penetration   
    Massey's response pretty much covers it.  I would just like to add two more points.
     
    Point 1:
    If the attack would normally do more normally than what get penetrated, you go with the larger damage.  So if a 6d6 blast does 6,5,4,4,2,1 = 22 stun against 15 defenses.  The attack would normally do 7 stun.  Calculating penetrating, it should do 6 stun (2,1,1,1,1,0 respectively).  Because 7 is greater than 6, the attack does 7 stun.
     
    Point 2:
    The penetrating damage is calculated after all defenses, including damage reduction and damage negation.  These defenses normally do not affect the penetrating damage unless, I guess, it's bought with impenetrable.  To be honest, I have never seen anyone put impenetrable on either reduction or negation, but I would assume it would be fine.
  15. Like
    dsatow reacted to massey in Penetration   
    I don't have the Champions Complete book, but I can answer generally.  Penetrating has existed in Champions for a long time, and I don't think they've changed it.
     
    The Penetrating advantage helps to ensure that a little bit of damage always gets through, past your target's defenses.  So when you roll the dice, you count the "Body" (though this is misleading in the case of killing attacks).  So let's say you have a 4D6 attack, Penetrating.  You roll a 1, a 3, and two 5s.  The '1' on the die counts as zero Body.  The 3 and the 5s each count as 1 Body.  If you had any 6s on the dice, those would count as 2 Body.  However much Body you rolled, that's how much damage will get through your target's defenses, at a minimum.  The type of damage that gets through is the kind the attack normally deals (killing attacks do Body damage, normal attacks do Stun damage, Drains... umm, do drain damage, etc).
     
    So Bob has a 4D6 Killing Attack, Penetrating.  His target has 20 resistant Defense.  Bob rolls crappy on the damage, rolling 4D6 and getting four 2s on the dice.  Well, each of those still counts as one Body (1 is zero, 2-5 are 1, 6 is 2).  So the attack does 8 normal Body, which the target shrugs off easily with 20 resistant Defense.  But is also counts as 4 Penetrating Body, so some damage still gets through.  The target takes 4 Body past defenses.  If the attack was a normal attack, they'd take 4 Stun past defenses.  If it was a Strength Drain, they'd lose 4 points of Strength.
  16. Haha
    dsatow reacted to Greywind in Need some names   
    Johnny Storm
    Susan Storm

    😛
  17. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Doc Democracy in Invulnerability   
    Sorry, missed that on the first look through.
  18. Like
    dsatow got a reaction from Vanguard in Abort!   
    We have a saying: "Aborting to dodge is useless."  Not because gaining a +3/+5 to your DCV is tactically bad, but with a lot of our luck, if you abort your next phase, the GM will end up always rolling less than an 8 making it effectively useless.  The last time I heard the phrase from my fellow gamers, they aborted to a martial dodge making it a 6- to hit and the GM rolled a 5.  To put icing on the cake, the GM rolled just over 4.5 points per die of damage.
  19. Haha
    dsatow got a reaction from Shoug in Abort!   
    We have a saying: "Aborting to dodge is useless."  Not because gaining a +3/+5 to your DCV is tactically bad, but with a lot of our luck, if you abort your next phase, the GM will end up always rolling less than an 8 making it effectively useless.  The last time I heard the phrase from my fellow gamers, they aborted to a martial dodge making it a 6- to hit and the GM rolled a 5.  To put icing on the cake, the GM rolled just over 4.5 points per die of damage.
  20. Haha
    dsatow got a reaction from Gnome BODY (important!) in Abort!   
    We have a saying: "Aborting to dodge is useless."  Not because gaining a +3/+5 to your DCV is tactically bad, but with a lot of our luck, if you abort your next phase, the GM will end up always rolling less than an 8 making it effectively useless.  The last time I heard the phrase from my fellow gamers, they aborted to a martial dodge making it a 6- to hit and the GM rolled a 5.  To put icing on the cake, the GM rolled just over 4.5 points per die of damage.
  21. Haha
    dsatow got a reaction from Ninja-Bear in Abort!   
    We have a saying: "Aborting to dodge is useless."  Not because gaining a +3/+5 to your DCV is tactically bad, but with a lot of our luck, if you abort your next phase, the GM will end up always rolling less than an 8 making it effectively useless.  The last time I heard the phrase from my fellow gamers, they aborted to a martial dodge making it a 6- to hit and the GM rolled a 5.  To put icing on the cake, the GM rolled just over 4.5 points per die of damage.
  22. Confused
    dsatow got a reaction from Bruce Wallon in What is your superteam's rallying cry?   
    A common favorite is "Not in the face!" or "Delay!".
     
    Hrmmm, maybe I should make a speedster name Dee Lay, so when a tank yells out to Delay, he get a boost to his Ego!
     
  23. Like
    dsatow reacted to massey in What is your superteam's rallying cry?   
    I wasn't in this game, but one local group used the cry "Let's f*** 'em up!!!"  I think they called themselves The Brute Squad.
  24. Like
    dsatow reacted to ScottishFox in Flight versus Throws   
    From Volume 6E2 Pages 115+ on Knockback:
     
    A character with Flight may declare that he’s
    using part of his Flight to root himself to a single
    spot (or to remain at a specific location in mid-air,
    if he’s already flying). For every 2m of Flight used
    to stabilize him, he takes -2m of Knockback. He
    must declare which direction he’s bracing against.
    If he’s hit from an unexpected direction, he takes
    normal Knockback.
     
    Also, Resisting Knockback is a move that you can Abort to use.
     
     
  25. Like
    dsatow reacted to mallet in Help Driving HERO   
    Although it unfortunately never got released for 6th Ed, the Ultimate Vehicle for 5th edition has a lot of extra vehicle combat stuff that might be helpful to make the combat driving more interesting and would be easily adaptable to 6th ed. 
     
    But as to your question, I think since vehicle combat, driving and stunts are going to be such a major part of the game you should use Hero to create what you want to see/experience. 
     
    Maybe create some new skills like: Vehicle Stunts, Fast Driving, Fast Turns, Vehicle Jumps, Off Road, Chasing (both to follow someone and lose someone following them), Etc... And the players have to buy all these skills and they can by levels in each of them to start and as they progress. This will allow some of them to specialize in different aspects of driving and use them to their advantage. And make things different and challenging in situations. Maybe keep Combat Driving as the "control skill" (so no one can have any of the sub-skills higher then their Combat Driving skill) and they roll Combat Driving either only in situations where no other skill might apply or as a complementary skill roll to the other rolls in special situations. 
     
    And then maybe modify some of the other skills to be driving related. For example, allow the Teamwork Skill to be used in driving to coordinate special stunts (two cars towing a giant safe down a city street and working together to use it to take out the cars chasing them, or one car spinning and facing the other teammates car coming up behind them, and using their car as a ramp so the teammates car can use the "ramp car" to make a jump, or when a passenger has to jump from one car to the other) 
     
    You can make some Talents like: Damaged Driver (gives penalty skill levels when driving a damaged car), or modify Deadly Blow so that it makes the car do extra damage when ramming another vehicle. 
     
    Some powers might be: Hood Holding (Clinging, but only for staying atop a moving vehicle), Drive Thru (Tunneling but only for driving car car through a wall or building without taking damage), Slow Down (Drain vehicle movement but only by hitting the other car first), Smoke Screen (Darkness, but only by spinning the wheels of the car and burning the rubber).
     
    This is all off the top of my head, but you get the idea. There could/can be tons of great ways to build up and make a game like this really fun and cool, including adding in maneuvers and driving martial Arts like dmjalund suggests. 
     
     
×
×
  • Create New...