dsatow

https://giphy.com/gifs/eyebleach-superdog-1vjVyFth2Mpm8

Ashido Mina 
 
reference pic:

 

Hmm.  Always wondered about the 'violent' action bonus: a minion might think melting a bus with an energy blast is terrifying, a super villain might just think it is a challenge.
 
How about this:
 
Make an attack but do not actually apply damage.  No need to roll to hit.  For every 10 points of stun (or part thereof) and 1 point of Body that WOULD have got through defences, you get +1d6 on your PRE attack.  If NO damage would have got through defences, the target is unimpressed and you take a -2d6 penalty on the PRE attack.
 
That sort of addresses another issue I have with PRE attacks: there take no time and there really is no downside to using them.  This way you have to waste an attack, in effect.  Well, not waste exactly, but certainly forfeit causing actual damage.
 
It also allows you to apply different bonuses to different opponents with the same action. 
 
 

Sad = True
AND
Funny = True
SO
 
It's funny because it is sad.
It's sad because it is funny.
 
Also I have a real munchkin build for macaroni cheese....

LOL, we should continue the light argument here but force everyone to use recipe terms.  
 
 

I’m thinking it changed in fourth edition.

My early memory of autofire was gaining +4 to hit once or hot multiple targets with increasing penalties to hit.
 
Can't remember when that changed.
 
Doc

I'm of the philosophy, the player can spend points where they like for whatever reason they like as long as it doesn't unbalance the game or concept.  Whether it makes it into play is another matter.  Just because you have a license to fly Battlestars and Vipers, doesn't mean there will be a Battlestar or Viper to fly.

I'm of the philosophy, the player can spend points where they like for whatever reason they like as long as it doesn't unbalance the game or concept.  Whether it makes it into play is another matter.  Just because you have a license to fly Battlestars and Vipers, doesn't mean there will be a Battlestar or Viper to fly.

I'm of the philosophy, the player can spend points where they like for whatever reason they like as long as it doesn't unbalance the game or concept.  Whether it makes it into play is another matter.  Just because you have a license to fly Battlestars and Vipers, doesn't mean there will be a Battlestar or Viper to fly.

I'm gonna level with ya:
 
I'm pretty much like GB(i): I assume that everyone can have whatever credentials / permissions / papers come with being a citizen of where they're from.  If said item is a reasonably common thing-- driver's license, passport, Diploma, Social Security Card, big ol' stack of bills and random calls from telemarketers who are very much earning their place in Hell as we speak----  
 
You know what I love?  "This is X with the warranty department.  Your current motor vehicle warranty is about to run out."  Really?!  Oh, no!  Would that be warranty on the '01, the '99, the 98, the 86, or the '68?   Tell me!  Please!  I need your warranty coverage!"
 
Idiots.
 
Anyway, the only place I even _consider_ it might be appropriate to charge a single point is if the _costumed identity_ has these privileges, and even then, I don't see any need to break it down more than "Citizenship: 1pt."   Well, maybe you could put Zero Endurance on your citizenship, but that seems a little much.
 
I compare things-- apples to oranges is really the only way to get a feel for how ludicrous something can get:
 
if I charge a single point for each of the following:
 
Citizenship
Driver's License
Bank account / ATM card (or should I charge a point each?)
Social Security card
Passport
Library card
cell phone
 
 
well, let's stop there, because as a player, I flat ain't doin' it.  I mean _screw_ that!  Seven points already?   That's more than a die of energy blast, and halfway to a die of Killing Attack.  Or Flight.  Sure, seven points of Flight isn't _much_ flight, but it's a _Hell of a lot_ more than _no_ points of Flight, I think.
 
If bookkeeping and accounting are your thing, then go for it, but even a point each, so much of this stuff just _isn't_ going to happen.
 
Another way of looking at it:
 
If your particular campaign _requires_ such ....  heck, these aren't even "perklets."  These are just taxes if you're buying them one at a time.  Anyway, if your game _requires_ them, then you should just _give_ them to one or more players (and if it isn't all players, prepare for some sulking).
 
I say this because if you look at it the other way around, what are you getting for that point?  I mean, what are you getting that Joe Average doesn't have just for being a reasonably productive member of society?  How badly will it break your game if someone _does_ have these things?  The best one up there, I think, is probably the legal right to drive a car with a mask on, but that's just not really a huge deal, at least in my games.
 
 
 
So...  you know....   One point means you have a separate, legally-recognized personhood for your costumed alter-ego.  And why shouldn't you?  Your business probably has one already.
 
 

I have 2 cents for this thread, as I also have a new game group (old friends, new to hero system) which i'm starting a Star Hero campaign with.  They naturally asked about the roll low thing, but I cleared them up and made them pretty happy in maybe 5 minutes by explaining: 
A:  Think Golf.  This isn't some alien concept, par is like your success goal, which means LOW.  Just this one point got me 90% there with my group.
B:  GM applied modifiers are a big part of hero system, and if you want them to be intuitive, one simply must use a roll low mechanic. 
    B.1:  It's quite elegant for me to tell a player they have an advantage for some reason so "+1 to your roll".  Plus one is good right??  Yes it is! 
    B.2:  Or the inverse, they are trying to do something really difficult, so i say "Go for it at -3".  They know minus is bad and might have second thoughts.
     -->  Inverting the test roll mechanic borks this up.  
C:  Final point i teach on this topic:  3d6 tests are all about finding a statistical probability range for the player that fits a situation in a fair way, roll under golf rules apply so that bonuses and penalties make sense.  Doing damage, well that depends on the attack you hit with.  Grab as many dice as your attack allows and go for it, may you always roll high!  Unless you're pulling a punch or holding back strength.  (laugh)
 
So the whole group quickly got it, was on board, and they today think it's a really elegant system, which it is.  Hero system needs some expert hand holding to get past the learning curve, but i'm pretty confident i could get anyone to fall in love with the roll-under system if i sat down and talked it through with them.  Biggest risk is they might go play other systems and start to realize how dumb those non-hero game mechanics are.  (LOL)  I know i find it painful to play other systems, though i do regularly as a player...  (I don't have the intestinal fortitude to GM other systems...)
 
One of my players said it best.  "Wow, Hero System is like the GM on the Critical Roll videos saying 'How do you want to do this', but all the time!!  I don't have to wait until I roll a 20!"  Couldn't have said it better.   
 

SocLims, Hunteds, Reputations, and a thin glaze of PsyLims. 

When mixing charges in a multipower, the charges on the multipower determines the number of uses of the multipower while the charges on the slot determine the operation of the slot.  That sounds confusing so lets look at a simple example (if silly example).
 
40 Multipower (60) 8 charges(-1/2)
6f     12d6 EB, 16 charges (-0)
6f     TK 40 Str, 8 charges for 1 Turn (-0)
 
As you can see the 8 charge limitation only affects the multipower pool.  The limitation is not bought on any of the slots.  This means the pool can be used only 8 times.  Even if the EB  can be use 16 times, the pool itself can only be activated 8 times. 
 
So questions that might be asked:
Would anyone buy it this way?  Probably not.  Few people would buy a slot with more charges than the multipower itself.
Is it legal?  Yes. 
So why show it this way?  Only to explain how the multiple charges works.
Doesn't the TK die when the slot is changed?  No, this was asked a while back of Steve Long.  In effect, the power will continue to run until the charge expends.  The character will not be able to change what its doing, it simply continues doing what its doing.  So if the TK was grabbing someone when the slots switch, it will continue to grab that person until the turn ends.  It will not squeeze the character after the slot has been switched unless the character expends another charge.  The only thing the character might be able to do is switch off the power which will not restart unless they use another charge.
So how would this work in my magic scenario? It could make a character similar to how the rpg that shall not be mentioned ( )  runs sorcerers where there is a maximum number of uses per "spell level".  
Do you really think this is a better idea than my idea? No.  I  am like Duke Bushido.  I prefer an End Battery and/or Personal End for spells.  But it's a functional way to do things you or someone reading this post might want to try.  "More than one way to skin a cat" phrase so to speak. 
 

I don't think I've ever known anyone playing Hero to not round in the defender's favor.
 
Lucius Alexander
 
The palindromedary says if it's not in the rules explicitly, it's a common interpretation

I'm more like Lucius, as I round in the favor of the defender.  Rounding in the player's favor just postpones setting a hard rule.  Eventually, one player is going to have to smack another one.  
 
 

I've seen the argument from a player.  It just depends on what you as a GM are comfortable with.  I was okay with it as long as it didn't exceed the maximum DC of my game.
 
I would like to note a couple of things on the whole 5 pts of Strength vs 4 MA DC.
1) If Strength is drained/suppressed to 0, you can't use DC of martial arts (you only do 1d6 or +1 DC to a weapon)6e1p42.  Martial arts are dependant on Strength.
2) As noted, MA does not give you lift capability as well as other effects that are defined in Strength but not martial arts.  This can be a problem in high gravity zone games.
3) If a martial weapon has a strength minimum on it, martial art DC do not compensate for a lack of strength which may cause penalties.
4) Technically, a GM does not have to let you use martial escape to get out of an entangle, though I see in real life most GMs allow it.  Martial escapes are usually only to counter a grab maneuver (but again the rules says the GM can allow it and most GMs I know allow it).
 

When mixing charges in a multipower, the charges on the multipower determines the number of uses of the multipower while the charges on the slot determine the operation of the slot.  That sounds confusing so lets look at a simple example (if silly example).
 
40 Multipower (60) 8 charges(-1/2)
6f     12d6 EB, 16 charges (-0)
6f     TK 40 Str, 8 charges for 1 Turn (-0)
 
As you can see the 8 charge limitation only affects the multipower pool.  The limitation is not bought on any of the slots.  This means the pool can be used only 8 times.  Even if the EB  can be use 16 times, the pool itself can only be activated 8 times. 
 
So questions that might be asked:
Would anyone buy it this way?  Probably not.  Few people would buy a slot with more charges than the multipower itself.
Is it legal?  Yes. 
So why show it this way?  Only to explain how the multiple charges works.
Doesn't the TK die when the slot is changed?  No, this was asked a while back of Steve Long.  In effect, the power will continue to run until the charge expends.  The character will not be able to change what its doing, it simply continues doing what its doing.  So if the TK was grabbing someone when the slots switch, it will continue to grab that person until the turn ends.  It will not squeeze the character after the slot has been switched unless the character expends another charge.  The only thing the character might be able to do is switch off the power which will not restart unless they use another charge.
So how would this work in my magic scenario? It could make a character similar to how the rpg that shall not be mentioned ( )  runs sorcerers where there is a maximum number of uses per "spell level".  
Do you really think this is a better idea than my idea? No.  I  am like Duke Bushido.  I prefer an End Battery and/or Personal End for spells.  But it's a functional way to do things you or someone reading this post might want to try.  "More than one way to skin a cat" phrase so to speak. 
 

When mixing charges in a multipower, the charges on the multipower determines the number of uses of the multipower while the charges on the slot determine the operation of the slot.  That sounds confusing so lets look at a simple example (if silly example).
 
40 Multipower (60) 8 charges(-1/2)
6f     12d6 EB, 16 charges (-0)
6f     TK 40 Str, 8 charges for 1 Turn (-0)
 
As you can see the 8 charge limitation only affects the multipower pool.  The limitation is not bought on any of the slots.  This means the pool can be used only 8 times.  Even if the EB  can be use 16 times, the pool itself can only be activated 8 times. 
 
So questions that might be asked:
Would anyone buy it this way?  Probably not.  Few people would buy a slot with more charges than the multipower itself.
Is it legal?  Yes. 
So why show it this way?  Only to explain how the multiple charges works.
Doesn't the TK die when the slot is changed?  No, this was asked a while back of Steve Long.  In effect, the power will continue to run until the charge expends.  The character will not be able to change what its doing, it simply continues doing what its doing.  So if the TK was grabbing someone when the slots switch, it will continue to grab that person until the turn ends.  It will not squeeze the character after the slot has been switched unless the character expends another charge.  The only thing the character might be able to do is switch off the power which will not restart unless they use another charge.
So how would this work in my magic scenario? It could make a character similar to how the rpg that shall not be mentioned ( )  runs sorcerers where there is a maximum number of uses per "spell level".  
Do you really think this is a better idea than my idea? No.  I  am like Duke Bushido.  I prefer an End Battery and/or Personal End for spells.  But it's a functional way to do things you or someone reading this post might want to try.  "More than one way to skin a cat" phrase so to speak. 
 

In Supers, its generally not breakable unless targeted (i.e. normal use even by supers standards will not break the focus). 
 
Mostly, the reason its not been a problem is there is a damage cap  in all my Hero games, even Fantasy Hero.  A lot of the damage cap is controlled by me in Heroic games, but its still there.
 
The big note I wanted to make in this post is that Hero games now says whether to institute a double cap or not, is now up to the GM (i.e. a campaign trait).  Kind of like normal characteristic maxima.

I haven't found not having the doubling issue a problem in the supers genre or to say, it isn't any more troubling than before with the doubling.
 
As far as weapon breakage goes, I don't remember if it was a house rule or if it was in the pre-5th edition fantasy hero, but there was a rule about a weapon having def = 2 * DC or 3 * DC.  So a sword doing 2d6K would have either 12 def or 18 def.  If the sword did more than the def of the weapon, it would take body damage.

I usually simulate it with a -2 limitation. 
 
This came about with the following observation:
An 18 will always miss.  Making a 17- the best hit chance.  If a critical is 1/2 of what you need to hit rounded down, then a critical equals 8-.  An 8- is normal -2.
 
The requires a roll is neat idea and I have used it on martial artists as "finding an opening".  Its a triggered, naked advantage autofire(3) on the punch with requires a roll 11-.  When the villain succeeds on punching a hero, I roll 11-. if successful, the hit is autofire(3). 

You could always use charges instead of end.  Each spell has a number of uses per day rather than an end cost.  If you are allowing multipowers for spells, then you can restrict the multipower to a number of uses per day (either overall or as an additional factor).

I usually simulate it with a -2 limitation. 
 
This came about with the following observation:
An 18 will always miss.  Making a 17- the best hit chance.  If a critical is 1/2 of what you need to hit rounded down, then a critical equals 8-.  An 8- is normal -2.
 
The requires a roll is neat idea and I have used it on martial artists as "finding an opening".  Its a triggered, naked advantage autofire(3) on the punch with requires a roll 11-.  When the villain succeeds on punching a hero, I roll 11-. if successful, the hit is autofire(3). 

I usually simulate it with a -2 limitation. 
 
This came about with the following observation:
An 18 will always miss.  Making a 17- the best hit chance.  If a critical is 1/2 of what you need to hit rounded down, then a critical equals 8-.  An 8- is normal -2.
 
The requires a roll is neat idea and I have used it on martial artists as "finding an opening".  Its a triggered, naked advantage autofire(3) on the punch with requires a roll 11-.  When the villain succeeds on punching a hero, I roll 11-. if successful, the hit is autofire(3).