Herolover

Re: Okay, how do racial package deals work? I used to think this way as well until I GM'd a Fantasy campaign. The problem with buying them as powers is that this leads to very unbalanced characters. Where one player has 175 points because he made an elf and another has 150 because he went with a human. If I was going to do that I would just say the package doesn't count against the points a player spends. Example. You have a package with a +3 DEX. The person playing the package buys up to a 23 DEX. Normally this would cost 30+18 = 48 pts. However, because of the +3 DEX it only cost 30 points and they get 18 points for free. Even if you say that the points don't count for above NCM the person could then have a 20 DEX by only spending 21 points instead of 30. Either way the person buying the package is getting free points. This can lead to players just looking at what package gives the most points. That is just for DEX. When you start adding in somd of the other characteristics for packages you can easily get up into the 30-40 points because the player with the package doesn't have to worry about NCM. Of course, if you have a really good group that doesn't mind difference in power level between characgters this could work.

Re: Western / Steampunk Hero Idea Bouncing: "Bone Falls" Umm...sorry, but is there a reason why no one has mentioned Deadlands the RPG? Just in case you don't know Deadlands is an OOP RPG made by Pinacle Entertainment. It is set in 1877 in a US where the civil war has not yet ended. There is magic, there are demons, the indians have a big part to play, and thre is weird science based on steam. It pretty much has everything you could want and listed. You can even get the books as a download from RPG Now. This would be a great place to start for a converstion. However, don't look past the Deadlands system. It uses cards and poker chips which gives a great feel. It is one of the few games, okay maybe the only, that I won't bother to convert to HERO because the system is great at what it does.

Re: Okay, how do racial package deals work? Currently package deals, including racial package deals, can be thought of as "minimum required templates." They are the minimum a person needs to be called an X. For example. You decide that all Elves are weaker in strength, but are more dextrious, perttier and are allergic to apples. So you have Elves come with -2 STR +3 DEX +6 COM Physical Limitation: Allergic to Apples. So the basic Elf is 8 STR, 13 DEX, 16 COM and all other stats are the same as humans except they have the disadvatage Allergic to Apples. Points to buy the "Elf stats" and "Elf Disadvantages" still count against the ponts the player gets to spend. No freebies here. Package Deals are no longer "deals" but instead are just packages or templates, but they have kept the name deals.

Re: Scenario up for review First, off it sounds like a really good idea. Most of the Atlantic floor has been mapped petty well. I would make it a Fast Attack Submarine sent to investigate recent volcanic activity in the area that was picked up by SOSSUS. Since this area wasn't reported to have voclanoes the USS Portland, a Fast Attack Submarine, was sent to investigate it because there are no known volcanoes in the area. I was a member of the US Navy for several years. I hope you don’t mind if I re-write a little. Note that these would be professionals. They wouldn’t get excited until near the very end when it is obvious that they were going to die. I put these in italics. Sonar: Maneuvering! I am picking up an unknown 5000 yards dead ahead. (No sonar needed, what else would he be using?) Captain: Sonar, track that object. Where did it come from? Sonar: Its no known signature. It is moving 50 yards per second directly toward us. Captain: Switch to active sonar prepare countermeasures. Sonar: Aye sir, switching to active sonar now. *bong* Sonar: Maneuvering, Active ping on port bow picking up another unknown 500 yards on port bow. *bong* Sonar: I got two more objects on the 1000 yards on the starboard bow. Captain: Prepare countermeasures, standby torpedoes. Sound the general alarm. “dong, dong, dong, General Quarters, General Quarter, all hand man your battlestations.†Sonar: Sir, we have contacts all around us 1000 yards and closing. Sonar: I have torpedoes in the water. Captain: Prepare for emergency blow. Launch countermeasures. Standby to blow all tanks. Sonar: Torpedoes in 6…5…4…3…2… Captain: Blow all tanks Sonar: 1…. *static* Maneuvering is the navy term for bridge. Unless you change things the only “senses†the sub has is sonar which is sound. No way to tell how “big†something is, or what it is like with sound. A sub can go about 35 mph under water. A torpedo can go about 55 mph. Due to the pressure of the ocean very little is needed to sink a sub. A single hole of moderate size is enough to cause the entire submarine to fill with high pressure water. The heroes could find a submarine that looks largely intact only to find that it was destroyed on the inside by high pressure water. For more info see…. http://express.howstuffworks.com/express-submarine1.htm Do you know why the Atlanteans attacked? Hidden Lands, the next book from HERO games, is going to come out soon with a lot of info on the Atlanteans. Perhaps the seal is hidden in a sacred Atlantean area and they don’t want to disturb it. The emergency bouy could be used to get the PCs right on top of the target. Of course, a storm is closing in and the PCs will be on their own Although the "black box" is not accurate, I like the idea of it because it really doesn't tell them anything, but adds to the tension...what took out a nuclear submarine? Also, how is the reactor holding out? Is it leaking What do the Atlanteans do with a wrecked nuclear sub on their door step?

Re: Campaign Creation I really like the Champions Universe and my players know it pretty well so I of course start there. Then I have the players sit down and before any character is created they come up with what kind of campaign they want, what kind of group they want, and why their still unmade characters know each other. (4-color, Dark Champsions, DCTAS, loose group, official group, etc) They then create their characters and we start the camapign. I then use MS Word, only because I am very comfortable with it, to create: Ideas doc (Just a sheet for jotting down very rough adventure ideas). Cast List (Complete list of all characters and adventures introduced into the campaign with simple notes on each) Issue List (This is a bullet list of events that happen each adventure. I keep it simple, but enough that it can easily by understood and expanded on. If I wanted to I could go write it up a little further and make it into a full adventure writeup.) GM Issue ListSame as the above, but this time I include notes I don't want the NPCs to see. Campaign PlanThis is the sheet I use to order my future adventures and future plots. Hope any of that helped. Of course, all of this takes a lot of time to work on.

Re: Sightings of the Elder Worm Yes, the art is awesome and will be getting used in my campaign

Re: How many threads? When I start a camapign I try to decide right away who are the major nemesis of the campaign and what are the major plots. I then weave adventures that matter to these major plotlines in with adventures that really don't have to do anything with them. An example from a campaign that just ended. Plot #1. The PCs are clones of major villians. VIPER created the clones, PRIMUS found them and is using them for good. Plot #2. One of the PCs "sister" is used by Black Paladin to bring his lover back to life. (See the adventure Shades of Black.) With this in mind I might do something like this. Adventure #1 Clonning Adv. Adventure #2 Random Adventure #3 Random Adventure #4 Black Paladin Adventure #5 Black Paladin Adventure #6 Random Adventure #7 Random Adventure #8 Cloning Adventure #9 Random etc, etc, etc. Seldom do I actually have two plots going on in the same adventure however. I might give some forshadowing in an adventure, but I have found, at least for me and my group, to many plot lines within the same adventure can get my goup off the beaten path and then both will go down. Hope this helped.

Re: The Catholic Church's Super Team-The Virtues Repped. Ummm...wow. Not sure yet how I am going to use these...but you better believe I will find a way.

Re: Appropriate Level of Challenge You have asked one of the hardest things for a GM to do in HERO. It is very difficult to figure out what is a good match and as you grow into the system you will figure it out. The first thing to consider is how long do you want this character last in combat? Then you need to consider his DCV and his defenses. An example of how I do it is below. 1) I look at my PCs. Joe has SPD 5, an OCV (including CSLs) of 9, and a 12d6 EB 2) Dave has SPD 5, an OCV of 6, and a 14d6 EB. Now looking at this I want my Lt. to fight a good fight, but go down in the I put him at SPD 6 (they will get 10 actions to his 6). I put his DCV at 8. This means Dave will have to roll a 9- and Joe will have to roll a 12-. I then do his defense. I don't want them doing BODY so I put my resistant defenses 3 or 4 more than the DC of the attack. So I give LT resistant defense of 18. He wont' take BODY. Now I look at avg damage rolls. Joe will hit a lot with around 42 STUN. Dave wont' hit often, but will hit with 49 STUN. Assuming I give my LT 50 STUN, I can figure he will get hit Once or twice by Dave and 3-5 times by Joe. If I give him 30 defenses that means he will take 19 +19+12+12+12= 74 STUN. Of course, you have to figure Lt may dodge some. Also, how hard does LT hit compared to Joe and Dave's defenses? If he is doing significant damage to them each time he hits I don't want his defenses high or he will overwhelm them. There is a lot that goes into creating the "just right villian." It all depends upon your PCs and the exact numbers they have on the character sheets. This is why I usually make up a villain and then fudge and modify things for dramatic effect as I play. Sure I may have written that the bad guy has 40 STUN and only 25 PD, but if he needs to stay up longerr, believe me he will

Re: Help me with my plot for my next session! Very intersting and sounds really cool. As I see it the problems are the normal problems that revolve around a slit part. There are, as I see it, three ways to run this. Run them Split. See if you could meet with the groups separetly and run them. Run Titan by himself without the other group around. I would have this consist of Omega facing Titan, Titan breaking out of the dungeon and sneaking around until he finds the group that has come to save him. (Keep explici track of time.) Then run the other group as they meet Dr. Atom and find a way back to Omega. Once there have them battle around until they meet Dr. Atom. Have Titan run an NPC. Probably the easiest is to see if Titan will run an NPC. Have some character or NPC that Titan can run as the group sees Dr. Atom and tries to get back to save Titan. Once the group is united with Titan you can take control back of the NPC. Off screen. Not really a good solution in my opinion, but you could always have things happens off screen. Perhaps Titan can escape and get back on his own, perhaps another hero or villian rescues Titan and returns him to earth. Basically you have a split party. How do you normally deal with it?

Re: Revenge, Revisit, or Reboot? Well....it really comes down to what kind of campaign do you and your players want to play? They could teleport back to earth in their present time. This could then lead to a Galactic Age Champions campaign as they batle the present villians in the universe. They could, as you suggest, travel back to Einstien and convince him and the US Government to to develope the atomic bomb. I could see the US Gov saying that, "Hey then we need you to stay help us against the Germans." This I could see turning into a Golden Age Champions campaign. Then there is the planet they are heading for and that could be literally anything. They could stay in the ship and use it as a wondering base creating a sort of Galactic Supers game. The one problem I see is the powers that you have allowed your characters to have. What keeps them from time travelling back and forth? Teleport anywhere means that you could end up running all of the above. Personally I would talk to my players see what they want to run and manuever the campaign that way. If you just decide the players might not go along with it and do something to prevent it, by accident or on purpose.

Re: A Detect to find a single person Thanks for all the info, you have given me some real good information to go with.

Re: Attacks of Opportunity (d20) in Hero Just a follow on note...or two One of the reasons questions like this come up so often is due to how different HERO combat is modeled. Most players are used to the generic combat where they get to go once and then rules are inserted for other things. This can cause a lot of problems for players new to HERO who are used to the I go, he goes, I go formula of combat. I don't mean to sound rules elitiest. It really comes down to what kind of game you want to run. I have seen settings and campaigns in which I would be happy to introduce an "attack of opportunity" manuever. However, for the most part I have found that having my villians and pc's hold their actions provides a better flow of combat. One other note about held actions. Under "official" rules there is a problem where a person will get to their next phase before they use their held action and then be short changed. Example Speed 4 guy with 18 DEX. He goes on 3, 6, 9, 12. On segment 3 he holds a half action on segment 5 he either acts or looses his held action. If the villian has a 19 DEX this mean the hero could act on phase 5, but then get caught of guard on segment 6 as the villian gets to go before him. I use the house rule that if you have a held action going into the segment in which you have a phase you automatically go before anyone unless they also have a held action going into the segment. Just thought it might help.

Re: Attacks of Opportunity (d20) in Hero One of the problems you have is you are thinking in terms of D&D combat. D&D combat is very generalized with each turn being 6 seconds long. This generalization makes a lot of assumptions and actions are not really accounted for. In HERO comabat that same D&D combat turn is spread over 6 segments that are each one second long and each action is accounted for. In D&D it is assumed that you do not really use your full action, but instead look for someone to move past or by you so when they do you strike at them. This assumption is not made in HERO. Instead you get your full action and if you take it all you cannot react. So, how to do "attacks of opportunity" in HERO. Teach, tell, show, your players that when they think someone is going to go by them they need to "Hold their action" so when the person moves the PC can interrupt their movement and strike. This way follows HERO rules and is realistic. If you don't want to follow HERO rules or want a very cinematic game than just rule that anytime someone moves in a "threatened hex" the person gets a free attack. It comes down to the fact that the two systems module combat very differently. D&D generalizes and assumes more. HERO assumes nothing and for the most part considers things very realistically. In a real fight you don't get attacks of opportunity unless you are waiting to specifically do them.

Re: Welcome to my nightmare I said I was going to steal..i mean borrow this idea and I mean it. Here, is how I plan on running it for my campaign. Nightmares of Chthyra  A young youth at the local psychiatric hospital has developed mental powers unknown to him or the psychiatric hospital.  He begins having “nice dreamsâ€. These dreams are actually caused by Chthyra (an evil extra-dimensional creature that can only travel to our dimension by the dreams of the young youth).  Chthyra is using the youth as a link to our dimension. Chthyra wants to physically manifest in this dimension and to be able to do that it/he must have a certain amount of minds attuned correctly. Until that time Chthyra’s only link to our dimension is the young youth.  Like a disease or infection those in contact with the young youth begin to have horrible nightmares. These nightmares are unlike any other and they occur night after night with the person not being able to sleep. (This is how Chthyra “attunes†the minds.) Once enough people are having nightmares (are attuned) she will be able to project her physical self into our dimension. (Then all hell breaks loose.)  NPCs close to the PCs start having the nightmares on a nightly basis. They are all having the same nightmare night after night. People in the campaign city are not able to sleep at night and this is starting to cause car accidents and mistakes (Some of which are dangerous.)  If the NPCs haven’t picked up on the clue at this point I will have an NPC mentalist tell the PCs that there is something behind these nightmares. A dark force that grows with power as each night passes and it seems to be building up to something. If the nightmares are not stopped soon not only will the city grind to a halt, but something horrible may happen.  The PCs will be able to track back to the young youth by when people started having the nightmares and how much they are affected by lack of sleep and the nightmares.  Once near the psychiatric hospital the PCs will begin to battle individuals crazed by the nightmare (Chthyra has some small control and is protecting her link to hour dimension.)  Once at the youth the NPC Mentalist will project the PCs into the young youth’s dreams. There they will have to convince the young youth that his new friend is not a friend at all. Suggestions...comments...questions.. I don't know when I will get to run this though because it needs to be a couple adventures down the road.

If you were building a piece of equipment in HERO terms that could detect a single individual would you buy it as Detect person X or buy Mind Scan?

Re: Sightings of the Elder Worm There is also several of the Elder Worm artifacts made up in Digital Hero #4 I think. I am currently running a Supes campaign and Slug and the Elder Worm are major nemesis. I have used him to start the campaign off and he and his plots are going to play a major part of the campaign so if you want compare notes just PM me.

Re: Welcome to my nightmare Please post what happens in actual play. To me, what is some of the fun of being a GM is making this intricate plots and seeing how they stand, crumble, or are added to by the actions of the PCs.

Re: Social or Psych Lim: which is it? Social Limitations are how others see you. It is what society thinks. Psychological Limiations are how the character thinks. Example Subject to Orders. Social Limiation: The society expects you to obey orders. You have the choice of wether or not to obey. However, if you don't obey orders Society will make hard reprecussions for you. Psychological Limitation. You have loyalty to something or someone. It is hard for you not to obey. If bought as Loyalty this means in order to not obey someone you must make an EGO roll with modifiers based on the severity of limitation. Society doesn't care wether you obey or not. They don't care. Psychological Limitations and Social Limations are not even close to similiar except in the mechanics of how they are purchased.

Re: Welcome to my nightmare I like this idea and my st...borrow it:) Here is how i am thinking of running it. The PCs begin to notice that many people are having horrible nightmares, some have even died from them. Through investigation or an NPC Mentalist the PCs learn that the nightmares are spreading much the same way as a disease does. The PCs and the NPC Mentalist need to find "patient zero" (seen the movie outbreak?). The PC's rush around looking to find who was patient zero tracing back through all the infected. Eventually one or two of the PCs will come down with the disease themselves and learn that this isn't simple nightmares, but an invasion from another dimenstion. Once the PCs find Patient Zero (haven't figured out who yet) the PCs and the NPC Mentalist will enter the mind of the Patient during a nightmare and get transported to the other dimension where they will battle for a "cure."

Re: Poster map - Hudson City How about just putting up JPEGs or PDF files? Charge a couple of bucks. I would be happy to pay for that. As it is now if I want my players to have maps of the city I will have to go to a copy place and copy them on a copier. IF PDFs or JPEGs were available I would just give you the money and print.

Re: Campaign Limits DCV and Armor Wow I am getting some great suggestions. So many in fact I don't know which ones to use first I like the idea of the "Typical" and then the "Exceptional" ranges. Also, I like Publius's ideas on Speed vs Maximum Damage and CV vs Defenses. Not sure which one I would go with right now.

Re: Campaign Limits DCV and Armor Thanks for the reply. This is why I ask these things. Sometimes I get carried away and think I have a problem when I don't. So, you would still let him have the full limit on defenses too?

Not sure where to post this, but this is kind of a system question. The situation. I am running a Standard Champions campaign right out of the book. I have set the resistance DEF at 13. So at most a character could have 13 rPD and 13 rED. Now he book has set the CV limit at 8-13. 13 seems awefully high to me. I have a character that bought 30 DEX which gives him a 10 DCV. He also has a power that gives him +3 DCV for a total of 13 DCV and he isn't even a speedster. A 13 DCV means that someone with a 24 DEX will have to roll a 6 or less just to hit him. Doesn't this sound like he has to high of a DCV? I have set all attacks at 70 AP. So, what kind of limit would you put on DCV and defenses?

So, to go along with the Nest Leader poll what are some of the plots that you have had VIPER try in your campaigns? I used the "Folding Nest" adventure out of Digital Hero adventure #1 and it went really well.