TAROT

It's good to see that all the experience points that I have been sending over the years haven't been squandered.

One more thing: The book uses metres for distance, and kg for mass, and then Fahrenheit for temperature?

In the past, I have usually averaged 2-3 points per session, about half of that directed & the other half free. Spending limited to one point into any Characteristic, Talent or Power per session. Perks generally come and go through roleplaying. Recently, I have been trying to work up a way to use The Riddle of Steel's Spiritual Attributes for HERO. In The Riddle of Steel, your character defines five Spiritual Attributes, which are essentially Psych Lims. In TROS, they are rated from +1 to +5. When you act in a manner that advances a goal or is consistent with your beliefs, you gain a bonus to your attempt. TROS uses dice pools, so, for every +1, you would gain an additional die to your pool. So, you may have a skill with your claymore of 10 dice, if you have a Passion: Hate Angus MacTavish at +3, you would get 13 dice. If Angus is trying to usurp the crown, and you are Loyal to the King at +2, you now use 15 dice with your claymore. And if standing 10 feet behind you is Colleen, who you Love at +4, you now fight with 19 dice. (Of course, Angus might Hate your clan, and have a Drive to take the throne for himself. ) Now, since the first person to get hit in a fight generally bleeds to death, it behooves you to make sure that if you are going to resort to violence, make sure that it is something that is important to you. If you make a sacrifice, or take general proactive steps towards one of your goals, the Spiritual Attribute will increase. You can sell off bonuses in order to improve your character in other ways. (i.e. Reduce the Spiritual Attributes, in order to become faster, stronger, etc.) This is how you gain experience. In TROS, there are six categories of Spiritual Attributes. Conscience, Destiny, Drive, Faith, Luck & Passion. Destiny, Drive, Faith & Passion need to be specified further. So, for HERO, I'm thinking along these lines: Spiritual Attributes (except Luck) would work as Overall Skill Levels (only under specified circumstances). When taking steps to advance one, it will improve. The bonuses can be sold back to gain XP on a one-for-one basis. Luck would be treated as 1d6 Luck per plus. Luck improves by being lucky. Whoever makes the best roll during the session improves. And the Luck can be sold back for general XP at 1 per d6. Luck would no longer be available for general purchase. You can change the focus of a Destiny, Drive, Faith or Passion, if two SA are at zero (one of them being the one that you are changing). At a cost of (ten?) Spiritual Points, you can change a type of SA (a Drive into a Passion). The cost could be waived depending upon circumstances. {e.g. Change a Passion into Luck will cost. If Angus kills Colleen, no cost to change Passion (Love Colleen) into Drive (hunt down Angus like a dog, and leave his bones for the wild animals).} Eliminate Psych Lims, and possibly adjust Base Points. Chris

The fact that it is shooting two pellets seems irrelevant to me. It is an attack designed to damage people and objects through the sudden stress of a temperature change. At it's base, I'd say RKA, but maybe put in a Multipower with a Dispel vs. Armour, or a Transform (objects into brittle objects). Chris

My biggest peeve was the change in Transform to make it inherently cumulative, but that is easily fixed. Also, for powers with an Area of Effect: some increase by +1" radius and others by x2 radius, for some this is an Adder, for others an Advantage. I would have liked to see a little more consistency. I'll probably just divorce the various Powers from any stated area, and use Area of Effect. (I've also made a few minor changes to Area of Effect.) Chris

If you want to tie it closer to a stat, you could also build it at maximum effect, and put a limitation on it that the user may only access Active Points up to STAT/2, STAT, STAT*2, etc. If it requires a "class ability" to be used, I'd suggest that "Personal Focus" be redefined to include anyone with that ability. Chris

In addition to material objects, other rewards can include: Fame Knowledge or access to special training Friends & Allies (aka Favours & Contacts) Rank, Titles & Memberships Awards, Ribbons, Trophies & Attaboys/girls Chris

I would probably build the item in stages: Cheesecake Armour 4rPD/4rED +2rPD/+2rED (only if COM 15+) +2rPD/+2rED (only if COM 20+) +2rPD/+2rED (only if COM 25+) In general, I would ignore it, and just build it as it would work for the character using the item, and if the character improves later, improve the item also. I suppose that it would depend upon how common Aids were in your game or, how likely it was that the item was going to change hands on a regular basis. Chris

Re: Magic Items Help GM's! No. Some of them the players will want. Some of them they will wish to hide or destroy to keep them out of others' hands. There is no open market for magic items, maybe the occasional apothecary or theft to order. They are all essentially unique. Make the few (permanent) items that they have grow. Most of the villains will have items that the heroes should not want to use. They can be made. They can be bought. They can be sold. They can also be damaged or destroyed. If the players want to run a business, that's fine, however, the king might come along and give them the honour of appointing them as court magician. If a player wants an item, they can buy it at the start. Magic items cost XP to keep (but sometimes come with a few offsetting Disadvantages). Some players want goodies, others would rather rely on skill. If magic is readily detectable, some sneaky types would rather not be lit up like a runway. I ask the players if there is anything that they might like to find. I don't care if it is obvious that an item is intended for a particular character. I do try to surprise them with the details. Chris