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Haerandir

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Everything posted by Haerandir

  1. RKA costs 15 character points/die, so a 3d6 RKA with no advantages would be 45 Active Points. As you've noted, that's less than 60. So, he COULD have up to a 4d6 RKA in that slot. I don't have a book in front of me, but it looks like 45 Active Points is a break point for the cost of the Multipower slot, given those Limitations and what I'm assuming is an Obvious Accessible Focus (OIF) Limitation applied to the Multipower as a whole. A bigger RKA would cost 2 Real Points instead of 1. It's a trivial difference, but this isn't a power that the character is going to be using frequently, between the Limitations on it and the fact that Defender has a Code vs. Killing (IIRC).* In this instance, the character's designer appears to have decided to sacrifice some potential oomph on a useful-but-not-necessary power to save a point that can be spent elsewhere. In play, this means that when Defender sets his Multipower to Overload Blast, he's only using 45 of the available 60 reserve points. That means that he theoretically has 15 more points that could be assigned to other slots. If he doesn't have a 15-point (or smaller) fixed slot, or a variable slot, then those points just go unassigned until he decides to switch to something else. * - A lot of designers won't give their CvK characters access to Killing Attacks at all (what if you accidentally tag Aunt May with your Kill-O-Matic Zapblaster?), but some figure it's useful to have one for blasting down doors or fighting robots.
  2. To me it looks like the back is open-topped, so they probably would be sitting back there, if this weren't a display model.
  3. Pretty sure she's a re-working of Zephyr from European Enemies. Same power set, slightly different background.
  4. Don't be ridiculous. Maxwell had a silver hammer. This one is golden. Gold > Silver. Therefore, he shall be known as MaxBEST!
  5. I believe that document originated as a thread on these boards. Might be fun to do it again for 6th edition.
  6. I have played in a 4th edition HERO campaign set in the 17th century (a golden age of piracy campaign, to be exact). We used equipment write-ups from an old ICE-era combined Rolemaster/Fantasy HERO supplement. I don't remember the specific stats for muskets, but they were broadly similar to your benchmarks. Certainly, for small-unit tactics across standard HERO system engagement ranges (i.e. 5-10 combatants per side at less than 20 meters in most cases), muskets and pistols were fire-and-forget weapons. The only times we bothered reloading our firearms in combat were when some environmental factor kept the range open between us and our opponents (such as firing from one ship onto another). Based on my reading, this was fairly standard, historically, outside of mass combat. If you're within charge range of the enemy, even 12 seconds is too long to be fiddling with a powder horn and a ramrod, much less 20-45 seconds. However, if you DID happen to hit someone with a musket ball, at Heroic point levels in a setting where body armor was rare... Well, let's just say it was worth it to take that initial shot, despite any accuracy issues. Particularly if you got lucky with Hit Locations or were confident in your targeting. Tactically, you very well COULD design a character who would want to reload and keep firing. In a Heroic level game, where people have low SPD scores, waiting a turn between shots isn't nearly as crippling as it is in Champions-level combat, where people routinely have SPD 5+. But you'd have to shape your combat tactics around it, either using the rest of your party as meat shields or finding some way to reliably keep the range open, attack from cover, etc. Logically, of course, musket reload times really ought to be measured in Phases, rather than a flat number of segments. If you assume that a minimally-skilled, SPD 2 guy can reload an ordinary musket in 46 seconds, that's roughly 4 Turns, or 8 phases. A Heroic PC with SPD 3 or 4 would be able to cut that time to 2 or 3 Turns, just by having greater SPD. If you further design a character with Talents that increase their SPD for purposes of reloading (or a house rule that Fast Draw allows you to subtract Phases from the reload time with a successful roll), or superior equipment that takes fewer Phases to reload, you quickly get down to that 12-20 second range.
  7. Another possibility is that CC does attempt to tell AV, but AV simply refuses to listen to him. I mean, really, if you're an immortal mystic master and some twit comes along claiming to be you from the future, but he can't even cast a simple cantrip, would you give him the time of day? Much more likely that he's either a lunatic or part of some scheme by one of your rivals.
  8. You could check out Heirs of Alexandria series by Eric Flint, Mercedes Lackey and Dave Freer. It's set a bit later - and is possibly a bit more alternate-universe-y - than you're thinking of, but it deals with a lot of issues that might apply to your setting.
  9. Re: A starship as a PC for Galactic Champions I can see two obvious approaches to this concept: If the PC consists of a 'ship' and a 'robot extension' or whatever, then it's mechanically no different from a regular PC who 'owns' their own ship. Just design the robot and have them buy the ship with the vehicle rules. Maybe give the mobile extension form a Complication/Disadvantage to represent that they're dependent on the ship (can't go more than X [kilo]meters from ship, need to return to ship to recharge, whatever). Unfortunately, this doesn't do much to fulfill the player's character concept. It'll end up feeling like just another human(oid) PC who happens to own a ship (because that's effectively all it is). The other option that presents itself is to just build the ship as a PC, and ignore the concept of a remote module. You could do this, with the appropriate Complications (Inconvenient Size; Distinctive Features; maybe a Social Complication to represent that the ship isn't a legal person; etc.) The problem with this approach is the same problem that is often faced by, for example, hackers in cyberpunk campaigns. It's hard to feel like you're 'part' of the group when you can't go to the places they go and do the things they do. Plus adventures can break down into 'things the ship does' and 'things the rest of the group does', with somebody always stuck waiting for the other part of the group to wrap up their sub-plot before they get to play. I'm not saying you should disallow the concept out-of-hand. Just be aware that it's going to be both a role-playing challenge for the player and an adventure-design challenge for the GM.
  10. Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Well, of course. You have to take the long way 'round if yer onna boat.
  11. Re: Australian Supervillains I just thought you should know that I've spend the past half hour trying NOT to think about a writeup for Kang the Conque-Roo. When I snap and go on a killing spree, you'll know why.
  12. Re: Case study: What if they succeed? Somewhere around here I have my notes for when I started working on a 'Book of the Warlord' of my own. Alas, I never got past the outline stage. The funny thing is, I don't even consider myself a fan of the Warlord, but every time we have one of these conversations, I'm the only one who mentions him. Poor Roger. He's the Master Villain the Fans Forgot!
  13. Re: Case study: What if they succeed? I guess this is where I make my traditional pitch in favor of the Warlord. He's got the resources in terms of personnel, equipment and strategic planning needed to (potentially) effect a world takeover, the administrative ability to (possibly) hold it together for a while, and the ambition (certainly) to try. All he needs to succeed is a pinch of GM Fiat . The argument against the Warlord is that he's not really in the weight class of Dr. Destroyer, and if he ever could conquer the world, he should have done it by now. There's a bunch of ways to pump him up from 'budget Dr. Destroyer' to 'world conqueror'. In particular, you could team him up with one or more other master villains or groups if you need to justify a sudden increase in effectiveness. Good candidates include Teleios, Menton, Eurostar, possibly Red Dawn (or several members of Red Dawn if the group breaks up or the more idealistic members are captured/killed). He's also a logical choice to hire the various military/tech-based mercenary solo villains to round out his forces. He could also stumble across one or more downed spaceships and incorporate more Hzeel or other alien technology into his forces. Maybe he finds a Mechanon backup base and busts Cybermind out of Stronghold to re-program it for his use. As for the questions of 'how does he do it?' and 'why now?', I can think of a decent scenario: With the US currently bogged down fighting yet another land war in Asia, Roger Warwell sees his opportunity. He sends Shadow Army commandos disguised as Primus and UNTIL agents to create a series of incidents which exacerbate the tensions between the two agencies, and between the US and UN. He sets other plans in motion to hamstring other possible sources of interference (maybe he tries to re-start the Viper/Eurostar war, or pits the Zen Team against the Tiger Squad, and so forth). Then, while everyone else is distracted, he steps in to 'fill the shoes abandoned by the world's peacekeepers' by intervening in civil wars and conflicts between Third World nations, eventually creating an empire for himself which serves as his springboard to world conquest. Assuming this is all part of the backstory for your campaign, or is achieved through time/dimensional travel and not during the course of a game, you can probably get way with being a bit vague about the actual details. Voila! The world is being run by a megalomaniacal military genius in an impregnable, mobile fortress. If you gave him high-powered allies, then they can act as regional governors (Teleios in North America, Fiacho in Europe, Molnya in Russia/Siberia, Joseph Otanga in Africa, etc.) Viper, if it still exists, continues as an outlaw/criminal organizations, but now they're the good guys! (Or at least relatively neutral). In fact, it's entirely possible that Viper acts as the logistics and communications conduit for the various resistance movements around the world (including the PCs).
  14. Re: Ring of Fire - Fantasy Hero style On several occasions I've been struck by the similarities between the Ring of Fire books and Joel Roesnberg's Guardians of the Flame series, in which a group of college students are transported to a fantasy world and kick off an industrial revolution. I think a campaign like this could work, but it'd be different from the more traditional crossworlds fantasy setup which features a small number of individuals from the 'real' world who have to adapt to their new environment. With larger numbers and a more-or-less intact tech base, there's much less incentive for the PCs to assimilate with the local culture, and they're far less likely to be the Chosen Agents of the Grand Prophecy du Jour. You'd have to devote a lot of time to figuring out your magic system and how it stacks up against modern tech (high magic v. low magic, commonality/availability of spells/items v. manufactured goods, whether magic is affected differently by/works differently on synthetic materials & modern alloys, whether spells can be used to fill in gaps in the tech base, etc.) Transporting a town with a steel mill into, say, a Bronze Age fantasy setting like Glorantha would be even more world-shaking than if your fantasy world was a more traditional 'medieval-ish' setting. Then you'd have to decide how much tech is transported. Frank Jackson's comments about what would have happened if the Ring of Fire had been slightly larger and brought Morgantown and WVU along with Grantville would apply to a fantasy universe, too.
  15. Re: Australian Supervillains Captain Comeback? Then he could also be known for witty repartee (or 'witty' repartee, for that matter).
  16. Re: Comparing STR for HtH vs. DCs I have seen GMs specify a cap for DCs and a separate cap for APs, yes. I've done it myself. I've seen it done where they're set equal (i.e. 12 DCs OR 60 APs) and I've seen it done where the AP cap is higher than the DC cap (i.e. 12 DCs OR 75 APs). The second way is good for encouraging interesting utility powers or oddball Advantages on attacks that often get skipped in favor of Moar Damage. Generally when I've seen a DC cap, it's applied to everything (Attack Powers, Str + HA, Martial Arts, the works).
  17. Re: Limitations that don't make sense
  18. Re: Limitations that don't make sense Yeah, players putting all their eggs into an OAF basket is one of the classic rookie mistakes. It's right up there with "Don't put your primary Movement & Defense Powers into the same Multipower with your main Attack." Sometimes you just have to educate your players on the difference between 'fluff text' and 'meaningful Limitations'. If they're buying their main attack through an OAF because they think a Blaster Rifle that goes 'pew-pew-pew' is cool, you might be able to convince them to write up their character with a lesser Limitation and just chalk up the rifle to special FX. If they're buying it for the point savings and continue to get mad when you enforce the rules, even after you warn them that it's gonna happen from time to time, you may need a new player. Going back to the original topic, I've been thinking of other ways in which Resistant Protection, Always On could hamper a character: 1: Personal relationships. Alicia Masters loves Ben Grimm in spite of his rocky skin, but your character's SO may not be so understanding, particularly if the relationship predates the Power. If Mighty Man's girlfriend dumps him because his skin now feels hard/rough/'icky' or whatever, he's gonna be pretty down. It may also be difficult to initiate new romantic relationships if people don't like to touch you. 2: People have mentioned reduced tactile sensitivity, and there may be other issues of a related nature. Steeljack couldn't hold down a job as a dishwasher at a diner because his metal fingers made it hard for him to hold wet, soapy dishes, for instance. In combination with other powers, like superstrength or Density Increase, the potential for property damage or accidentally injuring bystanders could go up, as the character honestly can't tell what's 'dangerous' to normal folks. In combination with the romance issue above, a character might accidentally injure a loved one without realizing that they're being too forceful in a passionate moment. 3: Quality of Life: In addition to the issues with medical care, someone with super-hard skin may not be able to enjoy a relaxing massage or a refreshing breeze. Sure, it doesn't have a game-mechanical effect (unless one of their teammates is a super-masseuse) but it affects the character. It's easy to get caught up in a GM's duty to Enforce the Rules, but part of the point of Limitations & Complications is to reward the player for providing the GM with story hooks. If Kurt Busiek can get an entire comic out of the fact that Samaritan loves to fly, but is so busy saving people that he counts his daily flight time in seconds, then you as a GM can milk an otherwise-pointless Limitation for the odd plot point or character vignette. To me, that's worth a point or three, just to encourage the player to look for those little nuggets of characterization. You just don't want to let it get out of hand. I'll let one or two (low-value) 'iffy' Limitations per character slide, particularly if I trust the player in question not to abuse the privilege. More than that and it may be time to have 'the Talk'.
  19. Re: Adventure/Module Support As I understand it, the reason most companies don't provide module support for their games is that they simply can't afford to. Unless you have the fanbase & financial resources enjoyed by the titans of the RPG industry (WotC, White Wolf, mayyyybe Games Workshop), you're very unlikely to break even on modules, much less turn a profit. You'll note that even companies like White Wolf prefer rules expansions and splatbooks to adventure modules. The number of people who will buy a Player's Guide or a Compleat Book of MacGuffins is much higher than the number who will buy an adventure module (generally only collectors & a fraction of the GMs, who in turn represent a fraction of the fanbase to begin with).
  20. Re: Limitations that don't make sense A) Please come up with a different term than 'point rape' to describe 'thrifty' character building practices. 'Rape' is a loaded term in any context. You'll find that even 'point whoring' will earn you fewer enemies. I think your frequencies would work better if you stepped them down a level (-2 = every session, -1 = every other session, -1/2 = every 2-3 sessions, -1/4 = every 4-6 sessions, etc.) Of course, this is in part dependent on how often your group meets and how long your sessions run. A group that meets for an 8-hour session every month will feel differently about Limitation frequency than one that meets every week for 3 hours. C) Bear in mind that having a Limitation come into play doesn't always have to mean exploiting it to it's fullest potential. If a character is dependent on an OAF, just having an NPC with Martial Disarm show up and threaten to take his precious away can be enough.
  21. Re: Teen Fantasy Hero I have toyed with doing something like this, based on Tamora Pierce's 'Song of the Lioness' YA fantasy novels. The PCs would be knights-in-training, starting off as pages and eventually earning their spurs and going off on quests. My plan was to do it as an episodic campaign, where each adventure constituted the most noteworthy event that took place in a given year (or perhaps 1 adventure per season). After each adventure, the PCs would gain xps normally, based on their accomplishments, and also get to choose a package deal to represent what they'd learned in classes/arms training that 'semester'. That way, the characters could start off very weak (essentially untrained 10-year-olds) and advance quickly, and the GM could provide a certain amount of setting reinforcement (through the pre-designed packages) and still allow for player customization (through the freeform xp and perhaps optional 'extra-curricular activity' packages). I imagine similar model would work for Harry Potter or what-have-you.
  22. Re: Possible City of Heroes campaign COH = City of Heroes COV = City of Villains COX = Both (the X is a variable substituting for H or V)
  23. Re: Grimoire: Elemental Earth spell - Create Tower Pretty sure that it's without the divider. That only comes into play when you're buying the base straight-up. So, yeah. Impressive, but not 'your own private continent'.
  24. Re: Grimoire: Elemental Earth spell - Create Tower This looks like a pretty standard, "Archmage decides it's time to settle down and build a tower that will be explored by adventurers a century from now" spell. Yes, it's going to be quite a tower. But I don't think we're talking about 'Guard Tower #14, over on the northwest corner of the castle". We're talking about, "I'm Elminster and I don't intend to spend the next 2 centuries using this as my primary hangout without life's little amenities, like 12 different research labs and a griffin stable."
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