EvilEmpryss

Re: Your favorite Hero Codes of Honor My favorite has always been: "With great power comes great responsibility." -Uncle Ben Parker, Spiderman There are soooo many ways this can be used to get a hero into so many different plot situations.

Re: Two Weapon Fighting The short answer is yes, with common sense on the GM's part being the ruling factor. Some maneuvers work really well together, like attacks that work "only after block" or "only after dodge". A leg sweep and a martial strike would be extremely effective, giving the target 1/2 DCV just before hitting with the strike.

Re: Autofire Punch Power? You don't (normally) get to apply advantages you purchase on powers to your normal characteristics. The way around that, though is to figure out what it would cost to have the Autofire advantage on your character's base Strength and add that cost to the cost of your power (like building a Naked Advantage). For example: 10 STR (10 AP) with Autofire 3 (+1/4) = 12.5 AP Subtract the cost of the STR (you already paid for that, even if it's just the base 10 everyone gets) 12.5 - 10 = 2.5 (2 or 3 depending on how you round it) Add the 2 or 3 points to the cost of the Autofire power you built and you now get to apply your base STR to the Attack.

Re: Champions and the IRS Yes, but you can't trust the government to keep your ID secret, can you? Workers take home laptops with private info on them, and then the laptops get stolen. Computers get hacked and files get stolen. Or, even worse, some numbskull actually puts the info on a public server! All these things have happened in real life in the last five years. Then again, they can make for interesting plot devices! My character incorporated her super ID, copyrighted her look, her name, and her emblem, and has her own web site and 1-800 phone number.

Re: Character Names I like to pull from historical and ethnic resources. If the the culture has a Romanesque feel, I study Roman naming conventions. The main thing is to pull names from only one culture to give them a feel of a cohesive group. Alliteration is popular in comics (Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, etc.), so it's fun to try to add some of that. Most importantly, I make sure the names are easy to pronounce!

Re: First Adventure Questions As far as Martial Arts go, Combat Levels are paid for straight out, just like all the other players. Buying a few dice of Hand Attack or levels of Damage Class allows the character to use it either bare-handed or with a H-t-H weapon. Their maneuvers tend to come out pretty cheap, what with no range, usually an OAF (weapon), gestures, et cetera. I don't believe we divided by 3 for the final cost, but I can see why that would make sense. If you want to get fancy, especially with a character who has a special weapon style, you can make a Multipower of maneuvers (I had a spearmaiden who could do some wicked things, like a simple Entangle described as a disabling blow). Like I said, this can be the more time-consuming and complicated way of doing it, but I've heard less grousing from other players over the low cost/high power of the martial artist. If you are going to allow Martial Arts in the game the way they're written, don't forget that there are a set of free martial arts that anyone can use: the Standard and Optional Combat Maneuvers (FREd 384). Your non-monk players will love to have the expanded options. Your monk player may feel that the others are infringing on his "schtick". In games where MAs are used, we always allow both the Standard and Optional maneuvers. For the Wall of Earth spell: This thing is a mess, so first the easy and direct answer. It's built as an Entangle, so it lasts until it is either destroyed or dispelled. I have a problem with the way it's built. Apparently, with FREd you can just decide that your Entangle can make barriers and you get AoE for free. That at 0-END Persistent and you get something that can encompass a large area? Yuck. And you don't get to take the limitation that people can move and it does not prevent use of foci, either. And there is no reason for it to have a range of 375". I don't want to even imagine the range modifiers for that distance! Take the limited range limitation and reduce the cost. The only real reason to build this spell the way it's done is so that the wizard does not have to continue to pay END while it's up. {Edit} Why have Earth Wizards not changed the course of rivers, created major networks of earth-fortifications around strategic targets, or at the very least provided cheap and quick housing for the homeless? You will have to come up with the answers to that as the GM, 'cuz nothing in the rules as written prevents it. By the way, as designed in the book, an Entangle wall is only 1" high and cannot englobe the target. Anyone with a 10 STR and 6" of Running or better could clear that in one leap. Why would you bother with it? {/Edit} It makes more sense to be built as a Force Wall, spfx being it's made of Earth. Any earth wizard worth his salt ought to be able to move it along with himself, like a Force Wall can be moved in certain instances. Leave off the Expendable for the Focus; you don't get any savings from having an Easy to Obtain expendable focus, so instead make it a fragile clay ring the caster wears. The wall will remain up as long as the caster pays END or until it is breached. An additional option is to make it a Charge. The benefit to making it a charge is that it removes the END cost. A single continuing charge lasting 1 minute would add an additional -1. {Edit: I made a mistake on the cost - it's a little more expensive that I first thought} Wall of Earth II: 10 PD/10 ED Force Wall, 12" long, 1" tall - can englobe 19 hexes or a 5" diameter; Opaque to Sight Group; 1/2 END (+1/4) (102 AP; 24 RC; 8 FC) OAF, Fragile: Clay ring (-1 1/4); Gestures (-1/4); Incantations (-1/4); Magic skill roll (-1/2); Limited range, 35" (-1/4); Wall must contact ground on at least one edge (-1/4), cannot be cast upon wood floors or water/must have earth or stone to create wall (-1/2) END Cost: 4 This way automatically prevents wizards from wreaking havoc with the local topography and leaving lasting changes. It also actually serves the purpose of keeping the bad guys from getting to the wizard, and stops them from shooting arrows or jumping over the wall. If you want to drop the cost down, you could drop the area down to a 3" diameter (that's still about 20 feet across) and it would cost 87 AP, 20 RC, and 7 and cost 3 END. If you add the continuing charge you remove the 1/2-END advantage and the cost would be 82 AP, 16 RC, and 5 Final Cost and would cost 0-END. This tends to make it more of a magic item rather than a focus, though. You could say that the ring recovers its charge it buried or kept in a pouch of dirt overnight. See if that works better for you.

Re: First Adventure Questions Not sure how you have the power built. With a duration of Instant, it would imply that the spell drops a stone wall down but the wall immediately disappears. That wouldn't provide much benefit (unless you drop it on top of someone!). Where did you get the power? How was it built? Martial arts do not cost END except for the regular STR used. If the character has a 10 STR and the maneuver adds +10 STR (like an Escape), the character only pays for the base 10 STR. This is (IMO) a major fault of the system. For just a few points a character can increase their increase their OCV and DCV, increase their strength for throws and damage, generally get enhanced abilities at 0-END, force negative modifiers and wasted half-phases on their opponents, and perform NND attacks. If the wizard tried to do all that by changing the special effect from "martial arts" to "spells" he would pay a lot more or have to put major limitations on it. Because of this the campaigns I've been in either: limit the number of maneuver any one character can have, or make players build their martial arts like regular powers (no cheapie "target falls" and the like). It makes martial arts a little more complicated, but A LOT more fair to other players. Are you using Hit Locations in your game? If so, all you do is add the +1 to the Stun number on the Hit Location chart. The Stun multiple applies to all damage, not just killing. If I punch you in the head with my fist, it still gets the x2 Stun multiple (which wouldn't be much with my 8 STR . Yes and no, depending upon the skill in question. I believe this is covered in the core book. For example, you could not (would not want to!) use the Demolitions skill untrained! Sort of. An active PER roll may (at the GM's ruling) require a half or full phase to use (or longer, it's up to you and depends on the circumstances). A passive Per roll is just something you give the player a chance to make, usually without them asking for it. It's your chance to let a character notice something that the player might not have thought to ask about. You're welcome! I hope it helps. Glad to hear your campaign started out well, too.

Re: Champions and the IRS My character actually collects her pay in her super ID. She has a bank account for it separate from her normal ID and pays separate taxes. This is mostly 'cuz my character likes to be able to bribe people, take fellow supers out to lunch, and generally spend money in ways that might cause suspicion if her normal ID's money disappeared without anything to show for it Her only problem is when she goes to the bank she has to enter carefully so as not to alarm the bank guards! After all, her branch has been robbed three times since people realized that she did her banking there!

Re: Whip Nets are listed in the Ultimate Martial Artist (UMA) under Toami. It lists three variations, mostly dependant on the size of the net. Small Net: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF; Entangle and Character Both Take Damage (+1/4) (50 AP; 15 RC); OAF (-1), 1 Recoverable Charge (-1 1/4) Medium Net: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF; Entangle and Character Both Take Damage (+1/4), AoE 1 Hex (+1/2) (70 AP; 21 RC); OAF (-1), 1 Recoverable Charge (-1 1/4) Large Net: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF; Entangle and Character Both Take Damage (+1/4), AoE 5” radius (+1) (90 AP; 28 RC); OAF (-1), 1 Recoverable Charge (-1 1/4) Please note that I just copied these from the book; I didn’t check the math, and I didn’t bring them up to FREd. I would definitely add Range Based On Strength, and might even add a Dex roll to using them. They would definitely require an Uncommon Martial Arts Melee Weapon Familiarity to use. If you really want to be nasty, add an Armor Piercing Damage Shield to simulate hooks on the net digging into tender flesh, finding the nooks and crannies in even plate armor. A metal net could also have more DEF, if you're worried about that. Hope this helps.

Re: Possession (Edit) Nevermind

This isn't every gamer's cup of tea, but I found it very interesting. Two books by Eleanor Herman: "Sex With Kings" and "Sex With Queens". The books detail 500 years' worth of infighting and backstabbing created when sex and politics combine. One examines things from the angle of a king and his mistresses, the other takes things from the queen and her lovers' point of view. At the very least they're very entertaining reading with good research to back it up. It wouldn't take a lot of work, though, to adapt the scenarios to a fantasy world. It would certainly add some depth and color to a lackluster court setting and provide plenty of motivation for knights and ladies to go adventuring!

Re: Possession GloryFox, there are any number of ways to build a power with a certain specific special effect... that's the reason why you had to ask for suggestions. Using a Transform with the all-or-nothing healing method of "when exorcised by appropriate holy person" is perfectly acceptable. As a matter of fact, Transform specifically accounts for any use of demonic abilities through the host body, since it allows the addition or subtraction of powers, skills, and even disads. It saves a lot of points and effort trying to make Mind Control work in conjunction with EDM -- it completely removes the need for Mind Scan and EDM by explaining how the demon came to "possess" the host in the first place, and accounts for the disappearing demon body as well. I looked closer at Transform and Multiform, and they seem to me to be the best combination to get what you need, especially with the addition of "Accidental Change: Demon will takes dominance when exposed to objects/people/events of interest to demon (common, v. freq., 14-) 20 pts" to the host's form. This allows the demon to "take control" of its host's body and either use its own demonic abilities or access the host's body (depending on how you build the Multiform). Don't forget: just because it's called "Multiform" doesn't mean that the physical form has to change. I once had a deep-cover spy who had a mental multiform with different skills and memories that kept her true self from being revealed through psionics or torture. She looked the same in both forms. Just my thoughts. How does it go...? "Your mileage may vary"?

Re: I got some players!!!.... But I need some help.. I've found it useful to limit Defensive powers to keep combat quick. If everybody (especially the villains) has 25+ PD and ED and Armor and Damage Reduction at 75% then combat is going to take FOR-EVER! Alternately, if everyone has major attacks that deal out 20d6 of damage, combat is over way too quick. You need to find a balance for the level of power you're going to run. Just remember, it's easy to power up your players with upgrades... they will scream bloody murder if you start out too strong and try to pare back their characters! Mine their disads for all they're worth, then look beyond the disads to their backgrounds! Have your players give you a written background for their characters and make sure they note anything that they feel is off-limits for you to twist or change. Everything else is fair game! Did Daddy die when the PC was four? Maybe. If it would be interesting to have dead Daddy show up as another hero or a villain, do it. Classic comic stuff. Just my opinion, but I'd avoid allowing a mentalist with Telepathy, Precog, or Retrocog for your first run. These guys can royally mess with a mystery plot. READ THE CHARACTER SHEETS OVER CAREFULLY! Don't approve anything until you have had time to consider how it will affect your campaign. Make sure the player gives you more than just the technical stats of the power; have them describe how it looks and sounds, where it comes from, how it's powered, etc. Since you're new to running, give yourself time to reread each power as the player plans to use it. Look for how it could be abused. Then look at the characters as a group and consider how their powers and backgrounds will interact. SKJAM is dead on about not allowing the Psych Lims he listed. Avoid allowing "Variable Limitation" unless you a) have a player honest and quick enough to tell you each time they use the power what the exact limitations are, want to put combat on hold for 15 minutes while the player flips through the book looking for ones that apply, or c) are willing to accept it when the player "forgets" to assign those limitations. As for stories... turn on the TV, watch a movie, or read a book. A lot of the best plots can be adapted to gaming by changing names and locations to fit your campaign. And when all else fails, and you need quick stats for a character, look up a villain you used in the past and change the name and the special effects of the powers (fire instead of ice, etc.) and you have a whole new villain. And the stats for a grizzly bear make a wicked minion! And finally, remember that you are in control, and your friends are there to have fun with you. All this stuff will get easier and take less time as you gain experience. Good Luck!

Re: Minimum megascale inches? Don't forget, just because you buy 5" at x10,000 doesn't mean you can't choose to teleport only 1"... you just can't reduce the amount each inch equals. Oh, and my GM allows us to choose to set the scale anywhere between the values for the advantage and the next level up. A +1 Megascale advantage starts at 1,000 km, but I could buy it at 5,000 km, just so long as I stay reasonably under 10,000 (up to 7,500 is what he considers "reasonable", 9,999 would not be reasonable).

Re: Possession The actual movement of the demon into the host is mostly a special effect, especially if they can be hurt by anything that attacks the host. If you must, ED Movement works for that, but keep it simple with a really strong Mind Control. I liked your Skill vs. Skill to take possession. Mind Scan is not needed unless the host begins out of sight. Once the Demon has possessed the host (via EDM to get inside of the host), it is always in LOS until it leaves. You might try a Transform "Target into Demon/Host Multiform", since cost is not a factor. Use your Skill vs. Skill roll after the Attack roll for the All-or-Nothing effect. The special effect would be that the host body remains physically the same, but the Demon is now the dominant form and can "take over" and "make" the host do what it wants. This would be a mental transform, for the most part. The Demon wouldn't even need Mind Control. I'm sure this has some flaws in it....

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. Hyper-Man: So you're saying that a person with a 10 STR having the ability to legsweep a 440 lb being doesn't count as "close enough to a sure thing as to not matter"? And that's just with a basic +5 STR for a Heroic push with no extras from the EGO roll. If he makes his EGO roll by 5, he could effectively have a 20 STR, meaning he could legsweep about 900 lbs! Speaking of which, with the different ways of doing Pushes, how do you determine how much the PC "could lift with a push"? My PC has a 13- EGO roll; if I rolled a 3, I would add 15 points to my STR for the Push (+5 base for making the roll, +10 for making the roll by 10, FREd p 427). But since you don't actually make the Push roll during the legsweep maneuver, how do you determine what the ultimate strength score is? Do you give the player the benefit and assume the max result, or do you cramp them and assume they only get the basic result of +5? Makes a BIG difference in this situation.

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. Hyper-Man: Hrmmm. Going to have to point that out to my hubby. The real problem is that there is no way to say "I knock him down" and actually do it every time without using the Martial Arts maneuvers. If you're using the knockdown rules, it's even harder to do it with a straight out attack. Why should a player have to jump through so many hoops to get a simple effect? If *I* was the GM, and a player came to me and wanted to have a power that does no damage, but just knock a guy down, I probably wouldn't quibble about the STR at range thing. I would probably still suggest building it the TK way since it would only cost a point. The fact is, though, that the player is looking for a way to force his opponent to lose half a phase getting up or take the DCV penalties from remaining prone -- it may not seem like much, but in the low-powered games I play in, these penalties can turn the tide of battle for the players. Imagine the wizard using this spell on the Uberknight in his bulky armor. If the rest of the party delays to go after the wizard, they all get the benefit of the lowered DCV to coordinate their attacks or just plain wail on the bad guy. Bad-ass Knight goes from a 8 DCV to a 4 (or less if he lost his shield when he fell) and even the paladin's squire can hit him! But since 99% of my characters and villains have Breakfall, I could rest assured that the wizard probably wouldn't have much effect anyway.

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. Ah-hem. The Evil Overlord (my husband) just came by and pointed out an even easier way to build this power. Gust of Wind: Leg Sweep (+2 OCV, -1 DCV; STR+1d6, Target Falls), usable at range: up to 15" (+1/2) (5 AP; 1 RC); Limited Power: Throw Does No BODY or STUN (-3/4); Spell (-1/2); Requires A Spell Roll (-1/2); Incantations (-1/4); Gestures (-1/4) Still comes out to only one point, and much less muss and fuss. If it absolutely has to be indirect (are you planning to use it from behind a Force Wall?) then it would make the whole thing cost 5 AP and 1 or 2 RC, depending on how you round things (1.6 pts). Still, if your GM uses the Fantasy HERO rules, the 2 RC would be divided by 3 to become 1 point again for the final cost. Now you wouldn't be able to legsweep anyone heavier than your pushed STRENGTH, but that should still include most normal human-sized beings, even if your wizard only has an 8 STR!

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. GloryFox, you are making this power WAAAAY too complicated. AoE Nonselective is a waste of time. You have to hit the hex first (usually easy, but you still risk missing) and then you have to hit the target's DCV anyway. Not worth the points it costs. If you absolutely MUST hit more than one person in the hex, stick with a free sweep maneuver and take the OCV penalty, especially since you only bought 1 hex. At least with a sweep you could send the spell through a line of hexes to get multiple targets, not wait for them to conveniently pile up in a single hex. Telekinesis is INHERENTLY INDIRECT! It works through windows and forcewalls, can touch or hit from any direction, can move things in any direction, and so forth (FREd, p 229). In the case of your spell, the Gust of Wind would begin in front of you, then could be sent out and around to hit the target from behind. Unless you have to have the effect starting from a different direction or through a brick wall (not likely with a spell) then don't pay for what you get for free! Don't pay for "Does Knockback". If you Throw someone with TK, you get to throw them to the ground For Free! You forgot the TK limitation "Affects whole object" for -1/4. You also might be able to use the limitation "Limited Type of Object" Only bipedal beings (-1/2). The idea being that anything with four legs has enough legs to keep themselves balanced and not get thrown over. Martial arts maneuvers are the ONLY guaranteed way to make someone fall to the ground in HERO. Ask Steve Long. Unfortunately, Breakfall can negate even that, so you have to work with what works best and hope your opponent doesn't have Breakfall. Here's how I would build it, working with the assumption that I am only going to be using it on HERO-defined human-sized beings: Gust of Wind: 15 STR Telekinesis (22.5 AP; 4 RC). Only to use the Grab and Throw maneuver (-1); Only to Throw straight down (-1/2); Affects whole object (-1/4); Limited Power: Throw Does No BODY or STUN (-3/4); Spell (-1/2); Requires A Spell Roll (-1/2); Limited Range: 25" (-1/4); Instant (-1/2); Incantations (-1/4); Gestures (-1/4) And if your GM is using the Fantasy HERO rules, the 4 pt this spell costs would be further divided by 3, reducing it to a final cost of 1 pt. You cannot get any cheaper than this. The 15 STR TK pretty much guarantees you'll be able to move all human-sized opponents. And the limited range is common sense; when was the last time you tried to hit something that was more than 6" or so away in a Fantasy game? The modifiers for 25" is -6. That's most Fantasy characters' base OCV! PS: A CE with a -7 modifier would not make it past most GMs. The rules specifically state that CE is for MINOR effect, a -3 at best, as shown by all of the examples in the book. It also states that you shouldn't use CE to make effects that can be built with other powers just because CE might be cheaper, even though that example of CE was not cheaper than the TK.

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. Due to the randomness of dice, trying to buy dice of an Energy Blast would not guarantee a knockdown. If you roll 2 BODY effect on the dice (average for a 2d6 Energy Blast), you then have to roll knockback effect, which is 2 dice (or 1d6 if the target is flying). The average knockback rolled on 2d6 is 7. 2-7 = no inches of knockback. You would have to buy at least 8d6 dice of energy blast to count on knocking someone down most of the time. The ONLY thing in HERO that guarantees a knockdown effect is a martial art maneuver.

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. A knockback-only attack has a few problems: - It can be complicated to build a naked advantage - Naked advantages can be restricted by the GM - It can be difficult to build if used in a fantasy game where only the knockdown rules are used (knockback generally being used for supers-level game) - Knockback will uncontrollably send a person flying quite a few inches, not quite the description that Glory Fox gave of knocking someone down By sticking to a basic power, it is more likely that the GM will approve it. TK of 10 STR would cost 15 pts. If only usable with a Grab & Throw maneuver it would be at least a -1 limitation. Affects whole object (no squeezing or punching) is -1/4. Right there is 6-7 pts, depending on how you round. If this is a spell, I'm sure you'll be able to add gestures, incantations, and the spell limitation, as well, making it even less.

Re: A Spell like effect of Knockdown. Does or can the "wind" continue to hold the person down? I would think that a Telekinesis that can only do the Grab & Throw maneuver should do it. If it can continue to hold the person down, you would get less of a limitation (I don't have my book in front of me or I would give you more detail). I don't have Hero Designer, so I'm not sure how you'd do it with that.

Re: Doctor Who's Sonic Screwdriver Yeah, Wikipedia has a great write-up on the sonic screwdriver. It's history through the different Doctors, as well as the way it has been used and how it was made are covered. A great read for any fan of the good Doctor. I thought of trying to buy a bunch of powers separately, but it started getting too complicated to buy everything that way. I like the ideas you all have. Anyone got any more?

Let's say you want to make it more than just a plot device. It opens doors and portals. It locks or seals doors and portals (even if there is no apparent locking system). It can create feedback through electronics. It detonates land mines. It remotely controls the TARDIS. It burns, it cuts, it probably makes julien fries. It has done a number of different tasks over the course of ten Doctors. Oh, and it can drive screws! A Cosmic VPP seems the obvious choice, but I was wondering how someone else would build it. Don't worry about game balance. Don't worry about points. Don't worry about it falling into player hands. Just make it as accurate as possible.

Re: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks Hero My GM husband has converted a number of old D&D games to HERO, and they ran beautifully. The Slavers series, Temple of Elemental Evil, all the classics are great. As a matter of fact, our favorite fantasy setting is Greyhawk, and he converts everything for it