Farmer42

Re: Hypothetically and unofficially, what would you like to see in a Mecha Hero book?

Oh I understand your reasoning. I was around when the first versions of BT hit the street and remember both it's start up and the much superior game Centurian.

 

But Robotech/Marcross/Whichever incarnation you decide to choose. Had two distinct types of mecha, the Veritech style mecha that transformed and moved in a fluid almost organic manner. The other mecha were support mechs that basically operated in a clunky tank like manner. In the shows they couldn't fly and filled the place of good-guy mooks that blew up a lot.

 

The mecha that Battletech imitated in 1st edition were not the Veritechs but the support mechs, the mooks. I fully understand why because they would be much easier to design movement rules for. And well, easier all around. Then when they began adding jump/fly capable mechs (the LAMS you mentioned IIRC), in order to maintain play balance they couldn't get too 'fast' or maneuverable. But a BT mech that 'fell over' or 'fell down' could take serious damage. While a Veritech/more Anime'ish mecha can not only fall down, but dive to the ground like a human without severely impacting their operational ability. I stopped looking too close when the clan BS started and they began imitating Palladium and slapping stuff out just to sell product.

 

I know they cleaned the game up in later editions, but BT mecha never have shaken their origins and the rule mechnics still push the mecha into being clunky. Necessary because of the rule structure, but there even so.

Well, the thing is the Veritechs are just like that. They seem fluid and graceful and indestructible because we see them from the perspective of the aces. Rick has all sorts of problems, at first, and remember he ends up falling over and totaling his Veritech as well as Minmay's restaurant.

So I'm debating using Simon R. Green's Nightside as a setting, and I'm trying to decide on how to do it. For those that don't know, the Nightside is transdimensional back alley in London that's populated by gods, myths, robots, superheroes, and pulp adventurers. And that's just what's considered normal.

The book series is a lot of fun, and the setting gives me a lot of room to play. Anyway, I'm asking for some help deciding how I go about character creation. With the vast range, I'm not entirely sure how I should go about reflecting a world where favors and trinkets mean much more than money. I think what I'm going to do is have 75/75 (or maybe even 50/50) for character creation and give the players a floating 200 point "gadget" pool that covers things like favors, guns, magic items, cybernetics, etc. What do you guys and gals think?

I'm also debating dropping Contacts in favor of having the players use summon with lims instead, but that's a different matter entirely.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Famous Blue Raincoat - L. Cohen

Re: Fun looking toy

Looks like a light machine gun on top, and an underslung m203 grenade delivery system.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.

Re: Source Material: Urban Fantasy books/writers

Simon Green's Nightside novels blur the genres significantly, but at the core they have a strong Urban Fantasy theme. The Golden Torc, same author, is another great example. Dead to Me, by Anton Strout. Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustains. Unshapely Things by Mark Del Franco.

Re: Urban Fantasy and HERO

The trick is in playing around with foci, extra time, and ritual limitations. I understand why they went with a Fudge based system, since they built Fate around it, but Hero covers everything with their powers more or less out of the box. So, you want a blasty-type spell? It requires a staff as a focus? You need to say a special word, as well? How was the staff made? Hand crafted you say, with mystic runes carved in it? So, it wouldn't be easy to get a new one, huh? Badda bing, badda boom, you have your limitations outlined. I'm still working on the shield bracelet, trying to decide if using it as an armor power instead of a force wall power is too munchkin-y. Right now, I'm just trying to come up with some framework stuff, so that I can sit down with players and my laptop and copy/paste out a character using HERO Designer.

Re: Urban Fantasy and HERO

Holy slamoley! I've heard of info dumps, but that's impressive. Thanks, QM. I've been following DFRPG, but Fate has never really felt right for me. It's an interesting ruleset, but despite my liberal arts education I need some solid, hard crunch, and non of the Fudge games really bring that to the table.

So, here's the story. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me his friend was going to be running a Champions game, and explained that Champions was a superhero game. We went to his friend's house, met with him and started hammering out character ideas. I learned what HERO system is. Until that time, I hadn't strayed too far from standard d20.

But I really enjoyed my experience with HERo, and I've since been learning it how it works, how to build characters, and I've really fallen in love with the system. So, I posit this question. What do I need to run a urban fantasy game besides the basic HERO book? Will Fantasy HERO be necessary? As far as the feel goes, I'm looking at something along the lines of the Dresden Files.