ned-kogar

Nice to see some new pics after all these months!

I did manage to find a link to a purchasable version of FH16, and bought it for c. £2.40: http://www.fabricadeherois.com.br/p/compre-aqui.html

Sadly, there are no female bodies in it, as he appears to have run stopped working on the project for the time being.

Ned

I've had a good search for something similar and can't find anything free... The files for Hero Machine appear to be available, but I've no idea what to do with them.

I had a Scarecrow character, similar to Lord Liaden's suggestion, adding an Absorption from Body to Presence - the more battered he got, the more demonically frightening he became.

Looks like this handy tool is no more - what are people using to generate costumes these days?

Bludgeon.

Actually read someone crowing that Trump would get rid of the Jews and help Israel stand against the Muslims.

Remarkble idiocy. Although... I guess deportation of all U.S. jews to Israel would give the Israeli army a sizeable boost...

Hellboy, often.

Personally, I'd consider a non-skill solution, such as allowing the Co-ordinated 'combined damage for stunning' if two (or more) characters manage to hit the same target on the same Dex/Phase and make their individual To Hit rolls by X amount (eg. everyone rolls < half of what was required.. if you're not using Criticals).

Then allow a 2pt CSL in Co-ordinated attacks, that increase the chance of an individual's roll. It's cheap enough that members of a team might all buy into it, but also means a character can increase the overall chance even if she's co-ordinating with someone unfamiliar - a knack for team-ups, a perception of other's styles, perfect timing in matching someone else, etc.

Ned

Sometimes I find it easier to figure out the personality and feel of a character before naming them, cos it can be the key to the underlying concept- and helps narrow down what they're likely to call themselves... depending on the tone of the campaign.

Is he a Columbo-style slovenly magical detective, with pockets full of useful stuff that he unhurriedly rummages through in the midst of battle? (Just a nice colourful surname would do, or one that loosely alludes to his powers, eg. Packer, Speck, Crumb, Gulliver)

Is he an obsessively meticulous maths obessive also capable of super-accurate estimates of size and weight, who imposes his re-calculations on reality? (The Reckoner, Fraction, Determinator)

Are his powers due to being a descendent of a trickster god, and he honours his ancestor by quietly stealing a little of what he shrinks, so it never quite fits again? (pick a Trickster figure: Kid Coyote, Puck, Reynard)

Is she a small, quiet, shy small town girl whose powers developed from a latent wish-fulfillment ability after she moved into a cramped big city apartment? (Smallsville, Speck, Pint-Size, Bitsy, Lilliput)

Ned

It might be nice to include items that look like flavour / forgettable nothings (and might be discarded), but that come in useful later on, whether it's because the enviroment changes radically (eg. you get gloves and a scarf in a tropical jungle but need them in a snowstorm two days later) or because they contain more worth than is initially apparent (eg. a comic book contains vital clues to the coming obstacles).

Also, I guess - given that it's televised - anything that will make the paticipants more photogenic (make-up, shampoo, hairbrush). Of course, if the broadcasters/audience want them to suffer (and LOOK like they're suffering) they'll maybe deny them all these things unless specific goals are reached.

And never forget the delight of clean underwear after a few days without changing clothes.

And toothpaste.

This happened not far from me.

If we're to believe the dodgy police explanation of his death - "the result of accidentally locking himself inside the bag" - he must have had Contortionist <18, but Lockpicking <8...

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iOYMzdh_Io

They're Australian?

Well, an Aussie folkhero who famously incorporated metal into his schtick (though externally, not integrally) is Ned Kelly, so you could riff off that.

But if you really want to insult a cyborg who yearns to be a man, just call him The Machine.

As for a female Aussie mentalist, give her glowing light SFX (at the point of effect, rather than source of power) and call her Min Min, after the mysterious wandering Min Min Lights of Queensland.

Or give her the ability to psionically mimic others' brainwaves (and appearance, perhaps) and call her Lyrebird.

Just to make this clear from a rulespoint:

The complication part of a Package deal does not counter the cost of the package deal elements. 35 points worth of Powers/Characters and 25 points worth of Complicatiosn does not only cost you 10 Character points (35-25).

The pre 6E representation implied such a thing, but the rules clearly stated otherwise.

Yeah, that's a good point, rules-wise, and perhaps it wasn't a very useful comparison.

But the mechanic of balancing a temporarily held bit of kit with some built-in temporary complications proved an enjoyable addition to thhe game.

In some versions of the folklore, Redcaps use their big iron shoes to stamp / land on people with when leaping down from towers, etc... so rather than just clinging boots, why not have a built-in effect of extra Hand-to-Hand damage for kicks or even a no range AE Radius stomp?

And an isolated tower is about the most fairly tale base available...

We had a team that had managed to chase a desolid thief villain off the planet, and - once he was gone - discovered his remarkable hoard of stolen stuff (artistic masterpieces, black ops tech, even an alien corpse). The villain had a gadget pool that allowed use of the stolen tech, but one PC (a street-level martial artist) was so taken with a particular 'ray gun' that he petitioned to take it and use it from then on.

It seemed like an in-character, narratively logical thing to allow, but the PC had no XP spare.

So, instead, I just balanced out the cost of the item (about 28 pts) with hidden Disadvantages/Complications (Hunted By a Black Ops agency, a Distinctive Features that gave him a weird energy signature, and a secret little radiation leak that was effectively a Susceptibility to each use of the gun).

It meant he got the fun of using it for a few adventures before realising that it was more trouble than it was worth. And story was born out of it, too. The other players all enjoyed this little side-plot of the 'ray gun's revenge'.

With more everyday items, I think the same principle could apply, with new Reputations, Hunteds or even a Psych Lim applying to a hero that suddenly starts carting round a Bushmaster M4.

It's almost like treating the item as a Package Deal/Template.

... you are swapping skill for power: someone with a decent OCV martial artist or blaster can often hit the low DCV Brick type in the head, effectively hugely increasing their damage output.

This is true. We used Hit Locations in a 300 pt (5th ed) supers campaign - but one that was very much 'normal people with powers' in a world with about the same tech level as we have. We also allowed each point by which a hit roll was made add to or subtract from the Hit Location roll.

The aim wasn't to make things bloodier, but to make players behave more like untrained, powerful individuals trying to make a difference, rather than 4-colour demigods. Faced with eg. RKA laser eye beams, the players would be pinned down in fear of a lucky headshot and would have to be quite innovative and tactical. It also allowed modern non-sci-fi weapons - in the hands of a skilled user - be more of a threat.

In many ways it made play more heroic, because the jeopardy was higher. And they soon signed up for training to get their 'professional adventurer' skills up to scratch.

Incidentally, we also decided that Hardened automatically conferred No Hit Locations (and, similarly, a level of Armor Piercing would negate that benefit), leading to

a very nice little arms race.

It seems every superhero/team/villain has been ruined by a duff creative team at some point... but - filtering out some awfulness - my answers would be:

I like the brains, bouncing and brawn of The Beast.

Team-wise, I like the purity of The Fantastic Four.

I really like workaday, second-string villains. I might even plump for The Melter.

Using XP to raise the Active Point limit' date=' which would still require the appropriate END/STUN expenditure, and any Active Points raised this way would have a fixed END cost, like 5end/active point... [/quote']

 

You could even burn points straight off powers, which could then only be replaced via experience... eg. for pushing past the basic 10 points, you're able to trade, say, 5 pts of power for an additional 10 pts for the purposes of pushing.

 

So, at that ratio, I could increase my 10d6 flame Blast to 12d6 via standard pushing, but could take it all the way to 22d6 - but would then lose that power until it was re-bought.

 

Reminds me of when Banshee burnt his howl out taking down Moses Magnum's island HQ.

 

A less harsh version would allow the power to heal at the same rate as body, rather than have to be re-bought.

 

Ned

Reckon so - that's a good thorough think you've had there. I quite like the mechanism.

Using XP to raise the Active Point limit' date=' which would still require the appropriate END/STUN expenditure, and any Active Points raised this way would have a fixed END cost, like 5end/active point... [/quote']

 

You could even burn points straight off powers, which could then only be replaced via experience... eg. for pushing past the basic 10 points, you're able to trade, say, 5 pts of power for an additional 10 pts for the purposes of pushing.

 

So, at that ratio, I could increase my 10d6 flame Blast to 12d6 via standard pushing, but could take it all the way to 22d6 - but would then lose that power until it was re-bought.

 

Reminds me of when Banshee burnt his howl out taking down Moses Magnum's island HQ.

 

A less harsh version would allow the power to heal at the same rate as body, rather than have to be re-bought.

 

Ned

Also might need something to deal with multipowers so that the active (not real) cost is healed...

Using XP to raise the Active Point limit' date=' which would still require the appropriate END/STUN expenditure, and any Active Points raised this way would have a fixed END cost, like 5end/active point... [/quote']

 

You could even burn points straight off powers, which could then only be replaced via experience... eg. for pushing past the basic 10 points, you're able to trade, say, 5 pts of power for an additional 10 pts for the purposes of pushing.

 

So, at that ratio, I could increase my 10d6 flame Blast to 12d6 via standard pushing, but could take it all the way to 22d6 - but would then lose that power until it was re-bought.

 

Reminds me of when Banshee burnt his howl out taking down Moses Magnum's island HQ.

 

A less harsh version would allow the power to heal at the same rate as body, rather than have to be re-bought.

 

Ned

Hello Steve.

As Floating Locations are bought separately from Teleportation (6E1 301), when buying Teleport UAA to eg. always bring the targeted individual to a Fixed Location, do I need to apply UAA to the cost of the Fixed Location?

Not much difference points-wise, but they'd mount up if I bought a few Floating Locations.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,

Ned

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete

Much as I delight in the unmatched adaptability, tweakability and sheer depth of Hero 6th 1 & 2, I think this book is a very very good idea.

Ned

Re: Multiform with Cosmetic Variations

Thanks folks - very good points, which got me thinking in more detail about the utility.

Overnight (Hero's the only game system I dream about), I've come round to the idea of perhaps having small differences between forms, so I might end up adding a (small) VPP to each form. This would allow me to define the three forms as small, medium and large birds - and the VPP would allow eg. medium to include raptors and diving birds.

Also, it struck me that I'd want the character to leave bird DNA at crime scenes, etc - so I'll be needing Shapeshift with the Cellular adder.

Even in a low-powered supers game, I think these will be eminently affordable. Thanks for pushing me into deeper thinking.

Cheers,

Ned

Hello.

I want to make a character who can turn into, eg. three basic types of bird (eg. small bird, medium sized raptor, large flightless bird) but who could vary the species so that the stats remained the same, but there was some variation of size and colour. What would be the best way of making this power, please?

I'd thought about Multiform with Variable Special Effects, but that was expressly dismissed by Steve Long in an old thread (though that may've been for 5E...).

What other ways might I do it?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Ned