i3ullseye

Re: Balancing Attacks and Defences Power Levels

Basically, you are right. But again, the defenses are very cost effective against killing attacks, Against regular attacks it woudl be another matter entirely. Maybe the issue coudl be that you have designed most of your basic adversaries with only killing attacks in mind, and magic in general is a great reason to have normal damage massive attacks flying round. Lighting for example CAN kill you, but it can also just zap you and do almost no physical lasting damage whatsoever. I woudl say a lighting bolt should be normal damage. Why have that as killing?

Re: Balancing Attacks and Defences Power Levels

I don't know that I agree completely. Sure, some powers can be way more powerful defensively, but at the same time you have to consider that in fantasy your defenses are usually items, and not inherent. So the item itself tends to dictate its terms. Using magic then sure, you can create a pretty good defensive magical spell, but again this is more limited than an inherent defense.

Plus at the basic levels, the defense of the same costs will stop most (or all ) body from attacks, thus saving a characters life... but the stun can often get through.

5 = 1d6 blast

5 = 5 basic defense

If you roll that 6, stun gets through for each increment, where the body does not. It is slim, but there is still a chance. Now with killing attacks this is certainly going to favor the defense, and I think that is the point. Defenses are costed more effectively against KILLING damages, but against standard damage they are on par, with the atatck having a slight chance to be effective.

Plus a defense has to spend DOUBLE do be effective versus both Physical and Energy equally. So that basic 5 defense listed above is only going to be 2 def for one, and 3 def for the other... so the attack has at least a 50/50 chance of geting stun through, but it still blocks all the body from either one.

Re: Help name a character

Depending on how well this character can copy other individuals, or looking like anothe race or species.... Facade might be a good name.

Re: M&M: this is a Nightmare?

My only problem with the DC system is one of scale.

The DC universe is generally way higher powered than any other comic universe. The scale was a linear doubling on each action point. So 2 was twice the strength of 1, and 3 was twice the strength of 2, etc.....

This is fine, but it leaves WAY too much grey area. By the time you hit strength of 6, you are already 16 times stronger than an average man.... and Superman had 50!

HERO certainly ahs the best power scaling, with 5 active being the doubling point, but it gives you that breakdown between the doubling points. Mutants and Masterminds kinda suffers from a bad power scaling also, hence the reason it works at a certain level range (about 7 thru 13) and starts to fail at all others.

In the old Marvel game, and the new one, it was never really an issue. Their ranks were never straight doubling, and they have a pretty finite cap to keep the range to about 12 at most overall.

Still, again... HERO wins hands down in this department.

Re: Hero Character Portfolio -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I am with the Killer on this one. My Excel is just fine for custom layouts and such.

But if one is to be done, it might not be bad to list every combat maneuver, martial or otherwise, on one sheet with checkmarks and costs next to them... along with a line for custom name like the name the maneuver has in the particular art it is taken in. This wasy an advanced martial artist has everything they need, and just writes in the flavor name and the cost.

A character figure with specific armor value listings for piecemeal armor would not be bad, so the various values can be written in on say each leg, each arm, etc...

A small encumberance/lifting chart so strength values can be figured out, and maybe movement rates can be broken down by phase, by turn, by MHP, etc... also woudl be nice to have on hand immediately.

I do like the idea of the main sheet being shorthand form, and then each successive page can get way more detailed on each topic than a standard character sheet, so it would fill both roles. You hand it to someone at a convention table and they have all they need on sheet 1, but if they want to understand how all that got there, you have the following 7 sheets to explain it in ultra detail.

Re: M&M: this is a Nightmare?

Ok, there are 3 game systems I like for supers, and in general. Each ahs their strengths and weaknesses.

1) HERO

This is still my favorite game system for ANY Genre. hands down. But I can rarely run or play it as many of my friends are too intimidated by it. I been playing since about '83, and have seen the growth of the system, and even I find frEd to be daunting. and each new book is thicker than the last. now I KNOW they are all just creative uses of the rules in the main book, but it gets unweildly real fast.

I wish I had a group that was more willing to tough it out for the first few months and get the hang of it, I KNOW they would be sold. But many of them prefer D20 flavor D&D over anything else.

2) M&M

Now this is NOT really a D20 game. It is different enough to actually barely be classified as such, but it does retain alot of the great ideas form that system, like feats. Power construction is simplified HERO, and the mechanics are all a single die, so very streamlined.

It doesn't handle speedsters well at all (only HERO handles speedsters well IMO). It is great at power levels 8 thru 13 or so, but any lower for street level and it breaks horribly. Any higher for cosmic supers and everyoen does the same damn things. And even worse than a poorly run HEROs game, everyone will have max Att and max Def and everything will be very blah. But a good and fast system nonetheless.

3) MURPG

Diceless? can it be any good? Well, once you give it a shot it is GREAT. The easiest game for a new player, yet the story telling format allows even most veterans to flex their mental muscle with ease. It handles everything quickly and smoothly. And you have the whole Marvel universe, with great NPC stats, to pull from.

The only real weakness here is one of poor writing. There are some vague areas, and a LOT is left to itnerpretation. With a good GM this is fine, but with a novice it is a recipe for disaster. Speedsters are NOT very well handled, and some powers do not scale well. You have no minimums for things like Invisibility, and rank 1 is completely effective (M&M suffers from this same problem with many powers).

I think the real difference between the three is a matter of granularity. HERO is the most detailed, uses the msot stats, has the most dice, but gives you the best balance and control. MURPG is diceless, compeltely free form, and a real story driven game, with completely loose rules that the GM has to 'make up' as they go. This has its own real benefits, but can leave the GM 'flying blind'. M&M is right in the middle here.

NONE of them have random character generation, an idea that is horrible in supers games. But only HERO ensures that no matter what powers and abilities are pciked, the characters are really well balanced against each other.

So... own all 3 is my reccommendation. I do...

Re: Is It Worth The Points?

A bit off topic here, but to add.....

I had a character with extra limbs.. inherent, invisible and indirect. That way they could be used with objects intervening...and I added variable effect to make it multiple limbs whenever I needed since extra limbs can actually be ANY number normally, very much like touch range only TK.

And then he had an entire martial art based around using extra invisible limbs for surprise and such. But in this case my GM hated me using them unless it was for my combat maneuvers. I would usually use them for casual book reading and such, and he tried to hammer me with Endurance cost at every turn, state I needed direct visual contact (whcih limbs don't), etc... So even when I was using them for things my normal hands could do easily, he just could not get his mind around them being just that, extra normal limbs for all intents and purposes.

Now I don't think the usefulness, or lack thereof, really becomes the issue. I think it is understanding the ability sometimes, or just a general distaste for soemthing that seems alien to a particular persons mindset. The worst thing a GM can do is make sure every character is built and played as HE would think it best done. And that is really when a lot of this comes into play, especially when the GM is actively min/maxing at every turn, which many GMs who are novices are probne to do.

Bad guys are just combat numbers on a quick reference sheet to them early on. It takes a while for them to grasp that each character, both PC and NPC, needs to be a fully fleshed out entity for the game to be really immersive. NPCs need to learn and gain XP also, and need day jobs, and need to take the bus sometimes.

So alot of the good or bad GM ideas, or good or bad player ideas, really come down to general roleplaying commitment (that is, commiting to playing a character isntead of rolling dice in combat), and familiarity with the system at hand, so that things will be reactive instead of forced number crunching.

Re: DEX vs. CSLs

Myself... I tend to avoid buying many levels at character creation... but I pick them up with experience later. To me they represent character growth. I use them more in mundance campaigns (with NCM of course) like fantasy, but for supers I focus more on raw abilites with new heroes.

But this quote here.....

I just dislike the explanation of "I'm just trying to maximize my points." Sets me off, don't maximize your points - maximize your concept.

Actually I try to Maximize my points WITHIN my concept. I do it for all the villains when I run the game also, so the PCs had better be on their toes when they make their heroes also. I have yet to see a concept that says the guy MUST have a 17 Dex... but I have seen many that would make him near peak human, and hence 18 is the best target number to shoot for.

Re: THE ULTIMATE BRICK -- What Do *You* Want To See?

First, nice look on the forums. Been away from the site for a long time now, so it all seems fresh and new to me.

For bricks.... non-brick bricks. What do I mean? Maybe a subconscious telekinetic that enhances your strength with telekinesis (ala Superboy). Maybe a gravity control usable on others and objects by touch. Many many variations can fill this, where you are not neccessarily strong, yet you fill the brick role.

Under new marvel stats the hulk has the accelerated healing. this covers his never tiring. the new system is pretty damn good actually. an very easy to convert to other systems.

Hulks strength range......

Starts at 10 -this is the ability to lift 100 tons. This has always been his strength since the first marvel RPG.

But when angry he gets up to a Strenngth 18. they don't give the scale for numbers above 10 on the D&R chart. but you can get the D&R chart from their site if you want to try to see how the stats work in the system, and how you would convert them ( http://www.marvel.com/murpg) . There is also a sheet with stats for Spiderman and Storm, and I also have this info linked at the forums (http://murpg.proboards19.com).

I do hope the basic races that have appeared, if they appear as creatures, also have racial template rules for making members of that race.

Korobokuru, Bakemono, etc.....

I am not so sure why Tengu might be let out, but you certainly must have a simian race, led by Wu Kung, the monkey king.

Heres the real issue.....

Creates versus Conjures.

Say you have a pyromancer and a pyrokinetic. Both can create a blast of flame. What you have to ask yourself is if they create the flame magically, or if they generate a real flame.

If they generate a real flame, then anyone vulnerable to flame takes extra damage, but it is not categorized as mental OR magical at that point.

If they create the flame out of their respectyive power type, then those vulnerable to both Flame AND their power type woudl take the extra damage. A magical flame is then both fire AND magic.

Now in my worlds, mental/psionic actually generate real world effects. Only the items that have a direct mind to mind, or mind to target, interaction count as mental. if it is defined as a pyrokinetic, it created real flame.

Magic in my worlds creates a magical force in the likeness of the effect. Magical fireballs are both magic AND fire.

And it makes a big difference.

Buy the invis.

Realistically speaking, NO velocity woudl give you the invisibility if you return back to the same spot. Assuming you want to influence things in ne small area, while moving very fast, the end result woudl actually be like a film or Zeotrope. you woudl become a flicker of images superimposed. So you might look jittery, but you woudl still appear to be there. think of the spokes on a fast turning wheel.

Scapegoats...

Allow more than a few NPCs to go with them. And make sure your nasty beasts eats a few, and then is not hungry so leaves the rest. That is the wonderful thing about NPCs, and even Non-DNPC henchmen. The fear of mortality is rarely there for the players themselves, they don;t think you will kill them. They are too important.

But Alex the Stable Boy they bring along to feed the horses is fair game!

Well, in order to keep the divine on Par....

ARCANE: at elast -2 in limitations, one of which must be -1/4 spell failure if armor is worn. Then set them up buying individual spells and working from there.

DIVINE: at least -2 limits, one of which must be -1/4 to follow the mandates of the faith. Then set this up like a gadget pool which is set at each morning prayer.

I also like to use END reserves for divine magic, to represent drawing their might from an otherworldly source.

ARCANE based on INT, and DIVINE based on EGO.

ARCANE can have expendable Foci and gestures, DIVINE can have fixed foci for holy symbols.

You can certainly keep the flavor of each, make them different, and yet balanced.

Well, the latest set due is Independant Clix. They will even have Judge Dredd!

So, it is not impossible for soem to sneak into this set. Actually, you coudl do a whole set of the various RPGs out there, and make each RPG their own faction in game, or two.

Now, my question.....

Has anyone analysed clix values to see if we can come to a point system for custom builds? Then we cousdl indeed incorporate some custom clix ourselves. Maybe even do a conversion rules write up for HERO to Clix. This coudl allow for some advanced options to be added to Clix even.

Never said they were 'weak' per se.... and remind me not to try to type so fast so late at night again. Sheesh.

No, rogues do not get to learn new skills cause they read it in a book, but the rogue does not forfeit a point or two in XP each session for the GM to work with either. In my system the Mage always recieved 1 or 2 lower than anyone else, but in game these were made available to them again with the expansion of magical knowledge. Sure, I could just let them spend it.... but this gave a story and game related basis as to how thier abilities increased, and how the acquired a new spell.

Now the equipment pool is NOT much extra book-keeping, because as I stated, you use it as an estimate. Another reason I like spell colleges were the inherent restrictions. I always apply limitations to mages based on the amount of armor worn, and in some cases, the amount of metal on their person. There are many other ways to keep mages from being armor wearing sword mages, and restrictions on the magic itself is the most effective.

I don't track it point for point with equipment, I use it as a rough estimate. If the warrior has 2 magic swords and magic armor, he is less likely to find anything tailored to HIM in the next treasure trove. If it is there, the forces on the items conflict or cancel each other out, or I come up with some other creative way to remove the item from them. And if you are open with your players about the balance aspect of the pools, they normally agree pretty readily to stay within reason.

I just really don't like games of this nature to have characters PAY for their items. Takes the whole treasure finding aspect right out of it.

Also, I often have players in many of my games pick a type of character they want to be, and then set a few basic rules for point distrobution. Warriors can have 100 pts of stats and 50 for skills, etc... Rogues get 50 for stats (or thereabouts) and 100 for skills. And mages get 50 for each, and use the last 50 for their magic. This again is never a strict MUST DO rule, but a guideline to ensure not all characters cover every aspect of the game. You might have the 100 pt stat rogue if it fits the concept, but the concept is what needs to be most important.

None of this matters in my henchman games anyway.... where I start them at 75, then let them earn 10 a week till they hit 125.... and have to justify where they learn everything form there.

Yeah, not a bad idea at all.

I still think race is better simulated by a different set of everyman skills, but then using this as a layer for profession or culture would work very well.

Ok, I haven;t really seen this discussed anywhere, but I thought some of the ways I have balanced mages in my games in the past may be helpful to others out there.

See, the problem with mages is they buiy a lot fo magic inherent to themselves... meaning, they pay the HPs for them. The fighter or rogue of the group just buys stats and skills, and can run to the local shop to pick up a sword. Maybe the local alchemist for some Greek Fire or a potion of Invisibility.

The end result is you have a fighter type based on the core amount of points in your game (we will assume 150 from ehre on out), and THEN he gets all his nifty weapons on top of that. The Mage is mostly self contained. So where the mage may indeed do some things no one else can, he has less active points available to him overall.

So a 150 pt fighter with a abttle ate (45a/15r) and a dagger 24a/9r) is actually at 174 real... and potentially 219 active... points!

And the mage is at 150.

So how can we rectify this? I for one LOVE the idea of item/equipment pools. If you set a pool limit in your game of 50 for example, then no character can have more than 50 real points of equipment. Some people set an active point limit, but this gets a bit rough on the bookwork. And it also gets restrictive when magic items come into play. So being strict with this is not the way to go. Also, you can't put a mages spells on the equipment pool completely, because then he has inherent abilities in this pool that no one else does.

So first off, the characters need never know how many pool points they have. This coudl be an estimate you run in your head. They get over... and items suitable for them may stop appearning. Maybe you force their hand to trade items out. It is not easy, but you SHOULD think in terms of equipment pool overall when you look at each character balance wise. Even a 200 pt character will seem useless next to a 100 pt character with 200+ points in gear.

Which brings us back to the mages......

Now I really favor spell colleges, but I normally like putting them all into a multipower. The mage is indeed pating for them this way, but if they find a spell, this allows them to use 1 pt for 10 in an ultra slot. This is simply the most efficient use of points available. So the thing to do is factor ACTIVE point totals on the characters and gaugge from there.

We need nto worry about the ultras not being used at the same time. This is a non-issue. The warrior can also not swing 2 axes, a sword and 5 daggers at once either. But when XP time rolls around, always give your mage a few points less and let him know it is intended for character growth. Then during the course of play, when he finds that dusty old tome and sees an invisibility spell, he can instantly scribe that spell and pay those 3 points for 30 active.

Another approach to this is the power amplifier. If things do start to get a bit out of sync, maybe the mage finds an artifact that ADDS to his multipower reserve while worn. It coudl also have inherent abilities that draw from this pool now. In this way the mage can actually have an 'equipment pool' item that helps him be betetr at his inherent magic.

it can be tricky, but if you keep real and active point costs of items on par wbetween characters, and then make the effort to allow your mages the same actiove point totals, your game will be more balanced and your players will probably have more fun.

Well, the base cost of an EC woudl suggest a -1 limitation. Since points paid in initial (say 30 pts) are basically doubled for the sub powers.... 15 pts gets you 30. Now -1 certainly is alot, but this ignored the base power itself.

So lets assume a 30 pt base... and 3 powers added. Becuase adding only one power to the EC is kinda pointless, you really need 2 to get the real effect.

Base 30 +15 power 1 +15 power 2 +15 power 3 = 75 Pts for 120 Pts active.

Everything being in even quarters, this is indeed around -1/4 give or take. Lets do the same with JUST the -1/4 lim...

30 (-1/4) = 22 per power... or 88 total. Not much difference.

BUT>.... doing it this way, any power can have any power level and still apply the same -1/4 limitation. It need not be in increments of the pase power, nor does the point savings stop if you exceed the basic power. If one power is 50 active instead of 30, the entire 50 can have the -1/4 savings, not just the first 30. And any 15 point power can be dropped in and STILL recieve that -1/4 savings.

In the end, EC is actually more restrictive than this purchase wise, easier to calculate... and once it is all said and done, will cost about the same.

In it's simplest...

buy a multipower.

each spell must be acquired to be available.

Some spells are ultra slots, some are normal.

As the power resource grows, more powerful spells could be added to the mages spell list.

So hey could indeed use 3 ultra slots costing 1 each for basic defense, flight, etc... if each only costs 10 AP each... with only a 30 point ppol

You can also apply limitations to some slots that they require a certain pool total, even if they don't use all the pool... example might be invisibility. It may not COST a full 40 APs, but it can certainly have the limitation that the mage needs a 40 AP pool before they can acquire the 2u spell slot.

So you can let their power grow, and limit powers based on that growth to suit your tastes.

Now since the spells can only be available if acquired during the game, this prevents the mage from dropping a single point to gain 10 AP worth of power each and every game session. And also woudl prompt them to progress in other areas if you dry up the scrolls available for them to learn from.

so then take a linked disadvantage on each... or maybe a limitation linking their effects in case of drains. but then you end up with the same point savings, just more math. so EC really just makes it a shortcut. you can get to the exact same result without ever calling it an EC, but there is then way more work involved.

Hmmm..... I took a Wolverine approach one time.

Unbreakable foci, reinforced skeleton IIF......

It generated the Regenration and had 10 inherent body. So as long as this unbreakable foci existed, the character had base 10 body and would regenerate. it is a horrible rules abuse, and a very slack interpretation. but ya know, if our the GM, thats all that matters!

Here were a few i was thinking of running. May get to a few of them, may not. but all woudl work well for lower level HERO games, which i prefer to supers.

#1- Invisible Man:

Based in the Sci-Fi series. One character becomes invisible, the others may have just typical agent powers... or even a unique power of their own. 100 to 125 points woudl be best as it woudl give them an edge on agents and thugs, but still be a skill based affair. Limit each unique power to abotu a 25 active point total, and each woudl require a restriction fo some sort.

You can expand the idea that each of the ones with abilities are ex-convicts given their freedom to be part of the program. Each woudl have a dependency to keep them loyal, per se. There were even a few other unique powers in the series itself.

Invisibility is a natch....

Minor Telepathy....

Short Duration phasing.....

Machine Telepathy.....

etc.....

one great twist was in an episode where they were investigating a murder on an Indian Reservation. It seemed like a sasquatch was doing it, but no one ever sees a sasquatch. When Darrien goes invisible, he can see the sasquatch, and it turns out his invisibility gland was likely transplanted from a sasquatch all along! hahaha.

#2 - The Chronicle /the Night Stalker

Classic idea. You are a reporter(s) working for a Enquirer type rag paper. you are investigating the 'truth' that ther people deny. Classic zombie and vampire type fare. Androids and aliens abound. Great fun for skilled normals, about the 75 point range.

nice thing about this is its episodic nature. Each week can be vastly different than the next. one can be filled with humour, and the next coudl be deadly serious. this is like Horror HERO, but with a tension release valve built in.

#3- Good vs Evil

This is the one i really wanted to run, but my group doesn't quite get the idea/ You have died.... you are not quite good enough to go to heaven, but not bad enough to go straight to hell.... so you are given an option. You are recruted by an organization known as the Corps. You are going to save souls to prove yourself and earn your salvation.

See, there are demons called morlocks... and they go about making deals with mortals. these mortals become Faustians, because they sell their soul for power, or wealth, or whatever. Your job is to stop the morlocks, for which purpose you are given a ritual dagger... the only way to killthem. and you try to get faustians to renounce their deals and save their souls.

Catch is, you are 100% normal. The others may have powers, and some coudl get pretty nasty... but you have to get it done with almsot nothing. In the series one of the agents was from the 70's, and the other from teh 80's, so characters can pull from various timeframes within reason.

Characters woudl be in the 75 to 100 point range. most Faustians would be around 100 to 125... and morlocks could be 150+.... but they have a severe weakness built in to those damn daggers.

..... just some ideas.....

AnotherSkip- .........

Actually, a dwarf would LIVE in the tunnels and mines. So they really should know something about potential cave ins and navigation. 8- isn't much, but it woudl be enough for basic survival. Sort of like us nowadays, we shoudl have 8- communications systems. We may not all HAVE phones, but we all know how to use them.