DigitalGolem

Steve; I'm not clear on Star Hero's rules for planetary climate. The initial average world temperature includes the greenhouse effect of high levels of CO2 in its atmosphere. However, on worlds where life develops, most of the CO2 is removed, which brings me to this question: Should the world's temperature be adjusted for the reduced greenhouse effect, or should it stay the same? thanx heaps, DGv3.0

School me on planetary climate, if you would. I'm working with the planetary genereation rules in Star Hero, and there's something I'm not clear on. During the "life" step, it says that plants remove most of the CO2 from the atmosphere. But after that, what happens to the world's base temperature. Does it stay the same, and if so, how? Or does it drop due to reduction of the greenhouse effect? This results in some life-bearing worlds eventually becoming too cold to support life. Is this an in-game version of an ice-age/thaw cycle? After glaciation sets in, and the plants (mostly) die off, the CO2 level would increase, which will eventually raise the greenhouse effect again, ending the ice age and allowing plant life to return. Repeat cycle. This is an interesting possiblity; I'm working on a campaign setting where earth-like worlds are extremely rare. And this type of long-term freeze/thaw cycle would fit very well. But I'm not sure how long this cycle would last, or how much time is spent in each phase. If an earth-like world is oscillating between ice ages and warmer conditions, what are the odds of finding it in either state at a given point in time? Input on these questions would be greatly appreciated. thanx heaps, DGv3.0

Interesting problem. I'd suggest a stasis field, designed as an uncontrolled Speed Suppress. He won't get out if he never gets another action. But eventually somebody would release him, once they figure out how. "I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathy." --Ash, Alien L8r, DGv3.0

I think there's also an economic angle to this. If the Terran Empire (or anyone else) decides that their ships will only have one drive or the other, then they'll need to build, maintain and deploy two completely different fleets, with very different capabilities. And each fleet would have its budget reduced by the needs of the other. DGv3.0

Marcus; have you been looking at my character sheet?!

Star Hero has lots of info on other types of stars, and the effects they have based on distance. There are two systems used in SH: the simple, easy one establishes temperature zones, and describes how far from a given star type they are. The complex/realistic one uses the relationship of stellar luminosity and distance. (4th root of luminosity, divide by square root of distance) The 'zone system' is probably what you want, unless someone in your gaming group has the "Lightning Calculator" talent. DGv3.0

From (I think.) Fred; Missile reflection vs. thrown weapons; "It's all in the reflexes." DGv3.0

I wouldn't worry about that, in terms of active point maximums. Once a MP slot is "maxed out", it actually costs more to raise its active points; the character has to buy up both the MP Pool and the Slot(s). It ends up being 10 to 20% more than a similar power outside the MP. For slots that aren't maxed out, yes, raising the active points doesn't cost much. But unless the pool is also increased, there's still a hard ceiling on the active points the character can use. Raising a force field from 20 points to 30 is easy. But when using those extra points, a character has to trim back on 10 points worth of other active powers. Or buy up the Pool, which brings us back to my first point. As others have pointed out, sometimes there's a problem with buying new slots on the cheap. IMHO, the solution is to have well-defined special effects for the MP at the start of the campaign, and make *&^%$#@! sure that all new slots fit the effects. [sarcasm]Look guys, my sniper rifle can heal people now![/sarcasm] I don't think so.... thanx heaps, DGv3.0

True. In the example I used above, charges on the Reserve's Endurance is not allowed. (The Rec has charges.) And I agree absolutely, that sort of power construction is abusive. DGv3.0

I'm using it for long-duration power supplies in Star Hero; put charges on the Recovery, and you've got a power supply that's good for so many charges, then goes dead. Most can't be recharged easily; they need fissionables, Helium-3, or anti-matter. Some can't be recharged at all, such as mysterious alien artifacts. So the actual advantage level varies considerably. Some examples At one Recovery per turn: 1 hr = 300 charges 1 day = 7200 charges 1 month = 216,000 charges 1 year = 2.6 million charges I've extended this back a few million years, for artifacts from vanished "type K2" civilizations. Anybody need an extra singularity? DGv3.0

There's a similar limitation for invisibilty; only when not moving, but I forget if it's -1/2 or -1. You might compare it to that for reference. DGv3.0

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Trolls The second (and third, fourth, etc.) accounts are often referred to as "sock puppets". For the "Troll Powers" EC, I'd suggest using a limited form of Duplication for this, Only in web forums (-2) and possibly an Int-drain side-effect (-?) DGv3.0 edited to add: extra limbs would be needed for any sock puppets after the first two.

I'd suggest using a nonselective area of effect. If I understand this correctly, the attack can effect multiple targets at once, but doesn't necessarily hit all of them. DGv3.0

My thanks, for pointing out that PDF. Gotta download that one soon! DG

This is one of the very few problems I've had with "Fred"; there's a section on Movement Powers in the beginning of the Powers chapter, then listings for each individual power, then more "power" info in the combat sections. If I hadn't learned about the Joy of Movement Levels back in the 1st ed, I'd still be clueless. They seem to keep getting buried, somehow. As if someone was keeping them a secret...

one other thing... a couple of levels of "rapid" sense modifier on vision would also simulate the effect of being able to see the bullet coming towards the characater. You know, like this: )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))--

I read about an interesting variation of the Kardashev scale. Carl Sagan noted that the K-scale types were spaced too far apart to be of much use. ("too granular" in rpg terms?) However, each was about ten orders of magnitude larger than the one below it, so adding a decimal point and one more digit resulted in a useful log scale, in which each tech level controls ten times the energy of the one before it. The entire Kardashev-Sagan scale runs from 0.0 (no technology) to 3.0 (entire galaxy). A further extrapolation could extend this to include higher K-numbers, with successively more galaxies put to use; 3.9 = a billion galaxies! Earth is currently around a K 0.7, according to Sagan. This roughly corresponds to TL7 in gurps, or in Traveller. What I'd like to know is; how do you use tech levels in Star Hero? What effects will they have on availability, mass, cost, and/or power level of various types of sci-fi "hardware"? Should there be a defined "tech curve" which determines the effects of advancing technology? For example, if I upgrade a weapon from K1.1 to K1.2 (on the Kardashev-Sagan scale), does it gain one or more damage classes, OCV bonuses, or other advantages? How much will its cost/mass/etc be reduced? I'd like to hear what approaches others have tried. thanx heaps, DGv3.0

If you want a "realistic" rationale, one gravity is about 5" per segment, or 60" per turn, so the flight required to hover would be equivalent to that. (from Star Hero) But if it was me, I'd just make sure I had enough altitude to "free fall" for a phase and use the EB on full power. Or take a side effect of "flight, opposite direction" to simulate a very high recoil, and fire straight down at my target. Okay, I know that's kinda silly, but it'd be fun, right? DGv3.0

I ran into this problem running Fantasy Hero a few years ago, but this applies to the Hero system in general, so I'm offering my idea on how to handle it here. I use the term "permanent" to mean any spell or effect which has an extended duration from the Persistent, Inherent, Continuous charges, or other advantages. I allowed magic-using characters to have up to Ego/5 spells active at the same time. (As opposed to Int/5; magic was defined as "an act of will" in this campaign.) I eliminated the ban on permanent spells, but they counted against the Ego/5 limit. The "in-game" result was that spell-casters could create permanent spells, but they had to give up a spell slot for the duration. And they could only do it up to Ego/5 times in their entire life. (or until the "permanent" spell was somehow ended.) The long-term result was that most magic-users would do this only after careful consideration, and when they did, it was a major life event for them. It had a lasting influence, not only on the game-world, but also on the character's reputation. Create a shrine where visitors' ailments are cured, and your character would be considered a saint. Cast a curse on a place or a family, and you'll be remembered as an arch-villain for generations. I hope somebody finds this idea useful; I realize it won't be appropriate for some campaigns and/or playing styles. thx, DGv3.0

Re: Worldmaker Okay, here's one; I just wrote up a character who happens to be an MD. (No, I didn't use hippocratic oath as a disad.) He's often "on call", so he has to go to work on extremely short notice, or at inconvenient times. I'd generalize this to a sub-class of social limitation called "Professional Obligations", or maybe just "Day Job". I think in most cases, this would be limited to "minor restrictions", as the worst thing that could happen to the character would be getting fired. (If you can call that 'minor'!) DGv3.0

I just told Chuck about this thread. He's rather upset.

I've designed a couple of different FTL drives with the "side effects" limitation, which occurs any time the drive is used improperly. So the PC's know roughly how much trouble they'll be in when they do something crazy. I've also got a random table for "variable side effects" to keep things interesting.... DGv3.0

The recognition effect sounds like a form of Retro-cognition, possibly with a mega-scale advantage. --if I understand what you're trying to do. (?) DGv3.0