Mark Taylor

Re: Open Followup to Steve Long's answer about being sleep deprived

The house rule we have always used within my group for sleep deprivation is very simple. 1 point of REC is lost after the first night without sleep, another 2 points after the second night, another 3 after the third night and so forth. Of course this does not simulate all of the effects of sleep deprivation but it does have the advantage of simplicity, and it means characters are less and less effective in combat the more sleep they loose. Eventually all when all REC is gone and characters can't recover from END loss at all they will run out of END and 'fall asleep' whether they like it or not.

Re: [Review] Character Creation Handbook

Good review. For me, to make it truly a one-stop shop for Character Creation it would have needed to include all (or almost all) of the new Talents and Perks from Fantasy HERO, Star HERO etc. Also the additional skills from The Ultimate Skill. IMO the most glaring omissions of all though, for a book on Character Creation, are the Size Templates.

I was a little disappointed that all of the above are missing, but it's still a very useful book, mostly for all of the expanded Powers material.

Re: Night's Dawn Trilogy

I've read them - the first two books were great. The third book made me regret ever having started reading them. I often use it as a prime example of what writers should never do.

Snap.

Fortunately, none of that prevents it from being a decent setting for a Star Hero campaign (not that I have used it as such).

Re: Gestalt Now Available In Color

You might look into the Ultimate Series... in a way these books are about taking a "type" and going all the way with. So where as Gestalt can get you going conceptually' date=' the "Ultimates" can help you create that functionality.[/quote']

 

Already got them . I've got basically everything that's not specifically Champions, i.e. doesn't have the Champions logo in the top right corner.

Re: Gestalt Now Available In Color

ah, it creases, it's not a big problem, nothing has fallen yet, and there's like waht 400 pages?

 

It merely seems a tad on the flimsy side.

Cool. I saw the B&W version in my FLGS and bought it on impulse. It seems to have a good enough binding.

I know I'm not much of a Champions fan but Gestalt seems a fascinating concept and bursting with campaign potential - it might even get me into Superhero Gaming!

For those who play regular Champions and have got Gestalt, I would be most interested to know what other Champions books from HERO Games you feel would be useful to a Gestalt campaign - whilst I have around 50 (actually 49, I think, not counting multiple versions of the main rulebook and sidekick) Hero 5th Ed books on my shelf (including everything released that isn't Champions), only 7 of these books are Champions specific as I have only bought the ones I thought would be useful in other types of campaign.

My regular group of Thursday night players have expressed an interest in trying some superpowered gaming and Gestalt looks like the thing that could inspire me to run the genre. Obviously I can't afford to buy all the other Champions books at once, so I'd like some pointers to know what to prioritise.

So far I have:

Champions

Until Superpowers Database I & II

Gadgets and Gear

Conquerors, Killers and Crooks

The Mystic World

Hidden Lands

I'm thinking Everyman would definitely be useful, following that I'm not sure. How about the various villains books? Are they too far away from the Gestalt concept to be useful? Input appreciated.

Re: Gestalt Now Available In Color

Got it today!

Quick hits, color art? Yay!

Binding? Not so much...

 

read a few of the characters, nice. I liked the Anti American the best so far.

What's the problem with the binding?

Re: Traveller Hero Core Books Now Available!

I can answer that. Book 1 is 163 pages' date=' Book 2 is 158 pages.[/quote']

 

Wow! If book one contains everything claimed, it sure packs a lot of info into a pretty small space.

Re: Traveller Hero Core Books Now Available!

For anyone who already has the PDF editions of books 1 and 2, what kind of page count do these have? It doesn't say on the site. Book 1 in particular seems like it contains an awful lot of stuff...

Re: VERY new GM seeking Powers help...

I don't have time to make a sample build right now, but I think as a starting point maybe you want to look at a Telepathy based power, with the Empathy and Side Effects limitations, with the Side Effects being most likely a limited Mind Control (only to alter emotions) or Mental Transform.

If a character has a Clairsentience power which is both Precognitive and Retrocognitive but cannot be used in the standard "perceive at a distance" mode, would he still qualify for the Precognition (or Retrocognition) Only (-1) Limitation at its full value, or should it perhaps be reduced to -1/2 to reflect the Limited Power guidelines? (After all, the power is now only losing a third of its possibilities instead of a half.)

I'm asking the question because the above mentioned Limitation as written at the -1 value only seems to cover cases of Clairsentience with either Precognition or Retrocognition explicitly.

Re: Haiku Hero

This one is rubbish,

I'm lacking inspiration

to write a good one.

Re: Haiku Hero

EB 8d6,

Explosion, Armor Piercing

(80 Active Points).

Re: Looking for FH replacements in D&D Adventure...

Looks like the only thing you need now is a Kobald equivalent. Remember that for a given adventure it is the creatures' roles in the adventure that are important, not their physical forms, so you don't need a direct Kobald equivalent, all you need is a race who can fill their role in the Adventure. A degenerate and corrupt lost tribe of halflings might suffice for example, depending on the situation and context.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

Here's a CHALLENGE for you folks.

Okay, I understand all of the arguments as to why my Stolen Phantasm build is illegal, but meanwhile I have a spell which does what I want (albeit illegally). Nobody else has proposed a solution which actually models the original ability accurately. If you want to find out why, read my previous posts in which I have explained that already. It should have the following properties:

1) For an initial one-off END cost it enables the user to steal control of any active Illusion spell, up to a given active point total (say 60), whether the original caster is present or not. Ideally the success of the spell should be determined by an opposed Skill roll, or at least some kind of opposed dice roll. (Effect dice vs. active points is acceptable, though not ideal).

2) The Spell, when stolen, can be maintained and controlled by the new caster exactly as it would be by the previous one. I.E. it should have exactly the same properties in terms of END cost, duration (if applicable), Area of Effect, any other advantages (including MegaScale etc.) or Limitations.

3) The stolen spell does not have to be built on Images. It can be any valid "Illusion" concept, from Cosmetic Transform to something more esoteric like Drain PRE etc.

4) It should be done for a cost which a non-insane player would actually pay for such an ability. Obviously opinions on this one are going to vary, but if it exceeds say 50 or 60 real points (and that's really at the top end of what it's worth IMO) after the standard spell limitations (Gestures [-1/4], Incantations [-1/4], RSR [skill vs. Skill in this case; -3/4], and possibly Spell [-1/2] if appropriate for the build), I think most players, however much they want the ability, are likely to consider it overpriced. After all, they could buy two or three nice Illusions of their own and a hefty Dispel Illusion to boot for that. In fact as this spell is designed for Illusionists (and the RSR will reflect that) any player buying this spell is likely to have paid for those things already.

So the CHALLENGE is: build this legally. As I mentioned on NGD I'm going to be away for a week, so that should give you guys plenty of time. If nobody can produce a legal solution, I will of course continue to feel fully justified in using my illegal one.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

My point here is a simple one. Transfer is explicilty the power by which you seize another's abilities. The rules are explicit that you do not use a substitute method (again' date=' ideally speaking).[/quote']

 

I understand your point and on the surface it would seem logical, but (particularly if you're looking for orthodoxy according to the rules text) I'd disagree with it. Adjustment Powers explicity cannot be used to give a character any Characteristic, Power, Advantage or Adder he doesn't already have (5ER page 105). There is no Advantage (not even in Demon if I understand what's been said in other posts in this thread correctly) that allows Adjustment Powers to do this. It seems to me that it's stated in no uncertain terms that this kind of thing is beyond the scope of any Adjustment Power, and so it doesn't seem terribly "orthodox" to me that we should look to one for this purpose or attempt to add an Advantage which breaks this deliberate restriction of scope. Even though it is arguably logical to do so, and one might argue that it is the restriction that is not logical (although I personally wouldn't), it is hard to argue IMO that this is in any way an orthodox interpretation of the rules text, when such an explicit prohibition exists.

 

I agree that something like this should be a power in its own right rather than an awkward Naked Advantage or VPP-based construction. I just don't think it's a job for an Adjustment Power. For one thing, the standard return rate mechanism for Adjustment Powers doesn't make a great deal of sense when applied to the concept of grabbing another person's powers wholesale. Note that Dispel is not an Adjustment Power even though it doesn't violate the restriction discussed above, and I'm guessing it isn't for similar reasons why I think this kind of thing shouldn't be an Adjustment Power either. I think we need a whole new Power to represent this kind of thing. It's plain enough at this stage that it can't be done elegantly and simply with any existing Power. The official solution I believe would be to employ a Mimic Pool type VPP, which is neither elegant nor simple, and IMO for most applications (bearing in mind that most applications outside of a Champions campaign would be heavily restricted in what kind of powers they could be used for) it is horribly overpriced.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

I understand the solution I settled on bends the rules, but it is still my preference over the legal solution of using one set of images to cover up another, for various reasons.

Firstly, if using one set of images to cover another the outcome would reasonably have to rest on which set of images had the better perception modifier. This is far too deterministic for my taste. Using a Skill vs. Skill contest to detemine who assumes or retains control actually makes a contest of it rather than reducing it to a "my images are better than your images" type of forced conclusion. This is far more satisfying in gameplay terms.

Secondly, it is more than just a matter of special effects. Illusion spells can be built in a variety of different ways with different limitations and, more vitally, different advantages. How do you assume control of an illusion that has MegaArea if your Control Illusion spell doesn't have it? How about Transdimensional? Other Advantages like Reduced END might not seem vital to the effect... but remember you're supposed to be assuming control of the spell - the same spell - the other illusionist cast, and it should therefore have the same properties. Handwaving the assume control aspect of it as a special effect doesn't really work in the case of illusion spells which deviate from the "norm" (if there is even such a norm). Sticking a bigass Variable Advantage on there "just in case" doesn't work either, for (IMO) obvious reasons.

Thirdy (putting one of my own suggestions from the initial post of this thread aside) the spell does and should assume control of "illusion spells", not "spells built using Images". There's an important distinction! Apart from the obvious Mental Illusions based spells, there are also illusion spells based on Cosmetic Transform or Shape Shift, and even still less obvious powers such as Drain PRE for fear-causing illusions or Flash for blinding illusions come to mind. These are all valid "Illusion" concepts but not all of them can be usefully simulated using Images.

I understand possible ojections to the build I'm going with may include A) it's not legal! and it sets a bad precedent!

My response to A) is "I know, and I don't particularly care", and my response to would be "It only sets a bad precedent if you allow it to". In other words I'm more than capable of letting my players know in no uncertain terms that this is a one-off construction and any attempt to use a similar build to assume control of any other types of Powers is likely to be vetoed way faster than you can say "but you let her do it!". Assuming control of illusions for a relatively low CP cost poses far less of a game balance issue than it might well do for other types of abilities, and I'm well aware of this.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

After thinking about it' date=' I'd have to disagree. 5th Ed., p. 176, says "[b']Usable By Other[/b] This is the typical, or default, Usable On Others Advantage. It means the Power is usable by any one person the character targets -- in other words, the character 'gives' a Power to another character."

 

The way I read that, the character who has the Advantaged Power can decided to give, or not to give, control and use of the Power to someone else. I don't think you can stretch the idea to forcing the owning character to give the power. That, to me, sounds like something much more significant.

Bear in mind I made the Usable by Other naked advantage Usable as Attack. The caster of the illusion stealing spell has complete control over how the naked advantage is used. That's what Usable as Attack does, it confers the attacker total control over how the power it applies to is used, and the power in this case is the naked advantage Usable by Other.

This construct, of course, still bends the rules (in at least two ways that I can think of), but not for the reason you state. As I said before, that doesn't bother me too much. Sometimes you have to bend the rules to get where you want. The Fantasy HERO Grimoire books by HERO Games' own Mr. Steven Long are full of spells that bend the rules for convenience and state as much in the spell descriptions.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

For a continuous power like you've constructed' date=' is the Skill v Skill roll only at the casting of the spell, or must it be re-rolled every phase the power is in use?[/quote']

 

By default it is only at the casting, just like an ordinary RSR.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

Mark---

 

can we talk you into posting your final construct?

Sure. I changed the name because I prefer more colourful spell names and the original bland spell names from GURPS Magic aren't exactly an integral part of the character. At the moment it looks like this:

------

Stolen Phantasm: Usable By Other (+1/4) for up to 60 Active Points of Illusion Spells, Usable As Attack (+1), Continuous (+1), Costs END Only To Activate (+1/4) (49 Active Points); Requires A Sorcery Roll (RSR Skill is subject to Skill vs. Skill contests; -3/4), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4). Total cost: 22 points.

------

The Continuous advantage is required because technically speaking Naked Advantages are Instant by default even when applied to Constant Powers.

The Costs END Only to Activate Advantage naturally applies only to the Naked advantage itself - The caster must still pay END to maintain the stolen illusion spell. If he stops, the Stolen Phantasm spell also ends, of course.

As it's a Turakian Age campaign, of course the character only pays a third of the cost (7 points) for it.

60 Active Points worth might seem like a lot but this is for a Turakian Age campaign so the spell needs to be able to handle some of the more powerful illusions from the Fantasy HERO Grimoire (and it certainly can't handle them all).

I know this construction bends the rules but I don't think it's unbalanced (mostly thanks to the Skill vs. Skill requirement) so it doesn't bother me very much. I'm aware that applying the same kind of construct to various other types of powers besides illusions could potentially be really unbalanced, so I don't intend to go there.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

I think I'm going to plump for the Usable by Other version I posted, though slightly modified to make the RSR limitation subject to Skill vs. Skill contests so that the illusion can resist using the original caster's Skill level. That more closely reflects the way the original GURPS spell worked anyway, and without it the spell seems a little too powerful, allowing the caster to steal any illusion less than or equal to the active point limit with pretty much no chance of failure.

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody posted! As always this board has proven itself one of the most useful resources at the disposal of any HERO System GM or player.

Re: Problem with creating a FH spell.

Okay, this is _way_ out there, but as no one has suggested it yet, I reckon I'll put it on the table for discussion.

 

All the above suggestions are good, but I am seeing a possible flaw, depending on how you feel about GM fiat, and that is that as I understand them, all these powers are used to target another character. In these cases, you'd have to use your 'take over your illusions' spell against the original spell caster, who may not be at home that day.

 

So what I suggest is a way to target the actual power, which has _got_ to be right there; you're looking at it, after all. So I've bandied it around a bit, and well--

 

well, I haven't gotten anything better. But I have one possible idea, though it requires a limited fiat in itself, and that is the allowance of an optional rule:

 

Have you considered using the 5E (and I assume 5Er as well) rules for using Naked Advantages as Powers? Perhaps a quick _Independant_ or _Useable by Others_ (or even a combination of the two) set up with Limitation: _Only vs Illusions_ or some similar construct?

 

 

I wish I had my stuff unpacked so I could check this; it may well suffer from the same 'you're supposed to target the character with that,' but on the surface, I think you can't really apply Power Advantages to a _player_; seems ideal to me.

 

Just thinking out loud. Ignore me.....

Actually, this has potential. Obviously it's bending the rules somewhat, but the following should serve. It inflicts Usable by Others as a naked advantage on the target spell by making that advantage Usable as Attack, a different form of the same advantage... which is a bit screwed up, but I'm trying not to think about it too hard so my brain doesn't hurt. Anyway, plenty of spells in the Fantasy HERO Grimoire books bend the rules to as great or greater an extent, so that doesn't bother me too much.

Control Illusion: Usable By Other (+1/4) for up to 40 Active Points of Illusion Spells, Usable As Attack (+1) (20 Active Points); Requires A Sorcery Roll (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4). Total cost: 10 points.

One of my players has an old GURPS Fantasy character that we're trying build a reasonably close approximation of in HERO System for a Turakian Age game. Problem is, the character has the GURPS spell Control Illusion, which basically allows an illusionist to steal control of another illusionist's currently active illusion spells. Two approaches occured to me. 1) Dispel Images linked to a VPP only to create the same images-based spell, or 2) Mind Control, only to take control of a person's currently active illusions.

Unfortunately, approach 1) would send the character's point cost through the roof, and approach 2) would make it difficult or impossible to take control of illusions where the original caster isn't present.

Can anybody think of another approach which isn't prohibitively expensive?

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download

Shadowcat1313

Tancred

Eodin

Ajackson

Duly REPPED!

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download

w00t! Traveller rocks! Hero rocks! Traveller Hero double rocks!

Written by Kevin Walsh, Randy Hollingsworth, Rob Bruce, and Anthony Jackson.

Excuse my ignorance, but who are each of these people on the HERO boards? I need to rep each one of them.

Re: Armors and weight

One simple question:

weight for armor in pag 334 of FREd (not revised), is for TOTAL DEF or MAJOR DEF?

 

i mean: if i got an armor with 5PD/3ED it weight 14.0 (for DEF5), 40.0 (for DEF 8) or 21.0? (14.0 for PD5 plus 7.0 for ED3)

Look to the last sentence in the left column of page 334, carrying over to the right column. The weight for armor is based upon its largest defense. It would be DEF 5 in the case of 5PD / 3ED armor. 5ER page 487 gives the same information.