sbarron

Re: Fighting against more speed If you can abort to both offensive and defensive moves, everyone would immediately abort to their next phase at the earliest possible opportunity, wouldn't they? There is no penalty in aborting to your next phase, so why not get your phase in as early as possible? However, allowing this would actually solve the problem, I suspect. Because everyone would abort to go as early as possible, no one could abort again to get a jump on things. So all characters would get their phases in the proscribed manner, just a little bit sooner on the chart than was intended. The SPD chart is designed so that everyone's actions could be tracked, and characters that spent more points on DEX and SPD could go first and more often. Characters with a 4 SPD have a distinct advantage over characters with 3 SPDs. If you don't like this fact, then you should probably consider ditching the SPD chart all together, and just have everyone determine initiative based on their DEX.

Re: Build that Character on 350 points Challenge

Re: What would the character sheet for a MMA competitor look like? Seems like that would have to be a pretty bad damage roll for him to be essentially unharmed by a bat to the head... I'd give a baseball bat 4d6N. That seems like a pretty good fit to me, all the way around.

Re: What would the character sheet for a MMA competitor look like? Here is my best guess at a middleweight or light heavyweight MMA fighter for a realistic game. This assumes a fighter that wins about half of his professional fights, and is fairly run of the mill as MMA fighters go. Generally, these guys are decent athletes. Many were involved with college athletics or at one time had olympic aspirations. The truly great MMA fighter are world class athletes, and there is a marked difference between that level of fighter and the one I've statted out below. Obviously, certain types of fighters, and certain fighting styles, would need to alter this write-up to reflect their particular abilities. Some very general observations about MMA fighters I've watched on TV... 1) Stronger fighters seem to have less endurance than average, 2) Some excellent BJJ guys seem to be physically weaker than average, 3) tradional wrestlers generally seem to be in excellent shape, but frequently lack striking skills, 4) etc. So, without further ado... Middleweight MMA Fighter STR: 13 DEX: 14 CON: 15 BOD: 12 INT: 10 EGO: 10 PRE: 13 COM: 10 PD: 6 ED: 2 SPD: 3 REC: 7 END: 30 STUN: 30 Mixed Martial Art: 15 points worth of moves from Muay Thai and Brazilian Jui-jitsu. PS: MMA fighter KS: MMA world KS: Common opponents KS: Martial Art styles +2 with Martial Art * Edit: upon further consideration, I decided to lower the STR of this Middleweight down to 13. Weighing in at only 170 lbs puts him at a distinct STR and size deficit when compared to his larger athletic counterparts. I needed to leave room in the STR chart for NFL QBs (10-13), LBs (13-18), and linemen (15-20).

Re: Build that Character on 350 points Challenge I looked into this a bit. The truth is, I just don't know enough about the character to even attempt a build. I read some sort of 5 part eComic of hers on-line (http://www.darkhorse.com/zones/horror/downloads.php?did=288). But even after reading this, I still don't know how strong she is, how dextrous she is, how resistant to damage from attacks that can hit her, etc. I know she has invisibility, is insubstantial, can fly, and has two .45s. And I know what you said she's done in some of her books. But without more concrete info on the character, I really don't feel like I can take a legitimate stab at building her. Maybe you could start this with a character that is a little more mainstream? You know, just to get the ball rolling?

Re: Helm of Ossai

Re: Helm of Ossai I broke out the component powers so its easier to see what's there. I also tried to refigure the calcs, adding OIF and Independent to each power, and making the transform be a side effect of the Mind Control rather than a seperate power. You know, there really needs to be a template for creating magic items that makes it easier to follow and cleaner to use. Maybe something like a Multipower setup, where all the limitations and advantages that apply to all powers listed at the top, and then ads and lims specific to powers listed within the writeup for those powers. The current deal with using the "plus" within the body of the write-up is incredibly cluttered, especially in situations like this where there are several elements to the item. So...someone should get to work on that.

Re: Actor Package Deals Will Smith almost always has a foot chase scene where he catches the guy. So I'd give him +3" running.

Re: Concepts You Just Can't Build on 350 points. Part of the problem with statting out "concept" characters is that you can't get married to the final evolution of the concept with only 350 points. Notice, you say that you're having trouble modeling an "immortal," but then later in the thread you mention you're using the Highlander as a template. You then say that Superman is a character "concept" that can't be modeled for 350, and then say the same thing about Green Lantern. These guys aren't character "concepts." They represent the concept because we so closely identify the character and the concept, but they're not the same thing. Superman's character concept is probably "flying brick with some energy projector powers." Green Lantern's concept is "fancy energy projector, through a ring." Reed Richards is "gadget/science character with stretching." Spider-man is "spider-based powers." You can easily create characters that model these "concepts" for 350 points. What you can't do is create the 50 year old comic book character that shared the same original concept. And actually, I've always found it really liberating when I'm making a concept character when I go back to the original concept and start from scratch. Does "danger sense" really make sense for a "spider" based concept? Probably not. And that frees up some points to help with actually modeling the concept, and not the 50 year old character.

Re: Question about Velicoty based Hero

Re: Couple Questions (STUNx and Magic Casting) I always think examples make things clearer, so I'm going to use your example... The set up: Sir Knight has a sword that does 2d6 killing damage, and has the advantage "+1 STUN multiplier" on it, right? I think that's what you mean by StunX of 2. Also, you're using hit locations? Damage Calcs: Sir Knight attacks, and does 7 points of BODY damage. He rolls his hit location and hits the Stomach, which has a Stun muliplier of x4 and a BODY multiplier of x1. So, normally, Sir Knight would do 7 BODY (7 * 1), and 28 STUN (7 * 4). However, Sir Knights sword has the advantage "+1 STUN multiplier." So, instead, he does 7 BODY (7 * 1) and 35 STUN (7 * 5). Had Sir Knight hit his opponent in the head, he would have done 14 BODY (7 *2), and 45 STUN (7 * 6), since head shots do x2 BODY and x5 STUN, or x6 in Sir Knights case because of the +1 STUN multiplier. Basically, as was explained up-thread, you're either using hit locations or you're not. If you are, then you do not roll a STUNx die. Instead, you use the STUNx listed on the hit location chart. And since I'm pretty sure you have a character that frequently uses normal attacks (rather than killing attacks), normal damage attacks calculate their STUN from what they roll on the dice, and then use the NSTUN column to determine if a multiplier is needed because of the hit location.

Re: Combat Changes Everytime a thread like this gets started, Markdoc comes in and says he runs his games this way, and then I chip in and say that I do the same thing. So...well, I do the same thing. I don't do it because of infections or the scarcity of magical healing, though. I just think that most villians don't want to hurt the PCs bad enough to die over it. So, a decent shot to head/vitals/stomach and the badguy is done. A couple hits to the chest or legs and the badguy is done. He's had his fill and just wants to get home alive. And if that means playing dead or begging for his life, so be it. The trick with making this system work is to not have badguys get back up and threaten the PCs after they have been out/down. Can they come back another day? Sure. But the first time you have a baddie get back into the fight after being knocked out, the PCs are going to start slitting throats left-and-right. And I guess you can't really blame them. They probably cut their teeth in D&D, killing kobold babies for the experience. That's a hard habit to break! I know. My name is sbarron, and I'm a recovering D&D addict. Not inlcuding a brief relapse after 3.0 came out, I've been sober since 1990. I've still got my 4th edition Hero System Rulebook on the shelf.

Re: Combat Changes I woke up this morning realizing that reducing the STUN effects and leaving everything else the same will have some unintended side effects. The big one I think is that it will take several hits to kill even the most pedestrian characters. Given armor in the 4-6 DEF range is available, and 2d6 killing attacks are the norm, it could easily take 5-7 hits to bring somone down to negative BODY, and thats assuming that you mix in a couple of shots to the head/vitals. Combat could get very...long. The high STUN multipliers tended to shorten combat, because you could usually get a knockout with 2-3 hits, even if it took many more to actually kill something. But with knockouts being less likely, you're left with having to do 20 BODY to take your average villian down, while on average only doing 1-3 BODY per attack. That might really reduce the fun. Well, just something else to think about while doing your mock battles.

Re: Combat Changes Of course, just because a situation is common in real life doesn't mean you want to have it in your game. I mean, how many Orks did Legolas knock out in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and how many did he kill outright during combat? This always comes down to the type of game you want to play and the genre you want to simulate. If you don't want your PCs to have to "clean up" the battlefield by dispatching all the knocked out bad guys, then reducing the effect of stun can help do that. If you want to simulate real life combat in 11th century Europe, then you probably need to develop rules for infections and disease killing far more soldiers after the battle than actually died on the field...by a large margin. Both totally valid "rule settings," dialed in to simulate what you want. But providing a very different game for the GM and the players.

Re: Combat Changes I like all three ideas! #2 and #3 seem to better simulate what you're looking for, and I think its great that you willing to tweak the game to suit your tastes. #1 does this as well, but I wonder if its going far enough? My experience with HERO combat has been that characters tend to get knocked out by one big shot to the Head, Stomach, or Vitals. STUN just never seemed to get nickled-and-dimed down to zero, because a big shot would always works it way at some point. Given this, I'm not sure doubling the STUN def. of armor will really make a big difference in the number of knockouts. It will help, certainly. But HERO hit locations being what they are, x4 and x5 STUN multipliers make knockouts a real possibility in every combat. Maybe switching to a straight x3 STUN multiplier, or maybe even x2, would work better for you. Personally, I might try something like x2 STUN multiplier for every hit location except the head, which I'd make x4 (since getting hit in the head is really the most likely way for someone to get knocked out, isn't it?). I'd keep the BODY hit locations multipliers as is. Upping the STUN defence might do exactly what you're looking for...honestly, I've never tried it. But, keep some other options in mind in case that doesn't have the effect you want. And please come back and let us know how these house rules work out for you! You're group is like guinea pigs. They can get these rules tested upon them for the greater good.

Re: Relativistic Effects of Interstellar War Actually, I'm not so sure the cost would be so outragous. Because basically, when you send a unit out into combat, its not going to come back for at least 10 years your time. And for many missions, the unit will not return for a 100 years or longer. Plus, you wouldn't have to pay them while they were gone... You would have to refit each unit when it came back, though. The technology would advance so much you'd have to. And when a unit came back, it would be a very rare commodity. A unit with combat experience would be rare indeed for the first few decades of a conflict like this.

Re: Blocking Maneuver Question

I'm reading "The Forever War," by Joe Haldeman. One of the scenes from the book involves the first ship that Earth sent into interstellar combat (through a combination of "jump gates" and near-lightspeed travel) ecountering an enemy ship that has much more advanced weaponry that any alien ships that they had encountered to that point. The explanation that the captain gives is this: while to them it has only been 8 months since their ship left Earth, 9 years have passed everywhere else in the universe. So the initial enemy ships that they faced were roughly from the same time period as their own, and had the alien's base-line technology. But the new ship they fought was the result of several years worth of alien wartime technological advancement. Basically, as the captain so poignantly put it, they were fighting a ship from the future. Their future, so to speak, but "the future" none-the-less. I find this idea fascinating. Has anyone used anything like this in their games? Most sci-fi settings use warp-drives or hyperdrives to skip all the hassles created by relativity in their games. I'm wondering if anyone has played something that tries to take these issues on, specifically as it deals with advancing tech levels?

Re: Okay here is my soup, needs some more spices? I agree with the group that scenarios where "winning" means that the group actually lost aren't a lot of fun. Especially right out of the gate. The basic elements of your plot are great. I'd just tweak them a bit, so as to allow the Heroes to win twice. First, I wouldn't put any actual Viper personnel at the Mall. Hostage scenarios never work. Not even in the comics. Give Viper enough credit to know that any agents that take hostages and then blow up the mall are going to be sent to prison. There is no reason to risk people that way. A better approach would be for the Viper to plan to... 1) pre-record the public video announcement, 2) set exposives in mall garage and mall before it opens, as planned, 3) set up video cameras so hostage negotiations can be conducted remotely, 4) take hostages once mall opens, stashing them in a central room...a Spencers could be fun, though any store will work. 5) set mall security system to lock all doors, and assign robot guards to prevent hostages from escaping or being rescued, 6) leave the mall through secret sewer access to go steal the plutonium, 7) remotely run the video announcement, 8) remotely detonate the explosives in the mall garage. 9) eventual plan would be to remotely detonate the explosives to destroy the mall. The scenario should be run the same, but rather than fighting actual Viper agents, the PCs will only be fighting robots and disarming bombs. Once they get to the hostage area and execute the rescue, the PCs should learn of the secret sewer access. The early exit by Viper and any other clues you want to leave should tip the PCs off that the plan was never to collect any ransom, and that the true target is the plutonium. Personally, I'd put the plutonium shipment on a ship in the bay. The PCs would get there just after Viper had seized control of the vessel. More fighting ensures, with small Viper water-craft buzzing around the water level, guys with jetpacks controlling the air, and plenty of agents on the decks of the tanker ship. Fighting ensues. PCs save the day.

Re: Silly idea: Sword & Source Code

Re: Block As a GM, I wouldn't let you "deflect a ranged attack in melee combat." However, if someone attempted to use a focus that fired a ranged attack against your character while within H-to-H range, I'd certainly allow a character to attempt a block. Redirecting the aim of a gun would probably be easier than blocking a sword without a shield, right? That's because a block isn't actually a force on force maneuver. Block is just a game mechanic to allow one character to aviod a hand-to-hand attack aimed at them, and then go before their attacker in the next phase. So, block can be visualized as "dodging the attack and putting yourself in position to counter," or "taking a punch on the chin, while putting yourself in a position to counter," or most commonly, "blocking a punch with your arm, putting yourself in position to counter." All three of these are valid descriptions of a block, and only the last one would "in reality" have anything to do with a STR vs. STR contest. So, basically, that's why.

Re: Weapons with SPD scores? I looked at it the other way. A supers character will only be able to use this power every other or maybe every third phase. So, half the time its not available (-1). I admit I cannot reconcile the difference other than through GM fiat. Fortunately, when addressing issues like this, I'm not afraid to use 2 guns, each on alternating phases.

Re: Weapons with SPD scores?

Re: Burglary tools for a crook in a superheroic game I'd just make a VPP called "Thieving Kit." Then you could include... Crowbar, +STR only for prying/lifting, Bolt Cutters, HKA, only for what fits, Slim Jim, +lockpicking, only vs. cars, Lockpick Tools, +lock picking in general, Police Scanner, Radio Hearing tuned to police bands, Tools, screwdrivers, hammer, ratchet, the works, 50' of rope, a staple of crooks throughout time, Blackjack, +xd6 HA, etc. No sense in limiting yourself with specific tools. Think of this as a utility belt for criminals. But maybe as a backpack, instead.

Re: Shared Clips {sbarron vigorously waves his hand, simulating a GM doing the same}