shadowmage87

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Hmm...it seems like the prior poster finished the group, but did not give us another team.... The Synthetics are a group of synthetic organisms (or perhaps real people with synthetic parts and augmentations). Their individual reasons are their own, but each of the Synthetics actively seek the following goals: 1) to coerce or eliminate those in the way of scientific advancement of any kind (that includes politicians, activists, government agencies, non-profits, and private companies etc.); 2) to advance technology as quickly, efficiently, and masterfully as possible; 3) to eliminate inefficiencies in current technologies and how people use/market them. This leads to a group that's just as likely to forcibly upgrade a power plant to reduce its emissions and increase its productivity as to kidnap humans on whom to test any number of drugs or inventions. 10 Members

Re: Create a Villain Theme Team! Pride Known simply as the Orator, the leader, the founder of the Sin-dicate is not a criminal mastermind. He doesn't even have a rap-sheet. Officially.... The Orator is not only the physical embodiment of Pride, fully convinced he's God's gift to...well...everything, he's also a preternaturally skilled orator, capable of talking people into and out of acts of incredible charity or heinous crime...able to convince virtually anyone that he's as good as he thinks he is. It's his "oratory skills" that make him practically invisible as a member of the Sin-dicate...he has no record because he can convince you he's to good for something you just watched him do. The Orator has no known identity besides as the Orator, and even that one is shadowy. He prefers to do his work one on one rather than in the public eye. He has a number of VERY loyal go-betweens through which his clientèle may contact him, and directs his talents to the greatest of pass-times, upsetting the political applecart. From generating brain-washed assassinations like it were passing the common cold, to influencing elections, to influencing legal and judicial decisions, Orator is available as a meddler in all things political, to the highest bidder. He also acts as the "face" of the Sin-dicate, talking other members out of trouble (and sometimes into it as suits his motives). Orator is well-educated, and formed the blue-print for the Sindicate so that the major crimelords in the area could better confront the growing threats posed by law enforcement, super-powered and otherwise. Avarice "Boss" Dominic Marelli is THE man to see if you need anything done in this city. The representative of Avarice in the syndicate, Boss Marelli controls most of the muscle in this town. He owns the casinos, he owns the cops, and most importantly, he owns the politicians. He has all the power and money any man could want. And he wants more. Marelli is the most "old-school" of the 7 and has no known superpowers, but he has nearly unlimited resources because his family has been in this business in one form or another for nearly a century. Marelli finds some of the other members of the Sindicate distasteful, but the Orator was able to convince him that it was in his best interest to join.... Marelli sill hasn't forgiven him for it, either.... NEW THEME: Light. They call themselves the Guardian Angels, and some people herald them as such, but many other people see what they do as tyranny and self-gratification. The Angels are devoted to a single ideal: creating Utopia. They even agree on what that Utopia should be. The problem is that they don't only dispatch the villains and crimelords that stand in their way, but also the authorities, and the supers, and even the civilians bold enough to stand against them. Despite the fact that many do not agree with Angels' methods or even their vision of the perfect world, the Guardian Angels have excellent PR, able to spin not only villains in a negative light, but "corrupt" authorities, supers with "unnecessary hero-complexes" who are "unwilling to contribute to real change," and "unruly" civilians. Because of this, the public is divided as to whether their cosmically powered saviors, or despotic and tyrannical villains. EDIT: I think I might have gone a little overboard on my theme.... EDIT, Part deaux: 9 members.

Re: FRED: Molecular Level Telekinesis @ Bloodstone: Well, the SFX is having the molecular bonds of a body or object dissociated and pulled apart, so by hard to heal I mean the SFX have to either re-associate those bonds, or rebuild the body with outside materials. I think standard healing and regen COULD work, but they'd have to work more slowly. Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been trying to avoid building a prohibitively expensive power while I've been brainstorming it, but you guys are right there, I can't figure out a way not to make this an expensive power.

I'm building a character for a campaign setting that is currently on hold. ATM the power level of the campaign is uncertain, but is unlikely to go below superheroic. The character's not one I'm likely to use, but is more likely going to be an NPC or possibly a character for another player. The character is in law-enforcement, I think an FBI agent or a scientist for the law enforcement branches of the government. Her powers are basically small-scale telekinesis. She has two major powers (although I'm looking at two defensive powers for her too). The easiest one to model is her freezing power (DRAIN SPD or DEX and BODY), where she slows down molecular motion to the point of flashfreezing objects. The opposite power, however, is harder to model. She basically excites an object's or person's molecules to the point that the bonds destabilize and the object explodes. EB doesn't seem to quite model the effectiveness of the SFX. I was thinking DRAIN BODY, with limitations that it takes longer on more complex/dense items. But I also want it to be REALLY hard to heal back the body. So like a +2 Adv, not recoverable by normal means. Is this a legal? If so, is it too round-about? Should I just suck it up and use EB?

Re: Campaign Idea: Silly, or cool? It's an awesome idea for a campaign, IMO. If you don't have anyone who's touchy about religion, you could mix it up by making the two sides morally ambiguous. Give the PCs the occasional reason to doubt whether they're fighting for the right side. For example, make heaven a domineering force, willing to sacrifice individuals for the greater good. Meanwhile, hell is fighting heaven because they view angelic forces as oppressive, but they are often divided and can border on anarchic. Just a thought. Cool campaign idea though.

Re: The City of ???? The sunken city of R'lyeh is the resting place of Cthulhu in H.P. Lovecraft's mythos. It's supposed to rise from the see again when the stars align and pretty much humanity is worthy (read senselessly violent) enough to be worthy of being destroyed by Cthulhu. Problem is it's remote in the Pacific Ocean. Hmm...I'm trying to think of sunken cities...or kingdoms associated with water.... You could name it Aegae, or Aeges, or Aiges after the home of Poseidon in the Odyssey. ATM that's all I've got.... Will keep thinking on it though.

Re: The City of ???? I really like Avalon...you have no idea. Alternatively, it's a bit overdone but you could go with Atlantis. If it were in the Pacific I would suggest R'lyeh, but no one would EVER name a city that. And even if they did no one would ever go live there.... I think I'm swiping this for my campaign, BTW. It adds another mystery on top of the whole, "Why did all these people suddenly become metahumans for no reason?" thing.

Re: Altered Life Death Cycle Effects I have a question: how do you tell the difference between torpor and sleep? Is there a distinct difference? Does the heart actually stop? If the difference is not obvious, then how long does one have to be asleep for it to be a torpor?

Re: Altered Life Death Cycle Effects Let me first say that this is awesome. I think a game could be a lot of fun just toying with this concept. So, on to impact: 1) Religion. Religion would be different. It would serve essentially the same function, (i.e. explaining things like purpose and "death") but it would have different flavor because of the torpor. I would imagine there would be less general fear of death, for one thing, since death progresses naturally after torpor, which is just an extended sleep, from which a few people even wake. Thus a lot of the mystery and fear of death would evaporate. Not all of it, but a lot of it. So you would have terms or phrases like "walking the waking world," "walking the dream," and "living the dream" or...I don't know, something less corny...but some dream-related thing to show that the person who's gone from torpor to decay has permanently entered the dream world. Popular religions might be daoist or Manichean in flavor, with a Waking God and a Dream God. 2) Medical Oddities. Given the system you've set up, it is not inconcievable that a person could (incredibly rarely) enter the decay stage and then wake up. Needless to say, this would be horribly unpleasant. 3) Legal Ramifications. What happens when a criminal enters torpor mid-sentence, then wakes again? Has he fulfilled his debt? Your initial wite-up would suggest so, but it might be one of those things for which there are specific provisions made in the legal code. That might also be a difference between kingdoms. One holds your debt fulfulled, one doesn't. 4) Philosophical Ramifications. This cycle could have incredible ramifications for your metaphysics. It would almost certainly be dualist, with all things (at least all living things) having a dream and physical component, although it is possible that monism would be exceedingly popular. That's all I've got off the top of my head...I'll keep track of this and post as I think of more.

Re: Images and Invisibility This isn't illegal according to the rules, but the justification is hinky. An "image of transparency" doesn't make sense. An "image of the stuff that's behind me," however, is a justifiable SFX. That said, it would be much cheaper and easier on your PC (who seems to be confusing mechanics with SFX given his argument against you) to by Invisibilty, Sight Sense Group; Usable as Attack; probably the limitation Bright Fringe to represent the apparent ease with which this power is detected.

Re: Why Watched? Yeah. My games tend to make heavy use of Psychological Limitations. I'm big on the "If you have one rule, that's the one I'm going to try to make you break" thing. That said, more than one, MAYBE two Wanteds doesn't fly with me until later in the campaign. But yeah...no limit on the number of PLs you can take. I eat those things up.

Re: Ok, chargeable power question I think this should help some. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/78423-Watched-too-much-DBZ-when-I-was-little-FrED

Re: Why Watched? I am just THAT good a necromancer...if a little rusty on my Disads rules. Soc Lim does have a roll attached to determine how often it comes up.... Yeah...didn't even notice the date on the thread. Just saw it in my related threads thing on the bottom and...commented.

Re: Why Watched? 1) Mavnn, what you're trying to avoid is a Psychological Limitation, not a Social one. You can disregard a SL, there will just be ramifications. PLs are the ones that are more innate...compulsive. Hard to ignore. I tend to ignore Hunteds and DNPCs because of the rolls. They're a pain to keep track of, GMs don't remember to do the rolls, and if the rolls are remembered and followed they get more tiresome, intrusive, and annoying than useful as hooks or for fleshing out characters. Anything you can build using a Hunted or a DNPC you can do just as easily with a Psychological or Social Limitation. For example, Mavnn's UNTIL agent could take Social Limitation: Subject to Orders. Functions exactly the same as the Hunted, but doesn't require a roll. If he chooses to ignore orders, he has to keep it from UNTIL, no change. But the GM doesn't have to roll dice to see whether or not UNTILs internal regulative service has him under investigation...AGAIN. It becomes relevant at the GMs leisure, but is something that still has to be on the PCs mind (and thus makes a more interesting plot hook).

Re: What does a Time Elemental do? That's right, time elemental is not all-powerful. Just like a single water elemental can't control the whole ocean, a single time elemental can't control the whole timestream/space-time continuum. Only the local one. Only "nearby" time just like nearby water. Potential powers of the Time Elemental: sticking characters in a localized time-loop (forcing them to repeat the past round or two) freezing characters (EB + Drain SPD and DEX) slowing characters down heating characters (EB + AID SPD and DEX) speeding characters up turning attacks back on PCs bending attacks around him (deflection) having characters swap places stopping time to gain extra actions or to avoid attacks etc...

Re: What if... I usually don't like Superman, but I actually thought the "What if...?" where he lands in the Soviet Union rather than the US was awesome.

Re: What does a Time Elemental do? I would see a time elemental as something like a singularity...not something that has access to the whole time stream, just the local one. But the more of them there are in one area, the more of the timestream they have access to. So, you'd have a lot of cool powers they'd be gaining access to in groups, but not relevant if you're only planning on building one. I'd also see a time elemental as something around which weird things happen, but which doesn't have a lot of outright offensive powers. Basically, just stack auras (persistent effects) around the thing. It obviously needs a speed of twelve, and defensive stuff like the ability to warp projectiles and/or spells around itself by bending space-time (deflection), drain SPD and drain DEX. Offensively a freeze attack (slowing you down to the point where you take cold damage) the ability to turn your attacks back on you, a heat attack (speeding you up so that your body starts overloading and overheating, probably an EB with attached AID SPD and DEX)...the possibilities are endless. I think you could even justify a domination power that forces a PC to repeat a set of actions (they're stuck in a loop in the time stream).

Re: Watched too much DBZ when I was little...FrED Wow...that's so simple...I can't believe I missed it. Thank you.

I want to build a power (EB or RKA, haven't decided yet; probably AoE cone) that gets more powerful and/or bigger the longer you charge it up. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to do it using FrED's rules. I have to be missing something obvious. Have I been looking at this too long? How would I build this?

Re: First Wave of Superhumans: How Long? I will agree that it is a matter of how you define the First Wave. My campaign is first wave no matter how you slice it; it starts within 2-6 months after the sudden, unexplained emergence of superpowers across the world. I will, add however, in addition to the possibility of a generational gap, or shift in governmental treatment of supers, you could have the shift be in the motivations/attitudes of the supers themselves. So basically, you have a bunch of Paragons of Virtue being replaced by Brutal Vigilantes. In this case, I would say the difference between waves (and the reactionary rise of the second wave) would probably be 15-20 years.... Although I think if your supers actually have superpowers and emerged suddenly, things would probably move in the opposite direction, with brutal, unfettered chaos being followed by Paragons of Virtue (if slightly tainted and blood-stained, depending on your setting) trying to reign in the chaos. I hope that helps....

Re: Balancing Magic and Martial Characters in a Fantasy Setting Thanks for the quick input everyone! I've been to killerstrike's site before, and I'm building my magic system off of ideas I got from there. It's been a while though, and I think I'll have to go back to look at things again. That said, I've not actually played Fantasy HERO before, and my worries were based mostly on my experiences with nigh-unstoppable bricks in Champions. Thanks again for the input!

Hi. I'm looking to build fantasy-HERO game to go with the high-magic setting my friend and I have concocted. I've come over from DnD, but I don't want to do a direct conversion for 3 reasons: 1) I disagree with the direction DnD took some of its archetypes and am basically rewriting them 2) I dislike the balance issues 3.x had, but I also dislike the cookie-cutter approach 4E took to fixing it 3) I see no reason to mimic the complexities of the leveling/multiclassing system of DnD when simply freeform mixing and matching of abilities will work 4) I don't want it to feel exactly like DnD. I don't want a mage to 300 spells, 290 of which he doesn't use. But I have a problem with balance. In DnD 3.x magic was far too powerful, but in HERO I feel that the opposite might be the case. I mean, given how cheep and easy it is to make a brick in HERO, is there a good way of keeping a big flashy caster (wizard, specifically, my sorc works very differently) on par with a simple fighter, short of just giving the fighter less points? At the moment I see three options: 1) create a maneuver system similar to the spell system I'm building 2) just give the fighter enough points to buy his equipment and subsequently reduce the max AP of powers used from mage's VPPs, as well as the CP of monsters, etc. 3) just leave the casters to their VPPs and give the fighters points on par with that Problems: 1) this is a lot more work for me, though this is sort of what I'm leaning towards 2) this is highly limiting since the only real magic weapons and armor in this setting are artifacts and exceptionally rare 3) this leads to bloated Characteristics and casters with slightly more options on the fly than I'm going for Does anyone have any ideas?

Re: Alterate Timeline: 9-11 Averted 9/11 did happen in our campaign setting. Supers don't exist until 2012 in my campaign setting, so I'd have to do a lot of backtracking to figure out what it would actually do to our heroes. The EPD (emergence of powers day) is basically the 9/11 of our campaign setting, that is, the world-changing event that radically alters the way worlds and countries function, etc. In my estimation, no 9/11 wouldn't change our campaign setting too much. EPD would still cause a mass hysteria leading to massive calls for governmental expansion and superhuman registration. Actually, the response to superhuman emergence was modeled partially on the response to 9/11, and partially on the response in Marvel Civil War.

Re: Interesting Fantasy Locales Location: Kalin's Freezer OLD: a giant's freezer, waiting for dinner...wait... Themes: cold-resistant monsters, flying monsters, 3D puzzles and trap doors Description: Kalin's freezer is actually a demi-plane where every surface has its own gravitational pull. So if you jump with enough momentum from the floor on one side, you'll fall on what was your ceiling. Add to this an intricate system of trap doors leading through caves of ice that keep the freezer cold. Hooks: You're captured by a giant as you're going about your current quest. Or maybe you intended for yourself to be captured, so you could rescue someone or something from the giant's clutches.

Re: I killed a PC. Brilliant Quozaxx. Brilliant! I heard it too...but it didn't occur to me to derive all of the lyrics...good one. Killing PCs is oddly satisfying, but we're new to HERO, so all of my experiences killing PCs is in games where PC generation is not nearly as involved as in HERO.