MrAgdesh

On 12/29/2023 at 1:05 PM, Rich McGee said:

Don't all go inside at once, obviously.  If you really must spend time inside leave one person out to play sentry, rotating shifts as need be. 

This reminds me of the old story of the gulag prisoner that was offered a bottle of vodka by the guards to peddle a bicycle linked to the camp's broken generator. "Drink as much as you want, just keep peddlin', tovarisch!"

After a while, the camp's electricity dwindled away and on inspection the guards found he'd frozen to death.

Died with a smile on his face though. 

11 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

I gotta figure most athletes are speed 2 or 3, max, and those only in sports like Hockey.  Speed 4+ is reserved for military types, combatants who learn how to react well and efficiently in combat.

What about table tennis? I mean the reaction times of those guys is something else.

17 hours ago, Gauntlet said:

Of course if you were to take a person with maximum SPD of 4 and maximum Running of 20 then it would be as follows:

 

20 x 4 = 80 for Total Meters in a Turn

80 x 5 = 400 for Total Meters in a Minute

400 x 60 = 24,000 for Total Meters in an Hour

24,000 Meters = 14.91 Miles Per Hour for Combat Running

Or 29.83 Miles Per Hour for Non-Combat Running

 

Bolt covers 100m in 9.58 seconds so its 100/9.58 = 10.44m/sec.

10.44 x 60 = 626.4m per minute

626.4 x 60 = 37,584m per hour

37,584 / 1609 (km in a mile) = 23.4mph

So yeah. You're faster than Bolt (who, if he's Speed 3 has +9m running)

Hasslefree are great (sculpts by Kev White) but (FYI) their turnaround time to mailing out is quite long - at least 2 months normally, and that's just within the UK.

On 10/9/2023 at 1:35 AM, Steven Wayde said:

Thus, our Everyman need only condition himself to get a SPD 4 to easily achieve a world-class sprint with no investment in REC, END, or Running required! Who knew Carl Lewis had the same Running Movement value as the rest of us?

 

If you think that humans *can* condition themselves to that level. Speed 4 is the speed and reflex time of the Great Cats. If you look in the Bestiary, there aren't any other natural creatures with Speed 4. To be Speed 4 your reaction time is on a par with these animals. You're Tarzan, Doc Savage, Conan the Barbarian. Literary heroes.

Not Usain Bolt.

I mean, perhaps the world's greatest ever sprinter, but if he were to try and out-manoeuvre a hungry lion..? 

7 hours ago, unclevlad said:

You *don't* use UV Perception for forensics.  You're still backwards here.  You use the UV source to cause a visible effect.  To use UV perception, what you're looking for would have to be emitting in UV, intensely enough to be noticed.  

 

OK, for using UV Perception lets use the the example of how a deer spots hunters who have washed their duds in Brighter then White Detergent (TM).

I'd still design a blacklight as UV Perception on a Focus for ease of gameplay.

I'd say UV Perception needs to be cheaper. Maybe 3pts, same as Ultrasonic. It's useful for very specific functions such as forensics and clue hunting. Niche, CSI type stuff. Still has its place but it doesn't work as the book says. For seeing in the dark you have IR or Nightvision (but basic IR isn't Discriminatory so exactly what you can pick up with this is GM discretion).  

10 hours ago, Gauntlet said:

I, a lot of times, will not allow Nightvision as it really gives you too much. I mean what is the point of getting IR or UV vision if Nightvision is available. Maybe in a Champions game it would be okay but definitely not in a heroic game. I give underground dwellers IR vision to see underground and night creatures who do not go underground, such as elves, UV vision to see at night.

'Darkvision' in 5E D&D seems to be an amalgam of Real World Low Light (such as possessed by your typical house cat) and near-IR. so in HERO terms its both Nightvision and IR Vision combined.

Whilst its been proven that many mammals can see in the UV spectrum, a cat (for example) does not utilise this in particular to see better in dim light than we do. It is the structure of a cat's eye in that the vertical slit pupils are able to control more light coming in (than ours) and the presence of a tapetum lucidem to reflect that visible ambient light back through the retina.

UV vision at night does not give "clear as daylight vision" as per HERO. It would allow for certain observations such as seeing phosphorescent urine traces and bodily fluids and even such things as flowers differently (such as those that pollinate by creatures such as moths). In fact, I am reminded of Arthur Morgan's Red Dead Redemption II Eagle Eye ability.

It may also be an evolutionary adaptation in seeing within the UV spectrum as most creatures that can do so do not typically have a long lifespan (more than two decades or so). This would be to counter the blindness that would occur from such exposure (humans have a cornea and lens to protect the retina).

Hmm... Gaming wise, vampires quite probably have UV (which would explain their aversion to sunlight) and probably grow a tapetum lucidum as part of their Turning (which would explain the cat's eyeshine). Their regeneration probably counters any long term retina damage.

Elves on the other hand, with UV, would need to restrict themselves to heavily wooded forests (makes sense) but certainly wouldn't come out in the summer without sunglasses. 

As an aside: I note that 'Nightvision' as an Enhanced Sense first appears in 5E Hero.

8 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Absolutely. How it works in HERO is a legacy of early D&D. But at this point the concept has become so ingrained in the wider gaming subculture, it's an accepted convention in many games.

This is basically what they have said. Modern D&D has “Dispelled Ultravision as a nonsense” 

Elsewhere online “it would be like illuminating a niteclub with a black light” 

Everything I can find on starlight scopes points to image enhancement, use of ambient light, and IR.

Do you have a link to a specific UV use? 

<resuscitates thread>

Like Steve Long (above) "I'm not a scientist" but after a discussion about Darkvision in D&D, physicist friends inform me that Ultraviolet Vision should not work like it does under HERO. Namely, to light up the night like it's daytime, providing you have some UV source such as moonlight or starlight. Apparently there is insufficient UV from moonlight and stars to make it work. In daylight you'd have plenty... which defeats purchasing it and would effectively mean that you'd be  almost permanently Flashed anyhow.

Seems borne up by what I've discovered online.

Delta Green. 

On 9/12/2023 at 8:13 AM, Black Rose said:

 "oh God, the villain is stealing the House of Lords!"

That’s no villain. He’d get my vote.

6 hours ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

I'm not arguing that it should necessarily be easy to hit all the time or easy to defeat, just keep in mind what players are expecting and want from their characters.  After all, some players are there just to do something fun with their friends, or to see how the story unfolds, or to role play their character's personality and background without worrying about how well they do in combat.  But for the ones who care, they care a lot.

In order to lessen the impact of failures (not a bad thing but repeated failures are not fun), I've toyed with Heroic Action Points (HAPs) in the past but I've never really been happy with implementing them in terms of the bookkeeping involved. I've found that players tend to forget about them and I've typically forgotten to remind them, but I do like the idea of them in principle (like Karma in the old TSR Marvel Superheroes game).

4 hours ago, Hugh Neilson said:

Here we have some agreement - the Hero skills system needs an "auto-roll" rule so that what should be routine for the character actually is routine. Clearly being able to make a living with an 11- roll can't mean you mess up your routine job functions 37.5% of the time.

 

You can just use Skill Modifiers for that? An Average Joe who doesn’t particularly think about his job outside of work (11-) should still be able to perform mundane tasks within that job at probably 12- to 14-. 
 

GMs just need to award bonuses for run of the mill stuff, as they would penalties for more difficult applications. 

6 hours ago, MrAgdesh said:

Incidentally, does anyone remember an early breakdown of the rarity of stat values? 

 

I seem to recall that this was in a 1E book somewhere. I thought that it might be under the John Q. Normal section of Champions II but it isn't (although that does provide some info on what typical ranges are for most people) I've checked Champions III and 1E FH too but no joy. Was it in an Adventurer's Club perhaps?

Found it. Fantasy Hero 4E Pg 35 "Characteristic Ranges". 

Characters (humans) with stats of 13-15 are Notable.

Characters (humans) having stats of 16-20 are Remarkable - One in a Thousand. 

Characters with a stat of 21+ are Incredible - One in a Million.

Incidentally, does anyone remember an early breakdown of the rarity of stat values? 

I seem to recall that this was in a 1E book somewhere. I thought that it might be under the John Q. Normal section of Champions II but it isn't (although that does provide some info on what typical ranges are for most people) I've checked Champions III and 1E FH too but no joy. Was it in an Adventurer's Club perhaps?

On 8/9/2023 at 12:33 AM, Hugh Neilson said:

 

Largely why 23  became "default DEX".  

 

23 becoming Default DEX is also possibly the fault of the "Joy of DEX" - another Goodman's School of Cost Effectiveness pointers in Champions II.

On 7/3/2023 at 11:33 PM, Duke Bushido said:

 

The problem with this is the Great Numb.  It is the same problem presented by grimdark settings and the recent wave of Superman universe movies:  you keep hammering home the dark and moody and the players  either begin to suffer from low-key depression or just get so overwhelmed they stop noticing or, at the extreme, even caring.

Maybe if the GM sold this as a four color campaign, but if he’s honest from the get go that this has a heavy Lovecraftian bent, and those players are still up

for it, then it shouldn’t be a problem. Cthulhu players lap up Dark and Moody (and far worse).

Actually, looking at 6E1 pg 377, you're quite correct.

On 7/5/2023 at 9:22 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

By the rules, a weapon that can too easily be replaced or can be represented by any local, handy replacement is OIF; you cannot really be disarmed because you can always pick up something else to do the same thing. OAF is my favorite pistol.  OIF is Jackie Chan using everything in reach as a weapon.

However,  you do have to pick a new ‘weapon’ up, perhaps do a half or full phase more to acquire a new weapon - and more importantly have one present. 
So you can be disarmed I think - albeit temporarily. Weapons of opportunity may also break far more easily and require frequent replacing with actions as they aren’t meant to be used to beat people up of course. I’d lean towards OAF myself.

I am reminded of the plight of Prince Kassim in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) where he is transformed into a baboon via Zenobia's Curse, yet retains his mind (at least in the short term - IIRC the longer he spends in the form the more permanent it will become).

If I wasn't using three trait Transform I would allow Transform to take a small Limitation if it left the mind intact,  because the target would have some way to inform you of its situation - tracing 'Help!' in the mud, hopping to the nearest King's castle in hopes of smooching his daughter etc.

So, to reiterate… for those of you using 4E and earlier, if i have a spell that transforms the target into a frog then presumably I get just that? A frog that has no connection to its previous form? It’s got frog DNA, a frog mind, it has the soul of a frog? 

If I want to have the target aware of its predicament (I want the target to know he’s been cursed) I stick a Limitation on the power?

1 hour ago, LoneWolf said:

The problem is that a mental transformation will not put someone to sleep, sleeping is a physical state.  A mental transformation would make the character think they are sleeping, but not actually fall asleep.  It would more than likely make a person think they are in a dream.  They would still be awake and aware of what is going on and even be able to act.   

 

The other thing is that even if you use a mental transformation the target will be aware of the fact that you have put them to sleep.  Unless you buy the power with the advantage invisible power effects the target of your power is aware of the fact they have been affected by a power.  This is true even if you are using a mental power on someone who does not have mental sense.   A mental transformation can change targets memories, but that has nothing to do with sleeping and would require a separate transformation.  

 

A mental transformation would not make the mind become unreachable.  That would be EDM usable as an attack with a leaves the body behind.   A sleeping mind is able to be reached with mental powers. 

 

A mental transformation does not give it any advantages over a standard transformation except it goes vs EGO and alter the persons mentally not physically.  The cost of transformation is the same no matter what variant you are using.  You are giving mental transformation way too many advantages for free.

 

The spiritual transformation to a frog would probably end up changing your class of mind to animal.   

 

The reason I suggested mind control is that it can accomplish everything you want it to.  It can force the target to fall asleep.  By getting +20 on the result, it will seem like it was the targets idea to fall asleep.  If you want to use transformation buy it as standard transformation and take the advantage invisible power effects so the target does not realize they have been put to sleep.      
 

Sleep is not an exclusively physical state.  Wikipedia defines Sleep as; "a state of reduced mental and physical activity, in which consciousness is altered, and sensory activity is inhibited to a certain extent."

But I suspect that we are debating things more from a dramatic and narrative sense. Nothing in the game says where your original mind 'goes' when its Transformed  - that's left for the GM to interpret. It might be a certain dimension/personal dreamscape whatever. I would rule that if its gone to such a place, regular mental powers won't reach it unless they can be used transdimensionally or, said mentalist can travel to said dimension physically and use their mental powers whilst there.

As such, we aren't going to agree I think. I can see that your Mind Control approach has merit. I can see that my original NND STUN attack has merit. Its just options playing out and I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here, personally. I guess it's what boils down to whatever works in your own (or GM's) game.

If I ever play in your game I'd run Mind Control past you. 🙂