TheEmerged

If the official types want to answer I'd like to hear it, but I'm betting it's pretty much what I said -- that Aid with the Costs END limitation is about the right price for Aid. 5 pts per d6 is too low, but 10 pts per d6 *without a healing function* is too high.

Point The First: Aid isn't as expensive as you think it is. Yes, the base cost is 10 points per d6 and that's not a typo (we knew that one was going to happen well before 5th Edition hit the printers). So what am I talking about? Aid no longer costs END. That's not a typo either. Figure in the "Costs END" disadvantage at -1/2 and that's not-quite 7 points per d6 before advantages. That's a more reasonable cost. Point The Second: While less of an issue in superheroic campaigns, Aid at 5 points per d6 was a cheap way for characters to temporarily get around Normal Characteristic Maxima in campaigns where characters have NCM by default. Maybe your experience is different, but in mine few battles last beyond 2 Turns anyway. Again, I want to emphasize this was mostly a problem in NCM-default campaigns.

Welcome! Personally, I'd recommend picking 5th up. While there are a few issues I'd quibble with and two I have a problem with (the Suppress & Damage Shield changes), but for the vastest majority of cases 5th is superior. This is especially true for the way 5th expounds the power descriptions; in the case of Change Environment and Force Wall, powers that were just given paragraphs in the BBB have two full pages under 5th. Especially in the case of Change Environment, the rule expansions for it represent a massive improvement -- bringing it into the same category as Mind Control & Transform as a "How Do I..." power, in my opinion. If you'd like a good idea of how much has changed, I have an article on this subject at my website -- linked HERE. The article may seem light on particulars; the reason for that is I didn't want to reveal so much information in so much detail that people could use the list in place of buying 5th Edition. HERO is a ruleset; saying it's the "best system for a [insert campaign type here]" is actually something of a misnomer. The system used won't matter nearly as much as the quality of your GM. That said, in my opinion there's nothing on the market right now that deserves to tie HERO's shoelaces in terms of being internally consistent and genuine capability to be used across genres. There are systems that have an edge on HERO in particular areas -- I personally think GURPS Psionics are better than HERO's mental powers, but not by much. There are also those people (usually people that haven't played it more than once) that deride HERO's "complexity" -- which is only partially true. HERO's learning curve is steep and initial, but once learned is actually much easier to balance and use successfully than the morass of exceptions & special cases in other systems. -------------------------- Since you have the BBB, I can't recommend "Champions" all that heavily. There's one chart in it I photocopied and placed in my 5th Edition book, and haven't opened it since. However, Champions has a number of "easy use" bases and that sort of thing if you don't want to do that kind of legwork yourself. Ultimate Martial Artist on the other hand comes recommended. Ninja Hero & Star Hero are also good choices if you're interested in running those genres as well (I found a lot more in Ninja Hero I'll be using than Champions, even for my Super Hero campaign). Similarly, you probably won't need the Bestiary for a super hero campaign but it comes recommended otherwise. CKC (Conquers Killers & Crooks) does get a pretty serious recommendation if you want to run a superhero game. It cured my #1 complaint about most of the previous supplements (not enough character examples) in a big ole' hurry.

RE: Absorption into COM, effect = costume getting torn up. I am SO stealing that General. I use a scale similar to the one in GURPS. You've probably seen in person someone with a 20 COM in your life -- the same goes for someone with a -10 COM. The hottest of supermodels would be in the 24-26 range, and anything over 30 is superhuman and require a Darn Good Reason. 16-18 is the range for the "neighborhood beauty quest", the woman who "would've won the pagent if the judges had eyes". 10-15 is the above average range: if your office has more than 20 female employees you probably have two or three of these there. 8 is the "real average", with 1-5 as the "slightly ugly" range. At 0 you're ugly I don't like to use real-world analogies, because that invariably leads to questions of taste and other vagueries. For example, I'd rate Pamela Anderson a 14 because of her face & eyes -- I *work* with women that look better than her, in my opinion. I'll almost guarantee that's the minority on these boards

FREd, sidebar on page 166. "Impressive As All Get Out". Insert joke about Steve's sanity here

Speaking for myself, the VIPER book is on the list of the supplements I never managed to pick up (never found it for sale when I had the cash). My traditional answer has been that King Cobra IS the Supreme Serpent, with no COIL.

The two biggies for me are Sanctuary (Neutral Ground) and CLOWN. I've defined an event in my world's timeline in which CLOWN gets raided by Primus and as a result their current membership is about 1/4th of what it was before, but other than deciding that April Foolmaker was "killed trying to escape" (my world has an anti-psionic backlash) I haven't picked who got to stick around. In particular, I know I have to make a decision about Black Harlequin (CKC) and what his relationship to Merry Andrews is. Also, my version of the Champions has more of a 4th Edition bent. I have NightSeeker not NightHawk, Solitaire instead of Witchcraft, and Jaguar is on the team.

Thanks gang. I'm correcting a very ignorant error someone emailed me about tonight, and submitting it for linkage. One thing for the record on the "If you don't like it, veto it" front: I have more of a problem with the argument than the tactic itself. I will certainly veto anything in my campaigns I find out of whack. That's still no excuse for perpetuating a rule flaw And I'm going to have to find a new name for "Defender Exploit", being that the character in question no longer has Normal Characteristic Maxima. Nothing has suggested itself yet...

/* dons his Rule Geek hat Absorption vs Flash would be neither PD or ED -- it would be FD. Since FD must be assigned to a sense group, one would assume the Absorption vs FD would have to be assigned as well. This makes a certain kind of sense, given that the special effect of a Sight flashing power is likely to be very different from one that flashes sound. As JohnTaber pointed out but I feel the need to repeat (it's a common error among people who move to HERO from other superhero RPG's), the Absorption power offers no defense against the attack: it allows you to become empowered by the attack. Reducing the damage of the attack is STRICTLY covered under the appropriate defensive powers (PD, ED, Power Defense, Flash Defense, Mental Defense, and powers which grant the above like Force Wall, Force Field, and Armor). /* switchs his Hat Mutlipower to the "Game Master" slot Of course, just because that's the mechanic doesn't mean it should work that simply. The special effect should play no small role in whether or not the absorption applies -- then again, one could argue that should really be true for FD in general. Consider this: all of the following attacks are usually handled using Flash a> Bright light to the eyes b> Sand/irritant to the eyes c> Covering the eyes Now, personally I'd run "c" with a Usable As Attack Darkness -- especially if the player specifically wanted to use this power to bypass certain logical FD sources (enclosed, polarized goggles could defend against "a" and "b" for example). But then I'm a Rule Geek

Generally, I use Mind Control with the Telepathic (+1/4) and One Command Only (-1/2). As a house rule, I allow One Command Telepathic powers to be bought +0, to make them fit in multipowers more cleanly. Another trick worth mentioning is the "and stay down!" tactic -- generally a REC suppress bought with a continuing charge.

How much has changed? Follow This Link... and forgive me for tooting my own horn Side note: think it's time I submitted that for HERO Links?

Odd question, since I've been working on the details of my own campaign's version of the American Superhuman and Paranormal Registration Act (ASPRA) -- my own version is called the NRA (Nova Registration Act), so if I slip and use that term instead I apologize. I looked for but failed to find information in CU5 about who has access to how much of the information compiled by/for ASPRA, especially as it related to the public at large. In particular, do employers in the official CU have the right to ask prospective employees if they are registered, and/or have the right to contact Primus (which according to CU5 is responsible for the ASPRA) to see if prospective employees are registered? I would assume the answer is "NO" given that this has strong potential to violate genre convention (secret identities), but isn't that just the sort of thing the public would expect if they supported such legislation (cf Megan's Laws)? Thank you for your time.

/* laughs heartily

RE: Dispel Does Knockback. Actually, I had never thought of this (and boy, were my players disappointed that THEY hadn't either). However, I find that my old "HA" rule is an adequate fix: figure the cost increase for damage-affecting advantages as though the Dispel had a base cost of 5 instead of 3. You can make the case that Dispel is Suppress with the "All or Nothing" limitation, after all. By "damage-affecting" I mean anything that is dependent on the dice result (like KB), increases the dice result (like Autofire), or how the dice result is defended against (like Armor Piercing). I do something similar to this for END Reserve as well: for the purpose of any adjustment powers or any advantages on the reserve, figure the active cost as though the END had the same 1/2 pt cost as "normal" and RED had the "normal" 2 pt cost. -------------------------------------------------------- Having allowed my Game Mechanic time, it's time for my inner Game Master to chime in. Dispel/Does KB is one of those things that, while you *can* do them in the rules, probably shouldn't be allowed without sufficient justification -- the infamous Darn Good Reason.

/* doublechecks Monolith's post before he makes a fool of himself There's another difference between Autofire and Sweep/Rapid Attack -- Sweep/Rapid Attack carry a 1/2 DCV limitation. Depending on the CV level of your campaign, that can be problematic.

The Ravagers (well, that's what the press dubbed them anyway), the villains my PC's are running, operate from Butler County Ohio (between Cincinnati & Dayton). This puts them distressingly close to the Justice Battalion (pro-Registration Act good guys), which operates out of a refurbished Union Terminal in Cincinnati -- as well as to the main branch of the Defiants Proper (anti-Registration Act good guys), which exists to the north.

Physical Limitation, takes damage done to twin. Probably in the Frequent, Greatly territory (15 points). You could also write them up via Duplication and take the Feedback limitation at -1.

Hmm, obviously it isn't TOO high since I've been able to change mine -- I think I was around 50 but I don't trust my memory.

Re: title change Sounds about right.

Woot, looks like I've stumbled into the CotN fan club! Personally, there are several things CotN did better than most of the supplements -- I realize I'm repeating other people a bit but let's tie 'em together shall we? Lower Power Levels. It's always easier to add a few CV or DC than remove them. Useful without overshadowing the PC's. This is related to the above but separate because it's quite easy to "short sell" a character so much they end up being cannon fodder. More interesting characters. Anybody can make Another Fire Chick. Fire Drake, on the other hand, has a job and the skills to actually perform that job (this has always been a pet peeve of mine). Several of the characters in CotN were little more than rewrites of previous characters (Leaper/Foxbat, Titanothrope/Ogre, etc) and yet with just enough of a twist to be more interesting. Better female characters than most supplements. Not that I'm going to pick on any particular supplements (High Tech Enemies, European Enemies...) but most of the female characters in CotN actually bore some resemblance to, you know, actual women. Even Ambrosia comes across better than the usual "Pinup Bait". ----------------------------------------------------------------- RE: Normals Unbound. Actually, I'm going to dissent from some of the others here. This book is a bit of a mixed bag; some of the writeups are significantly better than others. There's a definite lack of a consistent scale with many of the writeups (Tandy West with an 8 INT is described as being more competent intellecutally than Sugar with a 10 INT, for example). Having said that, at least half of this book has made guest appearances as NPC's in campaigns I've run

I know I'm about to sound like a Rule Mechanic/Geek but... High STR characters already have enough advantages. No sense giving them more

Speaking as someone with a 40 INT PC in his current campaign and more than a few hyper-intelligent types... 1> Beware the "netrunner" syndrome. This is where one player gets all the attention at certain points of the session but might as well be out running for pizza the rest of the time. If a player brings you such a character, strongly recommend something with more balance. 2> Get used to the idea of a variable future. I use this as a blanket rule for religious reasons, but it's a handy device for dealing with players "so smart they can see the future". Variable change; sometimes just knowing those variables change them. 3> Beware the "Highlander!" syndrome (There can be only one!). This isn't a gaming issue, it's a personal one. Some people seem to be obsessed with being the centerpiece of the story, despite the presence of other players. This player tends toward the Doctor Doom "know everything" concept. This can be an asset: "Jim, make an INT roll to see the giant neon sign that says "Clue Here" ". This can also be a problem for the rest of your players -- if anything, unless you have some unusually passive players it's GOING to become a problem sooner or later. The solution for #3 is just as personal as the issue. Don't depend on the gaming mechanics -- be up-front with this concern and develop an understanding with the player. That understanding may involve them finding another gaming group, but hopefully you can either prevent it or work it out 4> One gaming issue that might surprise you is the simple power of having a 17- PER roll, with all available senses. If this is your first time dealing with that, prepare to get a good handle on the sense-affecting rules

There's one other time where a Multiform is probably more appropriate than OIHID -- when the skillset is radically different. This is one way to handle "chipping" skills in the cyberpunk genre, for example. Of course, part of the reason for that is that I'm a total geek when it comes to not allowing anyone (PC or NPC) to take disadvantages on "rolling" skills (skills that involve a roll), excepting the Darn Good Reason standard.

Hmm, let me try explaining what I said again. It doesn't matter so much HOW the Widget is being sensed, but that Widget is being sensed. If you can disguise the Widget, does the effect behind the Widget Sense matter? Replace Widget with Danger and...

I could see SFX mattering if we were talking about a Dispel Danger Sense or somesuch -- but for sense-affecting powers, it seems to me that how you do the sensing doesn't matter as much as what you're looking for. If Player Z has the ability to detect danger and Player Y has the ability to not look dangerous, does it really matter HOW they do what they do?