Fearghus

Re: Mind Control Bug

Well, the bug gets put in someone. I got as far as IIF, but how do I make it almost permanent (unless removed), and require it to be put in someone?

 

Would that be requires skill roll, takes time (say ten minutes to half an hour, assuming you have all the tools)?

Well the continuous and uncontrolled advantages is what comes to mind for making it more or less permanent... I am not certain any skill roll would be required to implant the bug unless implanting it requires surgery or something.

Re: Mental Powers Contest

My guess is because he rolled lower than needed or didn't have a strong enough Mind Control to roll above what was needed.

You hit the nail on the head... He was a few points short of being able to overcome the mind control. It was also that the story depended pretty strongly that the NPC be arrested, so if the PCs could just zap him with a mind control and prevent him from assaulting someone it would kind of have ruined the adventure.

This game is still 5E I have a Player in my group that is playing a mentalist and I have been playing things a certain way but I am thinking that it might not be the appropriate way to play it. I am not going to change it mid game since the character built it at a certain level because of the way were were playing it.

Here is the situation... He bought most of his powers at low dice levels but at cumulative x8 effect. the idea is he can't just go BAM and read your mind... it takes him time to build up to it. (I suggested when he first created the character that he take the extra time limitation rather than cumulative advantage... so before I get the chorus of suggestions for that... I already thought of that.) The question is... when does an NPC get a breakout roll? after every attack? or only after the attacks have reached the desired effect? When the character passes a breakout roll does it break out of the WHOLE POWER? or just one attack?

I tend to think of cumulative powers as one power (since the effects stack) so I consider that the break out breaks the whole thing... but similarly I have also been not rolling the break out until the character actually uses the power.

So for example... The player wants to find out the name of and how to find Thug's boss. I determine that he needs to roll ego +20 to get that effect. So the player makes his telepathy attack rolls his 5d6 and rolls 17 no where near close to ego +20, so phase he rolls the attack again and this time rolls well and rolls 21 so the total effect is 38 which now crosses that ego +20 threshold and now begins trying to probe Thug's thoughts so NOW Thug gets his breakout roll against the TOTAL result.

If I were to do it with each attack he'd have gotten a roll after the first attack... probably broken out... and the player would have had to start over. But it occurs to me that strictest interpretation of the rules he should get a break out roll with each attack making cumulative pretty much a useless advantage for mental powers.

What does everyone else think?

I had a weird situation come up in a game last weekend and I ruled a certain way that made a player sort of unhappy, but oh well. Below is the situation, and I will explain how I ruled after, and I would like to know what everyone else thinks. At the time I could not find an appropriate rule in the book to cover this situation and while I have not re-read the entire book to find out I think my ruling makes the most sense.

So an NPC was being compelled to act a certain way (aggressively) by a drug that was administered by a bad guy. I built the drug as mind control with the set effect that you attack anyone you see with what ever attacks you may have at your disposal. There is a mentalist in the group of players that tried to wrest control of the NPCs mind from the drug by using his own mind control power. I ruled that the player would have to trump (roll higher effect) the existing power before he could get control of the NPC.

So say the NPCs ego is 12, the drug in his system had an effect roll of something like 54. So I ruled the PC trying to gain control of the NPC had to achieve an effect roll of at least 55 to control the NPC.

So for future reference I want to know if there is already an existing rule in the book for this situation that anyone knows of? If there is not how would you like to see it handled if this situation was in your game?

Also BTW we are playing 5th not 6th, but I imagine the same question applies to both.

Thanks

Re: Special Effects Interactions: Burden on the defender or the attacker?

when it comes to special effects I try not to over think things. Look at what the character spent points for and GM THOSE EFFECTS. To give you a better idea I will answer your questions one by one...

Does fire have an innate vulnerabilty and susceptibility to water?

No. No vulnerability paid for = No vulnerability

Or does water have an innate drain vs. fire?

No. No Drain paid for = No Drain

Or can both options happily co-exist in a campaign?

Only if they are paid for. If Burnerman has flame armor that is vulnerable to water attacks and hydroman has a water jet drain fire power then The both happen, but if they didn't buy the powers that way they don't get any special benefit just because the special effects are water and fire.

Does Dr Smoke's Smokey Darkness Power work in high winds (he's not put a limitation on the power)' date=' but not against Blowhard's superbreath Drain vs. Gas / Smoke powers?[/quote']

 

Yes. If Dr. Smoke didn't buy the power with "does not work in high wind" and Blowhard's super breath is specifically a drain against gas / smoke powers then YES because they spent the points on advantages and disadvantages that apply that way.

Re: (5th Ed) Base Living Quarters

Well I can say from experience that when the US military designs living quarters for enlisted personnel in infantry units (barracks style bunks) a each person is alloted approximately 200-300 sqft. in 5th ed that averages to about 6 hexes per person that includes a common bathing facility, a common social room and a sleeping room. in lean times the common social room will be converted to sleep room and the head is designed over sized for that reason.

All those numbers are assuming a land base. On Navy ships I know quarters are MUCH tighter probably down to 2-3 hexes per person including common spaces.

So... if he wants comfortable happy minions he will give them 6 hexes each if he wants to pack them in like sardines then you could probably get away with 2 hexes each

Re: Vehicle Damage And Body

Ya know I have often considered this as well. I am not sure how to fix this though a player of mine suggested just juicing the numbers up to more durable levels. Perhaps splitting the vehicle up into hit locations would be more accurate. after all 13-14 body to a tire should destroy it, or 13-14 body to the engine should destroy it but it would have a much higher DEF than the tires simply because it is contained within the metal body of the car.

Re: "Leadership" multipower

Here's my attempt at it. Since they're part of a framework, the leader can only give one command at a time. Each command can affect up to 8 people of the leader's choice, provided they're within 6 meters. At that point, the people affected can move away, but the command expires after one minute. I stayed away from Aid and Boost because this way was actually a bit cheaper, and it feels simpler. Thoughts?

 

[b]Cost    Power[/b]
14      [b]Leadership[/b]: Multipower, 25-point reserve,  (25 Active Points); all slots
       Requires a PRE roll (Characteristic roll; -1/2), Incantations (-1/4)
1f      [b]1)[/b]  [i]Attack![/i]: +2 OCV, Usable Simultaneously (within 6m) (up to 16 people
       at once; +1 1/2), Recipient must be within Limited Range of the Grantor
       for power to be granted (25 Active Points); Time Limit (1 Minute; -2),
       Requires a PRE roll (Characteristic roll; -1/2), Incantations (-1/4)
1f      [b]2)[/b]  [i]Take Cover![/i]: +2 DCV, Usable Simultaneously (within 6m) (up to 16
       people at once; +1 1/2), Recipient must be within Limited Range of the
       Grantor for power to be granted (25 Active Points); Time Limit (1
       Minute; -2), Requires a PRE roll (Characteristic roll; -1/2),
       Incantations (-1/4)
1f      [b]3)[/b]  [i]Hold the Line![/i]: +20 STUN, Usable Simultaneously (within 6m) (up to
       16 people at once; +1 1/2), Recipient must be within Limited Range of
       the Grantor for power to be granted (25 Active Points); Time Limit (1
       Minute; -2), Requires a PRE roll (Characteristic roll; -1/2),
       Incantations (-1/4)
1f     [b] 4)[/b]  [i]We're in this Together![/i]: +5 Teamwork, Persistent (+1/4), Usable
       Simultaneously (within 6m) (up to 8 people at once; +1 1/4), Recipient
       must be within Limited Range of the Grantor for power to be granted (25
       Active Points); Time Limit (1 Minute; -2), Requires a PRE roll
       (Characteristic roll; -1/2), Incantations (-1/4)
[b]Powers Cost: 18[/b]

That's pretty sick! I think my players just met their next super villain! A guy with this multi power could effectively lead a group of normals against a group of low level supers with all the bonuses he can heap on. It kind of reminds me if Bless or Bardic music from D&D Sorry... that seems to happen every time I mention that game.

Re: DC Guidelines versus DEF Guidelines

I don't know about the rest of you but I tend to buy up non-resistant defense as well as resistant defense to soak up the stun. Maybe that average number in the book is only reflecting the resistant defense total not the defense total. If you are fairly certain you won't be facing an attack that is more that 10-12 DC then there is not much point in spending the extra points on resistant defense beyond 12-14. After that I buy normal defense... it's cheaper and I might safe enough points for an extra CSL or two.

Re: 6E Hexmap?

For my 3.5 D20 I use the square Grid as I don't want to take the time to re-figure AoE for a Hex Grid.

Actually the conversion to hexes for D&D is alot simpler than you might think. But this isn't the board for that discussion.

Re: Some newbie rules questions

I pretty much agree with what everyone else said. When using a square grid for movement our group always considers the first diagonal move to be 1 and the second to be 2. basically ever other one counts as 2 meters so your character with a running of 20m could move diagonally about 14-15 squares. It works out pretty well. The only time it seems to matter is when you have really fast characters since as Joe pointed out the diagonal measurement of a 1" x 1" square is 1.414" not 1.5" so a fast character might be ale to squeeze an extra inch or two of movement out of a diagonal move, but I don't consider this worth the headache to worry about it. So long as all characters (players and NPCs) are moving using the same rules it won't matter.

Re: 6E Hexmap?

I use hexes for ALL games where we play out combat on a map. Even... D&D sorry that seems to have left a bad taste in my mouth. But anyway yes I still use a hex map. It just makes tracking combat much easier.

Re: Random Thought: Splitting Speed

I would see a greater value on a physical and a mental speed value...but over all I do not think the complication is worth the payoff

Ditto! I have often lamented why my mentalists have to buy extra speed to keep up with other characters number of attacks. But again... the complicated version of separate actions for Mental and Physical is pretty complicated.

Re: Random Thought: Splitting Speed

I got to say I am not crazy about this either. First off splitting actions essentially doubles your actions since you can't both defend and attack in the same action normally since Block and Dodge are considered attack actions anyway. So if for every action you would get under the normal rules you get one attack and one defense then you are basically turning combat into a long series of attack and block rolls. An attack connecting will have a much harder time hitting since now you won't loose an attack to dodge or block... more or less this move would just serve to not only make combat take longer but slant every attack in favor of the defender.

Re: Chuck Norris Facts as Powers for HERO?

Re: CON Only to Resist Stunning

I was thinking just drop con in 6th

and use body for stun threshold

The only drawback to this is that it reduces versatility. If I want to represent a character that is large (high body) but for what ever reason easily fatigued (low con) I can't do that if there is only one stat. unless I buy a limitation on a portion of the characteristic which makes it MORE complicated not less so. I like the distinction between body and con for that reason.

Re: CON Only to Resist Stunning

Con is one of those characteristics that has become less important in 6th ed than in 5th Ed. or I guess a more accurate way of phrasing it it has become more less important. The separation of calculated characteristics has had the most drastic effect on Dex but Con has become useless for almost anything other than resisting stun or the arbitrary Con rolls a GM may require of players. As such I am thinking "Only to resist stun" limitation would be no more than -1/4, and I would likely not allow it to be a limitation at all in my games.

Re: Questioning the Multi-power Framework

I think this is the important point: a multipower works best when you have a bunch of related powers - like multiple attacks.

This is almost exclusively how I use multi-powers when making PCs or NPCs. I think of the multi-power as different attack modes of the same power. So the human torch has one blast that has AOE:cone, one that has autofire, and one that is an HKA. all have the same active points all are attacks made with the same power used in a different way.

While it is true you can put movement powers and defense powers into an MP I wouldn't want to make the choice between my armor and attacking.

Re: Telekinetic Body

This really sounds like a multi-form to me. Aside from that I like GA's Idea of growth with all the other powers linked to it.

Re: Total NEWB gushing over how amazing this forum is

You have hit on not only what is great about this forum but what is great about the HERO system in general. Because the Hero System "rules" aren't so much rules as a tool kit. building a character feels less like "What am I getting for my points" and more like putting something together with an erector set. If you are a min-maxer you will quickly become bored with Hero because there are so many ways to Min-max you don't even have to look for them. On the other hand if you want a framework to tell a STORY... Hero is AWESOME.

Re: Weapons/equipment out of nowhere

It sounds like it's just a special effect. It might be a physical manifestation if it can be attacked and destroyed.

Re: Summon and Possession of Summoned Creature

Wouldn't this sort of summon be more like a multi-form? You create a new form and then inhabit it.

Re: Really, Hero Games? Two Rulebooks?

it's been a while since I bought my 5th ed books but I seem to recall that the 5th Ed. Rev. book was $55 or so. that's $15 more for 6th than for 5th... Yeah more expensive but still way cheaper than many other game systems out there and in my opinion more versatile than all of them. Sure other games systems have their advantages but dollar for dollar I think Hero is still the best game system around simply because of it's ability to run any genre.

Re: Inflicting Drowning...

For 5e, is pretty much going to end up being some form of NND, though typically an NND wouldn't cause END or BODY damage. The sealed Entangle/Barrier is interesting, though in this case the 'suffocation' is a side effect, and it has the added component of 'being' an Entangle/Barrier.

 

My primary reason for responding is that I think the difficulty in modeling this was recognized and addressed in 6e (albeit in the Advanced Players Guide), where there are rules expansions and variants that 'have a Power inflict the Drowning Rules'.

I am not certain how the drowning mechanic works in the game (don't have books here at work) but this sounds about right to me. NND and does body...

Re: Really, Hero Games? Two Rulebooks?

I'm as much as a corrupt capitalist as anybody' date=' but this pricing is insane. The cost of entry to SWSE was a $30 sourcebook. The cost of entry to Champions is $92. Way overpriced, and quite frankly, I'm leaning towards suggesting that we give one of our other games another try.[/quote']

 

OK first off what everyone else said about the champions book. I have been playing and GMing super hero games for years and I have never owned a copy of the champions book.

 

So now lets break down the costs a bit shall we?

 

D&D

Players Handbook - $34.95

Dungeon Masters Guide - $34.95

Monster Manual - $34.95

Total - $104.85 plus endless supplements all of which have new rules, classes, powers....

 

GURPS

Characters Book - $39.95

Campaign Book - $34.95

Total - $74.90 plus genre books most of which are content you could create yourself

 

White Wolf

Generally every book is an independent game that you can only play ONE genre with and costs about $30-$35. So cheap to get started but if you want to play anything but a vampire, or werewolf, or whichever book was the first one you started with you will have to keep paying for new books.

 

Hero System

Multi-Book Bundle w/ the PDF download - $80

- or -

Multi-Book Bundle - $69.99

Total - $69.99 plus genre books whose content you can create yourself.

 

So you're complaining because hero is $5 CHEAPER than GURPS and $15 CHEAPER than D&D?

 

I think it should also be noted that not everyone at the table needs to own a copy of the books. Just one or two copies of the books at the game table is appropriate. At my weekly game only three players own the 5th ed books and I am the only one with 6th ed books. We're not playing 6th ed yet but I am learning it so that when we decide to switch I will be able to run it.