Talon

Re: What value to limit additional Strength only for lifting and determining Encumbra

(Lifting weight = carrying noncombat, for encumbrance, ignoring lifting something and dropping it on someone to do STR damage)

A lot of this depends on the campaign. If your GM doesn't care about encumbrance (the characters can always go back to their horses/truck/base, etc.), then lifting weight is probably not that important. If the GM enforces encumbrance closely, it can make a very, very big difference on how a character plays out. In that circumstance, the extra lifting STR could improve DCV and movement rate, both of which are pretty important.

Re: Making Characters For Fun and Practice

Out of curiosity (and some laziness), is there an editable version of the character sheet PDF or are you populating these sheets in some other way?

Re: Making Characters For Fun and Practice

I would also note that by definition, Expendable Foci must be replaced after every use, which I don't think is what you had in mind for most of the cases where you used it.

Re: What value to limit additional Strength only for lifting and determining Encumbra

Does lifting include throwing large objects or otherwise causing damage with them? If so, -1 would be an upper limit. If it's just out of combat lifting, I would say -2 might be appropriate for a supers game (where encumbrance doesn't come up much) and -1 for a heroic game where encumbrance comes into play a lot.

Re: Activating Power Sets

If none of the existing Limitations fit, there's always Limited/Conditional Power ("only when in Energy Form"), assign value based on how often the character is limited. As the Doc said, without a distinct drawback to the energy form I would be inclined to call this a -0 Limitation (especially if he can control when he changes).

I want to make a Barrier (that is, something which acts mostly like the Barrier power) which only stops and is damaged by Energy attacks. Physical attacks (and people) can pass right through in either direction. How would you build this?

Re: Multiform for Free? Frustrated....

I have thoughts about an involved house rule, but at the same time I'd like to use something minimally disruptive (so I can really go to town on my OTHER house rules ).

I think I will use the existing rule, but establish a guideline that forms should not be more than 90% of the campaign limit, minus 5 points per extra form past the first. (So in a 400 point game, 1 form is limited to 360; 4 forms would be 345 each, 8 forms 325, etc.) Higher totals than this are possible but subject to strict GM approval. If you are just building a "dial a hero" character these are the limits.

Re: Update to 6ed?

so... my question is... should i upgrade all my existing campaign to 6ed?

...

Now, it worth upgrade all to sixth edition ('cause soon 5ed product will be stopped and substituted by 6ed ones; soon noone will answer to question on 5ed etc.) or it will be too time consuming, and also will make players flee just because "ok stop we don't wanna play new edition we wanna play 5th edition"?

It's a personal call. Buy it, look at the changes, see if they are enough to make you want to change. For me, there are a couple big ones:

-- Figured Characteristics no longer figured

-- Multiple Attack rules

-- KA stun multiple

...but that list will differ for everyone.

I know people who are still running 4th (and some who are running earlier) and are quite happy. I'm not one of those people (though I'll happily play in those games).

Re: Smart weapons

No Range, Only To Damage Self

(oddly appropriate to your avatar...)

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD

I think there was some thought put into it.

Re: What do you think

If a character takes damage during a Recovery, the Recovery is wasted. Thus, to stop in-Phase Recoveries, you just need to do 1 STUN during each of their Phases. One way to do this would be using the "Differing Modifiers" section of UOO:

7 Energy Blast 1d6 (standard effect: 3 STUN, 1 BODY), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2), No Normal Defense (LS: Breathing; +1), Trigger (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger resets automatically, immediately after it activates; Triggered by target getting a Phase; +1), Does BODY (+1) (22 Active Points); only does BODY to unconscious targets (-1), Spending 1 END avoids STUN damage (-1/2), only does 1 STUN (-1/2) - END=0

14 Apply EB to others: Custom Power, Usable As Attack (+1) - END=1

(Technically someone has the option to take STUN damage rather than END damage, but that seems like a minor issue.)

Add an NND / END Drain that does enough damage to cover the post-12 Recoveries and you are good to go.

For the "what should 6E do?" perspective, see the A-E powers thread.

Re: Best HERO system product

Allowing core books, 4th edition (lots of changes, made it a lot more universal than it had been before). Supplements only, Strike Force (for reasons cited above). Hero Designer, Star Hero, and Fantasy Hero 5th Ed. are all close contenders.

Re: No Time Power activation?

Turning on powers like Desolidification take a 0 Phase action, so effectively no time. For powers that require an Attack action, the Trigger Advantage (which may not be in Sidekick, or may not have the options that let you do this) can be used.

Keep in mind that making a Power take no time at all can be abusive ("I fire my Energy Blast 500 times since it takes no time!"), so GMs may be wary of the idea.

Re: The Ultimate Roleplayer

I'm torn between Social Limitation and Distinctive Features.

Re: Never GMed HERO before, a few pointers?

Ok guys, I'm not a new GM by any strech, but I've never had the pleasure of running a HERO game myself. I'm starting a group where many have never played HERO before (though none of them are new to gaming in general) and I want to make sure nothing slips by me when I set the game in motion.

My major concern is character creation... assuming a 400 point campaign:

What's an "average" AP cap on powers?

Is there a mathematical guideline for determining defensive power limits? Does it differ from other AP caps?

Other considerations:

What bookkeeping (i.e. notes) should I have done prior to a game session?

Should I start with a whole copy of each persons character sheet in front of me until I get an idea of what I'm looking for?

What questions should I be askingthat are popping into your head that I'm missing?

Thanks in advance guys, I don't want the game system (which I love) to interfere with my plot, so I want to be prepared for at least the predictable administrative speed bumps.

Firstly, I would suggest running a couple one-shot games (or even just combats) to get a hang for the system and for the characters. While there some mathematical models out there for determining character caps, IMO it's better to evaluate the characters as a whole (which does take some experience with the system).

400 points is pretty big...I'd expect damage caps to be around 14 DCs at least, though I don't have any experience running at that level myself so I could be way off. My guess is that anything lower than 14 would not be a good idea.

For defense levels, I think the classic range is somewhere between 2 and 2.5 times the DC level; in general, characters should not be anywhere close to immune to campaign-average attacks, but should also not be knocked out by a single attack (except for specialized characters who avoid being hit or something similar).

I would definitely suggest having all character sheets available to you. In terms of summary information, I keep a sheet with the following:

DEX/SPD (laid out in chart form in DEX order with Phases marked, so it's easy to see who acts in each Segment)

OCV/DCV/ECV plus combat levels

INT, PER, EGO, CON rolls

defenses

*** Any enhanced senses, so I don't forget to consider what characters might perceive

Other powers that might "kick in" without the player's knowledge (Danger Sense, powers with No Conscious Control, Luck, etc.)

Re: Is this Munchkinism?

In a world with superpowers, at best you need a tenous justification for any power at all.

 

To be honest, I don't see this as a game breaker.

I prefer slightly more justification that this...however that's not the biggest issue I have.

There are some players who, if they came to me (as GM) and asked for this power under these circumstances, I'd make it work (for example, in the creative manner you suggest in your post). In such a circumstance, the power would probably cause no problems at all. However, these kinds of players are the least likely to ask me for such a power.

In my experience, the kind of player who would ask for this is the kind of player who has trouble focusing on special effects and character concept over power and effectiveness. I find that granting this kind of request for this kind of player leads to trouble. (OTOH, if they can address the questions of SFX and the like, so much the better!) Because of this, my default answer is no; but I'm open to convincing.

Re: Focus vs Only in Hero ID (or both?)

If he only needs the ring to change forms, then I would at the very least question taking a Focus Limitation on all those powers. (Does the ring disappear when he's in ice form? If not, does he revert to normal form if the ring is removed?)

The book says that powers "usually" don't have Focus and OIHID, but doesn't give details, so it's a GM call. I'd definitely want to be clear about what factors will keep the character from just spending most of his time in hero ID.

Re: Deflecting on a Trigger?

The Trigger description says you can put a Triggered power in a MP slot, and it will activate without having to switch to that slot.

Technically, there's nothing against buying Ranged Missile Deflection with a "whenever I want" Trigger that automatically resets...but it seems horribly abusive unless there's some sort of special effect constraints on it. I wouldn't allow it in most games.

Re: Is this Munchkinism?

I wouldn't necessarily consider it abusive, but I would also be unlikely to allow a blanket Invisibility to all forms of Danger Sense. Depending on the special effects of the character, I'd figure out what types of Danger Sense would be affected.

For a density based character, I can't think of any types offhand. Ask the player how they imagine it working. If the answer is some form of "I want to be invisible to Danger Sense", you have your answer.

Re: 6th Edition Hero System

I use Sidekick to bring in players new to Hero; I loan them a copy, they learn the system, they return it and buy 5ER. Mission accomplished.

Re: Balancing Duplication

I haven't dealt with it much, but in general I would hope that the fact that each duplicate pays for Duplication provides much of the necessary balancing. A 375 point character might do the same damage as a 450 point character, but he's going to be weaker in some way.

In addition, I would judge the character's overall suitability, as with all characters, based on how they will usually go into combat. If the character will usually fight Duplicated, then I assess their combat abilities based on that. Perhaps they have the same offense but much less defense, so they can dish out a lot, but each Duplicate goes down fast (and the player doesn't care since he has more duplicates to run). If they are too powerful I suggest ways to tone it down.

If a 75 point drop in character points doesn't stop a character from hitting all the caps (damage, CV, SPD, etc.), then the caps are probably too low to start with.

(As another example, take Absorption. If a character is going to be able to charge their Absorption most of the time, I rate the character with those bonuses added in; if the Absorption is a rare thing, I don't.)

Re: Simple question (I hope)

Under the standard rules, I would just buy EGO "only for DECV and to resist PRE attacks", which is probably in the -1/2 to -1/4 range unless the character has a use for OECV (i.e., Mental Powers).

Re: Telepathy

For powers like this, I will generally say that if the character can achieve a 18- Attack Roll against the average CV (I would say ECV 4 in this case, probably), then the roll isn't required most of the time. So if the character can buy ECV 14, they can talk to people without making attack rolls.

(For Telepathy, I also say that 10 points of effect are enough to establish communication with willing targets -- or unwilling targets briefly, long enough to get a word or two in and give them a chance to become willing targets.)

Re: Bizzare character build, please help!

I'm not arguing' date=' but why would the force wall build be abusive?[/quote']

 

I should have clarified -- it's abusive if the Force Wall is strong enough to withstand most attacks in the campaign, since Force Walls stop all Stun damage. (For example, a 15 PD/ED Force Wall in a 12DC game.)

Re: Bizzare character build, please help!

For the "must hit tiny part of it", I would consider Invisibility with the Limitation "not for hiding the character's presence"; people know you are there, but unless they have a way of perceiving the bug form they are attacking you at radically reduced OCV. The extruded mass would of course provide Armor (or a Force Wall, but that seems abusive), and perhaps would also involve Images or Stealth bonuses to make the bug form harder to see.

If you can always tell where the bug is by looking closely enough, you might consider DCV levels instead, with the side effect that misses due to the DCV levels are hitting the "fake body".