Doc Democracy

An issue in the UK is that some big businesses, Amazon among them, pay workers so poorly that the Government supplements their wages through social welfare. As such, the Government is subsidising Amazon (not to mention the convoluted tax arrangements that mean the company pays MUCH less than they probably should). That kind of thing needs to stop. I can understand a Government subsidising small businesses and even some larger ones as these are important to keeping the wheels moving but larger companies should be able to pay their workers a living wage. Do not know if that is true in the US. However, regardless of how many employees Amazon has, it is the disparity between the owner and top executives compared with those 800k workers that is the real issue - the US was an economic powerhouse in the 50s and 60s when the wage differential was not anywhere near as stark. Also, if Amazon did not exist, there would be probably more people employed (across a number of other companies) providing people with the goods and services that they want. All those companies like Toys R Us that were driven out of business and whose employees are not spending those wages offset Amazon in this respect. Obviously I am not saying that we should save ToysRUs over Amazon, just saying that the efficiency gains by switching to Amazon should not disproportionately benefit the Amazon bosses and disadvantage the workers that have to switch from one big corporation to another, probably with more work and fewer benefits (coz, efficiency). Doc PS: just realised this was a bit political and not on the politics thread - will not take this any further here. 🙂

I once toyed in having active defences, so instead of just an attack roll during combat there is also a defence roll (was planning a Fantasy Hero game). As such, the attacker would roll 3D6 and add OCV, the defender would roll 3D6 and add DCV. Attacker's total would need to exceed defender's to succeed. It had the advantage of making combat more dynamic, the disadvantages of making it take longer! I did not do it, meaning I was quite content for all defender's to "take 11" on their defence roll. It did make me consider removing the need to roll at all. If you OCV is higher than the defender's DCV then you hit. Your combat options would then be about seeking advantages or trying manoeuvres that enhanced OCV rather than simply hoping to roll low enough. That crashed and burned because my players are HIGHLY committed to having dice in their hands, even when they routinely roll poorly. 🙂 Doc

Have you played Runequest, Call of Cthulhu etc? In those games you have a skill percentage - e.g., Rapier 76%. If you roll under the number then you hit, if you roll over it, you miss. This is a roll under approach which is actually quite similar to HERO (except using 3D6 rather than 1D100). So. In HERO, the base chance in combat is 11 or less. Using 3D6 that equates to 62.5% chance of success. Everything else is modifiers to that. You add benefits to the target number (which makes it easier to roll under) and you subtract things that make it harder to hit. Your percentage chance to hit improves using your OCV. Your percentage chance to hit gets worse as your opponents uses their DCV. If you think of 11 as the base target number for success and everything else as a modifier to that target number then you are simply rolling 3D6 to roll under the number. It is essentially the same as a skill roll which you seem to have no problem with. Skills tend to be 9+(CHA/5). As most characteristics default to 10, most skills default to 11 or less. You then add levels bought for the skill - either directly or through additional characteristics (equivalent to OCV) - and subtract difficulty factors (equivalent to an opponents DCV) and you have a number to roll under. 🙂 Does that make sense? There IS a core mechanic beneath it all. Doc

No more evidence than you have that any such game reliably utilises interruptable magic. Not going to engage further, you might be only the second person I block in a couple of decades on the boards.

I really hate the way you throw downvotes around... 😞 It makes me want to retaliate and that does not lead to a discursive evironment. Anyway - just because the OP might assume a player holds an action and uses the gestures and incantations as a trigger does not mean it would work in any given game. If he does so he would be unable to interrupt my wizard in his spellcasting. If that is what he spent his points on, and our GM allowed that too, he might have questions for that GM. D&D is designed such that spells are interruptable, it is the base condition in that game. HERO is not designed such that spells are interruptable, it is not the base condition. HERO might allow for that to be the base condition in a game but noone should build their character without checking with the GM how the magic system works and whether any assumptions made are correct. Doc

So I have built myself a Fantasy Hero character and, with permission from the GM, have an instinctive magician, small VPP that allows me to hurry spells, dispense with gestures, with concentration or any other element as desired. What would Gandalph's character do to interrupt my spellcasting? Anything guaranteed to work RAW? All Duke has said is that it might be different in every game and there may be some games in which you cannot interrupt spellcasting. Doc

Dunno about anyone else but I am fascinated to hear what I terdwrring actually involves.... Otherwise, Duke is right. When you create your magic system you get to decide what would interfere with casting. It all depends on the disadvantages built into the spells. Doc

Some folk love it and find it invaluable, I still love building characters by scribbling on bits of paper. I advise getting used to rules first, once done the programme is very useful for managing and maintaining PC and NPCs. If you have any facility with IT it is also great at producing different character sheets to print off. I have it but don't use it as much as I think I should. 🙂 Doc

Well, it is partly that you are open to having people come and have their say in an official forum, God forbid that we would allow the great unwashed to speak their mind like that...

A rather partial representation of what is going on but how the US is being portrayed.... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-53174415/they-want-to-throw-god-s-wonderful-breathing-system-out Highlights for me? "Every one of you that is obeying the Devil's laws are going to be arrested" "these communist dictatorship orders" "you preach pseudoscience and safety"

This is why we end up with encyclopaedic rule books. 😄 I think these are all good questions but the are discursive ones that might affect how you cost advantages etc. I said passive grab. A hand hits, the hand is passively grabbed and stuck. A sword hits and is grabbed (not automatically - relevant grab attack rolls but independent of the tar baby's SPD/actions etc). Can they force each other to move? In the same way as anyone else can. Relative movement would depend on advantages/disadvantages on the power as well as common sense. Doc

I have no citations but if someone came to me with the power I would plan to run it like a passive grab...

Try this thread - lots of options...

I guess it depends on what you call low results... 1D3: 1 - 33.3% 2 - 33.3% 3 - 33.3% I have to presume by low you mean less than 2, so 33.3% chance of 1. Zero chance or 0 and zero chance of more than 3. 1D6-1: 0 - 16.7% 1 - 16.7% 2 - 16.7% 3 - 16.7% 4 - 16.7% 5 - 16.7% Here you also have a 33.3% chance of 1 (or less). 16.7% chance of 0 and 33.3% chance of more than 3. I KNOW that folks dice preferences are not dictated by logic, almost 50 years of gaming has shown me that if nothing else. I fully accept the driving fear of getting zero, even if it is slightly irrational. I would also accept if they wanted to keep damage low (unlikely as that might seem to me) but definitely not that they want low results to be LESS likely. Doc

The psychological games we play with our friends... 😄

If you buy some pipe-cleaners you can glue them across the top of a mask and mould it closer to your face, minimising fogging.

I thought I explained where I got it from. 🙂 It kind of goes against the core principle of getting what you pay for. Why would anyone choose to take a half dice rather than a D6-1?? Doc

just in case anyone was in any doubt (follow the arrow) !!

It's not a problem, it is an inconsistency. 🙂 Feel free to use whatever works in your game and then be consistent. 🙂

Actually, now that I look at it, I think the table on p403 might be slightly misleading - it is there simply to give an indication of Damage Classes, not purchasing costs. The power description does not mention the cost of 1D6-1. It is silent on it and the text accompanying the table on p403 says: p403 5thRev When it talks on the next page about movement adding to killing damage, it says There is no mention of adding 2.5D6 or 3D6-1, even if they are the same Damage Class. I think that there may indeed be an official consideration that 2D6-1 costs 27 points rather than 25.

I think it was a hangover from previous thoughts. I can see the rationale for 2D6-1 costing more than 1.5D6 and less than 3D6. The averages are different. 1D6 average BODY 3.5 cost 15 points 1D6+1 average BODY 4.5 cost 20 points 1.5D6 average BODY 5.5 cost 25 points 2D6-1 average BODY 6 cost 25 points 2D6 average BODY 7 cost 30 points I can image them sitting in the room deciding that they are only going to have three steps to match each addition of 5 points rather than introducing that fourth 2 point step for 2D6-1. I might have been persuaded not to allow half dice. 🙂 Doc

p22 HS6 vol 2

Well, we need more information, you say phase 3 you mean segment 3, yes? A SPD 4 character gets a phase on segment 3 that could be used on segment 4 or 5. If you have attacked on segment 3 then the first time you can abort is segment 4. The game mechanic says that all the movement in a phase can happen in a single segment, if you allowed folk to abort on the same phase they move twice their movement in a single phase and it takes away some of the tactics round combat. Doc

Fear is a special effect rather than a game mechanic, as Duke points out in a later post. The system has only one effect based defence, which is Damage Negation. You can buy this to target the effect of any attack with a fear based SFX. That helps defend against a special effect that is often modelled with a wide variety of mechanics. Doc

You can have an allergic-style reaction to dust and mold spores even if you are not generally allergic. I went to the doctors a couple of years ago with a persistent cough and she told me it was an asthmatic reaction (I am not asthmatic) where the lining of the lungs got irritated by something, the reaction to that irritation was to cough. The cough itself then caused further irritation and made me cough, repeat ad nauseam. I did not believe her but agreed to take the inhalers. The cough was gone in less than two or three days. However, in the current circumstances, ANY new, prolonged cough should be treated with suspicion and be presumed to be the virus. Get yourself tested, even if just for your peace of mind. Doc