Wyrm Ouroboros

Re: new mutants; Magik's "soulsword"

Magik's sword also may have been able to damage anything living, i.e. with a spirit/soul; that's open to interpretation, however. I'd give a -1/2 to -1 disad for the 'only affects magical beings' on the HA/HKA.

Re: Various explosive gadgets...am I doing this right?

Most demolitions would probably be considered concussion; whether you want to define that as ED or PD is really a GM decision, because arguments can be convincingly made for both. (Yes, I know I split that infinitive. Sue me.) A 'fireproof' suit should provide defenses 'Only vs. Fire' anyhow, or at least a low level of energy defense with a high level of fire-specific ED. Otherwise, since it's the concussive force (i.e. it's the 'air' that's hitting you) that we're concerned with, well -- look at stories of what sorts of armor have saved people from blasts. Probably not reflective coating.

Time Delay (+1/4) is what you're looking for for the timer thing.

Bomb w/ Timer: Energy Blast 12d6 (vs. PD), Explosion (Reduced Fall-Off, -3d6/1"; +1/4), Time Delay (+1/4) (90 Active Points); 1 Charge (-2), OAF (-1), Extra Time (Extra Phase, Only to Activate, -1/2), No Range (-1/2), Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4): Real Cost 16.

This represents a pretty serious comic-book bomb (lots of bang, not TOO much killing damage) that takes a few seconds of concentration to place and set the timer on. 'Explosion' is +1/2; reducing the fall-off seemed to reduce that by -1/4. You might, on the other hand, go with 2" Radius AoE (+3/4) instead; depends on the GM.

Re: Various explosive gadgets...am I doing this right?

Just as a tip, you might also want to remember that this sort of thing is also usually carried in a weapons/gear/gadget MPow or VPP -- so the 'actual cost' of the thing is going to be a lot lower. One of my archer's trick arrows (weapons MPow) is a flashbang ...

13) Flash-Bang Arrow: (Total: 52 Active Cost, 18 Real Cost) Sight, Hearing and Smell/Taste Groups Flash 2 1/2d6, Explosion (-1 DC/2"; +3/4) (35 Active Points); 8 Charges (-1/2), OIF (Flatspace Tech Bracers; -1/2), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Incantations ("FlashBang"; -1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 12) plus Energy Blast 2d6, Explosion (-1 DC/2"; +3/4) (17 Active Points); 8 Charges (-1/2), OIF (Flatspace Tech Bracers; -1/2), Required Hands Two-Handed (-1/2), Incantations (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4) (Real Cost: 6): 2 Real Cost in MPow.

Re: Failure To Stop Drill

Kinda new with the Hero ruleset' date=' and I was looking in DC to see if I could find a Super Skill that represented the "Failure to Stop" drill (2 in the chest, 1 in the head). I found double tap, but no F2S. Any suggestions on how to build it as a Super Skill? Also, what would the "Extreme Shock" ammo fall under, frangible or something else?[/quote']

 

Honestly, isn't the head-shot slower, aimed, and deliberate? Sounds like a double tap, then an aimed headshot the next phase.

Re: Extreme Weather, Et Al.

Hm. I think ... a lot of extreme weather and environmental conditions can be handled by the GM -- a landslide or avalanche can become 'a continuous Move Through at 1/3 terminal velocity by 1-hex boulders (w/ strength appropriate to their vehicular weight/size/BODY) upon everything in its path'. If the Hero can handle that, great.

Weather ... is a little weirder. Sean Waters talks up there about the different 'levels' one can affect, and in truth, this is good for what ails ye -- Wind Levels, Temperature Levels, Humidity/Precipitation Levels, all are aspects of what happens in a hurricane; less so, a tornado. Using all of the Change Environment rules for the former is not all that difficult; using a combo of CE and TK AoE is really all that a tornado needs.

And, of course, most weather events are continuous -- or 'permanent'...

Re: Various explosive gadgets...am I doing this right?

Flash-bombs and the stuff are rarely 'underpowered', because your common HERO player doesn't knee-jerk react and purchase 5 points in every FlashDef 'just because'. The EB portion might be 'weak', but that's what they are...

Re: Slowly Expanding AOE

The power is called "Esper Apocalypse." The idea is the esper unleashes all of his potential in a single blast. One option xd6 RKA' date=' AOE (radius), another is xd6 RKA, Explosion, and another is the 'Akira' effect. The esper's power spreads outwards at a certain rate, reaches maximum potential, then retreats back (in)to the esper. So you can outrun the effect if you start moving [u']now[/u]. I like the idea of the wavefront expanding at 1"/segment, meaning a 6" radius takes 6 Segments to cover, and the whole power takes 1 Turn to power up and turn off. Of course, since where talking upwards of 5-6d6 of KA, then the true radius will be much larger.

Hm. But the damage does not necessarily occur inside the 'sphere' continuously, does it? Otherwise, really, you'd have nothing at all left. If you put 'Gradual Effect' on it, then simply defined it as 'Central Hex - Phase 1, Hex Ring 2 - Phase 2, Hex Ring 3 - Phase 3, etc.' Unless the damage needs to be done to the central hex(es) each and every time, you don't really need the rest. The 'contracting' is just F/X, really.

Oh -- and 'you must spread rep around before giving it to Thia Halmades, etc. etc.'

Re: Cosmic Entity Adventures!

If you're ruling a planet, you're not a universe-level 'cosmic' being. The Heralds of Galactus are not 'cosmic' beings; they're fantastically powerful, yes, 'Omega' level beings, but not 'I am the essence of Order/Chaos in the universe'. The level you're talking about is 'galactic', not 'cosmic'.

I think you need to refine your terminology; what you mean by 'cosmic' is different than what we understand by cosmic. For us, for the most part, 'cosmic' means 'an essential representative force in the Universe' -- examples in Marvel would be Death, Galactus, Eternity, Love/Hate, Order/Chaos, Eon -- all the folks that Thanos fought in the Infinity Gauntlet. They don't 'rule' anything; they ARE these things, and essentially separate from individual existences. What you're meaning are Silver Surfer, Nova, Green Lantern sorts -- people who COULD rule the world if they wanted to, but don't usually -- and who get involved in galactic events.

2000 points can be enough; 600 points can be enough. Remember, in the HERO system how 'super' your supers are is also defined by their opposition. You may be a 2000-point character, but if the battleships of the Imperial space fleets are 1600-point creations with armor that takes your OmegaBlast four or five shots to get through ... then you really are just a self-powered battleship. If Hero Vs. Starfighter is a roughly equal battle, then heck, they're just self-powered starfighters. Scale is as important in this as sheer point value. Are your characters going to have problems taking out a fighter? Are they going to have a tough time taking out a fighter squadron? Destroyer squadron? Or is a battleship group more their range of a one-on-lots tough fight?

Characters aren't going to be -- going to feel -- that they're operating on a galactic/cosmic level unless the opposition they're facing is appropriately scaled.

Re: True Jack Of All Trades

PSs are always relevant, and are almost always overlooked except for the free one -- and sometimes even then. I think something that is being misunderstood is that PS: Physician does not, and will never, replace Paramedics in the saving of a life. If a professional skill has another, game-significant skill, the PS is 'how to do the rest of the job -- but not the really important stuff'. I would, at best, give the character a -6 on the other skill, like Paramedics.

Re: Cosmic Entity Adventures!

*eyes Liaden* Didn't I just say all that??

Re: Fortress

The 'Growth, Always On' gig (and similar ones, like Shrinking AO) has been discontinued in 5th. The suggestion is to purchase the appropriate attributes, etc. and then give the character a physical disad appropriate to the size they would be -- 'Big Guy (Occasionally, Minor)', for example -- to indicate how often the problem comes into play, and how problematic it is.

Re: Flaming Swords

Equipment that the GM writes up DOES NOT have to be expressed as a Power and fully statted out. I do this all the time. In my fantasy games' date=' I write up "Flame Brand" swords ... (Snip.) I don't stat out any of that except the OCV bonus, damage and stun X. The rest is implied.[/quote']

 

Considering that you could spend hours 'statting up' stupid stuff ("Rope? You statted out rope?!?"), yes, some aspects aren't necessary to be deliberately statted -- the fire damage, the light, the extra damage to creatures vulnerable to fire attacks. (That's an SF/X call, taken care of by a) your statement that it's a fire brand, and the monster's disad of 'Vulnerable to Fire'.) The serious, game-affecting stuff should be, and clearly was -- but you shouldn't NEED to create stats for your 10' pole or your horse's shoes. Or your own shoes, for that matter...

Re: True Jack Of All Trades

The GM? Yes. Other players? ... I suppose. I'd say that 'consent' would be acquired by saying to them, 'My character is a jack-of-all-trades.' They'll likely nod, shrug, and go on with their lives.

Re: Internal Compartments

g-a has a good version. I'd make the disadvantage depend on the size of the pouch as well as the universe you're in, of course; it might be good for rings and datachips, but it probably sucks for guns and knives. I'd probably make it -1 to -2.

Re: Problem Player (?)

Agreed. And/or take the characters home with you, instead of letting them go with the players.

Re: True Jack Of All Trades

Without wishing to be too much of a killjoy' date=' skills in Heroic level games are there at least in part to help define the role of PCs - no one will have enough points to be good at everything, so everyone needs to pool their skills to get the job done.[/quote']

 

Which is my point about spending a LOT of character points on this, and being The Jack Of All Trades being the shtick.

 

A Jack o' Trades is fine for a solo campaign' date=' but rapidly beceomes the only character you need in group work. If you allow access to every skill through a VPP for 5 points for a base 11- roll it is easy enough to buy a few overall skill leves (you'll have the points over) and get a really decent skill at everything, including combat.[/quote']

 

Which, if you'd read my suggestion, is why the limitation 'Only Professional Skills' is there. Any GM who allows an unrestricted Skill VPP deserves exactly what he gets. Any player who asks for an unrestricted Skill VPP deserves exactly what he gets, too. I did spend 22 points for a character to have a Background Skills VPP, with INT Roll Only as one modifier, and 'Must have Skill Modifier to have skill' for another -- so he couldn't have PSs without purchasing Jack of All Trades separately. The character has, in fact, spent 100 points on 'bloody smart!!' stuff (speed reading, faster lightning calculator, universal translator, eidetic memory, high INT) as WELL as damn near every INT skill. This helps to counterbalance the fact that pretty much everyone else has either an extremely tight focus on their KSs, or else don't have anything. And yes, I AM going to limit my uses to stuff he'd realistically have been able to a) learn, read, and/or c) physically be able to do.

 

Yes, he's a squirrel. He's also a super-rich hypergenius megalomaniac, whose final goals I have just figured out. And the Lord Captain Thia Halmades juuuust might be willing to be a Trusted Lieutenant...

Re: Cosmic Entity Adventures!

I wouldn't go with 'Cosmic Entities'; that's meaningless unless you're fighting literally for possession of the universe, and boring the fourth time you do it. Cosmic-level HEROES on the other hand can be non-cosmic, and yet -- like Silver Surfer, Nova, Green Lantern, whatever -- have the power to ruin worlds, fight battlefleets five-on-zillion, that sort of thing. THEN you have 'cosmic' level events to rampage around. "The Ghael navy is out to destroy Kun-Jar!! We must stop them, for on Kun-Jar is ..."

Re: clone war stuff or space game

Detpacks are satchel charges -- you jam them against something, they blow through it. Thermal detonators are serious bad news; you set them off, and they wreck pretty much everything within a certain radius via near-stellar levels of heat. (It is not, however, instantaneous...)

Hm. I'd call the first either x2 AP or x2 Penetrating, only possibly Explosive. I might give the charge the explosive damage as a Side Effect; you don't usually want it as a detonation, after all. It's a breaching charge. So ...

DetPak: Killing Attack - Ranged 4d6 (vs. ED), Time Delay (+1/4), Penetrating (x2; +1) (135 Active Points); 2 clips of 1 Charge (-1 1/2), OAF (-1), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-1): 30 Points.

The thermal detonator is more a sustained damaging effect -- as nasty as the DetPak, but continuous and vicious...

Thermal Detonator: Killing Attack - Ranged 4d6 (vs. ED), Time Delay (+1/4), Penetrating (x2; +1), Continuous (+1) (195 Active Points); OAF (-1), 2 clips of 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Turn (-1), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-1): 49 Points.

Re: True Jack Of All Trades

BTW' date=' [i']The Ultimate Skill[/i] already has something called "True Jack Of All Trades". Page 49. 20 points, give 11- roll on all Profession Skills.

This is what I meant. The 11- Roll is, I think, an INT roll, just as the UT roll is. But this is what I meant, basically -- Universal (Insert Skill Modifier here).

Re: Power cost calculator?

Add the base points together, including adders. Multiply by (1 + Total Advantage Multipliers). Divide this total by (1 + Total Disad Multipliers' absolute value). The result is your Real Cost.

Energy Blast: 5 Points per die. A 2d6 EB is therefore 10 Points.

Armor Piercing: +1/2, or 0.5. 10 x 1.5 = 15.

OAF -- Obvious Accessible Focus, like a gun -- is -1. So 15 / (1 + 1) = 15 / 2 = 7. (Always round down in HERO.)

So your 2d6 Armor-Piercing EB Gun will cost 7 points.

Re: True Jack Of All Trades

Depends on how much you're willing to spend. You've got three choices, really:

VPP: Jack of All Trades, 5 Pool Points, etc. etc., No Skill Roll (+1), No Time (+1); Professional Background Skills Only (-1), 8- Roll Only (-2). Makes it what, 6 points? Add in a GM requirement that you need to have the Skill Modifier as well, and you have a 9-point power -- that had best be your shtick. I don't think I'd do that for only an 8- roll.

Or you go with 'Universal Worker', which does for a PS what Universal Translator does for languages -- 'full' skill on an INT roll. That's 20 points, which is a more serious investment -- but again, it'd best be your shtick. It also gives you the professions at your INT roll, which is a bit more than you might want.

Your third choice is something along the lines of 'Cramming, 1 Phase Study (+1) (10 Active Points); PS Only (-1/2): 7 Points.' You get an advantage over other crammers that you can just go ahead and do it after looking at the situation hard for a moment, but, like all other crammers, you basically suck at it.

Re: THE BOOK OF DRAGONS -- What Do *You* Want To See?

I think this is a non-sequitur. It is certainly conceivable that a creature could be both highly intelligent and solitary in nature' date=' coming together only to breed (not necessarily even to raise young.) See Joel Rosenberg's [u']The Sleeping Dragon[/u] for example.

Conceivable? Yes. That we're conceiving of dragons at all makes it conceivable. Still, even 'near-total solitary' says something about their lack of society -- and, in my mind, the Shadowrun 'great dragon conclave' (I believe Forgotten Realms had something similar, and first) is an excellent example of what 'solitary' dragons could have, and why.

Wabjalagh: 'Hi. I'm an incredibly old, intelligent, powerful, large, clever, and mean flying creature. I can wreck a city all on my own if I really put my mind to it.'

Distafalal: 'Why, so am I. ... so, uh, what do we do now?'

W: 'We fight, of course.'

D: '.... why?? Your territory or mine??'

W: '.... good question. Uh ...'

If you have the ability to wreck dozens of square miles a day just by breathing hard, and yet there are no protocols for interacting with your fellow Mighty Beings on a non-physically-violent level, there's going to be an awful lot of scorched earth around. Even basic societal strictures are almost a requirement. Even for Rosenberg, and IIRC, he had them...

Re: Hammerspace

Or if its the Technician shtick 'I got just the right tool in here', a limited VPP, all of which have physical manifestation. *shrugs*

Re: THE BOOK OF DRAGONS -- What Do *You* Want To See?

What I'd especially like to see is that the ecology is taken into consideration. A dragon is the top large-prey predator in a huge area; other such predators, especially 'animalistic' ones, are going to either be dragon food (as the dragon kills them to eliminate the competition), fled, or few in number. Intelligent predators, including humans, are going to have to adapt.

The other thing I'd care to see is a realistic dragon -- see the 'How many Dragon's teeth adorn YOUR shield?' thread for my thoughts on this. But in no wise, if they're intelligent or not, should dragons or other top threats be even so mild as 'difficult' kills...

Re: Hammerspace

Or, if you want the Bag of Holding itself ... hm. Interesting thought. Recall that a BoH always weighs the same, no matter what it has in it -- and the more it can carry, the more that 'the same' weighs. I think I'd define it as this:

Bag of Holding: Extra-Dimensional Movement (This Bag of Holding Space), 0 END (+1/2), Continuous (+1) (50 Active Points); Gate (-1/2), OAF Universal (Bag, -1), Only to Carry X Amount of Space That Weighs Y (-Z), Always Weighs P (-Q), Must Fit Through Bag Opening (-A).

So.

Weight & Space Carried and Disadvantage

50kg, 0.5m^3 space (-1)

100kg, 1m^3 space (-3/4)

200kg, 1.5m^3 space (-1/2)

400kg, 2m^3 space (-1/4)

Bag Weight and Disadvantage

50kg (-1)

25kg (-3/4)

12.5kg (-1/2)

5kg (-1/4)

Opening Size and Disadvantage

10cm x 10cm (-1) (4" square)

20cm x 20cm (-3/4) (8" square)

40cm x 40cm (-1/2) (16" square)

80cm x 80cm (-1/4) (32" square)

Mix and match. A bag that carries 50kg, weighs 50kg, and has a 10cm square opening is going to be sort of crappy; the only 'advantage' you have is that you aren't probably carrying a bag a foot and a half on a side -- but that'll cost you 10 points. However, if it carries 400kg, weighs 5kg, and has almost a three foot on a side opening -- enough to hide 4 people, in fact -- it'll probably be worth the 15 points you're spending...