torchwolf

Re: Unsure how, why, where... or _whether_ to start! Duh! I second this (should have suggested it, really, since I was there discussing it when it was put together). Do check that document out. Very nice, and very good layout by teh Bunneh.

Re: Writing multipowers The Multipower framework itself can be unbalancing if used abusively, but variable slots are not in themselves very unbalancing - it mostly depends on what the GM allows in an MP. You're completely right in your assessment, it can add very much flexibility if handled well. A superhero (or magician) character with a finite amount of power at any one time might have variable slots in a Multipower for Flight, Resistant Defense, and Blast, for a classic example, and must decide how much to use of each ability in a single Phase, at the expense of lowering another ability. That works fine, but if the MP has a huge pool, allowing the character to use each ability fully, it is fairly pointless to have the slots be either fixed or variable. If the character wants to put a very large Hand-To-Hand Attack in an MP, it might be overly effective at times, since it adds with Strength damage and any Martial Maneuvers. Oh, and it is actually often fairly ineffective to put together such a Flight/Resistant Defense/Blast Multipower, since it doesn't get that much cheaper, but definitely limits the character quite a bit. I think there's a running joke on these boards about some published early edition Hero characters who were built just like that. Other uses for an MP, usually with fixed slots, are a weapon with a lot of different settings, or an energy projection power with different effects. Here is where it might get unbalanced, since a player might want to put an enormous amount of different attacks in an MP together just because it gets a bigger proportional cost break the more abilities you add to it. Generally, you'll have to compare any frameworks, Multipowers as well as Unified Power limited powers (if you get the full 6th Edition rules there are also more guidelines on all of these things in there), to see if there are abilities that are shoe-horned into the power framework just to get as cost break. Certainly players should get the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes alarm clocks should go off and say "munchkin alert". Don't worry too much about the warning signs in the rules; they are there to call your attention to the fact that some powers may give players too much info in case you want to run a mystery scenario (Clairsentience, Telepathy, and such), and some powers and power frameworks may prove extremely effective, especially in certain combinations (like I noted above for instance). There is usually little reason to flat out forbid something - it depends on how it works in the game, and how limited in use an ability is. If you feel hesitant to allow something, either tell your players you want to wait some before allowing it in the game, or allow it with the condition it may have to be removed if it proves too unbalancing. In the Hero System there are few absolutes, and no restrictions of what you can and can not do, just recommendations from the designer (and fueled with many years of experience) of what can cause game balance problems. If you're in doubt, just throw out a question here (and watch the resulting debate ) since all of us have run into these things in all games, and in the Hero System it is very much up to the GM to decide what works in his campaign.

Re: Writing multipowers In multipower listings; (f) represents a fixed slot, meaning the power takes up its full Active Points of the multipower pool. (v) represents a variable slot, meaning the power can take up less than its full Active points of the pool. You may come across some older Hero Edition multipower writeups where slots are listed as (u), meaning ultra, the same as a fixed slot (f). (m), meaning multi, the same as a variable slot (v).

Re: More Complications, Please On the original subject: As a player, I've always ended up with a higher value for Disadvantages than I need, so I'm really struggling to get those down to 50-75 points of Complications (depending on genre). Depending on the GM this might or might not be a problem or an asset for the GM (flexibility vs complexity). As a GM, I would personally allow a greater value than necessary if it felt reasonable and appropriate to the concept, especially for some categories, but would probably only allow as much of Hunted/Watched as I felt would suit the campaign, and less if there were many players. All in all, Disads/Complications are of course not the only means to represent valuable character bits by points. The character sheet should be examined as a whole, and the GM should take a note of what a player spends points on, as this might in some cases be a clearer indication of what the player wants to matter for his character; i.e., the character sheet as a contract, meaning in this context, communicating by points what should be important. Discussing it thoroughly might be better, but might not always be practical, especially when a given GM has limited time and several players. In such cases, the character sheet might be looked at as a shorthand description from a player to the GM, indicating what the player requests to see for his character, whether it is making minor abilities matter, confronting and overcoming personal limitations, or interacting with NPCs. Not all Disadvantages are equal though: some are only important in combat (or possibly as potential threats, such as learning that a villain is preparing to exploit a hero's Susceptibility or Vulnerability); some are only important outside of combat (especially Social Limitations/Complications); some potentially affect many situations (Psychological Limitations/Complications and possibly Enraged might impact on situations and plotlines both in and out of combat). Hunted/Watched is probably the most difficult to evaluate in regards to an ongoing campaign, and is pretty meaningless for one-shot adventures. I think it all depends; having many PCs with many points of Disadvantages/Complications causes the same problems as having the same number of PCs spend considerable points on special abilities (Perks, Talents, KS, PS, several narrow Skills); there will probably not be space and time in any given campaign to allow every PC to exploit or confront either specialty abilities or personal problems if there are too many. Although this is up to the GM, I think that 50-75 "active" worth of Disadvantages/Complications is more reasonable for most groups (assuming 1 GM + 4-6 players) if everything agreed upon in advance (the GM-approved character sheets) should have a reasonable chance to work as expected. Otherwise, it might lead to frustration on the players side and unreasonable stress to fulfill his obligations on the GM's part. This is just me speaking from my personal experience, of course; YMMV.

Re: help with "must follow grab" Just what Derek Hiemforth said above, you seem to have it already. If you're thinking of the "but cannot then use his STR to do damage" part of it, that applies only when the Drain is used, otherwise both can be done as a Multiple Attack (this particular combo also falls under Combined Attack specific subset in 6E), and the character can theoretically use either the "Must Follow Grab", or the Squeeze option, or both, as long as the target remains Grabbed (hasn't yet Escaped). 6th Edition is usually abbreviated as 6E1 or 6E2 (Volume 1 and 2 respectively), BR for the Basic Rulebook, and APG for the Advanced Player's Guide. Alternative names for 6th Edition still prompt some new discussions, as ever.

Re: Blue Stuff Battery I was going to ask if any medical expertise was necessary for the injection (i.e., injecting it into the spinal column etc.) but it seems you just need to inject this into an arm, leg, etc. In that case, I suspect some paranoid individuals might want to have it ready for injection at all times, having an autoinjector strapped to the ankle or so (Trigger: Hit Autoinjector (+1/4), IIF Autoinjector (-1/4) instead of a syringe (OAF, Extra Time, Gestures). Besides, a syringe might be Fragile, risking the valuable stuff. Some other individuals might keep the syringe locked up in a bank deposit box until needed (no OAF or Gestures but Extra Time: Hour or more). Interesting idea. Would it be possible to hoard up on Blue Stuff (get extra Clips of single Charges)?

Re: Yet Again: Please Help Name My Character Maser Man Radar Rider Cable Guy Telegram Sam Radiostar Amplitude Ace Receiver Ray Broadcast Modulator Comsat Commando Maser: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maser

Re: Unsure how, why, where... or _whether_ to start! The math inherent in the system amounts to 1) calculating Characteristics Rolls and Skill rolls - base for those are 9 + (Characteristic / 5). There are reference charts if you don't feel like calculating these by hand, both in the Basic Rulebook and the full two-volume 6th Edition. 2) multiplying by 1 + Advantage value (a number x1/4). There are quick-find value table for this too. 3) dividing by 1 + Limitation value (a number x 1/4). There are quick-find value tables for this too. You should have no problem using the charts, a calculator or just paper and pen, to do this. Oh, and only one decimal is normally counted in case it ever comes up. That said, the talk about Hero Designer is just that it's very handy, places everything a click away, obeys the rules in the book (unless you tell it not to), and while not necessary for Hero, it is nice to have everything in one place to print out as needed. It's also very well written and almost never crashes, hangs or do strange things - anything else on your computer is likely to cause you more trouble than HD. Oh and it supports both 5th Edition and 6th Edition Hero System rules.

Re: Impact of Figured Characteristics I think it's starting to change already. Champions 6E features some deviation from what 5th or earlier edition characters would look like; some characters have different OCV and DCV; some have CVs and/or MCVs that don't correspond to DEX and EGO values; etc. In particular, Pulsar 6E have lower CVs than his DEX would give him from the DEX/3 calculation, but I'm not going to go through every character here, just want to bring it up. This new variation also holds true for the Superhero Gallery section. I haven't read the entire book (OK, pdf) yet but there is definitely new variety that I am happy to see. In any case, Steve Long would probably not have disconnected the CVs if he hadn't already had in mind to use it in publications somehow.

Re: Fourth or better, How to make armour with points? Correct. I assume you're using 5th edition since you call it Real Points instead of Total Cost. and Armor rather than Resistant Defense. Not sure how you mean here - mask would protect a face or head (HL 3, 4, and/or 5), but the IR doesn't get to use Sectional as that would just make no sense. They can still be: 7 Magic Mask: Armor 10 PD / 10 ED (30 Active), Only Protects 2 Locations: HL 4-5 (-2), OIF Magic Mask (-1/2), Ablative, vs BODY damage (-1/2) 3 Magic Mask: Infrared Perception (5 Active), OIF Magic Mask (-1/2) = Magic Mask, Real Cost: 10.

Re: Female Master Villains EDIT: Nevermind, I don't know what my point was so I removed it.

Re: Female Master Villains This would be worth a Hero No-Prize if there was one.

Re: Penetrative for Cosmic Awareness sense Well, as "cosmic" is kind of broad in itself, it all depends on what is "reasonably common" in a particular campaign, and also on that campaign's definition of "cosmic". But yeah, that sounds like a reasonably common set for most comic-book concepts of potentially cosmic-awareness blocking materials. Magical wards is the odd duck, but works for this particular awareness that detects magic. Plus of course, Cosmic Powers might be able to block Cosmic Awareness, though that might be more of a plot device unless there are a bunch of cosmic-powered characters around. The real difficulty lies in the fact that in source literature, cosmic awareness is usually not blockable (except where plot necessary or by writer laziness).

Re: February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge Update Newsflash: February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge deadline has been extended to March 22, 2010. Every Challenge from now on will continue for two months, hopefully giving everyone a better chance to find the time to participate. A new Challenge will still be issued each month, so there will be a continuous overlap from now on, and you can participate as much as you want if you have the time.

Re: Female Master Villains

Re: 1-5 to 6th edition You have successfully PRE Attacked me in attempting to do this and even starting over after that disaster. I must rep you now.

Re: battle Wear vs. Town Wear *turns up "Hang the DJ" and replaces a letter mentally*

Re: Extra Time ?s; or How do you halve a -3/4 Limtation? (Math fun) A continuing Fuel Charge lasting, say, 1, 5 or 20 Minutes would make the player be careful about when to turn it on. A typical fight last for less than a minute in game time, so 5 Minutes might be appropriate. You could also do it with a small END Reserve, which requires more bookkeeping, but may make the power up and down aspect matter more as well as allowing for Pushing. Heavily conditional or Slow Recovery would restrict use automatically.

Re: Earthshaking stomp

Re: "Rolling a Critical" Why do people buy lottery tickets? Seriously though, it seems most gamers like the enticement of "hope I roll really well" topped off with critical-hit frosting. I'm that way too. Max damage, or pick location, was exactly what I used. Incidentally, almost every time a crit was rolled, my player opted to pick a Location (3-5, when they were bloodthirsty). I tested the "Half-Roll or less" critical for a few sessions, but came to the same conclusions you did, so I changed it back to 3 and everyone was happy with that.

Re: Several questions. I'm a noob. Generally speaking you should have no problem using 5th and even earlier editions of the Hero System with 6th Edition, including published characters, although the listed costs of abilities may be a bit off. Here's an excerpt from 6th Edition Volume 1 (6E1 as usually abbreviated on these boards), listing the changes from 5th Edition, and kindly postedby DOJ for free download (other free Hero stuff on that same page). http://www.herogames.com/freeStuff.htm?category=Hero+6th+Edition+Documents The Advanced Players Guide, which proved so popular it sold out, is now back in print, and I highly recommend getting it when you get the 6E Volume 1 and 2. It expand options very nicely. Recommendations would depend on what your genre preferences are. If you're running Fantasy, the book Fantasy Hero (especially the 5th Ed version) is very useful, but will be updated for 6th Ed around August - here are links to the recently released schedules for 2010-2011: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/78383-2010-Planned-Releases-%28Revised%29 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/78385-2011-Planned-Releases Other than that, there are two Fantasy setting books for Hero: The Turakian Age (high fantasy) The Valdorian Age (low fantasy / sword & sorcery) Both are 5th Edition books, unlikely to be updated soon, but almost everything is usable even if you have to rebuild a few spells if you use 6th Ed. That shouldn't present much of a problem using the above document (or the book it's excerpted from). Blast, OIF Expendable (flammable object of opportunity). The OIF represents you have to find a flammable object first, but those should be reasonably common. Just for some speculative thoughts about such a thing: in an underwater campaign you could add Hard To Recover to represent having to somehow dry the object first, or you can rule that the sfx of the powers solves that automatically. It depends on the player's concept and what the GM feels reasonable. That is correct, plus an Area Effect Surface of Self (called Damage Shield), as listed on p63 in the Basic Rulebook, and as noted it will just require a Zero-Phase Action to activate. Depending on the effect you want, you could use either Blast or Killing Attack.

Re: power design feedback

Re: Astral Body 5th Ed True, a while back Naanomi did a character who I'm not sure if she posted on the boards, but the concept was a disembodied spirit that could temporarily create a body. Problem was that as she wanted the physical body to be a mini-brick, it got a bit expensive even in 6th Edition to have both. I think she finally went for TK with a Physical Manifestation with that character. Physical Manifestation with TK would probably work for this concept in 5th Ed too, but personally I'd consider just buying the physical body as a fanatically loyal Follower and a Psychic Bond with Feedback, if the body rarely goes on missions. If never, it might even be considered a reverse OIHID or a special effect? (character spends out-of-adventuring time embodied) EDIT: That is, assuming the Desolidified character is the main character.

Re: power design feedback Very good advice given, just adding a few cents. This is very true, and if you can post some more details on this it's easier to comment on how you can improve powers and such. This, I recognize from among other sources, X-Men, where sonic powers were often used to make it impossible for mentalists to concentrate enough to focus on using their powers. Unfortunately, if that was what you were going for, you should add "Sight Group" and put a Limitation on the power; "Sight Group only vs Mentalists" (probably worth -1/2 at least). Otherwise, any mentalist could instead just target their powers using eyesight instead. If that was not at all what you were going for, just ignore me. On a similar note (pardon the pun), you could conceivably add a power to cause vertigo by using your sonic powers: Change Environment, -4 (for example) to DEX Rolls, Cone, No Range, Incantations That would impose a DEX Roll (at -4) on anyone caught that area to maintain their balance, for instance.

February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge Update During this week, we'll put up an open poll for everyone to choose a theme for March. Monday night, from 6 PM (PST) and onward, some of the Monthly Adventures Design Group will be online on the Hero Chat discussing possible subjects to vote for. If you have the time, do drop by and suggest a theme that you'd either like to read about, play, or write, and we'll include it in the poll if it's not all too strange. As before, anyone can also sign up at the Monthly Adventures Design Group and join in on the scenario writing. The poll for the theme for the March 2010 Monthy Adventure Design Challenge will be posted late Monday, and anyone will be able to vote once we have all suggested themes collected (poll will be up February 22-28, 2010 – more details to come). Current ongoing scenario projects, if you need some inspiration (full scenarios will be uplinked when finished, as we will do with all contributions if so desired): Lost Love - La Rose Hag of the Frozen Marsh - Nolgroth EDIT: Poll delayed, but up as of Feb 24.