torchwolf
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Re: Nightvision and Enhanced Perception (Normal Sight)
I have Normal Sight at +2 PER and Nightvision; during the day' date=' I am at +2 PER, and during night, I am also at +2 PER (Nightvision cancelling out the penalties to my Normal Sight).[/quote']Correct.
If I have Normal Sight at normal (no Enhanced Perception) and Nightvision at +4 PER' date=' I am at +4 PER all the time (because Nightvision is not restricted to only work during night/in darkness).[/quote']Incorrect, for the reasons Christopher stated above. A moonless night outdoors (seemingly utter black night to normal vision) is -4 PER from insufficient light. Nightvision counteracts any darkness modifiers up to -4 (including Change Environment Perception modifiers up to -4, if the CE is defined as darkness).
- Nightvision only ever counteracts penalties from lack of light. It doesn't work when there is a complete lack of light, such as in a sealed environment totally without light sources (then again, normal vision is equally useless in such a case).
- UV Vision doesn't work in a sealed environment without light sources either; it requires UV light sources (such as stars).
- IR Vision always works, regardless of light sources, provided the environment's ambient temperature is different than whatever you're trying to perceive, to achieve contrast (air almost always being colder than a human body which would show up bright, but possibly hotter than metal which would show up dark, etc.). Heat sources are their own natural IR light sources.
- Nightvision only ever counteracts penalties from lack of light. It doesn't work when there is a complete lack of light, such as in a sealed environment totally without light sources (then again, normal vision is equally useless in such a case).
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Re: Two questions (DCV Penalty Skill Levels and ½ DCV // Killing Strike and high STR)
As for daggers being inefficient compared to unarmed combat, I think Tasha killed that preconception pretty well above.
Other factors that might be adjusted for increased effectiveness of lighter weapons:
The "max double DC" campaign rule (which is actually not a standard rule, just a campaign option in the rules) could be clarified:
A weapon with the Real Weapon Limitation cannot be increased _by STR_ to more than double listed DCs.
Restating it like that (or something similar) allow for Talents and Martial Arts with Weapons Elements to increase weapon damage due to skilled use rather than brute strength.
Normally, Western European style Martial Arts with the Weapon Element focus on lighter weapons (Knife Fighting, Whipfighting, Fencing, etc.) precisely because they are lighter, allowing faster maneuvering.
If you accept this idea, Martial Arts like "Weapons Combat" (using heavy infantry weapons like axes, broadswords, greatswords, etc.) should be fairly rare and only used by the most elite warriors.
Arms and armor race limits - just because bigger weapons do more damage and heavier armor protects better, that doesn't mean every opponent should be using it.
Most soldiers today do not use body armor and top-of-the-line weapons, partly because of bulk and partly because it's too expensive; the same principles would hold true in a historical or fantasy game (regardless of whether arms and armor are allowed in cities or not).
Just 0.02 Euro.
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Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See?
Been wanting to contribute something useful here apart from saying...
I want both Legendary Hero and Mythic Hero books - personally I'll likely buy several copies of each just to lure friends into the Hero System!
...and I was just provided a reason to argue for extra detail on Inca mythology, courtesy of Lord Liaden's (and others!) excellent work on the Valley of Night, with some interesting mythological references:
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/65383-Champions-Universe-The-Valley-Of-Night
EDIT: The "Valley of Night" above is a creative extrapolation useful for roleplaying purposes and is also presented as such.
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Re: Hero System 101: Comments sought
Looking good.
Some quick nits picked:
You might want to put the use of modified dice (d6-1, d6+1, d6/2 or d3) at the top, so you have all that in one place.
Under Normal Damage:
If this is intended primarily for Heroic campaigns, odds are characters will end up with STR 13 or 18, so you'll get d3 of Normal Damage fairly often, and might mention that.
(same of course for Presence Attacks with PRE ending in 3 or 8)
Under Killing Damage:
According to RAW, the STUN multiplier is rolled before defenses are applied, not after - same if you use Hit Locations.
(as a House Rule, I've applied it after defenses when using Hit Locations in some of my campaigns, but that's not by the book)
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Re: What is Happening with Dark Champions?
These may not be the animatoids you are looking for, but in the last couple pages especially, this thread features quite a few animated-style illustrations of Champions Universe characters:
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/64971-A-DC-Animated-style-HeroMachine
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Re: Selling back OMCV
How often did you have one character who sold either back and how good was the GM at using it?I once GMed a rather offbeat superhero campaign where one of the PCs suffered from Anosmia (lacking smell and taste), and the player actually used the 5 points I deemed it worth (this was 4th Edition) pretty well against his character all by himself.
He was also always Poor due to being in debt from a lawsuit for misuse of powers, so he took whatever he had at home, poured it all into a bowl, ran it through a blender and gulped it down. Doing that continually in effect generated the equivalent of Social Complications to go with the Physical one; never gained many friends...
Ah, those were strange days.
Even so, there were a few gas attacks and poisoning attempts he was always the last to notice, and his teammates frequently asked him to check out some places where his nonexistent sense of smell was an "advantage" of sorts.
My point being, yes this can be used, in a number of ways, though some of them not for the faint of heart.
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Re: Attack vs. Limited Defense in 6E: how to build?
As for the commonality of "ordinary" vs "magical" armor, it's not what's in the setting as a whole that's most important, it's what the PCs would most likely come up against (regardless of how it's built mechanically).
There are many high-powered fantasy campaigns where magical and/or magically enhanced armor (same sfx in any case) could be the default for most opponents, probably including simulations of high-level D&D games.
In "realistic" or low-powered fantasy, I'm wagering magical armor would be less common than ordinary armor.
But, as ghost-angel and Doc Democracy points out, it's setting-specific and the question cannot have an absolute answer, or be answered in a vacuum (without campaign information).
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Re: Selling back OMCV
You can't normally sell back any Characteristic below 1 without specific permission by the GM, so we're talking about 6 points, not 9.
There seems to be four schools of thought about this:
1) Yes: It's only 6 points, and the argument that this would make Mentalists pay tax is not true since MCVs only cost 3 points each as compared to CVs which cost 5 points each.
2) Yes: Selling back OMCV is similar to selling back a normal Sense or Movement, freeing you up to 6 points to spend on other things, but it will occasionally cause you trouble, just as the GM will put you in situations where having that Sense or Movement would have been useful.
3) Yes and No: Campaign-dependent; in a campaign where MCVs are not used, they do not exist and cannot be sold back. In superheroic campaigns they can be sold back if there are Mental Powers available since you limit your character's future options by selling OMCV back.
4) No: Selling back OMCV should not be permitted except for Mentalists.
Personally, I think arguments 2 and 4 are the most reasonable.
On the positive (option 2): Allowing the sell-back of OMCV to 1 in effect gives the GM an extra "Complication" to subject characters to.
On the negative (option 4): Allowing it may require the GM to spend extra effort to exploit it, unless selling back OMCV would have a less contrived and direct effect, reflected by specific rules effects of doing so.
In the Advanced Players Guide (p64) it is suggested that OMCV vs OMCV (much like a Block) could be used to break free from Mental Powers, giving it a function for non-Mentalists. It is also noted that this would make Mentalists more powerful.
A variation could be: a negative modifier (equal to how much OMCV is reduced) to Breakout Rolls (i.e.; selling back OMCV to 1 would give the character a -2 to EGO Rolls to Break Out of Mental Powers). This would be a house rule, though, and neither official nor semi-official.
There was extensive discussion on the selling back of OMCV in these threads, where several people (including myself) also made some suggestions for how selling back OMCV could be a drawback.
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Re: How would this work in game?
Technically, if the Barrier has Costs END To Maintain, it doesn't need the "Dismissable" Adder (or a zero-Phase Action to dismiss it) since it will automatically disappear when the user stops feeding it END.
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Re: Create a Hero Theme Team!
Felicia Carlson, bored telemarketer, went down to Louisiana, down to New Orleans, to get a few really cool tattoos.
At the No Ink tattoo studio, evil cultist tattoo artist Amy gave her a little more than she had paid for, and she passed out from the pain.
When Felicia woke up, the tattoo artist Amy was lying dead beside her with a horrified and surprised look on her face, and Felicia was half covered in tattoos that came to life as she touched them.
It wasn't long before Felicia decided the life of a superhero was way more exciting, and she joined the Buff Warriors as The Illustrated Woman.
Technically, Felicia is not completely naked. She's clad in tattoos and a few piercings.
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Re: Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains when will it be on the shelf?
Wall of text alert:
I remember the wait for the 6E rules when that was delayed, and I also remember that while I was a bit impatient, I also felt some sympathy for DoJ who tried to do their best while everyone got riled up about that delay.
I can only speculate that at the time of the 6E1/6E2 printing, the deal with the Chinese printer seemed to open up the possibility of printing loads of full-color books at affordable cost, and plans were made for many such books.
Then, the situation changed altogether: delays (and possibly other issues) caused DoJ to switch printers, increasing their overhead and affecting all publishing plans, especially those for full-color books.
But, like I said, this is just speculation. The only thing I could say that would not be speculation would be this:
DoJ can only provide information based on what is known to them. They are most probably not gifted with powers of Precognition.
On the other hand... personally I think it's pretty annoying to wait for months for the final part of a trilogy to be printed, even if the reasons given are understandable.
If you compare with other publishers, though, it's not as if a delayed printing is unique in the field of RPG books printed in full color, and I tend to give DoJ the benefit of the doubt, assuming it'll get done when it gets done.
Personally, there is one main reason I haven't yet purchased the CV in book format (though I have the pdfs):
the best way for me to get physical books shipped to me in Sweden is to order directly from Hero Games, but I prefer to order several products at once; it's cheaper for me, the books are likely to arrive less mangled by my local postal service if the package is large and sturdy, etc.
So, I decided to hold off ordering them until all three were in print. If at least a few other people also waited (for whatever reasons) to order CV1 and CV2 until they could get all three (and/or the pdf package deals), that might skew the sales figures a bit (so feel free to blame me personally for the delay in printing).
Delays are bound to happen now and again, for whatever reasons. I can accept waiting more easily when I get at least general explanations.
Doesn't mean I'm not getting impatient myself though.
Just wanted to post my own, slightly ambivalent, view of the situation, not telling anyone how they should be feeling about it.
Once CV3 gets printed, I'll go back to waiting for Golden Age of Champions.
Note: I've recently read a few cautionary articles about Chinese manufacturers, including printers, needing to be actively checked up on to make sure they respect deadlines and time frames. While quite capable of producing high quality results, respect for deadlines doesn't seem to be a given, forcing companies who employ them to spend some time making sure everything gets done in time. Not sure how well known this was when 6E1/6E2 went to print.
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Re: Champions Villian Voulms Beyond 3: Is There Room For More?
There was some great stuff in Digital Hero in the way of NPC heroes from the past' date=' that I would like to see updated. Maybe as some kind of PDF. Is that on anyone's mind?[/quote']Everything DoJ has said regarding sales of the two volumes released to date indicates sales have been marginal. I'm not convinced that's because these are villain books or because they are largely reprints' date=' but a lot of the releases for 6e to date have a significant reprint component, and the two Villains books are noted as the two worst sellers of the 6e line to date.[/quote']I think there might be some potential for a collection of more in-depth CU material updated for 6E - maybe pulling out sections of the histories of Fab Five, Sentinels, the optional Profesor Muerte, etc (all from Digital Hero);
as well as portions of CU: News of the World and Champions Worldwide, maybe like a companion piece to the 6E Champions Universe. That might hold more interest for fans of the Champions Universe in general.
Still, this might have the same problem as the CV trilogy - most of the villains have already been published for 5E and can in most cases be used as-is.
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Re: Distracting Taunts
That's a good suggestion. I suppose I could make the Incantations constant throughout.Is there a limitation that can be assigned for a maximum amount drained? As written, the drain could keep hitting until the target has 0 OCV. I only wanted to do maybe 2 points as the maximum drained.
You could increase it to 2d6 and apply "One Use At A Time (-1)" [6E1 143].
Then again, based on that value, you might assume that a custom Limitation of "Max Points Drained = Max Rolled On Dice" is also worth (-1); in that case "Max Points Drained = 2x Max Rolled On Dice" would probably be worth (-3/4), "= 3x" would be (-1/2), and "= 4x" would be (-1/4).
That would be my take on it. You might also add "Self Only" at (-1/2) or so, unless you want the target to be at reduced DCV for your teammates as well.
EDIT: You could also use Change Environment, though I'm not sure that would be mechanically cleaner.
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Re: Galactic Champions: Federated Super Teams
Apologies for the delay, I've been a bit sick.
This concept is similar to one that cropped up on these boards a while ago, I realize.
Any similarities with established characters are absolutely pure coincidences...
...really meaning that if it's too much tongue-in-cheek, some names could be changed.
Constellation
Background/History:
Jordan Hall loved starships. That love had run in the Hall family for generations, local celebrities of the small planet Arthurius VI near the Thorgon border.
Captain William Hall, his grandfather, had distinguished himself as a starship commander during the brief Roin'esh war in 2931, and Jordan's parents had always expected him to carry on the family tradition - especially since his sister Joanna broke with tradition to become a xenosociologist.
For the last nine years, Jordan had been involved in the develoment of the 2-IZNA-9 prototype, featuring a new type of spacewarp drive powered by a specialized Casimir Power System.
In 3000, the maiden voyage of the small 2-IZNA-9 was only crewed by five:
Jordan Hall as pilot/commander, Eloise Bertrand as navigator, Rufus Strickland as drive engineer, Dieter Laubenstein as power technician, and Cheryl McPherris as computer expert.
All systems worked perfectly, and within hours the 2-IZNA-9 reached spacewarp speeds of more than twice that of any other existing starship.
Then suddenly space itself collapsed, forming an instant singularity, before everything just as suddenly local spacetime and the 2-IZNA-9 returned to normal... almost.
The crew of the 2-IZNA-9 was gone, but their minds of Jordan Hall were now part of the ship.
The only coherent mind (or maybe the most dominant consciousness) was former ship captain Jordan Hall.
2-IZNA-9-Hall was the assumed name of the combined being, and he/it was not only capable of controlling him/itself; the new being could also rearrange his/its material at will and assume various forms with the approximate same mass.
Strangely, the minds and personalities of the other four crew members occasionally dominated the new composite being - especially when he/it encountered phenomena that fell under the other crew members' expertise (unusual astronomical phenomena, for instance, would often cause the personality of navigator Eloise Bertrand to become temporarily dominant). Fortunately, it didn't seem the composite being suffered from this apparently split personality (though it was a jarring experience to some who communicated with him/it, especially those who had known any of the crew members as humans).
2-IZNA-9-Hall soon realized his/its designation was somewhat unwieldy to humans, and settled for addressing him/itself as "Constellation", which seemed somewhat apt - especially with the constellation of personalities residing within him/it.
Constellation, with his/its amazing abilities, soon became the benevolent guardian of not only Arthurius VI, but of the local star cluster; he/it could easily perceive space emergencies, piracy, and threats, as well as respond to these far quicker than any other ship could.
When the invasion started, Constellation was among the first of the new breed of superbeings to volunteer for service.
Personality/Motivation:
(work in progress)
Quote:
(work in progress)
Powers/Tactics:
(work in progress)
Campaign Use:
(work in progress)
Appearance:
(work in progress)
(full character writeup also in progress)
- just wanted to post what I got so far. I have two or three other ideas I'm fiddling with as well.
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Re: Galactic Champions: Federated Super Teams
Too bad about your laptop - hope your most important stuff is recoverable.
Will post at least one full 6E character writeup before next week for you.
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Re: Cheerleader martial arts?
Maybe you're referring to the "Gymnastics as a Martial Arts Style" by Jacob Russell ?
- Digital Hero #2, p26
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Re: Need some ideas for powers in a cyber eye...
How I see it:
Just add you information to the video feed from the cybereye. that way even if the cybereye is flashed it would still work (you just add it to all white/blank screen).
I second this design; info would feed directly into the optic nerve.
Also, another useful option for the eye would be
Light Compensation: Flash Defense for Sight Group
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Re: Galactic Champions: Federated Super Teams
Character Concepts (Galactic Champions)1. Armorine, Human, Terran Republic Marines & Malvan Golden Hunter Battlesuit.
2. Dark*Star, Human, Federated Security Patrol & Star*Guard.
3. Psion, Human (Clone), Mentalist (Telepath & Cyberpath), & Secretly the last scion of the DeValeries, Emperor's of the Terran Empire.
4. Fairplay, Human, Student, Grav Ball Player, & Mutant Metamorph.
5. Nebula-9, Yunnti, Thrombolic Energy Manipulation, Tel'Narian Guard, & Duress Gauntlets.
6. Gladiator, Human, Professional Null Boxer, Malvan Gladiator & Dree Gems.
7. ???, Empyrean, with Speedster Powers.
8. ???, Lemrian, Mystic (Sorceress).
9. ???, Faerie Sidhe Paladin, Mystic, & Martial Artist/Weapons Master.
10. ???, Human, CthulhuTech/Elder Worm Artifact.
11. ???, Rigellian, Code Talker/Sonic Powers.
12. ???, Roin'esh Shapeshifter, Mimic.
13. ???, Thorgon, Super Soldier, Mentalist (Psi-Stalker).
14. ???, Zurite, Engineer, Gadgeteer, Inventor, Scientist.
15. ???, Kolajik, Super Soldier & Duplication.
(In Development)
QM
These character concepts seem to cover all the usual archetypes (and the same ones as in the 5E thread).
1) I take it you'd primarily wish us to pick from those, to expand upon?
2) Are the named ones already in use and/or being developed?
I would also prefer 6E since that makes it easier to create unusual builds, but can work with either.
(currently rereading GC and the Star Hero books, taking notes)
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Re: Of Body and Mind
I had a similar idea and started a thread on it a while back (shelved it since 6E was just around the corner).
The thing that concerned me was "would this add anything except complexity to the game?"
After all, you can use the rules for AVC and AVAD to build powers that attack EGO or PRE with results similar to Mental and Spiritual Transforms.
Examples from other game systems:
DC Heroes used groupings of Physical, Mental and Mystical Attributes and respective damage;
Basic Roleplaying (especially Runequest) used the INT and POW (EGO/PRE equivalent) characteristics to represent Spirit Combat in a simplified fashion.
Hero (using the proper rules, some optional) allows for much the same, from the perspective that the default environment is the physical.
Now, if you intend to occasionally switch entirely between "planes of existence", the easiest way might be to have two separate character sheets for each character that will exist in more than one of these environments: one "Physical" and one "Mental".
I think that would give you the most options, whether you decide to rename the characteristics used depending on the "plane of existence" they are active on;
i.e. STR becomes "PRE" in the "Mental plane", while if that character simultaneously exists in the "Physical plane", the character's normal PRE becomes his "STR" on the "Physical plane"; the uses of each character's Characteristics change depending on where that aspect currently is.
Then again, that's a bit mindboggling to handle, so another approach would be to simply use a different character sheet for each "plane" that works game-mechanically the same, except that the environment (as well as the population) is different.
Interesting.
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Re: 4ed: Firewing versus Champions Battle Report
Great stuff.
Plan to do any more?
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Re: Federated Super Teams (Galactic Champions)
I like the concept.
Put me down as interested as well.
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Re: 4ed: Firewing versus Champions Battle Report
Thank you for doing this, SgtHulka - repped.
Not only is it a photo-illustrated, very detailed, blow-by-blow described, complex combat in three dimensions, but you also did a great job with the characterization and plain text descriptions of what is actually happening outside of the game mechanics.
Also, this is exactly what newer Hero gamers and GMs have been asking for
- a presentation of how the Hero system plays out. While this is 4th Edition, it plays out very much like it would in 5th or 6th edition as well.
Very enjoyable reading.
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Re: "British Only": How much of a Limitation?
Actually, a simplistic solution for the "GM didn't trace each mook's ancestry back 5 generations" issue would be a simple random roll. If "Only vs British" is set at, say, -1, then about half the villains should be affected. For those the GM has specifically determined are, or are not, British, issue addressed. They should be about half and half. For the others, a 10- comes up exactly half the time (alternatively, 11- is a -1 limitation).If the opposition is drawn from a largely anglo-saxon pool, the GM might up the likelihood, and an attack from an Asian group might reduce it, but it would spare defining all mooks, and bystanders, in the adventure writeup.
Just read through the tread and the above "Activation Roll" seems by far the easiest way to handle,
plus the possibility of proportional effect can also be handled like this:
Roll made exactly: 25% effect
Roll made by 1-2: 50% effect
Roll made by 3-4: 75% effect
Roll made by 5 or more: 100% effect
(Limitation values could be based on "Proportional" from APG, "Requires A Roll", or guesstimated at about -1/2 extra)
...or something like that.
EDIT: Wasn't very clear, was I?
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Re: CON: Over-Nerfed?
I think I already mentioned this, but I'm going to start saying STUN-conscious.Only problem: does that mean you're conscious or not conscious?
Would "STUN-semiconscious" be when you're between -1 and -10 STUN?
MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See?
in HERO System Discussion
Posted
Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See?