torchwolf

Re: Resistant Defenses Resistant Protection already replaces Armor and Force Field; the Resistant Advantage replaces Damage Resistance. The new Damage Reduction brings the number of available main defensive Powers back to the same number, and I'd venture a reason for having a certain number of those (like keeping Resistant Protection separate from the Resistant Advantage) is how that interacts with Adjustment Powers; fewer ways to buy defenses makes Adjustment Powers more powerful. It may also be a bit clearer to purchase Resistant Protection with Modifiers, especially Limitations such as Costs END, rather than purchasing PD/ED multiple times with Resistant and different modifiers, not to mention purchasing the Naked Advantage Resistant for PD/ED with Modifiers.

Re: 43 Questions: A Character Developement Tool What's good for writing fiction is usually good for GMing as well, and vice versa. Have some rep.

Re: Harry Dresden: Book one points vs Book 12 points Physical Complication: the Pauli Effect (Champions 6E, p84) describes this pretty well in game terms; a not altogether uncommon side effect of being a magician or psychic.

Re: Extra SPD only to Dodge Depending on the details of the concept, I can see at least 2 variants using Trigger: 1) Aid SPD, Self Only, Only For Defensive Purposes [this would of course fade with time, requiring it to be repeated] 2) Flying Dodge Martial Maneuver [allowing the equivalent of a DFC, though it might need to be defined whether it would work with all types of movement] You could always have the Trigger taking more time to reset (Zero, Half, or Full), in order to represent a "preparing for defensive measures" Action; doing it that way equalizes the character with others better in terms of available Actions per Turn.

Re: Anyone running any online games?

Re: Damage Class and Balance 5th and earlier Edition 1d6-1 (min 1) Stun Multiplier didn't exactly match the standard x3 but was the only of the "standard effects" values that was actually slightly higher than the statistical averages. 1+1+2+3+4+5 = 16 / 6 = 2.67 5th Ed, all random roll average: 3DC N = avg BODY 3 avg STUN 10.5 3DC K = avg BODY 3.5 avg STUN 9.33 5th Ed, Standard Effect (BODY & xSTUN): 3DC N = avg BODY 3 avg STUN 9 3DC K = avg BODY 3 avg STUN 10.5 6E, all random roll average: 3DC K = avg BODY 3.5 avg STUN 7 6E, Standard Effect (BODY & xSTUN): 3DC K = avg BODY 3 avg STUN 6 All random rolls are a bit more balanced by statistic average, but still statistically gives KAs a bit too much bang for the buck in 5th and earlier Editions. In 6E, KAs were downgraded and are now a bit unbalanced the other way but fills a slightly different role instead; they are explicitly meant to mainly do K damage, the effects on which become especially apparent when you bring Damage Negation and other alternatives (including re-costed Advantages) into play. No big change in KAs other than the d3 STUN multiplier (and allowing normal defenses to reduce STUN done by KAs even when character lacks resistant defenses), but other minor changes in costing still allows them to be more effective since only resistant defenses stop the BODY from KAs (the minimum damage rule also occasionally having an impact depending on campaign rDef vs DC levels). It remains to be seen how it will work out that the +1 STUN Advantage wasn't increased in value, still being a +1/4 while in 6E giving a drastically greater increase in avg STUN inflicted. In 5th Edition, the first +1 only increased avg xSTUN from 2.67 to 3.5, an improvement of +31% (the "minimum of 1" becoming irrelevant when that Advantage is applied). In 6E, the first +1 increases avg xSTUN from 2 to 3, an improvement of +50%. Still, several other Advantages that affect damage (directly or indirectly) have been reduced in cost, so it is probably better balanced against those. I'd better point out that there have been MegaScale meters of in-depth posts and threads on this subject. Brief Summary (no claims to be all-inclusive; just for reference): The big problem wasn't so much the average STUN, more the volatility of 1d6-1 xSTUN (making KAs extremely unpredictable at higher levels of damage compared to normal damage attacks), and using 1d3 in 5th Ed instead causes other cascading effects requiring other adjustments, like cheapening AP etc. I think that Kraven Kor is aware of these aspects (hence using the x3), and balancing these attacks are a bit trickier in 1st-5th Edition but works, given an experienced GM. With 6E, we now have the possibility of starting up the discussion again, since the premises are now slightly different, and I think there have already been a few threads going into this. In any case: my point is that answering the question of how KAs and normal attacks balance actually have subtly different answers between editions, especially between 1-5 and 6, as some Advantages as well as defenses have changed in cost. In 5th Edition, KAs and normal damage attacks were fairly balanced within a certain range of values compared to appropriate defenses within a certain range (also causing a prevalence of Combat Luck in writeups), though you'll get the craziest variations from the xSTUN in lower DC KAs (up to 3-4d6 KAs). In 6E, you'd instead select KAs or normal damage depending on if you'd want to do primarily BODY or STUN damage, respectively. That's my take on it (though long winded).

Re: Questioning the Multi-power Framework That example is a good case for using the Unified Power Limitation, as it would make little sense if some forms of his energy output could be Adjusted while other forms are unaffected. In 5th Edition terms, this would be "Collectively Affected By Adjustment Powers" or something similar, I believe Hyperman has used that extensively to make MP function similarly to EC. Which, some may say, makes MP too much of a bargain, but there we go; it's a discount to allow for representation of concepts that wouldn't otherwise be reasonable in cost, much like EC and VPP. During the last discussion I remember of the MP subject I personally argued back and forth to see how much we could hack it to pieces, and I ended up with the opinion that MPs usually work best in general with 3-10 slots, and in some cases, like the Electricity blaster, the fact that almost all powers are in an MP makes it reasonable to have many slots as that concept is self-balancing to a certain degree.

Re: Now taking suggestions - HERO System Combat in Two Pages Mentioning some of these aspects of the combat system might be helpful to prospective Hero combatants: http://www.killershrike.com/GeneralHero/HERO5CombatTactics.aspx Obviously, mentioning too much will be overkill, but I think it's a very good analysis. Other than that, describing the concepts behind the combat maneuvers in broad terms might make them more understandable - I usually start with saying something like: "Generally speaking, the bonuses or penalties from these maneuvers also tell you something about what they look like - OCV bonuses means that they are quickly performed and difficult to react to in time to defend effectively against, and vice versa. DCV penalties means that the maneuver leaves you less effective when defending, meaning that you'll end up off-balance and/or vulnerable to counterattacks when performing it, and vice versa." That has usually done the trick for my new Hero players to get an "aha" look. Just 0.02 Euro.

Re: Rigging Elections in Champions Necromancer candidates could always use the old standby to get all the dead people to vote, but might have a problem in some districts when they find out the hard way that the dead people have already cast their votes somehow.

Re: As A Hero Gamer, Do You Use The Surbrook's Stuff Website? I'm late to comment on this thread, but this site definitely ranks top dollar as a Hero resource. I drop in frequently, and have for several years. Often when I'm designing a character, I come to think of a similar literary concept, and then I pop over to see how that was done here, for comparison. Or inspiration. Or need of an NPC. Or need of a strange piece of equipment/spell/ability. Or... How much in a hurry would I be to have one last look through all of that before you removed the stuff? I actually browsed through the entire "trip to Australia" section for a grip on Sydney a while back (character background research). This sounds awesome, even easier navigation among the valuable resources. Yes, I'm one of those who think the Pictures That Could Be Superheroes is both a great idea as well as giving me inspiration from time to time. You maintain a terrific site there.

Re: Anyone running an online supers game? I like this - used the same approach when I ran a MU-based game a few years back. Same as above.

Re: Anyone running an online supers game? Hi people, I've talked some with Odraude about this (he's a co-player in another game) and I'd be interested. I have mic, skype and a Swedish accent. Time is flexible for me, I definitely want to role play rather than roll play, have several ideas and also want to pick the one that goes best with what others have in mind, and I'm old enough to buy beers.

Re: Champions: Powers -- Great Book No actual character writeups, just tons of powers. And a few pictures of CU characters. Oh, and I recommend the book, surely an improvement on the USPDs.

Re: Only in Hero ID Other than OIAID, some other ways to represent activating nanites could be: Non-Persistent (-1/4); having some benefit in that these would not automatically be Perceivable, and turn on quicker than with OIAID (but turn off when Stunned etc.) Costs END Only To Activate (-1/4); such abilities become Perceivable, of course. RAR (-1/4 and up); useful for abilities that may or may not take longer than usual to activate (depending on the Roll) How useful those would be of course depend on your other applied Limitations.

Re: Primus help Champions Universe p43 discusses sanctioned heroes, and says about the same as the PRIMUS pdf (i.e., National Police Powers, 3pts). Dark Champions discusses security clearances to some degree, as well as lists ranks for law enforcement, military, and government positions. Security Clearances are divided in 1+, 3+, 5+, 7+, and 9+ levels, but I'm unsure how much I'm going to list here - the DC pdf is still available.

Re: WHY CSL's OTOH, CVs can now be affected by Adjustment Powers, while CSLs can not.

Re: Newbie and GM shouldn't go together. There was extensive discussions about how to balance combatants a while back, so rather than repeating it all, here's a link: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/77063-Help-how-do-I-balance-PCs-against-NPCs For some ideas on what you can do in the Hero combat system, here are some intricate analytical advice of tactics - even for experienced Hero GMs there are good advice here (the rest of Killer Shrike's site is also very useful for pulling writeups): http://www.killershrike.com/GeneralHero/HERO5CombatTactics.aspx http://www.killershrike.com/GeneralHero/HERO5ActionAdvantage.aspx There are also very good writeups at Susano's site, including how-to's: http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/index.html Armed with the pages 20-21 in 6E2, you should have little to no trouble using 5th edition writeups with 6th Edition - also freely downloadable here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/74887-5E-To-6E-Character-Conversion-Summary Other than that, do reread 6E2 p282-285 for advice on Combat Balance and Effectiveness; the Rule of X, while not infallible, can be applied to opponents as well to give you an idea of how PCs and antagonists compare. Before running a combat, you need to at least have a list of available Combat Maneuvers (those you allow to be used at this point, not necessarily including all the optional ones), and preferable be reasonably familiar with how those work, as well as the rules for taking damage - otherwise, things will slow down very much. Everything else you can probably look up in the book on an as-needed basis (i.e., you only need a familiarity with the Skills, Powers, etc. that are actually going to be used during the session). Finally, do remember that CVs should rarely fall more than 4 pts between PCs and opponents, and that superior numbers of opponents and maneuverability can turn the tables quickly because of halved DCVs, Actions available and SPD differences. You might also consider these approximations if you have to eyeball something quickly: (Normal Damage dice x 3.5) - Total Defense = average STUN damage taken in 1 hit. (Killing Damage dice x 7) - Total Defense = average STUN damage taken in 1 hit. Note that Advantages like AP will change these numbers quite a bit, as will the use of Hit Location Rules, especially for Killing Damage. Hope these tips help you.

Re: Book of the Destroyer: Destroyer v. Takofanes That's only effective on "How to build a vampire in the Hero System" threads.

Re: Weaponmaster of the Knife Still, even if a thrown HKA would technically still be a HKA, what about the samurai who purchased the Weaponmaster Talent? Should the samurai be penalized and not allowed to use his Weaponmaster Talent at range because katanas are not usually thrown and hence not built as throwable? Whatever the individual GM ruling, it should probably be consistent in that it either applies to all thrown weapons for Weaponmaster characters who wants to throw their weapons, or it does not apply to ranged attacks with HTH weapons at all (unless it is also bought Ranged). I can imagine that a GM might also rule differently on this in Heroic vs Superheroic campaigns.

Re: CHAMPIONS VILLAINS -- What Do *You* Want To See? Listing "Base of Operations" (or some similar label, to indicate where villains have their general focus, like a specific city, region, or nation) might be useful, even if it just says "mobile", "international", or even "variable". If this, and the power level classification (Alpha, Beta etc.) is also listed in the Index, finding just the type of CU villain you need might be even easier when you're in a hurry, without requiring a master list. Maybe not everyone would find that useful, but I would.

Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store (overheard from the dressing room in the Icons store) "OK, this really is a wonder bra."

Re: A Number Six 'follower' If there is no definitive game benefit from this and it still remains uncertain if it's a trip or a vision, maybe the simplest way would be to initially buy it as Clairsentience, No Conscious Control, and then rebuild it if it proves effective in the game, either as an odd form of Contact, a Desolid Computer Follower, etc. "I am not a number!" [remains of quote deleted for being overused] *cue guitar riff*

Re: Beating Dr. Destroyer...how do (or did) you do it?

Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store Oh yes, he was responsible for such amazing villains as the Rocket Skater and the Big Wheel. There are some interesting examples of mysterious shopkeepers though: DC has the fairly enigmatic Barter, and Marvel had Mr Jip, each attending curio shops at different times. Of course there are some more sinister examples from movies: Gremlins, Hellraiser, etc. Might be interesting if there also occasionally were strange little trinkets available for "a certain price"...?

Re: CHAMPIONS VILLAINS -- What Do *You* Want To See?