torchwolf

Re: CHAMPIONS VILLAINS -- What Do *You* Want To See? It sounds like much of this info could feasibly be combined in such sidebars, where appropriate, especially the "Classification" label (also, if such Classification info is actually available, which might not be the case with brand new villains).

Re: CHAMPIONS VILLAINS -- What Do *You* Want To See? The listing of the sources the villains will be pulled from sounds great; I expect to be very happy with these upgraded, polished, nicely illustrated and provided with individualized lunch boxes! I second the idea of Known/Past Associates under the Bio section (or even listed separately in a sidebar). Also, naturally incompatible allies could be useful to note (it always bugged me no end when they paired Dr Doom with Red Skull in the MU). Some other thoughts: I loved the Master Reference chart of villains, I expect such to be present for these books too. Also, whether a certain villain would be worth more points as Hunter or Watcher might be useful noting (i.e., in cases where it would differ drastically). At some point during 4th edition (not sure if this was 4th Ed CotN or Corporations) this was listed for corporations, which I found very useful info even if it can be deduced from text descriptions. The concept of the "Public Knowledge" boxes in the Algernon Files books, while not perfect, is useful for those occasions where PC knowledge on villains has to be decided upon quickly. Perhaps a useful fact or two could be assigned a skill modifier for use of KS: Superhuman World, KS: Supervillains, etc.? Again, this can of course be decided upon from descriptions and writeups, so it's just a thought. Any of these things could just be noted in sidebars where appropriate, to save some space.

Re: CHAMPIONS OF THE NORTH Outtakes I must extend a heartily Thank You to Mr Long and Mr Bennie for this, very cool flavor and some much needed Quebeqois focus. Now I just have to get the "He's a lumberjack and he's OK" tune out of my head...

Re: Simplified Endurance Management? Hmm. Only keeping track of significant END expenditures... How about just dividing END cost, END, and REC (for END purposes) by say 5, and round off normally (in character's favor)? That way, all END costs of 2 or less is effectively ignored. Obviously this totally unbalances a bit of other stuff that would have to be adjusted (for instance using STUN as END in an emergency), requires certain writeups to be reviewed, as well as making the Reduced END advantages considerably less meaningful, depending on if you want to do this all the time or only occasionally. Cascading game mechanics effects, and all that. Other than that: Using the standard rules, long-term END expenditure that adds up to less than REC per Turn is normally inconsequential unless Long-Term END rules are used, so maybe that could be the basis for when to apply END costs; i.e., reviewing all characters with an eye toward low-END use powers/abilities, and only tracking END when it would likely add up to more than REC per Turn.

Re: 6th edition Min Str

Re: New Gamers The first RPG I picked up was Traveller, in the 3-book black box, and I found it in my home town's then only Science Fiction bookstore in 1979. I had no idea what a roleplaying game was but bought that box anyway because I was intrigued by what the box said, but in hindsight it did a rotten job of explaining what an RPG is to a noob. I ended up GMing Traveller without having played any RPG, and recruited my first player group by teaching them Traveller, then continued that trend with Runequest, etc. I'm not sure if that is true. I think that in a way, the Hero system approaches RPGs from a different angle than most games - it starts with creating an imaginary character, and only then explains how to use that character in an RPG of some genre. In a way, the creations of the Example Characters (Randall Irons in particular, in more depth) is the "What is an RPG?" explanation in the BR, and more extensively, the Genres and some other sections in 6E1-6E2, especially much of the 6E2. It is a different approach, relying more on showing than telling, which I think might have drawn me in it it was my first RPG, but then that's just a theory and my personal opinion. Not really, I think, but a warning label of "Bewildering number of options" might be appropriate. Seriously, a very difficult question to answer, but most people I've talked to during 4th and previous editions thought it was easier than Rolemaster and Shadowrun, for instance. D&D is such an institution in itself so it's hard to compare, but personally I've always had a problem with getting used to Level-based game systems (probably since I came across Traveller and Runequest first). I can see the point of levels but am instinctively repulsed by the concept. ...and learning the science of picking Feats, is no mean... er... I think the Basic Rulebook is good, but maybe releasing a flyer with a micro-adventure, a few sample characters and needed rules excerpts might be a good idea. Still, Earthdawn and several other games (including the new WoD) tried this and I'm not sure if that helped with general RPG introduction. Like a friendly improvised radio theater play where you need no actual acting ability; the GM takes the part of all the "extras", does the props, and directs the play - but not the other players. Using dice makes events random and risky, adding to suspense.

Re: New Gamers Kinda like this is supposed to be? http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/79349-April-2010-Adventure-Design-Challenge-The-Starter-Adventure

Re: Must have books I definitely second those suggestions. Depending on what you want to include in your campaign, I'd also recommend Champions Worldwide if you intend international-flavor adventures, and Mystic World if you want some magic detail, cosmology, or super-spells. For even more detail on that (and some really nasty villains), Arcane Adversaries is the companion book to Mystic World.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? Serious, extensive, and informed attempts to answer this have been made, so these comments may be superfluous, in which case you might just want to ignore the following. I can only see three obvious options, regardless of scale: 1) measure the exact distance to the center of the miniature bases representing the possible targets (i.e., since an AoE has a radius, place the center of the AoE where you will and measure from that; this constitutes the 'target zone'). 2) randomize which of the possible targets are within the 'target zone' based on their previous and declared actions. 3) GM call (this is probably the only way to resolve it at large enough scales without having a separate mini-map for tactical representation). Hope any of that helps, assuming I understood what you were thinking about.

Re: 6th edition Min Str Regarding swords vs axes - there has been extensive discussion on the peculiarities of various weapons in recent threads, so I'm not getting into that, except to note a few things: In the Hero System Martial Arts rules, slower attacks generally have a lower OCV. Melee weapons with greater reach/larger attack surface generally have a higher OCV (+1 or so), excepting some polearms. Axes are unbalanced, and thrown objects have a -2 modifier for this property. Unbalanced weapons are generally not part of any Martial Art or have any specific technique approaching Fencing MA or Melee Combat MA developed for them. WF: Axes would probably be quicker to learn than WF: Swords (even though they're costed the same). Taken together, perhaps unbalanced melee weapons should be considered to have a lower OCV than balanced ones. Possibly, another way to solve the issue with reach, would be to treat say, swords as the default, and add a relative weapon speed/reach modification as a positive or negative Lightning Reflexes, and use the optional "Hurry" combat maneuver more extensively. In either case, rapiers and other light, lower-damage weapons become more efficient than axes when used properly to take advantage of their greater potential maneuverability (MA: Fencing), precisely because they are light weapons. Applying different properties per weapon type has already been suggested, and expanding that concept might be more rewarding than relying on adjusting damage values and STR minimums up and down; I'd go so far as to suggest that DCs and STR Mins are one of the least important part of defining weapons - AP, Semi-AP, +STUN, etc. would do more in individualizing weapons in game statistics. DCs and STR Min could reasonable be dependent on weapon mass to a certain extent (subject to the notion of weapon balance in case of STR Mins, perhaps +2 STR Min for being unbalanced? That would probably apply to greatswords etc. as well, in that case). Again, there are many here who have extensive insight into Creative Anachronisms and similar experience - these were just some thoughts, and YMMV.

April 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - The Starter Adventure April kicks off the HERO Forums monthly Adventure Design Challenge (a few days late again - I've been otherwise busy, so my apologies for this delay). The Challenge starts now, and will run for two months. This time, there was no poll; I arbitrarily decided to address something that's been brought up repeatedly: Theme for this Challenge is build a starter adventure that takes place in any genre, and highlighting aspects of the Hero System - Combat, Skill Use, Mental Powers, Magic, Equipment - anything you like... though not necessarily everything. This means that the general premise could be anything, as long as it's suitable for introducing new players and/or GMs to the Hero System, more specifically making examples for how to use the rules in various ways. Any house rules you'd like to use should be clearly described as such, and explained (in respect to how it interacts with the rules as written) to a reasonable degree. You can create a comedy adventure, an epic quest, a psychodrama, a monster-hunting scenario, a rescue mission, a mystery to be solved, or anything you like – just sign up at the Monthly Adventures Design Group and start writing. Suggested Genres (examples only - genre and subject are entirely optional): Champions Fantasy Hero Horror Hero Pulp Hero Star Hero Western Hero Genre, Subject, Setting & Power Level For the April 2010 challenge, any setting, subject or power level is acceptable, as long as you account for the use of beginning characters. Pre-generated characters are optional. Just make sure you note the following information; Which version of HERO you are writing for. We really don't mind if you want to write for Champions 1st edition if that is what you are comfortable with. If you are writing for Sidekick (5E) or the HERO System Basic Rulebook (6E), mention that as well. Given that this challenge aims for introductory adventures, completed scenarios will have a 5ER and a 6E version of game statistics (the MAD Group can tend to this if the author declines to do so). What the expected point totals for the characters are and the breakdown of base points versus Disadvantages/Complications. The specific genre you're writing in, the setting used (unless you include it) and the era (Champions – Vibora Bay – 1961, for example) An example entry might read: is a Superheroic level adventure set on the Moon, using the HERO 6E rules. Characters will be built on the Standard Superhero points and guidelines as outlined in the HERO 6E1 book. Other Guidelines It is a good idea to follow established HERO standards. When writing up spells, for example, using one of the established magic systems from Turakian Age, Valdorian Age, or Atlantean Age would make it easier for the reader to identify with. If you don't have these resources available or just want to use another system, that is ok too. Just make sure that you provide enough information about how the system works to allow a perspective GM to run it. Maps, pre-generated characters, artwork and other goodies are welcome, but not necessary. If you have any questions, feel free to post them over at the Monthly Adventure Design Group. Submissions and Voting Start the submission process by posting a message over at the Monthly Adventure Design Group. From there you can use your HERO Forums blog to create a development journal. On the final submission date, post an RTF (rich text file) or PDF of your submission to your Monthly Adventure Design Group post (the one you started at the beginning of the Challenge). A new thread will be created in the HERO System General Discussion with a Poll containing all of the entries for that Challenge. The HERO Forum community will choose the winner by popular vote. The winner will get to choose the next upcoming theme and general guidelines. We want to share the opportunity to pick new themes, so if one person wins two Challenges in a row, the runner up on the second Challenge will get to choose the following Challenge's theme. Deadline: May 24, 2010. The voting poll will then close on May 31, 2010 at 2359 hours PST. some more info on Monthly Challenges: March 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - The Offbeat Adventure is still open and running, until April 23. February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - The Valentines Day Adventure is no longer running, but you may of course still examine it for ideas if you wish. The voting poll for the subject of March's Challenge is open indefinitely - you can still vote on subjects and comment there if you'd like: March 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: Newbie assistance Most Excellent sites mentioned above. There is also the Wild Hunt site which features 66 X-Men character writeups (4th & 5th Ed versions): http://the-wild-hunt.org/x-men/index.html Beware that the Wild Hunt writeups are hideously combat capable and could not be used in most campaigns without toning them down some; these are intended to represent abilities as depicted in comics rather than designed for game balance.

Re: Superhero Channel Just don't forget "The Greatest American Hero" show.

Re: Dream Park Hero?

Re: Field/Camping Gear Base Time for Skill Use is another thing though (as listed in Ultimate Skill and the APG); some Skills necessarily take more time to even be able to make a roll at +0, up and down the Time Chart for modifiers. Backpack with basic Survival gear would hardly be bulky, improvising or constructing shelter as needed, but a full set of tent, cooking gear, canned food, and 'luxury-level' Survival gear for several people who don't want to have to use Survival would be as Bulky as packing for a camping trip. In that case, you'd pack all of that just to avoid having to make a Survival roll at all (well in theory you didn't forget matches). Going from IRL experience, especially from the military, 5 Minutes to set up a tent and gear might constitute an Advantage, but more likely few people have as much in their Survival Skill as they'd like to think they do. That's one way of handling it, treating most if not all Skills as coming with the knowledge of how to apply them might require an extra roll but is usually worth it; it's often more interesting to make a preparatory Roll to evaluate the situation so you can apply the Skill intelligently, even with definitely equipment-free Skills (making a Bribery Roll to try to estimate what offer would be likely to work, etc.). I think that usually works better than having to buy a complementary PS and/or KS for each and every Skill, but I would probably place the +0 level situation at the 'normal expected use' situation (Lockpicking starting at a negative modifier for inadequate tools at best if no lockpicks are available; poor tools if even wire is available to improvise use) but either using an 'evaluation roll' or assuming a roll of 10 to have available options presented allows a player to have input in how to proceed or if tools should be acquired before proceeding (Electronics evaluation roll to decide if a replacement circuit board is necessary or would speed up repairs might be preferable to juryrigging, etc.). Much like you suggest here, I like to think of it as two steps: 1) Troubleshooting (Skill Roll, possibly modified by troubleshooting equipment) 2) Solution/Resolution (Skill Roll modified by options selected) It all depends on what level of detail a particular situation calls for, of course, so as not to grind the story to a complete halt for describing details. Pacing Skill use ultimately decides how the rolls work. Many good points brought up here along those lines. Oh and YMMV.

Re: February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge Update The deadline for the February 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - The Valentines Day Adventure has expired; the April 2010 Adventure Design Challenge will be posted on April 1. March 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - The Offbeat Adventure is still running, until April 23. Anyone who wants to vote for a subject or post some input, ideas or suggestions can do so on this thread (the Poll That Never Closed): March 2010 Adventure Design Challenge - What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: So, what's NOT included in the 6th Ed. Basic Rulebook? Some subtle differences arising from the simplified versions of some rules have caused some discussion here recently. As I have both the full set, the APG and the BR, I can see it can cause some misunderstandings between GMs with the full 6E rules and players with the BR, I thought it might be useful to post these differences. As this is just a list, and no additional info on the rules, I hope posting this will just make it easier for GMs and players, and not doing anything contrary to the interests of Hero Games or DOJ. For starters, BR lists only Standard Heroic and Standard Superheroic Guidelines. BR lists what it does not contain, as follows: Skills: Analyze, Autofire, Cramming, Defense Maneuver, Penalty Skill Levels, Rapid Attack, Teamwork, Two-Weapon Fighting. [bR 24 sidebar] Perks: Access, Anonymity, Computer Link, Deep Cover, Favor, Positive Reputation, Vehicles & Bases. [bR 32 sidebar] Talents: Absolute Range Sense, Animal Friendship, Combat Luck, Deadly Blow, Lightning Reflexes, Off-Hand Defense, Simulate Death, Weaponmaster. [bR 32 sidebar] Powers: Absorption, Damage Negation, Damage Reduction, Deflection, Duplication, Endurance Reserve, Reflection, Shape Shift, Summon; all Automaton Powers. [bR 40 sidebar] Healing uses Simplified Healing rules only. Advantages: Cumulative, Damage Over Time, Delayed Effect, Difficult To Dispel, Does BODY, Does Knockback, Double Knockback, Hole In The Middle, Invisible Power Effects, MegaScale, Penetrating, Sticky, Time Limit, Transdimensional, Trigger, Usable On Others, Variable Advantage, Variable Special Effects. [bR 63 sidebar] Limitations: Inaccurate, Lockout, No Conscious Control, Physical Manifestation, Reduced Penetration, Requires Multiple Users, Restrainable, Variable Limitations. [bR 68 sidebar] Standard Combat Maneuvers: Grab By, Multiple Attack, Shove, Throw, Trip. [bR 98 sidebar] Optional Combat Maneuvers: Club Weapon, Choke, Cover, Dive For Cover, Hipshot, Pulling A Punch, Roll With A Punch, Snap Shot, Strafe, Suppression Fire. [bR 98 sidebar] Equipment: Automatons, Computers, Bases. [bR 116 sidebar] In the BR, Variable Power Pools are excluded, and Flexible Slots in a Multipower have a Stop Sign. All Complications are present in the BR. Of the sample Characters, Defender is built differently in BR than he is in Champions 6E. These are the major differences I can find, going by what is listed, but there are slight differences throughout (like the MP rule on Variable slots). Hope that helps you and anyone else who wants to know.

Re: Tools / Assistance for New GMs 1) I can think of one issue with the DC vs DEF relation: if the PCs are mainly using Killing Damage weapons, there might be a difference, since 1 DC Killing does an average of 2 STUN only, which makes the targets' CON and STUN matter much more if the DC vs DEF are close. This is if you're not using the Hit Location rules (those rules increase the average STUN to about 3 per DC K). If you're using Hit Locations, there is a suggestion in the rules on doubling the Hit Location damage modifiers of weapons if they don't seem deadly enough, though that will obviously make things very dangerous for PCs as well. Apart from adjusting damage or defenses, a close enough match might make special tactics and Maneuvers very important for ending fights, which might also be worth examining. 2) Resources: Read the product reviews for Fantasy Hero products; even if those are for 5th Edition, most NPCs should work almost exactly the same except for costs. There are also links on the Hero Games page to, for example, Susano's, Killer Shrike's, Ghost Archer's, and other sites with bountiful excellent writeups for several genres; you can also find some interesting Hero Combat analysis examples on Killer Shrike's site (and I'm probably forgetting to mention several other resources) In general, anything you find for 5th Edition works perfectly well as cannon fodder, and requires only minor adjustments if you want to cost out the stats. If you use a 5th Ed pre-built character your player will never be able to tell the difference, as the Combat and Skill Rules are almost unchanged. 6E1 (6th Edition Book 1), page 20-21, lists all the changes between 5th and 6th Editions. Hero Designer is also very useful if you are pressed for time, and signing up for the single-user contract with 2-years worth of updates is a very good deal; you then also get the ability to freely download pregenerated characters (and equipment as well as other prefabs) from the Vault, and can buy the HD character packs instead of books if you just want some stats. HD also supports both 5th and 6th Edition, as well as pdf export as of now. Basically, HD allows you to select loads of packages that you just click to add to a character, and then print out as needed. Now, you will likely get several more, possibly much better suggestions, from others here. Welcome aboard.

Re: THE Grim Reaper Or Desolidification vs everything, Always On Detect Next Victim On List, 42- Invisibility vs all senses, No Fringe, except Precognition; Touch Group has Fringe (causes chilly wind) Cosmic VPP, all slots Affects Real World, Extra Time, IIF (lethal opportunities and objects), Fully Indirect, Invisible Power Effects (Source of Attacks), "Realistic" Effects (requires coincidental occurrence explanations of effects; -1/4), 4 Clips of 4 Charges (no more than 4 Charges vs each of 4 victim per Day) sample slots: Change Environment (reduced CHAR Rolls of various kinds) Entangle RKA (must be gruesome in nature; -0) TK (Only To Push Target) Psychological Disadvantage/Complication: List Freak; Must Claim Victims In Proper Order (UC, S) Psychological Disadvantage/Complication: Stubborn (VC, T) AK: Final Destination 42-

Re: Campaign Idea: Superhuman Bounty Hunters? An optional idea could be a group of superheroes coming to the conclusion that, since the villain always seem to be escaping, the heroes could make the most permanent impact on crime by focusing on keeping said villains in jail? That way, other groups in the nation/world could focus on crime prevention more. By nominally operating as bounty hunters, they can officially make it their business to hunt down escaped villains and put them back behind bars before they have a chance to plan some new crime spree or supervillainous scheme. Hopefully.

Re: Hero In Two Pages - Complete bump (cause it's so useful)

Re: More Complications, Please I almost missed out on 5th Edition entirely too, just got me the 5ER pdf right after the book went out of print after viewing these boards for a time and beginning to wonder about how much the rules seemed to have been expanded from 4th, so I know where you're coming from. As Susano and others mentioned, the 5th Edition reduced the number of required Disadvantages, and many of the "because of the biochemical imbalance caused by gaining mutant/radiation accident powers, character X is now vulnerable to Intense Magnetic Fields/Adjustment Powers and etc." ceased appearing in that form. But of course, that's also partly because the 5th edition writeups have a generally much improved level of quality compared to some 4th edition books (left unnamed here as not to start anything again). Personally I don't think the recommended number of Disadvantage/Complication points matters that much though; everyone changes details in every game to suit their needs anyway, and many years ago (during 4th Ed) I started allowing Disadvantage points "in reserve"; when a created character works reasonably, any further points might as well be assigned or reallocated depending on what happens during the campaign. I think that approach still is valid even with just 30-75 points of Complications but probably easier to work with in that respect. Describing a personality in terms of Psychological Limitations/Complications is probably something I've moved away from gradually, even if I borrowed the "quirks" 1-point ideas (running under 4th Ed) because it encouraged thinking about idiosyncrasies more. Those things fit better under description really, but it all depends on the GM; I've known people to just look at the Disadvantage list and not bother reading "personality" descriptions at all, in which case the player really needs to be able to define a character in Psych Lim terms, but that's not the Hero system's fault. Of note though: the 5th Edition books are really good even if you don't intend to use 5th Edition otherwise, so don't dismiss them because you're getting 6th Edition instead; read a review or two of those and consider getting the ones that won't be updated anytime soon. In particular, the Ultimate Skill book.

Re: THE HERO SYSTEM BESTIARY: What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: Sectional Defenses Yes, that's a problem at the lower end of the Limitations scale (equivalent of 5- or lower), since you often aim high or head if you really want to take someone out and don't mind the resulting gore.

Re: Sectional Defenses Yes, that represents the statistical probabilities in Limitations values. However, I generally go by the Limited Power guidelines on overall effectiveness: -1/4 lose about a fourth -1/2 lose about a third -1 lose about half -1 1/2 lose about two-thirds -2 lose almost all Way back during early 4th Ed FH, I made a chart for this that used -1 at the 10- level, increasing or decreasing by 1/4 for each step up or down (-1/4 to - 2 3/4), but eventually changed the -1 to the 11- level just to give better limitations at the lower levels (down to -3). If I'd redo that chart today, I think I'd double the values at the 6- and lower levels though.