First-time GM questions

[roch]

This could well be the first post of many

 

After running in my new campaign with a 1-shot GURPS horror adventure (which could easily be converted to HERO, hint hint), I plan to switch to HERO as the power level goes up to heroic and potentially low-powered superheroic.

 

The campaign will be set in roughly the present day, and I have a few really noddy questions...

 

o how much is a limitation worth on a power which only affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered", and nothing else?

 

o is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself, e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?

 

o how are D&D's Augury spells modelled?

 

o how are D&D's Antipathy/Sympathy spells modelled?

 

o how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?

 

o have I gone mad, or does an M1A1 tank really weigh 6.4 tons (5ER476)?

 

o how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?

 

(As you might have guessed, my background is D&D, GURPS, M:tA, and also Exalted.)

 

Let me also take this opportunity to say that 5ER - the first HERO book I have bought - looks like a really interesting product, and I hope I manage to do the system justice in my campaign. (I'm also very lucky, in that my gaming group will try absolutely anything: quadriplegic characters, schizophrenic market makers, and my favourite - a Welsh sumo wrestler who learned all his martial arts by watching a movie he rented from a Man in Black...)

 

Thanks for your help and support in assisting an utter n00b,

 

(_8(0)

[Fireg0lem]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

o how much is a limitation worth on a power which only affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered", and nothing else?

 

o is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself, e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?

 

o how are D&D's Augury spells modelled?

 

o how are D&D's Antipathy/Sympathy spells modelled?

 

o how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?

 

o have I gone mad, or does an M1A1 tank really weigh 6.4 tons (5ER476)?

 

o how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?

 

(_8(0)

 

Welcome to the boards.

 

o Depends on what the power does, really. A killing attack would get a very large limitation, a dispel vs. technology would get almost nothing, and various other powers would fall inbetween.

 

o I'm not familiar with Mage, but this sounds like a good SFX for a small attack with some sort of Armor Piercing/Penetrating effect, or maybe Find Weakness. If it can only be used against objects, it should probably just be a Dispel vs. Things With Little Bits That Can Be Broken.

 

o Clairsentience with Precognition and a bunch of limitations.

 

o Probably Mind Control with a large area of effect, and Set Command.

 

o Depends on how much the drain is, I'd give is somewhere in the area of -3 (this is far worse than 1 charge per day, which is -2, but not as bad as only one charge that never recovers, which is -4).

 

o Beats me.

 

o For absolute immunity, Desolidification with limitations. For "darn well good enough" just a bunch of defenses.

[Blue]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

Well, yer gonna find that nothing is absolute. Every campaign (and GM) has his own thoughts on these matters. I'll make suggestions on ones where I feel I might have some sort of input...

 

 

affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered", and nothing else?.....I have a character with an Electomagnetic pulse that affects electronics and I gave it a -1. Naturally if you're in a Cyberpunk style campaign it's going to be worth way less than that. If you're in the Dark Ages, way more.

 

is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself, e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?.....Generally the same thing really. You're "breaking the object" by breaking part of it. I wouldn't give you any more for taking, say, a Killing Attack and saying that it "irreperably jams the object by breaking an internal working" than I would if you just disintegrated the item. Same result, same cost.

 

how are D&D's Augury spells modelled?....Tough one. You could use the Clairsentience power to do predictions with a limitation that you don't see the results so much as get a feeling one way or the other as to which is more beneficial. Would be worth a good limitation depending on how much info you give the prophet.

 

how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?.....No such thing really. But you can buy a Characteristic drain with such a huge delay as to make it effectively the same as permanent. That would be a huge cost. And then someone with a specific "healing" power might be able to reverse this anyway.

 

have I gone mad, or does an M1A1 tank really weigh 6.4 tons (5ER476)?.....Steve did lots of research for "The Ultimate Brick" on weight of objects, so I'd tend to believe him.

 

how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?.....Tall order! Really high defenses of all kinds (Power Defense, Flash Defense, Resistant PD/ED, etc.) is about all I can think of, with that limitation that it's only v. one person or it can only be keyed to one person at a time and is nullified by returning fire on them.

 

Hope something in there helped. There are people here better at this than me, certainly.

[Jhamin]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

This could well be the first post of many

 

Welcome to Hero!

 

 

o how much is a limitation worth on a power which only affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered"' date=' and nothing else?[/quote']

Depends on the power. Limits are based on how much they limit the power and this limit affects different powers differently.

 

A energy blast or killing attack, which normally works on just about everything looses alot of power when you can only target working electronics. I'd give it a -1.

A dispel vs. electronics by default only works on elecronics anyway so this isn't a limit at all. (The "has to be currently powered" bit may be worth a -1/4, but it's borderline. How often do you need to dispel something that is shut off anyway?)

 

 

o is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself' date=' e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?[/quote']

 

The problem with modeling anything from Mage to Hero is that Mage works in broad general strokes and Hero does specifics.

 

In Hero terms a gun is a ranged killing attack with some advantages and limits. You have to attack the entire power, not just the bits of it. But you *can* build a way of shutting down the power and declaring that the special effect is bits breaking.

If you are thinking of having guns that don't fire cause your PC doesn't want them to, there are lots of ways of doing it:

-Dispel vs. Guns (the physical gun is still there, it just doesn't do damage anymore)

-A RKA vs. the Focus that represents the gun

-Lots of dice of luck

-Lots of DCV (You are so hard to hit they always miss, and you define it as the gun misfireing)

 

 

o how are D&D's Augury spells modelled?

You buy Clairsentience with the modifiers that let you see the future. Then you apply the custom limit "sketchy yes/no answers, -1/2". You can activate the power when you want to, and ask what you want, but the GM can give what info he feel is appropriate.

 

 

o how are D&D's Antipathy/Sympathy spells modelled?

Remind me what these do again?

 

 

o how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?

 

Permanent? If it lasts a really long time it's a drain that is bought so far down the time chart that it will be years before you are ok. Check the drain rules.

If it lasts forever it's a transform.

 

 

o have I gone mad' date=' or does an M1A1 tank really weigh 6.4 tons (5ER476)?[/quote']

 

That is indeed a problem. It needs to weigh about 10x that. The Hero rules tend to favor "dramatic reality" over "real reality", so it needs to weigh that amount for alot of the size, str, and such to work out correctly. Try not to think too much about the exact values and focus on what happens when characters run into one.

 

o how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?

 

Complete anything vs. anything is something Hero trys not to do. It's a game philosophy thing. They avoid the unstoppable force vs. immovable object conundrum by not allowing either one into the game. You can't be immune/impervious/unstoppable because there is always a way to get around you. When you really think about it, just about every "invincible" thing in fiction eventually gets beaten.

 

But that doesn't help you:

A sugested way is to buy desolidification only vs. the thing that can't hurt you. They can attack, but it won't hurt.

Unless they have "affects desolid" on the attack, but to qualify for that the attack has to be pretty weird to begin with.

 

Thanks for your help and support in assisting an utter n00b,

 

We like to think we are a pretty helpful community. Look at how many people jumped onto your questions

[Old Man]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

 

o how much is a limitation worth on a power which only affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered", and nothing else?

 

Agreed, it depends on the power

o is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself, e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?

 

If it makes the object useless, then I don't think it matters what is being tagetted.

 

 

o how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?

 

Could you explain further? Not sure what you're getting at.

 

o how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?

 

Assuming this is a critter attacking a human...

Is this a power that the human has as a defense or is it a limitation on who the critter can attack? If it is a limitation on who the critter can attack, then you can put it's attack powers on a Multiform. Bascially giving it the ability to attack only after it has been attacked.

[Vanguard00]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

Just a side note: yes, the M1A1 Abrams tank weighs in excess of 60 tons, not 6.

[techogre]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

For all your real world Abrams info:

 

http://www.army.mil/fact_files_site/abrams/

[Dust Raven]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

This could well be the first post of many

After running in my new campaign with a 1-shot GURPS horror adventure (which could easily be converted to HERO, hint hint), I plan to switch to HERO as the power level goes up to heroic and potentially low-powered superheroic.

 

The campaign will be set in roughly the present day, and I have a few really noddy questions...

Welcome to HERO!

 

o how much is a limitation worth on a power which only affects "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powered", and nothing else?

 

Depends upon which Power is used, and how common "electrical/electronic devices which are currently powers" are. Typically, Standard Powers such as EBs or KAs can take a huge Limitation (say, around a -1 in a modern setting) because they can normally affect just about everything. Adjustment Powers or Dispel, however, would probably be bought versus that particular SFX and wouldn't receive a limitation.

 

o is it possible to mirror the effects of M:tA's Entropy sphere by attacking small parts of large objects rather than the entire object itself, e.g. the firing pin of a large gun rather than the large gun, or is this considered "cheating"? If this is acceptable, how would it be modelled?

 

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: It's a SFX thing. Making something not work (i.e. breaking it) is the same effect whether you are bending it in half, vaporizing it, or just knocking an essential chunk out of it. You'd just define whatever attack you use for the effect as breaking that small part.

 

o how are D&D's Augury spells modelled?

 

Short answer: However you think they should be.

Long answer: If I recal correctly, and Augury is a spell that allows the caster to know whether a particular action will be for good or ill. There are a few ways to do this, depending of your preference. Others have mentioned Clairsentience, which is fine. Another posibility is to use Detect. Augury: Detect Outcome, Discriminatory. It's a bit vague, but so is Augury.

 

o how are D&D's Antipathy/Sympathy spells modelled?

 

I'm not familiar with these.

 

Okay, I check by PHB (3.0). These look like Mind Control; Area Effect. The Limitations, Must Name And Can Only Affect A Specific Creature/Alignment and Mandatory Effect would be appropriate, but I'm unsure what the value would be. To sumulate the penalty for creatures that make their save (make their EGO Roll if they are affected), you can use AE Negative Skill Levels that only apply versus the specified creature.

 

The only drawback is there is no way to truly define alignments in Hero. You can either ignore that aspect of the spell, or find some way to lable characters with alignments.

 

o how much does a side effect of permanent ability/characteristric drain cost?

 

Side Effects are based upon Active Points. So much of a Side Effect will force upon the character a certain number of Active Points of effect. Those Active Points don't have to be straight damage, but could be dice of effect with an Advantage. For "permanent" effects, build a Drain versus the appropriate Characteristics (using the appropriate Advantage for affecting more than one, if appropriate) and the Delayed Return Rate, delayed to a point past the character's life span.

 

Or you can just choose an arbitrary value to make things easier (and to take up less space on the character sheet), but I'd use the above method to determine a fair value to apply.

 

o have I gone mad, or does an M1A1 tank really weigh 6.4 tons (5ER476)?

 

I've tried to pick one up.

 

o how can I model "completely immune from everything that one particular individual does unless I attack him"?

 

Very tricky. There's really not enough info here to offer some solid ideas. For a few shots in the dark, there's always Desolidification, with some Modifiers to reflect the inability to pass through walls. The way to affect the character is for the character to attack you first. The only holes in this ideas would be that Mental Powers and Flashes have full effect, as would some Affects Desolid Attacks. Then there's always buying up Defenses to make the character immune to anything that can attack him (and enough KBR to keep from flying across the battle field, or being knocked down).

 

(As you might have guessed, my background is D&D, GURPS, M:tA, and also Exalted.)

 

Let me also take this opportunity to say that 5ER - the first HERO book I have bought - looks like a really interesting product, and I hope I manage to do the system justice in my campaign. (I'm also very lucky, in that my gaming group will try absolutely anything: quadriplegic characters, schizophrenic market makers, and my favourite - a Welsh sumo wrestler who learned all his martial arts by watching a movie he rented from a Man in Black...)

 

Thanks for your help and support in assisting an utter n00b,

 

(_8(0)

Well, with a group like that, running Hero should be fairly easy...

[Lord Liaden]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

Hail and well-met, Roch! Welcome to the hallowed halls of HERO - I hope you like them enough to stay for a while.

 

While I don't have much to add to the excellent replies that have already been given to your specific questions, given your background and interests I think I can suggest a couple of websites which you might find interesting and useful:

 

For converting general tropes and specific elements of Dungeons and Dragons into HERO System, Killer Shrike's High Fantasy HERO fan website has no peer. If you check this webpage on his site you'll find links to guidelines and writeups for several of the familiar spell categories.

 

Surbrook's Stuff, probably the most broadly useful HERO fan website on the 'net, includes a large section by Robert Harrison with detailed conversions of most of the First Edition World of Darkness books into HERO System, including Mage: The Ascension. While the Chaos Sphere is not specifically includedin the conversions, hopefully you'll find lots of other stuff to interest you. You'll find the WoD section here.

 

Hope you enjoy them.

[Phil]

Re: First-time GM questions

 

Regarding the immunity question, if I understand it correctly, Char 1 is immune to ONE INDIVIDUAL unless THAT INDIVIDUAL attacks. In which case, another way to model it is to make it a Physical Disadvantage for THAT INDIVIDUAL, rather than a power for Char 1?

 

Just a thought.

Phil