Old Man

I'm fairly certain that STR does matter for Lightsabers. Sure they can cut through anything but that doesn't mean that it does so efortlessly. Qui Gon cutting through blast door as example. It looked like he was puttin some mucle into the effort. Missile Deflection/Reflection is a funtion of the user not the weapon. It might require a Lightsaber to block a blaster shot but the Jedi will not suddenly forget how to block arrows if he's holding a normal sword.

The tavern common room was large, smokey and fairly crowded. That being the case, Jymn did not notice that his target was in the same room with him. Aleister meanwhile was watching Jymn and wondering when the fool would notice him. It did take a while. Zin finished her meal and bade her friends good bye and happy travelling. The necromancer finished a fine meal and was on his second cup of wine before Jymn choked on his beer and a firey gleam lit his eyes. "There he is!" pointing to Aleister. "Kill him! go go!" pushing his three hired swords forward. The tavern's patrons were as fast as any in the kingdom, they got out of the way and made for the walls. Some few were beginning to place bets as the three attackers closed on their target. The stocky Vashon pulled free a heavy hammer, the dark haired woman unsheathed her great sword and the blond gave her staff a practice spin. Jymn jumped behind the bar to hide. Our heroes continued to sit and drink. Taking this as the sign of an easy victory, the blond beauty leaped into the air, did a fancy spin, and landed on the table scattering cups and dishes everywhere. The move would have been truly impressive if she didn't land on her butt. Lavenus took this as a great chance to cop a feel. The woman screamed in outrage and easily broke free of the horned man's embrace. The commotion alerted Yor and Mac that something was wrong, they just reached the top of the stairs overlooking the common room when the Vashon found another stone-skin blocking his path. "Stop right there," Chip said as he slapped the hired hammer. "We're both holy men, you don't have to kill anybody." "Holy man? You're in league with that necromancer!" The Vashon priest took a swing at Chip but the hammer was deflected by Chip's buckler. With a banshee scream, the brunette charged Aleister swinging her two handed death razor. Her blow would have split him from head to belly but lodged itself in Aleister's chair instead. The necromancer prepared himself to dodge another attack. Yor jumped over the rail to land near Jymn. The floor behind the bar was very slipery. Poor conditions placed the monk at a disadvantage for only a second, but that second was long enough. Jymn swung his hammer and connected with Yor's shoulder. The force of the hit was enough to knock the young man out. Mac pull out his swords and bounded down the stairs intending to help Aleister. The dark haired woman needed to free her sword from the chair and used Macarrandir's chest to do it. The Wythir fell to the floor among bits of shattered chair. An exchange of attacks between the Vashon priest and Chip resulted in Chip resorting to lethal force. Chip was able to eliminate the priest by crushing skin and bones with his great mace. Stick girl rolled to her feet and swung her staff over her head. With a single sweep of iron capped wood, she struck at Lavenus and Aleister. The blow to the necromancer's temple knocked him to the floor. Lavenus got a chill as the staff missed his groin by a hair. Jymn seeing an advantage moved closer to make sure Aleister was dead. The woman with 5 feet of sharpened steel wanted to be sure as well. Her sword gave the pale man a very deep cut to the chest. Macarrandir and Yor recovered within moments of each other. Both were a bit dizzy but the knew they were needed. Mac gripped his swords and attacked the woman with the great sword. His blades struck solidly but the deep cuts didn't seem to faze her. Yor bounced after Jymn taking him down with a single kick to the spine. In spite of his armored skin, the Vashon went down in a heap. While Lavenus continued to make groping passes at the blond woman, Chip yelled for Yor to help Aleister. "I can't attack her," he shouted back, "She's a woman."

I would make it number of slots equal to INT rather than 2x INT. 30+ slots is a crap load.

But there's no incentive for the player to put further lims on the mage's spells. Once the cost of the slot is down to 1.49, further limitations are pointless (at least from the player's perspective). Obviously there are limitations on the MP itself, but often there are other limitations that ought to go on a specific slot, such as reduced penetration or ablative. With multipowers you just don't see this, and that homogenizes magic a lot.

"4. Variable Point Pool: Too expensive, too abusive, and too slow in play." I agree totally. "3. Elemental Control: Too expensive... Even at half price, spells with real costs over 40 or so are still too expensive to be practical in a Heroic game." I'm not so sure. An EC with a lot of spells in it is similar to having an extra -1 limitation on each slot, pointswise. And it does have the added bonus of discouraging the one-spell mage. The problem with ECs is that there are way undercosted powers, so that if the EC is set for 40-point-active powers, then the forcefield skyrockets to 14rPD/14rED 0 END. "2. Multipower: Too cheap by far. Beginning mages end up being able to buy effective spells for ridiculous costs (like one point for an Autofire RKA)." I used to think MPs were okay, but then I actually built some mages using them, and I ran into this exact problem. The slots are so cheap that there's no reason to put further limitations on them, and limitations are what make Hero powers feel like magic as opposed to superhero mutant powers. "1. Individual spells: Too expensive. Unless I load everything down with Limitations until it's weak and buggy as hell. I don't want ANY Limitations on my magic except Gestures and Incantations." Well, you could always crank up the limitations for Inc/Gest in your campaign. In 1st ed. FH they were worth -1/2 apiece. Or you could just give away an additional -1/2 limitation to the mages somehow. But part of the problem is that your example is poor--area effect attacks are very, very expensive in FH. So are drains and transfers. That's one of the peculiarities of the game. Try using force field as an example instead. =P I should add that I prefer FH magic to have a lot of limitations to give it the right feel. Inc, Gest, Concentrate and Extra Time (full phase), in addition to the skill roll are what I would consider the bare minimum. But that's just me.

Re: I will offer suggestions, but first... Pug Sethra Lavode But they're pretty exceptional. Yamo did say he only wanted to require the limitations Gestures and Incantations. That being the case, a multipower might be the way to go. The slots are cheap but since they are only ever going to be -1/2, it's not so bad. Requiring that spell casters have Magic Skill to have spells in the first place is a good idea. The progressive background skills for higher point limit is a good idea along with something like 2xINT cap.

You can explain OCV/DCV like this: (11+OCV) - DCV = what you need to roll or less on 3d6 Example: OCV 6 vs DCV 4 (11+6) - 4 = 13 or less on 3d6 to hit. Pretty simple. I'm not sure what you mean by putting the CSLs in boxes but if it helps your players then go ahead and do it. Personally I would put WF first because if they don't have the WF for the weapon they are using it is a -3 OCV penalty.

I would second the recommendation that you start slow and low. Grab the Skilled Normals or Competent Normals templates from p224 FREd and do a fist fight or knife fight. Just so everybody can get the hang of things. After that you have to decide what genre you wish to play you campaign in. It all flows from there. You can always pop in here on the boards and ask for advice on ANYTHING.

Cleaning up the cuts and bruises took only a short time. Yor was granted the ability to close Chip's deep spear wound. Macarrandir while conscious, was no longer in fighting trim. With one member down, the group thought it would be a good idea to return to Cowscrossing. Their return was thankfully uneventful. No more wandering blade beetles, no burning town, no ambush by Muskies... "You! You're the evil necromancer that helped burn down part of the town!" shouted Jymn, the all-to-familiar Vashon. Jymn had recognized Aleister weeks ago and was a common irritant. He decided to confront Aleister just as the group passed through the town gates. "Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?" Aleister glared "Huh? What are you gonna do little man?" You'll see," the stone skinned man stammered "just you wait. You'll see." Jymn turned his back on the group and trotted off down a side alley. Lavenus was just leaving the bath house and saw the little conversation. "Was that that same guy that's always harassing you?" At Aleister's nod, "I think I'll go have some fun." Lavenus took off at a jog. Mac shrugged and followed right after him. -------- The next evening, Aleister, Chip, Lavenus and Zin were having a farewell dinner in the Prancing Pansy. Zin's entertaining troupe was to leave town the night and they wanted to say treat her to a good bye pint. Mac was abed, still recovering from his wound with help from Yor. "Learn anything yesterday?" Aleister asked Lavenus. "It turns out that Jymn guy is looking to hire some heavy hitters to teach you a lesson - a bruiser of a Vashon, and two ladies. They were prettier than me, I'm very bitter." As if by fate, Jymn walked into the tavern closely followed by a thick, dark skinned Vashon, a tall brunette woman with a sheathed great sword, and blond woman of medium height carrying a staff. As already stated by Lavenus the women were stunning.

eeeewwwwww....stinky.

I'm actually a lot more interested in the non-Westerosi part of that setting. The Dothraki, Qarth, Braavos, Old Valyria, Meereen and Astapor... all much more exotic than Westeros, Wall or not.

From georgerrmartin.com: "The May DRAGON (issue #307) will be a special Westeros issue. A spendid cover painting, by Hugo-nominated artist Donato Giancola, depicts everybody's favorite red priestess, Melisandre of Asshai. Inside, readers will find art and articles about the world of the Seven Kingdoms, including scenarios and suggestions for role-playing campaigns set on the Wall, or amongst the backstabbers and intriguers of King's Landing. The issue will also feature a full-color fold out map of Westeros, north and south, and a brand new interview with yours truly." Should be a good resource.

The Hero 5th Beastiary has most of the important monsters in it. For the most part, convert using the equivalents for stats. For BODY use the D&D character's CON. Try going from there.

Yor invoked the strength of St. Sebastian leaping out of the pit to land behind the three startled Muskies. Spinning on one foot, the massive monk kicked one of the hairy creatures in the back throwing it into the pit. Crashing branches announced the arrival of Chip Oblach, Disciple of The All Father. Roaring a battlecry, he too almost landed in the pit of spikes. With a crumbling of dirt and rock, two Muskies emerged from the ground about 5 feet away from Aleister. Zin threw her last axe at one hitting it in the thigh. The Musky's eyes rolled back as it fell back into the hole it came from. Aleister faced off against the other Badger-man. The two of them traded blows only for a short time. Aleister's old fencing lessons came back to him allowing him to strike a death blow with his sword. Fighting off two Muskies was almost child's play for Yor but he couldn't get a solid hit through their combined defense. They in turn could not hit the huge, nimble man. Leaping over the pit, Chip took a spear in the gut before he swung his mace into a Musky side. The other, shocked by his companion's sudden demise, allowed Yor the openning he was waiting for. Half a dozen punches to the Musky's hand and shoulder left the last of the Badger-men lying in the dirt.

DUDE! Where did you get your avatar? I vaguely remember it from a video game but don'r remember which one.

I think you guys are going about it all the wrong way. Summon only requires END to summon the creature. Make the Summon cost END to maintain and when the character stops paying END, the creatures goes away.

Somebody at RPG.net brought up a good question...how would you do Kirby? Crap nevermind, I just figured it out...VPP.

I didn't say anything about weapons. I was talking about unarmed attacks like Killing Strike.

Right, but if you buy +DC it increases the BASE damage of the attack. The max is x2 Base damage.

*semi- accurate account of events* Zin clambered down from her roost and walked over to the beetle intent on retrieving her daggers. While examining the corpse, she found a glistening membrane protruding from the beetle's abdomen. Slicing through the thin skin caused four grapefruit sized spheres covered in slime to pour out. Apparently, the beetle was a female with eggs. The entertainer spent some time collecting s good portion of the beetle gore and packing up the eggs. It didn't take long for the group to find the Musky trail again. Mac was once again scouting ahead. If not for the threat of blade beetles and Muskies, the walk would have been fairly pleasant. Aleister whispered foul words and flicked his fingers in arcane patterns every quarter hour. Several of his attempts resulted in him muttering "hmm, nothing." But after a few hours, he said "Hold on, what's this?" A look of concentration came over the necromancer's features and he seemed to peer into the forest. "Mac, there's Muskies ahead about 150 yards away." With Aleister guiding them, the rest of the group moved ahead cautiously. The had just entered a clear portion of the trail when half a dozen Musky barbs sailed into their midst - they were spotted. Mac ran ahead as fast as his skinny legs could carry him. Yor was intent on outpacing him but his prayers fell on deaf ears. Zin, thinking defensively jumped into another tree. Aleister took up a guard position on the ground near her. Chip followed in the wake of Mac and Yor. Loud barking alerted Macarrandir and Yor to the presence of Musky dogs just as the canines charged through the bushes at them. The first was taken down quickly by Yor and his mighty fists of holy might. The second was much luckier. Before Mac could block effectively, the pony sized beast clamped it's jaws on his shoulder. The tall man went limp from the pain and loss of flesh. An unsettled spirit lifted the unconscious scout and placed him at the feet of Aleister. Zin caught a glipse of the Musky dog near Yor. Her sight was true but her arm failed her, instead of her dagger striking the dog, it sank into Yor's flank. The dog looked at Yor with seeming intelligent eyes. The two circled each other waiting for the right moment to strike. As it was about to attack, the dog's focus on the monk was broken. Chip came crashing down the trail widly swinging his great mace. Yor took the oportunity to land a blow on the dog's stomach stunning it long enough for Chip to cave in it's chest with studded steel. More Musky darts were thrown at the two dog slayers but none found their mark. The Muskies didn't follow their usual pattern of advancing. Instead of running forward, they faded back into the forest. Yor was determined to catch them. With a holy shout he ran forward with the grace of god. His face broke into a grin as he charged. Within seconds the Muskies were before him. Within a footstep, he found himself falling into a spike lined pit. One of the sharpened wooden stakes pierced his leg but the injury wasn't great. Moving his hands over Macarrandir's torn shoulder, Aleister siphoned up a bit of the Wythir's soul. Using this energy, he stopped the bleeding and brought the scout back from the brink of death. Chip ran after the Muskies but it would take a short time before he could reach them. Losing sight of her companions, Zin considered following them. A warning hand by Aleister made Zin pause. "Something coming..." the necromancer peered behind him and started to feel a vibration from the ground.

It's not weapon killing attacks, it's martial killing attacks (killing strike) that have no cap.

Jeez, man, how long did it take you to type all that?

Conversely, you could stick with more overt magic (from whatever source) and egyptianize the special effects. Go rent The Mummy--lots of summoning of undead, RKAs in the form of scarab swarms, drains and transforms, sandstorms, and so forth.

It kind of depends on the setting and the special effects of the spells. If the campaign is always played in the forest or jungle, then there should be no limitation.

I think it's mostly a matter of degree. I usually start with a pretty clear idea of what my character is and how he acts and why, but that's effectively designing in a vacuum. Once the campaign starts things change, mostly through interaction with the other PCs. For example, my misunderstood necromancer suddenly developed a kind of contempt for religious proselytizers, because there's one in the party and it's more interesting to play it that way.