Steve Long

In published materials, I've typically done it as a Drain DEX. As an option I've suggested expanding it to include a Drain CON as well, to represent nausea and whatnot.

Thanks, Revturkey! This is definitely a labor of love for me -- one I hope to get back to work on any day now after a year's absence due to other work assignments and some health issues. If I do Kickstarter it, don't worry, I'll give you plenty of warning so you can save up your drachmas.

Since I neither wrote, edited, reviewed, nor approved Champions Complete, I'm not in a position to comment on its rules, or the intent of its author (though Derek posts on the boards frequently and can certainly respond to you on the Discussion board if he sees this). However, the official rule in 6E2 is this: So I think the CC rule is consistent with the official rules; it's just stated a little differently.

You're definitely going to see more write-ups for gods, heroes, artifacts, and monsters from mythology than you can shake a stick at (purely legendary stuff I'm saving for Legendary Hero, he said optimistically). To the extent I cover information on "mythic campaigning" and "mythic character creation," that will be a relatively small section of the first, introductory, chapter. Though you never know when inspiration may grab me and cause me to write more than I intend.

Any items appropriate to specific deities (such as Thor's hammer Mjolnir) are covered in those deities' write-ups. Any items appropriate to specific pantheons (like the was staffs used by several Egyptian deities) are covered in the introductory material that's a part of that pantheon's chapter. Unfortunately I can't do that for several reasons. The first is that this would be a Kickstarter I'd run personally, using the HERO System as a licensee. It wouldn't be a company project, and therefore I would have no capacity or authority to reprint (or give away) existing Hero Games books. Second, it would simply be too expensive. Assuming I use Kickstarter for this project, I suspect it will be difficult to raise even the minimum amount I need to produce MH. Raising the additional tens of thousands needed to reprint two hardcover, full color, books at a new printer would require a miracle of Biblical proportions (no pun intended ). If I do happen to succeed to the extent that printing an extra book would be possible, I'd want it to be a new book, and I already know what I'd want to do. But the honest truth is I think I'll be lucky just to raise the money to print MH the way I want to; thinking about extras is a pure pipe dream at this point. At the risk of sounding pretentious (which is not my intent, I promise!), please trust me when I say you can't just Google this sort of information. I'm using a lot of sources for my research that simply aren't available on the web. Furthermore, the way I'm organizing and presenting the material will make the price of admission more than worth it in terms of the time it will save you and the cool stuff you'll learn.

If there were such a thing as a HERO System “bar exam,” this question would be in the multiple choice part pretty much every year. It’s just the sort of odd-but-entirely-plausible issue bar exam committees love. Take +2 XP out of petty cash for bringing some philosophical joy to everyone’s weekend (or at least mine ). There are actually two issues here, I think, and I’m going to restate them for purposes of clarity: 1. Suppose that a character establishes Line Of Sight to a target. The target then moves behind the character in some fashion so that he’s no longer within the character’s “zone of perception.” However, there’s no obstacle or other impediment preventing the character from perceiving the target if he were perceiving in the proper direction. An example would be if the target Flies or Teleports behind a character who can only see straight forward. Does this break LOS for purposes of maintaining Constant Powers, UAA powers, and the like? 2. If a character breaks Line Of Sight between himself and someone who’s maintaining the use of a power on him (such as a Constant Power, UAA power, or even some Mental Powers), when does the maintained power stop affecting him? Does it occur immediately, at the end of the Segment, or at some other time? And the answers are: 1. As a default rule, the situation described does not break LOS for purposes of maintaining powers. As noted on 6E1 149, “a character doesn’t literally have to “keep his eye on” a target at all times to maintain LOS; he just has to be able to do so if he’s perceiving in that direction.” That general rule resolves the issue in most circumstances, I think. However, in campaigns that strictly enforce the optional Facing rules (6E2 26), GMs may want to be more strict about this. They could either allow such movement to break LOS automatically, or require the character to make an EGO Roll (or some other appropriate roll) to maintain it. 2. As a default rule, the maintained power typically stops affecting the target immediately. However, the GM should grant common sense and dramatic sense exceptions if appropriate for the campaign (such as when LOS is only broken for the blink of an eye, is re-established in the same Segment, or the like).

First, I’m not entirely clear what you mean by “the OCV Penalties.” While it is possible to create a CE that reduces a Characteristic (see the “Dr. Fear’s Terror Aura” example on 6E1 176, for instance), that’s fairly rare. My guess is that you mean the OCV penalties involved in not being able to perceive a target with a Targeting Sense, since many CEs impose PER Roll penalties. But I’ll cover both concepts in my answer just to be sure. If you meant something else that hasn’t occurred to me, please post a follow-up. For a Change Environment that directly reduces the OCV Characteristic: If the Change Environment lacks the Area Of Effect Advantage, it reduces the OCV of the single character targeted and no one else. If it has that Advantage, it affects any character within the Area as long as they remain in the Area (and as long as the effect’s maintained by paying END). It does not affect characters firing into or through the Area, unless the GM rules otherwise. For a Change Environment that interferes with PER Rolls: As noted on 6E1 175, a Change Environment that has the Area Of Effect Advantage and affects PER Rolls blocks Line Of Sight using the same rules as for Images (6E1 237). By implication, the PER Roll penalties must therefore apply to anyone attempting to perceive into, out of, or through the Area — and thus, a failed PER Roll could impose an OCV penalty on a character shooting a Ranged Attack at a target inside the Area (or on the other side of it from him). This is an exception to the general rule that you have to be inside the Area affected by a Change Environment to suffer its effects, but it’s an exception consistent with Darkness, Images, dramatic sense, and common sense. (The same exception may apply to other types of Area-affecting Change Environments. For example, it applies to the Range Modifier-altering combat effect of the Change Environment in the Distance Distortion Zone power on CP 92, but not to the movement-altering combat effects of the power. Again, common sense and dramatic sense make this pretty self-explanatory, I think.) Your understanding of Darkness is correct. To quote the relevant text: “Darkness makes the covered area impenetrable by the Senses it affects. For example, unlike natural nighttime darkness (which imposes up to a -4 on Sight PER Rolls and can be counteracted with Nightvision and other Powers), Darkness versus the Sight Group is impenetrable by Sight Group Senses — even someone with Nightvision cannot see into, out of, or through it. It doesn’t just make PER Rolls with the affected Senses harder, it makes them impossible.”

When a character uses a UAA Area-affecting attack (Darkness in this example, and probably the most common choice for this sort of thing) that’s designed to “stick” to a target and move as he moves, then the character must hit that target’s DCV (not the DCV 3 of the Area). Even if the Area of the attack is large enough to cover more than one target, the character has to choose one specific target, and that target’s the only one affected. The Area-affecting phenomenon may temporarily cover other persons as the target moves, but it does not “stick” to them, only to the target.

Not specifically, no -- but you could easily enough just remove anything like Rank that you think doesn't apply while keeping learned Skills and whatnot.

Not under the standard rules. There are optional rules for Mental Martial Arts in The Ultimate Mentalist, but that's not the same thing as building such maneuvers using the standard Martial Arts rules.

See 6E2 174.

Equipment bought with the +5 points doubling rule tends to be identical. If, as in this case, the item has Charges, then each such item has the full number of Charges bought for the base item. And yes, this can be an easy end-run around the Charges restriction on a weapon, which is why the GM is encouraged to look carefully at characters' uses of the doubling rule for personal gear.

This seems to be an appeal for general help and/or discussion, so I've moved it to the Discussion board where anyone can reply.

You pay END (or use Charges) for each shot.

Leaving aside the latter two (since I'm not covering Christian Mythology in this book), the others you mention have already all been written up -- along with lots of others you didn't mention.

Thanks for the kind words. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of my current and planned projects finished at some point and can challenge that "comprehensiveness" bar.

Yes, there should be -- I'll make a note in my errata file. Thanx!

The following rules are relevant to this issue: 1. 6E2 194: “A Vehicle can move more quickly if the driver (or pilot) moves at Noncombat Movement velocity (which of course reduces the Vehicle’s OCV to 0 and halves its DCV).” 2. 6E2 37: “A reduction of OCV or DCV to 0 should generally be considered as “reducing CV by a percentage,” and thus be applied as the very last step in the OCV or DCV calculation. However, the GM may change this if he wishes (for example, he might consider the 0 to be the character’s base CV), and the rules may note other exceptions.” So there are a number of things to consider. First, you’re generally correct that a Vehicle moving at Noncombat Movement velocity will be at 0 OCV. Second, that does not necessarily mean 0 OCV and nothing else. The GM might choose to change that, as noted on 6E2 37. In fact, if you’re using the advanced vehicular combat rules in The Ultimate Vehicle, a reduction of OCV to 0 for Noncombat Movement is specifically listed as part of the fourth step in the OCV Checklist, not the eighth (see TUV 181). Third, you’re assuming that Vehicles engaged in “a dog fight” (or any other form of vehicular combat) are moving at Noncombat speeds. I don’t think that’s necessarily a valid assumption. It may be in some instances, but may be wrong in others. In my personal experience, Vehicles in combat generally slow down to Combat Movement velocities for precisely this reason: to make it easier to shoot the other guy (so to speak). But of course anyone else’s mileage may vary. Fourth, there are some advanced rules in The Ultimate Vehicle that may factor into the situation, such as the Uses Character OCV Not Vehicle OCV Power Modifier. Hope that helps!

No, that's not a typo. It just means anyone can smack anyone else for free. Strictly speaking it probably doesn't need to be listed there, but it came from somewhere and I guess I just left it there.

As a default rule, no (but of course the GM’s free to change any rule he wants for his campaign). For this reason, the GM should consider carefully before allowing a Multiform power to take those two Power Modifiers together.

I assume you're referring to the Barehanded Weapon Element. (If not, please post a follow-up and explain further so I can answer your question.) It's discussed on page 90 of HERO System Martial Arts. It's not necessary just to throw a punch (i.e., use a Strike Combat Maneuver). It's taken for Martial Arts that are inherently based on a weapon and thus come with a Weapon Element for free (e.g., Fencing, Stickfighting). It represents the fact that the character has also been trained to use the appropriate Maneuvers in that art without a weapon -- barehanded.

Good question. As a default rule, no (but of course the GM’s free to change any rule he wants for his campaign). For this reason, the GM should consider carefully before allowing a Multiform power to take those two Power Modifiers.

Since this is a how-to rather than a rules question, I've moved it to the Discussion board, where anyone can chime in.

As stated on 6E2 117, a character cannot use Breakfall to avoid taking damage from Knockback if he’s Knocked Back into a wall or other object. By extension, Breakfall cannot reduce or prevent damage from a Throw if a character is thrown into a wall or other standing object instead of the ground.

I don't know whether I forgot the previous answer, changed my mind in the interim, or was mind-controlled by aliens, but in any event let's stick with what the published sources (in this case the HSG) use. Easier that way.