Steve Long

Re: Stretching, Maneuvers, and Time 1. I’m sorry, but Sweep is a 5E Combat Maneuver, and I no longer answer questions about pre-6E rules. If you’re asking in regard to Multiple Attack, as discussed on 6E1 285, Stretching increases a character’s Reach for purposes of making HTH Combat attacks. So that would allow him to make a Multiple Attack in HTH Combat against foes who are within his Reach as defined by the amount of Stretching he’s using. 2. Activating Stretching is typically a Zero Phase Action, as with activating most other Powers. However that’s still subject to the rules on 6E1 286; and any attacks made using Stretching still take their usual required time, of course. Beyond that I think any questions can safely be left up to the GM to handle with common and dramatic sense.

Re: Hero System Vehicles AFAIK the company has no plans for HSV at present. And when I've floated the idea of doing it myself as a project, it has polled very low compared to other things I could do with my time.

Re: 5thE question: Stretching (such an odd power) I'm sorry, but I no longer answer questions about pre-6th editions of the rules.

Re: Active Points Resistance Power That's entirely up to the GM, since there are no official rules on point ceilings or the like.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? At the very least. It'd be a big 'un. When I dream, I dream of making it a full-color hardcover book. I have a lot of graphics and layout ideas, all of them probably unrealizable. But that's what dreaming's for.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? Here's an updated list of the mythologies I expect to include in MH. The ones marked with † have already been finished (aside from the usual minor clean-up and math stuff). The ones marked * may be moved to the Miscellaneous chapter, or combined with another chapter, if I don't think there's enough material to merit a full chapter after I do the research. African (covering all tribes and parts of the continent not covered in other chapters) American Indian† (split into six sub-chapters covering major cultural groups) Armenian† Assyro-Babylonian† Australian Aborigine Aztec† Canaanite* Celtic Chinese Demonology (medieval Christian demons; may also include some angels) Egyptian Estonian* Etruscan* Filipino* Finnish† Greek and Roman Hawaiian Hindu Hittite* Hungarian* Inca Japanese Lithuanian* Maori* Masai* Mayan† Mongolian/Turkic* Norse† Oceanic Persian Scythian* Slavic/Russian South American* (possibly combined with Inca) Sumerian† Voodoo Yoruban Miscellaneous

A great tool for Pulp games involving long-lost civilizations and ancient artifacts: http://www.event12.com/index.html

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? I got my final book on Mayan mythology in the mail last week and finished the research and writing on that chapter just now, so that part of the book is done. Now I can focus on Greek and Roman without other mythological distractions. Word count to date: 150,000 (about 10% longer than the APG).

Re: Discrimnatory and Analyze on Normal Senses I'm sorry, but that's way too broad a question for me to answer here. A detailed discussion of what those Sense Modifiers can do, beyond what's already given in rulebooks as examples, is going to have to wait for another APG or some similar venue where I have the time to give the subject the attention it deserves. In the meantime, this might make a good Discussion board topic.

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG I haven't made the final decision on that, but the odds are at least one or two of them will be included in some capacity.

Re: Timeline It covers all four novels currently in print, and the short story "Tanya, Princess of the Elves." It will also include some background information and secret lore about the setting that won't come up in the novels until the fifth or later ones, so you'll get to learn some cool stuff long before everyone else! In terms of the "timeline perspective" of the RPG material, it will basically be the same as the MHI characters currently have: right after the events of Monster Hunter Legion.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? Besides the conversion to 6E, I suspect that any changes that result will come from the fact that I'm taking a broader, more thorough look at the idea of divine beings and their adversaries in MH than I ever have before. So I may have to tweak Typhon, Fenris, Jormungandr, and other mythic creatures previously published to make them fit properly into the overall framework. (And as I've said before, that's one reason I don't like the idea of publishing individual chapters as I go; I want to have 'em all on hand to review, compare, and consistent-ize before I publish them, if ever I get to.) But at their core they'll certainly remain the same.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? After several rounds of voting using SurveyMonkey, the party attendees chose a Science Fiction Film Festival featuring Galaxy Quest and Stargate. If folx have the endurance for a third movie, it will be Forbidden Planet.

An article that may be of interest: http://www.1point1c.org/terraform.html

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG I absolutely agree. But in game terms, a system that's sufficiently detailed and "granular" to take all of this into account would likely be verrrrry slow in play. The HERO System is complex enough to allow you to factor in some of these details without really bogging down play -- which I think is the best middle ground.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? The last book I was expecting arrived yesterday, so this Sunday I will be switching back to the mythic world of the Mayans temporarily (Saturday I'm having a movie party ). Once that's done I'll be back to the tales of the Greeks. It's been years since I really delved into classical mythology, so this feels like getting re-acquainted with an old friend I haven't seen in ages.

Re: MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See? For those of you who are interested in updates, I've pretty much just finished the chapter on Mayan mythology (barring a little supplementary research in some books that haven't arrived yet). Woot! Time to head on to one of the big ones: Greek and Roman mythology. I've already got 10,000 words written on that chapter and it's nowhere near done. May end up rivaling or exceeding the American Indian Mythologies chapter before I'm done.

Re: Force Fields with resistant protection? Given the wording of this question, it seems to be a "how to" and general request for advice, not a specific rules question, so I've moved it to the Discussion board where anyone can answer.

Re: Voluntary Grabs and Non Combat Movement You can find rules for carrying combatants on p. 268 of The Ultimate Speedster.

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG Yes, that's definitely a steeper part of the learning curve than just using the Characteristics and Skills. Fortunately, for most MHI RPG players it really won't be much of a consideration. Aside from a character who uses magic, there will be little or no need for MHI RPG character to custom-build powers and abilities. Even then, I expect you'll be able to play a magic-using character with just the pre-built spells in the book, so you don't have to learn advanced powers stuff unless you want to. There might be more interest on the part of some players in designing their own equipment and weapons to supplement what will appear in the book, but that's a much easier thing to learn than power creation as a whole.

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG There'll be a bit of a learning curve, but it's not a particularly steep one. I'm not familiar with D6, but the big difference between the HERO System and D20 is that for skill and attack rolls, instead of rolling one die and looking for a high number, you're rolling 3d6 and looking to roll low. The 1d20 is a "linear" mechanic, where you have an equal chance to roll a 1 or a 20 (5%). The 3d6 is a "bell curve" mechanic, where you're more likely to roll numbers in the 10-12 range than on the lower or upper ends. This tends to improve the characters' odds slightly, and actually makes it easier to predict success or failure once you get used to it. OTOH, it also means that bonuses or penalties have a stronger effect a lot of the time -- it depends on where you are on the curve in terms of your initial roll. If you want to see the actual math I can send you some tables from the full 6th Edition rulebook. In terms of character design, the main difference between the HERO System and other systems is that you have the ability to create any ability, weapon, gadget, or what have you for your character. In most games, during character creation you're essentially just picking from a list of abilities. In the case of D20 it's an enormous list, spread over many books, but it's still just a list. In the HERO System, you get all the "building blocks" you need to create anything, and you can put them together to create whatever you want. This takes a little learning, of course (and we have plenty of pre-built resources if you prefer not to bother), but once you get used to it the flexibility and creativity of it will knock your socks off.

Re: Growth END Costs The END cost for Growth is the same as the END cost for any other Power: 1 END per 10 Active Points. For example, if a character has "Huge"-level Growth, which costs 90 Character Points, he has to spend 9 END per Phase maintaining it (assuming he's using it at full strength, of course). "Gargantuan" Growth, costing 150 points, costs 15 END/Phase. And so forth. The point cost of the corresponding Size Template isn't a factor.

Re: Guns In The MHI RPG SW -- I agree. DB -- the HERO System already has that covered. Every weapon has a "Strength Minimum" required to wield it effectively. Characters with lower STR can still use the weapon, but suffer penalties; in the case of melee weapons, characters with STRs higher than the Minimum sometimes do more damage. So I think that covers the point you raise pretty effectively. Thanx for the input, folx!

Re: Hola. Grimoire question. No, they don't. They're the straightforward Active Point and Real Point costs. If you're in a campaign with a magic system that allows Multipowers, or that gives some sort of a discount on spell prices, you'll have to figure out the effects of that on your own. Welcome to Hero! We hope you enjoy the experience. Ignore the badgers, they're harmless.

Re: Effect of Casual Strength Roll on Grabs Assuming that a power that requires an attacker to touch his opponent is built with the "Must Grab Target (-1/2)" Limitation (or some variation on it), then if the target breaks out of the Grab with the immediate Casual STR roll the attack fails -- the attacker hasn't really established the sort of Grab necessary to activate the power. If the power's not built with that Limitation, it's up to the GM to decide what happens.