Steve Long

Re: Do Variable Effect and Expanded Effect add DCs? For purposes of determining the DCs of an attack involving an Adjustment Power, both Variable Effect and Expanded Effect qualify as “advantages that directly affect damage,” per 6E2 98.

Re: Ranged Martial Arts and AoE There are no rules specifically addressing the application of Advantages to Ranged Martial Maneuvers; the rules on HSMA 106-08 only cover regular Martial Maneuvers (and even then are strictly optional). If the GM wants to allow those rules to apply to Ranged Martial Arts as well, that's up to him, but he'll have to address all the rules issues and cope with any negative consequences.

Re: Alternative Characteristic to add Damage 1. The alternate Characteristic used costs END at the standard rate of 1 END per 10 points used. 2. For the optional rule on APG2 29 for adding damage to HKAs with Characteristics other than STR, if a character uses a Characteristic that has a cost different than 1 Character Point per Point, use the value of the Characteristic (not the Character Points spent on it) to determine how much damage it adds. (To put it another way, treat it as if it, like STR, had a 1:1 cost.)

Re: Megascale with Barrier? Unless the GM rules otherwise, characters can buy MegaScale to affect the height, length, or thickness of a Barrier. If bought for Barrier only once, it can affect up to all three of the dimensions of the Barrier at once if the character desires (though it doesn’t have to), but it has to apply in the same way to all affected dimensions. For example, if a Barrier (10m long, 4m high, ½m thick) has MegaScale (1m = 1 km), the character could convert the length and width meters both into kilometers while leaving the thickness at ½m, but he could not make the length meters equal 1 km each while the height meters only equal .25 km each. However, if a character buys MegaScale for Barrier multiple times, he can define which dimensions each of the Advantages applies to and affect them separately. (At the GM’s option, a character could buy the ability to do this by increasing the value of MegaScale by +¼ per additional dimension to be affected separately rather than buying the Advantage a second time.)

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? For those of you interested in updates -- today I'm doing some more work on the magic system, mostly assembling a bit reference table listing the appropriate spells for the setting from TM and the HSG (sometimes with name changes or minor tweaks). After that I'll have to go on to create some Acquitaine-specific spells, but hopefully there won't be too many of those to slow me down. Acquitainian Demonology I can probably take care of with just two or three spells in addition to ones borrowed from the HSG. Acquitainian Alchemy, OTOH, I will have to pay a little more attention to, because I want it to have a good, setting-specific "feel." Or at least be different from the typical High Fantasy sort of Alchemy you see in the HSG.

Re: One more CSL question... 6. Unless the GM ruled otherwise it couldn’t include two entire Martial Arts styles, but it could be defined as including some Martial Maneuvers from one style and some from another. A CSL that applied to two entire styles but not All HTH Combat would be a good candidate for the 6-point CSL discussed in TUS/HSS.

Re: Random CSL questions 1. Yes, per TUS/HSS 122. 2-3. No. His CSLs are with Spears. They do not apply to other things he just happens to be holding while also wielding a spear. 4. A character could buy a 3-point CSL that applied to both spears and shields; he couldn’t do what you’re suggesting with a 2-point CSL. 5. No. CSLs with Martial Maneuvers aren’t the same thing as CSLs with All HTH Combat. Unless the GM ruled otherwise a character could buy3- or 5-point CSLs and define the Small Group or Large Group as including some Combat Maneuvers and some Martial Maneuvers.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Well, to be clear -- in what you're quoting all I was saying was that writing some aspects of TA was difficult. I wasn't saying I'd never write about it again. Though I have said in other posts (in this thread and others) that it's not likely I'll return to TA; I have plenty of ideas for things I like more. But you never know when inspiration may strike. It would certainly be my more or less "default" setting to go to if I had an idea for something suitable for a typical High Fantasy-style gaming setting. Oh, if and when they come out, they'll come out one at a time. To do them all at once I'd have to make this my main project for a month or two, and I have no intention of doing that -- it won't earn enough to justify that. Acquitaine is just something I felt like working on for fun, and if I do any other mini-books detailing other parts of the Northlands it'll be for pretty much the same reason and at the same lackadaisical pace.

Re: Analyze and Change Environment For purposes of buying Change Environment combat effects, each form of the Analyze Skill counts as a separate Skill. However, the GM can certainly rule otherwise for his campaign if he feels that two types of Analyze are extremely similar, or if they’re closely related in his setting. For example, in my own campaigns I’d probably rule that Analyze Style and Analyze Combat Technique counted as one Skill for CE purposes, and in a Fantasy campaign where you have to buy Analyze by category of magic (Analyze Wizardry, Analyze Necromancy, and so on), they might all count as one Skill.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? If you don't have a deadline, try to do one or two a day, or whatever you're comfortable with. Doing them in tiny increments over time is easier than creating them all at once, if you have the luxury of time.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Wait... I'm supposed to get paid? Nobody told me that.... The main ideas for Acquitaine have been floating around in my fevered little brain for about three years. I was inspired to choose it to write about by reading some of CAS's "Averoigne" stories while doing the "research" for the 6E Fantasy Hero. So some of the ideas are things that have been lurking around for quite awhile. But a lot of it, I just have to sit down and do it. I know there are X duchies, and that each duchy therefore needs a description, and I don't necessarily think about that in advance. I know I want some dynastic sort of intrigue, so in the descriptions I devote a lot of attention to which dukes have which kids, who's married to whom, and how this affects the interplay of politics in the kingdom. (Within reason -- I can't go too far down that route without tying the GM's hands. One aspect of game writing is knowing when to back off and let the GM take the reins.) I know I want one duke who's secretly a wizard, one who's dying childless, one who's a close relative of King Helsicar, and so on -- but those are just rudimentary ideas that get fleshed out as I do the work. Part of the fun of writing RPG material is seeing how these rudimentary ideas develop, though. It's always awesome when a cool new idea comes to me mid-manuscript, or I think of a way to tie two elements of a setting together really elegantly, or I come up with a great new twist for an NPC's background. As a novelist once said, "I had to finish the book because I wanted to find out how the story ended!" For better or worse, to make money at writing I have to be able to just sit down and start working, day after day. That's what makes doing some books, like The Turakian Age, so difficult. Having to come up with 60-some different kingdoms/political entities and make each one interesting and cool somehow really taxes the creativity!

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? I didn't have time to do any more work on the magic system yesterday (and probably none until the weekend, the way this week's shaping up), but in my PM Inbox this morning I found a generous offer from a French HERO System fan to check over the names in Acquitaine if I need any backup.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Sure. It won't really be very extensive, but I'll be glad to mention anything I think you might enjoy reading that's related to the subject.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Not having any. I have a few fiction projects floating around out there that in theory might lead to some small amount of income, but realistically what that means is waiting a few weeks or months to add to my rejection slip collection. Well, to be fair, I'm not working on this full-time -- if I were I'd be long done. I just plink away at it when time/mood allow. In theory these days my plan is this: work on fiction projects that aren't likely to pay me anything in the morning; work on gaming-related projects that aren't likely to pay me anything in the afternoon; continue slogging my way through the new Tome Of Ultimate Mapping for Campaign Cartographer 3 in the evening. But those plans are subject to all sorts of interruptions -- having to take Osiris to the vet, visiting my Dad for lunch, doctor appointments, meals with friends. It'll all get done eventually, I suppose.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Gettin' my ducks in a row to work on Acquitainian magic as time allows over the coming week. I think I've figured out a way to cut down on the workload significantly while still presenting a full magic system with some interesting aspects and tidbits.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Update: aside from filling in a few bits and pieces, the "Lands And Lords Of Acquitaine" section is at long last done! It came to nearly 12,000 words, making the manuscript as a whole so far about 20,000 words. (By comparison, for those who are interested, Tuala Morn is 170,000 words.) If I feel like doing any more today I may whip up some Templates for the Character Creation section, or write up some of the two or three new monsters I haven't created yet.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Actually I'd thought at one point of doing a whole book that would basically collect up all the magic systems we'd published, update them to 6E as necessary, add a few all-new ones, and then release it as an FH supplement. Still might try it sometime, if a poll of consumer interest indicated feasability. The difficulty with just doing one here and there as $1-2 products (aside from the administrative hassle) is that any new magic system I think up that's likely to merit writing up on its own will probably involve creating at least a few, and possibly a lot, of new spells and other stuff. It's enough work that I'd have to charge more for it, based on however long it got.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Good progress today, for those interested -- I wrote up the sections on Guyenne, Mornac, Navairre, Neustria, and Perigorde. That leaves Rossilon, Touraine, Tournai, Viennes, Vivrais, and Ronceval Forest. Gettin' there.... After that it's on to Character Creation, which should be pretty simple -- just a few Templates and such, really. Then Magic, which won't be simple at all. I keep having good ideas, but the more ideas I have the longer that section's going to get....

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Since someone asked for an update, in the past few days I've progressed through the duchies to do Brigainne, Canais, and Estmarque. Next up is Guyenne, which as a potential bad guy/royal rival in the setting may require a few more details than average. After that it's on to Mornac, Navairre, Neustria, and beyond.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? I have a feeling the average HERO fan would regard that as an attempted money grab.

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? I'm a long way from done, I'm afraid. Besides the various duchies remaining to be described, I have to write up a section on creating Acquitainian characters, and then a potentially long section on Acquitainian magic. Those are the two major bits left. After that I just have a few tidbits left to fill in and it'll be done... but the magic alone could take quite awhile, depending on how detailed I feel it needs to be.

Re: Confusion about when you can use combat/martial art manuvers Block and Dodge (and their Martial versions) are Maneuvers a character can Abort to, which means act in advance of when he'd otherwise be able to act to protect himself. Look up "Aborting An Action" in the book and see if that clarifies the situation for you. If you still have questions after reviewing that information, you're welcome to post here again (or if you prefer, on the Discussion board where anyone can answer). Welcome to HERO!

Re: TUALA MORN -- Interested In More Stuff? Yesterday I wrote up Armorica and Autun; today it's on to Auverne, Aveyron, Brigainne, and perhaps beyond. Plenty of duchies to go; hopefully I will run out of duchies before I run out of interesting ideas to describe them.

Re: Discriminatory on Smell/Taste That's up to the GM.

Re: Analyze on Sense Groups Yes — Analyze “builds on” Discriminatory, so by definition it doesn’t function unless Discriminatory functions, and Discriminatory requires a PER Roll.