Steve Long

Re: Confirming Rules for AVAD relating to NND The writeup in question refers to two possible defenses: any type of rED, or being completely insulated. There's no specific way to represent "being insulated" in game terms, though 6E2 149 has some discussion of the concept -- it's more a matter of the GM interpreting the situation in both a "realistic" and game-balanced manner. "Realistically" I, personally, wouldn't allow just "being insulated" as the sole defense to a taser NND -- it doesn't make sense to me that rED would have no effect at all (particularly given that the book lists taser as an example and specifies rED as one applicable defense). But reasonably GMing minds may differ.

Re: Trigger and Universal Focus Generally speaking that sort of thing is best left to the GM's judgment. If a character frequently lets other people use his Triggered power against targets, then some form of Usable On Others should be required. If it's just something that happens a time or two during the course of a campaign, I doubt most GMs would require UOO.

Re: Time Travel And Time Ancor Question This is a how-to question, which I generally don't answer on the Rules board. I'd suggest posting this in the Discussion area so you can get input from lots of Hero fans.

Re: Defense Powers and VPP Ordinarily, of course, switching VPP slots takes a Full Phase. Since the rules you cited apply by default to ordinary VPPs, they'd certainly apply to one that had the Advantage allowing a character to switch slots in a Half Phase (or Zero Phase). But naturally the GM can change this if he prefers otherwise. For example, see APG2 56, which has rules for Aborting to defensive abilities with Limitations like Concentration or Extra Time (you can also find this info in the Rules FAQ for 6E); some GMs may wish to apply a similar logic to Power Frameworks regardless of what the book says.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? It may be, but please let's not talk about this here. This is a thread regarding Kickstarters from me, not Hero Games. The topic of what KSs Hero might want to consider would make a good thread for the Company Questions board, though.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You?

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? It's absolutely true that this is a possible reward I could offer. However, I'd never, ever offer as a reward "you get to make the rules decisions for how this genre will be presented." I don't think that's the proper way to create a Hero (sub)genre book, where there should be discussions and options. OTOH, depending on the contents of a given book, I could see offering such opportunities as: --help me define the parameters of a mini-setting (this is where something like your definition of cyberware could be implemented and used) --name a character --include a specific event in a timeline/history of a character or organization That sorta thing. For example, in STORMlords, where there are lots of conspiratorial groups operating behind the scenes, I have ideas for lots of groups (in fact that's the main stumbling block for producing the setting, writing up all the daggone groups!). One possible reward might be that you could suggest a group for me to include. Something along those lines. These sort of Kickstarter rewards are great, since they (a) give the backer a significant "stake" in the product, but ( cost the developer (in this case me) no money. The one caveat is that you can't offer too many of these sorts of rewards, because (a) too many reward tiers causes decision paralysis, and ( too many cooks spoil the broth. But I'm sure it's possible to balance all the considerations and work out something fun!

Re: Absorption vs. Damage Negation Damage Negation applies before Absorption takes effect, thereby reducing the amount of BODY in an attack that could potentially be Absorbed.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? Not at this point, please. Right now I'm simply floating a few ideas. When I reach the point where I want suggestions, I will gladly start a thread for that. Thanx for the input so far folx! Keep it comin'!

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? I can't say anything for certain of course, but generally the way RPG Kickstarters seem to be structured, the odds are by the time you get to the $50 range you'll get a PDF and hardcopy book... possibly more, depending on the project. So I don't think you have anything to worry about on that score.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? There's more in that book than you may remember. I haven't considered doing anything further with the Turakian Age setting because the demand seems relatively slight, but I might be willing to run something small up the flagpole and see what happens. If a small PDF covering something-or-other earned enough, that would undoubtedly encourage me to do more of them.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? There are some issues with a pure subscription-based sort of thing that concern me, so the odds are that I, at least, won't go that route. (I can't speak for other potential licensees, of course.) However, assuming I were able to do a steady stream of HERO-based books via Kickstarter, that is sort of the same thing... it just involves paying for the content periodically rather than once a year (or whatever). But the flip side of that coin is that a failed Kickstarter means I've lost out on having any immediate income for a period of time, which may make me less likely to want to take that risk in the future. It's a brave new world, and I'll just have to keep my spyglass and machete handy as I attempt to navigate the treacherous jungle paths to the Hidden Fortress of Revenue.

Re: Possible HERO System Supplement Kickstarters From Steve -- What Interests You? I should've added -- this isn't necessarily a "just pick one" thread. Feel free to respond that you'd like to see more than one. I won't ever run more than one Kickstarter at a time, of course, but it for planning purposes it never hurts to find out in advance what interests people.

Howdy folx! As I promised over on the "Changes At Hero" thread, I figured I'd toss up a brief thread discussing HERO System supplements I'm considering doing as Kickstarters (see http://www.kickstarter.com if you're unfamiliar with the "crowdfunding" concept of Kickstarter and would like to know more). This isn't a formal poll or anything, but it never hurts to test the wind, so to speak. Caveats: (1) I won't do any of these until after Hero Games decides what it wants to do with its own Kickstarters; no sense competing for the same dollars. (2) Some of these ideas may not pass muster with Hero; it may want to reserve some ideas or topics for itself. (3) My brief descriptions below don't discuss the "reward" involved (e.g., what level of contribution is required to get a hardcopy of a book); for purposes of this thread, please assume that the pledge required to get a book would be roughly the same as the book would cost retail. Anyhow, here are some ideas I've had: Mythic Hero I've already gotten some work done on this book, and it's a topic I love and a book I'd dearly love to finish. However, it's likely to be pretty big, and thus to require a lot of my time. Do you like this idea? Would you be willing to pledge $25 to see it done? $50? $100? Some other amount? Cyber Hero I love doing genre books, and this is one Hero hasn't done yet that I'm prepared to do. It's a limited enough topic that it shouldn't be a huge project to undertake. Do you like this idea? Would you be willing to pledge $25 to see it done? $50? $100? Some other amount? Dark Champions for 6E This would be an update/revision of Dark Champions to the 6E rules. Do you like this idea? Would you be willing to pledge $25 to see it done? $50? $100? Some other amount? STORMlords I've blogged about this setting of mine a bit; it's an Urban Fantasy/Dark Champions sort of thing. The short pitch is: "Take the Gun Fu from Desperado and Equilibrium, the mental powers from Push, the magic from the Harry Dresden books, the martial arts from The Matrix. Mix them together in a blender with The X-Files and some Tom Clancy novels." The PCs are highly skilled individuals working for the US government agency in charge of monitoring and making use of "powered" assets and threats. They face a web of global conspiracies and personnel competing for power, wealth, and whatever else there is to compete for. Do you like this idea? Would you be willing to pledge $25 to see it done? $50? $100? Some other amount? That should be enough ideas to chew on for now. No doubt more will occur to me as time goes by.

Re: Profit and Purity Uncertain at present. I will keep your interest in mind though.

Re: Dark Champions Well, we'll see what possibilities might crop up.

Re: Changes at Hero Thanx for the kind words, folx! I really appreciate 'em. But have no fear, you probably haven't heard the last of us. Check out the thread on this topic over in the Company Questions forum for more info -- I figure it's best to keep it all in one place rather than copying it over here.

Re: Persuasion vs Oratory This seems to me like it's a discussion topic rather than a rules question, so I've moved it to the Discussion board where everyone can respond.

Re: Clairvoyance question 6E1 179 specifically states that Clairsentience cannot be used to establish Line Of Sight, so a character cannot make a Mental Attack "through it" (so to speak). In short -- in the rules as written, you are essentially correct. However, the person with the ultimate say in any campaign is the GM, and if he wants to change this particular rule then he'd be right.

Re: Followup: Buying only 5 Points worth of Mind Blaster or Major/Severe Transform Published books contain plenty of examples of 1/2d6 and 1 point Killing Attacks. A character could certainly buy other Attack Powers similarly, though in many cases such attacks are going to be of at best limited use absent certain Advantages or the like.

Re: Buying less than 1D6 of Transform or Mind Blast See APG 56 re: the costs of half dice (or 1 point) for Attack Powers.

Re: Tracking and Desolidification At the risk of sounding sarcastic in the absence of intonation (which isn't my intent ), of course he won't leave tracks. By definition a Desolidified person can't touch or affect solid matter, so he can't create impressions in the ground, snow, etc.

Re: TK grab vs attacks I'm not sure I understand the question, so I'm going to rephrase it to what I think you're asking. If I've gotten it wrong, please post a follow-up and I'll try again. Q: If a character is Grabbed with Telekinesis, do the standard Grab penalties to his OCV discussed on 6E2 62 (both to attack the person Grabbing him, and to attack other persons) apply? A: Yes. However, since the Grab is at Range, the GM may wish to apply the ½ OCV penalty for attacking other characters to attacking the Grabber as well, since he’s not right next to the Grabbed character the way he’d normally be.

Re: Combiend Attack and Extra Limbs No. The number of attacks a character makes has nothing to do with the number of limbs he has. Having Extra Limbs is a good "special effect" for how a character makes Combined Attacks, but it doesn't grant them "for free."

Re: Which way to round when Hit Location modifiers are halved? 1. If a character has to halve (or otherwise reduce by a percentage) a modifier (such as an OCV penalty for targeting a specific Hit Location, or a bonus to a Skill Roll), standard rounding rules apply (the rounding is in favor of the character doing the calculating) unless a more specific rule indicates differently. For example, a character who has to have a -5 penalty reduces it to -2. 2. Yes.