Doc Democracy

Re: Why is Speed so unpopular? I have played a game based on HERO where the players had custom built character sheets that were not HERO at all. All of the players were told that a standard round was made of two actions, some players were fast and so had an extra action after the second standard action was taken and some players were lightning and had an extra action after each of the two standard actions. (SPD 2, 3 and 4) It worked - no-one fussed or moaned. I really do think that a HERO game can work lots better when the players do not see the nuts and bolts - players worry about every number on their character sheet and how they can make that number work for them most effectively. When you take away 70% of the numbers (and this is easily accomplished) then they worry 70% less about the game mechanics.... Doc

Re: Why is Speed so unpopular? I think that the easy way of doing SPD is to give every player a a green ticket which means they are free to act. When they act they give the ticket to the GM who keeps track of the phases and returns the ticket when the character is able to act again. It is easy for the players as they know when they have a ticket they can act. The GM is usually the most aware of the system (though a more experienced player could administer player phases leaving the GM free to do villain stuff). Doc

Re: Victorian "lost world" Hero System introduction Temples are de riguer as far as this goes. Everything else may be hinted at in relation to said temple. It keeps the options open. It's a nice set-up. My thoughts would be to decide what actually happened to the group and why one member was able to return. Obviously the journal is going to be key with several clues only available from it. My take would be to walk the party back along the path of the returnee until they get to the point where he split from the original group. In that journey they should get a taster of the things they will have to deal with at the denoument and find out about some of the tools they might use to do that. They might find that they are picking up things they have little idea about until they meet the professor who will have the knowledge to make interesting objets d'art into usable tools and/or weapons. The key would be to satisfy the needs of the original quest (save professor - or at least discover his fate) while raising more questions (who are the mysterious tribesmen, what is the source of the technology they use, why have we never seen the monstrous beasts they use before now, will they seek to recoup the things the PCs stole???). Doc

Re: I've got you So, someone who can run at mach 2 gets their hands tangled and suddenly the best they can do is 50 mph? If you reduce the movement and apply ncm and megascale as normal then everything is reduced proportionately. Anyway - we are coming from diffferent directions at different speeds I will try RAW in future... Doc

Re: I've got you

Re: I've got you wasn't arguing with limiting movement, remember, I'm swinging to the RAW. Was wondering why you were not simply, for example, halving movement, i.e., 10m flight going to 5m rather than forbidding ncm and megascale....

Re: I've got you I thjink that the problem is that you are focussing on game rules when the limitation is probably more SFX based. The differences in the entangles are going to focus around their SFX and so the limitations are likely to similarly focus around SFX. So you may define the entangle as a bolo which entangles and makes any movement requiring the legs impossible - probably including jet boots. Wings and wrist jets etc would be OK. So the entangle would catch any kind of movement that required movement of the legs regardless of what power that was used to provide the game effect.

Re: I've got you Yup. It takes a bit to think of it but I do think that many entangles might be written with a limitation that they currently do not receive. Many should probably focus on certain limbs and others might specifically exclude flight from their effects. I think there is an article to be written about the depths of Entangle as a power that have not been thought of before. It is probably more complex than people have considered. Doc

Re: Timemaster, Time Travel, and Time Ancor. I think this is a good design for a recurring villain. As Christopher says, it would initially be an easy win for the heroes once they discover the trick but that allows them to easily defeat the villain then he has to think about how to get round it and the meetings become a challenge for the heroes to work out how to send the villain back each time - a puzzle rather than a fight. like Superman fighting Mr Mxyzptlk I am in favour of this being a physical limitation of the villain.It is pretty physically limiting to only be able to act in the game context if an item on your body is physically intact.... Doc

Re: I've got you

Re: I've got you So, if I wanted to get round the movement restrictions of entangle then I should simply purchase Flight, only when touching the ground rather than extra running?

Re: I've got you

Re: I've got you Hmm. I've been visiting this thread on and off. There are lots of interesting bits and pieces about the rules... I have however lost track of what the main points of contention are. I was going to ask someone else for a summation but that would be lazy, so let me have a go... The rules as written indicate that grabs and entangles stop all movement, though there is some allowance for casual strength allowing a grabbed character to 'slide' to a stop rather than coming to a dead halt. This does not really model things as we know them from the literature, especially superhero stuff. There is some interpretation required with respect to how flight is treated (wings potentially being more limited than gravitic flight because interpretation leads that way?) No-one thinks the rules as written are fit for purpose, so how should this be addressed? Does that cover it? Doc

Re: I've got you

Re: Are Overall Skill Levels overpowered? Well, I have not read the rules round this, but from what people have quoted it is an important differentiator. If the GM is willing to give you a chance to drive the airplane and land it even though you do not have the pilot skill then the overall levels will not count - you do not have the skill. If your overall levels added to such events then it would be MUCH more useful. This is especially true when you are talking about those base 8 or less rolls. +3 to that brings your chances up from 26% to 62%. If you were rolling, hoping to get a 3 or less then the levels increase your chances from 0.5% to 9%. Those are significant differences at the bottom end of the scale. Doc

Re: Character Creation Session report

Re: 6th Edition Character Sheet I think the Nirvana is customised sheets for individual characters and games. Hero Designer is pretty cool as you can design output to be pretty much what you want - you will not get the level of customisation in Teh Bunneh's sheet but you could standardise blocks of information that Hero Designer would fill and have customised artwork for the remaining space. That would allow you to have constantly updateable character stats that you can print out into a lovely sheet whenever you want - you could also have that same information print out into a 'design sheet' where all of the nuts and bolts are visible - like a standard sheet where you or the player can see what is actually going on rules wise and add/edit the details of the rules. There is work to be done there, not least getting your head around the output of Hero Designer into various formats, but there are some keen geeky kids on the forums that are always willing to help with that kind of thing. The gain in gameplay should be worth it though. Think of it as an investment for future enjoyment!! Doc

Re: 6th Edition Character Sheet Paul There are quite a few examples on this thread. Have you read through it yet? Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers

Re: Negative Powers?

Re: Sherpas or other high-altitude normals? Then it depends on exactly how the GM is going to do it in his game. how much END and how much less REC. Doc

Re: Sherpas or other high-altitude normals? I think that it comes down to what affects you will impose for the high altitude and then provide benefits that get round those. For instance, I think that I might as a GM, impose -2 REC, -20 END and say that every 20 minutes of continuous activity or every round of high energy activity (like combat) attracts 1 long term endurance. Would be worth 2 points LS: High Altitude resistance to mitigate those effects... Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers My God Lucius, that looks horrible... I think that this provides the three forms to work together in a highly efficeint manner. They not only find it easy to work as a team but when they do they work in a more skilled way than they would on their own.

Re: A good way to simulate rescuing people from a fallen buildling... Players are really primarily interested in what is happening to them and what they are going to do, so this must be the core of your approach (IMO of course). In a battle I would usually have a narrative of what was happening in the battle pre-prepared with a series of cameos that the heroes would participate in. Those cameos would impact on the effects of the battle on the heroes and may or may not impact the overall result. I think I would do the same for a collapsing building. Describe the backdrop, describe the challenges and then present the heroes with small cameos where they can make a difference. If there is the potential for the heroes doing something huge then that is fine but if there is not then make sure they are able to do something positive. have a list of the cameos and present them to the players dependent on what their character is doing. That way you get to intersperse narrative with feats of bravery, skill and endurance that should allow the heroes to shine amidst the chaos and terror. Doc

Re: The Elves are Dying Out I was wondering whether the proliferation of half-breed elves has given any of the elves with a more 'manufacturing' bent to consider whether they might breed a true elf from the half elves. To find a way of bringing together the gene pairs with some magickal manipulations. It would be statistically possible for two half breeds to produce a full blood elf but possibly extremely unlikely. However, the elves that emerge might prove free of the affliction after being strained through the human gene pool. I would say those with magic use are possibly elven in some way and there may be artefacts that provide power to human mages that bring that elvish heritage to the fore. There will be people monitoring the use of these artefacts - waiting for the more powerful to become apparent and then to be 'cultivated' for the programme.... Elf-Files - the Truth is out there. I also have in my head magickal places and rituals that work due to the continued use by elves over millennia. Some of these rituals and places may be beginning to lose power due to the retreat of the elves and their diminution in numbers. Strongholds may weaken and fall while previously bound monstrosities may be unleashed. I am beginning to think a Fall of the Elvenkind campaign might be an interesting one!! Doc