Doc Democracy

Re: A curse that returns?

Re: A curse that returns? ooh! oooh! Another idea after reading Christopher's comments. What about a load of Power Defence with the limitation of "allows effect temporarily"... This is essentially what you are doing, you are ultimately stopping the effect but allowing it for a time. Power Defence is what you would use to stop the effect and so perhaps you should use that as the basis of a more limited form of stopping the effect... Doc

Re: A curse that returns? You think about having a double effect power - one to do the job in the first place, the second a triggered power that fires the double effect again? That way the effect happens, when it is removed or dispelled, the trigger occurs to bring the effect back - perhaps delayed effect, or gradual effect.... Doc

Re: Attack vs. Limited Defense in 6E: how to build? I'm not following this argument very well and so not sure who's side I am entering here but if you want a setting where Magical Armour/Magic spell of protection is equally as common as mundane armour, dodge based armour and natural armour then I give you....Glorantha. Everyone has magic and everyone who fights even a little bit will have magical protection against damage. Doc

Re: I want to create a sand that expands when wet (like the foam you put in your wall I think you are looking at a small multi-power really. Then it depends on how you attempt to use the thing - you can always add another slot if you disover new uses. I was thinking of barrier, triggered by adding water - that should fill a space with something substantial to provide bulk, shape and/or defence.... Good luck with the point budget though.... Doc

Re: Inexperienced GM introducing group to Hero and having writer’s block… I found an ideal genre to draw people in was Pulp. It has the opportunity to do bog standard hero level characters but have room for exotic material in the shadows of the game. people love two-fisted crime-fighters, you have the whole of Doc Savage, The Shadow and even Indiana Jones to draw on for stuff and some of the old Adventurers Clubs have some decent adventures in them. I found the Hawkes Phantom in Adventurers Club #5 to be an excellent introductory adventure actually. My big thing is customising the character sheet to keep the numbers visible to the minimum required. Once they are playing and wanting to change things you can lift the hood and let them peer inside.... Doc PS: when people are learning a new system the adventure needs to be broad - subtleties get easily lost when they are still struggling to work out their OCV from their PD and SPD. A simple bank robbery with a twist can work pretty well. Use Villainy Amok to choose a DIY adventure and then twist it with something. And remember it is a one-off with all of the disposability that that entails....

Re: Anti Magic-Field Not sure you have fully thought through what Folded was saying because one of his suggestions does in fact give you the D&D flavour. For example, each and every magic spell and magic item has the limitation "has no effect in an anti-magic field". You make available the spell/ritual - anti-magic field to players and NPCs alike. I like the suggestion of basing it on Change Environment as that is, effectively what you are doing. When the Change Environment is in effect, nothing within that area that has the limitation of "has no effect in anti-magic field" will work....casting and items will have no effect. That means you need to set out the rules of magic construction to follow this rule but it does make the cancellation of magic a much simpler proposition. The availability of anti-magic would define the nature of the campaign quite strongly though - you can manipulate that either by making it difficult to use or require components that are rare and/or expensive to obtain. Doc

Re: How to build a Symbiotic Relationship? If I were you I might simply write up the symbiots as a completely different character - this character would be what the symbiots would be capable of if they were completely in control of the character body. Given this is a plot device rather than an addition to the player character sheet, then I do not think you have to stat it for the player. You might want to add Symbiot VPP - no conscious control, and gie it a point cost. However, in play, I would indicate whenever you wanted that that symbiots had "improved" systems to do whatever, or the character finds that his hands seem to know how to defuse the bomb even if his brain does not. Effectively you are reading from the symbiot character sheet to get an idea of the capabilities. The symbiots may be able to raise the PC's CV - your hidden sheet will indicate how much. You simply say that it is all part of the VPP kicking in through his cyberware... Doc

Re: I've... forgotten how to run Champions... I think that the problem with campaigns is that you invest a lot of effort into something that you know might just not work, or you are not sure where the longevity might come from. My thoughts on what to do is pretty much what the comic companies used to do (not been watching closely to see if it has continued). I plan on doing a mini-series. Four, possibly six, adventures linked in some way. Everything coming to a definite end point. If it was good, it might warrant a bit more development and another mini-series. If it was fantastic, then an ongoing series. It means that I should be able to limit my input to the mini-series, minimise my investment to see whether it plays well enough and whether I am inspired to do more with the setting and the characters. If not, I can think of another mini-series with a different direction and context... Doc

Re: How to build a Symbiotic Relationship? Personally I would buy the powers for the player with no conscious control. I would make the symbiont a DNPC which would have a separate INT, EGO, PRE OECV and DECV. The personality of the symbiont would be for you to decide and how well the player got to use the powers might depend on their relationship with the symbiont. Obviously the symbiont has an interest in keeping the PC alive - they share the bodily stats and, if the PC dies, so does the symbiont... Doc

Re: Buff from kobold god, to aid kobolds Hmmm. It sounds like you really want to change the context in which the encounter is taking place, like Ravenloft did for undead. Kobolds sneak and ambush and so you want to set up an area in which those things work better (if you are a kobold). So perception rolls are decreased for non-kobolds, range increments become smaller (if you are not a kobold), segmented armour becomes less use as missiles fired by kobolds find their mark more often. This would be difficult for PCs as they are hit from ambush and find it impossible to have a fair fight at distance and, if they try to close, the kobolds disappear into the shadowy forest places that they cannot track through or spot them very well until they find themselves in the midst of another ambush. The task will be to ignore the small constant drain of resources and resist trying to get revenge on these nuisances until they have destroyed the artifact.... Doc

Re: Fantasy Superheroes Definitely a better deterrant than a 15pt code against killing!

Re: Dissecting Powers If there was no skill then there would really be no VPP and definitely no need of an extensive suite of stunts! :-) I did not want to presume about the skill for the switching, so kept it general to what VPPs are all about. Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers Yeah, but this is all part of the power set and so make sense to be within the VPP. Not always about best point sense but in the construction of the power. Now, I also failed to talk about the power set properly. Am I right in thinking of a small antipodean island???

Re: Fantasy Superheroes I ran a short campaign with two of my friends when the larger group was not available - their superhero characters got sucked into a fantasy dimension and translated to the fantasy ideal of thier characters. I would have a concern about requiring Codes versus Killing, just like people say, make it clear that due to the nature of the villains, their dark patrons have a habit of re-using useful tools. Each time they come back there should be something substantially different about them to reflect the death and corruption they have suffered since the last encounter.... :-) Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers Your character’s powers are based around speed. The wide variety of effects he can accomplish are listed below but fall into some obvious categories. You have only so much speed and so it is difficult to maintain too many of these effects at the same time. In game terms, that means you can have 60 points worth of effect available at any one time – each effect will have the points you spend achieving that effect and how many endurance points (END) that you have to spend to maintain it. When your turn to act comes round (your phase) you can switch the points to change the effects you want active for that phase. The first category of powers are those that make you difficult to hit: 1) Afterimages: you can stutter your movement quicker than the eye can keep up with leading to opponents seeing a number of images of you and not able to say which is which. This makes you extremely difficult to target with an attack if you get it right, or in game terms, they add 8 to their to roll to hit if you can roll 13 or less. (20 points, 4END) 2) Strong spinning dodge: you do not have to attempt the afterimage stunt if you have already travelled two metres or more as a whirlwind this phase or last. You gain the same advantage as the afterimages without having to make a roll. (20 points, 4 END) 3) Dodging Bullets: If you are in combat, have not travelled and you do not want to take the risk of the afterimage stunt, you can simply dodge each attack due to your speeded up perceptions. This takes more concentration. (23 points, 4 END) 4) Can’t Hit Me: when you are moving out of combat you are so quick that only attacks that affect an area, like an explosion, have a realistic chance of hitting you. Bigger explosions have a better chance as they cover a bigger area. (20 points, 4 END) 5) Slow missiles: all missiles look slow to you so that you are much more effective at knocking solid missiles out of the air before they hit you, in game terms you have +10 towards such attempts. (8 points, 2 END) The next category falls into avoiding damage from attacks that do hit you or minimising the effect of other powers 6) Impact resistance I: part of moving fast is being able to hit people and taking advantage of your speed to hurt them more. You have learned to do this so that the impact is felt far more by your opponents than yourself. (10 points, protects against up to 20 points of physical damage you would otherwise suffer from this form of attack) 7) Impact resistance II: you are moving so fast that you can bash through people and objects that would otherwise harm you because you are not in contact with them for long. Like quickly moving your hand through a flame. (10 points, halves the damage you may have received by bashing into objects that would burn you) 8) Weak Spinning: Your ability to spin can make it difficult for those holding you, people or bonds, to keep you bound. It is as if your STR is 30 higher than it actually is when you try to escape in this way. (12 points, 3 END) Some stunts provide you with more flexible effects. 9) Quicker than the eye: You can move so quickly that you are not in one place long enough for any normal person to see you. As long as you keep moving you are effectively invisible. (20 points, 0 END) 10) Super-Accelerated Thought: Your need to think quickly if you are moving at superhuman speeds. Your brain can speed itself up even when you are not moving. In game terms you gain 30 INT. (17 points, 3 END) 11) Speedster Studiousness: That increased speed of thought may also be used to read a thousand times more quickly than normal. (6 points, no END cost) 12) Tougher Whirlwind Drill: You can spin so quickly that you dig into the ground beneath you. This will move you eight metres every phase through material as tough as vault doors but only straight down. (25 points, 4 END) 13) Hostage Rescue: You are able to use your speed to quickly move people short distances, about ten metres, picking them up and dropping them off. (30 points, 4 END) 14) Whirlwind Vision: when you are using your whirlwind powers you are able to take notice of things such that you are aware of action all around you making you very difficult to take by surprise. (8 points, no END cost) 15) Speed Trap: You can create a cushion of air to prevent someone or something being damaged by a fall. You can do this for items up to 12 tonnes in weight. Most interestingly, you can use these powers to make you more effective in damaging others 16) Strong Compressed Air Punch: You speed up the air in front of your fist to project damage at a distance. This allows you to deliver 9D6 damage at a range of up to twenty metres. (30 points, 4 END) 17) Jackhammer Punch: you can use your speed to run in, punch and get back, quicker than the eye can follow. You can, depending on how well you attack, make up to five hits in one phase on one or more people within twenty metres of you. (30 points, 4 END) 18) Not Quite So Dizzying Spin: You can run round someone in an attempt to make them dizzy and less able to co-ordinate their actions. In game terms you reduce their DEX by 4D6. (23 points, 4 END) 19) Strong Grab-and-Drop: Your speed makes it much easier for you to accomplish the Move Throw manoeuvre, in game terms that gives you +12 in doing that. (29 points, no END cost) 20) Deadly G-Force: When you grab someone, you can move them so quickly that they experience excessive G-Forces that may have deadly effect on the person grabbed. Only immunity to high pressure can save that person from taking 1D6 killing damage. (26 points, 5 END) 21) Whirlwind Punch: You can lash out in all directions with super speed punches that will potentially hit anyone within two metres of you. The speed of the punch adds 6D6 to the damage inflicted on those that get hit. (30 points, 4 END) 22) Strong Whirlwind Throw: You can use your spinning action to throw people far more effectively. When you activate this effect it is as if your STR is 40 greater than it otherwise is. (16 points, 4 END)

Re: Dissecting Powers Good one Lucius. Fantastically complicated powerset on a character sheet and I can tell you that most of my gaming group would throw up their hands if asked to look at this... :-) Will have a go at dissection later on.... Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers You can take me out of the successful guessers. Doc

Re: Stun Blaster

Re: Stun Blaster

Re: Stun Blaster There is always the other option of limited effect EB. Part of the blast is simply to overcome defences. So you nullify a specified amount of armour and get so much STUN through regardless of the defences up to a certain point when the effectiveness will decrease. I never understood why NND was preferred over this method. 6D6 EB (STUN only, standard effect) + 6D6 EB (only to overcome defences +1/2, standard effect) 30+20 = 50 points limited as you want to reflect the weapon aspects (as per HyperMan's example above). Anyone with 18 ED or less takes 18 STUN. You can purchase more effective tasers that nullify increasing amounts of damage but they would have fewer shots and possibly be more difficult to hit with. Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers Eventually - time to get back to this... Any intruder attempting to enter the All but Impassable area must force a way in. [1] The attempt, successful or not, will result in damage from the Thorns of Legendary Viciousness [2] making this hedge a truly Stunning addition to any enchanted garden. These thorns make any intruder think twice and only the bravest, or determined, will persevere to pass through the hedge. [3] These hedges are most effective planted in clumps, or Thikkits , so a swiftly moving intruder is simply shredded by each bush in the Thikkit. Intruders have been known to stop in the midst of a Thikkit in terror and confusion, afraid to move in any direction until the proprietor or a security patrol arrives to deal with them! [1] - make a STR roll at -1 [2] - two 1d6 Killing Attacks, double Penetrating, +4 STUN Multiplier [3] - make EGO or CON at -1

Re: Dissecting Powers And how could I say no?! What I see here is a card in the GM's hand with the following information... On a card for the player characters there is: There is no doubting your talent Lucius - the text is brilliant in what it does. Personally, I would not have come up with anything near as entertaining... (Note to self: I need to rep more people so I can rep Lucius Alexander as often as he deserves...) However I think I would have been stricter in separating the flavour from the mechanics - have friends arriving and so will submit suggestion later... Doc

Re: Is it worth converting I do no think HERO rewards converting. However, I do like to pick up new editions of the rules because it provides me with insight into how I have been doing things in the past and how that might be changed - doesn't mean I will and no-one is going to force me. However, if I stick with the old way of doing things then I know I am justified in doing that because I have considered alternatives. As well as that, I want to see more HERO products and that means providing some encouragement such as dropping money on a new set of rules every ten years or so... ;-) I do not think there is a real need to upgrade the ultimate books etc as they are pretty much system independent never mind version independent. I do not think any of your players would notice the change as the gameplay is pretty much the same. What is definitely worth getting are the Advanced Players Guides which provide options that did not make the core rules as that provides some official options for expanding the powers within the game. Doc

Re: Dissecting Powers We all get used to doing things that way, sometimes too good at doing it. It is my feeling that we should do it less and see how we can make the system do what the gameworld demands rather than the reverse. Doc