Doc Democracy

There are a number of meta-game powers with in-game justifications in Savage Worlds. One of them is getting to re-roll an attack. It set me to thinking how to achieve it in HERO. I was thinking of doing auto-fire limited to only one target and only one hit per target. That means I could accomplish with a few penalty skill levels (not sure if these still exist in 6th) the ability to try to hit several times before admitting defeat. Thoughts? Alternatives? Doc

Re: Replacing the Speed chart with a shot system I'm pleased, it was getting tiring having to switch to the dark background just to make one thread more readable!

Re: Acronyms I think we can wholeheartedly agree about the character sheets. And if we remove the extraneous information there is less need for initialisms and we deal with that problem too. (I'm hoping Bob approves that I have moved to the proper terminology!! )

And I missed it coz I was working.... Steampunks gather for Great Exhibition

Re: Running a Dark Golden Age? You might want to take a peek at (someone else's) Day after Ragnarok. I think that what you are thinking about would be the Days before Ragnarok but it has the same kind of feel. A Golden Age Dark Champions game is probably exactly what I am playing just now though with agents rather than superheroes. Doc

Re: Acronyms

Re: Acronyms But then, thats not what he said, he said quicker and easier. I think that the quicker and easier has degraded for D&D as time has gone on and 4th Edition definitely seemed to me to be harder than HERO to make a character. Before that, the choices (for first level) were so limited that everything else kind of chose itself.

Re: Toolkitting for Day after Ragnarok As an interesting way to explore new systems without having to continually invent new characters? There is a maintained continuity of story and it definitely allows comparison of gameplay and playability as the system is the only thing different in comparisons... It has been interesting to see what changes in the characters when you move from Savage Worlds to HERO. Doc

Re: Acronyms i didn't think anyone would immediately understand what I was talking about if I titled the thread Initialisms. Doc

Re: Replacing the Speed chart with a shot system You've broken it Hugh!!!

Re: Acronyms It might be a math thing Hugh but I have seen the same reaction from people given pre-populated character sheets. Not just asking them to do maths but lots of numbers all over, sometimes even fractions right where anyone could see them.... Doc

Re: Acronyms Yup. It is the choice availability that often makes things hard - analysis paralysis. When there are so many choices people want to know if they are getting things right. With more structured games (ones that do not have the same choice of detail) it is more checkbox filling in once you have got past the initial choice (Fighter, Mage or Thief...hmmm!) The acronyms are something layered on top of that. Doc

My group has decided to play Day after Ragnarok. The interesting thing is that we have decided to rotate GMs each of whom are using a different system to run the game (Savage Worlds and HERO so far but with TORG and possibly HeroQuest or Mongoose RuneQuest to come). The characters will remain the same but be re-interpreted in different systems so we have a kind of single setting, multi-system ensemble game on the go. I thought it might be interesting for folks if I provided an overview of how I have toolkitted the system to play the game. 1 - Expanded Professional Skills. I have decided that each character will start with two Background skills. These work like Professional Skills in play but in game terms are far more powerful. I have told players that any skill they can reasonably expect to be within the Background, they can have within the background. I retain the right to indicate whether the skill will be at the level of the background skill or one or two points below. The background skill costs 10 points and can be increased for 5 points per point. All skills within the background can be individually raised for one point per point. 2 - Using cards for phases I decided to deal out cards to players (the number based on their SPD) and everyone takes actions based on the cards dealt (Aces Low - deck shuffled on draw of Joker). I use a villain deck where villains will go when the card matches the Speed Chart number. This effectively randomises actions but allows some player planning within a turn. With the right draw even a low SPD character gets the odd time when they can get the drop on someone and means that players vary their tactics depending on the draw of the cards. 3 - Divorced movement and actions This was as a consequence of 2. I have decided that everyone has a 3 speed for the purposes of movement. This means that increasing running speed is essentially a matter of buying more running. It also means that movement and everything else is seperated - you can run and fire (though that attracts a -2 penalty). Players can indicate where they want to be going and begin moving and they will continue moving either until they get there or decide to change their movement during one of their actions. 4 - Roll high system I wanted something that looked intuitive to the players and so I instituted a roll high system. Basic rolls need to beat 10 for success. Abilities are written down as +1, +2, -2 etc. so that these modify the base roll. A base level skill has +0. Each level adds one. Simple. Strength etc is a bit more difficult so I have gone for +1 for each 5 in a characteristic though I do not list the characteristics unless they are at least 15. 5 - Additive abilities Another consequence. I wanted the system to be flexible so, if two skills were applicable then you get some addition taking place. As such I have divorced skills from characteristics and allow things to add. As such a character might have Climbing +2, Strength +1 and Dexterity +3. Depending on the situation I might ask the character to roll climbing as modified by Strength or Dexterity. 6 - Combat I haven't actually made changes to the system. The presentation is different though - target roll is 10 unless the defence number of the target is different to that (characters usually are). I list numbers only where the base CVs are greater than 3. So a characters defence number is 10 unless he has a DCV greater than 3. A characters Attack number is 0 unless the OCV is greater than 3. Skill levels are usually represented as a skill somewhere like shooting +1 etc. Off the top of my head, I think that is it. I have, of course custom designed character sheets for the players - though I am not yet 100% content with those. From the first session I think it all hangs together quite well though some of this stuff has not been thoroughly road tested in play. The actions work well. The number system for action resolution works well. The game still felt like HERO to me, not 100% sure about the players (not huge HERO fans). Will give it another session to bed in. Doc

Re: Replacing the Speed chart with a shot system

Re: Acronyms I've been playing Champions for decades now - the acronyms are almost invisible to me - I am realising however that they are not invisible to new players - they add to the entry barrier for those players and so I was just pointing that out - a revelation for me in presenting the game to new people. Doc

Re: Tools / Assistance for New GMs All good advice. For one of your problems I think Tasha and Rapier have the right idea. Your throwaway characters should not have full write-ups. One of the problems of approaching HERO for the first time is that you look at all the options and then feel the need to use them all and fill them in. What you need to do is decide what you need an NPC to do and then give him the necessary stuff from the list. For a soldier you might need to know what weapons & armour he has, base CV, one or two skills he has above a base 11- roll, a name and one or two traits. If he is a mook - you do not need STUN, END & REC, just how many hits are needed to take him down. That is enough for a session. If you use him again, you might add more detail. So get your basic NPC templates - use them over and over for game mechanics simply adding a skin for look and feel. That should allow you to focus your limited time for the interesting aspects of the game. My take on this system is that I need to spend my initial GM time designing the things I want the players to focus on and getting my character sheets right (that means choosing the bits and pieces that will be on show during gameplay) and those sheets for NPCs are much more limited than for characters. The system is brilliant but when you start a game you want to do what you can to get it out of the way of the gameplay. HERO's complexity is all in the character design - you get really structured information and most of that works even if it is not on display. With new players you do not want them getting distracted by the structure - you want them invested in the game. When everyone is enjoying the game there will be time enough to explore the game system detail. Doc

Re: Acronyms What?

Re: Acronyms Yeah - well - to me those are character construction sheets. My character sheets have only those numbers necessary for gameplay and lots more narrative. CasualPlayer - you nailed it! Doc

Re: Acronyms

Re: Acronyms Only when it gangs up with its other CV friends and bullies newcomers...

Just musing after reading Narf the Mouse's HERO in 2 Pages (kudos there - should be useful to give to newbies). My beef is the acronym proliferation in HERO. Acronyms and abbreviations are useful as a short hand but when there are huge numbers of them all over the character sheet they provide an effective barrier to understanding. I think using jargon terms like Offensive Combat value in full becomes more informative and useful than OCV (especially when listed beside DCV, OMCV and DMCV). It would be better listed as Combat Values: Offensive, Defensive Mental Combat Values: Offensive, Defensive That is less of a barrier to the new player than four very similar sets of letters that have no semantic meaning. This proliferation will lead to the continued belief that HERO is difficult... Doc

Re: Presence power framework I'm with Derek. I think Impressiveness can be like any other special effect and you have to think what you want to be able to do, in game, using that special effect and then model that. Using extra PRE is kind of blunt and leaves a lot of interpretation as to effectiveness of the power at hand. Useful for the fuzzy round the edges things but not for very specific game effects. Doc

Re: Advice needed on building a half-Atlantean People often look for the most complicated build. What you have is a character that can breathe underwater. We all know how to do that and how much it costs. The twist is that there is a limited period of time in which it works - from the description that is going to be a fixed period of time - not dependent on anything else. What you have to decide is, if the underwater breathing only lasts ten minutes, how often will that matter in gameplay? If it will be rare that, when the character needs to be able to breathe underwater, she will have to do so for longer than ten minutes then it is probably a +1/4 limitation on your life support "Only for ten minutes without breathing oxygen". Doc

Re: Abstract Money System? Right off the top of my head I am thinking that the player should buy disposable income rather than annual salary. That shows the discretionary amount of money available to him after living costs are taken into account. I would then try to use a system like 5th edition contacts (haven't read 6th edition contacts yet) - if you tap your wealth to accomplish something then you are using the 'goodwill' of your savings like youd be using the favour of your contact.. Any purchase might be possible but you roll with modifiers based on the cost being applied to your wealth. If you fail you either do not make the purchase, or you gain a debt. The debt will grow unless you reduce the base roll on future wealth checks. If the value of the debt, at any point, exceeds the wealth roll then the character becomes bankrupt. As a bankrupt you might gain a social complication and a time limited reduction on your wealth roll in addition to an inability (for a limited period of time) to gain debts due to future purchases. Doc

Re: Common 6E House Rules