Doc Democracy

Re: Adding a special effect

Re: Adding a special effect Nothing in the Hero System is dictated to you as far as effects go - you are simply looking to find the game mechanic that best provides some structure beneath that special effect. Now if you want something that adds to the current character then you are looking at aid or transform, and if the addition is not already present in the chaeracter then you really are looking at transform. There is nothing in Transform that it permanent - in fact it is difficult to permanently add anything - the trasform will either heal or disappear when pre-set conditions are met (that could be a time period of the GM agrees it). Doc

Re: Adding a special effect

Re: Gravity Well Power Essentially the no loss of mass is covered by a portion of the Density Increase. You should simply purchase sufficient Density Increase to counter the loss of mass incurred by the Shrinking... You could probably work out the cost of that and make it an advantage on the cost of Shrinking if you wanted - possibly slightly lower as you would not get the added value of increased PD etc. Doc

Re: Combat Options

Re: reverse vulnerability Its always nice when people discuss the concept. However, if you present numbers then there is a sub-section of all Hero gamers brains that drill down into those numbers! It's tradition! If you are suggesting a new power it is usually a good idea to have thoughts on how much you think that power should cost becasue people will comment on cost as they want to make sure that the benefits you propose will not unbalance the system unduly. Will try to post more productively later. Doc

Re: How would you build this sci-fi machine/weapon? Hmm. I think that this would involve the design of the spaceships as much as the robots. I like the idea of the robot being potential NPC (or even PC) material to make it SFX of a power reserve. I think that I would purchase the spaceship with END reserve and its own REC but pay for the reserve to also draw from external sources (such as robots). When the robot is plugged in then the robots END and REC will be utilisable by the ship. As such I would make each robot purchase the perk - spaceship battery unit (possibly just 5 points). Doc

Re: How would you build this power? Well, option 1 costs no points - it is all special effect and no advantage or disadvantage - so definitely easy. You could define option 2 as requiring light to hit his body but if it is true clairsentience then the only blockage that should matter is something that prevents his spirit form reaching out. I might define that, in game terms, as mental defence. So anything that provided mental defence that covered him (completely or possibly just a particular chakra point) would prevent that sense being used. Doc

Re: How would you build this power? And therefore a vulnerability to sense of smell?

Re: How would you build this power? That is one way to look at it but in essence he is a 250 point character who has decided to take radar sense to make him better than other characters and a 15 point disad to make him worse, it shouldn't matter that they are related in any way. I think that any disadvantage should be bought on how disabling that particualr disadvantage is - regardless of how points are spent on powers. Should no legs be worth less to a player who has flight? Doc

Re: reverse vulnerability So you going to go to the rules forums and suggest how such a mechanic might work - costs etc? I know at least one person that would be interested in discussing it and a number of people who will test the concept in the interests of Hero system purity for you... Doc

Re: How would you build this power? I'm against it as well. Someone who takes blind and deaf is also immune to all of the attacks requiring a person to see or hear, even 4xAP ones. And that is simply from taking a disadvantage, not from buying anything. I would allow the senses built to replace the facility of hearing and seeing as long as they do not cost less than the disadvantages. I would expect that some of the clairvoyance would not be the same as straight sight and hearing, otherwise there is no point in doing it this way. Obviously there is some advantage, as per a blind person, but there is a downside in that a mental flash removes all of the persons ability to percieve anything, there is not the backup anyone else might have, it would also be subject to 'interference' that no-one else would be able to detect and possibly subject to either delay or 'change' (ie the prediction of the immediate future was not as perfect as it should have been. So. I understand where Ghost Angel and others are coming from. They do not want the player to gain advantage for no cost. Instead I would advocate ensuring that the bought disadvantage did come into play sometimes (there are points provided for it after all) and that for most of the time the difference in perception is used to make things more 'interesting'. Doc

Re: reverse vulnerability While transform can do everything, there are some things that cannot be done any other way. Even with the trnsform I suggested there is still the problem of making the effect fit the proposed SFX. If you wanted something to add to any heal done on the character could you always be certain that the healing would be to STUN or BODY, would restoring lost stats also count? If so, you need to deliver the recipient of the spell with something that will react to the situation. Bestowing a limited VPP ensures that every effect that comes the way of the character can be accommodated and enhanced... Transform is the only way to bestow a VPP on someone. Doc

Re: reverse vulnerability The transform could 'provide' the recipient of the spell with a VPP that is cosmic, with no conscious control. Instead it adds to whatever type of magic it is sensitive to - adding to it and making it more effective. Doc

Re: Starting a new game In my book, Knocked Out has a 0 next to it, not -0. As such your DCV, as you suspected drops to 0. -1 would mean your DCV would be one less. DCV 1/2, as you surmise would half your DCV. Doc

Re: Starting a new game

Re: Starting a new game

Re: Starting a new game I suppose what I should add is that Hero Designer does allow you to create character sheets so that you could easily print out player and GM versions of the same character. It _is_ a good programme but by no means necessary for play. Doc

Re: Starting a new game I would also recommend that you customise the character sheets so that the players see as few numbers as possible. Most of the numbers are important for the character creation part of the game and not for the gameplay. See what you can do to come up with a character sheet that simply shows CV, STUN, END, REC & BODY. To begin with I would have all the PCs have the same speed - makes it easy. If they have SPD 3 - mooks have SPD 2 they immediately see their superiority with little problem in speed chart stuff. You might also want to include skill rolls (which gives clues to stats for some) but those can all be together. Finally special abilities should be described in real English, not game jargon simply putting the dice necessary in a bracket near the end and a number in square brackets for the END necessary. You could decide right off to ignore END as an added complication that can come in when the players are happy with the system, but I never found it that much of an issue for new players. Doc

Re: Working Up The Spell Create Food & Water I think what you are possibly looking for is that uneaten food fades to nothing after six hours. However, having a few variations on the create spell would keep people on their toes.... Doc

Re: Stats And Hero Purity If something makes a system less playable then it may not be the best thing to introduce (there are one or two other considerations such as genre enhancement that will add to the fun rather than the playability but philosophy is not one I'd advocate). I would dispute the declaration that scrapping stats would lessen the playability of the game. It could depend on the implementation but it would require a certain level of paradigm shift on behalf of existing players. As such it is a risky manouevre to take, almost of a Fuzion level, but I have played in games where stats were not a necessary part of the game and they removed a certain amount of understanding required (no-one had to understand the interplay of stats, skills and powers) and the fixed benchmark of points to abilities (the STR debate etc would effectively disappear). I think it would be an interesting experiment. If I were playing superheroes regularly I would ensure that my next step would be to remove characteristics from the game and to examine the play results - Von D-Man said he was moving in a similar direction. As it stands, I will have to waitr and see whether someone else has the mtoviation and opportunity to try this.... Doc

Re: Working Up The Spell Create Food & Water I have bolded the important part. Personally I think that it demonstrates how subtle the build of something can change the overall effects and how flexible the system is in allowing such variations. Doc

Re: Stats And Hero Purity Hmm. With the presence of Hero Designer I'm not sure that is true. If you already own HD and use it to create your characters then the recoting exercise is a simple template matter. If you do not own HD then it is a drive to HD to provide you with the facility (its not expensive and it is so highly recommended that anything that makes it an easier decision is a good thing). As for printed characters I would leave them with their current abilities and produce a download sheet with new cost totals. Points really dont matter for NPCs. Mechanically the characters would be good to go....and teh ultimate books etc would still be 70-80% correct and the stuff that referred to stats would be ignorable rather than replaced. Doc Doc

Re: Working Up The Spell Create Food & Water

Re: Stats And Hero Purity I hav thought that stats were an anomaly for some time. It is something I will change in all future games based on Hero that I run. I like the fact that there is a template that says that the average human PC will have CV 3, run 6", be able to detect noise within the human audible range, see in the human visual range of the electromagnetic spectrum, lift about 100kg and manipulate objects unless restrained from so doing. I'm probably missing something along the lines of 20 STUN, 20 END 4 REC and 2 SPD. These are real game related statistics as opposed to the above which are narrative. I would probably default all other characteristic type rolls to 11- (coz that's what most of them are). That is the human template. I'm sure I could come up with some other templates that could be costed at zero as well with different assumption. Anyway - the game stats could be purchased just like stats (not much c an replace them) while anything else this character needs could be bought with powers. Thus when a player looks at the character sheet they get the default template unless something has been changed along with a list of powers and skills - takes one whole section of the character sheet (and a large list of numbers right off the character sheet). Doc