We know what this is, and it's ready for use.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:44, Wed 22 Aug 2018.

Hey, all. The high-flying Nighthawk, reporting for duty.

Hey, I get dibs on your first interview......

Hey there. Looking forward to getting started.

In reply to Goodguy (msg # 4):

I wanted to pose a question to all of you: What's your opinion on making the character write ups available for everyone to view?  For my own part, I like to get feedback and constructive criticism from my fellow players, in case I've missed an opportunity or overlooked a rule; on the other hand, I can see how some folks might like to surprise their teammates with what their heroes are capable of, or how some characters might have secrets that should only be revealed in-game.

So...what say the rest of you?  I've gone ahead and made Street Demon visible to all, provided GM has no objections.  My character in particular could benefit from bright ideas and suggestions from the rest of the group, given the flexibility of his VPP.

Let me know what you think...
This message was last edited by the player at 03:34, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

I am such a newb at this game, I Literally just got the rules. But I'm CRAVING some superhero RPG so here I am. This guy dates back to the 90's when I was playing V&V. Had a blast. He's been in limbo for a LONG time and I wanted to get his boots on the ground again.

I think it would be great to see some other characters. I did mentioned to the DM that I'm willing to just lurk for a while watching how the game goes down. I'm waiting on him to give me a hand with creating him...it's a very steep learning curve.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:37, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

Heya peeps :)

Nice to be onboard. My own background and full character sheet are open to everyone (I guess ?)

I posted my sheet. It's bound to need work and the GM is helping me but if any of you have ideas let me know.

ps. GM.. I've dropped the sledgehammer idea. Just a hard-hitting tank that can teleport.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:55, Thu 23 Aug 2018.

wow... I just took some time to read both of your origin stories, "Stan Lee" level creativity there! Amazing job. Knockout... what a cool idea for a character! StreetDemon your new magical elements are genius.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Fri 24 Aug 2018.

I was actually FOND of the sledge hammer...
... of course, I like the show, too.

Hey I'm not against it but my STR has me at the peak damage stack as per our last message. If there's a way to work it in then I'm good with that...even if it's just for show.

ps. I had it designed by one of Lester's friends who's a welder, Duncan Emberr. It was made of a solid piece of iron and twice the size of a normal sledge. It had this engraved on the handle, "Whosoever shall lift the hammer of Duncan shall forever be known as one big bleepity."


This message was last edited by the GM at 04:09, Fri 24 Aug 2018.

Thank you :) I enjoy a detailed character

I'm happy to share my sheet. Keep in mind I'm very new so the GM help me build the character. As far as background:

The mysterious young woman known as "Nocturne" is Jessica Bell, daughter of a life now consigned to memory. Her mother, Lauren, was a writer, a good one, and Jess as a child often came out in the middle of the night to find her mother grasping a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, finishing a latest draft. She'd let Jess stay up for a while, until she fell asleep to the sound of clacking keys and coffee being sipped. That was her mother, a writer, a kind and intelligent woman...

... whose stories captured even the fancy of a man several hundred years old. A man whose dark appetites only grew with the long count of years, stayed for a time by the company of a writer with a fanciful imagination. A monster in human skin, a drinker of blood, keeper of ancient secrets. Vampire. And Jessica was his half-human progeny, a dhampir, half-vampire, cursed to walk in both day and night as an outsider. Like many of her kind (who survive turbulent adolescence), she now hunts the monsters that go bump in the night, using her vampiric gifts to see and fight the things that normal folks can't.

Calling herself "Nocturne," Jess is a hunter par excellence. Thanks to her vampiric heritage, she has heightened senses and physical abilities, and she's quite difficult to kill. She also learned a blood ritual from a vampire in China that lets her bind an object (in this case, her sword) to her life-force, rendering it nigh-unbreakable (unless she does) and able to cut through nearly anything.

Hey Nocturne :)

Btw, I took the initiative to put my archetype and DEX and SPD stats in biography, in order to help our teamworking actions.

Good idea.

I agree.

Done

Could one of you take a look at my sheet and give me some advice please. I have no idea if this is right. For sure I need help with my multi-power. Did I do it right?

I'm new to the game so my goal here is to make a character that's not too complicated to use but still fun and contributes to the group.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:37, Sat 25 Aug 2018.

Well, it appears to me your character is unbalanced in several ways :

1. first with STR 60, DEX 15 and SPD 3, and OCV 5 without combat skill levels, you'll act VERY slowly, never hit your targets, and do less damage than anyone. Plus Deflection Powers need a OCV Roll. I'd suggest buying HTH skill levels to at least boost your OCV around 10. You can increase your DEX a bit in order to do that too... And SPD 4. Maybe decrease your CON (40 is enormous and very unuseful, go for 25-30).
2. 80 END and 75 STUN are useless too, compared to the END costs of your powers. 'd suggest at least to drop your STUN from 15-20 points. And decrease your REC around 15-20
3. For a Brick 15 PD and 14 ED is LOW. If you intend to take hits, aim at least at 25PD-24ED, with at least 10 rPD & 10rED. If not, your going to get BODY wounds often, which is not brick at all.
4. Telekinetic Deflection:
Deflection, No Range
Modifier (+½). Total cost:
30 points.
Should replace your MP which is useless built like this you did. This power will give you the same ability, costing less, and usable in any situation.

Go check with the GM of course.

Thanks. I’ll work on this.

In reply to Goodguy (msg # 18):

Goodguy, can double-check your settings in HeroDesigner?  It looks like it might be doing some of the calculations for his stats based on 5th Edition rules, treating things like REC or END AS Figured Characteristics based on the cost of his Primary Characteristics...
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Sat 25 Aug 2018.

very rue ! Missile Deflection appears instead of Deflection. Totally 5th ed

Actually, as 60 active points is the maximum for attacks this should definitely NOT be less damage than anyone. In fact, only one of The Crusaders (well known defenders of Central City that your character is SUPPOSED to want to join) has an attack that reaches sixty active points, and it does no damage.

Unfortunately, the maximum active points for a defense is forty. The best bet for a brick is mixing defenses, i.e. 10PD and ED (20 active), then 8rPD and 8rED (24 active), then 25% resistant damage reduction (physical and energy) 30 points. A typical 12d attack (figure 42 stun and 12 body) will only get eighteen stun through. Spend that last thirty points on damage negation instead and only twelve stun gets through.
The maximum active points for attack and defense are set the way they are to make it so everyone gets hurt. Even the villains follow those rules, so combat should be more volatile and bricks will have to change the characteristics they focus on accordingly.

Creating Hero System Characters 101
It's pretty common for someone to look at the Hero System rule book and be totally overwhelmed by the options inside. Usually first characters are a mish mash of powers of wildly varying powerlevels and are not really suited for play. After seeing this come up time and time again on the Hero Games forums I thought that it was time for me to try and answer this once and for all.


1) Learn everything possible about the campaign.
ie What Genre, What kind of adventures will be run (ie Action, Political, soapopera etc). Does it take place in one spot (ie one city) or does it travel? How often will characters be engage in combat? How serious is the game (is it comedy, Tragedy, high drama or something inbetween?)These questions gives you a direction for your character and it allows you to make a character that fits the GM's campaign.

2) Know the power level of the campaign.
Know what the Dex and SPD range is and what the Average stat for both of those is. You also need the Point levels of the campaign (ie 350pt supers, 150pt Heroic normals). How powerful should your attacks be (ie 10d6, AKA DC10, AKA 50pt attacks). Average and maximum OCV, DCV, OMCV, and DMCV (for 5e players the last two are Mental combat values). Maximum and Average PD and ED also maxes for unusual Defenses (ie Power def, Mental def, Flash Def). Average is important as it tells you what most PCs should have for that ability, so you can decide whether your character should be above or below that value.

3) Come up with a basic idea of what the character is beyond adventuring.
ie Marine Corps Sniper, High Society Socialite, College Professor, News Reporter etc. This gives your character a life outside of adventuring and gives greater depth to their background. This step also can give you ideas for people who may be attached to the character both for good or bad (ie a Dependent or a person Hunting the PC) Write these ideas down.

4) Now work on the character's Adventuring side.
Wizard, Healing Priest, Person turned into metal, Thief/Rogue, Person who can create fire effects, Warrior. Be general at this point, specifics come next. Also think about quirks that will make this character different from any other character of your type(s)

5) Take those generalities and be more specific.
Write out what the character can do in plain english (don't even worry about opening a rule book yet). This step is VERY important for Super Heroes and for Spell Casters. Done right this will both help with writing up powers and will suggest weaknesses.Make sure that this list shows what you want your powers to DO. Fiery Body from being possessed by flame elemental is a good start, but you need to write down specifics of what the Character does with that Fiery body. The more specific and detailed the writeup the easier it will come to write up powers.
ie Fireperson the flaming superhero
a. Can project bolts of fire
b. Body's fiery aura can vaporize bullets and is resistant to heat effects
c. Being made of fire makes character lighter than air and allows her to fly
d. can see heat (ie Infrared Vision)

6) Start writing the character up using the rules.
This is where you open your Rule books and Genre books. I recommend starting with skills. See if you can find a writeup of your profession in the genre book. Most of the professions have some sort of package that lists out skills (and complications) that are appropriate for that profession. You may think of more. Next work on Perks (things like favors, contacts and licences), Go onto Talents, then Powers. When you start to write up powers go back to your list of what your powers should do, then find the power in the book that best fits that writeup. Start with the abilities that translate easy. (ie Can project bolts of fire; sounds like either a Blast or a Killing Attack Ranged or it can be both if you like).
b. This is also a good time to buy Int and Presence. Keep in mind that 3s and 8s are breakpoints and will save you points.

7) Now balance the character so they fall within the points budget.
This is a great time to see if some of the powers can be purchased in a Multipower. Also think of limitations on your powers. ie"Power requires a Roll" is a good limit for beginning heroes. Also think of weakness in those powers. ie Fire powers probably don't work under water or in Vacuum. This a good time to lower stats that you were kind of wishing for but don't break the character's concept to lower (ie Presence can be a good stat to lower). If you cant come under budget, then go onto the next step. You might find ways to save more points in the proofing stage

Cool Proof the character vs campaign limits and power levels.
These question are to reality check the character so they aren't a total wimp or over-powered.

a. Do I have at least 1 attack power that is straight up dice of damage? (ie Strength, Energy Blast or Ego Attack). This means one attack power that has no advantages like NND, Armor Piercing, Penetrating etc. If your powers all have gimmicks you can find yourself in situations where the character cannot damage the badguys at all, which can make for a frustrating experience.

b. Are my defenses = 2x to 2.5x the average damage dice (AKA Damage Class) being thrown in the game? (ie if the campaign is based on 50pt (10d6 powers), then I should have from 20-30 Defenses.

c. Can I take one attack at campaign average with an average roll and not be stunned? (ie have my Con Score exceeded by damage taken after defenses) 1d6 does 3.5 average stun. so 3.5 x 10d6 = 35 stun on average - PD or ED (lets go with 20) and you take 15 stun which means that you need 16 Con to not be stunned by an average hit (round to 18 to take advantage of figured chars).

d. Do I have enough STUN to take 2 - 3 average attacks? ie using the numbers above the character takes 15 STUN per hit and should have 30 STUN to 45 STUN

e. Do I have enough End to use my most common attack + run end using defenses + movement-Recovery for one full turn? ie ((Sum Attack End Cost + Defense End Cost + Movement End cost/2)* SPD) - Recovery. Your movement end is halved is because you take half moves during any phase you attack. Recovery can be used to decrease the amount of end needed to meet this goal (also Recovery allows the character to heal back STUN damage)

f. Do I have a movement power that is faster than 12m/phase? or is moving slowly ok for the character concept.

g. If your character has ego powers remember to have Mental Defense at 2x to 2.5x the dice of Mental Attack (not the dice of Telepathy or the other mental powers). The character should have around 20-30 Ego and OMCV and DMCV around 5-7. Most people never buy their DMCV above the base of 3 or their ego above 10. You can bank on this being true in all campaigns with the exception of ones that are all mentalist based. So take advantage of that fact to save points. For Telepathy, Mind Scan, Mental Illusions, and Mind control, you can reality check these by using the formula 3.5 x dice rolled -10 (avg ego). On a 10d6 attack you roll a 35 on average, subtract 10 for avg ego and get 25 which means that you get +20 effect on most rolls (with a -1 on breakout rolls on +20 effects to boot). 6d6 averages 21 which gets +10 vs most targets

h. Your CV scores should be at least campaign average. OCV should be at campaign average or average +1

i. This is a good time to buy any other Characteristics that I haven't talked about above.

9) Does the character still fit the points budget?
If you are under budget go onto Complications/Disadvantages the next step. If not, then really look hard at all of your powers and skills and see if there is something that can be cut (and purchased later when you get exp). Also, see if there is some other limitation you can place on your powers to help lower points.

10) Start putting together your Character's Complications (AKA Disadvantages).
Go back through your notes and see if any complications jump out at you. If you were the crusading lawyer or reporter perhaps some criminal is hunting the character. Perhaps you know that the character is curious, has strong convictions against killing. Perhaps that body of flame has a weakness against cold attacks. Write it all down and come up with your complications. BTW Complications are good for the character. They give the GM something to grasp onto to help write adventures that involve the character beyond just being there. Don't be afraid to have that weakness to alien glowing rocks, or Ice attacks, have a sweet curious Aunt May, or a Wife/Husband,Girlfriend/Boyfriend. These things make your character interesting, not your powers and skills. If you are really hurting for ideas go to this site, it's a real nice resource for Physical, and Psychological Complications along with Social Complications Masterlist of Limitations

11) Go though your notes and write down your characer's background.
ie Job, what the character did before they started adventuring. It can be anything from a bullet pointed list of events to a short story. Make sure the GM gets that background along with the Hero system writeup. You are done and if you have followed all of the steps you should have a well rounded character that isn't a total wimp, that can contribute inside and outside of combat, and has a background that the GM can use to write adventures

Congratulations you have finished your character!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll start from scratch and remake him being sure it’s set for 6th edition. I’ll keep all of these comments in mind.