Characters Sheets and Game information

Let me know if too big etc.

As you can see, the points balancing ended up with a few dropped abilities, the main one being energy absorption. Skin Armour won't protect against energy attacks, much as armour/tough skin in the GH rules set was lessened by dividers.

CHARACTER UPDATED! Left the old one (above) for comparison



Skin armour is gone. The armour is a costume of sorts (changes into it at will) that looks like armour, but he is nigh on invulnerable even without it. Bullets ping off, exploding shells scuff him up a bit. He actually lost a slight amount of protection, but gained Force Shield 7. This bumps his resistance value up to 18 against physical attacks that he faces. Invulnerability is now his thing. This is Superman level protection. He can't take a nuclear hit like Superman can, mind. The Mace no longer boosts his strength slightly. He is superhuman strong on his own merit, in the several ton range now.

Magic sense drops from a mile to a couple of hundred yards. Wealth drops to 7 from 8 (no great loss - he has rich family to bail him out when he gets down to his last 100k), Sharp Eye is gone (needed the points for...)

Main boost is that mace. With 15EV it seriously doles out the hurt. Steel, brick, supervillain heads, that thing will properly obliterate anything it hits. You use Weaponry 11 as acting value, effect value 15 as effect now. It's a nasty,awful, terrible thing now - for his enemies. He also gains a serious attraction to hunting down evil which will make his social life tricky, but not as tricky as Bruce Waynes (who has a catastrophic attraction rather than merely serious)

Looks good to me. Seems like he is ready to go. Any way to get the print just a bit bigger? My eyes aren't as good as they used to be.

Heh, can't tell if you're being serious - looks huge to me (albeit on a 32" screen). PM me an email address and I'll send you the pdf

Hmmm, not seeing a post for Morningstar.

Tried to post the old pic of the older Gerard as Morningstar in my post but it didn't come out. It can be found in the NPC section of the photo section of the old Lore Knights group. Needs to be modified a bit since he doesn't carry a sword so he doesn't need a sheath. Need to get him a helmet or actually a half helmet so he can smoke his cigars.

The last photo in the NPC section is with him and his future Squire. Someone who also heard the drums but may or may not wield a sword in the future and just be a support/sidekick hero.

Well there's this one:



Or this one:

Second one with him and Squire. Looks to be circa 1960s. Just add a half helm and get rid of the sword sheath.

Can do plain shield, one with simple St Georges cross, (this design is the 'Star of the Morning') in greyscale, different helmet (though the choices for half helms are limited) etc

That gold reflective shield looks cool. Also useful if I ever run in a Medusa.

And the picture...

Dropped Directional hearing - at 3 APs it was useless anyway. He gains Scholar (Archaeology) which is his trade/profession and useful as a Lore Knight.

Hope that is big enough to see. The mechanics you don't really need to worry about so much. Once again, how the game works is:

Acting value +2D10

You need to equal or exceed

11 + Opposing value

If you manage that, it's:

Effect Value (EV) - Resistance Value (RV)

to find damage caused (1 point or more means the attack/task attempt succeeded. The more points, or Result APs (RAPs) you score, the better you did)

A high roll and/or doubles helps immensely by boosting your Effect value (usually by +1 for every 2 points over the target number, so long as you rolled at least 11 or more)

It's tricky at first, but once you've played it for a while it's really easy. I like the way the table has been ditched completely too (there is a table for acting/opposing value to find target number and one for effect/resistance to find result APs, which I've ditched). Anyhow, comments questions etc, fire away

Thoughts about the Lore Knights game:

Not sure about using the DC Heroes game system. In play by post it seemed rather anti-climatic, but that was as much down to the power level of the characters as the game system I think. It may have some elements I can bring to bear in a Vanguard house ruled Golden Heroes homebrew rule set though (unified mechanic for a start, as well as using 2d10 and exploding dice, plus standardised powers so that there is no upper limits for ranks, just a difficulty number to perform certain feats with the powers).

I plan to bring another rule set to the table for another round of Lore Knights adventures, but this time want to make it so that you guys (if you want to carry on the Lore Knights legacy) know the rules and options more fully so as to have more tools at your disposal. Whether you take up the same characters with the same powers, or have them take up the sword and take on different powers/appearances entirely is up to you. Having foiled the 'Master' it was only a matter of time till the adventure wrapped, and I saw a chance to sign it off (hence the long 'finish' post).

After using the DC system, and being enthusiastic about it in play by post, I'm still happy to try out other game systems. If no one has any objections, the next one up to try will have more in the way of resource managing. You will have to manage energy scores for your characters, and everything you do reduces it. Unlike the GH game you recover energy every round though and you as a player have full control over what your character can/can't do. For instance:

Say you have a character with 5 Strength. This is a maximum amount of energy you can sink into using it (5 points, 1 per point of strength). For each point of strength you use, roll 1D10, so 5 points would mean rolling 5D10. A 10 explodes on the first roll, giving a bonus die to roll, whereas a 1 takes away a bonus die.

Combat would be a simple opposed roll. You roll your attack dice (however many energy points you put into it) against the opponents defence dice. If you exceed their total, you hit and roll your damage dice (again, dependent on how many dice you chucked in there. You might prefer to put all your effort in hitting, all in damage, or split it up to give a good chance of both). You shouldn't forget your own defence though, for when the opponent strikes back, which will of course cost you energy points... as will flying, using X Ray vision, Magnetic Control and every other super power out there. Bit of a juggling act, but it just needs a line saying something like:

Attack (Aim 3 Damage 5) Defence 4 Flight 2 Enhanced Senses (Smell) 2
Energy 4/20 recover 5 every round (recovery rate depends on the characters Endurance stat)

Each point in a stat/power costs 1 energy point from the characters pool and gives a D10 to roll. Difficulty numbers are based on the old Marvel Superheroes game (Typical 6, Good 10, Excellent 20 etc) or an opposed roll against the opponents dice.

Not rocket science, and doubtless seen before, but I've played the diceless Marvel game and found it pretty good for player involvement. Go for it, all in one round? Bide your time, looking for an opening? Clobber every person in the room and hope you take 'em out cause you left no Energy for defence?

There's other stuff - like Skills that give free dice to roll which you can swap for lousy rolls if they come up better, and advantages that cost no energy to use, giving free stones but are expensive to buy at the start, that sort of thing.

If it sounds too much like a headache waiting to happen, I'll pass on that and move onto the next system (I have dozens to choose from as I own every supers game save the odd one - like Femforce David M )

See what y'all think.

More tomorrow anyhow

I like that this sounds a lot less complicated except for the managing energy levels. But that doesn't sound far from what we've already done.

Out of interest, what do the stats mean? I mean if I've got 5 strength, does that add 5 dice to my blow and then I spend energy ontop? Hoe does strength contribute (and how does the amount under each attribute effect its relevant output) to the roll of dice?

Also I'd like to see some examples, for instance, I don't know if spending 20 points to attack, means I'm super efficient in hitting, but do little or no damage? Or if spending all 20 points on one aspect of combat (say hitting or damage) is a good idea, if it leaves me with 0 dice for the next round? Exploding dice is fine, (I thought doubles exploded, i.e. any double you re roll both dice again?) but any 10 is rolled again, and for every 1 rolled (watch me get them) I take away an extra die, or do I take away from my existing die. So roll 5 dice, get 1,3,5,6,2 one die (which one of the 5 gets) gets removed? Or is it that if I roll a 1 and a 10 they cancel each other out, but a 1 in and off itself does nothing unless I also got a 10?

Ok I need to see more, but to be honest I was struggling to follow the old system the opposed value and the effective value, it just seemed to abstract for me. I guess cause I learned GH at the table I find it easier to take it in that way. I'll get there, its age don't you know.

As regards what happens next, I've only just got Bowcaster together, so I'd like to stick with him.

Thanks

Sj

Steeple_jackuk wrote:I like that this sounds a lot less complicated except for the managing energy levels. But that doesn't sound far from what we've already done.

The energy level part will be a small number (from 3, which is a normal human, to 30, someone with Godlike Endurance) to manage. Recovery rate is based on the characters' endurance score. So if they have an Endurance score of 4, they have 12 energy and recover 4 points every round. Say Bowcaster has 4 Endurance, spends 7 points of his 12, he drops to 5. At the start of the next round (before any actions) he recovers 4 points to put him up to 9. Up to you as a player to decide how much/little to throw into each and every action, but there are skills, advantages and powers that can help with the energy management.

For instance Bowcaster would have a skill of Archery (probably at 'Master' level, which makes a big difference). This allows him to roll extra dice when he's using his Perception stat check to target a far off foe. If he has Perception :3 and Archery: 6 (Master level) he can roll 9 dice in total and pick the best 3 dice (for his Perception), ditching the rest, and only pays 3 Energy (skills are free to use, but don't add to the roll, only make it easier to get a better roll). On top of that, he can add his advantage of Expert Shot: 2 which doesn't cost energy to use, and rather than roll a D10 for each point, adds +7 per point (so +14 total) to the roll. The target number to exceed would be the targets defence score+range of target, any cover etc. If that hits, then he inflicts damage depending on how much Energy he put into that. His magic bow will probably help with the energy costs on that too.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Out of interest, what do the stats mean? I mean if I've got 5 strength, does that add 5 dice to my blow and then I spend energy ontop? Hoe does strength contribute (and how does the amount under each attribute effect its relevant output) to the roll of dice?

Strength - used to lift and deal out damage in melee combat
Agility - used to attack in melee combat and perform hand/eye tasks
Speed - determines how fast you can move, also helps with defence
Endurance - determines how tough the character is. Energy=3x Endurance, and Endurance score is the rate Energy is recovered every round. Health is derived from endurance (used like HTC in GH) and Body (this games version of HTK) is equal to half the health score.
Intelligence - used to figure out stuff. A roll on this may have your character coming up with a solution when you are stumped.
Perception - notice things, and Aiming for missile/distance weapons
Ego - willpower, used to attack with mental powers (if you have any) and resist mental attack

...Are the stats I propose to use. A stat of 1 is regarded as a normal human. 2 is trained/specialist (like police, army, athlete etc) and 3 is the max human level. 4 is Superhuman. With a great roll someone with 2 or 3 strength could lift a heavy weight (around 1 ton) but we're talking tens on the dice (giving a bonus die for every 10 rolled) so it's not likely. Someone like Spiderman (who can lift 10 tons in the Marvel game, at a push) has 5 Strength, and Hulk has 10 Strength (and more when he's angry). The stat number is the maximum number of energy points you can spend when using that stat in normal circumstances. So if you were using Spiderman (5 Strength) you can spend 1-5 energy to use 1-5 D10 strength. Hulk can spend up to 10 energy to use up to 10D10 strength.

As mentioned in the previous (Bowcaster) example, spending Energy is one way to roll the dice and come up with a score, but Skills and Advantages help massively too.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Also I'd like to see some examples, for instance, I don't know if spending 20 points to attack, means I'm super efficient in hitting, but do little or no damage? Or if spending all 20 points on one aspect of combat (say hitting or damage) is a good idea, if it leaves me with 0 dice for the next round?

That'd be the challenge for you as a player. Go all out or save something in reserve? Certain powers (like a healing factor that Wolverine has) help with recovering energy faster, making him effectively tireless.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Exploding dice is fine, (I thought doubles exploded, i.e. any double you re roll both dice again?) but any 10 is rolled again, and for every 1 rolled (watch me get them) I take away an extra die, or do I take away from my existing die. So roll 5 dice, get 1,3,5,6,2 one die (which one of the 5 gets) gets removed? Or is it that if I roll a 1 and a 10 they cancel each other out, but a 1 in and off itself does nothing unless I also got a 10?

Doubles explode in DC Heroes (the previous system used for Lore Knights) whereas only 10s 'explode' in this one, and only on the first roll (so subsequent 10s rolled on exploding dice do not explode). The only effect of a 1 is to cancel out an 'exploded' (bonus) die, so the original 10 still counts, it just doesn't give a bonus die if a 1 cancels it out. In your example of rolling the dice, none would be removed. If you rolled 10, 10, 3, 4, 1 the 10s would give a bonus die each, but the 1 would take away a bonus die, leaving you with an extra 1D10 to roll instead of 2.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Ok I need to see more, but to be honest I was struggling to follow the old system the opposed value and the effective value, it just seemed to abstract for me. I guess cause I learned GH at the table I find it easier to take it in that way. I'll get there, its age don't you know.

I know what you mean. I buy new systems (in PDF) and they never get read because the thought of trying to get my head round new terms and mechanics makes me shudder. I haven't finished writing this one yet (it's in Draft, and even then sketchy) but I plan to expand/add on it if it's used in play, because we can see what works and what don't.

Steeple_jackuk wrote:As regards what happens next, I've only just got Bowcaster together, so I'd like to stick with him.

No problem. if you are familiar with the Marvel superheroes game (FASERIP) of old, you already know what the difficulties of doing stuff are:



I changed a couple of the terms (Monstrous to Mighty, Shift X to Legendary). If your character has 7 Strength and ploughs 7 energy (and therefore roll 7D10) into lifting something (their maximum in normal circumstances) an average roll of 6 per die will see them succeed at an Incredible (40) rank weight (which is 10 tons) with a roll of 42. Exploding dice help a lot, as does 'pushing' yourself - putting extra effort into something over and above what you can normally achieve, but its costly in energy terms. The absolute maximum you can roll is 20 per point of energy, and that's by rolling 10 (which gives a bonus die) and 10 on the bonus die. If you do that, you deserve to succeed at what you're trying, mind!

Steeple_jackuk wrote:Thanks

Sj

I'm still in the 'draft' process so don't hold your breath on it being finished until after I'm back from hols, but I want a system that lets the player control every aspect of what happens to the character, apart from what the dice come up with, and even then, exploding dice might save your bacon with a high roll.

The more I hear with this system the more I see to like. But I reserve final judgement till we've seen it in play.

Look forward to giving it a try.

Sj

I haven't forgotten about this - originally I wanted to try new systems (and teach them to you if need be) but the more I think about it, the more I want to cook up our own version of 'Golden Heroes V3' (seeing as Squadron UK was V2) using a unified mechanic (2D10) hero points to buy extra D10s (so you roll half a dozen dice, say, and pick the best two to use and discard the rest, thus allowing you some control/resource management over the way the game goes) and an easy to play combat system with a rounds/frames version like GH. Combat would be 2D10+Agility vs Target number (10)+Opponents Agility. Every point that your roll exceeds that becomes a point of accuracy (so you need 1 point or more of accuracy to 'hit'). Add to that the strength score (if punching) OR power rank (say, for an energy blast) 1 point per point of accuracy from a weapon (if used, up to the weapons max damage) and deduct any protection the defender has.

Example:

Kestrel (a hero) attacks Rockard, a super powered thug. Kestrels Agility is 7, Rockards is 4. Kestrels player rolls 2D10+Agility (7) aiming to beat the target number which is 10+Rockards Agility of 4. Kestrels total is 17, meaning he exceeds the target number by 3 points, which becomes his accuracy. He's using Martial Arts (which substitutes for his strength score of 4 with M. Arts score of 8 ) so adds 8 to his accuracy (3) for a total of 11. Rockards tough skin gives him 10 points of protection, reducing the damage he takes to 1 point. Frame over.

Another character, Bowman, fires an arrow at Rockard. His skill with a bow is 11 (substituting for his Agility of 6) so the target number of 14 (10 plus Rockards agility of 4) should be easy enough to exceed on 2D10+11. The roll of 13 means Bowmans total is 24. The range of 3 (100m) effectively reduces the weapon damage bonus from 5 to 2, but the accuracy of the shot (24-14=10) means 12 points (10 accuracy plus 2 from the bow) get through. Reduced by Rockards tough skin of 10 means only 2 points get through. Rockard is one tough cookie!

Of course, there'd be other moves you can pull off, trick shots and the like. It's an adaptation of DC Heroes with Golden Heroes, and a few other games I can come up with. Rather than, say, come up with a full homegrown written ruleset in 100 years, or however long it takes, I was thinking of cooking up the basics and adding to it as I go. Therefore you'd have a character sheet and a list of combat manoeuvres, and we fill in the blanks. It sounds an odd way of doing it but every time I sit down to write a full on game I'm interrupted, and don't get back to it for weeks, by which time I've figured a new mechanic to try and start from scratch...

My schedule *should* be freeing up some in the next few weeks (I hope!) and will be back to updating the Main (Vanguard) game a couple of times a day hopefully. That'll also mean commencement with the Lore Knights game, which is a tryout for rules/mechanics and run as one shot adventures, as happened before with the dungeon crawl.

Anyway, more once I've cooked something up, I'll get my thinking cap on... A few rough notes:

Target Number = 10 (can be modified for harder/easier tasks) + Ability, Skill or Power of opponent

Roll 2D10 + Ability, Skill or Power to exceed the target number and succeed.

• Doubles explode (double 1 is a disastrous failure, mind!)
  
• Hero Points buy extra D10 to roll, so you roll your initial 2D10, make sure you don't get double 1, then roll additional D10 and pick the 2 dice to use, discarding the rest. Whether you go for a double or a high roll is up to you (in the post you can state 'pick double' or 'pick high', but picking the double will be best in most cases). So a roll with 3 hero points spent comes up 3, 9 (initial two dice) then 5,9,1. You'd pick the double 9, then roll another 2D10 and add to the first roll.
  
• Hero points can also absorb damage and perform other effects
  
• Powers and Skills are listed by a single number. The further away a power is being used from the target, the weaker it is. So a 10 intensity blast used at range 3 (around 100m away) only has 7 intensity. Same goes for telepathy and any power used at range, so range has its benefits (you're not going to get punched!) but also its drawbacks
  
• Abilities will be a standard list of stuff like Strength, Agility, Intelligence etc
  
• HTC and HTK may make an appearance albeit under a different name

If that's all too confusing and a pile of gobbledigook, I'll try to make things simpler. I need to figure out the level of Htc/Htk for each character so that fights don't take forever but the DC Heroes game we ran had fights over and done with in 2 rounds at most, rather anticlimatic. All in the planning stages anyway. No time limit, just 'when I get it done' (hopefully in the next week?)