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Skip Navigation LinksMetaCyber>GM>Paradigm>Assumptions
 
MetaCyber
 
 
GM
Paradigm Key Notes Assumptions
Starting Races Professions
 
 
 
Assumptions
The following options are assumed to be in effect for this paradigm.

Option

 Selected

Option
 
No NCM   X NCM
Powers Available O   Powers Not Available
Super Skills Available O   No Super Skills Available
Combat Luck Allowed OC   No Combat Luck Allowed
No Deadly Blow Allowed   OC Deadly Blow Allowed
 
Literacy Standard X   Literacy Not Standard
No Weapon Familiarity   X Weapon Familiarity
No Armor Familiarity X   Armor Familiarity
No Transport Familiarity   X Transport Familiarity
No Skill Maxima X   Skill Maxima
No STR Minima   X STR Minima
Superheroic CSL Conversion   X Heroic CSL Conversion
 
No Encumbrance   X Encumbrance
Knockback   X Knockdown
Generalized Damage   X Hit Location Damage
No Long Term Damage   X Injury & Impairment Damage
Normal Damage Default   X Killing Damage Default
No Long Term Endurance   X Long Term Endurance
END Cost = Active Points / 10 X   END Cost = Active Points / 5
 
Equipment Costs Points   X Equipment Doesn't Cost Points*
Bases & Vehicles Cost Points   X Bases / Vehicles Don't Cost Points*
Followers Cost Points   X Followers Don't Cost Points*
Cybernetics Cost Points X   Cybernetics Don't Cost Points
 

*Resource Pools as described in the Dark Champions Genre book are in effect
Starting values: Equipment (60), Vehicles / Bases (10), Contacts / Followers (5)
O: By Origin C: Caps Are In Effect X: Selected
HEALING: UNCOMMON TO RARE
Combat effective Healing is unusual, though some high tech first aid kits might be represented by Healing at the GM's discretion. MetaCyber characters get hurt often and will frequently have some residual damage from previous encounters. However, out of combat healing is fairly common assuming a character can afford professional medical treatment in a high tech facility. However, it is expected to be very common for characters to have the Rapid Healing Talent and / or lots of BODY.
With the Injury options in use it is also expected that characters will eventually need some form of cybernetics to replace destroyed body parts.
While high tech medical facilities can save a character from the verge of death if they are accessible, there is no form of resurrection. Thus a GM might want to consider having all players prepare and maintain an "understudy" character that is ready to be brought into play fairly quikly in the case of the untimely death of their primary character.
DEADLY BLOW
Deadly Blow is a new Talent that is expected to see heavy use in MetaCyber campaigns. Deadly Blow is an interesting ability that is flexible enough to model a large number of common effects, and serves as a perfect foil to Combat Luck and high defenses.
However, Deadly Blow can also get out of hand if left unchecked; thus I recommended that some form of control be implemented to limit how much Deadly Blow can be taken by a particular character.
RESTRICTION BASED ON ORIGIN
Deadly Blow is considered to be a Super Skill in the MetaCyber setting, and is thus limited to Origins that allow Super Skills. Each 15 points of Deadly Blow is considered a single SuperSkill, thus a character could have three heavily limited levels or two limited levels counting as one Super Skill.
INANIMATE OBJECTS
Deadly Blow adds damage to a character's attacks. This causes the odd side effect of characters being able to hack through inanimate objects with ridiculous ease.
To prevent this from occurring, I recommend that a House Rule be implemented stating that Deadly Blow does not effect inanimate objects unless specifically purchased to do so. Thus a character couldn't normally Deadly Blow through a wall with their pistol for instance, but a character could take Deadly Blow Only vs Doors to represent a SWAT-like adeptness at busting in doors.
AUTOMATONS
For this purpose Automatons are considered "inanimate", though the SFX for various Automatons may not be clear cut. Regardless, under this House Rule Deadly Blow will only affect Automatons if specifically defined to do so, though this can be categorical.
BASE DAMAGE
Deadly Blow adds to base damage; this usually makes sense but it does cause some odd side effects, such as when performing a Move By with a weapon while using Deadly Blow.
To prevent this it is recommended that a House Rule be implemented stating that Deadly Blow only adds to base damage for purposes of determining maximum damage.
KNOCKBACK AND KNOCKDOWN
Another odd side effect of Deadly Blow is its effect on Knockback and Knockdown. Each die of Deadly Blow results in an extra 3" of Knockback or 1.5" of Knockdown on average, which can get ridiculous quickly.
Thus it is recommended that Deadly Blow dice should be differentiated from normal damage dice, and not included for purposes of Knockback / Knockdown. Typically different colored and/or sized dice are used to accomplish this quickly and easily.
FORGETFUL PLAYERS
If a player forgets to differentiate their Deadly Blow dice and rolls for damage, simply add the same number of dice as they rolled for Deadly Blow to the Knockback roll or take an average of the damage inflicted times the correct number of non-Deadly Blow dice if using Knockdown. This is a flawed solution due to the potential for the Deadly Blow damage dice to roll abnormally high or low, but it is generally preferable and less disruptive to the game than forcing the player to reroll the damage completely.
STACKING DEFENSES
A concern when running MetaCyber games is characters who layer defenses to the point where they are invulnerable. It is important to remember in a setting like MetaCyber that most guns hover in the 2d6K range and thus armor of 10+ is extremely powerful and armor of 13+ will require heavy weapons to put a dent in. Thus a GM should be careful to keep DEF under control or else characters can become bullet proof.
The commonality of layered defenses becomes more prevalent if cybernetics are more common. For instance, what happens when a character with Dermal Armor wears Body Armor, both built using the Armor Power? Or when a meta with Steel Skin puts on a suit of Powered Armor?
To limit the ability for a Character to stack several small defenses on themselves of the same type and attain Tank-like resistance to harm, it is recommended that a House Rule be implemented as follows:
Thus if a character has two Defenses that apply to the same attack that are based on the  same HERO System Base Power, they use the higher Defense +1 PD or ED for each other Defense that also applies.
For the purposes of this House Rule, the following are considered to be distinct Defenses.
 
DISTINCT DEFENSES
  • Armor
  • Damage Resistance
  • Force Field
  • Damage Reduction
  • Combat Luck
  • Flash Defense
  • Mental Defense
  • Power Defense
  • Triggered Missile Deflection
  • Triggered Dispel
  • Triggered Suppress
 
NOTE: Force Wall is not on this list. A Character protected by multiple Force Walls gets the benefit of all of them.
NOTE: A Force Field can also contain Flash Defense, Power Defense, and Mental Defense. This would add to each of those Defenses bought separately if a Character had both.
 
COMBAT LUCK
Combat Luck is a new Talent in the HERO System 5th Edition and 5th Edition Revised that is essentially a limited form of Armor. It models the heroic "just missed me" effect very well, and is a great addition to campaigns where a certain heroic "fudge factor" is desired.
RESTRICTION BASED ON ORIGIN
In the MetaCyber setting Combat Luck is considered to be a Super Skill and thus is only available to characters with Origins that allow Super Skills (Tubers and Adepts by default).
COMBAT LUCK AND AREA OF EFFECT ATTACKS
To maintain some sense of realism it is recommend that a House Rule be implemented stating that Combat Luck will not protect a character from an Area of Effect that effects the hex that the character is in and all the hexes around them.
ADJOINING OPEN HEX
If there is at least one open hex to any side of a character which is not in the Area of Effect, then that character may opt to use their Combat Luck vs. the AoE Attack but must move into the adjacent open hex of their choice as a Non-Action which takes no time; this can be done even if the character is unable to move normally because they have already acted in that Segment or would not act in that Segment, but may not be done if the character is immobilized. However, the character is prone in the new hex and at 1/2 DCV, just as if they had performed a failed Dive For Cover maneuver.
In this circumstance, the character subtracts their defenses from the AoE Attack, including applicable Combat Luck, and takes the remainder as normal.
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