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21 20 Fantasy Equipment Hero System 5 th Edition Reduced Penetration: Some weapon designers use this Limitation to represent a weapon with multiple tines or striking areas that hit the target simultaneously, such as tridents and military forks. It s not required, but does help to differentiate such weapons from spears and the like. Side Effects: In addition to the Side Effect of OCV or RMod penalties (see above), a weapon might inflict other penalties on the user. For example, a heavy, awkward weapon might also decrease the wielder s DCV by 1-2 representing the fact that he can t dodge or move quickly while holding it, or bring it into position quickly enough to parry many attacks. If the weapon already has an OCV and/or RMod penalty Side Effect, the GM must decide whether to fold other Side Effects into its - value or to apply a second Side Effect with its own value. UNUSUAL MATERIALS Except for a few all-wooden weapons (like clubs), most weapons are made at least partly of metal. Even if they have wooden hafts, the striking part of the weapon the blade, point, or head is metal. In most Fantasy settings, that metal is steel. However, some settings such as games taking place during the Bronze Age, or in bizarre worlds like M.A.R. Barker s Tékumel, where iron and steel are extremely rare that s not necessarily the case. Even in worlds that have steel, not everyone may make weapons out of it. Some people may lack Iron Age technology, not have a supply of iron and charcoal to turn into steel, or have some other reasons (religious restrictions, magic, personal comfort) for preferring non-steel weapons. Additionally, many Fantasy settings feature unusual, exotic, and even mystical metals and substances that characters can craft weapons with. The mithril of J.R.R. Tolkien s Middle-earth is perhaps the best known example; other possibilities include star-iron (meteoric iron), dwarven steel, glasses and crystals with the strength of metal, and so on. The substance used to make a weapon does not affect the damage it does, but may alter its DEF. This generally only matters if you re using the weapon breakage rules (see Fantasy Hero, page 189), but may also be a part of the Real Weapon Limitation. For example, some substances, even when characters can forge them into workable weapons, may be so soft that they dull easily (-1 point of damage per 10 minutes instead of per hour). Or, the GM may reduce the weapon s DCs for purposes of determining what substances it can cut through when the character uses it to try to hack through a wall, door, or the like. The accompanying table provides suggested DEF values for substances other than steel. A steel weapon has DEF 5 (for Fantasy Hero weapon purposes, do not use the Focus rule that determines DEF as Active Points divided by 5). Other substances DEF is represented as an increase or decrease of that DEF for example, +1 DEF means to add 1 to 5, for a total of DEF 6. In game terms, a weapon with greater DEF has the Durable (+0) modifier to Focus, while one with less DEF has a -0 version of the Fragile modifier. WEAPONS MATERIALS Material DEF Steel DEF 5 Bronze -2 Copper -2 Coral (magical) -2 Crystal (magical) +0 Dwarven steel +2 Elven-silver +1 Glass (magical) -1 Horn -2 Iron -1 Ivory -3 Leather (magical) -2 Stone -1 Wood (magical) -1 Wood (normal) -2 Magical refers to ordinary substances created or augmented by mystical or alchemical processes that make them strong enough to hold an edge and stand up to the wear and tear of being used as a weapon. Ordinary glass, crystal, leather, and the like are generally useless for making feasible weapons. Example: A war hammer has a steel head, giving it DEF 5. If it were made of ordinary iron, it would have -1 DEF, or 4. A dagger made of steel has DEF 5. One made of elven-silver (+1 DEF) has DEF 6 instead, while a Greek hoplite s bronze (-2 DEF) dagger has only DEF 3. HIGH- AND POOR-QUALITY WEAPONS Not every blade that comes out of the weaponsmith s forge is an average weapon. Some are made by master craftsmen with great skill and precision, turning them into weapons far better than normal ones. Others are legendary blades with qualities befitting a hero s weapon. But some are badly made, or have suffered such wear and ill-use that they re no longer as good as they once were. In game terms, characters can have fine (also called masterwork ) and poor weapons. The weapons listed in the tables earlier in this chapter are average versions they have the same Damage Classes, OCV modifiers, and STR Minima for typical weapons of their type. But PCs are heroes, and sometimes an average weapon isn t enough for an above-average PC... or his greatest enemy! At the GM s option, characters can use the following rules and guidelines to create exceptional weapons, or to represent below-average versions of weapons. Gamemasters are, of course, free to change the Character Point costs of these improvements (or drawbacks) to suit their campaigns, or even to give them to characters weapons for free to represent events that occur during game play. Additionally, where the rules provide Character Point totals for unusual abilities (such as the reroll ability) that aren t built using the standard HERO System rules, those abilities apply only to weapons. Characters may not buy them as personal abilities.
138 Hero System Equipment Guide Chapter Three 137 drink, the character receives no bonus to his PER Roll (and may even suffer a penalty); if the two don t match, he may receive a +1 or +2 bonus. The character may also taste a tiny amount of the food/ drink in the hope of detecting the poison without exposing himself to a damaging dose. If the food/ drink has a strong flavor, he receives no bonus (and may even suffer a penalty); if the poison overpowers the flavor of the food/drink, he gets a +1 (or higher) bonus. Contact Poisons Lastly, some poisons are so lethal that simply touching them can kill a character even the tiniest amount seeps through the skin and into the body. Contact poisons don t take any unusual Limitations, though they sometimes have Trigger (when character touches poisoned object; +). Characters can apply and detect contact poisons as they do injected poisons. EFFECTS OF POISON Typically, the purpose of poison is to kill. However, not all poisons have fatal effects; some just make the victim sick or dizzy, or knock him out. In the real world, poisons generally make the victim feel ill, then cause cramps, convulsions, and eventually death (see below for many examples). Sometimes they have other minor effects, like raising (or lowering) body temperature, causing drowsiness or drunkenness-like effects, impairing the senses slightly, or mildly discoloring some part of the body. In a Fantasy setting, poisons can have many horrific effects that heighten the drama of the situation. They could, for example, cause extreme insanity prior to death, strongly discolor the victim s body, make the victim bleed from the pores, or the like. Players and GMs should be fiendishly clever in their descriptions of a poison s effects. CREATING POISONS Characters who want to make their own poisons must buy the Professional Skill Brew Poison (in Fantasy or pre-modern settings) or the Science Skill Pharmacology/Toxicology (in modern or advanced societies). Making poisons requires the proper equipment kettles, glassware, ingredients, and the like. In Fantasy campaigns, many alchemists brew poisons, since they ve already got the supplies. To make a poison, a character must make a Skill Roll. This takes a minimum of 1 Minute per 10 Active Points in the poison, and may take much longer. The character suffers a penalty of -1 per 10 Active Points to his Skill Roll, but may gain extra time bonuses for taking longer than the prescribed amount of time. The GM may impose other bonuses or penalties as he sees fit. If the character s roll succeeds, he has made the poison properly, and now has a number of doses equal to the Charges in the poison s HERO System write-up. If the roll fails by 1-3, he fails to create the poison or, in the GM s discretion, may create a much weaker toxin. If the roll fails by 4 or more, the character not only does not create any poison at all, but in the GM s discretion he may have suffered some calamity (a laboratory explosion or the like). Harvesting Poison Characters who fight venomous animals and monsters may have the chance to harvest poison from the corpses of their defeated foes. The GM must first determine if the creature has any poison left; it may have used it all up in battle, or the characters attacks could have pierced its reservoir and spilled all the venom. (If necessary, determine this randomly; on a roll of 11-, the animal s venom reservoir is intact.) To harvest the poison reservoir, a character must make a roll. If he has an appropriate Knowledge Skill (such as KS: Animals), he only has to make a DEX Roll to do the job properly. If he lacks an appropriate KS, he must make an 8- roll (to judge where to find the reservoir) and make a DEX Roll. If any of these rolls fail, the character loses all the poison. Once a character has extracted a venom reservoir, he must store it properly, or else the venom evaporates, expires, or weakens. Use the rules for injected poisons, above, but diminish the venom per day, rather than per hour. POISON IN THE CAMPAIGN In Heroic-level games, characters typically can buy poisons with money instead of Character Points. This may cause problems in the game. Eager for its potent offensive power, characters may suddenly invest heavily in poisons and use them constantly, throwing off campaign balance. Gamemasters who want to restrict the use of poison in the campaign have several options. First, make poisons difficult to create and obtain. Lengthen the creation time (and increase the perils of poison-brewing). Make poison so rare that it s difficult to find in the market, and incredibly expensive to purchase. Possession of poison may also be illegal, causing characters further problems when they try to buy or carry it. Second, make poisons difficult to use. Increase the speed with which they weaken or evaporate. Require a character to make a DEX Roll in every Phase he uses a poisoned weapon, with failure meaning he has accidentally poisoned himself. Give poison-using characters a Reputation Disadvantage that makes it hard for them to live or work with folk who object to poison use. Third, if necessary, forbid characters to use poison altogether. After all, it s not heroic it s something assassins, thieves, and other Evil people do. While heavy-handed, this method may prove the best and easiest for many campaigns. HEALING AND POISONS Most poisons have antidotes. If someone administers the antidote to a poisoning victim, the toxin causes no further damage, but the antidote does not heal damage already taken. In most cases, use of Paramedics should have little, if any, effect on a poison that s already in a character s system. The GM should only allow a character to make Paramedics rolls to diminish the effect 2ff7e9595c
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