Modern Champions

[Duke Bushido]

On 4/28/2021 at 9:00 PM, Jhamin said:

I try to get my players to really understand how different reading the Wikipedia entry or watching a youtube video is not the same as actually having the skill.  There is a huge difference between reading a tutorial on fixing a carburetor and actually knowing what's wrong when the car won't start.  Especially if you are trying to be sneaky or quick.

 

 

I solved this one in the late 0s, because I had a new player that was driving me nutty with "I use my phone to google that!"

 

I built a toy bomb.  It worked, mind you, but rather than explosives I used a piezo electric buzzer a 24v red indicator light  (I don't know if I mentioned this, but I used to be partnered up in a DC electrical shop).  So I puttered around for a few hours, and built as fine a "terrorist device" as you might see in a movie or on television, complete with digital countdown and fancy wires, nicely coiled and running here and there.  The wires I friction fit so they could be pulled loose instead of cut; I wanted everyone to have a turn.

 

I offered my computer, and I had a couple of players that had "computer phones" instead of flip phones.

 

The timer was set for twenty minutes.  Three players tried to internet the solution "how to defuse a bomb."   We "died" three times that night.

 

And "I google the solution" never came up again.

 

 

Oh-- if you were wondering about the solution:

 

There was a pair of buttons on the bottom of the bomb disguised as little rubber feet.  Turn it over, lift it up-- take pressure of one or the other-- but not both-- and you could pull all the wires without setting it off.

 

 

[LordNightmare]

My solution is to just set the campaign in the 90s/early 2000s when not everyone had a fancy cell phone and even the ones that were around could only do rudimentary tasks like make calls, keep notes, and take low quality JPEGs. Maybe walkie talkie if your heroes are super fancy and got Motorolas.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Yeah I like retro campaigns a lot better.  The setting feels more comfortable for heroics and less likely to become contentious at the table.  You never know what is going to set off a rant these days

[Tjack]

On 4/6/2021 at 9:53 AM, Derek Hiemforth said:

Remember, kids: in Superheroic campaigns, you have to pay CP for anything you want to have routinely!  Make sure to work out the CP cost of that iPhone!  (Maybe the innate Senses would be cheaper...).  

     Oh Merciful God!   Don’t start this debate again!!!!!

[Lawnmower Boy]

How many cp for your house keys? And what if there's a pen knife on the keychain?

 

[Terminax]

Pete's sake. Use common sense.

[dmjalund]

49 minutes ago, Terminax said:

Pete's sake. Use common sense.

How many cp is Common Sense?

[steriaca]

10 minutes ago, dmjalund said:

How many cp is Common Sense?

Common Sense is a free everyman perk.

 

Your character is not homeless if he didn't buy a Base. The character doesn't need Absolute Time Sense to carry a watch. A standard cell phone cost no cp.

[Ninja-Bear]

3 hours ago, steriaca said:

Common Sense is a free everyman perk.

Are you sure? Have you seen the world lately? 😁

[tombrown803]

character's common sense is a free everyman perk. The players, on the other hand?

[steriaca]

3 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Are you sure? Have you seen the world lately? 😁

The world had bought off the everyman park and replaced it with a Physical Limitation: No Common Sense. It's a PhLim as oppose to a PsyLim because no amount of psychological care will restore it.

[Terminax]

A rolled up newspaper does wonders to encourage the use of common sense.

[Colossus]

IF you have a PC who constantly Goggles and used WIki have a villian figure that out and go in and put false information out on the Internet.  Also EMP pulses do wonders.     

[Greywind]

Goggles? Wasn't that what Hancock called one of the kids?

[Tjack]

On 5/4/2021 at 4:01 PM, tombrown803 said:

character's common sense is a free everyman perk. The players, on the other hand?

    Shadowrun had for a time a perk you could buy called “Common Sense” whereby if you as the player decided on a course of action that the GM thought was a horribly bad/suicidal idea or if he realized that the player had forgotten some important consideration he would be obliged to warn the player in advance.

     I always thought that was the best possible use of points ever created.

[Terminax]

So did OWoD VtM. Similar implementation. I give it to my players for free. Along with the rolled up newspaper.

[Tjack]

1 hour ago, Terminax said:

So did OWoD VtM. Similar implementation. I give it to my players for free. Along with the rolled up newspaper.

       The newspaper is good, but I find that people in general let alone gamers don’t pay attention to good advice unless it costs them something. Telling someone that something might be a bad idea just doesn’t have the weight as hearing the GM say “Roll three dice.” (whatever comes up) “Your Common Sense skill tells you that that plan will get you killed.” “Do you want to go through with it?”😈

[Opal]

"Common sense isn't common."

 

Both in the sense of frequency, and in the sense of universality.   One players common sense may be very different from the GMs, and that's why players always do such crazy things.   

 

So, yeah, a Common Sense power that lets you know what the GM thinks is 'obviously' a bad (or good) idea would be pretty awesome.

 

7 hours ago, Colossus said:

have a villian figure that out and go in and put false information out on the Internet.   

It not like RL villains haven't done exactly that. 

[Christopher R Taylor]

Remember: common sense is not so named for its frequency, but for its humble nature.  It is "common" in the sense of being something everyone can have, rather than only the elite, the powerful, and the academic.

 

Quote

 Shadowrun had for a time a perk you could buy called “Common Sense” whereby if you as the player decided on a course of action that the GM thought was a horribly bad/suicidal idea or if he realized that the player had forgotten some important consideration he would be obliged to warn the player in advance.

 

I use an INT roll for that.  If Wisdom were part of the game (probably the only stat I think is missing) then I would use that.

[Sveta8]

On 5/10/2021 at 7:30 PM, Opal said:

"Common sense isn't common."

 

Both in the sense of frequency, and in the sense of universality.   One players common sense may be very different from the GMs, and that's why players always do such crazy things.   

 

So, yeah, a Common Sense power that lets you know what the GM thinks is 'obviously' a bad (or good) idea would be pretty awesome.

 

I can tell you personally from experience, I and my GM for Shadowrun had wildly different views on what was Common Sense. Every character I made purchased that Merit simply to help ease the understanding gap between us. Still died due to cleaning roomba, but it helped at least.

 

For the groups I run in, Googling an answer will help you know some of the names and where you might need to start to look for information, but nothing more. Finding information may be a bit easier, but a lot of it will be wrong and contradicting. Using that information is a whole other matter. That's what skills are, knowing not just about something, but how to use it.

[Duke Bushido]

Eh.

 

Every time the "but the Players think the characters should be able to Google the answers" (only happens with players new since the great Bomb Debate was resolved), I look at them and recite "How is baby made?  How is baby form?"

 

Gets the point across, usually.

 

[Asperion]

Something to remember  - the internet is a powerful tool. Like any tool,  it will have its strengths and weaknesses.  It's only as good as the people putting the information out,  if they are not familiar or have some slant, then it will reduce the usefulness of the information gained,  assuming anything at all. 

[archer]

Two of my mother's sisters, using the internet, recently tried to find ginger tea for my mother so they could buy it for her.

 

They were completely unable to find ginger tea anywhere on the internet.

 

(I mean, yeah they're ancient, but they literally couldn't find ginger tea anywhere on the internet.)

[Greywind]

https://www.amazon.com/ginger-tea/s?k=ginger+tea