Percy Jackson and the Olympians

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

percy is now on dvd AND PPV

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

Finished the first book of the second series. A fifteen year old girl, whose divine bioparent was not known for strength, picked up a bronze shield and "threw it like a fifty pound metal Frisbee." It hit hard enough to knock a slender-but-full-grown woman off her feet.

 

Adrenaline? Or should above-average strength be an attribute of all demigods? Or writer's excess?

[Enforcer84]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

Having not read the series:

 

most demi-gods have (in super heroic and other fiction I've read) exhibited greater than normal strength/health regardless of their parent. It could easily be explained this way.

 

Writer's excess seems a rather modern concern, after all, we're trying to apply our own rules to their universe.

[csyphrett]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

I believe that Enforcer is right. Most of the Demigods do exhibit great strength. The Stolls and Luke are sons of Hermes and can hold their own against Percy the son of Neptune, and several of the monsters that appear.

CES

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

I'm not sure how to do spoiler tags, but wouldn't it be easier to just buy mortal weapons with 'not vs gods/monsters'?

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

I'm not sure how to do spoiler tags' date=' but wouldn't it be easier to just buy mortal weapons with 'not vs gods/monsters'?[/quote']

{spoiler}The text you want hidden{/spoiler}

 

Replace {} with [].

 

Really don't want to handwave invulnerability to mortal weapons, but might end up doing it.

[csyphrett]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

That's not strictly true.

Percy's mom killed monsters with a shotgun, Paul used a golf club I think.

.

CES

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

That's not strictly true.

Percy's mom killed monsters with a shotgun, Paul used a golf club I think.

.

CES

 

I don't remember those, I'll check. Do you remember which book? Annabeth's dad held his own, but he was a mad scientist who had made celestial bronze bullets from some of her weapons.

 

[csyphrett]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

The seige of new york.

 

 

Annabeth's dad was a history professor with his own sopwith camel

 

CES

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

The seige of new york.

 

 

Annabeth's dad was a history professor with his own sopwith camel

 

CES

 

"Professor of Military History" and "Mad Scientist" are not mutually exclusive categories. Again, Celestial Bronze bullets in the machine gun of his Sopwith Camel.

 

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

Chacter complications.

 

The Genesis of the series was when Rick Riordan's son was dagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and started looking for stories with characters with his diagnosis. PC demigds must take the physical complications ADHD and dyslexia. Looked for 6th ed writeups, didn't find them.

 

Did find 5th edition ones.

 

Attention Deficit Disorder

Frequently, Slightly 10pts. / Frequently, Greatly 15pts.

A somewhat controversial diagnosis, the general symptoms associated with this illness (also known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) include inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity (the last especially in children.) People with this disorder find it difficult to sit still, concentrate on repetitive tasks, or focus their attention on one thing at a time. They are often seen as absent-minded, immature or willfully disruptive. Different people require different balances of drugs, diet and behavioral modification to keep the symptoms of ADD under control. The Frequently, Slightly level of the disadvantage represents someone who has been correctly diagnosed and is receiving treatment. The Frequently, Greatly level is for untreated ADD. It is recommended that a player taking this Physical Limitation for a character study up on it first, due to the many controversies surrounding it.

 

Dyslexia

Frequently, Greatly 15pts. / Frequently, Fully 20pts.

A character with this Disadvantage has a severe learning disability. The character cannot easily learn to read or write, and even simple maps and road signs are often beyond the character. He can learn any skill normally if he has a teacher. The amount of hindrance is determined by how severe the problem is. At the Greatly level of imparement, the character has difficulty with anything involving number sequences and reading. They can learn to read, but do so slower than most people, and frequently see things out of sequence. This causes them to suffer a -2 penalty to all skill rolls involving numbers or reading. In addition, if the character reads something wrong, he may not realize it. At the Fully impairing level, the character cannot learn to read or do anything more than basic math (on his fingers). Without special training, the character effectively also is Illiterate, but gains no extra points for it.

 

I'm thinking these need to be scaled back to about 5 pts. any suggestions?

[lapsedgamer]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

I don't know. In a modern or near future setting, the severely ADD or dyslexic character should not be able to have certain skills at a high level of proficiency, or have to pay some extreme sort of premium. Being illiterate alone in our society is such a disadvantage that I would expect it to be valued at about 10 points. Add onto that the inability to learn at all, and I would say 15 points is about right. In a fantasy game, maybe not so much.

[Spidey88]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

FYI, ADHD isn't the complete inability to focus on tasks - it's more of an inability to manage focus. Under the right circumstances, ADHD leads to hyperfocus - it's not something you can count on, but it could be modeled as having the disad more or less as written (possibly with 5 points less or so, depending on the severity), as well as a bonus to EGO rolls to maintain focus on tasks the character's seriously interested in.

 

I know I'm like this, anyway. My focus is either only half-present, or a nuclear-powered laser. Take this as you will.

[csyphrett]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

The demigods are misdiagnosed with these conditions. The reality is they appear to be add because their reflexes are always ready to fight something. The dylexia is there to represent the fact that their mind can easily read greek, but not english

CES

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

FYI' date=' ADHD isn't the complete inability to focus on tasks - it's more of an inability to [u']manage[/u] focus. Under the right circumstances, ADHD leads to hyperfocus - it's not something you can count on, but it could be modeled as having the disad more or less as written (possibly with 5 points less or so, depending on the severity), as well as a bonus to EGO rolls to maintain focus on tasks the character's seriously interested in.

 

I know I'm like this, anyway. My focus is either only half-present, or a nuclear-powered laser. Take this as you will.

 

OK, so how does this sound?

 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Character has difficulty controlling the focus of their attention, they can become easily distracted or oblivious to anything other than their current project. Any task requiring extra time requires an EGO roll, -1 for each level down on the time chart past "phase," to avoid distraction. If that is successful, they then need a perception roll, same modifier, to avoid "lockout." Failed perception roll does not necessary mean anything happened, just that if it did the character was oblivious and automatically surprised.

 

Thallia is trying to track a centaur through the woods. Normally not a difficult task, but this centaur is aware he's being pursued and is not leaving the usual trail of empty beer cans, novelty items, and public urination. GM rules that Thallia is going to have to stay on task for an hour to catch up with the centaur, and calls for an EGO and PER roll, both at -5. She makes the one and misses the other. She catches up with the centaur, unaware that in the process she has passed within a yard of a momma grizzly who did not feel threated by the demigoddess (fortunately for both).

 

The demigods are misdiagnosed with these conditions. The reality is they appear to be add because their reflexes are always ready to fight something. The dylexia is there to represent the fact that their mind can easily read greek, but not english

CES

The reality is that the characters have a diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia because Rick Riordan's son has a diagnosis of ADHD and dyslexia. I cringe every time I see a reference to brains being "hard wired" for a particular language. But this is not a deal breaker for the series.

 

Dyslexia: For this character, there are no routine tasks involving reading or numbers of over two digits. Must make the skill roll, cannot "take the eleven," even under the most optimum conditions, plenty of time and little stress. Additionally, when following verbal or written directions and given a choice between a left or right turn, must make a Perception roll or will go to "their other left."

 

These sound right for 5 points each?

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

OK, PC monsters.

 

Text says several times that monsters don't have souls, but do have spirits that can reincarnate. What does that mean in game terms?

 

Two possible examples. The cringing nervousness of satyrs around Mr. D, and all of the part-horse creatures Percy can understand call him "Lord." (May be some noblesse oblige there also, none of the animals who call Percy "Lord" hesitate to ask him for help.)

 

The scene I wanted to see, maybe a little too intense for the target audience, was when Groveexplainingnining to Percy why he had to get permission to search for the missing god.

 

 

Don't you understand, Percy? Pan went away, but before he did he told us to obey Mr. D. If no Seeker ever finds him, if he never comes back, my family will be Mr. D's slaves, forever! That's why Seekers keep seeking even though none have ever returned!

 

 

So, what if no soul = no free will? Every class of Monster has an immortal Patron, whose orders they cannot disobey. They may also be subject to orders from the Patron's demigod children. They have an illusion of free will, they may do anything their Patron has not forbidden, and if they stay "under the radar" they may actually be able to do some things their Patron would not allow, but if they come to their Patron's attention they will suddenly find themselves at the end of their leash.

 

30 points?

[McCoy]

"I can call threads from the vastly deep!"

 

"Why so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?"

 

Thread Necromancy: With Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters coming out next month, thought this might be topical again. Anyone gamed in the Riordan universe and have tips they wanted to share?

[McCoy]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

That's not strictly true.

Percy's mom killed monsters with a shotgun, Paul used a golf club I think.

.

CES

OK, finally got around to re-reading The Last Olympian. Sally, Percy's Mom, could see through the Mist, attacked monsters with a shot gun. Implication was the were Knocked Back and killed by falling on Celestial Bronze weapons, not by the shotgun itself. Paul, her mortal boyfriend, had a borrowed Celestial Bronze sword and KS: fencing. He relied on Percy's assurance that anyone he could kill with that sword was a monster, he saw only their Mist supplied mortal human guises.

 

[kahuna's bro]

Re: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

 

 

 

That and some of the changes killed the funny. Part of the tone of the books is the humor of modern interpretations of mythological constructs. I'd particularly liked the bit where

the Hydra was attached to a franchise, so cutting off its head made two stores open somewhere in America. "You know those stores that seem to spring up overnight?"

It's the sort of thing that would be fun to carry over into the game world, as in American Gods.

maybe the studio didn't want it to be compared to the tv series Hercules the legendary journeys