Advice for a rookie GM with rookie players

[dialNforNinja]

19 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

Btw the Competent Normal in CC is off a little-not much but still. When I get to my notes,  I’ll show the corrected version.

 

I think I found the issue: Competent Normal has +2m of Running speed baked in on the table in the book, with no further note to remind you that needs to be bought as a Power. That and putting Stun to 26 instead of down form Noteworthy Normal's 24 should do it.

 

3 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

That, Sir, is precisely why I like retired / heroic deaths for favored heroes that have seen "too much" play: i.e., "I have done everything I have ever wanted to do with this character; I have explored him as fully as I ever wanted to.  I want to stop playing him before he becomes a godlike mockery of the conception I once had."

 

After being more-or-less blackmailed into playing the same character for twenty years (off-and-on for the last five of those, to be fair), I almost _enjoy_ a noble death for a character I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I'm the only person I know who thinks Ben Reilly was the best Spider-Man, for precisely this reason - he had a wealth of unexplored backstory in the time between the original clone arc and his return and a different mindset to carry new stories forward, he had new takes on the classic gadgets and formulas, and he let Peter progress to a new arc of his own ... up until it all got editorialized back to the status quo, of course. (I liked his costume designs too, but those are secondary to this point.) Yet even the people who utterly hate the IC-retcon from the end of Civil War that washed away everything since Pete and MJ got married along with the wedding itself seem to think that only Peter can be "the real" Spidey...

 

...and I'm not immune either, Civil War was where I stopped collecting comics because I didn't like the changes it made, to the point that having it namedropped as one of the future movies in whichever media event was where I stopped following the MCU.

[Ninja-Bear]

DialN about running, as of 4th ed, Competent had +1” Running which in CC = +2m Running. In my notes, Skills from 4th equals 30 CP whereas CC has them at 32 CP.

[dialNforNinja]

13 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

DialN about running, as of 4th ed, Competent had +1” Running which in CC = +2m Running. In my notes, Skills from 4th equals 30 CP whereas CC has them at 32 CP.

I haven't looked in my BBB since I'm working from CC, but I know when I added the Running and BODY in the spreadsheet I'm using everything balances out... at least, until I toss on one of the power packages I made. Went a little overboard on those, actually... I think there's about thirty from a quick eyeball, rather than the five or so I actually needed...

 

* 30cp Animal Magnetism: +10 PRE (10cp), Animal Friendship (PRE+3) (20CP)
* 31cp Anodyne I: Simplified Healing 2d6 (20cp), Can Heal Limbs (+5cp), Decreased Re-Use Duration (once/6hr) (+1/4)
* 30 Anodyne II: +2 STUN (1cp) -and- Simplified Healing 2d6 (20cp) -and- Dispel (Disease/Poison) 3d6 (9cp)
* 30 Anodyne III: Healing 5d6 (50cp), Can Heal Limbs (+5cp), Variable Effect: Any Characteristic currently below starting value (+1/2), Extra Time (5min) (-2), (27 Real Points) -and- SS: Biology (INT) (3cp)
* 30 Athletic: +5 STR (5cp), +5 CON (5cp), +5 REC (5cp), +10 END (2cp), +3 BODY (3cp), +10 STUN (2cp), +5m Running (5cp), +4m Leaping (2cp), +2m Swimming (1cp)
* 30 Pilot: Combat Driving or Piloting (specify class) (INT) (3cp), Navigation (specify air/land/sea/etc.) (3cp), Vehicle costing up to 127cp (25cp)
* 30 Cryo/Electro/Pyro/etc. -kinetic: Blast vs ED (specify energy SFX) 3d6 (15cp) -and- Telekinesis: STR 12 (18cp), Only For (same SFX) (-1/2) (12 Real Points) -and- Power Tricks (same SFX) (INT) (3cp)
* 30 Genius Detective: +5 INT (5cp), Criminology (INT) (3cp), Deduction (INT) (3cp), Forensic Medicine (INT) (3cp), Forgery (INT) (3cp), -and- Clairsentience (Retrocoginition) (Sight and Hearing groups) (40cp), Retrocognition Only (-1), Time Modifiers (-1/2), Requires a Roll (INT) (-1/2), (13 Real Points)
* 30 Gun God: Inventor (INT) (3cp), Mechanics (INT) (3cp), Weaponsmith (Firearms) (INT) (2cp), Fringe Benefit: Weapon Permit (1cp), Lightning Reflexes: +2 DEX to act first with ranged weapons (1cp), Weapon Master (Firearms) (20cp)
* 30 Hidden Pocket: Extra-Dimensional Movement (20), Increased Mass x2^2 (400kg) (+10cp), Useable As Attack (+1), Only for held targets/user cannot enter (-1)
* 30 Illusionist I: Images (Sight) (10cp), -3 to target PER (+9cp), Area of Effect (8m radius) (+1/2) -and- Enhanced Perception (Sight) +2 PER (2cp)
* 30 Illusionist II: Shapeshift (Sight) (8cp), Imitation (10cp), Any Shape (+10cp)
* 30 Immortal: Life Support (Does not age) (5cp), 25cp of skills and/or skill enhancers
* 30 Invisible: +1 PER (Hearing) (1cp), Stealth +3 (Agility) (9cp) -and- Invisibility (Sight) (20cp)
* 30 Just Plain Tough: +5 CON (5cp), +1 DCV (5pt), +5 BODY (5cp), +6 STUN (3cp), Combat Luck x2 (12cp)
* 30 Martial Artist I: +1 SPD (10cp), +3 PD (3cp), KS: one martial art style (11-) (2cp), CSL +1: one martial art style (5cp), 10cp of combat maneuvers in chosen martial arts style
* 30 Martial Artist II: +1 SPD (10cp), +1 PD (1cp), KS: one martial art style (11-) (2cp), CSL +1: one martial art style (5cp), 10cp of combat maneuvers in chosen martial arts style, WF: one class of weapons (1cp), Weapon Element: same class of weapons (1cp)
* 30 Mentalist I: Mind Scan 6d6
* 30 Mentalist II: Telepathy 6d6
* 30 Mentalist III: Mental Illusions 6d6
* 30 Mentalist IV: Mental Illusions 4d6 (20cp), Area of Effect (8m radius) (+1/2)
* 30 Mentalist V: Mind Control 6d6
* 30 Omniglot: Eidetic Memory (5cp), Speed Reading x10 (4cp), Universal Translator (INT+1) (21cp)
* 30 Rabbit's Foot I: Lightning Reflexes +1 DEX to act first (1cp), Luck 5d6 (25cp), +3m Running (3cp), +2m Leaping (1cp)
* 30 Rabbit's Foot II: Danger Sense (15cp), Functions as a Sense (+2cp), Any time if perceivable (+5cp), Anyone in vicinity (+5cp) -and- Lightning Reflexes: +3 DEX to act first (3cp)
* 30 Telekinetic I: Telekinesis: STR 20
* 31 Telekinetic II: Telekinesis: STR 12 (18cp), Fine manipulation (13-) (+10cp) -and- Telekinetic Tricks (INT) (3cp)

 

 

Actually twenty eight if I counted right, or yes thirty if you count blaster energy types separately. Pelican of course would get Hidden Pocket, and probably Just Plain Tough as well due to being the enemy boss, plus a handful of henchmen. Future-Kung Fu Chef would be Martial Artist I if he hadn't pulled out, Goo Girl gets Illusionist II, Speedster gets Athletic, and Bug Guy is Animal Magnetism because critters and PRE attacks. Mentor gets Pilot because he drives the bus.

 

 

 

I'm starting to get more excited about this than worried... I hope the game actually does happen. I suppose I can print a bunch of spare pregens and try to fish for unattached players to fill out the table with them if all else fails...

 

So. I know I need play sheets that put the powers and checks etc. in user-friendly terms, a map, a partyvan and whatever the enemies are using for transportation (No, scratch that, it's zeppelin or nothing! No Nazi-face-punching adventure is complete without at least one!) some stand-ups or tokens, the END/phase tracking aids previosly discussed, and a nice paragraph or two to set the stage for the action, as well as general directions for how to wrap up depending on how well the party does and if they can protect or retrieve the Precious MacGuffin, and if Pelican is caught or escapes. I need to make up some actual details about the Precious MacGuffin.

 

I need to run at least a few rounds of combat myself before hand to get used to the process, find a voice for Pelican, and double check party level versus boss and minions to make sure neither side is going to get trivially stomped. I need to make sure I put some animals in the area so Animal Guy can do his thing. Dinosaurs or monkeys are always good, so maybe site it in a South American ruin of some kind?

 

On the day, I need to eat something before arriving, and suggest anyone who might want to use the bathroom do it after passing out the pregens and going over them but before starting to actually play, and ask everyone to turn their phone off or put it on silent mode because we're all new to the game will have to be able to focus. I need enough Hero in 2 Pages handouts for a full table and a few more, and a couple handfuls of dice, and some pencils, and to make sure no motherfucker walks off with my dice at the end of the night. Walking off with a pregen character sheet or three and a HI2P is to be encouraged.

 

Anything else to do or not do?

 

[Duke Bushido]

As far as stand-ups or tokens:

 

Some years (cough cough cough decades cough cough) back, we grew tired of using dice and coins for counters and started using the actual movers from board games.  Turns out nowadays you can order those things in bags from Amazon and eBay, if you're interested in a low-cost thing.   Eventually someone got the bright idea hang a paper flag on them with character's names on them, and a sharpie "dot" on the base to indicate orientation.  That led to running to the library to make miniaturized copies of character sheets then coloring in the character, cutting out the portrait blocks (the early editions-- up to 4e, actually) had character sheets that included mannequins upon which you could draw your character.  Actually, there was a 5e product of grey-scaled "3d" mannequins for the same use, but the grey scale made it a bit awkward.  But I digress...  (Not like me at all, is it?) )

 

Anyway, we used rubber cement to tack the miniaturized portraits to the game piece movers and we had our "miniatures," or as we took to calling them, "Paper Dolls."  It wasn't too long after that we stumbled across the Steve Jackson line of paper miniatures ( "Pasteboard Heroes," I think they were called? ) and thought "Hell, we can make those."  By then, our library had a color copier.  We'd miniaturize the character sheet, cut out the portrait and either cut the sheet across the center and fold them into triangular stand-ups (a model the the 4e stand ups used, as I recall) or cut the portrait and a strip straight up and fold them into A-frames, following the Steve Jackson model.  For what it's worth, while the 4e triangular model was sturdier (we weren't using card stock, after all--   at least not until home inkjet printers became a thing), we found it easier to weight the Steve Jackson-style guys: a dab of rubber cement and a small hex nut worked great!.

 

At any rate, to this day I endorse the paper dolls simply because you can have as many as you need, and when you are really frustrated, to can "smash puny human!" with impunity.      The best part, of course, is that your mini looks _exactly_ like your character, every time!  I actually have a blank photoshop template I keep just for scanning in characters sheets and moving the image onto the template.  I've got a couple hundred of them on tap now.  I've even scanned in some from other games and moved them onto my template, just to have them on tap as well.

 

Now I have heard (and seen) Hero Clicks being used as minis since their inception (in fact, I don't know anyone who has the things that actually plays the game they are supposed to have been: they're all used for gaming minis), and I've looked into it and found them to be surprisingly expensive.  Recently-- and I've only got my youth group and one other group using them-- I discovered a line of metal figurines sold in regular retail stores at extremely reasonable prices.  They are metal (huge plus: a bit of weight helps a lot when moving them around) and have large bases that make them very stable.  Best of all is that the majority of them are superhero characters (listened famous ones, to be sure, but that means they are already "spandex-clad," so not a lot of "wrong clothing" to deal with.  Further, there are product lines that feature more "normal" people-- characters from movies (keep your dremel handy to lop off all those damned Harry Potter wands), sports figures, etc, and they are all extremely paintable:

 

This is Magnificent, who started life as the Vision (from, I think, the Avengers?)  Sorry about the painting, but let's be honest-- this was done by a twelve-year-old boy, who had a great time with it.  He's also slammed him around a bit, it seems by the paint chipping.  I snapped that shot in a dark room, so forgive the colors as well: the gloves and boots are a red-orange; not the pinkish color they look like in the picture

 

 

They are roughly approximate in size to Hero Clix, maybe a bit bigger or a bit smaller; I'm not sure.  They are inexpensive enough that I told the players in the youth group that they were welcome to keep the figures when the game was over, if they wanted.  Magnificent's player took me up on it right away and asked if it was okay to paint it.     "It's _yours_, Son.  You can his head off and glue it to his feet if you want."

 

 

No one else has painted theirs yet, but I keep hoping.

 

(the Comissioner Gordon miniature makes a great "thirty-years-on-the-force police detective, too.  Just sayin'......  And some of the WWF guys make excellent bare-chested bricks and martial artists (once you glue on some of those discarded Harry Potter wa  uh, nunchaku.    I don't own stock in the company or anything, it's just that plastic is a PITA to paint if you want custom minis, and shedding unwanted details can scar them up badly, where as metal?  Just rub it with an ignition file and poof-- no more wrong detail.  

 

I don't own stock in the company or anything-- I've also used Lego dudes and green plastic army men (where I learned that painting cheap plastic is a PITA, for what it's worth) and who-can-remember-what-else over the years when I wanted a bit of eye candy, but I have to be honest with you:  I keep coming back to the paper dolls.  They're just too perfect-- especially if you have a growth guy   Just make four or five at differing sizes, and boom!   Oh, that, and unlike an eclectic collection of variously-sourced minis and Lego dudes, they all scale with each other.  That's nice, too.  They don't take up much room (especially if you fold them flat: you can carry an army in an envelope)

 

 

 

I hope some of that helps.

 

 

[Chris Goodwin]

Hey, I bought a bunch of those figures as well!

[Duke Bushido]

7 minutes ago, Chris Goodwin said:

Hey, I bought a bunch of those figures as well!

 

 

Don't blame you a bit.  The price is _right_ for ultra-smooth pre-painted (pre-primed, if you're going to paint your own) metal minis.   I don't have a lot of them (maybe 40 or so?), but I take a peek every few weeks when I hit a store that might have them.  If you're going to paint them anyway (and I haven't yet, but some players have painted the ones I've given them), then all that really matters is more poses, right?  

 

[Duke Bushido]

On July 2, 2019 at 12:18 AM, Duke Bushido said:

 

My solution was this:

 

 

Combined with this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow!

 

Thanks, guys.

 

This seems to be the most popular thing I've ever said......  

[Ninja-Bear]

DialN I’ll look at your post above however I just wanted to say that I plugged the numbers into HD. Competent by CC  comes out to 67 CP in Characteristics and 32 in skills and 30 Comp. I figure the last point should go to STUN and at least make it the same as Skilled. If you would compare CC to BBB, you’ll see that REC, STUN and END are less in CC but that’s due to the removal of Figured Characteristics. (And they wanted to make an even 100 CP I guess).

[Ninja-Bear]

DialN, looked at your pregens and thumbs up! One thing of note about martial art packages. The 10 CP has been around forever however since maneuvers can be bought since BBB in various point costs, keeping to an even 10 is a pain. (For some reason I always-wrongly thought you needed 3 maneuvers.) I find that I can give a character what I want with 3 maneuvers and still only pay 9 CP or 12 CP. with that in mind, you might want to relax the 10 CP requirement. I don’t think one or two points in either direction with harm the game. Something to consider.

[dialNforNinja]

10 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

As far as stand-ups or tokens:

(...)

We'd miniaturize the character sheet, cut out the portrait and either cut the sheet across the center and fold them into triangular stand-ups (a model the the 4e stand ups used, as I recall) or cut the portrait and a strip straight up and fold them into A-frames, following the Steve Jackson model.  For what it's worth, while the 4e triangular model was sturdier (we weren't using card stock, after all--   at least not until home inkjet printers became a thing), we found it easier to weight the Steve Jackson-style guys: a dab of rubber cement and a small hex nut worked great!.

 

At any rate, to this day I endorse the paper dolls simply because you can have as many as you need, and when you are really frustrated, to can "smash puny human!" with impunity.      The best part, of course, is that your mini looks _exactly_ like your character, every time! 

 

I'm actually half decent at drawing character portraits, to the point that the one lasting game I was in I had one printed on cardstock most of a normal page high with folding tabs on the sides to stand beside my character sheet for everyone to look at instead of my own ugly mug. I'd probably do a quick 3D model and print a tiny render of it these days, though at tiny size nearly anyone can draw on a close enough costume with a provided outline, so I'll make a sheet of blanks and bring them along with my box of coloured gel pens for the "talk about your long term character" part of the night after the pregen quickie, to hopefully generate more engagement and interest in the game. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

I prefer the Marvel Super Heroes style tac-map stand ups where you have the character in a 3/4 forward view, flip it on the next side so the corner is the "forward" pointer, and either a proper back view or the front silhouette filled in with black on the back side of an equilateral upright prism, with a hex nut in the bottom as you said or just a coin taped to some tabs left on the bottom edge for the Q&D version. If that's the same as the SJG ones you mentioned I don't know, but I like 'em.

 

For putting actual effort in, well, I sculpted and painted my own 25mm scale dude out of Green Stuff on a bread bag twist-tie armature with a nickle for a base in that game, and cut a silhouette of him out of the side of a clear soda bottle and stuck it in a flattened blob of Green Stuff to switch the mini out with when he was invisible, so ...

 

Quote

This is Magnificent, who started life as the Vision (from, I think, the Avengers?)

 

Looks a bit like the evil Defender from the cover of Champions in 3D... which is awesome. I thought "I want to use that guy as a character!" from the moment I saw it too, unlike classic Defender's normal red, white, and blue. Video game Defender is a bit sleeker and was my image for Armsmaster from the Worm web-serial by Wildbow up until I made him as a Transformers G1 style Target Master (He's the blue one) but still isn't as cool as Mr. Black & Gold with red. My Target Master looks better in those colors too I think, though I only just realized right now that the trim on the back of the legs/barrel of the bolt launcher looks a bit like classic Defender's chest if you squint. Huh.

 

Quote

 

 Sorry about the painting, but let's be honest-- this was done by a twelve-year-old boy, who had a great time with it.

 

Definitely the most important part! It's what we're all in it for!

 

10 hours ago, Ninja-Bear said:

DialN, looked at your pregens and thumbs up!

 

They were a lot of fun to make, and hopefully should be decently balanced for that level of offence/defence. Just Plain Tough might be on the edge of too much with 6 resistant PD/ED when most of the guns are around 1 1/2d6 to 2d6, but as long as it's on the near side of the line that should be fine for That One Tough Guy or the main antagonist.

 

Quote

One thing of note about martial art packages. The 10 CP has been around forever however since maneuvers can be bought since BBB in various point costs, keeping to an even 10 is a pain. (For some reason I always-wrongly thought you needed 3 maneuvers.) I find that I can give a character what I want with 3 maneuvers and still only pay 9 CP or 12 CP. with that in mind, you might want to relax the 10 CP requirement. I don’t think one or two points in either direction with harm the game. Something to consider.

 

I've noticed that about MA myself, but it's how it happened to work out in this case. As you say a point or so either way is not super important and when I go about actually picking out a few sets of maneuvers to slot in there is room for more flexibility, but the whole point was to do a bunch of 30pt packages to drop in. I suppose I could formally do some that are set up for nine or eleven or twelve points worth as well, but eh. We'll see how much time the rest of the prep takes, since this evening is game night.

 

Which does mean I should go back to bed, but you know, insomnia.

 

edit: Oh, and since non-game superhero stuff is still at least sort of on-topic here... have you seen Adam Savage's Iron Man suit? It's pretty damn awesome.

 

Edit 2: Two more for the 30pt powers list, to have an even thirty:

 

* 30 Immortal II: +4 BODY -and- Life Support (Does not age) (5cp) -and- Regeneration 1 BODY per Turn post-12 (16cp), Can Heal Limbs (+5cp)
* 30 Immortal III: Regeneration 1 BODY per 20min (10cp) -and- Resurrection (specify vulnerability SFX) (+20cp)

 

Edit 3: repeating myself from the other thread for ease of future reference:

I can't say how well it will work until later tonight, but I thought of a way to logically explain why rolling high is good for damage and low for everything else: "Just remember that when you roll the dice, you're always asking 'What could go wrong?' Of course you don't want much to go wrong for you, and a lot for the enemy."

[Duke Bushido]

7 hours ago, dialNforNinja said:

 

I prefer the Marvel Super Heroes style tac-map stand ups where you have the character in a 3/4 forward view, flip it on the next side so the corner is the "forward" pointer, and either a proper back view or the front silhouette filled in with black on the back side of an equilateral upright prism,

 

Right.  I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that there were some 4e paper dolls out there along that style.  I preferred them for durability (though it was hard to tape them on the inside if you didn't want tape wrapped around your character   ).  Unfortunately, customs on that style were completely out of reach, as I can't-- and I can't stress this enough --- _CAN'T_ draw.   At all.  In spite of decades of wanting to, and practicing every day since grade school.  (I'm fifty-nine now, if that gives you an idea of the uselessness of practice when there is no hint of innate ability.  I'm not entirely sure why I still practice, except that it's just a habit now....)

 

Quote

 If that's the same as the SJG ones you mentioned I don't know, but I like 'em.

 

I'm afraid not.  The SJG ones (the ones  I use when I have to make my own) are a simple A-frame or "fold-over.  Essentially, the front side is your character portrait.  Copy the portrait, flip it feet-up, then affix it head-to-head just above the portrait, black it out (to indicate the character's back, and maybe put a name, initials, or a symbol to somehow ID it, if the silhouette isn't unique), fold it over between the heads, make a "tent" style stand-up.  Properly, you'll have bits at the bottom to fold under and tape together to make a "base."  affix your weight (if desired) atop this base. 

 

Tell you what:

 

This is not one of the old 4e sets (not the 4e-era ones that I distinctly remember as three-sided; they didn't survive long enough to make it into the affordably-priced home scanner and printer age, I'm afraid.  I don't remember who put out those three-sided jobbies; it might have been Marvel, now that you mention it), but similar to the Steve Jackson style ones.  Took a while to find one that said it was okay to use (the bottom of the text says "use as you will"   at least so long as you don't claim it's your work.   I'm just going to link the page, not the piece itself (because it's not mine, either ).

 

https://www.deviantart.com/crimsonguard477/art/Suikoden-II-Paper-Minis-Page-1-385675179

 

 

As you can see, these can be folded up tent -style, or folded flat an inserted into one of those plastic clip-type bases we remember from our first game of Chutes and Ladders or Candy Land.  

 

Or some fashionably black ones for us slightly-older folks:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Litko-Game-Accessories-Miniature-Circle/dp/B00RKJV5BW/ref=sr_1_12?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpPHoBRC3ARIsALfx-_IwDjUBoM3JAr38E2kIJkLGDsYHlCmZb21k_EQP_aaDCOXQhhwrLVMaAo69EALw_wcB&hvadid=174259819422&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=1015545&hvnetw=g&hvpos=2o1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3036463514201656653&hvtargid=kwd-11701253684&hydadcr=4094_9338726&keywords=paper+miniatures&qid=1562168523&s=gateway&sr=8-12

 

 

 

Though while I was searching for usable examples, I stumbled across these:

 

 

Metal bases, thick plastic plates one inch high.

 

I may get a set or two of those for commonly-used (player character) paper dolls to promote longevity, and maybe make a nice "souvenir" after the game for new players (FEH!   The youth group and my own kids are the first "new players" I've had in over a decade!    )

 

 

Quote

 

For putting actual effort in, well, I sculpted and painted my own 25mm scale dude out of Green Stuff on a bread bag twist-tie armature with a nickle for a base in that game, and cut a silhouette of him out of the side of a clear soda bottle and stuck it in a flattened blob of Green Stuff to switch the mini out with when he was invisible, so ... 

 

Both of those things are-- 

 

well, they're just awesome; that's what they are!

 

And be aware, as the current arc for my youth group involves an invisible assassin, _that_ idea is getting _stolen_, Dude.  

 

 

 

Duke

 

 

[Ninja-Bear]

On 7/1/2019 at 11:08 PM, Gnome BODY (important!) said:

It's not about sucking.  A character with higher SPD or OCV should have lower DC to compensate.  Definitely not "9DC in a 12DC 25DEF game", but slightly lower DC so their damage throughput isn't overwhelmingly higher than everyone else's. 

Here’s the thing about this. When we say build to concept then faster characters should do less damage shouldn’t be mandatory. In a “pure” game. Hero is build to concept! HOWEVER (I caps this so this point shouldn’t get missed.), Hero is also a game with, usually, multiple players so at a Meta game balance thing, faster players = less damage is a common and accepted trope.   

[dialNforNinja]

20 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

Right.  I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that there were some 4e paper dolls out there along that style.  I preferred them for durability (though it was hard to tape them on the inside if you didn't want tape wrapped around your character   ). 

 

If you make them with three-and-a-half or four panels and leave a tab on the first one, you can put a slit in the fold between the third and last/inside one to tuck it into, which also lets them be disassembled and used as a bookmark between sessions. A bit harder to get a weight to stay in the bottom, though like I said leaving some tabs along the bottom edge too lets you tape a coin on. If you've got a scanner or just a good close-up mode camera to get them into a computer you can easily flip an image to get the second forward side, no additional drawing required Time may be a little short today, but I'll share the templates I'm making later when I get a chance.

 

20 minutes ago, Duke Bushido said:

And be aware, as the current arc for my youth group involves an invisible assassin, _that_ idea is getting _stolen_, Dude.  

 

Happy to help! It was a big hit at the table when I brought them out the first time, too. Literal jaw dropping, since that character was using a very recognizable unique weapon and was posed exactly to suit it, so it couldn't just be a kitbashed commercial figure. I mean, it also was obviously not up to modern commercial figure sculpt quality, but at least a decent match for what you used to see in the ads in Dragon Magazine back in the day... sadly, all of that stuff was among the lost in a house fire 2012ish. At least my BBB, Mekton Z/Z+, BGCRPG, TOON, and some SAS/BESM stuff were in my car at the time, along with a load of laundry, laptop, and my dog. Not really broken up about the D&D and Rifts books, because I was and am so very done with class and level systems, but my Transformers collection and gaming miniatures were a heavy blow.

 

... I had something else I meant to say, but I can't remember now. I have to go do a thing for a bit anyway.

[theinfn8]

Having introduced new players to the game fairly recently (about a year and a half ago, and we're still playing HERO), here are some things that I did and noticed.

 

To start:

I built out a set of semi-generic pre-generated powers. Basically, a power set for a brick, a weapon based martial artist, a mentalist support character, etc. These were all the offense and defense capabilities of the heroes. I then assigned a color to each one (5, cause I had 5 players) (150 pts)

Then I built a set of supporting powers that included a movement power and something unique. An entangle, a barrier, etc. I then assigned each one of those a metallic color. (50 pts)

I then selected 5, 15 pt complications. Then I assigned a pattern to it (swirling, star bursts, shifting mist, what-have-you).

Printed those out on their own individual page and brought them to session 0.

Then I printed out 5 copies of the skills listing, the perks listing, and the talents listing, and the game specs for a competent normal (100 pts)

 

At session 0

I handed out the competent normal sheet and a blank character sheet to everyone and had them build their normal unmodified human being before getting powers. This allowed us to work through what the characteristics, skills and perks were without getting tied up in powers. The only real character direction I gave them was "build someone that would be curious enough to touch a space rock and that would choose to be a super hero once getting powers."

The conceit I was going with was that a giant Comet had struck the earth but in the process rained down a bunch of smaller fragments, that when touched the first time would grant the individual powers. I then had them take turns picking one page from each of the previous mentioned sets with only the color, metal, or pattern visible when they chose. So one person might have chosen a purple rock with gold star bursts. At this point I could explain the powers to them in more detail, but they didn't have to worry about the specifics on point costs.

Then I gave them the last 100 CP to tie the powers together and add skills that they had gained in the last 5 years since they had gained their powers. I ended up building any new powers they needed on the fly at the table or let them have at depending on their comfort level with the system.

 

I did it this way for a lot of reasons.

1. Random power generation is cool. Players get to see their hero built from the ground up (as it were). They're still mostly pre-gens, but they don't feel like it.

2. I didn't have to introduce any power build rules to anyone that wasn't ready for it or that didn't apply to their character. Or try to shoe horn in someone's crazy hero idea that would have required ridiculously complex builds.

3. I controlled the composition of powers in the group, even if the players didn't feel like I was. This is actually the most important. I knew what the defenses and offensive capabilities of the heroes would be right out the gate. No one had the chance to build an unbalanced character and dominate the game. Additionally, I was capable of generating my villains before we even got to session 0. Which leads me to one of the things I learned:

 

Build your villains based on your players stats, pay no attention to their CP cost. With this method, I knew what the average level of ability was for the heroes, so I could easily say "their DCVs are in the 10 range, I want this villain to hit about 50% of the time, I need a combined OCV at about 9 (straight OCV, CSLs, etc)." Having all of their stats made it very easy to judge how much average damage I would be facing, how often I should expect the villain to get hit, what kind of damage my villains needed to dish out, how hard a skill check I would need for any given situation.

 

Get your players in the habit of telling you how much they beat a skill roll by. If they have an 11- and they roll 9, they should say "beat it by 2". Then, if you have modifiers that are applicable that they don't know about, you can describe the result without giving that away. I like to also use it as a measure of success, with a greater number showing greater success. Then, when we move to combat (and I think this was already mentioned) I treat To Hit as another skill. Starts at 11- and your "ranks" are effectively your OCV. Pre-calculate it and write it on the character sheet. If you have a temporary adjustment it modifies this number. They get it immediately and are already used to saying how much they beat it by. That number tells you what DCV they will hit.

 

This is already longer than I originally intended. I'll post more if I think of anything else.

[dialNforNinja]

That's some more good advice, but at this point I'm heading out the door, sooo...

 

Back to being almost as nervous as excited.

 

Wish me luck!

[drunkonduty]

@thinfn8: love it! Some very nifty ideas to steal. I mean... borrow.

[Brian Stanfield]

On 7/2/2019 at 8:50 AM, Duke Bushido said:

(on a related note:  have you ever noticed that the same people who _insist_ that all fifty years is canon _refuse_ to let the character be ninety years old?  I hate cannon.  I detest canon.  Canon geeks have done more to ruin my enjoyment of serialized fiction than any author ever could have.  No personal insult meant to _anyone_ by that; it's just a vent that thirty years overdue. )

Duke, you may find Ron Edwards’s new Champions Now book (coming out soon?) to be right up your alley. He has an entire blog devoted to anti-canonical thinking, especially when it comes to game worlds in Champions. Check it out when it’s released. 

[dialNforNinja]

Fucking Magic crackheads, why did I even bother? 🤬

[Duke Bushido]

43 minutes ago, Brian Stanfield said:

Duke, you may find Ron Edwards’s new Champions Now book (coming out soon?) to be right up your alley. He has an entire blog devoted to anti-canonical thinking, especially when it comes to game worlds in Champions. Check it out when it’s released. 

You're timing, Sir, is amazing. 

 

I was just this very afternoon wondering if that was ever going to see print. 

[Duke Bushido]

28 minutes ago, dialNforNinja said:

[Smurf] Magic crackheads, why did I even bother? 🤬

 

Oh my. 

 

Didn't go well? 

[theinfn8]

35 minutes ago, dialNforNinja said:

Magic crackheads, why did I even bother? 🤬

 

Sorry it didn't go so hot. I take it you have an FLGS near you? Do they have a game bulletin board? Maybe you could advertise for people interested in playing a supers game?

 

Edit: I put my current group together by running an open table Shadowrun game every week as a Catalyst Demo Team Agent for two years. I made friends, noted people with similar play styles and interests, then invited the people I knew would be interested. If you have the time, it's a fast way to meet more gamers and improve your GM chops at the same time.

[drunkonduty]

2 hours ago, dialNforNinja said:

Fucking Magic crackheads, why did I even bother? 🤬

 

Sorry to hear that mate.

 

So... how bad did it go?

[dialNforNinja]

6 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

Didn't go well? 

Sadly, no. Kung Fu Chef, who emailed to say he probably wouldn't make it, did indeed not make it. Goo Girl also did not show up. Speedster and Bug Guy were there before me (the game tables supposedly get set up at 7 though the shop officially closes at 8, and Game Night runs up to 11, I arrived at a minute or two before 7) but were already playing Magic, and "just wanted to finish this game" -- No problem, I set up my stuff on the open table, and the Pathfinder guys even helped since they were setting up at the other non-Magic table at the time. But no, "just finish this game" turned into a few games, and then someone showed up about 8:30 with a big box of booster packs and everyone sat around opening them and taking turns picking cards, and I'd had enough of that so I packed up again and left.

 

And I thought it was annoying just listening to my nephews going on and on about their damn cards... Gah, just thinking about it is pissing me off again.

[Duke Bushido]

My condolences.

 

I realize that there are fans here-- we all play HERO because we like _games_, after all-- but the CCGs over all just have zero appeal for me.  I tried getting into Jyhad back in the day, but I just couldn't do it.  I also understand that they represent a much higher profit margin for store owners than do RPGs or even war-games, and it's frustrating.

 

But that, my friends, is what HERO and other RPGs are up against:  Something that with an initial investment of under twenty bucks and twenty minutes you can have up and running.  HERO's current answer to Collectible Card Games is a Collectable Textbook Game with an initial investment of slightly more than twenty bucks and a month's worth of study.  Even Basic:  you need to _know_ the rules to play HERO simply because of their complexity.  And in the last two editions, you've got to know where those damned sidebars are and which ones are which.

[Spence]

Magic.   I could never get into it, or other collectable cards games either.  I mean the game rules are easy and playing a hand can be fun.  But I cannot see playing a game that requires me to constantly have to buy blind pull cards to stay relevant.  And yes I know that there is a huge secondary market that allows you to buy what you want.  But that just makes it worse for me.  In order to play a game you have to essentially cheat?

 

And the term Cardboard Crack is not too far from the truth the way people buy boosters and such. 

 

But in the end it is a necessary evil for the FLGS.  They have to keep the lights on, and to be frank RPG sales do not provide enough income for a majority of the small shops.  Do you and your RPG friends constantly buy $60 of RPG books a week?  Each?  Probably not.  I buy a lot of RPG books (more for collecting than playing ) and I only find one or two books a month I want.

 

I won't be venturing to my FLGS this weekend because it is having Magic pre-release and the place will be packed with Magic players.  I think they are even doing an Ironman tourney so it will run 24hrs.  Great for the store, brutal for RPG'ers.