Vox

Re: Superhuman women and normal women Maybe it's just where I live, but most of the women my age seem to be around 5'8". National averages can be deceptive. ~Gabriel

Re: Superhuman women and normal women Normal is boring. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central I think he was a child raised on all of the old legends and myths that communism frowns upon. Just when he was getting old enough to see that the world isn't as ideal as we're all told when we're young, he discovered that he was a Prime. Given the fact that he's older, I'm thinking he was one of the early Chinese Primes after superpowers became public knowledge. Still a teenager (probably 19 or so), he got involved in anti-Communist protests and became noticed by the public when he used his powers to fight against riot police that were breaking up a demonstration. Fleeing to Taiwan, he acquired a following and overthrew regional control in a few cities before getting arrested and thrown in the gulag. I don't know if I'd say that he's a hero anymore, but that's certainly how he saw himself before he got sent to prison. Fifteen years of hard labor will change anyone, even if he was arrested for doing something he believed in. I imagine he didn't discover his immortality until the guards and other inmates started aging while he remained in his prime. That, combined with the depression of being incarcerated, probably grew into a massive superiority complex. I'd say his heart is in the right place, but he doesn't identify with people very well anymore. He's used to being alone, and he's beginning to realize what it means to watch everyone age and die around you. He'd be offended if anyone called him a Communist, and he doesn't think of himself as a criminal. I'm just not sure if he thinks of himself as a revolutionary anymore, either. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Take two. Only this one's a two-parter. From an older edition of the local newspaper: And from a much more recent edition: I made no attempt to directly connect anything to Thebes, aside from the name of the newspaper. Hopefully that will avoid any background complications. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central So teleporting works, you're just still webbed? Or you actually can't teleport? I'm trying to imagine this as a series of panels in a comic book: "Blast! Caught in their web!" Hero tries to teleport. Goes nowhere, for no apparent reason. "Whaaa?!" Hero gets munched by spiderthingy. Alas, the hero could not hope to know that the editor of this comic REALLY HATES TELEPORTING. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Cannot Be Escaped By Teleportation isn't something I'd expect to see on webbing. That's more an 'impenetrable force field' sort of Entangle advantage, isn't it? Are these critters mystical or scientific by nature? ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Four-arm fighting seems to be less a problem in that situation than the ability to ensure that the fighting takes place under conditions of their choosing. That is, after all, an advantage that PCs are usually denied, too. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Not really a complete backstory, but that's coming. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central My head is swarming with new ideas for skills and contacts. Awesome. I had intended for the armor to be unique. Is that part of being OIF, or should I include the disad for being irreplaceable? Oh, and yes. The tattoos are supposed to glow in dim lighting. He has a complete Taoist manuscript inscribed into his skin. ~Gabriel P.S. The tattoo has nothing whatsoever to do with his powers. He got it done by a Taoist monk as an outward symbol of his power and rank.

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central That sort of armor is far too bulky to be worn under clothing, so that's not an issue. Since he's fairly useful without it, I was thinking that it would just be battle armor; he doesn't wear it unless he's ready for a fight. If you don't think that merits a disad, I'm open to suggestions. Would you prefer that it be an OAF? Alright, that may be a miscommunication on my part. What I meant was: he's incapable of being polite to anyone he perceives as his inferior. I don't know if you'd consider that a psychological limitation or a social limitation, but I imagined that it would certainly make dealing with people very difficult. Agreed. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Whoops. Your post on page 6 of this thread says DC 11 is normal and I misread that as DCV, so I actually thought he was going to be on the low end... I was thinking that the armor would be almost completely intangible. It's real enough that it won't fall through solid matter, but that's about it. I dunno, if you have a problem with that, it's negligible. I was just thinking that a lot of special objects in Chinese mythology have time/space bending qualities, like the Monkey's staff. By not offering protection, the armor ensures that its wearer will have to be something special to begin with. The first disad on his sheet is Hunted: Authorities, so I'm not sure what you mean about that. In light of the fact that it's already on there, what do you want me to do? And I was waiting on the story until I found out whether the concept itself was acceptable.

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central I concede every point. What I've done is: - Reduce his strength and protection. - Eliminate the spiritual abilities altogether. - Removed the Heroic Identity bit. - Consolidate the armor/flight/life support into an Elemental Control. - Consolidate the water powers only into a multipower.

Re: Modeling a CoH/CoV character in the Hero System I'd probably just have my players pick a CoX archetype and then set a few arbitrary boundaries accordingly. For example, Controllers can't do more than 10d6 damage with any single attack, Blasters can't have PD/ED higher than 15, and so on down the line. I just pulled those numbers out of thin air, they're not important. Point is, CoX is basically just a very restricted HERO system anyway. Lay down some restrictions and it'll be recognizeable enough. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central First of all, you're right. A convicted felon is much more interesting. We'll go with that. Second, I've slightly revamped the character's background. He's now the former member of a Chinese supervillain team operating out of Taiwan. His name in China is Ao-Kuang, after the Immortal Dragon King of the Eastern Sea. He doesn't really care what non-Chinese call him. Note: he is NOT a dragon. That's just what he calls himself. Aside from having a tattoo across his entire body from the neck down, he looks perfectly ordinary. When he's powered up, a glowing suit of blue armor coalesces around him (sans helmet). There are a couple of basic premises I'm working towards in stating him out: - He can't fly and use his water-related powers at the same time. This does two things. One, it means those powers require that he be on the ground without taking a disad. Two, it means he's either a flying brick or a guy with some water control powers, not both at the same time. - I want his spiritual powers to be very expensive. These are the sorts of things that every Chinese immortal would have, but since he's not quite the real thing, he can only manage them some of the time and with great effort. - His water powers make a LOT of noise and tend to make a mess, thus giving him more incentive to just punch things if he's in an urban setting (or needing to be stealthy for some reason). Here's what I have so far, crunchily: As usual, I'm sure I've done something egregiously wrong. Don't think you have to spare my feelings. Better to learn now than later. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Cool. 'Of sorts' probably means 'complicated', and that's always interesting. I have an idea for a character, and I'm wondering if he'd fit in Thebes. In essence, he's a reformed supervillain. Had a brief but high profile career in the Middle East before deciding to turn himself in. He was tried and found not guilty due to lack of evidence, and now is looking to start over again somewhere. Since Thebes just lost a superteam, it seems like the perfect place for him to begin again. Does that much sound as though it would work? ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Wow, that's really embarrassing. Somehow I hadn't associated Thebes with that older post. What sort of hero is Fed playing in Thebes? ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central With all of this talk about it, I'm beginning to grow curious about Thebes. In what ways will it differ from the other campaign? And what sorts of heroes do you already have lined up for it? ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central The disad is for Acid. The acid rain was just an extrapolation. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central I admit that I'm not entirely certain what you're looking for in the revised background, but this is what I wrote up to summarize his updated origin for my own use: How he got a job as a professor and met Layla is a story for another day; but if that's what you're waiting for, it'll be along when I have the time. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Well, it needs to have been enough time for him to finish his schooling and find a job at the university. Three or four months, at the least? But it doesn't really matter. The timetable was unimportant; entirely off the top of my head. It does! Thank you. All of your points are excellent, and for my own edification I'll be making a revised version. About the last two disads: silver tarnishes rapidly when exposed to acid and baking soda. While they don't dissolve it instantly, it would be lethal to anybody whose metabolism is replete with every form of silver. And of course the idea of this powerful super running from acid rain amuses me. ~Gabriel

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central I fear my last post may have gotten lost amidst the longer, more vigorous posts. Anyway, as an exercise I spent some time stating out the aforementioned Father Santiago. I do not, of course, expect this to have any bearing on anything, but I do need practice and it's nice to have a concept to work with. If somebody who has the time (and inclination) could look it over and tell me what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate it.

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Aha! Excellent. I couldn't help but write something about their first encounter. This took place when Alessandro was still living in Italy, working on his doctorate. He had just recently been exposed to the philosopher's stone, and did not yet fully understand everything that had happened to him. The panic of trying to keep up with his work and come to grips with the craggy 18th century alchemist who seemed to be intruding on his thoughts was only compounded when he found himself being hunted by an implacable superhuman. It's not very long, but I don't think it needs to be. Background:

Re: Catalyst: A Champions campaign on Hero Central Fed, was it your intention to have the Mystery Villains remain unknown until they make an appearance? I've had an idea for Cagliostro's arch-nemesis... ~Gabriel