Trebuchet

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD

Re: Absolute Range Sense... ever use it? I figure ARS would be useful when making Matrix-like leaps between skyscrapers or the like. I'd hate to find out it's 25" away when I'm halfway across and only have 23" of Leaping.

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD

Re: 6E Rules changes confirmed so far

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD It hardly matters since our group is sticking with 5ER, but perhaps we can poach a few ideas from 6E when it comes out and house rule them in. Half of me is excited about this development and half of me was sorta hoping "There probably won't be anything in 6E worthwhile anyway." Obviously, that's no longer the case.

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD This is the first change in 6E that I think is brilliant, and long overdue. Well done, Steve!

Re: 6e Characteristics We don't have any idea what the new costs for Characteristics will be, For all we know, DEX will cost only 1 and SPD 2 or 3 points each. Do I expect that it will all be just right? Not really. As near as we can tell, there was little or no playtesting to check for balance or other issues.

Re: The Emergence Of Superhumans

Re: The Emergence Of Superhumans

Re: The Emergence Of Superhumans Since black-specific slavery* didn't develop until the 1600's, I think it's safe to presume that the Peculiar Institution that formed in the American colonies and later the United States would never have happened in the first place. It would have totally altered the history of the Western hemisphere. *Arab slavers were still raiding the coasts of northwest Europe for white slaves into the early 1600's; and probably took more African slaves into the Muslim world than crossed the Atlantic to the new world.

Re: Talking hitS Makes absolute sense to me. There's a good reason soldiers "hit the dirt" when somebody is shooting at them from a distance. The only time being prone should be a DCV penalty is when the attacker is standing in an adjacent hex (and thus shooting down) or at an altitude that makes being prone give the same area visually as standing if they were on the ground. Except in HtH combat, being Prone should never involve a DCV penalty. Being prone and quartering your surface area is a good thing. I think the fact it has a penalty is a relic of hand to hand MA/brick combat from the system's superhero roots. I agree, but I think these are both game balance issues. If hexes were -2 DCV base, AoE attacks would become even more effective. It will be interesting to see if Steve addresses any of these issue in 6E but we've heard no signs if he will or not. (For example, I never could understand why being Stunned halves your DCV but sleeping or actually being unconscious has a -0 effect.)

Re: Just to prove I'm not a complete Comeliness Grognard We don't use any house rules in our Champions campaign. That's more due to the fact we have multiple GMs than an objection to house rules per se, but I doubt we're unique.

Re: The Emergence Of Superhumans Same idea. Either way, they couldn't figure out microprocessors. As you pointed out, simply applying an ohmmeter of the period would likely destroy the microprocessor since ohmmeters use applied voltages to calculate resistance. The voltages used to test vacuum tubes typical of the 40's and 50's were substantially higher than those of the transistor era; never mind microprocessors.

Re: The Emergence Of Superhumans I read an article once which pointed out that if you dropped a 1980's era calculator back into the 1950's, nobody - not even the greatest minds on Earth - would be able to figure out how the microprocessor worked. They might be able to figure out what it does but they simply lacked the basic technology to analyze it. To them, a microprocessor would be nothing more than a bit of silicon with some strange impurities. Even with a knowledge of transistors (bleeding edge in the early 50's) they'd never figure out how the chip worked. Sometimes (often, actually) science has to wait until technology catches up with it. Seems to me a lot of "supergenius-class" or alien tech might be in the same boat.

Re: 6E, 1st non backwards compatible Hero?

Re: Pulp Holmes I'm just rereading the Holmes story after 25 years. I have to admit the trailer makes me somewhat nervous as it lacks a Holmesian feel, but I'll probably see it anyway. I'm a big enough Holmes and pulp fan I'll generally watch anything with either.

Re: 6e Characteristics Personally I've never really felt there was any need for a separate Ego Attack in Hero anyway. I always felt it should just be an Energy Blast with appropriate Advantages and/or Limitations. I agree with Ego Blast preferably not conferring Mental Awareness. Just because the wizard is using a Multipower wand with Ego Blast doesn't mean he should know someone nearby is using Telepathy.

Re: 6e Characteristics

Re: 6e Characteristics

Re: A new basis for PRE atatcks I couldn't agree more about #1. OTOH, I don't allow PRE attacks to affect more than mooks or normals anyway. Heroes and named villains might hesitate or possibly even retreat, but I'm more inclined to base that decision on an INT roll based on the tactical situation and PsychLims like Overconfident or Never Retreats. If Galactus can't get the Fantastic Four to simply give up despite being 200 feet tall and wielding literally god-like powers, I'm not going to accept that Presence Man can do it just because he bought a 50 PRE. That just means any Interaction Skills he bought are at incredible (19- or better) levels.

Re: this weapon Yes, but how do you "resist the sleep drug" within a game context? Me, I think I'd go with a CON roll. And of course for Champions it needs a few more dice unless all Kitten wants to knock out are ordinary museum guards.

Re: this weapon I sure wouldn't allow that as the defense against the NND in my campaign. In essence that assumes that the only persons immune to the tranquilizer have previous experience with it. That might have been legal or valid in 1986; I sure don't think it would be under 5E or 5ER rules. Since it's supposed to be a dart, IMO Resistant defenses or rigid Armor would be more reasonable defenses.

Re: How to encourage RP? Well, a little demonstration of coordination between the villains can be a real eye-opener. Don't have the heroes equal in number; have more of them. Have Villainous Martial Artist throw Hero #1 to the ground with a Martial Throw and then have Villainous Brick pound the 1/2 DCV Hero #1 (because he's prone) into the ground and Villainous Energy Projector blast him to knock him unconscious. Repeat as necessary. Let the villains be clearly less powerful individually but their teamwork lets them stomp the heroes. To be really annoying, use a horde of mere agents with fairly small attacks but excellent teamwork. Work their tactics up in advance. Have them use codewords and/or radios to coordinate. It may take a few beatings, but sooner or later the players will get the idea.

Re: In Character: A Critical and Unauthorized Look at Disadvantages ... He's got some valid points, but he takes the argument way too far. The Defenders are lame, but IMO that's so player characters can outshine them. Why put a lot of work into non-player characters that will never be used except as mechanical examples of how to build a character?

Re: In Character: A Critical and Unauthorized Look at Disadvantages ... That page crashes my browser (Firefox 3) every time I try to load it. Does anyone have an alternate location? Never mind; I got it through Internet Explorer.