Vanguard00

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "I'm sorry, sir, but your policy doesn't cover die rolls. And I have no idea what a DCV is, besides."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Sincerest apologies, Butch. It won't happen again."* *(follow-up email, actually; true story, the email had to be sent by my former supervisor to a department head after a rather unfortunate "cc all" reply).

Re: Willpower: a power? Cuz I'd hate to leave something out Seriously, I thought about that and in all likelihood might default to that, but I was hoping for something a little more flexible. I'm still fishing for ideas on what he could use his willpower to do, as well.

Heya, folks. A little help, if you would. I would like to create a character who can, through force of will, augment his existing abilities. Possibly applications of this include, but are not limited to: Lifting greater weights (STR) Running faster (Run) Leaping farther (Leap) Holding his breath (Con) Walking through a hail of gunfire (Damage Resistance, Reduction, or extra PD) Figure out a problem/figure the best way to do something (existing skills?) etc... His will allows him to increase an ability, but likely only one at a time. I'm thinkin' a VPP, perhaps, or some form of Aid. I keep waffling, likely because I'm overthinking it now. This whole idea is conceptual at this time, but ideas and/or suggestions would be quite welcome. Thanks in advance!

Re: THE ULTIMATE METAMORPH -- What Do *You* Want To See? I vaguely remember a 'Power Point' article by Dave Mattingly that discussed just this sort of thing. I wish I'd kept it then, but I'm looking forward to seeing this fleshed out. So far you (or previous posters) have covered everything I'd want to see.

Re: Pulp-era resources, if anyone is interested. I think you should scan all this information into PDF format and send it out to everyone who asks

Re: Legendary Heroes

Re: The Network: Campaign Setting Idea Kinda has a John Ringo (author) feel to it. While that's not normally my preferred genre, there is something appealing about the whole thing. Kinda like 'Red Dawn' with aliens instead of Cubans and Russians. Yeah, I could see it... Definitely an interesting and workable idea.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

Re: Heroes of the Turakian Age I don't know if this is your thing or not, but maybe you could put something about likes/dislikes about the session. Not that I don't enjoy reading adventure summaries, but it'd be cool to get a GM's perspective on it, too. A wee bit of 'behind the scenes' stuff, like "we made a house rule because of a disagreement over combat bonuses" or "despite heavy use of game mechanics the players stayed in character" or something like that. Again, not hackin' in anyway. Feel free to use, ponder, fold, spindle, mutilate or ignore the suggestion as you see fit

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Vanguard's one for three in tonight's game, doubling on a grounder before getting tagged at third. You can see there right before he steps into the box that he runs his sleeve across his nose. He's had bad allergies since he was a kid, and this time of year it's pretty bad." "That's right. Says he once sneezed right behind Gerald McCraney of 'Simon & Simon' fame while on a flight. Forgot to cover his mouth, too. He was only about sixteen or seventeen at the time but I can see how that sort of thing can stay with a guy."

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The last two fantasy books I read (a couple of weeks ago) were the first two books in a new series by Jim Butcher (of Dresden Chronicles fame...which if you haven't read you really should). They're pretty good, following the exploits of a young man in a world where everyone has some 'magic' but him. He just keeps finding himself mixed up in things so much larger than him, but he's growing into it. Invasions, evil thingies from the dark, bullies with magic, assassinations, political intrigue...it's shaping up quite nicely. I recommend 'em. Oh yeah! They're the 'Codex Alera' books, Furies of Calderon (book 1) and Academ's Fury (book 2).

Re: Moderately Large Creatures and DCV First, hit locations differ from animal to animal, and aren't the same as that for a person. Check out pg. 33 of the Hero System Bestiary for a detailed explanation. Second, I think just about anybody could hit an elephant if they wanted to. The trick is standing there and hitting it knowing it's gonna take a whack at you right back, and frankly, a normal guy taking 2d6 HKA of tusk or a 9d6 hand attack from a foot or trunk is gonna be pretty sorry he ever crossed that elephant, and even a hardened vet is gonna be hurtin', armor or not. (I'm referencing the elephant on pg 164 of the Bestiary, by the way, just for example) Now imagine that elephant gettin' up a head of steam and goin' for the trample/moveby or move through maneuver. That bad boy can do something like 13d6 of damage if he hits ya just right (cuz they have 12" running, see). And if it's an actual war-trained elephant the likes of which you're talkin' about, I might just give it a combat level with it's tusks or HTH combat or something--at least a +1 to OCV--just to show training. And let's just say that the elephant lets out one o' them trumpets, trunk up and ears out like you see in the movies. That's a Presence attack if I ever saw one. Easily 5d6 on account of they have a PRE of 25. Add some dice if they're makin' a ruckus and bellowin' something fierce, and if it just squashed ol' Jeb The Farmer for throwin' a rock at it's privates that's another die or two right there. Even if that bad boy's up against a vet with a 15-20 PRE, he still might pause for thought if you get a good roll, you know? I mean really, a guy with a sword is gonna have to whack it a few times to kill it--elephants have 12 PD (2 of it resistant) and 30 BODY--and you think that big ol' phant is just gonna sit there and take it? Nope. He's gonna be dishin' out a little whoop-@$$ of his own. Yep, you gotta be pretty brave to sit there and duke it out with a beast like that. Just some things to take into consideration. It ain't always just about the numbers. Sometimes ya gotta play it like it's meant to be played.

Re: Tactical Challenge: Mechanon *ring* *ring* "Morningstar, here. Whatcha got for us?" "Mmhmm. Edwards Air Force Base. Right. Robots, lasers, big attack. Nukes being stolen is bad. Gotcha. Sure, I'll rally the troops and we'll be right over. Yep, the full team. We even added one guy. Impact, big sonuva gun, too. Can lift a battleship. This'll be his first time--right. You don't care. All right, all right. Don't get your panties in a bunch. We'll be there in just a few. "Oh, hey. Do you know who's behind it?" "What? No, I'm still here. I just can't remember where I left my car keys. Did you try the Champions?"

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Before you start, sample the rum to check for quality. Good, isn't it? Now go ahead. Select a large mixing bowl, measuring cup, etc. Check the rum again. It must be just right. To be sue rum is of the highest quality, pour one level cup of rum into a glass and drink it as fast as you can. Repeat. With an electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 seaspoon of thugar and beat again. Meanwhile, make sue that the rum is of the finest quality. Try another cup. Open second quart if necessary. Add 2 arge leggs, 2 cups fried druit and beat till high. If druit gets stuck in beaters, just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the rum again, checking for tonscisticity. Next sift 3 cups of pepper or salt (it really doesn't matter.) Sample the rum again. Sift + pint of lemon juice. Fold in chopped butter and strained nuts. Add 1 babblespoon of brown thugar, or what ever color you can find. Wix mel. Grease oven and turn cake pan to 350 gredees. Now pour the whole mess into the coven and ake. Check the rum again, and bo to ged. NT: Working title for George Lucas' next project

Re: I need a name for a society of adventurers Heh. The "MacGuffin Society".

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Yeah, yeah, I love you, too, yadda yadda yadda. Now have you seen the remote or not?"

Re: The Cutting Edge SuperBase...what's in it? I'd go with the example given for Gateway, UNTIL's base. Give it a 'sensor array' VPP and require it to be changed with a Systems Operations skill, and "Only for Senses and Communications (-1)". That way you can define the sensors however you like as they are needed. Give it Long Range Sensors (+20 or so) for Sight and Radio groups. Give it internal and external security monitors (Clairsentience, sight and hearing, add range to encompass base). Give it appropriate skills, skill bonuses or Penalty Skill Modifiers for a variety of skills (KS, SS, etc). Don't forget Life Support applications (including 'Does Not Eat' to represent food stores), extra defense and/or Drains for holding cells, possible defense weaponry (passive, like entangles and such, or aggressive, like lasers). I'm sure we'll think of more.

Re: needs disadvantages ideas You could also simply browse through existing characters from Hero Games source books. That's pretty much what I used to do on a regular basis until I got the hang of balancing (and creating balanced) disads.

Re: How to do "Remote Zombie Eyeballs"? N-Ray vision with suitable limitations, perhaps? I like the Clairsentience idea better, but I thought I'd throw this out there.

Re: needs disadvantages ideas Apologies for the clarification, but are you asking if there is a reference list for disadvantages? If so, Jack Butler has a Master List of Limitations that deal with Physical, Psychological and Social Limitiations. For other disads...well, I don't have any bookmarked sources because I've never really needed/wanted them, but I'm sure someone else might. G'luck!

Re: I need a name for a society of adventurers The Fairbanks Society, or something similar. Named for one of the honorary founding members and a 'friend' (possibly contributer) to the society, none other than Douglas Fairbanks himself (who, in Pulp times, was probably the single most famous action-movie star alive; he played Dartagnan, Don Juan, Zorro, Sinbad...he was the man back in those days, and did most of his own stunts). FYI, he quit making movies in 1934 and died in 1939 at the age of 56 by heart attack. He was, by the way, the physical model from which the original Superman cartoon/comic was taken by Shuster and Siegel and was considered a gifted athlete. Just a thought. Other possible sources for names could be Dumas (as in Alexander, the man who wrote The Three Musketeers); D'artagnan; Sabatini (Scaramouche, Captain Blood); Hercules (Herculean Society is a good idea, as noted above); Odysseus; Robert Louis Stevenson; Sir Francis Drake (which Errol Flynn sort of used as role model in the movie The Sea Hawk)... "Nova Albion" was the name Sir Francis Drake gave to the land on western North America. That could be a good basis for a name. Actual organization names: League Foundation Society Band Fellowship Circle Guild

Re: Secret decoder Whoa...high school flashbacks... Whoa...grade school flashbacks... Hey, I don't have the ring. I just figured out the code. It made me look like I was doing actual work Now go buy Pulp Hero and you can sit at the cool kids' table!

Re: Monsters, Minions, and Marauders: Opinions? I found the TA references to be just that--references. I didn't think it was too TA-centric, and the monsters/creatures are easily adaptable for a variety of campaign genres and needs. Add my recommendation for "worth it".

Re: Quick! Help me decide! Why don't you start with the background and personality of the character? Maybe something will occur to you and/or you'll get a better idea of what powers he should have. Make him unique to YOU in terms of who he is; let the powers and abilities stem from that. Sometimes it works for me, especially when the character 'comes alive' while writing him up.