Vanguard00

Re: Y R axes better than swords???

What the mutant said.

Swords are the great all-around weapon, but that's all they are. Axes can be used for other things (chopping, obviously), spears are used for hunting, daggers were used at dinner time, but swords are used for killing people. Versatility is the thing, plus a sword rarely "chops". To use it correctly you want to open a wound and sort of drag the sword along it for blood loss, or stab with the tip to puncture. If you "chop" with a sword you run the risk of getting it stuck. That's rarely the case with an axe since it usually opens a big enough wound to be withdrawn (assuming you don't get caught on bone).

Remember, too, that swords are generally quicker in combat than axes, and they require less strength, thus making them more appealing to the warrior masses.

So yeah, axes are better than swords FOR DAMAGE, but not necessarily for general use in warfare.

Re: DARK CHAMPIONS: What Do *You* Want To See?

In the description under the "future releases", you mention "technothrillers" and "special forces". Traditionally Dark Champions has focused on the law enforcement and vigilante side of things. While I'm totally copacetic with that, I wouldn't mind a tad more space given over to military and agency-style stuff. Everything from "Stargate"-style military to "Alias"-style agencies has such potential, but it rarely gets anything more than a brief nod. This would be a great book for something along those lines.

Oh, and I'm not sure what "technothrillers" entails, but I'm sure it'll be cool.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Pictures...girls kissing...

...must be t.A.t.U.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

This is a reference to my first Hero game that I get to play in that allows me to play a character of my design. I have had one successful Hero game previous and it was using an alernate universe character concept that the GMs encouraged me to play.

Aah. I'm all caught up now. Thanks.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Oh, and because this is as good a place as any to post it, this cracked me up.

Warning: needs sound and contains serious profanity (visually safe, though).

http://albinoblacksheep.com/video/freestyle.php

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

So my character's background consists of Robert' date=' Jennifer, Veronica, and Acrotech.[/quote']

 

 

Man, only checkin' the boards every so often is killin' me. Is this in reference to an online game, somebody's Champions game, something else? Merely curious, mind you.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

For some reason I never read the "Riftwar" series by Raymond Feist. I'm near the end of book two and I'm lovin' it. I'll likely end up reading all of his stuff before I'm through.

Prior to that I read Sean Russell's "The Swan's War" books, The One Kingdom and Isle of Battle, both of which I highly recommend.

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate

What I dislike about d20 isn't levels or classes, although I don't like them much. It's not the escalating HP, although I don't like those much either.

 

It's the playerbase.

 

The majority of d20 (and when I say d20, I really mean D&D3e) players seem to be drawn from the ranks of habitual players of Everquest, Diablo or any of a zillion computer games where role playing is just a cosmetic veneer over a powergaming tank.

I wouldn't say the "majority" of players. They have their fair share of course, but you get that in any game. You can't tell me that you've never seen the "do it all" superhero in Champions who just wants to beat on bad guys and doesn't give a crap about clues, plots or storylines. They're everywhere. Besides, we're talking about the systems here, not the players.

I enjoyed playing D&D. I started back in...um...1980, I think. I really enjoyed playing AD&D (1st & 2nd editions). But as we grew older and matured as RPGers, we modified the rules to fit our style of gaming, which was heavily influenced by Hero System (which I also started playing in 1980). When 3rd edition D&D came out I gave it a shot and decided that the D20 system in general, and D&D 3.0 specifically, wasn't a system I could agree with.

Hero System has never let me down. I won't be one to hack on WotC or D&D, but I'm not a fan, either, for a variety of reasons, most of which I stated earlier.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

But not for this one...

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Mmmm bop' date=' baby![/quote']

 

 

Philistines....

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

A hockey team... in San Jose... called the sharks... staffed by canadians...

Can't get much sillier than that.

How 'bout allowing a game where people routinely slam each other into walls, get hit with sticks, and start bloody fights, and the average penalty is to leave the ice for a few minutes? Every other sport comes down hard on purposefully injuring another player, but hockey almost encourages it. In fact, what gets you a 2-minute penalty in hockey is what gets you 5-10 years in the real world.

Not my idea of a fun sport (though I have to admit I thought "Slapshot" was a great movie), but to each their own, I suppose.

Re: Campaign Concept RFC

Off the top of my head I might add something about what you expect from them as players (tone of game, morality of PCs, etc), and also ask what they'd like from you as a GM (plots, side stories, etc).

Otherwise it looks good.

Re: Martial Arts for winged folk

Well' date=' there's [i']Poluraathkaa[/i] in The Ultimate Martial Artist (page 85). Does that help?

I swear I must've gone right by it. I even missed the picture

Still, I wouldn't mind seeing other examples, something a bit more expansive since there's only 4 maneuvers in the style., but this will serve my purposes.

Thanks, Bob.

Re: Answers & Questions

A: If that's what you think' date=' you need a psychologist.[/quote']

 

 

Q: Dude, do you even know how utterly cool MightyBec is?

 

 

A: A variety of sizes will accommodate any need you may have.

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate

I'm a little out of touch with current D&D rules so please forgive me if this doesn't seem accurate now. However, I played D&D in all it's incarnations right up until 3.0 when I just got tired of it.

One of the things that occurred to me when I saw D&D 3.0 was that D&D always tries to make rules that let you do whatever it is you want to do. If someone couldn't do something before (as was often the case in earlier editions), they created rules, tables and whatnot to allow it to happen.

What Hero System did (in my opinion), was to create a set of rules that let the individual decide how to do what s/he wanted. The GM can mediate and moderate, of course, but the rules stand firm whether you play a mage, a fighter, a superhero, a detective, a journalist, an explorer, an alien...

...well, you get the point.

Hero System rules are neither more nor less complex than D&D rules, IMHO, but they approach the problem from two different sides. I think Hero System rules are much more appropriate to my style of gaming.

Anyone have a martial arts style for winged folk? I'm asking here because, while my initial query was in regard to a fantasy race, it'd probably work for a winged superhero, as well.

If not, no biggie, but I thought I'd save myself a little time and effort if possible. Although ideas for maneuvers, skills, weapon elements, etc., would be nice, too.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Are you in California, lemming? Just curious since there's an Intel place down street from me here in Sacramento, and you mentioned Fresno earlier...

Just curious.

Re: Value of this limitation?

Aah. I thought I might be making it harder than it seemed. There was a recent discussion about something similar and the user created a custom limitation "Does not stack" (-1/2) for defenses. Most of the others seemed to agree it was a practical solution. I'd go with that.

Basic construction:

Armor [OIF]

Force Field [linked to flight, does not stack]

Sound like what you're lookin' for?

EDIT: On retrospect, this might not work. Under most circumstances the two defenses will still ultimately perform the same job. There really isn't a way to get past the fact that you have two defenses.

The concept itself just doesn't lend to me thinking of why a force field would work LESS just because you have a reinforced costume on. I'll ponder it a bit more...

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Beats workin'.

Re: Character Posting Game: Restart

Next Challenge: Create the most hard-to-take-care-of dnpc possible.

Would a bump be inappropriate here?

Re: Value of this limitation?

I'm assuming that the force field is a by-product of his flight (like Cannonball of the X-Men being near-invulnerable while flying).

What's the special effect of the armor?

Re: THE TURAKIAN AGE Reviewed On RPG.Net

Other than the index (which, while annoying, is still only a small complaint in the grand scheme of things), I like the book, and I agree with the overall tone of the review. I think it amusing that the reviewer uses D&D as a basis for comparison, but I suppose that's only to be expected (you have to set a standard SOMEwhere, for good or ill). I'd have preferred to see it reviewed entirely on it's own merits, but again, a small complaint.

TA is good. How good? For my money, it's definitely the best overall high fantasy setting out there right now.

I think that sums it up nicely. I was planning on running a Fantasy Hero game in the near future, but I was creating my own world to do so. TA is such a good read, though, that I might just forego all the work and get a TA campaign going.

Thanks, Steve. Another quality product (style reviews be dam--er, darned!)

Re: Whattya Think?

I think you did well. It'd be difficult to write "just" about the character of a video game, because you don't technically get their personality when playing. It's the player that puts everything into context. You've done that admirably well. Whether for the CoH site or not, it's a good story.

"Shucks!" Heh.

Re: It's all about willpower

I'd build it as a Cosmic VPP with Limited Power' date=' Only to Enhance Pushing Effect[/quote']

 

That's what I thought at first, too, but don't the rules say you can't 'push' anything that doesn't cost END? Kinda rules out BODY, STUN, PD and/or ED, SPEED, DEX, etc. Unless I'm missing something it's not quite the effect I was going for, but thanks.

Re: Monster/Race: Frost Giant (Lesser Niefel Giant)

My only critiques have been addresses (regarding damage and rock-throwing) and rebutted (very well, I might add).

But let me add a public 'thanks' to Hierax for posting these. I've managed to cull every one thus far for my own campaign (not that I've used 'em yet, but I have 'em ready).

Thanks, Hierax.