Vanguard00

Re: Redemeable Villains If you mean which villains would make good heroes, then I would vote for GRAB. I could easily see them turning into a kind of "Thunderbolts" team. In fact, I've set up an adventure where that very thing happens. They'd be my first choice in a heartbeat. Armadillo would be a good candidate, in my opinion. The real villain is killed or disappears, another guy finds the suit and puts it on, and instead of being a villain he ends up being a hero. Heck, this would work for just about any armored villain. And then there are the Crown guys... ...um, nevermind. That should go on the mirror-universe-with-beards thread.

Q: Hey, I didn't invite Dr. Destroyer to my party! And I didn't say he could have any cake! What say we go kick him out? A: My pencil is long and yellow.

Q: How many times did you think Michael Jackson had a nose job? A: Those damn kids and their pig.

Q: I'm lookin' for a rabid ferret dressed in leathers, answers to the name "Diablo". Have you seen him? A: Deep-fried butter and a frog in a blender.

Q: So what's it like in the Hilton Sisters' bedroom? A: That's a very fast pace.

Q: Can I borrow your nailgun? A: Keep out of reach of children.

Q: What three things would pretty much keep me from ever rejoining normal society? A: A naked woman in a bar with a poodle under one arm and a two-foot salami under the other

Q: So how did that date with the Hilton sisters go? A: Only if you fill out the appropriate forms.

Q: Want to go to the Michael Bolton concert with me? A: Two cups of jello and some gravity boots.

A. Well geez, you might as well. Hermit will only make a poll of it anyway. Q: Do you think I should post a question about write-ups for Buckaroo Banzai? A: That's the way Steven Segal would do it.

I thought I'd extend my compliments, Storn. I was first aware of your work (though likely I saw examples sooner) something like 7 years ago--I think it was Ed Jackson's PBEM...not sure--and I've been impressed every since. Anyway, I've always appreciated your style. Just thought I'd add my two pennies here.

Re: What would your character do VII? One of my GMs did this a few years back. My character was relatively new to the scene, too, and this villain was being touted as his nemesis. She didn't know his identity, either, until he said something about her identity. She figured it out, and they stood there arguing like an old married couple while people started to gather around. By the time they'd worked out their relationship issues (and realized they really cared for each other) the police and SWAT were on scene. She blamed my character for being caught, went to prison, escaped, pulled one more job just to spite him and left town before my character could catch up to her. The GM had her send postcards from just about every city she was in after that.

I'll cast a vote for Terror, Inc, as well. Always a favorite of mine to use and to see in action. They've been the primary focus of my FtF games a few times in the past. Eurostar, because they're the one's to beat. LadyBlue, because she has one of my gamers wrapped around her little finger. Mechassassin, because I treat him like Deathstroke (from DC Comics) and half the time my players didn't know if he was there to help or kill one of 'em. A homemade duo by the name of "Hammer" and "Anvil", two bricks with attitude that were a lot of fun to play. They were my "Wrecking Crew" types, there to cause mayhem for no particular reason, but always good for witty banter and a mean left hook. The home-made team of Howler, Wyvern, Anklyosaurus, Pulsar and Shamrock. Refused to have a team name so the press dubbed them the "Fearsome Five". That particular news channel was attacked the next day, and they were never given another team name again.

While exploring an unnatural cave in the mountains, several members of our superhero team were caught by wailing banshee-like creatures, completely deafening all with their screeching. Believing this to be a precursor to an attack my character started to run away, only to be stopped by the yelling of my teammate who was not moving as fast. The other two, seeing me stop, stopped as well. I stopped and fought my way back to him, still unable to hear was he was shouting. While trying to figure it out we were attacked by the 'main' demon. The fight was long, brutal, and highly unpleasant. Creative strategy on our part got three out of four of us out of there. The fourth was never to be seen again. Once we were well on our way from the area I asked the first guy what he had been yelling. After long moments of sullen silence he finally said, "I was telling you to run."

Q: Egads, how many more 'Jason' movies do we have to sit through? A: Purple, unless it's Tuesday.

Re: Campaign Building Well, to paraphrase JamesDJIII, one step at a time. First you determine what both you and the players want to accomplish. Are you looking for relatively short adventures that can be a lot of fun, or do you want a serious campaign to watch the characters change and grow? If it's the first option, then you don't need that much. My recommendation would be to pick a city and go from there. You don't necessarily even need a map, though a rough sketch of the city and surrounding lands is probably appropriate. Put the city on the edge of a civilized land, similar to Thieves' World setting. Make that city a cross between the civilized interests of the ruling class (be it city, state or empire), and part frontier attitude, with people coming and going all the time. The surrounding lands might be settled, but go too far away and you're back in the wilderness, home of monsters, dungeons, evil wizards, bandit lords and whatever nastiness you think might bring a good adventure. With just the one city and the surrounding lands you can have infinite adventures without ever developing too much of the continent, politics, etc. And if you want to develope things further, you have a basis. By the way, make sure you keep notes on people, places and things encountered. You never know when you'll need/want it again. If you want a serious campaign, I'd have to direct you to RoleplayingTips.com. It's an excellent site for new and experienced gamers and GMs. Browse the older issues and read the tips on how to begin adventures, campaigns, build worlds, etc. The advice you've received thus far about using preexisting campaign settings is all very good, but what it comes down is determining what both you AND the players want. Start there...the rest will sort itself out. Again, write down everything that occurs to you, and everything you use. Maintain consistancy in your game no matter which way you go. Them's my two bits.

I'm pretty much the same way you are, SirWilliam. If it's not someone I intend or expect to use, I only worry about the stats I need and fudge the rest. Same with spells, vehicles, animals, bases, whatever. Unless it comes up again I don't need to worry about it. However, there are times when for some reason or another what I thougth was a throwaway NPC or item becomes important. Then and only then do I actually do a write-up, and for that reason I keep notes on all my throwaway NPCs and items now. ~~vanguard

Re: The Dragon Squad First, the theme: Option One: Five (or more) guys and gals all wearing powered armor of sorts. Give their armor color schemes so you end up with "Red", "Blue", etc. The group is collectively known as "Dragon." Each set of powered armor has a different specialty--one is superstrong, one is heavy weapons, etc. One might even be a mentalist (technology based). Option Two: theme villains. Wyvern (flight, HKA), Basilisk (some sort of paralyzation power), Cockatrice (mismatch killer), Salamander (fire based), Drake (brick) and Hydra (duplication). Why they're together: Option One: "Dragon" is a mercenary group of Eastern European ex-soldiers who really needed something to do once it was clear both the Cold War was over AND metahumans were rapidly becoming a problem to serious crime. These guys are tough, extremely well-trained in small unit tactics, and are consumate professionals. For the right price they'll level a city or guard your daughter's virginity. Option Two: "Dragon" is a team of villains who, individually, have all had their butts handed to them one way or another over the years. Finally, using some mutual contacts and prison snitches, Cockatrice (or whoever) gets the group together, renames them into a 'dragon' motiff, and trains the group to be the equal or better (ahem) of any superhero group. NOW they can pursue their dreams of living the life of luxury at other people's expense. Just some stuff off the top o' my pointy head.

Re: Suggestions Wanted: Vigilante game So you've got a rash of hi-tech burglaries. Computer chips, power supplies, etc, are being stolen. The judge hears about it through channels, the priest hears about it because a friend of his (alternately a member of his parish) worked at a plant; the dot-com mogul just watches for this sort of thing; and the security guy is hired by one of the firms before or after a heist. The short version: a new gang is in town and they're looking to hit the hi-tech black market in a big way. They don't mind roughing people up a bit to get what they want, and they intend to take over the city's criminal market doing it. This means they'll clash with other local gangs. The twist: there's already a syndicate-type group in place, and they're not happy with this new rival. No one knows about them yet but if they take the kind of action necessary to remove this threat they'll be exposed. Do they help the heroes? Go after the new gang themselves? And just who is this syndicate, anyway? Possible subplots and hooks: a friend of the judge (another judge himself) is part of the syndicate, though not necessarily high level. A former compatriot (or senior officer) of the green beret's is also involved. Almost anyone from any of the character's background could be involved. Potential gang wars in the streets, city corruption, heroic angst as friends and loved ones are revealed to be more (or less) than originally thought... ...this is the stuff of legends, man. Run with it!

Re: classic sci-fi campaign Pulp campaigns always have. What you're describing (at the risk of sounding commercial) is a League of Extraordinary Gentleman style campaign. Or Doc Savage, or The Shadow. Heck, the various "Indiana Jones" and "Mummy" movies fit into this, as well. Good stuff all around, and there's lots of source material around on the 'net. If you can run it I'm sure you're players would love it.

Not sure how useful it is since I've never tried to convert, but here's another link. Always willing to help a GM...especially if he's mine http://www.hierax.com/hero/fantasy/grey/shrike/

Well, yeah, I could probably come up with a good reason for leather to be studded. I just couldn't come up with a good reason to include studded leather

Good call. As an aside, I would think it would be a little more to repair studded leather as it's slightly more "intricate" (in the loosest sense of the word) than it's "plain" counterpart. Personally, I don't allow studded leather in my games. No historical reasons or even compelling logic for including it Just my too sense...

Re: Nonsensical and out-of-genre results in HERO fantasy. Not true. The knight in plate armor (a rarity, by the way) would take an amazing amount of punishment from swords, axes, maces and arrows all hitting his armor, whether they penetrated or not. It was a rare thing to see a knight taken out by killing him--it was more often a case of getting the knight off his feet and doing him in at one's leisure. An orc shouldn't be wearing plate mail. An orc should, at best, be able to scrounge the occasional breastplate, maybe a bit of chainmail, and most likely wore leather, wood, or hide armor, maybe with some strips of metal for reinforcement. Let's presume a DEF 3-4 average and hit him with a great sword (2d6HKA) wielded by a muscular hero-type (15+ STR) and you get a 3d6 HKA easy...that's 10.5 BODY on an average attack. Even with the DEF of 4 that orc is hurt. It you max out your damage you've just done 14 BODY to the orc after Defenses. That's dead in my book (assuming you gave the orc 10 BODY). I think the question is, what do you want in your campaign? Historical realism or genre realism? If you are looking to be faithful to the genre of heroic fantasy then you should examine the combat rules a bit more carefully, taking into account certain examples (as you provided above) and taking those rules which benefit those examples, doing away with those that seem counterproductive. The Hero System is nothing if not adaptable, and more often than not the printed rules give examples on how to modify them to fit your campaign. If I had the rule books handy I would quote some supportive material, but I'm afraid I can only suggest you reread the sections on combat.

Just some ideas (I think at least one was mentioned...) Mudslinger Muckraker Resin (or even Resinator) Graphite Quagmire G'luck