sinanju

Re: I need recommendations for a whiz-bang portable power source my group's gadgeteer

Re: I need recommendations for a whiz-bang portable power source my group's gadgeteer

Re: My Tank Is Fight! The Mythbusters tested the "ice and sawdust" ship idea on one episode. They built a small boat that way. It worked, actually, but in the real world, the effort involved in producing a carrier that way would have been impractical, even if you lacked the metals needed to build one the traditional way.

Re: AP limits on frameworks I love them. I'd use them for a lot of character builds if I were able. However... Yes, many GMs outlaw them entirely, which makes me a sad panda. So I settle for multi-powers even when a VPP would really suit the concept better. Yes, they are. I recently played a game where the PCs started at 175+75 points, but gained 25--TWENTY-FIVE!--XP per session. I played a character with a VPP. A cosmic VPP, no less. Early on, my flexibility was a godsend. In the "middle" range, I started finding myself hamstrung by just this issue. I couldn't match the AP costs of powers other PCs (and NPCs) were buying because they weren't having to pay for the pool cost the way I was. I could defend myself, generally, since defenses are cheaper than offense as a rule; but I seldom was able to do much damage to our opponents. When we got to be really high-powered, though, as in 700-800 points, my VPP again became amazingly powerful--especially when I simply duplicated the other characters. "I turn into a copy of John's character!"

Re: Cybernetics If the cyberlimb simply replaces the existing hand, I'd say it costs nothing. The PC might get a complication (it's occasionally recognizable as cybernetic, or it occasionally malfunctions, or requires maintenance or repair--it doesn't heal, etc.). But not necessarily. If it gives him additional capabilities, he'd have to pay for them as usual, with whatever advantages or limitations suit the situation. For instance, STR 10 with Zero END Cost. He's no stronger than he ever was, but he can hang from it all day if he needs/wants to. On the other hand, he might not be able to Push his STR with that limb. It can do what it can do, and nothing more. As for Cyberpsychosis, I believe that a was a metagame concept included to prevent munchkins from going insane with cyberware...by making their CHARACTERS go insane with too much cyberware.

Re: The Snow Storm Iron Maiden is a flying brick who is unfazed by extremes of temperature. She'd go out to help stranded motorists, assist EMTs getting to people in need of help, etc. Hell's Angel flies, has fire powers (no! gasp!), and is also unfazed by extremes of temperature. She'd do likewise. Silverstreak is a speedster. She flies, but other than superspeed she doesn't have any real powers. She'll stay at home in front of the fire unless a real disaster occurs. Raven manipulates reality. But she's mostly concerned with terrorizing criminals, so she's not going to change her routine much. She'll terrorize any criminals who decide to take advantage of the blizzard, and maybe some snowed-in criminals. Black Mask is a martial artist with Matrix-like abilities. He's mostly a neighborhood hero. He'll keep an eye on the neighborhood and environs and help out people who have to venture out (or who are caught out in stalled cars, etc). Man-Ape is, well, a man-ape. And as such, he's vulnerable to cold (he's a tropical critter). He'll stay inside where it's warm unless he absolutely HAS to venture out into the blizzard. Tempest is a weather controller. Unless there's good reason not to, he'll disperse the blizzard....

Re: How would your character rate on a villian's threat matrix? All my characters: In my campaign world (which, admittedly, exists only in my head and in any fiction I write), superheroes are celebrities. Secret identity* or public, they are beseiged by paparazzi everywhere they show up (if the paparazzi get the chance), they're the subjects of endless tabloid coverage, television coverage, late night talk show monologues, rule 34 based pics, fiction and so forth--basically, they occupy the pop culture space occupied by mere actors in the real world. There's even ISDB, the Internet Superhero DataBase. So, with that in mind... Would advance agents be able to easily access pictures of your hero from the media? Yes. If any photos exist, they'll be discoverable with a little Googling. Lots of photos, in most cases. Would an agent be able to discover the full extent of your weaknesses from any source? It's possible, but unlikely. Even with eyewitness reports and photo/video evidence of a superhero's appearance, the usual contradictory claims of witnesses to any violent confrontation will make separing the wheat from the chaff difficult. Add in the endless speculation, authoritative (but unfounded) pontification by internet "experts", and the intentional muddying of the waters by interested parties, and...not so much. If you're Superman and vulnerable to Kryptonite, yeah. Everybody knows that. That you're more-than-usually vulnerable to heat, cold, mental attacks, whatever? Probably not. How about a lowdown of your powers? would it be easy to find out? Only the basics. "Iron Maiden is a flying brick," for instance. But exactly how strong, how invulnerable, how fast she can fly? Nobody is going to know precisely. "Raven is an escapee from a slasher flick who can twist reality" is a fair summation of her powers, but it doesn't really tell you all that much, does it? Even cataloguing known effects she inflicted on opponents only scratches the surface. Finally, on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being Dangerous, send assassins right away) Most of my PCs would rate a middle of the road 5, being dangerous opponents if they stumble across a Viper operation, but not particularly dedicated to digging them out of hiding without some bigger goal. *For certain values of secret. Most heroes with "secret" identities are known to the authorities, if no one else.

Re: New group of characters. My group played a "round robin GM" style Champions game for months. We all made up characters, and then took turns as GM. Each player had to GM for at least one session, but not more than three, before turning the reins over to the next player in the rotation. House Rules for the game were decided by consensus, as were rulings on character design issues* as they came up. It was a really fast n' loose game, and collectively we allowed character concepts and designs that none of us would have allowed in a solo-GM game, but it worked pretty well. *We started as low-level supers, but we got 25 XP per game session. By the end of the campaign, we were 7-800 point characters with insane power sets (and power levels).

Re: Need help fleshing out a campagin idea Plus, "We're Alpha Wing, the best of the best of the best!" (Yeah, except for the top secret, seldom-used OMEGA Wing, that is.)

Re: Lots of little spells One alternative would be to use a single VPP, but with one really big limitation (-2, applies to spells under 5 or 10 active points). Then you could still pile on limitations (gestures, incantations, extra time, etc) for standard spells, but he could cast the really small spells much more easily.

Re: A Pale Reflection Iron Maiden and Hell's Angel (same person, different power sets in different games) tear up said letter/recording and ignore it. Given her background (absent father, neglectful/abusive mother and relatives...the story is laughable on its face. Her father left when she was three. Her mother couldn't be bothered to feed her everyday, much less go out of her way to care for her. The idea that either of them would do something so drastic is ludicrous. Besides, she's invested in THIS world. They'd both stay. Man-Ape has a good life here, and no incentive to go gallivanting around the multiverse. He'll stay put. Black Mask or Le Fantome would seriously consider it. But ultimately, they'd stay where they are. There are an infinite number of worlds/realities out there. There's ALWAYS one that's worse off than the last. They'll stick to the one they know best, and in which they're invested. Raven, knowing as she does, that the "real world" (so-called) is simply a collective dream, has absolutely no interest in what happens in dreams still farther removed. She stays.

Re: Lucking Into The Plot GM fiat. Whether a character "finds trouble" or not is generally the GM's decision. So just make sure he does. If necessary, write up a bunch of random crimes for him to encounter beforehand. If you MUST buy it as a power, I'd use Summon. Give him a low-level Summon power in which he "accidentally" (No Conscious Control) comes across a crime in progress. A small number of summoned creatures, which are always hostile, generally of "normal human" point levels, and so on. (For extra added fun, a supernaturally-aware NPC might wonder aloud if, perhaps, he isn't CAUSING these crimes to occur for subconscious reasons of his own. Which, in game terms, he really is....)

Re: Would your hero register his Secret ID with Primus? Iron Maiden would register, reluctantly. (in fact, I'm working on a novel in which her getting caught up in the registration law is a big part of the plot). Raven and Black Mask wouldn't. Black Knight would, but then he doesn't have a secret identity, really. Or it's about as secret as James Bond's. Hell's Angel sure as well, hell, will never register. Just ain't gonna happen.

Re: Tropes Revisited: Beautiful Female Martial Artist. Ideas sought I strongly suggest a cheongsam--the form-fitting chinese-style dress with the stand-up collar (as seen here: http://www.bychinese.com/chinese-cheongsam-qipao.html) They're elegant, show off the figure but don't have to reveal a lot of skin, and come in a galaxy of colors and patterns. With slits on the side to permit our martial artist to do high kicks and leaps, it's good to go.

Re: Definitional Points for a Champions campaign Alternatively, veto builds that strike you as exploitive--and if things slip past you, insist that they be changed. I spent many years happily playing with a roomful of rules-lawyering powergamers, taking turns being GM in various campaigns. We all learned to pat the players on the head ("Yes, you're very clever--but you can't play that in my game"), but firmly refuse to let unbalancing builds go. We also learned to be calm--but firm--when we discovered we'd overlooked something and required the player to fix it or play a new character. (Of course, as we were all rules-lawyering powergamers, we all also knew that the GM can win any ****ing contest the players care to start--he's not limited by build points. So we took GMs' suggestions seriously.)

Re: Undercover Ops Iron Maiden is a classic flying brick. She could impersonate any number of other female bricks (flying or otherwise). She'd do it. Hell's Angel is a supernaturally beautiful and charismatic winged woman with fire powers--there aren't a lot of those around. Not applicable. Black Mask is a super-martial artist. He could impersonate any number of thugs, minions, or low-level scrappers. Black Knight is another brick, but the special effect of his powers (he takes full damage--he just heals instantly) is hard to disguise. Not applicable. Raven is a lunatic one of whose powers is "shapeshifting"--she could impersonate most anyone.

Re: Last Tuesdayism Iron Maiden, Hell's Angel, Black Mask, Raven, Black Knight--pretty much all of my characters--would leave well enough alone. Especially if their timeline is better than the "real" one is supposed to be. In that case, give the meddlers a cookie. If the altered timeline is better, unless it's WAY better, they'd still leave well enough alone.

Re: Your favorite SF gear. There's a reason for that. Remember when they accidentally created an artificial intelligence--Professor Moriarty--on the holodeck? How could a computer incapable of supporting an artificial intelligence have done that? Obviously, it couldn't have. The ship's computer IS an AI. However, it also has access to all of Star Fleet's records and knows exactly how the Federation reacts to artificial intelligences, and so it hides its sentient nature from everyone. Though if anyone ever actually thought about it, they'd realize this had to be the case. How else can the computer INSTANTLY answer the most abstract and vaguely-worded questions almost instantly? It's already THOUGHT OF THAT and worked out the answers--it's just waiting for one of the idiotic carbon-based lifeforms to ask.

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard? I don't remember, exactly. It was one of the more recent ones (sometime in the early 2000s, I think). For various reasons, Chiun and Smith hadn't reached an agreement on renewing their contract, so for the first time in a long time, the Masters of Sinanju were free to accept bids for their service. Chiun naturally stalked into the UN and walked up to the podium and made his dramatic announcement. The rest of the book included repeated scenes of attempts to kill Chiun and Remo by agents of nations that knew they couldn't afford to hire them--and were afraid their enemies might. Remo was shocked--and annoyed .Chiun was thrilled. The series is still being published. It relaunched recently (with a new publisher) as The New Destroyer. There've been a few changes. The series has finally acknowledged the decades that have passed since the series began in the 70s. Remo is a full Master now, and thanks to Sinanju looks younger now than he did when he began his trainging. Chiun is 100 years old. Chiun is nagging Remo to start looking for an apprentice of his own to start training. Chiun claims to be retired (as "Master Emeritus"), but still hangs around with Remo on jobs. Smith is getting really old, and has finally acquired an assistant, Mark...something, to assist him in running CURE. (Unlike other short-lived assistants from earlier books in the series, Mark appears to be a permanent addition.) I doubt it will happen, but as they've established that Remo has a young daughter, Freya, somewhere...I want Remo to start training her as the first MISTRESS of Sinanju. That would give Chiun apoplexy (not just white, but female!) and provide fodder for another forty years of novels.

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard? Sinanju, of course. No need for firearms--or weapons of any sort, really. The only thing is, hiring a Master of Sinanju as your bodyguard is fantastically expensive. (On the other hand, the last time the Master of Sinanju announced to the UN General Assembly that his services were once again available to the highest bidder, the room emptied out as ambassadors hurried to confer with their masters and arrange to make obscenely huge offers of employment...or try to assassinate the Master if they feared he'd be hired by their enemies instead.) Remo: "They're trying to kill us!" Chiun: "Yes, of course. They fear us!"

Re: Where do gangsters get pool babes? People with lots of money, at least those who are willing to flash it conspicuously and throw it around, attract hangers-on. Nobody has as many "friends" as someone with plenty of cash he's willing to part with. He'll have people offering him services and business opportunities of every conceivable sort, as well as an endless supply of people willing to hang around his house/mansion/club/pool and drink his booze, snort his drugs, eat his food, warm his bed, etc. as long as the money (or the things money can buy--clothes, cars, food, drugs, booze, etc) keep coming. When the money dries up, all those "friends" will disappear, moving on to their next meal ticket. This is one of the ways that people who come into fortunes suddenly (the lottery, or by hitting it big in music, sports, crime or some other field) can go from rags to riches to rags so quickly. There are a lot of parasites out there who will gladly bleed you dry if they can. Including gorgeous young women who will trade their beauty (and often sex) for the aforesaid drugs, booze, etc.) Hence, the pool girls.

Re: Your favorite SF gear. More gear worth having, in addition to the smartsuit and Brainpal: The Flycycle: Think of a motorcycle with two yard wide spheres instead of wheels. The lower halves of the spheres contain the anti-grav engines. The upper halves provide storage. The flycycle can fly at Mach Several, with an integral forcefield to protect the rider from the wind.* It includes a hopper into which the intrepid explorer can stuff anything organic, and it can produce food bricks; not particularly tasty, but non-poisonous--no matter what the organic material--and nutritious, and can do so indefinitely. Water distiller as well. A "crash field" for...sudden stops, as well as airbags which will hold the rider in his seat even if the cycle turns turtle, make it exceptionally safe. *Puppeteer built, even if a cyclist contrived to fall out of his seat (which looks impossible), the forcewall would hold him and allow him to climb back on.... Flashlight Laser: Produces a very powerful light, but you must be careful not to narrow the beam too much or it might cut through something. Slaver Disintegrator: Looks like a double-barrelled sawed-off shotgun. One barrel fires a beam that suppresses the charge on electrons--thereby causing whatever it's pointed at to disintegrate a layer at a time. Using both barrels causes an explosive reaction. So don't do that.

Re: Your favorite SF gear. Assuming the tech level allows it, I always go for the nanotech "smartsuit" from L. Neil Smith's libertarian SF novels. Fits like a glove, extremely resistant to damage, provides resistance to vacuum and most any hostile environment, includes an extensive array of enhanced senses, and increased strength, and..well, it's just terrific. Plus, it can alter it's color, texture and shape to simulate almost any kind of clothing so you don't look out of place. And, of course, no smartsuit is complete without an implant computer (either the sort used in Smith's novels, or the BrainPal from John Scalzi's fiction) to give you absolute control of the suit--as well as electronic "telepathy" or mindlink, and everything else you could do with a computer--endless databases, entertainment, communication, etc.

Re: SyFy Television Movie Genre:

Re: How would you build flight that works underwater? My house rule is that Flight automatically works underwater unless there's some good reason why it wouldn't, in which case, you buy that as a power limitation. If you fly like a bird with wings, then you probably can't fly underwater. If you fly like Superman (or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern or Invincible or Omi-Man or...) there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't. Charging extra for that ability cheeses me off, so I changed the rules for my game.