sinanju

Re: Building Political Intrege I'd suggest asking yourself six questions about each NPC or Group you're working on. 1. What does he/do they want most to acquire/keep/achieve? 2. What resources does he/do they have available to help? 3. Who would want to STOP him/them? Why? 4. Who would be willing to HELP him/them? Why? 5. How will #1 respond to interference? What will he do? What _won't_ he do? 6. How do the PCs become involved in the intrigues? (Plothook) If you know all this, you should have enough information at hand to handle whatever the PCs do (and to answer any questions they'd be able to dig up the answers to in the game).

Re: New Champs Campaign. Advise/Suggestions appreciated In the REAL world, as opposed to the world of comics, scientists don't work in a vacuum. There are no soooooper-genius scientists operating decades ahead of their peers. Edison invented the lightbulb, but he wasn't all that far ahead of his contemporaries in the field. Ditto the Wright Brothers and many other inventors. If the US government has the technology to effectively engineer/clone superheroes, it's because most of the pieces of the puzzle already exist. The state of the art is nearly there even if the US government is the organization that put the effort into the final piece. Other nations (and/or corporations) aren't going take all that long to replicate the result. Nuclear weapons aren't all that hard to puzzle out. They're not more widespread than they are because the _parts_ (primarily the fuel) are made hard to get, and trying gets you noticed by men with guns who will come to interfere. Human DNA is ubiquitous.

Re: Characters for Hero High Name: Camille Hellmouth Sex: (Male, Female) Female Race: Caucasian Ethnic Group: White Height/Weight: 5'8" / 140# Eye Color: Blue Hair Color/Style: Color varies; anime-style spikes Distinguishing Feature: Multiple piercings and tattoos General Appearance: Punkette Grade: (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th) 12th School Social Grouping: Wierdo School Club: None Significant Skill/Ability/Talent: Explosive Violence when provoked; she can go from apparently amused/calm to berserk attack with absolutely no warning; this makes an effective defense mechanism among those who know her--or know of her. Personality: Cynical and amused by all the angst she sees around her. Positive Trait: Can't stand bullies and won't abide them. Negative Trait: Can't stand wimps who won't stand up for themselves either. Quirks: Despite her radical appearance and fondness for beer and marijuana, she's a serious student with plans for college (though she would rather die than let anyone know how much it means to her). Any Fears/Manias/Mental Problems?: Religion: Pagan (though how sincere she is remains a question; she might just be playing at it for appearance). Any Strong Opinion on Todays issues?: That most problems are ultimately the result of self-destructive stupidity, and thus cannot be solved, only moderated with great effort. Does NPC Drink? and if so, what/how often: Drinks beer occasionally, but doesn't like the taste of stronger liquors. Does NPC take drugs? and if so what/how often: Smokes weed occasionally. Basic Family Structure: Two parents (divorced), lives with her mother. Any siblings? and if so how many?: None Short Background: Camille's parents feel guilty about the divorce and thus have indulged her in her desires for piercings and tattoos, and her fetish for frequently changing the color of her hair. Nonetheless, they've done pretty well by her. Camille is a strong believer in learning from the mistakes of others--and she's seen plenty of others making stupid mistakes she has no intention of duplicating. If others take her at face value, well, that's their mistake.

Re: Aijral - Supermen Oh! You're describing the Draka now. They genetically engineered themselves to be physically and mentally superior to normal humans...and to be able to produce pheremones that influence the humans around them (or their slave race, also genetically engineered from human stock to be very susceptible to the pheremones). Lovely people, really.

Re: DEX: and the Marvel Universe I'd give Spider-Man, Nightcrawler and Beast superhuman DEX for sure, though Spider-Man would get the highest one, in my opinion. And I'm talking DEX 30-33 for Spidey, and down to about 27 at the low end for this bunch. Rogue and Dracula would probably qualify, but not by much. Quicksilver, too. He's FAST, but not necessarily super-agile (it's amazing how often super-fast characters get taken out by attacks that you'd think they could dodge). DEX 21-24 Thor and Hercules would get high but normal DEX scores. Their schtick is being inhumanly strong and tough. Yes, they're exceptionally good at HTH combat, but that's a matter of skill (skill levels), not inherently superhuman DEX. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Re: new sgc villain write ups Yeah, but last we saw of the Tollan, they were busy having their homeworld destroyed by Goa'uld ships immune to their ion cannons. A few might have escaped, but probably not with much in the way of ultra-tech goodies. Speaking of which, unless the Goa'uld who blackmailed them into building bombs with the Desolidification advantage is a TOTAL moron, he forced them to give him the schematics for that technology even before they started building bombs. So HE'S GOT THAT TECH. His troops could come marching thru the iris at the SGC any minute now...

Re: Player vs. Character Speak for yourself! (Just kidding.) I've played that way. I've also played in a Vampire game in which I (a rules-lawyering power gamer from way back) and another player--a real life SWAT instructor--ran roughshod over the GM's bad guys precisely because we _did_ plot and plan and took great delight in our seeing our schemes hum along like a well oiled machine. It was amazing how often just the simplest bit of forethought led to the two of us slaughtering carloads of bad guys (or successfully intimidating them into doing what we wanted) without breaking a sweat.

Re: Dr. House Disadvantages: Physical Limitation: Lame Leg (all the time, moderately) -- He uses a cane, but he gets around pretty well otherwise. Physical Limitation: Chronic Pain/Dependence on Painkillers (all the time, moderately) -- Caused by the lame leg, but a separate problem, thus a separate disadvantage. Moderate as long as he's able to get the pills, which--being a doctor in a modern hospital--is a non-problem.

Re: Guns vs. Armor That's really always been the case. A pistol is a compromise, small enough to carry all the time (or most of the time, anyhow), but mostly it's a last resort weapon. Anyone expecting trouble--even in the old West--would want a rifle handy. Greater range, greater accuracy, greater stopping power. True, and most Dark Champions characters (in costume, anyhow) are going to be prepared. But Joe Smith, Average Citizen, or even John Q. Thug, isn't likely to be wearing body armor even if it's available. Fully automatic weapons exist in the real world, and can even be built in a basement workshop by someone who knows what he's doing...but they're not being used on every street corner. As for how to deal with this, some options I'd suggest: Use Hit Location rules. Sure, the armor is virtually invulnerable--but only if the bullet hits the armor. Or use Activation rolls if you don't want to slow things down with Hit Location. I once instituted a "Hot, Sweaty Armor Rule" in a cyberpunk campaign I was running. Any character who habitually wore armor when he had no reason to expect trouble suffered a DEX penalty because it was uncomfortably hot and sweaty to wear that stuff 24/7. Going into a potential firefight? No problem. Going barhopping? "Hot Sweaty Armor" rule is in effect. Have the campaign authorities make wearing armor illegal unless you're authorized--it's reason enough in itself to get you noticed (if not arrested) by the cops. That should discourage casual use and give a reason why thugs don't wear it unless they're expecting to participate in a firefight.

Re: Question from a new GM How about Area-Effect TK (with enough strength to hold them all). They gather around, he generates his bubble of energy around them and they all go zooming off together, with him in control--since HE'S flying, he's just carrying them along.

Re: Designing a Post human society

Re: Demigod of Everything ...or maybe he's the father of all the other gods and goddesses. Once upon a time there was just him. He was god of everything. Then he became a father*--and all of his children surpassed him in power. He's still god of everything, but all of his children can trump him _in their individual sphere of influence_. He's the "jack of all trades" of the gods. *How? Seduced mortals women, maybe. Turned stars into godlings. Who knows.

Re: Reduced Gravity Effects CLINGING--if he can reduce the effect of gravity on himself, his hand strength should be more than sufficient to let him support himself by grabbing any but the slickest surfaces. But if all he can do is reduce gravity on himself, FLIGHT, SUPERLEAP and CLINGING pretty much cover the concept. If he could change the _orientation_ of gravity's pull, he could do other things. "Fly" like a skydiver...in any direction. Walk or run on walls or ceilings.

Re: God as a Contact, not a spell list But...but...divine intervention IS a deus ex machina. It's an act of god. If the PC (or the player) thinks he's got any control over it, he's sadly mistaken...or should be. "Man proposes, God disposes," as they say. Ah well, different strokes.

Re: God as a Contact, not a spell list If I were you, I'd dispense entirely with rules for the situation and simply decide (rolling dice for effect, perhaps) how the god(s) respond to petitions for aid. If the gods are acting to further their own interests, they're not going to act when it goes against their interest, but they also aren't going to restrain themselves when acting would serve their purposes; so why roll dice? Also, if miracles are supposed to be rare and remarkable, they ought to be plot-dependent events, meaning that the GM decides when, where, how and why they happen. All a priest can ever do is _ask_, so why give him any kind point-based barometer of his chances? With no fixed chance of godly intervention if either the deity in question OR THE GM wants a miracle to happen (or fail to happen) for his own purposes, that's how it turns out.

Re: Of course we're criminals. We have to be. It's been many, many years since I ran a conventional superhero game. My games tend to look a lot more like White Wolf's "World of Darkness" except without all the doom, gloom and angst. Lots of supernatural critters running around, lots of magic, but most of it taking place out of view of the man in the street. So the man in the street isn't likely to even notice, much less get worked up over what the heroes are doing.

Re: GM Question: How to torture, errrr, 'improve' PC's over a campaign. Heh. I had great fun in Nexus' "Red Raptors" game when my character (who had just recently learned to fly) when flying at night over the city and soon realized she had no idea where she was. She had to swoop down low enough to read street signs, and eventually landed in a dark corner of a parking lot and walked into a 7-11 to buy a map of the city. Later on she bought night-vision goggles and a GPS gadget on which she could set waypoints for various landmarks so she could find her way around.

Re: Stat Inflation Shazbat! I was going to suggest the same thing. Great minds think alike. I'd go one farther, though, and institute Amber-style AUCTIONS for stat rank. For those who don't know, the Amber system has four stats: Strength, Endurance, Psyche and Warfare. Players get a fixed number of points to spend and then they have to bid on each stat. Once you've bid, the points can't be taken back--win or lose, that's what you pay for your rank (whether you're first, second, third or whatever). High bidder is ranked first in that stat. Nobody else, even someone who paid only 1 point less can hope to beat you in a contest based on that stat. Second highest always beats 3rd ranked and so on. If you don't want to bid, you don't have to--simply by virtue of being a PC, you're rated as "Amber level" in all stats, so you're superior to someone of Chaos rank, who is better than normal human, etc. Which leaves you with that many more points left over to spend on other traits and powers. If all your PCs want to be the strongest guy on the block, decide how strong you're willing to let that guy be--and then hold an auction. See if they're _really_ willing to spend a boatload of points on Strength just for the privilege. The winning bidder gets to have STR 20 (or 23 or whatever you've decided), with the others getting lower STR scores you've established. See if they're really willing to get into a bidding war and spend 20 or 30 points or more for it. Or maybe they'll settle for a STR of 15 (or whatever you decide they can buy at regular cost). Ditto for DEX or any other attribute they're obsessing over.

Re: Of course we're criminals. We have to be. And cops. Cops really like wearing masks when THEY kick in peoples' doors and burst in guns drawn (or blazing). Even--or maybe especially--when they hit the wrong house. Spider-Man is (or was, depending on which series you read) too young to become a cop anyhow. Daredevil couldn't pass the vision test. Iron Man has a bad heart/brain tumor/whatever. Besides, how often does Red Mask (or Spider-Man or Superman or, hell, Batman) "mistakenly beat an ex-cop into a coma in front of his wife and children" anyhow? I'd point out also that many superheroes spend a good part of their time dealing with natural disasters, accidents and the like. Should they ignore burning buildings, overturned cars, downed power lines and heart attack victims collapsing in the street because they don't have a badge? If not, why should they ignore a crime in progress? The vast majority of superhero battles with supervillains tend to be either interference in crimes they stumble across or follow-up battles as they try to foil the bigger plots thus revealed or attacks on them by annoyed bad guys. Kicking in the doors of suburban homes and beating shocked and helpless homeowners half to death in front of their horrified families almost never happens.

Re: Always use the biggest gun Hmmm. There's a set of minature wargaming rules called CROSSFIRE. It has an approach I've never seen in any other set of rules for seizing the initiative. Most games have set turns: one side moves, then another side moves, then the first side again, and so on ad infinitum. If you realize that the other side is trying to maneuver his units to accomplish a particular goal--even if your "army" couldn't see it--you can start trying to counter that. CROSSFIRE works rather differently. One team begins with the initiative (usually established in a scenario description). The controlling player can move any one of his units as far as he wishes in a straight line. If no enemy unit fires on it (either because they can't or they choose not to), he can move another unit (or the same one again). If an enemy unit fires on the moving unit it stops moving at the point where it was fired on; if the fire is ineffective, the active player continues his turn. If the fire is effective, the defending player has SEIZED THE INITIATIVE and now HE gets to move units as he chooses, until the other player can successfully wrest the initiative back from him. This changes the dynamic of the game drastically. Suddenly you have to balance aggressive moves against the possibility of losing the initiative and having the enemy counter-attack or otherwise foil your plans in a far more realistic way. I mention this because the same concept might be applicable to individual combat in Champions. Martial Artist-Guy and Bad-Ass Thug face off. MAG is faster, so he takes the initiative and acts first. He can move, attack, whatever--and until and unless BAT can successfully interfere, he keeps acting (ignoring the speed chart for the duration). If MAG punches BAT and does ANY damage (even just a little stun), he keeps attacking. If BAT dodges, blocks or the next successful punch does no Body and no Stun, MAG loses the initiative. Once BAT interrupts him, BAT takes the initiative and can keep doing things until MAG regains the initiative. If continuing to hold the initiative depends on succeeding with every attempt, choosing the manuevers and assigning Combat Levels becomes crucial--and you're going to pay attention to them. Repeatedly using the same boring attack every time is just ASKING to get your head handed to you. This is just off the top of my head; I have no idea how you'd integrate this with Speedsters or other serious disparities of power, but for characters of roughly comparable speed/power, it might work well.

Re: a new stargate game If you're really worried about the Stargate universe being mined out, do what I (would) do if I were starting a Stargate game. Treat the canon universe as a buffet. Take what you like, leave the rest, and start your players out at an earlier point in the series. For instance, I'd jettison the replicators--I never liked them. You could lose to a system lord once in a while and still survive; the replicators are an all-or-nothing foe. You defeat them--ALL of them--or you lose. Period. And they ought to have been both a) smaller (nanotech) and bigger (i.e., assembling themsleves into a far greater variety of forms). By the time you realize you've got a problem, it's way too late to hope to deal with it. So...no replicators in my SG-1 universe. If you pick and choose what you're going to keep, it puts the players back in the position of not knowing what the universe might throw at them. Which is good. I like the Aztec idea. If the goa'uld truly had such high tech when they ran Egypt, how likely is it that they never explored--and stole ideas from--other cultures? Besides, think how much fun it'll be for your PCs to discover that Apophis is locked in a death-duel with a rival system lord named...Quetzecoatl?

Re: PC Origins Defining Your Campaign I've posted here (somewhere) before about a PC elven mage in another GM's game who got so fed up with the mulish stubbornness and stupidity of the human villagers he was trying to help that he decided at the end of that adventure that the Dark Elves were right--humans had to go! So when I started a fantasy game later on for the same group, the PCs were modern humans transported to Yrth (this was GURPS) where they wound up in the forefront of the battle against YADE (Yet Another Dark Elf), whose campaign of genocide was well advanced.... That disgruntled elf's backstory was the fundamental motivation for a later campaign!

Re: Culture Shock: Slightly less 'cuddly' STAR HERO equipment Whatever floats your boat and all that, but... If I were going to run a high-tech game again (and I've been toying with a Traveller-esque campaign idea), after years of playing GURPS, I'd make sure the weapons were much LESS lethal. In most of the games I've played, high tech hand weapons (to say nothing of worse weapons!) tend to have two results when they hit you. Either your armor stops it entirely and you're unhurt. Or you're dead. Realistic? Maybe. Probably, even, if people are packing high-energy railguns or energy weapons and whatnot. But not a lot of fun for gaming purposes.* *unless that's what you like, of course.

Re: What's the most ridiculous PC you've ever been subjected to? Was what necessary? The action? Or telling you about it? And the answer in both cases is, "yes."

Re: Space & Time or Hexs & Phases A friend of mine is a) a martial artist, a sheriff's deputy in the county prison system, c) an instructor for the SWAT team there. He's got plenty of experience in fights and plenty more eyewitness experience. It's amazing--and a little appalling--to learn just how FAST violence can happen. The Hero system, like virtually every other combat system in a game, is way too neat and orderly to accurately represent the reality. Real combat--where people are seriously trying to hurt one another--is shockingly swift, brutal and brief. A trained or experienced attacker can punch you faster than once a second, and--especially in prison fights--usually the loser doesn't know he's in a fight until afterward, and by then he's lost. Personally, I'm happy with a more abstract and orderly combat system--but I don't think the problem with the Hero system is that the characters are moving too slowly.