Spence

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? Or an extremely powerful being (alien or magical background) caught in a epic battle against "X" that has spanned a millennium (century, years). He/She has either fought the "enemy" themselves (be reborn, past the torch, new body, whatever) and has become totally dedicated to stopping "them" at all costs. While they are the Hero and consider themselves the defender of man, sometimes things happen. The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the few. Met one on one in the street he/she is the nicest person you have ever met, kind etc. In Super guise they will save the cat, put out the fire, stop the bank robber and general seem to be just your average power level good guy/gal. But when "the enemy" appears, out come the stops and their true power is revealed. They should be on par with whichever major bad guy you want. Maybe even two superforms. One for each level of power invoked. A Hero or Villain? After the first battle in public with "X", and they assessment of collateral damage, the press will most definitely brand he/she a villain.

Re: Are the Asian Bestiaries Worth It? Short answer: Yes they are Long answer: What they said and Yes they are.

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See?

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? Great idea. Or maybe they don't turn to the dark side and like Spidey (back in the day) still try to fight the good fight. Even while hunted by the very people they protect. Or how about a villain with a split personality and dual forms. A female hero that transforms into a extremely nasty villain. With neither version aware of the other.

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? In that light I agree 100%. I always had to modify the published villains to be more silver/bronze and always just assumed the high killer ratio was from iron age contamination. But I would like to see more villains who abhor killing and are villains for the thrill, oneupmanship, or just plain non-lethal greed.

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? errrr.... BBS challenged??

Re: The New Mutants and The Hellions Naw.... You are just smart...... Like me

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? Chapter 4. Villainous Support. Along the lines of AnotherSkip’s and Lord Liaden’s posts. A section covering the villains and villain organizations that provide a villain with support and logistics. A gadgeteer inventor. Providing weapons and “super-science” tech to the up and coming mastermind. A super intelligent “normal” who specializes in mercenaries (Dial-a-Henchman) and so on. A Lex Luther type who is the CEO of the parent company.

Re: If Marvel and DC really *do* collapse Well Said!

Re: If Marvel and DC really *do* collapse a lot of good points. But I wanted to comment on this one. I'm one of those people that waits for the TPB. A standard comic is just too short to be worth it. I finish a single issue of a monthly comic before I finish half a cup of coffee. Plus waiting a month for the next 20 second issue just doesn't hold my interest. So I wait until enough of the series has been released to warrant a TPB. Years ago when comic stores actually carried comics I would wait and then buy 10-12 issues at once. But since they only carry one or two issues anymore they lost that business. and I am not into paying 2 or 3 times cover because someone wants me to finance their comic habit by buying "collectors" copies or some such drivel. Of course I'm the same way with regular books. I don't knowingly buy any novel that has part one or volume one on it until the conclusion has hit the shelf. I go through a standard book in 1-3 days and absolutely detest having to re-read a book just so detail can be fresh when I finally get the next volume umpteen years later.

Re: If Marvel and DC really *do* collapse I think you have hit the nail on the head. Superhero comics were about HEROES back in the day. Good versus evil. Good guys stopping the bad guys. DC and Marvel have forgotten that. Now it is all gray, the good guys are kinda good with "pasts" to haunt them. Villains are simply that way because they were abused, driven insane and so on. I used to read comics as a fun escape, not a window into the world I already live in. I just read the 5 graphic novels that have the new Teen Titans story line. Great art and well written. But instead of finishing them with that "where is the next one" feel. I was just depressed.

Re: Comics are getting too steamy... Well I just got done reading the Teen Titans graphic novels. The new series that is. I also went back and read some old volumes I had from way back. The new series is very well written and the art is great. But the story is much darker. I really miss the old feel, this new Iron Age stuff is so disappointing in a fundamental way. I can't really put my finger on it more than that. Jut disappointing. No point I guess. I just thought I'd throw that out there and don't really expect an answer. But it may be the reason it is so hard to find anyone to role play superheroes instead of just people with superpowers.

Re: Help a HERO newb! Sidekick can be used to run a complete game well and is a fantastic intro to the system. I have several copies to hand out to new players. A reprint of the big black book 5ER is already in the works tentative target of Feb according to Darren here http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52386. I didn't see anything more current.

Re: What's Your Favorite PH Campaign Power Level? Yes, but did you let them have any +1 Tableware to use just until their XP got high enough?

Re: Anime series as a campaign :weep: WWWwaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! :weep:

Re: Anime series as a campaign Curse you all!!!!!!!! sigh............ writes down yet ANOTHER title to find and watch

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? This weekend I got hooked on catching up with Bleach on YouTube. Grrrrr... Lost a whole day there......

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds? I like that. Thanks

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds? Ack..... OK I sat down and read the section last night. As a feeble attempt at saving face I will state that in my belief all references to game values sould be in numbers not text. ie 30% not thirty percent. OK that was weak. I'll be quiet now....

Re: What are your favourite Pulp cities? Don't forget Hong Kong!

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds?

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds? I can remember general phrases in the text and a couple examples that didn't define anything. I definitly do not remember anything in the text that gave % or addressed -'s to a die roll. I skimmed it again Sat and didn't see it. Either I am getting senile or maybe it was expanded with the 5th Ed update? Since I have a first run USPD, I'm hoping that it is the latter and not the former I can see I will have to re-read it again. Perhaps I should make sure I am awake this time......

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds? Just as an information query for those of us who have missed something. The Power Skill entry in both the rules and Sidekick only mention being able to perform things with a primary power if the roll is made, they also stipulate it should generally only be once and if the PC wants to do it again they should purchase the power/skill/whatever. USPD 1 basically rambles on with no supported anything. It cites the need for ambiguous limitations without a concrete pointer to where they are drawing the conclusions. For instance in MitchellS’s statement “Assuming we use the optional power skill rule you can do a 100% stunt with a -9 roll and a -4.5 limitation. That effectively means you're going to need a 20- roll to have….” He appears to be citing a table or a chart to make definitive statements of die modifiers. All I have seen is the basic skill exists and the GM needs to adjust as required. Is there an actual official Hero System rule (with actual detail, not what is in 5th or Sidekick)? Or is this all a discussion of House Rules? The way I do it is to compute the effect they want to achieve. Fire Dude wants to use his EB to create a temporary wall of Flame to hold the crooks. I have him make his roll and apply +/- based on the situation. Since it is a “stunt” he will pay the End whether it works or not (house rule). I then determine how well he succeeded based on his roll. Using his points in EB to figure out the FW . I keep it a basic FW with very little fancy stuff though I will keep important limitations. I then adjust the number of dice by the level of success. For instance if the number of points would buy a 6 die Force Wall and the PC barely made the roll, he may only get two dice and need to spread them. Of course he pays the End for all 6 dice. This brings me back to the question. Where are the rules that take a simple skill roll and apply modifiers that support statements like “100% stunt” and “-9 roll with a -4.5 limitation”? Inquiring minds want to know……

Re: Champions Or Mutants & Masterminds? I think that Power Skill definitely needs a more detailed discussion. The information in the rulebook and USPD 1 is very vague. I haven't picked up Ultimate Skill or USPD 2 yet. I believe the ramifications of this rule need a much deeper look. Funny you mention it. I had already planned on using HAP's in my next supers game. Connecting it to Power Skill sounds interesting. I 100% agree. With both points. I am not familiar with M&M to speak to it specifically, but hero already has a built in system for this. All it needs is for the GM to be comfortable with it.

Re: What's Your Favorite PH Campaign Power Level? My last PH game was 150+100.