Spence

There was a map of the Empire club in one of the old Hero books. I know I own it, but I can'tfind it. I am finally beginning a Pulp game and the first session is in two weeks. I have been putting together the fiendish villiany and was planning on the heroes operating out of the EC to save me a major map. But I realize in my panic I can't find it. Help!

Re: Hmmm...okay, how about a Bosnian Pyramid?

Re: Is "Way Station" a suitable addition for a superhero campaign? Just remember that it can become a Pandora's Box and talke on a life of it own

Re: A general question? What about Shields? Well, Ad Astras SITS, (Saganami Island Tactical Simulator) does a great job for 3d combat. The chart/control sheet called an AVID really does take the math and guesswork out of it. They have a version called Attack Vector: Tactical, that was first and was where they developed their 3d system. But I like SITS better because it sims the Honor Harrington universe. They have some great mini's for the HH ships, but you need flight boxes to use them in the actual game and they are not available yet. So right now you have to use the box mini's, small cardstock boxes with the images of the ships printed on them. Attitude is represented by using tilt boxes. It may not sound right, but it all really works well. The paperclip principle. Once the paperclip was invented everyone slapped their forheads with how simple the idea was.

Re: A general question? What about Shields? Curufea, did you ever get the chance to try SITS?

Re: A general question? What about Shields? Or four shields, like slices of an orange meeting at the top and bottom.......

Re: Hmmm...okay, how about a Bosnian Pyramid? It shouldn't, but surprises me that the very people who should be investigating it with open minds and a desire to expand their knowledge are the very ones that want to bury the possibility. The establishment could be correct and this is nothing, but what if they are in fact man made structures? It would completely re-write what we think we know. Which to this simple mister average, is something to be pursued. But I guess once you are a "tenured" University oh-my-god, it isn't knowledge, but preserving your meal ticket. Cynical I know, but I can't help it and my personal experience with the educated elite has caused me to place them many many steps below the ambulance chasing lawyer. If you resemble this but actually are intellegent and have some common sense, please don't take it personnal. Just realize I have probably had to deal with that idiot in the other building, after all everyone has one, "the idiot in the other building" that is. and sometimes we are that idiot......

Re: Tall Ships, Tall Sails Not misspelled, just a variation. I have also found fly-boat, fleute, fleutschiff, flute hollandais and fluyut in a brief glance of my references.

Re: Elves

Re: Battlestations I ordered a copy today.

Re: Battlestations Do you know if the distributers are carrying it yet? I am trying to do as much business through the new (young, recent, less than 2 years??) FLGS in my area. I already wind up ordering mostly through the online store for hero because the general answer the FLGS gets from their dist usually is the product is out of print. Whether it is or not.

Re: Help with a design Here are the main points so far. First off is the Incorporeal nature. I wanted a ghost like being that actually has to enter the victims body to affect it. Desolidification seemed the way to go. I also wanted it to be vulnerable when it was possessing someone. The way I see it happening is whenever the host gets hit it takes an equal amount of damage that got through to the host. It the host would have taken 5 stun and 2 body, then the Class 4 takes 5 stun and 2 body. If the Class 4 is not actually possessing the victim, it cannot be affected. Since “Does Not Protect Against Damage” is a (-1), I adjusted my version to be (-3/4). 34 Incorporeal: Desolidification , Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (60 Active Points); Does Not Protect Against Damage If Possessing (-3/4) Notes: Exposes the entity to normal damage while possessing someone My next step was the actual possession. I decided to base it on Mind Control with all the other powers linked to the MC. Only when the victim has been successfully dominated can the other powers be used. My take is that Mind Touch and Invisibility can be uses at the EGO+10 level and the remainder a the EGO+20 level. I bought the mind control and telepathy as cumulative to simulate a slow methodical take over of the victim. Once control is achieved (EGO+10), the invisibility kicks in. Basically all outward signs disappear except in the eyes (an the personality/actions of course). It is also at this stage that the hosts thoughts can be sifted. As the Class 4 solidifies its control (EGO+20), it can begin commanding the host to fight or kill. To make the host body perform better in this aggressive role, it can override the bodies natural limits, without regard to the damage to the hosts body. All of this “damage” is held over until the MC is released. The Increased Strength has this damage bought as a Side Effect. The Ignore Stun and Body do not negate the damage, but only defers it until the MC is released. All damage is totaled up just like normal except instead of being immediately applied it is just noted. The host can effectively ignore the damage until the possession is released, and then it gets hit with the entire accumulated stun and body. Since all the defenses were already applied before, it is taken straight through. But remember the Class 4 cannot defer the damage. Each time the host gets hit and totals up damage to be noted, the same amount is applied to the Class 4. If the Class 4 gets knocked out or killed the host will be released. If the host is a regular human or less tough, it can die when all of the deferred damage takes effect. Here is the write up. 50 Possession: Mind Control 2d6 (Additional Class of Minds class of minds), Cumulative (+1/2), Must Interpenetrate Victim (+1) (50 Active Points) 5 Notes: Class of Minds: Human and Animal 12 Mind Touch: Telepathy 2d6, Cumulative (+1/2), Use Knowledge and Skills of Possessed (+1) (25 Active Points); Usable only on possessed being (-1/2), Linked (Possession; -1/2) 2 13 Invisible: Invisibility to Sight Group (20 Active Points); Linked (Possession; -1/2) 2 Notes: When possessing a being the only outward physical indication is in the eyes. In the light the eyes look like they are filled with inky swirls. 6 Increased Strength: +10 STR, Overexertion, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Side Effect only affects the recipient of the benefits of the Power; +0), only when character stops using power (+1/4) (12 Active Points); Linked (Possession; -1/2), Usable only on possessed being (-1/2) 1 Notes: Side Effect: 3d6 16 Ignore Stun: Custom Power (45 Active Points); Only Deferred Until End of Possession (-3/4), Usable only on possessed being (-1/2), Linked (Possession; -1/2) 4 4 Ignore Body: Physical Damage Reduction, 25% (10 Active Points); Only Deferred Until End of Possession (-3/4), Usable only on possessed being (-1/2), Linked (Possession; -1/2)

Re: Looking for some "names" yamamura - Order placed Lord Liaden - Shiney! Thanks

Re: Looking for some "names" LL, Good calls. I actually have "Silent Mobius" as well as "Blue Seed" which I admit have influenced my campaign concept. But SM uses names that lean toward western/Biblical ones. Lucifer Hawks, Asmodeus, Baphomet and so on. I was looking for something with more of a Asian (Japanese?) feel. But I wanted to avoid blatant use of the names used in known anime. But I lack the needed knowledge to make them myself.

I find myself on a "creative roll". After a long dry spell (writers block) my ideas are finally making it onto paper. WooHoo!! But there is something still not flowing. The enemy the PC's are fighting are an ancient evil that has plagued the world throughout recorded history. It is the source of all the legends of demons and the like. Since the game is designed to have a decidedly “anime” feel to it the names I am using at the moment really won’t do. Somehow the inspired “Class 5 Invader” doesn’t really cut it. I was thinking of names for the five types of invader/demon and one overall name.

Re: Anime based game prep help. After a LONG delay.... I already use the "hidden xp" concept along the line of what ShinDangaioh and Lord Liaden referred to. I withhold a small amount of earned experience in secret and use it to pay for hidden abilities. Robyn's "bio-integration" idea is actually what I was going for, but hadn't figured out how to express it. Thank you Robyn But my idea was a bit more detailed. Not only have additional "abilities", but actually morph into another form. For example: The first form is basically just human with extra abilities. No outward indication that they are any better than a regular human. Each additional form retains the abilities of the previous one while adding more. The second form is like the power suits from Bubblegum Crisis. Form fitting and not much larger than then person wearing it, 6-7’ tall. Each additional form is larger and more mecha-like, with correspondingly more powerful abilities. It is the "reflex" I want to model within the rules. But I wanted each new ability or form change to be “triggered” the first time. After the first time abilities would be controlled by the PC, but changing “forms” would be controlled via an activation roll. I also want to simulate the suits/forms as being part of the PC's rather than a separate item they wear. I want the PC to take proportional damage when in one of the more powerful forms. I have been playing using Hero for a number of years, but there are somethings I just never tried to do before, and truth be told, I am just not 100% with revised...

Re: Help with a design After some thought here is what I came up with for the smaller class of invader. I had to attach it as a word doc since I couldn't get it to hold its format. Inputs would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Elves Actually to me it does. I think that the reason it doesn't to some, is because we are applying human standards to it. First the physical part. A dog lives maybe 12-15 years and matures within 2-3. A human lives 80-100 years and we say the mature in 18-21 years. In the past a human could expect to live 30-40 years and was an "adult" by 12-15. In some early cultures a woman could be a "matron" with several children by 20 and dead by 30. To a race that lives 1000 years, taking a mere 20-30 to physically reach full growth isn't far fetched at all. Now the maturity or mental growth. Who said a Elven "immature teenager" would be considered immature when compared to us. A 30-40 year old elf sitting in a group of us would be right there and just as mature as us. He would be able to hold a conversation and be just as mature as us. He has just as much world experience as we do. But if he was sitting in a group of elves, to the "mature" ones, you know 400-600 years old. Well he is just a young'un. Amusing and tolerated. After all he is just a child and doesn't really know better. This would also explain how they appear to humans. Imagine if dogs were able to speak and reason. And yet still die at 6-7 years or maybe 10-12 for a "venerable ancient". How many could you meet, befriend and watch die before you start to pity them, or avoid them rather than watch another friend die. What would the dogs think of you. Powerful, condescending? Arrogant?

Re: Elves No no no. Absolutely wrong! There are no half-dwarves or such. You are right about that. But there are Half-Elves. Take an elf, any elf. Put it in a room with any othe sentient species. give the non-elf a sharp object. Sword, axe...butterknife... And walla! Half-elf, or quarter-elf, one sixteenth-elf....etc.....

Re: Elves

Re: Elves When I run a fantasy game, my world has all of the "elder" races. But they are NPC's only. And few and far between. The Elder races are feared with good reason by the kingdoms of man. Their motives and thought are beyond the ken of mere mortals. All in all, Elves, Dwarves and such are simply not concerned with the petty squabbles of a race that dies of old age before an elf gets a pimple. They may breed slower but a warrior that has had a few thousand years to practice generally wipes the floor with a human. Plus magi with that level of practice and study are very very powerful. And since most Elder races are both, they can really mess up any humans that try to get uppity. For general play, the Elder fills the mysterious and powerful benefactor slot. Or oracle. Or whatever is needed. Elder races = absent minded professor working on a new idea for a memory chip. Humans = mice squabbling over a piece of cheese droped on the floor.

Re: Help with a design The entities are the threat. My upcoming game will have the PC's trying to stop an "invasion" form somewhere else. Only a very small percentage of humans are born with the ability to see/detect the presense of an invader. The PC's have this ability. While the world governments know about it, they are keepingh it secret from the general population to avert panic. A top secret organization has been established to fight an invisible war and the PC's are one of the newest teams that has been "recruited". Very little is know about the invaders. Exactly who they are, where they are from and their motives are not known. But they do not seem to be able to directly affect the world. So they are acting through possession. At least for now. I know I can just handwave many things, but I have always liked to have a complete write up. It helps me maintain a sense of balance when I plan a session.

Have you ever had a brain dump? Here is what I am trying to do. I need to create a non-corporeal being that being that enters and takes over a human host. During the possession the host’s gains increased strength and automation effects. Kind of a living zombie that feels and experiences everything, but has no control. But they take all of the damage and injury while possessed, they just ignore the effects until they are released. I’m just drawing a blank and need a starting point.

Re: Easily forgotten What's the series?

Re: Anime based game prep help. Sorry about not getting back sooner. World Cup and an upcoming business trip have taken up my time lately. I was actually heading along the lines you have suggested. I am actually building the 4 forms each as a multiform. Normal with three versions of biosuit/mecha. "Normal" is at the heroic level. The small transformation, next up, resembles the suits in Bubblegum Crisis, only a tad less powerful. Each of the next two are correspondingly tougher. I will be "hiding" a lot of the abilities until they are "activated" or "discovered". I was just hoping for a way to do it that used the rules.