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Ghost Archer

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Everything posted by Ghost Archer

  1. Just to remind everyone, Simon is a genius. That worked. Thanks!
  2. Okay, I am having a lovely problem with Hero Designer. Note that I have both HD v3 build 2008030405 and HD v6 build 2021100804. Really old and current. Both open like normal. I can change any text in the Basic Info tab and Background tabs. I can change characteristic, add skills, no problem. but if I try to add a Perk it freezes up, just the error noise it makes when you. click anything. Have to close it with Ctl-Alt-Del. If I open a sheet and try to change or edit a perk, talent, power or disad it locks up. Now I know JAVA is a pain, so I did an update. Same results. I uninstalled JAVA and loaded it up fresh. Same results. Only thing running is Discord and AV. Even turned off Bluetooth. Any suggestions?
  3. Excellent, I knew I could count on you guys, thanks. The problem is I've been out of practice making characters now for five or six years and this one had never occured to me. Thanks again.
  4. I am currently in a game system duel with my son. Naturally I'm all Hero but my poor, deprived lad has fallen into the evil that is Pathfinder/5e D&D. To prove a point that Hero is the more complete system I am building a character he is running in an online game and I need a few ideas. Not being limited by the unimaginative D&D system means imagination plays a far greater part in Hero character creation but this one has me stumped. A dullahan is an Unseelie with a removal head. The body can act completely independent of the head and while the head can exist independent of the body it is severely limited physically. It still is functional in all ways intellectually. Any suggestions on a way to simulate this?
  5. I GM'd Rolemaster/MERP and Spacemaster for years while also running Champions. Which game I ran depended on who showed up that day. At some point my RM/MERP champaign bled over to Champions via character stories though I never tried to merge the two systems. Finally RM sort of faded and all was Champions. I found RM to be tedious in both character creation and combat with too many unanswered questions about game mechanics. The one thing I still find useful is the MERP books which are fantasic.
  6. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else Oddly enough this is that exact way I have interpreted it and this is also why I am using Images. I think the discussion has jumped the track at this point in an effort to present me with alternatives involving Shape Shift or explain to me other concepts I've been dealing with for thirty years. I thank all for their input.
  7. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else Hero System 5th Ed Revised page 97 I want to create an illusion giving character X the appearance of Y I want to allow character X to pass as Y without a requirement that character Z (the creator of the power) constantly maintain control of the power. This power must last for a varying length of time dependent on the situation. This power, while very believable is not prefect and while it is difficult, can be ‘seen through’ under certain conditions. This power must mimic all moves and mannerisms of character X for the duration. It must follow character X as he moves from point A to point B as necessary. I know. Also with respect, I know this but a ‘hearing’ component is not required and so I am ignoring it for purposes of this particular instance. Images can be light, obviously, or air vibration, or molecular manipulation to combine various free element to provide the aroma of a skunk. It can be an interference of the electo-magnetic spectrum that scrambles radar or the alteration of a body’s neuro impulses that messes up a person’s aura. I never said I don’t allow it. Thank you for this idea. I like it. Ouch, Lucius, a bit harsh. I am not trying to denigrate anyone’s ideas or suggestions and I respect all such but in this instance, as the GM, I wish to use Images regardless of the availability of alternate possibilities. My primary concern now is defining this particular power using the advantages and limitations suitable to Images. By doing as you suggest with a sticky white label, however, begs the question: If by labeling these two particular powers POWER X, what differentiates them?
  8. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else What is this 6e1 of which you speak? Now, AOE vs Mobile. It is mobile by definition then? Would remove one troubling concept . . . Okay, let's toss the Shape Shift out, I am beginning to hate it, but to answer your questions, yes, it is possible that someone might see through this disguise. As for the rest, it is not important for the purposes of this thread. So, what are your ideas on how this Image works when placed on someone? See Images have always been a problem for me. I have always seen them as 'illusion of a party' that just runs in a random manner where the components as simply doing 'party thing'. What I am having trouble with is the illusion is covering someone, so it must move as that target does, contantly changing and unpredictable. I think that adding 'conforming' would allow the Illusion to act like a Goofy costume in Disneyland or is this unnecessarily complex. (Hey, I love complex, that's why I play Hero.)
  9. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else
  10. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else I was more interested in defining the actual terms and what they mean to me if removed from the context of the game.
  11. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else Here I have been playing this game for thirty years now and it is only in the last couple of weeks that I realized that in all those years I have never actually constructed an ‘Illusionist’. I have built shapeshifters and mentalists with mental illusion powers but never what I think of as an ‘illusionist’. Allow me to define and offer an example divorced from ‘game mechanics’ and not including things like David Copperfield. An Illusionist is one who utilizes light to manipulate what is seen by the audience. Now let me look at game mechanics. Shape Shift: the actual physical modification of the subject i.e. David Banner into the Hulk that is perceivable by all. Mental Illusion: the manipulation of a subject’s mental processes to induce them to believe David Banner has indeed become the Hulk without actually affecting David Banner in any way. Perceivable by one. Image: the projection of an image that is superimposed and hides the subject’s physical appearance without physically altering the subject that is perceivable by all. This is how I see these three alternate methods of changing a subject’s appearance and since this is the way I see it I consider powers to have the following limits. Shape Shift: You cannot change the ‘sight’ appearance of the subject unless you also change the ‘touch’ appearance. Therefore Shape Shift will always include the ‘touch’ aspect in any ‘sight’ shift. These changes are perceivable to others. Mental Illusions: pretty much anything goes with one mandatory rule, is must always be EGO/CON based. These are illusions that are all in the head of the subject and not perceivable by others. For a Mental Illusion to affect say a room full of people would require an Area of Effect. Images: an alteration in light that changes the subject’s appearance but does not alter the subject’s physical structure. For that reason, I reject ‘touch’ Images since that either physically alters a subject in such a way that they now ‘feel’ like a mail box, i.e. Shape Shift, or would be entirely in the mind of the person under a Mental Illusion and hence not perceivable by anyone else. This is the way I NOW define these three powers as the GM and because of this and based on the two characters that I am working with, Images would be the game mechanic I am looking for. My other questions hold however with regards to ‘conforming’, UBO and ‘mobile’. Can/should ‘conforming’ be use to ensure the Image will react as the ‘wearer’, copy his movements etc. Does UBO mean the ‘other’ user controls the Image effect or is merely allowed to create an Image of his own devising? Since an Image is by definition a 1” (2 meters for those of you high on 6th) Area of Effect why isn’t ‘mobile’ a legal Advantage as defined by HD3? Note: To me Transformation is an entirely bigger can of worms I don't wish to open.
  12. Re: Images vs. Shape Shift or something else Okay, allow me to expound . . . Shapeshift: To me any use of shapeshifting is no long an illusion as it can physically alter Character 1 and is not what I am looking for. Transform: Again, like Shapeshift, it physically alters character 1. Image: This is ideally what I would like to use but I am confused about certain things that do not include 'sense' issues. The image needs to move along with the target. It needs to mimic their gestures and mannerisms. If character 2 produces this Illusion does he have to be constantly watching and adjusting the Illusion? Could Usable by Others be used to allow character 1 to control the Illusion or would this just give him the power to 'cast' the Illusion? I think the closest analogy I can think of is a 'holographic disguise belt'. Oh, I am not concerned with Limitations as I have a set in mind, nor am I concerned with 'cost' as I pretty much ignore it in favor of a power that is both well-designed and logically proper for the objective. On Advantages: I see from HD3 that 'mobile' cannot be used: "Mobile can only be applied to Powers which already affect an area." I was under the impression Images was by nature a 1" (2 meters for those of you utilizing a later Edition) Area. As for the my second question concerning 'mimic gestures' would 'Conforming' be appropriate? Another thing, what type of 'invisibility' would be required to prevent the origin of the power from being detected. Would any type of 'invisibility' be needed if UBO is used since the 'caster' and target would be the same?
  13. Problem: Character 1 is a huge (i.e. 8 feet tall), hulking (yeah, like the Hulk), not very attractive (as in non-human) individual who would like the opportunity to have a beer with his buddy without causing the innocent to be trampled by people running in terror. Tools: Character 2 is a great guy who happens to have some pretty good powers of 'Illusion'. These are NOT mental powers. Objective: A power that can create the illusion that Character 1 is a normal looking kinda fellow. Extenuating Factors: Character 2's SFX in this case must be an Illusion. Suggestions?
  14. Re: Have you written a story? Over the years, playing on a virtual desktop with dozens players, I have collected something like 20000 pages of actual superhero gaming chatlog. It is a long slow process but I have been editing it and have about 450 pages of story condensed down. This does not include sections still in the original 'chat' form and I am very far from finished. This isn't my only project either. I also have hundreds of pages of Urban Fantasy 'chat' that I have only begun as well as a third storyline that began as a game but has since become something outside. New character stories are my weakness, I love writing them, but as I no longer game, and am no longer fettered with a finite group of characters, I've created far more characters then I need. Doesn't stop me though. As I write this I am mulling over an entirely new set of characters that I need for a single scene in another character's background. I'll end up writing a background for each of probably 10 characters just to put that one background into perspective. And this is just so I get things right in my own head. Some of my junk ended up in my blogs on this sight, more on Wattpad.
  15. Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Wire in the Blood
  16. Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? 'Age of Reason' and 'Common Sense' by Thomas Paine. What has happened to our government?
  17. Re: Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios Okay, so Cryptic was already a shell corporation of PW . . .
  18. Re: Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios Well, if you are already used to inflation, you'll feel right at home, just don't hold your breath when it comes to glitches being fixed.
  19. Re: Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios I've been playing Perfect World for about three years and it has good points and bad. I am sorry to say that lately the 'bad' has seriously outweighted the 'good'. PW is, like every company, only concerned with the bottomline and to the point that they ignore not only player comments but refuse to fix program glitches that have existed since Beta. Their stock answer to everything is to add 'packs', sort of a lottery scratch and win. Thing is the odds are probably better with the lottery. Unfortunately the 'packs' flood the game's economy and drive prices to outrageous levels. For example, 1 gold, which is equal to $1 USD was worth about 100k in game coins when I started now, it is up to 1.5 million game coins. As a non-cash player I have found I can no longer stomach weeks of grinding just so I can afford my next piece of gear. I am sorry to say that with PW in charge of Cryptic within a year you'll be cussing them as much as those of us that have abandon PWI. Go over to Perfect World International's website and drop into the Forums. It'll take about two minutes to see that PW does not care a bit about the players. Pick a thread here : http://pwi-forum.perfectworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4 R.I.P. Champions Online
  20. Re: How can mutants be discriminated against while other "supers" get a pass? My answer to the original post is this, mutants can be lumped together in a universally accepted term, mutant. Non-mutants supers can be a wide variety of beings, aliens, man-in-a-can, spider bite victim, whatever but they are not easily pigeonholed under a single label. It is much simpler to hate someone with a readily identifiable classification. Our world, right now, has examples of what I mean. When I say Muslim, what is the first thing most people think? Terrorist. And conversely, all terrorists are Muslim. Look in the paper, well, read on the computer, this is the way everyday people think. Publicity is the reason mutants are singled out as a group. As Mrs. Archer, in TV News for 20 years always said “If it bleeds, it leads” and the more sensational the better. Every single western news source feeds the public with crap that tells them ALL Muslims are terrorists and ALL terrorists as Muslim. Guess what, people believe it just as they would believe all Mutants are evil.
  21. Re: Setting, really: Corporate Champions? I am trying to imagine Ghost Archer with a Dr. Pepper logo on his chest having to stop in the middle of combat to hold up a can, pop the top and take a long drink to satisfy his corporate sponsor. I guess the dazzling white smile would be brought to you by Crest. After a while all the heroes would begin to look like NASCAR cars.
  22. Re: Help for set (super)heroic perspective in my campaign The emergence of 'metahumans' into the limelight would probably be my first priority. How does the world find out about them? Does one megalomaniac type do something spectacular or does a well-intensioned do-gooder do something equally spectacular to save lives or is it just someone with an ego that HAS to say 'look at me, see what I can do'? Maybe stories in the 'National Questioner' begin to add up for some one. Also importantly, what does the government know? What to other governements know. I can see a possible 'arms race' for 'superheroes'. How would the government react? Recruit them? Suppress them? Jail them as a national threat? Form a Senate subcommittee on Metahuman Affairs? What will be the reaction of the various religious groups? What about the reactions of various racist group? The media would have a field day. The next thing would be how are your PCs going to react? Are they going to hide what they can do or embrace it? Are they gung-ho or reluctant? The first introduction of superpowers to the mundane world can be as complex or as simple as you and they want it to be. I see a lot of 'fly be the seat of your pants' in your future. It all comes down to how your PCs want to play it.
  23. Re: Best/Worst Characters? My Best? I judge this by the character design I am most proud of and that would be a character everyone called 'Stitch'. A shapeshifter. I design him for another player after he'd given me a vague idea of the power he wanted. Not long after, he complained and quit the game for a few months because I had nerfed his character. I have never been so mad or insulted in my gaming life. I am still damn proud of 'Stitch' and the player did come back after his wife explained the character design to him. He turned out to be a lot of fun for not only me but the player and the rest of the group. My other Best was a speedster, Blurr, I designed for myself . . . hint to all . . . NEVER offer a complex, well-designed character to a GM just starting out . . . especially if he gives you 200 free points. It was a total mess and he quit after ONE run. My worst? Oh, gawd. Understand I was NOT responsible for the character concept, only the character design and build. 'Chiquita', like the banana. She wore a fruit bowl on her head . . . each fruit was a different power . . . she carried a watermelon . . . made her look pregnant . . . I am SO embarrassed I even consented to make that one.
  24. Re: Writing an Origin- Advice That would be me . . . I have tried to explain my method of writing to others but I am never sure if they understand. I start by determining what kind of character I am going to build. This usually means loosely defining basic powers. From there . . . the story unravels in my head like a movie I've never seen. All I can do is write as fast as I can before the reel ends. Some are short, some are very, very long. Some end abruptly while others never end. All seem to weave together in a tapestry that confuses even me. As more characters appear, I build them and their story begins . . . I can only hope it never stops because I've met some fascinating people in the process.
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