dbsousa

Re: What sort of benefits do Fringe Benefits confer? If you are an unlicensed pilot you cannot file flight plans. If your plane does not have a flight plan, and you are flying anywhere near a major airport, the nearest air traffic controller will call the Air Force when they spot you. Not getting shot down by a fighter pilot every time you fly a plane: priceless. The same goes for doctor or lawyer. You can offer your services as either without a license, but you would be committing a felony.

Re: Question on how much to charge for a custom talent... If it were me, I would buy each spell with RSR, and Variable Limitation: Extra Time or Increased END. That way each spell costs a bit more than if it were built with Extra Time or Increased Endurance, but not both. The character can split his limitation as he sees fit, between time and END. As a House Rule, suggest that the Skill Roll assumes the spell will take the full Extra Time Limitation, each faster increment gives a penalty for "rushing" in the same way that they may receive a bonus for "Taking extra time"...

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? [wading into a conversation that I know I should avoid] Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote, "If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being, and who is willing to destroy his own heart?" The problem with races that are "evil because they are evil" is not that they promote racism in otherwise pure minds. People are tribalist by nature, and assign evil traits to those outside the tribe with abandon. The problem with evil races in fiction is that it accepts this tribalism, and feeds it back to us without processing it. "Evil races" are 2-dimensional by design, and are a poor excuse for actual characters. In gaming, they are lazy storytelling, and a shortcut I try to avoid. Had Tolkein written the Lord of The Rings about Aragorn, a noble human who rallied his troops against an unfeeling horde of inhuman beasts, led by a personification of Evil, few would remember him, except as a hack. Instead, he wrote about a little man who had to struggle with his own demons, knowing that in the end, his failure almost destroyed the world, except that his merciful decisions earlier saved him. Evil Orcs don't make people racist. But anyone who gives any thought to the true nature of evil in the world will be bored, bored, bored, by them. [/wading into a conversation that I know I should avoid]

Re: Whattya call it? Briscoe County Hero?

Re: New talents for Fantasy Hero I don't have my book or my notes, but here are some I built for my post-apocalypse fantasy game: Ambassador: The character is tremendously observant in the face of alien cultures and society. His attempt to emulate the local culture glosses over any faux pas he might make. Members of other races see something of their own race in him. 10 points, bought as +20 PRE, only to offset racial modifiers.(-1) I'll have to go home to find the others, they escape me at the moment...

Re: Super Skills If it were an ordinary skill, yes. but this super-skill involves a bite from a radioactive shark in las vegas (with laser beams on its head)

Re: Spell: Faerie Fire? This seems to be the very definition of a cosmetic transform...

Re: Super Skills Card Shark: The character is so good at reading other players that he can tell what cards his opponent is holding by the "tells" he exhibits Telepathy, only to read players hand, requires an opposed roll (gambling vs. gambling, or gambling vs. EGO) can't do the math at work...

Re: Title for the next HERO villains book Aliens, Arsonists & Anarchists Burglars, Bandits, & Behemoths Cads, Counterfeits & Criminals Demons, Demagogues, & Dictators Exiles, Entities, & Evildoers Fascists, Phantoms & Footmen Guards, Golems, & Graverobbers Harriers, Harpies & Hellions Ingrates, Inventors, & Iconoclasts Jailers, Jinxes, and Jezebels Knife-wielders, Knaves, & Know-it-Alls Losers, Larcenists, and Liberators Marauders, Mountebanks, & Malcontents Naughty, Naughty Nurses (ok, this is a different genre...) Ogres, Oddballs, & Overlords Pirates, Pugilists, & Politicians Queens, Quislings & Questioners Radicals, Robots & Robbers Scoundrels, Scumbags, & Sadists Terrors, Torturers Viscounts, Vampires, & Vagabonds Wubba Wubba Wubba Xenophobes Can you believe I gave up so close to the end?

Re: Clever Future Weapons Has anybody read about this weapon?

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters Other elements to consider in this game. Do Psychic powers exist? Is the astrologer Nancy consulted a precog? With the Alien Nuclear Attack thwarted, they will have to send ground troops in, probably establishing bases in Grenada, El Salvador, and Nicaragua ("The Sandinistas are just two days drive from Harlingen, Texas".) What are the strange structures in Havana, Cuba? Has Castro made a deal with the Aliens, or does he have his own agenda? Why won't Reagan talk about AIDS? Is it an Alien Bio-Weapon? or is it our attempt to create a universal vaccine that failed? Does U2 really have a plan for "Peace with Honor", or are they just trying to sell records? And is Prince a good alien or a bad alien? Sounds like good, goofy fun, no matter which side of the Reagan coin you are on...

Re: How would you design this with FREd? 1 1/2d6 RKA Area of Effect (Line, Straight up) plus Change Environment (Shut off Electricity, 128" radius), Extra Time (10 years) At least that's what the one I saw explode looked like to me... Or did you want to simulate its electrical properties?

Re: [Western Champions] Chamions of the West Super Team For your seventh, how about a Pinkerton Agent?

Re: Interstellar drive I'm glad you asked... In my game, the boundaries of the galaxy are determined by the flow of the Spinward and Contrary Hyperstreams, twin spacewarps that allow ships to travel at a speed that is effectively faster than light. The Hyperstreams are like rivers, one traveling in the direction of Galactic Spin, and the other traveling against it. To enter the stream, a ship needs to shield itself from normal space, and be moving at a certain speed in a Spinward or Contrary direction. Since ships in normal space tend to travel in straight lines, precise geometric calculations must be made to determine the moment when a ship's tangential movement coincides with the direction of the stream. The streams only spin out to about one half the radius of the Galaxy. Beyond that distance, FTL Travel is believed to be impossible. Once in the stream, a ship has limited control over its course. By altering the properties of its Hypershield, a ship may tack towards or away from the core (In or Out) and towards either of the Core's Poles(Up or Down). A powerful ship may expend energy to increase or decrease its Spinward or Contrary speed, but may not change directions without leaving the stream and jumping into the other. The Hyperstream will move a ship completely around the Core in one year; the most powerful ships may cut that time in half. An odd result of Stream Physics is that two solar systems may be very close to one another, but aligned in such a way that it requires two jumps to reach them. A Star's gravity well is large enough to cause an eddy in the stream, but even planet sized objects create only ripples. When leaving the hyperstream, it is possible to materialize in the middle of a planetoid, an asteroid field, or even another ship. Since normal sensors do not work in the hyperstream, a variety of methods must be used to navigate it safely: System Beacons: Any First World System will plant Beacons in space that transmit data to Spaceships, letting them know where it is safe to re-enter normal space. Systems use Beacons to control entry into their territory, so pirates do not rely upon them. Nav Droids: Navigation Droids are programmed with data and algorithms allowing them to memorize areas where it is safe to re-enter. Since they are almost necessary to perform the calculations to enter the hyperstream, they are often used to determine where to re enter. A Droid is only as good as the data he receives, though, and a good pilot will not use old data to determine where to enter. Ship Probes: The most expensive but reliable way to find a spot for re-entry is to launch a ship probe. Once the probe re-enters normal space, it releases a beacon that provides the ship with all the data it needs to find a re-entry point. The best pilots can re-enter in the middle of an asteroid field using two Ship Probes. The effects I hoped to achieve with this method are as follows: Information can only move as fast as the ships that carry it. any two systems are more effectively served by courier than by standard communications. Intersystem warfare and politics would be plagued by the same communications delays in pre telegraph Europe. The frontier is truly a frontier, and the greatest democracy in the galaxy uses an interstellar pony express to move information in seven days from one point to another. The mad scientist who creates Instantaneous Communications Technology could rule the Galaxy (Mwa-ha-ha!)

Re: Truely Alien Races One of my players built a radially symmetrical alien as a player. We gave it amnesia, and the University that found it called it "Alien 47"... I don't know how alien it seemed, but it looked pretty strange...

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent If an honest person is accused of a crime, what better way to vindicate him than by (insert any civil rights violation here)... Do you want to be stopped on the street by armed policemen to see if "your papers are in order"? How about letting the cops break into your home without a warrant? or tap your phone line for the next ten years? If you're innocent, you have nothing to hide...

Re: Suggestions? Telepathic PCs just captured VIPER agent As to whether Telepathy is a passive sense ("I was walking by his mind, and it just fell out!") or not, consider this: It requires an attack roll. If this were my game, and I allowed the Telepath in the first place, the scenario would go like this: Low Level VIPER agents don't have much to spill, but they spill it. The heroes have phenomenal success, and wipe out as many VIPER's nests in their hometown as they care to play out. VIPER strikes back with robots and shielded agents, but the heroes defeat them and capture a high level VIPER agent. In the ensuing power vaccuum, PSI steps in.

Re: [Campaign World] Clockwork Fantasy Malefactor, Heretic, Monster, Cretin, Corruptor, Fiend?

Re: [Campaign World] Clockwork Fantasy Lich? Wight? Sinner? Accountant?

Re: Science Question for my Sci-Fi Game. (Haven Players, stay out!!!) So you are saying that both Heaven and Hell pull on every moving object in Haven? Religious Scholars will be pleased to hear that...

Re: Combining sources I basically steal stuff from Keith Curtis... David "Riding on Coattails" Sousa

Re: Science Question for my Sci-Fi Game. (Haven Players, stay out!!!) I am only giving them a simplified explanation. The players do not have a scientific understanding of their world, and only the most experienced archers can compensate for the pull of Temptation on their arrows. I think The game effect is this. Range Modifiers are doubled for characters who do not know which way they are facing. Any character who has been keeping the Waterfall or the Mountains in their sight, can compensate with a simple INT Check, or take a half-phase to orient. A character who has neither in their sight must either spend a half action to find one, or fire a shot "Blind", at the double penalty above. A character who has made a Blind Shot may roll an INT check, at +1 for each -2 of Range Modifier to the blind shot, in order to re-orient himself. A character with Bump of Direction and Weapon Familiarity can ignore these penalties. One things for sure: Baseball is not a popular sport in Haven.

In my Post Apocalyptic game, the "Chosen People" of Haven were spared by "God" and transported to a 50 mile by 50 mile patch of land, with an impassable waterfall to the South, impassable Mountains to the North, and a bottomless Void of blinding light during the day and impenetrable darkness at night to the East and West. In this land of Milk and Honey, the Chosen accept as a fact that There are two forces that act on a moving body in Haven. Gravity and Temptation. Gravity pulls a body to earth, Temptation pulls it East, toward "Hell". Before I ask the Science Questions, I must ask any players to stop reading. Seriously, stop... OK? The players' understanding of gravity comes from the fact they are in an O'Neill Cylinder of Epic proportions, and they are experiencing centripetal force from the spin. The Cylinder's diameter is wide enough that only the most sensitive people will be able to feel the Coriolis effect (Bump of Direction). The cloudy weather from the waterfall and the height of the mountains prevent them from seeing the whole cylinder (on a few clear days a year, they can see the other two land masses above them, which they interpret as bridges to Heaven and Hell). My questions are these: If you throw an object into the air in such a cylinder, does it indeed appear to be pulled anti spinward? How would a speeding projectile move in this framework? Would it depend on the direction they faced? Would a pendulum at rest point straight down, spinward, or anti spinward? I can't seem to find these answers on the internet. Maybe it's broke. Thanks, David

Re: Ncm:15 They didn't have to. Once they knew that I wasnt going to let two characters have STR 18, DEX 20, CON 13, BODY 13 etc., I got a good range of stats. I think also that making it a 75 base point game with 75 points of Disads, and giving the characters access to Alien Abilities and Mystic Powers, made them concentrate less on stats, and more on how to build the Jedi Mind Trick, or the radially symmetrical alien...

Re: Ncm:15 In a recent Star Hero Game, I tried to increase the variety in Stats by declaring that no two game characters could have all identical Primary Stats. It seemed to do the trick...