wick

Re: How Much DCV?

Sounds like you need to enforce caps on DEF. 20 points max is standard while 40+ is at the Cosmically powerful...this is a pretty big difference. If he has already started to use this character you can have him max his DEF at 20 and then use the extra points to buy damage reduction instead which would still make him the toughest guy on the block.

Re: Armor Wars

I think alot of it has to do with Worf Syndrome. Worf, the half Klingon from Star Trek: the next Generation, would on a regular basis get his butt kicked by aliens. He was constantly being used to show the viewer that an alien race was physically strong. Basically he is the standard by which Alien physical or martial prowess was measured. Wow, that alien b-slapped Worf, I guess he must be a bad-azz.

Same thing with the military in Comics. Most people have a fair comprehension of the power of a Main battle tank and can readily see that The Hulk can tear one apart like so much tin foil and bounce the shells from it's main gun. Interestingly enough, you always see the military using their current state of the Art weapon systems against the hero/vllian ( for example, Comanche helicopters rather than Apache's or Cobras or in the case of Fighter jets it is the F-22.) This is a further test showing that even the Armies most advanced gear is no match.

Re: Armor Wars

I did not approv of the scene in Iron Man I when he fights the Tank (it definitely stretches my suspension of disbelief). Even against an old soviet tank firing HE rounds (lets not get into sabot.) Stark should have sent into GM discretion land. And then his tiny little missles blowing the tank up....riiiiiight!!! The problem is that the Ironman is far far far more powerful than a tank.

Would a roughly large human figure flying in the air be extremely difficult difficult to hit with the main gun of a tank? Yes (easily believable.) Should Stark's Armor provide much protection in the event he suffered a direct hit? No. It looks like they just need to incorporate the suits Armor plates and weapons into a tank and you would have an unstoppable tank that even Iron Man could not defeat.

Power Armor/suits: used at infantry level

Mecha/Tanks: Vehicle level. Not sure why people would think Mechs would be better weapons platforms than a tank. sometimes simpiler is better and the tank can have more armor and heavier weapons. Any tech improvements in one design can be integrated in the others.

Evolution of Tanks in land warfare: Tanks are becoming more obsolete becuase of a few factors:

A. Man portable weapons that can destroy/ disable tanks. This ranges from rockets all the way to IEDs.

B. Nature of Modern warfare. Tanks are not much good for peacekeeping or counter insurgency missions.

C. Susceptability to aircraft attacks.

Re: Primus hud computer

Don't forget Absolute time sense (chronometer), Bump of Direction (compass), possibly universal translator(as primitive as some devices used in Iraq today or as SCI-Fi as you want).

A two way radio bought as mind link...i believe they give an examle in the main book using mind link.

Flash defense vs both hearing and sight group flashes.

Maybe a built in targeting system (Lazer sight or even a smart link) each +1 to OCV bought with 5 pt CSLs on Focus Helmet.

Night vision should be pretty standard, possibly other vision modes as well.

Radio perception to be able to pick up transmissions.

How about AK: local geography to simulate GPS and the use of sattlelites to map the local area and transpose it on your HUD.

Cameras/video: I think you can buy this with Eidetic memory.

Just some ideas off the top of my head...i hope this gives you some ideas.

Re: Armor Wars

I already plan on implementing some low cost battle suits for use by special agents when dealing with Supers. They are called A.P.E suites ( Armored Personnel Exoskeleton if I recall) also dubbed the APE because it kinda resembles a big gorrilla in Shape. Boost to STR, Armor, and heavy weapons, and some limited flight/leap capabilities in the form of jump jets. maybe give them a variable pool so they can be loaded out with particular weapons or abilities for a given situation. At only about the cost of an F-18 too there will not exactly be hordes of these suits.

Re: Armor Wars

In addition to the technical and financial barriers to widespread deployment of powered armor, there are political and cultural barriers, too. Frankly, for all the money the military spends on R&D, there's a strong conservative element in military thinking, too.

 

"So, you want us to completely discard nearly a century's worth of tactical, strategic and logistic doctrine in favor of this here whizbang-gizmo of yours? You sure it'll work under battlefield conditions? You're sure it won't malfunction every time it gets sand in its gears or someone hits it with microwave radiation? You're sure it's soldier-proof? Trust me, you give something like this to a pack of grunts, and they'll find SOME way to screw it up you've never even considered. I know tanks work. I understand tanks. You'll have to convince me that this thing isn't just better than a tank, but that it's as dependable, too."

 

Not to mention, defense contractors have billions invested in current technologies (ongoing R&D projects, existing factories, etc.), and armies of lobbyists to keep congressmen from approving budget expenditures for 'untested and potentially unreliable technology'.

 

"We'll just have to appoint a committee to explore the possiblity of writing up a proposal to investigate the potential of your prototype, Mr. Stark. We'll get in touch with you... eventually."

 

Under those conditions, if there is any technical, financial or tactical drawback to powered armor, you can be sure someone will find it and start dragging their heels over it.

Except that the Tech is proven by Mr. Stark when he flies around beating up villians and destroying Tanks or their equivalents without much trouble. Sometimes all that it takes is to show that an idea is not only possible but that it incredibly effective. For example, in pre-WWI many nations had invested some in Aeroplanes but they were more of a novelty and only really good for Recon purposes. It did not take long after one pilot in WW I strapped guns on his plane and hand dropped bombs on the enemy, that the world took notice of aircraft as incredibly effective combat machine and worth investing heavily in. From there aircraft inovations has improved by leaps and bounds.

Whether a Nation would invest in Power Armor is dependent on many things. The Cold War Era Russians may dabble in the Tech but it would not suit their military which is composed of a large number of "peasent" soldiers with simple weapons rather than a more elite core of well trained experts with complicated gear/state of the art weapons. Also the U.S. puts alot more value on the lives of their soldiers (often a weakness that is exploited) but this also leads to investing in tech to keep the soldier alive such as Body Armor, Up armored Humvees, MRAPS, etc... To R&D and manufacture the suits would also take advanced manufacturing facilities and some of the worlds best design teams as well as substatial capital.

Re: New Home for A Stranger

Release the Kraken!

I wonder how a fresh water turtle would fair in the salty Pacific.

Re: First Character of My Creation.. What do You All think of It??

Talk about thread necromancy

Wow, posted in 2005.

Re: Special Effects

Interesting to give him +50 str as a multipower slot vice just buying his total STR to 100.

The + to SPD as a MP slot seems really weird on how it would work. Example: He is currently sped up and on his phase 5 he needs more strength so he uses the +50 Strength (note that he has to use all 50 of his pool becuase it is an Ultra slot), but now he can't use the + to SPD and it is no longer his turn until his phase 6 ? Could be pretty chaotic keeping track of his segments too.

Re: Letters from a Stranger

Good job. interesting story. However, the perspective is kind of weird. These are written as letters to the character's father but written in present tense as actions are happening. I imagine the character running around with a letter in one hand and a pencil/pen in the other writing the events as they are happening. If he were a reporter talking into a recorder or Video camera describing events as they happen this would make sense. Rather you should use more past tense as the author describes the days tramatic events. He probably would have time to collect his thought and reflect on the events after the crisis is over rather than during the event. Just my opinion.

Re: Special Effects

Would it make more sense just to use Summon and be able to summon a particular sea creature. I mean if A-man summons a giant squid than it has body, it can be flashed, mind controlled, etc... does an OIF? Can you flash an OIF?

What I would do is create maybe a dozen different sea creatures and use summon to call them. I have little experience with A-man but he seems to call the right kind of creature for the task that needs done so you can leave it with summon. More realistically there might not be a giant squid in the area when he really needs the Giant squid, so you can add an activation roll with a success meaning there is that creature type in the area.

Multi form may be appropriate for B-man he just wont be able to use powers from one form with another. Justice league batman may not have a batmobile! Also you would have to buy the same base/vehicles for each form...one form has a bat cave and so dose the other. But aren't these the same character but at different points in his life? That is not multiform, but rather batman evolving overtime from a vigilante crime fighter to a world savingJustice League member. If they were written to occupy the same timeline than use mutiform since the two characters are probably written fairly different in each of the respective comics.

Batman the team leader is a bit different. Just make Robin, BatGirl, and BatGerbil put points in the Perk for group vehicle and base. This should help mitigate the point cost and makes more sense than a multiform.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes!

Supers are beings definitely capable of changing the world solely by themselves even at low power levels they can dramatically affect their local area. But certain other powers can change history greatly. With Teleportation or a significant amount of flight do you think the existence of the Americas would be a secret to say ...the ancient Egyptians? Controlling large empires would be easier with these powers plus long range telepathy/mind link or a speedster. Any nation without supers would be at a severe disadvantage economically and militarily. Imagine the Economic advantage a weather controller would be for an ancient Athens. Some supers are pretty much unstoppable against modern technology, how would the ancient Spartans fair against even one such opponent?

With that kind of initial set up why would Governments like Democracies, Republics, or Communism even develop?

Religion: Polytheism would rule. You have living beings with god like powers running around. I am sure the pantheon of gods would change over time as older ones are forgotten after a few hundred years and new ones are constantly added.

Powerful supers will likely recruit lesser supers that have certain powers to have those powers at their disposal.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes!

I am surprised that more than a few nations are not ruled by superheros. Civilization, prosperity, and peace has softened or world outlook but the world has been a pretty cruel place (still is in many places in the world today even if we don't realise it.) how many ancient civilizations would use a nuke responsibly, some supers are the equivalent and all they have to do is be born. if humans were around they would be servants and pretty powerless too. not to mention tech would be lower, since the supers would not need some things and humans would not in a position to strive for tech.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

Ok. this is the latest after making revisions based on inputs in this thread.

- I decided to keep the distinctive features.

- Added a few ideas from Matthew's Version mainly some disadvantages that I did not think of.

- Balanced the upgrade weapons a little to make them more variable and hopefully more or less equal or more useful in certain situations. Need to play test this abit.

-Changed the Environmental control into a Multi-power.

-Changed a few multi power simulated attacks into Multipowers...i.e the Spear is a HKA, that has reach (Stretching), and can be thrown. As suggested by Susano.

- Grouped up a few miscellaneous powers under a multipower.

- Removed Armor to increase durability of a few foci.

- Added Damage Resistance 25% Physical. in the film the Pred was not exactly springing bullet wounds despite the Autofire, but he does not wear armor or have obviously armored skin. Maybe some one can run some simulationsto see if this works well.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

VAL CHA Cost Roll Notes

30 STR 20 15- HTH Dmg 6d6 END [3]

21 DEX 33 13- OCV: 7/ DCV 7

20 CON 20 13-

20 BODY 20 13-

20 INT 10 13- PER Roll 13-

12 EGO 10 12- ECV: 4

20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6

0 COM -5 9-

6 PD 0 Total: 6 PD ( 0 rPD)

4 ED 0 Total: 4 ED ( 0 rED)

4 SPD 9 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12

10 REC 0

40 END 0

50 STUN 5

10 RUN 8 10m(Base 6+4 from Fast Runner) END [1]

2 SWIM 0 2m END [1]

4 LEAP 0 4m (Base 2+2 from Agile Leap) 4m forward, 2m upward

CHA Cost: 126

Cost POWERS

23 Life-support system: helmet & suit: Self contained breathing +10, Safe environment All: +9, Immune Disease/Bio+10, Immune all chemicals+10; OIF (-1/2)

10 Agile climber: Clinging: (10pts) 1D6 KB resist, represents climbing ability inherent to race.

8 Fast Runner: +4" Running

2 Agile Leap: +2" Leap

13 Claw Blades: Right Bracer:1D6+1 HKA STR+HKA = 2.5 D6 damage; Durable (+0); OIF (-1/2)

72 Multi-power:Hunter suit systems 90 PT pool: IIF (-1/4)

2 u.Slot#1: Left Bracer: Cloaking Device: Invisibility (sight group); Reduced Endurance 0 END (+1/2); Does not work when wet(-1/4), IIF (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#2: Left Bracer: Self Destruct Device:10D6 EB; Explosion (1/2); Mega scale 1"=100M (1/4); No Range (-1/2); IIF:when activated demolitions or electronics roll to discover (-1/2), Gestures: to activate (-1/2)& 2 hands require (-1/2); Charges: 1 charge (-2), Non recover (-2); Lockout: Cannot use other powers in MP while destruct active; Extra time: 5 minutes before destruction (-2)

1 u. Slot#3: Helmet: Universal Translator: IIF (-1/4), Understand Spoken Language only (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#4: Medkit: Healing 2d6: IIF (-1/4), Extra time: 1 Turn (-1 1/4), Paramedics role (-1/2), 6 charges (-3/4)

1 u.Slot#5 Targeting Laser: +3 OCV w/Plasma cannon:3 X 5pt CSL only; OIF Helmet (-1/2)

5 Infarvision: Naturally sees in infared spectrum

12 Multi-power: Vision sensors 15 PT pool: IIF (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#1: Night Vision; IIF helmet (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#2: N-Ray vision; IIF helmet (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#3: Ultraviolet vision; IIF helmet (-1/4), Lockout: cannot use with Infared (-1/4)

1 u. Slot#4: Enhanced vision PER+2 to reduce sight penalties in any unusual environment(Sight Group); IIF helmet (-1/4)

15 Tough hide: Damage reduction 25% Resistant (Physical)

POWERS Cost: 170

Cost SKILLS: Roll:

3 Acrobatics (DEX) 13-

3 Analyze (INT) 13-

3 Break fall (DEX) 13-

2 KS: Alien Species (INT) 11-

2 KS:Predator Culture (INT) 11-

3 Mimicry (INT) 13-

2 Navigation (INT) 13-

2 Survival: Tropical (INT) 13-

2 Survival: Arctic (INT) 13-

2 Survival: Mountains (INT) 13-

2 Survival: Urban (INT) 13-

3 System Operations (INT)

3 Tracking (INT) 13-

Everyman:

0 Acting (PRE) 8-

0 Climbing (DEX) 8-

0 Concealment (INT) 8-

0 Computer Program. (INT) 8-

0 Deduction (INT) 8-

0 Native Lang. 4pts no literacy

3 Paramedics (INT) 13-

0 Persuasion (PRE) 8-

0 PS: Hunter (INT) 11-

3 Shadowing (DEX) 13-

3 Stealth (DEX) 13-

0 Trans Fam Mil Spacecraft(INT) 8-

0 AK: Home world (INT) 8-

SKILLS Cost: 41

Cost: PERKS

2 Fringe Benefit: Member of the Tribe. Includes access to predator technology and starships.

10 Tribal Vehicle/Base: Each member of the tribe contributes to a starship that serves as both a base and means of transportation.

PERKS Cost: 12

Cost: TALENTS

3 Bump of Direction

3 Resistance: +3 to Ego skill roll to resist interrogation only

TALENTS Cost: 6

Value DISADVANTAGES

10 Distinct. Feature: 8' + Tall non human humanoid. Easy Conceal w/ Cloak+5, Ext.Com react: Fear+10. Not distinctive to other of same race/society -5

15 Distinct. Feature: Spirit world disturbance, not concealable +15,ext.React:10, unusual sense-10

20 Hunted: U.S. Gov. Division 13 Spec ops. Occasion 8- , more powerful+15, NCI +5, imprison/kill-0

10 Hunted: Watched by fellow hunters:More powerful+15 , Extensive NCI +5, Occasional 8- +0, Watched -10

10 Phys Lim: Limited understanding of Earth;Frequent+10, Slight +0

10 Phys.Lim:Naturally sensitive to Infared spectrum. Without helmet on Earth -2 PER, -2 OCV, -1 DCV .

25 Psych.Lim: Code vs hunting unarmed or children.Total+10 (-5 Ego roll to overcom lim), Very com.+15 Can negate -5 Ego penalty if fighting worthy unarmed and give up some advantages(such as removing plasma cannon, helmet, etc..)

20 Psych Lim: Thrill of the Hunt: Obsessed: trophy collection, often will retreat with corpse of worthy foe or keep coming after corpse if it is denied the trophy. Groups of lesser prey may be killed before trophies are collected. Strong+5 very common+15

10 Reputation: Hunter of men: Frequent 11- +10, extreme+5, small group-5

5 Rivalry: With other Predators; proffesional +5, As powerful+0, Outdo+0, rival aware+0

5 Social Lim: Respect is given to the best hunters. Those at the bottom of the hierarchy are subject to those above. Occasional+5, Major effect+5,Predator society only-5

DISADVANTAGES Points: 140

Charactersitics: 126

Powers: 170

Skills: 41

Perks:12

Talents: 6

Total Character Cost: 340

Base Pts: 200

Disadvantages: 140

Power Upgrades can be bought with experience pts:

Cost POWERS

60 Multi:Other upgrades: 90 PT pool: OIF(-1/2)

6 u.Upgrade#1Plasma Cannon: Left Shoulder mount: 12D6 EB: Reduced END: 0 END (1/2); OIF(-1/2)

1 u.Upgrade#2: Dart Launcher: Right Bracer: 1D6 RKA: 3 recoverable charges (-3/4); OIF (-1/2)

2 u.Upgrade # 5: Razor disc: AP (+1/2), Area of effect Any: travels in a line but can form a ring to return to user (+1), Reduced End: 0 END( 1/2); OAF (-1), No KB (-1/4)

1 u.Upgrade # 6: Mini razor discs: Reduced End: 0 END( +1), OIF (-1/2) , Range Based on STR (-1/4), No KB (-1/4)

2 Multipower-Spear Upgrade#3: 43 PT Pool: Real Weapon (-1/4), OAF (-1)

2 u.Slot#1 Spear Thrust: HKA 2D6: reduced END 0 (+1/4); Real Weapon (-1/4), OAF (-1)

1 u.Slot #2 Long Weapon: Stretching 1" : reduced END 0 (+1/4), OAF(-1), Always direct (-1/4), No Noncom stretch (-1/2), only to cause dmg(-1/2), no Velocity dmg (-1/4); Real Weapon (-1/4),

1 u.Slot #3 Throwing Spear: HKA 2d6: ranged based on STR (1/4), 1 recoverable charge when thrown (-1 1/4),OAF (-1), Lockout: Cannot use HKA until recovered (-1/2); Real Weapon (-1/4)

34 Multipower-Razor Net Upgrade #4: 40 PT pool: Continuous (1); Uncontroled (1/2), reduced End 0 (1/2); 1 recoverable charges (-1 1/4), OAF (-1), Range Based on STR (-1/4)

1 u.Slot #1:Net: Entangle 2D6 DEF2: 1 recoverable charges (-1 1/4); cannot form Barriers(-1/4),Range Based on STR (-1/4), OAF (-1)

1 u.Slot#2: Razor wire: RKA 1 1/2 D6: 1 recoverable charges (-1 1/4); OAF (-1); Linked lesser to greater (-1/2), Range Based on STR (-1/4)

* Trophy weapons: In AVP one Predator had what looked like a knife made of some creature's bone. To add flavor, a variety of melee weapons could be added made from trophies collected but will likely not be of a superior quality to the usual arsenal.

Background/History:

Not much is known about this predatory species except that there have been a few encounters reported from reliable sources in the late 20th century. The first recorded encounter was in the summer of 1987 in Guatemala by Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his special Search and Rescue Task Force. His fire-team consisted of 7 expert, heavily, armed soldiers that were sent on a covert mission to rescue Cabinet ministers whose helicopter was downed by guerilla forces. Major Schaefer reports encountering an alien that used advanced technology to render itself invisible and had a shoulder mounted weapon that is deduced to fire a bolt of Plasma. This alien wiped out the major's team in less than 48 hours and seemed to hunt the team in search of body parts for trophies. Dutch managed to defeat this creature after discovering that the creature sees body heat and could not detect him after he was covered in mud. Major Schaefer fashioned crude explosives and weapons and armed with knowledge of the creature’s ability to see his body heat, Dutch set up an ambush. After defeating the alien, the Major narrowly escaped from a large explosion caused by a self destruct device activated by the dying creature. The blast covered an area of nearly a half a kilometer radius and although seemingly a product of a fission or Fusion it left no radioactive fallout.

The second confirmed encounter was in the summer of 1997 in Los Angeles by LA PD Lieutenant Michael Harrigan and Detective Leona Cantrell. The encounter was thoroughly documented by a special Task force set up by Division 13 who was tasked with capturing the Predator's advanced technology after the first reported encounter in 1987. The task force, led by Special Agent Peter Keyes successfully tracked the predator using a net of motion sensors on rooftops to a meat packing plant and attempted to capture the predator with liquid nitrogen guns, heat insulated suits, black lights, and sprinkling radioactive particles in the air in order to render the alien's cloaking device inert. The predator was not fooled and changed the elector-magnetic spectrum range to ultraviolet in order to see the capture team's black lights. Although, visible, the Predator killed the capture team. Lieutenant Harrigan managed to chase the creature down and kill it. Lieutenant Harrigan reports that a group of 5 of the creatures then de-cloaked and retrieved the body of their comrade but did not attack Harrigan. One actually gave the Lieutenant an antique flintlock pistol which has been authenticated to be almost 200 hundred years old circa 1700's, which leads to speculation that the aliens have been hunting the Earth for at least that long.

From the classified corporate files of Wayland industries file # 316B-29X: A third encounter with this species occurred on an archaeological expedition to a whaling station (Bouvetøya) 1000 miles North of Antarctica, lead by Billionaire Charles Bishop Weyland. The expedition was in search of a buried pyramid discovered by heat imaging from a satellite. The expedition was caught in a battle between this predator species and another unknown species of alien. The only was survivor, Alexa Woods an Arctic survival expert hired on as the expedition guide. She reported that the team’s archaeologist had discovered that the Pyramid was a trap to bring humans to the Pyramid to act as hosts for the parasitic offspring of the unknown aliens and that the Predators would hunt these creatures as part of a Rite of Passage ceremony. The Aliens were able to overcome 2 of the 3 predators. The remaining Predator allied with Alexa and together they were able to wipe out the nest of Aliens using the predator self destruct device to destroy the Pyramid. One large version of the alien species, reportedly the egg layer, reached the surface and attacked Alexa and the Predator. By the end of the fight the Alien ‘Queen’ fell into freezing depths of the Antarctic seas and the predator was mortally injured. A spacecraft appeared form nowhere, presumably with the same cloaking technology possessed by the Predators, and several predators emerged to retrieve their fallen comrade.

Personality/Motivation:

The Predator Society is similar to human ancient hunting societies. The best warriors are the leaders of the tribe through their past exploits and through ritualistic duels. The predators are trophy collectors but only choose the hunt species that are able to pose a threat in combat. If denied a trophy from a kill it will seek to retrieve the trophy before killing again if possible. The predator will not attack people that provide no “sport” such as unarmed, children, or pregnant women.

Powers/Tactics: The basic predator is equipped with Cloaking Device, life support systems, a self destruct device, helmet with visual sensors, targeting laser, medical kit, and Claw Bracer. These are given to the young upon reaching adult hood. Replacement and repair of these devices requires the predator to return to the base ship and is only done when the Predator abandons an expedition or finishes the hunt at the appointed time. As the predator becomes more experienced and undergoes rites of passage, it is granted more weaponry. Common weapons: are detailed above. The melee weapons aremade of a metal alloy not found on earth that is extremely durable. This upgraded weaponry can be replaced but requires a trip back to his home world or undergoing rites of passage.

Hunting technique: The predator will stalk his prey to determine if they are worthy foes and their relative power levels. Against a group of opponents that are much stronger the Predator will try to separate the group and kill a few members in order to reduce the power of the group to a more manageable power level. Against a weaker group the Predator will ambush the entire group. Against a stronger single opponent the Predator may seek alliances or work together with other Predators (Both of these actions are not preferred, since the Predator would like the sole glory for a kill but there is precedence and there are some things that a Predator can't kill alone.) Against a single worthy (but weaker) opponent the Predator may level the playing field by removing his helmet which negates his breathing life support suffering penalties for being in thin atmosphere and Vision penalties from being partially flashed by abundant IR light. If the Predator has weapon upgrades it may also divest itself of those, as well, to further make the fight a challenge. Worthy opponents are ones that have managed to damage the creature, foiled his kill/trophy collection, or are shown to be cunning.

Appearance

Predators are 8”+ tall humanoids with claw like mandibles and dreadlock like strands on their head. They wear little in the way of clothing preferring bits of Armor and a helmet. They prefer hot environments but have been know to hunt in almost any environment.

Designer's Notes:

I have decided to only treat some of the movies as canon to the Predator Mythology and some of the books and graphic novels that I read many years ago. For example, the latest Alien VS Predator: Requiem is pure garbage. Unlike the Alien Movies, most of the predator movies are fairly good and don’t detract from the mythology too much.

Throughout the 1st 2 movies there seems to be some mystical connection and some magically sensitive individuals can sense a disturbance of some kind when the predator is in the area. I was not really sure how to simulate so I went with a Distinctive feature limitation. Any hero who happens to have some sort of spiritual/magical sight will know of the Predator's presence in the area detecting it as an unnatural, evil presence. "There's something out there..and it ain't no man."-Billy

From the first movie when the predator takes off his mask his point of view is flooded with IR light. I extrapolate from this that the Predator’s vision is sensitive to the Infrared spectrum of light and therefore evolved in an environment where Infrared is harder to see. Hence the Predator suffers a penalty to his attack rolls when the helmet is removed. This serves to level the playing field and to make the fight more challenging by partially flashing the Predator.

From the 3rd movie: Predators in an Arctic environment is a departure from the first two movies. A different kind of Blade disc is introduced and one Predator had a knife. Also dispelled the idea that the Plasma cannon are a standard piece of gear since the Predators had to go through a rite of passage to earn theirs.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

It's a racial disadvantage, but you still get to count it. If what you say were true then he shouldn't get a disadvantage for not being able to see visible light, as all members of his species cannot see it.

 

It's on the Master List of Physical Limitations under "Dietary Restrictions - Carnivore"

 

http://web.archive.org/web/20080415152917/http://lostcoastgaming.com/files/masterlists.htm

 

I did find one official character with a similar disadvantage to that I gave Predator. Look up UV Sparrowhawk from Enemies for Hire. She's a member of a bird-person race who has the Physical Limitation that she cannot eat cooked food. It is worth 10 points, and it's a common disadvantage for her whole race.

10 PTS!!! I would think 5 points would be a stretch. I suppose the Predator would be in real trouble if he was stranded on a world with no animal life ( Infrequent if not a rarer occurence.) I don't see how not being able to eat cooked food would be either, common ( this is how frequent that this disadvantage comes up) or a disadvantage.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

Actually they tracked the Predator to the meat packing plant. If the government knew a Pred was in the city and had a reputation for hanging around a meat packing plant to eat raw beef than it would be a disadavantage but a reputation disadvantage.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

This should be, and always has been a Physical Complication/Limitation. A Psychological Complication can be overcome with an EGO Roll. No matter how well you roll, you can't suddenly overcome a totally lack of familiarity with Earth's general culture. However, I agree that it's not really a limitation for the character.

 

 

 

His Reputation in Predator is "The Beast/Demon/Devil That Makes Trophies Of Men." It's 11- and Limited Group (local people.)

 

 

 

I agree. This is not a disadvantage to the character. And based on the first film, we don't even know if that's true.

Awww...I see what you mean about the Phys lim on "Know Earth Culture" This seems to be the case if the character is totally Alien to Earth..like a Cthullu type character that has a completely alien view on everything (or am viewing a phys lim of this type with an extreme example?). What about situations where a character has some knowledge or similiar knowledge such as, for instance, an anachronistic character brought through time from ancient times? Or a humanoid alien from another world whose technology is more advance but similiar to ours; it may not be a stretch to go from a communicator device to a cell phone but many other concepts may not transfer over hence a disadvantage? Would these be better covered by Psych or Social disadvantages instead of a Physical lim?

Reputation: Perhaps to such a very very small group that actually knows very little. But frequently? Of course at infrequent you have a net 0 pts. How often would the PCs run into Aborginal type people or their artifacts that an archaeologist can read to find out about his Rep? Of course in most of the movies there seemed to be these people and things on hand. I suppose this also takes into account the government knowing a little and perhaps even other planets. I think I will add.

The eating meat thing was something brought up in Predator II . He hung around a slaughter house and it was intimated that he also ate there. But not really a disadvantage being a carnivore in general, for example, wolves probably don't have this as a disadvantage.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

Here is the Predator write up I did for the 250 point project years ago.

 

http://home.comcast.net/~mathewignash/cspredator.html

Interesting take on this characther.

Disadvantages:

Overconfident?: Overall I would say no. For most of the hunt he attacks from ambush and flees when there is too much opposition. He is actually very cautious and will observe his victims and thin out their numbers before rushing in. That does not yell out overconfident to me. Maybe an enrage would be better, triggered by a foe surprising him and damaging him.

Does not know Earth's culture should be either Psych lim or better yet a Social Lim. I may just add this one to mine. Although I am not sure it is such a big disadvantage since he really does not interact with the locals too much.

Can't see in visible light spectrum: I have come to the conclusion that not only can't he see visible light, but also he is partially flashed by the abundance of IR light without his helmet. In my version he gets half the penalties as one would get from being flashed. in my humble opinion.

Reputation: I did not go this route becuase his species really is not known by the population in general. only a few small groups have vague legends/intell concerning him. Maybe on some planets they do but so far this has not been portayed as being the case on Earth.

The distinctive feature: I need to research this a bit more myself; since he can cloak most of the time wouldn't that make his features easily concealed? Also, there has been some debate as to whether he qualifies as having a DF (see multiple posts in this thread.)

Phys Disadvantage; Eats raw meat: You do have it at the lowest levels but I am not sure that it is even that much of a Disadvantage really.

Unluck? I don't really see how he is particulary unlucky. Most of the time something bad happens to him is due to his opponents skill, cunning, etc..rather than his own luck. Maybe you are more read up on the literature however.

Psych lim: vengeful? Maybe, he does try to blow up his opponent when bested. Other predators don't seem vengeful against any humans that beat one of their comrades, however, so maybe it is ownly personal vengence. do you know of any examples to support Vengence?

I like the rivarly and Hunted watched by other hunters.

Powers:

I made my predator as a base character with only the stats and gear that any new adult Predator will have. The other weapons are optional upgrades if you need to boost their power level you can add a spear, net, etc...

Interesting take on the Breathing device focus and recovery. It reminds me that I need to give the predator some further penalty when his mask is removed.

Density increase? You should just simulate with buying increase stats, reduced KB, etc.. rather than buying Density Increase as a power (this should only be used for characters that actually change the Density on a regular basis rather than one that is More/less Dense all the time) At least that is how I read the power.

Cloaking device: I should add the water affected it to mine. Also your Cloak seems way over priced (in 5th ed Invisibility is base 20 with 0 END advantage that puts it at 30 pts and then you apply your lims for even less. You should be paying 20 pts accoring to your sheet.

Vision: I am putting mine in a Multi power frame work: IR & UV like yours. He will also have some N-ray vision ability to be used with the IR ( since he can see heat shapes through walls and even look into human bodies.) I also gave him Enhanced vision to offset penalties from unusual lighting conditions this counters being blinded by excessive IR light on Earth or other lighting conditions on othe planets that would give him a penalty...this simulates his ability to adjust his helmets sensors to see different spectrums.

Targeting Laser: I made mine at +3 OCV ( 3 X 5-pt CSLs: 5 point levels are the minimum CSL level that you can add to a Focus) but I made it OIF becuase you can readily see there is a laser when it is being used. I think I may change this to IIF but give it a visible power SFX instead.

Bomb: Only a mere 5D6 RKA!! that seems like overkill to me , base cost is 75 pts before advantages!! 112 Active pts for a real cost of 3 pts (lims and Ultra slot.) Also in the movie the bomb was about 1 KM in diameter. I simulate this with a megascale explosion and used EB instead of killing attack this gives Dutch a reaonable chance to survive the bomb.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

All that means is that the Voodoo priest has Danger Sense, probably with a mystical SFX, not that the Predator has a Mystical Distinguishing Feature.

 

EDIT: As to why they would have such a strong reaction. It's an utterly alien creature who's sole purpose in being there is to kill members of your species. I can't imagine anyone who could sense it not having a very negative reaction.

Danger sense is pretty generalized, why would this one danger leap out. In other words, Billy's danger sense is probably going on and off all the time while in a war zone and he is pretty cool with it, but all of a sudden his danger sense goes off and he is scared, which by the way, is a emotion that his team mates believe Billy never feels or shows. If it is soley "Danger Sense" why not have the same reaction to the Guerilla fighters or on any of the other, previous, dangerous mission that the Commando team has went on? Can you imagine Spiderman (or name you favorite Danger sense character) having the same kind of reaction? Even a 25 point danger sense is only going to tell him there is danger in his general area normally. You could buy it with Discrimatory; analyze but that would have allowed Billy to tell them team precisely what was threatening them.

And I suppose both characters had an enrage or other psych lim that made them challenge the Predator to a mono a mono sword fight despite having many other, rational options available?

To use your own words: " ...have a strong reaction. It's an utterly alien creature..." Sounds like a DF to me. It is not like either character has never had people try to kill them but you are right this is an alien. So you would expect these same characters to react the same way against Greys (the aliens from popular UFO mythology) that may be trying to kill them? Or pretty much any Alien race that just happens to be hunting them? I can't imagine these guys going all highlander on other ETs, instead of just shooting them or whatever.

I think that their reaction and "Danger Sense" reaction were pretty singular to this particular threat. Which would mean that this creature has something that makes it distinctive from other similiar threats. Hence the DF.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes!

That is the reason why having a history of Super powered beings should not result in a modern world that closely resembles the real life modern world. Sort of like time traveling, the farther you go back in time and change things, the greater the divergence from our own time line. Throw in powerful and/or influential people, and they cannot help to change things.

All manner of things should take into account superheroes. Culture, law, insurance, Government policy, art, technology, science, industry.

Few comics take these repercussions into affect. (The notable example being Watchmen which shows how the world diverges from our own; at first, with small effects, due to the presence of relatively normal hero level characters but later even more by one cosmic level being.)

Agents of change can be disruptive/destructive: riots, protests, labor strikes, etc... What if superheroes efficiently broke up Black Civil rights protests in the 60's without much violence. One of major reactions that helped the civil rights movement were outraged white moderates appalled by Riot police using attack dog and firehoses on the peaceful protesters. What if instead Mentallo walks up and mind controls the protesters to go back home peacfully, would Black Americans today still be treated as second class citizens? Sometimes events are destructive or criminal at first but stimulate a change for the good; most heroes would probably be for keep the status qou and everything stable and peaceful.

What about the cold war going hot. Not with nuclear weapons but with super beings that can easily infiltrate a country and with enough false documentation can not be easily connected to their mother country. the Soviets could set up a super powered agent to become a villian in America.

Would the American's Lunar landing have been such a triumphant to humanity if a Super powered hero flys the landing module to the moon or even teleports it there?

Just things to consider.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes!

To be fair' date=' I'd earnestly wonder why it seems that nobody ever conceived of the notion of superhero registration before. Why didn't the call go out for all patriotic superpowered individuals to register themselves and fight the good fight against the Axis in WW2 at the very latest?(*) Why did no earnest, respected politician ever step up to question what gives these so-called "superheroes" the [i']right[/i] to don masks and take the law into their own hands from behind the veil of anonymity -- a right that society would readily deny to Joe Q. Redneck and his trusty shotgun if they tried to do the same? Indeed, do not the very actions of many of them support the view that they share the same belief as many supervillains at heart -- that might ultimately does make right?

 

There's some real food for thought here, I think.

 

(*) In real life, of course, the reason was that there were no actual superheroes around and the comic book creators couldn't with good conscience let their fictional creations regularly outshine the real heroes of the war -- especially not while it was still being fought in the first place! But in a game setting which presupposes that people with real superhuman powers did in fact exist at the time, that explanation doesn't work.

I think that many Super heroes would not go to War. Obviously if some disagree with a controversial war they may even oppose the government they think is wrong and if the war is popular they would be labled terrorist or villians. Even the ones that do go to fight will have isues since most of the time you are going to be killing not capturing the bad guys. Code VS killing types need not apply, even if they don't do killing themselves they might have to fight friendly forces to stop them from killing as well depending on how strong are their Psych lims. And War has a way of tarnishing peoples "soul" and really dampenings their innocence/idealism. Maybe pick up some new psych/social lims too.

The best idea for the hero would be to stay out of the war entirely and keep things stable on the home front. Unless you are the Comedian then going to war all in all is not too great an option.

John Q Redneck could stop a crime with his trusty shotgun but he would also likely be arrested and if not face criminal charges, he would be sued by any criminals he injured. At the very least he probably would not see Mr. Trusty Shotgun for a long long time as it sits in an evidence locker even if the charges levied against him get dropped.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

Susano: Thanks for the insight. Rules as written for obvious/inobvious is to determine whether a power obviously comes from a Foci without a Perception test or use of some unusual detect. I gave a direct quote from the 5th ed revised book previously and it seems pretty clear to me, the obviousness describes the power being connected to the Foci and not how obvious is the Foci itself. whether your Foci is a big, red dunce Cap or a nondescript baseball cap is irrelevant. What is relevant is that your head gear has attached to it what any layman would describe as a cannon

But it seems that powers are generally given the greatest obvious/inobvious limitation based upon all the powers associated with the Focus based upon your reading and experience. I should probably read more entries to get a better idea about how the professionals build their characthers. For now I will leave it as separate powers with separate OAF/IAF limitations. I can always go back and change it later, but for right now it makes more sense to me. Please re-read the Focus limitation though and tell me if I am totally off base in regards to my interpretation of the "Rules as Written", without examples from other books.

I suggest that if we continue arguing the Point it should be in a different thread since this thread has veered well off topic.

As for the DF. I was building the Predator off of PRED 1, PRED 2, and most of AVP. Just using Pred 1, I agree Billy would have danger sense and perhaps an enrage nuff said. In context of Pred 2's voodoo priest King Willy it leans more towards a DF to mystics. AVP did not introduce any mystics to further confirm or refute the Mystics argument. What I wonder about as being strange is why theses types of people would have such a negative reaction to the predator at all...that is something never fully explained in the movies or any of the literature that I read. Maybe a more well read member can cite other encounters with mystics and shed some light on the issue.

Re: Predator: rough draft. Any comments?

I definitely am not as well read as you Susano concerning the Hero system books and have glanced through only about a dozen or so characters. It just seems strange that something that should be inobvious is labled OIF and it does not follow what the 5th ed revised rule book says. Something that is Obvious does not even need a PER roll ...hmmnnn that spear might be the source of his HKA. Duh! In the movie it did take 3/4 of the movie and Dutch getting covered in mud for him to figure out that the Predator even had IR perception and probably a logical conclusion that it must be his helmet giving him enhanced sight (note to self make the IR inherent and not a focus.) As a player against the predator, the GM would have to describe Source of all powers that are Obvious(maybe for some powers not until they are used), just seems really strange especially for powers that have invisible power effects.

Movie Tropes: Definitely simulating the trope. You are right it is only an assumption that Billy is a shaman type. What really feeds the mystical connection is King Willy from Pred 2 who is definitely some kind of mystic/witch doctor type even throwing the bones to see the future. This second character really cements the mystical connection and lends strength to Billy also being at least mystically inclined if not a full blown Shaman. I am designing the Predator for play in a Champions game rather than Star Hero so characters that are mystical are in the world whereas in a Star Hero campaign there may not be any true mystical types in the Galaxy(depending on your campaign)

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes!

I think that some would choose to register. Maybe even become government agents with a license to Super. I would say a pretty reasonable response from a Normal lead Government towards individuals who possess unknown and potentially world shattering powers. How many super heroes stick around to pay for property damage they cause and what happens when local law enforcement wants to take the hero in for questioning or to hold them accountable for their acts of destruction?

Senator Hansen (NEB-R): " We cannot these so called Heroes roaming around causing untold millions in property damage and the police can't even issue them a citation because they fly away rather than face the consequences of their actions. How many Supers are out there? What are their powers? If a Super commits a crime and needs to be apprehended the Police need to know how to bring him in.

Many citizens do not choose to live near a Nuclear power plant, but unknown to them they may be living next door to Atomic Man. I assure you that America's nuclear reactors have a superb safety record, can the same be said for Atomic man? We the government need to know what the supers are capable of and where theyare so that we can ascertain whether a Super is a threat to those around him. Some may need to be taken into custody if they cannot control their power or are otherwise a public health hazard.