Folded

Hadn't thought of balloons, definitely something to consider. Since the campaign will take place in the relatively new frontier continent, I could put them in in a fairly controlled fashion. As to the Naran, there are actually four different species (there are five such species groups in this world). Interbreeding specifically doesn't happen between these groups, but one of the Naran subspecies is essentially a dolphin-mer type, with sufficiently humanoid features to speak the surface languages (the other three are based on shark, cephalopod and arthropod/crab). Interaction has been going on long enough that any sense of 'monster' has long since passed. They act as diplomats and traders, primarily, though the Naran as a whole have little interest in the surface, being largely involved with their own empires, internal conflicts, and ruling the vast majority of the world. No amphibious species are known to exist (although one of the other species groups, the Tove, have some degree of amphibious representation, they are not in conflict with the Naran... yet). Trade is primarily controlled by the Naran, as they have significantly less need for goods than the surface-dwellers, and control oceanic transport completely. To the surface, they occupy something of the same position as the Spacing Guild does in Dune. I have specifically put them in the position of the benevolent neutral greater power, although have been considering an arc taking the players into their world.

Building a Fantasy world with a slight twist. Though the campaign will be set on land, the largest population of sentients are aquatic, specifically, they occupy the world's oceans, and treat them surface to floor as their sovereign territory. This means that the land-dwelling species are not allowed to sail the oceans at all (freshwater lakes and rivers are not a problem). Anything other than a swimmer (even down to kayaks, canoes and the like) will be sunk by the aquatics (collectively known as the Naran). This goes far enough back in history that the idea of putting a boat on the ocean is simply alien to land-dwellers. The Naran will transport people and cargo for a price, but the travel is under a stasis-spell inside the equivalent of a small shipping container, and is limited to those destinations the Naran choose to make known and available. Note that the Naran are also the most technologically advanced society on this world, and have difficulty understanding how one works metals properly without easy access to volcanic vents for constant heat. So, I'm in the process of figuring out the overall ramifications of this for the land-dwellers. This is what I've come up with so far. 1) No ocean fishing drastically reduces the value of coastal lands as dwelling sites. Doesn't eliminate, as small communities can do quite well with surf-fishing and diving for shellfish, but large communities would not develop in these regions. 2) Lack of navies focuses resources otherwise spent into ground armies, roads and overland transportation systems. 3) Minor issues: knot-tying is less well-developed, as sailing provides significant impetus for a large variety of these. Certain foodstuffs we would consider common (tuna, for instance), would be extremely rare, if not unknown except through trade with the Naran. The Naran also have a taste for certain delicacies like beef, pork and venison, as well as a variety of vegetables, herbs and the like. 4) Inland bodies of water are not generally large enough for the military implications of sailing to be studied much, and so would represent 'walls' much more than a sailing culture would consider them. 5) The big one: Cartography. The land dwellers cannot sail up and down a coastline to get a basic outline of a continent. They go from place to place without experiencing the intervening space, and so have no direct means by which they can measure over-sea distances and thus build a map of the world in general. While navigation tools such as the sextant and the astronomical observations it tends to bring about and require might be found in a desert-based culture, the societies in the game-portion of the world do not have them. Overland navigation is going to be much more dependent on landmarks, basic star knowledge, and maps of variable accuracy. Magic will fill in some gaps, but is not common enough at a high enough level to provide large-scale solutions. This results in overland travel away from roads being much less reliable, or relying on some navigational techniques or technology of which I am not aware. So, thoughts, additions, suggestions, comments or questions? Thanks in advance

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life. From a customer's e-mail: "My husband is not a young chick."

Re: What elements should a great superhero setting contain? A dearth of lawyers who understand the terms 'property damage' and 'reckless endangerment'. The not-good-but-not-really-evil government agency tasked with dealing with supers without being super (and you need both SHIELD and Sentinel equivalents). Angst. White Wolf has nothing on Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne. A total lack of death. The most poignant, brilliantly told death scene, hero or villain, must be repeatedly undone by ever-more-outrageous and nonsensical methods for no particularly good reason. A military that refuses to co-opt powerful technology simply because the inventor refuses to part with it. Also, lots of inventors who prefer not to be rich and powerful. Lots of mental disorders associated with power. Especially monomania leading to entire themes of villainy and heroism. Black and white morality. There are good guys and bad guys. None of this anti-hero/anti-villain garbage. Names. Gotta have really good names. Captain, Man/Woman, Boy/Lad/Lass/Girl, etc... Also consider the long feudal sounding title as character name. A tolerance for the silly, the humorous and the light-hearted. Grim is good, but it's not the only flavor in the spice rack, and a good comic book knows this.

Re: Suggestions For Chaos Related "Powers/Effects" When activating the pistol, open a nearby novel to a random page. Read until an appropriate sentence appears in the book, or one that makes you laugh.

Re: Looks more dangerous than he really is. I actually used this kind of thing a lot in a couple of Shadowrun campaigns. My players never caught on that NPCs acting like they were powerful and dangerous didn't necessary equal those NPCs being powerful or dangerous. Mixed with the general deadliness of the game being significantly higher than they were used to, and they thought they were swimming with Great Whites that were actually closer to barracuda. Of course, it didn't help that trying to balance Shadowrun encounters can be like playing pinball on a rollercoaster during a 9.0 earthquake.

Re: Destroy Your Geek Cred!!

Re: Destroy Your Geek Cred!! Now, as to destroying my own geek cred. I've seen at least one episode of most of the 'geeky' shows of the past ten years. Hated them all (Big Bang Theory, The Guild, Chuck, The IT Crowd, BSG, Dollhouse, etc...). Oh, and I've never succeeded in paying attention to even the pilot episode of Lost. Dull as dishwater. I don't get the appeal of anime or manga at all. CCG's just irritate me. And I really wish the open-source community could find a role-model other than the Vegans or Jehovah's Witnesses. And I think Hero could be improved in some ways .

Re: Destroy Your Geek Cred!! Check out this link : http://scienceinmyfiction.com/2010/07/26/i-know-why-the-vampire-sparkles/

Re: Basics

Re: Basics Let's see, just to be different (I like your list), I'd do it like this: 1. The Mastermind - lots of resources, skills, contacts and the like. The planner, the manipulator, Cardinal Richelieu meets Lex Luthor kind of thing. But few if any powers. 2. The agent - Just the basic agent (VIPER, DEMON, etc) with a few variations to show the range of even a low point character. 3. The Subtle One - Built around Drains, Transfers, Mind Control, Possession and other powers that can be used indirectly or subtly. Not everyone hits you in the face. 4. The automaton - Put together a basic robot/zombie pair, showing how similar builds can use different sfx to get entirely different baddies. 5. The Revenant - Build on the above robot/zombie pair, but resulting in Jason Voorhees and Terminator builds, showing how basic villains can be built up into supers. 6. The thief - Slippery Jim DiGriz goes over to the dark(er)side. Skills, KS/AKs, Gadgets out the wazoo and a few dozen kiloliters of style. 7. The Alien - from facehugger to queen, build 'em all and let the Preds sort 'em out. Good intro to building completely non-human characters. 8. The Force of Nature - A weather controller type, with lots of different abilities, preferably in one or more Multipowers (to show the versatility of that framework) 9. The Mimic - Body altering powers, and lots of them. Growth/Shrinking, DI, Shapeshifting, maybe a VPP with associated abilities available (my favorite 'hero' was one of these) 10. The Summoner - Necromancer, Demonologist or Voodoo Priestess, this one can bring the pain in whole new ways. Why do the fighting yourself, after all?

Re: How much and what kind of information Depends. If I'm the GM, give me lots of info, say 1,000 words or so. Basic info like Lucius suggests above, and some cultural stuff (if applicable), and an idea as to how the world around perceives them. If I'm a player, then limit it to what my character would know, which may include lots of misinterpretations, misunderstandings or downright lies from the community in which I grew up. All of this modified by my character's background, skills and racial/cultural history. Example (for players): Orksez is big greenie gize whut lovez ta plant axeses in human skullz an' eatz dere skinz. Example (for GMs): Orks (translates as "People"), are a race of humanoids with a complex social structure based on the presence of certain extremely limited natural resources necessary for Orkish survival. Typically seen as having a greenish cast to their skin, they range in coloration from dark brown to a mottled grey, with the green aspect primarily indicating youth and physical immaturity (i.e. pre-breeding age). As they require a diet high in copper (approximately 3x the human requirements), their ranges are generally limited to mountainous areas with high mineral content, leading them to pursue a nomadic herding lifestyle with a few permanent settlements in strategic locations built around trade in cupric sulfide, which is used as a spice similar to the way that humans use sodium chloride salts. Most interactions between humans (and other races) and Orks are considered to be responses by the Orks to invasions of their ancestral lands and a threat to these vital resources. Orkish politics are largely non-violent (as are most Orks, unless cornered). It is because younger Orks are the most common soldiers that the term 'greenskin' has become a popular pejorative amongst non-Orkish races. This is not to say that Orks are not aggressive in their youth, but will, for the most part, leave alone those they do not feel directly threatened by. There have been some in history who have perverted Ork culture in order to acquire a large army, but these persons have always, ultimately, failed to unite the Ork peoples as a whole. To those fortunate enough to attend one of their musical gatherings, the experience is one of primal beauty, with intricate percussion, voice, and woodwind performances, along with dancing said to encompass entire tribes.

Re: how much weight can a floor support Found this link. http://www.spacefile.com/ad/loading.html Many similar under google searchterms "building codes floor weight requirements" and similar.

Re: Rings of Power Ring Powers that come to mind - Summon Blue Hedgehog Engagement Ring - Transform - Girlfriend into Fiance (or Ex) OR Mind Control (Males Only, Set Effect "RUN AWAY!!!!!") Ring the Bell, Win a Prize! - +10d6 HTH Attack (Physical Manifestation - two-handed Hammer) Ring Around the Rosie - NND (Plague) Attack, does BODY The Squared Circle - MA Maneuvers (Boxing, Skills as Powers) Ring of Fire - AoE Fire Attack, Continuous, No Range, Hole in the Middle/Personal Immunity Ring of Truth - Mind Control, Set Effect (Tell me the Truth) That Rings a Bell - Eidetic Memory, Activation Roll Dead Ringer - Shapeshift, only to form of someone nearby/touched Ring the Bell to Enter - Lockpicking 21- Tinnitis (Ringing in the ears) - Flash Hearing Group, Continuous Five Goooooold Rings - minor Wealth/Resources Perk The One Ring - Invisibility/Extra-Dimensional Movement with Side Effect (Draw attention of Sauron/RingWraiths) All Wrung Out - Drain END Give Me a Ring - functions as cell phone/communications device Ring Through the Nose - 20d6 Mind Control Ring Mail - Armor

Re: And now, for your daily dose of cute... A little something for our mighty lagomorph... [ATTACH=CONFIG]40996[/ATTACH]

Re: Negative Powers? Given what you describe, I would not mechanize this at all, but make it a Plot Power that activates when the story needs it to, in the way that it needs it to. No points, just a racial effect that happens at the GM's whim. Plenty of things you could give them (related or not) for 15 points without the headache. After all, unless you force it, none of your players may choose to play one of these, so it could all be moot, and if the effect is generated by an NPC, hey, easier.

Re: Is Always On Necessary for this Inherent Power?

Re: Help me populate a dying space colony Hey mister, got any creds, mister? Copper, gold, Venus, anything, mister? I'll tell you the story of the Monster for that belt buckle ya got, mister! Really? The whole thing? Nobody ever gave me nothin' like this for the Monster story before. Cool! Okay, so, there's this guy, only he can't be a guy, right, who lives on the outside of the hull, mister!! Really an' truly he does, mister, outside in the light an' the rads an' everything, mister! Only nobody's ever actually seen him, right? They just find these little hutches, they call 'em, mister, where he musta lived, cause it stinks inside like you'd think it would if'n someone lived in such a little place with no suit, ya know, mister? Just hard plastic sheets 'poxied down an' hooked into the water an' air and 'lectrics an' everything, mister! Really an' truly, guy livin' on the hull, mister! An' everyone knows that when someone goes missin' on the station, it's the Monster took 'em, mister, took 'em outside and let 'em breathe the vac and sail off an' no-one ever sees 'em again, mister! It's true, I tell ya!

Re: Is Always On Necessary for this Inherent Power? Okay, just went into HD and figured out the issue I was having understanding this clearly. Most Inherent Powers require only Persistent/0 END as prerequisites. Instant Powers (such as HA) require Constant be applied first, which makes no real sense in this context (as the enhanced knuckles only increase damage, they do not modify the need for an attack roll). Because this is an instant power, I think Hyper-Man's assessment is correct, that Difficult to Dispel is the more appropriate Advantage for the HA on this character. This would cover the fact that it is inherent to the character's species without mucking around with the extra mechanics from Constant.

Re: Is Always On Necessary for this Inherent Power? My understanding was that Inherent was originally intended to represent Powers that were difficult to Suppress or Dispel. That does sound like an appropriate description of this ability (since it is natural to that race). I don't have the full 6e rules, so can't look this up properly, but it does seem relevant.

Tim Buckley has an image (http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20111125) on the CTRL-ALT-DEL site that is begging to be written up. I have some ideas, but I want to see what the community can do with it.

Re: Negative Powers? I would build that as a Complication to represent the downside. Base the mechanics on the build you describe, and add an Activation roll, or adapt the Enraged system to determine when it happens (first roll for occurring, second for returning). Set the cost to whatever seems appropriate for your campaign. If the race can learn to control it to one degree or other, then buying powers based on that temporal flux would be reasonable, or buying off the Complication altogether. It's not all that different (ultimately) than giving some races certain disadvantages like Susceptibilities, Vulnerabilities or Social Complications, just more involved. I like it, altogether, and would like to see what you come up with (so I can steal it, of course...). Depending on the frequency of occurrence, this could represent a huge problem. Imagine trying to walk down a crowded street and constantly having the people around you 'jump' a few feet in various directions as you go. Not to mention that it would draw a little bit of attention as you did the same (from their perspective). Anything involving careful timing (like piloting any vehicle), could get sticky, to say the least. That species probably wouldn't produce a lot of surgeons, either...

Re: Focus or Limited Power? I have seen OAF's described as "any convenient ". So a character who could turn soda cans into energy blasts would list it as Blast, OAF (Any convenient soda can). As long as one is reasonably available (GM decision), he/she could use the power normally. If the character finds themselves somewhere without a Mr. Pibb machine available, the PC is out of luck. I think the Limitation value is reduced somewhat in these cases, but I'm not sure. On the one hand, it implies a sort of Independent, since a convenient object can be permanently taken away, but it also represents a focus that can be more easily replaced than an Independent. Probably up to you, but check the rulebook.

Re: Low Level Power Ideas Needed for Superhero team Liaison/Career Bureaucrat Speed Writing (or typing) would be useful for a bureaucrat. Her humorlessness could be explained by a subconscious Telepathy that only picks up on people's negative aspects and lets her know when they're lying to her (most of the time). A CE that drops the local temperature ten degrees Celsius whenever she is upset. Eidetic Memory at the full value (the clipboard is just for show). Alternately, her power could be something that represents another part of her personality that the PCs never see (due to a sense of privacy or even shame). Seduction abilities come to mind, of course, but also artistic ones. She reminds me a little of the female bureaucrat in Futurama who had an affair with Fry. Even the Cigarette Smoking Man had aspirations other than the job, so perhaps that's her hook.

Re: The cost of Internet In a modern setting, I would add Internet Search as an Everyman skill, and some kind of Access as well (mobile device might cost a point or two, at most). The primary Limitation is Extra Time and something to represent coverage (possibly an Activation roll, or GM fiat). An AI that can provide such information at combat speeds would have to have a Search Skill above 18-, and a Computer Link on the order of 10 points (dedicated satellite or Wireless). Coverage might still be an issue, although there are ways around it. There's also the fact that the Internet has a lot of bad information in it. Not that that could be used as a plot point or anything...