Folded

Re: Transfer Questions

Game Balance answer:

Abuse potential. Transfer 1pip STR to STR, AoE, 128hex radius (19 Active/Real in 5e). Do this in an urban environment, and you could easily push your STR WAY over 100 in a heartbeat for a cost of 2 END. And that's just STR. Build three of them as END to END, STUN to STUN and BODY to BODY, and you're killing everyone around you, healing yourself completely every phase. Sure, the bad guys start picking up Power Defense, but the citizens on the street don't. There are a lot of people within 256 meters of a given location in a city.

Theoretical answer:

Transfer involves moving energy around. Since it is being carefully controlled, rather than simply grounded out/dispersed (as in Drain) or Suppressed, the total amount of energy the character is manipulating becomes critical. 1d6 of Transfer lets you move around 1d6 worth of energy, whether it comes from one target or many.

Re: Paper

I'm thinking of silverfish and firebrats.

Between the bleaches and acid-removal treatments, almost all of the potential food value of modern books is removed during the papermaking process. What's left is almost pure cellulose, which has all the nutritive value of plastic. Termites are a problem because they use cellulose as a building material. Silverfish or firebrats (never even heard of those, before) might be able to cause some damage if left entirely uncontrolled, but I'm less concerned about those than I am about someone figuring out how to get a virus onto my Kindle.

Frankly, my hope is that paper books do continue, and that so do e-books. I'd like to see us take advantage of the strengths of both technologies, rather than replacing one with the other. Given the nature of economics, though, I doubt paper books have more than a century or two left.

Re: Paper

Insects.

Modern books are surprisingly resistant to insects, barring a significant termite infestation in your house. At which point, the security of your bearing walls is probably of more concern than of your library.

And in the end, it is economics that will determine the future of the printed word. As long as profit of some kind (not necessarily monetary) can be had from printing books on paper, they will be.

Re: Paper

Tearing' date=' and saliva.[/quote']

 

My point there was that giving a 5.95 paperback to your two year-old wouldn't result in the loss of a significant amount of money, nor could it harm itself by breaking open the screen and drinking down the toxic stuff inside. But the book itself is probably toast.

Re: Paper

Cons of Paper:

The Big Two problems with paper books -

Individual units are expensive to produce, which limits who can get their books printed due to economic concerns on the part of the publisher

Bulky - storage is difficult, and carrying more than a few books around is impractical as compared to an e-reader with 100 or more titles stored on it, further, bookstores can carry only a limited number of titles, and will focus on those that make them money (and money today, which limits the ability of an author to build readership over a period of time)

Lesser problems with paper books

Out of print books can be extraordinarily hard to find copies of

Much harder to share across large distances, both practically and due to shipping costs

Losing a book means it is gone and cannot be recovered without repurchase

Greater usage increases wear on the book and decreases its useful lifespan

One-handed reading is more difficult with a paper book

Can't search a paper book automatically

Re: Paper

Pros of Paper:

No power required, just sufficient light

Non-volatile storage medium

Harder to lose than a flash drive

Harder to alter after being printed (legal issues and scientific ones)

Very durable under a wide variety of environmental conditions

Immune to electromagnetic fields and disruptions

Easier to maintain intellectual property protection

Easier to share in a library system

Better for presenting images, since the size of the book can easily be tailored to the graphics, rather than the other way around for e-readers

Dropping one is unlikely to cause serious damage

Can be safely given to your two year-old

Easy to make notes in

No internet or wireless connection required (note that the Kindle uses cell phone signals, as well)

Can't get a signed copy of an e-book (yet)

Can be burned for warmth in an emergency

Makes good insulation, if you have enough of them

Re: Weird ship names requested.

Baculum (look it up)

 

Good place-name ships include the usual suspects: French Lick (Indiana), Humptulips (Washington), Dime Box (Texas), ....

I see someone's been reading A Night in the Lonesome October. And The Lonesome October would be a great ship name.

Re: Useful memory flashes

Could also be bought as something like Skill Levels for the Power Skill, No Conscious Control. Or KS:Stuff the previous owner knew, NCC. Possibly even Combat Luck (or similar), NCC, only versus enemies the previous owner had fought. Danger Sense could work similarly (you walk down the alley, and a chill runs up your spine, like someone just walked over your grave...).

Re: Weird ship names requested.

Place names in OR and WA (includes lots of Native American names, which have a different pattern of phonemes, and might add some flavor)

Drain

Boring

Puyallup (pyoo-AL-up)

Ona Beach

Clackamas

Klickitat

Klamath

Multnomah

Kitsap

Snohomish (sno-HO-mish)

Chiwawa

Chinook

Cle Elum

Dosewallips

Humptulips

Pysht River

Walla Walla

Okanogan

Skookumchuk

Snoqualmie

Wenatchee

And, of course, the classic-

Intercourse, Pennsylvania

Re: Weird ship names requested.

Some more ideas:

SS SOS

For a ship that doesn't work well, was put together badly, is aesthetically unpleasant, but everyone loves anyway: SS Ed Wood

For a ship that everyone hates because it keeps screwing up good things: SS Uwe Boll

For the greatest ship in the fleet: SS Steve Long

The name of the new Flying Dutchman: SS Gary Gygax

SS Blucher! (horses neigh in terror)

SS Purr Like a Walrus

SS 69, Dude!

SS East Bound and Down

SS The Ship Formerly Known as

SS Han Shot First

SS Kissybear

SS Take Your Top Off

SS Redrum

SS PMS Avenger

SS Death by Elevator

SS Haight Ashbury

SS Robot Chicken

SS Chickenship (make sure they know it's a 'p' at the end)

SS Men are Pigs

SS Bildeeeens.... (ok, there are like four people in the world who get that joke, but it's funny to me)

SS Rocks Over Rocks

SS So Fat

SS Bell Curve

SS My Other Ship is a DNPC

SS Money Pit

SS Fries With That

SS Zaxxon

SS Sancho Panza

SS Meddling Kids

SS Unicorn Mayonnaise

Re: Weird ship names requested.

We had a Star Wars campaign briefly, during which we had to change our ship's name and registry several times. First, it was the Pancake, then the Flapjack, and finally the Flaskapanakocker (I have no idea how that's really spelled, but it's pancake in one of the Norse languages). My favorite bit was when a bunch of us who were bored bought a large square of yellow plastic and some translucent brown resin and put it all on top of the ship...

As for other names:

SS Hector Ramariez (bonus points for knowing the reference)

SS SpaceShip

The "I don't care what we call it, just put something down so we can get out of here, d***it!"

The Post-Dated Check Loan

The Serial Peacemaker (along with the above, Schlock Mercenary has some great ship names)

The Shining and its sister ship The Shinnin'

The Heart of Gold

A Duck!

Very Small Rocks

So far, in a story I'm working on, I've used Herodotus, Gladstone, Tokugawa and Caltech.

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

Here's the link on youtube. And no, he's not blue and fuzzy in this one. Neither is he Kelsey Grammer. But he started out as normal-looking when he first appeared in the comics, so it's not entirely unreasonable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgjYx3i18B0

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

One question I've always had is the relationship between COM, Seduction, and various situational and preference modifiers. Yes, I know COM has been eliminated in 6e (argument for elsewhere, I still like it), but physical attractiveness still applies, one way or another.

1) Is a person who is not attracted to your gender necessarily affected in any way by a sexually-oriented Seduction attempt? A Player might easily decide that a given character is susceptible to that particular person, or to fake it, but is the PC/NPC required to respond in any way?

2) Can EGO rolls be used to resist an otherwise successful Seduction? Never been clear on this. What about PRE?

3) How does one clearly simulate extra effort and preparation put into the Seduction attempt? I'm thinking clothing, makeup, location, music and other ambient elements, perfume/cologne, and the like. What about complementary skills, such as Fashion Sense, Disguise, various Performing skills, and so on?

4) A fetish would normally be bought as a Complication, I assume. But since it might provide some degree of defense from Seduction attempts that don't include that fetish (sorry, darling, but your shoes just don't do it for me), how would that affect the point cost and process in a game with a lot of Seduction going on?

5) The whole concept of physical attractiveness is a very personal one. While there are statistical measures of 'what is attractive' that work over large groups, each individual has his or her own triggers and preferences. How do these factors play into Seductions? Does the blonde face a penalty to her roll because my character prefers redheads?

6) How does one represent being jaded? The Seduction that works very effectively on the 17-year old virgin may fail to even mildly amuse the person with a few dozen more years under their belt. Even if the older character is no seducer him/herself, they have still seen all of the approaches, all of the gimmicks, and lived through all of the aftermaths.

Re: New Campaign Idea: "X-Men: First Class" As The Only Canon

I like it. The idea of trying to sort out multiple continuities from the movies, comics, cartoons and the rest, is mind-numbing. Picking one clear set of events and working entirely from there would allow for much cleaner playing in what could be an enjoyable universe. Haven't seen the movie, but I'm warming to the idea.

On a broader note, changes to the way that the Cuban Missile Crisis went down would have massive repercussions on history. Further, the appearance of a superpower that isn't a nation as well (mutants in general and those mutants in specific), will have yet more repercussions. You've got some interesting questions to ask.

The civil rights movement was just gaining steam at about this time. How does the movement deal with mutants? Are they included as an oppressed minority, or are they seen as a threat? Will mutants stop Kennedy's assassination? Dr. King's? Malcolm X's? Bobby Kennedy's?

Marvel has glossed over some huge issues involving mutants for various reasons. Are mutants involved in the Vietnam War (Watchmen did touch on this, but you won't have Dr. Manhattan walking around, probably)? How do the various world religions respond to the existence of mutants? I don't see a problem with the Buddhists, and the Hindus might go either way, but the Religions of the Book are truly problematic (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), especially the fundamentalist sects. What about the appearance of mutants in countries other than the superpowers? There is no reason to assume that all mutants will appear in 'first-world' places, or even have the slightest idea what a mutant is. Witch burnings and new Alexanders come to mind, not to mention mutants being involved in conflicts nearly anywhere. There's also the response of extremist political ideologies and their responses (China comes to mind, but Russia as well).

Other historical events could be affected, as well. A mutant sets foot on the moon before Neil Armstrong does. Charlie Manson turns out to be a telepath. The Wild Cards series, edited by George R.R. Martin, goes through some of these in the early books. You might want to check them out.

Sounds like a fascinating project, altogether. I'll be interested to see what you do with it.

Re: The Tick

By rendering, do you mean drawing, or writeup?

Re: What FTL Drives do people use in their campaigns? And what techno bable do you us

My babble goes like this:

"Many years ago, a particularly extreme genius developed a way of traveling faster than the speed of light. The military was, naturally, interested in this technology. At the time, only six other people in the solar system even claimed to understand the theory.

An admiral was sent to interview the genius and see a demonstration. He spent four days getting many simplified explanations, analogies and attempts to explain the math. When he returned, the admiral was asked by his superiors to a)make a judgment on whether the drive system should be developed, and how did it work. His response was as follows:

"Yes", and "It Just Does" Hence, the Interstitial Jump Drive, or IJD.

Re: A Possessed House

I would say that an AI would be the best way to work this in mechanical terms. They possess DEX (for determining actions and base SPD), INT, EGO, SPD and CVs. Give it a Base to use as a body, with any Powers requiring that Base as a Focus (OIF, Immobile). If they manage to evict the spirit, it can't use its powers until it possesses a new building (acquires a new Focus). If you think Incorporeal Intelligence instead of Artificial Intelligence, it works quite well. Given that AI's inherently have no BODY or STUN, you might want to purchase those Characteristics as Powers, then specify means by which it can be affected. Mental Powers would be automatically effective, since it does have an EGO score, but special effects of other kinds (Magic, Divine, Interdimensional), might have an effect as well.

What that gives you, ultimately, is a being that is separate from the building, but tied to it. Specify a means by which it can be evicted with or without destroying the building, and you've got your adventure hooks set.

Re: Vulnerabilty vs. Specific Type of Presence Attack

Seems to me that this could interact with a Phobia as well. In terms of Mechanics, I'd buy it as a Vulnerability, but at reduced value. Unless PRE attacks are very commonly used in your campaign to larger effect than normal. Another possibility would be to buy some or all of the Character's PRE with the Limitation (Doesn't Defend against PRE attacks). Value of the Limitation would be between -0 and -1/2, depending on frequency and other factors.

Re: Okay class: Make me a rogue.

Silliness aside, I decided today was the day I get that Troubleshooter package deal down. So, after a bit of thinking, I punched this one down in HERO Designer 3.

 

2 12) Find Evidence: Mental Awareness (5 Active Points); 3 Recoverable Charges (-3/4), Requires A Roll (Skill roll: Deduction; -1/2),

Concentration, Must Concentrate throughout use of Constant Power (1/2 DCV; -1/2)

[Notes: With this ability, a player can tell the GM what he is looking for per charge; if the clue is in the area that the character

is actively searching, then the GM can describe what the evidence is and where it is, but not what it means. That's up to the player.]

I agree with Lucius. Seems to me that a Detect would be more appropriate than Mental Awareness. Put it in the Unusual Group to represent a logical process rather than a purely sensory one. Other than that, a great little package deal.

Re: Eccentric but plausible ways a character could be rich?

Owns the copyrights on the trademark and copyright symbols.

Re: D3 Games Wins a Gaming Genius Award!

Way to go, guys! The gaming world needs more good writing, so keep it up.

Re: Upsilon

I have always found that the fun of playing a character comes a lot more from their flaws than their strengths. Upsilon sounds like she would be a blast to roleplay, chewing up the scenery with really awful, overwrought dialogue about how magnificent she is, overacting in the worst tradition of Hollywood, and just generally not understanding how ridiculous she is. I imagine that the first time your players encounter her, they will underestimate her greatly.

Then comes the boom.

On the mechanics side, you might want to throw some kind of mental defenses in there. She could drop quickly if you have a mentalist or two in your PC's party (remember that most mental powers don't suffer from range modifiers). Although that would be really funny, it'll be less so if you don't see it coming. I also note that you don't list any CV's. Not sure if that's an oversight or if she's just at base on everything (not like she has to worry about getting hit).

All in all, a good solid start for this character. Can't wait to see what her minions are like.

Re: Billionaires: Supervillains earn, Superheroes inherit

Now that I think about it, the Hellfire Club (at least back in the 80's) seemed very much to represent old money, in the most negative sense of the term. Definitely no noblesse oblige amongst that group.

Re: Billionaires: Supervillains earn, Superheroes inherit

I also remembered an even older story than all of our examples so far.

 

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White

The evil stepmother has made herself rich (by marrying the King). Wheras Snow White and the Prince that kissed her were born wealthy.

Well, if we're going to go back further than comic books...

King Arthur was made king because he was chosen by the powers above. I've read a couple of versions of the story (a long time ago), and don't remember that he demonstrated anything prior to pulling the sword from the stone that suggested he particularly deserved to be king. Ultimately, the stories did not end well for anyone involved, and I have always wondered whether Arthur deserved his reputation as a great king or even a good man.

The Greeks had many heroes that pulled themselves up from nothing. Their respect was specifically for those who demonstrated their abilities and willingness to perfect themselves.

Beowulf was a king, but clearly one who deserved his reputation, whether he inherited it or not (can't remember if he was the son of a king or self-made).

The oldest known written story, the Epic of Gilgamesh, showed Gilgamesh as the founder of the first city, who built everything he had with the strength of his own arm.

On the lighter side, in Time Bandits, Agamemnon (Sean Connery), is introduced while he is fighting the 'enemy of the people' all on his lonesome, because he is the king, and that is what kings do.

Re: Billionaires: Supervillains earn, Superheroes inherit

Matt Murdock, while not in the Stark/Wayne class, is a completely self-made man. Came up from the streets to be a high-powered attorney. However, he did the attorney thing for exactly the same reason he did the Daredevil thing, and monetary success was largely a side effect. That goes back to the motivation idea.

Seems to me that the common thread might be that Villains get rich and/or powerful because they want to be, and heroes get rich and/or powerful either because they have no choice (Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne), or as a side effect of the things that make them who they are (Tony Stark, Reed Richards).