Peregrine

Forgiven. No shame in self-promotion when quality is in the product.

Like the character in X2, right?

Simple. Build the character as a fire FX, with whatever powers would be appropriate. Use the above suggested limitation.

And when the player wants to carry a 'normal lighter', make him buy it as a focus - I'd recommend OAF, because he has to display it prominently to use it, and it's obvious that the fire comes from it. Let him use appropriate skills (Concealment comes to mind) if he wants to 'hide' his use of the lighter, with penalties to the roll based on the Active Points of the effect he's trying to produce - the more fire he's trying to produce, the harder it is to do so while concealing the lighter.

See 'Mechanon' in the Champions genre...

David Drake's Hammer's Slammers. Futuristic armored warfare (hovertanks), great treatment of mercenaries in an interstellar setting.

Sonuvagun.

Learn something new every day.

A question of military rank for the Duke:

Isn't Ensign a naval, and not army, rank? Thus wouldn't he have been commissioned as a Lieutenant (Leftenant?)?

It is a bit counterintuitive, and a bit grating; up to that point in the process, everything is right there in front of you and clearly understood. Then WHAM, you have this forward reference to the Life section, and nothing there stands out as what you're looking for.

The question almost sounds like a rant against high-powered play, but the answers given here are good ones.

My $0.02 is much like what's already been said. You can have good roleplay at any power level, and you can have poor roleplay at any power level. It depends on the players, not the characters.

Re: Re: Afterthought

Originally posted by GestaltBennie

No.I had in mind a martial art that was more of a combination of grappling and striking techniques, so there's a new one in the book. But Steve's the master of Hero martial arts (as well as the owner of the ccmpany), so what he says goes. :-)

 

Scott Bennie

*shrug* If the final product says 'no', I can always modify for my own campaigns...

Afterthought

The VIPER ninja wouldn't happen to be practicioners of Mist Viper Taijutsu from UMA, would they?

Originally posted by BobGreenwade

Worse idea: PC based on Legion of Substitute Heroes Auxiliary member.

There you go!

I don't know about that. The Subs were rejected by the Legion. That's like being sent to a AAA team by a major league baseball team - you're not quite prime-time material, but you're still pretty damn good. (Of course, some of the Subs were pretty pathetic...)

Heck, if you're talking the original Legion, I wouldn't mock any of them. Not just because they would defend each other fiercely, but because any one of them was a tremendously experienced hero.

Or, to get back OT:

Good Idea: Contact: Original Legion of SuperHeroes member

Bad Idea: Hunted: Original Legion of SuperHeroes member

Originally posted by Mike Basinger

Good Idea: CKC - Conquerors, Killers, And Crooks

Bad Idea: PJP - Perverts, Jaywalkers,and Perjurers

I dunno... HERO stats for Bill Clinton might be interesting...

Re: Next minor revision

Originally posted by Eodin

Peregrine, I started with my FASA TrekHero and started editing to make TNGTrek, so please bear with me. As I have time and information, the FASA bits will be replaced as appropriate.

Don't misunderstand me... I love the FASATrek universe. I've set many games (face-to-face and PBeM) in my own variant of the FASATrek universe. I have tended to dislike where Paramount intentionally diverged from FASA's work. That said, it would take a full reinvention of the TNG/DS9 setting to make it consistent with FASATrek, so great has the divergence become. Pity.

Ohhh yeahhh.... sweet!

Warning: I noticed that the material from TOS timeframe came from the old FASA game. Bear in mind that the TNG/DS9 era materials are intentionally different from the old FASA materials, so you won't find any consistency between the two sets of information.

Given that it's a character schtick, with little if any combat usefulness and only moderate non-combat utility (unless the campaign in question is heavily focused on social interation), I'd call it a single cosmetic transform, as the net effect is that the character's appearance is changed (or 'unchanged', but I think you get the idea).

Originally posted by Agent X

On a battlefield you have a point. But Viper equipment seems more maneuverable and just all around better for city combat and quick strikes. Primus had the Ironguard units and what appeared to be, for the most part, fairly conventional gear beyond that. Viper's not just a paramilitary organization, it is a criminal organization that seems to have technology that police officers and the military would love to have. So, my question IMO still stands. Why do they have all this stuff that I think law enforcement and the military would love to have and don't seem to?

 

To the point: Why wouldn't a Silver Avenger want to have a personal jet pack or sky cycle?

Because VIPER is primarily balanced against UNTIL, not PRIMUS (and UNTIL does have skycycles and such). Not a good answer, but an accurate one, I think.

That would depend. In the aforementioned Third World nation under VIPER influence (and, let's face it - if the Colombian drug cartels can do it, a non-incompetent VIPER doesn't even break a sweat in the process) the army might well bear VIPER insignia, as a message to all that VIPER is a force to be reckoned with.

Originally posted by Cosmic Man

Is it possible they are reacting to the power armor as an expression of wealth?

 

"Many" women are attracted to wealth.

More accurately, attracted to the possibility of gaining control of said wealth...

Originally posted by Cyberknight

The government actually does have "nifty, mass-produced gear". A CCPD (Campaign City Police Department) SWAT team with M-16's, a couple of M-203's, and a couple of snipers can put up a surprisingly effective showing against VIPER agent teams. If that equipment won't do the trick (and if it did, we wouldn't have comic books!), there's the government's own list organizations (PRIMUS comes to mind). If that's *still* not enough, there's the US military. An Abrams tank isn't a fun thing to fight, even for Viper's high-tech troopers, and it's even less so when it's being escorted / screened by infantry, precision-guided artillery, and close air support.

 

That's why Viper doesn't 'just take over'. It's easier and cheaper to be the power behind the throne via blackmail and individual intimidation. It's also why Viper tends to fight via "Ambush and Evac"...If they stay around *too* long, that ponderous sledgehammer in olive drab will land on them.

 

My $0.02US. YMMV

 

Cyberknight

Of course, then you have the ex-military Nest Leader who wants to field his own military force, using VIPER vehicles and equipment, but the Army's organization structure...

Originally posted by Prometheus

Really? 'Cuz I remember talk- waaaay back when- about a date with Eliza Dushku as possible compensation....

No, no, no; that would only distract him, making it an even longer wait...

Tale Spin was a good pulp setting. Gummi Bears was 'soft' fantasy. Gargoyles would be an interesting Dark Champions campaign.

There is an upcoming (2004, as I recall) book that showcases this subgenre directly - Champions 3000. Of course, it's a year away...