Peregrine

Re: Have you ever built the same character more than once?

I still am, actually, because I've never really had a chance to play the character. So I just keep building variations in the hope that, one day, I'll be able to play it.

Re: Public Domain Extraterrestrials

The ubiquitous Greys.

Re: Malthesitic Fantasy Universes

You don't play Call of Cthulhu because "There's no accounting for taste"?

No, I don't play CoC because I don't play hopeless games.

"There's no arguing taste"; some people play CoC, some don't, and no one in either camp is objectively wrong.

Re: Malthesitic Fantasy Universes

We play CoC. We live for hopeless causes!

I don't, and this is why.

de gustibus non est disputandum

Re: Armor Wars

I'd think the best approach would be to depict it as the difference between' date=' to use Lethal Weapon as an example, Riggs & Murtaugh and the rest of the cops on the force. They all have badges and guns and similar training, but the protagonists are just more capable/luckier/etc. than all the rest.[/quote']

 

Which is pretty much the defining characteristic of heroic fiction in general...

Re: Malthesitic Fantasy Universes

That's pretty much the feel of it when you read through the books. Having the spirits of the dead trapped on the world (the Fell) gives it an extra nasty tone. I don't know many players that are up for fighting for pretty much hopeless causes.

Honestly, I see GMs interested in this kind of setting far more often than I do players. Wonder why that is...

Re: Modular Heroic Design

This thread is giving me D&Dja vu...

Re: Armor Wars

That was pretty much the reason why there were only a handful of Sovereign-armor (our campaign's Iron Man) clones running about. Sure' date=' Mr. Fielding wanted to sell them to the military, and PRIMUS, and other such clients. The problem was, he could only get the costs down to about half a [i']billion[/i] dollars apiece, which really cuts down on the number of suits that can be purchased.

That works within the timeframe of a typical RPG campaign. However, technology gets less expensive over time (until it is replaced by newer technology), so for a setting with a long history of supertech, the cost per unit of a given technology will decrease substantially decade over decade (Pegasus Treatment, anyone?) unless that technology is ignored and becomes stagnant; such only happens if a newer, superior and/or cheaper technology supplants it (floppy disks vs. CD-ROM, forex).

Re: Armor Wars

Some illustrative costs:

Body Armor--about 500 bucks--we used about half a million units in Iraq

Tank, modern--2 to 5 million dollars--we have several thousand of them

Attack helicopter, modern--10 to 15 million dollars--we have hundreds

A-10 Thunderbolt--around 12 million dollars--we built around 700

F-22 Raptor--150 million dollars--we built about 180 and cancelled the rest over cost concerns

B-2 Stealth Bomber--750 million dollars per unit, more if you factor in development costs, we built 21 of them

Nimitz class aircraft carrier--6 billion to build the last one, and we built 10 of them

 

My guess is that the upper cost limit for a military weapon system is around 10 billion dollars per unit, at which point you can probably count the number built on one hand without having to make use of your thumb.

 

Thanks for those numbers. They look about right, and your analysis produces a good rule of thumb for costing out tech (whether powered armor, supersoldiers, or whatnot) in our fictional settings.

Re: DEATHSTROKE: 6th edition updateing

Commando keeps making me think "Kevin Armstrong, Jr."....

Re: Campaign I dea; Tangent Champions

Super-man - a Doc Savage pastiche taken to the max, who is literally at the pinnacle of non-super human potential. (In Champions terms, all characteristics and abilities at Legendary (non-Superhuman) max, all skills, etc.) He can't fly or fire lasers out his eyes, though...

Re: Armor Wars

In the standard supers campaign, anyone with only a few million dollars in disposable income could either create or hire a powersuit for his own use.

 

That statement is not necessarily true. In fact, the question of the availability of "supertech", including but not limited to powered armor/powersuits/battlesuits/etc., is one of the key questions to answer in setting up a supers campaign. The answer to that question then informs the use of such by governments, etc.

If that statement is, in fact, true for a given supers setting, then it follows that governments probably would use such technology in preference to real world weapon systems. If governments in a given supers setting don't do so, then either A. it's a clue that the statement is false, and such tech is far, far less available for one or more reasons, B. whoever established the setting parameters didn't think the the consequences through or C. it has been handwaved to create the specific tone and feel for the setting as desired, and thus the implication have been largely ignored.

Of course, the first case (the statement is true) has a lot of implications to it. For example, given the resources available to modern, First World governments, the powered armor fielded by their agencies would likely be far more powerful than a 350 point starting character in 5e. For evidence, I point you to the 4e PRIMUS eBook, and the Iron Guard armor presented therein. Translating the Iron Guard armor to 5e terms, no 350 point character could purchase an equivalent suit of armor; in fact, few 350 point characters of any kind would even compare. Not to say that a 350 point character couldn't defeat an Iron Guardsman; it would be especially possible to design a 350 point character specifically to defeat an Iron Guardsman. But show me a 5e GM who would allow a character the equivalent of an Iron Guardsman in a 350 point game...

Re: Have we ever seen the Hawken again?

Well that's a shame. I much prefer anthromorphic alternate intelligent races to people with wings pasted on.

Whereas I prefer "winged human" races to feathered furries. de gustibus non est disputandum

Re: Expanding the War Machine

Having thought about the whole topic further, here's my take.

The Warlord occupies a distinct niche in the CU. Specifically, he is at the top of the heap in the Military/Mercenary/Terrorist World, exempting the more powerful nation-states. His position is established by the technology that he has at his disposal, as well as the effective use of it in the pursuit of his goals. (The question of the logistics of his operations is a whole 'nother issue, but the CU seems to sidestep the issue of logistics except in a few cases.) The specifics of the technology that he uses puts him squarely in the intersection of the M/M/T and Superhuman Worlds.

The source of his powers, and of most of his his followers' powers, is the technology derived from the downed Hzeel craft (and dead pilot) that he discovered. Thus, with the exceptions of Warmonger (mutant mentalist) and Warpath (super-skilled archer), his forces are essentially supertech-powered, whether hardtech or biotech.

I would generally stick with that theme, with perhaps a maximum of one more follower with non-supertech powers. Battlesuits and biotech implants would be the main source of powers for any new members.

Oh, and all the folks who "stole" Warlord's tech, who are hunted (or Hunted) by him as a result? Makes for a neat story to tell at the bar between missions, doesn't it...

Re: Expanding the War Machine

I created a similar character concept for another team, and "Warroom" is an excellent name suggestion. He wouldn't necessarily even have to be on the battlefield, but safe back on the Warlord's Flying Fortress.

At which point he wouldn't even have to be a mentalist - I'm getting a vibe from DC Comics' Oracle (Barbara Gordon nee Batgirl).

Re: Expanding the War Machine

Another possibility, particularly if you only need a temporary increase the Warlord's power level or prominence in your campaign, is to have him actively recruit military/mercenary supers (Mechassassin, Lazer, Steel Commando, etc) either for one-off missions, or as new members of the War Machine. They're unlikely to stick around for very long (it's hard to imagine Mechassassin, for instance, putting up with Warhead's pretensions for any length of time), but they'd make the War Machine very scary while they were available.

Honestly, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title.

Re: Epic level Champions

Well' date=' no, that goes without saying for any campaign. Complicating the PC's life shouldn't go beyond what the player is comfortable with. But if they bought something as a complication, or want to appreciate something as an unpointed perk without paying for it, then it's fair to present the down side once in a while.[/quote']

 

As spice in the dish known as the campaign, absolutely. As the focus of the campaign... like spice without food, no matter how good it is in the proper quantity and context, its no good at all as the main ingredient.

Re: Epic level Champions

Just don't turn it into a game of "For Whom The Screw Turns" aka "How can I screw (with) the play-er, PCs".

Re: Bronze Archer, Agent of PRIMUS

It was pointed out to me that combining the increased CON with the vulnerability meant that Silver Avengers are no more or less susceptible to alcohol intoxication than an average person - the effect of their increased CON matches the effect of the vulnerability. This was 5e; I haven't run the numbers myself for 6e.

Re: Bronze Avenger Armor

An alt.PRIMUS thread? You Have My Attention.

The "gas mask" is a good addition for a filtered-and-sealed Nuclear-Biological-Chemical suit, if that's what you're after. Add LS: All Terrestrial Diseases to represent protection from biowar agents. LS: High Radiation for Nuclear, and maybe Power Defense, Only Vs. NBC SFX. Short of Full LS, that's a good representation of a full-body protective suit.

(I apologize for being too lazy to look up the cost of the above...)

Re: The Batman Option

I had considered starting all characters with NCM as a base where they can buy off parts of it if it fits the character

 

e.g. Speedster = NO NCM on SPD, DEX, DCV, Running (or Swimming)

Brick = No NCM on STR, CON, PD, ED or Leaping

Mentalist = No NCM on INT, EGO, DECV, OECV

 

people theoretically could buy more than one of the above (with GMs permission)

IOW, use the toolkit to build D&D-style "character classes".

Re: Teen superhumans but no adult ones

All I know is, if you set it in the modern day, the Baby Boomers in the setting are gonna be soiling their Depends...

Re: A super school

Go get Teen Champions. Yes, it's for 5eR, but it has all that you would need in the way of GMing advice for exactly that kind of campaign.

Re: Best ways to put together a Dark Champions team?

Let (make) the players figure it out for themselves in a pre-game session. Start play assuming that whatever they worked out has already happened and go.

Re: Female Master Villains

Well' date=' I can defently see this happing. Except that, she is defently a behind the sceens villianess. More like Marvel's The Kingpen (manipulating all of VIPER, and running her own crinimal enterprise, using the cover of her own buisness to hide behind).[/quote']

 

Yep, that's exactly how I envisioned her. Except for one slight detail (which I mentioned in another post on this thread) that gives her the unexpected ability to throw down should it become necessary.