Lupus

Re: Ultimate Champions: How would you do it? Personally, I feel the current CU kinda is the 'Ultimate' version of the old CU. But 'Ultimate' in a kind of 'stainless steel iron age' way. I really like the new stuff - some real hard-edged things there, but maintaining some Silver Age high-mindedness and Bronze Age hijinx along the way. It's a brilliant mix, in my opinion. The old CU was, plainly, goofy. It was 4-colour in some of the worst excesses of 4-colorishness. (Granted, unlike how it was pushed somewhat in the BBB, there are many rooms inbetween four-colour and over-the-top dark champions. I think virtually everyone plays somewhere inbetween.) Obsidian needed no excuse, and no background beyond 'I'm an alien prince, crash-landed on earth.' Seeker is an ocker who met an old Japanese guy and 'trained to be a ninja.' Do you need more than that? No. Because it's four-colour, and no-one's expected to actually know anything about ninjas or aliens, or expect any actual exploration of such themes. Now, I'm aware that things were expanded some in supplements, like Watchers of the Dragon. I don't have most of them, so I'm going mainly on the BBB. (And I'm not slamming the old champions - goofiness has its place, it's just not a game I wanna play. Please don't start on an old vs new thread.) The new CU, however, focusses much more on the people inside the suits. They have cooler designs, generally cohesive backgrounds and are integrated into the setting as a whole, giving examples not only of powers and origins, but how they fit into the world and various meta-plots hanging around (Witchcraft being the most obvious here, with the whole mystic world thing, which is one reason she's one of my favorites. But Defender and the corporate world is rife with potential, too). There's some understanding of subcultures - Nightwind doesn't just get a Chinese teacher and learn how to be a ninja. He goes to the Yengtao temple, and has an origin story that at least /sounds/ like the writer knows what he's talking about. At the very least, he's watched a few movies. There's an air of verisimilitude there. And I'm glad Storn Cook is on this thread (hope he's still reading it) 'cause from looking at the art, I think he's done a lot to influence some of the costume design. At least, if he isn't behind the move, he's the best example of it. That being getting some seriously classic looks (like the spandex bodysuit) and making it look COOL. LadyBlue, for instance, would probably have had a bright electric blue bodycondom back in the day... and done by most modern artists, she'd be wearing black and either baring skin or having extraneous blades 'n' stuff. Storn draws her? She looks just plain cool. Same with the dude flying past the cable car, and the woman hovering over the statue (she's in a few pics, but this is the one I remember). Some classic designs, which somehow manage to capture a modern aesthetic at the same time. Anyway... that's all why I think the current CU kinda is the 'Ultimate CU' - it's taking modern sensibilities and re-doing the comics in that style. If you wanted to go further, though, and do a 'dark Ultimate CU'... I'd go a bit darker. Have Millennium City be overrun by special interests. Lotta VIPER money went into its construction, in this version - they all but run the government. The Champions have to dodge the authorities, while trying to unravel the nest of conspiracies (VIPER isn't the /only/ group doing this) and free their beloved city from the clutches of corruption.

Re: Is Ambidexterity a little expensive for what it does?

Re: Help me create an Alien Arena Sport Another option - go low-tech. Let the spectators see the cunning of minds instead of technology, since they prolly spend their own lives surrounded by that stuff. Low-tech's often also easier to follow - too much multi-level stuff and the terrain gets in the way.

Re: The Stainless Steel Age Hmm, good idea. I think we'd see an overall nod to realism, as the Iron Age stuff does - powers with consequences, limited out-and-out violatiosn of commonly-known science. I think an important part is increased inter-cultural sensibilities. Once upon a time, if you wanted to write an Irish character, all you needed was to write a crazy Irish brogue and throw in a few city names and some curses like 'Begorrah!' Nowadays, it's expected that you'll know something about Ireland, and Irish history, and generally put a bit more sensitivity into it. Note how Banshee has changed from the 60s to present - Irish clown to regular guy. The possibility for untarnished, yet complicated characters - modern Superman is intelligent, honest, honourable and dedicated; but is also steely-willed, determined and capable... and vulnerable, though through limits in power and psychological complexities more than simple comic-booky kryptonite. Modern Batman is dark and brooding, but has a purity of motive that is striking. That's a few to get things started... not much different to Iron Age yet, aside from allowing characters to be genuinely 'good'... it seems that in 'pure iron age', such characters simply die, or become tainted.

Re: What do you think is the best way to balance armor use?

Re: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic ACtually, got one now: when jedi put themselves into a serious duelling stance, their DCV goes up. They don't wanna get hit, so they use defensive strikes, things like that. To increase chance to hit, they use either sneaky attacks or power smashes to batter the opponent's defences. Perhaps there could be a slightly different system for each method, but hey. Basically, you attack, the other guy blocks (and almost certainly blocks, due to having combat levels and stuff) - but if he only barely blocks (and you would have hit normally) you start getting bonuses to attack. Next round, he goes first (because he blocked) and sees if he can do that same... if you get enough of a bonus, perhaps he doesn't go first even if he DOES block, and eventually you'll get enough of a bonus to actually land a blow, at which point it's a race to see whether the STUN or BODY does him in first. But the ablative combat luck idea works, too, and is simpler. I'm usually wary of tacking on additional systems when something more elegant works more easily.

Re: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic I had a decent one for TORG, but nothing for HERO... you could possibly create some manner of 'duelling defence' that functioned as ablative combat luck, allowing peopel to be pushed onto the back foot. You could use virtual BODY, too, but that ends up looking a bit too much like hit points. Alternately, you could have 'jedi defence' be just so good that DCV outstrips OCV by a huge margin. So insted of using the 'strike' maneuver, you have to use drains? That might be getting unnecessarily complex, however. Hmm, I'll think on this.

Re: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic To anyone running a Star Wars game: if you're interested in injecting a little 'science' into your 'sci-fantasy', you can do no better than the Star Wars Technical Commentaries: http://www.theforce.net/swtc/ You won't agree with everything the guy has to say, but he has a lot of good stuff there. Basically, he tries to stick with what's shown, and come up with plausible explanations for it. Sometimes he's pushing stuff uphill to do so, but he comes out with an awfully big array of quite believable explanation. It's exactly what people need as a basis for 'hardening' Star Wars some.

Re: GURPS Lasers? Brilliant.

Re: Weak Supers who just needed better writers Good to hear about Dani and Karma. But... gah. Had that writer actually READ Excalibur? O_o That totally doesn't track with the development she'd been going through. She got to terms with her past. Why does she need to rebel? Sounds more like someone going 'hey, here's this repressed little innocent girl, let's make her into a slut. It'll make us look cool and edgy.' Maybe I should cross-post this to the 'why I stopped reading comics' thread, 'cause that attitude basically sums it up. Thanks for the news. Not ranting at you. Sorry.

Re: Weak Supers who just needed better writers Yeah, Liefeld only lasted a dozen issues into X-Force. Fabian Nicieza wrote it after that. He had Sam really push his power. He could generate the blast field while stationary, extend it out to protect others, focus it around his fist for a punch, or even do short-ranged blasts. Finally, he learned how to (as a held action block defence) absorb and redirect the force from incoming blows and hit back with it. He only did that once that I saw. I was generally quite happy with how he went, post-Liefeld. He found some writers who actually respected him. (Oh, as for the mutant highlander thing, I think that was revealed to be some kinda mistake. I forget.) Someone else mentioned Boom-Boom/Meltdown... in the Liefeld era, she got renamed Boomer, and used wrist-launchers to shoot out her plasma balls. Post-Liefeld, she finally grew up, and renamed herself Meltdown. Started really getting the hang of her powers. I quite liked that powerset. She finally actually seemed like a human being. Wolfsbane: From what I remember, she didn't get more powerful, but got more control over it. After being turned into a Genoshan mutate, she started experimenting with gradiating the shifting power. once she was cured, she could turn to just about any stage of wolfiness along a finely-gradiated spectrum. She also pulled herself together and got out of the shadow of Reverend Craig - even went in and slapped him around, verbally. I'd consider her very well-balanced now. 'Course, that didn't stop some writers from still writing her like a little girl, even after she was clearly shown to have grown up into quite a strong young woman. Sigh. Moonstar: Well, for a while there, she had the ability to not only create illusions, but real objects. O_O That was kinda silly, I personally think. I'm glad they got rid of it. I have no idea what she's doing at the moment.

Re: Weakest Supers in books you've read? Yeah, he's very definitely a normal. If I were statting him in a HERO game, though, I'd prolly use a buncha points. Give him combat luck, a few levels in the luck power, some DCV levels with Requires Luck Roll... but that's just to simulate comics writers not wanting him killed off. Stuff I don't like just hand-waving in games. (So no, I don't see that as a reason to see him as anything other than low-powered.)

Re: Weakest Supers in books you've read? Yeah, which I mentioned in my post. The powers, if I remember, were those innate to all humans - essentially, his potential got unlocked. The potential contained in ALL humans. Nothing special to him. He just happened to be there. I'm talking about Rick Jones when he's normal. Even when bonded with Mar-Vell, it's the cap who has the powers, not Jones.

Re: Weakest Supers in books you've read? Weakest superhero - Rick Jones! Well, not really a real superhero. But he /was/ a sidekick for a while (even served as Bucky, if I remember). He has some martial arts skillz (as he says, you don't hang around with Captain America and not pick up something), but he's nothing special. Great character, though. I love him. Oh, of course, when he's bonded with Captain Marvel, he goes from 'weak' to 'cosmically powerful' with a clap of the wrists. And he's been around the place enough times that he's an invaluable source of information for people like Marv.

Re: Weakest Supers in books you've read?

Re: Gundam Wing Mecha: Stats! Rockin' stats. Was thinking about the side effects: everyone's going to have a different take on it, and really, any powerset is about right. Just putting in another option - that is, using mental transform (cumulative) rather than mind control. That way, it sets in less quickly but is certain to work eventually. You don't get psych lims factoring into that, though... perhaps the transform could be various depending on what psych lims are present, though. Dunno exactly how to do that. The transform approach also lasts a little longer, giving cool-down time after using it. I can see more long-term effects (such as recovering memories or whatever) coming from a transform. Much of a muchness, really, though. Mind control works too.

Re: "Get Over Here" Delayed/triggered multipower attack? You hit with the one roll, both 'attacks' hit, but the second only goes off when the harpoon is removed? For something like a whale harpoon, you might wanna make three effects - those two, plus a low-level damage as it swims around (that might be a little too grisly, however).

Re: Deadly Blow talent too powerful? Oh, come now. I'm not talking about tossing out the tenets of the system. I'm not against Deadly Blow per se, I'm against its COST. The fact that it's more effective than something that costs a great deal more is... disappointing to me, in a system where points are meant to actually add up. If I allowed Deadly Blow as is, the damage potential from weapons would be split between two levels: those with, and those without. There's no way to make up the difference any other way for the same number of points. And yes, we shouldn't necessarily just be looking at points and contemplating only effectiveness. But in a well-balanced system, I shouldn't need to make a choice between appropriateness and effectiveness. There should be many ways to the same end, not just one. So that's why, in my games, I'd jack up the cost. It's certainly one way, and I think it should work. It's also certainly still within the grounds of the HERO system. It's just the way I think I'd prefer it to go.

Re: Deadly Blow talent too powerful? I'd consider allowing Deadly Blow if it cost more. 10 points for an unrestricted one, 4 points for a very restricted one is just too darn cheap. My problem is using a superheroic powerset in a heroic game, I guess. How's this for an alternative? 1d6HKA, but instead of -1/2 limitation, you have to buy it with an advantage. Prolly 'usable by other', the 'other' being the 'weapon'. Because the sword's being enhanced, you don't have to buy it as simultaneous. I'd prolly put it at +1 advantage for any weapon, any time, down to +1/2 for a very limited set. At 10 points per DC of enhancement, I'd consider it.

Re: Deadly Blow talent too powerful? (snippage) Which you can do anyway, of course. Extra DCs from martial arts (or even martial maneuvers themselves) spring to mind. My big problem with Deadly Blow is that it's so CHEAP. Why buy up strength? It costs 15 points (doubled for STR over 20) to get an extra 1d6 damage, and is limited by a cap. Deadly Blow costs 10 points at most, and lifts the cap, allowing for extra strength damage! And in any case, if you're going for the realism of 'can be killed by a knife' then you can always use hit locations and disabling rules. Hit someone in the heart (vitals location) for 1d6+1... a slightly-above average damage result is 10 points of damage, which reduces 10 BODY humans to zero immediately (delivering a disabling wound) or halves the body of a toughman (delivering an impairing wound). Apply the rule that the GM can declare any NPC who's suffered an impairing wound to the vitals to be dead, and there you have it - you just killed a 20-BODY guy with a knife and a more-or-less average roll. You only run into a problem with armour. But if you're against armoured goons, then you either aim around the armour or you don't use a knife. There's just no need for it. HERO seems to have gone out of its way to avoid unnecessary points-expansion in heroic games (the low damage results for star hero weapons, for instance), but here, that seems to have gone out the window. No sir, I don't like it.

Re: Is anyone gaming the Iraq war?

Re: If magic cost full price... *grins* It's quite deceptively simple, isn't it? I have no idea how it'd actually work out, though. I haven't playtested it, and won't get the chance in the near future.

Re: If magic cost full price... Basically, I can't ever see anyone getting a consensus between magic and non-magic, since both sides see it their own way and go 'hey, the other side's a lot more powerful.' cf: the endless fighter vs wizard debate on D&D forums. My argument in D&D is always thus: if the fighter is the combat specialist, and by necessity isn't that great outside of combat, then he should SHINE in combat. The wizard shouldn't expect to be as good as him. PErhaps as good short-term, but not long-term. This is because the wizard has a host of out-of-combat abilities that the fighter lacks. And quite powerful ones. And in D&D, combat isn't all there is, so that /does/ factor into the overall balance level. Now, that doesn't quite apply to HERO, since characters aren't as constrained by 'class'. Everyone can have a bit of magic, and everyone can have a bit of fighting, and everyone can have a bit of non-combat skill stuff. If you try to do too much, you'll suck at everything, but hey. At the same time, I think people should think less about classes when in HERO... the 'wizard' is a character who has forsaken physical abilities to spend points on magic. That's a decision they made, and frankly, I don't see why it should be more points-efficient than any other choice. Of course, someone who spends all their points on combat abilities looks pretty scary, too. But with a 1/3 break, I think you'd quickly look scarier with spells. Basically, with seriously cheap spells, you quickly end up being able to do everything a warrior can, and more. Sure, you have to chant and gesture. But who cares? What about a middle ground - instead of a 1/3 cost, perhaps an extra -2 limitation called 'spell'? That would reduce the cost, but not as much as 1/3 (unless there were no other limitations on the spell). What would people feel about it then? Also: what about the holy warrior who takes a divine ability to enhance his sword, or a healing effect? Or the priest with turn undead? What should happen to their costs? As far as FH goes (I don't have Turakian Age), there's no discussion about reducing their costs... do people see this as a problem?

Re: If magic cost full price... You definitely end up with fewer spells. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was definitely annoyed when I saw that mages got a break under most spell systems, but no mention was made of, say, paladin powers getting a points break... I don't see any reason for mages to get a break other than 'they're mages.' That doesn't sound right to me.

Re: Stargate weapons I'd possibly give it a very good PD, but make it vulnerable to armour-piercing... after all, under a hail of M-16 fire, only one Jaffa actually died in the pilot ep. Of course, being rear-echelon, I guess they could have been packing sub-standard ammunition of some kind, and thus had reduced penetration. Of course, that's splitting hairs - I totally agree with you about the ED thing. I don't think about that angle much any more.