Michael Hopcroft

Re: Spell upgrades another spell What happens, though, if you are somehow prevented from casting the spell you are modifying -- if, for example, the next spell requires Gestures and someone comes up to you from behind and Grabs you, or hits you with an Entangle that prevents you from moving your arms? Does the effect hang around waiting for you to cast any spell -- not just the spell you intended it to be cast on?

Re: Time Stop (its harder than it sounds)

Re: And the old shall swallow the new... IIRC, Atari has had some successful products lately, most notably for our purposes the long-running Neverwinter Nights line. They haven't had a lot of success with MMORPGs, though; Dungeons & Dragons Online Stormwatch was a disaster of epic proportions. They've had a long-standing connection to Wizards of the Coast, and have overall made money from the endeavor. That said, they are an independent company (no Hasbro ownership) and have a solid record of transposing RPG mechanics to computerized formats. The name may still be linked to the first videogame boom and bust, and to a doomed line of microcomputers (they made the first computer I almost bought back in 1988 -- I chose the imported PC-compatible Amstrad instead, and they ended up losing out to PCs ion the marketplace), but Atari does have a good understanding of the market and a decent capital base. Barring catastrophe, this should work out.

Re: THE BOOK OF DRAGONS -- What Do *You* Want To See? The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat 1d6 Transform, wastes to compost (only without the smell). NT: Subtle signs that your state's governor is abusing his office.

Re: Hypothetically and unofficially, what would you like to see in a Mecha Hero book?

Re: Answers & Questions Q: If you want to kill a bear, what do you feed him? A: I want you to show me the way.

Re: Time Stop (its harder than it sounds) The mage might not want to do this too often, as he emerges from his temporal cocoon six months older than when he entered. If people start to notice, that could have unpleasant social repercussions.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The Illuminati, as part of their insidious conspiracy to rule the world! Just like everything else ever done by anyone!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Combat Dressmaking 101 (for when you need a new costume RIGHT NOW). NT: Subtle signs that you've lost the Superpowers Sweepstakes.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Time for a refreshing paddle!" "In liquid nitrogen?"

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Two words: Instant Snowman. NT: Subtle signs that it wasn't such a good idea to stalk Witchcraft.

Re: Money in Fantasy Setting And of course, what's money in one part of the world might not be money in another. The farmer brings his barley to the miller to be milled into flour, and pays by giving the miller some of his barley to make beer. The local ruler collects some of the flour for use in his kitchens as a tax: in return he's expected to protect the farmer's community if the Orcs attack again. It's usually much more complicated than that -- all economies are -- but you get the idea. "Gold? We've got too much of that stuff. Not quite as useful as it looks -- makes terrible armor and weapons. Now, if you've got some Iron -- that we really need."

Re: THE BOOK OF DRAGONS -- What Do *You* Want To See? But where are people going to find 30-pound acorns?

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Excuse me? Where I can I find the nuclear wessels? A: Any plan where you lose your hat is a BAD PLAN.

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: Answers & Questions Q: How do you know that Satan asked you to get a container of milk, a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a dozen fresh souls? A: If I had a million dollars, I'd be rich.

Re: Making Dancing weapons? I just had a nasty thought: berserk dancing weapons. Once they start fighting, they don't want to stop -- and when they run out of enemies, they turn on any friends in the vicinity and finally upon the wielder himself unless brought under control. Could be handy to guard the back entrance of the keep, though; you never go there, and anyone who does enter that way is presumably trying to do you harm -- and how do you fight something that has no body?

Re: Xena, Gabrielle, Joxer and Autolycus This makes it sound like the cast and crew of Hercules and Xena had entirely too much fun (and entirely too much free time). I get the impression that Kevin Sorbo actually enjoys making Grade-Z movies like Meet the Spartans which don't exactly add luster to his reputation. I wonder if shows or movies with actual budgets are uncomfortably unfamiliar to him after his years on Hercules and Andromeda.

Re: Money in Fantasy Setting GURPS 3rd Edition's Basic Set warned that cross-dimensional traders could get extremely rich very quickly if not kept in line, for this very reason. The problem is that that kind of metagame thinking can get in the way of the adventure. It's a conundrum: you want to keep your PCs in a position not to refuse reasonable opportunities to adventure, but 'reasonable" becomes much more limited when the PCs are very well off. This is less of a problem for greedy PCs (who always want more no matter how much they have), but not by all that much (if they can figure out less dangerous ways of getting rich and powerful).

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Here. Let me slice up the franks for the casserole."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat And the fraternities are causing so much trouble.... Wait a minute, that's the Cult of the Greek. Never mind.

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Mimes guard the Balance of the Universe? Who knew?" NT: Subtle signs that you really shouldn't have eaten that second helping.