OddHat

Re: Musings on Random Musings

I know a girl who often "jokes" about punching, biting or killing people. She's proud of a time she broke someone's nose in high school, and of the time she dislocated her SO's jaw. When asked about it, she says she's small and non-violent, and that she therefore finds the idea of herself attacking someone to be hilariously funny. I tend to think it's more about expressing a wish.

Note that I am in no way saying that every person who jokes about violence would perform acts of violence given the chance; still, it makes me uncomfortable in her case, as I don't trust that she's "only joking". I feel similarly when some people make racist jokes, or joke about their political enemies being rounded up and exterminated. Sometimes I laugh; sometimes I think they're using "only joking" as a cover for their real feelings. I know that's a double standard, and I try to be fair about it, but there we go.

When Bill as Teh Bunny calls for mass murder and mayhem, I laugh; even if some part of his psyche would like to rule with an iron paw (and who wouldn't), I know and trust Bill; I don't take the idea of him murdering millions seriously. I wouldn't laugh if the same jokes were told by a neo nazi. Sometimes double standards are valid.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

I supposed if you've never seen a skinned cat' date=' or a drowned cat, or a cat that someone dipped in hot tar, or a cat that someone ran over with a lawnmower, then you might consider those sorts of jokes funny. I have, and I don't. S**t like that is real, and it's not funny. Not ever.[/quote']

 

This is pretty much the way I feel about domestic violence as well. When you've seen the reality, some of your ability to laugh goes away.

Re: Your PCs might be overpowered if...

Your PCs might be over powered if you and the GM won't skip game day for fear of pissing them off.

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore

Try the spam, beans, tomatoes, spam, flatbread, tea, and spam. That has some spam in it.

Re: Your PCs might be overpowered if...

You finish staring in a Joss Wheedon series better off than you began and you're not even a waif.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

You could use the lower power movie versions of Darna. Most were just flying girls with martial arts and enough speed to dodge or deflect bullets, not bounce them.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

The Sanctuary TV series presents a world full of supernatural monsters, most with fairly limited powers. A fairly strong & tough but not bullet proof caveman, an immortal with no other real powers but lots of experience, a teleporter with what looks like low level super speed, a full Vampire (the most powerful "PC"), an Invisible Girl, and a forensic psychologist with a high PER roll and a fair skill set. Almost forgot the Buffy clone, who goes Evil and gets a massive power upgrade later in the series.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

The line between Dark Chapions, Low Powered Superheroes (who aren't bullet proof), and Pulp can get iffy in a campaign. Mostly it's a case of remembering to keep things lighter hearted if you want a tv supers feel. Bad guys who menace but rarely shoot straight, lots of puns, a forgiving universe, etc.

Re: Hero (and other generic systems), too flexible?

I think Gestalt for 5thed did a great job with this for Superhero games; just follow the packages and go, even a relative newbie can have the mechanics of a character in under an hour. Lucha Hero did a great job as well. Plenty of other first rate books out now and coming out for 6th.

Personally, I don't ask new players what they want mechanically unless they already know the system. I give them a pre made character for the first session or two, with a clear written description of what the character can do, then let them work with me to make a new character or re-write the one they now have after they've learned the basics. It's not much more work for you, and it gives you players with a better grasp of what the numbers mean when they finally sit down to build their first character.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

We forget what we don't use. Skills atrophy. I sometimes read things I wrote fifteen or twenty years ago and think "Wow, I don't remember anything about that." I kind of like the idea of immortals who become very, very good at one or two things they keep practicing ("I've been doing yoga two hours per day every day for 300 years") and completely forget things they haven't had to do for a long while ("I haven't spoken Etruscan for over 2000 years; I have no idea what the hell this inscription means.")

Re: Naming the first superhero

Damn Commie Liberal Tree Hugging Hippie, Man.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings

A video of Donnie Thompson squating 1300 lbs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdQ2X4SudvA

Some random musings:

Fantastic strength on display here. On the other hand, it bugs me that the top guys in my sport are, well, not exactly conventionally attractive.

People who don't understand what they're seeing are going to think there's a "trick". There isn't. The spotters are not helping him; look at their hands. They aren't carrying any of the weight. The knee braces are something of a cheat, but almost unavoidable at that level. Your muscles can generate forces your joints can't handle. Very few modern power lifters do the kind of training needed to exert this kind of force without joint support (though some Strongman athletes do).

Powerlifting is fun to do, but really isn't that impressive to watch if you don't know what you're looking at. Strongman and OLing look much cooler, and Crossfit is great fun to watch. All are fun to practice.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

There's no reason you couldn't kill a Highlander style immortal with a gun. Enough shots will take a head right off. It was custom and the rules of dueling that kept them using swords, not neccesity.

For that matter, there's no reason you couldn't kill a Slayer with a gun. She survived being shot, but the shooter was an idiot who didn't make sure she was dead.

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore

I eat buffalo, ostrich, elk, and venison when I can get it. All are generally lean meats, and have a better fatty acid profile than any commercial beef (though grass fed free range beef is on the same level or slightly better). Buffalo in particular starts out grass fed and is finished with grain. They're pretty much the opposite of foods for people who don't care anymore.

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore

Apple & custard on a crust is just an open pie. Sounds good. Only starts to sound odd if you call it a pizza.

Re: Blackwyrm Looking For Star Hero Submissions

Sending something to you now, Dave.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings

Sometimes, watching atheists and believers argue is like watching the bickering of an old married couple at a family dinner. There's a strong sense that both parties stopped listening a long time ago, and that the argument is about something that has nothing to do with the words being used.

I may think that one party is right, but I still want them to shut up and let me finish eating in peace.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

As someone who only watches their Godzilla movies' date=' I missed the references. I was not a fan of the human mutant aspect of the movie. Unless you are in some sort of giant robot thing, you should not be fighting giant monsters. The whole "M-base" thing struck me as wrong. I can deal with humans forming a defense force and making ships to fight off the monsters, but the mutant/chosen one subplot was unnecessary and detracted from the movie IMHO.[/quote']

 

Tsuburaya, the man behind Godzilla and Ultraman, also had a TV series pre-Ultraman that was pretty much the Science Patrol vs Ghosts, Monsters (not giant, iirc), Human Mutants & Aliens. He also did a series of sci-fi horror films with human mutants. A lot of that mythology ended up working its way into the Zillaverse, and for a fan of that stuff Final Wars had some extra geek cred. The Human with mutant/supernatural powers lending his or her power to the "Good" giant monster is a classic bit from Tokusatsu films & TV. If that's not your flavor of Japanese sci fi, no worries.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

It was a mixed bag, and could have used more giant monster fights. That said, I'm in the "I loved it" crowd, from its value for game fodder if nothing else.

Re: Batman! Collect them all for 350 Points!

It's pretty easy to agree that Bats is notably smarter than the average Super' date=' but not a superscientist, and that he's pretty strong, but not remotely superhuman. But pinning a characteristic number on those descriptions requires an understanding of the basic rules and assumptions for the campaign setting as a whole. A super genius INT in one campaign can be a dullard in another.[/quote']

 

Yup, and again and always we need to be clear on which Batman (and which Superman, Lex Luthor, etc) we're talking about. There are cartoons and comics where Batman gets to prove he's as smart as the bad guy Super Scientist, just because there are no other Skill Monsters in the episode / issue and that's how these stories usually work. And then there are stories where he's not much more than a goofball in tights who uses a string of non sequiturs to "solve" the clues the badguys hand him ("Wait! Birds fly, and flies buzz! The Mind Control Ray is hidden in the old buzzsaw factory outside of town!")

 

Which is an argument for making all characters take "Multiform, changes only between writers".

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

Godzilla: Final Wars

 

This finishes my tour of watching all the Godzilla movies Netflix has in order of release. While I had some thematic problems with the movie, it does make a nice capstone to the tour; Godzilla puts the atomic smackdown on pretty much every monster he fought in the past ~50 years.

I liked the little shout-outs to Toho's non-kaiju tokusatsu films like Atragon and Gorath.

I loved the little thematic nods to Tsuburaya's other work, especially Ultra Q / Ultraman and his Human Mutants stuff. Earth Final Wars would make a great campaign setting.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

Sherlock Holmes. I liked the take' date=' and the banter between Jude Law and Robert Downy Jr. was great. I also like how they illustrate Holme's thought processes, with him running through events before he does them. Perfect example of what someone with 25+ INT and +4 PER would be like.[/quote']

 

Liked it a lot, but didn't like turning Irene Adler into Emma Peel or Moriarty into Satan. Still would have made an awesome Victorian / Edwardian Pulp game.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics

Now I'm just turning into a broken record.

http://surbrook.devermore.net/adaptationsbook/remo.html

Wow! Great to see my old Remo Williams write up again. It's important to note that this version of Remo Williams is really from around books 1-3. Remo today is a 1200+ point monster, maybe more, and that's if a lot of his stunts are folded into a VPP. OTOH, the Removerse is an incredibly rich Pulp setting with hidden Magic and Superscience.

Pretty much any American TV Super from the 70s-80s fits a Street level game; the SFX budgets weren't up to cosmic adventure, and even comic book cosmic characters like Wonder Woman (or Captain Marvel) ended up fighting street crime and rare not-very-ambitious Supervillains. So, Man from Atlantis, various versions of The Invisible Man, Greatest American Hero, TV's Wonder Woman (on the high powered side), The Greatest American Hero, etc.

Re: Gestalt: Architects of Change: What Would *You* Like to See

Very much looking forward to seeing this, Scott!

Re: What Have You Watched Recently?

Look, as a guy who is heavier than he should be, I would love to belive this, but a marathon is not something a guy who is even twenty pounds overweight would have trouble with. He might be able to walk/run and gut it out, but I don't see him finishing without serious problems. Admittedly, in the movie he's moving at a snail's pace, and it's all about guts more than glory, but...

 

Football players and many baseball players are not endurance athletes. They are great athletes, but in a different way. The big guys on the line are all about a sudden burst of power. They exert themselves like ten seconds at a time then the play ends. Those guys aren't running a marathon. Guys like Babe Ruth and Jose Valenzuela weren't really stealing bases. Babe could hit it out of the park and then trot around the bases in between bites of his sammich. Valenzuela had to keep his arm up to pitch.

 

Soccer and basketball players are endurance athletes. Tour de France riders are endurance athletes. Notice how thin they tend to be.

 

Sammo Hung is a freak of nature. I've never seen another bigger guy who do the stuff he can. I still don't think he would be in a big rush to run a marathon. He could easily kick my butt, but I can't see him doing all that running.

I'm a fat man; I walk & run 4 - 5 miles per day (about 20 miles per week), and am pretty sure I could grind my way through a marathon given a few months to train. I know fat looking people who run (really jog) marathons, slowly. It's not good news for their joints, but they manage it. To win, endurance athletes almost always need to be lean; you don't need to be lean to complete a marathon. You just need cardio capacity, mental endurance, and the muscle to move your bulk. Mostly you complete it by moving as long as you can, grinding out as much as you can, and not thinking about anybody else.

Here's a picture of a fat runner in the London Marathon, because on Teh Internets it's pics or it didn't happen: