OddHat

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson That's just Schroedinger's History in action. Every NPC both has and does not have every possible past history, until such time as that past history is clearly described in game, at which point the history resolves itself. So, as soon as the player comes up with his Holmes-Think explanation, the GM accepts or rejects it. If he accepts it, the NPC was always a major.

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson As I've said elsewhere, what's the point of letting Characters pay points for Deduction if you're then going to demand that the Player figure things out on his own? As GM, if you let points be spent on a skill, you owe the player some utility from it.

Re: Giant Brick Tricks I've designed a lot of Giant characters over the years, and I've found a pattern of what seems to work well in my games and what doesn't. One of the main problems with Giants is that Growth isn't as good a deal as buying more STR, especially when the drop in DCV is considered. The giant becomes a prime target, and if his defenses aren't pumped up considerably, he becomes the Worf of the campaign world. Of course, considering how often growth bricks are Worfed in the comics, it is in genre. So, some suggestions for fun-to-play giants: 1) OCV Only HtH combat levels instead of AOE for str. He can use them to Sweep when you want him to swat everyone in a hex, and to stomp that smegging martial artist bozo. 2) HA with AOE:Line, Cone, or Explosion and Personal Immunity, for really massive area damage. Giant Monsters destroy whole cities; you can too. 3) Damage Reduction, 50%-75%. You are huge, and your DCV is lousy. Military grade hardware will be used on you, and no one is going to miss you. Your REC did not benefit from your size. You need higher defenses than the other bricks. 4) Extra Running. Make those big legs work. 5) Be really clear on your extra reach, and use it. Make the short guys eat jabs all day. Speaking of which, 6) Giant Martial Arts. If the Speedster and Brick can justify it, so can you. Charge, Giant Haymaker (Offensive Strike), Big Hands (Martial Grab) and You Can't Hurt Me Little Man (Block) for starters. No reason you can't learn how to fight just because you're huge. 7) Power Skill: Giant. You'll forget something; this can cover it.

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson I remember one story where he unbends a fireplace poker (it was bent by someone trying to intimidate him), so he's not that unfit. One approach, as used in a write up in Digital Hero, might be to give him Find Weakness and then rule that he could use it to halve or quarter the DEF of the poker before bending it. If Holmes had to pay for every skill, talent, perk and contact he ever displayed in the full Conan Doyle run, I'd bet that 400+ points wouldn't quite cover it. Using various Universal options might cut things down, but not that far. I agree that a Holmes-like character could be built on 150 or fewer points, maybe as few as 50, but it wouldn't be Holmes.

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson Marking this thread for later. Writing up Holmes & Watson properly would require taking a week or two to read through the old Strand stories, but a quick version could be done with Pulp Hero package deals. I wouldn't bother with Super Skills; 23 INT, 18- in Deduction and Criminology, Analyze: Body Language 14-, the rest of the detective type skills at 14-, a good selection of KS and SS at 14-, and 3 Overall Levels, plus the Extraordinary Skill Rules should do it.

Re: Martial Art: Tricking Yup, and I'm guilty of it at times as well.

Re: Martial Art: Tricking Maybe all the guys who were supposed to be tracking who came in and went out or watching the monitors were playing AD&D and eating pizza.

Re: Martial Art: Tricking I'd say that the leap involved in believing a showy, acrobatic fighting style could be made effective is much smaller than the leap involved in believing a man can absorb and store solar energy, then use that energy to fly, move moons, and shoot energy out of his eyes. Which is not to say I entirely disagree with your point; I would just come at it from another direction. When you say "It's [something Not Real]", people shrug and accept or reject it. When you discuss something related to someones real world experience, they quibble. Which gets strange when you point out a fact ("There are people in the world who earn PhDs in a dozen or more subjects / lift over 1000 pounds / get up and walk away relatively unharmed after being shot in the head") only to be told "Nonsense, that's impossible."

Re: Adonis and his ladies (New Mastermind and henchwomen)

Re: Adonis and his ladies (New Mastermind and henchwomen) One interesting option: Make his PRE 35, for a natural 18- for all interaction skills, and then give him 6+ levels in Seduction, Persuasion, and Acting. Allow a COM roll (with his 35 COM) as a complimentary skill roll when using interaction skills on women. Using the Extraordinary Skill Rules, most NPCs will be complete putty in his hands, and even PCs will have problems if you require them to roll EGO vs Interaction Skill the same way NPCs have to. And now his girls haven't been mind controlled into submission; they've been seduced by a sleaze ball, something much easier to relate to, and far more frustrating.

Re: Musings on Random Musings So is the Bunny. Death Tribble is from the UK. I believe he may be registered as a City Destroying Menace Bent On World Domination, but I can't be sure.

Re: Adonis and his ladies (New Mastermind and henchwomen)

Re: "Sense Motive" In Hero I'd go with Analyze: Motive as well. Conversation also works, as does Deduction, depending on the circumstances.

Re: Pretty Sailor Bulldozer Great character, but I can't rep you again yet.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Always tough for men in September to be reminded of the absurdity of chasing after girls still in May.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? My Krav Maga DVDs. I like the practice, and as instructional tapes they're not bad. Still, looking at some of the trainees, I'm uncomfortably reminded that this is, undeniably, Angry Jewish Guy-Fu.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Not the same story I saw, involving as it does whipping Russians rather than spanking Germans, but still very interesting. Whip rep to you.

Re: Adonis and his ladies (New Mastermind and henchwomen) Great character, and repped. I wouldn't require VSE on followers in order to have a variety of followers (you're paying for the points they're built on, not the fine details), but that's your call as a GM.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Can't find the link, now. IIRC, a German study found that adults with depression reported a relief in their symptoms for several days after a good, firm spanking. So, this whole slapping L Marcus and calling him a sissy thing, well, it may not be entirely without benefits...

Re: Mis-matched Team Members Ordered this season of the show based on this skit, and the Henchmen Skit.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Is this a good time to bring up the German study on spanking and depression?

Re: Musings on Random Musings I'll let you kick me.