OddHat

Re: A Thread for Random Musings There comes a point when telling yourself "Sure, he's bigger, stronger, faster, and better trained than I am, but I'll just go for the knees or ankles because attitude is everything" just smacks of whistling in the dark.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The running of the Alter Boys.

Re: Real life powers... (Adv's vs Lim's) Balance? 1. If you get whatever groups of powers you want say 300pt's worth what powers would you want in real life? (post your sheet) Same as every long time power gamer. Full Life Support, Regeneration with Regrowth and Resurrection, everything else in a massive Multiform. Many of the forms have various VPPs or min-maxed power sets. 2. Would you want any limitations on your powers? How about power advantages? Multiforms and VPPs take care of that. 3. Would you want to keep limitations on yourself for balance of your own power? No. I'm infinite. 4. What would you do if others say you are overpowered, and you having super ability's takes the fun out of there lives.... I keep my abilities secret as much as possible; where needed, a good dose of Mental Transform takes care of whiners. 5. How about government and some people who just want to stay normal not meta & think you should be normal too? A few hours of work and the governments of the world answer to me. And they're bloody grateful.

Re: Wild Card's Hero Demise's regeneration is tricky. It does take him a while to, say, regrow lost limbs. On the other hand, he never seems to be in danger of bleeding to death. In a campaign where the Bleeding rules are enforced, I'd suggest giving him 2 Body per minute regeneration rather than 1, with GM fiat saying that the first Regeneration cycle stopped any bleeding. Also, as an option, I'd consider some sort of Mental damage shield. Tachyon never had a problem, but Puppet Man risked killing himself just by contacting Demise's mind (though he also found the pain that filled Demise "delicious").

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Photos of Supes, Bats, and one of the younger Robins in Frank Miller scripted "training".

Re: WWII Era Superheroes and Villains Thanks. The campaign is still ongoing. Time is currently November, 1940.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Committee to Re-Elect the President Creep or Crepe, what were they thinking?

Re: With even greater power.... I'd expect the first generation or two would keep fighting hard, for all sorts of reasons. At worst, I'd expect a US occupation of Iraq / Israeli occupation of the territories situation; at best, a US occupation of Japan model (which would require V'Han to find Earthman collaborators already in government). Those in power now, corrupt and honest alike, would want their power back. Those who benefited from their regimes, in every country, would be natural supporters. Those who lost loved ones and property in the conquest (unless it was entirely bloodless) would want both vengeance and to drive off the occupiers. Nationalists would fight in the name of Country, and some believers in the name of G_d. Those disadvantaged by the new regime would fight for compensation. Those who don't trust damn foreigners would trust damn aliens even less, and might easily end up joining insurgents. All of that said, by generation two or three, with the benefits of V'Han's rule undeniable, resistance would likely fade to fanatic terrorist cells; an interesting option if you have time traveling PCs who want to side with the "rebels".

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Marital arts masters lie a lot. Big, stinky whoppers, too. I guess all teachers lie a bit, to hold student interest, exaggerate for effect, illustrate an idea or emphasize a point. With Martial Arts masters, national pride and macho posturing get thrown into the mix with those more common "teaching lies". The result is really, really off-putting. Oddest thing is that these guys have often lead amazing lives, and are genuinely able to do some remarkably impressive things. Then they tell an obvious whopper, and it causes you to wonder about everything they've told you.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Little Chocolate Hitler with a dildo. Wait, that's a great idea for a chocolate mold! NT: Whose Enemies List do you want to see?

Re: A Thread for Random Musings People in a given field spend a lot of time speaking in shorthand. Sometimes, we use that shorthand to communicate a complex idea to a layman. And then the layman takes our shorthand at face value, and repeats it. A seed of truth expressed in shorthand becomes a huge, sprawling tangle of myths. For the want of a meta-machete, an untruth based industry is formed.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings "misc.fitness.weights: We hate each other, but we hate you more." I'm gonna email some of those guys.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Let "Blood, blood, blood" be our motto!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat A really big tie, with a hula dancer. No, an actual hula dancer. NT: Things you'd rather do than discuss politics with your relatives.

Re: With even greater power.... Fair enough; if the campaign starts in a totalitarian regime, playing the rebels can be heroic. Star Wars is a valid Heroic setting, and even V for Vendetta has its appeal (noting of course that the gray area in V's tactics is part of the story). I'd still end the campaign before the characters start spending all their time arguing about zoning laws, but yes, you can do Heroes against the Empire. Personally, I consider comics that portray real world democracies as fascist dictatorships where violent revolution is called for to be, in the vast majority, adolescent pap.* There are rare exceptions (V for Vendetta). A fan could argue that Supers plotting the violent overthrow / takeover of Marvel or DC's USA are "Heroes"; I'd see them as villains. In either case, I would not choose to GM or participate in such a campaign. Political preaching and posturing relating much more to the real world than the fictional setting would be almost unavoidable. *Of course, they're also a sub category of the same kind of wish fulfillment that makes people fantasize about superpowers in the first place.

Re: With even greater power....

Re: With even greater power....

Re: With even greater power.... I'd say that I look at the ethics pretty much the same way I look at the ethics of real world power. #1 is how real politics usually worked, when I was in a position to observe them. Offer a favor (cash and support) to get a favor (legislation). It's no less (or more) ethical than what real world "respectable" power brokers do every day. #2 is something I never really saw; that cinematic "bribe and blackmail" approach. It's ultimately an unethical means, though possibly for ethical ends. #3 is super villainy, whether for noble ends or no. It could be fun to role play for a one shot, but its not a campaign I'd enjoy GMing.

Re: With even greater power.... Been a long time since I was in a campaign that got up there. My earliest long term PCs, Harlequin and the Illusionist, both obtained godlike power and left Earth, with the Illusionist showing up for a while in the next campaign I ran as a sort of comedy relief super-criminal. One of Satin Kitty's characters, Mindflair (a telepath), became the undisputed most powerful telepath on Earth, only to retire to become a metahuman psychiatrist. She never seemed to want political power. One PC ended up as the head of Primus, and then retired. In all of the above cases, I couldn't really think of games I wanted to run for PCs with that long a history; for me, it was the length of the campaign more than the power level that caused me to throw in my GMing towel. More generally, the real world rich and powerful tend to seek to influence government. I've seen bullying and legal bribery up close in real world politics; I don't think it's unreasonable that powerful PCs might decide to try their hands as well. Of course, there's a difference between "Senator, I'll give you $6 Million in campaign contributions and my personal endorsement if you vote my way" "Senator, here's a bag of money to vote my way, and if you don't, I'll show the public this video of you having sex with Naugtenticula, Deranged Divinity of the Deviant Dimension" "My fellow Americans, I've imprisoned the corrupt and uncooperative politicians of this nation in the Rainbow World of Spectracia, and now appoint myself as your Beloved Leader". #1 and #2 wouldn't bother me in a campaign, and might even be fun; #3 is a sign that the game has gone places I'd rather not deal with.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "See, Sue? This machine, the Retcontinator, will re-write reality so that I'm not a complete douchbag who betrayed his friends, family, country, and world. Also, it will let Franklin grow up, instead of his current perpetual pre-teen state. So it will all be OK again, through Science!" "OK, Sue?" "OK?" "Damn. I knew I should have just given her Hitler's brain."

Re: Musings on Random Musings What have you learned, Ed Gruberman?

Re: Musings on Random Musings Boot to the head!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The Office. Hulk gets a job as the new IT guy.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? More episodes of Human Weapon. Such a great show. The DVDs are $24.95 a piece, way too much, but the downloads are only $1.99. I may actually buy an MP4 player for this. Women of Ninja Warrior marathon. Best show to watch while exercising, ever.

Re: Stats And Hero Purity Ah.