oconnellmd

Re: The Forte campaign turned 20 today Thanks! Which part?

Re: The Forte campaign turned 20 today Thanks. Actually, one of the projects I'm working now is to try to get everyone's original sheets and their modern-day versions. Tricky stuff, since we're all spread around the country now (and too busy to be digging in the closet for stuff!). I'll see if I can track down my original Dr. Jackal (my main Forte character) sheet and get it up with the latest (5th edition) version. You're going to laugh, I'm warning you. We had a GM who didn't allow much with your experience. He had binders filled with villains that he didn't want to have to re-do as we grew, so our powers didn't grow a whole lot (at least not quickly). We all ended up buying a lot of skills, and adding some new powers (the ones that were allowed, and there was a big no-no list. No mental powers, no NNDs, no killing, etc). Is was a low-powered game (characters started at around 200) and you'll find it funny how so many XPs could be spent with so little obvious growth to show for it. But that was okay. Forte was about the story, not the number of dice, so no one really minded much. I'll see what I can dig up.

A Champions game that started on November 5, 1987, turned twenty years old today. True, the regular weekly campaign ended in 1995, but the game has continued on in semi-annual pick-up games (usually at Comic-Con in San Diego, but whenever we can manage to get together in the same town again) and in online fiction. And, most importantly, its players and GM are all still friends after all this time...friends for life. Sometimes, the stars can line up just right, and that little game you start playing with your buddies can become what Champions was meant to make. Thought I'd just share the photo album I put up, looking back at twenty years of our gaming group and the good times we've had: http://forteuniverse.com/20yearsoffortegallery.htm ...and a little story titled "20" that takes a look back on two decades of the campaign we all created: http://www.forteuniverse.com/forte-eu/20.htm Hope you check 'em out, hope you enjoy, and hope that new game you're thinking about starting rolls just right and starts its own long legacy. Thanks, Champions, for making it all possible. And thanks, Steve, for keeping Champions going so the magic can continue for all of us. Michael O'Connell http://www.forteuniverse.com/

Okay, I'm building my first character in a LONG time, and I find I'm pretty rusty on the rules (and I'm really just learning the 5th). Looking for an opinion. I'm building an ice guy (I'm particularly rusty because I normally only play bricks and martial artists, so I'm not used to dealing with power frameworks so much). I'm using an elemental control for his powers. I'm seeing him as having to switch into his ice form for his powers to work (he can't use them unless he takes the ice form). So I started off by adding Only in Hero ID to each individual slot. Now, I'm also thinking in his concept that this power comes through a mystical ring. He needs it to transform into his ice self. So there we have a focus. Should I be taking both Focus and Only in Hero ID on each slot? I am seeing two limitations here. The powers only work if he's transformed. but he can't transform without the ring. But is taking both of these limitations a rules no-no (or at least, bad form)? Or should I be doing something like buying a Transform (Instant Change) and only applying the focus limitation to THAT? How would you do it?

Granted, the Forte campaign "officially" only lasted 8 years in its weekly format, but it continued on in semi-annual one-shot games (whenever a few of us could all get together in the same state again...usually at Comic-Con in San Diego) and in fiction on the ForteUniverse site. One month from today marks the 20-year anniversary of the Forte Champions campaign. To celebrate (just a little early), seven of us that were able to make it flew to Seattle, the city that the Forte game took place in, for a three-day weekend reunion and...of course...the 20th anniversary run of the game, an adventure written and run by original Forte GM himself, K.C. Ryan. If you're curious to see what a 20th anniversary game looks like, you can read all about it, if you'd like, at the official write-up page of the game called "Forte Forever": http://www.forteuniverse.com/forte-eu/forteforever.htm And if you're curious how the team's anniversary is being celebrated inside the game world itself, you can read this fun little page here: http://forteuniverse.com/fortemuseum-forte20highlights.htm As always, feel free to roam around the ForteUniverse site itself and check out all the stuff there: http://www.forteuniverse.com Hope you enjoy, and may all our campaigns last so long! Thanks, Hero Games, for starting something that's been a part of our lives for twenty years (and counting). Champions rocks! Michael O'Connell

Re: Character monologues Nice. That was fun (da!). Exactly what I'm talking about. Helpful, too, if someone ELSE is asking you the questions, and you're not just interviewing yourself (as I did). I think the media interview should be a requirement in every campaign. Like, the GM writing up the interview questions for each character. Doesn't even have to be done live. Could be done by email or whatever. Helps you learn more about your character, and it's a great way for your fellow players to learn more, too.

Re: Character monologues There are other creative alternatives to the monologue, too. There's the interview, for example. I did a fictional interview with my (retired) character Dr. Jackal, for example. Great way to get inside their heads: http://forteuniverse.com/forte05/import-jackal-home.htm (Keep in mind it's a fake web page, so none of the links works on it except for the big one in the middle that goes to the interview). I just finished up our "Forte.com" page, which is a simulation of the Forte computer system, and includes fake message boards, a chat room, and an email system. There are fictional threads, chat room transcripts and emails there. Another great way to find the character's "voice". http://forteuniverse.com/fortedotcom/index.htm And there's always the old-fashioned fiction method. Plenty of those on the Forte 2000 Adventures page: http://forteuniverse.com/forte2000/forte2kadventures.htm ...or the "Forte '05" page: http://forteuniverse.com/forte05/index.html You can do a lot of exploration IN the game, of course, but you can get a lot deeper and explore the character more outside the game.

Re: What does YOUR hero team's computer system look like? I did. Of course, I stole a lot of the parts (swiped the animated globe, for example, from some site somewhere...and stole the "control panel" for it from Google Earth...), but I had to put it all together. The serious pain was recreating our original team base map (existing only on graph paper for two decades) in Illustrator. And making banner ads for the Links page did take some time. But the whole thing, I think, gives you a good feel for the Forte campaign world and its characters.

http://forteuniverse.com/fortedotcom Here's what ours looks like. Just a simulation of what a hero team's computer might look like. Just for fun. A lot of stuff doesn't actually work, but is there just as window dressing. Use the "help" buttons too see what works and what doesn't. Have fun (I hope!). Michael O'Connell http://forteuniverse.com

Re: SO much new art at the Forte site!

Latest Forte art addition... http://forteuniverse.com/forte2000/Moondancer-harrington-med.jpg Moondancer, by Sean Harrington. Holy CRAP! And he did that in less than two days. And yet, I just had to send a request for a refund to a guy who I ordered a commission from--for a pencil-only cartoony thing--six months ago. He still can't get it done. Whereas you get guys like Sean Harrington who say to themselves, "Hey, I just took this guy's money. Perhaps I should get started on the item he paid me for right away...". The joys of eBay art auctions. You take your chances.

Re: SO much new art at the Forte site! Sorry, got busy there for a few days. Yeah, Travis and I didn't get to talk for long, but naturally I had to mention the board thing. Unfortunately I was brain-farting at the time and couldn't recall your name, but I did mention that you went with him to my 21st birthday party. Didn't get to get too much reaction to that, as it was right at that moment he realized he knew me co-worker, Caramanza. Seeing as how that's a name you don't quickly forget, you should remember him if you know him. Sounds like Travis knows him though someone else, so that would be quite the coincidence, indeed, if you did.

Re: SO much new art at the Forte site! Okay, and the world gets smaller... So I'm at the office today, outside having a smoke with a co-worker of mine, chatting away about how crappy our jobs are. And who should come walking out of my building and spot me? Travis. I'm not kidding. Haven't seen him in almost 20 years. So what happens just a couple of days after we start talking about him here on this board? He happens to be delivering roses in my building for Valentine's Day (as a job. He's not a stalker or anything...), and coming back out just as I'm taking a quick smoke break. And he recognizes me right away. And even weirder, turns out he knew my co-worker, too. Neither of us had time to talk much, but he did mention "Slayzer" (heh), and I gave him one of my Nice Guy cards for my comic site so he could drop me an email there. Hope he does. Does the universe just rock? Or is Sacramento just WAY too small?

Re: SO much new art at the Forte site! Yeah, I remember the joke was always "Um...that's your HERO name?" Hate to think what his villain name would be... Does kind of sound like a band that...well, let's be honest, *I* would have listened to back during that time (I lived the hair band lifestyle for a couple of years there). I can't remember how many times Slayzer pops up in the post-campaign tales (I THINK it's more than once...), but the one I know for sure is this one off the Forte Expanded Universe site: http://forteuniverse.com/forte-eu/jericho1.htm That was a game report from an AWESOME Comic-Con game (and I'm not just saying that because I co-GM'd it!) in 1998 that joined up four different campaign worlds. Major fun. But by all means...feel free to rifle through everything to try and find more Slayzer. And feel free to watch the community center for extra cars in the parking lot in about a year and a half. Just in case they do the same thing for me on my 40th birthday...

Re: SO much new art at the Forte site! What am I, on "This Is Your Life"?! Yeah, that was my party, all right. Funny, I was just talking with an old friend about that party during Super Bowl. How if you had to pick out one day as the best day of your life, that was probably mine. Everyone from every part of my life--different groups of friends, every side of my family--was there in one place. Normally, you don't get to have that kind of experience until your funeral, and then you're not really able to enjoy it (you're too busy decomposing...). That was an amazing night. And apparently, even a few gamers snuck in that I'd forgotten about. If Travis is the one I'm remembering, I think he played "Slayzer". Which is funny, because I've had that character occasionally reappearing in Forte-world fiction and such over the years. Forte is part of the same game universe that you played in, so, therefore, Slayzer (and your Iceman clone) are part of the overall history. And if I AM remembering the right guy...great guy. Enjoyed gaming with him a number of times. Haven't seen him since the game, though. And yeah, I do remember the Dalek thing. What can I say? K.C. (the GM) was a Who fan...