CraterMaker

Re: Distinguishing Transform from Adjustment Powers Point cost and ease of use? Your idea sounds better, albeit more expensive.. Give us an example or two? -cratermaker

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting Mmm I like the idea of mixing archetypes - Like a John Woo Gunslinger Vampire, or something.. betcha you could find a nifty character doing that. What if he was a vampire mutant? -CraterMaker

Re: Vampires in Supers Setting A lot of a vampires power is going to be derived from how you play him.. From their traditional powerset, you can see that they have a LOT of escape powers- This suggests to me that vampires aren't really combat machines. If you want to make them more powerful, ramp up their hypnosis powers and their ability to control people they bite. If, as a cloud of mist, the vampire sneaks into a supers room late at night and gets a good bite in while she's sleeping... well, you've just upped his power quotient. If he's hypnotised reporters, or a gang, or .. well, you see what I mean. Remember his high presence, too - If he acts tougher than he is, and you don't spell out his powers for the heroes, you can put a healthy level of respect and fear for the vampire into the PCs.. From a traditional perspective, working behind the scenes and/or ambushing people, away from their friends, is the strength of a vampire.

Re: Unified Field Theory I'll gladly admit your last point, that drastically or arbitrarily changing the rules on a player is a fast way to lose players. But if youre good and in tune with the players and the game, using different interpretations of specific effects can easily improve and even maximise enjoyment of the Players and the GM. Especially if a nudge here and a tuck there can keep you from doing the mood-killing "okay, that didn't work, let's start over..". Umm, yeah.. Internally consistent within Genre and/or game, definately a plus. Different Genres, however, have different understanding of the ultimate physics of the world.. In a Call of Cthulu type game, bullets and knives are extremely deadly, whereas one based on the Die Hard movies they would be less so.. See where I'm coming from on this? A shared world between GM and PCs is a necessary thing to run a successful campaign, but the underlying assumptions of different Genres by definition force you into different "physics" interpretations to model the Genre effectively.. and internally, I think some leeway in how you model effects is an important tool to help immerse players in your game. And I'd be peeved if in a Superhero game I bought a "Suffocation" power as an entangle BOECV (to represent panic) and a 3d6NND, and the Gm said I couldn't do it because suffocation works slower, or I didn't buy an eventual body drain to model the eventual death the character might face, or that not everyone would panic so I couldn't buy the entangle on it..And then wags the suffocation rules in the HeroBook under my nose to prove his point. Thats why I say there are many different ways to approach these things. And dramatic effect should be used to maximise Player and Gm immersement, not as puppet strings to try and jerk the players emotionally around... As far as your examples go, how far do you think you could fall without taking damage? Isn't there someone who fell out of an airplane with just a broken ankle and bruises? People have been resuscitated from drowning after being under far longer than general acclaimed knowledge would suggest they should have perished.. There is a lot of leeway in the real world, and that should be represented in a Heroic Fictional Game. I do understand your points, and they do have merit, but I prefer a more flexible game. -CraterMaker Sorry for the disjointed post, the kids are shifting into Sugar-Drive..

Re: EC and MP? At one time, that was the standard for characters in our game.. ... so no, no problem. Makes sense, really, if you think about it. -CraterMaker

Re: Random powers? Hey, one of the coolest mentalist characters I've seen had Dirty Infighting... .... and used it regularly. Once he went after another mentalist with a broken bottle..... ....when they fell into a dumpster... And won. ...and allll the other superheroes took a step back... -CraterMaker

Re: INT question I'd put it around 13 INT or so.. And it's status as a Perk would depend on how you want to game it: If it's nothing more than a social club, no charge (or maby 1 pt cuz it COULD impress someone..) On the other hand, if you can tap their brainy resources to help you in your adventures, it could be worth considerably more.. How do you see your character using his Mensa Membership? That will help you define how many points it's going to be worth more than anything else.. -CraterMaker

Re: How do you use Surbrook's Stuff? I've used it to satisfy curiosity on how some published characters are played. I recently perused your vehicle section (I love post-apoc vehicles) -CraterMaker

Re: I need you advice? Assistance, Help? Were you going to reply to any of OUR questions, QuestionMan? Hmm.. -CraterMaker

Re: Unified Field Theory It seems you are implying that without the aforementions rules, we weren't able to model the effects - For example, Suffocation - Before suffocation rules came out, if you needed someone to suffer the effects of suffocation you decided based on dramatic effect and what the final outcome would be.. As a matter of fact, EVERYONE who ever needed suffocation rules created their own ruleset before Hero came out with their suffocation rules. So, in reality, there are a hundred ways to model suffocation, depending on the dramatic effect you want. The fact that Hero System was kind enough to publish one of them in their book was nice, expecially since there are a lot of people who couldn't work it out themselves, or were happy to see how others did it... but theres no ONE way that must be RIGHT.. How does gravity work in your game? Hero system allready has Two ways to model the results of gravity :do you use knockback or knockdown rules? The two are radically different effects on how soon gravity drags you down to it's level. I can model a dozen ways of making a hole in a wall. The easiest is using reason to decide if it makes sense, and if it does declare the hole made... But don't kid yourself - there is no one suffocation rule. Go to someone elses game, and depending on dramatic effect and how the GM wants to challenge you, you'll look kind of .. silly .. arguing with the GM that they aren't playing according to the "Rules" of Hero.. Of course, as I said before, if it makes you happy, do it. Heck, I'll probly learn SOMETHING from the thread, or get some spark of imagination from it, even if the basic premise of the thread doesn't mesh with my gaming philosophy.. - CraterMaker

Re: Luck as a Characteristic I think if you wanted every character to have some luck, making it a characteristic makes perfect sense.. At base 10, everyone has their 2 dice luck, and for characters who's definition of powers is "Luck", they could go to town, perhaps even basing certain skills on the Luck Characteristic rather than Dex or Int. For example, if people regularly drop money or secret passwords on the ground when you're around, it could easily be defined as "Sleight Of Hand, based on Luck Char".. Another example of redefining the base CHAR of skill rolls is Missile deflection - You could easily redefine it to be based on 9 + (Luck/3) rather than the old dex roll.. though Luck is so much cheaper than Dex, the characters are still going to have to purchase a decent amount of Dex to have combat effective characters.. I don't think it would be too unbalancing for a Luck based character. And in a figured stat like Fate points (experienced gained/5 + Luck/10) and use them like Hero Points or .. or whatever. I don't know. It sounds cool.. -CraterMaker

Re: Linked or something else? Sounds good to me, too.. -CraterMaker

Re: I need you advice? Assistance, Help? Well, what is their gaming style? The above advice is excellent, but it depends on your group.. If you have characters who like doing investigations, they'll do it themselves.. If you have characters who like interacting with the GM's PC's, develope them contacts and NPC's they can "manage".. Asking a street gang to keep tabs on Mr. X, an enamored Police Cadet sliding information to the pc's under the table at a diner, weaker NPC hero's who are more detectivy than the heros giving them the run-down on what's happening to the city, rival criminals or villains trying to sabotage their enemies plans by sending anonymous notes to the pc's, the PC's base AI making some Deductions or Statistical analysis on the basic information the PC's have uncovered, Plain Old Luck rearing it's head, A female investigative journalist with a crush on the hero trying to lend a hand.. If you develope these NPC's to expect favors or info in return, you'll have a rich interaction going on between the players and your universe, and never lack "hooks" to get the PC's to the big battles. Dresdan from the Dresdan files used to hang around important people and be a dangerous annoyance untill they gave him information to get him away from them... Whatever you do, don't let the PC's struggle.. Not having fun is the easiest way to lose members from a gaming group, considering what the whole point of the game is.. But all that aside - how about a rundown of the characters and their players style (maby just ask them a single question, what's the funnest way for your character to find crime to get a couple sentance answer) - With that sort of ammo, I'm sure these guys can come up with some gems. -CraterMaker

Re: Unified Field Theory PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!! nah.. I think that's going too far. Never did like the "How to Build a Spoon" threads. On the other hand, it's your game too, so if it floats your boat, put up your sails... -CraterMaker

Re: [Campeign Creation Project] Pirates of the Naebbirac Astroid Belt Perhaps the Pirate Ships have Tether Cannons, which link the Force Fields of the two ships with writhing beams of energy... Gives you two effects, when one ship manuevers the other follows (allthough manuevers would be more cumbersome do to the engines of one ship having to move two ships worth of mass), And preventing the other ship from going hyper due to the increased mass - of course, only if Hyper is used.. this is a cool project, keep it up! -CraterMaker PS, I can see saner crews jumping between ships using grapple guns and such, and the really really scary pirates just jumping across the gulf!

Re: The Professions of Arms PS Gladiator might inform a gladiator of good ways to fight against certain things - Like knowing the weaknesses of chariots (making a ramp of shields to flip it) or the fighting styles of some wild animals (these animals fight in packs, those animals try and drag people off to maul them..) It might work as a complementory skill for violence based Pre attacks - theres stabbing someone through, and then theres the way to do it to spray blood into the third row of the arena.. -CraterMaker

Re: Need crystalmancy college Or if you want help designing a new one, just let us know, we'll be happy to take a stab at it.. -CraterMaker stabbity-stab-stab

Re: Need Help with a Name ah, missed that it's a new PC - still, I do like Kimeron.. -CraterMaker

Re: Need Help with a Name I like either : Some variation of Chimera, like Kimeron, or Kiron, or some such.. -or- Have the guy who created it just call him "Son", and let the players come up with a name for it when they're trying to describe it to others.. don't tell them to do it, just don't name it for them. True, they might call it "The Thing" or something allready used, but if they come up with it, it's theirs through and true. -CraterMaker

Re: Power And Name Help - Holocost's Brick Servent. Yeah... I looked at that. Gutting Shrinking to make a new power works, I guess. Comes out to about Mass Reduction - 5 pts per level each level gives you 1/2 mass +1" Superleap +1" to Knockback Taken (this only increases distance, not damage taken) +1d6 Mass Increase Damage (similar to Shrinkings Growth Momentum, Mass Increase Damage can be added when you turn off the power and have a sudden increase in Mass) It's an Invisible power, in that it does not change the characters physical appearance. It cost 1 end for every 10 pts in a superheroic game. You can purchace it without Mass Increase damage for a - 1/4 limitaion. At a suitably low mass, It is appropriate to buy Gliding - You're basically a big Kite, and Gliding has traditionally been used as a power to simulate walking on the ground without actually affecting it. Either way, they are practically identical. Hey, when Holocaust is being snide to the Hero's, does that mean he's being Holocaustic? (; -CraterMaker

Re: Power And Name Help - Holocost's Brick Servent. How about : The Armageddon Boys Team Ragnarok I like Team Ragnarok, myself.. Both are associative with the word Holocaust, so they kinda go well with it.. As far as names go, how about Hybrid for the thingy with the tentacles and the wings? And maby FeatherWeight for the Mass Increaser/decreaser? And for his mass decreasing - the effect your looking for is to add strength to other people for throwing him - so... +30 strength, usable only by others, only to throw FeatherWeight, Side effects - +1" kb/ 5 strength added so 5 STR makes you 1/2 mass, adds +1" kb if you get hit while its on 10 STR makes you 1/4 mass, adds +2 kb 15 STR makes you 1/8 mass, adds +3 kb 20 STR makes you 1/16 mass, adds +4 kb 25 STR makes you 1/32 mass, adds +5 kb 30 STR makes you 1/64 mass, adds +6 kb Link it to +15" superleap or gliding, and get 3" movement per 5 pts strength you use on your Mass Decrease power.. -CraterMaker

Re: Why should I buy Champions? One of the niftiest things about Hero system is it's malleability. I really think that is something people unfamilier with the game cant wrap their heads around. I mean, how do you wan't superpowers to work? Where do they come from? what are the in-game ramifications of this? Let's say superpowers are the result of a dimensional explosion, and they get a boost to their power level the closer they get to the Shattered City (ground zero for the D-bomb).. but at the same time, the closer they get to the city, the more prone to insanity they get. Bah! Easy! How long do you want it to last? Permenantly? Fade over a day? Untill they go through electroshock therapy? Pfffff You want to run a game where superpowers burn out a lifespan quickly? Easy. Want a game where you only have powers while the common people believe in you? Piece of cake - CHOCOLATE cake! I mean, it is so ... straightforward, to get your game out of your head.. The brainbursting secret of Hero System is that you really can have a creative and innovative setting without "winging" it, all the while in the secure arms of an expansive rule system! I mean... I mean... There I was sitting on the group "W" bench.. -CraterMaker - And that's just the flexibility with SETTING!!! p.s. Son, have you rehabitulated yourself?

Re: The villain Holocaust I think one of his defining powers is his All-Sense.. Normal flashes and Darkness attacks will have no effect on him. I could see him arranging his confrontation during a night game for the NFL, and when the heroes arrive - Holocaust lifts his arms and all the lights explode! Mass chaos and panic, televised defeat of his enemies, and a healthy reminder to the world what happens when you defy a god. Add in a radar/radio jammer, and the heroes have to play "Hunt the Muzzle Flash".. -CraterMaker

Re: New Bujold Novel Bujold is in my category "Genius Writers" for her milscifi Vorkorsigan series, but I really didn't ken to her previous fantasy tries. I'll check out the excerpt, tho, since I think she IS a genius and might have hit my buttons this time out, so thanks! -CraterMaker

Re: Help with a Master Villain's Plans: Windchill Harry "Houdini" Travelli has worked long and hard to work his way up in the Mob, and with respect came a slimy sort of respectability.. True, he's been indicted twice on money laundering charges, but his cautiousness and his high-priced lawyers had the charges dropped both times on technicalities. His wealth and power opened doors for him in many high society circles, and if some of them sneered at him behind their fake tans and perfect teeth, so be it - there were others who needed the things dirty hands could provide. So when Harry entered his office in his mcmansion he was stunned. Stunned by two things - the bone chilling cold in the room, and the fact that some costumed nut was sitting at his desk! Quick as a snake Harry's hand snaked out to the lightswitch, popping it open to reveal a small red button. "You just made your last mistake, Hero!" Harry cried as he thumbed the button. With a hiss the secret door built into the west wall slid open, the shape of a 8 foot tall humanoid obscured by the lights shining from behind it. With creaks and cracks and pops, the gun-festooned robot took one step into the room. Coated in frost, with six-inch icicles hanging from it's outstretched arms, the robot erupted into a miniature fourth of july display of short circuits and blown fuses. The figure behind the desk chuckled. "Ice is just as bad as water on electronics, it seems. My, what a cold reception for the forces of truth and justice you've arranged, Harry.. but you're mistaken, I'm no Costumed Crusader come to bring you in. I'm here to commit one of two crimes: I've kidnapped your son, Harry, so your choice is between murder ... and extortion" Those words were like someone sticking an icepick in his heart - but he recognized the freak now. "You harm one hair on his head, Windchill, and I'll.." Windchill cut him off "And you'll do nothing, Mr. Travelli! For the next few weeks you'll do nothing but what I tell you to do..." ============ In exchange for his son, Harry uses his Mob resources and money to hire the supervillain group, The Nightmares (Shadowdragon as leader, Fenris and Morningstar) to kill the heroes. While the heroes are distracted, or perhaps even killed by this deadly red herring, Windchill will arrange his own strike on the Primus float in the Thanksgiving Day Parade with the few squads of viper agents he managed to salvage when the heroes busted his nest. He'll smash a dozen or two Primus agents on National Television, and kidnap the two celebrity commentators (say, John Black and Dennis Leary) and the Primus Field Leader (the man in charge the day his son died) and retreat to his lair.. Now all that remains is to start up his broadcasting equipment, and he'll finally have the trial that should have happened years ago, the real purpose behind his plan, a trial that can only have one possible outcome - DEATH! ===================== Setting up an ambush with the Nightmares should be easy - Shadowdragon could stage a crime to lure the heroes out, and with Fenris' sense of smell they should be able to track the heroes (perhaps even getting close enough to threaten a secret ID or DNPC) The Nightmares will be sicced on the heroes about a week before thanksgiving, giving the heroes time to eventually defeat them, follow their tracks back to Harry, and reveal Windchill as the puppetmaster - A little digging into Windchills past will reveal his hatred of Primus and why, and realise the primus field leaders life is in danger just as the parade commences. They rush over there but are too late (it might be interesting to let them play out the viper/primus fight as the viper agents, with Windchill swooping in, monologging, and them all escaping before the heroes get there). Then they'll only have eight or so hours to rescue the Primus agent, save the commentator hostages, and defeat WindChill and his viper agents. -CraterMaker p.s. A good plot hook for future use of Harry - his son participated in the kidnapping cuz he's one of Windchill's viper agents!