Supreme Serpent

Re: Military Eye for the Civilian Gal He's a Rival, not a Hunted. No reason for him to be trying to tear Harry down, when he can build himself up instead. He's got his own super-group, dedicates himself to saving the world, even to the point of unintentionally neglecting his daughter (even though, by saving the city/world etc. he was protecting her too!) - and he's going to waste time trying to ambush him or manipulate things behind the scenes in petty revenge against Harry and his Little Rascals? Nah, he's got more important things to do. How to humiliate Harry? Be better than him. Show this upstart how it's done. Drive himself and his team to be better than ever, be rivals, but in the sense that the Super Bowl champions are "rivals" to some team that didn't even make the playoffs. Become the gold standard, the heroes that others are measured against. Along the way, since he sees some of himself in Harry and is a basically good guy, if a bit rough around the edges, he'll point out Harry's mistakes and give advice on how to fix them. He means well and is genuinely trying to help, but his manner and choice of phrasing will likely ruffle Harry's feathers, who will think the Sgt is just rubbing his nose in things and being overly critical. The Sgt may even invite the PCs to join HIS team, individually or all at once - the PCs have some talent, no disputing it, and with his help they can become even better. And given the threats out there, combining forces makes sense. Of course, the PCs especially Harry will likely balk at the prospect of having the Sgt as their "boss". If the ages are appropriate, a fun subplot would be for Harry and Kate to start dating. Even better if Harry has no idea who her father is to start with. Then one night she brings him over for dinner to meet her father...

Re: How to make the Loner feel not so Lonely? If it's served its purpose, just let it drop to the back pages on its own. Bring it back if there's some new developments, like if Slashy McBindalot resurfaces or something. If you have other game-related things to discuss, easy enough to make new threads. If you have non-game related things to discuss, start a thread in NGD, but beware. If you just want to ramble on about something, start a blog (look to the top where User CP and the FAQ are).

Re: How to make the Loner feel not so Lonely? That's one of the upsides to the mysterious loner types - they're easy to write out. He mumbles something about going south or to the woods or something and disappears. He won't be back. Don't invite him. If he shows up uninvited, continue the game without him. You're under no obligation to let anyone who shows up at the door into your game (or even inside at all, if it comes to that). Chill. Harry brought him, Harry cleaned up his own mess. Don't worry about it. Move on.

Re: A Dark Golden Age game A lot of the Golden Age stories were in fact pretty dark, as were a lot of the heroes, who were a lot closer to the pulps than they became in the Silver Age. For every Mr. Terrific there's a Spectre. Heck, just not glossing over some of the realities of the earlier ages would help make them plenty dark.

Re: How to make the Loner feel not so Lonely? No worries SimComm. Everything gets easier with time and practice. If you want some more anonymity, a gender-neutral avatar pic would probably be good. Also, it's generally a good idea to re-read your post before hitting "Submit Reply" and see if there's things that should be changed or omitted.

Re: How to make the Loner feel not so Lonely? Not worth the effort. The GM and the rest of the group prefer playstyle A, he wants playstyle Z. Tell him that you understand he only seems to enjoy Z, but everyone else likes A and that's what you intend to run. If he wants to try A (probably with a newer, more appropriate character) you'll give it a shot, otherwise he might want to find another game more suitable to his preferences. If I'm running a low powered fantasy campaign, three players want to play in a low powered fantasy campaign, and a fourth player wants to play Star Trek, it's not fair to the others to cram Star Trek into the campaign just for him while he ignores all the fantasy stuff. Same thing with excessively disparate playstyle preferences.

Re: Npc overload!! I agree that you don't need them all each time. A few per session should generally be enough, maybe with a few others in brief appearances. Their purpose (aside from color) is to serve the plot/subplot. Ones that don't feature in the plot/subplot or worse distract from it can be left out. Also try to avoid unnecessary duplication. You don't need three astrophysicists or four reporters when one or two will do. Let PCs have some overlap in contacts. This can also help with bringing new players in, as you can give them a list of a few established NPCs they already know that can help them connect to the larger world/the other PCs faster.

Re: Extra-planar Fantasy Shout out The Robert Vardeman Cenotaph Road series. Pretty light fare, but enjoyable. Some good bits like the parts of the bad guy being spread around the various worlds, and an unusual method of traveling from world to world.

Re: Mercenary Supervillains *Are you actually unstoppable? *Are you powerful/smart/connected enough to be a master villain? If the answer to either of these is no, you probably don't want to work solo. *What happens if/when you get caught? Who arranges for bail, lawyers, and breakouts? *How do you handle it when someone more powerful than you comes after you? *How do you fence/launder your loot? *Who will you go to if you get seriously injured? *How will you ensure the safety of your hideout(s), so you don't have to be constantly on the run? If you don't have good answers for these questions, you probably don't want to work solo. Getting superpowers doesn't turn you into a criminal mastermind. It can work out a lot better to attach to an existing organization and get the benefits of membership. A smart villain can then learn the ropes and take over later.

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #1: ACV And AVAD Sounds good to me. I do hope though that as the system gets broken down into the components further that there is a good bit of space spent on example builds to show how to put all these pieces together. While a lot of the old HERO grognards will be able to pick up on things pretty quickly, the more steps there are in making a power or character, the harder the entry is for new players.

Re: Need a good name for Mind Control magic What do you call other types of magic in your world? If there's a common naming convention that might suggest something. Ferinstance, if everything else ends in -mancy, this should too.

Re: Force Field Is No Good? Straight up point-crunching vs. normal attacks, yes Armor is a better deal. But it has to be looked at in the context of the whole character and of the campaign. *Conception. Some folks envision a character a certain way and want them built that way, even if it's a bit less efficient. If all characters were made with what's normally most efficient we'd only see campaigns full of invisible mind-scanning mental snipers. *For some builds, END isn't an issue. High END, high REC, END Reserve, etc. or just short enough fights that you'll rarely run out. *Not all attacks are normal. Even some of the oldest writeups had things like "NND - Defense is Force Field". Hit the armor guy a few times with that and he may wish he hadn't been so "efficient". *Advantages. (Again, if END not a big deal) -Armor +20/+20 = 60pts -FF +20/+20 Hardened = 50pts When you get hit by that AP attack, which would you rather have? *A FF that still costs END can be Pushed. *Depending on the GM and the character, FF may be able to be an easier justification for some extra defensive powers or constructs.

Re: Super hero one liners "Dude, just what are you trying to overcompensate for anyways?" "...I'd...hate...to be...your scale..." (turns to team) "Crunch all you want fellas, they'll make more!"

Re: Order of the Stick

Re: What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system? At least for a fantasy world, you could probably keep the day/night and seasonal cycles pretty much the same if you wanted to. First Dawn - first sunrise, early morning Second Dawn - a bit later, second sunrise, leading to full daylight etc. Just a bit more gradation in the twilight type hours. For a fantasy world, the obvious question would be about the Sun God(s). Parent and child? Rivals? Lovers destined to remain near each other but ever apart? Roughly equal in power or one clearly dominant? Worshipped together or individually? Depending on how you work the rest of the world and how hot/bright things might be could determine how the Sun Gods are viewed. If summertime is especially hot and dangerous, they could be oppressive types. If the world is cold and the sun is more welcome could be seen as more nurturing.

Re: how do you like your fantasy games I prefer: -Action/adventure swords/sorcery. Howard over Tolkein. -Skills/abilities/power from the character vs. power from stuff. -Abilities/powers that do helpful/useful things vs. just massive defense/attack. Characters that can do all kinds of cool stuff instead of just invulnerable howitzer-toting combat machines. -Some level of possible mortality even vs. minor threats. A pitchfork wielding mob or a hundred goblins should cause anyone to think twice (or more!) before trying to tackle head-on.

Re: Help - I need a base Prof. Muerte has a pretty impressive personal force wall, at least in the earlier versions. Wouldn't be a big stretch for him to make a larger version.

Re: Urban Fantasy 'white event' idea Egad. Some ideas that spring to mind: Tunguska event Krakatoa Harmonic Convergence

Re: Hero System Good Idea/Bad Idea... Good idea: Valdorian HERO Bad idea: Valtrex HERO Good idea: Everyman Bad idea: Each and every man Good idea: Fantasy Hero Grimoire Bad idea: Fantasy Hero Armoire Good idea: Hero System Bestiary Bad idea: Hero System Bestiality

Re: 6E Rules changes confirmed so far All fine. (shrug) Hexes and the one inch=2m shorthand made things simple on a tabletop, but I'm not going to worry too much about this one. Attractiveness is very subjective, so I'm not heartbroken about it going away as a stat. I liked COM, I use COM, but could see attractiveness being done as limited PRE. Will see how this washes out. Would like to have had it playtested, but... I've used it, but it was an orphan mechanic. I'd be OK to see it go away. Likewise if Danger Sense was altered to be a specific kind of Detect/Per roll. That will be interesting to hear about. Maybe requiring something SFX based? And presumably everything with Unified Power will be drained, etc. at the same time (see: Adjustment Power changes) Should have been done in 1st ed. Advantages and Disadvantages not being opposites was needlessly confusing. "Complications" also helps emphasize that they should be used for plot purposes IMO.

Re: Help - I need a base The best defense for a superteam base is the superteam itself. Since the real threat is another superteam, the defenses should serve three main purposes. 1) Dealing with minor issues, so the supers aren't bothered with every little thing. 2) Intelligence. Let the team know who's coming, and where they are. If the team can take them, they move in. If the attack looks too powerful, bug out. Sensors, surveillance, probing attacks by underlings can work well. "They took down Squad Bravo without breaking a sweat, and that one's a mentalist." 3) Impairment. Slow the attackers down enough for the team to get away if necessary. If a counterattack is planned, the defenses help wear the attackers down and stack the deck further in the defender's favor. Knowing where the secret doors and minefields are is a big advantage in a fight. The whole dress up in the uniforms bit is either cliche' or classic, depending on your taste. For a group like Terror Inc. which issues its agents feature-concealing skull-mask helmets, I'd go with classic. There's also coming in from an angle the sensors/defenses might not cover (the former spy might know this) like underground, underwater, parachute drop, etc. Then the superworld options like stealth fields, teleportation, shrinking the whole team, etc.

Re: Help - I need a base Check out old D&D products/modules. Squares instead of hexes, but can find lots of keeps/castle plans in them.

Re: GM help with The Guild of Swords

Re: people with powers Superhero game vampire: http://www.marveldirectory.com/individuals/b/baronblood.htm People with powers vampire: http://www.lucienlacroix.com/forever-knight.htm

Re: Top 5 Champs books of all time I didn't vote for it as one of my top 5, but I liked it. I had some of the same problems you had but I just ignored or modified those parts. Ignore the AI and snake god stuff, ignore the stock supervillains, ignore or scale down the guns and gear. Thankfully with Champions scaling things up or down is pretty easy. The stuff about goals, recruiting and so on I liked, and I think the book was good maybe not so much as a VIPER book per se, but as a "stuff to consider when making an agent organization" book. Of course the old Super Agents book is also good for that. And it had a cool cover.