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Sketchpad

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  1. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from Christopher R Taylor in Champions Rises   
    On the second point: Maybe something like the Player Guides that Pathfinder makes for their adventure paths? Offer advice specifically for this series, while also giving guidelines, etc. 
     
    On the third point: I would recommend kickstarting/crowd sourcing so art and design can be paid for. Plenty of companies do such a thing just to fluff their art budget.
     
    As far as setting, it might be easier to revisit older books, like Millennium City, to give you the setting you would like. Or you could create a generic city that has just enough info to feed into the adventures, but enough open so groups can flavor and reskin it. Really, using the CU as the backdrop may provide you with some of the story backbeats. 
  2. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from DentArthurDent in Champions Rises   
    On the second point: Maybe something like the Player Guides that Pathfinder makes for their adventure paths? Offer advice specifically for this series, while also giving guidelines, etc. 
     
    On the third point: I would recommend kickstarting/crowd sourcing so art and design can be paid for. Plenty of companies do such a thing just to fluff their art budget.
     
    As far as setting, it might be easier to revisit older books, like Millennium City, to give you the setting you would like. Or you could create a generic city that has just enough info to feed into the adventures, but enough open so groups can flavor and reskin it. Really, using the CU as the backdrop may provide you with some of the story backbeats. 
  3. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Markup is done. I did a lot of editing and will drop the final file into Google Docs to do another editing pass. Then P&P character sheets.
  4. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Still doing markup. So far, the Intro, ALR, Blood, and Circle are done. 

    I also redid the content order, so it makes sense. The sections are:
     
    Introduction ALR The Blood The Circle The Cult of the Beast The Families The Hell-Raisers The Wanderers Yooso Once markup is done, I get to convert everyone in AASF and SFO to P&PUE. Why? Because a) I like the system, I develop for it, and it has a lot of fans, b) I want P&P fans to experience the wonders of the Strike Force setting.
  5. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Update on Strike Force Organizations. I am currently working on markup, which means inserting things like <h1>, <strong>, and <em> into the text. Once I am done, it will go to Jason for layout. The only thing I will have left to do is create character sheets for P&PUE, which will be added to the back of the book.
     Per Jason, no. The income from the HERO Patreon is used to fund book projects. 
  6. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to BoloOfEarth in Foxbat   
    I've used Foxbat in nearly every Champions campaign I've run.  (He has yet to make a named appearance in my current campaign, but a news article talked about one of his antics without naming him.)
     
    He typically has a team in my worlds - The Foxbat Five (obviously greater than the Fantastic Four, at least numerically) and Foxbat Force being the most used names.  I'm pretty sure Exo-Skeleton Man has been in all teams, though the rest of the roster has changed with each campaign.
     
    IIRC, The Foxbat Five were Foxbat (naturally), Exoskeleton Man, Dot (I stole the pic from CLOWN but made him more like Spot, the Spider-Man foe), Harmonious Fist, and The Amazing Static Man.  At some point, I think I replaced The Amazing Static Man with Garble.
     
    Foxbat Force added the Foxbots (mainly comic relief), Professor Robert Steriaca, Blinky, and The King (claims to be the real Elvis Presley kidnapped by aliens).
     
    Along the way he got a love interest (Batfox), kinda the Harley Quinn to Foxbat's Joker.  
     
    And of course, he had the Centipedemobile, the multi-pod vehicle, with each pod having its own special movement power, sensor, and weapon for when they separate.  That was fun to write up, and I even got a set of multicolored ping-pong balls (with velcro to attach them to each other) to use on the battle map to represent his crazy vehicle.
     
    He has appeared alone a few times, but only when facing off against a lone hero.  Otherwise, he's with his team.
     
    Many, many fond memories of Foxbat and his crazy crew...
  7. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from Doc Democracy in Resurrection?   
    I kind of enjoy the Critical Role take on Resurrections. At it's base, it's a ritual spell that requires those casting to "sacrifice" a few things to appease the gods. Maybe it's a feather, or a nice jacket, or even some coin. A variety of rolls are made based on the offerings by each participant (who also each offer something). If successful, the being is brought back. If the rolls aren't great, maybe they're brought back with a problem, or maybe a pact is made. If failed, the soul is laid to rest and cannot be resurrected in this manner again. 
  8. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to LoneWolf in Combat Value   
    I have to agree with Sketchpad that they are only guidelines.  The title of the chart that you are referring to is actually Character Ability Guidelines table.  I use them to make sure that the characters are within the ranges they should be.  If you scroll down in the book there are a few more tables giving more guidelines.  The characteristic comparison table shows that characters with that range (5-9)  fall within the competent to legendary classifications.  A few pages latter there is a table called Characteristics Maxima Table, which gives the normal human maximums.  That table lists the normal human maximum for ocv/dcv as 8. 
     
    As a GM I will use these to set campaign limits.  Those limits are usually a bit higher than the ranges presented to allow some variation and use of tactics.   Even with the limits it also depends on the nature of the character.  A character that relies on skill levels to increase the damage needs more flexibility than one that can reach the campaign DC l limit without needing anything else. If the character has to make a choice between damage and accuracy they are usually less of a problem.  I also look carefully at characters using 2 point skill levels to boost a single attack.  Those are more troublesome than a character that spent more points to achieve the same results.    
  9. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from steph in Combat Value   
    I always found averaging out the PCs CV and Defenses helps to keep a game balanced. If I know a group of six players have heroes with an average CV 6 and Defenses 15, I have a  rough idea to give an opponent a similar CV (or higher if I want to challenge the PCs), and an appropriate damage roll (like a 5d6 vs. Def 15, or higher for a challenging encounter). 

    As far as keeping the CV in line with the examples, I find them more like guidelines. I might bump it a bit higher as the PCs gain more Experience, or allow for specific Levels. Things like Martial Arts tend to balance themselves at times. Gaining a +X OCV sometimes has a -Y DCV. So while it might easier to hit a foe, it also leaves the hero open to another attack. 
  10. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Christopher R Taylor in The Enemies books   
    I found it!  The 6th edition conversion thread!  26 pages of character conversions, most of the art sadly has been internet scrubbed but the groups can be found in the downloads section and I have a bunch of the colored images on my pinterest page.
  11. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Christopher R Taylor in The Enemies books   
    I cannot find it right now but there is a huge thread on this forum of updated characters to 6th edition, part of them from Euro enemies (with colored pics!).  We were trying to cover any that were not reprinted somewhere else.  Panda, Racoon, Sledge, Wyvern, and I think one other* [ed: Hideous!] are updated in the 6th edition version of Island of Dr Destroyer as well.
     
     
    *Oh yeah, and Vibron!
  12. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Yes, I did.
  13. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    It's done. ~136,451 total words.
  14. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from TheNaga in Healing with Knockback   
    I would build it as a Compound Spell with the Heal effect and maybe a KB Only effect linked. Maybe something like:
     
    Healing Rebuke (Incantations, Gestures (Both hands), Requires Divine roll (11-)
    • Heal 3d6; AOE 4m Radius (Selective)
    • 4d6 Blast; AOE 4m Radius (Selective), Double KB, Only vs. Undead or Unholy Creatures
  15. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    The latest on Strike Force Organizations:
    I have revised the introduction to account for the added material. Alien Research Laboratories is done. 14,228 words. 10 characters, a base, a vehicle, and a computer. The Blood is done. 34,100 words. 13 characters, 1 template, a base, several vehicles and computers. The Circle is done. 22,900 words. 9 characters. The Wanderers is done. 27,100 words. 8 characters, 1 template, computers, vehicle. The Cult of the Beast is done. 3.250 words and one character. The Families is done. 15,678 words. 10 characters. Yooso is done. 10,775 words. 8 characters. Hell-Raisers is the last group. I have made all of the character sheets, I just need to put all the parts together. After I am done, I will send all of the files to Jason (posted to a Google Drive folder), and he will send out previews to the Patreon). Then I build P&PUE versions of all characters as a accessory product.
  16. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Strike Force Update -- Yooso is done. 10k words. The characters are mostly the same as what you saw in Ninja Hero for 4e, except Kami has a lot more powers, and there are several new members. I also was able to dig out a lot of information on how Yooso's members fared over the years the team existed. The Hell-Raisers will be next. I am going to present the initial team, as well as I can. I will also see if I can dig out any background.
  17. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Update --
     
    As noted, ARL, the Blood, the Circle, the Wanderers, and the Cult of the Beast are complete. I have made a few edits, but I feel they are done. The Families has grown a bit. It is a 4k words and most of that is a list of notable Families members, each with a short description. I have found a number of character sheets to add to the Families section. A few actual Families members and then a scattering of agents of the Reapers. The file I am working from lists a lot of people, but there is nothing there to work with. After the Families it will be Yooso. For those who own Ninja Hero 4e it is pretty much the same guys, just updated to 6e. In fact, if Dirt (Tsuchi in NH4e) is anything to go by, its the same character sheets, just updated to 6e. We'll see. The Hell Raisers had a lot of members. Like... a dozen or more. And multiple leaders (including Dark Seraph). I decided to present the team as it first appeared (which is also how the team appears in the GURPS Supers adventure School of Hard Knocks). I hope to be done around the end of March.  
     
  18. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from GoldenAge in Best Way To Destroy An Automaton   
    Do you allow Power Stunts? An inventive player could reason out a quick KA if you do. 

    "I'm going to focus my eye beam tight and see if I can blast through this double!"
     

  19. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from DentArthurDent in To the streets   
    I was just starting a campaign that was kind of dealing with this. Most large cities have a taskforce dedicated to supervillains, whether at the street level or more. This specialized unit often employ a few superhumans to help offset the their odds a bit. In the campaign I've been working on, the city has been a bit overpowered by villains and gangs. So they sponsor a hero team that works exclusively with the police to help protect the city. Local police powers, access to the police database, and a crash course on law enforcement are the basics that everyone gets, and they answer to a special liaison officer that answers to the police commissioner. What kind of threats do they handle? Pretty much anything the city may throw at them. From villains akin to Spider-Man's rogues, to juiced up gangs, to Kingpins and gang wars, to the occasional Magneto attack. 
     
    I agree that, in most cases, setting a street level tone would be my normal go-to for such a game. But I'm trying something different to see how it evolves. 
  20. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Susano in Strike Force Organizations   
    Okay, here is where Strike Force Organizations stands:
     
    I have completed and uploaded to a Google Drive the following: ARL, the Blood, the Circle, the Wanderers, and the Cult of the Beast. Cult of the Beast expands on the material in Aaron Allston's Strike Force. It is 3200 words, mostly detailing the Cult's organization. It includes one sample magic item and a single NPC. Next up is Carousel/Families/Reapers. I will repeat the Background for Alasdar Dell as that is the origin of the Families. The rest of this section will probably be all character sheets of different Families members. Last will be Yoosoo. This will be a fairly complete entry, as Aaron did write a background and I have a lot of character sheets to work with. The cast is pretty much the same as what was seen in Ninja Hero 4e (I think). I may consider the Hell Raisers, which is Denier's supervillain team. I'd need to talk to Jason Walters to see what he says.
  21. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Simon in Complication Q   
    Also (after a senior/derp moment on my side):

    If you have Cost Multipliers enabled under Campaign Rules, you can set a Cost Multiplier of 0 on either the individual Complications or on a List (it will apply to all items added to the List).
     
    I was actually poring through the code to figure out where I had disabled the Cost Multiplier button for Complications...it took me WAY too long to realize that I had done no such thing and simply had them disabled under the Campaign Rules.
  22. Like
    Sketchpad got a reaction from Christopher R Taylor in Starting Spider-Man = Teen Champion?   
    I'm sure Bats would do just fine against Spidey's foes, but it also depends on who's writing him. 
  23. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Steve in Starting Spider-Man = Teen Champion?   
    Spidey’s rogues gallery started with low-pointed builds but most of them have been saving up their XPs over the years.
     
    If you treated Spider-Man’s career as a solo Champions campaign, or maybe one where other players play the various villains and occasional team-up heroes, the internal clock in that campaign has been ticking away around 10+ years, and the external clock for several decades more. That represents a lot of table time, so even a stingy GM would have given Peter’s player (and those who keep reoccurring in his rogues gallery) hundreds of xps by now.
  24. Like
    Sketchpad reacted to Lord Liaden in Starting Spider-Man = Teen Champion?   
    Exactly my thought. Spidey's rogues gallery is exceptional. Biggest difference between the Spider's villains and the Bat's is that most of the former's enemies are actual superhumans, while the latter's are mostly normal human psychopaths with some gimmick. I'm not sure how long Batman would last if he had the likes of Kraven, Rhino, and Sandman regularly coming after him. OTOH Green Goblin, Mysterio, or Kingpin would make splendid Bat-villains, while Clayface, Mr. Freeze, or Man-Bat would work great against the Webhead. And of course they both essentially share a female cat-themed frenemy.
  25. Thanks
    Sketchpad got a reaction from Lord Liaden in Starting Spider-Man = Teen Champion?   
    Early Spider-Man is definitely a teen hero IMHO, and a great example of progression from teen to regular hero over the years. In fact, when I had players complain about the 250pt heroes of yester-Champions, Spidey was my usual example of why they only had 250pts. 
     
    As for his rogue's gallery, I've always been a fan. You get legendary bad guys like Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus, and then you get chumps like Grizzly or Kangaroo. Easily one of the best groups of villains in comics (and tied with Batman and Flash in my mind).
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