Lord Liaden

The 20 cap is for purposes of Normal Characteristic Maxima, beyond which each Characteristic costs double its normal price. It was never intended to represent the maximum a human could achieve. The 6E Champions genre book p. 72 presents a table of all Characteristic scores for six progressive named categories of Normal humans, and a seventh for when those Characteristics cross over into Superhuman, as applied in the official published Champions Universe. "Legendary" is the highest range a human can achieve without some extraordinary justification. The upper Legendary range is probably where to place the physical likes of Captain America, Conan, Tarzan, Doc Savage, as well as intellect like Mister Fantastic, charisma like Batman, and so on. Below is a rough transcription of the table (to stay within Fair Use). Char Weak Challenged Average Skilled Competent Legendary Superhuman STR 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-30 31+ DEX 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-30 31+ CON 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-30 31+ INT 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-50 51+ EGO 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-50 51+ PRE 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-50 51+ OCV/DCV 1-2 1-2 2-3 3-4 5-7 8-10 11+ OMCV/DMCV 1-2 1-2 2-3 3-4 5-7 8-10 11+ SPD 1 1-2 1-2 2-3 4-5 6-7 8+ PD, ED 0-1 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-10 11-15 16+ REC 1 1-2 2-4 5-6 7-10 11-13 14+ END 2-4 6-10 11-20 21-26 27-40 41-60 61+ BODY 1-2 3-5 6-10 11-13 14-20 21-30 31+ STUN Running Leaping Swimming 3-4 1-2m 0m 0m 7-11 3-6m 1-2m 1-2m 12-20 7-12m 3-4m 3-4m 21-27 13-16m 5-6m 5-6m 28-40 17-20m 7-10m 7-10m 41-60 21-26m 11-22m 11-18m 61+ 27m+ 23m+ 19m+

I debated putting this in the Politics thread, but I think it fits better here.

I subscribe to Plato's distinction in his Poetics between what is possible, and what is probable. Something that may be impossible in the real world, may be probable in a world with different assumptions. Rationality itself doesn't change, but it may be operating under other expectations. Most comic-books universes are like that. They have conventions affecting biology and physics which don't match reality, but with long, consistent repetition, become operating conditions we all accept as probable for the sake of a story. But other conditions typically remain recognizably the same: human nature, emotions, motivations, social interactions. Those are things we tend to expect to be conventionally rational even in fiction, and straying too far from them becomes jarring.

Sure. I fully appreciate the motivation behind the series. But I fully admit to liking rationality.

Sounds like you missed out on a lot, including some of the most ground-breaking music courtesy of the Beatles.

Is "Geddy" supposed to be pronounced like "Jedi?"

The rationale gets a little muddy when you have "mutates" as well as "mutants." If someone's DNA is reconfigured to give them powers, how do you justify distinguishing between those who inherited and were born with them, versus those who acquired them later? Your detectors would almost need to be able to distinguish things in mutates that aren't in mutants, like the Hulk's gamma rays, or Captain America's super-soldier serum. IMO the detector convention is easiest to justify in a single-source-powers campaign, in which all super powers derive from one factor which can be remotely identified.

People frequently confuse "I don't like it" with "It's bad."

Genuinely disturbing.

You realize your example of mushroom intelligence is allowing themselves to be dried and eaten, right?

Thank you. Too many people seem to believe that being a public figure means the public are entitled to every detail of their personal life. I may not fully understand the fishbowl the British royal family are in, but I do appreciate what it would be like if I never had anonymity anywhere. I remember what the late great actor Paul Newman once said: "The only thing I owe my audience is a good performance."

If sports is the only thing they've shown any competence at, their candidacy should at least be seriously questioned. More so if they talk like they have the IQ of a mushroom.

The British Royal Family are maintained as symbols. Appearances are a big part of what they do. On top of that, when you're going through something as personal as a serious illness, you typically want to maintain your privacy as much as possible. Even more so if you're one of the most scrutinized people in the world.

Gordon Lightfoot certainly did not need that song for his career. And he brought it to the families of the drowned sailors before he released it to ask for their approval. They all considered it a fitting tribute. Detroit's Maritime Church rings its bell every year on the anniversary of the wreck, once for each sailor lost. Last year they added an extra stroke of the bell for Gordon Lightfoot after his passing. (Sorry, that got my Canadian up a little.) 😌

There appear to be a few Senates that are replete with wild-eyed conspiracy nuts. But as broader policy, all these Republican tactics have as their unifying base, the promotion of fear. Fear of immigrants, of doctors, of scientists, of teachers and librarians, of homosexuals and transvestites, of socialists and Democrats. It's all they have in terms of "policy." They need people to be afraid so they'll vote for Republicans to "protect" them, even if what they fear doesn't exist. In fact, especially if it doesn't exist, because then Republican lawmakers don't have to actually do anything about it. It's why the House GOP voted against the bipartisan border security bill. Donald Trump proclaimed that he needed a less-secure border to campaign on, essentially ordering Republicans to kill it. (And incidentally revealing that Trump and the GOP must believe their voters are colossally ignorant, oblivious, and stupid.)

"Smurfit Institute of Genetics" Now we know where Brainy ended up.

"Come over here and play with us!" [Lips smacking]

Check with the government in your state to make sure that's legal. In many states, and provinces in my country, introducing unsecured human remains including ashes into the environment is barred by law. You don't want to potentially cause your kin problems after you're gone.

The Republican Study Committee, comprising more than 170 GOP House Republicans, released a budget proposal for 2025 on Wednesday. Among its "high points" are: raising the retirement age; enshrining "life begins at conception" as national law; lowering social security benefits; making Medicare compete with private insurance plans; and general reduction in "entitlements" spending. You can read the text of the proposal here. It should be noted that Republican lawmakers in electorally vulnerable states are already disavowing the proposal. But it's reasonable to assume that this is what the GOP would do if they regain power. Democrats have already started heatedly denouncing it. If they make that a significant part of their campaigning, the Republicans may have handed the Dems the key to a majority in Congress.

I saw the original Alien in theaters when it first came out. I don't like scary movies, but my mother loved them, and insisted on me accompanying her. I'd never before felt so emotionally abused and manipulated. By the last fifteen minutes of the movie, I was so drained of feeling, I wouldn't have cared if the damn alien stepped off the screen and sat beside me. I kept thinking to myself, "Just eat the b!tch and let me go home." That experience was a significant contributor to my conscious refusal to suspend my disbelief when it comes to film scares. I never lose my awareness that they're fake, so they don't frighten me any more. I do admire Alien on an intellectual level, though. And I enjoy the thrills of Aliens.

Digital Hero #39 includes a mini-setting, War of the Worlds: Champions, set in the same era as H.G. Wells' novel, the end of the 19th Century. The difference in concept is that the toxic "black smoke" weapon used by the Martians, while lethal to the vast majority of humans, in very rare cases induces super-powers, giving humanity something of an equalizer against the Martian technology. Those powers can include super intelligence, so you also get steampunk vehicles and other weapons.

I usually prefer theatrical cuts of films to "extended editions," but the extended version of Aliens that I've seen adds useful context and deeper meaning to the film IMHO.