Lord Liaden

Re: Attention: Veterans of the Battle of Detroit! The history of ChukG's character, Horus-Re, which you can read on this thread, includes his participation in the Battle of Detroit. Pretty compelling story IMO.

Re: Fictional Cities

Re: Coastal City In that case Savinien might be right - New Constantinople may be right up your alley: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42393

Re: Anybody out there playing Doctor Who Hero? Well, here are some Dalek design suggestions: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19304 And here's Kevin Scrivener's writeups for a Dalek homage, "the Metronoids:" http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=118884 Here are templates and discussion for building a Time Lord: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12925

Re: Destiny as a Disadvantage Well, the Master List of Limitations on the Global Guardians website handles this sort of thing as a Physical Limitation, on the premise that it's not something that the character can voluntarily overcome. Check out the running notes for Fated.

Re: Coastal City Dang, your description isn't ringing a bell with me. Do you remember the name of the module? And what sort of ideas are you looking for?

Re: New Pulp Figs! Sorry, I saw the title of this thread after a "New Posts" search without noticing the forum... just assumed it was dealing with dried fruit.

Re: Kal Turak I wonder if we'll ever get an official writeup for Sharna-Gorak? I'm not certain which one would be considered the Hero Universe's greatest occult villain. We could settle it with a cage-match between S-G and Tak.

Re: Questions for the Canadian HEROBoard members

Re: Questions for the Canadian HEROBoard members You mean there's something out there besides Vancouver? Edited, and thanks for pointing it out.

Re: Questions for the Canadian HEROBoard members Okay, I'll offer what I can. Let me start with your specific questions: Well, Canadians tend to group themselves into "regions," rather than separate provinces. If you wanted to divide North America in terms of culture, it would be more logical to do so lengthwise rather than crosswise. Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island) is most similar culturally to New England. Central Canada (Quebec and Ontario) strongly resembles New York State and Michigan. As I mentioned, the Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) have a lot in common with Montana or Dakota. The province of British Columbia shares much with the states of the American West Coast. Mind you, all of this applies to the parts of the country relatively close to the American border. The northern parts of the country see themselves as distinct from the south, where population, money and power are concentrated (and that's a source of resentment). The north is often sparsely populated, with a high percentage of that being aboriginal; it would probably come across as a little like Alaska. Some of the stronger divisions of the country are between these regions, particularly the West (Manitoba to British Columbia) vs. Central Canada. Of course Quebec sees itself as distinct from the entirety of English Canada. And there's always friction between every province and the federal government. However, those divisions rarely break out into open hostility. (More on this for your later questions.) A generation ago it was much more noticeable, but nowadays it doesn't manifest overtly very often. Some people still grumble about the federal government being officially bilingual, but we've learned to accept it overall. When you enter Quebec, though, you immediately realize that you're in a French territory. All signs are in French, it's the dominant language, and the separatist movement in Quebec is still a powerful political force. In some smaller communities it can be difficult to find help in English (and a few people will still be angry if you don't speak French). OTOH in Montreal a great many people are bilingual (at least), and it's not hard to get around in English. Truth to tell, many more French Canadians speak English than the other way around. As I mentioned previously, Canadians often travel south to the States more often than east or west. Not only is Canada huge, but 80% of the populace lives within 100 miles of the American border. When you consider that travelling from Toronto to Vancouver is equivalent to going from Detroit to San Francisco, you'll understand why the east-to-west linkage isn't tremendously deep. OTOH all that space, especially in the west and north, tends to make Canadians more accustomed to long travel. For example, Calgary and Edmonton are considered relatively close at nearly 200 miles. A few more things to keep in mind: Canadians like to think of themselves as being polite, friendly and considerate, at least compared to Americans (again, just info, not an opinion). Canadian culture emphasizes a "mosaic" rather than "melting pot" model. In other words, it's generally accepted that immigrants to Canada add to the country by retaining and displaying much of their original cultures, rather than trying to assimilate into the majority. That philosophy isn't universally adhered to, though, and conflicts definitely occur. Canada doesn't have a history of state-supported slavery, at least since it became a country; so while black/white tension does occur, it's not as deeply set in the public consciousness as it is in America. I've often noticed that black American athletes who play for our cities say that they feel more accepted here than they do at home. There isn't the same gun culture here as in America. For the most part guns are seen as a tool of law enforcement rather than an individual right, and Canada's gun laws are much stricter. Mind you, that attitude shifts somewhat in the rural areas, especially in the West, where rifles and shotguns are viewed essentially as tools. There's been some political disagreement between regions in recent years over this issue. Canadians in general are not as overtly patriotic as Americans. With the exception of Quebecois, open flag-waving and nationalistic cheerleading are seen as almost rude. Our self-image is rather self-effacing, which may be why political and social humor is pretty mainstream here. Canadians cherish our socialized health care system. Most of us don't think twice about seeing a doctor when we're sick, and have trouble understanding why Americans find the concept so controversial. I hope this helped. I'm sure you'll have more that you want to know, so feel free to post followup questions.

Re: Kal Turak No, you're right, but so am I. If you read back over Takofanes' history in CKC, you'll see that after his death during the Turakian Age "he returned as a sere lich, steeped in necromancy, more powerful than ever." (p. 32) He ruled his empire as the Archlich until finally being cast down. However, in the modern world his magic is indeed objectively less than in the ancient past, because the level of ambient magic on present-day Earth is lower than during the Turakian Age.

Re: The King who Doesn't Know It

Re: Kryptonians, Asgardians and Spectres! Oh My! For Savage, how about giving him forms and/or abilities based on extinct animals, such as dinosaurs? Or fantastical beasts of legend, such as dragons, sphinxes or chimerae? You could plunder the various published HERO creature compendia, or we could point you to good online writeups for such beasties. For Hel, I'd suggest playing up her common depiction as living woman on one side of her body and corpse on the other, by giving her "polar" powers with opposed special effects, e.g. heat and cold, light and darkness, disease infliction and healing.

Re: Kal Turak Not necessarily. Here's the thing: according to remarks Steve Long has made on this subject here on the boards, Kal-Turak is intended to be the great menace looming over Ambrethel, much the same as Sauron looms over Middle-Earth. Like Sauron, he's not meant as a foe for the heroes to fight directly, at least not before the climactic battle of the Turakian Age. PC heroes may thwart Kal-Turak's plans or defeat his servants, but it's assumed that facing the Ravager of Men will be beyond the strength of anything less than the united free peoples of the world. Now as you've probably read in Turakian Age, Kal-Turak was eventually slain, but returned mightier than ever as Takofanes the Archlich. In the Hero Universe Takofanes actually endures to the contemporary era, and there's a full writeup for him in the Champions sourcebook, Conquerors, Killers And Crooks. If you really want to use the character in your fantasy campaign you could adapt his stats from that book. I must caution you, however, that that version of Takofanes is designed to threaten whole teams of powerful superheroes, and will effortlessly squash just about any heroic-level characters.

Re: Space Master by ICE Raven, the DOC should be in your inbox. Lord "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor gloom of night..." Liaden

Re: The King who Doesn't Know It Actually not that weird an idea. The king whose identity is hidden from him for his own protection isn't a new concept; Arthur is one example, Aragorn another. Of course these were born kings rather than ones chosen by committee.

Re: Using the Warlord Some of the recent discussion threads on "cyberkinesis" inspired this plot idea: Mechanon builds equipment to enhance his power to control machines, and uses it to take remote control of the Warlord's armor while Roger Warwell isn't wearing it. Posing as the Warlord, Mechanon leads the Shadow Army on a raid into a former Soviet republic to seize its stockpile of weapons of mass destruction. "Warlord" tells his underlings that he plans to use the WMDs as part of an extortion scheme; but Mechanon actually intends to launch them, directly killing millions of organics and hopefully provoking retaliation leading to global conflagration. Even if the Shadow Army proves unable to overcome the weapons' defenders, the distraction would let Mechanon slip past and complete the launch. Mechanon would doubtless try to kill the Warlord, but Roger Warwell is a resouceful man and might escape him. The robot would block any attempt by Warwell to contact his troops, but he could warn the PC heroes of Mechanon's plan. Alternatively, one of the members of the War Machine might become suspicious of "Warlord's" changed behavior, and get in touch with the heroes. Unless the PCs have had some experience with the Warlord or the War Machine and know that whoever contacts them is a man of his word, they'll likely need proof that this isn't just a trick. The PCs will essentially have to invade a foreign country to help its defenders, whether or not they believe the heroes' story. Even if they defeat the Shadow Army the PCs may still need their help to stop Mechanon from fulfilling his devastating scheme.

Re: Help Requested: Name my Canadian team and it's members "Sigh." Wish I had talent.

Re: Any books yet w/ Olympians/Norse/Egyptian Pantheons for 5e? Well, The Mystic World deals with the cosmology of the mystical part of the Champions Universe, but there really isn't much detail provided on those pantheons, let alone the individual gods. There is some pertinent material scattered through various 5E books, though. There are also quite a few fan writeups available here on the boards, if those would be helpful to you. The two discussion board threads below cover most of what I know of. The first one will point you to various sources, as well as several writeups; while the second one contains numerous writeups for a campaign featuring an update of the Greek gods. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34391 http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34727 BTW Omegaplex, welcome aboard! Feel free to post any more questions you may have. We're generally pretty friendly 'round here.

Re: Horror HERO - "Late 2006" Cancelled? Unfortunately, Horror HERO has been delayed indefinitely, due to Hero Games's recent budgetary constraints, as well as the loss last year of Assistant Line Developer Allen Thomas. Let me quote Steve Long from last February:

Re: (delete) A thread with nothing to see has, appropriately enough, drawn a bunch of rubberneckers with nothing better to do.

Re: INT/EGO of a Machine Focus

Re: Magic and Mechanics, to you In my games the specifics tend to vary a lot depending on subgenre, setting and power level, although I'm personally fond of powerful, versatile magic that's relatively easy to use. One mechanical build that I often use is Variable Limitations for spells, reflecting that a magician has to do something in order to cast them, but that that something can vary depending on circumstances. I've found that Variable Lim combined with Variable Advantages and Variable SFX make for great flexibility in effect and style without a lot of Power Frameworks. In settings that cross genres (and HERO handles that better than almost any other game) , I've long made a philosophical distinction between the forces of Magic, Technology and Psionics: Technology is fundamentally wholly outside a sentient being. It operates according to consistent, objectively-understandable principles. Although sentients can learn these principles and how to manipulate them through technology, they cannot alter how they function. Magic is both outside and inside a sentient being. Although magic exists as a separate force, its form and function can be shaped through act of will and imagination, usually through the focussing discipline of ritual. Magic can be imbued in objects, but the magic within them still requires an active will to employ. Psionics is wholly within a sentient being. It's generated by living minds, and the only limits on what it can do are the imagination of the psionic individual. One psionic is limited to the power that his own mind can produce, unless he learns to tap into the reserve of power that all minds collectively generate. In universes where all these forces can act on the physical world, there's some overlap in how they affect each other. In other words, it's possible to build technological devices to blunt psionic attacks, or craft magical barriers that resist technological weapons. In general, though, the more sophisticated the spell, device or psionic discipline, the less it's affected by the other forces.

Re: INT/EGO of a Machine Focus If the suit has a built-in computer, you would of course use the Intelligence or Ego of that. Otherwise I would just use the character's Ego, declaring that since the SFX of his Enhanced Senses are machine-based they would be vulnerable to cyberkinesis.