Metaphysician

Re: Champions and the IRS

I don't know, I could see the IRS keeping such a secret, if only because no one would be ballsy enough to try and take it.

( dirty secret: the real reason Doctor Destroyer faked his death, is because the IRS was still chasing him for back taxes owed from the 50s. He made his public return and further attempts to conquer the world after he realized it didn't work ;-) )

Re: DEMON plot help (Warning: Spoilers)

Another possibility:

The secret function of the Lapis Exilis is that, under the right circumstances, it can render the wearer into a living avatar of the Dragon ( for whom Lucifer is one of his identities ). At which point, 'Dyer' would have the power to fatally disrupt DEMON, and/or the authority to command a single response on the part of the arch demons ( having become vessel and voice of their ultimate master ).

The arch demon encouraging this action believes, naturally, that the Dragon will fully approve and support his *own* plan, and thus that this will benefit him ( her, it ). Dyer, naturally, would not really have any say once he actually wore the crown, as his own soul would probably be consumed by infernal fire the moment he did.

Re: Excalibur?

I really like this power suggestion first thing I thought of was:

 

"If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut."

 

Hattori Hanzo - Kill Bill

Well, yeah. Hence why I'd restrict it to weapons and attacks that *really* are supposed to work on anything that can't dodge it.

Failing that, I'd throw in some extra limitations, like "Subject to Hardened Power Defense" or something similar, representing how mundane defenses still don't mean anything, but potent supernatural defenses ( or exotic cosmic shields, or whatnot ) do in fact work.

Re: Excalibur?

Ah, but its not "AVLD Luck" its "AVLD Combat Luck". In fact, given that this constitutes "a subset of the normal defense", I'm fairly certain that it'd even qualify for the reduced cost AVLD.

( why not NND? Because if you do this NND, then its all or nothing, so anybody with Combat Luck is immune. . . regardless of whether they are immobile or not, or if your OCV 15 and they are DCV 6 )

Re: Excalibur?

Another way to represent "unstoppable cutting weapons":

AVLD vs Combat Luck/"Avoidance Defense". IOW, only PD/ED based on a SFX of "Not Getting Hit" applies to the weapon.

Re: Heroic battles

For the ultimate in stakes, however, there is only one possible venue:

The Moon.

Nothing but the grey, cratered surface all around to get in the way of all the stops being pulled out. . . and the Earth hanging over head in the sky, like a jewel to be grasped by the victor.

Re: Excalibur?

Thats assuming they didn't come from a full Mallory-style England, complete with good and evil knights and sorcerers who might as well be superheroes ( some quite major ones ). . .

Re: So how does one build Captain Atom at 250 pts?

I would say no. Even to begin with, he had the military skill set, and fairly buff brick powers, flight, energy blasts, and the weird absorbtion combo. Trying to do him on 250 points, or 350, is like trying to do Superman on that much. Even an early or animated version would blow the budget.

You could probably do a passable homage on 600, maybe less if you take OIHID.

Re: A New Edition

Hermes: "Ack, ack, my powers are. . . fading. . . I suddenly feel. . . so slow. . . and stupid. . ."

( not a Champions character. . . an *Aberrant* character. Which means the only 'new edition' to convert to is Aberrant d20 *shudders* )

Re: Excalibur?

What does the Aid aid?

Re: Alien Mysteries of the Champions Universe

Actually, the Rigellian mystery is already answers. Geos, one of the Galaxars, created the star system as one of his stellar aesthetics projects.

Re: Alien Mysteries of the Champions Universe

More information on the Progenitors, perhaps?

And also maybe a little tidbit on how the rest of the universe, and some of the things in it, respond to the mana tide. Like, do the Galaxars randomly depower, or are they unaffected, or do they go into an invincible sleep, or what?

Re: The Forever Man

Hermes: "Fair enough. However, there's some people I'd like you to meet first..."

Basically, he'd believe the guy, and believe he's having issues with immortality. So, off to visit Minos, Anubis, and the Summer King. Hopefully between them, they can give him some perspective and enlightenment on what to do with immortality.

If, afterwards, he's still desireth of Death, off to a visit with the Winter King. He can *probably* provide permanent death, question is whether he will. Even if not, he'll *still* probably have something useful to say.

If that doesn't work? Hermes will say "sorry, thats the extent of my ability to help." He will *not* mention the way he could, theoretically, arrange the guy's permanent death, because he has no clue what happens to those devoured by the distortion ghosts of the white void. . .

Re: Alternate Earth Characters #11

Hermes:

*a small, primitive village. . . and yet, not as primitive as one might expect. the homes and buildings seem well made, the fields well tended, with sturdy walls surrounding it. At its center, there is a fire, with many villagers gathered around it, enrapt as a man sits before them, talking*

"Let me tell you a story of a different time. A time when people needed not worry about the roving bandit, or the poor harvest."

"Let me tell you a story of a different place. A place where such worries could be forgotten, a place born of a dream, and forged by the sweat of all men."

"Let me tell you a story. . . of Thera. . ."

Basically, post-nuclear wasteland? Its more or less what he's been, on some level, preparing himself to deal with for some time. Civilization will not only be rebuilt, but by all the gods, Hermes will give the survivors the power to make a civilization *worth* creating.

Re: What would you do? what would you do?

Hermes: depends on if the 'kitten' is Artemis or not. If it is, then he'll mostly focus on trying to explain this insanity to her, possibly to the annoyance of the psycho criminal. . .

If not, punch to the head before he can blink. Normal humans shouldn't try holding hostages against speedsters.

Re: Alien Bonding

Hermes: realistically, before he could even consider the request, Artemis would have probably already bonded with him ( given she's probably who was doing the talking to him, anyway ). Once he was stabilized, though, Hermes would probably be busy pestering him for details about his society and star-faring technology, and perhaps trying to rebuild his space ship.

And then come the romantic complications, for which the space ship might be useful for running from.

Re: Superhero Apprentice

Hermes: Probably could only happen if he's visiting the future in a peaceful time. If he's lacking in desperate need to go somewhere and do something, however, he could get persuaded to join in.

While he's intelligent and diligent, he is not a businessman, however. If there are notable jerks among the other contestants ( less likely with supers than otherwise, but I guarantee you, reality TV means there will be ), he won't be quiet about calling them on it. That is, once he gets himself oriented in a strange world and stranger scenario.

That said, if he finds out about this. . .

But it's possible someone may talk him into going on the program, in the hope of raising some money for the families of the 20 cops that vanished without trace when he deliberately dropped himself, the Skeleton Crew, and Eurostar into a dimensional vortex. Not that feels guilty about it but the publicity may reduce the amount of refuse flung at his building.

. . . his response will depend on how guilt-free Vitus seems, but it'll almost certainly lead to professional discussion and debate. "Hey, I've had to do that too. . . so, why couldn't you fetch the cops and bring them along?"

Re: Debriefing

Hermes: Depending on the circumstances, if 3 just came up on the street and tried flirting with and seducing him, Hermes might respond by immediately punching her out. Where he comes from, superhuman beauty is sometimes used as a literal battlefield weapon.

Either afterwards, or if that event is avoided entirely. . . well, he's not going to *help* her make Vitus jealous. Hermes isn't exactly controlled by his hormones, and that has *so* many ways to go horribly wrong. He could try simply tracking down Vitus and trying to persuade him that, really, he should take 3 back, she really loves him. . .

*qeue Hermes learning in depth about Vitus*

. . . and how *that* ends, depends partially on what he finds out, partially on whether Vitus is in the present or the past, and partially whether Hermes has the good sense to *run away from these crazy people*.

Re: Organic

My first thought , as Vitus, was "yeah, knock yourselves out, oh, can I keep a few inches of thighbone? I've got a use for that"

 

But then I remembered that his home had a very strong taboo against mutilating the dead.

 

Vitus

,

looking at people as that explain organ transplants to him

: "Are you people sick?! Gods, that's revolting! His spirit barely cold and you want to take him apart for medical meat? *throws up*"

Wow, I think thats the first time I've seen Vitus be morally offended. . .

Re: Block - Usable at range?

I *think* there's a Ranged Block maneuver for Ranged Martial Arts.

Re: Unmaking

It's never ok for a GM to kill a PC' date=' thats the job of the dice [/quote']

 

I would slightly disagree. Circumstances where it is okay to kill a PC:

 

1. With the players consent, as part of his own dramatic conclusion. In other words, if intentionally initiated *by* the player. ( this requires that the rest of the players know OOC, too )

 

2. If, when given every reasonable opportunity to be aware of the dangers of his planned course of action, the PC still insists on doing something suicidally stupid. Not heroically brave, but incomprehensibly dumb. I also include here cases where a character breaks the campaign premise in such a way as to threaten the continuance of the game and the fun of the other players ( like, say, a superhero PC in a superhero game randomly deciding to start offing innocent bystanders, and then attack the police who come along ).

 

3. If the hero, knowingly on the part of the player, takes an extraordinary risk, and the dice don't end up panning out.

 

Thats in rough order of acceptance. If the players wants his character to die in a noble sacrifice, then thats fine ( though you should put extra effort into making sure that sacrifice is meaningful ). On the other hand, while bad luck in a high stakes situation is an *acceptable* reason for character death, you really should put every reasonable effort into making sure that luck alone won't kill a PC.

 

Bad dice luck, in a situation where the PC is not knowingly in danger, and where the circumstances are not dramatically important, is *not* a good reason to kill off a PC.

Re: Unmaking

The short version: I flip the table and punch the GM.

See, this is one of those scenarios where every answer sucks horribly, both IC and OOC. There's basically only four possible outcomes here:

1. I jump into the rift, negating myself and my enemy. . . and every good deed or heroic act I've ever done. Thus, in every way except those related to the particular nemesis, the world is now a crappier place.

2. As above, except the world is more or less the same. IOW, being a hero, or even being alive, had *no meaningful effect on the world at all*. It literally didn't matter whether you lived or died.

3. As above, except the world is now a better place. IOW, everything you ever did, irrespective of intentions, had only ever made the world worse than it could have been, and everyone should be glad your now erased.

4. You *don't* jump in. As the scenario is written, this means the world gets destroyed, basically. And it all happened because you weren't willing to take one of the above three horrible options. . . and thus acts as a coercive element forcing the above.

Re: The Devil Inside...

Hermes: Once the full situation was explained, he'd be aghast, horrified, shocked. . .

. . .at the Divine Order of Light, for being merciless *idiots*. I'm uncertain which would more offend, their stupidity or their evil.

Step one, would be to try and contain Don and protect the innocent; this hopefully means being able to figure out how to reseal the demon. Hermes is a scientist, not a mystic, but he'd likely be able to figure out something. . . and preferably, be able to convince Don to turn back from this power.

Hermes is not normally a vengeful or vindictive god, but odds are the Divine Order of Light will be a casualty in this conflict, if they remain true to their past record. Using the innocent as a weapon. . . irks Hermes.

Re: (really) Super Tuesday

Microman II: Is an android well under the age limit.

Diomedes: Under the age limit.

Jack Frost: Under the age limit.

Hermes: Depending on how time travel counts, under the age limit. . . but more importantly, a citizen of another country. If he *were* somehow still brought in. . . the images of Hermes, POTUS, bring to mind certain context problems. Like "So, wait, you *can't* deal with horrendous anarchic regimes that do nothing other than tormenting their own people by going in, smashing the leadership, and bringing them into the 'United States'? Why not?"

Re: Have a Holly Jolly Security Breach

incredibly heavy is an understatement. It would have to weigh over a thousand tonnes' date=' and probably closer to a million.[/quote']

 

Maybe its for a Kryptonian martial artist. Or Karate Kid.