Steve

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

This didn't happen in one of my games, but I heard about it from one of the participants in the exchange.

The group is trying to come up with a plan to deal with a problem.

Player #1: I have a plan. Here's what we should do.

Player #1 lays out his idea and Player #2 keeps shooting it down. Eventually, the two start talking at their end of the table, leaving the rest of the party to do other things in the meantime. Then the group suddenly hears...

Player #2: I have a plan. Here's what we should do.

Player #2 then lays out the exact same plan that Player #1 had.

Player #1 wanted to kill him at that point.

Re: Social "Combat' and "Duels"

There are many campaign types where there wil be many social situations that' date=' while not played out as a conbat, would have as serious repurcussions as any combat. go to any royal court, govenrment agency, or business and you will find numerous situations in which social interactions can have ahrmful or even deadly consequences if mis=handled.[/quote']

 

In the old print version of Adventurer's Club, there was an article written that was something along these lines, and I think it was titled "The Art of Repartee" or something like that. Basically, it was a selection of skills and powers for dueling with words. The 'powers' were basically super-skill effects, kind of like in Dark Champions, centered on PRE Aid and PRE Drains, with particularly skilled people at repartee using PRE Transfer. They were built as 0 END abilities, since it costs no END to throw a really cutting witicism at an opponent. What I thought was most interesting was that the 'combat' used INT/3 as the combat value, and the Repartee skill was an INT-based skill. Those of socially higher level could also refuse to enter into repartee with another, which was a limitation on the PRE Aid/Drain/Transfer abilities written up. A beginner would start with the skill alone, and a more skilled repartee master would start picking up the PRE adjustment powers.

 

The best example would be how it would play in court functions, such as in the era of the Three Musketeers, or perhaps the time of the Terran Empire, when getting cut socially by a particularly telling witticism could be as risky to one's reputation as a blaster bolt to the gut would be to one's body. But I could also see someone like James Bond making a quip to someone across a baccarat table.

Re: Alien Wars: Before hyperdrive, there was...

My explanation...

 

At first, lots of sleeper ships and generational ships were sent out, but some ships accidently fell victim to a previously unknown gravitational anomaly resulting from some undetected dark matter. These pockets of dark matter would slingshot ships to near light speed (or beyond) in the same direction they were previously travelling. Thereby (usually) cutting huge amounts of travel time but also horribly damaging the ship, sometimes losing people and cargo in the process. But, the excess velocity was usually bled off before reaching another solar system. Also, if the entry direction was off by a degree, well, I hope you like your new destination.

 

Oddly enough, the universe has more of these pockets than planets, so it should be considered quite normal.

 

Today, these pockets of dark matter sometimes affectionally known as Skid Zones, Bounce Points, God's Slingshots (and other more colorful names) can be easily detected and are really best to be avoided as a severe hazard. However, if you are in the middle of nowhere with a broken FTL drive, one can be excused for at least considering using one if it is nearby.

You know, that's not a bad idea. While it has the rubber science feel of Star Trek to it, it would be a fair way explain how you could have human colonies way off the beaten track and far beyond what the 21st-22nd century technology would allow for. I could see them as a real downside to hyperspace travel, since they could probably rip the guts out of a hyperdrive by creating some sort of subspace eddy or even a kind of gravitational riptide.

Re: Clarke's Third Law as basis for fantasy campaign

All good suggestions.

Before the war happened, everyone was able to communicate across the planet by sending intelligent avatars of themselves that were formed of masses of nanites or teleporting. Once the power went off, the only ones that could still do this were those on the council, when they could spare the power. Most of their power is tied up with trying to deal with the other faction, doing things like firing energy weapons from orbit on enemy positions or dropping satellites on them. Since they also have shielding technology, there is a stalemate going on.

The rest of the world is basically low fantasy now that the power is off, but ancient proscriptions built into the system still prevent such things like gunpowder or explosives from working. You get a dull thump and that's about it, so it's back to sword and spear work to kill the enemy.

One of the characters in the book is a reenactor of a 20th century marine gunnery sergeant, since he feels that the American marines were an improvement upon the discipline and lethality of the Roman legionaires, and he is one tough bastard.

There are also semi-sentient creations known as homonculi, which can appear fully human, kind of like the replicants from Blade Runner in ability, in addition to changed humans. Before the Fall (when the power went off for most of the populace), people went in for all kinds of whims in changing themselves, so you could imagine if there were fantasy and science-fiction fans like those that exist today, can you imagine the variety of forms they would choose?

This idea came to me as I was reading a new book called There Will Be Dragons by John Ringo (who I picked up because I've read some of his military SF stories). Good stuff.

Basically, in this story, it is some two thousand years in the future, and mankind is free from want, living in a post-economic society, where nanotechnology, advanced bioscience, weather control and teleportation technology enable it all to function. The only form of 'government' left is a council of thirteen people who essentially control the mostly autonymous system, each possessing a Key that enables them to vote for any changes done to the world. Such is their power that they can send self-aware avatars of themselves out into the world to speak to others and gather information. Most are content to let humanity play and dream, since humanity is able to rewrite themselves as well as the world around them. There are even 'elves' in existence, remnants of much earlier genetic work, immortal and beautiful. However, there is a factions in the council that sees work as being necessary to the human condition, and that it should be forced on humanity instead of them freely receiving the bounty that these advanced technolgoies offers, so a war breaks out between the two factions on the council. One of the things that happens is the power gets shut off to most of humanity, forcing people who have depended on this advanced technology to survive. The story actually focuses on a group of people who do historical reenactments of medieval times (basically RenFaire), who find their little community and skills vital to survival and rebuilding the world, since the war among the council's factions is keeping them busy. The faction that started the war is even using bioscience to resculpt any refugees they come across into loyal, less intelligent forms, for use as laborers and soldiers (orcs?).

I am considering using this world as a template for a 'fantasy' world, and I was wondering if anyone else had used a high technology world as the basis for one. With genetic modifications, elves, dwarves, merpeople and even dragons can exist, AIs can function as 'gods' and local spirits, and 'wizards' are essentially programmers who use coding shortforms and passwords to coax changes to the world using the computer network that controls the planet, even the weather. I am looking for suggestions on how to set this up so that it really is different than just being a fantasy campaign with the underlying engine renamed from magic to technology.

Re: Sex as a skill

PS: Sex Technique (dex based, everyman skill)

 

Seduction

KS: Sex Technique

Acrobatics

Breakfall

Contortionist

 

Are all complimentary

Uh, Breakfall? That's an interesting choice for the list.

Re: Sex as a skill

My point remains: however important the practical dimension of this matter is' date=' it is mistaken to define the basic skill as a PS, because that immediately introduces what, IMO, is an inappropriate degree of job-related specialisation. [/quote']

 

Well, while I understand the intent of your comment to be humorous, Dr. Destroyer is built with a KS: Chess and also a PS: Play Chess, so this would seem to be a similar situation. To my understanding, a KS is knowing intellectually about a subject, and a PS is the practical application of a subject. I guess a similar (related?) notion would be gymnastics as a KS and PS. Both are valid, but they have different applications and I could see the KS: Gymnastics be a possible complimentary skill to the PS: Gymnast.

Re: GateCrasher Hero

A bit presumptuous to assume that I'd want a fee, isn't it? I didn't say anything about a fee.

 

The problem with Gatecrasher Hero is that we're going to have Gatecrasher dX (for Tri-Stat dX), Gatecrasher d20, and other names like that. Gatecrasher Hero may cause brand confusion.

 

All that I was going to ask for was a simple declaration that his Gatecrasher Hero has nothing to do with our Gatecrasher, and a link back to our site.

 

'Course... no one bothered to find that out.

 

Thanks,

Tim.

Well, not that I am an expert in IP law, but you made a request that you be contacted to obtain a license (like you did in the message I commented on), and it seems reasonable that would imply a fee of some sort in the transaction. I have no connection at all with either the game or the site in question, so I was simply commenting on the words you used in your message and the general tone of it. I had no idea what you were asking for beyond that, since I could only go by what you actually said. If you consider that presumptuous, then so be it.

Re: Sex as a skill

Susano, you used a KS: "Arts of Pleasure" on your Escort Synthetics in Kazei Five. Isn't that what you are describing here?

Well, UNTIL watches over the whole world, PRIMUS is American, and the Tiger Squad covers China. What other countries have their own super agencies? Has anyone created a regional PRIMUS counterpart for a country like Japan or Russia? What are they like?

Re: Stargate Hero

Speaking of Stargate stuff, is there a Hero write-up anywhere of how to do a Replicator? I figure they are all built with a form of Summon - another Replicator, built using available materials. A creature with Summon that can call forth more creatures with Summon as well would seem to fit their setup. Anyone written them up in Hero?

Re: Magic-Noir (Pulp?) Hero

You might want to check out the movie Cast a Deadly Spell.

Re: What Do You Want To See?: DC: The Animated Series

Hey guys, I'm getting started on DARK CHAMPIONS: THE ANIMATED SERIES (DC: TAS, from here on out) and this is the traditional "What Do You Want To See" Thread.

 

...

 

So, keeping all that mind, I'd love to hear what you guys want out of this book....

I would like to see suggestions for how a DC:TAS GM can use powers and disadvantages to replicate the genre, how it differs from straight Dark Champions in the inclusion of more four-color elements and low-end powers.

I would like to see detailed suggestions for how to establish a colorful rogues gallery for a costumed hero, creating memorable costumed villains with plenty of repeatable use. The new edition of Dark Champions mentioned a few new names, such as Anagram and Serpentine, and I hope to see write-ups for those as examples. But I would also like to see the return of old favorites such as Penny Dreadful.

But even more than that, I would like to see DarkAngel return, and for her to be used as the example for a DC:TAS sort of character and campaign. Perhaps a FRED write-up for her as a starting heroine at 250 and then a more experienced version at 350 or maybe even 450, to show ways in which she has grown and changed as a crimefighter over her career. By using her as an example, I would like to see how to weave a hero and their rogues gallery into a city's urban mythology. Does DarkAngel stick to the shadows and get treated as some kind of urban myth? Or is she more open in her crimefighting? Does she have fans, and how does fandom affect a vigilante crimefighter? Are there webpages or fan clubs for such heroes? How does the press treat her?

Re: Odd Champions campaigns

I've always been interested in trying one of the "super societies" sorts of campaigns, like with everyone from Asgard or Mount Olympus. Anyone ever been in a campaign like that?

Re: Your father is WHO?!

Here are a few earlier threads dealing with this subject, including Dr. Destroyer specifically:

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2909

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11741

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13520

Well, the pairing of Firewing and Viperia was certainly an interesting notion. It's kind of funny to think of the arrogant Firewing as Viperia's boytoy, since she could pretty much bounce him around the planet with one hand tied behind her back.

This thread was originally inspired by my reading through Arcane Adversaries, specifically the write-up for Adrian Vandaleur. Now, knowing he has an eye for the ladies, I was wondering what sort of child would be produced with him getting together with another immortal, such as Cateran from CKC. After all, she's been around for over 350 years, so perhaps they bumped into each other somewhere in the world.

However, I started to think about other possible parentages out there. For example, does Dr. Destroyer have any children? The man's been around for decades, and he's likely had a few mistresses in that time. Would he want to kill any children of his, so they could never threaten him? Use them as pawns in his plans? If they showed great talent, would he treat them as his heir apparent?

Or Menton. He picks up and discards beautiful women like they were kleenex. So he probably has more than one child out there in the world.

So what sort of surprising father (or mother) figures have been used in other campaigns?

Re: GateCrasher Hero

I'd love to hear more follow-up on how the campaign is going.

One thing that might be interesting for a long-term issue for the campaign is Istvatha V'Han, the Empress of a Billion Dimensions from the Champions sourcebook Conquerors, Killers and Crooks. She seems to have her intertemporal empire arranged in a feudal setup, so perhaps the PCs could run across some of the very lowest rungs of her sprawling empire. Admittedly, the concept borrows a bit from the tv series Stargate SG-1 in a few ways, but it could make for an interesting long-term enemy organization. Alternately, perhaps you could combine the idea of the System Lords from the SG-1 series and lower powered versions of Istvatha, to form this competing hierarchy of interdimensional conquerors. It could be interesting.

Re: GateCrasher Hero

I now must humbly ask that you do not "stick with the name"' date=' unless you are interested in licensing the property from me. If you are interested, please contact me directly - tim at domibia dot com.[/quote']

 

That's got to be one of the odder requests I've seen on the boards. From what I've seen in this thread this is the original poster's home campaign, something he is running for no money and that no one outside his group would even be aware of outside this post. If he wants to name his home campaign Gatecrasher Hero, I find it a bit peevish of Tim that he is asking for a licensing fee.

 

Anyway, another resource that I would recommend for this type of campaigning is Tangents, an Alternity sourcebook. It covers pretty much the whole range of interdimensional campaigning, including a listing of about every possible type of divergence you can name. I found it quite good. It's out of print, so check ebay for a copy.

Re: Evolution of the races?

Another thing to consider is that the presence of magic (or essence or whatever word you prefer) could have accelerated the divergence of the original race into multiple species in a relatively short time. Think of it as being like a specialized form of radiation. If there were storms of essence in the prehistoric world, the changes could have happened in only a few generations as the DNA starts mutating and some of the mutant strains prove superior. Elves could be a race that received a beneficial essence mutation, which explains their long lives and natural talent with wielding magic. Orcs (or goblins or whatever word you prefer) could have been devolved from the original stock, enhancing their physical characteristics but reducing their mental abilities. Humans could be the original stock, but the modern version of them are those of the original stock that proved most resistant to the essence storms. Dwarves could have evolved from humans that hid in deep caves from the storms, and the essence radiation had a different effect after having to pass through rock (although this makes Dwarves sound more like Morlocs). This is also a way to explain monsters, as they are essence-mutated forms of more familiar animals.

The Shadow World from ICE posited a combination effect of essence radiation and a now-vanished master race that created other races to serve them. For example, Elves in the Shadow World were basically pets of the K'ta'viri (sp?) and the elven word for their race (Ilari) translated as "pretties" in an amusing note. However, when the K'ta'viri destroyed themselves in a great war (think something apocalyptic) their subject races had to survive in a world where storms of essence ravaged the planet. That mutated the original stocks even more.

Re: Fantasy Hero Martial Arts Campaigns

I own Ninja Hero and love it, but I was looking for more details from other campaigns that have been done, to help me in fleshing out my own. For example, what if martial artists were the only ones able to do magic? Or sample schools and NPCs. That sort of thing.

I was wondering if anyone has ever been involved in a fantasy campaign which had a martial arts theme. I've been trying to find references on the web but haven't had much luck so far. Anyone have any suggestions or advice on setting up and running such a campaign?

Re: Official Champs Uni = Marvel Uni?

You have a good point. When I ran a comics based campaign. I mixed both universes. But most my villains were Marvel's. Outside of Batman' date=' and to an extent Superman, DC has few memorable villains.[/quote']

 

I always thought Darkseid had a certain evil majesty to his villainy, and the Time Trapper can make for an interesting bad guy as well.

I was browsing through CKC, and I noticed a few villains in there that would be pretty good for use in Dark Champions after some tweaking: Warbird and Warpath from the Warlord's team; Scorpia and Ultrasonique from Eurostar; Bluejay from GRAB; Binder from the Ultimates; Black Harlequin; Blowtorch; Fenris; Foxbat; Lazer; Masquerade; Mirage; Shadowdragon; Thunderbird; Utility.

Has anyone used these villains in Dark Champions campaigns? How did they work out? Most of them look like they'd be fine with only a reduction in DEX, SPD, and defenses.

Re: HUDSON CITY: What Do *You* Want To See?

Right now that's highly unlikely; I simply don't have the room' date=' and the art budget's already committed. I'm saving them for [i']Dark Champions: The Animated Series,[/i] which is coming out early next year and will have plenty of characters suitable for such games.

That's understandable, since they would be a really good fit into that book. I'm guessing that the Hudson City book will have vigilante examples that are pulled from the harder edged sorts then. I guess I will just have to buy both Hudson City and DC: TAS then.

Re: An idea on how to make characters

Reading the thread by Katherine on Point totals, I thought of something someone else around here posted a while ago as an idea on how to make characters:

 

You build a Heroic character (75+75) and get aproved by the GM

 

THEN you get another 125+75 to make them a super

 

This is to help make sure you are not a walking howitzer

This is very similar to how the PRIMUS sourcebook shows how to design a character, in a series of stages:

1) Start with a 50 base+25 Disad human (Pre-Academy)

2) Time at the Academy adds on around another 125 points of skills and characteristics that are mandatory to take, and about 60 disadvantage points, and the player can fill in the rest to bring the character up to 100 base+100 disadvantage points.

3) If you want to make a Silver Avenger at this point, you then get another 80 points for certain characteristics and another 20 or so points of other powers, and also add on another 30 points in disadvantages. Fill in a few more disadvantage points, season to taste, and presto, you have a new Silver Avenger.

I think building a character in stages like this makes for a more well-rounded design. I imagine you could follow a similar pattern for heroes or villains that are created through some sort of school or program, like how the X-Men offer training.