ThothAmon

Re: Sam Rami to do a Pulp Film?

I'm going to be heretical and say that I loved The Shadow. It wasn't a superb movie' date=' but it wasn't a bad one either. The concept of the "benevolent conspiracy" woven throughout the film is one I am very fond of and would loved to have seen more done with, and they did some really nice things with "the power to cloud men's minds".[/quote']

 

I'll second that. It is a significantly under-rated flick comtaining some superb moments. Stylistically it was 100% on-the-ball and did some good stuff with characterisation.

 

I'd love to see decent modern adaptations of Doc Savage and the Avenger. Much as I love the 70's George Pal flick for its shiny, faithful attitude (and Ron Ely fit the part soooo well) I think the Man of Bronze could do some good box office. I never understood why S&S didn't follow up on Doc Savage after the success of the Indiana Jones movies

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Audioslave - Original Fire

Re: Post Apoc Setting

Rep for you super-furry

Re: Post Apoc Setting

I'd like to see your jewels

Regards the magic angles, the 'Deadlands' genre pretty much qualifies as post-apoc and is worth a look.

As ever YMMV.

Re: Genocide

Anti-mutant is a bit tired. Back in the day (2nd edition Champions) even a novice GM like me realised this. Anti-supernormal is much more believable

Re: Skills a True Hero Must Have

Two that I associate with the good guys:

Paramedic - real heroes know how to heal rather than just knowing how to hurt

Persuasion - you have to talk to people

Re: The team that everyone forgot.

Panda and Raccoon

Re: Character: Lennart's Vengeance

"You must spread some Repitation..."

Excellent piece. Inspired background, possibly the best I've seen on these boards.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

Just finished Red Lightning by John Varley. It's a sequel to Red Thunder but is very different from its predecessor. Standout elements are the aftermath of a massive hurricane (spookily foreshadowing the events of Katrina) and the importance of environmental and local knowledge when undertaking an invasion / occupation of another planet (spookily foreshadowing current events in Afghanistan / Iraq).

Re: Which characters would you enjoy playing?

Heroes

(1) Lightrune - classic Golden Age heroism and slick design

(2) Ivan The Magnificent / Great / Wonderful - what's not to love?

Villains

(1) Grond - roleplaying doesn't have to be Shakespeare, "Grond smash puny doll man! Grond rip smile off teensy face! Grond SMASH!!!!"

(2) The Crimson Claw - he appeals to my inner Hooded Claw, I just need a Penelope to play with

(3) Cateran - hey, I'm Scottish and she's a smasher

(4) The Fox Of Crime - it's that old-school Fred Quimby / Tex Avery thing

Re: Destroy that Focus!

Molecular disruption - 3d6 RKA, NND (not vs suitable force field or force wall), Does Body, Area Effect Explosion, no damage vs living / organic matter (-1/2)

This is the main power manifested by my 4th Ed conversion of the villain Annihilator (from the 'Great Supervillain Contest'). Add additional limitations as you see fit e.g. Increased END Cost.

Not only does this power destroy most foci, it does a lot of collateral damage to the surrounding area and leaves heroes naked when their costumes get atomised

This power is particularly good vs power-armour types

If you do go with this power watch out for the effects on steel-reinforced concrete structures (e.g. bridges, skyscrapers) and expect much hatred from your players

Re: Where's it's base?

Inside the secure wing of a large hospital / mental health facility. You have a legitimate cash-cow business in the heart of your city of choice (and property is always a good investment), good access to transport links (ambulance, helipad), you have a cover for the purchase of medical hardware and supplies and you have easy access to experimental subjects, goons and medical staff.

Finally, you have hundreds of innocent civilians around you in the event that those pesky heroes track you down somehow. For ideas on hospital-based hostage fun I heartily recommend the movie 'Hardboiled'

Re: The Professions of Arms

Where to stab or slash for a slow kill, a crippling blow, or lots of blood but no real damage.

How to assess another fighter's strengths (not weaknesses).

Gauge the mood of a crowd so that you know what kind of show they expect. It does help you get the thumbs up

An adjunct to Trading when arranging the fees for an arena contest or for purchase of a new slave.

Re: Wanted - Comprehensive Western Martial Arts Design

Below is one example from the campaign:

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SCARLET TIDE

The Scarlet Tide school is sometimes referred to derogatively as 'The Fisherman's Art'. The formal patterns and strength-building exercises of this school of fighting are often practised whilst standing up to the neck in water, and occasionally underwater (or when wearing iron arm and leg rings). The fighting style has it's origins in the island kingdoms of Andronica and has spread via sea-trade routes to many of the civilised countries. The Scarlet Tide school has a small following in both the geographically nearby Romallian Empire and the distant wilds of Caledonia. Scarlet Tide exponents are noted for their ability to deliver quick, devastating blows from a solid defensive position.

In the early stages of learning Scarlet Tide students practise unarmed and with wooden weapons (staff and singlestick / shield combination) prior to the use of edged weapons. The school emphasises the use of the spear and the shield, the preferred weapons of the Andronican warrior. Focus upon the spear and shield combination gives the Scarlet Tide stylist the ability to engage in melee at all weapon lengths (short, medium and long). Other weapons that are mastered by the stylist include the staff (spear haft), the short sword / dagger, and the war club. Specific physical training develops the strength and endurance required for the field of mass battle e.g. the resistive medium of water (or iron rings) simulates fighting whilst wearing medium-heavy armour. Attacks are delivered as swift, balanced thrusts or sweeps from a strong defensive stance. The signature moves of the the school are the Lightning Thrust and the Crushing Blow, both typically aimed at weak spots in the armour / physique of an opponent.

The Scarlet Tide school also teaches two unusual combat elements; the art of array fighting, typically from within a shield wall or phalanx, and the art of movement (forced or otherwise) within a mass battle. Where many combat schools teach one-on-one-fighting, Scarlet Tide schools use group vs group fighting to teach exponents the need for awareness of surroundings and the value of working as a team. Experienced stylists tend to have an aptitude for squad-level leadership and the confidence to back it up in combat.

In addition to all other skill levels, exponents of the school must always have at least one skill level with spears.

Lightning Thrust - Fast Strike

Crushing Blow - Killing Strike

Advance - Shove

Brace - Root

Slam / Sweep - Takedown

Disarm - Martial Disarm

Block - Martial Block

WF: Shield

WF: Pole arms

WF: Blades

WF: Quarterstaff

MW: Club

MW: Quarterstaff

MW: Shield

MW: Pole arm

MW: Blade

MW: Fighting in armour

MW: Unarmed

Breakfall 8-

Tactics 8-

KS: Squad-level manueuvers 8-

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I'm still looking for other examples

Re: Wanted - Comprehensive Western Martial Arts Design

Intriguing avenues explored so far. Thanks to those who have already posted HERO conversions of r/l arts. I am familiar with the fechtbuche links and so forth but it's always good to have them topped for others.

Regards gladiatorial stuff I'd take a skim back through 'The Far Arena' to get a feeling for what might be possible.

I was rather hoping to see a few more fictional examples, assuming anyone has bothered to create packages for their own games.

When I get a free 30 mins I'll dig out an example of my own and post it here for critique.

Title says 75% of it.

Western martial arts forms are woefully lacking by comparison to Oriental forms. IRL I'm aware of why this is so. I have some nodding familiarity with wrestling, Scots pseudo martial arts and have seens stats for the various fencing styles (including an Elizabethan fencing / wrestling style) and some of the weapons-oriented bastardisations (e.g. jousting). I'm desirous of avoiding the obvious choices. From a fictional POV I could probably grokk a style for Stealth from 'Thieves World'. And that's about it.

So the floor is open to anyone who cares to propose a non-Oriental martial arts style suitable for a fantasy campaign assuming medieval -> Renaissance -> Edwardian technology periods. I've posited a couple of my own in the past for my campaign but I've never been happy with the outcome.

I can't be the only GM who would welcome this kind of addition to the game - any takers?

Re: Alternate Earth: Pulp World

Doc Sidhe?

Re: Single Green Superhero seeks.... (personals for your characters)

Athletic, long-lived male Oriental philosopher seeks spiritual female to share the journey to Nirvana. Buddhist outlook preferred. Must be willing to travel extensively through time and space. Herpetophobics need not apply

Re: The villain Holocaust

Holocaust wears a purple helmet. That's sufficient temptation for my players to diss him in a Monty Python stylee until he suffers a rage-induced coronary collapse

I'll support most of the suggestions so far and add that the 20d6 EB does a lot of knockback so is therefore best used from above to drive the target into the ground. Also I never understood why the writeup didn't include a No Range Penalty eyebeam attack

Re: Hero System for Horror gaming

I also like most of the equipment having Activation Roll or No Concious Control, especially things like cars and flashlights.

 

Darn things never seem to work right.

Equipment bought with money should always have this. Especially if it's messy horror and the PCs haven't got the skills for taking care of their firearms / vehicles / diesel generator. One of the most horrible sounds any PC can hear is the GM saying "Oh dear. It seems as though your equipment has malfunctioned". It's on a par with the click-click sound in 'Half Life' when you run out of ammo in the middle of a firefight

Re: What do you consider “Modern Paranormal”?

There's always rumours about sequels - they tend not to happen though (take the Red Dwarf movie' date=' for example)[/quote']

 

And may the Lord be praised for that one!

 

Re the excellent 'Ultraviolet' it was limited in scope for the same reason that there was no second series of 'Firefly' i.e. it was not picked up and given further funding. I believe that witer Joe Aherne was not encouraged by the producer/channel response to the use of controversial themes e.g. paedophilia, implied racism/terrorism, Catholicism, medical experimentation and other such juicy material. The scope of the series was to be a grim, realistic depiction of a human vs vampire war where the judgements of good and evil were not always clear - not ideal fodder for an ongoing TV series

 

The US version of 'Ultraviolet' was limited to a pilot episode which was allegedly so awful that it couldn't be broadcast.

 

I'm fairly certain that US remakes of 'Red Dwarf' and 'Ultraviolet' would share the same problems as other remakes - loss of integrity and uniqueness due to translation for the "predigested" market that seems to dominate US scheduling. Having said that, there are occasional good things that come out of the USA that give me hope e.g. 'Battlestar Galactica' has been a pleasant surprise.

 

Ultimately I'm a big fan of the cultural differences that come through in our media / entertainment rather than the trend towards homogeneous media. As the cheese-eating surrender monkeys say, "Vive le difference!"

 

BTW the definition of the topic should probably include 'Lost', Delta Green, Conspiracy X, Kult, 'Supernatural' and similar. Laurel K Hamilton material is merely porn for sad Goths; Nancy Collins' work is far preferrable.

Re: Bad Powers

Slippery Character - overactive sebacious glands - +20 STR, 0 END cost, only to escape grabs and slip away from entangles

Leaves A Trail - smelly - xd6 EB, NND (gas based attack), AoE variable line (the last x hexes the character walked through), 0 END cost, persistent, always on

Attractive To Some - sweat/pheremones - Summon (Insect Swarm), 0 END cost, No Conscious Control, only in appropriate environment

Repellent To Others - bad breath - xd6 Flash (vs sight, smell and taste), Damage Shield, Personal Immunity, 0 END cost, always on, turns off when unconscious

Everything He Touches - corrupting touch - xd6 Transform (anything to corroded / rotten version of itself)

Turns To Garbage - iron metabolism - Life Support vs disgusting smells, inedible food / materials, orthodox food-based bacteria/toxins, immunity to insects

Ideally this guy behaves like a hormonal, lovesick teenager

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

I Am The One You Warned Me Of - Blue Oyster Cult

Re: Vehicle: Post-Apocalyptic Combat Car

Stats make it a little faster than I'd have gone with. I'd also have an Entangle on the front grille for mounting living victims who get splattered during the first battering-ram attack

Re: Horror Hero: Cliches to Avoid

Wasn't Barlowe suave and charming in the book? I'm trying to remember. I believe Rutger Hauer played him in the remake.

Barlowe was the Master vampire, green skinned and repulsive? I recall a nice scene where he faces down a priest who has placed his faith in a crucifix...

Remake? Surely not