devlin1

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

I'm naturally a dick. Ask anyone.

It's true. He really is a dick.

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

No, they're pirate ghosts.

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

Why the hell wouldn't it? Unless he decides to stomp his foot through the hull, who cares?

I love this idea that Colossus is going to just sink the ship, and that doing so would screw him over, so therefore he doesn't have a chance. How did he get on the ship in the first place? Stowaway? No, he was airlifted in by Angel. Angel can fly him back out again.

Anyway... this whole thing is laughable, in a funny kinda way. Like, I've laughed.

Also something I like: Colossus being unable to change out of his metal form once he hits the water. I agree that he would not think of this. He'd just hit the water, sink like a metal man, and suffocate due to the inadequacy of his LS.

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

Well, that's settled then. Colossus may need to breathe underwater. Therefore, no superhero could possibly take on a shipful of 17th-century pirates. QED!

Instead of getting bogged down in the details of one suggestion, how about considering that fact that Supers vs. Normals must almost inevitably end in a victory for the Supers, even if the Normals have peg legs and eye patches? You don't like Colossus? Fine. How about Storm, Martian Manhunter, and the Human Torch? Doctor Doom? Apocalypse?! A few superpowered beings working in tandem can bring down a wooden caravel full of pirates (who, BTW, generally don't know how to swim). I can't believe this is even a point of contention.

Make the pirates supers as well-- even just a few of them-- and you're more likely to get an even fight. Of course, it does open up some other questions, namely, "If I can fly and shoot fireballs out of my ass, why am I floating around with a bunch of scurvy-ridden, syphilitic pirates?"

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

I think you all are making the wrong assumption: I think the pirates are too powerful. Any ideas as to how superheroes could possibly stand up to pirates would be welcomed.

Aquaman.

Thank you, and good night!

Re: Pirates versus Superheroes

Uhh... yeah. 'Cause that rigging is really gonna slow down Colossus.

Agreed. Hiding in the rigging won't do much good when your ship's at the bottom of the ocean.

Interesting concept, though. I dig cross-genre stuff like that. And who doesn't like pirates? No one, that's who.

Re: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

As for Sky Captain, there's nothing wrong with the way it was presented, it was the bad writing and acting that killed it. The cool visuals could only take it so far, and the rest just didn't measure up.

Yes, thank you. No one I know seems to share my opinion on this except for you, UltraRob. Visually, I was blown away, but I thought the story was very poorly told. Just a lot of sloppy, lazy writing.

Sky Captain: Dex! How'd you get free?

Dex: I escaped somehow. Let's go!

Grr. A friend of mine defends it on these very grounds-- that is, in his opinion, it's perfect because it's not well done. The serials from which it takes its inspiration weren't very well written, he argues, so this shouldn't be either, and I can't seem to persuade him that maybe every movie should be well-written.

I don't know what I think of that guy anymore.

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

From last night's D20 Star Wars finale (this is best out of context):

"I may have made a mistake."

For the record, yes, he did. He'll be missed.

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

::Bad Joke Ahead::

Last night's M&M game. The heroes arrive at the scene of a tech theft just in time to catch the thieves exiting the building through a hole they've blasted in the sixth floor. A man is thrown from the hole; Solar Core catches him in mid-air and returns him safely to the ground. His name is Dr. Clarence Clearwater.

"Clarence Clearwater... is he unconscious?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Wake him up. It'll be a Clarence Clearwater Revival!"

Re: Hey! I'm Still Holding On!

You Grab him by his arms and Slam him into the ground. At the end of the maneuver, you're still holding onto his arms and he's flat on his back/face. If he wants to try to break free, he can, thus preventing more Slamming. Otherwise, you're still Grabbing his arms and may do with him what you see fit.

Sure, it's not as efficient as Martial Throw, but it's not about "efficiency"....

Re: Why I love HERO

Statistics for a Jackalope' date=' of course.[/quote']

 

Wow!

Re: GateCrasher Hero

I plan on running a game in the near future with some similar elements, actually. At least, it's a multi-dimensional setting. The PCs are employees of an inter-dimensional agency that's half private investigation and half security. I came up with the premise when none of the players could agree on just what kind of game they wanted: four-color superheroic, Dark Champions, super-skilled heroic, etc. In this game, everyone can play whatever the hell he wants, from superhero to alien to skill monger to... I dunno... leprechaun. I have some rather disorganized notes on the game itself, and it's still very much in the planning stages. Still, in the off chance they may prove useful, here they are. More or less.

The Multiverse is infinitely large, and only a very small percentage of it is aware of the poly-dimensional nature of reality. Nobody knows the true nature of reality, or of the Multiverse. The Big Questions still exist even for those in the know: How did we get here? Did someone make this? Why are we here? And so on. But we do know that the endless number of tunnels, wormholes, or what-have-you connect these dimensions. How they came to be is another matter. Some theorize that they are burrowed by giant, intangible worm creatures who feed on reality itself. Other say that the conduits themselves are ever growing, like molten lava burning its way through a mountainside. Whatever the truth may be, these tunnels can be used for travel by those who know how.

 

Those civilizations that are aware of these facts are commonly termed Enlightened, or said to be "in the know," while the rest are called Ignorant (and worse), and are frequently seen as primitive, simple, and stupid. Ignorant dimensions are easily exploited for a variety of resources-- everything from minerals to water to slave labor-- although the loosely-organized Confederacy of Core Dimensions (CCD) has established stringent regulations to prevent the victimization of innocent dimensions (although the real motivation behind these laws was to prevent economic imbalance in the Core). However, thanks to the fractured nature of the CCD, made up as it is of wildly-differing societies each with its unique view of government, there's no real law enforcement authority, which makes inter-dimensional crime all too frequent. This leaves the task of bringing these criminals to justice in the hands of the private sector.

 

One of the only things the CCD can agree upon is that Enlightening the Ignorant at the wrong stage of their development often has disastrous results, and is to be avoided at all costs. When going abroad, anyone who considers himself civilized respects this basic precept. The aristocratic set derives no end of enjoyment "slumming" it with the Ignorant from time to time, seeing how well they can fit in. At the other end of the scale, any criminal worth the name knows better than to stand out in a crowd. Only the truly sociopathic show up in a pre-industrial society with a plasma rifle and a hover bike. Enlightenment is only undertaken after careful study, prolonged observation, and approval by the CCD's Ministry of Enlightenment. Considering the time and resources that go into such a process, it doesn't happen very often.

 

Magic and technology exist, often side-by-side, though things vary greatly from dimension to dimension. The two often share an inverse relationship: where technology thrives, magic is weak, and where magic is strong, technology malfunctions. In some dimensions, such as Prime, the ratio is about even, allowing each to operate with relative ease.

 

Although the Multiverse is essentially shapeless, for ease of comprehension it's best to imagine it as roughly circular in shape. In the middle is a dimension thought to be, for lack of a better term, the center of reality-- or something close to it. This is known as Prime. Around it are a collection of Enlightened dimensions called the Core. Beyond this, the multiverse can be envisioned as an infinitely-expanding sphere, with the most distant dimensions seeing the least amount of ID traffic (if any at all). Researchers propose this view of reality due to the varying number of conduits which exist in each dimension. Thousands have been found in Prime, several of which exist on the same planet (also called Prime). Likewise, the Core dimensions have multiple conduits (collectively, approximately as many as have been found in Prime). However, most of the known dimensions have been found to have only a few, and many more only one. Thus, the conventional wisdom is that these conduits originate from (or terminate in) Prime as if targeting "distant" dimensions, spreading out through the Multiverse, with the dimensions "in between" being pierced one or more times in the process.

 

So while inter-dimensional travel is possible, it's also rather limited. If a conduit connects Dimension A and Dimension B, and another connects Dimension B and Dimension C, to get to C from A you'd have to travel from A to B, then from B to C. In addition, conduits lead to specific places only. For example, a conduit may lead from Prime to Ames, Iowa, but if you're going to Chicago, you'll have to drive from Ames. In Enlightened dimensions, the locations of known conduits are frequently centers of commerce and society; large population centers tend to spring up around them to fully exploit their utility. On Prime, for example, there are seven such conduits within a mile of each other-- a phenomenon yet to be discovered anywhere else, and yet another fact which lends credence to the generally-accepted view of Prime as the center of reality.

 

The thousands of known conduits vary in size, anywhere from about one foot in diameter to just over sixty. Most are big enough to comfortably admit a 6’ biped standing erect.

Re: Four Color, Silver Age, etc. Defined somewhere?

The beginning of the Iron Age can typically be traced to the one-two punch of The Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.

Ack. Watchmen. No "the." Minor but significant.

Re: Hero HERO

I rented Hero on DVD about four or five months ago and was blown away, then bought it on import DVD at Comic-Con-- then saw it tonight from the second row. I think I like the original Chinese release better than the American version (which had slightly different subtitles and some exposition before and after the actual film).

Still, that's good stuff.

Re: WWYCD #81 A True Test of a Hero

I'd look around for a short, balding, white-haired old dude in red robes. Dungeon Master has to be around here somewhere!

Also, does it have to be a bolt of lightning, or can it happen while at a local amusement park on the "Champions!" ride?

Re: Four Color, Silver Age, etc. Defined somewhere?

I place it between Showcase #4 (Introduces the second Flash' date=' early/mid sixties) to the death of [b']Glen Stacey [/b] (Spider-man's girlfriend, mid/Late seventies)

Indeed, Stan Lee was on the cutting edge. No other comic at that time was even coming close to tackling issues of same-gender relationships.

Re: The Zombie Game

That was the release date in the UK. It comes out here in the US September 24th. I was fortunate enough to see two advance screenings of it and meet director/co-writer Edgar Wright and star/co-writer Simon Pegg. Definitely see it. It's fried gold.

Re: The Zombie Game

You need to see Shaun of the Dead.

Re: Needler

I dunno. AF10 works for me. I know the request was that an attack roll be made for each shot, but really, you are making an attack roll for each shot anyway-- you're just doing all 10 in one roll. The odds of all 10 hitting aren't very good, but if I were building this to reflect my experience with Halo, not many shots would hit anyway.

Re: Would your character...

If Playboy or Playgirl came to your (realtively human) character and offered a great deal of money--

Yes.

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

"You just killed your father. Gain two Dark Side points."

Re: Monarch Butterfly

Somebody's been watching the Venture Brothers.

As much as possible.

Now don't forget to wipe twice.

I'm not sure if that's an insult. If it isn't, isn't Venture Brothers great?

If it is an insult, though, bite me.

Re: Monarch Butterfly

Ah, yes-- the Monarch. Raised by monarch butterflies in Mexico after a plane crash which killed his parents, the Monarch was heartbroken when his adoptive family mysteriously disappeared, orphaning him for the second time. Of course, years later he found out that monarch butterflies are seasonally migratory, but in the meantime, his despair turned to rage. He adopted the supervillain identity of the Monarch, and amassed a small army of winged minions to carry out his nefarious plans.

Wait, what were we talking about?

Re: Social Limitation: Legacy

Fine, one more!

Happens with famous movie stars all the time

Okay, but not even celebrities are recognized 100% of the time. Maybe 14-, sure, but....

Besides if nobody knew who the heck the original hero was, why would somebody be taking up his legacy?

This is rather unrelated, but a hero doesn't have to be 100% famous for someone to take up their cape and carry on. As long as the new hero knew them and believed in them, that's all it takes. I think Charlie Anderson is a great visual instructor. Do you know who he is? No (well, probably not-- and if you do, we should talk!). But I'd still like to be able to teach as well as he does, and be as skilled as he is, even if he's not world famous.

Re: Social Limitation: Legacy

No, a psych lim is something you pressure yourself to do. A social lim is pressure from someone/everyone else.

 

The social lim means SOMEONE ELSE has developed a set of standards for you (good or bad... or both). You can't change your mind about it with therapy.

I still don't totally see this the way so many of you do (although I'm starting to, a little), but I'm tired of writing and re-writing paragraphs of opinion, so I'm out. I wouldn't handle this situation this way in my games, but we're not talking about my games, so more power to you.