ghost-angel

Re: Stargate If it's a Campaign Standard - I would simply rule that the Gate Limitation is Opaque. It seems equally advantageous and limited that the Gate is Opaque compared to being able to see through it.

Re: Gaming with Strangers Very nicely done.

Re: The edge of a world The EDM:Time Travel Door is about the most elegent way. Aside from GM Fiat.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery ha... I messed up. The Damage Cost should look like this: 1 Pt : 1 Pip 2 Pts: 1/2D6-1 3 Pts: 1/2D6 4 Pts: D6-1 (1/2D6+1) 5 Pts: D6 The 4 Pt level is either 2-4 or 1-5 Well... I certainly opens up all kinds of rather cool options to be fair about it. The granualirty would be pretty cool. hmmm.... if you take every "added Damage Class" from CSLs, Martial Maneuvers, and Velocity and converted it to straight Active Points Added... then added all the APs together and recosted the Attack to adjust for the new APs to Damage Classes. . . you could easily work with that level of differentiation. It would work the same regardless of Advantages (though Advantages increase the specific cost of 1 Damage Class). huh. neat.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery Within regards to increased differentiation to STR - I agree, it's a good thing. I like the options. You just have to realize it brings with it an added issue of 1/2 and 1/3 Damage Classes that can make life more of a headache than needed. After all - if 2 Combat Skill Levels adds 1 Damage Class; 1 CSL should logically add 1/2 Damage Class and how CSLs add 1 Pip Normal Attack? See where that gets us? Makes Adding Damage even More complicated than it already is. If we really broke it down it could look something like this mess: 1 Pt : 1 Pip (1 Damage) 2 Pts : 1/2D6-1 (1-2 Damage) 4 Pts : 1/2D6 (or D6-1) (1-3 Damage OR 1-5 Damage) 5 pts : D6 (1-6 Damage) Now we see that we actually have 6 Options across a D6 range Option 4 gives us a possible two ranges, one of which is clearly superior in usage with a large range (though more volatile). But how do we now look into Adding Damage? Are we counting 20% Damage Classes? It's a freaking headache. The increased granularity looks awesome on paper. But we'd practically have to restructure how we think of Damage Classes and how they fit together to work with them from multiple sources. Especially when we get into Advantages. I have enough STR to add +1DC plus a little left over, can I use it to add 40% of a DC (1/2D6-1) to the attack? Or 60% of a DC (1/2D6 or D6-1)? Personally... that way lies madness and it's neat as a STR granularity trick, but a mess outside that specific arena.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery In regards to EGO Attack, which costs 10 Points per 1D6. a 1/2D6 EGO Attack is 1 Damage Class. Perfectly normal there. It's the 1/2D6 Normal Attack that is the odd man out - it literally is a 1/2 Damage Class and therefore has no place in the system thematically. Again - the system is Not counted in D6s, but DCs. If we set 1DC = 5 Points and No 1/2 DCs you cannot actually have a 1/2D6 Normal Attack if they are 1D6 = 1DC. That we do have one is a problem in itself.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy It'd be cool if you could drop back in....

Re: Steampunk - Source Material Crap, I forgot about Stephenson's Baroque trilogy. I will suffer for this project I see.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Each character seems to have thier own motives for both being part of the New Dawn and for working with a group of people they don't necessarily trust or like. It is an interesting party dynamic, the potential for inter-party drama and tension is amazing.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery The problem here is that 1/2 Damage Classes don't actually exist. It is a full on Glitch in the system that Normal Attacks have a 1/2D6 and they only exist because of Strength providing Damage, and as a concession to give some reason to buy Strength in lots other than 5. The 1 Pip Normal Attack for 2 Points is very much Unofficial Rules, Optional at best case scenario. the Adding Damage Rules are very clear - there are no 1/2 Damage Classes and therefor the 1/2D6 Normal Hand Attack is to give STR Differentiation and 1/2D6 Energy Blast exists only because STR is already complicating the problem. In fact - in the Rules they don't even Mention 1/2D6 Normal Attack anywhere BUT the STR Damage Table. Energy Blast doesn't come with the option as RAW (Neither does Hand Attack for that matter). Further pushing the fact that they are merely essentially a universal House Rule, probably just to make us feel better as we go "But +3 STR gives you 1/2D6!" or some other justification. What is 1 Pip Normal Attack? 1/4 Damage Class? 1/3 Damage Class? Neither - total anomoly in the system. It's like that one dead pixel on your otherwise perfectly working laptop screen. Either way, they shouldn't become an Official Rule by any stretch of the imagination. The only reason Killing Attacks have them is because 15 Points = 1D6, making Killing Attacks 3 Damage Classes per 1D6, naturally letting us ask "I only want to purchase 1 or 2 Damage Classes" we actually do have to let in the possibility of 1 Pip and 1/2D6. Personally I think the Killing Attack Damage Class Table should be offset, and start at 1/2D6, but I have a feeling that would just cause more issues than it solves. After all - we're really purchasing Damage Classes, not D6s.

Re: Steampunk - Source Material No worries mate. You've already given me a few things to get a hold of, some of them I haven't seen yet either.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery That just becomes cumbersome in practice, unfortunately. The math may be sound, but it's just too much of a PITA to seriously deal with Mechanically. Since Damage Classes are the currency of Hero Attacks, keeping things as 5 Points per DC is more to the benefit of the system than worrying about a minor glitch. Only Advantages move us off the 5pt/DC Baseline, as they should.

Re: Steampunk - Source Material What I meant was - give me shows, movies, etc... that you would consider to be Steampunk. But not to give me a list of tropes (like steam mecha, babbage machines, victorian clothing). I truncated the second post a bit, guess I thought I was being clear and I wasn't. Anyways - yes, I have those lists. They are incredibly useful. But I'm looking to see what other people personally consider to be Steampunk Movies, Books, Shows, Comics, Etc just in case those lists miss something, and because I'm curious to see how far the genre spreads in peoples eyes. This is less an exercise in just compiled a list of Media to invest my time in (which is part of it, don't get me wrong) and more an exercise in seeing how far people stretch the boundaries. If you get my meaning. So pardon my not being precisely specific in every single post.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy I did try and build in a reason to not attempt to attack outright party members while not making the character all happy about working with these people... At the end of it all, someone may owe the Eldren a favor or two for her troubles...

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery Running some quick numbers. a 1/2D6 StunX creates slightly less Stun on Average than Normal Attacks, and slightly more Body on Average than Normal Attacks. Meh, I'd just be happy to see the D6-1 go away. 60 AP Attack 12D6 Normal = 0-24 Body & 12-72 Stun (Average of 12 & 42) 4D6 Killing = 4-24 Body & 4-72 Stun (Average 14 & 28) Normal has a wider Body range and Killing has a wider Stun range in that specific example. With higher Averages in the narrow range aspect. Personally, since we're trying to create Actual Different Mechanics, I think it's a decent compromise. Since, you know, we want them to be DIFFERENT. As I said though, I'd just be happy to see D6-1 go away. Defense is a solution to be solved on a case by case basis, game by game, and it would be impossible (and frankly stupid) to try and base the Attack Mechanic over what a Perceived Defense Level could/would/might/possibly be. . . .

Re: Steampunk - Source Material I have those. I'm more hoping to get your guys Actual Opinions on what YOU consider Steampunk. I have lists coming out of my ears from various sources. But lists are impersonal and sometimes miss stuff.

Re: A New Dawn. 'Post-Apocalyptic' Fantasy Interesting is one word for it....

Re: And the old shall swallow the new... From the demos I've seen (which was limited to the active parts at GenCon laster year) in person... CO is a pretty decent approximation of Champions in a semi-closed environment of an MMORPG. The customizability of just the bits they had active then were well beyond current MMO standards.

Re: Killing Attacks vs Stun Lottery That doesn't help in games with Active Point or Damage Class Caps.

Re: portable computers - too much? Actually, it's impossible to Understand the English...

Re: Steampunk - Source Material Actually - the exercise at the moment is to avoid completely what *I* think of as Steampunk. I need what *you* think of as Steampunk. This is for a Discussion Panel at a convention.

Alright... I managed to get near a project, and since it involves a convention that means I may get sucked into said project. I need any and all source material you consider "Steampunk" -Books -Comics -Movies (including Anime) -Music (no, really, whatever you listen to to get 'into the Steampunk mood') -RPGs -Television -Video Games -Any other medium I forgot I have a really long list already (actually, I have a really long literary list since that's usually my main focus and a moderate Other Media list), and I have a slightly narrowed definition of what I consider Steampunk and the purpose here is to get the whole range on the topic (as some will shuffle Steampunk all the way up to HP Lovercraft), go through it, and start identifying sub-genre, tropes, aspects, and etcetera, blah, et al., so on, such and such. Dystopian, Utopian, and in between. I need everything you would dump into the Steampunk Bucket. I don't need what you consider Steampunk - I need what Source Material you consider Steampunk

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Straight Through The Heart - Dio diggin' on Dio past day or so. Heaven And Hell released a new album a month back... must acquire.

Re: Point Expenditures. I keep coming back to the fact the "Bring To Life" may not be a simple single Power. It sounds like the SFX for an entire Suite of Powers. Bring a Fence to life that wraps around and traps an opponent: Entangle Bring a mail box to life that grows a fist and hits someone: Energy Blast + Indirect Buying just one Power "Summon" and trying to dump enough points that the Summoned Creature can do whatever you want is an awfully cheap way of trying to get a VPP. Though, Summoned Creatures go away, and at the Friendly level may not be willing to enter combat without an Ego Contest.

Re: portable computers - too much? On the other hand, things like KS represent What and How Much information is known/readily accessible and an extremely high KS could be appropriate. Load up the Oxford English Dictionary and you have KS: English Language at around 50-.