tomd1969

Re: Mood Music I know how much I'm going to be derided for this, so I'm putting on my flame-proof gear. I prefer metal for Dark Champions. Some examples include: Metallica (specifically The Black Album and "And Justice For All...") System of a Down Rage Against the Machine ...and my mind just went blank... I can't think of any others. I'll just blame it on the late hour.

This sounds like a Barry Longyear story (who also wrote "Enemy Mine" FYI...). I think it started with an entry to Encyclopedia Galactica IIRC.

No, New York City doesn't often get fog. The terrain isn't right for it. I live about 50 miles from Manhattan on Long Island. I had planned at one point to write a book on New York City for gamers--New York City history, cool maps of places to have super-hero battles, things of that nature. I had found a map at one point with all of the neighborhoods (SoHo, Tribeca, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, West Side, etc.) mapped out. I think a good candidate would be Hell's Kitchen--If I recall, that would be on the West Side of Manhattan. In fact, here's a web-page about the violent history of Hell's Kitchen--I'm sure there are others. I understand the neighborhood has improved a little bit--but that *is* kind of like saying "Hell is a little more bareable the last couple of years." I would give more, but I have to go to work.

Is there time to amend my original statement? Can I cover by saying that I hadn't actually read the saga in over 15 years and had somehow melded Grendel with the dragon? But then, I had said that Northern European myths were a favorite subject. This sets up a dangerous paradox. Maybe I can then cover this by saying that while I said that it was a favorite subject, I never claimed to be an expert? There; that works.

Actually, the dragon that fought Beowulf was named Grendel. Sorry, Northern European myths and legends is a favorite subject.

Hmmm... you're right. My bad.

Actually, 1 hex=2m. Therefore, the equatorial diameter of the earth is 3,189,000 hexes, and the polar diameter is 3,178,500 hexes.

Particularly congratulations to Ben. The Spacer's Toolkit is a fine addition to any Hero gamer's library. If I had one complaint it would be that the supplement is too small. I would like to have seen a supplement around the size of the UNTIL Superpowers Database or the Fantasy HERO Grimoire. Now, with the Grimoire out, we have the USPD (gee, my mind just went blank on the semi-standard lingo! Is it 'USPD,' or 'USDB?' I'm so confused!), the FHG, and we have ST, covering superpowers, magic, and gadgets. The Vehicle Sourcebook is next covering vehicles. Jeez, is there anything else left after that? Perhaps modern weaponry, after Dark Champions comes out.

By using "code" before the formatted block, and "/code" after the block (replacing the quotes for square brackets), as I have done above, is probably the easiest way to do it. It turns the block into a mono-space font.

Re: Re: Re: no comparison Me, too. I just started using it, and you don't get the wide-swinging Stun Multiples as badly as you do with 1d6-1. Again, YMMV.

Re: no comparison You've got to remember that due to that little rule concerning the Stun Multiplier, you actually have a 1 in 3 chance of rolling a x1 Stun Multiplier if you're using the 1d6-1 method. Personally, I prefer using the Hit Location chart for the Stun Multiple. Here is how the percentages suss out when using the Hit Location Chart: Stun Mult Percent ========= ======= 1 6.481481481 2 31.01851852 3 36.57407407 4 21.2962963 5 4.62962963 This table was determined by finding the permutations on 3d6 that would result in a particular Stun Multiple and dividing by the total number of permutations on 3d6 (216). For example, the Hit Location Table gives a x5 multiple for rolling 3,4, or 5. There is a total of 10 permutations to roll a 3, a 4, or a 5 (one permutation for 3, 3 permutations for 4, and 6 permutations for 5). 10 / 216 = 0.0462962963 = 4.63%. The bell-curve is more attractive to me, particularly when some PCs roll a 6 nearly every single time, and other PCs can't roll anything above a 1. (don't ask ) But it also levels the playing field on the other end of the spectrum, too; using the 1d6-1 method, you have a 16.6% chance of rolling a x5 multiplier. Using the Hit location chart, you only have a 4.6% chance. YMMV

My memory went for a jog... Hmmm... That jogs the memory a little bit. In a recent storyline, the PCs ran smack into a local gun-running ring who was getting their weaponry from the Warlord. In the confrontation, the character in question killed one of the gang members (he rolled something like 30 BODY vs. 0 PD, 10 BODY = one dead Faceless Mook). Perhaps he should start feeling the consequences for that, and perhaps the Mook should get a name. I'm not a lawyer, but I'm sure that this is 2nd degree murder (Class A-I Felony), which in NY state, carries a life term. I think my next storyline is going to be a trial. Perhaps after that he will either a) stop using the 6d6 HKA, go to the pokey for the rest of his natural life, or c) reduce the HKA. What's even funnier (and more dangerous to the PCs), is that they have recently applied for Sanction. Now that one of the team-members is being accused of Murder 2, it doesn't look like they'll get it. Thanks everyone for the advice.

I am running a Champions game where I have set the Active Point cap at 60 pts. I have a player whose character has a 45 STR and a 3d6 HKA (giving him a total 6d6 HKA). Now, when I said 60 Active Points, I was thinking that the max DCs would be around 12, and created my villains to suit. Now, this character has nearly killed three or four villains. The bad part is that none of the other characters have abilities anywhere near this range. Now, this ability clearly violates the spirit of my campaign guidelines, even though it doesn't violate the letter of my guidelines. Now, I'm going to wax philosophical here for a moment. IMV, RKA and HKA is essentially the same power with the trade-off that RKA is used at Range (obviously), and HKA can add STR to the damage it does. Since RKA and HKA are the same cost, one can assume that the designers felt that the value of "At Range" and "Can Add STR" were about the same. But is it really? HA was changed in the 5th Edition for just such a problem. Did they go far enough? Has anybody else come across this? What did you do in such a circumstance? TIA, and all that.

I saw that, and it just didn't register until you pointed it out. Each of these villains is powerful in a nearly-master-villain sorta way. Geez, I gotta really learn to look at *Point Totals* occasionally! Okay, so maybe I should just have one or two show up. I want a challenge, not a slaughter. I kinda like Bloodstone--his ability to "smell" blood as a Targeting Sense is too cool to pass up. This character seems like it was designed for my group, which is a *bit* over-reliant on Darkness. I'd like to see the look on their faces when they realize that even in the Darkness he can still target them! Time to do some homework! (in the good GM sense) MWAH-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!! [Edited for clarity]

Uh-oh!! You guys are scaring me... The PCs in my campaign are heading head-long into a fight with the Crowns, mostly because they believe that the Crowns are after the MacGuffin of the Week . Would super-soakers filled with holy water do the trick? EDIT: Fixed typo.

I don't know where else to post this... In Shugoshin's writeup in Champions Universe, Shugoshin is listed as having a second Seishinken for a straight 5 pts. I have looked everywhere for this rule that you can have a second exact copy of a power for a straight 5 pts (such as a second gun, or in this case a second sword--this would be to take advantage of the Multiple Power Attack rules). I have seen other official characters written up with this... although I can't think of any other off the top of my head. Where is this rule found?

Actually, you might want to take a look at the Spycraft rules from AEG. They have one of the simplest yet comprehensive "hacking" rules that I've seen yet--barring Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun, of course.

The Ender Wiggins saga by Orson Scott Card: Ender's Game Speaker for the Dead Xenocide Children of the Mind There are others tangentially related to series, but gainful employment beckons.

This is incredibly neat! Thanks, LL!

Nephilim from Chaosium has an incredible magic system, particularly if you use the Liber Ka rules for Sorcery. Only in this game will you find cool and evocative spell names like "The Powerful, Pale Queen of Pain with Tears of Flame." I've been working on and off on converting it to the Hero System for some time now.

Just so you know, Mythic Egypt is available through Amazon.com: Mythic Egypt Price: $43.90 US BTW, Lucius, good run-down of Egyptian occult practice.

But wait... there's more! Not only does Terran Empire include the aforementioned starships, but it also has pre-fabbed writeups of engines, shields and weapons so that all you have to do is decide which engines, shields, and weapons you want, write up the rest of the stats, add a computer and a few other things and voila! Instant starship! Just follow the guidelines in Star Hero and Terran Empire for the purpose and mission of a starship and you can easily set the stats up (a scout ship, for example, would have a high DEX while a cargo hauler would have a high STR as well as a high SIZE). Just some thoughts.

And weren't they also associated with the Seven Horsemen? In the back of that adventure, wasn't there a UFO located somewhere in the Arctic (IIRC) that held a contigent of Elder Worms? Maybe I'm remembering it incorrectly. I'll have to admit: my memory is incredibly fuzzy on the details.

Unfortunately, due to this cold weather, Mechanon's joints have all frozen up.