StGrimblefig

Re: The big arcade competition Would KS: Defender give a character knowledge of the algoritms used in the game? In video games, knowing the rules that the enemies are going to follow, and how they are going to react to your actions, is still an advantage over someone who just knows generally about video games. It may not be an advantage over someone with greater play experience (i.e. a PS: Defender), but it is better than nothing.

Re: Growing love for Star Hero and Sci-Fi games.

Re: Gladiator's Net - what stats should it have? Weren't gladiator's nets mostly intended to wrap around an opponent's weapon for the purpose of restricting its use or making him drop it? IIRC, they weren't large enough to cover a person, so an entangle doesn't feel right -- unless I am forgetting rules for an entangle to affect a limb other than the legs. Is there any way to have it be something like a bonus to a 'bind' or 'disarm' combat maneuver? Of course it would require a to-hit roll, and/or maybe a skill roll. Any other suggestions along these lines?

Re: When I Am the Benevolent Ruler.... If a brilliant but rather unstable wizard/artificer/scientist/etc. proposes to build a perfect/ultimate/doomsday weapon, I will immediately classify the project as the highest secret in the land, set him up in the most remote and isolated laboratory in my kingdom, protect him from any interference, and make sure that the 3 rarest and most difficult to obtain materials for the project are never within a hundred miles of the place.

Re: Fate systems I am not sure we are understanding each other. I am not talking about handing out extra "free" experience to players just so they can use this system. All I am doing is giving the players something else on which to spend XP. Something that can allow them to try some more risky things without as much fear of being cut off at the knees because of a bad roll. As a GM, I think this will allow me to be more true to the system as a whole, without having to "fudge" numbers to keep characters alive as often (yes, I am guilty of this -- it is supposed to be a fun hobby, after all, and it is no fun having your character die early and often). Yes, I am likely to reward players (with XP) who try a gutsy move and succeed over players who take a more safe, less exciting path. The gutsy, creative player has a greater effect on the campaign, and makes the game more enjoyable for everyone. That being said, I have not tried this system, and it sounds like you have seen something like it in practice. So I cannot say how or if my players will use this system. I am hopeful that it is somewhat dependent upon the styles of the players involved, but I cannot say for sure.

Re: Fate systems Theala Sildorian has a copy of Sean Fannon's old Plot Points system over at her site. That has more of a 'karma' feel to it, than 'fate,' but it may be an inspiration to someone. I have considered using experience points for a similar system, rather than creating an artificial external pool of points for it.

Re: martial Arts Comedies "They Still Call Me Bruce?" -- Why, yes, yes I have. It has been a long time since I have seen either of them, though. I am not sure how useful they would be for a roleplaying game, unless you have one really good player who is willing to go along with it. Lots of Luck rolls, combined with some good descriptions of the effects generated by those rolls, might make it fun for the other players to watch once in a while, but not for the entire game. On second thought, maybe the "Bruce" character would work better as a friendly NPC that the main characters encounter once in a while. Sort of a recurring character.

Re: martial Arts Comedies Has anyone else seen the movie "They Call Me Bruce?" It is about an utterly clueless guy who bears a passing resemblance to Bruce Lee, so everyone treats him as if he is a martial arts master. He has absolutely no martial arts ability, but through sheer serendipity, he manages to not only survive, but beat the bad guys and get the girl. I would almost call it the "inspector Clusseau" of the martial arts genre. Quite funny, actually.

Re: Storyline Assitance I must admit that I do not know who Teleios is. If he is in CKC, I do not have that book (yet), so if you would please indulge me with a quick synopsis of his capabilities. Then he should be goading the team as often as possible to be better than the Champs, to get to the scene quicker, to handle the situation better/faster. Of course, he may not care too much about who they hurt in the process, but he will downplay that and try to focus on the greater good. An attitude something like, "What have you done to beat the Champions today?" complete with motivational posters will keep this in the Watchmen's minds (and keep their minds away from his manipulations). It is probably not good to paint them as enemies (yet), but more as rivals -- the Watchmen will never really be "good enough" until they are better than the Champions. Pounding that into their heads day after day will have an effect on their attitudes toward the Champions. He sould be courting Power-Fist to be the leader (when calling them to action, he calls Power Fist and asks HIM to assemble the team -- it is the little things that ultimately have the greatest effect), trying to displace Phantom's distrust to someone else (e.g. the Champions, or maybe Scorpion since he "worships" the Champs) and pointing out to Scorpion the more human (read: less heroic) natures of the Champions. Of course, he does this in private meetings, maybe in their secret IDs, and tries to keep them from being able to focus on the real threat. Then he should be using them in the most positive and benign use as possible -- training. They should always have "after action" sessions that include viewing the "game films" and training to improve their abilities and reduce their weaknesses (at least, the ones that Appledon does not want to keep for later exploitation). This will show them that he has no ulterior motive for the recordings, and keep them too busy to compare notes on their suspicions. If the Champions are also involved in any event at which they appear, he can also use the oppotunity to keep the pressure on them regarding the Champs, and make it look like they are undermining the Watchmen in subtle ways. Eventually, the Watchmen will figure out that Appledon is not as good as he claims, and even find out who he really is, but you should try to delay that as long as possible -- both to heighten the suspense in the campaign, and because that break should be the climax of a grand story arc (the equivalent of a extra-special double sized annual issue of a comic book). It should be accompanied by an epic battle, where Teleios, now unmasked, reveals the depth of his treachery and shows how he has hedged his bets by analyzing and being able to neutralize each of their powers -- only by showing true heroism (and possibly nearly sacrificing themselves) can they defeat him. What their relationship to the Champions is like at the end of this is open to debate -- I could see that the Watchmen might be humble and apologetic to the greater team for their earlier actions, but I could also see the long-term effects of Telios' conditioning efforts making that difficult -- it depends mostly on the personalities of the Watchmen and what they did to/against the Champions.

Re: Storyline Assitance First Question: What is Appledon's long-range plan for this group / why did he organize them in the first place? Knowing that will help figure out what his next move should be. I am, of course, assuming that he has a plan in mind. It is also possible that he is just enjoying the irony of having heroes working for him, but that is less satisfying as a GM than a more planned-out scheme. If he has a plan, he should be following it. Of course, if he sees that the Watchmen are having doubts, he will naturally have a contingency plan or two... Second Question: What is Appledon's opinion of the Watchmen? If he thinks of these supers as powerful idiots that he can manipulate to do his dirty work, then he may not realize that they are figuring out what the situation really is. If he is trying to play on their hurt and anger at being "dissed" by the Champions, he should be playing to those Psych Lims (if they have one about the Champs) and slowly drawing them over to the dark side. This will be especially effective if he starts having one-on-one conversations with each of them, sowing the seeds of doubt as to each other's motives as well as obfuscating the entire situation with the Champions. Of course he will be able to produce "evidence" that the Champs are just trying to cover their own rear ends about the robot factory ("Mechanon never really attacked, that was just an excuse why they were not helping you at the factory -- see, here's the 911 tapes for that night, with no mention of Mechanon."). Third Question: How closely (and how) is Appledon watching the Watchmen? This will make a difference on whether he knows that they are having doubts, and what he decides to do about it. If he does not have a high opinion of the heroes, he may not be watching them at all. I would be surprised if the base that he provided for them is not wired for surveillance, however. The communicators would likewise be easily bugged both for recording and tracking purposes. There you have it -- no direct answers, but a few ideas to think about. Hope they help.

Re: Steve - Any Plans For "The Network"

Re: Iconic Champions ( 4e ) Confirmed. The 4ed CU book updates the Champions to the 400-450 pt range (exept for Defender, who becomes 500+) with included updated storylines. The AC was issue #25, in which Seeker was updated with reference to the then new Ultimate Martial Artist. The effect of these updates is to bring Seeker to a 500+ pt character.

Re: Iconic Champions ( 4e ) The 4ed Champions Universe book included a more experienced version of the Champions team, iirc. I seem to remember also seeing an updated (and rather darker) Seeker in an Adventurer's Club article -- it might have been the one when the original Dark Champions came out. I will check on these when I get home, and confirm their existence.

Re: FH minor errata update As I understand it, he is no longer an "on the weekly payroll" employee, but he is still doing work for SJG, including his (semi-regular) column in Pyramid and freelance work on other projects (like GURPS Conspiracy).

Re: FH minor errata update As soon as time and money are available to get Ken Hite to write it. While I'd have a helluva fun time researching it' date=' I'd just as soon call on the acknowledged expert and save myself the time and trouble. [/quote'] Isn't the esteemed Mr. Hite already slated to work on GURPS Conspiracy? What are the chances of getting him to do both at the same time? Much of the subject would seem to be pretty system independent.

Re: How would you create a Wish? I would tend to see a wish as a plot device, not as something that has a point cost (which implies that a player can buy it, too).

Re: Ultimate Wonder Twins

Re: Ultimate Wonder Twins Okay, we have had a few good, but quite similar ideas. Oblique angle time. The twins are just regular, ordinary alien siblings (twins, obviously) from a race that regards space travel in much the same way that we regard automobile travel. It is relatively easy for adolescents to obtain governmental (if not parental) permission to pilot a vehicle in "public." Zan is a contemplative, almost bookish young alien male. He studies science and philosophy, would rather negotiate than fight and enjoys puzzles. Jayna on the other hand, is a dynamic, friendly young alien female. She would rather be outside doing something than spend much time studying. Her impetuous nature tends to cause her to act first and consider the consequences later. The situation on their home planet is complicated, and includes several competing points of view. None of these is obviously in the right, but neither is any of them obviously in the wrong. The factions are mostly peaceful, and confine their conflict to governmental debates -- except one. This one faction (which I'll call ba'adGu'uy, for lack of a more convincing alien name) has, on more than one occasion, physically attacked representatives of other factions within the "senate" chambers. On one of the twins' first times out with their parent's personal transport ship, they get very lost. They land on a nearby planetoid to try to call home (it is patently illegal to attempt communication while piloting a moving vehicle -- a sign of an advanced culture?). Leaving their vehicle to try to get a signal on their communicators, they stumble upon a secret base for the ba'adGu'uys, in which they are developing some horrible retaliation for percieved slights in the "senate." Being young and foolish, they are quickly discovered and pursued. They barely reach their vehicle ahead of their pursuers, and the scene becomes a space chase. The twins are lost at the start of the chase, so they do not know that they are heading into a dangerous nebula until it is too late. Somewhere in the nebula lurks a spacial anomaly into which several research and survey ships have been lost. The foolish children are chased into this anomaly by the ba'adGu'uys. In a chaotic and wonderfully dramatic action scene, the twins fall into the anomaly and through a wormhole-like space tunnel with many branches and turns. The ba'adGu'uys follow, but make a bad choice and end up on a different path from the Twins. The Twins come out near the Sol system and Earth. Unfortunately, the energies of the anomaly have fried many of their vehicle's navigation and control systems. They are forced to make a crash landing on Earth. Their crash landing did not go unnoticed on the little blue planet. Local authorities were dispatched to investigate any damage caused by the "meteor." The Twins are able to breathe on the planet, but it does make them rather giddy at first. There is something unusual in the air here that makes them feel funny. The local authorities arrive to see the wreckage of some kind of vehicle, and immediately call for backup. The Twins try to communicate, but the languages are just too different. The effect of the new air only enhances Jayna's impetuous streak, and she gets frustrated and runs toward the officer to "make him understand" -- only to get shot at by the frightened human police officer. She recoils back to Zan, and instinctively reaches for his hand for reassurance. Their fear, combined with the something in the air, trigger their first transformations. The first time, it is instictive, and their forms reflect this. Zan takes a liquid form, allowing the bullets to pass through him without harming him. Jayna becomes the most ferocious animal that came to her mind. She is about to pounce on the lone officer, when the backup he called for begins arriving. Zan convinces her to run rather than fight, and they disappear into the night. At the end of their debut issue, they are very much alone, very much frightened, and very distrustful of the native beings of this planet. They assume that because their first transformation happened when they touched, they had to touch each other for it to work. This is not true, and they will discover this later in the series. Their alternate forms are initially similar to the ones they first assumed, but as they learn and grow into their powers, they will expand the kinds an complexities of the forms they can assume. They will eventually meet up with the JLA, after a few adventures that involve obtaining (or recovering) the technology to translate between themselves and the natives -- probably involving the help of a pair of human teenagers (and their dog), who are big fans of the JLA. How's that?

Re: Loony conspiracy theories

Re: Split Character Creation Blue: That first game sounds like a group of "Shazam"-type full-replacement Hero IDs. Interesting idea. That could be an option, but I would want the player doing that to be a better role-player -- depending on how much information is shared between the two forms, it would be difficult for some players to separate what the Hero ID knows vs. what the normal ID knows. The other one is an interesting take on a Cyber Hero game. ChuckB: The people who are going to be playing are likely to be new to the Hero System (and it has been ages since I ran a game), so I am trying to keep it simple for all of us, at least to start. I might entertain letting such backgrounds (e.g. robot or alien) in if they gave me a good enough background (i.e. very well written) to justify it, and if the character is "human enough" to pass casual inspection. I am not really wanting the game to start out in full bronze-age-Marvel wackiness at the outset. The players are supposed to be the only heroes in a world that has not known superpowers for a generation. This allows the characters to explore their growing abilities while the players are learning the system. I am considering this character creation scheme not because I am a sadistic GM, but because I think that, given the campaign background, the characters should have a certain level of "normal" skills/talents/perks before they become "super." If I can assume a certain level of "normal" competence, I can expand the focus of the storylines, as well. I'm sorry if I didn't explain all of that very well before.

Re: Split Character Creation schir: Sure, I'd love to see how you ran it. Send it to jbtetrick (at) excite (dot) com Serpent: I want to limit the "out there" elements at first, and keep it to normal people who gain super powers. Things like aliens, magic, and the like might make an appearance later, but they will be used as NPCs. It might limit some character concepts, but I think that in the universe I am creating, the superheroes (and villains) would start out smaller, and grow in power over time. When the PCs are powerful (and well-versed in the rules) enough to handle a minor alien invasion, they will appear. That also lets me tailor them to fit the needs of the campaign at the time, rather than being forced to think through every possible extra-dimensional/alien origin that the players could come up with before the campaign starts.

An idea that I had for my perpetually-in-development Champions campaign: Because I REALLY want to have the characters be "real people" as much as possible, I am considering splitting character creation into 2 phases -- one for their "normal" life, and the other what happens when/after they got superpowers. A little background: In this world, superpowers faded from the world about 30 years ago, and are just starting to re-emerge. This means that the characters have had a normal life up to a certain point, at which time their superpowers manifested. If I do this, I will probably use either "Competent Normal" (50/50) or "Standard Heroic" (75/75) for the normal phase of character creation, and then let them buy powers and anything else up to the starting level of the campaign (150/100). Has anyone attempted anything like this before? Is there any advice (for or against) that you can give about this idea? Thanks in advance.

Re: Will DC cover the X Files Weird Conspiracy Genre? I haven't read Delta Green, so I do not know about its quality. As for me, the best conspiracy suppliment (weird or otherwise) has to be GURPS Illuminati. The fact that it has minimal GURPS stats (I was never impressed by the GURPS system) and lots of ideas for large scale ("big 'C'") and small scale ("small 'c'") conspiracies makes it a useful reference in any system. The "50 Awful Things About the Illuminati" alone are great inspirations for the genre. If you can produce something "equally good, but different," with a Hero twist it will certainly top my list of desired books.

Re: Hero Needs Reviewers!! The Pyramid Writer's Guidelines are found here (I do not think you have to be a subscriber to see these -- If I am wrong, let me know). They are kind of long, and quite detailed, so I will not copy them here. A couple of things to keep in mind, however: The fact that they pay for reviews probably means that they will be more picky about what they accept, so definitely go and read the entire document before you submit something.

Re: Traps, Tricks, and Treasures - what should go in it Get permission from Flying Buffalo and include Hero write-ups for the excellent ideas in the Grimtooth's Traps series of books.