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StGrimblefig

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Posts posted by StGrimblefig

  2. Those Meddling Kids...

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: Those Meddling Kids...

     

    A 'straight' Scooby Doo campaign wouldn't go very well if Shaggy got killed every other episode (Setting too dangerous)

    Unless the Shaggy character were an NPC, and his being offed was a recurring gag -- like Kenny from South Park -- but then it wouldn't be a 'straight' Scooby Doo campaign.

  3. Do I need a metaplot for Star Hero?

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Do I need a metaplot for Star Hero?

     

    The fun thing is that you can start a campaign with a fairly generic, open-ended meta-plot like "keeping our heads above water on a tramp freighter in the Empire," or "life in the big city planet," and then after playing for several months, find a way to tie together several previous adventures into a "behind the scenes" meta-plot. Then you get to present the players with a "Sixth Sense" moment where they realize what all of those adventures were "really" about.

  5. Computer in a pair of contacts

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Computer in a pair of contacts

     

    My GM had given one of the players a plot device of a pair of contact lenses that can do the following:

     

    1. Store information

    2. Browse the Web

    3. Connect with any other contact lens computer allow the user to see what they are seeing

    4. Allow of instant communication between wears of said contact lenses

    5. Are controlled psychically

    6. Probably also everything else a normal PC can do (lightning calculator, absolute time, etc.)

     

    Well now the player wants to keep them and the GM is trying to figure the best way to build them. Of course one way is to build them as a computer but that gets tricky given all they can do. The other way I thought of is IIF and buying the appropriate powers. Ideas?

     

    IIF seems like the right way to me. They will not be cheap in terms of CPs, but building them is not an issue. The fact that it is a computer can be treated as a special effect, unless the GM wants the player to be able to load and run software other than the functionality described above (which could prove difficult, given the form factor and lack of USB ports).

     

    You could put a limitation on those programs that require network access (items 2-4 above), to represent the fact that if they are unable to access the net, they are not useful. This may be absolutely necessary to allow the GM to prevent them from becoming a balance issue (i.e. using the old "Transporters are offline, cap'n" trope).

     

    One alternate implementation might be that the lenses themselves are just a display device and "dumb terminal," with the actual functionality existing "in the cloud" (to use the current buzzword). This could be done as a MP (using flexible slots) for all of the lens' functionality, representing the fact that each program requires a certain amount of bandwidth (i.e. AP) to run.

     

    My first impression was that they seem a lot like Ghost in the Shell's cyberbrains stuffed into a pair of contact lenses. If that is the case, perhaps Kazei 5 would be a good place to look for build inspiration.

  6. What Is The Deal With Talents?

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Is The Deal With Talents?

     

    Talents are prefab powers . They are usu. built around concepts and power levels appropriate to heroic and cinematic levels of play where use of the powers section might otherwise be restricted. In this vein' date=' I regard the talents in the book as being generic or examples of how to construct such abilities, while a gamemaster might wish to create a genre appropriate list of talents/shticks for whatever game they are running.[/quote']

     

    I think of them as pre-approved concretely defined Powers that don't require GM permission or vetting. They are particularly appropriate in genres where full blown "Powers" are not normally available to characters' date=' or only available via specific Packages (such as a race Package) or specific mechanisms (such as setting specific Magic Systems).[/quote']

    These have the essence of it. The fact that they are pre-built (and pre-approved by the GM), and the only options available for them are the ones included in the write-ups, means that they are generally a lot safer to use in a genre that doesn't allow Powers.

     

    I also often define "custom talents" that are not actually built as powers or static abilities' date=' but rather act as "unlocks" for specific flat benefits / exceptions to rules / arbitrary abilities.[/quote']I would love to see a few of these, KS, if you feel like posting them.

  7. How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

    in Other Genres

    Posted

    Re: How to build: Ghostbuster Gear (5e)

     

    Wasn't there an article in the HERO System Almanac a while back about spirits? IIRC it specifically had examples of this kind of equipment (with names changed to confuse the lawyer-bots).

     

    I will have to check when I get home tonight.

  17. Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

     

    What if the Tailor didn't make you choose Hero or Villain? With the power in these suits, the Tailors and/or his backers have no need for money, so why would they require a tithe from Villains? And what good would having people out saving lives do? The suits represent power. Power may be used for "good" or "evil" depending on who wields it and (more importantly, perhaps), who writes the history books. Maybe the only requirement is that these suits, and their powers, get used.

     

    What happens when a bunch of people show up with powers? Whether the powers are used to stop a bus full of blind nuns from falling off a bridge, or used to shrink a city and hold it for ransom, attention will be paid. Articles will be written, factions will form, people will talk, and attention will be directed towards these people and the suits they wear. In many stories, gods run on the attention and prayers of their worshippers. And those prayers must be getting mighty scarce in the modern day. What if that is the impetus of these suits? To act as avatars and drum up attention and "prayers" After all, "Aaah, Uberman! Save us!" coming from people in dire trouble sounds pretty much like a prayer to me. And the villain shrinking a city and holding it for ransom would sure encourage the people in that city to pray for his nemesis to come save them.

     

    What do folks think?

    So the Tailor is really just an alien Anthropologist, running an experiment on this planet of (semi-)intelligent primates?

  19. There are three things I can never remember. They are...um...there are FOUR things..

    in HERO System Discussion

    Posted

    Re: There are three things I can never remember. They are...um...there are FOUR thin

     

    We have seen how this works in the movies with Jason Borne. The character has amnesia and doesn't know most of his abilities but the person making the subconcious decisions of how he reacts, in Borne's case the director, knows his character sheet.

     

    He knows he can block, throw, and punch. He knows he's fast and tough and can drive like a crazy sumbitch on speed. He knows Borne can shoot a gun and all the rest.

     

    I reckon it's just the mechanics of the story and down to roleplaying, not a particular limitation to remember skills. Borne had the skillset whenever it was needed.

    It seems like a question of higher memory versus lower memory. Higher memory includes those abstract things like names and dates and visual associations, while lower memory contains things like "muscle memory" and reactions. A lot of martial arts and other combat training involves repeating things over and over to get automatic actions/reactions to things without having to engage your higher brain functions.

     

    With this in mind, it would seem to me that the character in question (just like the Bourne character) would not be able to consciously initiate the use of the abilities in a fight, but once the fight started, training and muscle memory would take over without the need for conscious thought. This seems to me like an Activation roll at the beginning of the combat, or even almost like a Berserk/Enraged roll.

     

    The more I think about it, the more I think the Enraged roll is a better analogue. He is put under stress, and at some point he "snaps" and his training takes over.

  20. Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

     

    That's a good point. Maybe some are unmasked and lose their powers and others can be unmasked and don't. I'm still feeling out the ramifications of this issue. The idea that a costume has a set look for the person's appearance under the mask is interesting. That would be an intriguing addition to passing on a costumed identity in the case of death. Every wearer would look the same under the mask, which could actually help to preserve secret identities.

     

    There is also the gender bender possibility. A male could transform into a female super identity.

    Of course, the costume is more than just a mask. Removing the mask does not remove the costume.

     

    That being said, the question of whether the Secret ID is revealed by the super or by another is clearly a question of choice. Having been duly warned against revealing oneself as a part of the agreement with Icons, if the super chooses to do so, they have obviously chosen to abrogate that agreement.

  23. Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

     

    As for gaining powers' date=' expending xps etc. It could be that the shop summon people who need to undergo change, and the suits are like cocoons in which the new super humans slowly metamorphose. The suits are more like psychic conduits that make this inner self manifest in some way, and as the inner self changes so do the powers. There might even come a time, when heroes who have embraced their new selves totally could shed the skins.[/quote']

    So, in this scenario the costume is just a special effect of a gradual effect major transform? Interesting idea.

  24. Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store

     

    If you go with the idea that the powers are granted by the costume (as in Greatest American Hero), how does one gain abilities over time (i.e. how do they spend experience points)? Do they have to go back to the tailor for 'alterations,' or is it just previously undiscovered abilities of the costume? Do they have to pay extra for the owner's manual?

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