zippercomics

Hey all, I'm a big fan of the Shadowrun setting (it was my first, you never forget your first), but I don't like the rules. So I'm going to convert it into the Hero rules. Naturally. Anyway, I've already taken care of the Cybernetics n' such. But the magic system, I just wanted some input. I'm trying to figure out the cleanest way to do it. Tentatively, my first issue is dealing with the whole Shamanic system. Keeping in mind, of course, that I'm a huge fan of keeping it simple. So here's my theory. I was going to build Custom Perks for each of the Shamanic Tribes. Each of those Perks will be of approximately the same value (if I go with a 75 + 75 point character, I'm figuring around 6 point Perks), and will give +1 or -1 Skill Enhancers based on the schools of magic they affect. Makes sense to me, but then again, there may well be a better way, and you lads n' laddies are a virtual wellspring of better ways. So lemme know. This is, of course, based on a magic system where all of the spells are 1/3 of their Real Cost, and each school of magic has it's own Skill Roll. Any advice is good. Merci. Zippercomics

Re: Character Challange: Superman Clones I had one that I submitted, whose name I can't remember. What I do recall of him is that I was concerned about the whole "right place at the right time" thing all heroes seem to have inherent in them. Yeah, it's part of the genre, but at the time I was just so sick of counting how many times Spider Man had swung by a bank, only in time to catch the two hooded goons on their way out with their $ bags. Ergo, I developed an idea about a bred and formed superhero. I borrowed heavily off of comic book science, but basically, he was a hero whose very nature was good and positive. He was given such small, insignificant telepathic cues that he could tell when people were lying, or more importantly, when they matched his morals and beliefs, or not. Obviously, those morals were all prim and proper and good. Beyond that, I also gave him something of a "justice sense"; a supernatural ability to just know when and where something will go wrong. No details, just an excuse for swinging by the bank. Weak, sure, but it would make my GM's life a lot easier. Let's us put that infamous "You're in a smokey bar," line away.

Re: Cyber Hero: Money or pts for Cybernetics? Based on the conversation here, I've made my choice. When the day comes and I get the gutz to run this, I'm going to go with a requirement that players pay for their cyberware and bioware in both points and in cashola. It does make sense, after all, since cyberware represents a more intrinsic characteristic of a character than a gun or his coffee pot does. It also represents a financial drain, and it only seems logical to represent this. You guys have been great. You're input is always welcome. In fact ... here's a question. It was noted I should "wipe Shadowrun from my memory". Trust me, I've tried; ergo, my choice to use Hero to run a Cyber Hero campaign, rather than just waltzing back into the dimly lit bar that is the Shadowrun 3rd Edition, and learning the six or forty distinctive systems you need to run a campaign. Nonetheless, I've always liked that "DnD, a long time later" kind of feel, and that's what my campaign will be. I have a Fantasy Hero world, and I'm going to just naturally evolve it into a Neo-Morwold, burning cities and broken dreams, end of the line for all life, Elves, Dwarves, and everything in between type of setting. Cyberware, bioware, the whole gamut. But what makes good Cyberpunk? There are fans of Shadowrun, there's fans of Cyberpunk itself, but what characteristics of those settings - or any others I'm wildly oblivious to - makes them good? Or bad, for that matter. My first question would be about races; I've always liked the idea of the standard gamut of Fantasy Races, and some of my own choice puppies, thrown in instead of just being humans. Also, I'm not a big fan of mixing genres, so no aliens. But is a cadre of Fantasy Hero races with the potential to be cyberninjas or deckers bad? Just brainstorming at this point. Maybe I should start a new thread. Merci

Re: Cyber Hero: Money or pts for Cybernetics? I'm sorry to say I'm not familiar with Cyberpunk. I played a few games of it, but it was with a gm who was more anxious to just pit his old PCs against as NPCs than anything else. I learned nothing from the experience. But I am intruigued, and I'm glad I started this thread. I'm learning a lot. What is "cyberpsychosis", though? As far as cybernetics go, I was thinking of creating a specific Limitation - "Cybernetics", ironically enough - that would cover those poor characteristics better than perhaps just the "Restrainable" limitation (as per Fred) would reflect. Cybernetics are uncommon. As I noted, they're looked down on. I can't think of a good analogy, aside from saying we as human beings have always been resistant to excessive body modifications. Just think of the last time you were in the mall and saw someone with a lot of piercings; the 'average' joe is offset by that kind of thing. Now amplify that to imply it's a whole arm or leg, and ... I'm interesting in hearing more about Cyberpsychosis.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings I was oddly reminded today of an old "weirdness" that used to plague my brothers and I as children; when my father scooped ice cream, he'd dip the scoop in a glass of water between each "scoopage" in order to make sure the ice cream didn't stick to the metal. In doing so, the water quickly turned briney and opaque. After almost a quarter century of life, I still find the idea of drinking that water - in essence, it's just water and ice cream - repulsive. So do my brothers. And yet, I'm not disgusted by store-bought stir fry packets, even though I know how most of them are compiled. Odd.

Re: Cyber Hero: Money or pts for Cybernetics? Coolness. Thanks again for the input! I've built a tentative prefab using that kind of idea, but I never applied cost multipliers. I wanted to make sure it was worth my time before I went ahead and did that. I think, based on what I've seen, that I will do a division of points. Some stuff will come out dirt cheap, but oh well. Thanks!

Re: Cyber Hero: Money or pts for Cybernetics?

Hey guys, Just want to brainstorm a bit; do you folks feel that a character in a "Shadowrun-esque" world should pay character points or cash for their cybernetic implants? Here's a brief discussion of cybernetics in my game world, and how they relate to this conversation. Cybernetics were developed first as a medical tool, but developed quickly into tools and implements designed to boost human and metahuman capacity. They have done just that, but aren't a cosmetic or casual thing. They're relatively illegal depending on their type, and are looked down upon as fringe and freakish implements not to be taken lightly. They're rare, and they're only mildly powerful. Probably about 30 AP at the most. I've got three schools of thought on this: a) Money. They pay cash in game to get their cybernetics. Full Points. I build the powers, and they pay full points for it. c) Partial Points. A la a spell in Fantasy Hero, I divide the Real Cost of the cybernetic implants by 1/3 or some other variable, to reflect the fact that they are common, but aren't in a framework or multipower type thing. I'm leaning this way. Any thoughts?

Re: After the Ultimate Evil... what? That's a pretty interesting question. If you've faced and defeated the Ultimate Evil, then all the rest of the "evil" must seem just bad, crappy. But hopefully (in a roleplaying sense, at least), said defeated evil can or will evolve as the heroes no doubt did just to get to that point. That's about all I could offer on it. Ah, life, eh? Ry

Re: Nemesis That's precisely one of the best things about solo superhero adventuring, and personally, why I feel it works better in a pbem environment than in a face to face environment. We all know that one of the best parts about roleplaying is getting together, sharing laughs, having good times and just hanging out. But in a face to face environment, a lot of that "togetherness", the team spirit, is lost if there's only one player and one GM. It almost feels competitive. In a pbem, however, these solo campaigns work better, since they function more as collaborative writings and less like competitive battles or whatever. This will be the second solo game I've run, and the first remains quite successful. Muchos fun.

Hey all, Since we're all sharing characters, I figured I should tack one on here myself. This is the villain that will probably plague the hero (singular) of Newport City in the near future. Anyway, I'm a little concerned that he's too weak. He's supposed to be a "Joker" type; not dangerous in a fight at all, but it's the schemes and the nuttiness that makes him dangerous. I hope. Criticism is welcome. ***** ***** ***** Name: The Artist Real Name: Jason Weller Player: Ry Stevenson Affiliation: None Hair/Eye Color: Brown / Brown Height/Mass: 1.77 m / 75.00 kg Nationality: American Place of Birth: Newport City, New York Date of Birth: January 9th, 1978 Background Story: Math. English. Physics. The world outside. Food. Family. Television. Exercise. Distractions, all of them. Jason Weller woke up one morning as a child, and realized that he had something to say. Not so unusual, really; most everyone wakes up one day with that creative pang, that need to create something, to demonstrate to the world a talent that would draw the eyes of others, that would garner attention and get them pats on the back or taps on the head. Most everyone's tried their hands at doodles, at painting, at music, at dance, at some form of creative expression that lets them get that need to be creative out. A form of release. But Jason was different in that he saw that as the only thing in life. Expression was all there was, and nothing more. It wasn't a means for his imagination to soar, or for his world to make more sense. It simply "was". It was what he did, what he was, what he meant to the world. So much so that, from infancy to childhood, to the throes of teenage-dom, to his young adult life, all anyone could say about Jason Weller was how wholly and absolutely absorbing those artistic practices were. Good, bad, or not, Jason was always creating. But was he good? He believed so, and had prepared more than one portfolio to throw his hobby into full-fledged artistic professionalism. He worked day and night once graduating from High School, never taking his brush from canvas, in the hope that he could create and that the world would stand back, jaws slack, shocked and amazed at that which he made. They'd all stand back with their arms crossed, wine in hands, and they'd burn their Piccasso, they'd douse their Michaelangelo's in gasoline and ignite them, they'd destroy their statuettes and stand back to gaze at the only art that mattered; Jason's. That belief swelled into pure ego (naturally). Before too long, Jason Weller's artwork had gone beyond the boundaries of even that which he'd created, as a lack of social skills, a desperate need to be the best, and the vein belief that such a goal wasn't so unattainable, had driven his artwork into darker and darker places. Unseen by the sun for months, his family and few remaining friends pleaded and begged Jason to let the art go just for a while, begged him to step outside and smell fresh air and look at the world. They begged him to experience life, instead of imitating it through artwork. They begged him to put the brush down. But with each desperate plea, with each prodding comment, they only drove him farther and farther into his work. Farther and farther into his belief that the world was a distraction to his art. That art was life. The day would come that his resolve would crack him in two. Who knows what day it was, but Newport City would remember it's consequences for years. Jason Weller took his grotesque and slowly-warped images of the world he knew - a world of a social outcast, of a broken man who'd never grown out of his infancy - to the gallery, hoping to have his first display. To see him then: he marched in so wide eyed and hopeful, probably the first time he'd ever felt that way. He clutched his artwork wrapped in brown manila paper to his chest, wearing a suit that barely held to his fragile and bone-like body. His hair hung about in his eyes, his lips constantly smacked and chapped. He stepped through the lobby, went to the curator's office, and presented his work. As any artist would've. The curator unwrapped the artwork, and was taken aback. Images suitable only for truly evil types, for devil worshippers and for twisted psychopaths stared back at him. Images of a man who'd grown into his mid twenties without ever experiencing the world. Dark pictures of a black and convoluted horrors that didn't have a place on canvas, or in the world at all. He was shocked, and he displayed that disgust with insults and vehement words that broke Jason's spirit, and gave him a first glimpse of the real world. Of rejection. He didn't take it well. Jason snapped. He was an artist. No, he was THE artist, and he wouldn't be insulted by some museum curator! Filled with spit and anger, he flew out of his chair and pounded the curator hard against the wall. He reached to the wall and plucked the first solid object his hands hit, then used it to begin to bludgeon the curator. Before too long, his world had taken a twist down the same dark and horrible paths that his artwork had wandered in to. Before too long, Jason Weller was two people; a young man with no social skills, with no belief in anything beyond his artwork. And The Artist, a black visage, a reflection of artwork at it's worst. A villain that Newport City would learn to loathe, to fear, for many years to come. Quote: Art is a birth of something from nothing. If I want to make the greatest art of this city, of something, then I must change it into nothing. Quote About Him: Personality: Jason Weller believes in two things; in himself, and in the power of art. But he's got no sense of right or wrong, no human compassion or fear of muder. As so much, he seeks to create bigger and bigger "pieces". Massive effigies of death and destruction. He seeks to burn Newport City down into ash, to show the world the power of "art through destruction" In other words, he's loonie tunes. Most crime analysis and psychiatric evaluations of Jason's actions lead counselors and police men alike to the belief that Jason is simply angry, mad, and doesn't know how to deal with it. So he destroys, he massacres, and he rampages. Somehow, though, his quirky art-themed crimes and massive bomb-induced frenzies always seem to go somewhat unpunished. Appearance: Jason bludgeoned the curator of the Newport City Museum with a mask he'd blindly plucked off the wall. A simple mask of a face, plain and quaint, with a pouty look on it's face. The mask was made of reinforced clay, and managed to survive only the first few strikes before shattering into pieces. He took those pieces, and in his typical nostalgic ways, rebuilt it with glue and patience. He now wears that cracked and broken mask as the guise of The Artist. With it, he has a penchant for suits, albeit hardly fine suits. He wears suits that cling to his thin, skeleton-like body all of the time. The suits are all of bright and vibrant colors, usually shades of cherry red or sky blue. Powers: Jason, in his guise of The Artist, uses art themed weapons born of his sick and twisted mind. Simple gadgets and tricks that fuel his murder sprees and his heinous actions. Items like his painting tool throwing knives, his paint ball smoke grenades, and his airbrush gas plumes. *------------------------------------------------------------------* Characteristics: --------------------- 0 STR 10 15 DEX 15 0 CON 10 0 BODY 10 5 INT 15 10 EGO 15 8 PRE 18 -1 COM 8 2 PD 4 2 ED 4 25 SPD 5 0 REC 4 0 END 20 12 STUN 32 Combat and Roll Information: --------------------------------------- OCV: 5 STR Roll: 11- INT Roll: 12- DCV: 5 DEX Roll: 12- PER Roll: 12- ECV: 5 CON Roll: 11- EGO Roll: 12- Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 rPD/rED: 0/0 Running: 6" Powers: ----------- Cost Powers 45 Art-Themed Weapons: [ Multipower, 60-point reserve, all slots Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (90 Active Points); all slots OAF (Art Tools; -1) ] END: 1u 1) Air Brush Hallucination Spray: [ Sight and Hearing Groups Images 1" radius, +/-3 to PER Rolls (24 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1), Limited Power Only to create swirling masses of color (-1) ] END: 0 3u 2) Air Brush Painkilling / Numbing Spray: [ Drain STR 3d6, Area Of Effect (7" Cone; +1) (60 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1) ] END: 0 1u 3) Paint Ball Flash Grenade: [ Sight Group Flash 8d6 (40 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1), Range Based On Strength (-1/4), Linked (Paint Ball Color Change; -1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4) ] END: 0 2u 4) Paint Ball Glue Grenade: [ Entangle 6d6, 6 DEF (60 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1), Range Based On Strength (-1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4) ] END: 0 2u 5) Paint Knife Dagger: [ Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1d6+1 (1 1/2d6 w/STR), Range Based On STR (+1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (35 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1) ] END: 0 3 Cracked Clay Facemask: [ Armor (4 PD/4 ED) (12 Active Points); OAF (Clay Mask; -1), Conditional Power Only protects damage to his face (-1), Ablative BODY Only (-1/2) ] END: 0 10 Paint Ball Color Change: [ Cosmetic Transform 6d6 (one color into any other base color, washing off, a few days time) (30 Active Points); OAF (Art Tools; -1), All Or Nothing (-1/2), Range Based On Strength (-1/4), Can Be Missile Deflected (-1/4) ] END: 3 Skills: -------- 6 +2 with Art-Themed Weapons 4 +2 with Perception Rolls 3 AK: Newport City 12- 3 Analyze: Agility Skills 12- 3 Contortionist 12- 5 Cramming 5 Demolitions 13- 3 Disguise 12- 5 Fast Draw 13- 4 KS: Art History 13- 4 KS: Newport City's criminal elite 13- 3 Lockpicking 12- 3 Mimicry 12- 1 Seduction 8- 3 Shadowing 12- 3 Streetwise 13- Talents: -------- 3 Ambidexterity (-2 Off Hand penalty) Disadvantages: -------------- 10 Distinctive Features: Cracked clay facemask and bright colored suits (Easily Concealed; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses) 10 Hunted: Newport City's resident hero 8- (As Pow, Capture) 15 Physical Limitation: Easily tired (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 10 Physical Limitation: Frail (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 5 Physical Limitation: Underweight (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) 20 Psychological Limitation: Believes himself unbeatable (Common, Total) 10 Psychological Limitation: Detatched from society (Common, Moderate) 20 Psychological Limitation: Determined to destroy Newport City, at all costs (Common, Total) 10 Social Limitation: Gives off a creepy vibe (Frequently, Minor) 15 Social Limitation: Seen as a monster (Very Frequently, Minor) 5 Social Limitation: Smoker (Occasionally, Minor) 20 Social Limitation: Wanted criminal (Frequently, Severe) Characteristic Cost: 78 Skills Cost: 58 Martial Arts Cost: 0 Talents Cost: 3 Perks Cost: 0 Powers Cost: 67 Disadvantage Total: 150 Total Cost: 206

Re: DnD Familiar's Ability to do Touch Spells ... Groovy. This seems like a few very practical ways of emulating what I'm thinking about. It is a complicated effect, which is why I had to ask here. Not exactly the cleanest power out there, but then again, that's why I'm switching away from DnD. Thanks for the options, guys. If you have any other thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Ry

Hoyo all, I've been turning this little puzzle over in my head, and I can't seem to figure out the best way to handle a rules issue. I'm converting a DnD game into a Hero game, and I'm trying to make it a pretty direct port concept for concept. I haven't had too many problems, save when Familiars enter the arena. My player has built the familiar as a follower, and therefore as a character onto itself ... However, Familiars in DnD have the ability to cast touch-range spells for their masters through their own contact. ie: they act as their caster's hands for the purposes of touch based spells. How would I achieve this effect for the Familiar? Any advice would be appreciated. Merci, Ry

Re: Storn's Fantasy Art, Comics and Doodles Storn, I just wanted to say what I'm sure you've heard a billion times before (and I'm also sure you'll never get sick of hearing); that's some seriously great stuff. I enjoy the sense of style and the realism that gets put into the art you do. The fact that the art seems born of personality, not a wardrobe description. Neat stuff, very inspiring. As always. Keep it up, man. Ry Stevenson

Yes, do be careful when including religious doctorine or theories in this kind of thing. It's bit me in the but more than once, albeit I've found that the safest bet in those situations is to either lay it all out on the line first, or blame such religious actions on radical or right wing extremists that may or may not operate with the fullest sanction of the church. Still a good idea, though, and if White Wolf could get away with their Inquisition lasting through the Vampire chronicles, I'm sure you can too. Great stuff so far, man.

I realize this might not be of a massive help to you, but I figured I'd suggest it no less. If you're looking at doing a Hard Science Fiction, reality of physics and aliens, etc etc type thing, then maybe - if you can - grab a copy of a book called Calculating God. I can't for the life of me remember the author's name (hero cookie to anyone who does), but it's kinda in the same vein as what you're talking about, but with a totally different story. Aliens who come to Earth to study our palentology, but in the process, reveal that they too believe in God, and have proven him a scientific fact. When you read the book, you'll be pretty surprised (I think) by all of the "evidence" to support that claim that is presented. It's science heavy, but it pulled me in. Just a thought. I'd be interested in seeing any end product you develop, man.