Joe Walsh

There it is.
 
Every time this comes around, it goes back to making it easier on coverting D and D players.  If that's the case, it is not too difficult to map the odds of various 3d6 results and paste them to rough D20 equivalents.  That would make it even easier for them, should they be inclined to switch games.
 
 
The reality that I see when I manage to trek to some place with gaming tables is that there arent D and D players looking for alternative games.  The null od them dont even seem really excited about roleplaying games in general, and are playing D and D because "it is D and D," and that's vogue right now, at least for certain sets of humanity.
 
The bulk of people I see switching games are switching from Pathfider _to_ D and D, and that seems to have more to do with wanting to play "the original."  Even the very few people I see leave D and D that dont leave gaming all together tend to be drawn to tactical battle games with lots of miniatures and terrain (looking at you, Warhammer), and they get done with that once they figure out how much money and work goes into a gloriously-detailed and colorful army and a map.
 
We have thread after thread of doing this-
 
And again, I don't care.  I heartily endorse doing whatever you want to make your game more enjoyable for you and your players: always have; always will.  It is a game, and you are supposed to enjoy it.
 
I just find the excuse of "this is what I want to do because I like it" to be far more palatable than "we need to work on wooing in hordes of people who don't seem to exist."  Moreover, I say that as a person who did not like D and D and ended up playing Champions!  In my own observation, I am the only guy I know who played D and D, did not like it, and continued to stay in the RPG hobby seriously.  I know a lot of people who played D and D,did not like it, but can still be talked into a game every year or two, so long as it is D and D, because they already kind of know it, and because that is what their friends are playing.  They don't like enough to want to learn a different game.  I humbly suggest that twenty-one pounds of HERO System rulebooks is not going to be overcome as easily as pointing out that the system can be changed to allow rolling high. 
 
I know way more disenfranchised players who got into war gaming after leaving D and D-- Starfleet Battles, War Hammer,and that more recent Star Wars one with the cool looking models.
 
There is some potential there: like many legacy games, HERO still shows its wargame roots quite clearly, but the rest of it is just unwanted filler for the average wargamer.
 
The majority of "gamers" I have seen leaving D and D got heavily into Magic and other card games.  They did not enjoy RP the way they thought they would,  but they liked pretending to do battle with their friends.  Most CCG games are simple and relatively quick, particularly compared to a campaign in any RPG.  Again, the HSR books are not going to overcome attraction to quick and simple.
 
But if we acknowledge that there is such a thing- a hidden horde of shadow gamers, trapped in or running from D and D, waiting and looking for something they will  enjoy a whole lot more, I do not find it credible that taking extra measures to ensure the experience is as much like the one they did not enjoy is going to lure them to a Champions table.
 
I would go so far as to suggest that asking them directly what sort of game, group, characters, lore, and adventures would most promote their engagement would go far, far further to attract their attention than any change to any mechanic.
 
But this is just one person's opinion, of course.  If it helps, it is supported by the number of years this conversation has been floated, the number of people who have made the roll-high change, and the number of D and D players who still aren't coming.
 
  

Late Jan 2021:  passed 100M cases
Late July:  200M cases
Early Jan 2022:  300M cases
this week:  400M cases

Essentially, it becomes The Mandalorian season 2.5 starting with episode 5, which was a really good episode with no Boba Fett. I saw a comment elsewhere that lamented Boba Fett becoming a guest star in his own show, and another that said, "The Book of Boba Fett is really only a pamphlet." 

The Book of Boba Fett: First four episodes set up backstories, episode 5 and 6 are mostly from a different show, episode 7 wraps it all up. There are enjoyable parts, but like Solo: A Star Wars Story, maybe certain things are better left to the viewer's imagination. (Disney+)

Rifled barrels would offset some range penalties usually but in a weapon that small it doesn't matter one way or another.

The more that I read 5th Edition materials and rules-heavy/textbook nature of the writing style in recent days, the more inclined I become to retrofitting and simplifying my 5th Edition materials to 3rd Edition (my sentimental favorite), especially to have pre-generated characters that are easy to read for brand new players with some of the mechanics from 5th and 6th Edition such as MegaScale and Unified Power, respectively.
 
Thanks for the advice!!! 🙂

FWIW, this sort of thing has been going on at the federal level for decades, albeit different motivation and targets: one senator from Oklahoma, who is a bought-soul tool of Big Oil, has been subpoenaing atmospheric scientists and grilling them in the Capitol about climate change and CO2 emissions at the behest of his satanic masters.  These subpoenas are timed to be inconvenient, but you have no choice but to obey them or be jailed for contempt of Congress.

And on the up side, the other three people who live in the same house I do tested negative today.

I have to note here that those people who are most likely to refer to others as snowflakes tend to be the first ones to start complaining about the loss of "personal liberties" as a result of the plague. If I thought they had any clue what irony was, I would wonder if they appreciated it in this situation.
 
As for me I'm inclined to say something like, "Shut your Rogan hole. Put a damn mask on."

Meanwhile, I tested positive yesterday.

Glad to help, Sir. 
 
 

Same here. I haven't needed micro-skills in a long time.
 
 
I like it! Just assume the character with a complimentary skill is able to contribute to the effort unless there's some reason to do otherwise, and base the impact of their assistance on their level of skill. Nice and quick!
 
 
If anyone's running a big game and doesn't ever have to deal with that, I'd like to know how. 😅
 
 
Good to know!
 
So, with this, we end up with a unified "conflict mechanic," but there are still other types of rolls for standard skill checks and (when needed) complimentary skill throws. It's at least a more logical division than the current way, where conflict is handled in two different ways.
 
Thanks for elaborating on your method, Duke.

Not sure where this went; I posted a reply from work a couple of hours ago, but here's a short recap:
 
 
First, I have to say that they don't come up too terribly often in the group where I first piloted this.  No; there's no special reason for that, but it could be related to the fact that we do _slightly_ broad interpretation of skills.  Not too broad, as there are eleven players, but if you have, say "Astrogation," I'm not going to make you buy it per ship size or per quadrant or anything like that.  I'm pretty happy with "per spiral arm."   
 
That being said, they do come up now and again.  "How we handle it" depends entirely on the mood at the table at the time.  if it's all mellow and everyone is attentive, roll the complementary skill as normal to determine a die modifier (if any).  If things are hectic and lots of people are trying to act, assume a die modifier of (Skill Level -11)/2 or (Skill Level-11)/3, depending on how relevant the complementary skill is determined to be-- rounding works the same way: if the skill is clearly something that will improve your odds, round up.  If it's a _maybe_ this will help  kind of thing, round down.
 
Now I remind everyone following along that the entire thing was conceived to help manage time and off-topic conversation (when you have a lot of players, and two or three are acting, if you spend more than a couple of minutes with each actor, the rest gravitate toward chatter.  Anything that speeds up the mechanicals helps to forestall that).
 
 
 
Yes.  
 
 
 
I should probably add that the players-- granted, most (not all) were experienced when I started doing this-- took to it immediately.  There was no hesitation or resistance; it made a kind of sense to them, as you were competing directly against someone else, just as you are in a combat roll.
 
 

To be fair, Episode 6 did have 70 seconds of Boba, which is 70 seconds more than Episode 5.

blush, then say thank you

There 's three approaches to this and the way I'd build it depends on how you want them to work, more specifically how you want the conditions to end without outside interference.
 
If you want the effects to last for an approximate time period, use Drain. Drain SPD for Paralysis and STUN for Sleep. You can move the recovery down the Time chart to get the time you want and it's far more reliable. That said, if you want the targets to have a chance to recover in a combat timeframe, you'll need to use method 2. Aid/Healing will negate this effect.
 
This method uses Entangle as others have previously stated. Usually this involves making the Entangle work against a Characteristic other than STR such as CON or EGO but I saw a nasty variant of a normal Entangle with Invisible Effects that had stops Sight and Mental Sense Groups(target only) in one Psi-Wars scenario I played in. Harder to balance this method, because some targets may snicker at the attack while others might need help have any chance to escape. Attacking the Entangle or Dispel will break this effect 
 
Finally you can use Transform. It works but tends to be the most expensive option. You have to define a method to break this as you'll probably want something other than just waiting it out( although a Sleeping Beauty type scenario works here) 
 
And to tie it all up, you probably want to give each of these a condition that ends the effect other than another Power. Transform has rules for its healing method but the others may have a Limitation added for an antidote or a mild electric shock to break the effect.
 

National Butterfly Center on Texas border closing indefinitely after attacks from right-wing conspiracy theorists

The great gaslighting: how Covid longhaulers are still fighting for recognition

Howdy Herodom!
I was working on a few things and got to thinking about bases. We see so many heroes and villains statted up, but rarely do we see the bases they use. Has anyone worked on things like the Batcave? The Fortress of Solitude? A Helicarrier? Xavier's School for the Gifted? 

Finally got around to watching The Eternals (Marvel).  After having my expectations set abysmally low by months of whinging and handwringing by people desperately wanting Marvel to fail, I was pleasantly surprised.  It's far from perfect, but it eventually got the main thing right, which was to focus on the relationships between the Eternals themselves.  Are there plot holes?  Yes.  Does it fit cleanly into the rest of the MCU? Lol no.  Is it still a good film?  Certainly.

I think I'm going to start bookmarking these threads and just respond with a list of links. 
 
The survey is a nice touch, though.
 
My standing is still "no; I don't do it.  I have yet to find any argument that has convinced me that it is in any way better that the way we've been doing it for decades.
 
 
On a related note, though-- so I can add something constructive to the conversation:
 
I use the to-hit mechanic for Skill v Skill rolls, instead of the RAW way:
 
Okay, you're making a Concealment check to search the room.  The guy hiding the McGuffin had a 12-.  Let me make a quick roll....  he rolled an 8; that's four levels of success....
 
You have a 14- on your Concealment; make your roll....
 
Okay, you rolled a 10; that's four levels of success....
 
Spend ten minutes searching, describe what you're doing to increase your odds of finding something, and try again....
 
Alternatively, of course:
 
Okay, you have a 14 penalty because of the first guy's success, so you roll a 10...  yep.  You found it, barely.  This eliminates the potential for ties, of course, but my preference:
 
 
I use the to-hit roll as the mechanic:
 
Your 14 (or less) plus 11 minus the "defenders" 12-.  Roll 3d6  (apply any modifiers, of course).
 
It eliminates ties, and I use the "level of success" to determine just how long the search might have taken, roughly.
 
Anyone else do that?
 
 

This idea is interesting, but I think it would probably slow things down a lot.  It sounds interesting, but what happens when a lower DEX person’s declared action gets preempted by someone with a higher DEX?  
 
For example, you have 10 DEX brick, an 18 DEX energy blaster and a 23 DEX speedster facing a DEX 20 villain.  The Brick declares he going to move up and punch the villain, the energy blaster declares he is going to put up a barrier around some innocents, so they don’t get hurt, the villain declares he is going to try and grab the item he is after, and the speedster is going to use his running grab to grab the villain and move him away from the area.  The speedster was successful in his running grab so now he and the villain are 60 hexes away from the area they started.  All the declared actions by the rest of the characters can no longer be done or are pointless. Are the characters required to continue their declared actions?  Do we have to start the whole process over again?  
 
I have said multiple times that having a high DEX does not mean you go first it means you get to choose when you go.  Most people don’t bother with the held action or only use it occasionally.  Don’t forget that the roll off is only needed when you want to perform an action at the same time.   You can also use the cover maneuver on instead of a held action. Between those two maneuvers a high DEX character can maintain gain the advantage of their DEX without slowing down the game.
 
The cover maneuver is kind of poorly written.  It states, “It’s used to simulate the common situation of holding someone at gunpoint, bowpoint, or swordpoint.”.  But then goes on to say it is usually limited to ranged attacks, and then goes on to say it can sometimes be used in HTH.  I simply ignore the part about it being limited to ranged attack
 

Not yet.  It never occurred to me, to be honest.
 
 
However, if I can get an experienced adult group meeting again, I think I'd like to take a whirl at it.
 
Though  my immediate impression is the findings will be something like this:
 
 
 
 
_However_, I would also like to point out that not only do I expect that this is accurate, but also that I believe it is _correct_.
 
For _years_ now-- for literal decades-- someone pops onto these very boards and asks "but how do I simulate the speedster thing where they are moving so fast that everyone else is standing still and they are too fast to hit and can't be shot but they can easily sidestep everything and rearrange the people so that they are all looking where they weren't and now they have to reacquire targets and I really liked that scene in that Matrix movie and the Flash seems so cool because-- anyway, how do I do that?"
 
And the answers include "put AOE on your STR; buy Duplication" and a myriad of other things-- to include tying into that popular pillar of the Trifecta of Cobble: Extra Dimensional Movement.
 
The absolute simplest answer-- and I feel like I have said this before, but never having actually done it, I haven't pushed it very hard-- is "make the Speed Chart work the way that it claims it works."  Does this create a huge disadvantage for lower-SPD characters?  I can't say empirically, but Jack V appears to have some experience with it, and that lines up with my hypothesis enough to make me want to try it even more.  So does it create a disadvantage for slower characters?  Arguably, yes.
 
Is that not exactly what you're asking to simulate when you want to simulate "a character who do fifty things before anyone else can even move or act or react?"  Also, arguably yes.
 
Is that a huge disadvantage for characters in the source material?  Again, yes, and for all the exact reasons that using the SPD Chart the way that it claims to work creates those same disadvantages in the game.
 
At the moment-- not having tested it myself-- I have to believe that not only is this the easiest way to represent the super-fast characters who can do all the things super-at once, it seems to essentially _be_ the reason the SPD Chart exists in the first place.
 
 
 
Now is this something that everyone is going to enjoy?   I can't say.  Jack V's commentary suggests "no."   My own expectations also suggest "no."
 
So is it something that we _want_ to model?  Well, given the requests for it, I am thinking yes.  Given the standard repertoire of answers such as EDM, STR: AOE, Change Environment: Dirty room to clean, etc, I am going to go out on a limb and say that we tend to find it much more satisfying to model it badly, and perhaps more expensively.