casualplayer

Re: Crazy Idea to Remove the Math What I have felt would work best, for a long time, is to convert over to decimal the +/- of advantages and disads and apply the sum. base cost * ( gross advantage value - gross disad value.) Inspect with a magnifying glass any power construct that has a gross of +/- 1 because someone is probably trying to munchkin. It would change some point totals, but what edition change hasn't changed point totals for power constructs? None that I can think of. Fractions do scare people, as silly as that might sound. It is the single most commonly despised aspect of grade school, even moreso than public speaking. Now to stick with the car analogy, most drivers want to get in, turn the key and go. There is a lot of money to be made in maintenence and chrome rims. Salesmen prefer to deal in high volume movers. HERO looks like, to a casual observer, a daunting block of metal and access to a tool-and-die shop. With luck you can befriend someone with skill in HERO engineering. Someday you will drive away pleased. Someday, if you don't give up first.

Re: Speedster Name Needed How about: Windsprint Javelin Accelerator Formula One (appropriate if he has to dose up like Dash) Jackrabbit Tornado Pony (or Pony Boy if he likes S.E. Hinton) Scout (or Eagle Scout) Marathon Stride Pacesetter Just a few thoughts.

Re: Queer Eye for the Superhero Guy In Dr. Strange's 1st appearance he dressed straight and looked like an affluent '60's physician. However you apparently haven't seen his 1st super suit. It was tangerine, white and some cheap-to-print shade of purple. He also had a hat that looked like the toe of a jester's shoe. Now that was styling.

Re: Alternative attack rolls and other house rules

Re: Sticky Goo from The Incredibles I would do it as a continuing charge STR Drain (~8 charges of 1 Turn each,) w/ maybe a linked Darkness to represent obscured vision. And obviously multiple Glop guns protecting the causeway. It just looked to me like as the glop increased in volume it also increased in mass, and eventually diminished STR to the point at which you couldn't move. I think one shot would have immobilized a normal person. Hmm, could Elasti-Girl have stretched out of the glop? Tough to say.

Re: The Truly Evil GM My longest running game had the team assembled and sponsored by the main villain. He wanted some heroes to study to get a better idea of their capabilities and weaknesses. It also helped to know where they were at at all times. He was loosely based on Sleeper, but almost entirely rewritten. He had Mentalla as his personal assistant (power set, not background) and Terastar, Silver Dragon, Phobos and Deimos as flunkies. Grond is the brother of one of my main characters, mutated by Professor Muerte and Dr. Destroyer using the Giganto process. See, if you take a mutant and mutate him further you get Grondish things. One of my player characters is Dark Seraph and a Beyonder-scale entity called Adam at different points during his life. Had an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine. I maintain that if my players don't define something I have the option to.

Re: Give me your best idea please He sounds like he should have a name that can be the last words screamed by a criminal just before he pounces. I hate names whose "coolness" derives from synonyms or misspellings. Trying to come up with a name that hasn't been used before is the fast track to insanity. Don't bother. If you don't want to use Nighthawk, Pat Kelly's background makes him an ideal candidate to call himself Jaguar. There seemed to be an implied Catholicism. Given all this I suggest: Conscience Nightmare Witness Streetsweeper Hand of Justice Priest Prosecutor Lawman Gavel Any of these work with the "The" prefix. Could probably come up with more if I knew costuming details.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished System of the World by Neal Stephenson. The third in a trilogy amounting to 3000 pages total, The Baroque Cycle blew me away. I found myself unable to read for prolonged periods because I would have to chew over and digest what I had read before proceeding. For those unfamiliar it is historical fiction set in the late 17th-early 18th century, primarily in London. The three main characters are fictional but Isaac Newton, Baron von Leibniz and King Louis XIV are integral to the plot. The trilogy ties into Stephenson's other novel Cryptomancer on too many levels to mention. If you can read this trilogy and not salivate to play 7th Sea, you are a better man than I. There are so many code monkeys on this board that people have to be familiar with Stephenson's other works, Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. He has nudged Heinlein down one spot on my favorite authors list. I can't imagine him writing anything in the future better than this. But I will gladly give him the option to try.

Re: With GM's Permission ... Everything is GM's permission. If you just key off the Stop Signs you will get blindsided by evil players. It doesn't take long for a player to learn how to construct a spoiler set of powers 2 powers or more deep that are more heinous than any single ability. True evil comes from tag teams, where characters are designed together. Quick example: Hammer and Nail Hammer is your basic brick with some flair and a hefty knockback mega-punch. Nail appears to be a defensive specialist able to make tough, spiky Force Walls but can't exert force with them (no TK) and can't propel these walls (no EB or RKA.) They are rooted in place and that is actually a feature that they are nigh-immovable. Taken one at a time most would greenlight these characters. Then they debut, Nail fences in the villains and if they don't surrender immediately Hammer punches the bad guys into a spiky wall with his twisker punch. Take that 13d6 punch, 30d6 KB dmg and toss a little Penetrating KA on top. Yes, I made these guys (as villains.) I pretested them before using them. Unless I sold back Hammer and Nail's INT these two would have annihilated most of my team.

Re: You Can't Hurt Me, I'm Entangled! How about Desolid Usable as Attack with a linked Suppress against all movement powers? They can't hurt the world, the world can't hurt them and they will probably stay put.

Re: Orson Scott Card To Write Ultimate Iron Man... Ok, yeah, Alvin Maker's crystal city just might happen to get built on the sight of Nauvoo. And the people of the fringe were explicitly Mormon. But write what you know for Pete's sake! I don't think Ender or Bean were LDS. Orson can do other themes. Obviously working in comics is starting to pay really, really well. It's like that wish list for writers in Quesada's office in Ultimate Marvel Team-Up Annual, you know the one that had the completely disregarded origin of the FF. There are names on the list like Martin Scorcese, Tom Clancy, Truma Capote, David Mamet and such.

Re: Seeking a little gming advice Carrot-popularity, favorable news coverage, best parking spaces. Stick-PRIMUS, with a file on you that says exactly who can whup your hide and their number on speed dial.

Re: Advantage on STR that lets you lift the FF's Baxtor Building in one piece Nah, you aren't being clumsy about it. And honestly, I am not advocating Real World Physics. In my games I even let characters fly unaided! Good storytelling has to be consistent. We have all been cheated by a situation that worked one way once and a different way at another time. Without that underlying consistency, faith and belief are gone and you are playing Cops and Robbers like 6 year olds. I use RWP as the baseline and powers as the exceptions to the rule. Exceptions that are clearly spelled out on the character sheets. Logic comes up short when it comes to superpowers. If the Thing can pick a car up by the bumper then Captain America should be able to palm a motorcycle engine. If inertia and wind resistance doesn't apply to Quicksilver's running then he can't make a sonic boom. You can't logically argue for or against these situations because you have no premise. Unless it is spelled out in black and white and paid for in points on the character sheet.

Re: Seeking a little gming advice I think the comics that your players are familiar with are forewarning of what kind of characters they would make. Stormwatch was super-powered UN peacekeepers. Without getting a kill sanction though ahead of time, taking a life would put any member in a world of hurt. Few field members had the juice to authorize themselves. The Authority started out as self appointed fighters in a War on Superterrorists, and they used battlefield methods. Later they became Superterrorists themselves and I have no idea why someone hasn't killed or captured them. Supreme Power isn't a bad example, unless you are offended by someone showing how badly Batman would be outclassed in a powered environment. If Zarda/Power Princess doesn't see repercussions for her actions, The Authority would be glad to have her. What about movies or TV that all of your players might have seen? You sound like you want to run The Incredibles and they want to play Robocop. Your players have a street-level, local hero power set and dark or gray backgrounds. Did you forget to mention that their costumes should include bright, primary colors? You can always lead by example. If their adventures keep getting bumped off the front page of the papers by Captain Whitebread, they may get the point. If a PRIMUS agent visits early in game to make sure that they are aware of the rules that keep them from being classified as vigilantes instead of heroes, they should understand. I have always made my players aware that it is their responsibility to bring a character that can participate. GMing is too much work to have to exclusively cater to the mercurial needs of a group of gamers.

Re: Advantage on STR that lets you lift the FF's Baxtor Building in one piece Feh! Free lunch. Why should you get it for free? What if you don't want it? I don't want Corinthian leather seats in my worktruck. The only people that think this aspect of the TK description is fair are those that don't enforce END expenditure closely. Exert power to Grab with TK, spend END, maintain Grab, spend END, Grab different target, spend END, maintain both Grabs, spend END, too tired to maintain FF, get mugged by gradeschoolers. Every GM with a new player with TK has seen this face. "I grab the guns from all three agents." "You can't but you can grab one each action." Face like a thwarted child, tears welling up, lips pinched like they were expecting honey and got castor oil. Somehow that explanation doesn't fly. You can listen to him whine or give him a treat. Every edition of HERO since 2nd has been progressively more full of treats.

Re: Advantage on STR that lets you lift the FF's Baxtor Building in one piece One of the first things you discover when learning to punch more efficiently is how much force is actually being directed toward yourself when you make contact. If you don't know how to punch well, to get that snap or punch through the target, you waste a heap of exertion. I have had characters fly backwards as a result of whaling on the immovable (haymaker, move-by, move-thru, etc) rather than have them become a smear. It wasn't to penalize them or make them look ridiculous; it was GM fiat to keep them in the game rather than have them knock themselves out (which really makes a player look ridiculous.) I let people circumvent RWP the HERO way; I make them pay for it. Too many folks buy a power and, figuring it out to its 'natural' conclusion, feel they should get a lot of extras. Does a 60 STR let you lift 100 tons of paperback novels? Yu-Gi-Oh cards? Sand? Many GMs would let someone with 60 STR TK lift this stuff but not someone with plain ol' STR. Why? Try to justify that point of view to two grouchy players, one with STR and one with ranged STR. I haven't seen a whole lot of published characters with 60 STR TK AE: Variable Selective (Invisible, Based on ECV, blah, blah) but that is what I would steer my player towards as they grow. Jean Grey had to spend 40 years XP somewhere, seeing as she started with 25 STR TK virtually single target. Too many players want a free lunch, and a lot of gravy was written into 5th Ed. They see a Hero Sandwich, and they want to emulate that sandwich but all they can afford is the meat and the bread to start. You have to earn the condiments that bring out the flavor IMO.

Re: Advantage on STR that lets you lift the FF's Baxtor Building in one piece Being the cruel, exacting GM that I am I don't let my players reference character sheets during the game (too distracting.) My main brick doesn't know what his STR is because he has never found anything heavy enough and durable enough to cause him to strain to lift it. In my game he can knock over a skyscraper but not lift one. It's one of the ways I have smoothed out STR being too cheap by enforcing leverage and structural integrity restrictions. That doesn't mean I am anal about it. I let him palm cars and such. I also have played in and enjoyed games where bricks can lift ships and push planets, without things falling apart. It's just a decision that is made when the game is started and as long as it's consistently enforced it's all good. Certainly shouldn't cost points or be worth a disadvantage (Subject to Real World Physics- 25 pts?)

Re: Iyo: The Most Underrated Or Underused Character In Comics I think Captain Comet got killed in LEGION (whatever year.) I loved Martian Manhunter's series, but it was too thoughtful to last. Ostrander is too much for the average reader. People have mentioned Ted Kord/Blue Beetle and Dan Garrett/Blue Beetle. Ted knows about a hundred people who could retrieve the Scarab from where it was buried in a rockslide when Dan was killed. I have no idea why they haven't recovered it and bestowed it on someone, preferably Ted. Superman class powers, Ted's personality, that would be some good reading. Power Girl should have her own book but Geoff Johns has made her into a whiny, needy tabula rasa. One black mark on an otherwise distinguished writing career. Maybe she's back on the diet soft drinks? You do know that she was originally supposed to be in Formerly Known as JLA, right? Johns had priority claim and also made her unsuitable for use anyway. Mary Marvel was "closest equivalent powerhouse." I sure wouldn't mind seeing some more Miracleman and family.

Re: If Champions didn't exist... Superworld had this stat called SIZE that made Growth and Shrinking a breeze. I vote for Superworld.

Re: The New Avengers - Good Or Bad, Threat Or Menace? You gotta be able to read books in the store, as long as it's understood that "You break it, you bought it." If it's not 9.0 mint when it gets back to the shelf it's yours. Otherwise you can't get anyone to try anything new that hasn't been pimped on Comic Shop News or Wizard. All you would be selling is X-crement and choking out the garden with weeds. I just realized that if this New Avengers book was called New Defenders, and you replaced Spider-Man with say Beast, I would unequivocally love this book. The feel of this book is very Defender-ish, the good old days with Valkyrie and Gargoyle. Is it just me or is the team name Avengers kinda geared to antagonize? Almost but not quite as bad as the Justice League of America but awfully close. It's like they are the Retribution Squad, but that probably wouldn't have sold as well. The Pre-emptive Warriors? The Vindicators? The Ugly Americans? The Lounge-around-the-mansion-til-you-mess-with-us-then-we'll-wreak-havoc-ers?

Re: The New Avengers - Good Or Bad, Threat Or Menace? Wheeeee, I love paying $2.25 for a prelude and get to wait a month for the story to advance another step at its glacial pace. Nope, gonna wait for the trade. That's if the art team holds up (I like Finch) and the writing doesn't deteriorate too badly. Didn't care for surly Cap, in the same way I didn't like Waid's Mr. Fantastic yelling at Franklin. Realistic doesn't mean prick. Spider-Man will only be able to continue to participate in this team with massive hand-waving for the reasons shown in the book. Can't be the Webslinger if there is nothing to sling webs to; Spidey blows in a non-urban setting. Bendis needs Electro-shock therapy, because he is way, way too fond of that villain. Imagine if he had such a hard-on for the Vulture; we'ld have Ultimate Vulture and new, improved Vulture and Disassembled Vulture. This is the comic textbook-definition of a vanity piece. Congrats on your comic store plans Vigil but I hope you have done the math. I'd rather play Blackjack for a living than sell comics (again) to pay my bills. Until you get into moving double digits of an issue over ordering by just one issue devours all your profits. Current store owners can help with recent numbers but I used to have to sell 5 issues/month minimum just to justify carrying a title and that was zero sum (expences=income, no profit.) With the plethora of trades, back issues are not gravy. They will take over your store and crowd out product that moves, say a full line of HERO. Maybe Canada is different but in the US all those long boxes of back issues mean an evil inventory tax bill at the end of the year. You would be better off carrying bulk dog food than shelf after shelf of back issues.

Re: "Essential" Graphic Novels / Trade Paperbacks I am a huge fan of America's Best Comics (originally written entirely by British Alan Moore.) Top 10 is my favorite, as a Hill Street Blues with Superheroes. Lots of superheroes. Even the bums in this city have superpowers. The freakin' mice have superpowers. I would recommend 300 by Frank Miller. Some may argue that Leonidas and the Spartans aren't superheroes; I respectfully disagree. My wife is not steeped in comic lore and she loves Planetary. Get those. And if you like the thought of Mission: Impossible with a NC-17 rating, Warren Ellis' Global Frequency is tough to beat. Get PS238. This is probably the best superhero comic out there. It is about a secret elementary school attended by superhuman children. While it could be played for slapstick (and funny things do happen,) it's a very humanistic book. Dash, Jack Jack and Violet Parr (The Incredibles) would go here if they could, and they would fit right in.

Re: Champions/V&V Conversions The DNAgents Sourcebook had conversion notes for V&V to, I think, 3rd edition Champions. Doubt if any stores still have a copy but eBay may provide. The Different Worlds issue (30?) that featured the Teen Titans had them statted for V&V and Champions (and Superworld!) You could thumbnail a good conversion set from comparing stats. Again moderately tough to find but Ebay could work wonders.

Re: Goodbye Washington DC I'm gonna get Rapier's back about the economy. His first post stated clearly that we use the Incontrovertible Fiat monetary system (money has worth because we say it does, not backed by gold.) The value is completely dependant on the faith in the agency backing it. Try to imagine Catholics when they find out their priest has been up to funny business. Now try to imagine Catholics when the Finger of God reaches down and thumps Father Gilhooey a good one. There are only three schools of thought: God hates us all (empathizing with the padre,) Father Gilhooey warranted the thumping or God made a huge mistake. Any way erodes at a pillar of faith essential to keeping the roof from crashing down on our heads. Without maintaining a certain baseline faith a dollar is just paper. There is a reason why the value of money fluctuates and it's not tidal forces. Monetary transactions will freeze up where faith is scarce. Banks will close, markets won't open and accounts will be locked down. The Mom and Pop store might still take your coin but that will only happen if they have faith in you, not the government. Trying to restart the economy would be like rebooting Apollo 13. But anyway, in this event the East Coast power grid is toast. If you believe the company line one little switching station in Ohio put Detroit in the dark for days. DC is now off line and quite a bit of juice runs through there. There is a little bit of activity going on now in the Ionisphere so radio would be dicey and satellite relay would be hurting as well. Without some sort of atomic bomb-proof way of communicating out of the new Ground Zero, the populace is reliant on whatever they are told by whomever they are told by. Good thing there are unimpeachable news sources available to the US populace. On the East Coast the South would be severed from the North. You sure wouldn't want to fly over the bombsite and the closest safe major roadway is on the other side of the Appalachians. After this we may remain states but I doubt we would be United anymore. It's not hard to find a map to see how the country would split, and it's even color-coded red and blue. California and Texas are always one bad day from going their own way. There would be a new New England. I'm not saying that the country would never be united again but it would be a complete renegotiation and look quite different. Charismatic people would rise to the fore. Motivations would range from noble to vile. In a heroic world Superman might step up or the country may elect Luthor. A drowning person does not ask for references from the person throwing a rope. That whole greater DC region would become a No-Man's Land on a par with Gotham after the earthquake. If you are familiar with the New Universe from Marvel, they had to deal with repercussions of Pittsburgh essentially getting nuked and for the most part there were comic-logical aftereffects of the explosion. For a more realistic causality the Clancy books aren't bad. The rest of the world would justly treat the US like a wounded beast that has very sharp claws and teeth. Some would stay as far out of harm's way as they can (sadly our reach is long) and some would try to help and get hurt while doing so. The country would lash out with only a moderate amount of effort put into striking at the right target. Quickly, easily, accurately-pick any two. But this is comics, or comic-inspired gaming. What about the survivors of this radiation accident? What if the damage happens but the new super that crawls from the wreckage "scrubs" all the radiation away from the site? Millenium City on the Potomac anyone? Sadly comics has had similar events like this happen and it just leads to bad storylines. Topeka wasteland? Never dealt with. Coast City blues? Hardly a blip (but you can't get a bus ticket there anymore.) San Diego underwater? Not such a big deal. I would think long and hard before you pull the trigger on this one.

Re: My Player Betrayed Humanity. Now What? Do you run a Marvel, DC or Wildstorm world? Solutions come differently depending on this. If you have a Marvelish world then most of the hero teams are capital V vigilantes with fevered egos anyway. They are expected to act unilaterally every so often and moodiness is a prerequisite. The second batch of Avengers was mostly criminals (Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch) vouchsafed by Cap. You can commit a felony a day and still hang with the X-Men. You can conquer Manhattan and still be invited to tea at the Baxter Building. The Hulk was pardoned by Reagan. Known association with the Red Skull is not a stumbling block for success! I could easily see this character founding your world's Thunderbolts (misfits and criminals seeking redemption) or changing his name, costume and motif and continuing with the team. Marvelworld encourages character impetuousness handwaved by the GM. DC Country exalts its heroes but is merciless if they fail. All of the Big Guys are considered beyond reproach and have conspired together to maintain that perception, sometimes overtly and sometimes unconsciously. They don't accept new people or ideas easily and they prefer to clean their own house. Batman would update the Batcomputer to mark this character as a threat and a potential villain. Superman would give the character the chance to turn himself in, but insist that he is going to make good. If you play in DC Country then the character has painted himself into a corner. His only real option is to exit in a blaze of glory. Have him confronted with the callous methods of V'Han and have an epiphany. He could either spend the rest of his life fighting to free all the worlds and dimensions that have been conquered before (written out of the game) or sacrifice himself to save the world, witnessed by many and unmistakably the final act of a hero. Perfect Wildstorm allows the characters to drive the game and the GM just plays along. Continents are reshaped, oceans raised and lowered, governments overthrown and gods slain on a daily basis. Characters are unrestrained rockstars with fuzzy, situational ethics. It's Millarworld and you are just visiting. The Doctor is in and he wouldn't prescribe something without trying some (a lot) first. Jack Hawksmoor really does want to pave the world. If this is your inspiration then the character's only crime was embarassing the rest of the team. They'll have a talk, a drink and a smoke and file it away for future reference. He can't really be contrite or held responsible for his actions because he is vitally important for saving the world next week, and the week after. There is no higher authority to answer to because they are the highest authority. Comics don't help because every team has the misanthrope that should not be allowed to run free yet is the most popular character! When we try to simulate comics the brash loudmouthed character is just annoying. They hog too much screen time and the player gets upset when they don't get the accolades of their comic inspiration. There have been a scad of excellent suggestions offered for dealing with this player and friend (and there were my suggestions too!) but I would deal with the person first and give the character the attention that a piece of paper warrants.