Half Baked

Re: Help with a concept I think you just have to ask what Paris Hilton would have done if she decided to fight crime as a teenager. What I think you'll get out of that approach is she definitely would not have worn a costume

Re: Writing a good character origin Ghost-Angel has hit the nail on the head for me. As a GM I like the character background to be written and finalised before I even see any of the game system numbers. The focus being who they are as a person and how they came to the point of becoming a hero. After I'm satisfied with the background we then start work on the disadvantages before any other detail of the character numbercrunch. All the disadvantages should derive naturally from the character background and if they don't it is back to the drawing board. It is a very time consuming method, but it does, in my experience, produce better characters. It also weeds out some munchkins as a benefit

Re: Gestalt - An awful thought Just make sure they never forget that they might stop the Village People, but: YOU CAN'T STOP THE MUSIC, NOBODY CAN STOP THE MUSIC

Re: Realism vs cynicism The world's reactions to superhumans I'm not disagreeing with you that governments would try to take steps to control or co-opt superpowers no matter whether they are benevolent or not. I was arguing that extreme "Iron Age" comics tend to present authority figures as evil and then use it to justify the more extreme actions of the "heroes" of the comic.

Re: Realism vs cynicism The world's reactions to superhumans I think there is something in what you say and government reactions will be about fear and power. They will be fear them and try to co-opt their power for the state and/or themselves. However, the extreme comics tends to start with a very distorted view of the world that is then used to explain extreme reactions later. Not every politician, bureaucrat or business leader is corrupt and evil. It is unlikely the establishment is consistently engaged in wicked conspiracies to keep everyone else poor and oppressed. My problem isn't with the idea that governments would fear and attempt to co-opt superpowers for their own devices, but with the sloppy, lazy and self-indulgent assumptions about the world and how it works or doesn't work. The more extreme those assumptions then the more extreme the piece of "Iron Age" fiction that tends to get written.

Re: Realism vs cynicism The world's reactions to superhumans

Re: 'Divine' Characters I can see no reason why a character would have to worship a god or pantheon because they are the source of their powers. The character might not believe in the divine power, but it may believe in them . There are a couple of provisos. Firstly, the god in question may expect worship in return for power. This is dependent on the god/pantheon in question and largely a question for the GM. I'd feel it should be discussed with the player before hand to make sure everyone is with the situation and any complications that may result from it. Secondly, even if worship isn't required the god/pantheon is going to take an interest in the character.

Re: Gestalt is Online I've purchased it and have been very impressed with it so far:)

Re: Grandiose Schemes Sounds like someone has already kidnapped one of them to take them down from the G8 to G7

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. You should try be a Carlton supporter

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. Australia is not called the 'Lucky Country' by its inhabitants just because of the weather It is difficult to watch a match in the UK too, but as my team has been in the doldrums in the six years since I left Australia it is not a completely bad thing

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. There is Australian Rules Football and then the second raters like: Rugby Union Rugby League Gaellic American Soccer

Re: Character: Socially Conscious Man! Socially Conscious Man rocks. I hope he seems himself as just one socially conscious individual, rather than the only socially conscious man. I am sure he does as SCM would fully understand that others are also striving to be socially conscious. In fact, would not Socially Conscious Man have positive and encouraging thoughts about others striving to be socially conscious

Re: Muppet Champions You could also do a journey to that strange and sick alternate Muppetworld of the Feebles .

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See?

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? Unfortunately this was entirely the sort of thing I was hoping to avoid It's amusing, but the character is still built upon a feminine archetype cliche.

Re: VILLAINS, VANDALS, AND VERMIN -- What Would *You* Like To See? I'd like to see a female master villain (Mistress Villainess???) with real depth and character who is a both a schemer and a physical threat like Dr Destroyer. One who isn't aloof from the world and the PC's like Istvatha V'han and isn't a spoilt girl with superpowers cliche like Gravitar. A woman with power, drive and ambition who isn't a one dimensional personality straight from the adolescent schoolboy's clichebook. One who might say: "When the major newstory of today is how difficult it is for the modern woman to juggle the demands of work, family and a social life I consider it my moral obligation to conquer this nation of corrupt fools! When I can manipulate world governments, juggle a thousand plots and still find the time to destroy this band of taudry superheroes I am doing you a favour you should all be grateful for! Instead of: "I had nothing to wear so I thought I'd do a quick smash and grab shopping trip down Rodeo Drive!"

Re: Superpowered Worlds One of the more persuasive theories about the development of civilization is that food production is a fundamental driver. The theory goes that as large game became more scarce in some parts of the world around 10,000 BCE humans were forced to supplement their hunter/gathering existence by producing their own food. That is, by domesticating grains (wheat, barley, etc) and large animals (Cattle, sheep, goats, horses and pigs). Those groups that learnt those skills became more sedentary and could produce a food surplus that permitted the development of specialisation and urban centres. Human communities with greater food production could then compete better against those without. With specialised warriors, better technology from specialised craftspeople and a much greater population they had the tools and resources to displace other communities through violence or outbreeding. Rival communities had to either adopt food production and its associated technologies or face destruction. Only geographic obstacles such as physical barriers (oceans, desert, mountains) or climate/soil unsuitable for food production would protect hunter/gatherer communities. This theory could be used to explain a super-strong race being more advanced than our own. Going back to first premise that food production came about due the scarcity of large game to hunt. There are two theories as to why that occurred. The first is due to climatic change and the end of the Ice Age and the other is that they were hunted to extinction by newly arrived humans. The second is probably the more credible given that most large animal species had survived numerous ice ages and it cannot be complete coincidence that many became extinct in places shortly after mankind arrived. If we accept this theory and add super-strong humans. This super-strength would be of great benefit in hunting and they would more quickly reach a point where they had hunted most large protein sources to extinction and would be looking for alternatives. To survive they would discover food production earlier. That leads to earlier specilisation and perhaps a more advance civilization. The super-strength could lead to even more specialisation as fewer are needed to produce food and other essentials. It is an interesting argument as long as you accept the underlying assumptions. If you think the Wooly Mammoth died out due to the end of the ice age rather than being hunted to extinction by man then it is much less persuasive.

Re: WWYCD: Egg-olution! No longer, I'm ova this thread

Re: WWYCD: Egg-olution! Be careful, you'll only egg him on

Re: WWYCD: Egg-olution! This just CRACKS me up:D

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

Re: Champions Universe without the Crowns of Krimm The only credible way I could think of is through corruption and deceit. Maybe a member/s of the heavenly host who guards the Crowns of Krimm is tempted by the thought of that power. It has happened before and who can say it won't happen again. They steal the crowns and are cast out to earth. Perhaps a Loki type character sneaks into to heaven to steal them or corrupts another to do so. Maybe they are allowed to be stolen as a test of some sort. We are talking about a God who gives Adam and Eve paradise, but puts a tree in it and tells them not to eat the fruit. If you don't want them to eat the fruit put the tree somewhere else! God definitely has form for testing his followers Personally I wouldn't bother just to get the Crowns of Krimm back into circulation. Evil magically items are a dime a dozen in stories and legends, just use a different a one to provide the magical threat.

Re: Algernon Files 2.0 previews Are there any plans to release a Hero Designer pack of the characters? That would be something I'd be interested in buying.

Re: Algernon Files 2.0 previews