Half Baked

Re: WWYCD: Drumstick or Wing of Mutant? Clearly one cannot interfere with another's culture and we must let them carry out their tradition. It will be a salutory lesson to the mutant youth of today of the importance of traditional values

Re: Hyper Agility Powers... Hyper Agility includes hand AND eye coordination. Enhanced perception and other sight related powers might be applicable.

I am looking for another player for my Iron Age Champions game set in Hudson City. The game is a bulletin board game on http://www.rpol.net/ The heroes (or anti-heroes) are amongst the first known superheroes in the gameworld. A year ago they were kidnapped and tortured by unknown tormentors until they displayed superpowers of some nature. Then in an orgy of destruction the Harbringer of Justice freed them. Perhaps more accurately, they escaped while he had more important targets in his gunsites I am looking for someone to play a female character to balance the group out a bit. You can find the game here: http://www.rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=20628&gn=Hudson+City+(Champions)+-+Mature&date=1163371225 It is called Hudson City (Champions) - Mature and can be found in the Adult section. Unfortunately, due to RPOL rules regarding games with extreme violence it has to go in Adult until they eventually activate the Mature flag function. That means any applicants must be over 18 and check out the rules regarding adult and mature games. If you are interested please read over the Character Construction rules carefully, as it is not the usual construction rules. The friendly GM is providing the first 75 points of superpowers based on player descriptions. If you want to check out my other 4 colour game for quality control please look here: http://www.rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=17738&gn=Freedom+City+(Champions)&date=1163360527 You can express your interest either by Requesting Access to the game or PMing me on this site. Thanks, Half Baked

Re: Super Teams Compete! Only if you assume publicity, money, hero worship etc are what motivates heroes. If they are trying to make a difference maybe they would think they could not do that in a mega-team. The money, publicity and technology of big centres is more likely to attract self-serving villains. The increase in supercrimes might then attract your heroes who want to make a difference.

Does the -3 penalty for moving up the Time Chart with a skill roll apply to any complementary skills as well? For example, if a PC is making an Electronics roll to fix a piece of equipment in 1 minute instead of 5 minutes and the GM has permitted SS: Computer Science as a complementary roll. The PC is at -3 to Electronics for doing the job quicker, but is their SS: Computer Science skill at the same penalty?

Re: Need some Scandinavian Villains ! A PC has a Norse themed heroine called Valkyrie in a PBEM campaign I am running. She has a hunted called the Norns from norse mythology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norns I have settled on exactly what the Norns are in my campaign except that they have some strong connection to dark nordic magic. There is a duality with the Norns (and other mythological counterparts) that makes it easy for them to take on the roles as villains or at least act in opposition to the heroes. Their role as the weavers of fate make them excellent behind the scenes manipulators of hero's lives. I am quite excited about introducing them to the campaign and grateful for the player's suggestion of the Norns as hunteds:)

Re: Combat in PBEM I pretty much use the full rules, but have found a few things help: 1. Have the players give instructions for their characters with several options. Particularly important with held actions or if they are not sure what they can perceive. 2. Have an understanding with your players that you might re-interprete their actions in light of misunderstandings to avoid having to stop the game and get clarification. Be fair, never disadvantage your players and explain your decision when you do this. 3. Don't wait on DEX order in a phase to declare and resolve actions. Let all players declare their actions and then resolve them, using artistic licence to make sure they mesh well together. This is where 1 & 2 come in when two PC's target the same opponent and the first one you resolve KO's them. 4. Try and provide clear descriptions of the battlefield to avoid wasting time on questions clarifying the situation for a PC. Maps are more useful here than in a tabletop situation. I use powerpoint files with the basic map jpeg/bmp file as the background to the page. Then the PCs and NPCs are autoshapes that can be easily dragged around the map. It is really quick and easy to update the map and email it out to the players. 5. Make sure the combat is fun, engaging and entertaining for spectators. Players are often spectators while they wait for their phase to come around or recover from being knocked out and as long as they are still be entertained they will not get too bored. That's about all I can think of for now:)

Re: CHAMPIONS UNIVERSE II - What Do You Want To See? If there were to be updates to the Champions or new super teams included I would love to see more of an emphasis on the team history and the character history to give them legacies. These legacies can then be used by GM's and PC's to develop their characters, giving the NPC team some real purpose in a game. What if the Champions had a previous member called Seeker (just picking a name off the top of my head you understand )? A PC might have been trained by the retired super and has taken the name Seeker. They might also inherit any enemies or rivalries from the legacy. IMO it would give the Champions Universe a real sense of being alive and real that I feel lacks in the current incarnation.

Re: Combat Precognition I built a character with something similar once and went with lots of DCV levels and a 5" Teleport linked to a Martial Arts Dodge (-0 disadvantage) called "I knew that was coming!" They had a Required Skill Roll (Tactics). The teleport power was also limited to "Cannot Pass through barriers." It was meant to represent the character knowing the attack was coming and casually moving out of the way at the last moment. Teleport was just a power to encompassing running or leaping out of the way. He did not actually disappear. The character only had SPD 4, but also had +4 SPD (Only for Defensive Actions). He was largely a defensive orientated martial artist who over time could deliver a killer blow to finish off an opponent. Your character might be more offensively orientated so you could also add some extra damage for primary attacks with Required Skill Roll (Tactics). Basically you perceive how your opponent might move or react and use it to time the perfect punch and it looks like they walked right into it. There are lots of team helpful powers too: Watch out for his left hook: Extra DCV that is useable by others as you warn them of incoming attacks Hit him right there and right now: A Suppress PD/ED that works by pointing out vulnerability in an opponent's defenses. You know that if he moves this way it leaves a chink in his armour right there. Forewarned is forearmed my friend: Extra SPD that is useable by others if you can warn them how their opponent might react and give them the edge in the coming fight. I hope that helps:)

Re: Stupid Speedster Trick For what it is worth, probably not. Again, there is a better build to simulate the effect of the move as Lethosos suggests. For me you are starting the wrong way around with this. I prefer to start with the SFX of a power and build the power that is the best fit for it, rather than select a power or manuveur and justify why it fits with your character's SFX. You seem to be trying to find complicated justifications for Choke Hold. If you want to take Choke Hold, take a Choke Hold manuveur. There are plenty of simple justifications for a character to have a simple martial arts manuveur. I know you will say that it is no different to Rapid Fire Punch as it might be a more proper build as a HTH attack with autofire. There is a world of difference. It is still a punch where you stand adjacent to your opponent and punch him. With the Vortex power there are plenty of problems: 1. It can be stopped if speedster cannot run around target which is not part of Choke Hold. 2. Physical grab not actually involved to restrain target. 3. STR not involved so how does STR v STR escape work. The force restraining the target is based on the speed of the spinning. Is it just assumed the spin is the same force as speedster's STR? If speedster is subject of STR drain how does that effect the STR v STR? 4. Speedster doesn't end the phase grabbing target. All of these require some handwaving or large assumptions. Rapid Fire Punch solution does not create problems of the same magnitude. I see the problems as follows: 1. Autofire requires END for each punch. That is not quite true. The END for STR is only paid for once per phase, no matter what the STR is used for. 2. The damage is larger and only applied once against defences instead of multiple times at a smaller level. I can live with that fudge if it saves on dice rolling and makes play run smoother. All in all, I can live with that fudge for Rapid Fire Punch. For me, using MA manuevers for powers depends on SFX and how far the actual difference between the two constructs are based on the SFX.

Re: Stupid Speedster Trick I'd allow it because the speedster's fist actually connects with his opponent. He is still directly attacking their target in a manner that is easy to see as a martial arts attack. That's my opinion anyway!

Re: Stupid Speedster Trick In 24 hrs since I posted the discussion has moved on quite a bit and the GM is permitted it anyway so I won't bother picking up on some of my previous points. One thing drew my attention: Very true and one of the primary reasons I wouldn't permit the trick as a MA is for that very reason. Martial Arts are a kludge that to my eyes lack the internal consistency and elegance of the rest of the Hero System tookkit. I don't want to make them any kludgier (is that a word?) or wonkier by stretching SFX and descriptions of manuevers to do so

Re: Stupid Speedster Trick

Re: Stupid Speedster Trick Do you mean Choke Hold as in the martial arts manuever or as a description of a NND power that might be a slot in a multipower. I have allowed an NND power of that SFX as part of a multipower. Not so sure about it as a justification for a MA move.

Re: Speedster Tactics Sweet move, but you might want to rename Nighthawk to NightKITE

Re: Need a name for.. FURIES as in: Fast Ultimate Response In Extreme Situations Might be better as a villain organisation though.

Re: Speedster Tactics Do I know that GM I would go against some of the prevailing wisdom, or rather the interpretation of it. Setting the adjenda is important as a speedster, but you do that best by holding your actions IMO. It's counter intuitive in some ways, but works. Most important is staying conscious and a speedster who has already acted in a segment can be a sitting duck to attacks that don't care about DCV. You can then abort to deal with any attack you consider dangerous. Don't forget that with 35 DEX you have a good chance of winning any rolls to act first in effective DEX is the same. That is a very powerful weapon as knockback or a throw will probably invalidate their action. Also remember that by holding an action until late in a segment you can have two actions one after another (eg DEX 5 in segment 2 and DEX 35 in segment 3) Personally I think that speedsters are potentially one of the best team players in the game. With Passing Throw or Grab By they can set up their slower moving teammates with half-DCV opponents they can pummel into unconsciousness with a haymaker. They have high SPD so they can do so for several teammates at a time. That makes everybody your friend even if you can act when they can't

Hi Steve, I have a problem that I cannot find an answer to in the FAQs. How does a power with Area of Effect and Damage Shield (Offensive) work? Is it triggered by someone moving into the area? When the person with the damage shield moves, does anybody who is now within its area get affected by the power? Thanks, Half Baked

Re: Critique My Metamorph I'd agree with the other posters about character being a little underpowered offensively and defenses being a little low, although they might be okay for the campaign. A couple of practical suggestions: 1. Put the Stretching and Damage Reduction in an EC if the GM allows and add Non-Persistent and/or Costs END to Activate to the Damage Reduction powers. This will save a few points and you can add some Armour through the EC with the same limitations. This opens up its own problems. It ties all those powers together so a Drain/Suppress on one will effect the others and it presumes the Rubbery Body is not permanent, but an effect the character must establish. That is, turns off if Stunned or Unconscious. If you and the GM are happy with that then go for it. 2. Change Wraparound from an Entangle with limitations to Extra STR that can only be used for Grabs and Escapes (maybe squeeze too). I have always thought the USPD use of Entangle for a power that envolves the wrapping around of the attackers own body as inelegant. When you think about it, it is just a Grab. The elastic/rubbery powers give extra STR to the grab and that is your power. The Extra Limb powers means you can use your stretched body for the grab instead of arms. This should give your character a little more offensive power if the Extra STR can be used to squeeze too for additional damage.

Re: How to do this Celtic myth power? I'd go with lots of Luck (Only when in place he is residing, -1 to -2) as it models fate/destiny more accurately. Such prophecies about a person are common in myths and legends and they are not about being able to survive infinite amounts of damage. Rather, the character somehow avoids dying for any number of reasons. Maybe they miraculously dodge the fatal blow. Perhaps a god actually intervenes. However, they are almost always a double edged sword. The character rarely benefits from their geas. Their beloved may leap in the way of the fatal blow. The house maybe blown away by a terrible storm, leaving them vulnerable. The geas does not have to be a good thing and rarely is. You might want to add the Side Effects limitation to model all the terrible things that might happen to ensure the geas remains true ;-)

Re: GM Question: How to torture, errrr, 'improve' PC's over a campaign. Your example is the best way I have found of making non-Combat skills and abilities important and one I have used on more than one occasion. Another thing to add in is features of the terrain/setting that would be beneficial in a super battle if only the superhero knew about. Perhaps someone with Area Knowledge will know their is a theatre next door with all manner of levers, ropes and counterweights to use to slow down or entangle their opponent if only they could lure him into the building.

Re: What should I get? I'm running a campaign in Millennium City too. If I had to choose one of those books it would definitely be CKC. The Dr Destroyer write will be useful and it is great to have a selection of pre-generated villains for any occassion. Just remember that superheroes only think they are going after Dr Destroyer. In truth they are just furthering HIS goals until he has no further need for them As you already have Millennium City and can probably get by without Champions Universe. It would be my next purchase though as I enjoy setting books. I don't own the Ultimate Vehicle and can't think of a good reason to. The vehicle rules in FRED are enough to get by unless your players are REALLY into their vehicles. I find that Viper: Coils of the Serpent has enough examples of vehicles to work from. Unless you really want to delve in UNTIL I wouldn't worry about Until: Defenders of Freedom. It's a good sourcebook, but if UNTIL only has a bit part then it is just another agent organisation. Use the Viper agent builds from Viper: Coils of the Serpent and change their descriptions. Unless you have a good reason to get a specific book then I think you will get most use from CKC.

Re: How to motivate friends...? Yeah, some people are really sensitive about the vicious truths of their pets More seriously, go with the lots of fun, one shot adventure with prefabbed characters.

Re: Teleios: The origin story An apt analogy, but if you don't care about Europe and are totally driven by the belief in a better world then the solution is viable. Why should Captain Chronos care about the same things you or I does? He is driven by his own extreme goals and what he will or won't do shouldn't be judged by what you think is right or wrong. He's not moral or ethical, he is driven. It's why he is a considered a villain, not a hero.

Re: Teleios: The origin story Who knows, maybe it had to be Teleios to save Captain Chronos's future. Captain Chronos is not interested in morals but "to prevent the collapse of the time-stream and save all reality." Maybe he creates the butterfly that saves the time-stream