BcAugust

Re: The Ultimate Tragedian? (Caution: Long, maybe better for posting under GD) Actually, she's playing the Beast as well, in a more literal sense. The whole not understanding humans nor caring to, throwing her lot in with Death/Destiny, becoming the Goddess of Nature. Artemis was supposed to be a lighter character then she turned out. Seriously, it was less willing to go into tragedy then... hmm, finding out it happened? Every step(Starting with the fact he rescued her first, I should note) happened naturally. In fact, I was expecting him to just be using her to get what he needed, then dumping her. But that was one of the dangers I expected when I made a character that wasn't social and didn't understand human society. It didn't turn out that way. The amusing thing is, the real tragedy isn't that they're on opposite sides(all of their friends, on both sides, approve the match.). It's that she loves a man who likely can't give up revenge, even for the woman he loves. Of course, it does fit the game as well... epic romance is a big part of what drives mythology and stories. The guys in our group are just slacking on their part. Actually, my tragic character was supposed to be Cyrande(she's posted elsewhere on this site). There was some... darker stuff in her background that wasn't public knowledge, that was supposed to come into game later. However, the game ended before we got anywhere near most of it.

Re: Question for female players of Champions Ah, did miss that it was multiple personalities... and since some people have misunderstood me, I'll clarify a couple of points. 1) step above sex kitten is a term in my group for what would be, say Lara Croft or Alias. A character that feels like someone took a male action hero down to the core, and slapped on a hot body and dressed skimpily. It actually does make more sense as a multiple personality(IE, she acts like an idealized version of a male action hero). 2) As to the Navojo hatband, I pointed it out because it is a major insult in Native culture(Hmm, the closest I could come in mainstream American culture would be a white person wearing a shirt with the n word). Admittedly, 99.99% of gamers would likely never notice, but it bugged me.

Re: Question for female players of Champions Hmm, my thoughts from running my characters, usually female(Yeah, I'm female). 1) Females tend to be more socially focused in general. How this works out in play... you likely have far more of a "network" then your male counterparts. Not even in the sense of allies, but just people she knows and hangs out with. The group is less likely to be "People I have a common goal with" and more "I work with them because I like them". If your character doesn't, why? Also, females tend to be more verbal. Which works both for talking down people... and hitting their weak spots in banter. Cutting remarks will be more common... and nastier. 2) "It's a man's world." Especially true for people with police or military ties. There's a good likelihood none of your character's superiors are female. While not as bad as it used to be, there should be an awareness that your character might be held up as an example, both good and bad. And that your behaviors are considered to be part of your sex's as a whole. For example, female correct deductions are more likely to be dismissed as "feminine intuition" then being intelligent or skilled. How does she deal with that? Becoming one of the boys? 3) Relationships/children: Trust me, your character has heard a ton about this subject. Especially if she's single. What's her angle on the whole thing? Does she want kids? Not now? Not ever? Or heck, even a relationship, what's her view on those? 4)Physical: No one likes to say this, so I will. Females tend to be, on average, weaker then men. Not only that, but a fair number of sports are geared for male bodies and strengths. However, females(again on average) tend to have more endurance and greater pain tolerance then guys. If your character breaks any of those above generalities, expect to have it come up in small ways, either surprise, disapproval or even respect.(Though really, that's more of a GM reminder, it can help you as well) On specifics 1) KOYOTIE: ... I'll be honest, if you brought this character to a game of mine, you'd be asked to rewrite. She reads like a step above the sex kitten stereotype. Or a male in female's clothing. I really can't suggest much to improve her that wouldn't send her into annoying drama territory. One thing might be to flesh out why she is the way she is... why does she like to play headgames with "the boys"? (Because yes, that is what she's doing with the "provocative clothing" line.) I'd actually remove that entirely, if it hasn't come up in play. Cause the rest reads like someone who doesn't like being stereotyped as a female... and is fighting to let everyone know she's just as good as a man. 2)MARY TOWER: Now, This is a beautiful character. As written, I can't suggest much... maybe have her have some form of backup against angry paranormals? 3) MERRIYA HIGHWOLF: Hmm, first comment, she will not be wearing a Navajo hatband unless she is Navajo. That would be... well, a major insult in the Native circles I've run in. Other then that... seems fine, if a little dry on personality. You might want to flesh her out a bit more, especially relationship wise and personality. 4)MICHELLE TAHU: There is... well, not enough detail, really. I can't give you anything until I had heard more. ...Well, that was a bit harsher then I expected it to be early on, but I hope it helps.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Running an Adventure game(Same as before) Note, the lady(Li Hastings) is a mentalist for the other side they've taken prisoner. Raijin: "Something's come up for me. I'll be in touch to facilitate what I've mentioned. In the interim.." *points his staff at Hastings* "Don't enslave anyone or give them reason to kill you" *points to Drake* "Don't be enslaved or pester the lady about things she knows nothing about" *points to Pai Li* "Don't kill the lady."

Re: WWYCD: the times of peace are upon us Cyrande: Work on uplifting Earth, dealing with politicians and figuring out Earth culture to. Maybe be a bit busy with romantic entanglements. Artemis: Well, given that for such, her love(Master General on the opposite side... yeah, it's awkward) would either be a. dead or b. convinced that Thera doesn't need to die, she'd either be married to him, and hopefully pregnant as she works toward melding more with Nature... or mourning, working with the Winter King to increase her powers and perception, and only dealing with her other friends on a "The world is ending" basis. Nox(Just got a chance, to play her in another game): Well, given what her usual haunts are, is likely to keep working on just making a positive influence and dealing with demons and the like who want to slip through. Really, she has enough to keep her busy for centuries.. hmm, maybe she should accept that immortality.. ah, something else to consider.

Re: Superheroes as firemen rather than cops? Heh, I've got one character with Healing(others), but given her time period and setting(Ancient times, she's considered a Goddess), she doesn't get hassled for it, especially as her main power is as a Brick/Scout.(Shapeshifter) And Healing is expensive in terms of power. And that's one reason I've avoided it in my other characters. Crown Princess Cyrande could have healed others, but it never really would have occurred to her. Other then that, it is way too complicated to fit in most games, unless you want to make the game about the impact of superpowers on the world. Now, I do have one character that doesn't mind doing that, she just couldn't deal with fires that well.(Shadow Controller) But she didn't have any trouble being med-vac and tended to be very much "standing in the way of harm" for normal people.

Re: Evil Counterparts While none of my players have met their evil duplicates yet(Was setting it up just before game went on hiatus), several of the groups I've played in have done such. For New Sentinels, it was just a mental exercise "Mirror Sentinels", which was actually closest to a Justice Lords idea. Less evil then facing a twisted versions of each of our ideals. For Aegis(From which I'm playing a more mature version of Nox later this week), we ran into a more experienced evil Nox, which got trashed by our team, but was a valid threat. More then that, it let us know there was a problem with Nox, which would have been a fun storyline if the game hadn't gotten canceled. Ancient Aberrant: We haven't run into such, even though we've certainly ran into characters that have "evil" aspects of ourselves.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From my new pulp game. Starting with a street brawl, of course. Dr. Malcolm Drake: Damn it! It's bad enough having to get attacked by bandits and thugs out in the field. Now I've got to deal with gangs while shopping! Oh, why do I always have to be the Good Samaritan? After a seriously impressive destroying of five thugs in less then two seconds by another PC. Pai Li Damn, that man is good. He fights almost as well as mom does. . . Later on Dr. Malcolm Drake: Reminds me of that ruin Borneo, except without the dust and beetles. In Borneo

Re: WWYCS: "Why Shouldn't I Kill Him?" To note, Ghost Rider doesn't kill unless the person is a supernatural evil(aka, demons or vampires). Nox: "It is not your place or duty to determine if another soul can redeem. Even the darkest of human souls can see the light, if they are not dead. Let me take him in, for otherwise I will stop you. As for the justice system." A dry grin. "They will take care of him, or they will face justice themselves. But true justice, not that of a killer in a back alley."

Re: WWYCD: We hope you're feeling better now Hmm, surprisingly, two of my characters could have this happen. Nox: This one would be terrifying to her, not because she's not a hero... but because she would lose all of her friends. Then again, once she got out she'd look up Peregrine and Diomedes. We've had experience with time travel and alt worlds, and if Sherry can convince them.... plus, someone else getting Shadowstrike is bad. Artemis: While in ancient times, Artemis is a peasant girl who suddenly knows Chinese, the Americas, how space is, and the inner workings of both Thera, oracles and time travel... worst scenario, her parents fled with her into Herculiade lands, she got picked up by her father, who... well, if he believes she's touched by the gods, would likely imprison her up north in the Black Forest. And without her powers, she can't get out, though she likely could convince someone that she does remember this other "life"... which would likely end with her mindwhacked into following Grendel(enemy general, and all around evil guy) and telling him everything she knows, which would be bad. Somewhat scenario, her parents fled with her into Fianna lands, they investigate when the "other" Artemis becomes big, Artemis gets sent to the Western Fianna who have people who know her and can vouch her memories are real, especially since they have mind healers and oracles who can tell. Artemis is then, depending on what's going on, either sent back to her proper place in time, held hostage until the shapeshifter taking her place is through, or is seconded to one of her friends in the Fianna when her powers reawaken. Best scenario She was taken into Theran lands, she uses her knowledge to go and talk to Hermes and Quetz, who can verify her story(Quetz has telepathy. Even if it was "crazy", I shouldn't have any of that information or memories). Then, we'd figure out what was going on, likely time travelness, then try and fix it. Then again, Artemis has a lot of people to turn to. It's just going to be damn hard without her powers, and she'd likely hurt herself a fair bit trying to get to those people. (Had her powers since she was thirteen, and has an amnesia about her life before that. It's a story point.)

Re: Historical Nexus Points Actually, if you're going for "near incomprehensible" changes, try removing one or two people from ancient China, both widely acknowledged as genius ahead of their time and both lived around the same time. Who? Confucius and Lao Tsu, author of the Tao te ching. Without Confucianism's emphasis on raising scholars up, and the Tao's placement of soldiers on the bottom rung of society, China would likely have ended up even more of a Warring State, divided amongst itself. Plus, the whole Asian rim would have changed without China there to be an example. Then again, I have no idea what the world would look like from that. India dominant? After all, if the Mongols didn't keep breaking against China, I imagine they might have taken over Europe a few centuries earlier, breaking Rome and returning Europe to squabbling pagan states.

Re: Richest Man in the World Disease You know, I've never played a character with Wealth on the sheet, and only one capable of getting it. And yeah, the in character parts of the game can be a lot of fun, especially dealing with various class assumptions. I seem to remember an WWYCD that dealt with what your character's life would be like without powers. Admittedly, your attitude in this thread has been... offputting to myself at least. But my advice remains the same. What do your players say?

Re: Richest Man in the World Disease You know, it half sounds like your players and you have a basic disconnect. I mean, do they all have reasons to have wealth? Was it just that you made it make more sense for them in game to? Or wasn't really watching what they were spending on it, then found it effected your games more then you thought? Would there be a problem with sitting down with your group and saying "Guys, I'm not enjoying having everyone being super rich. How can we change this?"

Re: Richest Man in the World Disease Hmm, and my group is pretty much at the opposite end. We've had two characters in the Sentinels group buy Wealth(Sun god and Mutant son of Franklin Stone), one in Aegis(Peregrine), and one in my current Ancient campaign(Prince). Note none of the above are my characters, who for various reasons didn't have Wealth. The question is... do you treat people without Wealth as destitute? That will get most people buying it just to avoid the hassles you might be dumping on them, or like David said, giving too much to the Wealthy people.

Re: Munchkin check? Okay... First things that struck me is the misuse of Restrainable and Extra Time. He has that on nearly all his powers, even though he can't be restrained by Entangles or Grabs. In fact, they don't even qualify for IIF, if they require surgery to remove. Plus, with the extra time on everything... either he's going to get very frustrated with being taken out before his powers start, or you're going to have them up all the time. A turn is a very long time to be without a fair deal of his powers. And I'm not even touching the Analysis and Response Systems. Do you often have games where you know twenty minutes ahead of time you're fighting? Also, why is he selling back Ego and then buying mental defense? On the skills in the multipower... why is Seduction in there? Makes no sense as regards theme or sfx. And given most of them take time anyway, I'd disallow the limitations... in fact, I'd just insist he buy them straight, and take a Disadvantage for all his implant powers (Dispelled by EMP or the like.).

Re: Running jokes in your campaign Heh, do you have a copy of that form? It sounds useful.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Hmm, as the player has the habit of coming up with totally out of the blue comments that are yet appropriate to the situation and world. And a few other amusing tidbits. So, a few I've been saving up. Agent Spencer: "By the way, you would both be happy to know that comics have become much better since we busted the circle of Nephandi infesting both companies three years ago." Suzie raises her hand 'I wanna go help Luoch stab the Antedeluvian with the rock.' Luoch: "I'm crazy, not suidical." Agent Spencer: "The difference between the two is a matter of debate within the Ivory Tower." Suzie: 'You guys actually call it the New World Order? Do they take your sense of boredom out and store it in a little jar?' Agent Spencer: "That would be a superstitionist technique. We control our sense of boredom in our own minds, the natural way." Agent Spencer:I guess the Syndicate has forgiven me finally. Not my fault the nephandic werewolves decided to run through a board room. . .

Re: Confessions of an Online GM Bunny, it looks like you're doing great. I'm sorry for having to drop out, but well... real life is rarely neat.

Re: WWYCD: Arrested for TERRORISM!! Ooohh. That gives me ideas. And I think it was national in that game, meta. After all, we were working with the Silver Avenger. And reasons like this are why Nox has a public ID(only character I could see having a secret ID in the first place). Anything that gets the cops off her back is welcome(Hey, distinctive feature of "Creepy, usually mistaken for a villain" does cause some changes.)

Re: How does a world die? Actually, there's some evidence super volcanoes can throw that kind of junk up into the air. But then, you're talking more like Yellowstone x3, or the kind of long term building of the Himalayan mountains(Which if I recall correctly, happened fairly fast over geological time). If you want a supervillian way, perhaps actually tearing a continental plate? Of course, for all of this, I actually tend to look at http://www.exitmundi.nl Which I guarantee that will come up with some things you've never even thought of.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From my game last night Suzie Jones:"Just for the record, if you try to upload streaming video of the Crucifixion to Youtube, I am setting your pants on fire." Luoch: "I wasn't even in the area when that may or may not have happened." Suzie: "Says the crosstime autograph hound who dances to Hare Krishna. Go on." Likely much funnier without context.

Re: (best ever)...reasons for becoming a supervillain! "People need the truth. What worth are ideals if the person can't stand to have them tested? And I must admit, I'm perfect for that task. Better that they break now then have their imperfections infect others. And those that do succeed? Ah, those I take special care of. It's such a pity that their fellows tend to kill them, isn't it?"

Re: (best ever)...reasons for becoming a supervillain! "Humans deny themselves as a part of Nature. They seek to pull themselves outside such, outside what I am. They declare themselves masters, pull themselves out of the cycles that all obey. And in doing so, kill the Earth to try and claim it. So, if they will not listen, I will uphold the screams of the earth. I would be famine to their fields, predator to their children and elders, the disease that thins their ranks. It simply must be."

Re: (worst ever)...reasons to be a supervillain Um, how is this worst? (Worked two years in Walmart customer service...)

Re: Who are the top 5 most powerful characters in your Campaign. In vague terms, given the party hasn't really run into them. And yes, all but ones are the enemies of such. Oh, and no particular order, either. 1) The spreading darkness- Before this world, there was another. Before the Worm, there was corruption. Do you think the division of time lines was a mistake? It was the only way that those who watch could keep it from reforming. But now, some poor fool has given it focus. Some poor fool who searches each place for the pieces of it's body that will let it become a little more solid. And devour each world into everlasting corruption. 2) Order of the Eye- Now, say you knew the above. Oh, not all the details, just enough to know what the poor fool is and that he can't come in without having that hold. Now tell me, would genocide be enough? If it was to save your world? Or would you have to go further, that the others can't stop you like they did last time? After all, after you're done, everyone will understand why. 3) Lords of Chaos- What is in a name? Power, a hold, a promise. Curse those who follow the outer dark, for giving such. Curse them, for all they've tried before, we took that hold to bind them from the light. But the Nerphandi have named better this time, to prevent that. Can the world face them unbound by light? 4) Antediluvians- The Grandchildren of Cain. Power beyond most mortal dreams, plans that span millienia. The end of such comes. 5) ???- What would you sacrifice to let the world keep going? Your name, your life, your chance of ever having love or friends? And if you did, would you say anything?