Mavnn

_Blink_

It's Blackbird. On the HERO boards.

_Blink_

Hmm... wasn't expecting that one. Cool website you've got, BTW, don't think I ever got round to telling you. And nice job on Thrash. Hell, I even use Elaine as my wallpaper at home .

Sorry for this off topic diversion...

Michael

Don't know if they're still around, but if they're not I might have to look for some of these as OOP books. I always find it both scary and fascinating when I have what I consider a great, really unusual idea and then find out someone else is already working with it...

Makes me wonder if my idea was triggered by about something like this, rather than being as original as I thought. While imitation is the highest form of flattery, it's somewhat embarrising to do it by accident.

Michael

Standard effect so that you get a guaranteed 4 successes?

(I might allow that as a GM - would have to think through ramifications first, tho)

Sounds like it might not be a bad way of looking at it.

Michael

I think our local Lord is on to something here. It's very GM permission, but you could EDM back to the previous phase, smack your ally with a usable as attack at range naked advantage (2 shot autofire) MPAed with a +2 OCV (so that the second autofire shot always hits). Of course, this doesn't work very well on duplicating AF attacks. Hmm...

Michael

Originally posted by Acroyear

All DCs do 1 BDY & 3 STN (KA's do 3 BDY per die plus multiplier). It's a little below the actual average, but it cuts out rounding for those odd DCs.

 

For every +1 you hit by, you can adjust your hit location by 1 pip. Hit by 3 and rolled a 9 (shoulder)? You can bump it to 12 (gut) or 6 (hand). This will provide the variance to damage and still account for the better you hit by, the better you hit (or worse you hit, if desired). Hit even on and you play it where it lands. Remember, this group is already used to using the hit loc chart so this isn't added rolling for them.

 

There's still a reason to call shots if you like that stuff (because unless you hit by a lot, you aren't going to bump a foot shot to the chest), it works for autofires, and AE's don't use hit loc, anyway, so it's just flat damage.

 

Whatcha think?

This sounds pretty good to me, especially for Heroic games where I try to emphasise skill levels much more. After all, you can't trade DCs for skill when your DCs come from equipment ...

If I was going to do this, I might even disallow called shots - you can just try and move the hit towards the location you wanted. Maybe even declare a number you're aiming for before the shot, and the modifier automatically works in that direction.

Michael

Re: Book of New Sun and Horseclans

Originally posted by allen

I had heard/read that GURPS had sourcebooks for Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun and Rober Adams' Horseclans. Does anyone have these, and if so, any thoughts/impressions?

Don't have Horseclans (want it though - it's been out of print for a long time), but the New Sun book was well done and fairly comprehensive. Only problem is, while I like like GURPS for some types of games (realistic gritty games, mainly), I don't rate it as flexible enough to deal with the setting. A definate convert to HERO moment .

Michael

As posted earlier, you cannot combine powers in two frameworks. Can you, however, build partially limited Power Frameworks?

Thanks,

Michael

Originally posted by Keneton

Acroyear did a great character for you.

Ultimate Block +3/+0 Block, Abort 4pts.

Just as a quick note - this is a great maneuver in one-on-one duels - but suffers against multiple opponents where the 'passive' DCV boost of a Martial Block can be very useful.

Missile Deflection vs. Thrown is quite cheap, and you can also add bonuses from Martial Blocking maneuvers to it, meaning you shouldn't have to buy many levels with it to make it effective.

As a completely alternative character building idea, it might be worth considering a +1-3d6 HA and a few more CSLs instead of martial maneuvers. I find in heroic games this can be as cheap or cheaper than actual martial arts and gives a bit more flexibility in CVs. Of course, it leaves you a very 'hard' martial art with none of the funky 'Opponent Falls' maneuvers or bonus strength to grabs and escapes.

For example, keeping the stats above you could replace the Martial Maneuvers and CSLs with:

+2d6 HA (10ap, 7rp)

+1 w/Block

+4 w/Block, Dodge, Strike

Something your GM might consider cheese (so might I, I only just thought of it and haven't really decided):

'Martial Prowess': +10 STR, No figured chars (-1/2)

+1 w/Block

+4 w/Block, Dodge, Strike

This does give you the bonuses to grab and escape. Hmm... not sure if I'd allow it, though .

It depends a bit on your preferences...

Michael

I'd be interested if you remember the author of these. I've never heard of them and it would be fun to see what other people did with similar ideas. I might have to have a look at the shattered world background mentioned above if I can find it.

Michael

How about this for a DEX 20 character:

The Tequila Effect - +7 DCV, Only to offset Rapid Fire penalties (-1) 17pts plus +6" Running, only for making half moves while firing a gun (-1) 6pts plus 0 END on up to 40 AP of RKA (guns only) 20pts Total 43pts

Expensive, but you can now rapid fire with out penalty while making a full move and never run out of bullets. Remind you of anyone .

OK, so the last one is a bit ropey rules wise, given you're applying it to a power with charges, but I'd let it slide. Alternatively buy up Fast Draw (clips) and ask your GM if you can buy a Quick Load skill.

Michael

Cool, as long as your aware of these things they're not flaws so much as identifying characteristics. He also looks nice from the point of view that a small number of xp will make an immediate difference to the way he feels in play (buying a couple of CSLs for example), making you really feel that he *is* gaining experience rather than just 'getting more powerful'.

Or at least that's my mileage. Yours might vary .

Michael

L33tness! I have caused inspiration!

Michael

Originally posted by AlHazred

Could very well have been your posts. I remember there was a lot of development of the "services-oriented technology" idea. I'd be interested to hear more...

As I said, my idea never really got developed to my knowledge. Having said that, my internet connection was a bit ropey at that point, so I probably missed any discussion of my idea if I did post it .

Mine was originally developed as a 'Dark' fantasy world, a sort of Mad Max background with 'nanomages'. The secrets of gunpowder had been lost (I had some excuse I can't remember), and almost all power sources had run down, leaving a muscle powered society scavenging high tech materials. The nanomages, as suggested above, were the descendents of those who had bought family licenses for their nanotech. Of course, over the years the nanite programming had decayed somewhat, making actually using them somewhat risky. As far as I remember, I hadn't actually decided what the nanites could do, but rapid healing and extreme craftsmanship seem good starting points. I'm not sure I was thinking of giving them any flashy 'combat' abilities at all.

Hope this sparks some ideas,

Michael

Looks pretty good. The one thing I would notice is that he has both a relatively low speed and defenses, which may lead to spending a lot of time performing defensive maneuvers. I also like my MAs to have a few CSLs with their Martial Art of choice lying around, but that's more because I like to have lots of options in combat than anything else .

Michael

I must admit I was also planning to give the lesser drugs longer term serious side effects to discourage use by the PCs - maybe addictive and/or adding Psych Lims as well.

Hmmm... possibly psych lims linked to the stat boosted - general overconfidence in and relience on the ability boosted...

Michael

Immunity to Disease as a family trait? Maybe a few other minor abilities?

Michael

Hey, alternative stats for Mr. Vimes will be reviewed with interest. Of course, as he's your GM you might want to be a bit careful about what you say .

Michael

Do you see there being any excepts? (A Mrs. Vimes, maybe, or anyone he actually knows personally). Also, while this might explain why he is willing to experiment, it doesn't seem to give him a reason, either. Unless he just does it out of curiosity?

Michael

Stats look good, although I'll take a closer look later. But the real thing I wanted ideas for was aims, goals and personality. Give your self some Psych Lims! You know no villian is complete without them...

Megalomania sounds one possible route, with Obsessed with science being the other idea that springs to mind. Maybe alcoholism as a tribute to his namesake (the book character, of course - I'm sure the fine upstanding Mr. Vimes of our boards is a sober individual). Does he actually care for some people he knows (DNPCs)? Is he actually a nice guy being forced into all this by circumstance of blackmail?

On with the ideas!

Michael

This is almost identical to a campaign idea I had 2ish years ago. Whether I posted it to the HERO boards or not, I can't remember, and my version didn't include a Dyson Sphere. If what you remember was something I posted, the campaign in question never got off the ground, and so there wasn't much further developement.

Having said that, I'm not the only person to have come up with this idea, and I was much less active on the boards at that point, so it might well be someone else's post you remember.

Michael

Having stolen this idea from Mister Vimes, I then asked if he minded me using his name as the distributor/inventor of the drugs in question. Foolishly, he agreed...

So, what I need now is a Mister Vimes for my campaign. Currently I am thinking of making him a member of VIPER, who in my campaign are a serious threat (my players are fairly new to Champions, and so don't have the built up image of VIPER as bumbling incompetant fools that longer term Champs players tend to). The other option is to make him a member of Shadow Law, an even more behind the scenes organisation run by the mind controlling Lord Bison.

Either way, I'm looking for suggestions as to what to make of the character, particularly from Mister Vimes himself, but also from Herodom assembled. Should he be the niceguy no-one realises is the villian? Should he be addicted to his own products, keeping the best and most effective for himself? Should he be the loyal minion of his organisation, or is he looking for the job at the top? Does he care about power at all, or does he just want funding for his research? Was it his diabolical brain who game up with this scheme, or is he just the puppet of evil masters? Does he even know how the drugs are being used?

All these questions and more, answered in future updates to this thread!

I've posted his current character sheet below. As you can see, he needs some more work . I will update both the text and the attached HD file on a fairly regular basis (every couple of days assuming I get suggestions and ideas).

Mister Vimes

Player: NPC

Val Char Cost

10 STR 0

10 DEX 0

10 CON 0

10 BODY 0

23 INT 13

10 EGO 0

10 PRE 0

10 COM 0

2 PD 0

2 ED 0

2 SPD 0

4 REC 0

20 END 0

20 STUN 0

6" RUN 0

2" SWIM 0

2" LEAP 0

Characteristics Cost: 13

Cost Skill

3 Inventor 14-

3 PS: Surgery (INT-based) 14-

3 Paramedics 14-

3 Streetwise 11-

3 Scientist

2 1) SS: Biochemistry (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 2) SS: Chemistry (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 3) SS: Biology (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 4) SS: Genetics (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 5) SS: Nanotechnology (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

2 6) SS: Psychology (INT-based) (3 Active Points) 14-

Skills Cost: 27

Total Character Cost: 40

Base Points: 200

Experience Required: 0

Total Experience Available: 0

Experience Unspent: 0

Glad you like him, and if you do get a chance to use him it would be nice to know how it works out.

I'll try and get round to finishing off my Sagat write-up at some point as well.

Michael

I can see where you're coming from if you're planning to make him one of the 'best of the best', which I suppose he should be given he competed in the Tekkan. However, the stats as written are more as a 'Supercop' then a superhuman. He was designed to pound on agents, and survive a superhero fight.

His main worth as a PC I saw as being his wide range of skills and connections.

Michael

I would - I enjoyed the description of the campaign background on the old boards a lot, and would be interested in any progress with characters have made defeating the Wish Master.

Michael

MisterVimes, your idea has been official stolen (again). My players hate you already, they just don't know it yet .

Any complaints if it's being distributed by a Mister Vimes in my background? I quite liked your pantheon idea, and was thinking of remaining it's head after you in honour of the ideas source.

Michael