AlHazred

I've been giving this some thought since the last episode aired on Friday. To start with Moya: Characteristics: STR: 81 DEX: 20 CON: 30 BODY: 36 INT: 15 EGO: 14 PRE: 30 COM: 14 PD: 16 ED: 16 SPD: 4 REC: 22 END: 60 STUN: 91 Total Characteristics Cost: 248 Flight: 28"/896" Teleport: 10 LY/10 LY Powers: Biomechanoid Flight: Flight 28", x32 Noncombat (81 Active Points); Limited Maneuverability (-1/2) Total Cost: 54 Points Starburst: Teleport 10", Megascale (1"=1 LY; +3 1/2) (90 Active Points); Full Power Only (-1/4), No Noncombat Multiple (-1/4) Total Cost: 60 Points Starburst Charge: Endurance Reserve (10 END/10 REC) (11 Active Points); Slow Recovery (6 Hours; -2 1/2) Total Cost: 3 Points Toughness: Damage Resistance (16 PD/16 ED) (16 Active Points), Total Cost: 16 Points Total Powers Cost: 133 Total Character Cost: 381 Notes: Since she's a living being, she's a character rather than a Vehicle; this is just like the case of the Cybertank. TShe seems to be "vaguely large" in the series. I can't remember any one episode where someone made a reference to it, but the Farscape RPG lists her as 1,000 meters long by 250 meters wide by 200 meters high. Based on her scale seen in Episode 2 (US): I, E.T., that seems about right. That would make her between Size category 23 (based on Width) and Size category 27 (based on Length). Based on Area, she's between Size categories 25 and 26; if we called her Size category 26, she'd pay 130 points for size and have -17 DCV and -26" of KB. We'll give her a Physical Limitation: Really Colossal (1,000m long or in diameter; -18 DCV, +18 to PER Rolls to perceive) (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) for 10 points and buy her 26" of Knockback Resistance for 52 points. The Farscape RPG lists her cargo capacity at 2 ktons, which would mean she has a STR of about 81. However, in the series, she never has trouble carrying any particular cargo or number of passengers. It's a plot thing - she has as much STR as she needs to carry out the plot. That's a preliminary assessment. More later.

Yup. The Avenger suffered such a shock when his wife and child disappeared, that he went insane for several months. Afterward, his skin and hair were chalk-white, and the muscles in his face unresponsive - they would assume whatever shape he put them in. This allowed him to assume anyone's likeness with a little work; I believe this ability made it into the Champions sourcebook under "Pulp Hero Powers". (As an aside, one of his companions had the "Door Smashing Fists" also in the sidebar.)

Gear Krieg! Gear Krieg: Two-Fisted Pulp Super-Science in a World at War! is a neat idea from the Dream Pod 9 guys. The game design basically started with the idea that Germany could have constructed large "Walkers" to rearm in secret after its defeat in WWI; the "Walkers" are, of course, transforming mecha that ordinarily resemble ground vehicles with wheels (to get where they want to go quickly) but can be transformed into large legged fighting machines. This basic idea (introducing mecha into WWII) was used in the setting in the Dream Park module The Fiendish Agents of Falkenberg, and it supplied a sprinboard to create a setting in which a lot of high-tech "paper projects" actually managed to get constructed. Great setting, and good execution. Its application to a standard Pulp campaign might be rather limited, though.

Sure there is. I've got my Right Way. You've got your Right Way. They can be completely different Right Ways. The beauty of Hero System is they can all still work.

To be fair, I have bought a lot of Hero supplements, and the few old supplements I don't have (Wings of the Valkyrie) I've at least seen and paged through. None of them are really that bad. Before I get anyone's dander up, I feel compelled to remind people of the Bad Old Days of gaming, when product quality standards were nonexistent, and anybody who had a photocopier, a pen, and some paper thought he had all that it took to put out a gaming supplement. Hero's come away easy. You think Bad Medicine for Dr. Drugs is bad? Ask a Glorantha fan about Eldarad or Daughters of Darkness. Ask a GURPS player about GURPS Wild Cards or Billy the Axe. Ask an old-time D&D player about the old Dimension Six products. All that being said, I really didn't care for Cyber Hero. But some of the art's okay. And it just inspired Mike Surbrook to do a better job with Kazei Five. ---------------------------------- "Look on the bright side. Dying is the next best thing to living." -- Sgt. Strict

Hey, I posted for comments. I appreciate all comments, especially those that differ from my own for good reasons; I've been known to change my mind from time to time... As far as the vehicle's mass, my reading of TUV seems to indicate that it's the "size" of the vehicle that goes into determining the Size stat; in other words, it's the physical dimensions that count, as far as length, height, width, etc. From what I read, it seems to me weight is meant to be variable within the range of "zero" to "the weight based on Size". Sure, it's closer. I always thought that the Length/Width/Height stats under "Size" indicated the maximum, in which case, since the 28' 11" is over the Size 6 Length and under the Size 7 Length, you go with Size 7. I'll fiddle with it today at home. As far as Running goes, the Wright plane was physically pushed out to the airstrip by a couple of strong guys (two guys with 15 STR should be able to do it). You'll note the absence of wheels; instead, two runners allow it to be slid along the ground. Forward velocity is imparted by the props, which drive the plane along the ground until it reaches its Stall Velocity. At that point, it can take off. I'll think about it, maybe "Pulled Vehicle Gliding" is in line. Hey, what do you want for 1909 flight technology?

That would normally be true; however, TUV also states that it's okay to adjust the weight, as long as the other Size effects stay the same. They even give the example of aircraft carriers, which have a weight based on Size of 400 kilotons, but which should actually weigh about 50-90 kilotons. The Wright Military Flyer is actually an incredibly light plane, almost a kite; you're probably right that the STR should be higher, but I wouldn't place it higher than, say, 25 or 30. I think I'll edit my post to remove the text, and instead post it as a Word document.

[Edit - I deleted the Wright Military Flyer. I have no idea where the extra space was coming in, but it affected readability. I'll repost it as an attachment to a later post.]

I was reading The Ultimate Vehicle for the seventh time, really getting into "design mode," when I hit the Web. While surfing, I came across a really good site, the US Air Force Museum. There's plenty of great descriptions of a variety of planes, and my mind immediately started to convert reality to fantasy. I wonder, what sort of aircraft have people made use of in game? Since my current campaign has a PC military test pilot, I plan on including a lot of air battles and stunts for him to do. I decided to stat out a few of these great planes; since I like to know what other good ideas people have had, I thought I'd post them online. Not wanting to step on DOJ's toes, I figure on statting only planes I don't expect them to put in their Vehicles Compendium book.

One indispensible resource is The 1920s Investigator's Companion for Call of Cthulhu. It has a great deal of carryover to the 1930s, but it can only cover a small amount of ground within its pages. It's got info on a large variety of personalities, as well as price lists, the state of forensic science in the era, and, I believe, travel times and firearms. You should be able to find a copy cheaply online. For more detailed travel info, I recommend looking into period travel guides. I've been lucky enough to locate a period guide from the Automobile Legal Association, but I'm confident I'll find something covering air and ship travel as well, as long as I stick to it. For vehicle data, I recommend checking out the coffee-table books at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders. There're books out with titles like Cars of the Thirties which might be good (don't own one, so I couldn't tell you). One that I do own is The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Motorcycles by Tod Rafferty. It's a great resource that covers every time period.

Ah, Fallout Hero, that's a good idea. After FREd, number one on the list is The Hero Bestiary for the weird creatures. Star Hero has mutant stuff and a great section on alien environments (like wastelands and such), not to mention its coverage of post-holocaust settings. Come to think of it, it also has small sections on Sci-Fi weaponry. Of the stuff out right now, those are the only ones you really need. If you want to adapt the vehicles from Fallout or Fallout 2, you can't go wrong with The Ultimate Vehicle. If you want more options in combat, The Ultimate Martial Artist is your way to go. And I always recommend the Hero System Resource Kit, since its such a great overall GM tool; saves wear and tear on the books, too.

Better yet, don't try Bio of a Space Tyrant. Not one of Piers' best works, IMO. I think TE looks a lot like the Traveller setting, from the Rule of Man era -- a vigorous Earth overthrows an alien foe and carves out their territory in space, the admiral assumes imperial power, alien territories like bubbles surround the humans... Yep, very Traveller-esque. But with the stupid parts removed...

Part of the problem with Comeliness is in the scaling. All of the non-physical stats are difficult to easily determine; yardsticks are easier to come by when it's a matter of statistics. What real-world examples are there? Superheroes are celebrities in the Champions Universe; what COMs do real-world celebrities have? Personally, when designing NPCs for my Golden Age campaign, I use Marilyn Monroe as a guide. By giving her a 20 COM, I allow for easier comparisons. For men, I use Clark Gable.

The trick, of course, is to come up with a name that members of that country would call their Captain America clone, not what the American comic book makers called them. Frinstance, the British had a character named "John Bull" who showed up on their posters, urging their young men to join the military; he was the prototype for the "Uncle Sam" character who showed up on the US Army posters. (For a nice pair of images to compare, check out the banner at the top of this page.) "John Bull" is not a name that inspires great reverence among Americans, but to the Brits, he was the right man for the job. Most attempts by American comic book makers usually seem pretty lame to me, and that's even ignoring the ridiculous caricatures that showed up on the animated series of the 70s.

As a science-fiction fan, I've often considered the merits of a campaign which combines two of the "Giant War Machines" series: Bolos vs. Berserkers. The Bolo series by Keith Laumer was one of the inspirations for Steve Jackson Games' Ogre game. In the Bolo future, humans have made giant robot tanks to do their fighting for them; the humans wrought better than they knew, for the Bolos were honorable, just, and self-sacrificing in the defending their charges. In the Berserkers series by Fred Saberhagen, some alien race had built these immensely powerful robotic warships which were programmed to destroy all life. They are single-minded and very, very competent.

Having reread Farscape d20, I'd say there's enough detail in there that it would be easy to do the characters and ships up in Hero. Especially with TUV out. You just have to use your head and say, "That's stupid!" for all the little stupidities they left in there.

What about a poster-sized map, in color, available in the online store? With cool high-tech-lookin' doodads as the margin-separators?

Star Hero handles this on page 53. I'd tell you what it says, but, you know, it's copyrighted and stuff...

At one time, I thought about demoing the Hero System at local cons (MonCon, ShoreCon) through a multiple-heat Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. You play a 350-point brick* and fight a number of matches until you're eliminated. Considering the number of people likely to show up, though, this could be unexpectedly labor-intensive. My idea was to have an actual belt made for the winner... * My original idea was to use bricks from the Hero Universe; thus players could try Ironclad, someone can play Tachyon in disguise, etc. The problem was the lack of 350-point neutrals/heros. On the one hand, that would make it require a bit of work; on the other hand, it also lets the GM make analogues of Thor, Hulk, or whatever else players might like to play.

I saw the movie Showtime on cable the other day, and while the movie didn't impress me much, I thought the guns were nice-looking. I didn't catch all the details on them, but I gather they're fully-automatic submachinegun-type weapons that fire depleted uranium slugs. I heard one character say something like "12-gauge" but surely what was meant was something like ".50 caliber". Has anyone worked up stats for it?

The Vigilance League has been given a headquarters across the street from Central Park in New York City. But they can be found wherever danger threatens. Of course, the current campaign year is 1938, so they might be a bit too old to play with the young'uns...

While considering this idea, I had another thought. This would be an alternative method of defining an elevator. I love the "Vehicles within Vehicles" discussion in TUV; it seems to me that elevators that depend on cables could be defined as Limited Movement Swinging, perhaps with No Noncombat Multiple (normal elevators in shorter buildings/vehicles/whatever wouldn't have a Noncombat multiple, ones inside tall whatevers would). I think perhaps Swinging needs more space devoted to it, like maybe a Heroglyphs column. It's a pretty ill-defined, yet interesting movement power. While all movements except Flight are dependent on a medium to transport through/over, Swinging is the only one that provides its own medium.

Say I want to build a Power to represent a firemen's pole. I know normally most would say to represent this as Gliding 5", Limited Movement (character cannot gain altitude or move in the horizontal plane; -1), Immobile OAF (-2). Total Cost: 1 point. I wonder, what would be wrong with representing this as Swinging? One could then take the idea and make a "Movement Pole," say, which a character has practiced sliding on. I find it interesting because it ties the movement directly into a physical object (defined in the power as the "swingline"). What would be objections to this sort of thing?

Not even the most munchkiny, cheese-weasel, no-talent ass-clown player I've ever seen would think he could get away with selling back his limbs... I don't remember that option. Is that a house rule, or is it in FREd? Actually, you're supposed to use the given 55 point cost, at least according to Steve's sidebar.

There's a good discussion in The Ultimate Vehicle about what constitutes a Vehicle and what's just a Power Focus. I almost think Bob could have gone maybe a paragraph further in encouraging serious thought about how parts of a vehicle that aren't reusable should be Foci.