ArgentLupe

Re: Self-Exiled Angel -- Character Background Brainstorming This is the backstory I used for my "worldly" angel. http://www.steliart.com/angelology_fallen_watchers_grigori.html My Watcher never even met his "boss". He was created and deployed in a war that was his existance. Afterward he wandered the earth looking for a purpose. He found it in mankind and has been their protector ever since. I play heavily on the fact that he has never witnessed the divine. To him, it is just as confusing as it is to us. He "knows" there is a higher power, but he cannot define it, in effect a very agnostic angel. I also dealt with the time inconsistencies (thousands of years of human evolution vs 6000 bible) by having him entombed as a guardian of an artifact for milenia. He woke up when the tomb was breached and has no idea how long he was buried.

Re: Flamethrower tricks What about leap linked to an RKA cone damage shield?

Re: A Difficult Power So, because I prefer a grittier, pseudo-realistic campaign style, my characters are not heroes? Some of us don't like 4-color trappings. Some of us don't even read comics! I always thought what made a hero was a willingness to take extraordinary efforts to solve a problem, irregardless of personal concern?. Now I find out it's all about the tights.

Re: Team: The Vaudevillains! What about ... Geek - ability to eat anything (RKA penetrating, no range(-1/2), only what he can fit in his mouth (-1), immunity to pain (+20 Con, only vs being Con Stunned(-1), and high presence. Whipper Snapper - assorted whip tricks. Jezebel - exotic dancer who hypnotizes with her body.

Re: Suggestions welcome for 'Reality Takeover' ideas... Of course the invasion could be the whole planet, one ripple at a time. Imagine an evil otherworldy sorcerer casting the spell of invasion. It weakens the fabric of our reality, and causes the surrounding dimensions to merge. This allows for an infinite number of story arcs, while keeping your bookkeeping to a minimum. No more wondering if item from realm A works in realm B, or having to deal with the characters being on the border of a realm. A Torg style invasion would require defined borders (I'd use physical ones, sot social or ethnic ones) and a real difference to the characters worldview (who cares if everyone has pointed ears now, unless there is a historical and political change too. In other words: elven looks require an elven world.). -ArgentLupe

Re: Suggestions welcome for 'Reality Takeover' ideas... Unless you are dead set with it being an "invasion" I would suggest a Sliders style campaign wher the party goes to alternate earths like the ones you described. This makes it easy to establish what is effected (everything) and how long they interact (device/spell/cosmic alignment becomes ready again). Technology may or may not work depending on the world's paradigm and could be a whole plot twist in itself (i.e Guns of Avalon by Roger Zelazny) Now if you want an invasion I would get a map of the world and a bunch of darts... -ArgentLupe

Re: Superpowers and the Law To continue with the OP: I think the immediate responce would be knee-jerk, oppressive, and vauguely worded. The first case of a confirmed super power being used for nefarious purposes would cause a) the immediate recruitment of supers that the government believed would be inherently friendly (possibly by already holding a security clearence or government position); followed by b)the immediate investigation and possible detention of every other known super in the interest of national security. Yes, I admit I'm a cynic....why do you ask? -ArgentLupe

Re: Suddenly... a new and better you My players typically have normal characteristics amoung their super ones. Just last game we had our brick mugged by a normal armed with a taser (Secret IDs are a disad for a reason). Another character playing a "returned from the dead" hero has a Dex of 11 and a Spd of 2 (The dead have a tendency to be a little stiff ) -ArgentLupe

Re: Superpowers and the Law Or immediately following the first "super crime". After all, this is the government (US) that had legislation on the floor of congress within days of the Janet Jackson incident. Of course if you're in Missouri you still have to have it licensed/registered. http://stlouis.missouri.org/government/guide/vehicles.html

Re: Superpowers and the Law Keep in mind that just because a power only effects the character, doesn't mean it won't be legislated. A prime example of this would be armor. Some jurisdictions consider the wearing of visible armor a subtle indication that the person wearing it is looking for confrontation (This was actually explained to me by an officer of the law during a public demonstartion of medieval combat. During one of our breaks we started discussing what "concealed" weapons constituted and wound up discussing armor.) The indication was that the wearing of armor could be cited as disorderly conduct due to its perceived effect of "threat" on the general populous. (Of course this comes from a state that allows me to carry concealed a 32 round semi-automatic 9mm pistol , but not a 6.5" knife.) If supers really did exist I have a feeling that there would be so much legislation passed in the first 72 hours it would make your head spin. The whole "super menace" would be assigned to Homeland Security and "extreme but neccessary" actions would take place. Much of the torrent of legislation would be deemed unconstitutional, but by then new legislation would be in congress justifying/ammending the original laws. -ArgentLupe

Re: So, what would be the impact of... I think the situation would be identical to what we have now, just on a larger scale. Instead of terrorists (or governments, or companies, or whatever) need time to prepare and plan, their actions could be accomplished immediately. Retaliation would be quick and everyone would want to show off their new "toy". If I were a cynic I'd say we'd return to the stone age in less than a week. -ArgentLupe

Re: Is this just wrong? I have no problem taking away a character's focus. After all, it is supposed to be a disadvantage. I do use it from time to time as a plot item and I always give the player a way to get it back. Sometimes I will let them transfer the lost points into a temp power, sometimes I will make them play the character in their secret ID. The point is to make it worth the cost of a disad, but to keep the players intrested (also known as happy). I rarely write up the actual powers that take away a focus (or any powers in my game for that matter) as I'm more concerned with the story than the "facts". The player doesn't care whether it's a dispell, an RKA, or whatever. They just care about the end result. At least that's how it works in my game. -ArgentLupe

Re: Good toys for use with Champions... For those interested the "standard" scale minis that are available at your local gaming store (Reaper, Ral Partha, GW, Etc) are 28mm (give or take a mm). This puts them at 1/58 scale. Since this is the season, I checked into some railroad models and found that there are 2 scales really close to 1/58. The first is a little undersized at 1/64 called "S" scale. The other is a little oversized at 1/48 called "O" scale. Here is the cool part: They make a special "O" scale called O-27 that is so close to scale that it's hard to tell the difference. It's also a pretty popular size so you can get cars, trucks and buildings in it pretty cheaply. I saw 2 Hummers and a train car go for $16.00 (US) and that was before X-mas sales. The buildings themselves I've seen go for as little as $5.00(US). -ArgentLupe

Re: First Supers in the World campaigns This is the type of campaign I am currently running: All known supers of the world are post 2000. Part of the game is indeed introspection and origin investigation. I wanted them to wonder why this is happening now and why there is no record of previous heroes. I also wanted them to be instrumental in the devolopment of laws and policy for future heroes. (The game starts out low powered and will increase to heroic proportions as the story progresses.) So far I have had 2 sessions and the group seems to be enjoying it rather well. Each player was told going in what kind of game it would be and hav adapted their characters to the situation (lots of stealth and mysteriousness). Costumes aren't used per say, but identities are hidden as a matter of neccessity (trenchcoats and big hats, or leathers and motorcycle helmets seem to be the norm.) -ArgentLupe

Re: WWYCD: The Arc Techno Furious - Would engage the ship's AI in a game of tic-tac-toe and would lose after the second move. The Voudoun - Would begin organizing defenses and transfer/salvage protocols. He would then contact the spirit world and ask them for their advice. Then with the solution to the problem grasped tightly in his hand, he would be ignored by the rest of the group. Jarhead - Would begin organizing Earth's resistance by looking for the ship's auto-destruct system. When the fact that no hostilities have been taken is pointed out to him, he would just shrug and say "Just wait". Twilight - Would panic and nuke the first thing she saw... unfortunately it would be the NASA technician sent along to help. She would then point the still twitching body to Jarhead and claim he was a "traitor to humanity". Jarhead would cross his arms sagely and say "See? Told you so.". Zebazeloth - Would offer to sell guns to Jarhead while at the same time making bumper stickers welcoming our new alien overlords.