SuperPheemy

Well, that's just cynical. Very true, but cynical. Speculation is kinda fun after all. Making allowances for competative possibility (which is what the point totals at the beginning of this thread were designed to do I believe).

As to the question about claws being effective, Wolverine with the Adamantium skeleton would be quite capable of cutting open the Man of Steel. Furthermore, Superman habitually holds back when fighting an unknown opponent, often letting the other guy throw the first blow. I think that Superman would beat Wolverine in the end, because the claws and healing factor just can't stand up to all of Supes' advantages. But I see Wolverine taking the early initiative and suprising Big Blue with what he's capable of. Visually, it would be a very cool fight. Wolverine carving big gashes in Superman's torso, Supes throwing that big punch and watching Woverine's jaw relocate even as they fight. Superman slowly taking the kid gloves further off as the fight continues, finally punching Wolverine hard enough to send the Canucklehead through buildings. Carnage abounding!

If the X-Men are written as acting like a team, they stand a chance. However, if the writing gets sloppy and everyone simply "pairs off" to slug it out, they're doomed. It also depends on which "classic" X-Men team we're talking about. The lineup of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, and Angel is a whole helluva lot weaker than Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Wolverine, Storm, Bishop, Rogue, Gambit, and "Joseph" (Magneto). I'd say the latter lineup is pretty well matched against the Avengers or the JLA. Heck, each INDIVIDUAL X-Man goes through vast increases and decreases in power. Wolverine with an adamantium skeleton is much different than Wolverine without. Iceman has gone from a snowman who tosses snowballs at Magneto to one of the more versitile characters on the roster. Currently even Juggernaut is part of the roster, and the good Prof can walk on his own power. Which brings up a further question, hasn't Juggernaut and Thor gone at it a few times in the past? Anyone know how those bouts went?

Vimes' Religious preference Cake, or Death!?!

FW: A message from Merry Andrew This came to my Cubicle of Solitude yesterday afternoon. After wiping the cream pie from my face, I discovered a video tape. After playing it, I knew Steve and Darren needed to see this. *Unsteady videocam comes into focus revealing Merry Andrew in a Ghurka and false beard a la Osama Bin Ladin.* "The 'so called' Defenders of Justice believe themselves to have removed CLOWN from the revision of Champions. They force their propaganda on an unsuspecting new generation of superhero gamers that Millenium City is somehow 'safe'. I ask you. How can anyone hope to make this new gaming utopia 'safe'? Indeed, by relegating us to the ranks of 'unofficial' characters, Long and Watts have only (at this point Andrew mimics Ben Kenobi from Star Wars IV) succeeded in making us more powerful than they can possibly imagine! BEHOLD! The CLOWN Revolution grows! For now, like the the Israelites freed from Egypt, we spread our message, our cult, no... our RELIGION to ALL superhero games! You thought us defeated!? Fools! You have only released us! Our message of buffonery and satire can now spread not just to Millenium City, but to Empire City, and Freedom City! Indeed, a master plan is currently in place to infiltrate and entrench our forces into the very internet itself through... ... ... ... (winks at camera)... wait for it ... ... ... ... PARAGON CITY! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! HAAAAAA! HAAAHAAAA! HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! HOOO HOO! HEE HEE! (pants) HAhAHAHAAAAAAAAA! HAAAA! HAAA HAAA HAAA!!! (Andrew's beard falls askew at this point, and Toe Tapper leans in from off camera to readjust it.) Do you need proof of our continued existance? Look no further than your very own, pretty black hardbacks. Yes, the fabled 'fifth edition of HERO' and ask yourself, what do you call it now? FRED. I assure you we will be around for many campaigns to come." (Off-camera Snapshot can be heard saying "CUT! Aaaaaaaaand that's a wrap!" The image fades to black.) I don't know about any of you, but I'm going to have a hard time sleeping tonight. Probably because someone keeps sneaking whoopie cushions under my sheets!

*sob* All of that work, and I'm still listed as an "Incompetent Normal". This is starting to wear on my well-armored sense of self-confidence.

A few statistics O' Lord please let this chart line up correctly... SCORE CHAR Rolls 10 11 15 12 20 13 25 14 30 15 35 16 40 17 45 18 50 19 55 20 60 21 As you can see, a characteristic of 25 gives the character a skill roll of 14- without any added skill levels. That means without extensive training, environmental bonuses or penalties, the character will succeed roughly 75% of the time. Pretty good odds, those. I'd go so far as to call that near human maximum in my game. It would represent a character with so much raw talent that a minimal amount of instruction/research would allow them to attempt use of the skill with confidence. When you get to 40, the character can only fail a skill roll on an 18. Again, without extensive training. I'd call this the beginning of the classic "supergenius". Someone who knows pretty much everything about everything. For example, let's look at three characters at three different INT levels. One is a pretty bright dude who has INT 15. This guy got straight As in school, and is currently pursuing his postgraduate degree in Nuclear Physics. His base INT roll is 12-. The second is The SUPERBRAIN with INT 30. This is the guy who makes things that break the laws of physics. Power armors, web shooters, robot housemaids, etc... he's pretty much beyond the mental capacity of any "mere" human. His base INT roll is 15-. The third is among the most brilliant minds in the comic universe with INT 45. We're talking about a mind that understands principles completely foreign to mortals. Sort of like Q from Star Trek, when confronted with a problem, this guy comes up with solutions like "change the gravitational constant of the universe". Someone this smart is difficult to describe in terms we can understand. His base INT roll is 18- All three characters are confronted with a transdimensional alien device that threatens the fabric of reality. Somehow they have to figure out how it works before it does something truly horrific. The GM notes that all three characters have the skills necessary to at least attempt to decipher this thing, but none of them have the specific skill SC: Transdimensional alien reality shifting principles. So, right off the bat, the GM assigns a -5 penalty to figuring out how this thing works AND declares that it will take a week to study this device in enough detail to attempt a skill roll. The pretty bright dude is in trouble right off the bat. He's got a 7- roll, and that's after poking at the thing for a week. Maybe if he took some extra time, like a month or a year, he might increase his chances to 11- (that's around 50/50). To be honest, in order for our pretty bright dude to have a confidence-building chance at tackling this thing, he'd pretty much need to spend a career studying it. Or take enough time for the GM to allow him a +7 Modifier. Even then, there's a pretty good chance he'd still get it wrong. The SUPERBRAIN is in a little better shape. With the penalty applied, he's got an 10- chance of understanding the device in a week. In other words, the SUPERBRAIN is capable of learning in a couple of weeks, what it would take the [/i]pretty bright dude[/i] six months or more. Finally, that which is among the most brilliant minds in the comic universe has a 13- chance to make sense of the alien device in a week. If it so wished, it could take further penalties and try figuring out the device faster. Say, a -2 penalty to attempt a roll after only one day. Thus, learning what takes the SUPERBRAIN two weeks, and a pretty bright dude six months.

You mean I'm not supposed to be bodily throwing out non HERO gamers from my local gamestore in solidarity with the "Dallas Revolution"? Crap. Excuse me, I have a lot of apology notes to write.

Thanks for putting the Legion of Substitute Heroes in order. It's been many moons (obviously) since I've witnessed the awesome power of Color Kid or Stone Boy. It sounds like Color Kid's powers were more of a Deux ex Machina than something intended to be very effective. Like Aquaman's telepathic command of fish suddenly being able to give Zum a brain seizure because the Basil Ganglia is a holdover from marine evolution. Though being able to hold off the Green Lantern Corps by turning things yellow makes for a very amusing mental image.

So, you scoop his head up in a fishbowl and he becomes a desk-ornament for your favorite supervillain. Some of the silliest supers come from the Legion. Specifically the Legion of Substitue Heroes. (Note, I believe many of these heroes had been redesigned to be useful). Ferro-Lad = Could turn his body to Iron, but once he did that he was unable to move. Polar Boy = Typical cold-based powers, just looked stupid in his fur-trimmed outfit. Spectra-Lad = Could generate rainbow beams of light. Non-damaging, altogether not disablingly bright, rainbow beams of light. Black costume with white trim and a rainbow on his chest. the original Wildfire concept = He could fly, was fast, strong and could fight ok. But his most potent superpower manifested when he lifted the visor on his outfit. He was a being composed of Thermonuclear Energy, and when he lifted his visor, that energy was released in an uncontrolled blast. The damage done to the target was complete, but all that was left of Wildfire was a deflated, empty suit. Toyman was on the extreme end of stupid, until the storyline where he killed Cat Grant's boy, and about a dozen other children. Then he became very disturbing and creepy.

A thought just occurred to me, I wonder how big of a Presence Attack bonus a character would get pointing a Model 500 with a 14" barrel at someone. I'm reminded of the movie "Dogma", "We call this model the fecolater, one look and the target shits himself."

Depends on the length of the barrel. I'm confident that the Model 500 could reach out and touch someone at a respectable distance with a 14" barrel. Of course it IS only a pistol. It only delivers about two thirds of the energy generated by a .30 Winchester Magnum round fired from a rifle. I'd lower some of the STR mins for modern handguns. Advances in materials and recoil-compensation since DI first hit the shelves have made big, heavy handguns surprisingly easy to shoot.

Grade A Bang Bang The Model 500 weighs in at 4.5 pounds, and incorporates a number of recoil-reducing and shock-absorbing properties thoughout the weapon. I'm pretty sure it could be fired accurately one handed, and so long as you have a firm grip, won't break your arm. However, considering that this weapon is designed to be fired after careful aiming, you'd probably want to use a two handed, braced stance. That being said, I'm certain that there will be plenty of characters showing up in campaigns worldwide blazing away with a S&W Mod 500 in each hand. As to the grain/ delivered energy issue, the values of 440 grains and 2600 ft/lbs are taken from the HC Cast Performance round, the heaviest Cor-Bon offers in .500 Magnum. There are two other, lighter rounds available, which deliver correspondingly less energy to the target.