SuperPheemy

Re: Dune HERO In my opinion, only the first Dune book was great. They went downhill from there, even Frank's work. But what keeps me coming back in spite of myself is the scope of the universe. It's such an alien vision of the future, and has influenced so much of contemporary science fiction. But I know the S/F community well enough to understand that quality is a subjective term. I've enjoyed the Butlerian Jihad and the Machine Crusade immensely. I'll be picking up the Battle of Corrin soon. Anderson complements Brian Herbert well. I'm in the middle of Hunters of Dune, and it's strange... Nothing spectacular at this point. But it's an entertaining read. The Dune Universe is really fun to play in, I can ignore the contradictions and paradoxes when "in" the setting. I wouldn't want to live there, though.

Re: Dune HERO And at some point we really should start modelling Spice. Without Spice Addiction, Melange.. Extends the human lifespan to around 400 years. Focuses the mind to a high degree (Even giving Mentats that extra "boost" of mental acuity) Acts as a stimulant without many of the negative side effects. Though from what I've read there is a "crash" period if one uses Melange as a stimulant too long. Sort of a precursor to Addiction... Spice can also be overdosed which *can* give the user hallucinations, precognitive or postcongnitive visions, trigger latent mutant abilities, or uncontrolled telepathic powers. Under Spice Addiction the Bene Gesserait's Telepathic powers increase exponentially. Guild Navigators can predict safe routes through folded space. It seems that when someone falls into Spice Addiction the stimulant effects are lost (or the amount of spice required to provide the stimulant effect increases to a degree where Spice must be overdosed to have an effect). And, of course, if that someone is a potential Kwizatz Hadderach, Spice can trigger the transformation into the Galaxy's Supreme Being. There are other effects of course, I'll have to break out all my old books to start discovering them again.

Re: Dune HERO I dub thee the Ghola Thread I've been plowing through the latter Dune books (I keep complaining about the writing, but darnit, the universe is so frakking intriguing!) I'd almost call a Holzman Shield a form of Desolid with vulnerabilities to Energy and slow moving projectiles. We've already discussed the atomic reaction between lasguns and shilds, I was considering how to model the "slow blade" effect in combat. It doesn't quite seem like the attacks take an extra phase, or a delayed phase, since the strike comes quickly enough that the defender can't simply step back or to the side to avoid it. It seems like an OCV penalty to make such a strike, which can be overcome with technique, either CSLs or a martial art like Ginaz Sword Technique. The trick would be howto restrict those Bonuses to attacks vs shield. After all the "Slow Blade" technique of Ginaz Sword Masters wouldn't be really effective in a fight without shields (I figure the technique has plenty of attacks for use in non-shield fighting as well).

Re: Your "2008" Pet Gaming Projects OH it's not for publication. I've had this setting burning in my head for three years! I ran a short con game at Kubla with it a couple of years ago. But now, I'll have my campaign if it kills me! (cause see, I've got a DocWagon Platinum contract, and they give three resuscitations per year... if you don't use them, you lose them.)

Re: Double The Hero Excitement! It's the long awaited episode of "Behind the Dice, the HERO Games story" that will be aired on VH1 isn't it? Ooooooh finally we can be privy to all the backstabbing, politics and betrayal that led to the Genesis of DOJ and the release of 5th Edition! The lies... The drugs... The sex... One HERO admits to an unhealthy obsession with Carol Channing... How did all of this come to form the fabled 5th edition of HERO? Find out on Behind the Dice. (insert Eddie Van Halen Guitar Riff here).

Re: Your "2008" Pet Gaming Projects I'm gonna do it this year. As God is my Witness I'm a gonna do it. I'm gonna finish and refine my Cyber HERO material. Unless Steve and Darren announce it for 2009, I will have my Cyberpunk HERO campaign set by the end of the year. It's already been eaten once by the digital Ghoul when the thumbstick upon which the files were on went belly up. It's been delayed again and again by school. But now, I have the time, and the resources! There will be Cyber HERO. So say we all... err I mean Sez ME!!!

Re: Supergenius... If your GM is sufficiently Silver Age or Four Color, you might get away with Comic Book Science! as a skill. Sort of that Reed Richards/ Hank Pym/ Victor Von Doom/ Ray Palmer type of "I'm a Scientist!" character. That also leaves points open for bigger gadget pools, or laboratories.

Re: Superhero Images My best advice is get thee some reference. I used to suggest the ol' tried and true girly magazines for drawin wimmins, but it put me in the habit of making all my women "super-booby!" Rather, draw from life if possible, or grab a nice selection of model books (IMO, the best are those which simply have page after page of poses, no instruction, no explanaition).

Re: Superhero Images Been working on illustrating the female form lately, so in that effort I give you Wonder Woman!

Re: Horror Playtest I've been wishing for the multitaskers for about a year now. Cause I graduate as of Friday! (YAAAAAAAY!) That little bit of information might actually be on topic because these last three months have been scaring the bejezzus out of me! But now I have PS: (Animator) at 12- and the Psych Lim (Fear of Success) VC/Strong. Yay for higher education!

Re: Horror Playtest

Re: Realism vs cynicism The world's reactions to superhumans Isn't this the idea behind Aberrant?

Re: Order of the Stick When I saw the patch, my first thought was "setting up for the expected Pirate joke".

Re: Dr Who I'd call the TARDIS an effect rather than try to buy it with points. In the series, it's the plot-device which provides the reason for how the Doctor shows up at the beginning of the new adventure. Often it's unclear *why* the Doctor has showed up when and where he did. I often get the feeling that the TARDIS takes the Doctor where he's needed most. Which in Game Terms means the TARDIS is a GM fiat that puts the PCs at the start of the adventure. The Doctor himself has "good" physical stats, a couple of LS powers because he's a Time Lord, superhuman INT, EGO, and PRE. KS's and SS's out the door. I'd almost be tempted to just make up a skill, name it "Knowledge of EVERYTHING" and buy it up to 25- (or more) and apply modifiers depending on the question the Doctor's player is asking. The skill should be reliable enough to mimic the Doctors Encyclopedic Knowledge of Almost Everything, but low enough that on occasion, he honestly doesn't know, or can't recall a specific detail or situation. That's when the Psych Lim "Obsessively Curious about what he doesn't know" (Unc/Tot) comes into play and he grins at his companion and walks out the TARDIS' front door. Keep an eye on what gadgets the Doctor uses regularly. The Sonic Screwdriver is a definite must write-up. I'd base it around a Minor Transform for its physical abilities (unlocking doors, fixing machines, etc...) add in hordes of dice of Mental Control for machines and computers, and give it a few senses (Detects, and N-Ray Vision) to illustrate it's diagnostic properties. He also has that Psychic Paper, which could be built on Mental Illusions, with the limitation that it appears as what the viewer expects to see so long as it is something that would normally appear in the size and shape of the paper (Badges, licenses, authorizations, etc...) Maybe a small Gadget Pool for everything else he comes up with in his pockets.

I have a concept for a character that has defenses which provide near perfect defense against BODY Damage, yet only provides defense against STUN Damage equivalent to a Tough Brick. I'm using Sidekick, *and* the character is intended for use by a young, novice player. So the power needs to be as simple as possible. Any thoughts, O' assembled HEROdom?

Re: Why would I put Fast Draw on a superheroic character? I try to keep my Superheroic games as simple as possible. Considering the Superheroic HERO games tend to be the most complex to begin with. Thus, in my games Fast Draw doesn't come into play very often. When I want a super-fast gunslinger (or bowslinger, knifeslinger, etc...) I buy a couple of points worth of Lightning Reflexes keyed to the weapon of choice. It retains the effect of benefiting the gunslinger's Initiative while eliminating the need for an extra skill roll.

Re: Disney Princesses The League of Reserve Princesses!

Re: trying to build Spawn Before hauling out the Cosmic VPP, take a look at what Spawn does in the comics. Use those powers to create a much simpler to manage Multipower. Find those elements that he uses All the Time (you know, the chains, the undead toughness, gliding/flying etc...) and break those out into powers all of their own. Remember that Disads and Limitations are only worth points if they come up in play with regularity. Having the Physical Disad "Dies permanently at the end of the week" while tragic, isn't worth any points. It doesn't hinder the character, it simply makes the character unplayable after Saturday. That's what I see the countdown timer doing. At some point it reaches Zero and Spawn gets pulled back into Hell for Eternity. End of Story. Worth no points. However, as people have mentioned, being Doomed to Hell is fertile ground for disads and limitations. Spawn has Social Lims and Hunteds all over the place. He's got a whole plethora of Psych Lims, and a few DNPCs that are in constant Danger. Spawn from the comics is a real high point superhero. Probably closing in on 700 points or more when you combine the Necroplasm abilities, his skills as a professional Mercenary/Assassin, and all of the guns he keeps around.

Re: STRONGHOLD -- What Do You Want To See? I'd like to see a short section on the interior politics of Stronghold. Perhaps a second-tier master villain who is serving life, but runs his own prison-empire. Mutant gangs. Human anti-mutant gangs. Maybe a couple of controversial inmates whose devotees work hard for the "Free (Villain here)" movement! "1-2-3-4, just let Grond walk out the door!"

Re: 6th Edition Hero System Sidekick is a great intro to HERO, but I've been a Sidekick flag-waver since the playtest. Indeed it is that Sidekick is not the "basic" HERO game while 5ER is "advanced". I'd go so far as to say that Sidekick is one of the most versatile products HERO sells. The rules in Sidekick are repeated in 5ER. The rules that appear solely in 5ER are those which expand and detail as many situations and contexts that Steve and Darren could dream up. As a player, someone can make a character, advance that character, learn HERO system, then ultimately develop and GM a fully-fleshed campaign solely with Sidekick. Which begs an obvious question, why bother with the hardback rulebook? Personally, I feel both products are well worth owning. It's not a case of "either-or", but of "both-and". The big ol' rulebook adds not only situational applications of the rules, but tons of examples of builds, and characters, and advice... Things that may be intimidating (not to mention HEAVY) for someone who is just learning the game. There is no need for an "upgrade path" because Sidekick is the HERO system.

Re: 6th Edition Hero System It depends on the ant. If it's one of the common northern US variety that is easily dispatched with the Sun and a magnifying glass. No problem. But if it's one of those mutant radioactive Amazon ants with the giant jaws, acid sprayers, and mind control antennae. Count me out. I ain't touching that 10 pound weight. No siree!

Re: 6th Edition Hero System If it ain't broke, don't fix it. HERO 5th is one of the few systems where I've not seen consistent claims of "ultimate archetypes" or "useless archetypes". That is to say, I've seldom heard of how *every* character regardless of concept *must* have "ability X" to be useful (in past editions, that was Martial Arts), or conversely if *any* character has "ability Y" they're worthless. The HERO crew has done a fine job of keeping rules-creep to a minimum. There are no "mandatory supplements" required for play, and those supplements which are on most shelves are their because of the quality of the supplement, rather than any rules revisions it adds. Though, I do bow to the reality that sooner or later another revision of the HERO rules will come down the line. I'm pretty certain that any sort of revision will not make the game we enjoy now obsolete. I think there are a few developments and ideas in supplemental material that deserve to be added into the "Toolkit Rules Book". Making the base characteristics variable dependent on campaign theme (from Valdorian Age) is one. The "Super Skills" builds from Dark Champions is another. In my profound and well-reasoned opinion (stop LAUGHING Derek!!!) new editions of a game should be written for the potential new player rather than those players who are already bought into the game. Thus, at this stage in HERO's development, a 6th edition should be as backwards-compatible as possible, and streamlined for the new player (which, will make it attractive for us established HEROs).

Re: Slavery, DEMON, and Lugendu Also look up articles an references from "human trafficking" (which is slavery with a fancy new name). It's international and covers everything from forced labor to prostitution to kidnapping (all things that DEMON considers a fun Saturday Night).

Re: Shooter, aka gunbunny, Archetypes My "Revolver Guy" category is more of the "old cop/ soldier" who uses the revolver because they've been using revolvers since the Korean War. Sam Elliot plays a great variant of this in "We Were Soldiers", insisting on using his M1911 instead of the M16 rifles. And of course there's always Danny Glover as Murtoch from Lethal Weapon.

Re: How do you become a Jedi What I found interesting in the "each Jedi builds his/her own lightsabre" statement is that it is properly shown in the original trilogy, but in Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, it seems that there are lightsabres galore. (Not to mention that everyone in the Jedi Temple, from 7 year old Younglings, to 20 year old Padawans all have a lightsabre). It makes some sense, since Jedi are in a dangerous business and sabres get lost, broken, etc... It doesn't do to have Jedi out of action for a month because of a lost lightsabre. However it means that either a given Jedi builds a couple of backup sabres, or that someone somewhere is stockpiling old Jedi lightsabres in enough numbers that in the case of prolonged battle, they can keep the troops stocked. Which is all beside the main point of the post. Building a Lightsabre should be one of the trials for inclusion into the Jedi order.