Chimpira

Re: Retcon the CU Actually, true Pulp came in all shapes and sizes. From wartime stories to spicy love stories. What you are talking about is just part of the whole. (Trust me. It can be a pain talking to people about that part as well. I pitched a cartoon idea modeled as an homage to characters like, The Shadow and Doc Savage. After many meetings with executives in charge of putting projects together, we had to speak to their boss for the final ok. His reply was "What's Pulp?". It went downhill from there.)

Re: Default side-effects of super-powers Oh no Aberrant is a fine game but I did not care for the organizational style of the source material. I had a few problem with the system but not something that would totally turn me off from the game. What I mean by Campaign specific is pretty much what you said. Not suited for many games. However if this is a game that you are running and are more than willing to explore the ends and outs of the fact that you will have characters that will live for several centuries, well then, it sounds like an interesting game. However if it is just something that is there that is only given lip service, well, that does not sound very interesting. The reason why these characters have not aged is because the fans want their characters to live forever. Ok Spider-man has been around for quite sometime but so has J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Watson, Aunt May, Alfred, Jarvis and the list goes on. Not only is this metagene able to keep the super young but it seems to slap away the hand of death for anyone associated in the characters life. (Now we know the true reason wny Jarvis keeps working for the Avengers) I would have a hardtime (and I can only speak for myself) playing a Superhero that would only associate with other supers, whom feels little connection to the common man. It would seem that I am trying to stop bank robbers from making life hard for the lesser beings. Now why am I doing this? Maybe instead of patroling I might just work in a soup kitchen around Christmas time to feel good or write a check to my favorite charity. Everyone has something that they are very good at. It would become a fault if I believed that my ability alone raises me away from humankind. But as I said it sounds like a Campaign issue. If this makes sense to you and you have players that will not turn it into the New House of M, have fun.

Re: Mutant detector The write up for the Mutant Detector in Gadgets and Gear says the IHA made it. I am going to have to trick out IHA for my campaign soon.

Re: Default side-effects of super-powers Didn't they do something similiar to this in the Aberrant game from White Wolf? What you are proposing seems to be more campaign specific, as very long lived supers would have a big impact on any world that they live in. Kind of hard seeing yourself as part of humanity as you watch most of your friends grow old and die. Imagine what the world would be like if all the buttkicking heroes and hideous villians from World War I and II were still alive and robust. It is all well and good to say that you have a society of near immortals on a mountain top somewhere that hide out from humanity. It is another thing altogether to have them living, not so quietly, amongst us.

Re: Sharing the Campaign ideas you can't use... yet Ah but Since I have read every single novel featuring those guards from that novel, I would sign up in an heartbeat. Just as long as get to be Sam Vimes. From Thud! by Terry Pratchett when Sam Vimes is in a meeting with the City's ruler. "WE need to know the truth, Vimes. Commander Sam Vime's truth. It may count for more than you think. In the Plains, certainly, and much further. People know about you, Commander. Descendant of a watchman who believed that if a corrupted court will not behead an evil king, then the watchman should do it himself-" "It was only one king," Vimes protested. "It waasn't a habit!" "Sam Vimes once arrested me for treason," said Vetinari calmly. "And Sam Vimes once arrested a dragon. Sam Vimes stopped a war between nations by arresting two high commands. He's an arresting fellow, Sam Vimes. Sam Vimes killed a werewolf with his bare hands, and carries law with him, like a lamp-"

Re: Team Base... Who pays? Wow, MCMaenza. You really went digging around the backyard tonight. Most of this stuff was posted in 2003. Good stuff though. I make the characters pay for it unless they are willing to be sponsored or become a government run organization. this is the way it works. 1. If you want no affiliation: The team must pay the points themselves. It is more expensive but for the most part it is their own. They might not have the latest toys but they owe no one. 2. Find a Sponsor: The players chip in points and for every point they put in, the sponsor will match them. The sponsor would have some say in what goes on but can be ignored for important matters. The nature of their secret identities might come up for debate. (the sponsor wouldn't mind knowing them and the players would) Different sponsors work different ways but the players can find the sponsor that matches their temperment much easier. 3. Government backed: The players do not have to put in a dime. It is bought for them lock, stock and barrel. Of course they will have more trouble refusing requests and things start to get more political with disallowing certain heroes from speaking in public (you looked intelligent until you opened your mouth), barring the heroes from going to certain countries (we are in the middle of a delicate negotiation right now. I'm certain we can handle everything through diplomatic channels). The players would have to tell their secret identities to the government and undergo an intense background check. On the upswing the will have some of the best PR people in the business and be granted certain federal powers.

Re: Scott Heine - Protectors Second that. I missed it the first go around.

Re: The Fires of War Sourebook I am pretty interested in purchasing both Algernon Files but I am waiting on the Hero System versions.

Re: Digital Hero Materials in your Champions Campaigns Good stuff, that. I have plans of dropping Project: PREDATOR into my campaign by having them drop a lot of the government connections and link it to ARGENT.

Re: Digital Hero Materials in your Champions Campaigns I like Digital Hero and have used some things from it. (Vindicators, Whisper of Kali) I like adventures and would love to see more in the Digital Heroes. I might not use them but reading others thoughts on how an adventure might run is always interesting to me.

Re: What Super-game you like? When I put together a game, I do not think whether it is going to be Golden Age, Silver Age, etc... I generally run a game where killing by the players is frowned upon but should occur only in special circumstances. I like my game to be serious but peppered with humor. I do not like episodic games and beating up the bad guy is not where your work begins or ends. I foreshadow events that will occur maybe months from now and just because someone appears on screen does not mean that he/she is important for the current storyline. I like a game where the heroes feel important but also feel connected to a larger community of Heroes (James Robinson's Starman is a good example). I like to tailor a game for the players and not for the GM. I like worlds of differing opinions where two trusted npc's might have two different views on one subject. I try not to run a game where my personal views are neccesarily the correct ones. I like players to struggle and learn that they do need to cooperate with people without powers. I do not care for high powered cosmic level games, (Raised on a steady diet of Power corrupts) even as a player. I like my players to have the odds stacked against them and watch as they overcome these obstacles.

Re: Where's Amelia Earhart?

Re: Reviewing Teen Champions (& Ravenswood Academy) Overall I did not care that much for Teen Champions. I think the art distracted me too much. I need to give it another read. I agree about the Playpals. However, I do not like the idea of an exclusive school for Supers. I find it interesting that people will want to help them learn to use their powers and grow up to be responsible adults but only want to provide an atmosphere where the only people they know and are comfortable around are other supers. Training them on how to use their powers is not all the school represents, the students need to know how to function in regular society as well. A non-powered teacher might be able to handle certain situations better than a powered teacher. The teachers that I learned the most from had absolutely nothing to do with my specialty. The fact that no one has blabbed the secret or that all the regular student body has no idea what is going on is a reach, though. Secrets shared with more than one person do not last long in High Schools.

Re: What would your character buy? Hey, He never said what it was giving.

Re: What would your character buy? Nicolas Cross - Sixpacks of Pabst Blue Ribbon and cartons of Dorals. The gifts that keep on giving.

Re: A Funny Thing Happened When I Read About The Sylvestri Clan... ROFL. Repped!

Re: Top Ten All-Time 'Favorite' Superhero RPG Books Ever 1. Super World This is the one that started it all for me. First real campaign that I played in, first time I ran a campaign, and first exposure to rules rapists/munchkins. 2. Classic Enemies Originally picked it up for support in my Super World game. Later found out what all those numbers meant and that brings me to #3. 3. Champions 4th Edition Everything I was looking for in a game system. Fell in love with the Martial Arts system and use that as a main comparing point in most games I see now. 4. Strike Force Showed me what a campaign could become. Marriage, love, death, retirement, I found it all in the pages of that campaign book. Many of the things introduced in that book are used today. 5. Ninja Hero 1st Edition I think I actually drooled the first time I read this. 6. Kingdom of Champions Although I was not overly impressed with the Supers, I found the other information to be great. And that cover is probably still the best one that I have every seen. 7. Viper: Coils of the Serpent Viper the way I had always envisioned it (well maybe not with the big freaking snake) but I have made this an integral part of my campaign. 8. Zodiac All truth be told. It was the art,the concept and the spaceship that I liked the most out of this module. You made a smaller grade carrier before anyone ever heard of the name Authority or Warren Ellis. 9. The Day of The Destroyer My old players are still probably hurting from that one. 10. Heroes Unlimited Revised Second Edition Not my favorite system by a long run but whenever I had players that would get to munchkinnie or I needed to through something together quick for players that could not think of a characters (mainly those used to limited choices. You free them from that and sometimes their minds lock up) I would fall back on this. Of course afterwards I needed a healthy dose of Champions.

Re: Champions Battleground stories I use the soap opera 'To Save The World'. I make any of my players that catch at least one episode to roll 3d6. If they miss the roll, they become fans of the show. In my mind it is akin to seeing a bunch of hard core gang bangers walk into the door and then start talking about what is going on in 'The Days of our Lives'. My players have fun with that. So when I do spring the adventure on them, some of them actually do have a reason to be there.

Re: Metallic Ages? Ah yes. The Comic Code. Established as a response to the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency. Although they were not forced to, the comic book industry was recommended to tone down it's content. You see, a person by the name of Dr. Fredric Wetham wrote a minor bestseller titled "The Seduction of The Innocent" about how comics were corrupting the minds of their youths. Of course he claimed that Batman, Robin and Wonder Woman were homosexual. He believed that comic books were a major cause of juvenile crime and said as much in front of the subcommittee. The comic publishers closed ranks, created the code and said "Look here. Our comics do not offend anyone nor do they come close to showing that crime would pay in any shape or form.P.S. We also got rid of the Vampires and Zombies" EC comics, whose body of work was mostly like true crime horror stuff was pretty much put out of business because their readers did not want to read their heavily sanitized stories. The Comic Code did not have any real power to censor anyone but the distributors would rarely carry any comic that did not have the code. Now comics are seen as something for kids by most americans, instead of a storytelling medium. As a side note, I was able to attend a seminar on Crime comics, which had one of the former EC Comics writers on the board. Brian Azzarello was there as well. At one point someone was talking about how certain comics can now show the things that pretty much put him out of work. Azzarello turned to him and said something on the lines of "See man. You guys won." The writer looked at Azzarello and said "We did?" His face pretty much showed that Azzarello should not seek to compare what they went through then with what is going on now.

Re: Characters Places Things and Groups Needed for the Perfect Superhero Universe?

Re: Killing Damage and Defenses I use a set modifier as well, but the problem is that finding the right number for your game is tricky. Too high and you still have the problem. too low and you make killing attacks not worth the cost of buying as the supers with resistant defenses over about 24 (in some of my old games, back in the days of 250 points, everyone had defenses to that range. ) no longer have much too worry about from 60 active points of it. Heck even a happy medium is not so happy. Of course it is a killing attack, which should be emphasized and not to be simply an amazing stunning attack. I agree with Pinecone. Every GM must find what is most suitable for their game and go with that.

Re: Machine Class of mind That is why I generally wait until after everyone has made their characters before I start really fleshing out my campaign. I have a general idea of what I want and share that with the players before they make their characters. That way I can put together something that I will like as well as the players.

Re: Killing Damage and Defenses B is the correct way. If you like your version more, then I would say to continue to do it.

Re: GM's "Notebook" I never write anything down. I keep track of everything in my head. I might from time to time write down a game log but that is generally for the players benefit and not my own.

Re: There has always been a Captain Future! I was thinking more of along the lines of an I-Pod carrying, casual clothes wearing, tattoo (designs not names) having female that would generally use the system (or the heroes) to do the work for her. Very physical in an extreme sports type of way with a little Le Parque thrown in for good measure. Actually will carry only small amounts of tech on her but may steal a page from neo and have it downloaded to her from an orbiting satellite that is straddling the dimensional barrier like most people sit on fences. She would have a vast network of contacts and people that owe her favors much along the same vein as that old tv show 'Stingray'.