Tom Carman

Re: Buddhist ‘Iron Man’ found by Nazis is from space Ooo-kay... gotta watch that "reading comprehension" thing... I originally read the title as "Buddhist 'Iron Man' found by Nazis from Space". I was having flashbacks of a 1998 computer game Rocket Ranger and its Interplanetary Union of Fascists.

Re: Things That Exist in a Superhero Universe Doesn't apply. There are tons of other convincing reasons to consider Deadpool insane.

Re: Things That Exist in a Superhero Universe

Re: Magic and END cost? My last mage character ran on both personal END and a Reserve. Out-of-combat spells for transport, intelligence and general utility were fueled by personal END. Combat spells ran off the battery for up to two Turns before it needed a lengthy recharge. Middle-of-the-pack in damage output, but specialized in versatility.

Re: Since CoH is gone... There's blocking practice in the Powerhouse. I tried it and that's why I'm unsure about effective use. It seemed to block less damage if I started blocking as soon as the practice laser started charging. Either blocking effectiveness is pretty random or it's a timing issue. I haven't yet gone online looking for answers, but I'm thinking I'll have to. One of the first missions I got was to stop GRAB from robbing a cruise liner (I think), but I have no clue where to go.

Re: Since CoH is gone... I'd say it does have a bit of a learning curve. The tutorial section does a poor job of explaining the mechanics of "energy builder" and "consumer" powers. There are some "training videos" that you get to look at in the Powerhouse after you ran the tutorial. My first character got up to level 8 yesterday and I'm still unclear on how to effectively use the Block power.

Re: looking for non-Causasian pulp roles I've had old Disney movie "Island at the Top of the World" for years and still haven't gotten around to watching it. That one has airships and lost Viking colony in an Arctic volcano.

Re: Dr. Who Questions The point was made by the 10th Doctor in "Fires of Pompeii": much, maybe most, of the historical flow is pretty malleable. But some events you Just. Don't. Touch. Or Else. Telling the difference is what makes a Time Lord.

Re: More space news! I believe that hypergolic propellants can generally be grouped into 3 categories: 1) corrosive; 2) carcinogenic; 3) both.

Re: Killing Damage to Normal Damage Cinematic Action Hero World - where all Killing attacks are Normal, Autofired KAs are Reduced Penetration, and all Explosions have free Double Knockback.

Re: Without fusion power, why go back to the moon? That's the most rational argument I've yet heard for not using Yucca. Significant seismic activity and not-necessarily-extinct volcanoes makes a bad site choice. Still, we need a safe (federally-owned), preferably subterranean place to park the stuff for a few decades. I stand by the point that the waste is not safe where it is now. My parents live within sight of 3 reactors that have been running for enough decades to have plenty of spend fuel onsite; it's also on a major river/estuary, within 50 miles of 2 major cities and many smaller ones. I don't live there now, but I'm still within 100 miles of 5 active nuclear plants.

Re: Without fusion power, why go back to the moon? Which is why Yucca Mountain remains the most sensible near-term solution, and somebody with authority and guts need to tell Nevada's state government to stuff it. The flat fact is that the waste is NOT safe where it is right now, but we CAN safely transport it to a suitable repository. The argument against Yucca from some quarters about "But we can't be CERTAIN it will be absolutely leak-proof for the next billion plus years!" is complete bogus. Yucca Mountain doesn't have to perfectly retain the waste for a billion years, only for a few decades until we decide that we have a new use for it.

Re: Without fusion power, why go back to the moon?

Re: A bit of clarification needed with sawed-off shotguns

Re: More space news! Doctor Who did this one a few seasons back.

Re: A bit of clarification needed with sawed-off shotguns Standard Hero System ruling: a Limitation that doesn't limit you is worth nothing. Also: The GM may prevent absurdities; some of these contrary hypotheticals smell of munchinkinism to me. No Range and Personal Immunity can easily be a munchkin construction. Were I making the rulings, I would be inclined to ignore the Personal Immunity in case of fumbles. And if the No Range Cone fumbled and then scattered in the same direction of the intended attack, I would likely say "OK, but the Cone effect starts IN your hex, not in the adjacent one."

Re: A bit of clarification needed with sawed-off shotguns Yet another example of 6th "fixing" things that aren't actually broken. Collateral damage is a perfectly reasonable (not to mention common) outcome of fumbling an area effect attack.

Re: A bit of clarification needed with sawed-off shotguns Unless Ed.6 changed it for some reason, no, your missed AoE attack doesn't just "go away". The attack is subject to the scattering rule: roll 1d6 to determine the direction it shifted, and I think the target effect moved a hex for each 1-2 the attack roll was missed by. Since the shotgun is Zero Range Cone, you can ignore that last part. So... fumble your attack with your sawed-off shotgun and you might have just blasted the guy standing next to you, or even behind you.

Re: Western Hero As long as you are talking about cartridge-based weapons, yes, with the note that a reload action replaces 2 rounds on many guns.

Re: Western Hero That should be 2 chambers per phase. Doing it in a half-phase needs the Quick Draw roll. About shooting dynamite to detonate it: it's nitroglycerine soaked into Fuller's Earth (originally) to stabilize it and wrapped in waxed paper. The nitro will start to "sweat" back out if left sitting too long. The shock of an exploding blasting cap was used to set it off, so I'd expect a rifle bullet to do the job as well. Pistol rounds might be more iffy.

Re: Reloading a revolver A couple shots of rapid fire would be reasonable with fanning or a lever-operated gun. Maybe even with a double-action revolver on a DEX-based roll; but only a real automatic weapon could fire faster. Ultimately, the reloading speed depends on the era and the design of the revolver. Cap-and-ball loaded so slowly that it was reasonable to carry extra cylinders. A fixed-cylinder pistol like a single-action Colt Peacemaker had a "loading gate" to load rounds one at a time: you might have to be really good to load 4 bullets in a phase through that. Top-break and side-swing-out revolvers can use the various sorts of speedloaders, but those are noted as being less sturdy and may require more maintenance.

Re: Reloading a revolver The cap-and-ball revolver cylinders were loaded from the front like a musket, with a built-in rammer to seal the bullet in: a time-consuming process. A detachable cylinder is effectively an early implementation of a "clip". At a reload rate of 2 cartridges per phase, then 1 per half-phase is reasonable. This allows those nicely cinematic scenes of loading a single round to fire RIGHT NOW!

Re: Reloading a revolver Going by memory here... In 4th Edition Western Hero, it took a phase to replace a spent revolver cylinder with a loaded one (these were old-style cap-and-ball revolvers). With metallic cartridges and a fixed-cylinder revolver, you could reload (extract and replace) 2 chambers per phase, more with a DEX roll.

Re: Well this just sucks. (Commercial rocket aborts on launch.) Solid rocket motors (mainly missiles) are designed for compactness, simplicity (less to go wrong), and shelf-stability. High specific impulse is not a priority for missiles, but is very important for maximizing the mass delivered to orbit. Hence the use of liquid propellant rockets. Though I hear that a LOX-parafin wax hybrid has about the Isp of a LOX-kerosene liquid engine.

Re: Like Cold Fusion... Except It Works? Quadium (4H) was the power source of the superbomb in The Mouse That Roared, inadvertently captured by the Duchy of Grand Fenwick during their invasion of Manhattan (20 chainmail-clad longbowmen on a chartered sailing ship, the objective of the war being to lose and have their tiny country rebuilt by the US - only they won instead).