esampson

Re: Multiform

Re: Necessary Item to control your power The way I use to handle it was to apply some sort of limitation to the power (always on, side effect, limited power, etc.) to represent the lack of control. I also calculated how much the power would cost without the limitation. I then paid the additional points sort of like a Naked Advantage and applied the focus limitation to those points. It isn't exactly RAW but it seems to function as RAI and the results typically seemed fairly well balanced (the end effect was the power saved about 1/3 of the points that it would have normally saved taking the limitation)

Re: Alien Flagship Falling From Orbit At the risk of A) being wrong because I'm too lazy to look it up or being right and exposing myself as the horrible geek I am; An Imperial Star Destroyer was a big ship only in relative terms of being a spaceship. Its like a few aircraft carriers in size so if it crashes into the ocean, aside from some pollution issues it probably wouldn't be that big a deal (and ISD's typically aren't filled with crude oil like a tanker so the pollution probably isn't that severe). So I'd probably try to get it out to the water if it wasn't already headed that way. On the other hand I think the Super Star Destroyers dwarfed them. If you're talking about ships big enough to cause coastal flooding even if it's crashed into the middle of the icy cold waters of the Atlantic then I don't know what I'd do. Maybe see if I could make it explode if I thought that would reduce the problem. Of course the character that I played the most long, long ago named Tech would just fix it and then fly it up to orbit (he was basically a mutant who had pretty much complete control over technology)

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Flying into the heart of the sun is a pretty common trope. I'm sure those guys aren't doing it through a massive ED (how high would that need to be, anyway?)

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. (don't click if you are worried about spoilers) "Get busy swimming or get busy drowning."

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Got to love when you encounter things like that in the rules. My life support can protect me from molten rock or the heart of a sun, but apparently not a house fire. (I recognize why it doesn't protect me from the Inhuman Scorch when he throws a fireball at me, but a house fire?)

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. The only way for Superman to be a Strawman is if I am attributing characteristics (simplification) to him that do not exist, so yes, people did say that (or at the least strongly implied it). I went out of my way time and again to point out that the only purpose of my Superman example (the 4 bomb example now) was to show that the characteristic existed. People continued to argue that the example broke genre, wasn't the type of story they wanted to read, Marvel did the same thing, suggested I read other stories, etc., none of which addressed the point of the example. Maybe I wasn't fully clear in the beginning but once I wrote that that was the reason for the example it became pretty unambiguous, and people still argued against the example. I'm not sure anyone tried the trick of arguing that he could exist in a universe that was less simplified with his morals intact because had I realized they were I would have said they were absolutely correct. You remove the smallest simplification and the universe is 'less simplified' yet probably would not compromise Superman. That doesn't really mean anything though. You still have Superman surviving in a world with artificial constraints, and again that does nothing to disprove the (now) explicitly stated point of the example.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. My original statement was that I preferred Marvel over DC because I found DC to be a bit more oversimplified, which isn't to say that I don't enjoy DC, just that if asked which publisher I prefer more then that's my response. That doesn't even take into account specifics because I am sure you can find certain Marvel titles that are more simplified than certain DC titles. However, if asked 'which publisher' that's going to be my response. As far as 'who cares', well, I would have to say those people who jumped all over me and said there is no such simplification in DC. They weren't saying Marvel has more or that it's necessary. They were basically saying it didn't exist (in their defense I chose 'superficial' instead of 'simplification' but tried to make it clear what I was talking about when I used the word 'superficial'). As other people have pointed out, however, this aspect of the thread has pretty much died out and would be best allowed to rest in piece. I never thought my statement would be so contentious.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Yes, I know, but it looks like some people are trying to resurrect that.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. OK. Before this starts up and derails things again; The Superman example came about because I said that I found the DC comics to be a bit more superficial (I would now use the word 'simplified') than Marvel and certain people jumped in and said there was no superficiality. It was intended to show that there is a degree of simplification that occurs in DC's comic books. It was not meant to show that there is more simplification in DC's books than Marvel's, that Superman should behave a different way, that schools should be blown up, that Superman is a bad character, that it is a good storyline, or anything else. Again, it is meant to show that there is a (quite probably necessary) degree of simplification that occurs in the stories and personalities and that is it. Please only take issue with the example if you can honestly say that you feel that A) there is absolutely no simplification that occurs in DC comics and that your argument establishes that such an example is faulty because it would not be successful (not that it could fail but rather that there is no reasonable chance of success) in the 'real world' without any alteration of Superman's personality. Unless you can honestly say both conditions are true then you are arguing to argue (either because you reject the argument but you agree that there is still simplification in the first case, which was all that it was suppose to illustrate, or because you have issues with the example but are doing absolutely nothing to argue against the point of the example).

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Yeah. One reason I said I wasn't sure where you got it was because I figured there was a good chance that you probably got the number from somewhere (despite the fact that my later example was purely pulling numbers out of thin air and I think I even mentioned that you might have been using your own numbers) as opposed to just deciding to make them up. Unfortunately any time you have lots and lots of books like we do with the hero system you end up with things that directly contradict each other (as in the same weapon presented in two different areas with different stats) or that semi-contradict each other in the form of the disconnect between a howitzer shell and a tank gun (incidentally, a 'heavy bomb' which I assume represents things like 2000lb. bombs only do 6d6 RKA so there is a real discrepancy between explosives damage in most books and those guns listed in the 5E equipment guide). That leaves us in a position where we have to establish what's 'correct' and what needs adjustment. Unfortunately in this case I think those big guns in the 5e equipment guide are what need tweaking. 7 1/2d6 AP RKA means that shell has about the same amount of force as being hit by someone with 140 STR, which for a WWII era tank gun seems more than excessive. Being stunned by a direct hit from the gun from a main battle tank probably isn't that out of line with Superman as he originally appeared. I seem to recall seeing a reprint years and years ago where he was on the outside of an aircraft flying through anti-aircraft fire (significantly less damaging than the main gun on a tank) and was concerned about being knocked loose from the aircraft by the airburst. Of course comic books being what they are even early versions of Superman are hardly consistent. One issue he might shrug off an attack that was far stronger than an attack that in another issue stunned him. Writers were much more concerned with drama than being accurate.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Actually, that's pretty subjective. I would point out that with a modern ballistics vest it can be argued that it is quite possible for a person to take body in the form of broken bones and internal injuries without the bullet ever piercing the vest (or skin). I would speculate that an anti-tank weapon of the era wouldn't be a minor annoyance to Superman of the era like a cat's claw would be to a a human.

Re: Champions Complete Advertisement! I'd be willing to contribute to a Kickstarter to raise an advertising budget. I'm really excited about CC because I'm hoping it will help get new people into the game.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Well, as I have said, the purpose of the example wasn't to say that Superman should be more real or that I would prefer a different genre.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design. Well, technically you are correct. It doesn't work in the genre where heroes never win. My point, however, is that it doesn't work in the genre where it is possible for the heroes to legitimately lose (I had to append 'legitimate' to distinguish it from those lesser failures a character can sometimes suffer to increase dramatic tension).

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design.

Re: Gods with Off Switches vs. Loaded Guns. DC vs. Marvel in Character Design.

Re: Time Frame for Appearance of Superhumans

Re: KX's Character Thread No, you don't need to use DI at full force (unless you've got some kind of limitation that says you do). It's just that as you cut it back to levels less likely to make you sink into the center of the earth you're going to lose a lot of strength. That would have left you with your 6d6 NND and your teleport.

Re: Time Frame for Appearance of Superhumans Depends upon the campaign for me. I'd say that the majority of campaigns me and my friends had done superheroes were relatively recent. Usually there was a period of their appearance in WWII followed by a long period where they went away and then they have recently (with the past 5-15 years) returned. That's one of the easiest settings to run because supers are relatively new so you don't have to spend too much time trying to think about how society has adapted to deal with supers but you still have enough time for large groups like PRIMUS and UNTIL to have come into existence. I've always thought of it as sort of a 'sweet spot'. Also it is just the best represented timeframe in comics in general. We did campaigns though were supers were just appearing. The downside on that typically was that the only government agencies evolved to deal with supers tended to be shadowy organization that have existed in secret, so it tended to darken the mood of the game (assuming the heroes had no way to contain defeated villains, which is highly likely, they would end up turning over defeated villains to organizations that whisked them away to secret holding facilities without due process because of the secrecy of the organization). Campaigns where heroes have been around for a long time present their own problems. What kind of impact have superheroes had on technology? What impact have they had on significant historical events (and if they didn't have any, why not?) The biggest headache though, IMO, was trying to figure out how all the laws would eventually become updated to deal with superhumans. In settings where heroes are new you can brush such issues aside saying that the wheels of government haven't caught up. In the case where superheroes have been around for 50-100 years, however, its pretty hard to believe that they haven't addressed just about every issue of superheroes lives.

Re: The Good and Bad about Marvel and DC 5) Despite the horrifyingly high crime-rate in Gotham you can apparently leave your flying vehicle on the roof of a building for five months as long as you throw camouflage netting over it.

Re: KX's Character Thread This morning I started thinking about how much damage Shade would do on an 'average turn'. I've been fiddling with formulas a bit to try and work out a better system for evaluating how strong a character is and part of that is the damage in an 'average turn'. The way I do that is by figuring the chance to hit (based on average DCV for the campaign and assuming all levels are set offensively) * the character's speed * average damage per hit. Average damage per hit for a normal attack is dice * 4 minus average defenses. Why times 4? Because if you have 10 dice and you hit a person with 40 defense your average damage is still positive. It's not 0 and it is certainly not negative. It stems from the fact that high rolls do some damage and low rolls do none (but they don't add back health). It is possible to model average damage more accurately but it is a real pain. So doing that with the three characters given in the 6e2 I get a range from about 60 for Taurus to 95 for Eagle Eye. Taurus' is probably low because I don't have a good way to take into account the area of effect on his strength which means he can hit multiple people at the same time. Adjusting the formula to deal with NND (making the average roll 3.5 instead of 4 and removing any defense) and his average is about 105, which truthfully isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be but which is still about an extra 10% over the top example starting character.

Re: Champions one-shot to teach/show off the system I don't know about any published products (though I think such a thing would be a good idea) or threads (might be a fun idea to start one or to even use this one to put together something that Hero Games could distribute for free) so I have to write with the idea of making a new adventure. For a three hour tour (a three hour tour) I think you're going to want to keep it pretty simple. Probably just a single encounter since with people learning the game they're going to be a bit slower. The most obvious single encounter I can think of would be a bank heist. It's nice and self contained and there's no real ambiguity (unless you suddenly have villains taking people hostage, but I wouldn't do that). It's a pretty clear exercise in 'here's the bad guys. Stomp them'. Likewise the characters should be pretty simple. Not sure how many people you've got playing but the characters should probably be things like a brick, a martial artist, a power armor, and an energy projector. I would actually stay away from Speedsters since they rely a bit on Move-by/Move-through and their higher speeds can mean they tie up everyone else as their try to figure out what they want to do multiple times in a row. Likewise I would stay away from Duplication. Don't give the brick any kind of freaky rules bending powers like desolidfication to represent invulnerability (not that there's anything wrong with such a build but we're making characters for new players). Just give him a high strength and high defenses. He hits people, what can be simpler? Make sure there are things scattered around that he can pick up and throw or hit people with. Bricks love hitting people with lightpoles. Don't give the martial artists too many manuevers so you don't overwhelm a new player. Unless you think that one of the Champions fans is going to play the martial artist don't give them a martial block. They won't really know how to use it and it will probably drag things down as you try to explain it (on the other hand if one of the fans is playing they can provide an example of how block works). Sticking to simple martial arts moves. I would give them a strike, offensive strike, and dodge. They get just enough maneuvers that they show combat is more than roll-to-hit-attrition but they won't be overwhelmed. The power armor is to demonstrate two things to new players. First is the concept of limitations (foci, in this case). I'm not saying to have them do the math but have it so that hopefully the players will see that his defenses cost less than the brick's despite being almost the same. The other concept for the power armor to show off is a multipower. Don't give him a big honking MP. Just 3 or 4 attacks (blast, autofire blast, armor piercing blast, etc.). Don't make it so he has to do complicated balancing with his flight and his forcefield as part of the multipower. Just the attacks which he will only be using one at a time anyway. Remember that even though you can probably make your power armor guy stronger and tougher than your brick and with a stronger blast than the energy projector you should you should make each of them slightly better in their own fields to give some balance. Don't make the energy projector the 'glass cannon' style of projector. He should probably have the strongest attacks of the group but not by a lot and so while his defenses should be lower than the brick and power armor he should still be able to take a shot. Probably give him a force field or something. Since this is an introduction to the game you want a fight that they can win (despite inexperience) and feel good about (so it can't be a complete cakewalk). I thinking something along the lines of one of the more classic Champions enemies (not Dr. Destroyer) backed up by some VIPER agents (so you've got an actually super-badguy in the mix but a lot of the fight is against agents). Well, that's what I would suggest in broad strokes. Of course it does run into an issue of street powered supers versus cosmic powered supers, but I'm not real sure how to present cosmic powered supers as an introductory adventure. Maybe someone else has some ideas?

Re: KX's Character Thread Biggest problem I see is that if you catch him off guard he can be in really big trouble. His Density Increase is so high I'm assuming he doesn't just have it on when he's not Desolid. Like Christopher said, 100 tons on a surface area of the size of two human feet is about 1 tons per square inch. Back of the envelope calculations tell me that's roughly the same amount of pressure as being 1 mile underwater so he's going to cause a lot of damage using it. 26 points of normal attack would stun him with it off, which is an average roll on only 8 dice. With his DI tuned down he's got pretty much two attacks; the NND and the teleport. Your NND is an all or nothing so you'll either be in good shape against someone or horrible shape with it. Because the UAA teleport shares the same defense if the NND is blocked so is the teleport. That high NND is going to force your GM to do one of a couple of things but the two simplest responses are A) letting his villains get beat up or neutralizing the NND (and in the process your UAA teleport). Guess which one is likely to happen? True, there are some other possible solutions such as Damage Reduction and Damage Negation but if your GM is less experienced or even simply annoyed the odds are good that you're going to find yourself limited to punching people and not being able to utilize your full Density Increase most of the time.