Xavier Onassiss

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? In the 90's, angst was beautiful....

Re: "Neat" Pictures

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Saint Etienne's Goodnight: a capella brit-pop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idwTedjQPXM

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Getting over a nasty stomach flu... not feeling it tonight, won't be doing anything serious. So here's a gorilla with a diving helmet on his head. (Where else would he put it?)

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Literalist!

Re: Scientific question about gravity Except for negative mass. That stuff really blows!

Re: Limitations on Combat Skill Levels - same as the attack itself?

Re: A note on starship design: the engines point down. I meant to reply to this yesterday but I was lying on the bathroom floor having a long philosophical conversation with the toilet bowl, and puking my guts out. I'm all better now. This is one of the narrowest possible definitions of Hard SF, favored by self-styled genre police who enjoy passing judgement about what's "good enough" to be considered Hard SF, and what doesn't make the grade. I used to be one of those people, but I got better. A far more incluive definition is: If a work of SF doesn't egregiously violate the laws of physics, it can be considered Hard SF. If the author knowingly violates the laws of physics in a specific way, but deals with the consequences of that in a scientifically rigorous manner instead of just 'handwaving' it away, that could also be considered a "Hard SF" approach to the subject, even though it's considered "impossible" by our current understanding. In some cases the author handwaves one idea for the sake of storytelling (FTL is a common choice) but takes a Hard SF approach to everything else. (Sometimes this is a good decision. The 2300 AD rpg had a scientific-sounding explanation for its FTL drive based on quantum tunneling which was proven impossible while the game was still in print.) All of these are much less limiting for Hard SF author/rpg designers than the 'genre police' definition of Hard SF. See the Sliding Scale of SF Hardness for more info. Also see the Mundane Manifesto for a good list of creative works by authors who worked within the strictest definitions of Hard Sf and kicked @$$. My advice to would-be Hard SF GM's: don't be afraid that Hard SF is "too limiting" by someone else's definition. And don't worry that someone else might consider your work to be "not hard enough." If you're making any effort at all to get the science right, you're already in the top 10% to begin with. You're in the top 1% by Hollywood standards.

Re: A note on starship design: the engines point down. "Cheap" was a really poor choice of words on my part; wires are cheap. What Hollywood lacks is a convenient and/or convincing way to do weightlessness.

Re: A note on starship design: the engines point down.

Re: Limitations on Combat Skill Levels - same as the attack itself? Amen to that. I think the key issue here is that CSL's are only as useful as the best attack they can be applied to, so in some cases it would make sense for the attack and the CSL's that go with it to have the same limitations. The point at which this will come back to haunt the character in question is when they wish to spend points to expand the scope of their CSL's. Once you hit the "All Hand to Hand" or "All Ranged" (8pts) category, it's hard to justify limitations on CSL's to match the attacks, because they can be used with so many different attacks it's impossible to say what limitations, if any, would apply consistently. Improving limited 3pt and 5pt CSL's to the 8pt level would most likely require buying off the limitations on them as well. I don't know how common this is for other players, but a lot of my characters go through this progression, starting off with low-cost specialized CSL's, then buying them up to broader categories with XP. If you do it that way, the points saved with those limited CSL's might turn out to be only temporary savings, in the long term.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Warning: Trashy outfits ahead! Susano asked me about doing a HeroMachine version of his character from Shadows Angelus II, Chrysine Winterfox. I've made a couple of attempts, but abandoned them because I couldn't get the XSWAT uniform right. Then I remembered that prior to joining XSWAT, Chrysine Winterfox was "The Winter Fox", a Lace & Steel fighter... I could work with that! The following probably isn't what she wore in the arena -- more likely it's from a publicity photo shoot. (For some reason I could not get the masking feature to work on the weapon she's holding -- like anyone's gonna notice....) Spoilered for slightly stripperiffic content.

Re: Limitations on Combat Skill Levels - same as the attack itself? This is something I've wondered about, too. Even at the same cost level, not all CSL's are created equal. (I'll use 6e costs for this example.) Take the 3pt CSL with a "small group of attacks." If my character defines these for three different 'energy blast' powers (w/o limitations), okay -- the CSL's are good as long as he's got the energy blast. If he defines them as 'thrown knives' then he needs an OAF to use the CSL's, but unless he takes a limitation on them, they cost the same as the 'energy blast' CSL's. It gets worse. Small group of attacks: Longbows = OAF and Concentration. Crossbows = OAF, Concentration, and Extra Time! But without the limitations, all these CSL's for small groups of attacks cost the same number of points. Why does the Hero System hate crossbowmen!

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Thanks! Wait... which one?

Re: "Neat" Pictures Spiky metal dice!

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine A Whole New Look for characters in Terracide. Up to this point, I've been focusing on making making character concepts and art for Terracide realistic and practical. Sure, there have been more than a few skin-tight space suits, but they're based on real-life prototypes, and besides that they look good. Here's an example, from one of my Haymaker articles: a corsair, Alena Fischer: a no-nonsense skinsuit, helmet, grappling gun for boarding actions, hair cropped to a semi-manageable length for zero-G, and a neutral color scheme. Okay, nothing egregiously wrong there, but... where's the hook? Is it really going to grab anybody? I finally decided NO! this just won't do. I've been letting realism get in the way, preventing my Terracide characters from being everything that they should be. And so, I am proudly presenting the first (of many to follow!) completely over-hauled and re-invented Terracide characters! I decided to start with the corsair, since space pirates are always the most flamboyant, glamorous denizens of ANY space opera setting.... I really could use some feedback on the new look; let me know what YOU think! Is the pink katana just a bit too much? Should Pele the space parrot have a bigger helmet? Does that space suit make her butt look fat? Is this sort of thing the reason girls don't like SF? Oh, and one more thing:

Re: Tenure as a perk Well now it really does sound more like a Complication than a Perk. Ouch.

Re: Mega Knockback in 6th megaplayboy's onto something there: megascaled leaping, usable as an attack, linked to STR, limited to the meters of KB done by the base attack. And if you send 'em flying at 8kps or higher, they might not come back down!

Re: Using a D20

Re: A Thread for Random Musings My cat is a weapon of mouse destruction.

Re: Kill the Dude with the Thing And be careful, that Fermat really pulls the room together....

Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread So THAT's why there's no location in your profile! Now I see your evil plan.... My quest for a good chinese buffet continues!

Re: Tenure as a perk Awesome. Must spread rep... you know the rest. I call it a 1pt perk; the equivalent of (maybe) 1pt of wealth, from a very secure job.

Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread Interviewing for a real job next week.