Alverant

Re: WWYCD: "He'll be back." Of all my characters Metromancer is the most qualified to handle the situation because he's a technomage - a scientist and a sorcerer. First he'd want to know more about the Transhumanist society, primarily whether or not they they still have empathy and emotion or if the charges that they don't is just anti-machine propaganda. He feels that without emotion, a culture cannot grow and develop. Instead it will become static and uncaring with a disregard for any form of life even their own. If the Transhumanists do have feelings and souls like ordinary people (Metromancer defines humanity by sentience and not biology) he'd try to negotiate a peace between the two groups. First to stop forcing people to join it. It's OK to offer but never coerce. Then ask why the Transhumanists want to stay on Earth. As machines and digital personalities they may be happier off world in a place inhospitable to organic life. Mechaforming Venus would be a prime candidate. Since they are so different it would be best to separate them and let each one develop on their own. On the other hand, if they do lack emotions and souls, Metromancer would be more than happy to help the little girl by building some technomagical devices to use against the machines.

Re: WWYCD: Welcome Divinity?

Re: Writing a good character origin It should be a good read. By the time the story is 1/4 or even earlier, the character's world has to be turned upside down. I don't mean getting powers, or just getting powers. Did Superman's story start with "Kansas farmboy discovers he could fly" or "baby of a doomed planet is put in a rocket to Earth"? As the background demands, first paint the character as being ordinary person then change their world. Do they win the lottery? Kidnapped by Viper? Unlock a secret? A character background should be a good short story and be treated as such.

Re: Representatives of Pantheons I have a book by Michael Jordon called Encyclopedia of Gods and opened it to the J's. Jabru: Sky god. Elamite [iran]. Local deity largely eclipsed by An. Jagaubis: Fire god. Pre-Christian Lithuanian. Local deity largely eclipsed by Gabija. I would imagine these two have inferiority complexes from being eclipsed. I also like Jakomba: God of morality. Bangala [Zaire, central Africa]. Also known as the god of hearts, he controls human though. Also Nzakomba. (not listed in this book) What's cool about the book is that they index both by civilization and by subject so if you need a god of calenders, you're covered (Mama-Kilya, also a moon goddess). I'd first determine what the god's agenda is and pick representatives that will sort-of fit what they want (they can't be too obvious, gods work in mysterious ways). For example if their agenda included veterans, they would send Na Ngutu, African god of the dead and guardian deity of warriors slain in battle. (I'm still flipping around in the book.) Also I'd through in an invisible or shape-shifter god who's humble enough to be treated as a "pet" of the other gods. Overall I would include a mix of known and obscure gods for recognition and give the scholars on the team a chance to justify all those points spent in skills meant to flesh out the character.

Re: HERO Computer design question This is probably going to be a very anti-Hero-System idea but what about buying a power called "Computer Defense" and the GM decides how the points are spent like a VPP. For example if you buy 20 points of Computer Defense and the computer is attacked by Telepathy, the computer gets 20 Mental Defense. Likewise if it's attacked from another computer with a Computer Programming roll the computer has Computer Programming at 17- (3 point for base 9- +8 for 16 points = 19) to counter it. Then the computer gets hit by a Transform attack and due to the nature of the attack, the GM decides Computer Defense has a 1/2 ratio so 20 points of Computer Defense translates into 10 points of Power Defense.

Re: HERO Computer design question You can't. Therefore you'd have to buy Invisible Power Effects to all but "computer feedback" sense (the fact you can't get any further tells you it's there). As Killer Shrike said, it's too expensive and too easily countered. A hacker can have 10 pts Power Defense, only vs Firewalls (-2) for 3 pts and -poof- most NSL go away. The problem in Hero and computers is that there are multiple ways to affect electronic senses so unless you can think of a defense against every method you're going to be caught with your proverbial pants down. But doing that is expensive. For example you want the power to alter data on a computer when it's on. You can use Computer Programming (go in and edit the data yourself), Telepathy (send instructions to the computer to alter the data the same way you would through keyboard/mouse), Mind Control (same as telepathy), or Transform. There are probably other ways too. So which one is best? Remember computers do what they're told so I can't see Mind Control working on them any differently than Telepathy.

Re: WWYCD: The Seven Deadlies I checked a dictionary and being chaste includes a sense of purity, probably going back to the belief that sex was dirty. I would think that the wedding dress of a woman who was a virgin until she got married then stayed true to her husband until she died would make a good component in making a Chastity elemental.

Re: WWYCD: The Seven Deadlies I'd try to throw the demons for a loop and consider the broader, but valid, definitions of the since. For example Lust isn't just sexual, it's wanting for the sake of wanting it. You can lust after a fancy sports car as well as a member of the appropriate sex. Greed and Gluttony and excessive hording and consuming and are not limited to money and food. The seven sins are about taking things too far. That being said, I think someone who is content with the simple things in life would be helpful. A Buddhist priest for example.

Re: No robotic love? For the Life Support question, I look to my own computer. A computer needs air of some sort for cooling so I'd say the 5 point "Breathe in Gaseous atmosphere". I would be "No eat/sleep" but include a physical limitation about parts maintenance. If you put a circuit board in a microwave, the radiation fries it in a very cool way. Do not try this at home kiddies! So you don't have to by LS vs radiation. Robots would be affected by it, just in a different way than people. CPUs overheat and the moving parts in a computer (fan, hard drive, etc) can freeze up so you don't have to buy LS vs temperature. Diseases would be required since computers aren't biological based. But poisons are another matter. Since there are chemical poisons, it could be said some poisons affect circuitry by corroding it. So buy the LS vs disease, but some limited form of LS vs poisons. Plus you also get a physical limitation about being vulurnable to other kinds of "poisons" like rust and dust. Computer parts wear out and programs become corrupt so reduced/no aging is optional. Maybe buy it later as an upgrade along with other forms of LS. In the end, you'll probably need only 30 points but they're not "wasted" points. You get some good powers with them. You'd be almost immune to gas attacks unless it was something like methane. And every character needs to spend a few points to flesh them out a bit more. On a side note, from the POV of the discussion how much of a difference is there between robots and undead?

Re: WWYCD/W:The gift

Re: Suggestions need: Animal super villains I'm a little surprised that no one mentioned the characters in Transformers Beast Wars. Just covert some of their robotic abilities to beastal powers then remove the robot aspect and you have dozens of personality types and names. Some of them have really weird powers like armor eating acid bite and a penguin with the ability to shoot balls of ice out of his ... nevermind. There aren't many telepaths in Transformers but enough bricks, energy projectors, brawlers, gadgeteers, etc to make up for it. I do know there's a comic listing all the Beast Wars characters from the different series (US and Japan) which includes many never seen in the US before.

Re: Is your character religious? Metromancer is an Atheist. He's been to Elysium and has seen the heavens (note the plural), met and fought with pagan gods, saw young Elvis and old Elvis sing a duet in Bablyon. Even before he earned his powers he felt gods are the creation of man and not the other way around. Smokin Ace is Metromancer's nephew (the GM let me switch characters for a while) is also an experienced superhero who has seen his share of supernatural things and shares his uncle's Atheist views. Divine Wind is Shinto mostly due to the ghost of his samauri ancestor bugging him. James Baker (Pulp Hero) converted catholic due to a need for redemption. Cold Void is in college and still learning about his powers. Religions don't appeal to him as much as learning about philosophy. He doesn't know he's destined to be the equivalent of Eternity from Marvel and be the embodiment of a new and separate universe ... eventually.

Re: Acronym help! Indian Nobility Secretly Entertaining Chinchillas

Re: After DEMON wins...

Re: After DEMON wins... In the CU update, it's said that Eurostar has become less interested in politics and more interested in causing chaos, fear, and destruction. That fits in with the Edomites. At the least Panthra and Durak will join up, maybe Scorpiana and Feur as well.

Re: Evil Defender... Nice idea jkwleisemann, but I don't know if that's what you'd call evil. It's more like the Harbinger of Justice or Punisher, killing people who need killing. I picture evil as intentionally bringing harm to innocent people. Now if Witchcraft's ghost said to go after the defense attorney or judge for doing their jobs, it would be a different story.

Re: Evil Defender... If Defender really went evil, he'd change his name to Attacker or something. "Defender" just doesn't cut it as a villain name any more than Destroyer as a hero name. As for reasons why he'd go bad. I'd go with the big one, betrayal mixed with tragedy. He's outed as a superhero and disowned by his family. Every criminal sues him for his superhero activities and they win massive judgments. All his friends turn his back on him or else get caught in the scandal. Defender wonders why he risked his life so many times for an ungrateful populous and suffers a breakdown. The Defender we knew dies and is replaced by a cynical and selfish Attacker who wants revenge.

Re: After DEMON wins... Or worse since the gods are shaped by human thoughts, would that mean that if the Edomites warp the human psyche then the gods will be warped as well? Is it possible that through sacrifice some gods will be able to become free beings able to separate themselves from the Earth dimension? Yes, their power will be greatly reduced and they won't technically be gods anymore but they won't require worship and they would be free of the Ban.

Re: After DEMON wins... The Edomites would be milking Earth for everything its worth as it tries to spread. Supervillains who aren't psychotic and casual killers would side with the heroes to stop them. At this point the whole issue of morality is put on hold. Dr.Destroyer and Viper would fight against them in their own way while Eurostar would probably join the Edomites in some way. One issue that I haven't seen addressed yet is how Earths imaginarium dimensions (Elysum, Hells, Babylon, and Fairie) would be affected. The phrase "above as below" would be applied and I wouldn't be surprised if all four united against the Edomites, even Hell (Hell is for human demons, the Edomites are much much worse). I think some of the sub-dimensions would try for an evacuation of Earth in some form like the Rapture then try to break away and become independent dimensions. The Dragon with/supporting Hells and Fairie would become a dimension lord only needs enough humans to sustain it and allow the Edomites to assume his "duties". Elysum would save the faithful but would still be loyal to Earth which would likely cause their downfall. Same with Babylon. The only other ones I can see breaking away are the Pagan and some Eastern heavens on the promise of an exodus to a more habitable plane.

Re: Elseworlds Dr.Destroyer is killed fleeing Nazi Germany. All the supervillains in his employee now work for Viper. Oh yes, with no Dr.Destroyer there's no Viper-Destroyer war. (And Viper still has that mystic lamp thing if you use 5th ed.) No not only is Viper more powerful, one of their biggest checks isn't there anymore. Viper is now the biggest criminal organization and has been absorbing every other gang from the Yakuza to LA street gangs to religious terrorist groups. Presently the Supreme Serpent is ready to start his scheme to take over the world.

Re: Campaign idea I'll give him props for doing something different. I never saw an RPG book do something like that before. However I think the 10+ years between the editions is too quick for the changes that happened. If it was 50 years, or at least 2 generations, then I'd accept it more easily. I haven't seen 1st ed cyberpunk but I think 2nd ed captured what cyberpunk is. It's attitude, it's atmosphere, it's haves vs have nots and life is as cheap as a bullet, it's technology intermixed with humanity in a future that's forgetten the past. (I concede that CP2020 is my first and one of a limited number of cypberpunk RPGs I have, so there could be something better). 3rd ed took a bunch of weird ideas and made them their own societies then put them against each other. So any campaign would have to be made of players from the same group. That's just too limiting for most players I know.

Re: Campaign idea I agree on the Cyberpunk books. But only for 2nd edition. The third edition has some nice ideas and a lot of bad ones. The rules have some major flaws (like how a standard person can improve your "DCV" by 50% by standing still and getting on one knee). The setting itself goes way overboard on the cyber-dystopia but still has some valid ideas. For instance instead of taking place in 2020, it's 203X because no one knows exactly what year it is. Someone unleashed a virus that screwed up all the electronic information in the world, including clock settings. The idea was no one can be sure anything they know is the truth, not even the date.

Re: Politics or not

Re: Wings of the Valkyrie update My GM in a campaign I was/am in ran that module. There was a nice lead up to it. One character had a Green Lantern-esque magic ring that was being used by a commie at the time. So he had to make an EGO roll when he wanted to switch powers and it controlled how much of the ring's VPP he had. My character's powers is of an unknown origin (to the character) and when he went back in time he kept getting evil impulses sent by one of the REALLY SICK [censored] in Hitler's inner circle. Also had a romantic link to one of the Children. He convinced her that what she was doing was wrong and that the future she was creating was worse, "Why else would we come back to stop you?" His family was also Jewish so he had a stake in it too. Finally he was doing intern work in chrono-physics for the founder of the C of Holocaust. The alternate future was bad, but not BAD bad. I haven't read the module so I can't say how much the GM used was from there or his own creation. The US was broken up into fragments. We're a Chicagoland-based game so Mayor Daley was actually President Daley (of the Midwest section of the Divided States). There was still anti-mutant laws which sucks because 2 of us were mutants. It was a disturbing module because to save history you have to save Hitler and fight those who would be heroes under ordinary circumstances. In fact in a previous adventure my character and the one of the group fought on the same side against some thieves. But that wasn't all of the moral questions. When we were going back in time, our alternate-group leader tried to jump in the time bubble with us. That would have been a Bad Thing because crossing the time bubble (outside to inside or vice versa) was fatal. My character used his stretching powers to push him aside which cost him his arm. He has regeneration WITH LIMBS so it wasn't that bad. It was better than the "let him die, if we're successful he's dead anyway" attitude of our teammate. For the question of why it was recalled, I can understand why it would make people uncomfortable. It's like the Star Trek episode "City on the Edge of Forever" where Kirk has to let a good person die to preserve history. How would you feel if someone made a module called "Desert Moon" where a group called Twin Towers of Power go back in time to the 1980s to kill Osamma bin Laden before he can rise to power and mastermind the 9/11 attacks, and it was the PC's job to stop them?

Re: WWYCD: Harem Comedy from Hell Divine Wind is a 19 year old male slacker. He'll play the three off each other and string them along for as long as possible. Oh, and he'll keep notes for his online american-manga comic strip he hopes to sell to an anime company in Japan.