Alverant

Re: 5 Of The Biggest Gangs How does one separate a gang from a hate group from a terrorist group? Both use fear and intimidation to get what they want. Neither like being questioned. Both think they can do what they want and are above (earthly) authority. I am glad the DC book included the KKK in their list of terrorist groups though. Personally I see no real difference between a hate crime and a terrorist attack. The only differences seem to be scale and who is the victim.

Re: [Char] Doktor Archeville In the Transformers season one cartoon episode "Countdown to Oblivion", Starscream and Dr.Archeville are on Cybertron. Starscream orders Dr.A to Earth to fix the planet destroying bomb. Dr.Archeville replies, "How do you expect me to get to Earth? On my roller skates?!" OK I may not have the quote exactly right, but I know he made the roller skate reference. I won't dig out the DVD and watch it again. I'm not that much of a nerd. Great character, Dr. Arch-evil-le!

Re: [Char] Doktor Archeville Out of curiosity, how is "scientist" a social limitation? Also may I recommend adding a roller skate based power and "dislike of living giant robots" quirk.

Re: Anyone try 'Black' Hero Action Points?

I'm planning a DC campaign with HAP and had this idea. I got it from Knights of the Dinner Table story about Player Advantage Cards. If a player is out of HAP or doesn't want to use one, he can use a Black HAP. For ever Black HAP a player uses, the GM (me) can use a HAP against any player except the one who used the initial Black HAP. I thought this may up the fun factor of the game. Has anyone ever tried something like that?

Re: WWYCD: A Damsel Who Doesn't Want To Be Rescued... Ask her what she thinks would happen in 20 years when she's old and grey. Ask to see the harem and find out what happens to the women who have lost their youthful beauty. Check for ones that are pregnant. In short, get her to think long term and see if it changes her mind. Beauty is a fading flower, but love and affection are forever.

Re: Vehicle Disads? What about having an 20 EGO for machine based mind control?

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here Seriously though, this is like what happened in a game. Aliens are threatening to invade. Dr.D offers to help if he's released from prison. My character and another are given remotes for the cortex bomb implanted in his head (we have the least problems with killing) to use if Dr.D betrays us. Of course everyone is thinking, not if - when. We thwart the invasion and Dr.D betrayed us. A stroke of luck got us teleported into the sewer. (I'm cutting a lot of stuff out you know). We know the bomb was removed. My character goes, "Well we know it won't do anything, but this will make me feel better. [click]" We didn't know the bomb was enchanted to teleport back if removed. So while Dr.D is making his "you have no choice but to surrender" speech to the world, his head goes BOOM inside his helmet. The segment becomes the most popular download on YouTube involving a man who is NOT drunk. The team decides to keep quiet about it.

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here Aliens: We would like that very much. But by Walmart tradition there is a human "greeter" at each one. We need all humans to be greeters as Walmarts spread over our empire. They will earn low pay, be cast to the dire wolves of Slagamat III if they talk of unions, and they will wear dorky uniforms.

Re: WWYCD The aliens are here Aliens: We want Evian bottled water! Are you claiming the Oort cloud has a Walmart? Come show us. If we don't find it, we will leave you there. OR Aliens: We prefer our water to be mixed with hemoglobin. Thank you for your donation?

Re: WWYCD: Nestleader: The Game Cold Void is a struggling college student so he'll have to wait until the game is in the discount bin to buy it. By then any scandal behind the game would have been uncovered. Smokin Ace plays REAL games for REAL money and wouldn't waste his time with a computer game when he could be playing poker. Divine Wind would check the web for cheat codes thus probably taking him out of the running for Virtual Viper Nest Leader. On the off chance he didn't use the cheat code (or didn't have them) he would be the "Ruthless B@st@rd" type of Nest leader (they are computer sprites, not real people so who cares about them). I think he'd blow his Secret ID to Viper when they approach him to offer him a job because he thinks they're here because they already cracked his Secret ID and are coming to kill him.

Re: Favorite Damage Shields? Since we have DS experts here I'd like to ask a question. What does DS do to the ground you walk on and the things (from foci to civilians) you touch?

Re: DC's Captain Marvel: OIHID or Multiform? For the OIHID or Multiform question let me ask these questions. If little Billy was shot would Captain Marvel have the wound? If CM had regeneration/recovery powers, would the wound be healed (partially or fully) when changed back? If the answer is "yes" for both then it's OIHID, otherwise it's Multiform. To represent OIHID with extra time, I would raise the limitation to 1/2. But they'd have to be more limiting. Normally I'd say it was the special effect of the change. For a super to normal accidental change, I'd buy it twice.

Re: Is this too dark for DC?

Re: Is this too dark for DC? Actually yes, I think people would be happier of OJ admitted he was guilty. Well let's not say "happier" how about "less unhappy". Like if you were kicked in the shin instead of being kicked in the groin. You'd be happier only because it could have been worse. At least in what I described, the family would have gotten something more than bitter memories and indignation. In any case, I do admit you are right. If I keep any of it, it will change to bribery. It's illegal, socially unaccepted, and more believable.

Re: Is this too dark for DC? OK I concede the points made here. I'm still learning as a GM. The idea of buying justice would work better in a novel where the author controls everyone's actions. It would not work in a social setting where other people are involved. It would be too much of a deviation from what we have today to suspend the player's disbelief. In a fantasy or far future sci-fi setting it may work better, but in DC it's too much. Now bribery, that's DC. It's unreliable, risky, and since it's illegal people can still have public faith in the courts even if they privately think it's rigged. In China bribery is part of the culture. You can even bribe your way out of hell. It's part of the society and it can cause huge problems (recent pet food and lead toys scandals for example). Best part about bribery in the legal system is that anyone who does it you know is guilty of something much more serious. If the PCs smell a bribed DA or judge suddenly any defendant's not-guilty plea is suspect.

Re: Is this too dark for DC? I can understand the reasoning in saying that it would make society too unstable. Except no one is getting off scott free. You can admit you were wrong and write a big check or you can refuse to admit culpability and spend the money in court. That is what is happening now. Spending big money on lawyers and such can let you get away with a crime, but it's not a sure thing. Look at the OJ trial. Expensive defense attorneys nitpicked every little thing until they found a weakness in the case and exploited it. It could be argued that it would have been better for everyone if he gave half the money he spent on lawyers to the Goldman family and have to state of California then admit guilt. It would keep him out of jail, but so did a not guilty verdict. Want another example, recently Exxon finished a long court battle fighting the financial verdict against them for the Valdez oil spill way back when. All that damage and they bought justice for a song (compared to what they would have had to pay). My logic was that this was a more practical route to help the courts like plea bargaining. The fines here would be high enough to keep crimes from being committed casually. The way I'd like to use it is as a tool of last resort. The DA wants a guilty verdict but knows the case can be shot down by hired guns. The defendant wants to avoid a long and embarrassing trial. This is a compromise. No one is happy, but at least something got done. This fits in with something else in this alternate history. The US political system has about 25 parties instead of 2. Compromise is the way things get done and it's accepted. The idea that giving an inch is basically surrendering is alien in this society. People expect that if you give an inch you gain a foot and lengthly fights are frowned upon.

Re: Is this too dark for DC? Except that stolen property is usually returned to the rightful owners.

Re: Is this too dark for DC?

Sorry if these have been asked before but I have questions about Resource Pools. 1) How does a GM keep players from exceeding their armory points? It's one thing to say "you have a 90 point limit" but what reason does the character have for staying within the limit? If there's physical room in his armory (say a footlocker) to hold 5 pistols of 20 pts each (giving him an armory of 100 pts) why should the character throw one of the guns away? 2) What happens if a character finds equipment that exceeds his/her "improved equipment" level? Say a Fed Up Normal (standard equipment) stumbles on an arms shipment and decides to take some SMGs before calling the police. 3) If a character captures a unique item through game play, does he/she loose the resource points when the item is lost/used up? Like some of the unique items in the Arsenal villain group? They paid character points for it, the PCs didn't so what happens? 4) How does the Contact Pool work? Do the PCs have to find and befriend the contacts or are they automatic?

Re: Is this too dark for DC? I'm not trying to make a point. I'm working on constructing a world filled with local and state level corruption and Machiavellian tactics. I thought there were few things more corrupt than someone writing a check to make a criminal charge go away. And it's very Machiavellian to know anyone can have a price on their head. Nice way to quell descent. If you're rich enough, you can kill your critics and just pay a fine. Life and death becomes a matter of economics. Does the fine and bad press exceed what your rival would have cost you?

In brainstorming ideas for an alternate US history for my DC campaign I had an idea that could be pushing the boundaries of good taste. You know in the real world today (and in fictional worlds like Law & Order) how if you have money you can get away with breaking the laws. With money you can hire good defense lawyers, investigate the prosecution's witnesses for dirty laundry, hire experts, and even resort to bribery so you can be found not guilty. So I thought, why not just skip the smoke and mirrors and allow defendants to walk away from any charge if they pay a fine equal to what the DA's office the defendant would have to spend to be found not guilty? If the case is strong, then the fine is high. In other words, pay enough cash and you can commit any crime you want and never have a record. Sort of like how corporations settle what they call "nuisance lawsuits" without admitting guilt. The only hitch I'd have is that once you accept a deal you can't claim harassment or malicious prosecution and the public usually accepts the defendant is guilty with a wink and a nudge.

Re: Thoughts on some superhero origins The "Stupid Native Syndrome" can be justified because the outsider offers a different point of view none of the natives consider and because the outsider is unaware of the natives' cultural norms and standards, or simply doesn't care. The outsider is, in comparison to the natives, extremely honest or deceptive and can cut through the societal niceties we're used to. An honest outsider would shoot the b@stard instead of capture for a trial. A deceptive outsider would give said b@stard enough proverbial rope to hang himself instead of revealing what he knows to authorities and let them take over. Either case we have someone who's cultural standards and morality is used instead of our own forcing us to ask why ours is better (or not). For example Nebula from CU has a cop from another galaxy sending anyone who violates her set of laws to a "phantom zone". She solves our problems of supervillains by ignoring our judicial system. This is an extreme example because her set of laws is too swift and rigid for us (in her origin story she sent an Earth cop into this "phantom zone" for putting a restraining hand on her shoulder to ask her some questions). Native: What did you do? Outsider: I cut his head off. N: Why? O: He killed his wife and child. He deserved death. N: But he's of noble blood! O: So? N: We don't DO that? O: Why not? N: Well... we just don't!

Re: suggestions for "does not work in..." Well how intense is intense? Since electricity and magnetism are the same fundamental force and electric fields are also magnetic fields, the power may not work if it's close to any electrical devices. The stronger the device, the further away you have to be unless they are blocked in some way. That would make the power very hard to use in a modern city with power lines (above and below ground), buildings (using everything from florescent lighting to computers), powered vehicles (buses, trucks, cars), public wi-fi hotspots. Oh, and lets not forget some parks and wooded areas are popular places to have power lines. I would say a decent electro-magnetic field extends a hex or two outside any decent office building or any place with a decent wi-fi reception. I'd also like to suggest "not while moving" or "extra time" because it takes a few seconds to turn on the power and you have to stand pretty still for it to work.

Re: Hero Action Points and bribes I have several motivations for offering some kind of reward for players doing something extra. Things like blue booking, writing backgrounds, posting summaries, drawing pictures, adding to the game world (which is still in development) add to the game as a whole. I also want to give each player an equal chance to gain these rewards so I have to give a wide variety of opportunities. Open ended tasks like blue booking allow for the non-artistic players a chance to contribute. As for brushing my cats; look I've had them for almost a year now. I live alone so I have been their sole caregiver. While I intend to be their caregiver for the rest of their lives, I would like them to know the touch of others to help them be more friendly as a whole. One cat loves being brushed, the other needs to be brushed more. It's a win-win situation. I won't call it bribery but I will make a list of ways to get extra HAC and let the players decide whether or not to take it. I will keep HAC secret and have a minimum of adding one per session just for showing up and playing.