Alverant

Re: Take a Teammate to a Movie

I'm sure one of my characters (who's 19) would take her to an "adult" movie in the hopes of getting lucky afterwards. (Hey if she's going to die the next day does she need to die a virgin?)

Re: 7 deadly sins

Gluttony doesn't just mean eating to excess. The idea is taking more than you need for the sake of having more. Gluttony is buying an H2 and using it to drive 10 miles to the office and home over flat streets. Gluttony is eating a dry aged $100 steak for lunch. Gluttony is swiping two samples at the grocery store when no one is looking when you have no intention of buying. Gluttony is like greed mixed with pride and some unnecessary consumption thrown in.

Re: Fictional citys

I briefly GMed a Dark Champions campaign that took place in Chicago but with some historic differences. The FBI was never given field duties to assist law enforcement so the gangs during Prohibition were allowed to grow in influence until the present day. It let me use real world maps and places in Chicago for game events. I think it added to the campaign, but I'm not sure if the players agreed.

Re: Star Wars Hero: Why should I? (or not)

I'd stick with the d6 system because of the equipment and abilities rules. In Hero everything is exactly defined given a set of powers. The d6 is more flexible in that you just have to describe a force ability and that's it. You don't have to find the best match of powers, advantages, disadvantages, etc. If something goes outside the rules of Hero (hard, but not impossible) you're stuck. In d6 you can create it on the fly. Then you have the equipment. Star Hero tried to make a "lightsaber" that cost hundreds of points (ditto with Star Trek's phaser pistol). It makes the point levels very unbalanced.

Re: Your evil army

Well' date=' they are defined as just people in the OP, but they could be an army of evil amazon beauties. How would that change reactions?[/quote']Don't amazons kill the man after the (ummm) fun?

Re: Adult Entertainment

Next up on WWYCD:

Your character is approached by [super adult magazine] to pose nearly naked in an upcoming issue with the payment going to the character's favorite charity. Cape, mask, gloves, boots can stay on. Everything on the torso stays off. Does your character accept?

Re: Guide to Street Supers

if magic does exst you could adapt the power levels of urban fantasy HERO to fit your game

Re: Guide to Street Supers

I was actually considering something like this for a Champions campaign. The PCs would be low powered heroes. One thing I would like to shoot for is the feeling that their world is a lot stranger than they realize. My problem is that if you can fly, your world is already strange and discovering the hidden mysticism in Campaign City won't have the same effect if the campaign had no powers.

One thing I'd like to see addressed in your book is dealing with paranormal powers. Is magic allowed and if so, what kind? Is it the "realistic" magic as described in some of the books? Is it tied to religious rituals like exorcisms? Can it be used in combat? Etc.

Re: Help with a VPP

That's the point - assuming he's using weapons that are ~60 AP' date=' then whenever he switches weapons, he's switching the VPP. Which means that without Cosmic, dropping his pistol and drawing a grenade launcher would take a full round action and require a skill roll.[/quote']

Exactly. If he wants new gear he has to sign out for it. He shouldn't have to make a skill roll, but it shouldn't be a 0-phase action.

Re: Your evil army

Have them march to Africa and attack the warlords there.

Wait, you say there's an ocean between here and there? Oops!

Re: The Powers of a Super-Butler

Invisible mind control only vs their employer only to keep them from acting rashly. Butlers have a tendency to keep a level head and sometimes convince people from doing something irrational.

Wiggins (Commander Vimes' butler in the Discworld series) definitely has martial arts with extra DC with a weapon element of common household objects. He's also perfectly willing to do the dirty work Vimes wishes he could do if he weren't bound by being a copper.

Re: Pottymouth powers

Not quite potty mouth, but I once had an urban mage with magic duct tape. It can heal anything (healing for PCs and inanimate objects) it takes one turn to apply but he has to talk like Red Green while doing it.

I'm also working on an evolved gorillia who's as strong and smart as 50 gym teachers who has combat levels in throwing his own "special ammunition" and hitting people in the face.

Re: The cost of Internet

I just had an interesting thought. Which supervillains tweet?

#DrDestroyer Fuls I shal dstry u all LOL

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

And no matter how well science learns to answer the "how" questions' date=' the "why" questions will always be firmly in the realm of Faith, Philosophy, and Religion. Science may indeed one day be able to tell us, beyond the shadow of a doubt, How we came to be on this planet in the form we are in with the capabilities we have. But even on that day, the question of Why we are here, on this planet, with these capabilities, will remain nebulous.[/quote']

First why are the "why" questions important? Second, why does religion or faith have any credibility in answering that question? You go after science about issues of proof, yet you don't apply those same standards to religion and specifically your religion. If you want the answer to "why we are here", you're just as good as anyone to figure it out for yourself.

Re: The cost of Internet

There's also the fact that the Internet has a lot of bad information in it. Not that that could be used as a plot point or anything...

When you're looking for basic information, the biggest problem is obsolete data. For example I used google to find pizza places in my area and it included one that closed years ago. But a comic-book style internet search AI can verify information to prevent this.

Re: 29th Feb, 2012 in the Champions Universe

From what I understand from 5th edition is that there's nothing keeping a GM from pushing the date back 4 or 8 years.

That being said, I think the resolution printed in the books works out pretty well in an epic scale. The only problem is that by and large, the PCs can't do anything to make it better. This is a master plan by a master planner with nigh-ultimate stakes (Destroyer just wants to conquer, Demon wants to destroy). The world SHOULD come close to annihilation and there SHOULD be fallout and deaths of heroes. If a GM wants to have his players to be part of it, they should be ready for some big-time consequences including a PC death.

Re: Superhero Podcasts

Decoder Ring Theatre is modern detective and superhero stuff.

Decoder Ring Theatre is divided into two parts. First is Black Jack Justice which is a 40s-50s era detective stories. The other (and arguably the more popular) Red Panda Adventures which is Pulp-WWII. Neither are really modern. But both are awesome and available free.

I also enjoy:

Cobalt City Adventures is short superhero stories with some separate biopunk tales which are excerpts from a book called "Growing Dread"

Genesis Avalon is the adventures of a superheroine with a Celtic mythology theme. Unfortunately you really need to listen to the commentary as well because sometimes you need it to understand what's going on.

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

What counts as a major religion then? According to some stats I've found on the web, LDS is the 4th most populous religion in the US.

 

Both LDS & Scientology are interesting in that they came into existence in fairly recent history and could be documented outside of their church. (despite some cases of trying to bury it.)

Personally I consider LDS to be a sect of christianity since its full name is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". What counts as a major religion? When they can put up a bill board and it does NOT make the national news.

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

To be perfectly fair' date=' evolution has not been PROVEN to be true. It is a Theory, well-tested but not undeniably proven, not a Law, which has been tested and undeniably proven.[/quote']

Unfortunately some people don't grasp or want to grasp the difference between a theory in the scientific sense and a theory as used by the layperson. It's like saying that because you're missing one piece of a 1000 peace puzzle its the same as missing 900 pieces and therefore you have no clue about what the final picture is. For all practical purposes, evolution is proven true. No better theory has come along and the current data confirms it as being true.

 

It's not in there simply because God' date=' like any GOOD author, knows what's important to the story and what isn't.[/quote']

Good authors also don't have blatant contradictions or have their books written by committee. So I guess God is not a good author. I would also say that accurate information IS important to the story but you admit that is lacking in the Bible. For example dinosaurs ARE important to the story of early humanity because if they didn't go extinct, humanity would not have evolved. Instead we have events with scientific explanations being replaced by "miracles", something a good author does not do unless they are writing fiction.

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

I think LDS and Scientology are pretty major.

That's your right, but considering their numbers I disagree.

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that that the only sentient non-humans he created were angels. Christians could conclude that that the aliens either already had their own saviour or were still awaiting one but most of them would conclude that humanity lucked out and now had the responsibility of spreading the faith to all peoples.

So where does the christian Bible say that God created other sentient non-humans? Granted christians COULD conclude the aliens have their own Christ (the title given to a savior). They COULD also claim aliens were created by the devil too and needed to be exterminated or saved. Given what has happened in the past 1700 years when christians have encountered non-christians, which one do you think is more likely?

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

Um, I feel like you're just making a claim here because it helps you. Because I sincerely doubt the majority of US Christians flatly denies evolution (believing in Intelligent Design, however....). Also, the candidates are definitionally a fringe group catering to fringe tastes in order to secure additional votes.

 

Also, perhaps you shouldn't state so emphatically to someone (after seeming to be offended by their question) to "Look it up!" You provided a vague anecdote, the onus is on you to cite it.

Research done by oneself is better than getting it spoon fed. I provided a name and as long as google is around, people should do their own work.

As for the majority of christians who don't accept evolution, here's a link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_support_for_evolution

48% of the US population accepts evolution and even then it's "evolution plus God".

Re: Do random power SFX games work?

That could definitely cause problems if they get an SFX which really doesn't mesh with their "normal" abilities.

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

Executed or excommunicated? If the former' date=' then it has to be an urban legend, because there's no way that would happen in any era where the idea of aliens would even come up. As for the rest, and the other responses I've gotten, it's true that the Bible does not directly mention aliens. Nor does it say that they DON'T exist, either. And science has discovered several things not in the Bible (dinosaurs, nuclear power, other planets) that aren't mentioned in the Bible without destroying Abrahamic religion. As for the idiots who deny the existence of such things, they are a fringe group, not mainstream Christianity. And just because Jesus is God's only Son doesn't mean Earth is the only world where He manifested. Every planet with sentient life may have had it's own Jesus (please realize here that I am working off the idea that my religion is the correct one. if you disagree, that's OK, but you're not going to convice me I'm wrong and I'm not going to convince you that you're wrong. so let's not argue.), or it could be humanity's mission to spread the Word throughout the Universe. I don't know, and I probably never will during my lifetime. Still, it doesn't expalin why so much science fiction just assumes that religions that have endured thousands of years will die out in the next couple of hundred. Or won't be able to weather the next few scintific discoveries as they have so many before.[/quote']

 

Giordano Bruno was NOT an urban myth. He was a real person who was executed, as in burned at the stake, for suggesting the sun was a star like others and that other stars could harbor life-bearing planets as ours does. Look it up!

 

As for what "mainstream" Christianity denies, for starters you have evolution which the majority of Christians in the US denies which include all the GOP candidates for President. That's a bit more than a fringe group. It's not mentioned in their Bible yet it has been proven true.

 

Part of why SF assumes that religions will die out is looking at current trends. In the past few hundred years scientific discoveries have hacked away at the authority and claims of the church. For example science has shown the universe does not need a creator and was not created as described in holy books. In most civilized parts of the world, the influence of religion has been decreasing as more people either don't take it as literally or even leave it all together. With science, people have come to expect more proof than a collection of books selected by a committee can provide. As the demand for solid evidence increases those who cannot provide it will wane in influence and size. SF also looks at past trends. The religions of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians also endured thousands of years but they have died out as well only to be replaced. Why should today's faiths be exempt from that pattern? So I guess a better question should be, why do you assume today's religion would continue to endure when so many others have faded away?

Re: Do random power SFX games work?

I think the most important thing is to talk with your players to see what they think before going much further. No, I take that back. The most important thing is to ask yourself why do you want to do this. Why do you want to have this randomness be the foundation of a campaign? PCs aren't like comic book characters. In the comics, characters are created based on what would make for a good story people will want to buy. In games, characters are created on what would be fun for the player. As a GM that has to be a consideration. I think you're going to have trouble finding players willing to surrender even a little control without a good reason.

So after deciding why you want to go this route, you should talk with your players and see what they want. Here's a thought, do all players have to go the same route? Maybe if you have players who don't have ideas or aren't as familiar with the system, randomly picking their powers and/or SFX will help them create a character. Meanwhile the more experienced players can have complete control and you can work it into the story. Everyone would still start as normals (since that is the campaign premise) and get their powers later. The twist here is some players will have their powers chosen and others will chose their powers themselves. Just be willing to let the players alter their characters if things don't quite work out.

Re: Do random power SFX games work?

I'm with the majority. I was once part of such a campaign and we didn't see our powers (we had to figure them out) and I was always left with the feeling I had some cool power but I couldn't access it. I once asked my current gaming group what they would think of such a campaign and most said they wanted more control over their characters. However there was less resistance to the idea of building normals then added 200 points of powers to them of their choosing. Still, if a player decided he/she wanted to play a mage or alien or robot or something else where starting out as a normal human wouldn't work, then what can you do? Some players want complete control over designing their characters; and that's OK.