Alverant

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.

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

Re: Religion in Science-Fiction?

Re: WWYCD: "Dear Superhero" (Warning: Ugly situation) I'm starting to like Dr.Prospero. Why is he a villain?

Re: WWYCD: "Dear Superhero" (Warning: Ugly situation) I'd complain to the GM about bringing serious real world issues into a light-hearted superhero campaign.

Re: EPIC Champions--unofficial material, what should I write about? Not to brag but my group will be hitting the 10 year mark soon with only one player leaving. We have 3 campaigns running (two superhero, one fantasy). I think having multiple GMs is important so you have a back up if the "primary" GM can't make it. Being regular makes everyone comfortable. I also think it helps that all the players are adults and relatively stable lives. In our group we have two married couples and a two players who are siblings and the married couples have their own businesses. So chances are, they're not going anywhere. I think that has a bigger influence since bad GMing can be fixed by either switching GMs or learning how to GM well.

Re: EPIC Champions--unofficial material, what should I write about? How about keeping a gaming group together long enough for these multi-session story arcs to be concluded.

Re: The Elves are Dying Out One question that would come up is what caused Calamitas both in terms of what they think caused it and what really caused it. (Remember just because you know the answer doesn't mean it's right.) There could be several theories behind it. If the elves consider it divine punishment, they may consider bizarre ways to regain divine favor. Likewise humans may think God is striking down the elves to make way for Man and the sooner the last elf dies, the sooner Man can rule. I also imagine that the ruling elves would have sponsored exploration forces around the world looking for a cure and/or more elves. That raises the question of if there are elves in Asia or the Americas and if so, did the Calamitas happen there too. It could be that Calamitas is a disease harmless to humans which would make such explorers carriers for the plague. That would make the elves in the rest of the world quarantining the campaign setting (and maybe considering how to wipe it out to save themselves). I imagine any cure scams would have come and gone ages ago but hope springs eternal. Given how the culture in the real world during that time treated women, I wonder if all the human/elf pairings were elven male with human female. The idea of a female elf mating with a human might be so offensive to them that it was never even considered. If such a pairing could produce a child, it would mean there wasn't a problem with either elven gender individually and instead the problem would be with both. Also I think medical science would have advanced more here than in the real world as the elves attempt to find a cure.

Re: Summon specific being?

Re: Summon specific being?

Re: An Unusual Kind of Growth Power I'd go with straight growth and keep the extra stats. If anyone asks, say it's part of the defenses (all CON really does in 6th is protect against being stunned). Since his real body is at the center (or head) of the inflated body I'd buy extra defenses with a 14- activation. If it activates then the attack it one of the inflated body parts away from the real body. Am I the only one who had dirty thoughts when reading the thread title?

Re: Summon specific being? But if you put it in anything but a VPP it still becomes a one trick pony. The rules say that it has to be narrowly defined. Summon hostage isn't going to cut it (besides TP useable by others, uses MOCV, etc works much better). If the ex-husband starts paying the child support the points are lost. Nemesis decides to stay in Stronghold and do his time the points are lost. And since the cost of Summon depends on the target if the nemesis earns enough XP the power is effectively useless until you spend MORE points on it. Plus why is it more expensive to have a specific vehicle when the most common effect is pulling it out of storage?

Re: ARMED Acronym

Re: Summon specific being? I want to revive this thread since I had the same question. If the points spent on "Summon Specific Being" can be lost, then it's more like the Independent limitation. So why isn't it treated as such? My other problem is with vehicles. First you have to buy it at +1 Slavish Loyalty. That's OK because it makes sense. Then if you want the same vehicle each time it's the Specific Being advantage and give an example of a hoverbike being stored in a starship. That doesn't make sense. If the hoverbike gets destroyed, you can replace it by going to the nearest hoverbike dealer. By then you may even have some extra points to get a better model. If a vehicle bought through a perk is destroyed, you don't lose the points (well not in pre-6th) so why do it when it's bought as a summon? It's easier to just add "extra dimensional movement" have "summoning" be a special effect if you want to summon a specific vehicle/follower. I think prestidigitator had it right in his first post, it's meant for VPPs. But even then if you're looking for a ghost, it's probably better to use Mind Scan that's transdimensional and Telepathy than Summon.

Re: Vulnerabilty vs. Specific Type of Presence Attack I'd also include a flattery type PRE attack where the "attacker" heaps tons of compliments on the target to convince him/her to do what they want. OTOH, if I were a GM I may not allow what you're suggesting in favor of a psychological complication that can be used on the PRE attack chart. For example if the character has "Sucker for a Pretty Face" complication it would not only include (in spirit) your "Vulnerable to Beauty-Based PRE Attacks" (like needing PRE+10 instead of PRE+20) but also put the character at a disadvantage with respect to skill vs skill rolls.

Re: transformer question I'd do it as a follower or independent characters and have the ejecting be a special effect. There were episodes where Rumble was around without Soundwave (Sea Change for example). But continuity wasn't exactly a high priority in those series. If you go with follower, add Extra Dimensional Movement controlled by Soundwave. Either way it begs the question, "Why aren't they out all the time?" OTOH, there was one episode where Soundwave ejected an "auto-scout" which was a 3 wheeled probe that got destroyed when it touched some Plot Device crystals. In the GIJoe/Transformers series a few years back, one of the Cobra techs comment that the cassettes have some symbiotic relationship with Soundwave.

Re: Bring Out The Old! My group hasn't gone into 6th edition yet. Personally I liked Viper 4th edition better than 5th. High Tech Enemies is a good resource. Doubly so because it had a hero group (a rare thing in a Champions book). I don't have too many of the books. Most of my 4th ed and earlier books were destroyed during some minor flooding.

Re: ARMED Acronym Anti-Revolution and Mass Extermination Department

Re: Power Armor Characteristic Purchase

Re: Power Armor Characteristic Purchase You have to pay END on STR regardless of it's bought through a focus or not. As for the stats, if you want you can justify buying O/DCV with Costs Endurance as a combat computer that helps with aiming or a mental shield for DMCV. Only problem is that you'd have to spend the END every phase whether or not you need it. If you bought PRE through the suit (it looks impressive and the character feels more secure in the armor) that shouldn't cost END unless you can find some way to justify otherwise (can't say it can't be done, but I can't think of it).

Re: No magic? Except you tend to see more of Iron Man's tech actually being tech and not crystals or arcane artifacts. We see him working on it with a screwdriver and fancy tech-looking tools instead of chanting to extra-dimensional lords or whatnot. A lot of it comes down to what they admit it is. Iron man says his powers are technology. Dr.Strange says his powers are magic. Generally speaking we put limits on what tech can do. Everything else is magic. Some of it comes down to terms; ie "teleported" vs "summoned". Supertech has technobabble, magic has mumbo jumbo.

Re: No magic? Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (For example if you showed a flatscreen TV to someone from 1500 years ago, they would say it was magic.)

Re: No magic? Without magic you lose an easy MacGuffin. "It's maaaagic." is all that's needed to justify something. Technology needs a bit more explanation. So if your players are in a bind you can't as quickly magic them out of it. Also you're losing a potential character development tool with "visiting Uncle Ben in Heaven"/"rescuing Uncle Ben from Hell" story arcs as well as other existential plots. Apart from that, it's no big loss. I'd love to be part of a magic-free campaign. Unfortunately one of the other players in my group loves magic.

Re: No magic?

Re: Megascale Movement, Lightspeed, and Escape Velocity I think unofficially you should be calculating your velocity over a turn when comparing game mechanics to real world speeds. So if you have a SPD of 6 you're only half way there to escape velocity. So you need to spend the points for enough NCM so your velocity is 134.4 km/turn.