garou

Re: Character concept help It's really more of a gedankenexperiment than anything else. With the loss of Grizzly, the team needs another brick. (I am currently leaning toward an avatar of Ptah, though it may wind up being one of the other Egyptian dieties.) Still, it could be an interesting build, so I might eventually create them and post them on the Champs area.

Re: Character concept help True, but they are all mentalists, so they all have some potentially useful abilities in combat, and any one of them would be a red smear about 2 phases after Grond steps into an adjacent hex.

Re: Ringworlds, orbitals, etc... IIRC, (could be wrong, it's been a bit since I last read the series) the ringworld engineers built the spillways mountains simply to handle all the issues that would arise from natural erosion. Dirt, debris, etc all eventually would wind up in the seas, and so there were mechanisms to gather those materials and pump them along the underside of the ringworld to the top of the spillway mountains, where it would be forced out onto the ringworld surface. Over a couple million years, that material would naturally erode down the mountain slope, across the plains and back into the rivers and seas, at which point it would be gathered again. It was a continuous process, but some things interfered with it. Like, the death/disappearance of all the protectors/builders. You can build something on a huge scale and expect it to last millions of years without repair, but sooner or later, you need a maintenance crew. Unfortunately, by the time Louis Wu, Chmee, Nessus and Teela arrived, the protectors were long, long gone - as in, apparently millions of years. In conjunction with their absence, random events (like the meteor strike that created the Fist of God mountain) would eventually cause a major breakdown in the system. Of course, you're dealing with something that is the size of several million earths, so even if you are leaking atmosphere or sunflowers are taking over the ringworld, the death of the ringworld due to some mechanical malfunction can take quite a while.

Re: Sci-fi swear words? Heinlein uses "fraki" in Citizen of the Galaxy. It is a "harmless, rather repulsive little animal", but it is used as "stranger", in a dirogatory manner. It's not really a curse word, but it is an insult.

Re: Starting a new game. What books should I... You might find the Gadgets and Gear book useful. The powered armor stuff is pretty useful, and a lot of the other gadgets should port fairly nicely over to a Star Hero game. (I don't have the Equipment Guide, so I don't know how useful it may or may not be.)

OKay, this character was inspired by Hugh Neilson's post in the "Need help with my PC" thread. Specifically, I was inspired by this: So, here he is, the wonderful, wubbulous, Wom-BOT: Wom-B.O.T. Player: Val Char Cost 40 STR 30 20 DEX 30 24 CON 28 20 BODY 20 11 INT 1 10 EGO 0 15 PRE 5 6 COM -2 14/29 PD 6 10/24 ED 5 4 SPD 10 13 REC 0 48 END 0 60 STUN 8 6" RUN 0 2" SWIM 0 5" LEAP -3 Characteristics Cost: 138 Cost Power END 20 Wombat powers: Elemental Control, 40-point powers 22 1) Tunneling 3" through 7 DEF material, Fill In, x4 Noncombat (42 Active Points) 4 13 2) Hand-To-Hand Attack +8d6 (40 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2) 4 20 3) Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 2 1/2d6 (5d6+1 w/STR) (40 Active Points) 4 35 Cyber-plates: Armor (15 PD/14 ED) (44 Active Points); Visible (-1/4) 0 10 Wombat padding: Physical Damage Reduction, 25% 0 10 More wombat padding: Energy Damage Reduction, 25% 0 5 Wombat eyes: Nightvision 0 27 Cybernetic Implants: Multipower, 40-point reserve, (40 Active Points); all slots OIF (-1/2) 3u 1) Accelerated Rocks: Energy Blast 8d6 (40 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) 4 2u 2) Shower of pebbles: Energy Blast 5d6, Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2) (37 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) 4 2u 3) Hail of dirt: Sight Group Flash 5d6, Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2) (37 Active Points); OIF (-1/2) 4 2u 4) Stricky mudball: Entangle 4d6, 4 DEF (40 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Cannot Form Barriers (-1/4), Limited Range (20"; -1/4) 4 Powers Cost: 171 Cost Skill 2 Animal Handler (Other Burrowing Mammals) 12- 2 CK: City sewers, subways, tunnels, etc 11- 3 Climbing 13- 10 +2 with HTH Combat 3 Concealment 11- 3 Contortionist 13- 1 KS: Magical theory 8- 1 KS: Burrowing mammals 8- 2 KS: Conspiracy theories 11- 3 Streetwise 12- 2 Survival (Urban) 11- 3 Tracking 11- Skills Cost: 35 Cost Talent 3 Bump Of Direction 3 Simulate Death Talents Cost: 6 Total Character Cost: 350 Val Disadvantages 15 Hunted: Mystic Cabal 8- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Capture) 15 Hunted: Scientific Group 8- (As Pow, PC has a Public ID or is otherwise very easy to find, Capture) 5 Money: Poor 5 Physical Limitation: Nocturnal (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) [Notes: Moody and irritable if awake during daylight hours, -2 on all social skills] 10 Physical Limitation: Speech Impediment (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 15 Psychological Limitation: Conspiracy nut (Common, Strong) 10 Psychological Limitation: Constantly Suspicious of Other People's Motives (Uncommon, Strong) 10 Psychological Limitation: Depressive (Common, Moderate) 15 Social Limitation: Public ID (Very Frequently, Minor) 15 Unluck: 3d6 20 Vulnerability: 2 x STUN Magic (Common) 15 Vulnerability: 1 1/2 x BODY Electrical (Very Common) Disadvantage Points: 150 Base Points: 200 Experience Required: 0 Total Experience Available: 0 Experience Unspent: 0 Background: Life hasn't been a bowl of cherries for Frederick Archibald Thompson. In fact, it's been more like a bowl of rancid yogurt. Frederick was born with several minor mutations, though none of them would have been noticeable except by making a detailed genetic map of him and his parents. He did, however, have great potential, which interested the Mystical Underground Dwellers. MUD had been searching for their "Chosen One", who, according to a prophecy, would be able to lead them to the promiosed cave, deep beneath the earth. MUD diviners cast many myriad spells, searching for their Chosen One, and all signs pointed in the direction of Frederick's house. Unfortunately, MUD had never heard of the concept of triangulation, and their actual target lived several miles away from the Thompsons. No matter - for MUD attacked, killing both parents and stealing little Freddie away, leaving behind his sandbox, his digger, his favorite stuffed badger, and his favorite shovel. (MUD mystics pointed to all of these as signs of his true nature, and would later retrieve the shovel and the badger for use in their rituals.) Freddie was raised by the mystics for several years, who hoped that his true nature would seeon manifest. When it became apparent that Freddie, while he possessed great skill with a shovel and a real passion for digging, might not be the Chosen One, MUD took drastic steps. They fabricated a ritual that would jump-start Freddie's latent powers, forcing him to become to Chosen One (they hoped). The ritual worked. Freddie, always a heavy child with pudgy cheeks, became more wombat-like in appearance. He grew a short furry coat, and his hands grew claws, suitable for digging and for combat. His nightvision, already good by normal standards, became enhanced. Sadly, his speech suffered, and he punctuated everything with snuffles and snorts. Still, even this minor change was seen as proof of his prophetic role. Freddie didn't like being the object of mystical experimentation. He had been studying magical theory, and he knew enough to realize that MUD had been gambling with his life. If he hadn't already possessed latent abilities, the ritual would probably have killed him. Freddie had to escape - but MUD had put wards around his cell. Fortunately, MUD had forgotten to ward the floor, and Freddie tunneled his way to freedom. Alone in the world, with an appearance that was marginally normal, Freddie wandered the wilds, searching for the city where he used to live. Unfortunately, before he could find his way home, he ran afoul of Dynamic Implants & Genetics, a lab that was already being investigated for illegal experiments on cybernetic implants, radioactivity and animals. Desperate to proof that his methods were sound, and could generate a supersoldier for the military, Dr. Bill Macy ordered his agents to procure a new subject. Barely had the agents left the secluded lab when they stumbled across Freddie, who was easily subdued. The experiments were painful. Cybernetic plates and a weapon system were grafted to Freddie body. Dr. Macy also subjected Freddie to a series of serum injections, using a forumla composed of Wombat blood, radioactive elements and a synthetic organic compound known only as Compound W. This process further enhanced Freddie's natural mutant abilities, in much the same way that the superserum enhanced normal human characteristics. Before Dr. Macy could complete the transformation (he was considering grafting additional armor, more weapons, and injecting Freddie with more Compound W), the DIG lab was raided. Although Dr. Macy and several of his assistants escaped, several key scientists were arrested, and, more imporantly, Freddie was freed. Personality: His trials have left Freddie a little unhinged. His no less rational than your average psandex-clad superhero, but he is definitely distrusting of strangers, and inclined to see a conspiracy in mundane things. While most people will dismiss a late train as simply being late, Freddie will assume that the government wanted to delay the train to prevent a spy from meeting his contact, or that a secret terrorist agency was testing a device which interrupted train service. Sometimes he's right, but not often. Freddie is also moody and morose - he's not optimistic about the future, and though he acts as a hero to help people from suffering, he doesn't honestly believe that, in the long run, heroes will succeed. It's possible that, over time, these personality traits will diminish, and a happier, more optimistic Freddie will emerge. Quote: *snuffle* I'll get de bad guy for you, provessor *snuffle* Powers/Tactics: Freddie (or Wom-BOT, as he generally prefers to be called) is a slighty weaker version of the average brick. Most of his tactics involve the use of brute force or his claws, but he is aware of the edge that his tunneling abilities can give him, allowing him to strike from an unforseen direction. The cybernetic weaponry is not something he will often use -it's not part of him, and he's not entirely sure how it works. (GM note - the cyberimplants do not have charges - when Freddie digs, the storage resevoirs automatically refill. If he uses them a lot without digging, well, it could be a pain is the unluck kicks in and he runs out of ammo, wouldn't it?) Appearance: He's short, stocky, covered with short brown fur and has long claws on his fingers. When going out in public, he often wears an overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat.

Re: A more advanced origin. No, it was just really late and I wasn't very clear. Mea culpa.

Re: Need help with my PC I am so stealing that for a character concept. I'll call him Wom-BOT, a cyborg mutant who was enhanced by mystical spells and, through the wonders of science and nature, endowed with all the powers of the mighty Wombat!

Re: Limitations You Would Like to See More Often I have actually built and played characters who could have been a hero or a villain. They usually had some mighty strong temptation that could lead to a fall from the path of the hero, and they might slip from time to time, but they kept trying to do good in spite of themselves. IN several darker, "realistic" fantasy games, I have had several characters who were, technically, evil, in neutral campaigns. Those are few and far between, and in each case, I was prepared to write them out of the game as soon as the other PCs figured it out.

Re: A more advanced origin. Sure, and I can see that. My point though, is that a child with powers who has superhero parents isn't going to have (probably) all the stereotypical "I'm a mutant with powers and no one understands me" angst that seems to pervade that origin. A "birthright" category (which could include anyone who directly descends from a superpowered being) covers that origin much better.

Re: A more advanced origin. No, a mutant kid would be one who exibits powers when neither parent has them, or powers that are not associated with either parent. But, if Plasma and Firebolt (both fire-based supers) have a kid who posseses fire-based powers, the child is not technically a mutant. "A mutant (also known to early geneticists a "monster") is an individual, organism, or new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a sudden structural change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not found in the parental type" (Not claiming wikipedia is the end-all, be-all of definitions, but once a trait breeds true, it's not really a mutation anymore.) Magic is also far too broad. It's going to cover anyone whose powers come from a magic artifact, a spellcaster, a supernatural being (you can claim that a vampire or werewolf is an alien, but they're really a supernatural entity).

Re: WWYCD: Morty the Mugger never learns... Grizzly "Uh, hi. Wow. So, he's still alive and the process is reversible, right?" Once confirmed that this is the case "Great. He's probably easier to carry this way. Can you come down to the local precinct with me an unthaw him there?" If the process is irrevocable, then Grizzly is going to have to try and put a stop to it. Harrowed just needs to know if the perp is dead or alive. Alive means he has to take him to the precinct and the guy can come along to unthaw him. Dead means that the perp has to go to the morgue - but it was clearly a case of self-defence, even if it was a little extreme.

Re: Dramatic Editing: VPP/Transform set. Dark Champions has several abilities that mimic parts of what you want: I've got Just The Thing - it's a VPP gadget pool, with Focus and 2 charges. That way, the character can only have "the right thing" twice a day. Just What I was Looking For: 12d6 of Luck, but it takes extra time, and only to find desired, noncombat, non-valuable object (so you can find a rope, but not a gun). There is a "Combat scrounging" variant, where you could manage to find weapons or ammunition (if appropriate to the setting - ie, very few churches will have a handgun, many stores might have ammunution in stock). I Know Someone Who Can Help - it's a summon of any person, up to 200 pts, who arrives under their own power and requires a persuasion roll. If you're only worried about normal people, you could reduce it to 100 or 50 points, and the PC happens to know a lot of people who might be able to help in a given situation. I suppose you could always just get a lot of luck, and then put limitations like Only in non-combat situations and the like.

Re: WWYCD: Foxbat The Mighty! Grizzly Goes home, flushes out the power armor, assembles the team and tells them that they have a problem. Whisper of the Shadowed Mind (a mentalist, now retired) thinks: Hrm, Foxbat has Grond-like levels of strength, toughness and invulnerability. Presumably, he may have Grond-like mental defences as well. Unless Foxbat's mental defences have made the same leap upwards as his strength, Whisper will easily be able to get Foxbat to set the bank down gently and turn himself in.

Re: Base with Disguise, but not Concealment It's actually available as a franchise. Simply talk it over with your local VIPER leader to see how you too can set up such a safehouse. VIPER already has all the necessary Bad Guys Inc promotional materials for your use. (Hey, anyone out there have the artistic skills to actually make a Bad Guys Inc flyer?)

Re: Base with Disguise, but not Concealment

Re: Determining Gravitic Pull And technically speaking, that's not even true - g should increase as the distance r decreases, and a very heavy object should fall towards the earth faster than a very light object. Of course, it's still going to be 9.8 m/s^2, because you're never going to actually be able to measure the difference with most instruments.

Re: Determining Gravitic Pull If I did my math correctly (which is suspect with an 18-month-old pulling at my arm as I type), and using a = GM2/r^2, I came up with some random values: If you weigh a mere 3,200,000 kilos, you start exhibiting noticable gravitational effects if r is a mere 0.02 meters. (In this case, noticable is a half g of acceleration). If you want to have an effect at 10 meters, a mere 819,200,000,000 kilos will suffice. You might be better off expressing everything in terms of levels of growth that are required to affect someone at 0 hexes, 1 hex, 2 hex, etc - but I suspect that beyond 1 hex, the levels of growth or density increase needed to get .5 g (or 1g). (Again, if my math is correct, you need about 145 points of density increase in order to have .5g of pull on everything within 2 meters.)

Re: WWYCD: The Basics Grizzly would simply climb up the tree (rather than risk a powered jump) and climb out to get the cat. He's not going to be concerned about getting scratched or bitten (since the armor will take it), but he is going to be concerned about getting the cat down safely. Harrowed (an undead gunfighter) would probably stand under the branch where the cat is sitting, pull out his hexed six guns, and obliterate the branch, causing the cat to fall. He ought to be able to catch it before it hits the ground. (Of course, if he had been asked shortly after his. . . reawakening, he probably would have just shot the cat - it's down, and she never said anything about getting it down alive.)

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game I don't set out to min/max - I choose more of a concept and go with that. Oddly enough, I finally used my free respec from I4 about two months ago, and redid my Controller for more solo play. (I had been teaming with some friends, but schedules changed, and I was teamless more often than not). Anyway, once I5 went live, it turned out that I had inadvertently almost optimized my build. Fortunately, I won't be able to say that same about any of my alts - some of which were selected with power sets that are among the worst in their AT, but thematically appropriate to the costume or the background.

Re: Advice for new HeroClix Modders You can also use Pine-Sol to strip plastic minis. I haven't tried it on the flubber that they use for Heroclix or D&D minis, but I have used it on other plastics without ill effect. Plus, it's handy for cleaning up your work area afterwards. I also heartily recommend picking up a container of Extender. You can find it among all the craft paints at your local Megastore or craft store. Basically, an extender makes the paint flow more smoothly, blend better, and mix better. It does take a little longer to dry as well, but this is an advantage, especially during the hot, dry summer months.

Re: Presence in your campaign Not in a game, but another RL example of a PRE attack: Years ago, back when I was in HS, there was a kid from a rival school with a strange habit. Now, almost everyone gets pre-race jitters, and this kid was no exception. Most people try to get through them by stretching, doing another warm-up lap, fiddling with their laces, but not this kid. Before he ran, he'd stop off in the restroom and puke. Couldn't help himself. One meet, he'd arrived late, and had barely changed before being called out to the track for his event. He's out there, nervous as all heck, and the ref is holding up the starting gun. Kid realizes that he hasn't puked. He says "Wait a sec, ref", leans over, and pukes. Most of it lands to the side of the track, but not all, and there's spatter on his shoes, on the track. Everyone is just staring at him, stunned. He finishes, spits a couple times, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, looks at the ref, and says "Okay, ready." For some reason, he did quite well that race.

Re: How Many Characters in One Set of Stats Garlom - Garlom grew up as a young lad in the country, where he learned some of the skills typically needed to survive. Although he was indifferent to livestock of any sort, he did find interesting the various uses of plants, and was a gifted natural tracker. His size, speed and good looks, however, forced him to leave his small farming community when he inflicted serious harm on another lad (using a hay hook that happened to be handy) in a fight over a village lass. Garlom fled before authorities arrived, never learning that he was exonerated. Garlom has arrived in the city fairly recently. Lacking marketable skills in such a locale, he has quickly falled into using them as a low-grade bute, assisting various highwaymen and cutpurses who need a little extra muscle on the job. He has quickly leaned how the underworld works, and has learned to recognize some of the heraldic signs, so as not to inadvertantly pick on the wrong target. Garlom feels bad about it, but also doesn't see much of a way out. He knows that he doesn't have the theiving skills to make it on his own, but he also lacks the skills to becomes a hired sword. He'd go back to farming, or perhaps work for an herbalist, if the chance were given him.

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game You know, for those of you who have a CoV beta and no time to play, I'd gladly take your place. Simply PM me all the appropriate details (say, account name, password, etc), and I'll gladly take on the tedious burden of beta testing. (Like that's going to happen. . . but I could hope, right?)

Re: City of Heroes Power Builds The only problem with an AoE healing would be that it doesn't quite simulate those two powers, since they continue to heal for some time. Lacking a copy of FRED, I am unsure what "Decreased Re-use Duration" does exactly, but it seems to be that it speeds up the required time interval between heals on a target. If so, you could buy that down to 1 turn, and as long as you kept using the power, people around you would keep healing. Of course, it would get expensive to have more than 1-2d6 in it, but it's going to be pretty impressive in combat.