garou

Re: How far can a telekinetic throw himself?

Oh sure, we could have come up with all sorts of ways to actually do it, but he question was simply could he do it with teke alone. (Random bit - IMO, unless the character has a secret ID or something, if you are able to fly at will and for no END, then the bad leg isn't worth any points as a limitation.)

Re: How far can a telekinetic throw himself?

But I'm a pretty flexible guy. I suppose I might allow someone to throw themselves with TK. It won't happen very often' date=' because 1) you'll have to make an attack roll to land in the right spot, 2) you are an unbalanced, non-aerodynamic object, 3) you'll hit the ground and take damage like any other thrown object. Generally not a good move, but it might make a good dramatic desparate move attempt in a game. And I would use the regular STR table, not the so-called "realistic" throwing table.[/quote']

 

Um, the whole point of allowing someone with Str 40 teke to use the Realistic Throwing Table was because the 8,045 dice of Knockback damage pretty much ensures that the character will not be making a second attempt.

 

(Yes, I'd warn them first - of how far they would go, and how much damage they take. Anyone who wants to fling themselves, via TK, 10 miles, despite the warning from the GM, deserves the consequences of their actions.)

Re: Question: What different Game Systems for Superheroes?

Oh, ObThreadContribution"

Heroes and Hellions

1st ed by T. Dorsey (unknown, pre-1998) Travell Games

A small-press comic-book superhero RPG. It uses class-based character creation with 31 classes of superheroes. The combat system is involved, including special rules for critical hits and knockouts.

Heroes Forever

1st ed (2001) Guild of Blades

A superhero RPG set in an alternate history where the world is carved into numerous empires by superbeings. It features a high-power system. Character creation includes kits, with Vampire, Werewolf, Mutant, Sorcerer, and Policeman kits included in the core rules.

(I'm sure more are listed here, but I found those, and confirmed that they did or do exist, fairly easily.)

Re: Question: What different Game Systems for Superheroes?

One more: an Australian produced one called Super Squadron. Very obscure' date=' but [i']I've[/i] got a copy.

 

See: http://www.arielarchives.com/AdvSim.html

 

Edit: I've noticed the author claims that Super Squadron was the third superhero RPG, despite being published in 1984. Obviously this is idiotic. However, from his description of his attempts to get Super Squadron published, it was originally written quite some time before 1984, quite possibly in the late 70s.

It can't be that obscure - at one point, I had a copy too. (Of course, I still have my copy of the game: Droids)

Thanks for the reminder - I might have to hunt down a copy (as well as some other RPGs from my halcyon days of yore.)

Re: How to build a Density-altering ATTACK?

I was thinking a combo Spd and STR Drain, with maybe a DEX drain as well. Maybe the power has a -0 limitation (Can cause damage to local environment).

You might just go with a straight STR Drain - with the SFX being that the target is becoming too heavy to move.

Re: How far can a telekinetic throw himself?

I'd think about letting him do it. I'd even let him use the Realistic Throwing table. Of course, I'm going to treat the whole thing as one giant whalloping Knock-Back attack, but hey, he's now either 12" away (standard STR table, as a standing throw with 30 excess Strength), or somewhat more than 8,045" away (realistic throwing table, from Ultimate Brick), and prone. Probably stunned too. And he's have to actually hit the target hex.

But if he wants to do it with no damage, then yeah, Supreme is right.

(I wonder how bad the damage would be from 8,045" of knockback, anyway. . . . )

Re: Need help finding dice roller

Have you tried just programming a spreadsheet with a random number generator? IIRC it's something like =randbetween(1' date='6) in Excel for a random number between 1 and 6...[/quote']

I thought about that too - but I vaguely recall being disappointed with the results when I last did that in Excel. (I was bored at work one day, and so wrote up something to give me a couple thousand 3-18 results, and I don't recall that it looked quite like the bell curve that it should have.)

Re: Need help finding dice roller

Had some minor problems getting this to email results to me, but it does give results:

http://www.openroleplaying.org/tools/dieroller/

This one seemed to work better:

http://fantasyherald.com/jack/dice/index.php?witch=gen_roller

NB - I have no idea how these were coded, so I won't even begin to attest to the randomness of the actual rolls.

Edit - found out that the second one can only give 500 results at a time. Might have to write one of my own to fix that. . . .though I'll probably put in a cut-off at some reasonable point, like 10,000 or so.

Re: How would you model this?

Should have looked in the UNTIL book - it lists a Swarm form under insect powers, as Desol plus damage resistence. I might write it such that the character is "solid" most of the time, but can disperse (go Desol) when needed.

I'll probably start with that, add Stretching and some other powers, and give him a nasty Vuln to Fire, Insect toxins, and Bug Zappers.

I came across this image, while looking for a couple missing books. The guy in the far left rear is named Jonathan Hive, and, guessing from the illustration, is composed of multiple insects. I'm guessing that the best way to model this is Desol, with the whole "insect swarm" being SFX.

Re: Archetype Twists

Redneck scientist

Razorback

(Okay, so he wasn't a scientist. Not even brainy. But he was still fun, in a cheesy, 70's kind of way.)

Re: Build Me A Villain Team

Not within the thread rules, unfortunately. Good suggestion, though.

 

I liked Invictus as a leader; the downside is that his MO has him too far behind the scenes, and this sort of group is meant to be fighting it out in public.

Pity that Villainy Amok isn't allowed - I'd like to see The Engineer used. She's only mediocre against mutants or magic characters, but against powersuits and cyborgs, she's just nasty. And, she has no CVK.

Re: Total lack of ideas, clock is ticking down

I once made a living bronze statue of Ho-Tai, who believed he was a living incarnation of that diety, when in reality he was just a statue from in front of a Chinese restaurant, enchanted by mistake. A brick with Tai Chi Chuan, and a passion to restore an Earthly Paradise for his people.

I did an animated stone statue, who believed that he was an avatar of Ptah. When he teleported, he left behind statue versions of himself, and simply animated a him-shaped pile of rocks elsewhere.

Repped for the neat ideas.

Re: Total lack of ideas, clock is ticking down

Crippled mentalist - blind, but can "see" through the eyes of others. (If they are ethical, they keep a companion animal, and see through their eyes instead)

The character is technically crippled, but has enough TK to move around and act fairly normal.

Start coming up with power concepts - fire, water, sonic, mud/dirt, rock, turtles, snow/ice, electricity, pure force, air/wind, animal crackers - go with something a little silly, a little offbeat, and make it work.

Or just say, to heck with it, and play Wom-BOT. (IIRC, he was 350 points - and definitely a bit high on the unique concept spectrum.)

Re: Clix Suggestion

You might consider these Reaper figs:

02633 : Vandorendra, Female Demon

plus some plastic bows (from GW) or metal ones (from Reaper), and then legs from a female figure. Pin it, plus green stuff & paint, and voila!

If you go to the Reaper forums (http://www.reapermini.com/forum) and go to the "Conversion" section, you might find some more specific advice - someone there might even know of a fig which would not require so much conversion. (I am thinking that I have seen a multi-armed, multi-bow female figure, but am drawing a blank on it right now.)

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

Considering the ease with which orcs typically get slaughtered' date=' one wonders why they went into the warrior race business in the first place. They should give it up and take up shepherding or construction work. It's like D&D kobolds -- no race that weak would ever be f*ing with humans. They should be living on grubs in the forest, HIDING from the humans.[/quote']

It's a genre convention - the same sort of thing that compells dragons to sit on big honkin; piles of magical treasure (and yet, never use any of it), and vampires to always go after the attractive lady with the underwired nightclothes.

 

Kobolds aren't the brightest of monsters, but they aren't stupid. Yet, for some reason, these 4' high humanoids build tunnels that allow humans with torches to pass with ease. They number in the hundreds, and often have at least some minor magic items (potions, a sword, shield, maybe even a wand or two), and never ever use them. They don't ambush, they don't retreat, they just come in waves to die at the end of a sword.

 

And you don't want to know what I think about how the average dragon, vampire or lich is run.

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

GW' date=' of course, went even further, and envisioned their Orks as growing larger and stronger from any successful conflicts (which leads them to seek out war and strife to prosper). Orks seek out conflict the way that other races might strive for stability. Thus, they created the perfect Horde/Fodder enemy: they live to fight, they love to fight, and they reproduce like mad (even dead orks shed viable spores).[/quote']

Yes, and then someone pointed out the inherent problem with that - humanity, Eldar, etc all will lose, eventually. The Imperium* is outnumbered, and, despite the general crudity of Orkish weaponry, outgunned. It's only a matter of time. The same thing applies to the Tyranids - only more so.

 

* The Imperium were ostensibly the good guys, though in the original Rogue Trader days, the Imperium had penal battalions (for serious crimes like jaywalking and overdue library books), and the Emperor survived only by the sacrifice of thousands of psychics per day. And then GW lightened up the tone on the whole thing, and it just wasn't the same anymore.

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

You know, it's really funny you should say that.

 

Because I was going to make the point that Goblinoids, Orcs included (perhaps especially) are perhaps the most Humanlike of all fantasy races.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

On the ubiquitous palindromedary

That's just rampant specism. Humans are the most Orclike of all fantasy races.

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

Won't someone please give the orcs an even chance?

Years ago, when I was an unpaid shill for a certain clicky company, I founded the OLF - the Orcish Liberation Front, dedicated to the idea that Orcs were people too. Sadly, beyond a few devotees, it never really caught on with the masses.

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

Orcs with class levels solves this problem quickly and simply.

So do Tucker's kobolds.

Re: ORCS! What makes them our favourite enemies???

Heck, one shire hobbit can take out a half dozen orcs given a minimally magic sword.

 

Want to challenge the player characters? Send them up against an army of hobbits.

Or a single elf.

I blame Tolkein (or credit, depending on POV). The problem with Orcs is that it is incredibly rare for their to be any explanation as to why the overltly military race, ruled by an iron fist, born and bred to fight, surly, tough, strong, aggressive as all get out, and numbering in the tens or hundreds of thousands, invariably loses to an obscenely small number of "good" guys (meaning, humans and elves, possibly dwarves & hobbits) who are completely and utterly lacking in tactics or common sense.

"Grunts" did a good job turning this on it's head, but, sadly, Orcs (aka Klingons, Bikers, VIPER, Stormtroopers, Mooks, etc) all exist to allow the PCs to rake in enough XP in order to hit a power level where stupid mistakes (ie, pretty much everything a character does) doesn't kill them outright.

Random note - you ever notice how, in many D20 fantasy games, Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, etc all disappear by the time the characters hit 8-10th level? What happened to them? Did the rampaging hordes get tired and go home? There's never a good explanation for that, either.

Re: Life Support: Longevity?

I did once see an immortal character with KS: Completely Unimportant Historical Trivia From The Last Two Millenia. Basically, the GM let him bull**** anything he wanted to so long as it didn't amount to revising any major historical points.

 

"Da Vinci was a DAMN fine ping-pong player ..."

Heh. I was actually running a character kind of like that in a fantasy game (Earthdawn). In Earthdawn, there is (apparently) a subset of the elven race who is immortal (or near enough - characters with the same names show up in the Shadowrun game, and per FASA, they were the same people.)

Anyway, one of the other players was obsessed with finding some way for his character to become immortal. The first time our characters met, I saw that he was looking at a map with the other PCs, trying to figure out to where some NPC had scurried. He was pointing at Urupa, and said something like "We should search here for NPC."

My character leaned over and said, "No, she's not there. I would have been told."

Him: "Why would they tell you?"

Me: "Oh, it's my city. I founded it, back in [random date, hundreds of years ago]. I planted the first tree in the city square - an ash, I believe. It died a mere 110 years later, so I planted an oak."

Him:

Unfortunately, the campaign fell apart before we ever decided if he was insane, immortal, or both. When people contradicted his recollection of the past, he would waive his hands and say "Sure, NPC wrote that down in a book. But he was only trying to prevent people from knowing that he really didn't save the city from the Horror, and instead spent the entire battle hiding under his blankie."

Back on to topic - I have had characters who were (relatively) immortal - 200 - 800 years. It was either because they regenerated (Whammo), or gained their powers from some mystic source (Whisper of the Shadowed Mind).

Re: Need Help with new power idea.

NO! I say this as a relative newcomer to the Hero system, but that's just plain wrong. If you are running a Teen Champions game, you can always choose to award an extra couple points of XP after defeating a notable foe or after going through some particularly tough adventure, but the approach you are using is just plain wrong.

If they want rapid vadvancement, the best way, as others have said, is to keep some points in reserve at the beginning, and then they get to spend them when it is appropriate.

Re: I don't have the ultimate brick

Yeah, any item of opportunity that fits the basic criteria and common sense. I know that there were some no-range Entangles too (wrapping someone up in a section of street).

Re: I don't have the ultimate brick

Yeah, but you can build a lot with foci - from the classic grab a pole and start swinging (stretching, OAF), rip up the water pipe & direct the water at someone (EB, OAF, side effects), throwing "small" objects (eg, mailboxes, Yugos, armored cars) - EB, with OAF, and so forth.

Focus for all of these are basically "items of opportunity", so, in a barren desert, MegaBrick can't use the stretching power without first locating a pole (or other object).

I do recommend picking up Ultimate Brick - some very nice stuff in there, and useful to hand to a new player (along with Sidekick) to get them thinking.