GoldenAge

Re: WWYCD - a deal with an extradimensional sadistic entity Suddenly and with no explanation Bastion would torture the cosmic entity until he's ready to see through on his oath. Seriously... Bastion would have much more faith in mankind. His wish is to see the world become a utopia, but he's not so naive to believe that such behavior can just manifest. Peace has to be learned and thought over the span of generations. Without the contrast of past suffering and the joy of achievement utopia would be hollow and eventually collapse. So, Bastion would say "Thanks, but no thanks. We'll get there on our own."

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist ...In Fantasy Hero! I'm sure my players wish that the Neo-Nazi New Reich operatives were such pushovers! The point you make is well taken though. However, the first time a PC takes a bunch of goons for granted is the first time he'll encounter the potency of Combined Attacks and Rapid Fire/Auto Fire!!!

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist QUOTE=Roter Baron]Lack of Weakness costs 5 points to make any, ANY martial artist sweat - and burn enough time so that I can plaster him with an Area-Attack Big Thing (car etc.) when he already did his Hai-Kai kicking-shouting-analysing on the segment he declared as his phase. And then I phaze him! How high was your CON you say ...? Edit: Assuming, like many armored guys, you've forgotten to buy Lack of Weakness = First story (Go to the end for a short story WITH LoW) Oh, you should work on your tactic Tin Can! Didn't you realize that I did that with a held action from 2 on 3 (and I brought your armor down to 50% and still had a 1/2 action left so I do it again on 3 to reduce your Armor to 25% strength)? When you go on 4 I'm already holding my 4 action... You just pounded a car into where I USED to be standing because I aborted my 4 to Dive for Cover (between your legs, for style) into the hex directly behind you and Breakfall to my feet. Now it's phase 6 and I Multiple-Power Attack you from behind (Your DCV at 1/2 - Not that I need it) with an (8D6) Eagle Claw Grab on your ham & eggs (vitals) and a Praying Mantis snap-strike to the poor boys (8d6) = (DEF-STUNx1.5/BODYx2)... Oh the imagery!)... Assuming you start with 30PD (which is now 8), on average you'll take 60 STUN by that attack (30 from each): 28STN-8Armor=20(1.5)=30x2=60… Ouch! Of course, this won’t put you down or even CON STUN you so we proceed to phase 7…. Okay, on phase 8 rinse and repeat for another 60 STN… Or go on the defensive holding 8 for dive/block/dodge and then coming at you on 10 and 12… All I have is a few MA Maneuvers, Find Weakness, a 6 SPEED, a 30 DEX and a few 3-point MA skill lvls. > Potentially I could deliver 180 STUN (after defenses) to you in one Turn while avoiding everything you can throw. Obviously, this example is entirely one-sided… But it does display the power even a modest Martial Artist can wield. Oops, I just realized that you have lack of weakness.... guess I'll have to Martial Throw you to the street and ground and pound your head with my 4d6 HKA, Multiple-Attacking with a grab (and control)... the HKA to the head will deliver an average of 70 STN/hit before you apply defenses... And you're prone. You're still not impervious to my measley powers... And you better hope I don't have any Chi abilities!

Re: One-Trick Pony Campaigns In my history as a GM (Hero since 1987) all of the very best characters were well planed out and, more often than not, reflected the 1TP. Just like Green Lantern utilized his Power Ring to amazing results, stemming from Desolid and Mind Probe to Force Walls and Summon [vehicles] they received all of their powers from a single cosmetic. Often, when I've encountered deliberately mixed heroes they've either been too powerful or only really utilized one aspect of their power set. I once had a full Brick/Martial Artist... Now, this wasn't a Sumo Wrestler (which I believe is a good and acceptable concept) but, rather, a full blown Brick that had trained under a Zen master... He was WAY too powerful for the game. The combination of a 60 STR + Martial Arts, a 6 speed, Breakfall and many other married maneuvers made him impossible to take down in a classic fashion (and I'm all about the classics). He never had to think about what he was going to do because he could deflect all range and Martial Dodge everything else... it just sat wrong with me (and the other players - How does a giant with several levels of Density Increase roll to his feet and jump right into a flying side kick?). Later, the player even realized that there was no challenge and dropped the character. I've also had the pleasure of dealing with a Brick/Mage. What a mess. This character had a huge STR + major personal defenses + the diversity of a variable Power Pool of magic spells, which could reproduce anything from Teleportation and Entangles to Energy Blasts, Invisibility and Flight. Whooooo boy! The write-up on this character was quite good. It easily explained everything very well... But it just didn't play well as a group member. Adventures came down to the team brainstorming a way for the Brick/Mage to do almost all of the work (including giving them extra power). It got boring for everyone, even when I brought out some great GM ideas. Sure, I was able to handle the Brick/Mage but, in my attempt to counter his unique power set, I totally outclassed his teammates. This player also gave up the character... well, part of it. He went full mage after he and I conspired a cool event that lead to him becoming a woman without the Brick powers. Oh, it was dramatic (made even better since he was secretly playing along). The other players cheered. The Brick/Mage was now just a Mage... He (she) was still incredibly powerful and versatile but much more in line with the campaign. On the other hand, I had a well-made Brick/Martial Artist (similar to The Beast) in my game. This character didn't take the Brick too far or the Martial Arts to the ultimate. He kept things within a 12DC range and was very fun to watch. He was always overpowered by larger Bricks but utilized his unique skills to even out the combat. I think the best thing about this character (and others like it) was that he was forced to use his head to think through a combat since any single thing he could do wasn't enough to get the job done. I've never had a Superman or Martian Manhunter (thank goodness), so I don't know what that would be like. But I imagine it would be boring. Players need to be challenged. They need to struggle and use their brains to overcome obstacles that often seem insurmountable. When 1 player can do all the work it takes away the drama of the game.

Re: One-Trick Pony Campaigns Well, I had some great gamers, so my games usually went rather smoothly. The one thing I noticed (it was quite obvious, actually) was that there were many more PC discussions and teamwork became a very important part of their battle tactics. It was quite refreshing to see EVERYONE incorporated in plans, rather than a TK god, or massive Brick just go out and take care of things alone, his teammates following in his wake. One thing I didn't do was plan adventures differently. I left it up to my players to overcome the same type of challenges I'd always placed before them. It was often tough on them, but I saw wheels turning that had been silent for some time. Eventually we went back to a full 4-color game... The 1TP exercise really forced them to retrain their Player skills, which enhanced the 4-color game (allowing me to get nastier and nastier).

Re: One-Trick Pony Campaigns In truth, these one-trick x-men were far more versatile than it appears. Let's take Ice Man, for instance. From his first day at Xavier’s school he could: Cover himself with snow = Force Field? Throw snowballs = Energy Blast? Create Ice shields = Force Wall + Missile Deflect/Reflect? Move on Ice ramps (In think) = Increased Move - Flight limited to a certain range to objects? It wasn't long that Xavier had them pretty well trained. That might be represented by skill levels and maybe a small Martial Arts package? Even Cyclops was more diverse than you'd think. Remember, he had a great deal of control over his Optic Blast. He was able to fire fine beams that could break through locks or wide blasts capable of targeting several opponents: EB Multipower: 1. Fine Beam (5d6 EB - 2x Armor Piercing - Limited Range?) 2. Normal Energy Blast - Multiple skill Lvls for Bouncing only? 3. Area of Effect EB 2x KB (No Range)? etc.... Of them all Warren and The Beast were the most simple... But an ultra-rich aerial Martial Artist and a genius semi-Brick/Martial Artist are pretty potent characters. I love the one trick pony approach. We've even gone so far as to limit the supers to one power without Personal Immunity (ie - if you burst into flame it hurts!) In the end, to reflect how even the simplest of powers can be cleverly manipulated you end up with several power slots. It's Champions. Just because the character is loaded with options it doesn't mean that it's not ONE power... It's the power's cosmetics dictates that.

Re: Anyone have solutions for the Stun Lottery that a high dice Killing Attack create This is what we do also

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist

Re: The Things I've Learned Playing A Mentalist Mental Illusions save money! A mentalist with Mental Illusions, Mind Link, Tactics and a few reclining chairs is an awesome substitute for a very expensive Danger Room... And this virtual Danger Room travels!

Re: The Things I've Learned Playing A Mentalist Who needs walkie-talkies? A Mind Link between your entire team is the very best way to communicate during combat!

Re: Help with a name Would it be a neat idea to create a group of mystical beings (malignant or benign) and call them The Nu-Men? Huh? Heck, I'm doing it!

Re: What I learned playing a blaster! That's exactly what I meant in my post above. GM's take heed. The best games have a plethora of environmental options available to the characters. Just look at the room your sitting in now, from the floors (carpeting/wood/tile) to the ceiling (chandellers/skylites/drop ceiling hiding pipes and wire) and everywhere in between (bookcase/chair/couch/table/TV/fan/window treatments/wall hangings...). The worst thing is a fight in an empty box. Sure, you get to see whose character is toughest, but it's not nearly as fun as fighting on a suspension bridge in the middle of rush hour, or a laboratory full of unusual (and sometimes fragile) equipment

Re: Help with a name I really liked Numen: A spiritual force or influence often identified with a natural object, phenomenon or locality. I always like names I haven't seen before. There is an Enigma in my group. If you don't use Numen, I wil.

Re: What I learned playing a blaster! Can't fly? Defenses destroyed? Take cover and Snap Shot that villain into unconsciousness!

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist One day you're goin' down... Best be able to bounce right back up! Yup, it's true: Sooner or later you are going to get knocked on your kiester. When that happens (and it will) you better hope you have Breakfall. In fact, if you're sure that there's nothing behind you, it's not a bad idea to Roll with just about every HTH attack possible, thus reducing the damage by half. A prone Martial Artist is everyone's pansy.

Re: [GM Help Needed] Superhero Mystries I'll second this style of GMing. I might start off with a loose outline (in my mind) and the major villains/perpetrators but it's the player's creativity that usually drives the game... Not allot of prep work on my part. I've worked very, very hard to know everything in and about Epic City (my game). I know who will get involved in what and which moves groups, not directly involved in the moment, will make. It's the natural flow of a realistic storyline. I may make a few mistakes, but they're easily concealed since I know everything and the players only know what I tell them.

Re: What I learned playing a blaster!

Re: [interest in an online game?] Avengers: Generation 3 Can I still get into this game? Kolbrandr's speach on the virtue of Vision's death made me stand up and scream Yes! When I finally settled down I realized that I would very much like to be a part of such a game - GoldenAge

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist And old Asian men with canes that look weak and vulnerable.

Re: The things I've learned playing a Martial Artist Martial Grab and Interpose!!! Then toss your head back and laugh as the other team's Brick Haymakers their own teammate right into la-la land. I think that the human shield was actually invented in a Shaolin Temple circa 540 AD.

Re: The things I've learned playing a Speedster... Wasn't Jackie Chan in that?

Re: The Things I've Learned Playing A Mentalist Excedrin, lots of Excedrin.

Re: What I learned playing a blaster! You don't always have to shoot at your opponent! Try attacking the environment around him!!! Send your opponent into the sewers by destroying the street under his feet. Bring a building down on his head with a precise attack on a support column. Blast "Fire Guy" with water by sniping open a fire hydrant. Win the day and have some fun doing it (just make sure you have “Battle Insurance”). Sorry I've done so many of these in a row but it's Saturday and no one seems to be around.

Re: What I learned playing a blaster! Spread 'em if ya got 'em Um, that doesn't sound quite like I thought it would... Spreading an attack is the best way to take down a bunch of English Redcoats (if, of course, you ever find yourself displaced in time:rolleyes: ). Otherwise it's an awesome way to blast through minor NPC agents.

Re: What I learned playing a blaster! Rapid Fire makes the world go 'round!