Dr. Anomaly

Okay, I give...where is this beastie located? If it's in the playtest section, it isn't showing up for me when I log in...and if it isn't, then where the heck is it? Thanks for your answer!

Steve, This is an odd situation I ran across using HeroDesigner. (I'm posting here first because I want to make sure it's doing something wrong, rules-wise, before I make a bug report.) A character with 21 Ego has +10 Mental Defense. This yields a total MD of 14. So far so good. The same character then buys another +10 Mental Defense with the "Costs END" Limitation (to represent making her mind nearly impregnable when she..er..'puts her mind to it.') HeroDesigner lists the character's total MD as 28 -- obviously it's giving the Ego/5 to EACH of the individually-bought Mental Defense powers. I'm thinking that you only get Ego/5 ONCE, no matter how many different Mental Defense add-ons you buy. So...am I right, and HeroDesigner is incorrectly double-dipping? Or am I wrong, and the character does, indeed, get the benefits of Ego/5 multiple times?

I've been re-reading Star Hero for just that reason, though since astronomy is one of my hobbies, I already have a good notion of how I'm going to run it (the Star Hero reread is for a game mechanics angle). Despite one of my degrees being in Mathematics, I'm NOT going to do the full scientific/mathematical rigamarole -- just go with some variant of the simple chart I posted above. Rather like how the chart for Charges starts with a base value & then moves up & down it based on Advantages or Limitations, I'll start with a base value (1 AU from a type G sun) and move up and down based on color, luminosity, and proximity.

Y'know, I hadn't thought about the team-mate with sun powers thing, and that's really a silly mistake on my part, because one of the Legion members is Sun Boy, who can project practically any frequency/amount of solar radiation he desires. Now, since there are 25 members of the Legion, she won't be with him even 1/2 the time, but still... And as far as her own movement capabilities -- no, she doesn't have any FTL!

Gary, That's not a bad idea, but she's NOT going to be spending most of her time 1 AU from a yellow sun (I mentioned that, didn't I?) This is a character for the Legion of Super-Heroes setting, which is galaxy-spanning. Many of the missions will be on alien planets with sun colors other than yellow, and many more still will have at least part of the action taking place in deep space, quite a distance from ANY sun.

Okay, folks, here's a bit of a challenge with which I'm wrestling at the moment. The character I'm trying to help a player of mine build has some -- not a lot, but some -- Kryptonian DNA as part of her make-up. Now, the character in question is based around manipulating force fields (both game-mechanic Force Fields, as well as game-mechanic Force Walls) of very high strengths, and hence high END use. Given that they're already so expensive, we decided against making them 1/2 END or 0 END; plus, the player likes the idea of the character being able to exhaust her powers. Since she has Kryptonian DNA, I suggested to the player making the REC on the END Reserve dependant on sunlight -- given that the character will often be on missions in deep space, this could mean very careful husbanding of the END in the Reserve, which is fine for the player (she likes challenges like this). My basic thought was to make the REC function at its base level under a yellow sun at approximately Earth's distance from that Sun; further away, or under a weaker (orange, red) sun, it RECovers at a slower rate; closer to the Sun, or under a more potent Sun (blue, white) the REC works *better*. Here's the sticky part: How do I punch that out, Advantage/Limitation-wise? I'm tempted to just call it a -0 Limitation, since there are potential Advantages *and* Limitations, but the Limitations are more likely to come up than the Advantages. The other thought was to build a series of sort of 'nested' RECs, with successively bigger limitations -- if more of them meet the increasingly stringent requirements, the more REC the character gets (ie closer than Earth-Distance under a blue sun, two more of the RECs activate), but this strikes me as inelegant. Thoughts? Suggestions? By the way, the breakdown would look something like this, using Earth and Earth's yellow Sun as the baseline: x2.00 REC - Closer than Mercury x1.50 REC - Mercury to just closer than Earth x1.00 REC - Earth to just closer than Mars x0.50 REC - Mars to just closer than Jupiter x0.25 REC - Jupiter to just closer than Saturn x0.00 REC - Saturn or further (no Recovery) You'd modify your location on the table by star-type; one step down for each star-type dimmer than Sol, one step up the table for each star-type brighter than Sol. Example: around an orange star, closer to it than Mercury to Sol yields -1 step (star type) +2 steps (distance) for a x1.50 Recovery rate.

Below is the text of a short article I wrote for an RPG club newsletter a couple of years ago. Several of the examples use D&D-type mechanics, but that's just because that's what most of the people in the club played...the spirit behind them should be readily understood. This is just a cut-n-paste job, so if the formatting turns out funky, please forgive me. ----- Gamemastering 101 Well, we’ve all seen, heard, or read various tips on how to GM or be a better GM, but I didn’t let that fact stop me when I decided to write this. Below are points that are my favorite ways of improving my GMing, as well as those I consider indispensable. I hope they prove to be of some use to you. Now, without further ado: 1. Keep An Open Mind This is hands-down the most important of my points, because it applies to so many aspects of gaming. I’ll be mentioning this many times in later points, so I won’t list them all now. Instead of those specifics, let me talk for a moment about generalities. The world is full of opportunities to enhance your gaming; you’ve got to learn to be open to them during day-to-day life and let them bestow their gifts upon you. This may take a while to become automatic, and at first it may seem that the world has deserted you in handing out free inspiration. Be patient; that first time may take a while, but when it hits, it’ll be an epiphany. Once the flash from the lightbulb fades, make sure to write it down at the earliest opportunity so it isn’t lost. After that first time, it becomes easier and more frequent. Maybe a few examples would help illustrate my point. All of these are things that I’ve seen, myself, within the last week here in Columbia: * A group of five people practicing karate moves on the lawn outside of one of the Stephens College buildings. * A man wearing a sleeveless t-shirt riding a bicycle. Both arms were literally covered with tatoos. * A man in a business suit sitting in the park playing bagpipes (and he was good, too!). * A clerk at Wal-Mart whose name tag read "Deena". All of these are tiny little scenes/events, but my "gaming scavenger" latched on to them as things to possibly use later during a game. They could be bits of scenery described during a game, a seed for a minor encounter, or whatever. Learn to let your mind harvest these kinds of offerings that life makes, and you’ll never be at a loss the next time somebody asks you, "Okay, so what does this guy look like, anyway?" 2. Write It Down I can’t emphasize this one enough, especially because it can be one of my own greatest failings. I’m not really talking about pre-game notes or preparation, either. What I’m talking about are those unplanned people/events that you have to make up on the fly during a gaming session. The reasons are twofold: First, you may want to use that minor NPC again (maybe even in a different game) or you may need to use him again (the PCs decide to go back and talk to him again). Let’s try a Shadowrun-style example. Say, for instance, that during a really late-night shadowrun a member of the party runs out of his favorite-but-hard-to-find ammunition. Desperate, the party casts about until they find a small weapons shop still open. Hoping against hope, they go inside to see if perhaps the owner has any of that ammunition in stock: (You) "In contrast to what you might expect, the shop is well-lit and open, with wide aisles between the locked armorglass cases. None of the cases are more than waist-high on your average human. Some shelves without locked covers are near the back of the store, where the proprietor can keep an eagle eye on them. The man in question is a bit over six feet tall, and while he isn’t musclebound, looks like he works out on a fairly regular basis. Something in his body language says ‘You better not even think about trying something.’ His eyes are narrow and alert as he watches you come in, his heavily tattooed arms crossed in a relaxed-but-ready posture." (Player) "Yeah, the store arrangement is probably so he has a clear field of fire if he needs it; this guy knows what he’s doing. Okay, I walk up to the counter and say, ‘ I’m looking for Max-7A "Cookie-Cutter" rounds with teflon-coated edges. You got any?’ And then I look around casually, trying to give the impression I wouldn’t expect a shop this small to carry anything that specialized; maybe it’ll cut down on the price." (You, rolling dice) "His posture becomes just a touch more casual. ‘Yeah, I got it. But it’s expensive. And it’s cash up front. That’s my policy.’ " (Player) "I gotta remember this place! ‘Okay, there’s "expensive" and there’s "suck blood from a stone." What’s your price?’ " As you can see from the above example, it would be a real good idea to make a couple of quick notes about this shop: where it is, that it’s open late, what the proprietor looks/acts like, and that it carries this unusual ammunition. Also note that I used the glimpse of the guy on the bicycle as "filler" when I needed a description of an NPC that I hadn’t pre-planned. That’s what I meant about taking advantage of the bounty life offers you, if you can learn to pick up on it. My favorite way to keep track of things that happen in-game is a small spiralbound notebook. I usually make hurried scratch-notes on the back page or two, then when the game is over I rewrite them neatly in the front of the book. After all, you’ll be reluctant enough to take a moment to make those notes during game time as-is; there’s no reason to try and be Shakespear at the time! Save the polishing for later; what you’re after in the heat of the moment are a few well-chosen words to spark your memory when you have the time to write out a more complete description. 3. The Cinematic "Okay, Scott, give us the cinematic!" That’s an oft-repeated phrase from one of my long-time players. What they’re requesting is a movie-scene description of some important piece of the action. Not that I don’t usually do that anyway, but some people get a tad impatient! Even non-climactic moments benefit greatly from a little creative description. Like most of these tips, it may seem like a lot of work at first, but will become easier (almost automatic) over time. Once again, let’s use an example, this time from AD&D: (You) "Okay, you’re facing the three bandits. They are swinging clubs; one has a sword. Your AC is what, 16? No, wait, you’ve got a shield - that makes you AC 17." [rolling dice] "Let’s see, AC 15, AC 10, and AC 16. No hits. What do you do?" Now let’s add "the cinematic", using the same situation and the same results, in the same order: (You) "The bandits have you surrounded; the one in front -- obviously the leader since he’s the only one wearing a helm -- taps his club in his left hand for a moment, an unpleasant smile playing about his lips, before he swings. The bandit to your left follows suit. You can’t see the one that’s more or less behind you, but from that metal-on-leather sound you just heard, he’s probably either drawing a really big knife or a sword." [rolling dice] "The leader brings his club down in a short, brutal, no-nonsense blow aimed at your head, but you manage to intercept his swing with your shield. There is a deafening ‘CLANG!’ as the club rebounds, and a momentarily numbing shock that races through your arm; fortunately, that’s the only damage. The other club-wielding bandit sees that you’ve exposed your side by raising your shield, and takes a half-step forward to take advantage of the opening. That half-step proves to be a mistake, though, as a small stone turns under his foot, causing him to stagger and his swing to go wide - the only thing you feel from his blow is a faint stirring in the air. Suddenly you feel as if you were in a belltower when the noon bell rang; your vision blurs and your ears feel sore. You stumble slightly but catch yourself. It occurs to you, when your head clears a second later, that the bandit behind you tried to behead you but luckily his sword hit your helmet and all you suffer is a headache, though I imagine that doesn’t do much for your mood. What’s your response?" I know which description I’d prefer if I was the player! It hides the mechanics of the game system and gives more of the feeling of seeing/living the adventure to use a bit of colorful description. There’s no need to tell the players how well or how poorly the NPC villains did when attacking them; show them instead! In the above example, it should be clear there was one near miss, one real bad miss, and one that almost - but not quite - succeeded in being a damaging blow. 4. Bit Players Are People Too A big disappointment for many players, though they may not realize it as such, is the soul-killing sameness that pervades so many game descriptions. How many times have your players walked into a tavern or inn, with a description like: "It’s an ordinary wooden building, just one story. Inside the door is the common room with maybe a dozen patrons; the tavernkeeper is behind the bar at the far side of the room." Pretty generic, huh? You can liven up the game, and give your world more of a three-dee feeling, if you just add a bit of personality to the places and people that your players meet. You don’t have to do it for every single person or place they pass by - if you do that, you’ve got a street map and AAA guidebook, not a role-playing game. Still, a modest amount of detail will let the player’s minds start to fill in more all by themselves, and that benefits everyone. The next time they go to an inn or a tavern, let the signboard be hanging by only one bracket because the other is broken; let there be a large axe wedged so firmly between a couple of the wallboards no one has been able to remove it; or maybe the innkeeper is missing a finger on his right hand. These little details give a "real world" flavor to the game, and will help carry the players into the setting. (Just be prepared for the players to ask the innkeeper why there’s an axe stuck in his wall.) One of the most important things you can do to give your world more depth is to add those details to the minor NPCs the players run into, both those you’ve prepared and those you haven’t. One of the most common things a player will say to a new NPC is "So what’s your name?" Blind panic time, right? Surely a real person would know his name, and you’ve got no earthly idea what it is! There’s only so many times you can blurt out "Bob!" or whatever. This is where a tiny bit of preparation can save the day. Maintain a list of good names to use for such unplanned encounters/questions, and it isn’t hard to prepare. Oh, I know, I know...it’s possible to sit there racking your brain for hours trying to come up with just a few names. Yes, that’s true - if you did the work yourself. Here’s the trick: the next time you rent a movie, watch the credits at the end with notebook and pen at the ready and remote control handy. Ignore the actors - many of them are familiar to people. You’re looking for production assistants, caterers, make-up crew, and so on. You’d be surprised at just how many great names are there, ready for use. Let me give you an example from my own games. I have a Battletech mercenary unit, with six regiments of mechs, tanks, fighters, etc. plus assorted techs, support personnel, and so on. That’s over 800 names, and each one of those people are named. Do you think I sat down and came up with 800+ names all by myself? Nonsense! Movie credits to the rescue! Movie credits are a positive goldmine of names - don’t pass up something delivered to you on a solid gold platter! Once you’ve used a name, cross it off the list. Then note the name, NPC, and place in the game notebook you keep handy while you’re GMing. You are keeping one handy, right? And while a name is one of the most important things, a basic description or noticeable "bit" for minor NPCs helps as well. For example, when a fight is about to begin, many players will ask for a description of their opponent, trying to glean a sliver of useful information about probable skills or toughness from the description. You can use this to your advantage. Consider a Cyberpunk-style game with a PC about to fight a nameless street thug. You describe said thug as carrying himself with extreme self-confidence, and that he’s wearing an old military jacket, with a slightly darker spot on the shoulder where a unit insignia used to be, but it’s been removed. Your players may begin to wonder if perhaps the thug is ex-military, and perhaps they should negotiate instead of drawing weapons. Maybe he is ex-military; maybe he’s just a thug who’s too egotistical for his own good and bought the used jacket at a military surplus store or got it from the Salvation Army. Only you know for sure - let the player sweat a bit. It lends a lot of good tension to the game. 5. Master Villains Have Bad Days Too You’ll sometimes hear players complain, "I just can’t roll to save my life tonight!" Bad luck in dice rolling does comes in long streaks like that. Be aware, it can happen to you, too. What I’m about to say may sound like cheating, and perhaps it is...but if everyone goes home happy, what’s the problem? Suppose you’ve been building up the reputation of your master villain for many game sessions; the players have dealt with increasingly more powerful henchmen and hirelings, always looking for that elusive, shadowy figure behind it all. Finally, after a lot of hard work, the reach the showdown with The Man Himself. And he crumples after two or three mediocre blows. That will disappoint many players more than losing a PC! After all, what a let down, right? Your players come in, hyped for an epic battle, and they get a creampuff. Somehow, that really kills the excitement and heroic flavor. But wait! You protest the master villain wasn’t a creampuff...there were just some bad rolls back-to-back at the beginning of the combat, and you can’t cheat the players...right? Wrong. You just did. If you let that happen, you cheat the players worse - far worse - than you do if you are a slave to die rolls at the beginning of the combat. You’ve cheated them out of a hard-won victory, out of the elation of overcoming terrible odds, out of the joy of having survived and saved all of civilization as we know it - or at least the local barony. If you’ve built up the bad guy to be a BAD GUY (or let the PCs get that impression), you’d better not disappoint them. Now, I don’t mean cheating on die rolls such that you "win" and the players "lose" and I don’t think I have to tell you all the flaws with that type of thinking. No, I mean giving the master villain a little edge at the beginning, if he needs it, so the battle is more properly epic. For example, let’s say the first couple of rounds of combat have gone really, really badly for our Master Villain. What can you do to try and salvage the situation? * Guess what! A group of the Master Villain’s elite guards, attracted by the sounds of combat / summoned by the Master Villain shows up! There should probably be about two for each PC and they should be tough but not impossible foes. Those guards they already killed on the way in should do fine...just re-use the stats from those poor unfortunates. As the PCs are disposing of the guards, the Master Villain has a chance to collect himself, cast a healing spell, put up a defensive ward, or whatever (and your dice have a chance to stop this silly bad-luck business before you drop them down the garbage disposal). * The Master Villain just happens to have double the number of Hit Points / Stun Points / whatever that you had originally planned. * The Master Villain is using an improved version of Stoneskin / a more powerful forcefield / a better version of what’s appropriate - at least, better than what’s available to the PCs. The improvements should have a limited duration - say, until the dice start rolling according to a nice smooth curve again. Of course these improvements should evaporate once the dice even themselves out; and a little bad luck near the end of the combat is just fine - after all, the villain is a Bad Guy, right? Taking a few simple steps like these will make your players much happier and more satisfied, and can be done so smoothly and seamlessly they’ll never realize just what (almost) happened. Everybody goes home happy, with the knowledge of a job well done and a victory that is all the more satisfying for being hard-won. 6. A Leg To Stand On This one is the tip that may seem like the most work for the least reward, but it’s one of those that I maintain is indispensable. Simply put, you’ve got to know why the world is the way it is, even if the players and/or PCs never find out or even know that there is anything to find out. It’s also vital that the underpinnings of your world are consistent. They don’t have to be logical, at least by modern standards, but they must be consistent. GMing without a consistent structure beneath the story world is akin to walking on a tightrope without a net. You may never fall...but if you do, it’s a long way down with a big SPLAT! at the end of it. Over time, if you don’t have some basic notion of Why about the way your world works, little problems and inconsistencies will build up and eventually cause a system crash, with results for your game and gaming group similar to the results for you when your computer goes belly-up. I’ve seen this happen, and it’s NOT a pretty sight. In some ways, this is a much more mechanical part of the game and, generally speaking, the mechanics of the game should be hidden from the players. Eventually, if it becomes important, the PCs may find themselves with the opportunity to peek behind the curtain - and if there’s no visible means of support, the whole game comes crashing down. It may not seem to be as important in a "modern" setting (Cyberpunk, Shadowrun) as it is in a fantasy setting, since we all know "how" the world works, right? Well, maybe you don’t have to create the ground rules for physics and such, but you still need to know the foundations of other things - governments and legal systems, behind-the-scenes secret organizations, Illuminati, and such. Knowing beforehand why things work doesn’t mean you can’t add to it or change the structure later - every world undergoes some revision. Just make sure that changes don’t invalidate what had gone before, because the players depend on what you’ve told them about the world and how it works...and they have a perfect right to do so. If something does violate the ground rules you’ve laid out, make sure you have a good reason for it. A real good reason. I can’t give you a quick-and-easy example of this one, the way I could with some of the other points - world-building is just too complex for that kind of simplification. I guess I’ll just have to ask you to think about the consequences for yourself, and trust me on this one. 7. Handling The Unexpected Sooner or later, things are going to go disastrously wrong. I’m not talking about the chief villain going down too easy, like I discussed earlier...rather the reverse. Sometimes, through no fault of their own, the PCs end up in too deep with no way out. Perhaps they all had a streak of bad luck with their dice rolling; perhaps your pre-created opponents end up being way more effective than you counted on (the difference between "on paper" and "in play"). It doesn’t happen often, but sooner or later it does...the PCs end up hurt, unconscious, exhausted, out of ammo/spells, or some combination of the above. So what do you do? Well, you can carry things to their logical conclusion and kill the PCs. If they did something monumentally stupid, that may be a valid option. But that’s rarely the case, and usually not the ‘fault’ of every player / PC. If they all walked into it, it may just be bad luck or perhaps a valid but wrong interpretation of a clue presented in play. In those cases, killing all the PCs certainly isn’t justified, and will only frustrate the players. How do you salvage things without making it seem like you’re bending the rules to save the characters? That can be as damaging to player moral as unjust death; after all, there has to be the risk of PC death if there is to be the thrill of victory! A couple of suggestions: * Have the bad guys take them prisoner. They should wake up imprisoned, without their equipment and weapons. Finding a way to escape can be a real challenge, and quite a thrill for a player. It requires inventiveness and daring. Of course, it goes without saying it should be possible for them to escape, but not easy. Once they escape, maybe they can take on the bad guy again...or they may decide to withdraw and make better preparations before taking him on again ("Man! He’s a lot tougher than we thought!"). It can also be a chance for you to insert some interesting NPCs - the villain who comes in to gloat, or a fellow captive. This sort of capture can even be the springboard for a whole new adventure! * Have the bad guys leave them where they are, equipment and all. When the PCs wake up they find a note: "I have defeated you and see that you are no threat to me. Do not interfere in my plans again. Leave, spreading word of my power, and I will let you live." That can be both humbling and infuriating. Usually, it makes the players/characters resolve to come back some day and settle the score. The next time they run up against this guy, or his minions, they may have to do some soul-searching before they can gather the courage to oppose him. This can lead to some really good roleplaying and character angst. Of course there are many other things you can do; the above were just a couple of the possible ways to save the game. A little thought beforehand can prepare you as much as possible for the unexpected, if that’s not an oxymoron. 8. Become The Character Once more, a disclaimer: I don’t mean you should go off the deep end and believe you are the characters that you, as the GM, are portraying. What I mean is don’t stop to think carefully about every response an NPC makes - it looks artificial and breaks the flow of play. Instead, try saying the first thing that comes to mind...if you let your subconscious help you out, it will sound more natural. Plus, you just may be surprised at what a given NPC will say or do. This also helps the problem of your NPCs all sounding the same. If you give them a little leeway, a chance for some individuality, they come across as more of a real person. For example, if a PC offers to bargain with an intelligent enemy, don’t have them just mindlessly attack - use the "response without thought" technique mentioned above. Maybe they will attack anyway...but maybe not. A tense bargaining session can be just as rewarding and exciting for all as a combat. By the same token, remember that most enemies aren’t unthinking machines that attack until they are hacked to bits, blasted, melted, or whatever else it may occur to the PCs to do with them. Both animals and intelligent beings may break off and flee to save their lives. Intelligent beings may beg for mercy, or offer information in exchange for not being killed. Most reasonable players will be quick to take advantage of this. For those that aren’t, gently point out that experience rewards are usually for defeating opponents, and this sort of defeat counts as surely as killing them. Giving the NPCs a chance to "do their own thing" can be quite rewarding for the GM as well as for the players. Often times you’ll be surprised by what an NPC says or does if you give them the chance, and will only later figure out why they did it. Let your subconscious have a field day - it can be far sneakier than your conscious mind. If you can learn to tap that resource, you’ll never be sorry. 9. The Magician’s Force Sometimes the players don’t know what to do or where to go next. Perhaps they haven’t figured out the appropriate clue, or there wasn’t a clue and you realize now there should have been. So how do you "direct" the PCs without resorting to GM intervention? Simple: the magician’s force. The magician’s force is a trick stage magicians use to apparently give the audience a choice without really giving them a choice; the outcome is preordained. A small example: A person watches you seal a $1.00 dollar bill into an envelope and a $100.00 dollar bill into a different, apparently identical envelope. You now shuffle the envelopes repeatedly, and tell them that you are going to tear up one envelope, based on their decision. That should get their attention. (Of course, you have some means of telling the envelopes apart.) Laying the two envelopes back down in front of them invite them to choose an envelope. * If they choose the envelope with the $100.00 bill, say "By your choice shall the contents of this envelope be spared!" and rip up the other envelope. * If they choose the envelope with the $1.00 bill, say "As you command, big spender!" and rip up the envelope. Afterwards, invite them to open the remaining envelope. Of course they find the intact $100.00 bill - you arranged it that way, despite inviting them to make a decision. A similar technique can be applied in role-playing games. Say the party comes to a river, and must turn either north or south along it to reach their goal. They have a discussion about it, comparing what they remember of what various NPCs have said that could give them a clue. Finally, after much discussion, they decide to go south. Now, you know their destination is to the north. As long as it’s not absolutely vital it actually be in the north - and usually it won’t be - then let them find it as they travel south. This is a trivial example, but I trust it gets the point across. This point is an important one to me because I once gamed with a GM that, if you didn’t do something he had planned on, killed your character. Period. End of story. In other words, don’t be that guy or you won’t have a gaming group for very long. The magician’s force can help you avoid that problem. 10. Keep An Open Mind (Part Deux) This is really a continuation of the first point I made, and again let me state this is in my opinion the single most important point. In this case, the open mind I’m talking about is being open to changing your plans in mid-stream. It doesn’t have to be a big change, mind you, but you’ve got to be open to it if you want to avoid frustrated players who feel they’re being railroaded. The previously-mentioned magician’s force may help you out, but sometimes it’s just not enough. So what do you do? Well, when you plan out any given adventure or encounter, remember there are always three ways to deal with it, or three possible outcomes: 1) All the PCs can die. 2) The way you planned as the proper solution 3) Whatever the players come up with that you hadn’t planned on. Of course #1 should be a very rare outcome. The second option will often be exercised, as the players will usually manage to figure out what they’re supposed to do. On those occasions that they don’t, or can’t, keep an open mind. Go with the flow. Appreciate the inventiveness of the players, even if it wrecks some of your carefully-laid plans. After all, no adventure survives contact with the players anyway, because they are so inventive. If you can take delight in an inspired solution, and work with it, you will be as happy about the outcome as your players...even if your bad guys got whomped! After all, you and the players are ultimately on the same side, with the goal of having fun. I realize that some of these points are rather nebulous, without hard-and-fast rules; remember, though, any set of role-playing rules are just guidelines to help everyone have a good time and tell an interesting story. These suggestions of mine are the tools I use to further that cause in my own GMing efforts. May they serve you as well. Good gaming, Scott

Thank you, thank you (*Bows*) I'll be here all week, folks!

A "vanishing teleport" is a good gimmick for somebody like this. So is the "super stealth" -- Invisibility vs. Hearing, RSR. Or perhaps Invisiblity Only in Shadows. For an extra 'twist', buy him a competant norm follower, x128 -- and make them the local police force! In other words, he's so hard to catch not only because he's good, but he's also bought off and/or scared s**tless the entire local police force. This would also give him an excuse to have good Contacts for info. ("So...the Champions of the American Way are setting a trap for me at Lovette Bridge tonight, eh? Good job, Mahoney...I guess that pretty little five-year-old daughter of yours doesn't get an extra smile below her other one tonight after all.")

Yes, it's from The Ultimate Vehicle, pages 30 & 31. I'm not going to violate a copyright by posting a segment of the book to these public boards. However, PM me and maybe I can fill you in on it without violating things too badly. BTW, where in Missouri are you located? I'm in Columbia, half way between St. Louis & KC.

Y'know, couldn't you just use a variant of the "method of propulsion can cause damage to the area" option recently explored in the Vehicle stuff? You know, things like a helicopter's rotors, a rocket's exhaust, that sort of thing. You could buy it as a Naked Advantage on your Teleport. (I know the effect in question is usually done as a Disad, but if you want to be able to turn it on & off, that makes it more of an Advantage in my eyes. YMMV.)

I've only had one Unbreakable Focus in any campaign, and it's in the solo I'm currently running, and it hasn't caused any problems. Remember, even an Unbreakable Focus has to have some way defined to destroy it -- like every other case, HERO doesn't do absolutes here, either. (By the way, the focus in question is Lian Bi (White Lotus), a sword. It can be broken by its opposite number, Black Pearl.) Hmmm...what about offering degrees of Unbreakability, rather like for Vulnerabilities, and so on? Example: +1/4 The focus can only be broken by attacks with one reasonably common SFX, such as 'fire.' +1/2 The focus can only be broken by attacks with one uncommon SFX, such as 'magnetic effects' or by a limited group, such as attacks from a member of the Vandalur family, or being struck by one of the 12 Holy Swords of Rii. +1 The focus can only be broken by one specific means, object, situation or Power, such as being dropped into lava in the volcano in which it was forged. I realize this makes 'Unbreakable' foci double their cost when they now get it for free (at least), but it may be more balanced. Or you could scale it for power levels in your game: +1/4 The focus can only be broken by major damage (15d6+) +1/2 The focus can only be broken by world-class damage (30d6+) +1 The focus can only be broken by cosmic-level damage (60d6+) +2 The focus can only be broken by deity-level damage (100d6+) ...and you can scale these xd6s to suit your campaign.

Yup. I've voted as well, and am 'rallying the troops' to gather more votes. Y'know, with 47 (yes, *47*) valid, working email addresses & 3 valid, working real-world addresses, it's reeeeaaaal tempting to do the multiple-vote thing, but since Steve asked so nicely...

Hey, Worms R Us at your service! It just seemed to me like the logical way to go...no worries about bending the rules or inventing new Advantages. Doubtless it's the more expensive way to go, but I think it would be a good way to cover infectious diseases.

Use a Sticky Transform that Transforms the target into a carrier who *also* possesses a Sticky Transform that can be use to infect (Transform) others.

That reminds me of an old discussion under the DC Heroes "Gadget" rules about building a fork. By the time the discussion was done (and everything you could do with a fork was listed and calculated) the fork cost more than Superman. Saaaayy... does anybody remember the discussion from the old boards in a similar vien, but about a cereal bowl?

"A bunch of my Israeli friends wanted to boycot HERO because of it" -- you've got to admit, this sounds a bit like "making a judgment." On the other hand, if you say that's not the case, that's fine! Welcome to the community of HEROphiles!

Man, I LIKE this! It is SO stolen!

Glerk! 70d6 Luck? 30d6 UNLuck? Hoo boy! Note: I *also* like the "can only use a give combo of powers once" idea, too!

Y'know, it would be nice to have some actual game mechanics influence for a stat, but considering how cheap it is, I'll not lobby *too* hard...and I'd *hate* to see it just go away! For the record, every player I've ever had has dumped *some* points into Comeliness. The low-end COM I've seen for a PC in one of my games is 14; most are in the 17-18 range, and I've had one that was a 27 -- but then, that character was a half-mortal daughter of Apollo, so perhaps it's understandable!

Okay, if anybody feels like it, go ahead and write up "Dr. Anomaly." I'll admit I've toyed with doing that myself, just never gotten around to it. I had thoughts about a scientific gadgeteer who could also cast a few spells (is that an anomaly or what?).

Man o man...I have use the "parallel dimension" bit a LOT. The truly "classic" one is what my group calls a "darkworld": the heroes are villains & villains are heroes. The last one I did that way had the then-PC group the San Diego Sentinels fighting an evil version of the Champions (totalitarian government enforcers) before tracking down and joining that world's last, best hope for freedom: the unbendingly heroic FOXBAT! Boy, you should have seen their faces when they were introduced to the last light of freedom & hope! The Legion of Super-Heroes camapaign I'm currently running (as a solo) has the PC undergoing a series of dimension hops right now, in fact. My player has learned to NEVER take too lightly ANY world, no matter how absurd it seems. She was laughing her socks off when she met the Legion of Fuzzy Heroes (Cowsmic Boy! Colossal Boar! Brainy-Quack 5! etc.) but she stopped laughing when a team-up between Pulsecat Stargrave and the Duck Circle invaded Earth, and she learned that funny-animal appearance or not, those powers pack a whallop!

To me, this sounds like Tunneling, with the "Can Fill In" option applied. In order to make the wall parts, etc. return over time, you could use a Partially Limited Power: apply "Extra Time" and "Always On" to JUST the "Can Fill In" part, to simulated that (1) it takes time for things to fill back in and (2) he has no choice in the matter -- things WILL eventually reappear.

Kittyhawk--"a flying wet brick with a Jedi mind trick" (a PC water elementalist with a number of other apparently unrelated powers, including feline affinity, flight, a little mind control and general strength and toughness) Hideous Key--mentalist with a nightmare face Hidden Dragon--martial artist with invisibility Catalyst Lass--speeds up different processes, everything from chemical reactions to good ideas

Uhm...what? Missile Deflection/Reflection is still around...or is this something from a pre-4th Ed HERO version?