Ron

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

Somewhat more seriously...

 

I'm not picking on you Ron, just a lot people have answer similar to yours.

Fine with me. In fact, I am somewhat disappointed that I read the thread first as I believe I could be much more original if I haven't.

I think there are quite a few deep thinker or inventors through the ages. Benjamin Franklin might be one. Sir Issac Newton' date=' Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Tycho Brahe, etc. [/quote']

 

Great thinkers, all of them. But I am talking about people how designed very creative devices to their ages. No one can serious dispute Newton as the greatest physicist of his time. But I would rather list his rival, Robert Hooke, foremost experimental physicist of his time and also an exceptional architect and engineer, making important contributions to the design of nearly all scientific instruments of that age.

 

 

Don't forget those with a philosophical bent here too: Tao Te Ching (Taoism)' date=' Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddhism), etc. Anyone one of these guys might be required for unraveling some mystery, not fighting baddies.[/quote']

 

All great men. Don't forgot Plato, which is considered by many as probably the most intelligent man that left his ideas written. That if Socrates was a real person. In the case he was a fictional character, then Plato, according some experts, would certainly be the most intelligent man in history. Still, all those truly giants would hardly qualify as heroes in gaming sense.

 

I thought of adding Mohammed to the list. Not for the religious contribution but rather to his exceptional charisma. The man talked almost everybody he met into his religion. That's really exceptional. Still, I didn't want to mix religion with HERO. Didn't sounded right.

 

[Talking about Alexander and Gengis Kahn]

 

I object to these a little. Both of these individuals were of a "noble house" of some sort, which was a big part of their power. They could lead armies, but could the lead a small team? (For that matter, could they lead armies at all? How much of the work and planning was done by their underlings?)

 

With embellishment, Alexander could be a great heavy fighter and Gengis could be a master archer, but I don't think either actually were legendary fighters. Good fighters, sure, but not legendary.

 

For what I understand, there is evidence that Alexander, but not Gengis, was a great fighter. If you read my description, it was in this condition that I added him. I also have objections to the Kahn, as I have a hard time justifying the numerous massacres he ordered. Still, this man rise from a small chief to the greatest conqueror of all time. Certainly, he have was an exceptional charismatic leader and he was smart enough to manage his armies, his conquests, and still found time to raise the cultural level of his people. Hard to dismiss him easily.

Re: 7 heroes summoned through time: who are they?

My own list, partially based in great suggestions above:

1. Nicolas Tesla or Leonardo da Vinci -- if any man was a gadgeteer in Champions sense, would be one of them
   
2. Sir Richard Burton -- explorer, linguist, spy, the generalist skill type
   
3. Alexander the Great -- we should have cavalry in great style
   
4. Miyamoto Musashi -- probably the best swordsman ever
   
5. Gengis Kahn -- we need a conqueror, why not the greatest of all?
   
6. Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac -- duelist, writer and a strange figure to add, especially if you include some of the legends about him
   
7. Bruce Lee -- do I need to tell why?
   

The only problem is, how in the heck will those guys ever be able to work together?

Re: College Professor Skill Level

As a college professor, I think that a college professor would have a single specialized discipline that would be known well (15- or 16-). When I say specialized, I mean *specialized*: the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning or the interactions of pi-mesons.

 

The broader category, Physics, English Literature, Geography, would be known at a higher level than the ordinary populace. I would suggest 11- or an INT roll. Remember that most heroic characters get an Everyman skill of AK: Local Area at 8-, so I would expect concentrated study to yield an AK of the next level up: 11- or INT roll.

 

Outside of that broader category, college professors are just as dumb as anyone else.

Have being a professor for near 10 years, I think this is a fair assessment of the profession. Funny how people believe that as I have a Ph.D. in biology I would be an expert in all biological fields. However, in terms of gaming, I would rather simplify to a single skill.

Regarding salaries, academia pay less money, but give a freedom not found in most jobs, which more than compensates the salary. At least to me and most of my coleagues. As such, individual choices are more important than salaries to determine if a person with Ph.D. would go to academia or some sort of corporate job.

Re: Your favorite Archetype examples in super hero comics

Sorry, you're getting confused here. Hal Jordan is not, and never was, a mass murderer. Another character with some similar attributes may have been. This was during a period in which many characters were distorted or destroyed by talentless hacks.

 

Taking such stories seriously is a mistake.

 

Mind you, continuity horrors aren't a recent innovation.

 

I'm still not impressed by the Earth-1 Black Canary being the daughter of the Earth-2 one. I would have thought Green Arrow might have noticed that they weren't the same person... The fact is, of course, that they were, until some brainiac decided otherwise a decade after the Canary had moved to Earth-1.

Well, as much as I dislike Hal Jordan murdering several Green Lanterns, this, as far as I know, is part of the DCU's continuity. I can give you that the story is lame, however, even worse is ressurecting the man -- I just hated it. I used to be a DC boy, but the recent ressurection trend in the DC Universe is making it more and more like Marvel, especially with the Infinite Crisis (I read only up to #2, no spoilers please) hinting a back to the Silver Age DCU.

I am now considering reading only author controled books to avoid this kind of problem.

Re: Your favorite Archetype examples in super hero comics

Brick: The Thing

Energy Projector: Green Lantern (any but Hal Mass Murderer Jordan will do)

Gadgeteer: Brainiac 5

Martial Artist: The Question (although he's much more the detective -- a missing archetype)

Mentalist: Martian Manhunter

Metamorph: Martian Manhunter

Mystic: John Constantine

Patriot: I don't like patriots, would Black Adam qualify?

Powered Armor: Rocket Red

Speedster: Flash (Jay or Wally but not Barry)

Weapons Master: Green Arrow

Re: Which supers movies were better than you expected, which were worse?

Fantastic Four -- I went expecting a really lame movie, and it was somewhat decent.

Daredevil -- I thought it would be at least fair, but is rather poor indeed. The director's cut DVD version is significantly better.

Darkman -- I've little expectations and this movie turned to be rather good.

In most others I just got what I expected for.

Re: Kong: the movie

I watched it last friday and it rocks. The best version so far, not hard as Jackson followed closely the original movie while incorporating Ann's sympathy for Kong from the 1979 version.

Re: Character Post: Gil Grissom

I would also increase his Entomology skill (there is a typo in the write up), as I understand that this is the area he got his Ph.D. and he is an authority in the forensic community.

I agree with Bob Greenwade that Terri Miller would be a suitable contact.

Re: Champs Worldwide: Whaddya want?

I would like to see some less heroic super characters, such as a group of supers that took an island in the pacific and are trying to create their own kind of society without the interference of the rest of the world, or some sort of Foundation that concentrates in human aid efforts through superagents.

Again, be careful about the stereotypes. Brazilians, as well as other South Americans nationals, are usually poorly portrayed in games. You may ask me directly if you want some assistance.

Re: If Champions didn't exist...

DC Heroes is one of my favorite games and I am pretty much interested in what the new owners of Pulsar will do with MEGS in the near future.

Re: Character Sheet

Very nice, thanks.

Re: TSR Alternity

The rules were basically 2nd edition AD&D with a few tweaks and improvements. (I won't claim it as a favorite system, but it is quite playable).

[...]

Actually, the rules were anything but AD&D. The game was skill based with several levels of success and a wounds system not much different from WEG's Star Wars. Although namely a class/level game, the four classes were nothing more than a set of advantages while levels were useless (you received experience points and after you have enough to achieve a new level you used the same points to buy new skills or improve the ones you already have). As a matter of fact, the six abilities were the only thing taken from AD&D.

The game is pretty good to play and it looks gorgeous. By far is the best roleplaying game published by TSR and much superior to d20.

Re: Star Blazers/Capt. Harlock setting.

I didn't knew that, but it makes perfect sense. I always thought that self sacrifice was the true spirit of the series, whereas was really strange to use the original Yamato hull.

Re: Playing 3.5 after Fantasy Hero

I know quite a few people that were not much in D&D and were excited with the release of D&D d20. Problem is, after a while all of them realised that the game itself wasn't that good, that they could do better with other systems, and if they want nostalgia, they would do better sticking with AD&D.

Re: Another Bat-ty Campaign Idea

I'm not sure, but this looks like Batman just previously to the Crisis. I haven't followed much stories from the late 70s and early 80s, but I think Bruce Wayne was living in a penthouse in Gotham downtown and he was actually training a group of superheroes called Outsiders. Finally, after the crisis, John Byrne, in The Man of Steel mini series established that an early version of the Batmobile was a common car with a mini crime lab in the trunk and other possible advancements. In fact, if Batman really want to maintain his secret identity, this is the only way he could actually move around without calling too much attention to himself.

Re: Anyone done a Riftwars Hero

I wondered about that when I read them. They seemed to be based off of a campaign... just had that feel to it.

 

I'm curious, where did you hear they were based on a campaign?

From what I heard, the setting was based in a homebred campaign world. As a matter of fact, Feist and his friends still keep a partnership to profit from the rights of derived products such as the Krondor computer games series. However, Feist declared that the stories he wrote has little in common with actual campaigns.

Re: Star Blazers/Capt. Harlock setting.

A Star Blazer campaign worth of the name should include a number of opportunities where the PCs may sacrifice their lives to allow the survival of their crew mates or even humanity. I would love to play such game, but the players should be aware of the risks and the mood of the TV series.

I've been reading the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying game, a book I'm sure you're very familiar with. A really nice feature is the subtle magic of Middle Earth. It would be a nice addition in any fantasy setting and a good way to mask the sometimes too intrusive mechanical side of HERO.

Originally posted by Hugh Neilson

Cap beat Thor in DC vs Marvel a few years ago...amazing what magic lightning can do...

Are you sure? I recall that Thor used his ligthning control to activate Caps transformation in Billy Baxton and finish the duel. Still, I might be wrong, those DC-Marvel crossover stories were really bad and I forgot most of it.

Anyway, I wrote what would be the result if I was writing the book, based in my own interpretation of the characters, which varies wildly from writer to writer.

I don't think the Avengers have any chance at all. First of all, Jay, moving at light speed could easily put down the most fragile Avengers, namely, all without a bulk body or totally covered by Armour or Damage Resistance: Wasp (if not flying too high), Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and even Captain America, who cannot fight something in a speed out of his time of reaction scale. Hercules can easily take care of most of the non-flying JSA members, while Iron Man may have some difficulties facing Power Girl and the other flying lady, eventually winning. Thor would suffer, but, after a long fight, would win Capitain Marvel. Although I think the Captain is stronger and faster, I think that Thor superior tenacity and warrior spirity would eventually give him the day.

Then there is Dr. Fate... JSA wins.

Perhaps I am missing the point, as all HERO books I currently have are not settings (Hero System, Star Hero, Bestiary, and UMA, not counting TUV, which I am expecting to arrive soon in my mailbox) and DOJ may have already implemented my suggestion in Terran Empire, Alien Wars, or in the Champions Universe books. Basically, I would like to see a thematic layout to each of the settings. The rulebooks layout is pretty good, being very clean and, thus, easy to follow. However, I think it might be a little too bland to a setting book. A thematic layout could enhance the mood of the book and help the readers to understand the concept behind the setting.

Originally posted by Storn

How does magic impact every day life, which in turn, how does that impact the "adventurer class" such as most PCs? example: are healing potions common? non-existant? Does the grandson of a sick old farmer go out and seek a healing potion? Or is that only the privalege of the adventure class.

I agree with Storn, the impact of magic is of prime importance in any magical setting. Still, is often overlooked in many books. I would really like to see how magic influence individual lifes in all social classes and how it shapes society at whole.

What a surprise...

I'm confused. So San Angelo 1.5 is a Action!/M&M supplement, whereas San Angelo 2.0 will include HERO stats too? As far as I understand, this was previously a HERO only line in which new products would include Action! and M&M's stats in addition to HERO's. Although, including triple-stating is probably a smart move, as it can make the book more attractive to a broader audience, it would be much better to have consistency. I don't want to worry if a specific San Angelo book have or not stats to the system I play with.

Originally posted by Enforcer84

Wonderman has begun to fly under his own power and seems to get more variety of powers with each rebirth. In his own title he was doing some very weird things towards the end. All said and done Superman still has him beat.

[...]

Perhaps Wonder Man is still needing a few more deaths and rebirths before he can try Supes. Right now, it's not really a contest.