KA.

Re: The Invisible World I have read quite a bit of Lovecraft and I really like it, I just haven't happened to read "From Beyond" yet. It looks like I will need to, errr, 'dig it up'. Thanks for the information, KA.

Re: The Punisher vs Bugs Bunny Wait, you mean that Dolph Lundgren isn't a real person? Are you implying that he is some sort of primitive cyborg, designed to crudely imitate the human activity of 'acting'? Actually, that explains a lot. And the same group built Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris. KA.

Re: The Punisher vs Bugs Bunny Actually, this might end quickly, and horribly. You must remember that for all his stupidity, Elmer Fudd is also a Toon, and basically impossible to kill. The Punisher isn't. Which means that the first time Bugs switches around The Punisher's gun barrel, Frank is going to get shot in the head for real. He won't just look like he is wearing blackface, he will get his head blown off. Maybe Frank would have the tactical sense to withdraw after the first couple of Banana Cream Pies, but otherwise . . . KA.

Re: Thanks for clearing that up. Just kidding! KA.

Re: The Invisible World ross-winn, Since this is the first post of yours I have seen, even though it looks like you have been around a while, welcome to the Hero Boards. On the 'Hero = Champions' controversy . . . I think your first comment was intended to say that many Hero players like to stat out everything, and the implication that Hero = Champions, was just a common slip that many people who have been around since the days when Champions was Hero, myself included, make. I also think that, given the fact that you are a columnist at RPG.net, your comments are being taken a bit more seriously than they otherwise might be. The two statements that are likely to annoy a Hero fan most are: "Everyone that plays Hero is an anal-retentive math geek that wants to have an official write-up for a grain of salt." and "Hero System? Oh, yeah, that Superhero game. I don't want to play Superheroes, why would I want to learn that?" The spread of those two mostly false statements is a large part of what keeps Hero from being more popular with people who play other RPG's. I have never taught Hero to anyone, gamer or non-gamer, that didn't like it once they got to know it. It is detailed, but not actually complicated. And I, and many others who have been playing Hero since the first Champions Boxed set, and before, do not feel the need to stat out every object in the known universe. Just because you can, doesn't mean you want or need to. So, to see someone who is in a position to influence the opinion of other gamers basically imply that they agree with two of the most unfair and damaging slams against the Hero system in one brief statement, on the Hero boards, is the sort of thing that could irritate people. KA. And now, of course, Hero Gamers will also be seen as hypersensitive and rude.

Re: The Invisible World Well, if you want a 'scientific' solution, it all depends on the Pineal Gland. What? No one else saw "From Beyond"? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091083/ Basically, in this film (I haven't read the original story) a scientist discovers that people who are 'insane' and having 'hallucinations' actually have more developed Pineal Glands which allow them to see into a parallel dimension that is just slightly out of synch with our own. 'Normal' people can't see it at all, unless their Pineal Gland is stimulated with a 'Resonator', but the parallel dimension is filled with all kinds of nightmarish creatures, that can also see you. In severe cases, or with enough stimulation, you (or they) can even 'cross the border' and 'interact'. Which is why the 'insane' are always talking about things trying to kill them, being covered with bugs, etc. As far as a game mechanic, I can see making it a 0-point Physical Limitation that some people are just randomly born with (those with a natural talent for magic, or prone to becoming werewolves, etc.). And a free 'not quite Everyman' skill that can be taught. So, you can be born being able to see these things, or you can be taught to see them at a very basic level. (If someone in the know points out a vampire to you then you can see that is what they are, but you have a small chance to notice on your own, 8 or less? 6 or less?) If you decide to invest points and actually learn the Skill, then you eventually get to the point where a Common, Easy, detection is automatic. So that when you see a Vampire, you know exactly what it is. I think this is supported somewhat, at least in the Buffy-verse. (Not claiming to be an expert in this field, buy I have seen all the episodes at least a couple of times.) Buffy, as The Slayer, would probably have been born with the Physical Limitation "Aware of the Supernatural". But, before she was told of her destiny as the Slayer, she probably didn't encounter that many Vampires (too young to be running around much at night), and was also 'in denial' due to cultural norms (There's no such thing!). Willow, Xander, etc. didn't really seem to be able to detect the Supernatural that well when they first got started, but over time seemed to get better at it. So, they basically learned the Skill version. This makes a decent distinction game wise, at least for me. Enough random people will be born with the involuntary Physical Limitation to allow for some Mages, Ghost Hunters, Psychics, and Crackpots, and these people will pretty much always be 'in the loop'. But, other people who need to know can be taught the Skill, and they will also be able to tell what is going on to a more limited degree. KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever Thanks. KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever But no one understands him like his woman. Oh, wait, that's not Spider-Man, that's Shaft! And if you don't think Shaft could knock out Firelord, then you are crazy! KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever Thanks for taking it in the spirit it was intended. KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever I finally quit reading around page 15, but will everyone please just admit that: A) Firelord did, in fact, create the universe in 6 days, and on the 7th day defeated Spider-Man and Spider-Man is a construct created by Ego - The Living Planet, and therefore, while being invunerable to both Thor and Hercules, is easy pickings for Firelord. I would say more, but I have to run to the store to pick up my copies of: The Amazing Firelord Fire Lord : The Spectacular Firelord Marvel Team-Up featuring Firelord and Special Guest Star : Firelord! and The Official Handbook of the Firelord Universe Posted January 2nd, The Year of Our Firelord - 2006, KA.

Re: THE ULTIMATE SPEEDSTER -- What Do *You* Want To See? I would like to second the request for a more workable "Time Stop" power. I may be taking it out of context, but the most recent official build I know of, is based on using XDM to go to a dimension where time is stopped for everyone but you, and then doing what you want. The problem is, even if you do this, you cannot effect anyone else, only their equivalent in the other dimension. Now if you were able to use your STR or other powers Transdimensionally, it at least makes some sense. Another approach is to require the Speedster to use something like: XDM, Area Effect, Useable as Attack, etc. etc. to take everyone/everything he wants to effect with him to the "Time Stop Dimension". This would be very expensive, but it should be, considering how effective this technique would be. KA.

Re: Best SuperHero Fights ever That would be Spider-Man facing every true Hero fan's most hated foe: Fuzion! err, I mean "Fusion". Peter Parker : The Spectacular Spider-Man #32 KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever Since it appears that this is going to be endless anyway, I may as well throw in a few thoughts . . . 1) As far as I know, (and I make no claim whatsoever to be a Marvel Comics authority) The Silver Surfer was the first Herald. He ended up defying Galactus and generally being a pain in the rear end, so Galactus exiled him to Earth. Now Galactus is hardly one to share a lot of his thoughts and feelings, so what he may or may not have thought/decided/done off panel is largely open to speculation. That does not imply that my speculation is any better than anyone else's, it just means that I don't know of anyone, other than perhaps the original creator and/or the people who currently own the license, who can say he absolutely would/would not, do a certain thing off panel. (For all we know he actually can be distracted by delicious Hostess Fruit Pies. ) In my view of the world, I can see Galactus, after having been inconvenienced by The Silver Surfer, building a bit of a fail-safe into the Power Cosmic that he grants his Heralds from then on. x points Cosmic Power Pool + x points Cosmic Power Pool, only when doing things that benefit Galactus or further his wishes Which means that if Galactus sends you to do his bidding, you have all the points available. If you decide to go out for pizza, and fight with Earthbound super-arachnids, or perhaps decide to join up with Reed Richards and help divert your boss from eating Earth again, you are at a lesser power level. I am not claiming this is Marvel Canon, or that there is direct evidence of it, I am just saying that it is possible, and makes some sense, at least to me. 2) Other than space fleets, and alien/demonic constructs, how many people/superheroes has Firelord blasted to atoms/burned to a cinder? I am asking as a legitimate question, not because I already know the answer. I am not trying to say that he doesn't have the power to do so, I am just saying that if he really has as lethal an attitude as has been described, and the power levels described, why aren't there urns scattered all over the Earth containing the dusty remains of those he has destroyed. Either his powers don't work that way (I disbelieve that, because it sounds like he has killed sentient beings of some type in the past, directly, not just by leading his boss to make a buffet of their homeworld), or there is something in his mental makeup that keeps him from doing this as often as he could. I hardly think a "code vs. killing" could apply to someone who finds planets for his boss to eat, but he could have some type of warrior's code, that causes him to respect 'fellow combatants', above the mud crawling peons that make up the rest of the population of the worlds his boss eats. Which could explain why he doesn't just Flame Nuke everyone who ever looks crossways at him. 3) Is Firelord so powerful that he can create a stone too heavy for him to lift? Okay, I know that is silly, but what I am trying to get at is this. All the Heralds are described as having The Power Cosmic. My take on that has always been something like a Cosmic Power Pool. Which means that, although they may have a common suite of powers that they use, they could basically do nearly anything with their powers, up to the limits of the pool, or, more importantly in this case, they could do nothing with them at all. It seems like a Herald could choose to go All Defense or All Offense or Anything in Between. It also seems like a Herald could choose to use as much or as little of his power as he felt the situation required. If this wasn't true, then the few times that The Silver Surfer had to interact with anyone other than a Cosmic Level Threat, there would have been nothing left, not even a fine paste. 4) And now, finally we get to the point. I don't expect this to convince anyone else, I am just letting you know what allows me to be able to sleep at night, knowing that Spiderman beat Firelord, once. Why does anyone have trouble with a fly in their house? We are much bigger, stronger, smarter, and have every technological advantage. Because it is a fly. Imagine telling your friends that you killed a fly today. "Oh, got him with a newspaper, huh?" "No" "Flyswatter?" "No" "Did you find some new kind of bugspray?" "No. I went to the closet and got out my 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. He never knew what hit him." "Man, you are either crazy or pathetic. You needed a shotgun to kill a fly?" We have trouble with flies because we deliberately limit the methods we use to combat them, mainly out of ego, and a desire to not destroy things. We could kill flies easily enough if we used every resource available to us, but we don't want to. We want to beat them on somewhat 'equal' terms. We want to beat them with a newspaper, because we know that we are people and they are just insignificant insects, and we shouldn't need more than that to beat them. One difference is, we do not have enough contol over our own physiology to actually take on a fly on its own terms. There is an episode of Family Guy (Emission Impossible) where Stewie shrinks himself down to a tiny size and is flying around in a little scout ship. One of the first things he does is hunt down and destroy a passing fly, just for the fun of it. There are times when I have been so mad at one of the nasty things that I would have loved to have been able to shrink down to their size, strength, everything, and fight them 'like a man'. Of course doing that would put me at risk of being injured, but if I were angry enough at one, and I suddenly had to power to do it, I would. Firelord has that kind of power. I don't know if he could actually kill himself, or lower his BODY score to the point where a bullet could kill him, because that might interfere with something that Galactus wanted him to do, but my guess is, he could set his other Characteristics all the way down to normal human levels if he wanted to, at least temporarily. Much like the Green Lantern episode described in an earlier post, Firelord might have wanted to put his 'weapons' down and 'fight like a man'. In game terms I could imagine a 1000 pt. powerhouse with nearly everything bought as part of a Cosmic Power Pool, deciding to only use 350 points worth to 'build' himself up, because he wanted to take on a 350 pt character in a fair fight. I do not make the claim that this is exactly what happened, or that there is evidence of it in the comic. I am just saying that this could happen, based on the various suppositions outlined above. Which is why I don't fret over it. KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever

Re: No Range + AE I asked Steve on the 5th Ed. Questions board, and he basically said that it just missed, as in malfunctioned. So, in honor of the post above and the spirit of Barney Fife, in my campaigns from now on, any such attack hits the attacker in the foot. "I do my Earthquake Punch, centered on my hex . . . Crap, I rolled an 18!" "You just punched yourself in the foot." KA.

Re: Worst comic book superfight ever Spiderman beat Firelord, and I still only see four lights. KA.

In another thread, Super Squirrel asked the following question: "Lets say you have an Area of Effect attack with No Range. To hit the hex you are attacking a 0 DCV. What exactly happens if you miss this attack roll?" Maybe a better question is, would you even make an Attack Roll? If you can't miss the hex you are in, there wouldn't be any point, and if you can, where is the attack centered when you miss? I always assumed that it would be centered in a random adjacent hex, but it appears that 5e/5eR do not say this. So what is the official answer? KA.

Re: No Range + AE And so, taking Edsel's point to its logical conclusion, a No Range AOE Attack that misses, will end up being centered on a randomly chosen adjacent hex. Not a problem, unless you have friendly characters within the new Area. Or unless you bought a 1 Hex 'Hole in the Middle', instead of Personal Immunity. KA.

Re: THRILLING PLACES -- What Do *You* Want To See? The Opium Den/Lair of an Oriental Mastermind. KA.

Re: Help! Sci Fi TV show... Is this your card? http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/loganpics/tv/5more/car1a.JPG KA.

Re: NPC Concept that needs fleshing out: Minion I like that a lot. Rep for you! KA.

Often you will see characters in the comics described as: "Twice as Strong as a normal man" or "Three times the Speed of an average Human" I would like to see if we could reach some sort of reasonable consensus, using the Hero System, on what these types of descriptions mean. If you already have a system, let's hear it, and the justification behind it. Otherwise, let's throw out ideas, Characteristic by Characteristic, until we have something that looks reasonable. Let's set some values for normal, and decide what we would call them, or what CHAR we would think of if we saw "Twice as Fast as a Normal Man" in print: STR 10 Strong DEX 10 ? CON 10 Tough BODY 10 Hard to Kill INT 10 Intelligent EGO 10 Strong Willed PRE 10 Impressive? COM 10 Attractive PD 2 ? ED 2 ? SPD 2 Fast REC 4 END 20 Endurance STUN 20 Hard to KO. RUN 6" Run Fast SWIM 2" Swim Fast LEAP 2" High Jump Also, if anyone knows how to format this into an actual table with columns that will work on the boards, that would be appreciated too. Okay, the floor is open, KA.

I had the germ of an idea the other day. I often hear that it is very hard to come up with Horror type enemies that are capable of 'scaring' superheroes. They either aren't powerful enough to hurt the Supers, or they have to be so powerful that it becomes more like Godzilla, or King Kong, than a horror movie. So I came up with this: What would scare a Superhero, as far as his own personal safety? (Notice: This build is probably shaky, but I am sure there is a book-legal way to do this. The concept is what I like.) The Dark Claw. What is The Dark Claw? No one knows. The Dark Claw appears as a cloud of Darkness (serious Darkness combined with Invisibility, and some type of Flash if necessary so that NOBODY can see what is in there.) A Small Penetrating RKA with Area Effect that is somewhere Within the Darkness. Desolidification w/ Fully IPE Flight (A lot) Basically when you meet The Claw, this happens. You are on a dark street and you notice a cloud of darkness moving very quickly. As the darkness surrounds you, no matter what your senses are, you can't see anything in it. You may be able to see out of it, but you can't see what is in there with you. But it hits you. It doesn't knock you down or knock you over or stun you. It just does some BODY. And it keeps doing it. You are starting to bleed from tiny cuts all over you. And you can't get away, and you can't stop it. The Desolidification is mostly so that you can't just run into a building and get away, it is not intended that it attacks while Desolid. Even if this was not built to actually kill a character, I can't think of too many that it would not scare. KA.

Re: NPC Concept that needs fleshing out: Minion Naive might not really have been the right word. Oblivious to the outside world might have been closer. I was thinking of the type of guy who would never even consider that this thing might somehow get out of his lab, or what the consequences might be if it did. But also paranoid enough about his own work that he wouldn't want anyone else to be able to 'spy on him'. Maybe Overconfident or Delusions of Grandeur might be more descriptive. Think a little more Silver Age. It may well be that the only worthwhile thing that this guy ever created was this robot, but he was so worried about his other work (Perpetual Motion? Cold Fusion? A Beer that both Tastes Great and is Less Filling?) that he has lost track of the robot itself. Also, I didn't really think of the creator as a criminal mastermind or anything like that. More of a crackpot scientist that was blind enough to just assume that nothing could possibly go wrong with building a powerful robot that will listen to orders from anyone, and carry them out. As to the other suggestions: The Anti-Tracking Powers sound fine. I was also thinking of something that could detect the bugs themselves, and then some type of little torch would just come out and fry them. Tunneling is perfect. That combined with a small amount of Teleportation, could make something practially impossible to follow. Minion is moving down the street. He memorizes a floating location every so many meters as part of his programming. After he has accomplished his goal, he realizes that he is being followed. He tunnels until he is fairly far underground, filling the ground in behind him. At some point, he Teleports to the floating location, leaving any tunnelling heroes behind him literally 'in the dust'. By the time they get their heads back above the ground, he is gone. KA.

I had an idea for an NPC, and I would like some input. First: This is a Four Color Campaign, so please try to think of things on that basis. This NPC will be unpredictable, but will never be on the way to blow up a busload of nuns or murder the Mayor. (Through genre conventions, or possibly through a Psychological/Physical Limitation "Cannot Willingly Harm Sentient Beings") Second: I am trying to shoot for "impossible to contain" not "impossible to stop". In other words, it should be possible (but not easy) for the Players to stop Minion from doing something harmful, but it should not be possible to just lock him up in a vault somewhere and not worry about him anymore. Okay, on with the show: Minion is some type of artificial life form (he could be an actual metal robot, a lifelike android, a shapeshifting nano-construct, or something really weird like a holographic projection) he should be able to appear more or less human, or at least be non-frightening. Minion was created by either an alien race or a very advanced, but naive, Scientist. He is physically very powerful, in the move things, break things, not get damaged, sense, but he does not necessarily have an array of destructive weaponry, although he could have powers that could be used that way (like a 'cutting torch' that is bought as an RKA w/ No Range). His most basic function is to do exactly what he is told. The problems with that function are: a) He has random 'command intervals'. Due to a problem in his programming or perhaps some type of control device that is lost/stolen/broken, he only accepts commands at seemingly random intervals. There is some visual or verbal signal that he is ready to accept commands. (A light on his head comes on, and he says "Command me", something.) Once he has been given a task he will not accept any other instructions, until the next programming interval. After he has completed his task, he may just move around in a random, but harmless, fashion, until it is time to accept his next task. (He won't be walking in front of moving cars causing wrecks or running through the walls of buildings, he just moves around in a random pattern. But he is elusive and hard to track. He needs some type of movement power (Teleportation? XDM?) that would make it hard to just follow him around. c) He will not say what his current task is, and there is no easy way to "read his mind' and find out, either through some computer skill or through telepathy. Here is a bit of backstory as I have sketched it out, but feel free to add/change things. Minion was created by a cranky scientist as a lab assistant. The Scientist had grown tired of having to listen to constant questions and distracting chatter, so he designed Minion to just shut up and do what he was told, without asking questions. He never really imagined Minion as having to function in the outside world, or interacting with anyone other than him, so he did not build in a lot of higher logic functions. However, over time Minion may have 'grown up' a bit, so who knows what is going on in his mind now. The scientist was paranoid enough that he did not want anyone spying on his research by probing Minion's mind, so he is very well shielded as far as telepathy/hacking. He also did not want anyone to follow Minion around, so he built in a sophisticated system to detect and destroy tracers, bugs, etc. that could be planted on Minion. (Since he was thinking of technology rather than magic, some type of tracking spell might work, if the PC's think of it.) At some point the Scientist either angrily issued a command like "Go away and never let me see you again.", or forgot about Minion completely (Isn't he still in the Storage Room? I have to get back to my work!) , or lost/damaged the Remote Control Unit, and Minion made his way into the world. Conclusion: Minion is not intended to be a major factor in the campaign. He is more of a background/side-quest type thing. He might show up due to an Unluck roll, or just as a Random Encounter during a patrol. The main things I am looking for are: 1) It is very hard to stop Minion, and the worst part is, you may not want to. He could just as easily be performing the task: "Hurry to the Drugstore to get Insulin for Grandfather." or "There was a horrible train accident, go and rescue the survivors." as "Bring me all the money from the vault in the First National Bank on Elm Street" and there is no way to tell. 2) There is no practical way to just shut Minion in a box and forget about him. (at least not long-term) 3) Minion generally, even though it may just be through luck, does more good than harm, so he may have a certain popularity with the public (at least as they become aware of him). 4) Minion is hard to track and hard to follow, and may go for days/weeks/months without hitting a "Command Interval", so just following him around is not really practical, you could spend your entire superheroing career doing it. 5) It is possible that somewhere out there the Remote Control exists, and if it does, someone could use Minion as a fairly powerful force for Good, or Evil. 6) Minion is self-repairing to the point where it would take something really major to destroy him. Thoughts, suggestions, questions, KA.