CBikle

Re: Fires of War: The Algernon Files Vol II-- first HERO system preview I like how the stuff looks. Very nice. Also like the Scorpion's write-up. Diversified set of skills/talents and the power-constructions don't feel clunky or cluged-together. Good job guys.

Re: Comic books In my old campaign, there were comics based on fictional characters as well as ones based on "real world" superheroes who allowed comics to be written about them. This wasn't unlike how Dell and Gold Key published comics on real world celebrities like Roy Rogers. The stories inside were pretty much for kids. Very 2-dimensional, good vs. evil, no secret id or personality related stuff. Kind of like the Mr. T cartoon.

Re: Stronghold Kind of. Depends what's inside. If it has 25mm scale large maps and tons of villains, I'd be happy.

Re: Is Power Girl/Kara Starr the DCUs Gladiator?

Re: Is Power Girl/Kara Starr the DCUs Gladiator? Power Girl's power-level(s) never seemed to fluctuate that much in my opinion (her actual powers did though). PG is unusual in that she is both a fan and creator favorite, so she winds up guest-starring or becoming a part of the cast of a lot of DCU titles. Lessee: JLI, JLE, Sovereign Seven (brought in last minute to save the book), Birds Of Prey, JSA, Supergirl and I think she's been brought into a lot of the Superman titles too. Like Batman and a few others, Power Girl is sort of a bridge character that appeals to silver-age fans as well as "bad girl"/Michael Turner fans. She wouldn't be a bad candidate for having her own title though.

Re: Dear G-D, NOOOOOOOOO!!! I hate Hollywood! My prediction is that X3 kills off the franchise. From what I understand, the mutant hooker character was in the X-Men comics as well and didn't work there either. I'm thinking Ratner will downplay the hooker angle (to avoid getting an "R" rating). This all has a very "Schumacher-esque" feel to it.

Re: Looking for the Bale Batman Probably wouldn't be too expensive. Wouldn't really have as many non-combat skills, but would have a few super-skills and gadgets including the armor, swingline,batarangs/bat-shuriken,smoke pellets and the Batmobile. Also 15 pts. of wealth and I think Alfred and James Gordon are closer to followers in the movie with Lucius Fox being a contact.

Re: why u all sux DAMN ! You stole my post ! DAMN !

Re: Batman Begins Figured I'd repost this here.

Re: Batman Begins Here's an alternate Batman Begins poster that the studio nixed.

Re: Batman Begins That was the same Water Vaporizer that the Joker, Penguin, Riddler and Catwoman used to disintegrate the UN security council.

Re: Long winded request for assistance If the player and/or character is a problem for the game, then the GM should try to fix the situation and if that fails, he should get rid of one or both of them. No offense, but I don't think you're helping things.

Re: Can any comic fans fill me in on current Marvel continuity? Actually Robinson's work is pretty well regarded by golden and silver age fans. Golden Age was a little rough (especially considering that it followed on the heels of the disrespectful and poorly written Zero Hour which basically had the entire JSA slaughtered in the span of less than three pages.) but it was pretty well written. AFAIK, it's considered an Elseworld's book. Starman was great in that there were lots of cameos and guest appearances by obscure DC characters and they were written seriously , but with a sense of respect and tradition (except for the Batman/Solomon Grundy arc and the Justice League Europe issues).

Re: Can any comic fans fill me in on current Marvel continuity? Well, lessee... The X-Teams seem to have a better relationship with the authorities (or at least SHIELD), Wolverine was brainwashed and killed Northstar, the Scarlet Witch's "Hex Magic" turns out to be high-level reality warping powers that seem to work as "wishes" - Wanda's children, Agatha Harkness still being alive and a few other things were just alterations to reality that Wanda wanted. When the Scarlet Witch's powers went out of control, she indirectly killed Hawkeye, the Vision, Ant-Man, Jack Of Hearts and a few others and this led to the Avengers getting disbanded only to reform later as the New Avengers when a random bunch of heroes showed up to stop a mass super-villain prison break out. As far as the X-titles go, continuity is kind of tricky because Claremont keeps retconning stuff that Morrisson and Whedon have done. An editorial part of The House Of M miniseries might be to clear up the Spider Man and X-Men continuities.

Re: Powers of the BLUE BEETLE The original (1940's) Blue Beetle/Dan Garrett was a cop who wore a bulletproof costume and took a special vitamin that enhanced his strength. The 1960's BB (also called Dan Garrett, but no relation to the 40's BB) was an archaeologist who found an ancient egyptian scarab gem that gave Superman-type powers. At some point, he became mortally-wounded and he was discovered by inventor, Ted Kord, who took on the BB ID when Garrett died, but fought crime using his martial arts and inventions (instead of using the scarab). Later on, it was discovered that the gem itself was an alien parasite, but I think this has been retconned.

Re: O.m.a.c. Even though all the recent stuff has been well-written, neither Brother Eye or the magic mindwipe thing really fit Batman at all. Both have become too involved in his backstory. Also, with "Tower Of Babel" and "War Games", the whole "Batman's toys falling into the wrong hands" angle has been played up too much. Really don't like the idea of Batman having this much blood on his hands.

Re: First Superhero Campaign, please advise What's interesting about the "no magic rule", is that the time period your game is set in had a lot of mystical characters. Ghost Rider, Son Of Satan, Swamp-Thing, Vampirella, Tomb Of Dracula, Werewolf By Night, the Demon, Frankenstein, Brother Voo Doo, et al. Magical characters generally were darker during this time period and tended towards the demonic as opposed to the four-color types like Dr. Fate.

Re: Is my campaign too low-powered? Too high-powered? Generally, I try to keep the SPD scores within 2 pts. of each other with 4 being the minimum and 7 being the max. I generally don't allow players that are new to HERO, to have a character with a speed greater than 5.

Re: Adventure Seeds--Title Tag Doomsday Tango A secret sub-stratospheric jet holding a doomsday weapon has been hijacked. Either the crew has snapped and/or a group of villains/agents have taken it over. Unknown to the villains, the device (codenamed, "Doomsday Tango")has become operational (either intentionally or by mistake, perhaps as a result of the initial highjacking). The PCs have to somehow catch-up to the jet, get onboard, fight the villains and eventually defuse/shut down Doomsday Tango. Complications: -Any missed attacks could be especially hazardous in a decompressed environment (see Pages 188-191 of The Ultimate Vehicle ) - The pilot is dead or otherwise out of commission and the flight controls have been damaged. The jet is completely out of control ! - Two Black Jets are dispatched to tail Doomsday Tango and monitor the PCs progress. They have orders to shoot it down if the PCs don't succeed by a certain time frame (or perhaps their orders are to shoot down the jet regardless).

Re: DeathstrokeThis is a re-post of a Deathstroke/Taskmaster hybrid if you're interested.Renegade 13Player: Val** Char*** Cost 30** STR 20 35** DEX 75 23** CON 26 13** BODY 6 18** INT 8 18** EGO 16 30** PRE 20 12** COM 1 * 6/16** PD 0 6/16** ED 1 7** SPD 25 11** REC 0 46** END 0 40** STUN 0 *6"**RUN02"**SWIM06"**LEAP0Characteristics Cost: 198Cost** Power END 15** Chainmail-reinforced Fatigues: Armor (10 PD/10 ED) (30 Active Points); Activation Roll 14- (-1/2), OIF (-1/2)* 22** Combat Staff: Multipower, 50-point reserve, (50 Active Points); all slots OAF (-1), Limited Range (-1/4)* 2u** 1) Plasma-Shot: EB 10d6 (50 Active Points); OAF (-1), 12 Charges (-1/4), Limited Range (-1/4)* 2u** 2) Knockout Gas: EB 5d6, NND (+1) (50 Active Points); OAF (-1), Limited Range (-1/4), 12 Charges (-1/4)* 40** Experienced Eye In Combat: Find Weakness 13- with All Attacks* 30** Master Tactician: Luck 9d6 (45 Active Points); Limited Power Only for ambushes and escapes (-1/2)* 27** Golden AutoLuger: RKA 2d6, Autofire (3 shots; +1/4), 4 clips of 16 Charges (+1/4), Armor Piercing (+1/2) (60 Active Points); OAF (-1), Limited Power not underwater (-1/4)* 8** Advanced Radio Headset: HRRP (Radio Group) (12 Active Points); OIF (-1/2)* 10** Combat Staff: Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack) (20 Active Points); OAF (-1)* Powers Cost: 156Cost** Martial Arts Maneuver 5** Defensive Strike: 1/2 Phase, +1 OCV, +3 DCV, 8d6 Strike* 4** Martial Escape: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 55 STR vs. Grabs* 4** Martial Dodge: 1/2 Phase, -- OCV, +5 DCV, Dodge, Affects All Attacks, Abort* 3** Martial Throw: 1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +1 DCV, 8d6 +v/5, Target Falls* 3** Legsweep: 1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, -1 DCV, 9d6 Strike, Target Falls* 4** Killing Strike: 1/2 Phase, -2 OCV, +0 DCV, HKA 2d6* 8** +2 HTH Damage Class(es)* Martial Arts Cost: 31Cost** Skill 3** Acrobatics 16-* 3** Analyze: Combat 13-* 3** Breakfall 16-* 3** Bribery 15-* 3** Climbing 16-* 3** Combat Driving 16-* 3** Combat Piloting 16-* 1** Computer Programming 8-* 3** Deduction 13-* 10** Defense Maneuver I-IV * 3** Demolitions 13-* 3** Electronics 13-* 3** Fast Draw 16-* 3** Interrogation 15-* 3** Lockpicking 16-* 3** Mechanics 13-* 3** Paramedics 13-* 3** Persuasion 15-* 3** Riding 16-* 5** Rapid Attack (HTH) * 5** Rapid Attack (Ranged) * 3** Security Systems 13-* 3** Stealth 16-* 3** Streetwise 15-* 10** Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Tropical, Desert, Mountain, Urban) 13-* 3** Systems Operation 13-* 3** Tactics 13-* 3** Teamwork 16-* 3** Trading 15-* 6** Weaponsmith (Energy Weapons, Firearms, Incendiary Weapons, Missiles & Rockets, Muscle-Powered HTH) 13-* 3** Linguist* 2** 1) Language: Arabic (fluent conversation; literate) (3 Active Points)* 1** 2) Language: Cambodian (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)* 2** 3) Language: Russian (fluent conversation; literate) (3 Active Points)* 1** 4) Language: Spanish (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)* 1** 5) Language: Thai (fluent conversation) (2 Active Points)* 3** Traveler* 2** 1) AK: Global Hot Spots (3 Active Points) 13-* 2** 2) AK: Middle East (3 Active Points) 13-* 2** 3) AK: Somalia (3 Active Points) 13-* 2** 4) AK: unlisted government facilities (3 Active Points) 13-* 3** PS: Mercenary 15-* Skills Cost: 133Cost** Perk 4** Reputation: Extremely competent super-mercenary/bodyguard/assassin (A medium-sized group) 14-, +2/+2d6* 7** Money: Wealthy* Perks Cost: 11Cost** Talent 6** Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)* 15** Combat Sense 13-* 12** Danger Sense (self only, in combat, Function as a Sense, Intuitional) 13-* 3** Resistance (3 points)* Talents Cost: 36Val** Disadvantages 20** Hunted: The Program 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish)* 15** Hunted: Team Justice 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)* 10** Hunted: Other criminal agencies and governments 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, Watching)* 15** Psychological Limitation: Amoral (Common, Strong)* 15** Physical Limitation: Missing an eye (additional -2 range penalty for per rolls and OCV) (Frequently, Greatly Impairing)* 20** Psychological Limitation: Commitment to completing job (Common, Total)* 15** Psychological Limitation: Love/hate relationship with family (Common, Strong)* 10** Distinctive Features: silver eyepatch over left eye; silver braided hair; appears to be a fit 50 years of age; van dyke moustache (Concealable; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)* 5** Hunted: member of family 8- (Less Pow, Harshly Punish)* 25** Enraged: Berserk when affected by hallucinogens (Uncommon), go 11-, recover 11-, Berserk* Disadvantage Points: 150Base Points: 200Experience Required: 215Total Experience Available: 215Experience Unspent: 0Total Character Cost: 565 Height: 1.84 m Hair: silver Weight: 95.00 kg Eyes: green (right eye only) Appearance: muscular, lithe and silver-haired and fit for a man in his late fifties. Wade has many (now-faded)tattoos and scars that he picked up in his youth. He is also missing his left eye (long story). Costume: dark-blue chainmail-reinforced fibers with battleship gray gloves,boots, and military-style utility-belt. His mask is hal-blue/half-gray and his AutoLuger and Combat Staff are uncharacteristically, a bright gold in color. Whether this is out of a sense of fashion, whimsy or tactics is unknown. Personality: Consummate professional super-mercenary. Very well-regarded in the super-villain community and often used by master villains as a sounding board for their schemes. Recently Wade has become a little more reckless of late and tends to take chances and risks that he normally wouldn't. This has not been noticed by his employers and peers, yet. Situations where he's confronted by his personal life and family tend to disarm him and throw him off his game a little. Quote:"Killing you will be business and a pleasure."Background: Renegade 13 was the code name assigned to Wade Stilson, one of the few successful surviving members of a top-secret super-commando program, herafter known as "The Program".It's unclear whether Wade's amoral and nihilistic nature was why he was chosen for the program or whether it was a side effect of the "treatments". At some point Renegade 13 and the Program had a break-up which led to Wade operating solo as a mercenary for hire. For over 15 years, Renegade 13 built up his reputation as a super-mercenary villain, working for master-villains, criminal organizations, enemy countries and at least twice for the Program, the same agency that wants him dead. Along the way, Wade had a dalliance with a super-villainess and later found out that she gave birth to triplets, one of which became a super-villain and later died accidentally (although his death was still avenged by Wade, who killed the hero involved with his son's death), the other became a super-hero and the third was a daughter whom Wade was unaware existed until recently. Powers/Tactics: Prefers to attack by ambush and usually with support. If working alone, Wade will close in with an opponent on the fringes of a battle and concentrate on that enemy until he's down and then move onto the next. If working solo, Wade will operate defensively and alternate opponents or engage a few at the same time, with the intent of distracting and delaying them until help arrives or his mission has been completed. If things start to become unsalvageable, Wade will attempt to escape.Campaign Use: Renegade 13 is a super-villain currently going through a mid-life crisis. disenchantment and boredom with his occupation as well as the startling revelation that he has a daughter, have caused him to rethink his future. He has been giving serious thought to either retiring to another country or negotiating a deal with PRIMUS that would provide him with amnesty for past crimes and protection for his daughter in return for working for them full time. Wade knows that this type of arrangement would probably not sit well with the hero-community, as he has been responsible for the deaths of three superheroes.

Re: Villainy Amok I liked the Advanced Fire rules. I'd like to see more stuff like that as far as environmental dangers go.

Re: Iyo: The Most Underrated Or Underused Character In Comics It'd be nice to see this series released in TPB form (maybe even with the Freedom Fighters crossover cliffhanger ending which was never resolved because both books were cancelled as part of the "DC Implosion".

Re: Iyo: The Most Underrated Or Underused Character In Comics I guess they were trying to update his costume and felt that 1970's fashions were less silly. Guess we're lucky he didn't have an afro, wide lapels and bellbottoms. Surprisingly, he still had his sidearm which was unusual to see in those post-Viet Nam days.

Re: Iyo: The Most Underrated Or Underused Character In Comics Origin of Captain Comet

Re: Marvel Second Stringers. Help me out. Omega the Unknown ?