Evil102

Re: Help: Time Villains When I had Tempus (Professor Timothy Collins) in my campaign, I'd set the ground rules that time travel into the past was impossible. Tempus' motivation was guilt. Back when he was twelve, his family had died when their house caught fire. It had always been assumed that the fire was caused by an electrical fault - possibly from one of the science experiments he had running. Years later, as a brilliant physicist, Collins had made such advances in temporal physics that he could slow or suspend time, or even hurl objects into the future. But travel into the past always remained tantalisingly out of reach. His figures showed it was impossible - nothing could exist in the same timeframe twice - but if he could travel back, he might be able save his family... Eventually, Collins resorted to crime to fund his researches (hampered by his narrow vision of the applications of his research, and egged on by an old college buddy who had pulled a few jobs for Viper). The PC's captured him, but when they realised his motivations, they pressured the D.A. into commuting his sentence into community service with the EPA to develop useful applications of his technology (e.g. speeding up the half-life of radioactive waste to dispose of it). He developed into an interesting character in the campaign, and the PC's had some quite powerful scenes with him. (At one point, he was pleading with a PC to be allowed to concentrate on his research into travelling back in time, and asked what wouldn't she do to save her loved ones. At that point in the campaign, most of this PC's spare time was going into trying to find a cure for her mother's cancer...) Unfortunately, the players/PCs self-destructed before I could kick loose with the second half of the campaign. This was intended to be the "Cross-Continuity Caper" sequence. The PC's are catapulted from one parallel world to another, desperately trying to get home, but not knowing how, as it was a pure fluke of magic and physics that allowed them to travel to another dimension on the first place. The last jump was intended to return them home, but fifteen years in the future. The villians' plot they were trying to foil before their disppearance have come to fruition. There are Minutemen everywhere. Pretty standard "Days of Future Past" stuff. Their only hope is to bust Tempus out from the research facility where he is now an unwilling participant and find some way of sending them back to correct matters. (The time travel loophole in the campaign was to be that Tempus would be able to send the PCs back as they did not actually exist at the point they would be returning to, since they were in a parallel dimension. Corny, I know, but whatever works ). *Evil mode on* The catch, of course, is that Tempus has a price. He knows the world has gone to hell. He knows the PCs are the only hope of correcting matters. He knows that if they change history, then this version of him will be replaced by a new version in the revised timeline. However, there are two things in this timeline that Tempus holds precious - his wife and child. And since he met his wife-to-be at a point after the PCs would be returning to, that means their changes may result in that meeting never taking place. His price then, will be a solemn promise extracted from the PC he trusts the most. Once she has helped foil the villains' schemes in the past she will bend every effort into ensuring Collins and his wife-to-be meet and fall in love. What Collins doesn't know, and what the PC doesn't know (due to some PCs concealing their secret IDs from each other) is that the lady in question is currently the girlfriend and near-fiancee of one of the other PCs. In the history where the PCs vanished without a trace, she eventually got over her loss and met and married Collins. So what will happen in the history where the PCs return, but one of the PCs is trying to matchmake her with a geeky professor..? *evil mode off* Ain't I a stinker?

Re: Help: Time Villains In my current campaign, I've laid the ground rule that time travel can only go into the future, not into the past. The old "you (or your component atoms) can't exist twice at the same time" schtick. Okay, okay, I did have a way of the PC's travelling into the past, but that was a plot device one of the storylines revolved around. The only time-manipulating character encountered so far went by the name of Tempus. He had developed devices capable of skipping an object a few days into the future, projecting an accelerated time field around an object (SPD boost) or freezing an object in time (SPD Drain). When the PC's encountered him, he was robbing jewellery stores along with his crew (the Time Bandits), using rampaging dinosaurs to distract the police. What can I say? Two of the rules I used when writing the campaign were "If it seems fun, do it. If it looks ridiculous, so much the better" and "Just becauses they're geniuses doesn't mean that they're smart..." The entertaining part is that when the PCs captured him and figured out his motivation, they managed to browbeat the D.A. into commuting his sentence into a shedload of community service with the EPA, so he could develop beneficial applications of his technology.

Re: Your Character's Comic Book The characters on our campaign haven't had a comic book made about them yet (though the players have discussed the layout of how our game would appear as a comic) but they are having a movie made about them at the moment. This has led to interesting scenes between the characters and the actors who will be portraying them...

Re: Evil Idea: Doomsday Disease Attack Sounds like a plan. I'd suggest that the only two games-mechanics details you really need to think about are: 1) Which powers/SFX will give an immunity or resistance to the virus/disease. 2) Which powers/SFX will help cure the plague (either in the character, or whoever the character uses the power on). Past that, just concentrate on the real-world properties of the virus. Factors to consider would be: 1) Vector. How is it spread? Touch? Bodily fluids? Airbourne? If it's airbourne, how long can it last outside a host? 2) Latency. How long does if take for a victim to start showing sympoms? Really nasty evil crap may have the host bleeding from their eyes within an hour of being infected, but this will actually help minimise the spread. The problem arises if the host can go several days (or weeks) before showing sympoms. Plenty of time to go on holiday and spread the pestilence around the globe... 3) Lethality. What sort of fatality rate are you looking at here? Bear in mind that something as brutal as the Black Death only had a lethality of about 50% if I recall correctly. Even diseases as trouser-wettingly terrifying as Ebola aren't 100% lethal. 4) Symptoms. Ah, the icky stuff. Grab yourself a thesaurus and have fun. Run the gamut from "laboured breathing", "spasmodic twitching" and "uncontrollable vomiting" all the way up to "pus-filled lesions", "agonised rictus" and of course "bled out". Remember that such descriptions aren't only to ratchet up the fear factor and indulge your sadistic impulses , they may also give the characters vital clues and insights into the nature of the pestilence, and possibly the cure.

Re: GM Assistance Sorry, I've gotta say it: "I've got a bad feeling about this..." (that's better) I'm just hoping that your player is a roleplayer rather than a munchkin in-waiting. The thought of a munchkin with a 3D6+1 HKA would worry me even without the AVLD. Let's hope he remembers just how few living beings Obi-Wan cut up in the first three films, as opposed to robots. Concentrating on the weapon, there are three things that may need looking at. 1) Real weapon. This disadvantage is meant to reflect the character needing to strip and oil his guns, sharpen his knives, and the fact that the weapon will possess some real-world limitations that the game system would normally ignore. It doesn't seem appropriate for a fake prop that cut through nearly everything. 2) AVLD (Force field, lightsabre, uncanny dodge). I'm down with the force field and weirzo avoidance techniques, but how is the lightsabre angle coming into it if the character is the only "real" jedi in the campaign? Does this mean that if someone divines his shtick and comes at him with a SFX lightsabre that they've kit-bashed, his TK will fail to penetrate his oponent's blade because he believes that it cannot? 3) Limited by energy fields. What type of fields is it affected by? How strong does the field have to be? How much is it limited? Sorry to come across so negative, but I've had munchkins and I've had rules rapists in my campaigns, and had problems with both. This character is setting off all my alarm bells...

Re: Thinking Differently About SPD

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. A quick question. My apologies if it's already been covered here, but this is a loooong thread... Storn - what sort of turnaround time are you normally looking at on the commissions? My thanks for all the artwork you've posted so far. A great many of your illustrations have given life to NPC's in my campaign.

Re: Thinking Differently About SPD I've sometimes used high SPD as a reflection of a character's ability to mulitask. The Minuteman Mark VI robot, for example, moves smoothly but not particularly fast. Due to it's battlecomputer, however, it can fire a plasma blast at Hero A with its right hand, spray riot foam at Hero B with its left hand, and analyse any potential threat from Hero C. Regular villains, by comparison, would only be able to concentrate on one hero at a time and would get less actions.

Re: Descriptors and Benchmarks (LONG) Here's the ranges I gave to my players at the start of the campaign, to give them an idea of what level of attribute was appropriate for their character concept (I had several players new to Hero). And, of course, so that I'd remember the ballparks when I made up the bad guys... The values will probably seem a little low, as we play a low-end attribute game. Strength 10 Joe Normal. 13 Regular, intense exercise. 15 Athlete in excellent condition. 18 Athlete in intensive training. 20 Max normal human. Olympic weightlifter, Batman. 25 Arnie in "Commando". 30 Can lift a car. Spiderman. 40 Can throw a car. 60 Can lift a tank. The Thing. Dexterity 10 Joe normal. 13 Excellent reflexes. 15 Black-belt martial artist. 18 Olympic-level martial artist or gymnast. 20 Max normal human. Batman again. 23 Superhuman reflexes. Jackie Chan in a movie. 26 Jackie Chan, Jet Li in high-end movie. 30 Visibly superhuman reflexes. Spiderman. 40 Unfeasible reflexes. The Flash. Constitution 10 Joe normal. 13 Regular exercise. 15 Works out a lot, on athletics team. 18 Can run marathon. 20 Max normal human. Batman (spotting a pattern?) 25 Able to sprint a marathon. 30 Inhuman levels of reserves. Body 10 Joe normal. 13 Can take a couple of blows. 15 Takes multiple blows with a baseball bat without going down 18 Can withstand injuries that would hospitalise normal people. 20 Max normal human. Guess who? 25 Requires massive damage to hospitalise. The Thing. 30 Apparently indestructible. The Hulk. Intelligence 10 Joe normal. 13 Pretty smart. 15 Extremely intelligent. 18 Cutting intellect. Batman. 20 Max normal human. Stephen Hawking. 25 Incredible scientific genius. Doc Doom. 30 Almost-inhuman intellect, or idiot savant. Ego 10 Joe normal. 13 Very strong sense of self. 15 Refuses to be cowed by anything. 18 Iron, unshakeable will. 20 Max normal human. 25 Will never admit defeat, will never give in. Presence 10 Joe normal. 13 Pretty damn impressive. 15 Heads will always turn. 18 Imposing presence, outshining everyone. 20 Max normal human. The focus of attention. 25 Would take a force of will to ignore. 30 People will wet themselves. Comeliness 10 Joe normal. 13 Attractive. 15 Beautiful 18 Supermodel-level looks. 20 Max normal human. Breaks hearts at 100 paces. 25 Will attract all paparazzi within 10 miles. Physical Defence / Energy Defence 2 Normal human. 4 Well-muscled human. 6 Extremely well-built person. Martial artist. 8 Max normal human. Could take a baseball bat to the gut. Batman. 12 Arnie in most of his movies. 16 Withstands blows that would reduce normals to jelly. Spiderman 24 Can withstand being knocked through several walls. 30 All but impervious to harm. The Thing. Speed 2 Normal human. 3 Highly trained agent. 4 Max normal human. Black belt. Batman. 5 Jackie Chan in a movie. Spiderman. 6 Jackie Chan, Jet Li in high-end movie. 7 Too fast to distinguish details. Neo and Agent Smith. 8 Blur of motion. The Flash.

Re: Superpowers that haven't been thought out... I was quite entertained when Grant Morrison introduced the idea of Cyclops using ruby quartz contact lenses. Small! Compact! Harder for a foe to seize! The problem came when I realised that just about everyone I know with contacts needs to open their eyes real wide when inserting them...

Re: Help! Help! Help! It's a holdup! I don't have a battlemap, but I do have a floorplan for a bank I've used before. Might be of some use. *rummage* *rummage* Ah, here we go. Right, this is the first time I've tried adding images to a post. Fingers crossed...

Re: Now what do I do? Or you could combine the mind-control idea, with the big-plan-in-the-works idea... "Have you managed to uncover their secrets yet, Synapse?" "No, Great Serpent. Their conscious minds are mine to play with, but their memories...will take time" "Time we do not have. Our plans come to fruition tonight, and we cannot chance their team-mates foiling our grand design!" "Perhaps there is another way, Great Serpent. If I were to implant memories that they were trusted Viper agents? The neural graft would not last long, but perhaps long enough to ensure our victory..."

Re: Hunted? Ah. Couple of possibilities spring to mind: The church member PC2 (and I'm not sure whether he's actually clergy or just a devout churchgoer) is from some distance away. Initially, he isn't aware that PC1 is the evil mage the local church is after. What will happen when he finds out PC1 is hunted after he actually gets to know him? PC2 may have issues with the local clergy. He's faithful to the church but feels the local priesthood are doing it harm. Possibly he can play church politics and use PC1 against the local clergy. And once the unworthy have been replaced, well then it will be time to address these oh-so serious allegations... PC2's faith is wavering. Various events have made him doubt his god(s). Wouldn't it be a turn-up for the books if PC1 - who does believe, despite those vicious rumours - can help rekindle that spark? The charges against PC1 are false. PC2 knows it. In fact his testimony helped lead to the charges. What dark secret caused him to bear false witness? How much do his actions eat away at him? And just how afraid is he that PC1 will find out who he is..?

Re: Marvel's Exiles: Hyperion Challenge--build a team to beat him!

Re: Secret Service question 4: at Stargate Command

Re: Consequences ... Hmm...telepathy is one of those problematic powers that can seriously wreck a campaign - both in terms of derailing the plot, and in how people will come to regard abusive teeps. It needs agreement between the player and the GM on how it'll fit into the campaign wothout biting one of them on the ass. I'd recommend laying the groundrules that standard telepathy can only scan surface thoughts (and may or may not be detectable depending on the power & concept). If the PC wants to go deeper, it not only requires a higher roll, it requires a lot of effort for the teep and a fair bit of discomfort for the target. Reading thoughts that are actively being shielded requires a high roll, and is the mental equivalent of rape - painful and traumatic, and not somethign the teeps teammates should be comfortable with. Not sure whether this would work at this point in your campaign. As to the consequences - several spring to mind, though some are bordering on "iron age" in their level of realism. 1) Lord Raven knows his boy spilled the beans. The PCs will have to move fast to take advantage of the information that the teep squeezed out of the general before Raven adapts. 2) The bad guys know there's a teep on the team. Word gets round. Low-level mooks start being given disinformation. Mid-levels get taught simple blocking techniques. High-levels get equipped with primitive psi-shield devices. It's not enough to neutralise the PC's powers (which would be unfair), but it puts a crimp in their use, and she needs to become more circumspect. 3) Some of the bad guys start a whispering campaign against the mystic. The team's allies and contacts become antsy and nervous and will only meet the team when she's not present. Dodgy politicians, semi-legit mobsters and corporate sleazebags get restraining orders to keep her away from them. With regards legitimacy of the information gained, I think the "silver platter" laws started somewhere around the 1920's. The upshot is that the fourth amendment (police needing a search warrant, etc) doesn't apply to private citizens. Thus, evidence obtained by illegal means and turned over to the police is still admissable. Whether it will be deemed reliable will depend on who obtained it and by what means. And the private citizen is still wide open for prosecution on a B&E charge if he broke into a mobster's home to steal his files...

Re: What's the most ridiculous PC you've ever been subjected to?

Re: What's the most ridiculous PC you've ever been subjected to? Not quite the most ridiculous, but definitely pretty far from what I'd expected: I asked my players to come up with fairly standard superheroes, suitable for working well within a team. 4th Ed 250-pointers, nothing too off-base, no weird-weird-weird concepts. It was the first time I'd actually ran a proper campaign and I wanted as few surprises as possible till I got my feet under me. One player gave me... A renegade priest wanted by the Catholic church and viewed with suspicion by the police. A one-eyed alien with a pet spaceship, who was the anchorman on a news channel. A wheelchair-bound mystic with four alternate forms (based on the elements) each of which was a 250-point hero in his own right.

Re: What's the most outrageous plot your PCs have ever been subjected to One plot I had I'd set in motion in my my Champions campaign, but never had chance to use as the campaign folded a few sessions before it was due to hatch: Schrodinger's Universe. Y'see, one of the NPC's the team had encountered was a brilliant scientist with a very religious upbringing. The PC's first encountered him at a scientific symposium where he was explaining the story of the fall of the walls of Jericho as an example of how a combination of the local environment and the arrayed forces had acted as a crude sonic cannon. The PC's intended on developing him as a Contact, but never got round to it. One of the major off-screen events in the campaign was a confrontation between Grond and Firewing which tore up a fair bit of Salt Lake City. Unknown to the PC's, the scientist's parents died in the battle. This drove the poor guy over the edge, and had him doubting his faith to the point where he determined to prove whether God existed. He created a device capable of manifesting quantum mechanics on a macro scale - Schrodinger's Cat theorem meets comic book superscience. It produced a field around an object which left the object in an indeterminate state of existence/non-existence. Only when someone observed the field would the waveform be collapsed and the object would either cease to exist, or be completely unchanged. Pure 50% chance of either. In game mechanics, this would be huge level of Transform with an 8- Activation roll. At the point where the PC's would have bcome aware of this situation, the scientist would have perfected the device for small objects (cars, people) and be in the process of scaling it up to buildings and larger. The PC's would start hearing reports of disappearing walls and buildings, and high-tech thefts as the guy's henchmen stole equipment for a major-league power booster. It was the only was he could prove God existed, you see? To his mind, if he could create a field capable of encompassing the universe, only God could be outside the effect and observe the event and collapse the waveform. And only a benevolent loving God would ensure the when the waveform collapsed, the 50% odds came down on the side of the universe continuing to exist...