Storn

In our game, THE vehicle killing power is Armor Piercing. Now we use the house rule suggested in the Adventurer's Club so many years ago. The Body rolled on the dice is the amount that comes off the rPD/PD or rED/ED respectively. Instead of halving the armor. Many of the experienced characters have an Armor Piercing attack... that they rarely use...but when you want to blow a hole in a Posiedon class sub's "screw" ya can... as my PC had to do to slow the sub down a few adventures ago. But the house rule of Max damage is interesting idea.

I love GMing. I love the storytelling involved, moving bits and pieces here and there... and I love being suprised by the players. However, I find GMing a bit draining. I can only do it once in 2 or 3 weeks. If I do every week, I burn out quickly. I like playing a lot. Luckily, I'm in a very loose group that I GM my fantasy game for when we can fit it in. And the weekly game (although logistics has been a bitch, more like 1 game/ every 3 weeks) I'm involved in, I get to play. So, I get cake and the eating as well.

Talk to the player about it. How does the player see the repurcussions? Ask him/her what a good subplot/storyline should be. My PC killed 37 people as a telekinetic gone Akira-level explosive in Grand Central station. My PC, having just sat thru a trial for another PC commiting murder, ran to Europe. The guilt of that event has driven that PC for the rest of his life... to the point where he has saved millions. That one moment of weakness allowed me to get to all kinds of depths of role playing (btw, the PC didn't have his powers and accidently and without foreknowledge tripped a device he was supposed to activate somewhere remote..to reactivate his missing powers). Maybe your player will want to explore the guild ridden hero... maybe he will decide to turn himself in. But what does he have to say?

Horse/sword/spear around 500 ad. No stirrup. lIghtly armored. No real calvary tactics besides teh roman version of using horse to move light calvary around. Stirrup changes horse combat and the projection of military power as political means forever. That is a change. Horse/sword/spear and most important, horse bow circa 1350. Sophisticated armor. Incredibly sophisticated tactics that are still studied as the basis of modern tank armor warfare. Incredibly sophisticated organization (10 men= 1 squad, 100 men = company, 1000 men = brigade etc). Combat medics. Incredibly sophisticated pony express including the use of mirrors to dispatch armies over long distance (and the ruling of a large empire). Very sophisticated law and tax structures. Very sophisticated religious views, all religions were considered equal WAAAY before Jeffersonian democracy was a twinkle in anyone's eye. Very sophisticated trade, diplomacy AND sophisticated espionage (can you say Venetians vs. the Pope?) I'm talking about the Mongols.. tactics that were sharpened from that 500 AD period of steppe cultures... and an empire who mutated into the Ottoman Empire and lasted til WWI. To me, that is progress, that is not stagnation. That is change on all fronts, technology, engineering (mongols, despite the horse culture, were sophisticated combat engineers... that takes some doing), social etc. And I picked ONE culture in that time period. Sarajevo was run by a democratic merchant guilds before the word guild was used (circa 1000 ad). They had wooden streets. There was freedom of religion. That is pretty amazing...yes, it didn't last. But it happened. Poland went through vast changes in the time period up for discussion. Tons of up and down. Yet Russia was very stagnant for most of its history. Norse shipping and art certainly changes within that period and transforms not only Europe, but touches all the way to China and to Africa. I think that the major problem is that since we are English speaking peoples for the most part... the history we study and the history that is taught is Anglo centric. So we talk about France, England and Italy in the 500-1500 period. We don't talk about Poland, Balkans, Asia Minor, Spain, Middle East, Egypt is still a player til Napoleon...they don't fade away..even though no one discusses them. And England and France were depopulated horrendously by disease... there was a bit of stagnation between 500-1500. So we have this sense that the Dark Ages/Middle Ages were stagnant. They were not. Not even in Europe. But that stagnation of especially England is one of the HUGE galvanizing historical force that launches around 1400 to becoming the global power that it will be for the next 400/500 years. So...no change between 500-1500... nope, don't buy it.

My timeline starts "before the concept of time"... took humans arriving on the scene to even have that concept... humans arrive on the scene some 6,000 years ago. Bane, god of evil, destruction, mad elven sorcerer who became a God, was killed some 700 years ago...which was the conclusion of a 200 year, continent wide war. This depopulated the continent by 2/3rds... mostly through disease and starvation than actual combat. Btw, I'm NEVER resurrecting Bane... the Evil God Comes Back storyline is NOT happening... too much of a cliche... although his evil lieutenants are still lurking about. Not only does the population drop drastically in those 200 years of war, but it basically uses up vast amounts of magic. The next 700 years before the first PC ever steps on the stage is one of slow rebuilding. Now the PCs show up in the modern age. The printing press has been around for 50 years, invented by the dwarves. The population, while still low, is creating a need for trade. Naval warfare has focuses ship technology and ships are considerably better. And gunpowder has been invented in the last 5 years although, again by the dwarves and there are about 50 firearms for all the Realms... they build slow, beautifully crafted firearms...not sitting at the feet of Ford's assembly line theory yet. And Magic is back!!! In a big way, the rubber band has snapped back into shape. Elven and dwarven populations have huge birth rate increases, human mages are being born in great numbers, the walls between dimensions is thin and things pop up all the time. This is a world that is going through a reineissance. So I built Change into the timeline even before the PCs showed up. Now that I've run 8 campaigns in that world, there is even more Change happening. I had a PC just introduce public education for the young in his dukedom... that is social change of the highest order. A popular emporer who once was a slave, just eliminated slavery... to all kinds of social and economic ramifications, including a recent unsucessful coup. So I feel like I"m certainly picking and choosing what "advances" are made, but there is a steady progression since the Bane war of technology and societies.

my advice? Forget direct conversion. Build to the concept of the character... 1/2 celestial...has wings? Easy to do, buy flight with the special effect: wings. Good warrior? Buy a few levels in combat. Good wizards? Buy yerself a few spells. Feats in d20 are mechanics to try and give your character some uniqueness...or at least specialness. Make Fighter A look different than Fighter B. In my experience, EVERY Fantasy Hero fighter is different, because everyone spends their points from slightly different to radically different. Talk to your GM... understand that building a 1/2 angelic character at the usual starting level of FH (150 pts total) is going to require a lot of sacrifice compared to a d20 10th level (or even 6th lvl) character. If the game is more grandiose and is starting at 250 pts...you can build that kind of character easily. Understand what kind of game he/she is running... is it low fantasy where a celestial is really going to stand out and might not really fit? Or is it anime level of Final Fantasy type stuff with huge spells, every character is a demi-god? Understnd that the concept of combat is different in FH... you cannot wade thru 50 Orcs in FH.. you can wade thru maybe 5. Cause Orcs can be a 100 pts or even 150, they can easily be your equal or even superior. There is no artificial constraints on them or you.

Unfortunately, for me figures come fairly easy and quick. Backgrounds are a grind. So a book of settings would be very time consuming, not as interesting to me personally (I always engage more if there is a figure and story involved), and I am dubious on if i would actually make any money compared to time sunk in. As for my women in illustration... it is my intention to do romantic idealization of women (and men) but are not cheesecake.... unless cheesecake, sultry, sexy makes sense fo the character being illustrated. A succubus should be sexually seductive... a female elven warrior, not necessarily so. However, I still try to draw attractive people... it is romanticized view to be sure. But Khadra and the women in FH are out of my head. Most of my figures are. However I do use reference sometimes.

Hong, my schedule is pleasently full, but not insane. I don't have any private commissions at the moment, so this is a good time to send one down the line. Thanks for the tip on En World, see if that gets me in. Edited: actually, the link you provided, Hong, doesn't seem to work for me. Says the object ain't there. Oh well.

Just watched Christian Bale in "Equilibrium", a most B movie. But it does have gun katas that the "grammiton clerics" train in... and its pretty fun stuff in a toungue in cheek kinda way. Including a prolongued martial arts battle with pistols at the climax which is just goofy, goofy fun. Absolutely no budget, decent actors and some interesting Orwellian ideas... sTornbob sez check it out and gives three bullets. As for the Xtreme Martial arts stuff... it tend to the flash of things and not really the spirit of things. The tournament shown was disappointing to me in a way, because it was more gymnastics and flashy...although athletic as all hell. The weapon elements of the show were a lot of fun to watch... especially rope dart and sectional weapons segment. The science is sorta short shrifted...but some of the pounds per pressure studies and how bones get stronger thru trauma was stuff I didn't know. Only watch it if you are really into Martial ARts, is my take, I am, so I stayed up til 2 watching the late show. Those who don't really care about martial arts: 2 fists. For those who do: 3 and 1/2 fists.

Another NPC for my Realms game, Khadra, a Lost Child of the Cormanthor forest.

I have a real problem with EN world remembering my cookies, my password and such. The reason I haven't been posting there is that I have to get a new password each and every time I want to log in. Its ridiculous.

So, does anyone have any good/bad comments on the History of the Realms? Incomprehensible? Stupifying? Confusing? I would imagine that much of it IS confusing without the map in front of you. So much of what I do in the REalms is geopolitics. The lay of the land really influences what the heck is going on in trends and nation-states and lack of nations. Anyway, getting back to pictures. I wanted a jovial, mercurial caravan leader picture for an NPC, and couldn't find one. So this is a quick sketch (about 15 minutes for those who care about such things... busts are easy). This is Abir Tem Khaloon. "Loon" for short. He wears the 4 jewel mark of a caravan leader of Tethyr merchant class. He is young for such an important role, but was literally born into the caravan life and is quite experienced caravaner, despite his 30 summers.

The question: who is the female super depicted on page 22, page 50, page 135? I particularly like the last image, with her looking up at the statues of heroes past. Yes, its true... she has no name, no clear power set besides flight. I first drew her for Champions when asked to do a generic super flying past buildings. Then I really fell in love with her look. Now she is my stand-in, my cypher, as the "young hero, new on the scene"...so I can have her explore things like Monument Park, Spirit of Detroit (the Prometheus Statue which miraculously survived the Oribital Cannon Blast). I just drew her in a full page for the UNTIL book, showing UNTIL Branch HQ in Milennium City. So, she's popped up again. In the game I'm in, Neil, the GM, turned her from once-time hero, Chime (Kingdom of Champions) into an anti-paranormal powersuit (power gauntlets) under the name Defender (my PC calls her Ms. Defender). Defender has been missing for years and she took on the mantle for the isolationistic US Gov't. Chime used to be the girlfriend of Gearhead, a PC, who died heriocally. So the anti-paranormal stance comes thru very good role playing. But that is not how i would write her up, if asked, in the "official Champions" universe... the way i use her is that, like I said, of a young woman just starting to spread her wings, so to speak. But that is the great thing about a picture for gaming, there are infinite ways to define it within game terms. What do you think she should be?

How about sociology... yeah, I know, pretty basic... except this dude/ette's theory is that Pop Culture helps support paranormal super powers. That the collective jungian will is creating some or all (depending on your campaign) superheroes and villains. As a result, he/she gets their own... but they get stronger when there are witnesses. Or add'l powers.

I have a couple of power armor artwork kicking around my website. Check color interiors, private commissions and doodles. Site is in the sig.

B]I'm thinking more along the line of an Iron Man-esque armor suit from the Ultimates combined with Alien technology. [/b] THEN why ask us? Geez, if you want the most cliche'd, basic Iron Man rip off, why not say so? Instead, you led me to believe you wanted some cool variations, something OTHER than the usual.

This discussion came up recently as we are all crafting new characters or fitting existing ones into a New Champions game. Our player, James, was leaning towards a powersuit character... and this is what I came up with as an idea for one (pasted below). However, now I think James is leaning towards an Empath. There is a kernal of an idea in there... from my e-mail: I came up with this character while inking > Spycraft stuff. It occurs to me, James, that you > are steeped in video games (I remember seeing you > play Street Fighter at your house)... and because of > that, a certain awareness of anime and manga. > > Lets take advantage of that... because that > sensability exists next door to RDU. I'm gonna > sketch out a character concept and bracket why I > think these things work for RDU. > > The PC is a young Korean-American who's uncle is > a the head scientist/engineer on a Paolo Alta power > suit project. The Uncle is brilliant and the suit > is a step forward in some quirky way (maybe it has > teleport... making it different than ALL other power > suits). > > [Why Korean? Because Gearhead was japanese and > there are plenty of Japanese in RDU and yet no > Koreans. Why Paolo Alta? Because it immediately > says something about the character, she/he's West > Coast. That is a very different, yet still > American, vibe than Star Demon's midwest upbringing, > Impetus's NYC upbringing or Barracuda's Inner > Beltway upbringing.] > > Now, why is the PC the suit's pilot? Well, the > PC has some physical problem that the suit > compensates for.. Blindness? Lameness? Deafness? > and the kindly Uncle design the suit to help his > niece/nephew... yeah, yeah, it such an Astro Boy > trope, I know. But the physical rehab in order to > pilot the suit is the precise reason the PC is SO > good at it. Classic comic book. Also, great, GREAT > P.R. for Champions... a physically challenged Hero, > taking his/her place among this high profile team. > Freakin' gold, I tell ya! . > > Now why is there only one suit? Because much of > the suit design was in the Uncle's head. And the > Uncle had the unfortunate timing to be going to a > Engineer symposium in Japan right before the Jade > Shield went up. The suit was finished based on > sketchy Uncle details and notes by the corporation > that Uncle worked for. And there is the > compensation for the physical disability that makes > the pilot-suit interface unique. > > Also, this gives Neil a *chance* of exploring > Japan's situation from another angle... or it > doesn't have to. My belief is to give Neil as many > hooks as I possibly think of. > > So, if it was my character, I would do a female, > blind, teleporting powersuit with the targeting > sense *allowing* for that teleporting (something > like spatial awareness). Teleport technology is a > closely guarded aspect of RDU... it makes the > character really special. Lot of technology and > philosophy of the tport powersuit comes from UNTIL's > exploration of Tport space... maybe legally exchange > of info OR illegally by the Corp (another hook).

Re: Compliments Thanks for the plugs!!

Here is my brand new character, Barracuda. I'm looking forward to him joining the New Champions (In RDU, The champions disappeared a few years ago interdimensionally, never to return. In their stead has been a hobcobbled crew. Now, we have laid some plots to rest in the main superteam, Vanguard, and are looking forward to starting with some younger, newer blood.)

Self critical is how I get better! If I'm truly honest, I look at Normals Unbound and see very easily where I was heading with my career, art skills etc. It is prior to entering art school... and while it is very raw, anatomy mistakes, etc, I do think I've always had a knack for getting personality within my figures, faces. It is that aspect of my artwork in NU that I'm still happy with. Inking? well, that is another story... but even then, it was just part of the learning process... I really believe it took me 7 or 8 years to even approach mastering of inking. Now, I feel like I've gotten it down and I'm still learning. My honest regret is that NU is SUCH a great, unsung product... I just wanted to do even better by it.

On the heels of the battle, which stretches City X's emergency services, a construction site has a collapse during renovations of an old movie theater. Several workers may be dead and several are definitely trapped in the debris. The supers can get there faster than any emergency crews and may have powers to find, extracate, comfort the crew. Most of the theater still stands, just one section has collapsed... so there is sub-themes of renewal, old ghosts of the past, touch of the hat to what the city used to be like in yesteryear, ... maybe it wasn't an accident (vengeful ghost, Phantom of the opera type pnormal)... but I would avoid another combat... I would just hint at those elements if you want to use them... come back to them later. If you do "something more at the ol' theater", pick a classic movie to flicker into life just as the supers are starting to find survivors... Treasure of Sierra Madre, Wuthering Heights, I dunno... just tossing some ideas out.

This was one of those rare times that I had the write ups of every single character. Stats, description, background, the whole enchilada. All the characters were the work of Brannon Boren and Patrick Bradley (with a few characters created in their respective gaming groups from what i understand). I just doodled the illos. Usually, just so you know, I get a sentence or two for a new character to draw... so everything depends on interperting what is needed. Unfortunately, this is because writing and illustrating a book are going on simutaneously. There isn't a really easy logistic way around that. If you have a manuscript sitting and ready to go and it is then being illustrated, that is time wasted that manuscript could be making money.

Not only was it my very first Hero assignment... ... it gets used in RDU Neil's campaign a lot. Armbruster is often a industrial player. That is the one that pops up to mind... but Green Dragon's kid sister got a lot of play recently and my PC is a bit sweet on her... much to chagrin of GD. I think it is a brilliant concept. I just wish my art was as good as the writing. But it was my beginning and I've learned a bit since then. So its all good.

d.t. shipping is pretty much a non-issue. The reason being that most of the private commissions I do, are colored digitally or at the very least tweaked digitally. So, there is often no real original. A pencil sketch or scribblings, sometimes an ink piece... but most of the time the color, the creme de creme... is digital. So the artwork will come to you as 300 dpi jpg or tif. This will print nicely enough. Medusa: It isn't a question of what is easier... but I think the closer you can get to her face, the more dramatic it will be. Pulling back the camera minimizes some of the power that writhing head has. Ring Mistress: Sure. Hope that helps... and thank you for your interest!

death tribble, no I did not get your e-mail. Resend?