Houston GM

How not to be seen. Ham is trying to get close to a gang banger without being noticed. GM: Do you have Stealth? Ham (ooc): Nope. GM: Do you have Acting? Ham (ooc): Nope. Henry (ooc): I bet Shadowing would work. GM: Do you have Shadowing? Ham (ooc): Nope. GM: Then what are you using? Ham (ooc): Everyman skills and three dice of Luck.

Re: Little Powers Levi's biggest fan: Levi, the team telekinetic was Hunted (stalked) by his biggest fan. This fanboy had 10 STR Telekinesis with fine manipulation that manifested as a floating, transluscent hand. He repeatedly appeared in our campaign, and would happily draw lots of attention to Levi's presence. Ezekiel Zackerly is immune to all poisons. He has never been poisoned, so he doesn't know this yet. Pete Flynn has webbed hands and feet, which allow him to swim almost as fast as a fish. His lungs are normal, though. Olfactor is a chemist who manufactures perfumes. He has the superpower to create Images to the Smell sense group. Wit can stop time with a thought. He can't move while time is stopped; he can only think. He mostly uses this power to think up the perfect snappy comebacks. Big Brass has +20PD/+20ED Armor, only to hit location 13.

Re: Normals Unbound vs. Everyman I own both. To the best of my recollection, there's no duplication between the two; Everyman has more NPCs and gives story ideas involving those NPCs. I'd recommend getting Everyman, particularly if you found Normals Unbound useful.

Handling torture

Re: UN Supers headquarters If you're part of my campaign, don't read the spoiler

Patriots

Girlfriend trouble White Knight is a brick with high PRE and COM (and several PRE skills) He has several amusing Disadvantages: DNPC, current or ex-girlfriend, as powerful, 11-, group of 8 Hunted, ex-girlfriend or stalker, as powerful, 11-, group of 8 PsychLim: weakness for beautiful women, common, strong In his secret ID he works undercover as a minion/thug for hire, which is how he finds out what villains are up to. So White Knight has a group of beautiful superheroes and supervillains that he dates, some of them in Hero ID, some in Secret ID, some of them show up as DNPCs and some show up as Hunteds. So it is possible to have two DNPCs show up in the same adventure (both current girlfriends, one a hero, one a villain) and have both of them trying to kill each other; and have an ex-girlfriend show up trying to kill White Knight. He brings new meaning to the term "girlfriend trouble".

Re: Help me get into Bricks.

Re: UN Supers headquarters

Re: UN Supers headquarters Answers to a few questions: 1) There is no UNTIL. The UN is very much like the real world. This is the reason for rules preventing the team from acting in a country without the permission of the recognized government. 2) My world only has a limited number of high-powered (500+ pt) metahumans to staff the UN teams. The teams will be trying to cover too much territory, but it's preferable to having teams that are too small to be effective. (This will set the kind of tone that I'm looking for in the game.) 3) In this campaign, supertech only functions in the presence of the person who built it, so a flying base would have serious problems. 4) I'm not worried about a team having too much geographical territory to cover. (I intend to use those obstacles as plot twists.) Since the UN is driven by politics, I think the locations of the bases would be determined by UN politics. Consideration would be given to the number of incidents that would occur in a given region. (Clonus has a very good point about Africa.) Tandem Esk I like Venezuela because of Chavez. He wants to be a player on the global stage. He'd welcome a base because it would give him the opportunity to try to influence any team stationed there. He has good relations with a number of countries around the world. And he could generate votes within the UN supporting a base because putting a base in Venezuela would irritate the US. Venezuela also has a decent economy. I can't see Putin allowing a UN-controlled team to operate inside of Russia (even if it is a kleptocracy). I like the idea of a CIS country, though. Any of them might want a team just in case Russia gets aggressive. What would make Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan good candidates? I'm a bit more inclined to use Ukraine. I kind of like leaving Canada without a nearby base. That way they can have a problem too big for their own team, call for assistance from the UN team, worry that the UN team won't arrive on time, and call for assistance from the US. I just need to figure out a way to encourage lots of friction between the US team and the UN team when they both arrive on the scene. Updated List of Candidates: Cairo, Egypt (northern Africa) Caracas, Venezuela (Central & South America) Kiev, Ukraine (Eastern Europe & Middle East) Jakarta Indonesia (Southeast Asia & Australia) Lagos, Nigeria or Johannesburg, South Africa (southern Africa) The PCs will be one of the UN teams. The teams will periodically rotate from one region to another (allowing me to set adventures around the world). Thanks for the ideas.

Background: I'm preparing for a future campaign where the players will be part of a UN team. Their charter will only allow them to act inside a country if that country requests their help and invites them in. There's an implicit understanding that some countries will always handle their own problems with their national teams (China, EU, Japan, Russia and USA). Considerations: Certain countries would volunteer to host the regional headquarters. These would generally be second world nations which could afford the expenditure, and ones that would be seeking to increase their presence on the world stage. In addition, headquarters should be located where they can rapidly respond to threats. Candidates for Regional Headquarters: (and associated regions) Caracas, Venezuela (Central & South America) Istanbul, Turkey (Eastern Europe & Middle East) Jakarta Indonesia (Southeast Asia & Australia) Lagos, Nigeria (Africa) Question: Assuming that you need to cover the rest of the world, where would you put the regional headquarters? I'm open to suggestions.

Re: The Super drugs In my campaign I had the "Purple Haze" story arcs (Parts I, II & III). Purple Haze was not a super drug, per se. Purple Haze was a potent and highly addictive euphoric. As a side-effect, the brains of the users started creating a unique enzyme. This enzyme (when taken in sufficient quantities) would enhance the mental powers of a mentalist. The enzyme had some side-effects (nasty psychlims, etc). Part I The villain (Headmaster) was selling Purple Haze on the streets, killing junkies, harvesting the enzyme from their brains, and using it to boost his own powers. The story started as an investigation of the murders and ended with a climactic battle in a high-rise filled with mind-controlled drones. Part II Headmaster was keeping a lower profile. He had started his own insular cult, and the Purple Haze was given to his followers as part of the "sacraments". The PCs got involved when a new love interest disappeared. It ended with the capture of the Headmaster in his cult compound. Part III A faction of government agents (some members of the agency which is the equivalent of PRIMUS in my world) were using the Purple Haze enzyme to boost their own powers. They would capture homeless who wouldn't be missed, use IVs to pump them full of Purple Haze, and drain the enzyme from their brains over time. The PCs got involved when a whistle-blower from a rival faction tipped them off to the enzyme "farm".

Storytelling Card Games For New Years we played two card games that have storytelling elements: Mad Scientist University and Gloom. These comments work best without explanation: Karl: Plagiarism is the foremost principle of scholarship. Bowie: You're smoking pot ... and not in a good way. DJ: Your project must include monkeys flinging poo. Claudia: Go home Mickey. You're becoming the scary one, and that's my job. Bowie: Mmm. Penises and chocolate ... where can you go wrong. And the out-of-character comments: Michelle collapses in a fit of laughter. Mickey: Breathe Michelle. Breathe. Bill: In, out. In, out. Mickey: No. That's something else. Ginger: I intend to spend tonight getting drunk. Steven: You're halfway there. One of your eyes is glazed over. Ginger: I'll have you know that I'm blind in one eye. Karl: So which one is glazed over?

Re: Hero is TK projection of kid in coma I did a similar concept before (Captain Hero & Jeremy), except the kid was not in a coma, and accompanied his projection around. In the case you describe, I would also tend to create the projection as the hero with the kid as a DNPC. Captain Hero had some Physical and Psychological Limitations to reflect that he was being driven by the mind of a 9-year-old. (i.e. He once did a presence attack of, "Stop doing bad!") Captain Hero also had distinctive features to reflect that he was a child's idealized version of a superhero. He never got dirty. His cape billowed in the breeze, regardless of the actual wind conditions or direction. His teeth even sparkled when he smiled. Neither Captain Hero nor Jeremy had any type of investigative powers, so I gave Jeremy enough Danger Sense so he could find bad things happening in his nearby vicinity.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The PCs were trying to arrest a group of drug smugglers. Backup had arrived, so the PCs were only outnumbered 2 to 1. The PCs had also been warned that the drug smugglers were armed with fully-automatic weapons and were trigger happy. The group decided the safest way to arrest the smugglers was along a deserted road. Ham tried to convince the drug smugglers to give up without a fight: Ham: "Your tires have been blown. You're surrounded by federal agents, And you're in the middle of an ambush. "You're armed with automatics. You're trigger happy, And we fully expect that you'll resist arrest. "You can spend tomorrow in jail, Or you can spend it in the morgue. Choose where you'd like us to send you." The GM described a sheriff's deputy: GM: His nametag says "Wells", but you're pretty sure his name is Bubba. He looks like he's halfway to retirement and two thirds of the way to his first heart attack.

How to pick a fight: The heroes were summoned (by Merlin) back to King Arthur's court. They were asked to find the cause of (and remove) the mysterious, mystical ailment that was afflicting King Arthur. Morgan le Fae was the prime suspect. The heroes had talked their way past a few layers of minor minions, bypassed a couple mystical obstacles, and finally arrived at Morgan le Fae's castle. As they approached the gates, they were met by an armored figure. Mordred: "I am Sir Mordred. State your business." Gabriel: "I am Gabriel and these are my companions. We wish to speak with the Lady Morgan le Fae." Mordred: "You can speak with me instead." Blitzkrieg (already bored by the previous conversations): "So we're stuck speaking with another one of Morgan le Fae's lackeys." Mordred (not believing what he'd heard): "What did you just say?" Blitzkrieg (speaking slowly and deliberately): "I said, 'So we're stuck speaking with another one of Morgan le Fae's lackeys.' Which word didn't you understand?" Mordred: "I will not let you insult me like that. I challenge you to a duel of honor." Blitzkrieg: "I accept." Mordred (to the rest of the heroes): "This is a duel of honor between the two of us. Should you interfere," (Mordred pointed to the dragon circling overhead) "Bruno will join in." Gabriel: "Tell Bruno that he can consider us as having 'interfered' already."

Re: Multiple pushing I wouldn't allow it, even if the powers didn't stack.

That's what I call a Presence attack. The team rescued the hostages from Mechanon's minions, and Dr. Callahan, the superscientist, disarmed the Vortex Bomb (a refridgerator-sized device that would create a large implosion). Dr. Callahan wanted to study the Vortex Bomb in his lab, so Midas and The Count, the team bricks, were carrying the Vortex Bomb back to Dr. Callahan's extra-dimensional vehicle.... Dr. Callahan: "We need to get away from these people. I don't want anyone to get a close look at my vehicle." Midas: "We could wait until the police escort them away." Dr. Callahan: "I want to get the bomb loaded before the police sieze it as evidence." The Count: "I could get everyone to back off." Dr. Callahan (cautiously): "Don't do anything rash." The Count (loudly, to the crowd): "Please stand back. This bomb is heavy, and my arms are getting tired." After they'd loaded the Vortex Bomb and were driving away.... Dr. Callahan: "You know, the bomb wouldn't have gone off if you'd dropped it." The Count: "My arms weren't getting tired either."

Re: "Uh ... you can *do* that?"

It's just standard operating procedure.... The PCs are nominally US Deputy Marshalls. In reality, they are cybernetically enhanced federal agents who are regularly loaned out by the Marshalls to other organizations. Marshall Chandler (the superior) has told the PCs to pack for a week long trip to the coast and meet him for a briefing in the morning. When packing, the PCs all decide that 2 suits and a bunch of casual clothes should be appropriate. At the meeting they discover that "the coast" is the swamps along the border of Georgia and South Carolina. Henry: "I don't think I'll be needing two suits." Ham: "Yeah. I'll be leaving one in my office." Darnell: "Why are you bothering to bring one suit? We're going to be in a swamp." Ham: "But we might need to meet with local law enforcement at some point, and I'll need to look like a stodgy and boring federal agent. We have a reputation to uphold." Marshall Chandler explains what he expects of the PCs. Chandler: "Officially, you're tasked with arresting the drug smugglers. Unofficially, I expect you do do what you need to do. I just don't want to hear about it." Ham: .oO(It's nice to have an understanding boss.) The PCs find the drug smugglers they've been looking for. The smugglers regularly carry automatic weapons and have a reputation for being trigger happy. Any backup will be a couple hours out. The PCs count 8 to 10 smugglers in two vehicles. The PCs start discussing ways to handle that many heavily-armed opponents. Ham: "Normally I'd recommend an L-shaped ambush in this circumstance, but we might have some problems pulling it off." Darnell: "What's an L-shaped ambush, and why can't we do it?" Ham: "The short side is usually a couple machine guns, and you two can probably cover that part of it. The long side is usually a rifle platoon, and I don't think I can carry that part as well."

Re: What was your favorite beginning for an adventure? Following an adventure, one of the players (her character was named Key) e-mailed me to let me know that she was going to contact the mental institution to make certain the Idiot King (also known as Elliott Mann) was still safely in custody. When I replied, I forwarded the e-mail to the rest of the group: When you inquire, the staff nurse tells you, "Mr. Elliott Mann is no longer a patient here. He was transferred out two weeks ago. He was released into the custody of an Officer Key of the HPD Paranormal Investigations Unit." __________________ This player used to frequently say, "When the GM is smiling, it's already too late." So at the end of my e-mail I wrote: "p.s. The GM is already smiling."

Re: Biggest Shock! They quickly started putting additional pieces together. At the beginning of the campaign they had been contacted by a woman who became their primary contact for the duration. At one point they were worried that the aliens might be able to scan them and figure out they were metahumans, just like she had. She replied, "The method I used isn't available to them." After the big reveal, one of the players immediately realized that she knew they were metahumans because she had a list of the in vitro fertilizations. And they realized that the long-term plan for defeating the aliens was already in place. There was an army of teenaged metahuman clones that were on the verge of coming into their powers. (I doubt that any of them remembered a cryptic comment than an NPC made about the metahumans getting "reinforcements"....)

An answer and a question. The tiny minority has a profile in the media that vastly exceeds their actual numbers. A normal bank robbery might make the local news. A bank robbery perpetrated by a supervillain makes national or even global news. A good correlation would be al Qaeda. I've heard estimates from 2,000 to 20,000 al Qaeda members. But they're violent and dangerous, so people fear and hate them. A better question would be to ask why people don't hate and discriminate against non-mutant supers. I generally assume that mentalists (of any origin) will be the most feared of the supers.

Re: Biggest Shock! My last campaign ended a month ago. It was a follow-up to a previous campaign that had occurred 16 years earlier (game time). At the end of the previous campaign, the PCs had fought a supergenius who had been making clones of superheroes. For the follow-up campaign, the PCs were teen supers (14 or 15 years old). I didn't tell them that they were all clones of adult supers. Instead of being force-grown to adulthood, they'd been implanted (in vitro) into their parents. I immediately started dropping hints about their origins. One PC had his senile grandmother as a DNPC. Even though the PC had Disguise, Acting, and sight-based shape-shifting, he described his grandmother as "always able to recognize me, regardless of what I look like." A few sessions into the campaign his grandmother mistook him for "Jesse". A moment later she recognized the PC and realized he wasn't Jesse. When the PC inquired, he learned that Jesse was a friend of his grandmother's that had "died when the aliens attacked." Shortly thereafter, the PCs encountered a teenaged version of an adult PC from the previous campaign. (The teen was a result of the same cloning program.) They even remarked (out of character) on the similarity between the teen and the ex-PC. Later in the campaign, they encountered the same ex-PC (now as an NPC). I pointed out to the one with Eidetic Memory that this person's powers manifested in the exact same way as the teen's powers did. There were several other clues dropped, but the players never caught on until the last session. In that session, one of the PCs (who had water powers) ran into the original version of himself. The original looked at him and said, "Now this is just freaky." At that point it finally occurred to the player that they were all clones.

The Angry Shade