Ranxerox

Re: Welcoming Women Who Game

This is something that REALLY bothers me. I used to work in a video store, and I can't tell you how many times a parent or grandparent would be in renting their 8-14 year old kid Halo or Call of Duty or somesuch. And, as was required of me by both store policy and state law, I'd ask the adult "are you aware that this is a Mature-rated game, intended for those 18 years or older?" And more often then not, the reply was "Well, it's just shooting and stuff. There's no sex in it."

 

This, to me, is a TOTALLY BACKWARD way of thinking. Look at it this way: Every single person, at some point in their life, will have to come to terms with their view on sex and sexuality. Even if it is to live a celibate life and not be sexually involved at all, they still have to make that decision. By contrast, VERY FEW people, especially in modern America, will have to really come to grips with the potential of taking a human life. And yet everyone seems far, FAR more comfortable with giving us endless ways to explore how to introduce another living human being to his spleen then helping us decide how we really feel about breasts.

Yeah, I was being a little flip, but the basic point is that we focus so much of our "entertainment" energy on violence, and yet so little of it on sex, compared to the roles they play in our actual lives.

 

On a side note, if you haven't seen the documentary "This Film Not Yet Rated," see it. It's a real eye opener. Someone in the movie raises an excellent point, which I shall paraphrase:

 

You take a James Bond movie, and Jimmy blows away two hundred guys in ten minutes, yet there's no blood or even visible wounds. Compare to a movie like The Godfather, where they kill just over a dozen people, but do so in horrific, brutal fashion. The former instance of violence is cleaned and sanitized and firmly in the realm of fantasy, while the latter showcases the horrific consequences of violence. The more mature mind is the one capable of realizing that the former is an unrealistic, "fantasized" portrayal of violence, so it's the FORMER sequence that should receive the more mature rating.

As the father of a teenage daughter, I would like to reply this. My daughter enjoys violent action movies, but I have complete confidence that she is not going to go out and blow away a shopping mall. She knows that what she sees in action movies is fantasy stuff that you "should not try at home". Indeed research shows that all but the youngest kids are aware of this. You can show a six year old child an action and at the end ask them if it was real. The majority of six year old children will correctly identify it as pretend stuff. If you follow up the question with "how do you know it was pretend", the average six year old can cite specific things from the movie that were different from how they are in real life - such as the absence of blood and such.

However, while I am not worried about my daughter blowing away a shopping mall, I am worried about her having sex. The difference, of course, being that I know that she will never go on a killing spree and I know that one day she will have sex (assuming she hasn't already). I just don't want that day to be too soon. From a biological stance, my little girl is a woman but from societal position she is still a child. She needs to get through school and hopefully find herself a career before she starts making babies.

Since I am already fighting biology in keeping my daughter away from sex, I do not want to be fighting mass entertainment industry as well. Both sex and violence sell, but it is a lot cheaper to insert a sex scene into a piece of entertainment than a chase scene. So if we as a society become less "prudish" about sex, I am worried that we will soon be drowning in it (even more than we are now) simply for economic reasons. This will make the job of parents wishing to keep their kids focused on their studies even harder than it is already.

Re: World-building: When what works for the heroes works for everyone?

I think we would see a lot more extreme sports because people would be generally more incline to survive mishaps. Also, things might become a little more democratic in that fewer people would be constrained by their personal appearance in what they could hope to become.

Re: Sustained Modes ala "Dragon Age"

Sustain Dragon Age ala mode: (Total: 21 Active Cost, 5 Real Cost) Life Support (Longevity: Immortal), Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +1/4), Uncontrolled (+1/2), MegaScale (1m = 100 km; +1 1/2), Cannot alter scale (-1/4), Usable As Attack (+1 1/4) (21 Active Points); Limited Power Only for dragons (-1), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (While maintaining spell, all other Powers cost X2 END (or add one multiple if already at X2 or more); -1), Side Effects: Ala Mode, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (When spell begins, dragons in the effected area are covered in ice cream; -1/2), Side Effects, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (Suppress 5 END for duration of spell; -1/2) (Real Cost: 5)

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedary ala mode

Covering dragons in ice cream is cosmetic transform for which the user needs to pay points, not a side effect that saves the user points.

Re: How much for these limitation

The default pricing for Side Effect asumes the damage only comes when failing an activation Roll. If it happens regardless of a roll (or if there is no Roll) the Value of Side Effect doubles. Also the GM might change the 15 minimum AP for a Minor Side Effect to 10 for lower powered games.

Opps, you're right. I should have reviewed the rules on Side Effects before posting.

Re: The Walker - a very low powered superhero

Never. Despite what it says on the back of his hoodie, he is very low key about his religious beliefs. He does sometimes pray silently before going into situations where he or someone else has a good chance of being seriously hurt or killed though.

Re: Lucha Lubre Hero, anyone?

Yes.

I recently posted a Lucha Libre ruda here, but she got almost no response. Of course, that may have more to do the character than with a lack of interest in the genre. Still, it did discourage me from posting more luchadors.

What is your interest? Are you trying to organize an online game, or are you just trying to create a thread to talk about the Lucha Libre hero? Unfortunately, I haven't ran a Lucha Hero campaign, but it sounds like fun. I have some character ideas that I will probably eventually write up at some point. Do you have any write-ups or ideas that you wish to share?

Re: The Walker - a very low powered superhero

Thanks. Glad you liked him.

Fixed the jujitsu instead of krav maga error.

Re: The Walker - a very low powered superhero

The Walker done using the Champions Online character generator.

Re: Lucha Libre Rudo - Little Ramona

Little Ramona done using the Champion Online character generator .

Re: How much for these limitation

Maximum movement: -1/2 (this limitation is a little more limiting than the must make at least half move every phase version of "Can't Hover" but I don't feel there is enough of a difference to increase the value)

Invisibility, only against those the character perceives: also -1/2 (less if the character has special senses that make him hard to sneak up on)

A 3d6 side effect is worth -1/4. The fact that the character sometimes take the damage without successfully using the power IMO doesn't get him extra limitation since the activation roll already has its own limitation value.

YMMV

Re: Kong Fu Girl VS Samurai Girl

Want inspiration for Ninja Hero' date=' watch

Okay, I will admit that I found that somewhat inspirational but not in a Ninja Hero sort of way if you know what I mean.

Re: Alien Wars worth getting..

That is good to know. So I will try to get either a print copy or PDF. A little dissapointed though as I liked Terran Empire and wanted to see more 5E SH converted to 6E. I do hope we see newer stuff for SH at least.

I liked Alien Wars better than Terran Empire, and for a while I ran an Alien War campaign at Herocentral. My campaign centered on a group of civilian trying to escape a doomed mining colony after the Xenovores first attack upon humans. However, the scope of the campaign setting is such that virtually any sub-genre of military science fiction fits somewhere in setting, from human vs human conflicts, to scrappy rebels facing overwhelming odds, to bad@$$ space marines kicking alien butt in the name of Earth.

Consider this a strong recommendation. :thumbup:

Re: Safari, a jungle Villainess

Did you mean for her to have a 71 Body (what you wrote) or a 21 Body (what you paid for)?

Re: The Walker - a very low powered superhero

Background: Aaron Green had his first vision when he was 14. His mother had had hers when she was 12, but Aaron was in all things a late bloomer so it is no surprise that it happened later for him. Aaron's happened when he was making a shortcut through an alley on his way home from school, and it was of a women being brutally raped in killed. Understandably the vision left him shaken to his very core, but that was nothing compared to how he felt when the vision became true 2 nights later. That was Aaron's first vision but it wasn't his last, and largely because of the activities of the newest gang to enter the neighborhood, the Nightmare Syndicate, almost all of the visions were extremely disturbing. Soon Aaron started to refuse to leave his aunt and uncle's home at all to avoid the visions.

Not wanting to be a burden on his Uncle Ron and Aunt Dee, Aaron got his GED through home study and worked on teaching himself trades that could be done without leaving the house. He worked as a programer, telemarketeer, medical transcriptionist, and any other job that he could do by telephone or internet. The jobs were usually temporary and low paying, but since Aaron was willing work 10 to 12 hours a day he was able to pay rent to his uncle and save money as well. This state lasted for several years, until he had vision of himself as an old man still living an eventually dying in the same room. He didn't think that it was a psychic vision like the ones that he was prone to but knew that it might be prophetic nonetheless.

So Aaron ventured out into the world again and only made it a little over a block before having the a vision of a brutal mugging. The assailant started the mugging the by asking the victim what time it was so Aaron knew exactly when mugging was to occur. He also knew that the mugger was armed and capable of violence. Despite this, Aaron found the courage to show up at the foretold time an place of the assault, and he was able to talk mugger out of his crime.

That was the beginning. Other crimes Aaron would not be able to talk the criminal out of committing and sometimes they turned their violence on him. In order to keep himself alive, Aaron used his some of his savings to buy bullet proof clothing, a retractable baton and to pay for krav maga lessons. Even with these precautions and armed with the foreknowledge provided by his visions, Aaron still sometimes found himself sometimes failing and sometimes getting hurt. However, rather than retreat to his room, everyday Aaron continued to walked the streets his neighborhood collecting his visions and returning to prevent crimes he saw. It is from this daily journey, that Aaron would get a new name, the Walker.

Appearance: Aaron Green is a tall, thin African-American male in his early twenties. Nothing about his appearance or behavior particularly suggest gang member, but that does not always stop people from mistaking him for one.

The Walker wears combat boots, and black bullet resistant, Kevlar clothing and helmet. The helmet has a lightly tinted face plate that makes his face indistinct. He softens the look by wearing a gray hoodie over his Kevlar top and helmet. "Psalms 23:4" is stenciled on the back of his gray hoodie.

Personality/Motivation: When Aaron first started his motivation was confront his fears so he could leave his room and have a life. Indeed, since he has started repairing futures as he thinks of it, his visions have become less vivid and easier to deal with. However, helping people and protecting people has been addictive for him and he now regards himself as the protector of his neighborhood.

Aaron's years spent not leaving his aunt and uncle's home were to the detriment of his social development. So while he has the courage to face down and entire gang of street toughs, asking a girl out on a date is considerably more intimidating to him.

Quote: "I called 911 two minutes ago. You might want to be moving along."

Powers/Tactics: The Walker gets visions of the future events when he is at the site where the event is scheduled to occur. As a general rule, the Walker is generally limited to seeing things 48 hours in advance though at GM discretion he might see really big events further into the future than 2 days. What exactly makes an event vision worthy is unclear. Most of his visions relate to violence - rapes, murders, assaults - but occasionally he is lucky enough to get a vision of a reunion of long lost relatives or true love at first sight, and occasionally he has visions where nothing important at all seems to happen and he can only wonder why the scene was shown to him. The events in the Walker are not immutable, they are merely what will happen if the Walker does nothing.

Armed with knowledge provided by his visions, the Walker walks every street and ally of his neighborhood each day giving rise to his name. This sort of predictable behavior would for any other hero would be an invitation for ambush, but it keeps the Walker safe because any planned ambush against him are revealed to him in his visions before they happen. However, his walks are not for his own protection but to allow him to protect others. When the Walker has a vision of violence or loss, he comes back to the site of the vision at the time the event is scheduled to occur (as best he can figure based on what he sees in the vision) and to the best of his ability tries to prevent the vision from becoming reality.

Campaign Use: The most natural way for the PCs to meet the Walker is for him to come to them for help after his has a vision of something that is clearly out of his ability to handle by himself. Though he might also show up to warn them of the consequence of their own actions. Given the nature of his visions, the Walker can only tell the consequences not the sequence of events that lead up to them so that would be up to the PCs to figure out. Since, the Walker's visions only reach through time, not space, the event would probably need to happen in his neighborhood or be large enough to effect his neighborhood. Of course for something truly big like the destruction of the city (or planet!) would leave him with visions everywhere that he went.

This character could easily fit into a Dark Champions campaign, but I envisioned him in a world with superheroes so I wrote by Champions' rules.

[b]The Walker - Aaron Green[/b]

[b][u]VAL[/u]   [u]CHA[/u]   [u]Cost[/u]   [u]Total[/u]   [u]Roll[/u]      [u]Notes[/u][/b]
13    STR     3   13      12-       HTH Damage 2 1/2d6  END [1]
14    DEX     8   14      12-       
15    CON     5   15      12-
10    BODY    0   10      
13    INT     3   13      12-       PER Roll 12-
10    EGO     0   10      11-       
13    PRE     3   13      12-       PRE Attack: 2 1/2d6
6     OCV     15   6
8     DCV     25   8
3     OMCV   0    3
3     DCMV   0    3
8    PD      6   8/14             8/14 PD (0/6 rPD)
6    ED      4   6/12             6/12 ED (0/6 rED)
4    SPD     20   4                 Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12
6    REC     2   6
36    END     4   36
30    STUN    5   30
12    RUN      0   12m                END [1]
4    SWIM     0   4m                END [1]
4    LEAP     0   4m                4m forward, 2m upward

[b]CHA Cost: 103[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]POWERS[/u][/b]
22    [b][i]Visions[/i][/b]: Precognitive Precognition (Sight Group And Normal Hearing), Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger resets automatically, immediately after it activates, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; Precognition acivates when character is at the site something "interesting" is going to happen in the next couple of days.  Only activates once per interesting event.; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (90 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), Precognition Only (-1) - END=0
9     [b][i]Retractable Baton[/i][/b]: Hand-To-Hand Attack +3d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2) (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/4), Limited Power Real Weapon (-1/4) - END=0
10     [b][i]Kevlar Body Suit[/i][/b]: Resistant Protection (6 PD/6 ED) (18 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Activation (14- roll; -1/4) - END=0
3     [b][i]Cell Phone[/i][/b]: High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group) (12 Active Points); OAF (-1), Limited Power Cellular Phone Band Communication Only (-1), Affected As Sight and Hearing Group As Well As Radar [very common Sense] (-1/2) - END=0
29     [b][i]Things You Can Buy At Walmart[/i][/b]: Gadget Pool, 25 base + 25 control cost,  (38 Active Points); Limited Power All Gadgets Must Be Legally and Commercially Available (-1/2), Limited Power Slots Can Only Be Changed Between Scenes (-1/4); all slots OAF (-1) - END=

[b]POWERS Cost: 73[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]MARTIAL ARTS[/u][/b]
     Krav Maga
4      1)  Block:  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, +2 DCV, Block, Abort
4      2)  Disarm:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, +1 DCV, Disarm; 33 STR to Disarm
4      3)  Escape:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +0 DCV, 38 STR vs. Grabs
3      4)  Joint Lock:  1/2 Phase, -1 OCV, -1 DCV, Grab Two Limbs, 33 STR for holding on
3      5)  Slam:  1/2 Phase, +2 OCV, -1 DCV, 5 1/2d6 Strike, Target Falls
4      6)  Strike:  1/2 Phase, +0 OCV, +2 DCV, 6 1/2d6 Strike
1      7)  Weapon Element:  Clubs
8      8)  +2 HTH Damage Class(es)

[b]MARTIAL ARTS Cost: 31[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]SKILLS[/u][/b]
3      Breakfall 12-
3      Computer Programming 12-
3      Conversation 12-
3      Deduction 12-
3      Paramedics 12-
3      Stealth 12-
3      Streetwise 12-
5      Persuasion 13-

3      Jack of All Trades
1      1)  PS: Accounting (2 Active Points) 11-
1      2)  PS: Medical Billing (2 Active Points) 11-
1      3)  PS: Telephone Tech Support (2 Active Points) 11-
1      4)  PS: Transcription (2 Active Points) 11-

[b]SKILLS Cost: 33[/b]

[b][u]Cost[/u]   [u]PERKS[/u][/b]
9     [b][i]Good Relations With Local Police[/i][/b]: Contact (Contact has useful Skills or resources), Organization Contact (x3) (9 Active Points) 11-
1      Positive Reputation:  A Good Guy Who Will Help You If He Can (In The Neighborhood) 11-, +1/+1d6

[b]PERKS Cost: 10[/b]

[b][u]Value[/u]  [u]DISADVANTAGES[/u][/b]
20     Psychological Complication:  View Himself As The Protector Of His Neighborhood (Very Common; Strong)
5     Psychological Complication:  Socially Awkward (Uncommon; Moderate)
10     Hunted:  Nightmare Syndicate (a local streetgang with deeper roots) Infrequently (As Pow; Harshly Punish)
10     Dependent NPC:  "Uncle Ron" Ronald Green and "Aunt Dee" Denise Green Infrequently (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills; Group DNPC: x2 DNPCs)
5     Social Complication:  Minority: Young, Black Male Infrequently, Minor

[b]DISADVANTAGES Points: 50[/b]

Base Pts: 250
Exp Required: 0
Total Exp Available: 0
Exp Unspent: 0
Total Character Cost: 250

Background to follow

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

You are right. I totally misread what you were saying.

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

5. I think I'd extrapolate from the "character not normally attracted to members of user's gender", and say what you're talking about could be a -1 or -2 penalty, maybe even -3 depending on how far the user is from what the target is normally attracted to. I wouldn't go higher than -3 though(that's the same penalty as going against a total commitment psych lim)

A lot of people do have a total psych limitations concerning homosexuality and in addition to that have no physical interest in members of their own sex. So in effect they have both a psych and a physical limitation working against same sex seduction. I don't consider a -5 or even -6 penalty against such attempts unreasonable versus such people.

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

5) Intercourse: Use above PS here, maybe assisted by Contortionist and Double-Jointed.

PS:Perform Sexual Techniques is fine, but I wouldn't undersell the value Charm, Persuasion, Acting, Conversation and even Presence "attacks" in intercourse. Given a choice between having the best physical sex of their lives and the best emotional sex* of their lives, I'm pretty sure that most woman and a lot of men would choose the best emotional sex.

* - I'm defining this as sex that leaves you feeling great about yourself, your partner and the relationship which you share.

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

I think it's important to define what "does not work on PCs" means, even in a campaign where that's the normal rule. Does it simply mean that the PCs aren't susceptible to social manipulation, unless they have an applicable psych complication which makes their resistance non-automatic? Or does it mean that the PCs are magically indifferent to the charms of NPCs, which would seem to be a little on the suspension-of-disbelief-breaking side? One could say, in the first instance, that a PC is duly impressed/flattered by the attention of an attractive/seductive NPC(or other PC), but that the decision on how to react is left solely to the player's discretion. In the second instance, blithely blowing off the queen of the succubi(who's taken the shape of the person the PC most desires but has been unable to get with) might be a little jarring to the atmospherics of a setting/adventure.

Also, people spend points on this stuff. They should get game value for doing so, even NPCs, imo. I don't want to manipulate or railroad players any more than anyone else, but they should be at least partly bound by the laws of the campaign universe, including the laws of social interaction. YMMV and probably does.

No, my mileage doesn't vary all the much. However, I lump that into the description of the scene. If the NPC made their charm roll, I will describe them in much more inviting and or compelling than if the NPC failed the roll or didn't have the skill. Under extreme circumstances I might consider making the player succeed at an EGO roll to resist, though this smacks of railroading so I would probably reserve this for situations where the PC's actions seemed based entirely on knowledge that the player had but the PC lacked.

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

One question I've always had is the relationship between COM, Seduction, and various situational and preference modifiers. Yes, I know COM has been eliminated in 6e (argument for elsewhere, I still like it), but physical attractiveness still applies, one way or another.

 

1) Is a person who is not attracted to your gender necessarily affected in any way by a sexually-oriented Seduction attempt? A Player might easily decide that a given character is susceptible to that particular person, or to fake it, but is the PC/NPC required to respond in any way?

2) Can EGO rolls be used to resist an otherwise successful Seduction? Never been clear on this. What about PRE?

3) How does one clearly simulate extra effort and preparation put into the Seduction attempt? I'm thinking clothing, makeup, location, music and other ambient elements, perfume/cologne, and the like. What about complementary skills, such as Fashion Sense, Disguise, various Performing skills, and so on?

4) A fetish would normally be bought as a Complication, I assume. But since it might provide some degree of defense from Seduction attempts that don't include that fetish (sorry, darling, but your shoes just don't do it for me), how would that affect the point cost and process in a game with a lot of Seduction going on?

5) The whole concept of physical attractiveness is a very personal one. While there are statistical measures of 'what is attractive' that work over large groups, each individual has his or her own triggers and preferences. How do these factors play into Seductions? Does the blonde face a penalty to her roll because my character prefers redheads?

6) How does one represent being jaded? The Seduction that works very effectively on the 17-year old virgin may fail to even mildly amuse the person with a few dozen more years under their belt. Even if the older character is no seducer him/herself, they have still seen all of the approaches, all of the gimmicks, and lived through all of the aftermaths.

Seduction (Charm in 6th Ed) does not work PCs. As a GM, I will make the roll and how well the NPC made it or failed it influences how I describe the scene but the ultimate choice is up to the player. When players use these skills, I am differential to the fact that the player spent points on the skill, but I am still mindful of the wants and desires of the NPC that is being charmed. Trying to use charm to get a guard to let a PC out of their cell or somehow loosen security when that guard knows that their boss will literally kill them if the prisoner escapes is an uphill battle. The guard can bonus to their resist from making INT rolls, EGO rolls, any psych limitations they have related to their boss, etc.

As for the question of individual taste, out of respect for the points the PC spent on the skill I would not decide on the spur of the moment that the NPC preferred redheads to blonds. However, if in my creating of the NPC I had decided that he was still morning the death his beloved, wife Scarlet, I might penalize a PC making a Charm roll on him for both the NPC's grief and for the wrong hair color.

Re: Dieselpunk?

FYI' date=' Gatehouse Gazette #20 is a Dieselpunk issue. You can download the pdf document here.

This had some interesting articles. Thanks for posting the link.

Re: Long tours-of-duty on industrial/mining ships

I'm always on the look out for Solar HERO books. I'll have to check those out.

Re: Long tours-of-duty on industrial/mining ships

Well, you certainly could house a city in those dimensions (think of a mile high skyscraper). The question is how much of that volume is open to human habitation.

Re: How (un)realistic are Street Samurai?

um... we weren't?

So the sword guy unsheaths as they charge? That always struck me as something that would be harder to do than it looks in the comic books.

Re: Long tours-of-duty on industrial/mining ships

I was thinking about the video game Dead Space the other day' date=' and how the [i']Ishimura[/i] would take three to five years to crack and harvest the contents of an entire planet.

 

Asides from the possibility of those signing on getting very wealthy from such a contract (though this doesn't HAVE to be true), I thought of another issue.

 

Boredom.

 

Assuming there is no "holodeck" or similar entertainment technology, what would the crew do? Would the crew also be there for the entire three to five years, or would they get shore leave / get cycled out for new people that aren't as fatigued?

I'm working my way through Dead Space right now and I think that I'm most of the way through it. Based on the things that I haven't seen - living quarters, gyms, recreation areas, etc - I'm pretty sure that the game only shows a fraction of the Ishimura. Since Isaac is always rushing to advert dome and to go parts of the ship that aren't required by the mission would just give him more opportunities to get killed by the space zombies it makes sense that he only goes places required by the mission. So the Ishimura might be the size of a small city for all we know.