Ranxerox

Re: I hope we have cooler looking cars than this in the future.

Now not all cars from the 60's are cool looking. In fact most of them are downright ugly. They weren't all Mustangs, Firebirds, Cameros and Baracudas. (and GTO's).

 

BMW found a good shape for it's cars in the 80's and now just about everyone emulates that look. I think it comes down to it's a good shape that doesn't add that many minuses to the car. ie It's fairly aerodynamic, it looks pretty good, and it doesn't take away from interior space. I think that is why most cars look alike. Of course, there are the cars that go for maximum interior space at the expense of a car shape that is extremely boxy.

It is this very herd mentality that makes modern cars so boring. It is not that the design themselves are horrible as that they cookie cutter from one automobile company to another. Rather than try to distinguish themselves all the car companies seem content to imitate.

Yeah' date=' some where Pintos and Pacers.[/quote']

 

Pintos were introduced in 1971 and Pacers in '75 so neither of them are from the sixties.

 

The true era of pretty American Cars is the 30's and 40's. Though I don't think that many cars were made during the WWII years. The cars were kind of big, but they had some of the nicest lines and curves ever go grace cars. Also, it was the era of early V8 engines.

 

European cars were pretty from way back. I don't have a good feel for euro cars and time periods that the made pretty cars. Though the earliest euro cars were made for the affluent, and were nearly custom cars.

 

No argument that cars from the 30s and 40s were beautiful.

Re: I hope we have cooler looking cars than this in the future.

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/07/5787276-ces-automated-two-wheeler-aims-to-be-the-car-of-the-future

 

So, the segue didn't mwork, so they're trying to fix it by supersizing it.

Probably in 30 years we are going to wish cars were that cool. Cars today are not as cool as ones from the 1960s much less car of future concepts cars of the that period. There has been a relentless march towards automotive banality over the last 40 years its end seems to be nowhere in sight.

Re: The Cape - What do you think of it so far?

I liked it.

It's cheesy and over the top, but it is fun. The pilot episode was too packed and need to be 2 hours, but the two episodes since then have been better structured.

Re: More City Books

The Urban Fantasy sourcebook has a nice section on Reno.

Re: Help with a power

Okay' date=' but how would it allow Buzzbomb's teammates to attack the heroes caught inside the AOE? Wouldn't the barrier stop their attacks also?[/quote']

 

Yes it would. Think about it. If his turbines can redirect enemy attack, why would attacks of allies be unaffected? From a combat stand point it might be inconvenient, but it makes perfect sense as you have described the special effect.

Re: Help with a power

I think I would go with a AOE Blast with increased knockback and a linked barrier against physical attacks.

Re: Conan: The Current Movie in Progress.....

 

Conan though, I can't really see benifiting from 3D. I could see a 3D movie for something High Fantasy and Epic, for a gritty Pulp Style movie, I don't see 3D working well (Though I think, one could make a case for a Doc Svage flick in 3D)....Same for the Shakey Cam. When you look at Conan, that's just not Conan's Atmosphere (though maybe a touch of Shakey Cam in a scene where someone jumps off a horse onto another dudes head or something...*shrug*)

 

The 3D though, what's it gonna add? Sure there's some nice scenery, but mostly, it's Conan. A Couple of movies like "My Bloody Valentine 3D" Actually made Fantastic Use of the 3D effect, Yet, that's just a schlock Horror flick (but a fun one, heh). What could 3D add to this film is what I'm wondering. Clash of the Titans use of 3D was, worthless really, but stuff like Coraline is actually weaker without the 3D.

 

~Rex

I don't know. I kind of like the idea of Conan cleaving some guy's head off and momentarily having it appear as though the head were going to land in my lap.

Re: Tropes Revisited: Beautiful Female Martial Artist. Ideas sought

Well, for something different from other have been suggesting ...

Re: Black Falcon 3.5

Agreed.

OK, but bottom line here, would you as a GM accept the character in a starting 400 point, 60 active point campaign?

Well, lets see. By my math, you saved 84 points by using OHID on your powers and stats. So part of the time Black Falcon is a competent normal and the rest of the time she is a 484 point character.

Without seeing the other player's characters or knowing structure of the campaign, it is impossible for me to say for sure. If all the other characters were monsters too or if the campaign set up was such that I felt that I could force Black Falcon to spend a lot of time in her secret ID without messing the flow of play, I might allow her. However, in most campaigns that I have run, I would ask for a different build.

Re: Black Falcon 3.5

OK' date=' so a Magic word [u']will[/u] work, I just don't need to buy Multiform. I can delete that part. A gag can prevent my hero from appearing.

So let me go back and change that. Fixed.

Yes, it works without the multiform. A gag will prevent Black Falcon from appearing. So will someone putting there hand over her mouth, dunking her head in water, darkness to sound depending on how it is defined, knocking her unconscious before she has an time to change of putting her in a situation that she can't do the change without blowing her secret ID.

I'm just enumerating ways that the transformation can be block, to point out that all these things are fair game for your GM and you should accept it gracefully when he does these things. Black Falcon doesn't have to accept it gracefully, and indeed should use every bit of her ingenuity to find some way to say her magic word while protecting her secret ID. It is just you the player that shouldn't argue when the GM says she falls into the water before she is get her magic word out of her mouth.

Sorry to lecture but like most GMs I have had experiences.

Re: Black Falcon 3.5

Guy you can't take OIHID when you have made a multiform and the form in question is your hero ID. If she is in that form to begin with, she is in hero ID.

Re: Let's Play "The Naming Game"

A character named Interface who was an AI's means of acting in the world would be interesting. It's funny how in trying to come up with a good name for one character you can come up with ideas for two others.

Cyberstar isn't bad. I may go with that. Thanks.

Re: Another "Battle Royale" Question: John Preston Vs Judge Dredd ?

I'd have to go with John Preston on this one. True, both men are undeniably good

with guns, but Preston has the advantage not only of speed, but of outgunning

Dredd as well. Whereas Dredd has to draw his Lawgiver from a hip holster, all that

Preston has to do is hit the quick-release catches of his arm holsters to bring his

guns out and grab hold of them.

 

End result: by the time that Dredd's got the Lawgiver out and bringing it to the

firing position, Preston's had time to put several well-aimed rounds into the only

unprotected areas on Dredd's body -- just below the visor of his helmet and

just above his uniform collar. And -- to add insult to injury -- if Dredd's helmet

happens to have a defective visor, the odds are very good that at least one of

Preston's shots will go right through the 'T' (the spot on a human head where,

if a bullet hits it exactly right, the spine will be instantly severed, killing the per-

son on the spot).

 

Preston also has the option of engaging Dredd in close-quarters combat as well,

using his martial arts training and his modified pistols to do some major damage.

 

Major Tom 2009

I haven't seen Equilibrium so I can't really vote, but I would like to note that in the comic book Judge Dread is unbelievably fast. Really, he frequently does stuff that isn't humanly possible leading me to wonder whether he is secretly an android or something.

Re: Let's Play "The Naming Game"

okie, mayby "INTERFACE" becuase that universal interface seems like it should count as her "hallmark gadget".

 

or should it include her femininity somehow?

Please don't hand me straight lines. It forces me to make an EGO roll to resist joking off them and my EGO rolls aren't that good.

Interfaces by their nature are conduits through which others act rather than actors themselves. So while you are right that her universal interface is her signature gadget, interface doesn't really suit her personally. Perhaps her ability to take control of machines could provide the basis for her name, but I have not come up with one based on it that I like. I briefly considered Remote Control but found it lame to me. My other ideas along this line, Machine Master and Machine Mistress, both strike as better villain names than hero names. Maybe you will think of something better than my ideas.

Re: Fractal Branching Ultra-Dextrous Robots

Well, I guess you could buy a detect based on touch. So a person might know when they were touching gold and with the microscopic adder they could tell if there were even trace quantities present.

Re: Fractal Branching Ultra-Dextrous Robots

I'm not clear on the difference between no-range telekinesis and normal strength. Is there something I'm missing' date=' aside from normal strength getting the 'fine manipulation' adder for free?[/quote']

 

No, I just felt more comfortable adding microscopic to a power like telekinesis than to an attribute.

Re: Let's Play "The Naming Game"

Maybe EisenSage?

Hacksaw? She is not really that hardcore, and anyway she is of Russian not German descent.

what kind of gadgeteer is she?

Reasonable question. I pictured her with boot jets, bullet and energy weapon resistant costume, wrist minirockets that can go around corners, electronic countermeasures to radar and holograms to sight, and remote control over machines through her own patented universal interface. None of these abilities are set in stone at this point though.

Re: Fractal Branching Ultra-Dextrous Robots

It seems like these things could use telekinesis with no range, fine manipulation and some microscopic adders. Of course adding microscopic to TK isn't kosher by the rules but as a GM, I would allow it.

Re: Religions in SF settings.

I had a set of nomadic aliens who didn't have a specific god as such but had a lot of opinions on how the physical and spiritual interacted. One of the belief was that any emotional connection between living beings was a sign of a connection between souls' date=' which continued indefinitely. This meant that negative emotional connections needed to be resolved as soon as possible to prevent the souls from damaging one another (which, in a culture of people trapped on ships with one another, makes sense.) It also means that it's very important to stick close to someone who's grieving, because their attachment to a soul that's passed on can drag them too close to death. So they need positive connections even more at that time. They also believed it's important to "bless" your surroundings, especially when moving to a new ship. (The blessing ceremony turned out to require a tour that mimicked a safety inspection, which probably did have some positive effects.)[/quote']

 

I'm kind of tempted to borrow some of that for real life purposes.

Re: Posthegemony Update

Cool!

Re: Posthegemony Update

Really interesting setting. How large do you expect the book to be and when do you think you will publish?

Re: Need help with New Campaign

How about this?

The last Uber Mage, Warsinger and Gingerbread Man put aside differences and egos and came together when a great evil threatened the world. In order to defeat the evil they gathered magic items of great power and an army of heroes to help them. They sacrificed much in there preparation for the battle that they knew was to come. And then it came. Great power was unleashed and army of heroes, including many who they had come to love, fell before the great evil. Yet when the smoke cleared the great evil was also fallen ... but not dead. It would recover. The legendary heroes has failed to secure some ingredient necessary to kill it permanently.

The Uber Mage came up with a plan. Rather than let all the valiant who died bringing the great evil down deaths be in vain, he would cast a spell to bind the beast so it could not escape. Binding spells of such great power don't cheap. He would have to sacrifice all three of their souls to make the spell secure. Perhaps the others agreed to the sacrifice or perhaps the mage tricked them. Either way the spell was cast and both the mighty heroes and great evil disappeared and faded into legend.

Skip to the present. Someone has decided to free the great evil for their own evil ends our PCs having gotten wind of this plan set out to prevent it. They fail. While the PCs are busy fighting underlings the necessary ritual is complete and the great evil is unleashed. Not considering the PCs worth it attention after its long imprisonment the great evil slaps them aside nearly killing them in the process and stalks off.

Unbeknown to both the great evil and the one who freed it, breaking the bonds that held it not only released the great evil but also freed the souls of the Uber Mage, Warsinger and Gingerbread Man.

Okay, I'm sure you can see where I'm going from here. Just add some rousing adventures worthy of legends, a quest to locate the missing ingredient needed to kill the great evil, an epic final battle, a decision about whether the heroes get to keep their expanded abilities after defeating the great evil, put in the oven at 350 and cook until done.

Hope that helps.

Re: Conan: The Current Movie in Progress.....

According to the Conan movie blog, Djimon Honsou has bought the rights to a script for a Thulsa Doom movie. I kinda doubt that this is going go anywhere, but it would be cool if it did.

Re: Religions in SF settings.

Any sufficiently advanced life form is indistinguishable from a deity. -- paraphrase of Clarke's 3rd law.

 

If it bleeds, we can kill it. -- Arnold Somethingoregger

That explains so much about the Californian budget process these last several years.

Re: Emotional Rescue

Oh, when you said a VPP that enhances powers/attributes you were talking about her powers and attributes. Since you had been talking about soothing crowds and negating mass fear effects, I was thinking that her abilities had more to do with the powers and attributes of others. Well, never mind then.