Ranxerox

Re: New to Hero System Your calculation on the teleport is good. However, the area of effect explosion on flash is a +1/2 advantage not a -1 limitation. So the flash is 37 active points. If the character has personal immunity to his own flash that is another +1/4 advantage which would bring flash up to 44 active points. The personal immunity not strictly necessary since the character could just always close his eyes. Since the flash emits straight from the character it gets the no range limitation for -1/2. Can the character use the powers separately? If the character can't use one or both of the powers without the other, he can get the linked limitation (pg 383-385 the Character Creation book).

Re: Genetically engineered leaders? Human beings are by nature more social than cats and less social than dogs. That is because we can do the solo hunter thing pretty well but often we can get better results hunting as a pack. This flexibility in survival strategies leaves us with an eternal choice between functioning as part of a group or pursuing our individual interest apart from the group or even at the expense of the group. Since this choice is hardwired into us be evolution (or bestowed into our DNA by God if you prefer), it could probably be if not edited all the way out by genetic engineering or neural surgery at least weighted to give one of the two sides of the choice an advantage in the decision making process. Of course you also accomplish the same results through a a nurture strategy, though then you would have to worry about corruption amongst those in charge of doing the nurturing.

Re: Susano's Song-Based DC NPCs Has Lonesome George from George Thorogood's Who Do You Love been done yet? Sorry, not feeling up to looking through all 18 pages to find out for myself.

Re: War Without End Part II Sounds fun. I'm sure you blokes will have a great time.

Re: Naming the first superhero How about simply Super.

Re: Examples of low-powered/street level supers not from comics Almost anyone from the Streetfighter and Mortal Kombat video games.

Re: Looking for playability criticisms This character lacks a way to get around in a hurry. Maybe the team has its own jet and that is not a problem. Otherwise you might want to address it. IMO, a cool way for this character to get around would a megascale teleport only to swamps/bogs/wet lands requiring 5 minutes extra time. It would be defined as allowing is body to return to nature where he is and then reforming it somewhere else. Not sure where you would get the points to pay for power, but if you could find them it seems like it would be a good fit for this character.

Re: Night of the Living Trekkies Looks fun, but I would rather have a movie to go with this trailer than a book.

If you have ever considered running a campaign set in the 1920s you should probably be watching this. If you haven't considered running a campaign in the roaring twenties, watching it might make you start.

Re: Revisit: Doc savage vs Batman. I changed my mind. Heh! The original poll currently shows the contest as tied 23 to 23 with 8 voting for pie. If RJB has changed his mind that means that the actual score is 24 to 22 in The Batman's favor.

Re: Template List for Space Opera Noir: what to include? Actually I was going to point out the the politician and con-man templates were redundant. Really, look at the two templates you write up and see just how many skills are different between the two.

Re: Template List for Space Opera Noir: what to include? Artist, athlete, martial artist, alien slavegirl/concubine/sex worker, freedom fighter/terrorist, entrepreneur, assassin, robotocist, colonist, pirate/slaver, politician. Not trying to bury you here, just trying to mention some ideas you may not have considered.

Re: Precious Ramotswe Thanks for the endorsement of the build. I have really enjoyed the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novels, and she seemed like a good first character on which to try out my new Hero Designer.

It seems odd to post her in Dark Champions, since the only thing dark about Precious Ramotswe is her skin. Still, she is a heroic level character existing in the modern age so I guess this is where she goes. Precious Ramotswe Val Char Cost 10 STR 0 10 DEX 0 10 CON 0 12 BODY 2 15 INT 5 13 EGO 3 15 PRE 5 2 PD 0 2 ED 0 3 SPD 10 4 REC 0 20 END 0 30 STUN 5 8m RUN -4 4m SWIM 0 4m LEAP 0 Characteristics Cost: 26 Cost Power 15 Things Just Tend to Work Out Alright: Luck 3d6 Powers Cost: 15 Cost Skill 3 Acting 12- 3 Bureaucratics 12- 3 Charm 12- 3 Conversation 12- 3 Persuasion 12- 2 Criminology 10- 3 Interrogation 12- 5 Deduction 13- 3 High Society 12- 3 PS: Private Detective 12- 2 PS: Philosopher 11- 2 AK: Botswana 11- 2 AK: Southern Africa 11- 2 AK: Gaborone 11- 3 CuK: Botswanan people 12- 3 Analyze: Cattle 12- 2 TF: Common Motorized Ground Vehicles 1 WF: Rifles 3 Language: English (completely fluent) 0 Language: Setswana (idiomatic) (4 Active Points) Skills Cost: 51 Cost Perk 15 Followers 1 Fringe Benefit: Business License: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency 2 Positive Reputation: Detective Who Helps People (A large group) 11-, +1/+1d6 1 Positive Reputation: Daughter of a respected cattle farmer (A medium-sized group) 11-, +1/+1d6 Perks Cost: 19 Cost Talent 2 Resistance (+2 to roll vs. Acting) 2 +1/+1d6 Striking Appearance (vs. Botswanan males) Talents Cost: 4 Cost Equipment (Equipment costs do not actually figure in Total Cost. They are included here for reference only.) White Van: Vehicles & Bases (0 Active Points) Total Character Cost: 115 Pts. Disadvantage 10 Dependent NPC: J.L.B. Matikoni (husband) Frequently (Normal; Useful Noncombat Position or Skills) 15 Psychological Complication: Good Person Who Seeks The Best Outcomes For All Involved (Common; Strong) 5 Social Complication: Woman In A Male Dominated Culture Infrequently, Minor 0 Physical Complication: Traditionally Built (Infrequently; Barely Impairing; Custom Adder) 0 Psychological Complication: Botswanan Patriot (Uncommon; Moderate; Custom Adder) Disadvantage Points: 30 Base Points: 100 Experience Required: 15 Total Experience Available: 15 Experience Unspent: 0 Background Precious Ramotswe ( pronounced - raMOTsway) is the protagonist of the "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" books. Precious Ramotswe, or as she is normally called Mma Ramotswe (meaning Ms. Ramotswe and pronounced Mmara Motsway with a humming of the "M"s at the beginning) is the daughter of the late Obed Ramotswe a respected cattleman. After the death (or becoming late as the books refer to it) of her beloved father,. Mma Ramotswe sold some of the cattle willed to her and used the proceeds to open up the The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Botswanans were very skeptical about the notion of a female detective and initially the agency had no business. Despite the absence of business, Mma Ramotswe hired a secretary in an effort to appear more professional. The secretary that she hire, one Grace Makutsi, turned out very capable and would latter be promoted to assistant detective and eventually associate detective. Eventaully the agency did attract clients, and as Mma Ramotswe solved her clients mysteries and fixed there problems word of her ability spread. Now the lady detective is respected not just in the city of Gaborone where she works but in the whole of Botswana. In addition to solving mysteries during the course of the series, Precious Ramotswe has found time to marry the proprietor of the Speedy Motors garage, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni; adopt two ophan children, Puso and Motholeli; and take on another assistant in the form of Mr. Polopetsi. Personality/Motivation Mma Ramotswe considers helping other and solving their problems to be her vocation in life, and this is how she approaches her private detective work. If a would be client comes to her truly in need of her help, she will not turn him away regardless of his ability or lack thereof to pay. Her need to help others has also lead her to omit and even lie about her findings in order to protect her client or other innocent parties from the consequences of the truth. For example, she once covered up the discovery that a clients son was not really his child in order to protect the boy from being thrown out. In addition to being kind and generous, Mma Ramotswe is also wise, understanding and tactful. She considers herself a traditionalist, but she can be very open-minded about how other people live their lives. Also, she is a strong believer in the greatness of her country, Botswana, and its people. Quote "Why don't we sit down and have some tea, and you can tell me all about this difficult matter." Tactics While Precious Ramotswe is keenly observant and good at deducing things, she is no Sherlock Holmes. Her investigative style relies more on her people skills and the questioning of potential witnesses and suspects until she has enough information to work out what actually happened. She does not involve herself in investigation of violent crimes as she considers these matters for Botswanan police. While Mma Ramotswe is always extremely tactful, her assistant detective, Grace Makutsi, is often comically blunt. It is not uncommon for unflattering references to client weight, hieight, appearance to accidently slip off her lips. That aside, Mma Makutsi, is an able detective in her own right and her secretarial training frequently comes in handy when the agency has to go over someones financial books for clues. Mr. Polopetse, a pharmacy assistant who lost his job over an error that he did not make, is Mma Ramotswe other assistant. He does not possess the detective skills of the two ladies, but he does have exceptional hearing and is an able bush tracker. Campaign Use Precious Ramotswe most obvious campaign use is to draw the characters into an adventure in Botswana or elsewhere in southern Africa. She does not knowingly take on dangerous cases, and if she were to find herself in one she would quickly seek assistance. If the threat were international in origins she might very well look to the home country of the villians for allies. Alternately, if the heroes were already adventuring in Africa they might run into Mma Ramotswe and her agency. She might offer them information on local happenings, investigative advice, or simply some wisdom served with a cup of tea. Appearance Precious Ramotswe is an attractive, traditionally built (read large) Botswanan woman in her thirties.

Re: STAR HERO Reading List I'm not seeing Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) among the the recommendations, so I'm adding it. Also, I would like to recommend Dawn by Octavia Butler.

Re: What Do I Throw At Them? Nuke 'em from space. It is the only way to be safe.

Re: Dynamite Comics to publish John Carter of Mars series Well some of his men always have always looked like Boris and some of them looked liked Doris, but he used to be able to do other figures. Sorry, Joe Jusko's work look a lot more like Boris Vallejo's work than Frank Frazetta's to me. YMMV.

Re: Dynamite Comics to publish John Carter of Mars series Kind of. Joe Jusko's art is like Vallejo's was before all his women started looking like Julie Bell and all his men starting looking like Boris Vallejo. So Joe Jusko could be seen a successor to the Boris Vallejo of yore.

Re: Dynamite Comics to publish John Carter of Mars series Joe Jusko is a worthy replacement for Boris Vallejo. Frank Frazetta not so much.

Re: Ideas for a Star Hero solo campaign If you are still taking suggestions, I would recommend Sam Spade/Rockford files campaign set in the 25th century. Solo campaigns are much easier if you do them in a genre where a lone protagonist is part of genre conventions.

In October Dynamite Comics in starting Warlords of Mars. Link here.

Re: Alternatives to the internet? In futures of my own design, I usually include something called the Virtual. Essentially almost urban spaces accessible to the public have been set up to allow virtual visitors. Camera and microphones have been set strategically so that the viewpoint (and soundpoint) of almost any point in the room can be extrapolated by computer and presented to a remote viewer. These virtual visitors can see and hear the what is happening at the site that they are visiting pretty much in real time and people at the site if they are wearing Virtual Specs can see them (or more precisely their avatars). While it is possible to see all the avatars of the all the people visiting a space this can get very crowded and confusing in popular destinations. For that reason most people only view a limited number of channels so as not to be overwhelmed by all the virtual gawkers. A channel might show you only people who work for your company or club, people with a valid merchant or shoppers pass, church group members or pretty much any other grouping of people that you might imagine. While I have the Virtual exist side by side with the internet, it is powerful enough to act as an alternative to the internet if need be.

Re: The 10 Most Disgusting Alien Civilizations I would like to put the Affront from Ian Bank's Culture books forward for (dis)honorable mention.

Re: Potential Espionage Material Source - "Salt" Things worth stealing from Salt besides Mrs. Evelyn Salt herself: The Cold War - just because it has been over for 20 years doesn't mean we can't use it in our games. People still kill nazis don't they. Chase scenes - I have never ran an extended chase scene involving multiple changes in mode of transportation in a game. I think that I have been missing out here. Large cells of highly placed sleeper cells - you could do a whole campaign bases pm something like this. Characters trained from birth - usually more of a superhero trope but there is no reason you couldn't do it in a DC game. I'm sure there are many other things worth taking from the movie, but this is all that I got.

Re: A Real life "Plain Jane"? Uhh, Photoshop?