input.jack

Re: Superhumans pulling an Authority Thread drift...

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance That sounds completely and utterly like a shizzle GM. Your concept was valid, he signed off on the initial design, and then had the temerity to launch a "vendetta" against you for having made his mooks look bad. Kick him in the bean bag and walk away.

Re: Jokes Mary had a little sheep And with it, Mary went to sleep But the sheep was quite a ram, And Mary had a little lamb...

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? Vincent Bugliosi assassinated JFK!?!

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? Up Till Now, the autobiography of William Shatner. Full of funny comments and unexpected insights. Id just finished Get a Life!, his book about Star Trek fans and conventions, and his completel lack of understanding of them at first to his present love of them. Up Till Now gives a pretty detailed understanding of the man and his story, but it jumps around a lot. Often an anecdote will be interrupted by something totally unrelated, then he will go back and finish. It can be a bit jarring. Overall, I liked it, and Im glad to have read it. Knowing that he viewed the original series as a "failed TV show" helps explain why he couldnt understand why so many people wre so devoted to it until he decided to get out into the crowd and see what it was like from another perspective. Shatner is an interesting dude.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

Re: Completely Undetectable Feline Fury has a 0phenomenal sense of smell. She can track and target by scent. This became known to some of our enemies when they tossed a smoke grenade at her feet, and she proceeded to mop the floor with the SPYDER agents anyway. The last time we fought SPYDER, the combat team leader ordered another smoke grenade thrown at Feline Fury, and he lobbed basically a "black pepper bomb" as well. I didnt feel deprived, even though I couldnt use my enhanced sense, because the GM had had the bad guys notice what I did, and take appropriate steps to counter-act me. Groovy! If Id tried to scent out the SPYDER agents in the first encounter and been told "They have no scent", Id have been miffed. As it was, I was actually kinda -proud- that Id made them alter their tactics. Just for me My take on the Secret Invasion? I think having EVERYONE be fooled by their shenanigans may have been going too far. Fool Wolvie's sense of smell? Great. Iron Man's sensors? Sure. But BOTH Xavier and Doc Strange? Thats a little far-fetched to me, even for Marvel continuity. *Koff koff* Excuse me. Apparently, nowadays, saying "Marvel" and "continuity" in the same sentence isnt as easy as it used to be. *a-KHEM* See ? (Must have been Mephisto's doing)

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... ...While thinking she was killing REO Speedwagon* *Robot Chicken reference

Re: The Deconstructing of Wynnie Wonder Revenant: Would try to buy a controlling interest in Edge E. Industries, the company that now owns Wonder Toys. He would also do some serious digging to see if that company or its top execs have any dirty secrets; secrets that if revealed would drive the price of their shares down (making it easier for him to acquire). If he -can- acquire the company, he then re-assigns Wynnie to a "Special Projects Division" under his direct supervision, whereupon he basically tells her that she is now free to be whomever she wants to be. If he is unable to acquire her legally, he would probably try to accumulate as much proof as possible, and then "leak" her situation to the press. Hopefully the public would demand that she be freed. (In the campaign world he lives in, there are already a couple of artificially-intelligent life forms that have been granted full civil rights). Feline Fury: Would try to see if she and her friends could "liberate" Wynnie's main-frame and required gear, and relocate her "command center" to their hideout. Feline Fury would acknowledge that this is stealing, but to her, the cause is just.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Well, she WAS talking to Captain Lightning. Captain Lightning looks like Crichton from Farscape. Only he seems to be able to bend the laws of physics when in a vehicle MUCH more easily

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Im beginning to fear Toby the Puma...

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The following are quotes from several different campaigns (Ive fallen behind in posting). My filing "system" got messed up by a surprise visit from my cat jumping ontop of my desk (something hes never done in over 10 years). So if Im re-posting a few of these, please forgive... ------------------- ------------------- Player (OOC): If Im using my ability to "cloud mens' minds" and make us all invisible, and one of us generates light, what happens if someone else comes into the room? Can they see? Or is our light invisible? GM: ....Ow. My brain... ----------------- [Miss Liberty can summon a huge white wolf. Canadienne is a new team mate, and doesnt know this] Spyder Attack Force Leader: We have you outnumbered and out-gunned, Titans! Feline Fury: Libby! The dog! Bring the dog! Miss Liberty: Right! Canadienne: "Bring the dog"?!? What does THAT mean? Is it some kind of trash-talk? I dont understand American slang! ----------------------- Canadienne *rolls dice*: (OOC) Because of the hyper-dice, I rolled an "E" --------------------- Feline Fury: Im the "reliable source"? OMG its the APOCALYPSE! --------------------- --------------------- From the 1930s "Masked Alliance" campaign: ----------------- Captain Lightning (OOC): Id like to run across the lot, slide into the open window, and take off with his car GM: Make an Acro roll Captain Lightning: *Criticals the roll* Mystarra (OOC): *Hums the theme song from "Dukes of Hazzard"* ------------------- Black Bat: You did an Immelmann....in a CAR!! @_@ ------------------ Mystarra (OOC): We didnt want to have to argue about who has to throw themselves onto the laps of Evil! -------------------- Human Rocket: Find your location? I cant find NEBRASKA! What makes you think I can find an imaginary point somewhere in mid-air that you describe to me over the radio?! ------------------ Captain Lightning: ...Either theyre going to kill each other in there, or they're coming out of there engaged! ------------------ The Evil Priest: *Is shot by the Blue Veil* Evil Priest: Did I not specifically order that all women be searched!? Black Bat: Maybe you're all just that incompetent *Whips out a throwing bat* Evil Priest: *Sighs* ...A sadly probable state of affairs --------------------- Black Bat (OOC): Hes a really great guy Mystarra (OOC): What you dont see is him, off-screen, killing puppies and wearing their skins as banana-sacks Black Bat: ---------------- Mystarra: Everything's less scary once you poke it in the eye! ---------------- ----------------- Kethri: This (Ancient Egyptian) beer is too stout for me! Imet: Nonsense! Properly sliced and buttered it should be just fine!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Wylodmayer started a Star Trek TNG campaign yesterday. The PCs are: Commander Solofa, the Executive Officer, who looks like The Rock, Lieutenant Sinclair the Chief of Security, who looks like Rhona Mitra, and Lieutenant Commander T'shani, Chief of Sciences, who looks like Natalie Portman as a Vulcan Here are some highlights: ---------------------------- Flight Deck Officer: Hey, shuttle Magellan, youre cleared to come in on...oh...lets say approach vector three. Yeah, three. Why not? T'shani:*bothered by the apparent unprofessionalism* Operator, what is your name? FDO: Cassie. Cassie Flynn. Whats yours? T'shani: Lieutenant Commander T'shani. FDO: Nice to make new friends. How are you? T'shani: Vulcan. FDO: Guess theres no point in asking if thats any fun! ------------------------------------------------------------------- GM: Bonding over paperwork...it really -is- a military game! ------------------------- [The discussion turns to how the recyclers work] Sinclair (OOC): [Peter Lorre-type stalker] I want to drink the water recycled from Counselor Trois hot-tub [/Peter Lorre-type stalker] The Rest of Us: ------------------------- Merchant: I was -supposed- to hold onto this signed baseball for a Captain Sisko, from Deep Space Nine, but Ill let you have it now for a good price. Solofa: Sisko? Ben Sisko? I went to the Academy with him. Good guy, but he wont shut up about Louisiana gumbo and baseball. T'shani: I was not aware that baseballs were an ingredient in Louisiana gumbo. GM: *rofl* Solofa: Youre the first Vulcan Ive ever heard make a joke! T'shani *deadpan*: Have I? Solofa: ...AND been Zen! -------------------------- [some of the Science department personnel have gotten into an impromptu debate over territorial markers and group identity boundaries. This all started when Ensign Wick accidentally started to put his stuff in the rather crotchety Dr Corrigan's office by mistake] Ensign Wick: What? Am I seriously being asked a question? Do you really want my opinion, or is someone being -seriously- passive-aggressive?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... *Ahem* Moving on. Some quotes from the Legends Born epic game ----------------- [imet Toth has rolled the highest initiative for the combat] Kethri (OOC): Its not that youre actually -faster- than anyone else here. Its just that your **** is out there so far in front of you.... All: ------------- [Astra's Player walks in on the tail end of a conversation. So to speak] Imet (OOC): Is that, or is that not a snake butt? GM: Yes. Clearly. Astra (OOC): ?!?? ---------------- [A 120 foot long serpent made of pure, darkest shadow, so cold that mist forms at its base, rises up in the Unhallowed darkness] Imet: Come, sister of my heart. Let us take out the trash. Astra *Draws her sword, smiling*: Chores are always so much more fun with you! ----------------- Kethri (OOC): So, whay youre saying is, it regrets ever lurching out of the tomb this morning. -------------- Imet: Ive been playing with Incarnum* GM: And now youre all sticky! [a new kind of magic] -------------- Kethri (OOC): Oh Gawd! You didnt just "cross the line"; you went screaming across it on fire, sideways! ------------ Imet (OOC): I forgot to use my amulet of memory today. Kethri (OOC): Ironic. ------------ Astra (OOC): I hit with four of the five arrows. *Rolls damage, totalling near maximum on each* GM: He is "Un-pleased". Imet (OOC): As well as "Un-Dead" and "Un-likely to make it outta here"! ------------- Imet (OOC): I march in, Holy Axe a-swingin! Kethri (OOC): Is that a euphamism for something? --------------- Kethri *looks at the battlemat, then starts singing "Achey Breakey Heart"* Astra (OOC): ................Why. Kethri (OOC): Cause of he casts a Lightning Bolt on us, its -gonna- be a Line Dance! ---------------- Imet (OOC): Thats not a bra! Thats a protective device! ------------ [The Epic-level Vampire Lord is frustrated by the fact that his score of powerful Vampire assassins are being destroyed en masse by Imet Toth, his sarcophagus is being wrecked by Kethri, Astra keeps pinning him with arrows, and the Unhallow/Desecration effect is being ruined by Gwynnifer] Epic Vamp Lord: Kill them! KILL THEM ALL! Astra: Give us a moment, and WE WILL! -------------- [seth is a master rogue who can turn invisible. Mutara is a Church Inquisitor who can see invisible things, and kinda likes Seth. "Likes him" likes him.] Seth: Quit looking at me all the time when Im trying to be sneaky! Its like youre my mother! Mutara: *sigh* Just what every girl wants to hear. --------------- Astra *heals Jaycen* Jaycen: I love you! Astra: I love you, too! Id like to keep you around a bit longer! Imet *heals Jaycen* Imet: I wouldnt quite say that I love you, but I -have- grown rather fond of you. --------------- Kethri: We should have a lottery, so that poor people, who cant afford to see new lands or go new places or do people can...er...um....did I just say "do people"?!? Imet and Astra: --------------- Imet (OOC): Yep. We are all just a little bit more broken than we were when we got up this morning ---------------- Astra: Why did he DO that?!? Imet: We'll have to ask him when hes dead ----------------- Imet (OOC): I happen to have 10 points of Fire Resistance. GM: Congratulations; youve just been hit with a Polar Ray Imet (OOC): Thats a massive cold shoulder! -------------- Kepu'kamen the Evil Big Bad: Ive subverted your friends, your lands, even your WOMAN! Imet Toth: You have cast a few spells. Those can be undone. You were always short-sighted, even back when we were training together as Acolytes. Kepu'kamen: Thats why I gave myself over to the will of the Scarlet Empress! Imet Toth: You sold yourself to a Hellgod. *sigh* Even more short-sighted. ------------- Astra: Im getting too old for this. [Astra is still a teenager] -------------- Astra (OOC): If I stick my sword into Kepu-kamen's body, does the fight music start again, like it did at the end of Conan the Destroyer?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From the Maiden's Honor campaign: ------------ Sir Matthew (OOC): Well, Father Covington -is- dressed in "basic black". Capt. Blackheart (OOC): Hes a NINJA! ------------ GM: So, you get into a game with several clerks, a few Ministers, and the Prime Minister himself. Make a couple of gambling rolls. Captain Blackheart *rolls* (OOC): I critical..... Twice. GM: *confirms the rolls*: So you have. Well, add a level of Wealth, and now you own the Prime Minister's shirt as well as some land in the Orkneys! -------------- Captain Blackheart (OOC): I take a 5 foot step to here, and prep to HURT somebody, if they present themselves. Father Covington (OOC): Im "sombody"! -------------- GM: Where are you at 2 AM? Sir Matthew (OOC): Im "Sleepless in Salisbury".

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... A few quotes from the New Titans ----------------- Canadienne: Do you think we could meet Alan Thicke? Neutron: If we're going to meet famous Canadians, Id hope it would be Pamela Anderson, or William Shatner. Canadienne: Meh. Pamela Anderson, maybe. Feline Fury *to her Trekkie boyfriend Fusion*: Down. Calm. Fusion: What?!? Id sure like to meet Pamela Anderson! Feline Fury: Down. Calm. -------------------- Canadienne *impatiently*: There's gotta be a third world dictatorship we can topple. Or a rogue nation. I dont know; theres SIX of us! ------------------ Feline Fury (OOC): Initially I wanted to interfere, but then I realized that since Canadienne is a Heavy Brick, "No" means "Traction". ------------- [The PCs are at a costume party. Neutron and his girlfriend Natalie are there as Caesar and Cleopatra. They get alone in a VIP room] Neutron: Behold the power and glory of ROME! Natalie: ---------------- [Canadienne tries to throw herself at Samson, the teams "bad boy". Samson turns her down gently, because he knows shes under age and it would be bad for her] Canadienne: Damn! Why did HE have to have depth!?!

Re: A Game Of Questions Where -hasnt- it been?!?

Re: What was Marvel's best decade? Pretend that I said this.

Re: Idea: Super Hero "Morality scale" Thats exactly what made playing Guardian Alpha fun; those decisions. That dilemma. GA came to believe that once you bend your morals, even a little, you had permanently compromised what you were, and become something lesser. That once you started down that slope, you no longer had the perspective to see where you really were. One little step leads to another. And yet, he was as prone to mistakes and misjudgements as anyone else. Guardian ALpha stopped Troubleshooter from looting the wallets of some goons we had stopped during a robbery attempt. Troubleshooter had to give each one back the $40 or so they each had. Then, after a fight with super-agents on a suspension bridge, Guardian Alpha went into the river and retrieved a pair of super-tech hoverbikes that had been ditched during the fight. And he gave them to Troubleshooter, thinking it might be nice for TS to be able to get around faster. It never occurred to GA that he had made Troubleshooter give back a couple hundred bucks, and then turned around and GAVE him several hundred thousand dollars of someone elses hoverbikes. Oops.

Re: Idea: Super Hero "Morality scale" Okay, you talk better than me I agree with you almost completely on these points. I jsut didnt think to say it like that. I dont mean that superheroes have a "higher" moral code than everyone else. Just that they have more of a tendency, inclination, and ability to make the better decisions and do the harder thing which is also the better thing. More options, yeah. Same choices, sure. Superheroes, in order to fulfill the genre, should ON THE WHOLE have more will to do whats right, over whats expedient or whats easy. Also, some characters will naturally take this farther than others. But a "superhero" who is a casual killer is not a hero in my book.

Re: Idea: Super Hero "Morality scale" I got sent a private tell asking me a couple of questions. As I assume that the person who asked did not wish to do so publicly, I shall refrain from giving you their name. However, I think the questions asked were valid, and I want you to see my response. The message asked why I feel that the so-called "Iron Age" was so bad. That "killing, and imposing values, is accepted in every other genre". That the hereos of action movies, horror movies, and even some supers movies (like the Tim Burton "Batman" movies) kill people. The poster asked me why "they should be able to do this, and yet comics heroes should not?" "Why are Silver Age fans so arrogant, insisting on their double standard, and saying that the Iron Age fans are sociopathic " (Point of order: I am a Bronze Age fan. I hate Bat-Mite as much as the rest of you) My response: The simple answer to these questions is that all other genres are concerned with "Heroes". Comics are concerned with "Superheroes". Its not the powers that make them what they are. Achilles was invulnerable. Herakles was supernaturally strong. Finn McCool was able to access vast supernatural wisdom and knowledge. What makes them "Superheroes" is this: Adherance to a higher moral code. Your point about "original Superman" being willing to kill is as appropriate as those people who point out that Batman carried a gun for the first several issues of his existence. Meaning, not at all. And Ill tell you why. Superman's original appearances, and that of Batman not long after, back in 1938, were the spearhead of a new genre. Those early footsteps were a bit shakey, as the writers and artists tried to find their footing in this new kind of heroic storytelling. The adherance to a higher moral code is what seperates Superman and Batman from earlier masked adventurers and Pulp heroes like The Shadow, Spyder (Master of Men), and Doc Savage. All of the pulp-era heroes were willing to plug a mook or throw an anarchist off a cliff. They were hard-boiled, tough, no-nonsense types. Were they heroes? Yes. Were they superheroes? Not....quite. Not yet. Rebel soldiers, even the Jedi, are Heroes. Not superheroes. Action heroes, horror movie main characters, and all the rest you mentioned arent -supposed- to live up to a higher moral code, because its not an expected part of the genre. And non-comics readers who direct superhero films, like Tim Burton, dont understand that. Burton -bragged- that he had never read a comic book in his life. THATS why he got it wrong. His "Batman" can drop people off rooftops because hes NOT Batman. Adherance to a higher moral code is, plain and simple, HARDER than just killing your opponent. Anyone can do that. But a superhero HAS to find another way. A better way. Thats what defines them. If you see this stance as "arrogant", Im sorry. But its what I believe. And Im not alone. The so-called "Iron Age" grates on so many of us because we have a long tradition that was, basically, spat upon. And is still being spat upon by things like "One More Day", and "Civil War".

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The following are from a new 1930's Heroes game Im in ------------------------ GM: Do any of you speak Chinese? Midnight Man (OOC): I speak English and Bad English. And the language of pain. Watchman (OOC): *mimes cocking a gun* He speaks "Ching-Ching Pow" ---------------------- Watchman: You ladies stay here, where its safe. Dr. Sinclair [also a PC]: ....He wants us to stay here, till they come and tie us up like they ALWAYS do?!? No sir! Im NOT doing it! *Runs out and proceeds to kick thug booty with rapier and whip* --------------------- GM: Okay, so this group of Sai Fan are "Slowed". They doing what they were doing, but now they look like theyre doing it in the movie "300" ----------------------- Salem (OOC): Adjacent ninjas take priority ---------------------- Dr. Sinclair (OOC): I cant do math after midnight. Its a "thing". Like Gremlins. --------------------- Midnight Man: *Shoots the Sai Fan assassin who poisoned him with a blade, knocking the Sai Fan off the pier and into the bay, where there may be sharks*: So long, CHUM ------------------- GM: Okay, youve wrapped your whip around the thug's ankles. Do you want to make him resist your trip with Strength, or Dex? Dr. Sinclair (OOC): Dex. I want to use his "Mook" against him!

Re: Idea: Super Hero "Morality scale" Nightlife was a very interesting game, in that regard. I think Dead Guy On Tab has an interesting idea. Although its not something to be introduced to a game after the fact. Id only be comfortable with a set-up like that if I knew it was in place from the very beginning. Honestly, I dont really think such a scale is really "needed", except perhaps as a method of helping a GM keep track of how the NPCs are supposed to function. Most Players build their characters to reflect how "in touch" they are, and decent RP can cover the rest

Re: Concepts You Just Can't Build on 350 points. When someone in our group tries to stat out a character "homage", and falls short due to point constraints, once it is clear that it wont work, the Player often says something along the lines of "I am changing this character's name to Paper Tiger". The other popular name to change to is "Pale Shadow"