massey

Re: WWYCD: A Bomb for Two Cities We have multiple speedsters in our group. We also have teleporters. The campaign city IS New York City. We disarm both bombs and avoid the side effects.

Re: WWYCD trapped in a quarantined, plague-infested city? Because my character CAN. Your premise sucks. My characters are the most powerful in the game world. There is no one who could stand outside the city and ensure that I didn't leave. If they discover that I am in the city, they will be happy, because I will FIX it. Any hero attempting to interfere will quickly be curb-stomped. Sentinal would use his gadget VPP to build a variable-frequency radiation emitter that he will broadcast over the entire city. This radiation will affect the plague only (because I'll buy it that way in the power pool). This is a problem I'll solve in an afternoon. You can do that when you're as smart as Dr Destroyer.

Re: Help: Elephant Man? Here's a good elephant man pic.

Re: WWYCD if a supers-eating wave swept reality? This is not an interesting WWYCD. There are only 3 possibilities: 1) Everyone dies, except morons. Then they die because they're not competent enough to survive. 2) We turn ourselves into Eloi. 3) Some powerful characters ignore the parameters of the scenario and say "I'm going to stop it anyway." I have a character or two who CAN stop the reality wave. It will make the GM mad, but in this case, I don't care. This is one of those scenarios where I get up from the table, slap the gamemaster, and say "You don't get to run anymore, Chris!" What do you intend to DO after this? Your game is over. You've just eliminated all the heroes and villains. No soup for you.

Re: WWYCD if their reflection suddenly winked at them? "Yep, I'm daaaaamn sexy." I then check out my package in the mirror. Yep, still sexy.

Re: WWYCD if a supers-eating wave swept reality? Sentinal would build a dimensional portal that would allow everyone to leave Earth and go to an alternate "empty" Earth where none of this was happening. Red Enigma would fly up to the reality wave and punch it unconscious.

Re: Using M&M's Rule of X in HERO Rule of X was not in 4th edition. It first appeared in Fuzion.

Re: Using M&M's Rule of X in HERO Hero uses a bell curve, so you're better off if you stay away from extremes. There's not much of a difference between a 14 DCV and a 17 DCV. Both are high enough that most characters can't hit you, so they'll resort to Area Effect attacks and Explosions. The bell curve benefits people in the middle by marginalizing the effect of those at the extremes. Of course, with Hero's Defense structure, attacks require a certain minimum amount in order to be useful. In M&M, you can have a +15 attack and a +5 damage. The opponent can always fail his save (or you can always crit, or make use of Autofire, etc). In Hero, a 5D6 attack is less than worthless. It's bad, because not only does it NOT penetrate the target's defense, but it also used up your action and cost you Endurance. M&M works because it's a linear progression for both attack and damage. Each point is 5%. If you've got an 8 attack and a 12 damage, you're 40% likely to hit (vs a default of 10/10) and 60% likely for him to fail his save by 5 or more. With a 4 attack and a 16 damage, you're 20% likely to hit and 80% likely for him to fail by 5 or more. There's a direct relationship between hitting and damage. In Hero, the bell curve says you're better off going for a slightly above average chance to hit and a reasonably powerful attack. Of course, once you consider Desolidification, NNDs, etc, it quickly becomes futile. The method I use is simple. If someone shows me a character that appears to be unbalanced, I say "No. I think he's too powerful for this game. Re-write him, please." I say the same thing if someone tries to play a stupid character idea. "I'm gonna be... the Fiddler!!! He'll have a fiddle, see, and..." "No. I think he's too stupid for this game. Play something else, please." The eyeball is a good test. By the way, a guy with 150 PD and ED is easy pickings for a bank robber with a shotgun.

Re: help my friend is overpowered!!!!! Murder his character. In his sleep.

Re: Power Build: Super Archery April O'Neil was 28. You've got a few years to go.

Re: Old vs new: Obsidian vs Ironclad If Ironclad misses his Find Weakness roll, it's all over but the crying.

Re: Defensive Luck - Just a Power Gamer's Tool?? Combat luck means that the bad guy shoots at James Bond, and we see sparks fly off the railing he's standing behind. Or sparks fly off the ladder he's climbing up. Or it only nicks him, and it's a small flesh wound. Combat luck represents the fact that we know James Bond isn't going to die. There's no dramatic tension when Bond fights goons. He runs around and mows down russian soldiers all the time. HOWEVER, if one of those soldiers manages to hold a gun to his head (they perform the "cover" maneuver), then Bond has to surrender, because now his combat luck doesn't apply anymore.

Re: Starting from the beginning...help me! Well, I'm not incredibly familiar with 3.5, so I'll focus on the more general questions. It should be fairly easy to explain roleplaying to the newcomer. If she has seen Lord of the Rings, simply explain that the players pretend to take on the roles of similar characters in a similar world. Perhaps she would have done something differently than the characters in the film (perhaps, say, launching the ring into Mount Doom via a catapult, or something). It is her chance to "adventure" in a strange land, and she can get as in depth with her character as she chooses (or not, depending on her desires). It's not really rocket-science, so she should catch on very quickly. As far as introductory adventures go, I have always preferred something like: "You're a group of youths in a small village. You've been worried about rumors of humanoid sightings in the forest, and recently a few farmers have disappeared. Last night, one of you went to visit your uncle Marv, only to find his house ransacked and the place empty, except for a hand-scrawled map that points to the old abandoned temple..." When they investigate (and really, they should investigate--otherwise you'll need to have them return to town only to find everyone missing), have them encounter a handful of enemies--few enough that they should win easily. You can then gauge how many opponents to put into the next encounter based upon how well the characters performed. One tip: have the humanoids preparing for a large sacrifice or some other magic ritual--that way, they have a reason to take the PCs alive if the dice gods turn against the players. It's no fun to have your very first character killed because you couldn't roll above a 2. Good luck!

Why haven't they ever had him harrass anyone else? Mxyzptlk should spend some time messing with Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, or Batman. Or, better yet, the biggest stuffed shirt of them all. Lex Luthor.

Re: Sports HERO I'm not sure how you'd pull off all those "twitch moves" in Hero. Presence attack?

Re: Cosmic Threats I do not believe that Parallax is greater than Galactus. Parallax hunted the Cyborg Superman for years, and could never quite stop him. The last appearance of the Cyborg Superman? The Superman/Fantastic Four giant sized crossover, where Galactus turned him into an inert piece of metal with the bat of an eyelash. That was in '98 or so, and he hasn't reappeared since.

Re: Cosmic Threats Here's my take on it. I will leave out any characters I don't know, as well as any characters who are effectively "one appearance cosmic guys" (meaning, no "two brothers" from the Marvel/DC crossover). And, as always, I will ignore any retcon I don't like. #1: The One Who Is Above All--This is the Living Tribunal's boss. He's also the boss of the Spectre. We all know who He is supposed to be. #2: The Living Tribunal--His power cuts across the multiverse. (wielders of the Infinity Gauntlet go here) #3: Beyonder/Eternity--The Beyonder was the Eternity of his universe. Both are the most powerful beings in their own realities. #4: Death--Though the sister to Eternity, she always seemed more limited in power. #5: Galactus/Celestials/Krona (JLA/Avengers version)/Phoenix (high end)/Anti-Monitor--These are the biggest boys any mortal can hope to interact with (or, actually, to NOT interact with, as the case may be). Their power levels will vary relative to each other. Sometimes Celestials are more powerful, sometimes Galactus is more powerful. The Anti-Monitor holds this spot due to his inherent Pre-Crisis nature. He is probably the weakest of the group, and may belong a spot down. Cosmic cube bearers are in this range as well, at least while they maintain their control. (Chaos/Order/Cronos/Love/Hate--The beings that don't really exist in a real physical sense. They are the embodiment of certain concepts, but they've never seemed to be as high on the prestige scale as Galactus or certain others. I've decided to remove this entire category, as they rarely do anything along the lines of "interaction" with the rest of the universe. But they would have gone here.) #6: Ego, the Living Planet/The Stranger/The Spectre/Mageddon/Solaris/Sun-Eater/Parallax (both versions)/Dr Strange/Mordru--World-shaking power, but it's usually limited in some way. While the Spectre can arm-wrestle Eternity when he's got "permission", he's usually outside his jurisdiction in any cosmic affairs (or anything involving aliens, etc), so he's bound by a non-interference clause that puts him lower on the list than he would be otherwise. Dr Strange has physical limits, but he's incredibly powerful magic-wise, so when he's in his rhythm, he ranks here. #7: Thanos/Darkseid/The Grandmaster (and other Elders of the Universe)/The Surfer (when he's on his game)/Odin/Zeus/Adam Warlock/Watchers/Guardians/Phoenix (low ebb)--This is the top level of power for non-conceptual types. Some might be more powerful than others (I think Darkseid can take the Grandmaster), but they've got equal "cosmic standing", so to speak. #8: Bearers of an Infinity Gem/Thor/Hercules/Superman/Wonder Woman/GLs/Sinestro--These folks are powerful, but they lack the... breeding necessary to be any higher. In the cosmic scheme of things, they always get left out (despite things like Superman defeating Darkseid or Thor beating Ego). Effectively, these guys have no real defense or warning against "cosmic" effects (consider such to be an NND, with the defense being "cosmic standing"). This list may seem a little Marvel-centric, but that's because I was absolutely never interested in DC's cosmic stuff. It never seemed nearly as cool or interesting.

Re: What would you trade for wealth? I'll sell my Int and Ego down to the next skill roll bonus. I don't need a 20 Int. An 18 will do just fine. I'm keeping my Com. I'll sell off an inch of running, too. It'll let me keep my half-move the same.

Re: CHAR: Captain America

Re: CHAR: Captain America Cap is not low powered.

Re: CHAR: Captain America Special effects would seem to preclude the use of the shield with his offensive strike, as that maneuver is defined as "various kicks". That would limit him to 18DC before pushing.

Re: CHAR: Midnighter The biggest problem which you might have representing the Midnighter is that he is prepared for combat in almost a quantum-computing, "all-possible worlds" way. It's like his entire life is spent subconsiously positioning himself in such a way to gain combat advantage. Game-wise, it's like he will always be prepared with skills, powers, and abilities (all appropriate to his bio-boosted self) which are always appropriate for the threat he is going to face, even though the "player" wouldn't know the vulnerabilities, defenses, and maneuvers of the person he is fighting. Basically, it seems like the Midnighter ONLY loses fights he CANNOT possibly win. If there is any way possible to win the fight, then Midnighter wins it. He's an automatic munchkin. I disagree. That is how he is described. It is not, however, how he is portrayed. This is a guy whose reputation is greater than his actual prowess. It seems many people have read a handful of Authority issues and deduced that he is a god in combat. That isn't true. Hawksmoor fought him to a standstill (back when they'd taken over the US). He went several rounds with one of Kaizen Gamorrah's super soldiers (not that he couldn't hurt the guy, but that he couldn't HIT the guy). He got one-shot by a superpowered Aretha Franklin gospel singer. And Lobo outright schooled him HARD. The thing to remember, is that despite all the talk, the Midnighter does not plow through every opponent. He is not vastly better than everyone he faces. His writeup should have perhaps an extra combat level or two above the next best martial artist, and great physical stats as well. He should have high analyze combat rolls (sometimes, his combat computer fails, so it does have a possibility to not work), and definitely some combat luck. But he shouldn't have 15 overall levels unless your Hawksmoor has 9 or 10. He's not that good. He's not Val Armorr.

Re: The Marvel Magnificent Seven (Avengers) Hank Pym's most important contribution to the Avengers is having that kid of his. What kid? Ultron.

Re: Captain Atom? He is not a demibrick. He's almost as strong as Superman.

Re: Eating your lunch... I enjoy D&D derivatives because they're quick and simple. They're nice beer and pretzels type games, and I like the level of abstraction they contain. No system is going to accurately simulate combat, and the more complex a rules system becomes, the more unrealistic I find it. At least with an abstract system, I can visualize it to my tastes. Quick advancement? Not a problem. I don't have time to play that often, anyway, so I'd like to see some development in the short playing time I have available. Lack of "role-play"? That has to do with your players, not the game system. Same old jokes? That's the players, not the system.