Duke Bushido

For what it's worth, be mindful of the little reaction face that looks like sympathetic sadness. It's actually just "you made me sad" and inflicts negative rep just like the down arrow does. Don't use it unless you mean it.

Fair enough, Sir. This being the first time I've ever heard of Pheonix Command, I'll have to take your word for it.

Oh yes; I'm quite familiar with Shadowrun- at least the first two editions. (I got suckered into it by being told it was cyberpunk. It wasn't until after I had bought the damned book that I realized it was Dungeons and Cyborgs). I was familiar with it when I commented that HERO combat-- while exquisite in possibilities and modeling--is the slowest modern system of which I am aware. Lots of fun, but very slow.

Personally, I say do what you like best: that's what the game touts as it's strongest point anyway: you can do anything. My only comment about this relates to your mentioning that the players are all new to HERO. HERO has, no matter how much we fans enjoy it, hands-down the slowest combat system for any tabletop RPG (with the _possible_ exception of the original Aftermath from way back when, and even then only if you were using every possible option). Given that this is a hard enough sell to new players, I'd be a bit hesitant before I added the amount of crunch you're considering.

That's the simplest way to do it, if you're looking for reliable, small boosts along and along. If you're looking for a one-shot spectacular, you can do either a limitation along the lines of "not available until X points are stored (and remember the drain rate will still apply, encouraging your character to get in and really mix it up so he can soak a few hits) Or you can pump the absorb into End and then" push" the power, burning up the End on the spot. You can- though there's more expenditure cost-wise and more book-keeping this way- build a separate "damage bonus" power that is fueled from an END pool that can only be charged via the absorb. Personally, I like the push model, as there is minimum bookkeeping and the "bonus points" from the absorb- bring End, are used up on the spot. At work, so I don't have a lot of time to expand on that, but I think I got the idea across, anyway.

Ah-- the bump jogged my memory: this one was from years and years ago. Had a player with a DNPC elderly grandmother. As GM, it was left to me to do the write-up for "Nana." Typical elderly person with a sharp mind and failing body, with a minor super-power: Nana had a feel for traffic. Born of her long years of practice and patience, she always knew just which line to stand in at the market, and just when you should switch lanes-- and to which one-- on the way to and from the market, periodically even when to take a different route entirely. It stopped short of being a "useful" power, but was a lot of fun to just "do" during secret ID scenarios. I whipped that gag along for nearly two years-- Nana saying "no; not that one, Dear; go to number two: he looks like he's paying with cash!" and "you see poor condition of that car? And the dent in the rear fender when he passed us? He's not a careful driver, Dear. Move over another lane, so we don't get caught up with him...." And of course, periodic noticing that Nana had given sage advice: the lane you were headed for features a teenaged boy trying to figure out who to write a check while arguing about his coupon" or "you ease past the logjam in the two rightmost lanes, and see that same little blue Datsun T-boned into a squad car..." It took about two years-- Nana happened to be nearby when the heroes had to evacuate their base while being chased by the mastermind of the current arc-- of course they're all out-of-costume, attempting to blend in, blah-blah--- Nana's creeping by in her car; the heroes' jump in-- Let me drive, Nana; it's an emergency! These are my friends and we're in trouble!" Weird chase scene ensues, during which-- thanks to much advice from Nana-- they actually manage to completely lose their pursuer all while driving a thirty-year-old Caddy and half the posted speed limit. David has a snap, breaks character, and stares me in the eyes, his own bugging with revelation: "It's a goddamned super power, isn't it?!" The others bugged eyes for a minute, and suddenly everyone was rolling. Man, that was a flash from the stone ages, right there.... Duke

Holy Hell! AOL is still a thing?!

Get up, clean lake etc, etc, etc. I was born in Circle, Alaska in 1960. When I was 13, my father and grandfather went in together and bought a largish generator. The diesel engine was shot out, but they rigged it to a steam engine, which drew from the same wood-fired boiler that heated the barn. My grandfather, us, and a couple of uncles all drew light from that generator. As for the accuracy of this report, it shouldn't be _that_ hard to check it out: when I left Alaska in '84 (nope; I'm not from the south, but I got here as fast as I could), the "electric company" was supplying power to the entire town with a massive diesel generator. As far as I know, they still are. It's a long damned way from anywhere else.

And you just can't hand out tetanus with a blaster, no matter what condition it's in.....

Sorry, Amigo. I try to find the better side of most everything. Sometimes I just can't do it.

Sir, there are storm drains I rate higher than either of those movies. :/ Though Fargo at least had Macy in it, who I _always_ enjoy, even at his worst. The rest of the list isn't too bad, though. Yeah; I know: Raising Arizona and Fargo are, for reasons I am completely unable to see, are absolutely beloved movies. They just didn't do it for me.

In the interest of full disclosure: I grew up farming in a house that didn't have electricity until I was thirteen. I never really developed a TV habit. To this day, I don't think I watch two hours a week. Though I may start to do it, since it now has fewer commercials than youtube. yep. Six months from sixty, I totally feel the disconnect.

It's not a switch. It's a mineral absorption problem. It's when the iron in your blood doesn't do it's thing properly, and turns to lead in your backside.

Stock piling won't work. We've already lost the tastiest banana a few decades back. Been so long I can't remember what it was called, but that "candy banana" everyone swears doesn't taste like a banana? It tastes like the banana we lost to the first banana blight.

Well of course it wasn't in America. We have shot enough people to know that it only makes them slower.

I think the fact that I straight-up asked myself "who the *)^$ is Elizabeth Banks, then did a quick google, and found myself still not knowing anything more than "American actress" pretty well answers that.

I don't know if this is what you want to hear, but I thought I'd share my experience from when I tried something similar way back when the first Fantasy HERO was still new, back in third edition: The players tended to stop being noble adventurers and began looting everything they could, constantly badgering that if EP could be rewarded in place of treasure, then treasure could be converted to EP. I wanted it to work, primarily for the simplicity of it, and to give a couple of D&D recruits that "EP for treasure" feel they were comfortable with, but in the end it was a total bust.

Got mine on Google Play. Didn't even know there was a dub; thanks for the tip!

Sorry. Didn't know that. This was a movie; it had Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue. And it was just _terrible_.

The Saint. Holy GOD did that thing suck! I haven't disliked a been more bored with a "thriller" since-- _ever_. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, then the credits rolled. Damn that was a crap movie! Why was it so popular?!

I don't know. I'm having a barrel of laughs with it. I'm also really enjoying the writing style and character flaws of your "author."

I have no idea where to put this, and "other genres" seems appropriate. No; I'm not looking to tear it apart or ask questions about it. I just wanted to say that I spent this afternoon reading it. Yeah; I'm probably the last guy to buy it (that's just the way it tends to go for me ), but I read it today-- the PDF, anyway. I intend to read it again when the printed book shows up. First: it took me far to long to make the connection between the Bill Keyes listed on the cover and our own Bill Keyes. That was humorously embarrassing. Second: I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was well-written, with an easy, comfortable writing style that read quickly and lightly. I want more! I have to say that overall, it's not my thing-- well, Steampunk is something I've enjoyed for quite some time, but the over-all tone built into the offered setting is a bit 'dark' for my tastes, or rather, to be more accurate-- a bit dark for what I like in Steampunk. I suppose I'm a Verne at heart. Still, I can't say enough good things about this book, over all. Even though it tends to be a bit dark by default, it's not overtly depressing or dehumanizing, and is filled, particularly near the end, where the suggestions start coming hard and fast-- with suggestions on lightening things up. I wasn't too keen on the baked-in presence of magic, but again-- lots of suggestions on ignoring that, and they worked well. Oddly, I didn't mind magic as it relates to the talents of Savants. It seemed almost appropriate there. One thing I would liked to have seen was a bit more information on the "ancient evil beasties." No; I don't need write-ups for a piece of background, particularly one that is expressly described as not taking direct action in the setting, ever. But I would like to know just _why_ they are interested in humans and technology-- at least, more than the vague mentions that they are in fact interested-- and why this interest waxes and wanes across generations. To a lesser extent, I would like to know the effects on humans of this waxing and waning. I suppose to sum it up: is this something unique to the setting? Is it important to the history or the future adventures of the game? Or was this an afterthought to bring this wordbook in line with the much-unloved universal timeline dropped on us in 5e and not yet abandoned? Still, that's rather minor, as if I chose to run with this book, I could always invent what I needed and ignore what I didn't. And I confess that it _is_ helpful that the provided introductory adventure leaps directly to the machinations of these great evil beings and their attempt to use Savants to open a dimensional gateway. But that also seems pretty close to direct intervention. Still, it does provide an idea of the motives the evil and how they influence the world. I'd just like something a bit more concrete. However, if you haven't checked it out, I can't recommend it enough, if only for pleasure reading. It's just really well-done, and should be considered a high-water mark for third-party products. (What I really wish, though, was that the HERO version got the same cover as the Savage Worlds version. )

It's all good, Archer. Gave me a reason to re-read some of that stuff. Ever notice once something becomes so second nature to you, you don't go back to the sources like you should? I had totally forgotten that Dive for Cover was a maneuver since 2e, for example. So hey-- not only no harm, but you forced me to squeeze something fun on a personal level into my schedule. Thanks!

Sweet! On the gulf or inland?

Man, you are _good_!