Duke Bushido

I cannot directly answer your question, as I dont play 6e, but I suspect you are not the only one doing that; that is essentially hiw Package Deals worked way back when. Why that changed is a bit baffling, particularly in light of point 2: I camnot see how it wouldn't work in 6e, seeing as how "matching complications" do lots of things except actually match something. If you want 500 point characters,you build them. Then you take your complications and build up however many >ahem< "matching" complications you are supposed to have for this particular campaign, and off you go. Given that this makes points values for Complications kind of (but not completely) meaningless as any sort of points-balancing device, you have the option of declaring these Template complications either zero-point or declaring that freebie starter points are reduced by an equal amount. They are, essentially, the in-game cost or role-playing cost of having selected a certain template.

This is so very much like the response I get when offering non-DnD games to prospective players... "How about D and D, but like _this_ instead of that?" (Where "this" usually means 'my favorite character type levels up thrice as quickly as all others, is immortal, and has access to all the magic, all the time.')

It is a matter of what workaround does "more or less" what you expect to be able to do under the circumstances. Remember that what you are ultimately looking for is a cheaper way to model SPD+30.

Yes;and you are welcome. That was my own collection that was sacrificed for the initial scans. Favorite article? Swarms.

Pretty sure I have posted this before, but for me, it's like Christmas music: you just gotta have it!

Out of deference to Tribble, hiw many fingers did he have before and after?

Excellent idea, Sir! Perhaps x amount of pool or xD6 of pool gets refilled, or a brief reduction or moratorium on pool costs for a length of time?

Precisely: it actually makes it both easier on the GM, who no longer has to keep pressing danger / horror / inevitable outcome, and more tangible to the players, as the risk is not only real and easy to grasp, but it comes with management toola that are in their own hands. First, I have do say it is an idea I have been toying with _in this specific application_ (I use it a lot for magic spells to enchant others-- the fuel charge, I mean) since someone here a few weeks back mentioned a comic book- Strikeforce Mortuary? I dont remember; I remember it was an odd name, but definitely Strikeforce something. Anyway, the premise was you took some procedure, got superpowers, and were dead within X time, but (I think) didnt know exactly when. Putting all the powers and abilities on a shared duel charge seemed like an ideal base for this idea, which put me in mind of that god awful movie about the guy who escaped from Hell and his entire existence was on a fuel charge. Anyway, -- No, wait. There is a better place. Agreed, but I would be good with one of two possible uses: First, as you state, the campaign has a specific goal, and upon completion of this goal, the game is over. This means the characters have at least a chance of surviving and then putting down their super powers and living out whatever remains of their lives. I would be equally happy with a campaign that _does have_ a logical "good ending" (repeling the alien invaders and saving the world; destroting the last of the elder horrors before he devours the sun- whatever) that may not ever actually be attained within the lives of a particular set of characters, but everything that the characters do achieve moves closer to that goal, and makes it more attainable by those who will come later, whether that be another batch of PCs or not. In short, so long as the decisions of the characters have _significant_ impact on making the goal more attainable- so long as success- even if attained by others later- is obviously only attainable because of what these characters do-- Well, I would be good with that, too. There it is. There is the better place. There are a lot of things I have toyed with during this thought exercise, and specifically for that reason: suppose, like in Strikeforce Whooziwhatsis, the end goal is noble sacrifice? Suppose it is important to the overall story that at least one character does in fact die, or that at least one death be completely inevitable (you grimdark jackass, you. ). Roll a die every day. Deduct either the STUN or BODY (or both) from the pool every day. BODY damage affects the pool. Any time a character takes BODY damage, some portion (any portion, even 200 percent if you like) is deducted from the pool. Crises- deeply stressful situations like overcoming a psychological limitation or having to make an EGO check- if a roll is failed, an amount of points related to the failure is deducted. Ghoulishness- perhaps these abilities come with ability to draw upon the pools of others as well as or instead of your own? More heroic: some sort of minor (or major, even) healing ability is granted to everyone who gains these fuel charge powers, but not only is the END xost of the power paid from the pool, but all "healed" points are paid out of the pool as well? Certainly "roll your daily deduction" drives home the ticking of a clockspring that will never be wound again, aa does mking the pool a tertiary damage tracker of sorts, but don't forget the dramatic potential of making it very, very difficult for a noble character to _not_ use his abilities.

Okay,,,...

Mock away, Sir. Keep in mind at all times, however, that even more than Christmas, national "GTFO, England!" Day is the most celebrated holiday on the planet. Why, pretty someone somewhere every few weeks is celebrating chasing the British back to where They came from.

Oddly enough, yes, and it is Cheshire Cat. I have never liked any version if him except the 4e version. And the only other published characters I have ever used are Foxbat and Leroy, but I stick with more or less their original appearances. All that being said, I have used Cheshire Cat a grand total of five? Six times? since his original publication, and Foxbat has seen perhaps twice that. There is a very real reason that I find NPC books a near-waste of money. They are a zero-utility-value item for me. I have the opposite of the popular "all the sifferent comic book company characters all at once in my universe" problem: I find that other people's creations and preconceptions don't blend into my games well, and if I have to undertake a major re-write to make a published character work-- well, given how much I enjoy character creation for its own sake, I really would prefer to just make a character who works from the get-go.

You wouldn't be wasting your time, per se, but it doesn't have what you want. What you are suggesting, ultimately, is a character with a limited life span- call it what you want: limited sanity; limited life span; becomes one with the cosmos after X event- whatever. This can be handled two ways. The first and most practical- and oddly, the most difficult, is to handle this narratively. Keep hammering home the impending change, the nature of the horror, and keep the specter fresh and ever-present for the players. The problem with this is the Great Numb. It is the same problem presented by grimdark settings and the recent wave of Superman universe movies: you keep hammering home the dark and moody and the players either begin to suffer from low-key depression or just get so overwhelmed they stop noticing or, at the extreme, even caring. The other option is to handle the situation mechanically. You can create a new mechanic, or you can use an existing one. What you are ultimately after is timer, after all. You don't necessarily want to have the players know that "in sixteen sessions, my mind is going to slip and I start chucking villagers into volcanoes" or anything like that, but you do want to keep the suspense real for the players, and perhaps add some uncertainty as to "when the thing happens." There was a comic book movie I saw years and years ago- it was.... Not good, but the premise was that some guy died, went to Hell, and came back with super powers. The caveat was that he had X amount of 'Hell Power' or whatever it was, and he could use as much as he wanted at any time, but when it was all gone, back to Hell he went for eternal punishment. This is, after a fashion, a timer. This also works really well with the given HERO mechanics: each character starts with a five thousand point non-recovering END pool ("fuel charge" for certain editions), and when it is used up, poof! Full-on demon. Or manufacture a new tracking characterisitic- Mana or something. Use it to power abilities, and when it is gone, Time's Up, so to speak. You can even mandate an automated loss (a point a day, more, less- whatever) so that the end is inevitable. In this case, though, I wouldn't make them pay for this time limit pool, unless you are allowing pools of any size, etc. It is just how powers are defined to work in this universe, and the more power you use, the faster you will burn out. For what it is worth, I like this one the most as it really does keep the situation in the player's minds, and even ups the tension ante by providing them a scant few tools to manage the rate if their descent, and require them to make in the spot decisions about power usage even knowing that they are hastening the end. Additionally, I love a good ensemble cast in a long-running show, and nothing says "ensemble cast" like characters with built-in expiration dates. A third and more complicated method is to decide that final disaster is just at hing in this world, but stat it up as some sort of T-form, stat out how everything interacts with that T-form, how to slow it down, what accelerates it, etc, but at the end if the day, that is just a method for you to feel really clever about yourself, because the end result is the same as the simpler "timer pool" mechanic, plus you have added bookkeeping that is way more complicated than "deduct another four points" but doesn't change the end result in any significant way (unless you forgot to line-out the "damage heals back" thing, in which case T-form is a long-con get-out-of-jail-free card for the players).

Me at 63: I can't go out; I'm already in my jams!

Let's see.. story so far.... Some of you know this about me already: I am into motorcycles. I have been pretty much my entire life. Got my first one when I was nine, and I have rarely been without one (or six) since. I have gone entire years of life in which I didn't own a car or a truck, but I had a handful of bikes. Currently I have seven. Many, many years ago, I was an MSF trainer. I got into that as an offshoot of racing, believe it or not. Too many amateur nights with too many people on fast bikes but with no skill to use them. You watch a couple of young guys dump their entire savings on a slick machine and then completely total it on their first run... eh-- you just kind of want to _help_, you know? Maybe it's just me; maybe I figure we should help each other, particularly if it doesn't really hurt us to do so, and still makes the place safer for those around us. So between drag racing and off road racing, I got certified as an MSF instructor, and eventually even offered up some racing instruction. I spent twenty years running a web forum dedicated to small bikes, beginning riders, technique, and maintenance, and even gear selection. Do a lot of people ride motorcycles? Well sure, but most importantly to me is that both of my parents, all of my siblings, most of my nieces and nephews, all my kids, and my wife ride them. Because I know they are out there, I want them to be safe, and the best thing I know to do to help with that is to teach them safety, and to teach it to as many other riders as I can. (Believe it or not, this actually kind of counter to MSF teaching, as a lot of what they teach is necessarily wrong. I don't say that lightly, but the fact is that the beginning and intermediate classes-- even the pro clases, in some ways-- are _incomplete_, and the arbitrary definition points are reinforced with "don't do that" or "you're not ready for that" or even "that's not safe," even when the fact is that not only _can_ you brake into a corner, you are safer doing it (but you have to know _how to do it_), but someone decided that's for an advanced class, meaning the new rider will spend the next couple of years practicing to avoid something that could save his life. There are other examples, but that's not what today was about. My latest student-- well, this is a strange one. I worked with her husband until just a few days ago (and hope to again, but we've got a supervisor that is going to have a pull a two-cord stick from his anus first), and I still work with her father. The husband has told me for a couple of years that his wife has _always_ wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle. He doesn't want to; he just wants to help her do what she wants to do. Really? Why? Well, her dad was a motorcycle cop in Mexico. I glance over at her dad's station. He was?! You folks have to understand: her dad is _maybe_ 4'11". Yeah; he was. I've seen pictures from when he was young. He never wore his pistol because it whacked him in the knee when he was walking too fast. So we made some arrangements and I secured a safe area to let her play around with some clutch work. My daughter volunteered her bike because it has an extremely low seat height. I was concerned about the weight of it, but my student's husband assured me his wife would have no problem with it, as in addition to her job and hobbies, she is also a wrestler, and apparently remarkably powerful. We met up and she did some very basic clutch work, just to get a feel for the size of the task she has set for herself. This is also when I discovered that she is 4'4" tall. No; not a dwarf; just really, really short. Fortunately, she really is a slab of muscle, so the first day didn't go as badly as it could have. The bike she was on has a wett weight of about 680 pounds; she did dump it once, but upon being shown the technique, righted it completely be herself. (I also decided to bring a couple of even smaller bikes if she wanted to keep learning. I mean, steering was out of the question that day because-- well, she couldn't reach any further forward than just "to the bars." Pushing one side forward just wasn't going happen unless she stood on the tank. Over the next couple of weeks, we did some very minor skills work (seriously; she mostly has a million questions, and I don't do this for money anymore, so I will quite happily go at a student's pace. Her biggest concerns are all related to her size: she has a fear of not being able to control the bike because of her uniquely limited reaches. That, and she is forever hung up on the idea of "flat footing." I explained that I don't think she could flatfoot an old 250 Rebel or even a Grom, all things considered. As an aside: the "cruiser" style motorcycle crowd has done more to wreck the overall knowledge base of motorcycle skills than any other group. For whatever reason, when you hear truly ridiculous advice, it can almost always be traced back to the cruiser crowd, and they will chant it like a mantra for decades. "Flat footing" is one of those things. Before my spine got crushed and I took a few surgeries to learn to walk again, I was just barely touching 6'2". The list of bikes from my day that I could "flat foot" could be written inside a matchbook. I don't know if I can even remember all the bikes I _did_ ride, though. Heck, one my offroad racers I had to cowboy mount or launch it from the high stand: the seat height was so high that I couldn't even tripod it to take off without risking taking out my own leg. For those who don't know: Cowboy mounting is taking the bike off the stand, standing with the left foot on the left peg, getting the bike rolling, and once it is stable, then you swing your right leg over the seat and onto the right peg. For those who think Cowboy mounting is standing on the peg, swinging a leg over, then getting the bike off the stand, then going--- that's a Police mount. It's also a pretty common way to get on any bike with over-sized luggage, particularly if you have a little age on you. Anyway, the new student, her husband, and I spent several hours talking over the best possible bike for her to get to learn on. Generally, the answer to that is always "used, and pre-beaten," but she really does have some special concerns that make size far more important. I compiled a very short list of things that might work out of the box (mostly "Honda Grom," but hey...). I compiled a longer list of older bikes (they don't really make "small-framed" bikes for the US market anymore) that could, with reasonable modification, serve her well, but with the caveats that each such modification requires a sacrifice, usually in either ride comfort of capability. The hardest thing to stress-- especially to people who listen to cruiser guys-- is that "flat footing" and "duck walking" and even "reversing" are all inventions of the cruiser crowd, and not actually a part of operating a motorcycle. You see, a motorcycle has _wheels_, and the goal of operating one is to _use_ those wheels, particularly if you need to move the bike. The goal of developing skills with the motorcycle is to be able to _not_ walk, but instead use the wheels and the engine that moves them to do your maneuvering for you. At most, at a dead-stop, you should never be at more than tripod-- two wheels, bike leaned, one foot; the other foot on the rear brake (unless you are me, and unable to trust your left leg, in which case your right foot will be on the ground). The cruiser response to tripoding, though, is always the same: "but what about a passenger? How am I supposed to tripod with a passenger?" If you can't tripod a passenger, then you aren't ready for a passenger. It really is that simple. Even though in recent years the majority of my bikes have been cruisers (there just aren't a lot of good Standards or muscle bikes anymore), the complete lack of skills or even knowledge that the cruiser scene is, for some reason, _proud of_ is... disheartening to me. Cruisers are over-represented in accident statistics, and under-represented in training classes, and the first people to believe some of the most outrageous _garbage_ of motorcycle safety. It's like there's a silent "Karen" somewhere in the word "Cruiser." Ha! A silent Karen! As if! (apologies to all outgoing and sensible people named Karen who have been meme-zoned for the next twenty years, though.) Skip ahead-- They went a bit outside my advice for her first bike--- not too terribly outside of it; after all, the bought a used bike fairly inexpensively, even though I specified it was on the extreme outside of what I thought could be adapted to her. (for anyone curious, it's an older Suzuki Savage. Great bike, if you like thumpers), but when you are buying used, you buy what you can afford, right? And frankly, I haven't seen a TU250 in a couple of decades. That, and for some reason, _no one_ wants a 250 anymore! They are worried about "highway speed!" Let's face it: your friends or family aren't going to run off and leave you (that would be _my_ friends and family; thank you very much), and it is going be be six to eight months before the thought of breaking 50 mph isn't absolutely terrifying to you, so why not start on a bike that will help you learn, that forgives more mistakes more readily, and really doesn't lose a lot of resale value even if you work it over with a bat? And honestly, it takes less modification to make such a bike work for an unusually small person. Plus, this particular person, anyway-- could simply carry it to the next gas station if something went wrong. So Friday evening, we started measuring and assessing to see what might need to be done to the bike to make it as ideal as possible for her needs. Saturday and yesterday we started a few light tweaks (not everything is reversible, folks, at least not without money and effort. ). Now something has come up. Her husband just a few days ago "rage quit" the job we share (to be fair, he had reasons, but I wish he hadn't done it, because I knew something he didn't, and he didn't know it soon enough, but that's all I am going to say about that) leaving him with just his night job (who did take him in full time, so that helps a bit, I'm sure). However, now money is a bit tighter for them. Are you guys certain that you want to do this? Give me half a day, and I can undo everything we've done so far, put it right back to factory spec, and you can sell it for exactly what you paid for it inside of three months; fifteen percent less inside of three weeks. (seriously; it's in great shape; it's just a cruiser that isn't the size of a supertanker, and cruiser guys refuse to demonstrate their lack of skill on anything that won't make it as obvious as possible, so you have to kind of wait for a person looking for a commuter or who has a need for a smaller frame size). They talk about it a bit; we all talk about it a bit. The decision is left with her, with the question "do you really think you are going to like riding motorcycles?" "I think so; I would ride with my dad when I was a little kid, and I loved it!" "Yeah, but you're a little adult now; how are you going to feel about it?" "Kinda mad, but mostly because of the short joke." "I was saving it for your husband, actually--" "He's taller than me-!" "So's my dog." And after much poking and hitting, it comes out that she really doesn't know if she is going to enjoy it or not because she has never been on a motorcycle since a couple of spins around the block in her childhood. "Duke." "Yeah, Dude?" "What have you got planned for today?" "Well, I was going to put your wife on this bike, let her put it through some paces, make some notes, and start planning out the heavier mods. If that didn't work, I was going to wait for the heat of the day and ride to Allendale and back." "Where?" "Allendale, South Carolina. It's a dead little town in a dead little county just over the Savannah River that I used to love thirty-odd years ago, before it started dying." "Why there?" "Because we live in farm country. All the roads here are straight. I haven't had a decent twisty ride since I left the coast, and I don't have time to go up to the mountains. I have a path that is mostly nearly-abandoned two-lane roads that goes through a half-dozen forgotten little picturesque towns, the roads are almost completely shaded (the only exceptions being a couple that have been four-laned within the past twenty years), carries me through the woods, across a dozen rivers-- it's just a pleasant ride." "What is there to do in Allendale?" "Turn around." "Really?" Dude, the town has been dying for thirty years. The only restaurant is a Hardee's, and it still serves fried chicken. There are three gas stations that are open and twelve that aren't. The two biggest are a 76 an a Conoco; there's an Exxon that is so old the pumps have white letter dials and you can't use a credit card unless it has raised letters on it. (that one went right over his head). "So what do you do there?" Eat. Gas up. Turn around. All told, it's about four, four-and-a-half hour ride if I'm just relaxing. Take her. Pardon? Go. Take her with you. You understand that I am a married man, right? Yeah, and she's married to me. Yeah; don't think I'm not on to your secret plan to raise a family of red heads that don't explode in the sunshine. Very funny. (Well, his wife thought so; she just burst out laughing and went "Oh my God! You told me just thought Latinas were 'soooo sexy....') Well, you have to admit, compared to women who are actually on fire-- Duke, you're not helping. I am not here to help, Sir. I am here to seize opportunity. So I again reiterate, _carefully_, to my former work friend and now just normal friend: You understand that you are asking me, a married man, to put your married wife on the back of a motorcycle and whisk her away for four or five hours? Yes. But I trust you. Why? Because you wouldn't be making a big deal out of this if I couldn't. I should go into banking.... His wife had no idea what was going on, and asked what we were talking about, so I had to break that down: Ma'am, I don't want you to take this personally, because it is not who I am. Americans are, by and large, and probably as a result of their perception of themselves as having pious roots, the most prudish people on the planet. When you put two people on a motorcycle, _they will often touch each other_, and Americans as a whole cannot abide that. It is why two adult men will almost never share a motorcycle in this country; google "Dutch Doubles" for the workarounds the truly homophobic have for this. A married man or woman will never ride with anyone who isn't either their spouse or a close relative; single people only ride with their significant others. That's stupid! Extremely. It's the result of being the biggest prudes on the planet. We can't put these two people on a machine that gets 60 mpg to do any sort of travel. We have to separate the two of them into an SUV that gets 14 mpg, so that we can be relatively assured all chances of them touching each other are minimized. My wife had come onto the porch about then and caught some of the discussion. "What's up?" Not much. He wants me to take his wife out on a bike for a few hours so she can decide if she really wants to learn how to ride. "You know he's married, right?" "Yes, Ma'am. But don't you trust him? I do." "Of course I trust him; I just want you two to understand the neighbors are going to talk." Finally my student perks up, looks at her husband, and stage-loudly states "Babe, I am going on a motorcycle ride with that big guy there, and there is some chance that I may get scared and grab him or wrap my arms around him, but we are married to other people." My wife, from the porch "There's a much better chance you'll forget to pay attention in town traffic and end up pressing your boobs into his back." "Is that... " she was actually a bit concerned, never having met my wife before. "Is that a problem?" "Nah; I'm pretty sure that's never bothered him." "It has not." I confirmed. [Edit: I just noticed how much of this straight didn't come through. I still have the original document I typed it into (you know: so I could use a keyboard) and am going to attempt to put the missing center section in here] (If anyone is wondering: it's helmet knocking. Helmet knocking bugs the crap out of me, because it is so damned unnecessary) I went on with "I just want everyone to understand: we will end up for various reasons closer together than Americans are comfortable seeing their spouses with people of the opposite gender. For my money, I don't care, because if I wanted a different woman, I wouldn't have married that one." "No; I get it. I didn't think about it before, but I get it. It's more about where we live." Yep. Now for passenger comfort, I recommend either the VTX or the Valk, though the Valk is a pretty good climb for someone of your stature. I'll be fine. What about that little one over there? The Spyder? That's more about pilot comfort. How so? The pillion is fake; there is no rear seat. Sexy muscular passengers must sit in the pilot's lap. Okay, which one is the.. the safest? The Valkyrie is the most luxurious for passenger accommodations. It is also the quietest and the smoothest. However, it has my wife's seat on it while I am getting mine recovered. I am a bit worried with the elevation added to her pillion and your markedly-limited inseam that you'll be standing up most of the trip. No; I should be okay, I think. All right then.... I tossed a few rudimentary tools, a tire repair kit, a jump pack, a first aid kit, and a few bottles of water into one of the bags. What's all that for? Those are props to make you feel more prepared for this trip. Really? Yeah; it's a Honda. The tools are for show. Now here's the rundown: I have to stop at the next opportunity: tap my left thigh. I have to stop _now_; tap my right thigh. Slow down / I have a question, tap either shoulder. Panic braking-- squeeze your thighs tight into the seat (it doesn't do anything, but it makes them feel more secure and keeps them from freaking out); if you need to grab me, do it below the shoulders; I need them to steer. If you need to brace or push against me, again-- below the shoulders or on the hip bones, but never on the spine-- I can't feel which way your moving if you touch me dead center. Hard drifts or quick turns, keep your shoulders more-or less lined up with mine, and rock at the hips. Hard acceleration is damned rare when I have a passenger, but if you feel it, turn your head and press it against me (minimizes that irritating helmet knock) and grab around me. You will feel it ease off, and you can relax as soon as you're comfortable. Bumps in the road do not feel at all like they do in your car. I cannot explain it better than that, but you will be scared the first few times it happens. Just think about it afterward and realize that you did not actually fly off the motorcycle; you will relax a little bit more with each one. Let's go! And off we went. The trip was largely uneventful-- as I promised, it was just a sedate ride though some pretty scenery. I mean _sedate_. Sedate to the point that I don't think she even noticed the shifting. A few times we rolled up a few miles over the limit and I would lay down over the tank so she could get the full wind-in-the-face experience. Your passengers aren't aware of this, but you can, without looking, _feel_ the moment they stick their arms out and wing around like imaginary gliders. It changes the wind envelope. You know when they are doing it, but you can't ever tell them. If you do, they will never do it again. So we get to Allendale, we fuel up at the Exxon (because the card reader is down at the 76 and the machines at the Conoco station are pre-magnetic stripe technology), turn around, stop at Hardees. I nab a couple pieces of that 90's fried chicken recipe and she gets a kid's meal featuring a paper bag advertising Kung Fu Panda II. I hope the contents are more current. We hydrate, talk about her experience, what she'd like to see or experience on the ride back, and hit the road again. Now, I'm an old man. I am sixty-three, and I have been riding since I was nine. Of all the things I have learned or figured out about motorcycles, there is one thing that I absolutely have never really gotten my head around. My sisters, my lady cousins, my girlfriends, my daughter, my wife--- There is something about women and motorcycles. No matter what they think; no matter what they claim-- a nice summer day with a fresh forest or river breeze keeping the air temperature in check and some just-a-bit-warmer-than-perfect sunshine on their backs-- particularly in the afternoon, when the temperature starts to cool off-- and they _drop_. I mean they can espouse absolute terror of being on a motorcycle, but you give them that combination, and they will fall _instantly_ to sleep. Every single time. Remember that part where I said I was once 6'2"? Even today, after losing nearly two dull inches from my spinal column, I am just a bit over 5'12." My passenger today was 4'4". My wife's seat on the Valk pushes me further forward than I really enjoy being in a perfect world, and drops me down closer to the foot controls than I want to be, but it does all that to allow swapping out the back seat for a rather spacious deck, suitable to two chairs and table of its own. That is why this is her seat: it positions her better when she's the pilot, and it generously assigns her almost all of the cockpit real estate when she's the passenger. The upshot of all this is that my shoulder, even after these seat mods, is too high up for my very short passenger to rest her head on. It doesn't seem like much, but if they can't lean forward when they sleep, they lean back, and if they lean back, I can't feel where they are or what they are doing-- not the situation I want an unconscious passenger to be in. Worse, I can't really drop any lower because the seat is already sculpted extra-low to give a more typically-sized passenger as much view over the shoulder as is possible. The solution-- believe it or not-- is _not_ to wake them up unless there just isn't another option. They become very skittish and nervous and remain too tense for the rest of the trip, or try to move back and hide their sleepiness, putting themselves in the worst possible position on purpose. Once they wake up and realize they can sleep back there (under certain condition-- unconscious people do tend to take a pretty good hold around you, and don't sleep so deeply as to lose that), the problem just evaporates. The problem is the difference in our height is great enough that I thought I _would_ have to wake her up. Finally I resolved it, but I was.... well, I wasn't really miserable, but I have been more comfortable. In order to slide down low enough for her to prop on, I had to move my but up onto the fuel tank, hang my feet on the engine guards, and drape back off the handle bars like I was doing some sort of upside-down push-up, but we were on a highway stretch with no traffic (other than that one turtle crossing to the river), she had dropped her helmet onto my shoulder, and the instant it found a perch she instinctively wrapped her arms around my ribs and grabbed enough jacket, shirt, and chest hair that if she had fallen off anyway, I would have jumped with her in self-defense. I did have the boobs on the back, though, so that kind of balanced things out. (I kid: I mean, yes; they were there, but it really isn't a sexual thing in that situation. Funny, in light of the bit my wife and I had done in the yard, but not sexual) Twenty minutes later we were pulling up to the next town, and I very gently geared the bike down. The change in lighting (we were out of the shade again) and speed roused her slowly, and I was glad of it, having just about had all of the fuel-tank / tailbone interaction I cared to have for one day. She raised up, I slid back and raised up, dropping my feet onto the controls in preparation for possible traffic, and a local cop came around the corner and threw the blue lights on and came back after us. I checked the speedometer (relieved that I no longer had to stare past my crotch to do it) and knew that we hadn't been speeding, and eased to the side of the road. For the record, getting pulled over didn't really put my passenger at ease, particularly when the "Afternoon, Officer; what can I do for you" was answered with "I just watched you wake up!" Come again? I don't know how the Hell you were doing it, but you two were asleep! I watched you wake up! I watched you two just sit up from sleeping. She was asleep; yes. You were, too! I didn't say anything, as it was starting to click with him just how impossible that was, and he did the "nice bike" and asked just the right questions that I knew that he knew pretty much nothing about any bikes, then admonished my passenger for sleeping. I took offense (gently) and pointed out -- to her, but in front of him-- that it isn't ideal, but it isn't illegal, either, and on a properly-equipped bike with an experienced rider, following some rudimentary common sense monitoring and positioning techniques, she was just as safe as she had been before she nodded off, and that the danger really would have been being awakened during an emergency maneuver, and having no idea what was going on. Even then, though, pains were taken to make certain we were nowhere near any other vehicle, etc. Finally he gave us "have a nice day" (because he picked the absolute hottest stretch of road in his jurisdiction to keep us tied up, but the bottles of water I had packed seemed to improve his humor). An hour or so later, and we were pulling up at her house, her husband pulling in right behind us with their kids. Well? What do you think? Worth doing? Baby, we have got to keep that bike. We just have to. That is something that I just totally need in my life. That, folks, was the part I liked best. Even better than the boobs against the back.

I am going to do another one, having let time go by for more replies since my last one: Transfer. In this case, I have selected Endurance transfer, as rubber science suggests soynd and Endurance are both energy. The character converts the living energy of an opponent into sound, which radiates from the victim. The sonic character easily draws the sound into his own form, where it provides energy for him as part of his own Endurance. Alternatively, we could so a Transfer: Body defined as hypersonic vibrations so intense the weaken the bonds of the target's physical structure. In keeping with the SFX, the resulting 'echo' from the target serves to increase the durability of the character, at least for a short while. One not on your list: Flight. I propose two options: The first is that the character actually becomes sound waves and moves effortlessly through any non-vacuum medium (consider a limitation based on increasing END costs or reduced movement for thicker or more solid mediums). The Second is that he projects sound waves that echo and reflect and glance across each other in ways that create a lifting surface of vibration in the air, upon which the character rides. Now the original reason I had suggeated that we do one (or maybe two) in turn was to provide the opportunity to see multiple takes on "sonic" special effects. You will notice a certain "sameness" from each of us that tackled more than one entry, but that no two of us really duplicated each other as far as the concept of how the SFX work. This is the point of the exercise: to demonstrate that while there a hundreds of possible options, none of them are wrong or more right than any other. I will try to find time to do one more tomorrow. I hope this is helping you get those ideas limbered up!

Ditto. Still, the effort to bring it to our attention is much appreciated, BJB. At least now I have aomething to hunt for!

For this exercise, I have selected Drain. If someone else has already done that, I will select "other drain." Drain DEX, AoE: Cone, no range (cone begins in hex directly in front of sonic character. Using a projection of hypersonic sound vibrations, the character can disrupt the sensory centers of the target's brains (there is actual science behind this: when driving, you really,_can_ see detail better when you turn the radio down) causing unreliable visual and auditory input, with the contradictory inputs disturbing equilibrium and hand-eye coordination. Now, for one that is not on your list: illusions,(images; whatever edition you prefer). The character can create flawless auditory inputs, creating distractions by either immitating familia cries of an opponent's comrades or even creating the sound of shrieking and tearing metal that seems to be emaniting from the skyscraper framework being erected two blocks away. Sorry this too so long to get back; I have been making pretty good headway on the Savage for my student.

This being the case-- and if you are interested in a potentially fun exercise that may help you to get your juices flowing, I propose a game that I use with players new to the system. You pick 12 powers or abilities that you want this character to have. So not worry about modifiers, cirner cases, or anything like that beyond perhaps one advantage and one limitation for each power. Do nit worry about tying In the SFX. In turn, each if us responding Will pick one of the powers or abilities from your list and explain a potential sonic SFX for that power. Where time and willingness allow, we will each also provide one additional power or ability _not_ on your list, and detail the sonic SFX, and leave the write up if the power to you. As an example of what I mean: Assume Blast 12d6 is on your list. I tackle that one by stating the character produces a multitude of pitch and timbre vibrations so out-of-synch with each other and yet so tightly focused within each other that the harmonic resonance a target produces in reaction to any one of these sub and super-sonic vibrations is simultaneously disrupted by the harmonic resonance of the others, resulting in the physical breakdown of the target object due to the constantly-shifting directions of expansion and the shear limits of the target. Then, I notice that your list does not include Teleport, and offer an SFX set that the character is able to transform his entire body to vibrational waves that can be transferred through any rigid carrier medium. Sound like fun? If so, drop a list if 12 powers. I will be in and out as time permits; i am currently working on modifying a motorcycle to accomodate one of the shortest adults I have ever met (no disrespect intended; currently there are no off-the-shelf solutions for a 4'4" lady wrestler, and I am enjoying the challenge)

At the core, "sonic powers" are the ability to project or receive vibration as carried through the air. The more unusual or stronger the abilities, the more you can ham up the effect- His voice can project a pitch with a frequency wave so tight that it solidifies the air into a force wall (barrier, if you are a 6e player). Perhaps he can make a noise so low or so high as to cause temporary hearing loss from over-stimulation of the target's sense of hearing-- that is a Flash versus hearing. NND Stun-only attacks are common to sonic effects,but why stop there? Opera singers strive to find the perfect resonance to shatter a champagne flute. Perhaps your character has found a pitch and intensity suitable to shatter the crystaline structure of iron. Here is the thing with this game: There is absolutely no mandatory relationship between the special effects and the actual power. You decide on the powers you want for this character, and then you sort of "justify" them by spitting out some rubber science for your SFX. It is that easy.

You guys are interrupting my research....

It took my four pages to figure out this thread was for actual _toys_. I am not a clever man right now.

Sorry I havent been back to this; I have just been drifting into topics randomly the past few days. I even alluded to it myself a few posts back. At any rate, a small part of me was waiting for someone to post the "common sense / dramatic sense" thing that creates a large portion of the fluff in the last couple of editions. The reason being that I would like to propose that using this bit of fluff as a proof for or against something is akin to filling your home with tigers to keep out the burglars. If this is a valid proof that a rule can be switched because- well, let's say "it doesn't work well;" make that a catch all for "too easy to abuse," "too unclear," "too problematic," "not well-thought-out" or whatever; we will just say that this is the new Caution Sign, and it means "be aware that this isn't very good." Then go through (at least, for those of you with PDFs, this will be tedious but easy) and note just hiw many times that exact phrase appears throughout the work- the main work, the supplemental works-- all of it. Now to be certain, we all have never failed to agree (so far as I can recall, but I have just recently stopped getting younger and more quick-witted each day. Sad, really...) that any GM or group may strike or otherwise ignore or re-work a rule _in any game, ever_, as a means to improve or prevent problems in his own game. There is no question that this is permissible and often times desirable, and requires neither overlap, consent, or judgment from any outside source beyond the membership of that particular group. This is Inviolable. However, I suggest seizing on the author's words of "turn it off if you don't like it" as they appear near the end of a given rule set as the definitive proof that a rule is "problematic" leaves us with a current edition of a couple thousand very problematic rules. Rather than a rules _set_, the bulk of the Toolkit- everything down to determining order of combat-- everything short of the math itself- is a unique and unrelated item with regards to the rest of the texts. Better, I think, that we just acknowledge (as I believe we already do) that we can use or not use what we wish or do not wish from the work as a whole instead of suggesting that a particular phrase of the author is the key indicator that particular rule "does not work well." After all, it cannot be both an indicator of problem and an indicator of no problem. Best, I think, to consider it a badly-placed reminder that one does not need all the rules to play the game. If one instead uses it as a house full of burglar-eating tigers, I suspect he will very soon be quite unhappy with what the tigers have done to his home. Now then, all that being said, and acknowledging that we are all in agreement that ultimately _any_ rule is optional should not be a reason to avoid discussing what we find is wrong it as-written, or possible ways to improve it, or even reasons that one may feel it cannot be improved. For example, were it still thirty years ago, I might have used it to stay out the weapons in a keep's armory: build one sword, one axe, one flail, one shield, and bought multiple copies, and then "known the points cost of that armory." Now today that is more of a "meh. 2d6 plus STR, fifteen pieces," and "6rDEF, eighteen pieces," etc, because hey- the points on mundane items just don't matter to me anymore. I might allow a not-outrageous Focus to be one of a pair for 5 points, a mundane or improved-mundane weapon to have a 5-point backup, or- more likely- a lesser version for 5 pts that could be handed off to another character briefly: "cover me!" or "I have them pinned down out here; take this and secure the back door!" There is a _huge_ amount of "the game at hand" that goes into what and where I would allow or why. As such, I find just dumping this in as a core rules very much "this rule doesn't work well," because it is clearly problematic in any game where one could have a powerful gadget and or a powerful innate ability yet it only applies to the guy with the gadget. I find this rule doesn't work well because at its core it mandates SFX and denies others. As something for consideration as part of the Focus rules, I think it has potential, but I would have to play with that quite a bit to make an informed decision on that. Specifically, I think as a tool for a GM who must know the points costs of a pool of mundane weapons found in a keep or a trove-- essentially just an accounting tool or rapid cloning device for the GM in a hurry, in a non-supers genre.... I find it has potential for some folks, even if it have zero interest for me. I would much prefer to have seen this in one or more genre books, or The Ultimate Base, or something like that, but not just dropped in as something that is going to allow Batman to have a thousand pairs if kryptonite handcuffs.

If you are using 2e or 3e either one, and with Champions 3, then yes: you get a frog. You paid "make it a corpse" points for your T-form (essentially T-form was a re-branded Killing Attack at 15 pts per die), so you could decide to turn it into anything that would have been as convenient and useful as the target's corpse. Dead guy? Live frog? Same thing, in the grand scheme of things. I would have to peruse 4e to answer there; it has been some time since I read it, and we really never did much with it except pull out some adders and modifiers we liked and kept rocking 2e.

And yet just two months ago we were celebraring the trove of graffiti unearthed in Pompeii.... As a species, we have the doublest of all possible standards, really....

Just before we get Heart hockey, I think. It is all downhill from there.