Duke Bushido

So many things I want to say, and only the accursed medium of miniature touchscreen with which to say them.... :😢 I have only the past couple of nights begun to read Mongoose Traveller, and my findings thus far are akin to Scott's. However, I more firmly disagreed with Mongoose's 'negligible mass" computers. I had always assumed that a lot of the mass of the computer in Classic Traveller was the miles of wiring and thousands of sensors and whatever electronics made things work via the computer, such as opening the airlock from the bridge, detecting a pressure change on deck 6, etc. It wasn't until so many third party materials included deckplans that there would be a large chunk of area marked 'computer' that I spent even a moment thinking otherwise, and decided "well, that's not going to fly" and ignored it, instead declaring that box to be the main computer station, etc. When regarding computers the way I did, the Mongoose change is little more than saying "that tonnage is now considered to be part of the Hull /infrastructure, so it is not _that_ big a deal, and computer money now refers to the cost od computer-specific bits like processors, etc. The part I don't care for about the Mongoose change is that it makes the computer nearly invulnerable to minor damage, but still allows it to be completely destroyed: you miss some interesting opportunities to introduce malfunctioning grav plates, no-longer-automated doors, and life-support issues as obstacles for players fighting a running battle. Miller is ambivalent about the setting because he didn't write it. Most of it was Joe Fugate and his playgroup who became DGP who became the driving force of additional supplements and background material for Traveller. Miller himself doesn't use it any more than I do... Well, probably even less than I do, honestly. I had similar problems,with the hyper-developed universe that Scott did: it's like when people say "we are going to take a vacation and go 'explore' Manhattan." I have bad news. Someone already did that. You are welcome to fight the throngs of people on the roads or the sidewalks if you like, and see if any of the streetsigns have interesting names.... It got so bad that Miller had to decree that one particular small area was off-limits, and was for the players to build out as they wanted. I mean, what was the point if having build rules for sectors ans systems and worlds if someone else had gone ahead and filled all that out for even the stars _beyond_ the heavens?! Hard to make that cartography cash (or even be a Scout!) When every gas station in the Imperium has a map? What trade routes can you open when there are already megacorps bleeding the system dry? Worse yet, a lot of what came along eventually made the early published adventures impossible to place anywhere in the universe except that off-limits area reserved for your own special creations. It was nuts. Truth be told, I think that is why the entire focus of MegaTraveller was "Rebellion! Tear down the Imperium!" Notice That it was followed by New Era, the focus of which was explore, make contact, open trade routes, etc? It was almost like trying to recapture the appeal of the early days of Classic Traveller. It failed, because you were rediscovering populated worlds, many of which had formed little empires with a few neighbors, and of course: somebody already lives here; we know about the imperium; we have the same tech you do- well honestly, you couldn't just bomb everyone back to the stone age. You weren't discovering new things; you were just finding out if the old maps were still good. They tried to resolve that by adding Virus, which was to have eaten all the data of the Encyclopedia Galactica, but seriously- from _everywhere_? From worlds and systems that Virus never reached? It was fun(ish), but it did not recapture that original feel _at all_.. How have I been successful with playing Traveller on HERO rules? I took a page from Miller' book: if your background suggests that you _should_ know a little bit about something (an Army colonel _should_ know something about beureaucratics), you take the higher of a characteristic roll or 11 or less. If your background suggests that you wouldn't know about it, then you take the lower of a characteristic roll or 8 or less. Characters are created literally as traveller characters: roll up characteristics. Either as traveller stats and convert, or- if you are feeling a bit more generous or are in a hurry- Primary Characteristica (remember I play 2e) are 2d6 plus 5. If you are feeling more genrous than that, roll 3d6. Figured characteristics are... Well, _figured_. Pick a career and get cracking. Mods to characteristics are applied directly. Winning a skill grants that skill at 11-. (Skills are broad in this game). Win it again, add 1. Originally I added 2, but HERO character progression is much more generous, allowing characters to simply buy up their skill levels with experience. Aging Crises are applied directly as well. Most importantly for character creation- and I cannot stress this enough in terms of making it feel like Traveller- F\%#: "points balance" for character creation, at least at this point. Keep track of your actual cost, of course, because someone there will likely have played HERO, and will scream like they are being tortured if the points don't match. (if there are other game groups in the area, encourage him to find one). Cascade skills: character selects a skill or small skill group (handguns or energy rifles, for example) which he will now have at his base OCV, (or appropriate characteristic roll, or 11-, depending on what skill or group we are discussing) and he will select one particular firearm (or subskill) with which he will gain a skill level. Each time he rolls the same result, he can up that skill level, or pick a different weapon / subskill to get a plus one skill level. If he happens, somehow, to get ten points worth of plus one skill levels, he can opt to swap the various levels for a 10-pt plus one with the group. With skills, this is what most players do. With weapons skills, it is almost _never_ done. Once they have a plus 3 in something, they don't want to get a plus one in ten other weapons at the cost of dropping those extra bonuses with that one weapon. Seriously though, when each character is done with his career and his mustering out and getting his skills, etc, get their points total and deduct it from the campaign limit for building the characters. That is what they have left to spend or bank at their pleasure. Social standing is a specific new Primary Characteristic. If you are a noble (SS 15 or higher), it is initially treated as a Perk, and as it increases, the Perk becomes more expensive, and things such as "influence," "wealth," various noble powers, land grants, etc are added, and certain social skills are awarded. All nobles will receive "conversation' and "high society" skills. High society skill is now based on the Social Standing Charactetistic. During gernation, _no_ characteristic may be increased more than 2 points or over 15 using the "balance" points. Social Standing may not be increased at all with balance points. Other than that, use them as you woukd to make a champions character- flesh out your Character with skills, equipment, perks, skill levels,etc. Because it is fun to play a scoundrel or a bastard child. The Noble perk may be purchased by characters who have lower social standings than 15, just be able to explain your disgrace. Ha! No, I absolutely do _not_ use HERO rules for space combat. I just don't hate myself that much. We used to use rhe original traveller rules, but as time went on, the players gravitated toward the simplified rules as presented in both Traveller Basic and The Traveller Book; these systems use range bands akin to personal combat and feature simplified movement. Not mt favorite, but it is not the HERO rules, so,,,.. I have always wanted to use the Starfleet Battles game for ship combat, but I am the only one at the table familiar with it (I was once well-known for the Klingon Butthook maneuver). There is so much more, but I have had all of this accursed touchscreen I can handle.

Sorry, Dude. I just came back. If I can find my old,keyboard doe this phone, I will take a stab at it in a day or two. (Not tonight- I am,just decompressing tonight. We have to bury my sister in law tomorrow.)

I wouldn't. Supers isnt my bag. It was the Champions mechanics and logical simplicity of the system and the ability to simplify or complicate it to precisely your comfort zone for any particular story that kept me playing it. If there had been no Champions, I would still be running Classic Traveller and several variants of it, most likely, and of course, Cadilacs and Dinosaurs, Space Opera, a bit of Star Frontiers with the right group, and the Fantasy Trip- possibly some T and T for nostalgia reasons, but I doubt it.

The game is Magical Kittiws Save the Day (nit a word from anyone! I was invited to play, and the length of time since I was a _player_ in a face-to-face game can be measures in decades at this point, so I jumoed at it). The kitty Haunauka Jones has the lowest possible intelligence score, and the player works it to the hilt. "Well, maybe we can find out if we eavesdrop at the Library-" Jones: "to the Library! I _crave_ the shrimp!" Jones: "stealing a car is _easy!' All we need is a human with keys and a large brick..." At the sandy beach along the river, in total awe: "thank you! Thank you _so much_ for inviting me! But... I dont think I will live long enough to poop in the whole thing...."

I know better, bur I am stupid enough that I am going to do this anyway, so sit back, grab the popcorn, and watch the beating unfold. can anyone point out where in the rules being decapitated means you have to die? remember that not only are hit locations optional, so, too, are the bleeding rules. Even if you _are_ using the bleeding rules, there is quite a lot of leeway to decide what results in bleeding and what doesn't. Assuming that you are, then when you take an amount of BODY that reduces you to negative, you bleed. okay; fine. if you take a headshot, you suffer a BODY multiplier to your damage. okay; great. Problematically, decapitation is _not_ a head wound. We can argue that later, of course. As written, it could be considered a torso wound, so figure your damage accordingly. HERO doesn't do Location X has Y Hit Points, so we don't really have a method of determining just how much damage applied directly to the neck (which is not available on the hit location chart, but let's just say that it is a Called Shot with modifiers akin to a called ahot to the head) it takes to remove a head. I am not completely certain, but I am willing to bet that it is less than enough Body damage to reduce the character to negative Body. This is one of thise instances where the superhero / SFX are free thing really shows itself. Because you can declare that your character is a robot or a cyborg or a sapient tree, you do not automatically fall over bleeding when someone lips off your anything. We view it as a given because we know that people tend to much sooner without their heads attached than they do if the head remains in place. Regardless of our biases, however, the rules don't actually make it mandatory. That being said, strictly by RAW, there is absolutely no power construct required to remain alive after decapitation (speaking may be impaired a not, but that isnt mandated, either, I am,afraid). Nor is that, according to RAW, any way to actually decapitate someone short of completely pulverizing their torso (again, breathing may be impaired a bit, but it is still not mandatory). Granted, releasing this bit of news to your players may result in lots of decapitated heroes fighting bravely on for decades, wearing their heads on a necklace like some gruesome pendant. All that being said, I would think that the options for your build are, by raw, as simpke as declaring that decapitation doesn't kill them. Granted, this will encourage some to run to the rules questions thread and ask for a new rule regarding decapitation, so I will go further and say this is as simple as making it a perk (possibly as part of a package). Beyond that, consider the automaton power "does not bleed" and call it a day. Now then, go ahead. Feel free to beat me like I was the third monkey on Noah's Ark.

Gauzy, hazy, diaphanous, glassy, ghostly, ephemeral, and more- These are All words for things that are _partially_ transparent. The concept of see-through-but-not-completely-invisible is a well-entenched one. We have already established that there is no rule extant that prevents someone from using less-than-all of their invisibility. We have established that the author of the current set of rules has used less than all of invisibility. We have astablished that the rules have actually spelled out (and until the last few posts, I was floored as to why Steve had actually gone to that trouble: we all know it is possible to eun slowly, to hit softly, and pick up less than a colon-collapsing amount of weight. Until the end od this thread, I would have thought "why do that far, Steve? People can easily infer that you don't do everything full-on every time," but I realize now that expect too much) that one need not use a power at its fullest potential. At this point, all we are doing is establishing that we need a rule that says if it is not in the rules, then it is not rule. I love you guys; I really do- I hang out here all the time- but watching stuff from page 2 get rwdiscovered in page 4, and then this.... I want no part in the continued mistreatment of this poor horse. You folks have fun. Peace.

"Posses" is the most accurate description I have seen for dropbox! it got so bad I uninstalled ir completely and mailed Jason a flash drive. 0/10 stars. Do not recommend.

Yep. A high quality (and I do mine at a minimum of 600; I prefer 1200 for the initial cleanup, but 600 seems to be the minimum for a nice clean print. 300 looks okay, but 600 is ideal) scan is _huge_. After the scan, there are things you can do to still to reduce the file size as you move it into a PDF, but not a lot. At 30 dpi, it looks great on almost any monitor, but you have got to go to ten times that for nice print.

Right! But you know what they _can't_ do? Go down to the planetary surface to save Sulu from freezing death while Scotty tries to solve the transporter malfunction. They absolutely _cannot_ do that. Ever.

Hey! That is a comic book I actually _did_ read when I was a kid! (I liked the western; not so much the superheroes, except for Captain Marvel (the real one. ). I couls be wrong, but I think he went from school teacher to flaming skeleton in that Nick Cage movie....

I have no idea why, but our group at that time,became _obsessed_ with Bouncing..... Yeah.... I am not proud of everything I have ever done. 😆 Though I think my next character is going to be a Transformer! Maybe a lifeboat! (What is five hundred time 25?)

More importantly, there is nothinf in the power description that says you can't use it paetially the way that you can ise almoat any other power. The focus of this conversation jas been backwards for some time- dont get me wrong! I understand that most of ua have been playing for years and tend to assume we are correct: "I have never done it that way, so it must be advantageous." Even as the person who suggested that we xonsult the rules, it took me two days to get around to acrually doing that! We used to do studf like that all the time here; now we woukd rather post in the rukes quesrions and wait a month or two dor Steve to say something. anyway, nothing,in the rules forbids doing it this way, and a day or two later we have a sort-of Steve answer that seems to confirm that what is not in the rules is, in fact, not part of the rules. so the more-correvmct direction foe this conversation is "how much of a Limitation shouls my characters have received for adding a restriction to their power that prevenrs them from doing something that they otherwise could?" for my money, I say -0; perhaps -1/8 if I am feeling generous or I can be convinced that it might possibly somehow pose a genuine inconvenience at least once wirhout having to construct a special corner case to actually create a problem. As a limitation, I don't see "all or nothing" invisibility as any more limited than I find "I can do piecemeal" to be advantageous.

You, Sir, and I, Sir, have very different understandings of the word "portable." everything else checks out, though.

Don't be too hasty, UV! if you have been following the partial invisibilty thread, you know that the fact that the character _could_ have an advantage over somone without lifeboats- being able to use the lifeboat in water too shallow foe the ship; being able to set a lifeboat on fire ans cast it adrift; being able,to stay dry when the ship sinks-- All of these _could possibly maybe happen eventually once_, prociding a singular narrow opportunity for a clever player to possibly gain an advantage over someone without a lifeboat, maybe, and therefore- because of the timeline in which it might be useful once or twice, lifeboats should be no less than a five-point adder. each. seriously though: if it has zero utility beyond death postponement or plot advancement, I find the idea of charging for them at all to be a bit repellant. 1/25 "normal cost" is quite agreeable, I think. I mean "you get what you pay for" is fine, but why does one guy have to pay just to advance the plot? And if you bought it and it never got used, did you get robbed? Is the GM somehow depriving you of your lifeboat points unless he arranges to sink your ship? current trends of "get what you pay for" and "it is wrong to charge for something that isn't going to come up" and "if the player buys it, then he expects to get some utility out of it" all suggest that buying a lifeboat will absolutely condemn your ship. are you the GM? If so, just give them some lifeboats (if they want them). They will have them for if they need them, and they won't get all huffy about that one or two twenty-fifths of a point that they had tied up the entire campaign if they don't have to use them. Besides- if they are available for free, they become plot devices and a means to guide or provide for your players. They didn't investigate the spooky cave in the cove- the one where the clearly-labeled Mcguffin is? "Oh no! The storm surge is too strong for the little outboard motor! You are being washed into the rocks! Wait? Is that.... Some,sort of cave, there in the back of the cover?! The next swell throws youe craft up, up- and then you plummet, stomach turning flips at the dizzying rate of descent! Then another! It shoves your little lifeboat with a furious purpose- straight toward the Cove...!" a bit railroad-y, at least that example, but I am sure you can see the point. as to the 'actual advantage"- well, when the boat goes down, they wont die at sea bevause they spent 1/25 of a point..., Now remember that Dragon Magazine back in the 80s published (uh... Okay, look: I am,sixty-two, and sometimes I fail to recognize that it just might not be possible foe the guy I am talking to "remember" the 80s _at all_. Sorry if I have assumed something) Anyway, Dragon published a list of unofficial proposed powers (which a lot od us used to build dun and completely forgettable characters like Rubber Ball Boy!, etc. One of those powers was Extra Life. It cost one point, just one. I mentioned once on the old Red Octiber board (and later on the 4e version of this board) that I still lwt Players buy that one now and again. I cannot over-describe the amount of outrage I took for that- between the "the point is gone forever!" complaints to "Oh no! The character is dead-dead-dead!" complaints to "I have no problem with this, but it should cost fifty points and one Player kidney, bevause it is so valuable!" complaints. The short version is that one point was just nowhere near enough to charge for "oops! I didn't die!," but here, in the vehicle rules, 1/25 of a point for the same,thing is completely fine. I would like to point out that it is effectively a full point: you cant even get a Pip of STUN for 24/25 of a point these days. Even shorter version? Do what feels right for you and your GM (or players). Don't get vaught up in the everything has to be paid foe because it has real or potential value or because it is not like the other guy's, so maybe you're guy has a diggerent way to do it that might work better, in some way I absolutely have not been able,to fathom after a week of deep thought on the subject." Just dont get caught up in that. Because as soon as you do, you start comparing things, and noticing how wildly, in spite of the claims of balance, actual in-game utility varies from build to build, and how much the prices vary when the utility is the same. Pay 1/25 of a point to not drown qhen the boat goes down, or pay one point to not drown when the boat goes down, or use that ridiculously arcane Duplication / resurrection thing for whatever it costs in various editions. Just have fun, and if you don't see any real in-game vakue for something, don't charge for it. If you do charge, but it never gets used, even once, dont tell anybody, because apparently that's wrong, too.

Dude, I _love_ the medicines / medications idea! An herbalist or similar apothecary could fetch a handsome ransom for his or her services!

Personally, I dont believe it is. rPD 30 doesn't mean you can't feel it when your teammate pokes you on the shoulder, either.

For the original questor: For what purpose is the bag being built? Is it specifically to store things that adventurers find along their travels, or is it something they use to retrieve wondrous artifacts that do X, or something else? Depending on the answer, you may not need a bag at all. Don't think that we won't still help you build one, though.

Guys: Spence sent me,a debound 4e,for making high-res scans akin to what I did for 4e Western HERO. I had intended,to get them scanned over the Christmas break and soend the next couple,of monrhs cleaning then up. Unfortunately, I am married, meaning I havent had a day off in twenty-odd years. Off from work? Yes. A day of my,very own? No; not really. western HERO got done when she was working nights. She dowsnt work nighta anymore. still, it will get done; just bear with me.

Yep.

There you go: Extra dimensional,movement with a focus. You can apply limitations that only things that fit through the opening can be put there. I say "can" because despite what you will eventually hear from someone in the fandom is "must" or "have to." That will never be one-hundred-percent correct. The cases of must and have to are very specific (not rare, but specific), and in 6e, they are painstakingly laid out after the description of each and every power, in the lengthy section detailing how each of the most common modifiers affects each particular power. For instance, under Desolidification you find that if you want to remain noncoporeal and still affect the "normal" world, then you _must_ buy the Advantage "Affects Solid." If you want to give a power to someone else, _and it is not a focus_ (because you can hand a non-personal focus to anyone that you wish to use it), then you _must_ buy Usable by Others. If you want to be able to store an Oldsmobile in your pocket dimension, you can, even if it is a coinpurse of holding. You are not limited to what you push through the opening of the bag unless you say you are. If you say you are, you are still mandated to buy limitations that reinforce it. It is encouraged because at that point, you might as well take the cost reduction that such a Limitation brings, but remember: you are _never_ obligated to do it. All that being said, I think there is an official write_up for a Bag of Ludicolrous Capacity (wouldnt want to step on any trademarks. or some such tjing in one of thw APGs, but I cannot recall which one. Just remember that the guy who wrote that once accompliahed the wxact same thing with a multipower or a VPP is some such that teleported him the weapon he wanted at that instant, so..... First, I am _not_ saying either way is right or wrong. I am saying "think about the specific wnd results you want," because there will likely,be many ways to achieve it, and there is a good chance that one of them will feel "more correct" for this instance than do any of the others.

Were I not touch screen typing on a phone sans glasses, I would offer my mook rules for you. They are similar to what became the sweep rules eventually (and to note that, I renamed it "mook sweep" around the turn od the century. Very wordy to explain, but very simpke in execution. Skip over to Vhris's unofficial board; I posted them there for Doc Democracy some time back when he was looking for ideas on speeding up combat with henchmen and the like.

I just ask "really? What kind? Are sure? Have you checked?" And things like that.

Conversation with a friend jogged my memory on this one: Imperial Roman themed space opera (no, not leather skirts and brass helmets; just the assumption that Rome had remained the rulers od the earth forever- no impetus to make any signidicant cultural changes, etc.) I drew a complete blank, and the only Latin-sounding name I could cime,up with was Aronnius... Hillarity ensued, most of it at the expense if "Erronious."

I remember that one! The story of a time-travelling Kirk, his two companions, and four redshirts, stranded in ancient Japan....

My first thought when I entered this thread was the short-lived and very enjoyable "Invisible Man" that Sci Fi channel- back when it gave a crap- used as a lead-in to Farscape. His powers worked because an artificial gland produce a chemical that he could willfully secrete through his integumentary pores. As it was pouring over him, the effect was streaks of invisibility that got more intense and more spread (he was literally sweating invisibility juice), and in a formulaic pattern reminiscent of the Turbo Boost button in Knight Rider, twice per episode we got to watch as he sweated himself to invisibility. And why not? If you have an actor who can sweat green screen, Baby, you _use_ that! You use it _hard_! Now I understood immediatetly that this is _not_ what the original question was,a but it was a nice example of not being "all at once invisible," and I would bet all your dollars that were this presented as a character, not a single person here saying that OP can't just do this thing he wants to do would not only fail to bat an eye, but would suggest to the Player that his chosen SFX could let him shave points by taking the power limitation "extra time" or "delayed effect."