Amorkca

Leaving the pediatrics ward behind, Pulsar pushed the call button for the elevator. When the door dinged, he stepped aside to allow the staff to exit before stepping in. When the door closed he let out a sigh.
 
“How was pediatrics?” Kris asked, her voice coming through the team's communications.
 
“I am seriously rethinking someone's pregnancy. At least Psistorm has her hamster ball trick to keep them occupied.”
 
“You are not and yes she does.”
 
“Coffee break?”
 
“Yeah. Some of the doctors are on board, but they don't see the same kind of cape traffic New York does. Some are arguing that they can't see the expense.”
 
Pulsar shook his head and pressed the button for the fifth floor. “Did you point out to them the subsidy?”
 
Kris laughed quietly. “Honestly, it slipped my mind. Thanks for the reminder.”
 
“Just spending money on someone's good cause,” he said as the door opened.
 
“Reconvening,” Kris said.
 
“Wandering another hall,” he replied.
 
“Five eighteen,” Mentor supplied.
 
“Still going to wander the hall, Mentor, but thanks.”
 
Several of the orderlies and nurses stared as he walked by. He often found himself nodding in greeting in passing them. Following the signs that showed where rooms 511 to 520 were, he turned a corner in the hall.
 
“Can I help you,” a woman asked. He looked at her and she smiled. She was dark skinned, round faced, and had a bright smile. His eyes darted to the name tag hanging from a lanyard.
 
“Hello, Doris. I'm just stretching my legs a bit.”
 
“I'd heard you would be here with Dove today.”
 
“She's in a meeting trying to set up a project,” he affirmed.
 
Doris beamed. “I'd really like to meet her.”
 
“I will see what I can do.”
 
She was about to say something further when what sounded like glass breaking came down the hall. “Oh, Lord,” she said and turned down the hall. Pulsar followed after.
 
“518,” he said to himself. He caught the room numbers out of the corner of his eye and calculated. Doris turned into room 518 unless he was wrong.
 
“Are you alright?” he heard Doris ask.
 
“I'm sorry,” he heard mumbled. Almost too faint for him to hear.
 
“I'll have to get someone to clean this up. Are you sure you're alright?” Pulsar heard no response. “Excuse me,” Doris said to him as she came out of the room, almost colliding with him.
 
“Quite all right. Problem?” he asked.
 
“Just a broken vase. I will be right back.”
 
Stepping into the room, Pulsar noted it was single occupant. The girl lay in her bed staring out the window. She was bandaged like a mummy. Only her eyes, mouth, and a few wisps of hair visible.
 
“Hello,” he said. The girl's eyes turned to him, but she didn't say anything. He glanced over the wreckage on the floor. “Pretty flowers. I bet that vase was lovely, too.”
 
“It was an accident,” she whispered.
 
“Hard to manipulate things with your hands all wrapped up, I bet.” He squatted down and began picking out the plants.
 
“They'll clean it up,” Doris said from the door.
 
Looking back over his shoulder, Pulsar said, “It's okay.” A crimson flash brought forth what looked like a robot sweeper. “Water and glass,” he said. He set it on the floor and it began collecting the spilled water and broken glass.
 
He stood back up with the flowers in hand. On her table were Lightning's and Psistorm's calling cards, one blue with gold lightning bisecting it from corner to corner, the other a uniform metallic purple. “Two of them. You're getting yourself quite the collection. You must be the young lady Lightning told me about. Mandy Burns, isn't it?”
 
“Amanda,” the girl said.
 
“What happened to you?” he asked gently.
 
“What do you care? No one listens to me,” she said quietly.
 
“I care. And you have my undivided attention. If you'd like, we can talk about the weather. Or you can rant and rave about anything on your mind. Or you can tell me about the 'Beautiful Man' and Devilbone. I wouldn't mind talking about any of it. If we talk about the last, then maybe we can do something to keep what happened to you from ever happening to anyone else.”
 
“I wish I was out there. In the sun. Maybe lying on a beach somewhere.”
 
“That sounds nice,” he said.
 
A bird flew past her window. “What's it like to fly?”
 
“There's a lot of freedom up there,” he said.
 
“I dream about it sometimes. Being up there among the clouds.”
 
“The clouds can be chilly to pass through. All that water vapor. Some of it waiting to become rain. Maybe when you're better I could take you. Let you see what it is like for yourself.”
 
“You'd do that?” she asked.
 
“Yes. As long as there aren't any emergencies that need to be dealt with.”
 
“What's it like to be a hero?”
 
“I don't know.”
 
Amanda eyes turned to him. “But you're a hero.”
 
Pulsar shook his head a little. “No, I'm not. I'm just a man gifted with...” He stopped for a moment, senses on alert. “I'm just a man gifted with incredible and sometimes terrifying power.”
 
Amanda looked down. “I'm evil.”
 
Cocking his head to the side, Pulsar asked, “What makes you think that?”
 
She shrugged. “It wasn't supposed to be me. It was supposed to be someone else. We were going to use someone else. After we got ready some of them grabbed me. Braden told me they decided that I was to be the sacrifice because I wasn't a good girlfriend.”
 
“What was to happen to the sacrifice?”
 
“I don't know. They never let me see the book. All they said was that the Beautiful Man would claim the sacrifice.”
 
“You aren't evil, Amanda. I have seen evil. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a kid. Do you know why you're a kid? Because you get to make mistakes and learn from them. That's why a lot in our legal system works the way it does. Once you get a look down a path, seeing the cost of going that way, all it takes is to look inside, weigh the cost of it on your soul, and say, 'I don't want to be this person.' The problem is, a lot of people when they do it, they don't care enough about themselves or others they may hurt in the process. So they keep going, crossing one line after another that they never should have crossed. Until, eventually, they are so far gone that they don't know the way back.”

All,
 
The Discord continues to grow - we're over 300 members now, and we are having, and have had, many awesome HEROic discussions!
 
https://discord.gg/HcUJvJH
 
Jump in, the active points are fine!
 

Find a new superhero?

Good for them!
 
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, longest-married presidential couple, celebrate 74th anniversary

Telum Sanctus
 
His history is a secret, but the man who is known only as the Holy Weapon by the Vatican is called upon when dire demonic threats arise. His body is covered in tattoos of  verses and proverbs that provide him protection from the evil forces he battles. He is also armed with the Sword of the Spirit representing the Word of God and is capable of slaying demons in whatever foul shape they take upon this plane.

Interesting I was trying to think of a character that used verses as an ability.

I thought the depiction of Domino in the second Deadpool movie was actually a good representation of how very big Luck could play out in various situations.

Yes, I did the same thing. A VPP of random stuff that helps the character. At one point I had a lightning bolt hit one of her opponents. It was a little cloudy, but the WTF moment was priceless.
 
You can do the "ballet of fortune" like in one of the Superman movies, where Clark steps on a guy coming out of an open manhole etc.
Or naturally occurring Rube Goldberg stuff can take the sting out the power and make the players laugh:
 
"A young woman's bikini top snaps, a guy in a Tesla swerves off the road gawking, hits a fire hydrant, it sprays out and knocks the gun out of your hand as you're about to shoot Snafu."

+1 on the Map Pack!

Okay, that's eight down  (1-7 and #26).  Nineteen more to go.
 
The early issues go easily: the whole sheet fits the scanner; it's just a matter of finding an alignment that gets both pages "mostly straight."  The less straightening you have to do digitally, the better, at least art-wise.
#7 was brutal: my copy was badly printed, badly cut, and badly managed.  That is to say that on every leaf, the pages were not straight with each other, necessitating a lot of setting and re-setting to get both printed pages "mostly straight;" getting both straight wasn't possible.  Get one too straight, and the other was just awful.  The leaning text of Pisa.  It was badly cut in that the top margin was infinite, while the page numbers barely fit at the bottom.  And I think this thing was used a coaster for a significant portion of its life....  I should have suspected something when I didn't have to pull the staples: I just started to straighten them a bit and the fell into bits....
It's funny that this was also the first issue that ICE was involved in.
 
Anyway, the small ones go reasonably quickly as they scan essentially two-pages-at-once.  There is a double-sized issue coming up that will slow it down a bit.  I expect the first size step-up will slow things down to one page at a time; I know the final size-- actual magazine size-- is going to crawl, as I've done one of those already (#26).
 
Still, it will get done as quickly as possible, and sent to Jason.  
 
 
Then we wait.....
 
I need a survey, if no one minds:
 
 
How many people are interested in maps as play aids?  I ask because _I_ love them, as does the youth group and both of my remaining adult groups.
 
I ask because AC is _filled_ with tiny maps.  I am curious to see if there is any interest in an Adventurers Club Map Pack-- I can take much higher rez scans-- high enough to enlarge these maps to 1 hex = 1 inch without loosing detail or getting pixelated.  It's more work on the pile, but if there are enough 5e-and-back players (sorry; I don't have the time to rescale individual elements of the map itself for 6e's 1"=1m scale), I might consider taking it on after the BBB project.
 
 

Well I went with the Necromancy idea.  They were called into a conference with the various kingdoms who were taking the brunt of the fighting.  They said that these warriors would not pick up the dead from the battles.  As they snuck around behind enemy lines they found dead soldiers laid out in large groups.  They kept going and it was cool because they didn't understand.  Then they got to the enemies lands and seen very poor people and seen the ritual of the necromancer and they kind of pooped themselves when they realized all the solders that would be summoned.
 
Thanks for the help I appreciate it, my group did as well.

Normally with their eyes.

I've started uploading images to Pinterest from my Champions recolors, so you can find them all on my page (along with a lot of other stuff, like all the David Trampier art I can find).
 
I do not own Escape from Stronghold, so I can't really do anything from that adventure.  However, I do have a new set of updates in the works from a very early adventure module  
 
 

It's at the bottom of that pile over there -->

Some names for your consideration:
 
Hagane No Ken, which is Japanese for "Steel Fist"
 
Dian Xue, which is Chinese for "Vital Attack Point"
 
Tiěpí, pronounced, "Tee-yeh-pea", which is Chinese for "Iron Skin"
 
Doragonken, which is Japanese for "Dragon Fist"
 
Hope that they help. Good luck!
 
 

I do have Classic Enemies.
 
Been playing this game for many generations...
 
Now to go find that supplement!

It's counterintuitive, but studies that have been conducted into aerosol transmission on board aircraft suggest that proximity and masks really do matter--it's not as simple as being sealed in a can with hundreds of other people.  The air does get filtered as it is recirculated, anyway.
 
Then again, some of your fellow passengers are bound to be like this guy:
 

“So, where are you going on your honeymoon?” Kate asked.
 
Marlene waved the thought away. “I'm still dealing with the aftereffects of a nine-month unexpected leave of absence. It will be a little while before we can really go anywhere.”
 
“Yes, but any ideas?”
 
Smiling, Marlene said, “Lot's of ideas.” Playing with the setting of her stone, she pulled the key out. “First thing is to figure out where this goes.” Kris hid her smile by taking a drink. “Then, maybe change out the silverware, redecorate the mansions.” The key slid back into her necklace.
 
“Mansions. Plural,” Jason said. Marlene smiled at him.
 
“It isn't like the New York mansion sees a lot of use. One or two parties a year,” she said.
 
“I don't know,” Adalene said. “Jen, Lisa, and I have been getting a lot of use out of the libraries. I think we've maybe cataloged all of a quarter of the basement.”
 
“The efforts you're putting in are appreciated, Addie,” Jason said.
 
She smiled. “Oh, I'm getting quite a list going of books I want to borrow.”
 
The sound of a motorcycle was heard in the distance. “Speaking of Jen,” Kate said.
 
Jason chuckled. “Wrong Jen, Kate.”
 
“Oh.”
 
“Although, I probably could have given her that task, too,” Jason said.
 
Warren laughed. “Bad enough you had her and Stacy go through all your paintings. If you had her going through your mom's library she'd still be chained in the dungeon.”
 
“You have to admit,” Kate said. “It seems like the summer was good for her.”
 
“For the most part,” Beth said quietly. Marlene reached over and took her friend's hand. Beth smiled.
 
Jen rolled the bike to a stop, popped her helmet off and hung it from the handlebar. “Hey, Little One. How's my favorite office gopher?”
 
“I'm good,” Jen said coming up the steps. “I thought you guys would have headed off by now.”

“Beth and I have to be back in the office tomorrow,” Marlene said.
 
“And some of us will be taking our leave shortly,” Stephen Langford said.
 
“Jason, can I talk to you? I have something I'd like to ask.”
 
“What's on your mind?”
 
Jen took a deep breath. “Well, there's this girl.”
 
“Girl not you I assume.”
 
“No. Not me. I know you don't want everyone to know about...,” she glanced at Stephen.
 
“Just say it, Jen,” Jason prompted.
 
“Well, I know you don't want everyone to know how you can heal. Demands, privacy, and having a life and all that. But this girl...” Jason's face was blank and his eyes bored into her. The last time he looked at her like that was the day she showed up unexpected in California. “Her name is Amanda Burns.”
 
“She got involved in some ugly stuff, Jase,” Warren said.
 
“You knew about this?” Jason asked without taking his eyes off Jen.
 
“Most of us did,” Kris said. “The only stipulation we had was that she had to be the one to ask.”
 
“What, exactly, did she get involved in?”
 
Jen leaned back against the porch rail. “The group that I told you about, Mandy was one of them. The first day of school she tried picking a fight with me in the hall. She ended up with a broken hand.” Jason's eyebrows went up. “It wasn't me, exactly. I dodged. She hit Mentor.” Jason nodded. “This group they got involved with something.”
 
“Demonbone,” Adalene said.
 
“Bright Lady,” Stephen said. “He's a real piece of work.”
 
“You keep bringing her up and you'll be my mother's favorite in no time,” Angelique said.
 
“Second favorite. Jason gave her something I never could.” Angelique smiled. “Anyway, I don't really want to know how those kids got involved with him.”

“You've dealt with him, Stephen?” Adalene asked.
 
“Damage control only. Slippery little bastard got away. He has an item of power. From time to time it needs to be recharged. His preferred method of doing so is teenagers and or mature women that he convinces are neglected.” Jason gave him a questioning look. “Orgies.”
 
Jason closed his eyes and rubbed his brow. “What happened to the girl?”
 
“It wasn't just an orgy, Stephen. It was a summoning.” Adalene turned her attention to Jason. “They were calling up something.”

“Scruffy?”

Adalene smiled. “No. You pretty much ended that one. I'm not sure what they were summoning. Amanda called him the 'Beautiful Man'. She was supposed to be the sacrifice. The only problem is that the sacrifice was supposed to be perfect. I am not sure what perfect was supposed to entail, but with a broken hand, Amanda did not qualify. She was scarred. Horribly. I've been monitoring her. I have not detected any taint on her. But her injuries were terrible.”
 
“How serious?”
 
“She spends her time either laying in her bed or sitting looking out the window in a wheelchair,” Jen said. “She has a hard time trying to stand, let alone walk. She refuses to look in a mirror after what they did to her.”
 
Marlene squeezed Jason's hand. He turned to look at her. “'To help those that cannot help themselves'. Isn't that how the charter reads?”
 
“You are an evil woman.” Marlene grinned. “Whose idea was it to put that in the charter in the first place?”
 
“Sandy, I believe.”
 
“I will see what I can find about Devilbone and this 'Beautiful Man',” Stephen said. “I would really like to put him down like a rabid dog and lock that toy of his away.”
 
“I like you, Stephen,” Jason said smiling.
 
“I have a conference at the hospital in two days, Jason,” Kris said. “If you'd like to tag along that should give you the opportunity to wander, help, and do whatever.”
 
“How many sick 'whatevers' normally run around in a hospital that might need help? That's my main problem. I am not God. It is not my place to play one.”
 
“Hmm. Moral quandaries. Sounds like my cue to take my leave,” Stephen said.
 
“Mr. Langford,” Marlene said, standing up.
 
“Mrs. Scott.”
 
“May I have a word with you? In private.”
 
“As the lady wishes,” he replied with a formal deep bow. He held out his hand to her. “Any particular place I should do my vanishing act?”
 
Warren shrugged. “Middle of the drive is fine unless you make a mess on your way out.”
 
Stephen led Marlene away.
 
“I'm sorry,” Jen said. “If it were me...”
 
“I'd do in in a heartbeat, Jen.”

Jen smiled. “I know. I don't care what happened between us, but she didn't deserve what they did to her.”
 
“How long ago was the attack?”
 
“Just over two weeks ago,” Warren said.
 
“So not quite healed anyway.”
 
“No,” Kris said.
 
“So, Jen,” Beth said. “Homecoming?”
 
Jen waved it away. “Not going. No date. No dress.”
 
Jason looked at Warren. “Kate and I are chaperoning.”
 
Jason cleared his throat and smiled at Jen. “George made you two dresses. One was for the Halloween party. The other...”
 
“Is hanging in my closet. I know,” Jen said.
 
“Then the deal is this. I will do what you're asking. If...”
 
“Next week,” Warren said.
 
“If you don't have a date for homecoming by next week, I will take you.”
 
Jen stared at Jason. “You're like a brother to me.”
 
“At the very least it means you won't have to worry about the usual shenanigans from boys your own age,” Beth said. “Not to mention his wife, your brother, your father all ganging up to kill him if he did,” she added laughing.
 
“Fine. If I don't have a date by next week you can take me.”
 
* * * * *
“So, what can I do for you, Mrs. Scott?”
 
Marlene smiled sweetly. “I have been watching you and Angel, Mr. Langford. How the two of you keep looking at each other.” His eyes darted to the porch, finding Angelique looking at him before her eyes darted away. “Yes, exactly like that. I don't think I need to question your intentions, sir.”
 
“Well, I was thinking perhaps...”
 
“Stephen, she's my friend. I don't believe she has ever truly been romanced. If you hurt her I will personally set out to make your life hell.”
 
“I don't think...” Marlene raised a brow. “You would truly?” Marlene nodded. “As you wish,” he said bowing his head to her. “Lady Bouchard,” Angelique looked at him. “May I have the honor of calling on you?”
 
Angelique smiled. “I think I would like that, sir.”
 
“How may I contact you?” he asked.
 
Conjuring up a blue butterfly, Angelique sent it fluttering to him where it landed on his shoulder. Then it froze.
 
“I shall keep it safe. Until later,” he said with a bow to the ensemble. He stepped away from Marlene, giving her another nod. Yellow with sparks that looked golden, Stephen conjured up a portal and stepped inside.

Amorka I wanted to say that if you find a decent deal on Classic Enemies for 4th ed, it has Stronghold and the robots written up and it would be easier to update from 4th to 6th. 

This is why we end up with encyclopaedic rule books. 😄
 
I think these are all good questions but the are discursive ones that might affect how you cost advantages etc.
 
I said passive grab.  A hand hits, the hand is passively grabbed and stuck.  A sword hits and is grabbed (not automatically - relevant grab attack rolls but independent of the tar baby's SPD/actions etc).
 
Can they force each other to move?  In the same way as anyone else can. Relative movement would depend on advantages/disadvantages on the power as well as common sense.
 
Doc

I have no citations but if someone came to me with the power I would plan to run it like a passive grab...

The Champions genre book contains full background for the Champions example superhero team, in greater detail than their subsequent write-ups in Champions Universe, as well as game stats for the start of their careers. That book also describes and stats the V-Jet, their team transport; their base, Homestead, and its resident AI, Socrates.
 
The V-Jet takes its name from its shape. It consists of a central body shaped like a rounded wedge, with two forward-pointing wings attached to either side of the body at the rear. (No illo is included in the book.) Capable of vertical takeoff and landing, and amphibious, it can reach approximately Mach 10. Passengers are protected from the effect of these velocities by a sophisticated internal force-field. The V-Jet carries enough concentrated fuel to fly at full speed for up to a day.

If an enemy attacks the V-Jet, the Champions can fight back with twin blasters mounted on either side of the craft’s nose. Hatches in the roof and floor also allow flying members of the team to exit the vehicle to do battle; low-level force fields keep the exits from overly disrupting the flow of air over the jet's body.
 

By this time tomorrow night, Jason should have scans of issue one-- and hopefully issue two-- in his hands.
 
Guys:  I am not doing the cleanup on these scans; I don't know who is.  I can't vouch for the final results of the project, but I will be sending 1200dpi scans to allow the best possible start to this project!  
 
 

I'm not trying to knock yours and other contributors additions to the 'zine, especially not your rights to same and/or to profit from it.
 
But I have to wonder "Why not expand its audience?"  Let everyone see, read, and use the things that were created.  Hero needs MORE of everything, for everyone, not just Hero for existing Hero Players.  
 
*I'm not  a Haymaker contributor; was in a gaming group with one and allowed to read a copy.
 
Chris.