Matt Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

Re: Rocket-propelled Chainsaw OMG this has such potential for both overkill and silliness! Points from the peanut gallery: 1) Write up for the weapon should probably include either uncontrolled AoE(for madly flying chainsaw, especially in an inclosed space) or a continuing charge (for hitting target and eviceration or grinding damage), plus a linked Presence Attack (as in "Holy *bleep* that was an RPC -- Rocket-Propelled CHAINSAW). 2) Write up for the weapon should probably include the limitation of Bulky and the "Hangar Queen" limitation (after all, you have to maintain a rocket and a chainsaw). 3) I like this one even better than the Man-Portable Hedghog Grenade Launcher -- it didn't launch hedgehogs, but it did launch a dozen impact-delay fused concussion grenades at once (a great thing to take out a number of infantry holed up in a building on multiple adjacent floors). 4) The drawing is very nice -- any credit to the artist? 5) I will be incorporating this one as a favorite WTF weapon employed by the Bozos gang in Cyberpunk... Matt "Gettin'-twisted" Frisbee

Re: Would you play… Hmmmmm...this is a toughie. To be blunt, I've tried it before using the random generator in the Champions Sourcebook, but the campaign never got beyond the first session (my bad for inviting eight people to play). I've played Villains & Vigilantes (many years ago) and had fun with a purely random character -- to a limited extent, 1st Ed. AD&D characters are the same way. I would say that as long as I could decide my character's personality and skill set, I could probably be happy with whatever group of powers that were assigned to him or her. But I would also expect some control over how the powers develop. And I wouldn't have expectations for a long-term campaign for such a character, unless the campaign was really fun (as in unconventional). Matt "Why-is-that-geiger-counter-hissing?" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log There isn't a website for the store, yet. The store is called Shattered Sun Games and Hobby in Keokuk, Iowa. It is right along US 218 (Business 61 otherwise known as Main Street) next to the Chief Motel. If you want a specific street address or a phone number, PM Rhonda Savage (Barry). And yes, they have Hero System -- and if Shattered Sun don't have it, it can be ordered. To be honest, though, Keokuk is probably out of driving range if 100 miles is your limit. And don't worry too much, I probably spent enough there over the weekend to cover for you... Matt "Gaming-addict-since-the-1970's" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Just a note to regular readers of the thread -- the guy who hosts our game (Barry) is getting a gaming store off of the ground, so our game is on hiatus until we can all get it together. Hopefully, our game will get back on track in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your patience! Matt "Keepin'-my-fingers-crossed" Frisbee

Re: Help needed: Sadistic "April Fool's" Jokes I've always liked the Tick episode where an "ant" villain of some type started trying to fry humans with a giant magnifying glass -- that was kind of funny. There's always a variation on the old Pokemon show causing epileptic seizures -- but instead it drives children into homicidal fits. Somewhat less lethal (but still sadistic) is to have clown car drive-bys with cream pies loaded with acidic cream, halucenogenic whipped topping or just loaded with napalm. If there is a cherry blossum festival in your campaign city, you can start having explosions around the trees terrifying tourists. (Cherry bombs, of course, though the author of the Xanth series thought of that one first.) Any kind of flower festival could be infested with killer bees, of course. Suicide hotline calls could be redirected to euthenaisa advocacy groups or simply put on hold. Just a few ideas, though most aren't very funny, I guess. Matt "Still-trying" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Hey Barry, Thanks for dropping by the thread! Sorry to shoot down your plans with Anagram, but that doesn't mean she can't be saved, right? If your characters can figure out what's making her tick, well, that would change things, wouldn't it? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Consider the story some motivation to find a hole in your schedule... Seriously, bro, see you Friday. Matt "Can't-wait-to-spend-my-money-in-your-store" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Hey WimpyBrick, You'll have to ask Barry about that one -- he's got a lot of irons in the fire right now, plus he wants me to start running a Cyberpunk game at the store. We'll have to catch as catch can so far as our group getting together. But I'll keep my fingers crossed. I missed you at the store's opening over the weekend, by the way -- have you made it out there yet? Matt "My-spare-money's-taken-now" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Direbadger, Thanks for your interest! A typical session is about four hours, though we have gone as long as six (once). With our current situation, I'm not sure when we're going to get together again, but I decided to get some writing out of my system since my workload was light Sunday night. Matt "The-compulsive-author" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log INTERLUDE -- 25 SEP 2006 -- "ALPHABET SOUP" D - R - U - G - S The letters rested comfortably snug on the inner surface of the soup spoon as Anna contemplated them through wisps of vapor from the bowl. Below the spoon was the familiar heated slurry of tomatoes, vegetables and pasta letters in a plain white bowl, separating the golden brown triangular wedges of a grilled cheese sandwich on a plain white plate. Familiar things, these, Anna mused as she slurped the letters off of the spoon, Signposts of childhood. She dipped the spoon into the bowl again, dredging its depths for more pasta playmates. It's been a long time since my mind has been this calm outside of The Asylum, she thought, raising the spoon to her lips, and then froze, staring at the letters there. F - R - E - E - K The spoon shook in her trembling hand as she stared at the word, her eyes wide in horrific recognition. cOMe pLay WiTh ME, aNAgraM, echoed from the depths of her mind. NObodEE evEr PlayS wItH mEEEE... The spoon fell from her trembling fingers to plop back into the bowl, the word erased in a flurry of Brownian motion in its murky depths. But her eyes were no longer focused, staring at some undefined point a thousand yards below the table. The memories flooded back like a clogged sewer, filling the corners of her memory with the filth of horror and fear. i MiSS yoU, AnAgRAm, whispered the voice of Freek soundlessly as a breath of cool night air, wE USed tO haVe SUcH fuN togETheR. YoU thINk suCh PRetTy THoughTs oF PAYNE... It was the voice she couldn't shut out -- the one of lonely, forbidding madness that touched the minds of every patient at The Asylum. The thoughts of a psionic psychopath locked up deep within the sub-basement of the complex, where few dare to tread, resonated throughout the complex, warping all it touched with pain and fear and misery. Somehow, in the depths of her despair after being sent here the first time, he -- it touched her mind, seeking to sow seeds of its madness in a new host. It called itself Freek. "STOP IT!" she screamed, and then she was falling to floor, clawing at her red tresses with desperate fingers, as if the memories were maggots squirming just below her scalp. She cried in hopeless desperation, sobbing at the pain and the ragged edges of her madness that fringed her vision and thoughts. ThE DRugs aRe POYzen, AnaGRaM, sighed the Freek over her struggles, TheY taKe aWAy YUR KahNTrol -- MAkE yoU a PUPpeT, sayINg PRetTEE ThinGS THEY waNT tO HeaR. "If you and The Asylum are the alternatives," Anna growled through her shuddering fear, "I'd rather die!" yoU Kahll THIS LivinG? mocked Freek from the back of skull. SHeez USinG yoU. WanTZ YuR mINd iN a BAHX sHe Kan pUT oN a SHELF! MaKE yoU dO hER ThinKInG whEN SheeZ StuMPed! "NO!" Anna shrieked, "Powerhouse is helping me!" FeeDINg yoU KANDEE iZ heLPIng yoU? hissed Freek. ITz a KAHLer ANd A lEESH yoU KAn't weAR AnD LiVe FUR LahNG. SYkohTROHpiks wILl eAT yUR LIHvur evENtuALEE, LIKe KANDEE KAYNE. "LIAR!" she cried. "Kandi Cain died of withdrawl symptoms from her own drugs!" frEEQ NahT LYEENG! rasped the soundless voice in her head. yoU Ask poWERhAUS nEKS tyMe yoU sEe hER. WhEN yoU KNow tHe TRuTh, I wiLL bE WAYTEENG... And then it was gone, releasing her. Anna's body shook and she could taste vomit in the back of her mouth. Her sobs shifted from terror to release and genuine sadness. She could smell urine and sweat mingling with the salt in her tears. Sprawling in abject misery upon the polished boards of her kitchen floor, she poured her pain upon it, howling in frustration as the sorrow turned to rage, her fists pounding the floor, echoing hollowly in the unfurnished confines of the tiny apartment. Finally, her emotions spent, she lay gasping upon the floor. A few moments later, she dragged herself up from the floor by bodily climbing the straight chair in which she had been sitting a few minutes ago, using it for support as she rose to her feet. She stared at the remnants of her repast on the card table in front of her, her features twisting into a sneer as she saw the letters floating on the surface of the soup. T - R - U - T - H "I hate cold soup," she said simply, then turned her back on it as she stalked to the bedroom, just three steps away. A moment later, four bottles of pills streaked across the space to clatter across walls and floorboards before finally coming to a rest in the far corner of the barren kitchen. A moment after that, Anna emerged in a body stocking with a familiar crossword motif. A domino mask framed the green eyes which burned with anger and determination. The beginnings of a cold, cruel smile touched the corners of her mouth as she eyed the bowl of soup again. Slowly, carefully, she spooned out letters of the bowl, carefully placing them in a row upon the lip of the plate, while munching one of the triangles of the grilled cheese sandwich. K - N - I - G - H - T - S - H - I - F - T "Time to play," she said coldly, "and this time, it's a brand new game." She pulled off her gloves and left them with the bowl. She picked up the other half of the sandwich, turning her back on the table, slamming the apartment door in her wake. Matt "Wheels-are-turning" Frisbee

Re: 4th Ed. Veteran looking for advice on 5E To be blunt, there's no real reason to abandon your old ground rules just because you're changing editions. It is (essentially) the same system, but a there are a few rules changes that'll throw an old-timer off kilter. Personally, after rummaging through FRED, I decided to stay with 4th ed. just so I wouldn't have to relearn a system. The nice thing is that most Hero System supplements (including Villainy Amok which is a must buy for any GM) are reasonably backwards compatable. Admittedly, my most recent efforts had characters with more points than I'm comfortable, but it was an effort to please the players, so I dealt with it. Since one of my friends is opening a game store, I suppose I'll have to get FREDdy with it and learn the new system so I can demo for his store. *Sigh* In a nutshell, though, go with what you're comfortable running, and good luck to you. Matt "Old-School" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Glad you enjoyed it, Edsel. Unfortunately, things have cropped up for this weekend that have forced us to postpone our session this week. Hopefully, things will settle down a bit over the next week and we can all get back to the table on September 29th. Apologies to everyone who've been enjoying these write-ups. Thanks for your support. Matt "Why-can't-I-just-win-the-lottery-already?" Frisbee

Re: Starfall Campaign Shucks, I was thinking this was a campaign based on the webcomic Freefall. Sam Starfall is the main character in that one which combines a little slapstick, a little larceny and a lot of oddball musings on technology on a world which is being terraformed. Oh well -- I guess I'll have to get after that one myself. Matt "Gotta-love-a-robot-shaped-like-a-bowling-ball-with-a-soft-spot-for-stuffed-animals" Frisbee

Re: Dyson Sphere (shell) - Dysonica Anyone? Yeah, that's fine if you're doing artificial gravity. Personally, rotation is a cheap way to produce it. Instead of a sphere, how about a partial sphere with the pole areas shaved off? That would allow for spacecraft access from two directions. Gravity would get weird near the edges, but rugged mountains would keep all but the most adventurous inhabitants out of areas of reduced gravity. Matt "Too-practical" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Righteous action in Game Session 15, Edsel! Excellent writeup as well. I liked the bit about the band being the cover for the kidnapping and kudos to Crucible for being clear-headed enough to recognize the threat. However, I wonder if any of the group realizes that there must have been an inside member of the entourage to steer the target to the venue? Matt "The-plot-thickens" Frisbee

Re: The Hanzo sword Hmmm... It might not be a bad idea to tackle not only the Hanso katana, but the Green Destiny sword from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well. Some ideas for the Hanso sword here: 1) Either a Drain attack vs. blocking weapons or Penetrating vs. blocking weapons (to simulate the blade breaking ability), 2) Bonus to PRE when wielded against other swordsmen, 3) Bonus to OCV and DCV (for the perfect blade), 4) Affects Desolid ("If you should encounter God on your journey, then God will be cut!" power), 5) Transform power of some kind to simulate the limb severing power of the blade. Possible disadvantages for the sword: 1) Famous swordmaker, 2) Hunted by collectors, swordsmen and women worldwide, 3) Unluck for its weilder (the owner is forced to walk a path of blood). Just some ideas. Matt "From-this-position-you-gain-an-excellent-view-of-my-foot!" Frisbee

Re: Making colonization attractive? A note to David Johnston: You make very good arguments there, but here's one you can't counter with logic: If I could pass the physical, and had or could be taught the skills required to be an essential part of the mission or colonization effort, I'd go. Today. Matt "Been-wanting-off-of-this-rock-since-Tranquility-Base-sent-us-pictures-of-the-moon" Frisbee

Re: Dyson Sphere (shell) - Dysonica Anyone? Hmmm... This reminds me of a fantasy campaign I ran on a ringworld. I chose that setup to 1) make the climate relatively stable, 2) eliminate the problems involed in making maps on a sphere and 3) "never" run out of space for unknown lands. The closest thing I ever came to a Dyson Sphere was an attempt at running a Pelucindar (sp?) post-apoc campaign. Still, the characters in one of my Star Trek campaigns ran across a generation ship built inside an enormous asteroid which spun to provide gravity. In all of the above cases, I stuck to earthly proportions for land to water. In a Dyson sphere, I'd reserve the polar regions for oceans, with some seriously unique aquatic lifeforms which have developed in low gravity water. The entrance / exit to the sphere would probably be known as "The Well" or something like that, since that would be its appearance to those who lived within the sphere. I always wondered what would be brighter -- the stellar primary or the background sphere since the latter would be so much larger than the former, regardless of the albedo. In any case, there would be serious issues with life forms having to be adjusted to constant light instead of a standard day/night cycle. However, since there are lifeforms on our planet which never see the light of day, I imagine there would be strange ones adapted for constant daylight as well. Matt "Just-babbling-along" Frisbee

Re: From the mouths of babes I had a mad on for "Planet of the Apes" when I was a kid -- but that lasted only until I discovered Tolkien, D&D and Star Wars in a span of about three years... Matt "Totally-ape" Frisbee

Re: The Seven Deadly Villains Shoot! I thought this was related to that classic Kung-Fu Theater film "The Seven Deadly Venoms!" Oh well. Good luck with it! Matt "Really-has-no-life-outside-of-gaming" Frisbee

Re: Magic special effect

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From last night's AD&D (1st Ed.) game -- yes, Samantha is a newbie to this sort of thing... Samantha: Meren's running out of arrows. Is there someplace around here she could buy some more? GM (me): Um...in the dungeon? Samantha: We're in the dungeon now? GM: Hon, what do you think we've been doing for the last four hours? Do you remember the cave with all of the dead bodies in it and the piercers? You remember how that had a passageway in the back blocked by rubble that you helped clear out? And then your characters found the stairs that led down into these catacombs where you've been fighting monsters and avoiding traps for the last four hours? Samantha: Oh! You called them something else before! Cat-something. GM: Catacombs, yeah. Okay, my bad. In general, these things are called dungeons, but yeah. Samantha: So is there anyplace in here I can buy some more arrows? I mean we've found all this gold, right? GM: Okay everybody, I gotta take a break. To be fair, Samantha just turned 13 a few weeks ago -- and yes, she is very new at this. But she's still in there and swinging. Matt "Teaching-my-friend's-children-well-I-hope" Frisbee

Re: Flyboys: WWI pilots, dogfights, and zepplins!!! I'm colorblind and can't say for sure, but I thought I saw one Dr.I painted black which would be the infamous Black Eagle, who was also a pretty lethal German pilot. In fact, he stuck around long enough to fight the early part of WWII as well, if memory serves. Matt "Loves-the-Knights-of-the-Air-wargame" Frisbee EDIT: I found the reference to the pilot I'm talking about -- Josef Carl Peter Jacobs -- who had 48 victories and flew a black Dr.I during WWI. Here's the information page at www.theaerodrome.com: http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/jacobs.php Flyboy Matt

Re: Flyboys: WWI pilots, dogfights, and zepplins!!! I can assume that they used Dr.I's exclusively because they are visually distinctive in the wide shots they had to use for their CG dogfights. And yeah, if that's true, then it will truly be sad. I'm presuming that most of the "character" planes are SPAD 7's or 13's -- even though the unit started with Neuport 17's... The jury's out until I can actually watch this thing. Matt "Got-in-trouble-for-calling-someone-'Fokker'-with-proper-pronounciation-once" Frisbee