Matt Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Revy's quote is priceless, Nexus. Thanks for the chuckle -- after doing radio commercial affidavits for four hours at work, I needed one. Matt "I'm-a-broadcaster-not-a-data-entry-clerk" Frisbee

Re: The Benchwarmers: Semi-super heroes Benchwarmers? Okay... Splatter Jack -- This unusual villain had the ability to telekinetically manipulate paint (as well as inks and dyes) so long as they were still in a fluid state. Ranged attacks via full paint cans, flash attacks with the liquid stuff, and a cosmetic transform (with an area of effect) since he would make graffiti and artworks with his power. His backstory had him painting the house of a neophyte magician and blundering into the pentagram with a full bucket of paint at exactly the wrong moment... Mr. Boredom -- This minor league villain had the perfect tone of voice for a featureless monotone that would (in the space of a minute or two of his rambling monologue) put everyone within earshot asleep. He was using the bit on subway passengers to pick their pockets and slip off the train at the next stop. After he finally got caught, he shortened his prison stay by helping quell agitated prisoners with his power. He wasn't quite reformed, but he mostly stayed out of trouble by working as a drug-free tranquilizer for patients at the local hospital... Matt "Comic-relief" Frisbee P.S. -- I'm feeling very Satanic right now! Post # 666!

Re: Fast combat? Short and sweet, if you want quick and easy combat, play Cyberpunk 2020 (2nd Edition). That combat system is a cheap, easy whore and I have run countless pick-up games based on its mechanics. Character creation is pretty simple, too, especially if you skip the lifepath stuff... Matt "Philistine?-ME?!" Frisbee

Re: Mecha in Star Hero Having run BGC with Fuzion rules, I can honestly say that it's not really that bad. However, I guess I would use a system that requires cultivating, curing, brewing, drinking and then reading the remaining leaves in the bottom of a homemade hand-thrown porcelin cup to resolve combat if I was seriously into the genre. And back in those days, my players and I were seriously into Bubblegum Crisis. Funny you should mention that, however, as I was wasting some time reworking my notes on the campaign city for the game -- Metronova. Unfortunately, I've lost the BGC EX supplement which came up with a quick and dirty methodology for making hard suits and battle movers specifically for the game. Back in the day, it was the "GM-pulls-figures-and-designs-out-of-parts-of-his-anatomy-and-if-they-don't-work-have-the-next-boomer-trash-it" system -- which works surprisingly well if you happen to be the only person in the group with the rules... Matt "Fakin'-it" Frisbee

Re: Piercing Questions, or Making Tech Levels Distinctive This is an interesting point, and an essential one for science-fiction GM's: different levels of technology work in different ways, and newer is not necessarily better (though it is usually more convenient in some fashion). Take vision enhancement technology as a "for instance:" Initial visual telescopes were bulky, fragile and somewhat unreliable (due to the imperfections of early lens-grinding technologies) but did essentially the same job that compact binoculars do today. The difference comes from improvements in various materials, mass production and discoveries concerning optics. To be blunt, one can't expect a society that doesn't understand mass production techniques and hasn't gone through some form of an industrial revolution to produce anything besides non-standard hand-crafted items, which will vary widely in design, price and quality. Sadly, it usually takes something traumatic like warfare or a disaster to spur a society to improve -- if there is no need or desire to do something a different way, the old ways suffice. Without need or competition, a society stagnates (at least from a technological standpoint). AlHazred makes a very valid point -- the ultra-modern versions of items should have improved performance, lower cost, lighter weight, greater endurance, etc. I'll be interested to see what direction this goes, and what AlHazred comes up with for solutions for some of these issues. Matt "Nitpicky-but-only-when-reminded-to-be" Frisbee

Re: Sunshine (movie) Visually interesting, looks like some good action and effects sequences, but the science concept is so horrible that I probably won't watch it. My opinion is that if science can somehow build a ship with hibernation chambers that can withstand close exposure to the sun, it could also build an interstellar ship to look for a suitable home outside the solar system. I predict that Sunshine will join a growing string of action/effects movies of late that have been based on piteously weak science, like The Day After Tomorrow, The Core and Volcano. You really want to do an effects movie with serious science underpinnings? Try something about the Day After Christmas Sunami, the Hurricane Katrina disaster (not just New Orleans) or the development of earth's first beanstalk to space? No, nothing explodes in those, do they? *SIGH* What else do we expect from the exceedingly rich morons who finance movies these days? Something that will inspire us to better greatness and provoke creative thought or something like SAW III where people are gloriously tortured, humiliated and eviserated (not necessarily in that order)? I suppose its always been this way, but is it just me, or have Hollywood's offerings been more ingloriously STUPID in the last decade or so? I mean stupid to the point of annoying, not just the garden variety idiocy I've come to expect. Matt "Yeah-kinda-disgruntled" Frisbee

Re: Anime series as a campaign Another one that I have dredged up from the depths of my memory: Maburato -- Fantasy Hero / Teen Champions -- Set on an alternate earth where both technology and magic exist side by side, people have the ability to work magic, though the amount of magic an individual person can wield varies due to parentage and genetics. Each person can only cast so many spells in their life -- exceed the limit and you turn dust! The show focuses on the misadventures of a 17-year-old male student at a Japanese high school academy of magic and three pretty female students who are after his highly desirable genes so they can sire the world's next great sorceror. The twist is that our hero is such a nice guy, they all fall in love with him (to varying degrees). While the first few episodes are a hoot, the latter stages get much darker as he tries to return to material form (with the help of everyone he has helped) from becoming a ghost. Still, it is a solid world full of family rivalries, teen romance and magical high school hijinx! (You can watch it on youtube.com, too.) Matt "Yuuna-is-sooooo-kawaii" Frisbee

Re: Anime series as a campaign More campaigns from the anime-inspiration wish list: Gunsmith Cats -- Dark Champions -- This was a very fun anime miniseries based on a long-running manga about a highly unlikely pair of female gunsmiths / bounty hunters in (a Japanese impression of) Chicago as they do battle with a gang of weapon smugglers and a female Russian assassin from hell. The opening credits sequence's homage to The Streets of San Francisco was worth the price of admission for me, but the rest of this woefully short series was fun, too -- I would offer this one up to Hollywood for a live-action makeover. Patlabor (several series) -- Robot Hero / Dark Champions -- A near future rendering of how mecha ("labors") are introduced into human society and what roles they might play. The series focuses on the trials and misadventures a police unit equipped with two "Patrol Labors" as they battle gangsters and outright nuts armed with labors of their own. The officer in charge of the unit (whose name escapes me) is a quirky, cool, sleepy-eyed leader who takes a laid-back approach to managing the group's problems, yet cares deeply for the team. (And yeah, he's my favorite character.) Mecha are on the scale of five-stories tall and are generally unarmed or have upscaled versions of firearms the labors can hold in their hands. Heroic Tale of Arslan -- Fantasy Hero -- An epic tale spun from one of the Japanese writers' AD&D campaigns. This particular anime (IMHO) was made to be converted into a Fantasy Hero campaign -- the heroes are decidedly larger than life and the scale of the story is epic as a prince attempts to reclaim his realm after its defeat by a tyrannical empire. Excellent character renderings and portrayals make this series a rare find, especially since the series is now over twenty years old. Gunbuster -- Robot Hero -- Here's some absolutely classic Giant Robot vs. Cosmic Invaders story told in six episodes. A young girl trains to become a mecha pilot after her father's starship disappears in a confrontation with alien invaders. Our heroine is decidedly unheroic during the first part of the series, unprepared mentally for war, but matures rapidly as the hard price of failure begin to hit home. One of the more interesting aspects of the series are the "educational bits" at the end of each episode, explaining the handwaivium of the science of the series. There is a bit of eye candy in this series as well, especially during the early episodes. Matt "Just-another-drooling-fanboy" Frisbee

Re: THE HARBINGER OF JUSTICE Writeup.. And it's a sick, munchkinesque power-gamer fantasy trip. Yeah, I know it's Steve Long's favorite character, but I would be more interested in a write-up of the original character as it was when it entered play -- that I could use. The Harbinger, as it is presented in HC:TUA is completely unusable in any campaign I will ever run. By contrast, Dr. Destroyer (4th Ed.) was infinitely usable and made several appearances because of his obvious weaknesses. *Sigh* Sorry for venting, but I've always had issues with this one. Matt "Still-looking-for-the-words-of-the-prophets-in-bathroom-stalls" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Point blank: If the PC's can use it, the villains can use it, too. Plus, pepper spray is everywhere, and it is nearly as effective. (Sometimes more so in very crowded places like that bar in Chicago last year...) But to echo what Manic Typist said, a good plan should pay off and it did. You have smart players, Edsel -- cherish them. Maybe you could offer a place to sleep for your Tulsa commuter so the late night gaming could become more of a possibility... Matt "Full-of-ideas-or-something-like-them" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Excellent as always, Edsel, but yeah, it did seem like the players got off fairly easy. Just as a side note, there are people in this world who are immune to the effects of CS gas -- I think it's like one in 200 or so and its a genetic thing. Those people are usually heavy smokers, too, for some reason. One of the guys in my training unit was immune, and boy did I feel sorry for the people who had to be in the gas room extra long while the Drill Sergeants that figured out. (I volunteered to be in the first group since I had a vague idea what was coming...) Matt "My-eyes-are-burning-just-remembering-gas-training" Frisbee

Re: Anime series as a campaign Some ones I've run and others I'd like to... Bubblegum Crisis / AD Police -- Cyberpunk / Dark Technological Superhero already nicely done in Fuzion rules by R. Talsorian, but every year there's someone who tries to reincarnate the world in Hero rules. Futuristic MegaTokyo is being threatened by artificial lifeforms called Boomers and the MegaCorporation that makes them, Genom. (My campaign city was a remade San Antonio, Texas called Metronova.) Black Lagoon -- Modern Action / Dark Champions -- The series details the adventures of a pack of modern day smugglers, pirates and mercenaries operating in the South China Sea from the fictional port city of Roanapur (which I think is supposed to be in either Thailand or Malaysia). Roanapur is a city filled with the very worst of the villains of the world, executing a balacing act between the various criminal syndicates. Cowboy Bebop -- Star Hero / Dark Champions -- The series follows the misadventures of an unlikely group of bounty hunters and drifters as they wander between the terraformed worlds of the solar system aboard the Bebop while dealing with their own personal issues along the way. The home port was the capital city on Mars, which was still in the process of being terraformed. (The movie was awesome, though the series was hit or miss.) Ninja Scroll (the Movie) -- Ninja Hero / Low-Powered Champions -- This is one of the best action anime movies ever made with just the right amount plot and action. Ruthless super-powered assassins team up to steal gold from a secret mine to back a revolution, and a great ronin swordsman is forced team up with a government spy and a female ninja to stop them. (I never could find enough people who were into this to make a campaign. *Sigh*) Urusai Yatsura -- Comedy / Star Hero -- This was at least three of the anime series that inspired R. Talsorian Games to create the Teenagers From Outer Space RPG, plus the series spawned one of the most visually interesting anime movies (Beautiful Dreamer) ever made. The plot in short -- the most lecherous teenage boy on the planet is accidentally betrothed to a beautiful and insanely jealous alien princess. Alien princess has many beautiful friends for fiancee to drool over. Bedlam ensues. Matt "Drooling-fanboy" Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series I'm starting to have similar feelings for the Dies The Fire post-apoc trilogy by S. M. Stirling, now that I'm five chapters deep in the last book. No promises, since I'm already running another group (using FUDGE rules) in the same universe, but we'll see how my free time shakes out once I shake this stupid sinus infection and actually feel like my peppy old self again. Matt "Everyone-says-they-hate-being-sick-because-it's-true" Frisbee

Re: Campaign Log -- Session 19 Probably -- because I'm having withdrawl from the session summaries! Happy New Year, by the way, and Merry Mayhem in the game universe! Matt "Recovering-from-my-annual-sinus-infection" Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series I would give you some rep if the ghost in the machine would let me, nexus. But I gotta admit, that's comedy! Thanks for sharing it. Matt "Waiting-for-April" Frisbee

Re: Your "2007" Pet Gaming Projects Current Projects: Dies The Fire -- A post-apoc game based on the novel series of the same name by S. M. Stirling where mankind suddenly enters a Second Dark Age. Currently running it using FUDGE rules, and the players have managed to survive the first week after The Change, but now there's a deep division as to where to go and what to do, especially if The Change is permanent... New Knights of Kambria -- The last group of my 1st Edition AD&D campaign managed to survive the terrors of Spider Keep and fulfill their vow to find and return the body of an adventuring husband to a grieving widow. Unfortunately, all of their profits from the venture were used to resurrect the party's mage. Now a new group of players and characters are ready to seek their fortune in the Lands of Kambria, starting in the Tomb of the Nameless King... Outbound -- Science-Fiction on an epic scale as near future humanity has joined the great interstellar Concordiat, but are our heroes are finding out why the other races were so eager to have us in their midst -- the hard way! Dice Karma to you all and Happy New Year! Matt "A-busy-GM-is-a-happy-GM" Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Still waiting for the subtitled episode on youtube.com -- could somebody clue me in on what Rock and the head of Hotel Moscow discussed in the parking garage and why she let him live? Matt "Need-to-learn-Japanese-now" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log "D-Man hits his target at a range of 481” (-14 RMod). He Braced and set on the target. His sniper rifle and scope gave him a +9 Range Modifier, bracing gave him another +2 RMod, The scope and the quality of the firearm granted a +2 OCV bonus, and Setting gave another +1 OCV. So equipment bonuses and maneuver bonuses alone made up for the -14 RMod. The target had no idea he was being shot at and so was at ½ DCV. One shot one kill." 481 game inches = 962 meters = 3,174.6 feet = 6/10ths of a mile!!! Nice shot! OMG! Matt "Now-THAT'S-Impressive" Frisbee

Re: The Future of Small Arms Nah, ghost-angel -- that's still too small. I'll take the SDF-1 or Metroplex. Matt "Overkill" Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Ugly, nasty, bitter and vicious. I'm tingly all over! I do so love the gritty stuff... Matt "Buring-up-my-company's-bandwidth-for-my-anime-fix" Frisbee

Re: The Future of Small Arms Massdriver anti-tank weapons! Infinite Repeaters! Particle Projection Cannons! Radium Guns! Mercury Loads! Plasma Rifles! Thud Guns! Combat is so much cooler in the future -- especially if I'm not fighting it. Matt "Dedicated-spectator" Frisbee

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Foxbat? Who's that? A: Of course, I shaved it. Wouldn't you?

Re: Cyberpunk / Dystopian Adventure Formulas Twists -- just in case things get too predictable: We're working for who? -- The mysterious employer turns out to be one of the following: 1) An A.I. 2) A rival corporation/government/organization 3) One of the PC's relatives/enemies 4) A wealthy but terribly eccentric/insane millionaire 5) A flatline construct of an enemy the PC's thought was so dead Pandora was a stupid name anyway -- The PC's suddenly realize that if they accomplish their objective, one of the following will happen: 1) One of their enemies will be set for life 2) Many of their friends will be disadvantaged/injured/made homeless/killed 3) They will have more enemies than they know what to do with 4) They will cause an international incident 5) They will enable someone to kill people in mass quantities. Matt "Let's-do-the-twist" Frisbee

Re: Post Apoc Setting As a Gamma World, Aftermath!, Morrow Project and Twilight:2000 junkie, allow me to add an unqualified YES to wanting to see your notes for a post-apoc campaign. But at your own pace, of course. Matt "Nuke-'em-'till-they-glow" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Excellent as always, Edsel! And don't sweat the lack of details -- I frequently wing it with big fights, too, simply because that's the only way to resolve the outcomes in a timely fashion. Have a happy Thanksgiving weekend! Matt "Thinking-I-should-drop-by-Oklahoma-City-some-day-soon" Frisbee