Jump to content

Ternaugh

HERO Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    11,356

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    16

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Ternaugh

  2. Ghostbusters

    in Pulp Hero

    Posted

    Re: Ghostbusters

     

    How about an adjustment of the time period to the '20s and '30s? I think that it could easily make the transition. Think of all of the angry dead from the Great War, or the flu epidemic. Of course, you'd also have real cults trying to pull in ancient evils, and the Art-Deco buildings would be a bit newer, though no less dangerous. And would gangsters who die leave really nasty gangs of ghosts?

     

    The proton accelerators need a bit of tweaking, perhaps based upon this newfangled Radio and maybe lots of vacuum valves to make them a little less certain to use (more fragile). Laser containment grids are out, but maybe you could hold the spooks with a Tesla coil or two. Thomas Edison could rail about how dangerous the equipment is, and threaten to shut it down.

     

    If set in the early to mid-twenties, you could even have Harry Houdini try to bust them as frauds. You could use Aleister Crowley as a reoccuring villain, or unwitting dupe.

     

    Now, if I could only talk my players into a game...

     

    JoeG

  4. Wwycd: Doom!!!!

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Wwycd: Doom!!!!

     

    I'd ask if I can film it as a crappy movie featuring the Rock and a gimmicky "first-person" uncontrollable shooter mode for the last third.

     

    Then I'd pretty much do what Iuz the Evil said.

     

    YMMV,

    JoeG

  16. What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

     

    Just finished Thud!, by Terry Pratchett, and the related book, Where's My Cow?, also by Terry Pratchett. The latest in the series of books to deal with Commander Vimes, and the City Watch. Thud! deals with unrest on the Discworld concerning the ancient battle of Koom Valley, and its modern echoes in the dwarven and troll communities. As always, Pratchett echoes real-world concerns with his fantasy characters. A good read.

     

    Where's My Cow? is a bit of a departure from the normal Discworld book. It is an illustrated children's book, which is read to Commander Vimes to his young son, Sam. The book figures prominently within the plot of Thud!, and is a delightful bit of background for Discworld. The version that we read is almost identical to the well-chewed version that Vimes pulls from a shelf in one of the illustrations, but it also includes Vimes' act of reading the book (within the book) to his child, including a wonderful take on law enforcement, as it relates to missing farm animals, and a children's view of Vimes' world as it relates to some of the more colorful figures:

     

    Where's my daddy?

    Is that my daddy?

    It goes, "Bugrit!

    Millennium Hand and Shrimp!"

    It is Foul Ole Ron!

    That's not my daddy!

    [/Quote]

     

    JoeG

  17. Magic... but not Magic

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Magic... but not Magic

     

    Let's analyse how you want the power to manifest.

     

    Using the example of a "Ghost Fence", there are a number of possibilities:

    1. The barrier is really there, for the Tribal. It is something that only they can see, and therefore believe in implicitly. This could be modeled with the Entangle, with suitable advantages and limitations.

    2. The Tribal can see the barrier, though it's all in his head. You could use Mind Control, or even a form of Mental Images, once again, only visible to Tribals.

    3. The Tribal knows that the magic is potent, and, although the only visible markers for it are a few bones, and other items of power, he knows the great consequences for violating the barrier. This makes use of the beliefs common to all Tribals, and makes it an extreme sacrifice for the character to willingly violate the warding (read: Ego rolls at substantial penalties plus roleplaying required to break the "Ghost Fence").

     

    Of these systems, I feel that #3 is perhaps the most elegant. It has definite roleplaying hooks, and creates a moody and mysterious system of "magic". It also covers the duality inherent in the system: that it only seems to affect Tribals. To enforce the "bad effects" of ignoring the magic, I'd probably use an Unluck dice system, by which Tribals would gain extra dice of Unluck for each violation, until an "atonement" ritual could be performed.

     

    Of course, YMMV,

    JoeG

  19. What Are You Listening To Right Now?

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

     

    3940 songs. 13 days.

     

    Keith "not above a petty nyah-nyah. ;)" Curtis

     

    PS. The Mariner's Revenge Song by the Decemberists

     

    7333 songs. Just about 20 minutes shy of 22 1/2 days. 39.92 GB*. And I'm only at about half-way with reloading the hard drive with my CD collection after a reformat. Maybe Itunes is slowing you down. ;)

     

    Now up: "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo

     

    JoeG

     

    *Mainly MP3 192kbps, with a few 128s and a few vbr recordings.

  22. Nanotech!

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Nanotech!

     

    "You want to come down from the trees? Are you nuts? There are lions down there! And leopards! And elephants! You don't stand a chance!"

     

    Man's first mistake.

     

    I blame it on the Monolith. 1 x 4 x 9, indeed!

     

    JoeG

  23. Pulp Art book by Robert Lesser

    in Pulp Hero

    Posted

    I just picked up this gem from my local Barnes and Noble, for $12.95, less member discount. It's a hardcover reprint of a book published in '97, and consists of page after page of the paintings that made up the pulp covers, along with photos of some of the magazines, and descriptions of the various categories. All in all, a book that is bound to give some ideas.

     

    http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1402730357&itm=1

     

    JoeG

  24. Nanotech!

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Nanotech!

     

    Why am I so suprised the luddites and rifkins are at it again? Calling for bans on substances that don't exist yet, claiming they are too dangerous.

     

    Both studies were aspirated, not swallowed, nanotubes.

     

    So, wear a respirator, don't snort the nanotubes or buckyballs, and wash your hands before touching your food or your face. ;)

     

    To be honest, just about any substance can be dangerous if handled improperly. Most likely, any precautions required for the nanosheets would include using respirators while creating or shaping the products.

     

    JoeG

×
×
  • Create New...