薔薇語

Coming to Japan this year? Where abouts? I hope you enjoy it! La Rose.

A sheriff trying to do good: https://news.vice.com/article/this-sheriff-is-battling-budget-cuts-and-fighting-to-keep-mentally-ill-people-out-of-jail?utm_source=vicenewsfb La Rose.

Undeniably provocative? Did we read the same post? I fear not. It is not provocative to state that the average woman and the average man vary to predictable degrees. Men are, on average, stronger. Taking out the averages as a whole, men at their peak out preform women at their peak. Does this mean any particular woman is weaker than any particular man? Nope. It just means that if we had a representative sample of a thousand women and a thousand men, the male group would be physically stronger, possess higher stamina, and maybe be faster (Are men on average faster?). I don't know if there is much correlation between relflexes and sex, so that seems a bit dubious lest more data is provided. Now how does that play into Hero Terms? Not well. The difference is too minor for Hero to actually capture. Perhaps a single point diff in STR, CON, and END at most. Certainly not woth the hassle of calculating. Even more so when we consider the fact that in HERO, all PCs, regardless of gender, start at tens which is already above human average. La Rose.

The best transvestite group in Japan doing a fun song: La Rose.

Spiderman! La Rose.

I am not familiar with WoW spells. Can you explain it more? I gather that it does damage and then heals for an amount determined by the damage. Is that fair? If so, you could build it as a Transfer (Drain + Aid / Heal). But a Linked Heal to EB could also work reasonably well. La Rose.

Okay, after page seven I just completely skipped to the end. So if what I have to say is a re-hash of something, I am sorry. That said, there is on thing I think we need to keep in mind when we discuss this issue: Who controls the tank If the Tank is owned by a PC, he should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the defense and damage. It is the GMs job to vet the build and make sure that the character is not breaking any campaign rules. If a Tank has 8d6 RKA, then that damage should be with in the reasonable reach of all PCs - not just the one with the tank. If the Tank has an effective 20rP/ED, then that should be reasonable for all characters. At 8d6 RKA, a character will deal crippling levels of damage to a tank on average (Crippling meaning about half its body, and likely to disable a system or passenger). That seems inherently balanced against itself. Perhaps on purpose since the Tank is designed to take out other similar or weaker tanks with a single shot or two. Now, if my other PCs only have the ability to pump out 6d6 HKA (equivalent of 90 STR), then they will only be able to scratch the tank's body each turn - something that does pose a risk but maybe not as severe of one). Now I have to look at my team of PCs and determine, is the fact that one PC is so much stronger than everyone else an issue? If so, then I should restrict his build to something lower OR bring everyone else up to match. I would error towards the former as it is less work and less likely to cause unforeseen complications. That said, if the owner of the Tank is an NPC / GM by proxy, then 'who really cares what the stats are'? I rarely really worry about the actual defenses of things outside of vague generalities in my games. If I think something should have done enough damage to destroy anther thing, then the other thing is destroyed. Why worry about all the math? Embrace the cinematic and ignore the hardened rules. But assuming you aren't as free-form with the rules as I am when it comes to such things, then just assume that as a world standard that all non PC equipment is naturally weaker when facing the PCs. This could be because the PCs are given a plus zero advantage on all powers (and such) that says "Armor Piercing vs non PCs / Main villains" or all NPC equipment gets "reduced defenses vs all PC attacks). Thus, while the Tank would have 20rPD vs a nPC punching it, it only has a 10rPD vs a similar PC punching it. Now the 6d6 RKA (90 str equiv) will deal crippling damage on average and potentially vaporize on a good roll. The above doesn't seek to unbalance the world's stuff vs other stuff in the world, rather boost the value of being the cinematic center of attention. La Rose. Also don't forget the "Real World Lim" for things. Apply it to everything the GM builds as a standard unless you have reason not to.

Indeed. The above plus the lim alone should cover the desired effect. Always on might muddy the waters too much with the vagueness of what it implies. Lucius providing a excellent example.of a possible interpretation of the meaning. La Rose.

Interesting accounts. That said, it isn't exactly surprising. As I recall there were trade routes that stretched from Italy and Greece all the way to Japan. There have been recoveries of various artifacts and art works that seemed to have very strong Classical Greek influence. La Rose.

Funny, I saw him draw a weapon on two innocent young men after he had gone on a rampage of physically assualting other completely innocent young kids, including ripping on the hair of a young girl in a bikini. I saw him overreact and draw a weapon on two boys who were concerned about the 15year old bikini clad friend who was crying out for her mother. Then the two other officers had to step in to remind him that while physically attacking innocent black kids might be okay, including bikini clad scared and confused 15 year old girls, drawing your weapon isn't. They then had to chase down the rightfully terrified boys because you never know what that lunatic might have done. La Rose.

Meh, he probably still would have gotten off. Afterall, you never know what could be hidden behind that string bikini. Heck, they look young and fit - so they probably know some deadly karate or Kungfu. La Rose.

The McKinney cop quit Tuesday. Almost have same justice. Now I hope the family gets a decent case against the man and city, and the prosecutor gets some excessive force charges going against the man La Rose.

Inkster is a subburb of Detroit. That is why I went for the info on Detroit. That said, it does have its own government and police force. Per Wiki, the city has a heavier white to black ratio: 29% to 68% black. There are only 25 police in the burb - or about one per 1000 people. I can not find demographic info on the police themselves. La Rose.

That specific comment was less directed at the Detroit police department in specific than it was about police departments in general. There is an odd trend of police being a ) disproportionately white b ) from out of town / ward OR c ) wealthier than their constituency. As for the Detroit numbers, Wiki says that Detroit is: 82% black, 8% white 2% Hispanic, 8% other. Detroit police: 63% Black, 34% white, 3% other. While not widely off, that is still disproportionate. For MI as a whole: 85% white, 11% black, 5% other. The above numbers also do not tell us how many on the police force come from the communities they are policing and how many come from completely distinct burbs or areas. La Rose.

90s Japanese Pop-Rock was so amazing! Was that just the original show with Japanese subtitles? The artistry would imply so but there were strange edits to the intro sequences that seem to suggest they could have made other changes to the show. La Rose. Since I liked the lyrics, I thought I would do a quick transcription and translation of them for those who are interested. Shock 嘘で固めたナイフ切り付け -- Shock! Bound in lies, Thrust in the knife Shock 夢を飲み込み街輝く -- Shock! This city engulfed in dreams shimmering bright 争いや憎しみで　その身削られてゆく --Fighting and Hatred wear aware your body 真夜中襲いくる　人知れぬまま --In the midst of the night and unknown to anyone, we are chased by calamity. Break Out --Break Out! ライムライト　光るざわめき -- A murmuring of the limelight リアルタイム　濡れた幻 -- In real time a soaked phantom (Seriously I have no clue) Cry for the moon. -- Cry for the moon. ---v2--- 抱きしめたい、誰よりも -- I want to hold you more than anyone 太陽のように君を優しく --Like the sun, you are so kind いつもまわり包んでいたい -- I want to be wrapped up with you forever 夜空に浮かぶ月のように --Like the moon floating in the night sky 君を照らし続けていたい --I want you to keep on shining. 瞳輝くその微笑を --Your sparkling eyes make your face shine 決して傷つけさせはしない --I will let no one hurt you 抱きしめたい、誰よりも、君が愛しいから --I want to hold you more than anyone because I love you so. 奉げたい、この夢を全て --I want to dedicate this to you. All of this dream. 誰よりも、何よりも、君を求めている --I want you more than anyone or anything. 今、思いが風になって　言葉超えて --Now my feelings have become like the wind and transcend mere words.

La Rose.

I see. Well, you and I will have to fundamentally disagree on the "incendiary" nature of that comment. And we will have to disagree not because I would personally call them "occupiers" but because it is not a far out there comment given the situation in which we live. We have a group of individuals invested with legal power who are NOT representative of the communities they operate in, who have access to not only rather standard police equipment but high tech, high threat MILITARY weaponry and equipment, who regularly comment about the divide and disassociate between them and the communities they watch, who have a proven track record of disproportionate violence and brutality towards the locals, and who maintain a force solidarity that clouds them from communal feelings and compassion for those in their charge. To me, those are strong parallels to the ideas of an occupying force. And while there are differences, they similarities are far too strong to blatantly ignore. So, while I may not quite agree, I can easily see the references and understand why it inspires such beliefs. And calling out those who make the comparison which is all too obvious as being incendiary is to not understand the position the person is taking and shuts down debate. The original post is far tamer than a great deal of posts that I, The Rose, have posted on this thread for heaven's sake. I just avoided saying "occupying". La Rose.

Huh? Just to be clear, are you being honest or sarcastic? That is to say, did you think the post you quoted was being incendiary OR were you making a joking comment because you thought it was by no means incendiary? La Rose.

Desolid isn't a bad idea to have for avoiding attacks. Actually, I would say that if you have a Flash like Speedster, then you might as well just go with Desolid and not bother with the "not to pass through objects" as the Flash often does that exact thing. So he could get the defensive and movement bonus of Desolid and thus focus less on DcV, PD, or defensive maneuvers. La Rose.

Fight, huh. But would you brutalize someone for it? Torture? Murder? Mass Murder? La Rose.

One option people don't seem to consider much is that a Speedster like Flash could just have a normal DcV but a really high PD and ED. The special effect is that he evades the attacks. Even when hit he wriggles out of the bulk of the hit. Maybe slap on a -1/4 restrainable lim to show he needs to be mobile. That build paradigm avoids the whole AoE limitation. La Rose.

Yeah, you could put "Always On" on shapeshift to help keep from reverting. But as Shafeshift requires END and is not a persistent power, if you run out of END or get Knocked out, you automatically revert. So the build would need to be Shafeshifting + No End, Always On, Persistent. THEN you can have the character has a Psych Lim "Doesn't remember original form" for maybe 5 or so points. La Rose.

Speaking of scheduling, I think it would be a bit of a mistake to try and match up the Arena Games to the Superdraft for a couple basic reasons: The Superdraft isn't really going to be taking long breaks anytime so we can't really fit a two month Arena in the middle of two other Superdraft events, and since these are suppose to be separate entities it makes sense to run them on their own schedules. While I personally enjoy the Arena quite a bit I only have a mild interest in the Superdrafts, which is why I haven't joined in on them until now. To me I think the Arena games would be best served if they occur three times a year. We could have Season 2, 3, 4 this year, then seasons 5, 6, 7, next year and so on. That would mean we start up a season on say Jan first and run it until the end of Feb. Then take a two month break and start the next on May first and run for two months and then take a two month break, etc. This should keep things regular without becoming too frequent as to burn people out too quickly. Since we just finished up this season at the start of June. Why not just take June and July off. Then starting in August we do the draft. Mid August we start the regular season. And then in Mid September we start the finals and aim for a September conclusions. That would mean draft season 4 would start up at the tail end of November or start of December (and we take appropriate holiday breaks). La Rose.

But... but... MY REVENGE! Would you be so cruel and calous as to deny me my revenge?! Evil I say! That said, I can't imagine we will even get started with the next one until after the start of next month. So we should all be able to get a break so we can go enjoy the superdraft. If you decide to not join next time, please consider donating some points to my Super Pack - The "Rose for Supreme Chancellor" Association. La Rose.

Hermit's reckoning will come eventually! I have been saving up for a blowout sale next season. Now I simply must bide my time and pick my cast for season three. La Rose.