DasBroot

Dr Feelgood - Motley Crue

Mock it. The vast majority of Americans (60% polled) aren't even remotely fooled by his act. And frankly most of his 36% 'approval' base likely isn't as well. Obama might have had the charisma needed to delay an election for some reason or another. Trump does not - not even in the face of a hypothetical man made or natural disaster. One thing I do find amusing - Trump's stated that his own approval ratings are a meaningless metric but he's very quick to point out the approval ratings of everyone else - from the Apprentice under Arnold to Senator Flake.

Time Limit persistent powers are another one of those 'is this really a disadvantage?' areas for me unless I'm seriously misunderstanding how they're used. Combat Reflexes 1: +10 DEX (20 Active Points); Time Limit (1 Minute; -2). Real Cost: 7 Combat Reflexes 2: Aid Dex 7d6 (standard effect: 21 points) Self-Only (-1): Real cost *21* Both of these will give you +10 dex. The first will last 1 minute (longer than a fight, for certain). It takes a 0 phase action to use. The second will drop 5 AP every turn and so will only be +10 dex the first turn it's activated (and then +8, +6, +4, +2, and gone at 48 seconds). Alternatively it can be bought as a Boost instead for 4 End per phase to keep the +10 as long as desired. Either way it takes an attack action to use. Edit: Ah, forgot that the aid with standard effect could actually be used a second time if it *wasn't* bought as a Boost for a hearty +20 dex instead. Which is Apples to Oranges. If you're willing to spend two turns instead to get that +10 dex you can buy a 3d6+1 aid (standard effect 10) for 10 RC with self only. That's much closer in cost but but is still more expensive and takes two attack actions to ramp up and runs into the other problems I mentioned. The first doesn't have any charge restrictions so if I'm not mistaken when it turns off all a character would need to do is spend a 0 phase action to turn it back on. Dangerous potentially for life support but less so for something like dexterity or con. It is superior in every single way and could even have 'usable on others' applied for a lot cheaper than the cost of removing that 'self only' limit on the aid - blocked ONLY by the guidelines of Usable on Others that state if there's already a way to simulate an effect. (I used dex instead of a fairly common genre example... armor/resistant protection... because of the interaction on adjustment powers with defensive attributes)

And Loki replacing Namor (as Namor has been a villain)

There is a word for telling lies that you honestly believe. Mistake. It's any reaction when presented with the truth besides 'I didn't know that. I am sorry.' that makes these people delusional jerks. "Ok, so maybe that wasn't true... but the fact remains, it could have been true. It was plausible." BZZZZT! WRONG! It's hands down my single greatest source of frustration with the state of modern media - social or otherwise: By the time the retraction is printed (if it ever is) the damage is done.

Entangles and barrier are weird in that the ability to dismiss them is an adder but putting a time limit on them is a limitation. Upon realising that most of my players, if they use either, save a ton of points by buying a 1 minute time limit (or sometimes 1 turn) in their 'combat' powers. Hmm... variable limitation and time limit might be interesting to control the duration of the barrier. It could be paired off with charges or extra endurance so the shorter you make the duration the less other limitations you need to apply: At the extremes: Variable Limitation (-1 1/4): x6 END (-2 1/2) OR Time Limit One turn (-2 1/2) But you can play with that: X4 end (- 1 1/4) AND 5 minute duration (-1 1/4) or x2 end (-1/2) AND 1 minute duration etc Basically the more END you pay the longer it lasts with a one turn combat entangle/barrier costing you no extra endurance at all. Spending a full phase adjusting the ratios is pretty painful so you might as well get that big -1 1/4 instead of a tiny -1/4 from the limitation.

Netflix's Voltron season '4' - really just an extension to the 8 episode season 3 they released in the summer. since it was short - 6 episodes - the flaws stood out more (you can't afford a dud episode in a six episode run. Something other properties should take note of) but overall the story and animation remain surprisingly good for what it is. I would happily watch it on my own (as I have) and with my son in a year or two. It has a stronger sense of continuity than most prime time science fiction series. I find that amusing.

To expand on what I said earlier about likeable - I find that makes them the most 'realistic' crew put on screen in Trek. More human than even BSG was. There are high points and low points about every single character so my internal jury is still out about whether this complexity will serve them well in the long run. I want to say 'yes' because that was my favorite part about DS9 as well but I could see them overdoing it alienating both casual viewers (wanting something to identify quickly) and hardcore fans (wanting something to look up to).

I love the night - Blue Oyster Cult

It would be expected to at least a get a second season for a Star Trek series. After all, TNG season one was panned (and rightly so - MOST of season one is absolutely terrible) but made it through. The show is not without flaws. Serious flaws. The largest of which is that there is only one genuinely likable character (Cadet Tilly). One of the doctors seems ok too but he's had probably all of 5 lines. Michael dropped her Vulcan mannerisms a little quickly for my tastes but is pointed in the right direction as far as being likable is concerned. She's growing from her experiences and since this is a modern show there's a chance the growth won't get reset at the end of every episode. I could like Saru if he got more screen time - but he's pretty limited in that so far. The tech is pure magic - nothing more, nothing less - and as such the show works better if you put it in its own continuity. That helps with other complaints, like the Klingons, as well. The ships in particular - they say a D7 just dropped out of warp but honestly it looks a lot more like the Scimitar from Nemesis. Which is menacing an I personally like it but it is definitely different and I understand why there's a fan project that inserts classic Klingon ship models in.

I'm guessing I'm in a minority but I'm enjoying Star Trek Discovery.

If you removed damage from strength (just leaving it for contested rolls, throw distance, lift capacity - which is still plenty on paper but mileage varies significantly in game) how much damage would you do with the car you just threw? That you just paid 50 points for the privilege of being able to throw far enough to be viable as an attack? It's a stacked attribute - it's always better to buy strength over HA (unadvantaged) - but it walks a wire edge of being expensively useless with any little change.

I don't think any of that can withstand the media cycle Trump's inevitable tirade against their position will garner. Mud slinging is the norm, sadly, but the last election has shown that the political satirists have called it: shouting louder is better than speaking better. It's frightening how quickly terms like 'truthiness' or 'post-factual society' passed from satire to acceptance among far too many. This is the man who largely won his nomination (not the presidency, despite what he claims - the Republicans were going to get it back anyways short of a miracle - and this election cycle proves it) by saying outrageous things about every other contender and then making sure he waited long enough for his wild rhetoric to take hold before posting anything that might be considered 'well, maybe that's not true'. And he's still doing it. And it's still working among his support base. Misinformation endures and quantity is better than quality. That's what the Democrats and any Republicans running against him in 2020 have to overcome... without sinking to the same level (because the election showed that Trump's immune to attack ads.)

You've got another thing coming - Judas Priest

Most of President Trump's interactions and attempts at empathy and condolence fall into inner monologue 'Ok, Donald.... You can do this! Think! Think! What would a human say in this situation?' territory. I also don't think he *meant* to be disrespectful - he just don't *get* it. Which is not an excuse but it should be expected.

Silent Lucidity - Queensryche

He's enjoying himself too much. Show history demands a sacrifice. Entire last season was Iris so let's make it Joe of something like a major heart attack that doesn't respond to CPR, no matter how quickly applied. Bonus points if it's at a wedding of some sort. I liked the speedster tricks on display last night. They're doing a good job of making him seem faster than when he went into the speed force.

I was commenting to the topic at large. I agree that it should be an option for all attacks. A bad option. If the OP is having a problem with someone *always* diving away from the big bad guy's big attack then multiple attackers is by far the easiest way to put the tactic back to 'desperation move' level. Now, if he's having a problem with the heaviest armor character using it to defend other characters *all the time*... I've seen that too and it can get pretty annoying sometimes (I had a player whose follower was literally just around to do this - Hold his action and Dive to protect his boss). Also easy to work around, ultimately, though.

I had a blaster back in 4th named "Kender Bender" He shot Kender (kleptomaniac halflings from D&D's Dragonlance setting) as his Energy Blast (back then) special effect. When the GM feebly tried to disallow Kender as an 'energy' blast I just said they were on fire. And the ones that were my RKA were flaming Kender ... with knives.

DFC is a good way to get killed if you're fighting more than one opponent. It's really only useful, in my opinion, vs *small* AoE or when you're completely outclassed (like your opponent having a 20 OCV against your 8 OCV and 5 DCV - dodging or blocking won't save your bacon then).

Amusingly that's the closest to canon explanation for their reproductive rate - they're a valuable food source for predators on their native world. It exists in the real world as well as an anti-predator adaptation - predator satiation (sea turtles are the most well known, with a million eggs laid and hatching but only something terrible like 1% making it to the ocean, let alone adulthood).

I ran into something similar when designing an insectoid alien race that I wanted to have access to a hivemind without being a mindless drone. What I ended up doing, as opposed to having the race pay for a mindlink to every other member of the race, was pay for mindlink (psychic link) to the 'hivemind' itself. The hivemind, by virtue of the mindlink, can 'attack' through it with mental powers - and did so by creating a 'Usable as an attack' Mindlink in a cosmic vpp to create a power that gave both parties mindlink to each other. .... I doubt it was legitimate (the last part, creating a mindlink between two parties that didn't include yourself, in particular) but it was close.

Designated Survivor - getting a little heavy (well, heavier) handed with the 'subtle' criticism of the current state of American politics this season but I guess that's to be expected. I think it's pretty much impossible for political show writers, be they drama or satire, to get writers block right now.

Close My Eyes Forever - Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne

Just how many times can a person take a different position in a single paragraph? President Trump speaking about NAFTA yesterday has to be a record of some sort. I feel bad for the negotiators. Also - Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau saying afterwards that sometimes the decisions this administration and president make are 'surprising' is probably the biggest understatement in the name of diplomacy I've ever heard.