Thia Halmades

Re: Complicate the Person Above Don't make me complicate you again.

Re: Complicate the Person Above Oddhat has spent his years in a quest - a quest to determine what about his head makes it so abusurdly difficult to find a cap that fits. Perhaps it was the strange Chinese gentleman who sold him the fur cap, when he muttered the ancient words and the tail would glow, with a faint reflective light that placed this curse upon his noggin. Nothing has worked before or since. Maybe it's all a ruse, and the tail is really the nature of his special powers. With his trusty sidekick, Mrs. Oddhat, he fights crime with his multi-functional racoon tail, always one step ahead of the villain! It saves people! It cudgels villains! And never again will another hat fit on his head, lest he bequeath the hat to someone else, as it was given to him by its former owner...

Re: Complicate the Person Above She's also a "he."

Re: Chronicles of Gor The only Lovecraft I ever read was House of Birds or something - a graphic novel I must've reread two dozen times, now long lost amidst the flotsam of forgotten bits of my childhood. Pidgeons From Hell? That ring a bell for anyone? However, I think one of my favorite films ever (I'd have to see it again, I saw it once and it sort of stuck) was Cast A Deadly Spell, which was very Lovecraftian in its inspiration. I'm pretty sure if I saw it again it wouldn't stand up, but I remember being all agog at the time. I've also been told to rent the new Call of Cthulu videogame, that it's genuinely terrifying and absurdly unforgiving.

Re: Gyren Dark Magic, as reflexive effects Flesh eating necromancers? You realize this is way more interesting if its a side effect of the magic proper, than if it's actually because of any bizarre internal clock, right? Protein is protein. Mind you, colonizing humans for food purposes is pretty straight forward; they breed quickly and you can genetically manipulate them to produce the kinds of meat that you want. *shrug* Stop staring at me, I considered using it in a Sci-Fi campaign that I haven't written yet. Where was I? Anyway, side effects! I think you answered your own question. The Shroud has certain side effects; using Shroud magic triggers the effect, and the 'magic' will consume them (BODY damage, NND) if they don't appease it. Almost like a parasite, or a very very evil Symbiote (see: Eddie Brock & Venom). Then you can toy around with their development, how they've been changed by long term exposure, and only now are realizing the connection (similar to the Jewish laws of being Kosher - Pork kills. Don't eat pork. That, and the Bible said so.) Both were considered valid reasons. Hey! Shroud magic makes us blood drinking baby eaters! "But I likes my head explody!" "Enough with you guys, I want to sleep with a girl more than once before I feel compelled to eat her tasty brains." "Yeah, good point. You crazy guys with us?" *pregnant pause* *an eruption of magic as the woods fill with the screams of the falling and the sizzling crack of energy* "THAT'S A "NO" TO LUNCH, THEN?!"

Re: Gyren Dark Magic, as reflexive effects Hey Tom; I'd pay real money if everyone was as agreeable as you are. I'm actually doing a twist on the 'perceptions of evil' concept in one of my campaigns, and that's going to be good. Good & evil may be absolutes in most cases, but I'm using them as snap shots; good people make mistakes. Evil people can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Nothing should be taken for granted in that sense. My goal was to paint the world in gradiant shades of grey; there's still defination. It's still clear what we're seeing, but without the giant yellow signs, you can still err. It's worked perfectly, but since one of my PCs is a board lorder, I can't risk coughing up too many plot details, lest I spoil the cake.

Re: Complicate the Person Above Cancer is actually a heroic Space Pirate, who steals from the wealthy space yachters and gives to the poor improverished minors on Thelta 88. He does this out of a deep love for the 'D-babies' as they're called, those outcast from society for being of low birth. With his faithful crew, he skirts the edges of known space routes and strikes without warning. An ace X-Grade Hybrid pilot, he routinely engages the ISP's (InterStellar Patrol) finest assault class mechs and beats them handily. His vision is to unite the miners to overthrow the evil regime of the wealthy super corps, but he's discovered a new love - the daughter of Gradetech founder Jerald Gray, Geraldine. An unexplored love with long term implications. We pick up our story...

Re: Gyren Dark Magic, as reflexive effects Hey hancock.tom. I'm referring to something specific in his post, actually:

Re: Chronicles of Gor And isn't it strange how that wheel turns, though? I always feel like I'm the weird one because I lost so many dates (with women I'd probably rather not date, but hey) because I shrugged off most fantasy as garbage. I couldn't read it non-critically. Harry Potter - great example. Book One. It's new. I give it leeway because it's new; it's not brilliant, it's not bad, it plays with lots of archetypical themes and I really enjoy it for what it is. It's enjoyable, not the new gold standard of children's lit. It's not lit, it's pop, but entertaining pop. Things get darker. Darker. DARKER. Wow. Someone turn on a damn light. Then I read book six. And I am now bitter. Railroading, bad GMing (from a DM standpoint, the pacing is shot to pieces in book 6; all filler, no killer) and a tremendous obvious close that not only ticked me off, but was so poorly handled that I found myself biting my own tongue. "Gee, Harry better be around to see the big soliloquy, since the camera never ever leaves him." ARGH... I enjoy the books. True story, I enjoy them. I read each one cover to cover; but the last couple I've skimmed through the moray of teen drama to get to the actual... whaddyacallit... PLOT. I'd rather read lit. Or Tolstoy's Once & Future King. Or Morte D'Arthur. Then at least I know what I'm getting into. But please, keep your copies of Faerie Queen, I hate Spencer. Oh, side note. When I was in my teens, Riftwar was my favorite four book series ever. I don't know if it'd withstand the test of time as Faerie Tale did, but I found the entire thing to be extremely satisfying, with only minor bits of reaching in book four, when Pug/Milamber had become... well, a God.

Re: Things you do to acheive immersion Wow. Now that is a level work I haven't gone too, keithcurtis. If I hadn't just repped you, I would. Mind, I really can't imagine doing any of that, since my immersion is the writing and conveying of the story. Highest compliment I've ever been paid by a player: "There are times - usually multiple times a game - when a description is so vivid I think that you're reading it from a script. But then I look at you and your eyes are shut, you're just telling us what you see. That's awesome."

Re: A Game Of Questions If I curse ghost-angel for starting this, will he be properly punished?

Re: Gyren Dark Magic, as reflexive effects Oh, and when you say "evil" I assume you mean amoral, which is a variation on a theme, but an important distinction.

Re: Chronicles of Gor Pshaw. I read through Xanth up to... either Ogre, Orgre or Nightmare, I'm not sure which was the last before they utterly went to pieces and he really started reaching. I also read chunks of average drek fantasy, although my sister was big on McCafferty/Dragons of Pern I never got into it, nor was I able to swallow the bitter pill called Yadda of Shannara, which makes me a blasphemer in some circles. I read a lot more Jr. Lit than fantasy, and the bulk of the fantasy was mythology. I had weird reading habits. I prefered writing in general, though, and that's what I've stuck with the whole time. I'm still resisting the urge to read a Gor novel, but I think that's because I like my mind. I might pick up Grunts, though. OH, and I read a lot of Heinlein and Harrison, which was alternately preachy and amusing.

Re: Gyren Dark Magic, as reflexive effects Also, you have to consider what does shroud magic actually... you know... do? Don't forget that there are other limitations other than Gestures/Incant/Foci. There's also extra time, extra END, side effects (heh heh) and other things you can do if you're concerned about limitations. In a straight struggle for 'most powerful' than yes, the point system is going to favor the Wizard/VPP user over the Multipower user in some ways, but not others. The VPP user has more options and can ultimately learn anything; the Multipower guy buys the framework, and then pays peanuts for Ultra slots within it. Or, my favorite, elemental control (The Shroud). You've got options, here. Yes, Markdoc is (as usual) correct, the fighter is gonna get blasted, but that's why he has armor & CSLs, instead of magic.

Re: Help needed designing a magical store catalogue That's much more elegant than a Megascale Images which was my first thought, but then, I didn't know about computer link (which is why I read the threads). Amazingly cool idea, though, TB. Very Eberron of you! *glances around* swipe. What thread?

Re: Chronicles of Gor I've never heard of Witch World, either. I don't know where that falls on the scale of good vs. bad.

Re: Magic system opinions Hrm. *slurp* Cool. My turn again. So let's pick up in the midst of the melee here; obviously you've got full access to Killer Shrike's material, and to be totally honest, I'm going to tell you what ghost-angel told me back in the day, which is that ultimately you'll probably wind up using a build like his or absurdly similar to his; he just wrote it down on the 'net first. Feel free to shake your fist at him. I do.

Re: A Game Of Questions Good heavens, is this still going on?

Morning Steve! Two questions, both following a vague theme. 1. When using AID in a campaign using NCM, I'm assuming that the AID is not counted against the NCM; in other words, it will always boost DEX at 3:1 for the points rolled, not 6:1 if the character's DEX is already over 20. Yay or nay? 2. In an Elemental Control, I've purchased a linked power (say, EB & Flash to create a Lightning Bolt with a Thunder Clap effect). How exactly does the EC stack? - Once, with the 'leading' power in the case of a linked power? Thus reducing the potential cost of the secondary power (thunder clap) but not boosting it? Would Thunder Clap, in the event of a 30 pt. EC, still have to have 30pts. of Flash on it? - The power is built as Lightning Bolt plus Thunder Clap - and the EC base is divided among the two? Does the whole power now equal 30 or more, or would I have to fiddle with both sides still? This seems the most logical way to create linked powers in an EC. - The power is built as Lightning Bolt plus Thunder Clap - and the EC base is assigned to only one, but always that one? Your INT would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ~DEM

Re: Magic system opinions Well, I did a run-through the other night with both a Priest (VPP modified from Killer Shrike's version slightly, but at the end of the day, still a VPP) and a Sorceror (a stack of Multipowers with charges on the multipower). My original build (somewhere in that thread) is very similar to yours - they buy spells, they have an END reserve. Foom, done. However, the major trick (and part of the 'work' that comes from playing HERO) is maintaining the balance across the map. I know now that in HERO, a 250 pt. HEROIC build character, while powerful, can still get creamed by a pure combat build that doesn't have to worry about it's chewy roleplay capabilities, and could reasonably be built on 50 (or 100) points less. That's just how it goes. Steve had posted about a Talent based system which is outlined somewhat better in Fantasy Hero in Chapter 4; "The Gift" I believe its called, which has PCs pay for the ability to draw on certain elements of magic; you could easily blendo the two concepts - KS's MP or VPP with forcing the PC to buy access to various "schools" - and that could get you where you're going. If you do a Multipower, yes, the spells are remarkably cheap, but it's not a good way to curtail their overall power level. One of my PCs put together a Sorceror; gave him 3 circles of magic (15, 30 & 45 point multipowers; each Multipower is designed to have one 'group' of spells in it, obviously) and he fired off a 2d6 RKA w/AP & Autofire against a mook and tattooed him against a back wall. Hardly a game breaking spell, but it was a great example of what basic magic can do in a HERO campaign. If you're concerned about Limitation types, than the normal VPP structure might be a better fit (forcing people to take their RP levels into account when structuring their abilities). In an MP format, you're right - the stuff is cheap and the variations only apply for flavor purposes. You might, though, also put in "Must have -1 (or more) in limitations (-1/2)" which would force your PCs to think before they build. If you want more (Gestures, Incants and Foci alone make up a good chunk of change) then by all means, do more. Multipowers aren't generally the best way towards thematics, though. Using the Tiered system, though, as Killer Shrike built, it's extremlely useful and replicates the 'feel' of d20 magic very well. Hope that gets you started, and if you need more, let us know.

Hey Steve. Sorry I'm not at my most articulate today. While threading the boards we were asking the obvious: "What can other systems do better than HERO?" aka, "What can another system do that HERO can't?" One of the big ones was Time Stop. On the SRD, Time Stop is a 9th level spell that creates a 'time freeze' effect, allowing the caster to move unmolested through the zone. However, they cannot at any time interact with the environment; they can only take things that aren't nailed down (i.e., frozen in time with another character) or move in and out of the zone. I think they could also 'puzzle solve' but only by placing Tab A into Slot B. That's about it. The spell strikes me on the surface as a giant handwave as it is; "Sure, you can move through time. Forward only. About 20 seconds. EH... and you can't touch anything. Yeah. That's the ticket." So I was going over the rules, and I checked EDM - the only way I saw to do it was as a massive handwave as the player moves asynchronously against the flow of time in a sort of limited EDM; a dimension exactly like this dimension in which time isn't moving for one minute. Is there a better way to handle this? Any sort of general 'clean' way to do it? If the answer is in either Grimoire or FH, I can look there again, but didn't find it on my first pass. Your thoughts? Thanks!

Re: Quickie CSL question. You forgot: - Grab - Pound while grabbing - Use as golf club - Hurl - Toss Absurdly Heavy Object at Your Head. AND. MY FAVORITE. "Crunchy on the inside, chewy on the outside they're HU-Mans! HU-Mans! A piece of armor on everyone! Collect them all! Eat enough, and you might collect the "Golden Suit" and win a prize!"

Re: The First Hurdle: Creating a *gulp* Magic System Good morning! This is really what I'm talking about, right here. Since I appear to have eventually (though a long and torturous road) found myself using the same VPP structure (or an even less handwaved) one that you do, if a straight EC is going to accomplish the objective of giving a caster flexibility and power, than that's really more in my vision of Sorcery and something that I want to go with. Archon posted a great example; I know the PC is all about doing crazy things and staying within the 'ice' theme, so that makes it that much easier to handle. We have a sit down tomorrow afternoon to do builds and character drafts, and so I can finally sit down and start running through some combat sequences. I'll have more later this afternoon, but work calls, and behold. I answer.

Re: Chronicles of Gor Don't be surprised at the thread's longevity. Be afraid. Be very afraid. I am. Of course, I scare easily. The second I focus in on something, everything else blacks out (Easily Surprised, Uncommon, minor). I have to take the Concentration lim on everything I do. Yes, I'm already getting a little too vested in the system for my own good.

Re: The First Hurdle: Creating a *gulp* Magic System I'm going to let my player toy with this and see what he comes up with. So you're saying that without the handwaving of a normal caster (Active Points in the VPP * 3 = Real Alloted Points in Spells, for example) that the EC user can directly compare? Hrm. Okay. You've done the math a lot longer than I have, I'll take your word for it.