ThatDarnCat

Re: Need Book Recommendations Ray Bradbury has a lot of good shot stories and novellas. The Illustrated Man is particularly good, though the futurist ideas are far from reality. Some of Larry Niven's books are suitable, but you would have to be a bit more picky. The same with Poul Anderson's books.

Re: Matriarchial Societies The concept of women being weak and evil comes from the rise of some modern religions, two specific religions that I will not name but you can guess at. After all you have to blame somefur for those lustful thoughts if they will send you to hell. "The rape wasn't my fault; it was the woman, she made me lust after her by batting her eyelashes so seductively." I have never found a matriarchal culture that wasn't artificial, but one of the best justifications is from Paladium games. When a ship runs aground on an island and the only spellcasters to survive are women, those survivors choose to make the men the lesser sex by force. As time goes on those who knew another way of life die out and you are left with the new society with no other known form of Gov't. I created a Matrilinial society for my fantasy game world because that makes more sense in a world where men are larger and stronger. You will always know who your mother is so the sperm donor is less important in a survivalist culture.

Re: Predictions for the year 2000 There is an interesting book trilogy by Phil Pullman His Dark Materials that starts in a world a lot like ours, but diffurrent and it was fun to try to pick out what things named in that world are in ours. One was Coal Silk. It took me quite a while to figure out that it was plastic/nylon from the usage. Using these perditions, and a little philology, you could come up with an interesting 'modern setting' that just isn't our modern setting.

Re: Unofficial Welcome Mat (For New Members) I'm not exactly new, just forgetful... I've been playing RPGs of one kind or another for as long as I remember. Started playing published games in 1981. I found Champions(III) when I was snubbed by the other gaming group on post and hooked up with the guys playing BattleTech. They turned me on to Champions and I turned them onto GURPS. I've played and run a vast number of systems including some that many here probably haven't heard of while others will remember with shuddering horror (Other Suns and Stalking the Night Fantastic). I've always liked both GURPS and Hero for the tool kit style of mechanics; where you can make anything you want with a little effort. And I've always disliked Dumb & Dumber for the opposite reason. PS: I am the Housecat of Fiosachd.

Re: A New Use For Hardened In my games agents tend to use a lot of guns (RKAs) with one or purrhaps two advantages to decrease the effectiveness of armor. Sure they don't do a lot to most PCs, but a good roll or two can take out the min/maxer who buys just enough r defense to stop the average body/stun on a 3d6KA. Allowing this in my game would make Hardened even more desirable, since it could be applied against the ISM instead of the AP or Pen Adv. Sure most Heroes are immune to the lowly .22, but the normals in the area aren't and that's often the targets of the agents if the Heroes try to stop them, after all do you chase the bad guys and let the civilians die or help the civilians and let the agents escape?

Re: Cursed Item (?) I created a knife for a game along the same lines. I gave it a Suppress Ego and Mind Control, single command 'Obey the inner voice' that was basically kill this or that person as directed by the GM through notes. It was independent so no points changed paws. I would post the whole thing as it was created, but my Hero stuff is still not within reach.

Re: Need a name for a section Mercenaries Unlimited. When we're bought we stay that way!

Re: What published Champions Universe Miniature would you most like to see? I would like to see an entire line of minis that includes all the heroes, villains, and a nice assortment of agents on all sides, but the one I would like to see it: Mechanon.

Re: Rejected Superhero Names Tankerbell: Flaming brick in a pink leotard and tut with a hell of a wand.

Re: WWYCD: Grrrl Power- emphasis on Grrr Voltiac: having no close female friends it might take him a while to figure out something is wrong. It's like that when you are a social hermit and only interact with people when you have to. Once he did figure out something was wrong he would spend a lot of time desolid and try to contact heroes he has worked with in the past to find out what they are doing and how he can aid them with his multi-billion dollar company. As the ultimate in support heroes (90pt Cosmic Variable power pool) he isn't the most powerful guy, but he does have access to lots of powers and can do a lot to assist others. Rakshasa is the ultimate Tomcat and would revel in the situation until things started to get violent, then he would use his keen senses to try and track the problem. Having a keen nose (discriminatory scent and tracking sense) might allow him to determine the change based on the known scents of the woman normally in his life compared to the scent they now exude. And the fact that nobody knows his secret ID and he is still very competent in said secret ID would be helpful. Paladin would be pretty much hosed, since he is well known and good looking and he would never use his abilities on innocent women.

Re: Converting From Older Editions Normally you only pay End for your Str when you use it, but in this case you pay End for every phase it's active, whether you use it or not. On the phases that you actually use the extra Str (like attacking) you would pay the End cost again. I've had a player do this for increased Str, he paid End for every phase his increased Str was 'turned on' and for using it.

Re: CHAMPIONS REVISED -- If We Do It, What Would You Like To See? How about some example supers with interesting and or complicated builds. Most of the power examples in the book are fairly straight forward. How about a few that aren't straight forward, like Blindness based on a Transformation attack.

Re: WWYCD: Dead Enemies are no fun. Voltaic would laugh and 'go to the mattresses', trusting his teammates to assist him, since he is a good guy and has never actually killed a villain. Blinded yes, killed no. Rakshasa *chuckles* would call on his 'special friends' for assistance. While Thunderpussy and her friends kept the police busy he would go to the crime scene and do a bit of investigation, using his tracking senses to catch the scent of the real murderer and start tracking that purrson down. It's not always a disadvantage to be the love toy of super villainesses, even if it does make you suspect to your friends and teammates...

Re: Super Names Some of these I have used in games, others are names used by my players and the rest are NPC heroes and villains I've created. Heroes: Voltiac: Electro-magnetic energy projector. Also my long time superhero persona. Weretiger: Shape-changer MA. Always getting in trouble for seducing the female villains... Swift Justice: Speedster with a baton, has hair that always waves in the breeze, even indoors... Cripple without his symbiotic organism suit. Plasman: scientist with a bulky powered armor suit with a wide variety of EBs. While not a good combat hero he does have lots of science skills. Psyman: mentalist with a 'power of positive thinging' EC... His biggest gimmick is Invisibility that isn't affected by remote viewing or recording devices and has a limited range. Slinger: Flying energy projector who's powers are based on TK. Dark Archer: An arrow for every occasion. Sun Pack: Light based energy projector. Alley Cat: Skill based martial artist with mostly normal human stats (Spd 5) Safari Jack: Detective with a big honking gun. Porcupine: Martial artist with spiky exterior. Jaguar: pocket brick with a killing attack and enhanced senses for tracking. Dr Medusa: hero mastermind, good selection of skills to run a super group and one hell of a presence attack (-20 Com). Mirror: Reflection vs everything with some MA. Shift: Shape-changing pocket brick can assume any form, even inanimate objects. "The end table body blocks you out the window..." Golem: Brick, silicon based alien. Impulse: Speedster with Flight touching surfaces, also a computer geek. Boom: Brick with a no range explosion linked to his Haymaker. Lady Lightning: electical energy projector. Copy Cat: Duplicating shapeshifter with lots of skills and some MA. Manly Mann: Vainglorious Brink, scietist, athlete, painter, media hound, sexist pig. Villains: Ingot: Brick with a gambling problem... Hammer Hand: MA with some gadgets and a serious HA. Blacksnake: High speed MA with a whip. LowBlow: female MA with a Recovery drain that only works on men. Slaughter: AE RKAs designed to kill bystanders. Terror: MA with a Pre drain with a linked presence attack. Wraith: Desol who pays End to become solid so he can make his stat drain attacks. Ghetto Blaster: Hoodlum with sonic powers. Mean Streak: Speedster, MA, mercenary. Tank: Power Armor, this guy started out as an NPC scientist researching power armor for the Gov't. An accident in the lab, caused by an idiot PC, nearly killed him and left him horribly crippled and blind. With the aid of his brother Vincent he completed his best suit to date and became Tank to get back at the imbecile who caused him so much grief. Other: Auntie Freeze: Female with ice powers, but not ranged. Started out as a teen heroin Ice Princess and was taken advantage of by Manly Mann and dumped in a very public way. Went to the Dark Side as Frost Queen and humiliated M. Mann several times until jailed. Has returned as a super for hire under her current name. Group names: PRI: Parapsychological Research Institute. Good guys that seek out and train people with mental powers of all sorts. P.O.W.E.R.: Bad guys, Political Overthrowers with Energy Rifles. My good friend Jesse Blankenship came up with the acronym while we were working on a champaign in Germany. T.H.U.G.: Bad guys, Teenage Hoodlums Usurping the Government. Another great name from Jesse. Night Shift: Vigilantes, horrific/mystical powers. MaS FaBeT: Not sure. Mad Scientists for a Better Tomorrow. Yes, like in the INWO Card. MaS FaBeY: Bag guys, Mad Scientists for a Better Yesterday (Yes, Yesterday!) Tank Corps: Bad Guys. Powered armor group with military overtones. Leader: Tank.

Re: Would you allow this power It's less crazy/bizarre than some characters I've allowed in my games. I would allow it so long as the player and I have discussed the details of how it works and they stick to the agreed upon limitations.