Vassoom

Re: Low recoil gun-fu

I think I found out why I thought the rapid fire times were shorter.

 

IN internation/Olympic style shooting, the rapid fire is set up as 2 stages of 30 rounds each

 

Each stage consists of 3 pairs of 5 shot strings.

 

2at 8 seconds per string

2 at 6 seconds per string

2 at 4 seconds per string.

 

oh, btw, this is at 25 meters

I guess that's why it's a competition for experts, huh?

- Vassoom

Re: Woot!

I just ordered Dark Champions from the Online Store! This should really help me improve my Dark Champions game' date=' The Gunman of Gangland.[/quote']Indeed. I, too, have often found that actually owning the Source Material for a game helps considerably when attempting to play it.

 

Grats on your purchase.

 

- Vassoom

Re: Low recoil gun-fu

pretty good summation, but the video is an example of why imo the basic hero system rules tend to have problems with rate of fire and firearms.

 

Yes, you can work out how to achieve such abilities, but a relatively average person firing 5 aimed shots from a .22 pistol in 10 seconds pushes the limits a bit. That is the basic rapid fire phase in NRA Bullseye pistol competition. if the average person is speed 2, he fires a double fire on phase 12, another on phase 6, but that leaves one round. .

 

speed 3 could do it, 2 in 12, 2 on 4, one on 8.

I would tend to think the average person would definitely NOT be able to do so. (Shoot five rounds, sure. On target? Not likely.) When I think of my mother, or my sister, or my uncle, or even a couple of the guys I game with each week...I don't think they could do it. I could do it (and did so with moderate success just last week), as could my wife and her father (former law enforcement, he has multiple skill levels), but the "average" person? Not likely, imho.

You have to consider that 1) the "average" person in the real world (as well as in HERO) is decidedly not very competent at things like that, and 2) the subset of the general population you would expect to get for a marksmanship test is probably not going to be truly "average". Nearly all of them are probably significantly better at such tasks than the random 2 SPD/6-10 DEX mook grabbed randomly off the street.

I would counter that almost anyone trying to accomplish this particular feat in the first place would either A) have had significant weapons practice, and therefore own a couple of skill levels to help them achieve success, or possibly have less practice, but slightly greater physical gifts than average (higher SPD and/or DEX) to help them achieve success. I doubt very few people without at least one of the two options above would even have an interest in marksmanship or target shooting, since they would royally suck at it. But the average cop could do it easily, because of their extensive training (skill levels), and anyone at an NRA-style contest with any marksmanship yearnings is likely to be more gifted or sufficiently practiced to squeeze off a few quick rounds and hit the target. (Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I also tweaked my campaign's rules to make Rapid Fire a little less difficult, dropping the penalty to a mere -1 OCV per extra shot rather than -2. )

So while I agree with you that the HERO system definitely starts to break down a touch at the extremes (as nearly all systems do), I don't think this example is necessarily a very fair test to gauge the ability of an "average" person. The next time you're standing in line at the DMV, consider a random sampling of them trying to rapid fire a gun on target. *shudders*

- Vassoom

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

To date, none of my players has complained about my embellishments to their sessions, and I find that first-person is the easiest perspective to write, so that's the way I do it. If someone in the group raises a complaint (or I get short on time like I am this week), I'll go back to my summary writing style which takes less time and is generally very boring to read and write (IMHO).

 

Strangely, though, I don't find the summary style boring when I'm reading about someone else's campaign, so maybe it's just me...

 

Matt "Gotta-motor-again" Frisbee

Although I rarely (if ever) have the cajones to write-up a session summary in first person narrative using the voice of one of the PCs, it reads very nicely...so if the players seem to like it, too, then more power to ya!

- Vassoom

P.S. I very much enjoyed your dramatic use of the non-consecutive entries, as well.

Re: Low recoil gun-fu

Is there a way I can rep Tim Bradley?

Ummm...YES! Yes, there is! Just rep me, and I'll make sure it gets to Tim!

Speaking of which, here's some rep for Inu for posting the URL to the awesome video!

- Vassoom

Re: Low recoil gun-fu

Stop me if you've seen this one before.

 

Sure, he's using low-powered shot, but that's still amazing shooting, and an amazing weapon.

 

Now, what do you need to simulate that in DC? (There are no rules for recoil, but surely that should give some bonus; also, the shooting skill -- just how many CSLs and PSLs is that, and how are they limited?)

First of all, I hadn't seen that...and as someone who's been skeet shooting before, all I can say is: HOLY CRAP!

As for simulating that in DC, I'd take the following stab at it:

I know nothing about the Beretta Xtrema2, (except to NEVER piss off Tim Bradley if he's holding one!), but I would assume the weapon has RC2, which is a very high level built-in recoil compensator.

As for the shooter's skills:

1) Assume DEX 18. Within human norms, but at the very top of the "Competent" range and equal to those enormously gifted few who have also trained extensively, such as "Olympic athletes" and "elite soldiers". That gives a solid CV of 6 and any DEX-based skill roll of 13-.

2) WF: Shotgun (duh!)

3) The video tags him as an exhibition shooter, which is clearly evident. In the video, he mentions the accuracy challenges for shooting both rifle and shotgun, although we never see him shoot a rifle in this video. However, I'm willing to bet that he's probably pretty good with them as well...so let's be generous and give him four 5 pt CSLs: +4 w/ Ranged Combat. That gives him a very impressive 10 OCV w/ that shotgun before we get to anything else.

4) He executes a LOT of multi-target shooting, one of which shows him walking over to grab the shotgun and then wheeling around and firing, which indicates that he clearly has "Rapid Attack - Ranged".

5) The fraction of a second it takes him to bring the weapon up, aim, and fire in several of the tricks is extremely impressive, so I'd also give him the Lightning Reflexes Talent, +5 w/ Shotguns, giving him an effective 23 DEX when it comes to acting first with a shotgun.

6) Since he's hand-tossing them, nearly all of the pigeons that he shoots are well within 8" (50 feet), which would only call for PSL: +2 vs. Range with Shotgun. However, he probably has lots more than that...

7) We see him shoot the shotgun one-handed using each hand, so he would have a decent STR (perhaps 15, or maybe just 13 with a relatively low STR min for the weapon) and the "Ambidexterity" Talent (or maybe the "Two-Weapon Fighting" Skill, if you want to push it).

From this point, there are plenty of different ways to buy his impressive targeting skill with the shotgun, including quite a few more shotgun-specific 3 pt CSLs, tons of hit location PSLs to hit the small targets, tons of PSLs to offset Rapid Fire penalties, and/or maybe even Autofire Skills, if you really want to stretch it.

However, in my opinion, the easiest way would be to just use the "Power" skill. This 3/2 skill would allow him to base his "Shooting Tricks" on a DEX-based skill roll rather than straight combat maneuvers. I would figure that he has "Power: Shotgun Shooting Tricks (DEX)" on about a 21 or less, a 19 point skill. Depending on how hard some of those stunts really are, you could bump it up even more. (Remember, they don't show the clips in which he may have missed one or more of the targets... )

Since we don't know what his shotgun's load is, and assuming the choke is wide open, a few of the tricks are probably just "difficult" or "challenging" rather than "ridiculously hard". But there were several of them that were downright "insane".

No matter how you would end up building them, that guy's definitely got some mad shotgun skillz!

- Vassoom

Re: Arcane

Alternatively' date=' I would suggest buying Invisibility to an entire Targeting Sense Group, and define that as working against any attempt to record the character's presence and actions, regardless of what Sense is used or whether the recording medium is mechanical or a person's memory. In other words the character is perfectly noticeable in the present, but "invisible" to any attempt to find evidence of him after the fact. There would be no Limitation on this effect because you're essentially defining a special Sense Group, "Recording Senses." You can leave the "fringe" for Invisibilty to represent evidence/memory that [i']something[/i] happened, but no useful details can be discerned.

- Vassoom

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

I, for one, enjoy the embellishments. Cypher always gets cooler lines when you write it than when I actually get to play him.

 

-Shawn "So, an 18 misses, huh?" Hauk

Nice sig, Shawn.

As a fellow GM who also drafts extensive session write-ups, I actually look forward to the significant time it takes to embellish the "original" dialogue and descriptions to match the more intricate story I visualize in my head during the game. In the moment-to-moment improvisation that is role playing, we rarely have the opportunity or the time to come up with the precise words or the ideal phrasing to perfectly match our characters' inner thoughts or the intricacies of the physical world they inhabit...but we all try our best to approximate them as best we can while "in the moment".

The extra time during the write-up allows us that chance to truly put to paper the more subtle and exact feelings and perspectives of the characters, making it yet another tremendous opportunity to significantly enhance the storytelling for everyone involved.

And I, for one, also appreciate the obvious effort you put into it, Matt. The extremely enjoyable results speak for themselves.

- Vassoom

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

Right, but I'm saying you can just downscale it to:

 

Brainjack Targeting: +2 OCV; (10 Active Points); Requires Brainjack (-1/4), OAF (-1)

 

or whatever is appropriate to your campaign.

I'm guessing you didn't read the attachment to my post on the 26th detailing my SmartLink weapon system accessory?

- Vassoom

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

Still' date=' a bad day at the gaming table beats the best day of real world work, so don't think I'm not having fun as well.[/quote']You know, I say that exact same thing every time I lose at craps.

 

Great writeup! Looking forward to the next one.

 

- Vassoom

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

OK' date=' so call me stupid, but what's "FPS" mean???[/quote']First-Person Shooter

 

Basically DOOM, DOOM II, and a zillion spin-offs.

OR..."Frames Per Second", which can be critical in "First Person Shooters".

 

- Vassoom

Re: Popular Guns

All of this has been fairly useful information. What I am trying to do with this is come up with a table to randomly arm street gang members and other opponents for my Dark Champions game. Thus far the Glock 17 has been the generic pistol I arm most of them with. I also wrote up the stats for the Raven Arms MP25 since a lot of gangbangers want relatively cheap and easy to conceal gun.

 

I have the S&W M5906 and the M&P 9 stated out as well, perhaps I need to make them a bit more common with the street thugs. I'll have to do a write-up for the Harrington and Richardson .32 revolver, I find that to be a little surprising. I'll have to add the Intratec 9mm as well.

Although the two articles are dated and as a result the data is fairly stale, they nonetheless seem to indicate that "cheap" and "small" (easily concealable, plus more "affordable" ammo in the small calibers, I presume) appear to be the key factors among weapon types for your typical street thug. If true, that would seem to lend credence to the idea that the small "pocket pistols" (or "pocket rockets") are probably some of the more common handguns used by your typical street punks, with brands such as Bryco Arms (producer of both Jennings and Bryco branded pistols), Davis Industries, and Raven Arms being added to the more well-known Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Co. names.

The VPC attempts to explain this trend in their article:

It would appear, then, if this admittedly biased article is to be believed, that the higher end/"fashionable" brands such as Beretta, Glock, H&K, and Sigs are probably not going to be all that "common" amongst your typical street thugs.

Rather than try to paste in their tables, here are the links:

http://www.vpc.org/press/9309sns.htm

http://www.vpc.org/studies/pockintr.htm

Also of interest is the Wikipedia article on "Saturday Night Specials" which details all of the LA-area gunmakers Bryco Arms, Jimenez Arms, Jennings Firearms, Raven Arms, and Phoenix Arms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_night_special

Hope this helps a little.

- Vassoom

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

That doesnt invalidate the approach of just limiting CSLs appropriately. Its just a matter of scale.

- Vassoom

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

Here's my version of a smart weapon:

 

 

FUCHI-KARAWA

 

Viper Autotracker; "the Cheater"

A popular gun among less skilled marksmen; the Viper's integral brainjack uplink assists aiming. People with any amount of actual skill generally sneer at those who need the assist, and people using them are the butt of many jokes.

 

Pistol: Viper Auto Tracker: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6-1 (vs. PD), 32 Charges (+1/4) (31 Active Points); OAF (-1), STR Min 1-5 Cannot Add Damage (-3/4), Beam (-1/4), Real Weapon (-1/4); Real Cost: 9 points

 

Brainjack Targeting: +6 OCV; (30 Active Points); Requires Brainjack (-1/4), OAF (-1) Real Cost: 9 points

 

Point and Shoot: WF: Pistol; (1 Active Points); Requires Brainjack (-1/4), OAF (-1) Real Cost: 1 point

 

TOTAL COST: 19 points; ~11,780 credits

Yeah, that's way too powerful for my campaign.

- Vassoom

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

Some really great stuff on your site' date=' KS. I'd seen it before when I was still formulating my campaign before starting, and although it had slightly less content at that time, it almost certainly influenced a lot of my early decisions. So thanks for posting all of it. [...SNIP...']

Skill Chip readers are discussed here, as well as Combat Assist Computers:

http://www.killershrike.com/MetaCyber/MetaCyberCharacters_BodyTech_Cybernetics_Skills.shtml

Your CACs are intriguing, however, and might work if I scale them down a touch to match my lower-level campaign. (My characters started as only halfway between Skilled and Competent normals at only 35 base + 40 disads, all of them were essentially working poor, and they are only now up to 100-105 pt characters with earned XP). I'll have to give them some thought...

After reviewing Killer Shrike's excellent CACs and giving the idea some thought, I decided to throw a little more cyberenhanced-weapons lovin' over to the combat members of the group by fully fleshing out my campaign's "SmartLink weapon system". Since they are purely limited to combat, I didn't have a problem adding a few "new" combat skills along with things like Combat Skill Levels and PSLs.

Also of note is the pricing. Since everyone in my group is starting from "the ground up", the prices (to them) are "astronomical", and it would take them upwards of 6 or more highly-paid runs to afford just one of the more expensive SmartLink modules. That will limit their introduction, but will also give the players yet another equipment "money sink" to save up for.

Since the group's "combat monster" just spent most of his money to acquire his brainjack in preparation for such things, I've attached the associated handout that I gave to the players for anyone who's curious. It is basically the glossy sales brochure (complete with "market-speak") that introduces the SmartLink system to the characters, coupled with the HERO builds and in-game pricing. They drooled over the advantages, but also suffered major sticker shock (as intended) at the prices.

- Vassoom

P.S. The name of my Dark Champions campaign is "The Iron Bridge", hence the handout's filename.

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

Here's some of the ways I've used them:

 

Skill Jacks

Area Knowledge - maps, locations, building layouts, network layouts, infrastructure grids (electricity grid, water grid, sewer grid).

Skill Bonuses - Used as onboard reference for any number of skills you might already know. I never ever let a Skill Chip give you a skill you don't have unless that skill is almost 100% reference material (such as maps above). Chips and Brainjacks can't impart experience (IMO). example:

-Streetwise: +1-3 Streetwise; harder to comeby, and they lose usefulness moderately quickly. Lists of local thugs, gangs and hustlers. Hangouts and if appropriate local slang.

 

Rigging Jack

+1-2 Combat Driving or Piloting. reflects a heightened response time between driver and vehicle as muscle reflexes and some vehicle mechanics (steering wheel, switches) are bypassed.

 

Sensory Jack

Splitting sensory input between your brain and the jack one can directly output any or all senses to a specialized recording device; Just sound and sight is simple and outputs strait to any standard video format. Other senses require more elaborate material, usually only done in a Studio Space, for SenseVid Production.

 

Link Jack

This is a basic jack almost everyone has, direct connect to a computer network; usually a non-specialized network such as the Internet. More expensive models come with specialized software that may increase the link speed (+1 SPD, Computer Network Actions Only) or have built in memory with program enhancements (+1-2 with Computer Related Skills).

 

. . .I had another but can't remember what it was.

Thanks for sharing!

- Vassoom

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

[Lots' date= with more coming.]

 

I have something on my "list of ideas to write up" that might help you here. Remind me in a week or two if I haven't replied yet?

- Vassoom

Re: New campaign, new member here...

I'd meant to try and get this posted much earlier. We finally seem to have our lives settled enough for the two regular PCs and a new PC to join the game and keep it rolling on a regular basis (for us, that's about twice a month--luckily we're neighbors and married to each other--one PC to me, the other two PCs to each other, handily enough). Anyway, here is the log from Adventure 1. The lazy players didn't take the extra XP bait, but I think they will do the writing from here on out.

 

dee

Looks like a great start. Thanks for posting the writeup.

And definitely try to get those "lazy players" to draft the log next time...it's a ton of additional work for you as the GM if they don't.

- Vassoom

Re: New York Nights - Dark Champions PBeM Looking For Players

· Highly thematic heroes or vigilantes will get fruit cup.

Very nice intro.

- Vassoom

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log

SESSION #4 – 18 AUG 06 “EVERYBODY WANTS KANDI”

<...SNIP...>

-- Matt Frisbee 0539 18 AUG 2006

Tremendously enjoyable read.

Kudos to you, sir! Kudos, I say!

- Vassoom

Re: Dark Champions Holdout giveaway

I do have a copy, and would be willing to scan it, if that's OK with DOJ dba Hero Games.

 

Now, would a simple scan-as-a-picture be sufficient, or would folks want it OCRed-and-proofread?

No need to go and OCR it and stuff, unless you've got some time to kill and a general lack of interesting hobbies.

- Vassoom

Re: [Possible game] Jonestown Blues

If you like the Chuck Jones homage' date=' why not "Jonesville" or "Jonesburg?" At least you'll have made the wags reach farther than it's probably worth for their Kool-Aid references.[/quote']I agree with the Evil Dr. Puma.

 

"Jonesville" may be the way to go. Although "Jonesburg Blues" does have a nice alliteration to it...

 

- Vassoom

Re: Dark Champions Holdout giveaway

From many moons ago (all two years of 'em) ... there any copies of the DC Holdout giveaway floating around (electronic or hardcopy) or have I just completely missed the boat on that one?

 

I couldn't find info in a search.

The "Dark Champions Holdout"?

Is that, like, one of these?

- Vassoom

Re: [Possible game] Jonestown Blues

You might want to have a different name for the town' date=' or at least be prepared for lots of Kool-aid jokes.[/quote']An excellent point.

 

May I suggest, perhaps, "Smithtown"?

 

- Vassoom

Re: Monster Slayers Archtypes

Ooo! Got a couple more.

 

The Friend: He's not happy with this monster-hunting shtuff, and he may not be very good at it (or perhaps he's very good at it), but that doesn't stop him. His friend(s) is/are in trouble, and he isn't going to let him/them face danger alone. (I'm thinking of that cartoon-like "Amurican" in Dracula; he was one of the useful sort).

- Vassoom