Kevin Schultz

Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... Aah, good point. Mainly I had thought he'd do this via facial expression and voice tone, which would work just fine when he's a giant lizard-dude (and no one WANTS to touch him, at least at first), but doesn't work so hot when he looks like a normal person. At the very least, it would set up some cognitive dissonance, when the person's tone and facial expression is very open, but their body language is very closed. Yeah, someone pointed that one out to me when I was first designing the character. My (retroactive) justification was that although he's been an uber his entire life, the super-strenght part of it really hadn't kicked off until puberty. Up until then, it was more along the lines of "the strenght of an adult weightlifter, in the body of an anthropomorphic gila monster." So, he was extremely strong for his size, but unless he really threw a temper tantrum, it wouldn't be dangerous. Once he hit 13 or so, he started bulking out, and at that point it was "throwing tractors around" time, and he became more self-concious about touching people. So (in thinking about it more), he will still let people touch him, but he would respond to it VERY slowly, and it will be more of a dead-weight hug, rather than a sqeeze. Either that, or it would be more of a Maori hug/greeting, in which case the foreheads are met together and you look into each other's eyes, in sort of an extremely gentle head-butt; intimite, but less physical body contact. But yeah, one of the long-term plot ideas I have for the character is that he's looking for a girlfriend - one of the criteria is "will not crush her accidentally." The other being 'will not kill her with my toxic body chemestry," incidentally. He's a troll, so he's assuming that if he's gonna get lucky at ALL, it will probably be with a valkyrie. As it turns out, trolls in Norse myth either are the nameless hordes to be slaughtered by the gods, or else they marry into the family - kind of like the Titans of greek myth. So, he's on the lookout for anyone with Norse pantheon connections.

AKA - roleplaying a young Brick So, I'm playing a super-strong person in the "This Mutant Life" PBeM, and one of the things is that he's been an uber his entire life. Thus, he already has pretty good control over his powers. However, he's gone for additional schooling because he's never really been normal, and he realized that he kinda needs practice in THAT part of being a superhero - knowing how to socialize, to blend, etc. in regular society. Now that one of his metamorph powers have manifested, he has the ability to look 'normal', and as such is able to do stuff like this. So, what are the emotional defense mecahnisms that someone growing up with super-strength and an intimidating appearance would have? (His default form looks like a slightly dopey version of a blue Slaad, only without the claws.) Note that the character, by and large, was supported by his family and small rural Canadian community, has had a fairly happy childhood, and has managed to NOT severly injure anyone accidentally in his entire lifetime. Thus, he has no real agnst over accidental deaths or anything like that; just the practical, day-to-day habits of someone who is used to being 9 feet tall and weighing a quarter ton. (And who no longer is, but tends to act like they are.) Wide personal space - he's used to not standing near people, just on the chance that he might bump into them. Similarly, will always try to walk down the center of a hallway, will never cut corners when walking, and will be very hesitant whenever he's in an area he's never been in before; will always try to see where he's going before he actually goes in, to the point of refusing to go into rooms that are dark. Being in crowds of people for extended periods of time is emotionally draining, as he feels the need to be aware of everyone around him at all times. May come across as claustraphobic (or that other phobia - fear of crowds.) Does not react to verbal barbs with physical action; if someone starts insulting him, he physically shuts down, making sure not to even give the hint that he will physically assualt the individual; on an extreme, may actually sit down on the ground and curl slighty in on himself (both to avoid looming over the person, and to maintain even-level eye contact); if he feels that he's really starting to get angry, he will leave. As a result of #3, he's developed a decent wit in order to 'fight' someone without physically harming them; in casual conversation with people he doesn't know, he may have forced banter or try too hard to 'keep things light'; may overuse sarcasm and puns; may have trouble talking about serious or violent topics. Instinctively tests the surface of anything that he may stand on - just so he won't break it. May instinctively avoid walking on anything that looks like it isn't make out of reinforced concrete or sturdy metal; will use ramps/freight elevators rather than normal stairs. Doesn't use furniture - almost always either stands or sits on the floor; may be uncomfortable if forced to sit on "normal" chairs for extended periods of time, as holding REALLY still in order not to break said chair is something of a strain; does not lean up against walls. Whenever possible, does not grip things - will merely lift them from underneath. May come across as slightly clumsy because of it. Will very often test something several times before lifting it, to ensure that he won't break it when he does so. Will not engage in any sort of intimite physical activity (romantic or otherwise) with anyone, as doing so is an easy way to hurt someone. Even if the partner is also super-strong, will be reluctant to do anything; EDIT (Karmakaze) - hesitant to shake hands or hug people - even for those he knows he will simply allow himself to be hugged, holding his arms above or away from the person; for a kiss, will lightly trill/lick the person's forehead (he's got a sauran head/mouth, like a dinosaur, and has a dry, lizard-like tounge.) EDIT - Will strive to maintain emotional/social contact over larger distances; will sit apart from a group, but will still attempt to be involved in the conversation; may come across as a bit loud because of it. So - those are all that I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone else have any ideas? Mainly I'm looking for things that would perfectly fine for someone who is large, heavy, and phyically imposing, but would look like moderate psychological issues for a normal-sized person.

Re: Patriotic Heroes

Re: Sins of the Flesh - a campaign conundrum (Help Needed) Thoughts - Character, in demon form, was known to be at the scene of the crime, but has already been proven (somehow) not to have comitted the crime. Maybe he was imprisoned in a pentagram, and thus unable to affect events around him. The police found him at the scene, still imprisoned, with a bunch of dead people around him, seemingly killed by the defendents. As such, he's a material witness to whatever happened. The character, in demon form, was first thought to be a suspect, but the prosecution has already proved beyond reasonable doubt that he was somewhere else at the time - in fact, their entire case depends on him being somewhere else. Maybe the defendends were with him at the time. (This one's kinda blah - I like #1 and 3, better). His character is the one that's guilty - he did it, and his friends are covering for him to protect his secret ID. EDIT - Variation of #1 - his demon-form character was the victim - his friends are on-trial for his own murder, and only his appearance will save them. EDIT - variation of #2 - the defense was going to try to prove reasonable doubt by implicating his demon-from in the killing, but the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he wasn't at the scene. By showing up and proving that he WAS at the scene, the defense can return to the "maybe the demon did it" defense. This is more of a realistic "Law and Order" style courtroom defense, though.

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play

Re: Hindu-themed hero As a religion, Hinduism really isn't a religion - it's more of a theological framework for a variety of religions native to the Indus river valley. Before the British showed up, there really wasn't a "Hinduism", per se - it was just the beliefs of the different regions. When the white guys appeared, they said "hey, you all practice the same religon, right?". The priests and philosophers kind of looked at each other and said, "well, yeah, I suppose, compared to you guys we do..." Over the centuries, the different beliefs kind of melded together as they interacted with each other, until they finally formalized their similarities (a belief in dharma, kharma, and reincarnation) and differences (what is the best way to resolve kharma - acetisism vs. good works vs. meditation vs. exstasy, etc.) into the Hinduism of today. As such, Hindism can cover a LOT of ground, in the "there are many paths to enlightenment, here are a couple we happen to know" sort of way. At least, that was the impression I got from my "Philosophy of Religion" course I took a couple of years ago... EDIT - oh, yeah - that's my guess as to why it looks at least vaugely like the religous beliefs of Greece and Egypt, aside from being physically near each other (in an ancient trade route sort of way) - all three started out as multiple religous beliefs of smaller communities, that got 'welded' together under a larger cultural/theological banner. This is compared to Christianity or Islam, which started out as a single religon [Judiasm] and splintered. Sure, the western tradition has elements of other religions in it (catholic Saints as remenants of European Paganism, Islam having heavy persian mythological influences), but from a theological PoV they've remained separate. Kevin "I don't know what I'm talking about, but at least it SOUNDS intelligent" Schultz

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play

Re: Concepts you wish your players would play I found I fall into this trap when I design characters. For me, it boils down to the following: it's more cost-effective to put points into powers than it is to put them into skills. you can fudge not having a PS or high levels of Investigation or a Contact - GM's are experienced in working plots around that. The game is less forgiving if you don't have maxed attack/defense/travel powers. Also, you can see more 'character improvement' by having low skills and putting earned xp into them ("hey, my Attack power just went up 1!"), than you can by having low powers to start with ("Hey! my energy blast just...went up by nothing." Finally, it's an ego thing to have a 'powerful yet young' character than it is to have a 'mediocre yet old' character. I mean, sure - in point balance, they're functionally identical. But then again, you just designed a 30-year old who is "functionally identical" to a 16-year old. In common use, that actually means the 16-year old is 'better', as they can stand up to people that have been doing the same thing for years.

a.k.a. my character has Tactics: 8- So I've submitted a character to the "This Mutant Life" campaign. As the character in question has been an obvious Uber his entire life, he's pretty much resigned to the fact that he'll probably be employed as a superhero. (He's not angry about it or anything, but he's kind of resentful that he never really had the option of becoming a dentist or something.) Anyway, to simulate this, I gave Jake a couple of Familiarities with traditional superhero skills. The idea is that he and his family, on the idea that they don't want him getting killed, actually gave him a reasonable amount of support in learning how to be a superhero. One familiarity I gave him is with Tactics. My question is thus: what does this actually mean, in terms of role-playing combat? My assumption is that he's read a couple of books on the subject, maybe played paintball, and has played 1-st person shooters enough to understand concepts like 'covering file', 'force multipliers', and the like. In looking back on my own life (I've played City of Heroes a bunch - hey, it would count as a realistic FPS in this circumstance!), I'm trying to put together a list of what basic rules of warfare he'd apply if he were to actually get together with a group of teenaged ubers and attempt to fight crime. Make sure everyone is ready to attack before you attack. Make sure everyone knows the plan of attack before you attack. Make sure everyone is buffed/healed up as much as possible before you attack. Make sure everyone knows the basic capabilities and common strategies of the target. Have the person who can survive the return fire attack first. Follow that up with the holds, disorients, debuffs and other confusion-causing powers. Then have everyone else attack. If your opponents are too strong, try to isolte one or two and engage in smaller groups. If you are really outclassed, try to stealth the mission. If your opponents are pansies, defeat them quickly with layered AoE attacks. Don't go chasing foes down corridors. You can run into other spawns that way. Stay in the range of each other's powers. Attack the buffers/debuffers/summoners first. If you can't defeat the main bad guy quickly, delay him while you defeat everything else. Don't get hypnotized by "but we're almost there!" If you need to run, then run. Have a fallback position/escape route planned. Assume that you will be ambushed while fighting, and plan accordingly. Use terrain to your advantage by cutting off Line of Sight. Always be on the move. Whenever you think you gain the objective of your mission, assume you will be ambushed. Keep the in-fight tactics simple. It's probably going to go wrong somehow anyway, and simple things are easier to fix than complex things. This actually looks like a decent set of tactics for an offense-oriented team. It sucks on defense, and it'll probably fall apart under a lot of pressure, but for a small group of people that have never worked together before, it seems to be ok. Can anyone else think of other useful, simple, strategies that you'd reasonably learn from playing video games? I do understand that a good part of tactical thinking is QUICK tactical thinking - he's not going to be able to apply these principles in every encounter. They are, however, what he will think of when he tries to plan out an engagement.

hey - I THINK I understand how all these fit together, except for the final two situations: 1. STR+MA+maneuver = fine. This is just wacking someone with a basic punch. 2. STR+MA+ martial arts maneuver = fine. This is using a more exotic punch or kick. 3. Advantaged STR + MA + maneuver = fine. This is using the advantage on the STR to represent additional 'exotic' techniques. 4. Advantaged STR + MA + martial arts maneuver = fine. As above - using the advantage on the STR to add exotic technique to the martial arts technique. 5. STR+HA+maneuver = fine. This is using a sword, or maybe a built-in attack that is more easily-described using a HA than martial arts maneuvers or DC's. You need to make sure that your STR+HA doesn't exceed the max DC of the campaign, though. 6. STR+Advantaged HA+maneuver = fine, as long as (DC in STR) =< (DC in HA). If it is, the STR dice add to the advantaged HA dice, and they all get the benefit of the advantages. 7. Advantaged STR+ HA + Maneuver = no go: you only get the basic dice in a normal attack. 8. Advantaged STR +Advantaged HA + maneuver - this works like #6 - you get the advantages of the HA, not that of the STR. 9. STR+Advantaged HA + MA + Martial Arts Maneuver= not sure. I think they don't stack. This might depend on the SFX of the HA. 10. STR+Advantaged HA+ Martial Arts Maneuver = not sure here, either. Is this valid if the Advantaged HA is defined as something that could stack with an unarmed attack? ___________________________________________ I'm asking mainly because I've submitted a character to the "this mutant Life" PbEM, and I realized that I didn't give him any martial arts maneuvers. This is fine, as he's not experienced enough to have them. But then I got to thinking about where I might like to put his experience points if I'm able to play, and I realized that I could put some into learning kung fu or something, if the opportunity arose. But I"m wondering if it's worth it, as his main attack is STR+Advantaged HA, defined as "troll fighting instinct" (the character is, in fact, a troll.) Would the character be able to use his troll instincts along with his martial arts training?

Re: Hybrid Characters I found that CoH/CoV was pretty good for helping me understand the benefits and restrictions on AT-styled gaming. Before I played it, I was heavily against having such strong AT's. After doing it for 1 1/2 years (I couldn't ever find anyone to tabletop RPG with for superheroes), I can appreciate the framework that it provides. I kind of see it like learning to appreciate the shakeperean sonnet, and then appreciating free verse. If superhero powers rhymed and had iambic pentameter, anyway...

Re: [Campaign] 'This Mutant Life' - An Uberworld Campaign Oh - I submitted Jake in "paragraph" form. Would you like me to submit him in numbers, as well? I've got him written up (to within a point or two) in Hero Designer, but it looks kinda messy. I'm better at explaining what it is the power is supposed to do, in narrative form.

Re: WWYCD: the Securitas Raid Jake would use this as an opportunity to learn how to be a superhero - he's never done stuff like this before, so he'd probably approach it with an eye towards 'learning the ropes', rather than actually solving a crime. As such, if he could convince the cops, he'd probably go as a civilian consultant or else an apprentiship/ridealong with the investigating officers. As a troll, he's got one power that would actually be incredibly valuable in this circumstance: Smell Treasure - assuming he could get to the site within a day or so of the theft, he could concievably track the 'scent' of 25 million through the city. Other than that, he could concievably go to the bank and talk to the local spirit of Finance, and promise restitution if it will help them track down its offspring. (in terms of GMing, I'd say that the scent thing could get a decent trail to another clue before going cold, and the spirit thing might supply motive and/or a good eyewitness account of the incident, as well as help 'tracking' the stolen money through financial channels.)