Kevin Schultz

Re: People with Powers Ooh - other question on Luck - is the character aware of their power? All players are aware of their character's Luck, and they spend it to their percieved advantage; to use the previous example, PC's are aware of their abilty to spend luck to pick up someone "outside their league". However, it seems implied that the average citizen in this circumstance isn't aware of their power, like they would be aware of the ability to shoot laser beams from their eyes. As a consequence, it sound like they have the "No Concious Control (-2) limitation on it. Otherwise, I would see the standard use of luck to be more along the lines of the character focusing their will, and having something beneficial happen; kind of like coincidental magic from Mage: the Ascension, actually.

Re: People with Powers Also: the way you have this set up is that the point spread is linked to base cost. Is there an associated active/real limit as well? Kevin "I buy my 1 level of Luck with +10 advantages!" Schultz.

Re: People with Powers Re: Luck - here's a question: what's the definition of a 'scene' in the average person's life?I'd argue that, in this case, everyone has at least 1 scene daily: their normal routine. Things beyond that (an interesting phone conversation, a dramatic confrontation with a loved one, getting mugged, whatever) counts as an additional 'scene'. Even 2 levels of luck, if used in every scene that a character is in, will show up fairly quickly IMO. Note this would also be a way to see some of the underlying metaphicics of the world, as people would realize that their luck seems to work more often in dynamic situations, even if they're not DANGEROUS situations.

Re: Favorite Tactics against High DCV? It's 3 if you're at range; 0 if you're 1 hex away or less. (ie, HtH).

Re: WWCYD: Lethal Force is Authorized All characters - none of them have a CvK (total) - most have "prefer to find other solutions" or "want to be a hero" or "aspires to follow the 8-fold path". But I as a player don't play characters with comlete pacifism. Thus, by the time the first city was razed, none of them would hesitate with responding with like force.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Every Breath You Take: the Classics, aka "the best of The Police". This album rocks.

Re: Ninjas in a Champions game Interestingly, the second place my eye was drawn to in that picture was her highly developed upper calf muscles. That woman has excellent definition!

Re: Heroes Hey - I don't watch Heroes either: I just didn't care to continue to watch after Clair met her real dad. I got bored, and decided to invest more time in NetFlix. However, I'll agree with Hugh - if the characters continuously do things you don't like, that's a reason to NOT watch. I also agree that they aren't silver-age (or even bronze-age) heroes. They're people with nifty powers whose actions have greater-than-average impact on their communities. They exist to examine and deconstruct (and possibly) reconstruct the idea of heroism and sacrifice in the modern milieu. Thus, they're Iron/Modern heroes. I'd also argue that they fit the ancient Greek definition - Hercules is the archtypical hero, and he was a raping, selfish, pillaging, idiot.

Re: Favorite Anti-Brick tricks? Also, note that many of those attacks would likely be in a multipower, which means they'd actually only cost 1/10 their real cost - 3 and 6, as opposed to 30 or 60. But I agree with Hugh - that's an issue of character design.

Re: Favorite Anti-Brick tricks? Speaking as someone who does Mixed martial arts and jiutistu/wrestling in particular: yes. In game terms - you can't move out of your hex, but within that hex you're not particularly disadvantaged to attack an opponent. You can scrunch, roll, push off, etc. It's actually pretty easy to spin on your tailbone and keep your legs (your primary striking and defensive surface) between you and your target. And unless you deal with someone's legs, you're going to take a powerful shot to the knee/goin/chin when you try to do anything. This is why the best defense against someone laying on their back is to back up and not engage, unless you can gain position on them (side, head, get them on their back, etc.). When they try to get up, THEN you engage. EDIT - the main thing you can't do are punches, which require the power of your legs behind them to work well.

Re: WSWYCK: Karaoke Night Jake the Troll - would want to do It's not Easy being Green, but then would stop when he heard someone else do it. Then he'd get kinda pouty, and end doing his fallback song, the Immigrant Song ("We come from a land of Ice and Snow"). His sister would try to get him to sing Lola, but he would glare at her, and refuse. Icon - would get up on stage, stare silently at the audience, making everyone extremely uncomforable, and then get down after 3 minutes. If asked, she'd claim to have done a rendition of a silent piano conchierto. Yeah, she doesn't care much for "funny" supervillians trying to yank her chain. Shinji Miromoto - as the son of a sarariman, actually really likes Kareoke. He'd probably do something from Frank Sinatra, just because it's traditional and he'd done it before. Jason Jones - "Paint it Black", by the Rolling Stones. He'd be kinda grumpy at this, too.

Re: WWYCD: To Bee or not to Bee? Jake the Troll - "Oh, yeah. Hadn't gotten around to that yet." Goes out and fixes CCD. Next week, Jake receives a letter threatening to cause massive breast-sag in the porn industry unless Jake goes and steals something else. At this point, Jake groans and throws the letter away. Icon - Emma isn't at the national level yet, and thus wouldn't be getting a letter like this. If she did, she knows enough about police procedure and blackmail that she would immediately contact the feds, and let them know, and try to work with them to get things resolved. If CCD did actually occur as a consequence, then it was some megavillian being a prick. Shinji Miromoto - the potential short-term misuse of the item in question is likely greater than the resultant ecological disaster that could be caused by CCD. Follow the commique to the letter, but exploit any technicalities ruthlessly. For example, a discussion implies two-way communication. Therefore, he would fully and completely inform his teammates of what was going on, but explicitly state that he cannot listen to any responses by them, and thus use a spell on his own mind to PREVENT any discussion (ie, two-way communication) on the subject. at that point, the entire team is involved, and so the case could go forward normally, albiet without Shinji being able to discuss it with them. Widower - steal the item, then beat up whoever comes for it. He's technically a minor, so worst comes to worst he goes to Juvie for a bit. Another issue of "there's no way someone that powerful would be coming after me, so what's the real story?" Would likely think it was part of The Plot; originally it was supposed to be just some high school chick who could control insects, but it may have changed to fit his current situation.

Re: WWCYD: De-Animator Jake the Troll - "Wow. Zombies are completely and utterly NOT part of my portfolio". In fact, they're kind of his anti-portfolio, as he's sorta the personification of nature and life. Once he realizes this, he'd probably figure out how to "listen to the hole in the water": ie, look for the locations where life is not. Icon - "What, zombies AGAIN? Well, thanks for the warning, I guess..." All of Argus City just got hit by a zombie attack, and survived relatively unscathed; threatening to do it AGAIN will just cheese the community off, create calls for this guy's butt behind bars, and let the citizenry get a head start on re-arming themselves with shotguns and axes. at that point, it's really just a standard villain-hunt. Shinji - Has a continually-running, targetable, discriminatory "sense Magic" ability; he would have noticed that the de-animator's power was a Suppress. None of the bodies would have gone anywhere but into a large, remote warehouse that was mined with explosives. If this wasn't noticed, he does have a precognitive ritual that he performs on a daily basis; it may have given him a hint about what was coming up. If THAT didn't work, he'd likely be able to build some sort of undead bug-zapper (Mind Control "Come Here", Increased Maximum, Only on the mindless undead, AoE, MegaScale). Widower - "Ah, %$#!". Jason is self-aware of the comic-book genre tropes of his life, and so may have been aware of this as a possibility. He may also have gotten a continual 'this isn't right' buzz from his Danger Sense from the Suppressed zombies. If that was the case, then the bodies may have been already incarcerated. If that wasn't the case, Jason lives too near Washington DC for this NOT to be a federal emergency. Sanction would be on the case, and Jason would try not to get in their way.

Re: WWYCD: Run!! (note: all campaigns are currently in Tribe's Uberworld) Icon - Empowered by Cosmic Energy; probably would be targeted by Black Skull (undead energy-stealing necromacer). She'd contact the Argus City Special Case squad, who would immediately kick the call up to the feds, who would likely call in Sanction. Widower - is empowered by a djinn wish; my current theory is that he was done so as part of an opening gambit to counter the threat of the Assembly, the Indian nationalist uber-group. Thus, he'd probably be targeted by Ganesh (incarnated god). As this would require that Ganesh invade the USA and likey start WWIII, he's not too worried about it. If that's the case, he'd run, quickly, to the government and to Sanction (the US premire superteam) in particular. Jake the Troll - N/A - Jake's story arcs aren't about throwing down with the big baddies; he's more along the lines of "figure out why the house-gnomes are trying to summon cthullu" of modern urban fantasy. Shinji Miromoto - East Asian dark sorcerer. Also a likely target of Black Skull. Shinji would run to the Dark Congress, of which he is a member of good standing; they have lawyers and insurance for things like this. Then, he'd probably run to one of their safe-houses in the Dark.

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower Webs of the Widower, Chapter 1 Jason Jones, former middle-aged accountant, victim of a disastrous wish, and newly minted hero, spotted another of the green frogs with the red markings on the foster home farm where he had been dumped by the authorities. In two weeks, they expected him to restart school again. That was part of the proceedings after what had happened. Currently, he sat slouched on the stump, leaning up against the side of the barn, moping in the afternoon sun. I’m not moping. Jason sat slouched, contemplating the red-spotted frog in front of him. It had unusual markings, and was more likely native to north-eastern Australian coastal region than to the Virginian lowlands. I’m not contemplating the frickin’ toad. Frog. Whatever. They’re a completely different type of animal, following a different evolutionary track optimized for a dry environment, very often further optimized for burrowing. Shut up. All I’m saying is that if you’re going to ignore something, the least you can do is get its species correct. What part of “shut up” don’t you understand? … … Jason sat slouched on the stump, not moping, not paying attention to anything of scientific interest around him, and most certainly not listening to the voice in his head. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! So, if I may be so bold, what ARE you doing, aside from beating your head against the side of the barn? I’m…thinking. The frog croaked, apparently unafraid of him or his deranged behavior. Oh, don’t you start. "It seems to like you, Mr. Jones." Jason’s entire body tensed, his stomach doing a flip-flop as the words seemingly came out of nowhere, his senses screaming at him to get the heck out of Dodge. He threw himself off the stump, body spinning as he dropped to the ground, sweeping the dirt with his right hand as he came up into a crouch, ready to launch himself at his unknown foe. One look told him it was the djinn wearing something from John Wayne's costume department, right down to the ten gallon white hat. “Iziz.” Jason ground out the single word as the adrenalin coursed through his veins. He forced himself to stand slowly upright. After eyeing the immortal spirit’s outfit for a moment, he carefully brushed the dirt off of his pant leg and slouched back down onto his tree stump. “What?” "I'm just passing through and thought I would check how you liked your new life." Iziz even copied the Duke's stance as he pushed the hat away from his swarthy brow. "We servants of the cosmos have tons of paperwork to fill out. Part of that is customer satisfaction. " Jason exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes; the thoughts swirling as he leaned back, tapping his head slowly against the old wood planks behind him. Depends. Why am I a complete %$#@? It really all came back to that. He’d been trying to think of ways around it, ways his words could have been twisted, but it all came down to logic. No matter how he thought it out, some part of him, just before he made the wish, must have realized what would happen, and said: “Death of my loved ones? Complete destruction of all else I hold dear? Selling my soul for cheesy comic book powers? Sounds good to me!” You’re not helping, you know. Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just the intangible voice in your head. But I don’t think you really sold your soul. That was just poetic license on my part. That, and he’s a djinn, not a demon. Depends on your theology. Some djinn were called Shaitan, or “those who hate” – in English, the word translates to ‘Satan’. OK, now you’re REALLY not helping. All of this dialog taking place in a single breath, so he cracked one eye open. “Oh, getting through. Day to day, hour to hour. That kind of stuff.” He huffed, blowing up his bangs. “At the moment, I’m trying to figure that, according to you, I enjoy metaphorically gutting myself with a rusty trowel. Nice hat, by the way.” "Thank you. I got it at some place called Goodwill." The djinn shifted, started rolling a cigarette from supplies taken from a pocket. A flick of his thumb set one end on fire. “The whole getup? Huh.” He studied the djinn for several moments. “Points for low-rent costume hunting, then.” The adrenaline had finished its mad stampede through his body, and was shaking like a caffeine junkie before their first triple-shot latte. He flexed his hands into fists a couple of times, before finally folding them over his stomach. I really need to get used to that. Sorry. I’ll try not to scream so loud the next time an inter-dimensional entity of Phenomenal Cosmic Power appears nearby. Um…thanks? That was sarcasm. Unaware or uncaring of the internal monologue, Iziz continued to smoke. "I won't lie to you,” he said between puffs. You have picked a hero's destiny, and soon you will have reason to regret that far more than I would like. A playing field has been selected and pieces are being assembled as we speak. It's not what I would like but Allah wills and the sun shines." “I thought I already had a hero’s destiny.” Jason gestured vaguely around him: at the field in front of him, the parked rust-red antique tractor nearby, and the woodpile next to him. “Y’know, the whole ‘foster alien in a small farm town’ thing. Seasons one through six, and counting.” He stretched his hands out in front, framing the djin with his hands. “Only not so much with the alien bit, and more with the magical construct.” Then he frowned, letting his arms drop. Which, seeing as Shuster and Siegel were inspired by the Jewish legends of the golem, means I actually fit in just fine, damn it. Wow. What? I’d just like to say that, appearances aside, you’re a complete comic book nerd. This, coming from the voice that has an orgasm over toads and literary references to the Devil. Never claimed otherwise. Your point? Shut up. "You'll understand." The djinn puffed on his cigarette for a moment. "Things have been invoked beyond changing your personal history and setting. Heroes are being called to battle. I have to go check on the rest of my work. I'll see you again if Allah wills and the sun shines." He dropped the cigarette butt on the ground, stamped it out, and started off in John Wayne's pigeon toed walk. "Good luck." “Umph.” John didn’t bother to watch the spirit saunter away, not trusting his eyes to not spontaneously develop heat vision and ignite the spirit’s hat. Instead, he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, and stared at the ground, listening as the clink of the djinn’s spurs faded into nothingness, ultimately masked by the myriad sounds of a living, working farm: the distant highway, the lowing cattle, the rustle of the wind through the fields. Along with those, he was left with the cryptic warning from his supernatural Mentor, floating through his memory like the spirit of air and smoke that spoke them. Well, the frog was still there, too. I’m not in the mood, now, Voice. And don’t start quoting the monomyth on me. Why not? It’s highly influential! In 1990’s television and movie screenwriting, maybe. John spat, still staring at the dirt. His theories don’t apply well to things outside a select group of stories, mostly originating from Western myth and legend. Think about what you just said, and where you are. It was the Call to Adventure! How Campbellian can you get? By calling me Ashley and replacing my hand with a chainsaw, but I see your point. He grimaced, and then stood in a rush. “In that case, it would be traditional for me to Refuse The Call then, wouldn’t it?” Well, yes. But then you’ll have to deal with your aunt and uncle being killed by storm troopers. “I think we’re already past that point,” he said, growling. He strode over to the woodpile, and grabbed at a random stick. “So he’s the mentor then.” Taking it he began to thump on the wood. “The Old Man.” Whack. “The Obi-Wan.” Whack. “The Wizard” Whack. “With the power” Big Whack. “But gets.” Even bigger Whack. “Some ignorant %$#@” Ooh, gonna break the stick with that one. “TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK!! Whack-whack-whack-whack-wha-CRUNCH! You do realize you’re yelling at the woodpile, right? Jason stared at the broken stick in his hand, his throat raw, his eyes burning. Yeah, I know. You going to have any more psychotic breaks that I should know about? Nah, I’m good for now. He slouched back to his stump, idly tossing the now-shortened stick to the ground. That’s the spirit! Cross the first threshold! To Mos Eisley, and Beyond! That’s high school, dumbass. Whatever. "Hey Jaaaaaay-son!" Aunt Martha May's call sounded over the farm, powered by lungs that could blow up a hot air balloon. "Phone call!" Wha-huh? Jason's head whipped up and around at the sound of his foster parent's voice. Who would be calling me? I don't KNOW anyone. You know Ms. Rebecca 'Young enough to be your daughter' Bennet. As well as a large number of individuals in the fields of social services and law enforcement. OK, I don't know anyone I want to talk to, then. It's certianly a mystery. Yep. Convinent, that. Uh-huh. He sat there for a moment longer, debating the pros and cons of hocking a loogie in the face of destiny, or of at least whoever was on the phone. But with a sigh, he determined that 'Aunt' Martha (thank God she doesn't require he call her Mom) hadn't done anything to deserve such a phlegmatic dress-down. "Oh-kayyyyyy!" he hollered, rose from the stump, and jogged out from behind the barn and towards the farmhouse. "There you are, boy." Aunt Martha May Baggs was a big woman, stout like a rhino and smiling like a sun beam. "Some girl is on the phone. She's talking about going to the mall." Jason lept up over the final steps leading up to the farmhouse, landing lightly on the porch, unwinded by his quick jaunt. "Um, do I know anyone like that?" he said, casting a puzzled glance at the woman. "I've been...kind of out of it, these last few days." Which was putting it mildly; for all he knew, he had been introduced to this person the day Social Services dropped him off, and had agreed to go cow-tipping, or something. "I think it will do you some good to go out with peers." Mrs Baggs smiled at her foster son radiantly. The dog at her feet seemed to nod and grin as well. "You can't mope around the farm all your life." "Huh." Shrugging, he went inside and picked up the phone. "Um, hello?" "Hey Jason." The voice was incredibly light over the line. "We were thinking about shopping and Poster said you would want to go with us." Poster Rollins was on the school newspaper, and lived just down the road from the Baggs's farm. “Oh, right. Rollins.” Jason vaguely recalled the name being mentioned at some point in the last few days; quite possibly from one of Martha’s ‘you’re going to love it here’ speeches. Unfortunately, a description of this person, much less their gender, had not been included in the conversation. So, for all I know, I’m about to agree to go shopping with two teenaged girls. You are going to agree, then. Well, it’s either that, or sit on a stump and contemplate amphibians. “Ah, sounds good. Thanks for the invite.” He made vague pleasantries with the as-yet-unidentified individual on the other side, then managed to hang up. “Right,” he said, turning to Martha. “So, I guess I’m going to the mall…with someone.” "That's good, dear." Aunt Martha smiled. "Don't be too late. We're having cabbage and potatoes." Thinking back to when dinner occurred yesterday, he nodded, then headed out the door. He sat on the steps, reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and pulled out his billfold. he had a twenty; not much, but enough for something small, maybe a burger meal. Sighing, he put his wallet back in his pocket, and quietly waited for the inevitable kidnapping by unknown, aggressively friendly, female, forces that was about to occur. Did you know that potatoes are a higher source of potassium than bananas? AAAAAARRRRRGGGG!!!!!! Well, except for the rhythmic headbanging. But that was only to be expected. A red Jeep arrived in a few minutes. The beeping of a horn told Jason to hurry up. From the living room window, Aunt Martha May smiled and waved at the visitors. As Jason stood, he could hear her open the screen door and come over to where he was standing. "Remember to stay on your best behavior, and watch out for ducks," she murmured from behind as she slipped something into his jacket pocket. "Have fun." He turned slightly and, sighting her out of the corner of his eye, gave a crisp nod. “Will do.” The dog, having followed her outside, jumped up on Jason's leg, smiling at him ferociously. Then he proceeded to sit to his mistress, tongue hanging down. Jason peered at her doggy companion. “You too,” he said, before ruffling the canine’s ears. With that, he jumped lightly off the steps and walked towards the jeep, fishing into his pocket. Finding a folded ten-dollar bill, he smiled slightly, and put it back inside. Arriving at the passenger-side door, he peered in at the occupants. “Ah, hi.”

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower I've been keeping a Word doc at home with a running line of my posts in it; I learned a while ago that composing in the Yahoo! dialog box isn't the safest thing to do. (I've lost a couple pretty large e-mails that way.). I'll see if I can post my version later tonight.

Re: Game stats for Ferrets? With the power "Voiced by Michael Dorn". Kevin "I am Weasel!" Schultz

Re: Help: Folk Heroes. I'd argue that Pecos Bill, in tall-tale fashion, maps better to the mystic: he pretty much as a "do anything, as long as it's Texan" VPP. (lassoing tornadoes, carving canyons, etc.)

Re: Help: Folk Heroes. Dang. and here I was thinking of "He's a guitar player with a napoleon complex. He's a chellist with delusions of grandeur. Simon and Garfunkel: Together - THEY FIGHT CRIME!"

Re: WWYCD? Women City Savers Only Jake the Troll - no problem whatsoever - he's a trollknor part of the time, anyway and could potentially be the mystic flipping the gender switch on the other heroes, if he could figure out how he does it to himself. But then he'd start doing it as a party trick, so maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea...Would give any superhero who went through the change grief about it, but only to ask to do stereotypically girlie things. Icon - Assuming it wouldn't take long, Emma would wait for the guys, as it's better to go in with more force than with less. She'd probably do recon with the other gals from Argus High, as information is important to have before planning a strike. In all, she'd probably take it in stride as "just one of those things" that (soon-to-be) professional superheroes have to deal with at least once in their careers. And yes, she'd take pictures, as at least one of the guys on the team is pretty quietly sexist in a "son of an evil overlord" sort of way. Shinji Miromoto - is a sorcerer, but his schtick doesn't come anywhere NEAR shapeshifting - it's more like something the fey would do, but he only hung around with them for a season or so. But, assuming it was quick and wouldn't mess up his own mana flows, he'd go through with it. Knowing his own feelings on magical girls though, he'd probably end up as some sort of "Dark Princess Kimiko", and would tend to pose dramatically while wearing some sort of stylized schoolgirl outfit. (Much to his later chagrin.) Widower - Like Emma, John would consider this "just another superhero thing", but he'd see it as something funny and kinda sexy when done to a comic book character (he's a fan), but really embarassing when actually put into practice on yourself. But he'd go through with it, as it really isn't a sacrifice in the long run. He'd also be hit with something of a personality change, although due mostly due to the fact that he would likely appear to be an extremely athletic version of his youngest (deceased) daughter, and would probably take the manerisms of her. As a consequence of THAT, he'd probalby end up taking pictures of (her)self, as he has no photographs of his family, and a crummy substitute is better than no substitute.

Re: Strange Hero Concepts: Discuss Your Own!

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower Heh - yeah, it does sound kinda cheesy when written up as an elevator pitch - the longer version is that an aging comic book fanboy in the Uberworld (Tribe's PBeM gameworld) ended up making a wish on a genie lamp; unfortunately, he was...kind of drunk at the time, and thus ended up mixing the his favorite comic book hero with his least-favorite comic book TV show. The general gist of the wish was "a REAL hero like Spiderman would have done better!" As such, he's not actually Peter Parker, and isn't actually in Smallville - he just has the powerset of ol' Webhead, and he's going to be facing the general plotlines and situations from the TV show. Functionally, the character has Clairivoyance: Knows his Own Story Arcs, and Physical Disadvantage: Can't Get Away From the Plot. And if you're wondering, "why this combo?" - the original game concept was called "Homage" - the idea of playing out the powerset and similar story arcs of a well-known fictional superhero, with someone who was self-aware of the fact. However, after finding a couple of good character write-ups, I realized that the concept would require that I or the GM actually find a summary of the targeted character's life - which, due to continuity changes, is actually more difficult than it would first appear. So, I choose Smallville, which has some nice series summaries on Wikipedia. I also thought to use Enforcer84's Superman writeup to go along with it, but that sucker's 1800+ points: kind of a challenge to write adventures against, especially considering the low-power level of most of Smallville's characters. yeah, there are writeups of that version of Clark Kent, but let's face it: he's a wuss. So, I flipped over to a build of Spiderman, and wondered if there was any way to combine the two. This game is the result. Yeah, an experienced Spidey could mop the floor with most of the Smallville villains anyway, at least up until Zod. Part of the fun of the game, at least to me, is being completely and utterly overpowered for that aspect of it. The character will probably try to go out and find other things to do, but he'll still have to deal with the thematic equivalent of the Magical Mutant of the Week. (It's like having a SID of a cop - you don't face any real danger from the criminals in your normal life, but you still have to deal with 'em.)

Re: Jedi build ideas? I'll agree with Comic on the idea of the Lightsaber as primarily a martial arts thing. From what I recall of the West End game, the actual damage done by a lightsaber was from the training the individual had, rather than the power of the blade itself. (By itself, it was pretty much just a melee-ranged heavy blaster.) The ability to cut through anything came from the focus and training of the Jedi - which can easily be described as a 2d AP HKA focus with Martial Arts DC's. I'll also agree that the various jedi lightsaber techniques are pretty much just martial arts moves and Defensive Maneuvers, for the most part. So, yeah - Cosmic VPP with skill roll tends to cover the West End way of doing Force powers, which I prefer to the D20 version. If I was doing it, though, I'd also have a "General Jedi Fighting Style" EC with the most-commonly-used Offense, Defense, Sense, and Movement powers - but that's just my build philosophy.

Re: Strange Hero Concepts: Discuss Your Own! 1. An anime-themed character I'd like to play (in a villian game) is as someone who has a polymorphic aura - it always returns positive when queried by a magic spell, regardless of the question. The practical effect is that he can use any piece of mystical gear, as most magic only queries for the positive: "are you my rightful owner? Yes." The character works as a mystical bounty hunter, hunting down magical sentai teams for their stuff. He's also got a menagerie of magical animal companions, each of which is convinced that he's the "sole true heir to " or "the last reincarnated princ(ess) of ". 2. A grizzeled, John McLain-type character who has the power of cutsie 80's cartoons (Care Bears, Smurfs, Snorks, etc.). Other than that, he's a standard shotgun-toting, trenchoat-wearing, Dark Champions character.

Re: Paralysis Ray: Would you allow this? In looking at it, EGO seems to be costed on the assumption that the character uses OECV. Thus, it's twice as expensive as it should be for non-mentalists. This is why all of my characters have the following: Iron Will: EGO +5 (Defensive Only, -1; 10 Active, 5 Real) To me, that's a reasonable build, and puts it in the same level as Mental Defense.