CandidGamera

Re: City of Heroes - Online Hero Game What server is this Eurostar on? Are they City of Heroes-ified versions of the actual Eurostar, or just generic villains borrowing the supergroup name? Inquiring minds want to know. And are too lazy to backtrack through the enormous thread.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat You overhear Straczynski ranting about how nothing, nothing! can be resolved until season four, at least.

Re: Favorite HERO mechanics Point-based, Speed Chart, build anything, yadda-yadda. All that's been said. But I also love the way Knockback works.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat She keeps brutally rating your "performance" with a British accent. NT: Signs Batman was expecting you.

Re: Your PCs might be overpowered if... .. you were rejected as a character on Dragonball GT for being too powerful. .. to pumice your callouses you need to kick Darkseid in the face. .. the Anti-Life Equation is your phone number. .. Wolverine acknowledges you as the best there is at what he does. Bub.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Help me, Mary-Sue Kenobi, you're my only hope."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Bub." (drum sting)

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "I.. coulda had a MAC-10!" Perhaps a bit too obfuscated..

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Some non-Eric gems from games I've been in: "Turn out that Ogre!" "Okay, you take a hard right to the left.." "Oh, I don't think they trust me as much as I think they do." "Suspicions mean knowing!" "I don't like to be dead. It's cold, and there's no money there." "Dude! Wrestling is awesome!" "I'm in an evil cult, and I think he has issues." From the campaign with my swashbuckler.. NPC Lord : "I sent ten men to recover it." Female Player : " Are these ten men available?" All in the delivery. GM : "Allright, you all walk towards the castle." Bounty Hunter's Player : "I stroll." Me, the Swasbuckler : "I strut." Faerie Mage Player : "I meander."

Re: Character: Tor Johnson Funnily enough, I've been planning to do a series of bad-movie write-ups for Hero, primarily drawing from Mystery Science Theater. I've just been a little busy is all.. But I'll get'em eventually!

Re: JEFFVERSE - Jeff T's name quest

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The last batch from Eric, Master of Monotone. (after he'd taken out some guards at a party, and the group was deciding if he should kill the guards to cover his tracks, Eric discusses his character's motivation.) Eric : I'm not a serial killer, I'm just bored! Eric : You have about as much loyalty as.. I don't know. What's something with low loyalty? (after referring to someone, in character, as a Madam, to which they seemed to take offense) Eric : .. cause you kinda look like a 'Madam'. Eric : It's always an evil cult! Why can't some nice people try to take over the world? (regarding my character's role in an Epic D&D game) Eric : You know stuff about things.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Kirk's been using the Impulse Drive to help strap him into his girdle again. NT : Signs you may be eating at the wrong restaurant.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "N-no, I'm sorry, Mr. Vader, sir, I had no idea this Droid belonged to you.. I.. aggk.. ak.."

Re: [Compilation] Champions Campaign Journals/Logs/etc... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40401 - My campaign, 'Third Eye Investigations'. P&P.

Re: [Campaign] Third Eye Investigations 1.09 - Cult Classic This episode wraps up the story arc of the first season, though there was one additional episode that "season". For this one, I think I dispensed with the usual pre-Credit sequence notion, in favor of another trope that one of my players used to open games when he was GMing : "You awaken in a dark room.." The session opened right after the group had gotten caught in a little trap. The Brotherhood had anticipated Third Eye reaching this apartment - and in fact had lead them here. They also arranged a mystical booby-trap - whenever Raven tried to channel the spirit of the dead man they would find here, it would trigger a magical explosion. It blew out all the lightbulbs and singed everything, knocking everyone unconscious. The blast uncovered a safe in the wall, and the PCs investigated it as they recovered. Inside the safe was an outline of the Brotherhood's plans - apparently. Back at HQ, Watchman began translating the documents they found. (The Brotherhood uses a dialect of the Basque language - Arthur, though otherwise a Universal Translator, has a built-in mental block with Basque.) Once translated, Arthur decodes it. The document reveals some of the history of the Brotherhood : The man who formally founded the Brotherhood, a sorceror known as Ar'Nath, was regard as a tremendous threat by most mystics - so much so that in 1705, mystics of the Order of St. Hermes, of the Catholic Church, assaulted Ar'Nath in his stronghold in the Southwest of France. (Bayonne, near the Pyrenees) Their desperate ploy worked, to a degree - they were able to magically banish Ar'Nath from his own body, destroying the bulk of his physical form, and then they bound his Spirit to the cave in which they'd found him. They found themselves incapable of destroying such a strong spirit, however, and rather than risk possession, they decided to let the binding do its work until they could find a method to destroy him utterly. According to the document, the bindings that hold his spirit in the cave must be renewed, every century, with a ritual that involves blood, or they begin to weaken. The last renewal did not go off as planned - the Order of St. Hermes having been excommunicated in the 19th century - and the modern Catholic Church regards the stories of Ar'Nath as apocryphal. The Brotherhood believes the time is ripe to shatter the bindings once and for all, and outline a plan to gather many of their members for a ritual to set their leader's soul free. Third Eye sets out to France to go conduct the ritual to renew the bindings, before the Brotherhood can dispel them. They take pig's blood, and a special satellite camera so Jack can monitor their progress. And Raven uses some of his vast personal wealth to hire Reaper to take out a few mid-level Brotherhood types in the U.S., to reduce the numbers for their ritual. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood wants Third Eye to come to the cave, and planted those plans. The team encounters a token group of cultists in the cave, dispatching them easily - along with their leader, a werewolf who can control his powers better than Ellan can. He's rendered unconscious and tied up, as they proceed to the main chamber. There's a large stone door, with pictographs carved along the walls near it. Time for two sidebars. The pictographs depict the history of the Brotherhood, primarily as they deal with Children of Destiny : Alexander the Great, died his fated death, his fingerbone taken, and used to form the mystic core of a metallic spearhead, the fabled 'Spear of Destiny'. The spearhead became on of the daggers to pierce Caesar's back; it pierced Christ's side on the Cross. There's also a picture of the spear being used to slay 'Arturius'. Further pictographs indicate that Louis the 14th was backed by the Brotherhood, as an attempt to establish control of the world, before they mastered the ritual to create a Child of Destiny. (He granted them their land in return) A script above the door indicates "By his title, our domain was entered. Long live the King." - a clue that to open the door to the inner sanctum, the phrase "L'Roi du Soleil" must be spoken. Once that is out of the way, an arch is revealed, over which is the symbol of the Brotherhood. Sidebar time again. Watchman was sent back from a dark future in which World War III had happened, parahumans were responsible for a lot of the devastation, and his parents had been killed. His mission was to join Third Eye and stick with them like glue, until he saw an arch with that particular symbol - at such time, he was to prevent the team from entering that archway. His mysterious sponsor beleived that crossing that threshhold was a critical historical point for preventing the dark future. He hadn't informed the group of his mission, or his futuristic origin, but it suddenly came to light when he tried to interpose himself between them and the doorway. Quite the standoff, since he was the combat monkey of the group. Well, Raven tries to get past - and gets a bullet for his trouble, Watchman using his "Shoot to Wound" ability, but still all but KOing Raven. Arthur and Reach moved to engage Watchman as they queried him on his goals and objectives.. and meanwhile, Damper snuck in to renew the binding. In the original future, Arthur was the first across the threshhold, and consequently, was possessed by Ar'Nath - who used Arthur's abilities to rise to the Presidency. From that office, he manipulated world events to ensure that though the general public suffered, the Brotherhood propsered. This was the hoped-for outcome of the planted plans. Watchman's interference, though, was a partial success - Ar'Nath got a body and was thusly able to exit the cave, but it wasn't the right body. There was a brief skirmish with Third Eye on his way out, and they managed to collapse part of the cave on him, but he ultimately managed to escape.

Re: Taming Absolutes I came across this "Stun Lotto" while running my first HERO campaign.. though I didn't have the catchy and clever name for it. One of the solutions I came up with, but never implemented, was the notion of changing the stun multiplier roll from 1d6-1 (Minimum 1, Avg 2.667, Max 5) to 1d3+1. (Minimum 2, Avg 3, Max 4.) It's actually a slight effective "buff" to the average, but it substantially reduces variability and would make it a tiny bit easier to buy invulnerability against a certain DC of KA. Bad idea? Good idea?

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The hairballs it keeps spitting up are soaked in pea soup.

Re: Need Villain Team Name The Watchmen Revenge Squad?

Re: Seemingly Silly Things to Model If I may depart from the mostly-anime-inspired proceedings thus far.. Bad Writing - This power advantage allows a power to work even when it logically or scientifically shouldn't. Sonic attacks through airless space? Sure. Fireballs underwater? Why not - your writer's a hack! John Byrne Took Over My Book - Distinct from the above. This is a talent that simulates a specialized variable power pool. You may redistribute up to 10% of your points when this is purchased. Change the special effects of your powers, completely revamp your DNPCs and Contacts - whatever! Mark Millar Took Over My Book - You acquire the PsychLim : Liberal Demogogue, and the Distinctive Feature : Boorishly Preachy, (even for those who agree with you.) Not Concealable. You may also add a number of other Psych Lims, as long as they're sophomoric. The combined form of the John Byrne and Mark Millar "talents" is the Chuck Austen Took Over My Book disadvantage. Peter David Took Over My Book - You become extremely witty (+2 Skill Levels, only usable for interaction skills), but your days are numbered - you'll probably be cancelled in the next dozen issues.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "So, 'The Island of Horrible, Agonizing Sandpaper Enemas' is something of a translational error, then?"

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. The non-punsters have gone all glassy-eyed..

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... And here's a few more from Eric's Monotone Theatre. (funnier without context) Eric : (excitedly) Yes! Finally, someone else plays a character with no external genitalia. (speaking to the just-met King of the Goblins) Eric : Excuse me, do you know where I could buy some poison in town? Eric : That was perhaps the worst display of listening to me that I have ever seen. (his Best. Ever.) Eric : (dramatically) Then we shall show them what they can see.

Re: [Campaign] Third Eye Investigations 1.08 - The Sound and Der Fuhrer This was a fairly important episode in a couple of ways. One, the group discovered Jack's heroic past. Two, they got the skinny on what was going down with Arthur's background. And three, we got our best running gag ever. This session also marks the first in-campaign appearance of the borrowed GURPS concept of 'Warehouse 23'. The pre-credits sequence highlighted two shadowy figures, in an unidentified warehouse, stealing a large crated object. Jack briefs the team - he's been contacted by the government. It seems that an object was stolen from a top-secret government warehouse the night before. The object was an alien artifact, recovered by the Nazis from the Yucatan crash in 1938, and confiscated by the U.S. after 1945. They didn't actually tell him it'd been stolen, but were asking him lots of questions about his remembrance of it - which leads him to believe it has been taken. Damper is sent to investigate the Warehouse alone, just to see if there are additional clues to be found. Jack reveals he is a trusted ex-government employee, and is aware of this warehouse where the government keeps all the more unusual mystical, alien, or interdimensional items it comes across. Based on the particular theft, Jack believes that remnants of the Third Reich, now living in Brazil, were responsible for the theft, and says he'll be leading the team down there himself. After making some preparations, Jack appears to be almost 20 years younger (having ingested some of his irradiated water). Once in Brazil, some espionage reveals the situation. The remnants of the German Uberreich (the parahuman Nazi operatives of World War II) have taken a cylinder of alien origin from the warehouse. This cylinder is designed to store brain-patterns. According to the overheard conversation - Hitler's mind was placed in the cylinder shortly before his supposed suicide. (That's right - They Saved Hitler's Brain!) The psychic (Verstandschmelzer) intends to use his powers to transfer Hitler's mind from the cylinder into the body of the brick (Eisenkorper). Except their mystics detect a "Child of Destiny" in the vicinity, which is a much better potential host. Sidebar on the Child of Destiny : It's a magically-enchanted individual who has a specific way in which they will greatly influence history. They may only be killed by A) Their specific fated death or The Spear of Destiny. The creation of a Child of Destiny requires someone of "pure birth" (a loose requirement - interpreted in many ways) and a magical ritual. There have been a number throughout history, created sometimes by the Illuminati, sometimes by the Brotherhood, and in one case, seeming to have spontaneously arisen without the need for ritual. Arthur was created as a Child of Destiny by the Brotherhood, but escaped. The Nazi mystics sense his presence - and are intrigued, having failed to create one during the height of their powers. As a sideline during all this, Ellan's family, in Brazilian organized crime, discovers she's in the country and begin efforts to forcibly compel her to stay. She discovers that all the women in her family are born with the telepathic and telekinetic powers - which are then usually transferred to a male member of the family by means of a mystic ritual, dating back centuries. She manages to escape this fate in time to help the crew infiltrate the Nazi compound, and there's a climactic battle in the basement that destabilizes the building, bringing the house down, seemingly crushing Verstandschmelzer and Eisenkorper before they could extract Hitler's mind, while Jack manages to recover the metallic blue cylinder in question as the team escapes. And as they stand outside the rubble, a mind reaches out to them from inside the cylinder - an alien mind, trapped there since his body was destroyed in the crash in 1938, finally free to speak now that that extra human mind he'd been sharing the space with is gone. Not wanting to hand the government a real live alien mind to interrogate, they constructed a replica of the cylinder to send back, and kept the original in their headquarters. For lack of a pronouncible name for the alien, they dubbed him 'George'. He now uses his telepathic powers to help them out, now and then - from inside the base. But as for the running gag.. both Ellan's family and the Nazis were described as living in "compounds". This quickly mutated into the conceit of a "compound row" - The Nazis at #2, Compound Row, and the Madrids at #1, Compound Row. The jokes about borrowing cups of sugar ensued, about occasionally interfering with each other's deadly plans, and about the terribly dangerous job of being the mailman for Compound Row. "Death ray, for you, sir." "No, you want Dr. Destructo, he's at #4." We still come back to it occasionally. And this adventure is about to get a sequel, hopefully this weekend.. 3.05 - "Thules Rush In".

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... More Eric Gems: (remember : read these in a mental monotone.) Eric : I hate to be the voice of reason, but.. hey. Eric : Ah, would this be literal death, or figurative death? (The party has just encountered Phaerus, a 300 pound, 7 foot tall Demigod, clad in Adamant Full Plate, carrying a massive sword - and the party just saw him shoo some scantily clad women out of his house shortly before they arrived, so everyone's mind was already in the gutter when he said..) Eric : (to Phaerus) Excuse me, can I ask you a small question about how you're equipped? And one of my favorites : Eric : (relating the tale of a battle the night before) I was the last one left standing .. and then the guy got me, too.