Celtic Cowboy

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

From our Shadowrun campaign, setting is the Chicago Containment Zone during Bug City. The area where the characters have been staying has been harrassed lately by vampires and ghouls. Tracking them they find an abandoned bar that at least some of the ghouls have been using as a den.

When making a sweep of the gound floor the encounter the restrooms. The description is that it appears some of the ghouls with limited mentallity still use the facilities as they did before they where infected, but many seem to have forgotten such subtleties as flushing, aiming, etc.

GM (me): "These bathrooms are in pretty nasty condition, the stench is beyond belief."

player1: "Ghoul diarrhea?"

player2: "I guess someone ate Mexican..."

Re: Attacks of Opportunity (d20) in Hero

Yeah, but who says attacks or opportunity are more realistic than "concentrating" and taking the hit to your defenses. In my mind the best thing Mutants and Masterminds did was DROP AoO.

Besides as someone who has had a handgun pulled on them at short range I can testify that you don't always get a free attack in such situations.

AoO is just a mechanic to allow fighters to interfere with mages who are about to hose them down, it's a balancing feature to that system, not a realism feature.

Re: Villainy Amok

I'm sorry to see that this book isn't jumping off the shelves yet. This is my second favorite Champions book published by DOJ' date=' after DEMON.[/quote']

 

Heck this may be one of my favorit books so far next to CKC. Just a great amount of details and springboard ideas. The 10 ways the scenario can go wrong sections are great and those pages of ideas at the end are excellent as well. For a GM this could be one of those truely great cost versus ongoing value books and should be considered a must have.

Re: Hunted Q, or can this Opposites work?

Do they share a common creation background or power source?

If so you can just say they both have a 0 point adjustment to their powers of Doesn't work versus X. X could be the other character, or the specific source. Doesn't work against other people powered by Quantem Nullifier, Light of Arnor, etc.

Re: 10th Muse RPG

There are five new posters in this thread. Each has made only one post' date=' and only to this thread, all to praise the product. It may not be spam and sock puppets, but it has the smell.[/quote']

 

Not only new posters, but joined the day they made this one and only post. Makes me wonder if you could see an IP address what the odds of them pointing back to the same point would be.

Re: What's the most ridiculous PC you've ever been subjected to?

Fluffy wants to call it "Squawk."

 

Personally, I'd like to call it "The Invincible Hammer Wheel and his Masters of Rhythym."

This is just too funny

Re: Champions - 25th Anniversary

Heck if there was just about anything marked "25th Anniversery" - even if just a special cover for 5er, I'd probably be compelled to pick up a few copies to send to members of my old gaming group from back in the day.

Re: M&M to HERO

Thanks for the advice but I think I'll run with the conversion system for a bit and see where it takes me when I'm finished. I have a feeling it will not be as outside the lines as you believe.

I think the base stats and common powers might transfer well, but I'll be curious to see how well some of more creative powers transfer over. Some things M&M does with an expensive power needs a well thought out multi-power to duplicate easily, and that could be a tough simple stat conversion. Weather Control for example.

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate

The only thing I've found gamers indoctinated from other systems really have a hard time with is reasoning powers from effects and realizing a fire and an ice blast may have the same construct (where their other system spelled them out as separate powers). Once you grasp the abstraction its relatively easy.

After recently helping two players new to HERO with characters for a modern horror game, I think the reasoning from effect was the biggest stumbling block I saw.

In one of those other games players look at classes and feats, nice and neat little packages. They look at feats that give them bonus's with this or that weapon or some special ability.

Besides being nice little plug and play cogs, I think some of these things help inspire a players concept for a character when they've hit that mental blank stage.

Now while HERO can design effects to match those feats, want a bonus when using your favorite weapon, just grab some combat levels. While it's far easier if anything to build your character concept in HERO, don't have to wait until 9th level for that feat that ties everything together, if you don't have a concept and some ideas for effects it's a little harder thumbing through the book looking for sparks.

Re: Global Guardians - Champs by email (review)

But it seems to me to be totally unfair to blast his campaign (especially, as Mightybec noted, without ever having ever played in it) and then say "I'd be very interested in input from GG players who have survived all of this, but not from the Uber-GM. I've heard enough from him." That's purely trollish BS as far as I'm concerned, and whatever my past differences with Worldmaker he deserves more respect than that.

Since the original post did blast the GGU process I'll have to in retrospect agree with you on this.

If you're going to blast the guys work it's not fair to expect him to stay out of the comments, good - bad - or otherwise.

If someone wants feedback on GGU from users, and not Uber-Gm, then it might have been better to simply state that they had some problems with the GM about the strong house rules and review process, and wanted to hear from players that gone through the process and their thoughts as players.

Re: Global Guardians - Champs by email (review)

If you're going to post this kind of patently hostile review' date=' don't you think it's only fair that Worldmaker has the right to reply to your criticism?[/quote']

 

 

From what I've seen in previous critical discussions of GGU Worldmaker takes exception quit easily and any response he would likely make would only serve to either fan the flames or drag this out for days as has happened several times before.

 

That being said I will add that I played in a GGU game before their universe reset, used a stock character they had available, and generally had a very good time.

 

GGU's extensive house rules are (to the best of my knowledge) on their website and while missing one or two is understandable turning in a character straight out of Hero Designer without consulting these house rules is just asking for endless edits.

 

Are they freaking picky about characters going into their game?

Oh yeah, in spades.

 

Would this bug me as a player making a unique character instead of a prebuilt?

Without a doubt - I want to play not spend weeks tweaking a character.

 

Does this in the end make GGU play better?

I'd have to give them the benefit of the doubt and say yes. When a character gets through this process the unique games GM knows it's not some rules rapist dream come true that's going to ruin the game for everyone else. All players are on similar ground and they work with the consistancy of the games universe. It keeps the shared universe the games run going.

 

 

Worldmaker doesn't need anybodys permission or approval to run his game site any way he wants to. If players don't like the rules, or the person behind the rules, they absolutly have the right to leave and find a game elsewhere. While I'm not a fan of his attitude at times, there's a heck of a lot of players over on GGU so they must be doing something right.

Re: Ye Old "Hero is Hard" Debate

Re: customizability- HERO is most definitely more easily customizable than D&D ( and most d20 variants ). Yeah, you need to get DM permission in either case, but with HERO, you already have all the framework you need for whatever customization you want, thanks to the point system.

 

Re: versatility- the real advantage of HERO isn't it being the best system, its the fact that once you've learned it, you know almost all you need to know the build characters for any genre you want to play. Any genre advice is just "How to use HERO to build this type of character," not "Rules to build. . ."

 

In addition, HERO is more self-consistent than most other systems. Every spell in D&D, for instance, is more less built from whole cloth. No common mechanical grounding between them. With HERO, every spell, or power, or item, or whatnot, is built from the same essential building blocks.

In some ways these strengths of HERO are also it's weakness for new players. I've seen players who are used to having a set of options to choose from get a mind blank when asked to create a character in HERO. All they can easily think of is the stuff that's been done to death and the open options of the system are somewhat overwhelming.

Re: Can you link an attack to a multi-power?

Can you link an attack to a multi-power?

 

 

 

60 Ice Manipulations Multi-Power

6 Ice Blast 12D6 EB

6 Freezing Wind 6D6 +1 NND

 

 

Freeze Air

2D6 Entangle Def 2

-1/2 Linked to ever attack from the Ice Manipulations Multi-Power

Looking at the powers in the MP I'd allow it to link to either or these, I wouldn't allow the other entangle nor the other attack, but the concept fits well on either of these - but I'd lean towards the freezing wind since the freeze air seems like a reasonable match.

Re: Math is hard...

While I never paid much attention to math in high school my love of the early Champions systems, and using scratch paper to figure out that stuff got me to the point I could fly through basic math. Sure came in handy when I finally decided to go back to school.

Re: Sidekick

You nailed it! For years this is what this game has needed, a step back to simplify and streamline.

Have to agree this is a great product, and one of the best and most useful items put out since FReD itself. Bought three copies from FRPgames, one for myself and two for the group. Laid out plans and ran some sample combats this weekend.

My only mistake with the sample combats is the characters I wrote up in HDv2, I didn't select just Sidekick for the source of options. Had two many options in play that didn't show in Sidekick.

Re: I need help with a grenade launcher

Buy the grenade launcher as extra (or seperate) STR, only for "throwing" grenade-like objects, plus whatever lims you want for setting up the launcher (extra time, concentration, OAF, etc).

 

!DrFURIOUS!

Dang it. I need to learn to type faster.

Re: I need help with a grenade launcher

Don't have the books with me to lookup up numbers, but how about something like this.

+30 STR (or more depending on how much range that gets you)

with these for limitations

Doesn't add to normal STR

OAF

STR can only be used for throwing grenade charges.

Re: mystical challenge

I suggested teleport but only from shadow to shadow and you have to have sneakiness bought to 18- before you can buy this Talent.

I think you could use either the teleport or invis and add requires a stealth roll to use.

Originally posted by DocMan

So the idea of a Movement Multipower is definately Dairy Product? After all, when are you going to Run, Fly, Swim, Teleport, and Tunnel at the same time?

 

Doc

Ah, but these cost END and he said for non-end costing powers that's what he used.

Could always buy the senses as cost end, then reduce end to 0 for the basics and maybe 1/2 for the advanced stuff. Maybe all that fancy thermal and radar gear drains the reserves ever so slightly. Then there's no issue with having them in the MP.

Mark

Originally posted by tkdguy

Thunde Castle got the rights years ago. It made a card game, but bailed on the rpg.

The RPG from Thunder Castle made it as far as playtesting before the company gasped it's last breath. I've still got a copy of their playtesting stuff somewhere - wasn't bad, but a few things where stiff from what I remember but was better than the Legacy: War of Ages which was an interesting copy of the idea of immortals without using the Highlander license.

Writing it up as a vehicle you're already getting a huge point break - and dependance on a focus for you powers is built into the point breaks of vehicles and the various focus limitations.

Originally posted by Ndreare

Thanks for the quick responce.

 

I will probly buy from the store as I neither have nor desire an e-bay account.

 

Last time I was at the FLGS they still had one and they do mail orders.

http://www.attactix.com/

Re: Devil's Advocate?

Originally posted by PhilFleischmann

I've noticed something I consider annoying in some of the books lately: excessive space devoted to the obvious and useless examples. In TUV, which I have, and in USPDB,

Well the USPD is a book of examples, so yes by default I suppose it's bound to have a lot of examples in it. And for new players who don't their way around the system these examples is what's making it a fast moving little book as well.

Haven't spent as much time looking at the TUV.

Originally posted by Lord Liaden

What's your opinion, folks: do you think that a huge Fantasy book is going to attract the average gamer (HERO or otherwise) who sees it on a shelf, or intimidate them into passing it by?

If Storn's cover is half as good as Monolith is making it out to be (which is what GRABS the buyers attention as they're walking down the isle) the size won't matter as much.

Sure it's going to be huge, but the content of that book would be spread in 2-4 books by other companies.

Now factor in the price that will be much more reasonable than what some other companies are asking and it will get attention. When I picked up TE at my FLGS the new guy working behind the counter did a double take when he rang it up and commented on how HERO hadn't jacked their prices through the roof like some of the other companies have lately.

From the looks of things it's been on the #1 spot at FRP games (where I ordered mine) since its release.