unclevlad

It's very much in the spirit of what Ron's trying to do in Champs Now, and I think it's the better direction.  That said, it's probably asking a lot for newer players to assess what limitations should be worth.

My copy of Champs Now rules is now a couple months old...haven't downloaded in a while.  But one thing for others to note is, the list of limitations s MUCH, MUCH shorter.  Categories:  activation, always on, burnout, costs End, focus, increased End, linked, no range, only in hero ID, and the catchall Limited for usable or not, reduced effectiveness/all or nothing.  

I also have to wonder the degree to which limitations have exploded, in Hero System, is due to trying to duplicate other systems.  For example, trying to duplicate spells and magical items for fantasy gaming, while letting them be affordable and reasonably effective.

5 minutes ago, Hugh Neilson said:

Massey, what do you think of the tangent on Protean?

He never got that far, it seems safe to say.

And it's not that much of a tangent, as it's almost much the concept I was targeting insofar as the movement went.  I'm just not going the limits range, but levels because the viscous body notion totally dovetails in with damage negation IMO.  It's not entirely the same as moving to Desolid but it's close.

Well, DUH.   Not like it hurt HIM any.  He'd already had his fun.  Zeus was very much a love em and leave em kinda guy, if I recall.

Psych Lim:  Dissociative Personality Disorder.  

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/dissociative-identity-disorder-multiple-personality-disorder#1

Note, for severity, this could be a +15.  

9 hours ago, archer said:

The real problem with Canada becoming the big brother is that Canada's population was so small compared to the US during the WWII era.

 

You could fix part of that problem by making Canada the most popular destination for refugees from Europe and Britain. Canada has a large French-speaking population already and plenty of land. The new refugees would probably be the elite and the most skilled since there wouldn't be shipping available to evacuate everyone. Most of the refugees from the Asian theater would probably go to Australia while most of the refugees from the European and Middle East theater would go to Canada. After Germany invades South America, Canada would probably even get refugees from that part of the world.

 

Also in the original timeline, the US occupied Greenland, which was owned by Denmark, in order to keep the Germans from claiming it (the US also offered to outright purchase Greenland in 1946, which would have been very interesting if the sale had gone through). In your timeline, you'd need to have Canada occupy it instead and claim permanent ownership.

 

Iceland was also part of Denmark at the beginning of WWII and didn't claim independence until 1944 even though Denmark was invaded by Germany in 1940. I could see the Allies taking full control of Iceland as the war started to go badly then Canada inheriting it as the last standing Allied power in that part of the world.

Greenland and Iceland...makes sense, altho Iceland might go to Germany as well.  Their westernmost base, useful as an advance warning post.  EDIT:  also a staging base for North Atlantic subs to operate from.

Why would Germany bother with South America?  At least military intervention.  Political influence, puppet states...sure.  But what'll be much more important...and EASIER...is the Middle East, once the oil fields are discovered.  Germany's got a lot on their plate as is, trying to retain much of central Europe and the eastern Mediterranean (and possibly north Africa), and retain forces on the eastern border to keep a way eye on Russia.  Military occupation across an ocean is hard to pull off, if the native populace of the occupied lands are at all feisty.  In South America...they'd be feisty, and I think, better organized than, say, India vs. the British.

I'm also figuring that long term stability is largely inversely proportional to the degree of military action.  

Shay Carson ain't got no 20 STR.

Yeah, a bit of extra running and/or leap would help.  Acrobatics and Breakfall to go for the clean landings that are implicit in the movements.

Lotta climbers actually don't have high Str;  they do tend to have high Str-to-weight.  Wiry strong, whenever I see wall or free-rock climbers.  But that's only gonna buy you another +1, so if it doesn't fit, it's cheaper to toss in another skill point.  Or a general +1, even +2, with the 3 skills...acro, breakfall, climbing.  Good END too, as a lot of this sounds like you're burning both running and leaping END in many phases.

True nuff.  3 HR game is impressive if it's 1100 feet or 1300.  But those mammoth drives are cool to watch.  And special shots...splashdowns in McCovey Cove, completely *clearing* any stadium....those are just IMPRESSIVE.

1 minute ago, RDU Neil said:

 

In a "Broken America" I could see the North East industrial corridor would likely ally with Canada. The neo-Confederacy would be looking for allies... would they or the Union be more likely to ally with a collapsing British empire? It is a fascinating world, a post war America that is not the center of post-war rebuilding makes everything more interesting. 

Whichever way floats your boat.  Alliance is plausible, but so is revulsion on the Canadian part, and jealousy on the US part.  Canada can undercut Pittsburgh;  Birmingham's a mess.  Quite plausible that Canada treats the US like the little brother.  But yours is fine too.  

And thank you.  I think this would be an excellent superheroes environment, and an *awesome* street-level game setting.  We never once really got into powers once we started on the Sino-Japan alliance path.

Hm.  Something I'd not considered.

The British Empire still falls apart;  that's a given.  It can't survive.  OK, so...what happens with Canada and US/Canada relations?  There's no NATO.  There's no history of bailing out the Empire by the US.   They are still neighbors, but without as much joint history.

HECK...ya know, we could argue that Canada industrializes to a higher degree, as *they* have to intervene to help the Old Country more.  So the big iron mines in and around the Great Lakes feed Canadian growth to a higher degree.  The US steel industry was rebuilt for/by WW II, as I recall;  it was in need of modernization.  Well, now that takes place more in Canada, and...ok, perhaps they're not the dominant industrial power on the continent, but the gap is much smaller.  I'm thinking US/Canada relations are largely.....testy.  Perhaps cautious, from the Canadian perspective, might be a better word.

18 hours ago, Badger said:

well most likely nearly any 3 HRs would total near a quarter of a mile. 400 ft x 3 is 1200 ft, which is around the 23 percent mark

1/4 mile is 1320 feet, so you need 3 averaging 440.  440's a LONG dinger.  Remember shots down the line might only be 380...even 350 in some parks.

Orioles won't quite have the worst season in the post-expansion era, even if we toss out the '62 Mets.  2003 Tigers darn near became the first team to lose 120.  And consider they've got the Sox, challenging for the best regular season record ever...looks like they'll miss now, but 110 or so wins is still insane.  And the Yanks will be at 100 wins.  AND the Rays may sniff at 90, which would be right in there to make the playoffs fairly often.  Last week of the season elimination, for sure.  That said, gotta figure Orioles (and Nats) are likely looking at big changes.

I think having Ohtani hit next year is a non-starter.  Whose spot in the lineup would he take?  DH is Pujols and he's still owed almost $90M.  And he can't play the field any more.  You can't carry 2 people on the active roster for this;  there's just not enough slots, given the HUGE pitching staffs everyone carries.  And of course, this assumes he actually *could* hit safely.  Not sure of that...but I am sure that if anything did go wrong?  Like, say, get hit on the elbow????  OY!!!!  No...the risk/benefit analysis is terrible on that alone, and the other factors make it, to me, baseball equivalent to criminally reckless.

My early pick to come out of the American League:  Astros.  Easier path by a wide margin.  National League...who the heck knows???   Whoever comes out there is likely a serious dog to whoever escapes the minefield of the AL.

On 9/5/2018 at 9:19 PM, archer said:

 

I think it's a dumb idea for Nike to be affiliated with him in particular since that one affiliation is alienating large part of their customer base. 

Not trying to be antagonistic but, based on what?  IMO the Burn Nike protests are car alarms in the parking lot of life...massively more noisy than numbers say they should be.  Trump doesn't like it?  Considering his current ratings, there's no better support you can ask for than his condemnation.

NFL Live today was also saying that the ad is strongly resonating with younger demographics...which isn't surprising.  So ok, maybe there's some short-term loss, but long-term, this is expected to be highly successful.

Ewwww....

If the Japinese gain the toehold....we can give Las Vegas a big problem.  Mafia vs. Yakusa.

I don't offhand have a way that the blacks would pull it off, per se.  I was running through potential conclusions in my head, and...well, something like South Africa?  Maybe?  OK, put it down.  Note that I didn't dwell on it.

BUT...ok, one path.  The Nazis were even MORE racist.  The upsurge in violence in the South might be countered by shaming...this is Nazi behavior.  I'm painting the Germans as 50's vintage Russia-level villains at least, so this could be a basis for damping down American racism and possibly leading to a detente in the South.  In this construction, it's reasonable to play up the anti-German sentiment at least, and potentially broaden it to much of central Europe.  Note that I'm leaning away from too much overt, aggressive anti-Asian prejudices, as the stronger that is, the more difficult it is to justify a successful "peacekeeping" mission on the West Coast.

The fracture I like the most, from the standpoint of supporting a Japinese intervention that can be in place for an extended period...

--the South at war with itself

--Texas splits;  whether they bother to go to war with Mexico or not.  Texas won't give a damn about California one way or the other, I'd think.

--the East Coast caught up in a Nazi-based McCarthy-level panic that shows no sign of letting up

--the Midwest is 100% absolutely bugnuts isolationist and non-interventionalist...in fact, the midwest states might even favor taking back more power from such a fractured central government.  And of course, Utah would probably *LOVE* that!  It might well become theocratic in all but name.

No one cares about the northern plains or mountain states.  No populace, no power, at least initially.  I was thinking, hmm...maybe East Coasters would flee into Nevada or Arizona, kinda as they do now, albeit for different reasons.  Well, here...those states might become rather less inclined to accept the Snow Belters.

1 hour ago, Hugh Neilson said:

 

It also seems likely that the combination of authoritarianism in Europe and Asia and the US attitudes from the war (not the reconciliation of the post-war period, but continued hostility, anger and fear) exacerbate racism, rather than fostering a continued move to increased inclusivity.  As a possible fine tuner, what if racism against African and Latino descent is reduced (Africa and the Americas are the parts of the world not yet dominated by the Axis powers), channeling into increased discrimination against those of Asian and even recent European ancestry?

The scenario I'm posing has the US completely sitting out events in Europe and the Pacific...even if the Philippines is taken.  That said, the incarceration of the Japanese on the West Coast did happen, and there was quite strong anti-German sentiment...LOTS of families changed names, as I understand it, to avoid being tarred by the Germanic brush.  So that's plausible too.  But move forward to the 50s, and I think the deeply-rooted prejudice is going to be fanned once more.    

That said, hey...all of the above.  Northeast and Great Lakes (Milwaukee was the beer capital of the country for a reason)...Germanic.  West Coast...Japanese.  South...blacks.  Plenty to start, if not a full-on civil war, an ongoing cycle of violence, riots, and distrust that fractures any bonds.  That's the climate where Japina can intervene in a "peacekeeper" or "protectionist" role...not the conquering role...and reprisals will be impractical.

Mmm...perhaps not.  The lock has a passive "resistance" roll based on its difficulty, whereas this case calls for a more active one.

I like the maintain the field to target multiple foci.  

But just a quick thought for the moment...popping fasteners and the like is the classic D&D Knock spell.  Hmmm...maybe Fantasy Hero has a writeup of something similar?

Brekkers and coffee required before serious cogitation can commence.....

A side issue is actually specifically mentioned...6E1 p. 303.  Teleport, UOO:

Quote

(He could, however, Disarm someone by Teleporting a weapon or other object out of the victim’s grasp, though he probably suffers an OCV penalty for targeting such a small object.) 

A rifle's got at least a -2 to hit;  a grenade's probably -6.  (Off the top of my head w/o cross referencing.)  This is a potential issue regardless of the actual attack definition, if it's targeted.  I'm not a fan of the AoE notion, saying oh I can affect everything all at once.....no.  You're asking for a form of multi-attack AND trying to  get a limit on it by claiming it's only vs. foci.

With teleport...the effect more or less fits, and whole objects are being teleported so it's legal...but it's pretty cheesy.  Even if there's a campaign rule saying minimum Teleport 5m, the baseline's only 5 points.  Even HEAVY advantages won't make it very expensive and it's basically unresistable.  

I agree with OP's assessment on the drain/suppress.  Doesn't act correctly.

To eliminate all or nothing, make it Autofire TK, each targeting a different focus, one at a time.

Hmmm.  Thinking on this a bit further...

The US becomes more racist as a result, through the 50s, as Japinese ascension impinges on the remnants of Manifest Destiny.  The pressure on the white majority requires an outlet...the Commies are controlled, moving against the Chinks and Nips doesn't seem so wise...so what's left?  The civil rights movement is *much* more violent.  This creates another major branching point...how does this play out?

a)  uneasy reconciliation

b)  African-Americans follow the American Indians into a path of isolation

c)  a 2nd Civil War

The last is one where Japina might move.  Occupy the West Coast to protect the children of its heritage.  In this scenario...that could work.  The US is self-destructing and weak, and hey, normal people *may* accept them if they can keep the violence away.

EDIT:  trying to figure if the US survives intact.  I'm thinking not.  The first departure...Texas.  Possibly New Mexico with them.  They have the size, the resources, and the attitude.  After that, things could go many different ways.  California could follow, for all the same reasons.  Arizona's next...they're isolated too much to say in the US.  Oregon and Washington could create another pairing.  Japina can probably stand down if all this happens.  They don't even need to run the West Coast as client states;  the West Coast will be their partners anyway.  

Oof.  Silicon Valley doesn't get populated by East Coast emigres...but Japinese ones.  Google is a joint California-Japina company.

I like the notion of a Co-Prosperity Sphere coming to dominate all of eastern Asia, and Japan taking the US role as the dominant military and cultural power.  

If we're altering things there, then let's also tweak Europe.  Hitler rises;  everything through the fall of France goes as it did.  The big change:  Hitler gets assassinated in summer 1940.  There were numerous attempts to do so throughout.  If Hitler's taken out, then the Blitz doesn't happen, and the invasion of Russia probably doesn't happen.  That still leaves Stalin under considerable pressure;  Germany is much the stronger so it's not a real partnership, and Japina is squeezing on the eastern side.  Good chance, IMO, Stalin is toppled.  Mussolini loses German support and goes down as well.  Germanly largely leaves Spain and Italy alone;  on their own, they're very much secondary.  And Britain is now isolated.

As La Rose noted, the US never gets into the war.  We don't need to assassinate Roosevelt;  Hitler's assassination cools Europe enough so there's no strong argument for him to win in 1940.  America crawls back into its shell, and its recovery from the Depression takes longer.  (Wikipedia article on the Depression shows unemployment in 1940 was still 15%.)  

Over the course of the next 20-30 years...I think Russia collapses from the pressure.  By 1990 at the latest, they're done...splintered.  

The long term impact, tho, is that Germany inherits the mantle of the USSR as the Cold War opponent.  Japina...isn't necessarily liked but the US isn't gonna buck them.  Japanese and/or Mandarin become the dominant languages, and the Co-Prosperity currency becomes the de facto standard, rather than the dollar. 

13 hours ago, Old Man said:

This preseason seems unusually low on debilitating injuries. 

Of name players, or just generally?  I haven't paid enough attention.

If it's name players, how much of that is simply due to the fact they're not on the field?  And, does that mean we'll probably see a rash of em once real game start?

It's also tricky to remember from one year to the next, how many there are.  

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/8/17/17705998/23-biggest-injuries-nfl-offseason-so-far-preseason-guice-verrett-beachum-baldwin-sorensen

But that's just this year;  no idea how many there've been in past years.  It's like saying "it's been unusually dry [or wet, hot, whatever] this summer"...perhaps, but memory's bad on stuff like this.

Iuz:  yes, I know the incident with FIFA.  The corruption in the NCAA is influence peddling.  And it's systemic and tightly interwoven.  No, it's not obvious.  FIFA's corruption is a big fat obvious tumor;  the NCAA's is a slow, spreading, creeping one.  As I said...different styles.

6E1 383.

Quote

In some cases a character may want to have a lesser power that he must use whenever he uses the greater power. In other words the powers are jointly Linked, because neither can be used without
the other (as compared to the usual arrangement, where the character can use the greater power without activating the lesser power). Typically this doesn’t affect the value of Linked; it’s a -0 addition to the Limitation’s value. But if the lesser power costs a lot of END or otherwise inconveniences the character significantly, the GM might grant an additional ¼ more Limitation

Emphasis mine.

So you have to prove to me, if I'm wearing the GM hat, that you're significantly impacted.  The Invis + DN...you did come up with something I'd have to consider.  Linking the DN to the Invis is largely also equivalent to saying "in alternate ID only".  That's a different basis for discussion.

It's too easy to abuse this to get something for nothing.  Can I take Reduced END on my Blast?  You're giving me a cost break that may let me afford it.  When I fire only 1 DC of Flash and 3 DCs of Blast...it doesn't matter.  When I fire 2 DCs of Flash for 1 END, now it's 6 DCs of Blast, normally 3 END...but now 1 END.  And what if I've bought the Flash to 0 END?  It's still the lesser power.

Say it's 1 DC Flash, 4 DCs Blast.  Now the -1/4 Limit on the Blast you're asking for, equals the active cost of the Flash, and exceeds the real cost.  That's de facto something for nothing...because you're gonna link it, the flash will *give you* more points if you buy it.

Those scenarios are more plausible.  The further back you make the core divergence, the better the odds.  I've read High Castle, but not The Divide.  High Castle actually has Japan controlling just the west...IIRC not even all the way to the Rockies.  Germany has the east coast plus.  The midwest is a buffer.  Mind, I still don't believe it, simply because controlling territory is much harder than people think, and technology is nowhere near the overarching solution it's believed to be.  Viet Nam, Afghanistan, and Iran ALL prove that.

Overgard's timeline makes little sense to me, but I haven't read it.  I also think it's got more holes in it, militarily.

There's a synopsis on wikipedia about Japan's policies in the US, from High Castle.  But it's only set in the early 60's too.  There's 50 more years to project forward.  Surviving and newly developing supers can congregate in the midwest.  Not hard to see a seriously ugly resistance movement forming.  From there, tho, any outcome's possible.