procyon

I would want the cap for my group, or one of them would just grab every car/building/tree/etc they could find. In the absence of a cap, I would expect them to try and get 200+ on Str before they started to 'have fun'. So for game balance, I would put a cap on what they could 'absorb/transfer'.

I did my time in the Army. Never met a teacher who could even be considered in the same league as drill sergeants. Not that I wanted to meet one though. And mine generally wasn't instruction through fear. More, see if they were actually functioning, or still in the 'deer in the headlight' phase. I would do things like ask them ot calculate a number of values (usually dopler and gravitational redshifts). Then, if they worked them out - I would take their work over to the chart on the wall to check them. The looks on their faces usually was somewhere between disbelief and homicidal rage...

That could be fun. Or not. i did a fair stint working as a physicist. Astrophysics (observational mostly, although some consulting on the theoretical end of it). But I tend to have a bit of an 'ornery' side, and feel no guilt 'messing' with students/interns/etc - so teaching might not be the best idea for me.

And that is what I assumed you were saying. It just didn't sound exactly like that when I read it. But yes, as the base of knowledge expands, even an unexceptional member of humanity has access to knowledge and tools that were unavailable to prior generations or eras. So was John Browning 'more intelligent' than Copernicus. Probably not. Did he have access to a MUCH larger base of knowledge to work from. Oh yes.

Or perhaps I have given up on worrying about things I have no control over. If it re-established contact and sends us neat pics and data - great. If it doesn't, well, not much that my worrying will do to change that. So if my actions don't impact the results of a situation, chocolate and coffee at least impact MY situation.

I'm not sure that would be universally true. If there was an 'insect/hive' type creature which was 'intelligent' - it might not apply. But I would suspect that social/group creatures would advance more quickly. Solitary creatures are likely going to spend a lot of time duplicating efforts.

I would probably try to figure out a way to make Pol's power a Transfer of Body to the points of a multipower pool, perhaps with a decreased return rate. Then I would set up the multipower with density increase (with some arbitrary point cap on how much he can absorb into the power) so that it had more points that could be put into density increase as he absorbed more. Probably with no conscious control of the multipower so that it automatically turns on when he transfers Body, whether he wants to get denser or not. You could say that since dark matter does have a gravitational component, he is simply pulling all the Higgs bosuns out of an object. If he actually 'kills/destroys' it, then it loses all cohesion and simply disintegrates. Of course, where those bosuns go if he doesn't leave an object for them to transfer them back to as they drain off with the return rate could be an issue. Maybe a nasty side effect if he actually destroys an object/person and the Higgs that seep back out of him begin interacting with the environment around poor Pol.

Or I can continue eating chocolate and drinking coffee. Like always.

From my wife, while firing her energy bolts at a mook beating a fallen police man. Wife - "I'm not going to take a chance on this one getting away. (rolls a successful hit, then rolls all the dice for her attack)" Me - "He missed the roll for his armor. What did you roll for damage?" Wife - makes concerned face "Oh. Oops. I may have killed him. The three other cops are watching me, aren't they." During another session with the 14 y/o boy. Me - "Do you have Unluck as a disadvantage?' Son - "No. I bought that off." Looks at sheet. "Um. Maybe I didn't." Me - "Go ahead and roll for it." Son - (rolls) "Um, what number is bad again..." .

I've been exposed to both tear gas and onions. Neither were present. Just lots of 'boo-hoo' - ing.

I am sure what you are trying to say is true, but the analogy probably isn't accurate. Discovering a way to adapt unguided bombs into guided munitions is great. But the folks who did that were not likely 'more intelligent' than Newton. Or Copernicus. Or many other individuals from antiquity. The development of language, and ways to record and pass on our discoveries, is a huge advantage. Lots of primates can use a variety of tools. But if they have never directly observed another member of their species using it - they are unlikely to 'discover' it. The same was true for humanity. We likely 're-invented' the wheel/fire/spear/etc over and over. Until we found better ways to pass that knowledge on. That would be one of the hallmarks (to me) of intelligence.

To me, whether sleep is necessary for intelligent life and if it can arise from egg layers is a bit of a non issue. Neither are part of a definition of intelligence. For an invertebrate using tools, octopi have been recorded using tools to a degree. Some fish use their mouths to crack clams and such on rocks, and dolphins carry sponges in their mouths to help gather food. Insects have also been noted to use simple tools in food gathering activities. Could any of these scale up? Well, if you look at evolution and take if back far enough - pretty much anything can scale up. We all came from single cell organisms at one point. I am fairly sure language is going to be a necessity for advancing in 'intelligence'. That we will ever be able to understand a non-terrestrial intelligent species is doubtful to me. Regardless what fiction would like to present, we have yet to manage to decode any other species communication on THIS world. I really doubt we will be able to understand a species that evolved in an entirely different environment in anything but the most primitive levels. As for tool using animals other than us scaling up above squirrel size - I would believe that raccoons have a pretty good shot at it. They aren't tool makers, but have no problem discerning how many simple tools function. As for human form and 'base level for intelligence' - I can see the logic in your statement. It's only problem is the same as every other one at this moment. We have only one example. When basing any predictions on a sample or data set of 'one' - you pretty much have no predictive power. Until we come up with another example, you could just as easily swap 'only on earth like' to 'only in this solar system' or 'only in the milky way.' Which I also doubt would be true or accurate. Although I could be wrong.

Very nice. Rather neat way to show an inverse temporal symmetry. So unless someone strongly objects, I would give SKJAM! the nod for nominating the next team when this one is finished. Kaon (Arron Lebrowski) was a particle physicist obsessed with quantifying the properties of dark matter, but in the absence of actual material to study and work with - his elaborate equations and projections were considered nothing more than curiosities. Using particle accelerators to try and create and isolate dark matter, he was involved in a horrible accident. Although he succeeded in creating what he had hoped for, he was caught in the reaction and found himself also changed. Kaon learned to harness and control his new state. He was able to make himself so that no light or matter interacted with him (invisible to all senses & desolid - effected by gravatic & magnetic attacks). Only the most precise of gravitational detectors could identify him. He also discovered he could fly, but that it came with a price. Although he could allow gravity's effect to be reversed on him, he also would suffered other reversed effects. A punch would send him crashing into his attacker, although this was seldom a problem as few were able to attack him effectively. He also discovered that his powers could be neutralized by strong magnetic fields, although the simple presence of the field was not harmful.

Somebody posted before me, so I guess I am #6. These five supervillains all came from theoretical scientific backgrounds. All of them managed to gain their powers from experiments trying to isolate dark matter, and the infusion of dark matter and energy have given them incredible powers. They also suffered from prejudice for their studious natures, and have decided to incorporate that, sarcastically, into their team name. So the WIMPs (the acronym for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles - which are a proposed candidate for dark matter) came into being. They pride themselves on defying known reality and persecuting the 'jocks' who once made them suffer. (And I realize that it may be a bit of a change from the standard way of deciding who gets to designate the next team, but my nod for the person who gets to decide what the next team is will be either the first person who can create a villain based on use of a double metric tensor, or the one who creates the fifth villain. Whichever comes first. And yes, I loved to play the 'what if' and 'here is your question' games with interns...)

Gary Mede once believed in the Aquarian League. His incredible control of water (or any liquid composed mostly of water) made him capable of bringing life to the most barren of locations. But after constant persecution by 'the man', he decided that only by joining the Marian League could he ever be free of his tormentors. Although this has never turned out to be true, he enjoys 'returning the favor' far to much to leave his current lifestyle. Now the powers that once nurtured life can take it just as easily.

I'm not sure. It was rather uncomfortable sitting beside my spouse as she cried through the last 15 minutes of it. But it was good.

Oh, and just to be clear Christopher, I really do enjoy this conversation. I hope I don't come across as to snarky. I just really love to discuss these sorts of things where there Is no solid, right, answer. Just folk throwing out ideas and thoughts. It is the one thing I miss about my time as a physicist. I love my current job in the NICU, but it doesn't leave much time or opportunity for discussions like this.

Most pack hunters that run down prey (wolves) use scent as their primary sense. So close to the ground is better. Hands do help with gathering. But we aren't the only ones. And not just apes & monkeys. Look out your window. See the squirrels? How about raccoon? List goes on. We aren't the only ones with manipulative forepaws. Lots of them are still on all fours - but will also use bipedal orientation when advantageous. So get over the biped fixation as necessary for hands. It isn't even true on this planet. As for cows, rabbits, etc - they aren't GATHERERS. They are grazers. Standing for them would be counter-productive. So how about a life form that evolves on a Titan like body, with 0.14G ?? You really are fixated on life only being possible on an Earth-like world. Which is rather unlikely. And a bird on a Titan like world wouldn't even need to worry about the limits we have of atmospheric density vs gravity's acceleration. Birds evolved for our world. Not another. And why a 6 legged creature that rose up in a centaur like arrangement would have a problem with pregnancy is beyond me. Just envision that the centaur girl carries the 'foal' in the horse part of the body. Carrying it farther forward would be silly. And saying we are the only bipeds is just false. They are found even in the distant past. Look at any of the raptors in the dinosaurs. T-Rex, et al. There are still some today outside primates. Ever seen a kangaroo ?! As for tool use, that is going to be a requirement. I just don't see a race contacting another race in interstellar space using their innate capabilities.

I will agree that tool use is an advantage. And that any other race we come into contact with with either be a tool users or considered an 'animal / plant / etc'. But I doubt that bipeds will be the 'common' form for a tool user. I would expect that it will either have or have developed limbs of some fashion that are devoted to tool use. Otherwise tool use will not become a significant advantage. But I will take issue with the thought that we are not well adapted for a 'physical' lifestyle. We are. Most are simply to sedentary to see it anymore. Bipedal movement isn't a detriment. It allows us to see over brush and grasses. Two thirds of our food when we were hunter / gatherers came from gathering - so a better vantage was an advantage. It also makes it easier to spot prey animals and see predators coming. We are still good climbers, even at early ages (but not as quick to do so as other animals). Just watch a couple 5 years olds on the monkey bars or with an apple / pine tree to climb and you will see how they would have avoided a large number of predators. So human children are vulnerable for around 4-5 years, but this isn't significantly different from many other larger animals. We are also not as fast, but we have one of the best circulatory systems designed for long distance movement at speed. No hair to allow rapid cooling. Only two limbs to devote energy to for said movement. Many other circulatory adaptions to allow us to maintain higher levels of exertion for extended periods. Even my 11 y/o daughter can run 2 miles with me in the morning. We aren't bears or tigers - we are pack hunters that ran our prey to ground. Watch old films of how the Maasia hunted and you will see how it works. Oh, and our brain not liking being upside down is just a simple adaption to our current body design and not a 'has to be' thing. Just remember - you spent months with your head down inside your mom before you were born quite happily. We just adapt to being right side up after we get out and lose the vascular strength to remain upside down. Just like if you grow up to sit at a desk all day you lose your ability to run around all day long that you had as a teenager. Our 'design lifespan' is actually closer to 40 years, not 20. Just long enough to ensure a next generation reaches reproductive age. The most obvious sign is our eyes, which begin to lose the ability to maintain close resolution (meaning you get to buy reading glasses even if you don't have eye problems) when you reach your fourth decade. And research shows that even thousands of years ago most men who survived their childhood (women also had to survive childbearing years) tended to live between 40-60 years or more. I expect that any 'life' we meet or contact will be a tool user if we are going to consider it intelligent. But beyond tool use, I doubt that it we resemble us at all. We adapted to our planet and environment. Life that arises and evolves on a moon like Titan may even be carbon based to some degree - but that will likely be all. But I agree that this should have been split off a while back.

So does dumpster diving behind fast food joints. Neither one appeals to me greatly. Of course, being hungry will change a persons outlook on that very quickly.

Our current games 'bases" (plural, they have 2 now with the second just finishing construction) have large 'estates' that are fenced in. But the bases also serve functions other than a simple stronghold. With the group being the 'cast' of a TV show, a lot of business and actual filming occurs at their base, along with the normal activities that most groups engage in. So areas to entertain new 'guest stars' or producers, social events with politicians (sometimes they even endorse them ! ) and celebrities, get togethers with family (who do not always get along together as one PC comes from a rich socialite family while another grew up on the gang infested areas of Chicago... I think you get the idea. A lot of activities happen at the base, with the bulk of them having absolutely nothing to do with combat. And the fact that EVERYONE knows a great deal about the base from the extensive media coverage is what inspired them to invest in a newer, more private, base where they can actually vacation.

No, but you may get thrown out of your city when they realize that wherever your base is, is where the next demon/alien/mole man/etc invasion will start.

I have always given the players a pool of points for a base at the start of the game. Now, further expenditures are often less than spectacular. But the do occasionally happen. Normally when the base does get 'upgrades', it is a case of the PCs agreeing on something and each 'donating' a point from each session until it is paid for. Now, buying and upgrading vehicles happens a bit more often for us.

I never have to worry about giving interviews. Even peer review for hiring new folks. As the one male on a NICU unit with 40+ women - my input in that area has never been sought. Which I am TOTALLY ok with...

I forsee something to do with this...