gmrcreedon99

Captain Marvel is only as powerful as each of the 7 whereas Fate is much more powerful in each of the areas plus range attacks. Marvel has no chance if Fate knows his mind and that is Fate's power. I am not aware of any special magical resistance. Cap has no vulnerability to magic which is a great advantage over Superman but no special powers against magic. Explain why I am wrong, please.

I have thought of running a game of steampunk feeling by allowing the characters to use technology above their time as long as it was considered fragile to point of blowing up risk. The players know they can't have it since if they have it, the bad guys can have a lot more of them. Use it as an invention that can't be recreated or maintained since the knowledge is lost. i.e. inventor killed, major part destroyed or fuel lost. If you run it right, WWW is great source material. I just hated when Will Smith went on Oprah and said nothing like this was ever done before. The movie was pure steampunk and all the ideas were copies of stuff I had seen before. I am an old dude, and remember the series on TV and steampunk origins. (It was the Differential Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, not a fashion movement).

There are many great ideas on this but what would the value of each be? Would you say that would be appropriate or fair as a value based on the type of regular attacks on the character via the Tony Stark example or level of disadvantage? I see it as 20 to 25 as being fair for this regular harassment plus embarrassment. As an extension what would you say and why?

I was just watching Ironman 3 and the entire story is based on the fact that Tony Stark was an A-hole before he became Ironman. I am looking at creating that as a complication. My question is - would a rivalry that the PC has no knowledge of initially be worth something extra? In looking at the rules, Stark doesn't know of the rivalry he created with the villain until later on. Would that be worth an additional 5 points reflecting the -5 for the rival not knowing, 0 for both know or would you create it another way? Personally, I would create this being a professional jerk to others as a Floating Rivalry, Professional and Romantic, Rival is More Powerful (running terrorist organization with Supers), Seek to Harm or Kill for 20 points but would be 25 points for forgetting about all the people you step over on the way up. I would also suggest buying wealth, fame, and the other associated traits to support this lifestyle. This would be a common in frequency if the GM decides to have something related to the jerk as an adventure once every few sessions. The PC can have minor events like paternity suits or law suits or major events like they want to kill him based on this also. These minor events could lead to the major events with storylines and villains.

It does happen but codes versus killing and police can stop it. If a hero is a killer, they become your next villain. If you need a villain for a while, don't have him stand and fight. Have thugs fight and he runs away until the next time. There are lots of thugs and minor villains to use until your main villain is threatened. Worry about telling a good story as if the story does work, the player will be bore. Every villain can have a son, daughter, sidekick or friend who will pick up the villain's costume to seek vengeance. There are plot complications that will take you on a great ride. Let it happen and use it. Life is not planned so go with the flow.

Does anyone have that computer program that was a guide to Hudson City? I think it was 4th addition rules.

The easiest way would be to start with hollow point rounds and then add a silver head or tip. Wad cutter or target rounds are the same. Those rounds are easier to adapt. They keep the ballistic qualities except at the longer ranges of the weapon. Damage is based on the quality of silver since the rules of damage are broken by the werewolf's ability to survive other bullets. Werewolves are not real so it is GM call rather than logic. If not, characters dies. If possible, characters might live.

I saw a guy run a hero that was heavily corporately sponsored including having his blaster hand cannon designed and painted as large Budweizer cans. Think of the dead character from Mystery Men, Captain Amazing or whatever. He did it long before the movie. If it is Dark Champions, we had a transgender superhero who was a street fixer and criminal as a male and a hero as a woman. The criminal cover moved the items taken from villains for money. Some heroes can be creative and do an Equalizers or A-teams. We have done the rich NPC who hires the heroes like Harold Finch of Person of Interest. This can also be one hero who hires the rest. I have seen a rich hero set up a bookstore over an abandoned subway station in Hudson City as a secret base. Just be creative.

The game has presense attacks for these situations but I do agree that there needs to be a way to damage the human psyche to create insanity that is tracked. Relating it to a new stat called sanity would work as it works as body for the psyche. I would define it as requiring a special healing based on a mental power to heal faster than rest in a sanitorium or like conditions. The rest must be from the outside world like hospital rest from a wound. The mind requires time to relax, sort and find humanity again. Normal regeneration or healing of body will work then on a monthly basis. The addition of Presence Defence would be normal for Supers and people who work in crisis situations to have but not common for the normals. Any variation from the normal mind via experience, alien, or study of the abnormal gives a character reason to raise PRD. If introduced, I would just give characters a specific PRD as standard based on who they are and change that with GM experience if required. The player could modify that as they desire. In reading the Legendsmiths rules on sanity, I find it a bit much but a good read to help create modifiers to the presense attack. I would apply the shower, smoke, whiskey and other things to feel human as ways to lessen the effect of the presense attack to start or lessen the effects of the attack after the fact as well. I think all the calculations would slow the game down. Using the body of the presense attack and include the PRD against the body as PR/5 and anything added from a GM addition.plus purchased as mental defence but separate. Adventurers should have a higher value due to the personality that makes them adventurers. A player playing a reluctant hero would be selling some back but someone playing a thrill-seeker would buy more. Keeping it simple with just 2 more stats, PRD and Sanity and common method of determining damage, makes this more managable. Finally, when calculating the presense dice, the action should be compare to the effects on a normal. If not you will be giving an unnecessary penalty to the presense attacker, This is my opinion only.

A good group can use any special effect to advantage. Are you game mastering against or for the players?

I would look at the nature of the game. If 4 colour or future with alien races, ie timelords where the previous body dissolves or turns to mist or ash, I would just SPX it but if the other body remains for autopsies or this can be used as a way to escape enemies, then it must be bought. Where does the other body appear? What happens to foci and other items? You might need a code or psych limit against using this option. It might be easier to look at Mechanon or someone else who has duplicates that activate upon death or destruction and go that way. Will the player be able to rebuild the character or will the new body just have a disadvantage of a new face and limited memory? There are a lot of complications and usages for such a power that was free as a SPX. When does the power activate? Could you end up with a double walking around if you have someone bring you back from the dead? If this happens, is the double GM controlled or player controlled? It sounds like that would make the power have a serious disadvantage that could lower the cost. Making soulless dopplegangers could be a great way to mess with the party completely. Is the power just so the player can bring back the same character? How about a house rule to allow that? Why all the fuss?

You can take anything as a distinctive feature if you are willing to take a chance of it complicating your characters life. If really tall, expect someone to start insulting you over it or getting into an argument or fight over it. Red hair could result in name calling or maybe someone saying he is related or some evil character who had red hair and killed someone.

Re: Fictional Cities First of all, when using a city, whether real or created, the players need a frame of reference. We commonly use our hometown and then just say it has grown to a few milllion or has shrunk to few thousand depending on what we are running. Just tell your players "we are in (hometown) but it has changed to be like ..............." If you need a bar, or restaurant, you can just pick one you know. All the players know it and you are into the adventure and not the bs of description. If you like to make and describe everything, add what you want. Second, I have just gone through Hudson City and find it too full if anything. There is too much possible there. My players have no idea where to start and I am flexible enough to let them lead the game rather than engineer it. Third, get a map of a place you only know or nobody knows. Be ready to mark it up and just put anything you want on it. Just write on it as you add stuff. You can even put the bars, restaurants, shops of your hometown on the map. Who really cares? You are the gamemaster and we are not studying urban planning here. lol Fourth, as a gamemaster, do what you feel works for you. Does it really matter? Villain A is attacking city hall. Does the city need a name? The game is not the setting but the roleplaying. The setting should help but it is about the characters and not about where. Fudge the city to make the play more fun or the characters fit in. Fifth, if you build a city, give it everything you can put in it. It is on the coast with a river to the interior, mountains and forest inland, swamps and cottages to the south and military bases of every type within 3 hours. There are islands all over and lots of countryside full of suburbs and small towns. Just add it all in and leave the map unfinished and keep adding as you need. All the players should have AK Campaign City, so you and the players don't even need to know where anything is. The characters do. Maps and setting are great but the game is roleplaying and not city planning or interior design. Add to the characters and give them a chance to find what they want anywhere reasonably. You need a bar. Put one there. Bolon

Re: My Cool Color Hudson City Map How about put the map of Hudson City in a package with spreadsheet of all the locations by area and type (landmark, shopping and out on the town) plus spreadsheets of the NPCs of Hudson City by area and type (criminal, high society, normals) and sell it as a game master kit? I have done the spreadsheets up already for that. You could include a group of 8 x 11 of all the areas and charts you might want to add too. I actually found the exercise of making these spreadsheets to be good to learn Hudson City. As a game master, I found it a very good way to learn all but I find the maps currently are too hard to read in the small print of the large map. I have blown up the maps a bit to save my eyes. (I am getting old) You could even look at making some other gamemastering aids in it. It would be a good package. Robert

In my campaign, the heroes need to solve a problem that was created at a higher tech level. It is at tech level 14 and the Terran Empire is at tech level 10 at the time. How can the heroes save the empire against this higher tech level? In this one specific case, they need to develop tech level 14 nanotechnology to solve the problem. Currently they are at a -12 to -20 on any role to solve the problem. I am using a rule that by developing the Knowledge Skill for the appropriate Science Skill, a character can work in theorical science. The Knowledge Skill instantly takes one tech level off the modifier. They are now on a -9 to -15. Now research labs and time can be used to counter the technology. This solution will solve one problem and not raise the tech level of the civilization. Your heroes must do a lecture series and present their information to the scientific world to even have a chance of changing the tech level. This would only change the tech level for the specific Science Skill if you desire so. Remember that change takes time and that the heroes can't change an entire civilization. In my campaign, a high technology research lab is provided to the party via help from a high tech race. They arranged for the equipment and it will take years to reverse engineer it. The equipment is specific to the problem and therefore will be of little help to anything else or raising the tech level. Hope this will help.

Re: Alien Plague at the end of Alien Wars The first 20 sessions are blogged in. Will Earth be saved? From this point on, follow the stories of crew of the Avalon as they continue to search for and battle the Xenovores and Thane for Earth. Where will the adventures take them? Can they find the cure in time? There is a lot of unexplored space and they are about to explore a lot for the Earth empire and all of humanity. Hope all enjoy their tales.

I am currently running an Alien Plague scenario at the end of the Xenovore Wars of Terran Empire. It is based on the Babylon 5 Crusade series and the Terran Empire universe. My gaming log of sessions is on a blog called http://gmrcalienplague.blogspot.com/ and is currently being placed on the blog. I am currently logged in 12 sessions and the characters. I check it regularly if anyone has any comments and ideas. I will continue to add the events and structures I am using but will delay it slightly as the characters have yet to discover all. Sorry it might be slow. You will start to see GM notes on each section as they have all been discovered. I have gamed 20 sessions of this and will place all sessions on the blog. You will find that some interesting ways to link into the history of the Hero System Universe. Hope all enjoy. Feel free to contact me. I would also like to thank all who have done Babylon 5 elements into Hero System whether I used them or not. gmrcreedon99