JakSpade

Re: PULP HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: Secret decoder I feel like I'm watching Our Man Flint... Jak

Hey all, I'm on my way out the door headed home, but I thought I'd drop a helpful link for those out there who want to start collecting resources links for their Pulp Hero game... Found this one, and it's nifty! The Java Morse Code Translator (it will translate text and even play it for you at different speeds) http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html I'm currently working on a telegram form for your use... hope to have it done soon Hope all is well Jak

Re: Pulp Hero, after looking it over I'm so pumped for having Pulp Hero right now, I have no idea what kind of game I want to run. My head is swimming with so much info that parts of my brain are shutting down... can't... think... Jak

This article from National Goegraphic. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0302_050302_galactic_radio.html General Premise: Contact (movie) meets Stargate. Earth receives transmissions from another race closer to galaxy core. They learn that there are several races out there that have begun communicating to one another and begin to share technology, including space travel tech. Ok, what next?

Re: Torg HERO True. Cutting out Speed altogether and getting rid of the Speed Chart wouldn't be too bad, unless you were running a speedster of some kind. Jak

Re: Balancing Magic If you're talking about balance, what about Endurance cost? If spells in your campaign are going to cost End/Mana, then why allow mages the ability to purchase Reduced Endurance Costs? That way, the Earth-shattering spells really tire the wizard, and he can maybe only pull off one spell every few hours/days. Up the endurance cost of spells (1 Endurance per 5 active points), raise the cose of Endurance Reserves and mages will think twice about throwing around so many fireballs. You might even think about limiting access to certain advantages, such as MegaScale. Say, this spell can only be used with MegaScale if multiple mages re involved, say one per 10 or 15 active points (Requires one additional mage per 10 active points in the power). Just some ideas I was throwing around in my head. Jak

Re: How to encourage role playing It's always the small things that start the roleplaying... Disadvantage, Disadvantage, Disadvantage: Players may only take disadvantages and limitations to get points, but that's a cruxical point for the GM. The hero has a hunted, they show up, challenge the hero, or just give a long speech. The hero has a DNPC, well, that DNPC has a life, and sometimes, life can get ugly. The hero has a fear of water, he can't just ignore that battle where Dr. Infernus is trying to steal the USS Nimitz.... Mystery, Mystery, Mystery: Sure, Grond is chewing up downtown... but when all the combat is over, who cleans up the mess? Throw in a small clue of something bigger. One of the heroes finds a small transmitter behind Grond's ear... who's sending secret messages to Grond? Greed, Lust, Wanting: The player characters want something for their character... a new power, a gadget, world peace. At some point, they're going to have to go after that thing... make them earn it... their new power works, but not perfectly. Maybe they'll have to see a doctor. Maybe the gadget they want is sanctioned by the government. They may want to talk to their local Congressman to try to get a bill passed. Maybe they want to stand up in front of the UN and tell them they're wimps... Hope some of these ideas help... Jak

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. Preview images of the Foundry, Captain Kraken, Conundrum and the prison scene are available for viewing at Storn's web site, under 'Fresh Art'... http://www.stornc.rpggallery.com/ JakSpade/David Boddie Web Dude

Re: Spell: Animate Object. Help... me.... Summoning two 42pt creatures is 42 / 5 = 8.4 + 5 (for second creature) = 13.4, add Slavishly Loyal(+1) is 13.4 * 2 = 26.4 Hero Designer rounds at the end, dropping the .4... Summoning two 43pt creatures is 43 / 5 = 8.6 +5 (for second creature) = 13.6, add Slavishly Loyal(+1) is 27.2, then it drops the .2 ... but you're already over the 26 pt limit... Don't you just hate decimals... I'd suggest boosting the size of the MP to 27pts when you get a chance... you'd end up spending 1pt more than now (which means you'd have to drop something a point), but you'd be able to summon 43pt automatons... Jak

Re: Spell: Animate Object. Help... me.... I guess I don't seem to understand... How is a Summon (40pt automaton) expensive? It costs 8 real points (5pts per point in the creature, unless I haven't read the new Summon rules) plus limitations... You're not actually buying the automaton... you're writing it up for the summon. I guess I'm out of touch... Jak

Re: Have you ever noticed? Luke: Is the Dark Side more powerful? Yoda: No! Quicker, more elusive. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.

Re: Base Maps Question and Request I too would like to see an area set aside for maps and base writeups. Villain and hero bases, safehouses, warehouses, pier locations, office buildings, etc... Jak Just thought I'd drop my interest here... seemed like a good place...

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. No, please! No.. More... Austin Powers... jokes... can't... resist... Dr. Destroyer: "You - complete - me." Jak

Re: Would you allow... Something that might be more cinematic is that the character loses his/her powers when attacked by fire, or soaked in water... I'm also thinking of an Origami type character (but mine comes from the Jackie Chan Adventures cartoon). I'll see if I can post him when I get him done... Jak (driveby response)

Re: Inspiration for a new campaign My current campaign revolves around a secret government project that stems from intelligence gathered from the Germans during WWII. The Germans were working on a super soldier formula (were they successful?), and the Americans stole it and decided to continue the research. The Americans were successful in their efforts during the 1950s in producting the first superhumans, but their powers were unstable, or hard to control. With further research (genetic manipulation, crossbreeding, and nanotechnology), the second "generation" (in the 1970s) and the third generation (in the 1980s) were created with more stable powers. Sometime after this, however, one of the scientists involved in the project became more interested in selling the technology instead of leaving it to the government to control. The government gained wind of his plans, and tried to assassinate him. He survived, and was able to destroy the secret base, steal the research, and scatter the test subjects to the wind. Now the government is trying to recover from this serious breach in security. The player characters are just discovering that they are the children (or grandchildren) of the Prometheus Project. Who really knows how many other children are out there, and what kind of special abilities that they possess. This could go several ways... 1) The government wishes to hunt down the test subjects and their children... 2) The "children" of the project begin to locate one another and form groups, either for good or evil... 3) The "grandfathers/mothers" of the project decide that the government needs a wakeup call, and decide to make their presence felt... I hope this helps... Jak

Re: Title for the next HERO villains book Ok, I think we're using waayyy too many words in the title... What about "Bad Mother" Jak

Re: Title for the next HERO villains book There's always the "Big Book of Bad Boys"...

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters Referring to the "Invasion" show... Great Britain was being invaded by extra-dimensional aliens that could create portals, snatch people, and emplant/harvest the humans for bodily fluids. The only person who knew what was going on was a British WWII officer who encountered and later left with a race of space aliens that discovered the extra-dimensional aliens. Needless to say, it ends pretty unhappily. I was not a nice camper after watching the ending... I wanted my 6 hours and my blank VCR tapes back. ------------------------ But that's neither here nor there. I think that if you were going to run a "Reagans Alien Fighters" game, it would have to be a "two-fisted" pulp type game. I know the 80s weren't very pulpish, but if you could figure out a way to get the atmosphere just right... maybe something X-COM like... yeah! Jak

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters Did any of you guys ever watch that really bad SciFi Channel miniseries about that very same idea? I can't remember the name of the damn thing, but it was about a race of pale humanoid aliens that come to Earth to warn us about an extradimensional alien race that kidnaps humans and uses them as biofarms... Anybody know the name of the story? Jak

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters Hey! That was AWESOME! The situation, however, is grave... :-| Jak

Re: Reagan's Alien fighters Just to apply something to this thread to give it some more flavor... Clipped from this link: Ronald Reagan's Alien Threat Speech Reagan showed his perception of UFOs at the United Nations General Assembly September 21st, 1987, when he stated, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you," he went on, "is not an alien threat already among us? What could be more alien to universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?" Have fun, Jak

Re: Campaign Idea Hey, what about people who have the ability to "evolve" other's special abilities, either spontaneously or on purpose? These people could come in contact with someone with latent superpowers, and their abilities are triggered on... Jak

Re: Getting Started

Re: Updated Website!!! Oh, I'm sure I would have run across your comment sometime!!! Thanks for the head's up! David Boddie