prodigyduck

Re: Knights of the Griffin Does the griffon -have- to be an adult? Make the griffon young, a hatchling, until the player can afford it as a sidekick.

Re: Your Character: The Series (Not exactly WWYCD...) Metaworld: Most definately an animated series done in the DCAU style, but rated for TV-MA, for its content (violence, sexual content, etc.). Metaworld could not be done live-action as it would be too SFX intensive for the budget; plus a lot of guest stars are always coming and going.

Re: WWYCD: The rest of the world's Supers just changed sex. Lex (Goblyn / Requiem): Depending on when this happens in Lex's life, he may have some troubles. As his younger -- Goblyn -- self, he would be rather annoyed at the fact that now he is surrounded by hot babes who use to be his best friends (Metaworld is like that). He would know that the she-Revenant was just off-limits but kind of intrigued to see how far he could get with the she-American Eagle (Lex bases gender on what a person's "plumbing" is, not by what they used to be or how they are dressed). As Requiem, Goblyn would be a little freaked out. Here -was- his really wonderful girlfriend, who he is very much into... now a guy. "Sorry Hal, but.... no! Not 'til we get this fixed." Bastion: was rooming with another guy at the Hunter Academy. Waking up to a young hottie who could blast him through the wall at a glance would be... interesting. On the other hand, most of the other students were originally girls, so this would also be rather annoying until he could find a way to fix things. ("And if I -am- supposed to be a girl, show me some pictures of how I'm supposed to look... Woah! I'm hot!")

Re: Real World Stuff That Only Sounds Like A Comic Book But, wait... there are more.

Re: Real World Stuff That Only Sounds Like A Comic Book Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and how about 70 kilometers east the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, lies a small town called Sedlec. It might have been an ordinary enough town, if not for its extraordinary church.The inside of this church is decorated with artworks made of real human bones. The story begins in 1218, when a certain Abbot Henry made a pilgrimage to the holy land and brought back a jar full of soil from cemetery, which he spread over the Church. As a result the church came to be regarded as more sacred and turned into a popular burial spot . By 1318, more than 30,000 bodies were buried there and by 1511, it had become necessary to remove the older bones to make place for the new ones. These later became the material for the macabre creations. In 1870 a local woodcarver was hired by the Duke of Shwartzenberg to decorate the inside of the church with the human remains (approximately 40,000 sets of human bones). Attached are some of the pictures of this Boney Church - its simply astonishing

Re: Elves Elves in Embria are rather standard Tolkien/DnD-style elves. They tend to be tall (model-height for the ladies), attractive, graceful, and long-lived to the point of immortality. Pointed ears, as well. Most people are afraid of elves, and don't want to start any crap with them, becuase you never know who is going to be the 1000-year-old archmage and master blade-fighter (yet only looks like a teenage human girl). These elves tend to be a magical folk. They respect nature and build their cities in and around natural suroundings. In DnD terms, elves tend to be Sorcerers (natural spellcasters, as opposed to Wizards, who are learned spellcasters). Elves can learn magic at any time, with little to no training, in my campaign. Dark elves are another matter. The dark elves were created many thousands of years ago by a race of intelligent arachnids (I usually call them Dark Spiders, but I'm thinking of using the Harry Potter name of Acromantulas). The Dark Spiders captured normal elves and subjected them to magical and selective breeding (the spiders got involved with this; yes, they are sick and evil). The end result were the dark elves. Dark elves share their creator-race's blood-thirst and have a culture similar to the Aztecs; with their near-constant blood-sacrificing of sentients. Some dark elves can be pretty scary. Because of their un-natural creation, they are subject to random mutation. The most frequent of these is the ability to have a poisoned bite. There is even the dark elf "vampire" who has some slight enhanced agility and strength, and a true taste for blood. Even more creepy, their face can un-hinge into mantables (think about the monster-vampires in Blade 2 for this effect). The world occasionally might get one with enough traits similar to thier creator-race that it could be considered a low-powered "Spiderman" (including built-in web-spinners).

Re: Reboot HERO Oddly enough, my game group was talking about doing a game similar to this; not exactly Reboot... but Tron. Basically, it is an advanced net-runner game. The characters can be from anywhere as they would only meet each other in the cyberworld. Keep in mind, Tron (and, I think Reboot) took place in one computer. Now, with the modern era and the internet...imagine the scope of this game idea.

Re: Rifts HERO? I did find a little online thesis about Credits: The Trouble with Credits The currency of the modern, civilized world of Rifts Earth is "credits" -- electronic money kept and accounted for by a sophisticated, computerized banking system. Credits can be wire transferred at most CS cities, towns, burbs and outposts, or encoded on "debit cards," small sturdy, plastic cards very similar to pre-Rifts credit cards or telephone cards. Each time the "debit" card is used, the appropriate amount of credits is deducted from the card. When all the credits are used up, the card can be thrown away or saved and taken to an appropriate banking institution, money lender, or merchant to have credits in a savings account transferred onto the card for future use. Similarly, many businesses, banks, money lenders and even the Black Market and some travelling merchants can place additional credits into the card by transferring real and existing funds from their account into the card. This can be done as a loan, to make payments to an employee, to pay a bounty, and commonly when the bank, business or merchant purchases goods (gold, silver, furs, guns, magic items, ancient artifacts, etc.). The government of the Coalition States (representing 73% of all trade on the continent) is the one responsible for creating this system of money exchange and accounting. It prevents counterfeiting and enables the government (who controls the banking) to monitor the flow of money and commerce. For this reason, the Black Market, arms dealers, smugglers and many operating in the sale and purchase of illegal goods and services prefer to "trade" goods for goods rather than issue "credits" as an effective way to pay and trade people "under the table." "Universal Credits" are the most common and popular form of credits instituted by the Coalition States. Universal credits are good with all merchants, businesses, and banks throughout the Coalition States, as well as in the New German Republic and many independent kingdoms, nations and businesses including Northern Gun, the Manistique Imperium, Wellington Industries, Wilk’s, Iron Heart Armaments, Golden Age Weaponsmiths, Free Quebec, Whykin, Lazlo, New Lazlo, and most Midwest and eastern communities, including the Black Market (although front companies and cover identities are necessary for the latter). Most mercenaries, adventurers, bandits and people of North America will accept Universal Credits as a viable currency! Universal Credits is the main currency of North America. Since the Coalition States are strong and stable, there is little danger of the credits becoming devalued or of the banks going out of business. Furthermore, because the system is based on "redeemable" Universal Credits typically available to the "bearer" of the card, it is safe to put thousands, even millions of credits on one or more cards and use the money/credits freely, just about anywhere, without question. In this regard, the CS is unbelievably tolerant in its dealings with questionable businesses. For this system of banking and money exchange to collapse, the Coalition States would have to completely change its banking and monetary system (a monumental and disruptive task), or be destroyed. Ironically, this creates a subtle and bizarre interdependence and symbiotic relationship with both the supporters and enemies of the States! "Marked" or "Personalized" debit cards in which the funds are available only to one or two specific individuals can also be issued, but each transaction with that card will be recorded, identifying the user, what he or she purchased, and where, giving the Coalition watchdogs potentially incriminating information. Some independent nations, kingdoms, organizations (like the Black Market) and businesses with numerous outlets throughout the land issue their own form of "credits" on debit cards via an independent banking institution. Individuals who despise the Coalition may elect to use these instead of the CS Universal Credits. Likewise, citizens and supporters of that community or institution may also prefer to use their own credit system, however there are problems with this. First, the security of the credits is based entirely on the stability of the kingdom or organization that issued them. Obviously, such places are much more unstable and vulnerable to disaster than the CS. Second, since the CS will not recognize most other nations and never accepts foreign credits, these money cards have an extremely limited value. In many cases these independent debit cards are only accepted in the kingdom that issued them and worthless everywhere else (and another reason the CS Universal Credits are so popular). Lazlo and New Lazlo, Tolkeen, and a handful of other independent kingdoms and cities have their own form of "credit" system, but only the joint efforts of Northern Gun and the Manistique Imperium have managed to establish a banking and credits/debit system that is accepted and used at many locations throughout the country. Typically, any seller of Northern Gun (NG) and Imperium (MI) weapons and equipment (both using the same credits system and debit cards) will usually accept NGMI debit cards redeemable for credits that can be used at these Upper Michigan kingdoms and with all NG and MI "authorized" gun shops, merchants and traders, as well as most 'Burbs. Furthermore, a handful of other independent towns, cities, merchants and traveling shows use or accept NGMI cards, including Lazlo, New Lazlo, Kingsdale, Ciudad Juarez, and scattered towns in the Pecos Empire, Lone Star, and Magic Zone. The third credits/debit system to rival the NGMI and challenge the CS Universal Credits is that of the Black Market. Their debit card is a simple, encoded black plastic card. It is good at virtually all Black Market operations scattered throughout the world, including the Coalition States, and accepted by all official Black Market agents, operatives and freelancers, as well as by most Juicers, Crazies, Gunslingers, Bounty Hunters, mercenaries, spies, smugglers, bandits and criminals of all kind. Black Credits, as this illegal, underground system of banking and debit cards are known, is welcome at Coalition Burbs, most Body-Chop-Shops, the Pecos Empire, and many (not all) merchants and businesses at Tolkeen, New Lazlo, Whykin, Kingsdale, Free Quebec, Lone Star and scattered towns in the New West.

Re: Practical Costuming (not quite a WWYCD) I thought this new "liquid armor" was neat, as well. http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/content/newarmor23.wmv Superhero costumes, here we come!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Monday night teen Hero game. Our characters are on an alien ship orbitting Earth, the only surviving alien is unconscious in the medical bay. We have managed to get the computer to translate itself to English by scanning for local radio and satellite signals and are now trying to figure out where we are in relation to Earth. Satin (Player #1): "Computer, calculate distance from Earth." Computer: Nearest habitable world [Earth] 200,000 Galactic standard units in distance." Basilisk (Player #2): "Okay, now we just need the computer to figure out what a Galactic Standard Unit is in relation to our measurements. Does anyone have a good Measurement idea?" Bastion (Me): "I've got 12 inches..." Dead silence... Bastion holds up his foot.

Re: Just a simple ? When you design a game world. How I develop a world really depends on what kind of setting I am doing. If it is a superhero game, I usually base what I want to do on particualr visual queues I want to hit, what kind of villains I want to exist, and particular historical events (not history as a total, but specific events that shaped what happens now). Fantasy settings are all visual for me. What things look like and the why and how it looks as it does. (Fantasy settings are fairly interchangable for me and my friends; and considering I am an artist, each world is really only seperated by its visuals).

Re: CHAR: Stormcursed "Else Earth" That is a kewl name. I'm gonna have to use that somewhere...

Re: Racial Restrictions on magic builds In my campaigns, all arcane magic works on the same principals. Some races are good at using it, while others are not. For instance, Dwarves in my campaigns who want to be arcane spellcasters are forced to take an Advantage on all their spells: Magic Dyslexia (+1/2). This is used to represent that magic is harder for dwarves to use; by making it more expensive for a dwarf to buy their spells.

Re: Rifts HERO? I have looked at the books, and I can say, without a doubt... The Credits system makes NO SENSE. The monetary values of things do not seem to have any rhyme or reason; seemingly applied randomly to devices, depending on how hard the authors decided they want things in the books for PC to get ahold of... Do your own thing.

Re: Looking for help - stealth suit powers? How about a holo-emitter that the character can use on himself? Using this device, he could project an image on himslef of various different clothing and even alternate appearances (super-disguises, anyone?). The tactile effects would be a problem, unless the suit was also equiped with some form of force-field manipulation device that could simulate particular tactile sensations.

Re: Re-Imaged Hero(ines) Curses! TheRavenIs took what would have been my suggestion for this name... Now I need to come up with something completely different. Alex Vance was a soldier. He loved his country and the honor of his place in it. When the opportunity came up for Alex to participate in a special project for creating a new breed of soldier, he signed up, hoping for a chance to show what he could offer. After many physical and psychological evaluations, Alex was chosen as the test candidate. He was placed in and out of surgery for many years, as his body was augmented and replaced with cybernetic enhancements. After all was finished, Alex Vance was a new man. He was strong... faster... Given a suit of additional body armor for added protection and a new form of configurable energy weapon, Alex was dubbed the "Iron Man".

Re: Telekinesis with fire? In HERO, you can represent Pyrokinesis with TK (only affects fire) to move fire around. Game mechanically, it would be that you could move 1 Damage Class of fire for every 5 points of TK STR. Other powers would include an EB (only usable if an active fire already exists), reducing or extinguishing fire (Dispel all fire effects), fire shapes (Sight Images and/or additional PRE -- only to make fear-based PRE Attacks), and the like. This set of powers assumes you can only manipulate fire, not actually start the fire yourself.

Re: Wwyd ???? I would not trade my life for power; there are still things I want to do and advancements in humanity I want to see. No deal.

Re: Practical Costuming (not quite a WWYCD) Colorful costumes are a genre convention of superheroes. Wearing practical outfits really depends on your campaign. In my Metaworld campaign, part of the Metahuman "package" is getting the classic superheroic physique, so your hero(ine) is gonna look good in the costume. We had some instances of players coming into the campaign who tried to be the "I don't wear a costume" type. They did not last long in the game, as that is a very Iron Age thing to do, and Metaworld is a Modern Age setting. Metaworld also has several space-age materials that are used for costuming. Spannex is the standard, which fits like spandex, but breathes like cotton and is generally resilient. Ballistic latex is used by those wanting the "rubber bat-suit" effect; a form-fitting armor. Now, having colorful superhero costumes is based on a campaign, like I have mentioned. I prefer costumes, as it is part of what makes a superhero. I don't like characters who just wear clothes. In my opinion, were I to gain actual powers and be a hero (which I would, if my powers were good enough), I would be looking into a professional tailor. I would not just grab some stylized t-shirts from my drawer and call it good. That sort of thing is not recognizable. As a hero, one should stand out.

Re: WWYCD - The Night of the Dead Goblyn would be visited by his parents, who were slain by VENOM agents (they were undercover PAX agents who were discovered). They would spend the night talking about what kind of man Lex was growing up to be. Lex's parents would be proud that he has grown strong and smart, but a little disappointed that he has relied on Revenant so long. This would result in the turning point that leads to Goblyn developing his Requiem identity. In the end, Lex would want to know if his parents knew the specific identity of their killer(s) so that he might bring them in. There is no one significantly dead to American Eagle that would come back to him this night. He might want Marilyn Moreau or Betty Rage to visit, but niether of them are really dead. Nathan would more than likely be plagued by spirits of those saying "You didn't save me" and not listening to the fact that American Eagle is just one guy... he can't be everywhere at once.

Re: WWYCD: Daughter Of The Shadow Lord... Goblyn: While continuing to do my thing against the cultists, I would explain to the Dark Lord that I am here as a rescue party, and not -with- the cultists responsible for abducting his daughter. Goblyn, being the teen that he is, would desperately hope that Khan could not read his thoughts as to his intentions towards his daughter for Prom Night. (The Gob-ster obviously is out of his league when it comes to dark and sinister uber-magic-overlords; and will try to bide his time, beating up the cultists he can deal with and thus giving Revenant the time to show up to deal with the big guy). American Eagle: Much like Goblyn, continues to beat up cultists. He still intends to save the captives, despite the fact that one is the spawn of evil (it's what a hero does!). If the Khan does not see it this way... well the idiot can deal with Ankhesen'Isis (who Nathan has on speed dial).

Re: Real World Stuff That Only Sounds Like A Comic Book Some interesting and odd things I've seen and discovered in my short time here... Iron is an anti-gravity metal! Iron falls at a slower rate than all other metals. It is not noticable to the naked eye, but has been measured on a microscopic level. I have seen GPS-guided artillary. An artillary shell was fired four miles off-course and still managed to hit the target (thank you, Future Weapons).

Re: [ultimate Marvel] Ultimizing Thor Villains Having not read anything from the Ultimate Universe besides the first several issues of Spiderman, here are my suggestions. The Absorbing Man "Carl Creel" -- A prison inmate subjected to experimental genetic experimentation intended for astronauts (to help them survive on other worlds by changing their physical properties to adapt to any environment). It works too well... Radioactive Man -- A scientist who was at the Chernobyl facility during meltdown.

Re: WWYD if you could recieve ONE super power Full-range, effortless Shapeshifting, without a doubt. To be able to turn into anyone and anything would be awsome.

Re: WWYD: The Perfect Partner (potentially controversial) A robotic domestic servant who can also be used as a love partner would make crack look like coffee. I'd buy one, if they were affordable.