Tech

Re: The President wants to talk to you Very true. There's enough overused ideas in comics about the government being the bad guy and my group just wouldn't go for that.

Re: Aging Campaigns Sorry about missing that. Alot of the ideas suggested already are good, such as 'bluebooking'. Regarding relationships, it depends on the age of your players. If you have a bunch of 10 year old players, don't expect too much. The players must be willing/interested in having their hero become involved with someone whether good friend, girlfriend or boyfriend, etc. One way is to introduce alot of NPC's, whether the secretary at the hero's job, the waiter at the restaurant and so on. Different people with different personalities allow a PC to interact with them. Oh, don't forget to have someone become a 0 pt DNPC at times for a hero without saying it to the Player. At times, I have one of my female NPC's show up when there's trouble and the dashing PC rescues her. However, don't make the NPC a walking target; make the NPC capable. This will enhance the NPC's likeability. (Is that even a word?) Having a picture for the NPC will also help.

Re: Aging Campaigns Super Squirrel, I'm going to give you some of the ways my campaign's survived for so long and still is interesting. Hopefully, some of it might help you. 1) Don't give out too much experience and allow the freedom to spend it. Yes, heroes may do lots of wonderful things but giving out 3 - 4 xp each episode will hurt the heroes rather than help them if you're looking for a long campaign with those heroes. They'll reach a saturation point and then you have to prevent powergaming. (i.e. Hey, I've got no where else to spent my XP. Can I go beyond the 75 pt limit?) Experience pts can be spent on alot of things players may not think of. Does a particular hero like to play Chess in her spare time? Buy a KS: Chess. Does a hero like to spend his time putting monster cars together? Buy a PS: Monster Car builder with KS: Cars, Monster Cars with Mechanic skill. Does your light-based-hero understand his powers? Make him buy KS: Light. These may seem like skills just to throw points at but a good GM will use them. Have your heroes bought a base yet? That is a wonderful place to spend points by making the heroes buy it. Need a supersonic jet to travel to other countries? You better start spending those points heros. Example: I have one hero who spent a pt and bought PS: Plumbing 8 or less. Why? He has a part-time job of plumbing and is terrible at it, but that's the fun part - because he's so bad we spent 20 minutes of the episode just discussing his plumbing accident when he tried to fix a fellow heroes plumbing. He also has KS: Robotics on 11 or less. Yeah, he can create robots but the results are less than perfect. 2) Develop NPC's that the player characters may consult on a semi or regular basis. Let's face it: despite all the narrowing adventures and interesting skills, no one know everything and when heroes are stuck what to do, a normal person will certain skills can help. Don't underestimate how much influence a good NPC can help your campaign. Eventually, friendships occur between NPC and heroes. For a long time, NPC's were treated as 1-shot occurances until we finally realized just how much fun they add. Examples in ours: * Dr. Abigail Sinian (sound familiar anyone?) - a curator of the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. She never dreamed she'd be helping out our local heroes on so many weird cases but manages to help out the heroes alot. If she doesn't know the answer, she can always consult her colleague(s). She is now, THE person the heroes seek out when something unusual happens. * Deputy-Mayor of the city - the Deputy-Mayor has set up a secret communicator between herself and the heroes. She believes in the heroes whereas the local police don't quite. She is starting to have feelings for the leader of the herogroup but doesn't know who he is, complicating matters even though he's saved her life a few times. * Cindy Bradley - wife of hero. Helped design the heroes suit and occasionally comes up with new designs or prototypes to throw at the hero. Some work, most don't. Knows who all the heroes are in Secret Id's and meets them in their civilian id's. 3) Allow more than one hero group in the same campaign. The heroes currently in your campaign don't have to be the only ones nor do they have to retire. Instead, pick a different city and have a new group of heroes pop-up. The campaign I'm in now has five different hero groups in it, all in different areas and all are active. Ok, Mechassassin walked over Team 1, let's see him go up against Team 2 a week later. (The players will enjoy getting back at the villain.) Some of the most fun episodes we've had involved pitting our own heroes against another group of our own heroes. You don't have the GM running an entire group against the collective minds of the players; you have each thinking player against another thinking player - each trying to win. Another team means the campaign has continuity; what one hero group did to help a Senator is noticed by the unknown hero group. Hero Group 2 reads in the paper that Group 1 busted some crime deal and wonders if it's related to an ongoing crime problem in their city. Better yet, the star reporter of Chicago (job of hero from Group 1) travels to report on a theft at the lnternational Science Show where a scientist (job of hero from Group 2) is to speak to said reporter. There is so much you can do! 4) Allow relationships to happen. Heroes are people. They meet people, talk to people and yes, even fall in love. It requires good players to handle it without them acting ridiculous, though. I've had two of my heroes get married in years past. Both are still active heroes but they now have to be considerate of their family as well. It helped that they married superheroines, of course. Bora of Eurostar is still alive in my campaign; for a long time, a hero was interested in her and she in him but the hero/villain thing made for many stressful meetings. Years later, Bora still wonders if she should leave Eurostar for him. NPC's can meet the heros in their civies and go to parties, dances, the local gala event or whatever and get to know each other. 5) Let the heroes see a villain or two turn from their ways. Don't be stuck on keeping all your villains around forever. Some of the villains are confused and have made bad choices; with some talking to, they might turn away from crime or even become part of the hero team or a least, a friend. Is a particular villain or three becoming stale to you? Create an adventure where you kill off the villain and the heroes see it happen. This shows that the campaign is indeed changing and not static. Heroes begin, villains begin, heroes retire/die, so do villains. 6) Allow changes to the characters. Is a player stuck on buying anything new for a character? Allow the 'radiation accident' that lets a hero add a new power or even completely redo his powers. The player keeps his skills and levels but allow the player to write up a new sheet of powers for you to approve. A couple examples: * My older brother's character had telekinetic abilites (not mental) but ran out of ideas. After an accident, his powers changed to light powers and he had to relearn how much power he could use without hurting people. * I had one character who essentially changed completely three times but the powers were more or less the same. He was a cyborg but was almost killed when his cyborg parts were destroyed. He was healed and essentially became a normal person though skilled. He created a powered suit to mimic his abilites but eventually, that got destroyed. Finally, he contacted someone to give him abilities that couldn't be destroyed ala superbionics (ala The Bionic Six cartoon.) 7) Allow input from the players. Doing a campaign no one likes, finds dull or otherwise don't care for will kill a campaign in no time flat. Ask players for input on your GM'ing or what they'd like to see happen in the campaign. Ask them for ideas they'd like to see happen with their heroes. Let them write down all their ideas and give it to you. You basically then have an almost limitless supply of new adventures you can do that the players want to do because they suggested it. I don't have time to mention all the possibilites. You, as the GM, can invigorate your campaign to new levels and still keep it alive. You can make it have a history where the players where say 'Remember the time we did..' and someone else will say, 'Yeah, but don't forget..'

Re: The President wants to talk to you There are alot of interesting ideas. I think I'll use some of them for different groups. Thanks alot to all of you.

Re: Props and your PCs I have created/burned a 2 CD set, possibly 3 CD soon, of music specifically for Champions games. I almost always try to have a picture for every single villain I use, sometimes even for a normal that I might use more than once. As for locale pics, that varies: it depends on if I can create the mood or not by mere words. In one particular episode where our heroes go to another world, I had managed to find a perfect picture of the world my particular heroine was from. I got many oo's and ah's from the players while showing the picture. I simply could not have given the world justice by trying to describe it without a picture. A picture of say, the Louvre or an Ireland country surrounding, may be invaluable if one or two players have no idea what the locale looks like. On the other hand, when your hero is tracking down a thug on the gritty part of town, a picture isn't necessary. The players imagination, in this case, may create a much better setting for them than showing a picture. Often, I don't use the CD's and at other times, I do. I do use my voice to accent the villain, which is a lot easier since I've had voice-over training. Yeah, the occasional arm-waving happens and it's funny but if it helps, great. Once in a long while, I pull out ye ol' battlemap and miniatures, and stage an episode just on that. In that case, the battlemap must be prepared ahead of time.

Re: The President wants to talk to you

I have the barest bones of an idea but have run into a mental block so I'm asking for suggestions. The bare bones of the idea is: The President is made aware of a 'problem' (whether through Secret Service, FBI, CIA, whatever but not SAT/PRIMUS). The President calls his staff for information on heroes to assist with the problem. The staff tell of the nationally known hero group that has great skill dealing with national & international problems but that idea is nixed. The President wants a group not as well-known that can be called in quietly. The staff tell of a hero group known in name & deed only in L.A. but nothing is known 'about' the heroes. The President agrees and wants to keep things quiet without it reaching the press. Question is: what is the problem the President is calling the heroes in to? The ideas can range from the simple to the extreme such as: - the President's daughter needs a date for her prom (what greater protection can she have than a hero?). For that matter, the President's son needs a date. - a stolen missile control system - Mt Rushmore was stolen (figure that one out) or whatever. Any ideas would help, even based on the ones I just threw out.

Re: Looking for Additional Spiderman Web Powers If you want 'spider' man powers, try: Extra Limbs - 8 arms Enhanced Sight - multiple eyes HKA - spider bite Ok, I'm not being serious here.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Gotta do a little explaining before this means anything. Okay, I intro'd a friend, Robert, to Champions. He's smart and he said he liked reading comic books (to my surprise) and with my 2 brothers' help, we were able to create a character and discuss the combat system. The villain group attacks a corporation and the heroes defend the corporate building. Robert's character is attacked, of course, by the villains. After some time, combat as well as the game is almost over. Now for the quotes by Robert one after another: Robert: "Now, what's going on?" GM: "The bad guys are attacking you. Y'know, the bad guys." Robert: "Why are they attacking me?" Everyone: "Because they're trying to take over this business!" Robert: "Why are they doing that?" Player 1: "Cause they're bad guys!" Robert: "The player characters are attacking me?" A brief, stunned silence followed by.. GM: "No, the bad guys are attacking you. The martial artists who have been attacking you for the last 2 turns." Robert: "So who are they?" Player 2: "They're the guys the GM is running." Robert (points at GM) "He plays multiple characters? Isn't that confusing?" I mean, this is mindboggling!

Re: FYI: why more people aren't playing HERO (rpg.net) I thought about whether or not to post this wondering if it was related to the topc. I then looked at the header again "FYI: why more people aren't playing HERO) and although it regards rpg.net specifically, I think adding this doesn't hurt: My group has been constant with about 6 or so people for years. Within the past two years, we have added my friends teenage daughter and youngest son, now 11. More recently, in the past two months, we added another player and that player wants to add his friend, which we may have to decline because the group's getting pretty large. How did this start up suddenly? The fresh blood, ie players, told their friends and now it's beginning the 'snowball down a hillside' effect. It was not the rulebook that sold them, it was the player introducing them. By the way, my group can take a total newbie and get him or her playing with character completed from scratch in about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. There seems to have been two points of views that I've picked out from this discussion and I agree with both. 1) A complete in itself 'boxed edition' is what brought them to buy the book. i.e. the Champions book, which is what got me to buy the 1st edition Champions book. If it had been the black 5th ed black cover, I would have passed it by and never gotten interested in Champions but instead saw a thin book with cool colored superheroes on the front and back of it. 2) The diversity of the Hero System is what attracts people to buy the book. I have got to say I agree with this also. The diversity to build almost anything you want is simply incredible. Colored art costs money and I certainly don't ignore this. I also have to admit I haven't seen the covers to Sidekick or 5th revised. However, I think colored art on the cover would help at least generate some interest in the book. Again, as I mentioned in 1) above, the art on the cover of the book, not the title or width of it is what brought me to buy Champions so many years ago. I'm not sure what to think of these two arguments, both favoring different approaches to make the Hero System more widespread but I think both are correct. Steve is obviously keeping tabs on this discussion and he could probably give us accurate answers we can only guess at. In closing this posting, let me add this as a testimony of the Hero Games longevity: I have been playing the same Champions campaign since Champions 1st Edition (pre-dates the boxed Champions set) ever hit the market. I bought it estimated 2-4 days, I think four, after Champions ever hit the market. Although the campaign has slowly changed, it is still the same campaign and yes, the original first superteam from long ago is still out there fighting crime. When the system seemed like it had died and nothing for Champions/Hero System came about, the games still went on. I've seen entire superteams begin and eventually retire; I've seen superteams begin, retire and the entire team come out of retirement to become even more fun and so on. (I've also seen a lot of real history take place.) I'm 39 and still playing the game (now called genre) Champions. I just checked the copyright on the 1st edition and it's 1981, which means I've been playing it for 24 years now. I guess that means my campaign's also 24 years old. There's been a lot of growth in the campaign and yes, it's still going. The ability to create just about anything is what's kept the game alive. The original reason I picked up the book, as mentioned, is that I saw the cool cover of superheroes. We created our version of Hardened Defenses years before H.D. became an official part of the system as well as several other things. The Hero System is fun and yes, it can be daunting to some looking at the book. I mean, c'mon, it's a textbook in size! However, you as either player or GM can bring people to your game and teach them the rules. It's then that they'll get the book themselves. Any system can be flashy but it takes a real good game system to survive for so long and be reborn from the ashes, so to speak.

Re: Teleporting focus to owner Doppler's idea is correct and the limitation bonus is more in line with the fact that at any moment in combat, the focus can be removed and render Pyramid helpless, hence it is more than a -1/4 limitation. TheRealLemming also has a good point. However, through all this conversation makes me wonder if the recovery of the focus would be cheesy. ex. I finally decide on a -1/2 limitation because of the severity of the limitation in that anyone can take away the focus. I run an episode and in it, Pyramid is disarmed and combat with him is over. For no points whatsoever, he is able to 'summon/teleport' the focus back to him while in jail. However, that ability to retrieve the focus 1/day may already be covered in that I took a -1/2 limitation instead of the -1 OAF (and would have saved more points). Am I correct in my 0 pts ability, as mentioned in the example above, Pyramid has to teleport it back to himself?

Re: Egyptian villain name needed Thanks for all the good names. I haven't decided which yet, but that's because of all the good choices to pick from. Desert Fury is good but I think I'll use that for a different villain I have. Thanks for the quick help.

Re: Teleporting focus to owner

Re: Egyptian villain name needed Easily describable: He wears a typical ancient Egyptian taskman headpiece with the exception that the headpiece comes down over his eyes, effectively a mask. His chest, legs and upper arms are bare. He wears Egyptian taskman clothes over this waist and wears sandals. From his elbow down to his hands are gloves. He's going to be the brute strength for Pyramid. Easy to hit but hard to take down. If you've seen the movie, The Ten Commandments, you've got a fair idea of what he looks like.

Re: Teleporting focus to owner Physical manifiestation limit?

I have an egyptian villian called Pyramid and recently found a wonderful picture that I can use for his flunkie, which I am in the process of creating. However, I'm at a loss for names to use. I'm tired of seeing egyptian gods names being used so I'm not interested in those. Please help because I need to have it by tomorrow evening - Friday evening is my game night.

I want to see how you would build this: A villain has an OAF foci weapon. It is not OIF because yes, it can be taken away. If the focus is taken away, one time a day, the villain can spend a great deal of time and concentration, teleporting the foci back to him from anywhere on the planet. I've yet to come up with a satisfactory idea. Now, assuming I made the object weapon foci OIF (it can't be taken away from him until he's unconscious), how would it be built then?

Re: WWWYCD: Caught in the Web Neutron - After the website is shut down by the Government for 'National Security', it will at least be down for investigation, not to mention the subpoena accompanying the shut down. Neutron's life is very much tied to the government and too much information about him touches on things the government wouldn't want on a website. Failing that, the website goes down for good - too bad about those computer viruses, boy are they pesky.. Roger - Somewhat flattered by the fanfic, the racy stuff makes his eyes bulge out and exclaim "HUH? What if kids read this?" The website mysterious disappears shortly thereafter after the computer comes to life and deletes all information about Roger and chases the website author down the street.

Re: What gives? (Gadgets and Gear) I would say 'yes'.. if I could get it. My former rpg store no longer keeps current with Hero Games products, even though time and again I've asked and called them about current products. Now, I have no choice but to look online for it since there's no place even in driving distance. Anyone have any suggestions for good places to order Hero Games products from? I'm looking for a new store to make my permanent home store. Au revoir former rpg store!

Re: So speaking of Dr. Destoyer.... CONTAINS SPOILERS: . . . . . . . . . . Yes, I ran and GM'd the episode. To throw a twist in it, at the end of the big climatic battle, the real Dr. Destroyer showed up and the message by Destroyer that the heroes read at the end fit even better (though the message was mildly changed).

I throw myself on the mercy of fellow Hero gamers for help with this concept! I want to create a new character for a group. He's going to be a modern pirate who works with the heroes or even be part of the group. He may prey on other modern day pirates for income but I really haven't thought this out too much. I would also like him to have a ship and whereas I don't have the Ultimate Vehicle, I do have Champions 1, 2, 3, 4th & Hero Games 5th Ed. I think I even have Danger International. What do I want for this guy is the next question. I want him to have the Fencing martial arts with sword (perhaps hi-tech sword), though a modern pistol/energy gun of some sort may work. I need suggestions for a 'Brawling' martial arts - I've got the Ultimate Martial Arts book. I want the ship to be able to avoid modern surveillance systems, should I decide I want him to have a little unscrupulous side to him. This ship, effectively a base, will probably be the biggest cost to him but perhaps I can squeeze some extra pts out of the GM. How would I build such a ship, using one of the books I listed? Are there any good pirate pictures out there somewhere? I kind of have a picture but am wanting to look at piratical pics also. (I know someone's going to suggest Pirates of the Caribbean but nah.) I don't know anything about seamanship skills so I need suggestions on those kind of skills. What other skills might you suggest? A general question: in this modern world of superheroes, would a modern-day pirate still be possible with satellites, hi-tech surveillance and everything else? How could I make him a pirate and yet, still be in good or at least neutral ground with the law? This concept is still being worked on so feel free to throw out all those ideas, whether character concept, ship building or law enforcement relationship.

Re: New Anime character help Although generally there for support, some followers have some amazing resiliency. Maybe beef up those PD and ED stats for a surprise; yes - it can be Stunned but just try to knock it out. I really like the Growth idea suggested.

Re: STUN Reduction In general, Damage Reduction is a case by case situation, except for villains. I think maybe five heroes total have ever had D.R. Currently, one of them if Flexiboy, a young superhero with stretching abilities with 50% Physical Resistant Damage Reduction. Other than that, I have the only player character to ever have 75% Resistant PD & ED Damage Reduction. Of course, I only have 24 Stun and up to 15 PD/ED. For those against a player having such high resistance, don't be too concerned: due to the complex way the character was created, he can be taken out by a normal with a rock if the GM needed to..

Re: With GM's Permission ... Considering there are 4 GM's in my group, me being one of them, we're quite flexible. Each character created gets critiqued by each of us. I think we've had three, maybe as many as six characters who've broken various kinds of rules but the concept allowed it. If a concept is a good one, they can go ahead and build it even if breaking rules but it's still gonna get reviewed.

Re: Supervillain Motivation Made Simple There's also the hero who simply wants to help others for altruistic reasons and the villain who's so self-centered that he doesn't care how he hurts others.