Franklin W. Cain

What are some of the more exotic locations from your various (Champions) campaigns? I'm not talking about which real-world foreign cities and/or nations you've used; I'm talking about places most mundane people won't even necessarily know about or at least not be able to visit. What are the counterparts to Latveria, Themyscira, and Atlantis in your games? 

To help get this started, here are some of the ones I've used. 

CK: Heinlein Station, at Luna's South Pole

AK: Luna, Earth's Moon

CK: Port Olympus, on Mars

AK: Mars

AK: Jovian Space; Jupiter and its Moons

AK: Cronian/Saturnian Space; Saturn and its Moons

AK: Solar System

AK: Near-Sol Astrography

AK: Alternate Timelines

CK: Caer Frigis of the Winter Court

AK: Faerie Realms

AK: Angelic/"High Celestial" Realms

AK: Infernal/"Low Celestial" Realms

AK: Astral Realms

AK: Mindscapes/Dreamscapes (a Terrain Knowledge for mentalists, whether arcane or psionic)

Have fun! 😉 

Franklin

Based on the number of characters I've written up who have the Inventor skill, I would say that I usually use Labs (in a Base) as workshops, more so than as a research facility. I view Labs as a place for *doing* stuff just as much as a place for *learning* stuff. That is why I came up with the idea I posted in my original post above. 

As an addendum, I've also written up "Labs" for other Interaction skills (Conversation; Seduction) as "entertainment lounges." 

This feels (to me) as a way to better personalize a character's Base as his *home* (instead of just being a Headquarters). 

Thanks, 

Franklin

In "Ultimate Base" (if I recall correctly), the author wrote that having a Laboratory for certain Interaction skills would be problematic. One such specific skill he mentioned was High Society. 

For some of my own NPCs, I created "Labs" in their Lairs (i.e. Bases) for various Interaction Skills (primarily Conversation and High Society) by naming the "Lab" something appropriate to the character's concept and setting, such as a Great Hall (for a castle) or a Grand Salon and/or Ballroom (for a palace). 

Just thought I'd share this idea. 

Thanks, 

Franklin

Don't think I ever got around to letting you know that I "appropriated" your character concept, and posted a version of him (using a different games system) here: 

https://fcain.tripod.com/pdq/Lance_Lakermann.html

Thanks for the montage and the NPC.  😉  

Franklin

All vehicles start with a free 6" movement in Running, to represent its ground movement.  How do y'all distinguish the write-up of your vehicles to distinguish between the easier movement on a paved road (reaching its ultimate in high-speed track racing) versus the low-speed, terrain-following movement of off-road vehicles (dune buggies mostly, in this case, but also could include tracked vehicles such as bulldozers and military armored vehicles).  I'm looking for suggestions for modeling these different suspension systems (in Fifth Edition rules).  

Thanks, 

Franklin

In my own setting(s), I have an additional Sense Group: the Mystic Sense Group.  There is some cross-over between the Mental and the Mystic Sense Groups (just as there is between the Sight and the Radio Sense Groups, at certain wavelengths of EMF), but they are still separate and distinct (to me, at least). The Mental deals with the Mind (i.e.: thoughts and dreams; the power of the brain); the Mystic deals with the Soul (and related cosmic levels of Reality). 

The Mystic Sense Group already includes Ranged (just as the Mental Sense Group does).  

For a traditional "D&D" style of "Detect Magic" (a la the 1st-level spell from that game franchise), I'd define that Detect as a Narrow Class within the Mystic Group, and a Passive Detect.  I'd also want to give it Sense, Discriminatory, and/or Targeting. 

Hope this helps!  ;-)

Franklin

My thanks to all. For now, I'm thinking of renaming (in my campaigns) the "Romantic" Rivalry to "Personal" (or maybe "Personal/Social"). 

Just out of curiosity, since I don't have any 6th ed. docs, what did they name the non-Professional Rivalry in 6th edition?  

Thanks, 

Franklin

For example, wanting to be the most popular person in high school. It's not a romantic situation or a professional one, but it is a rivalry.

Actually, since "attending and graduating from school" functionally _IS_ the "profession" of such children, I'd still call that more of a professional Rivalry. ;-) 

But your mileage may vary.  

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!  ;-)  

Franklin

The rules-as-written ("RAW") explain the disadvantage Rivalry as being either Professional and/or Romantic. I'd say that "Romantic" could be expanded to include issues such as custody battles and/or primacy of attention from one's children. This would fit into the penumbra of "love" but is certainly NOT within the penumbra of "romantic" (at least, not directly -- one's former romantic partner is the rival, but the focus of your rivalry [i.e. your child] is not a romantic interest, per se). 

In such a case, I would definitely insist that the term "romantic" be replaced with the word "love" when writing the actual Disadvantage on the character sheet. But I would permit this extrapolation of the RAW as being within the spirit of the rules. 

I just wanted to put this out there, and see what others thought about this idea. 

Thanks, 

Franklin

Here's an idea I had for a flag-suit for our friendly neighbors to the north.  ;-)  

http://fcain.tripod.com/hero5/npc/polaris.html

Franklin

I haven't posted here for a looooong time but this is a fantastic writeup.  I don't have 6th edition so I don't even know what this new stat, MD, even is.

 

Thank you.  ;-)  

In my campaigns, Mental Defense ("MD") is a Figured Characteristic. 

Franklin

In 6th edition, it suggests using "Megascale" to increase Mind Scan range...

Same in 5th Ed.  ;-)  

As for the penalty for the astronomical quantity of minds, one thing that comes to mind is taking extra Time.

Good point.  Between that and lots of PSLs, that should help tremendously!  ;-)  

Are you using Class of Mind rules? Whether you are or are not, you might be able to cut the numbers down by only searching specific mind types. There could be septillions of thinking minds in the galaxy but if there are only seven trillion who are Vulcans and you're only looking among those, that would make a big difference.

Class of Minds would help..._if_ the scanner already knows the target's species / race. I'm looking for a more generic situation. 

Thank you for the feedback!  :-)  

Franklin

Storn, a follow-up question (or two), if I may.  ;-)  

Per your website, you state that one of your personal commissions (as opposed to a more formal "for publication"/business commission) does not include any rights for printing, (etc.). However, what is your stance on using commissioned art on a personal webpage (for ex.: on the PC write-up page for the character illustrated)? I'd presume you'd be OK with that, especially if the buyer includes the appropriate attribution with a link back to your art webpage, but I wondered what your take on this would be. Also, do you have any standard attribution verbiage you'd prefer to be used by your customers, when they post such? 

Thanks, again!  ;-)

Franklin

Storn, I have some questions about your work, if you don't mind. From your website (URL from your signature), I see that a "basic" work (one figure, no background) is $70. About how many hours does this usually take you? I'm just wondering what your per-hour rate would calculate as (again, if this isn't too personal). I read the blogs of a few other artists, and try to get a "feel" for their respective price ranges.) 

I've always liked your work, and I certainly hope you're able to support yourself by doing what you enjoy. Do you get enough work or commissions to go full-time? And, do you ever work at conventions? (If so, which ones?)  

Thanks!  ;-)  

Franklin

 

A fun private commission that I got to do.  A Star Wars character, ex-imperial scout/sniper.   I don't have a ton to say about it, although it was a totally digital creation.  Usually I do a pencil sketch, but this time I wanted to work a bit more with my cintiq.  The initial scribbles where done on separate layers, along with some reference that patron gave me.  I did this at work during lunch over a few days.  The camo texture was provided by the patron.  

Looks nice!  ;-)  

Based on the skin color and the eyes, I presume this ex-trooper is of the same alien race as Grand Admiral Thrawn?  

Franklin

No offense, but I've never really liked the write-up for the "Mega-Scale" Advantage -- to me, it never really meshed well with the Hero System's method of binary rounding. Therefore, I came up with my own (campaign-specific) replacement: 

http://fcain.tripod.com/hero5/increased_scale.html

Basically, for every +1/4 in "Increased Scale", you multiply _ALL_ distance-related aspects of the Power by 32 (i.e.: 2^5). And since the Hero System rounds binary, my house rule allows for a dramatic increase in range (plus are effect, etc.) that still allows for cosmic-scale distances relatively fast. 

This also allowed me to "fix" the "Increased Range" Advantage similarly (at least, for my own use). I didn't like how using this Advantage more than once did not mesh into the binary sequence. So, being the math nerd that I am, when I played around with some numbers, I noticed that the square root of 32 (i.e.: 2^2.5) was 5.6, which is very close to the "x5" factor given to the first level of "Increased Range". So, I modified "Inc. Range" to fit into my own sequence (as documented in my web page, above). 

Just wanted to share this, in case anyone else might want to use this. Also, I welcome your feedback on this idea. 

Thanks, 

Franklin

Nice writeup. 5ed?

Yup.  ;-)

And thanks!  :-)

This is my own creation, and not an "official" (i.e. published) HERO Games character, but he does have both magic and tech, so he might be of use to you. 

http://fcain.tripod.com/hero5/npc/overlord.html

(Edit: Write-up is for 5th Edition.)

Hope this helps. ;-)  

Franklin

What is the current URL for the tool (*) you are using, please? 

Thanks!  ;-)

Franklin

* -- English-friendly version, I'm hoping.  The URL on the first page points to some site using a non-English language. 

Re: Duct tape in the hands of a speedster...

I find it odd that no one has yet mentioned the example of Quicksilver using duct tape as an improvised Entangle, in "Days of Future Past", when they are breaking Magneto out of the prison underneath the Pentagon.  (If someone did, I apologize; I must have missed that post.) 

Getting back onto the original topic...

* Power Skill: Duct Tape, INT roll +5 (or more)

* Variable Power Pool: Duct Tape (however many points reserve you like)

Franklin

I'm soliciting help from the hive mind, as to which Power (in 5th Edition) would work better for this effect. I've got a hypothetical mage or telepath who wants everyone to ignore him. Basically, the power has a Set Effect of "Ignore Me; I Belong Here".  Which Power from 5th Edition do you think works better -- Mental Illusions (w/ Self Only), or Mind Control (telepathic), and why? 

1) "SEP" = "Someone Else's Problem", as documented elsewhere: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somebody_else's_problem

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BystanderSyndrome?from=Main.SomebodyElsesProblem

2) Douglas Adams deserves credit for the term "SEP field": 

http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Somebody_Else's_Problem_field

3) I specifically do -not- want to use Invisibility, as I want for people around this caster to subconsciously avoid him and move around him as necessary. With true Invisibility, they'd just bump into him, giving away the fact that he's there. Also, I -want- for this effect to be useless against cameras and the like; in this latter case, true Invisibility would be too powerful.