Certified

Re: in the spirit of christmas!

It'd be an understatement to say that I underestimated the demand somewhat...

Never underestimate the power of the Geek Side.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine

cortez the explorer?

Some of us have less fond titles for Cortez.

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States

Maybe each state needs its own villain team. For Utah, it would include a giant, evil slab of green Jell-O, a sentient swarm of brine shrimp, and a transplanted Californian who can't understand why we have to build all these new roads and one day just goes postal.

 

I kid, of course.

 

Mostly.

Utah villain is a giant pizza monster....

Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

your main archenemy is GWYNNETH PALTROW

Do not underestimate the powers of Paltrow, if she stands sideways you can't even see her.

Re: Heroes from All Fifty States

You mean' date=' like a [b']50 VILLAINS[/b] type of thing?

You can't just have 50 villains ... Heroes need more than that.

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

No' date=' my comment is actually me channeling my perspective as a teen in the early-mid 80s, when my political outlook (social libertarian economical moderate foreign policy hawk) was born. I remember using such arguments opposing my misguided left-wing peers that were pre-Gorbachev pacifist activists, and the discovery at the end of the decade that my perspective had completely right all the way along. I lived through the first half of the 80s, and not all of us were thinking "better red than dead".[/quote']

 

Okay

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

Yep, and the anti-communist realpoliticker in me says, so what ? The reasonable outcome for the continued strategic unbalance between the combined strength of the Western bloc + Dr. Manhattan vs. the Soviet bloc is not MAD nuclear destruction of the world, but economic and political collapse of the Soviet bloc under the weight of their own unsustainable military expenditures, terrible economic inefficiency, and lack of sincere allegiance from their own peoples. The only real threat to that is Manhattan's alienation from humanity, and there are far better ways to deal with it than the idiotic scheme Ozzy conceived, which almost unleashed the nuclear war it purported to avoid, and may still cause it if the truth is revealed.

 

Say the US Government recruits a pool of highly-paid geniuses with interests into theoretical physics, philosophy, and exoteric science, train them in the atemporal perspective Jon lives in, and use them to give quality social interaction to Manhattan, when he's not busy playing world policeman. Also, surround him with attractive, open-minded young women that have a thing for the enigmatic powerful male figure, and do not mind sexual experimentation with theri super-powered boyfriend (he's already weathered switching a GF without snapping, it's a normal part of adjusting to immortality).

 

Even if nothing is done to revert Jon's alienation significantly, at the slow pace it has progressed, in all likelihood the Cold War shall be over with the unconditional surrender of the USSR well before it reached dangerous levels.

 

Since the expected outcome of the Cold War if the pre-Ozzy staus quo goes on, is not MAD, but the collapse of Communism. The USSR is coming into a lose-lose choice between unconditional surrender or suicide by nuclear cop, without any possiblity of inflicting any significant damage to the Western Bloc either way. The only real possiblity of MAD is created by Ozzy's actions. Veidt is a delusional paranoid megalomaniac that unconsciously vents out his frustration and hate for the conservative society which he lives in, by identifying a non-existing danger and then concocting a mass-murdering scheme to collapse it, and substitute with a hippie peacenik "utopia" (with far more significant danger of a nuclear war than before, in the long term) with himself as the enlightened god-king, of course.

 

The political underpinnings of Ozzy's stance are grounded in the positions of the 80s pacifist movement, and are proven wrong and self-destructive in the comic as they were in RL: the threat of nuclear war was not ended by the West choosing some kind of fuzzy peacenik hippie utopia where everyone got in touch with their inner Commie-lover, but by forcing the Communist bloc to face the harsh reality of its own tyrannical, corrupt, and ineffectual nature, and letting it collapse as a result.

 

Ozymandias is a villain that did mass murder in order to prevent a danger that only existed only in his own skewed perception. Maybe he was sincere, but even so, he was no any more heroic or justified than a paranoid schizophrenic that shoots his neighbor because he's persuaded that the neighbor is poisoning him.

Your cometary has the perspective of history not the perspective of the time period. When Reagan began talks with the USSR and Gorbachev he was ridiculed by his own party, political strategists and the intelligence community and very importantly by Nixon as being wrong for engaging the enemy and falling for communist propaganda. No one ever said what Ozymandias did was the right answer. What I pointed out is that there is a difference in perspective from life during this time period versus looking at it through the lens of history.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Fates Warning - Saints in Hell

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

Which he almost caused by attacking Dr. Manhattan in the first place.

 

If he hadn't set things in motion, he wouldn't have needed to do all the things he did which could still collapse if the truth came out. I guess there would be unity in wanting his head on a pike if the world found out about it.

CES

Upon rereading my post this may be flaimebait but I'm going to post it anyway. Also warning there be spoilers if you've not actually read the book.

Some of the perspective of Watchmen is lost if you did not grow up in the 70's and 80's. It helps if you can remember hearing air raid sirens in school and climbing under your desk or into an actual bomb shelter. Part of what Watchmen tries to capture is this ever looming fear that no mater how superior America was militarily the inevitable destruction caused by a war with the USSR could not be avoided, Mutually Assured Destruction was the best possible outcome if the nukes ever did fly.

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein, 1955.

Ozymandias did not set the stage, what he did was move the pieces already in place before changing the game. You can argue what the character did is wrong but the cause was not the exile of Dr. Manhattan or any other action taken, but continued escalation of the Cold War.

Watchmen is not a question of which character was right or wrong. All of them were flawed, they all had their own beliefs, motivations and ideals. If you walked away from reading the book thinking Ozymandias bad, Rorschach good, and that's the end of the story, reread it.

For the fun geek references you can say "the good of the many outweighs the good of the one" but it's not about justifying Ozymandias' actions. The setting assumes conflict between the US and USSR is inevitable. A good reference scene early on for this is the newsstand commentary. Would you undo everything and allow World War III to begin? Would you have rather done nothing and waited to see if Dr. Manhattan could have or would have stopped it?

Everyone will come to their own conclusions. For me it's the questions one if forced to ask when reading Watchmen, then forced to revisit at its conclusion. It is a reflection of politics and human nature, not a simple morality tale. That is what, in my opinion, makes it such a strong piece of literature. It would worry me that people reading this work would take things at face value or no longer connect with the context of the writing although I don't feel the work is dated only that modern readers should lok at the time period around the work to help frame it.

Okay, two cents delivered....

Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

...Your GM makes you roll d4's for Damage.

Your GM rolls d4's for your opponent's damage out of sympathy.

Re: Nothing can stop me now!

There is a complete story seed up on the Gladiators thread based on Asperion's suggestion.

Re: Mercenaries The Gladiators

Finally: The Eliminator

Another firebombing, this time no one is close enough to stop it before the Gladiator can escape. The female Gladiator known as Inferno leaves a flaming trail across the night sky that screams: this is a trap, but heroes are heroes for a reason. tracking her flame trail to just outside the (county/state) to an old Army base the compound is lit up like the Fourth of July, every light is on, Spots circle in the night sky searching for something.

If the Players can detect radio transmissions there is an encrypted signal going out from the main building. Decoding it will reveal a video feed of security cameras.>

Lights run down the center of the hanger to a giant metal wedged slope that stops a few meters shy of the roof. (If possible feel free to dangle a DNPC or two here.) Also, at the top of the pyramid is the metal case from the Towering Inferno Scenario. The lights make it impossible to see the sides of the building. (Barring Night Sight or other vision powers) Once the full team is inside the doors will seal, and a force wall will be erected around the outside of the building. The wall has 8 PD and ED, if the PCs blew the doors off they can see field of energy behind them. Once sealed the lights come up revealing the Gladiators as they are teleported in lining the tops of metal bleachers ageist the walls, four on either side with Battle Axe and Atlas closest and Inferno and Oblivion closest to the pyrimid. to the main doors. It is a 4" drop from the top of the bleachers. A voice powers over the PA system: Welcome Heroes! The prize is at the top of the pyramid all you have to do is survive long enough to reach it! With that minor explosions lining the center path to the pyramid go off making a kind of runway.

As with the Great Escape Gladiators that know their powers will be ineffective will use firebombs to make things more difficult. Overall the Gladiators will double and triple team the PCs using teamwork to go for quick Stuns focusing on whoever is closest to the briefcase. Should a PC be KOed they will not go in for a kill.

Complications: There are pyro-charges laid all over the hanger floor. The Gladiators know where they are and will avoid them.

The Pyramid's floor are lined with metal spikes that will shoot out is anyone PC or Gladiator. Pyramid Spear: Killing Attack - Hand-To-Hand 1 1/2d6, Trigger (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger resets automatically, immediately after it activates, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; +3/4) (44 Active Points); No STR Bonus (-1/2) The Spears attack with an OCV 5.

If the PCs are all KOed they when they wake up they will find themselves in the same building but all the gear is gone. The DNPCs have been lowered from the Pyramid and left next to them. If any of the PCs reach the top of the Pyramid the Gladiators will stop attacking instead running for bleachers where they first teleported in.>

- - -

Done...

Hope everyone enjoyed the story idea.

Re: Mercenaries The Gladiators

Optional: The Great Escape

With one or more of the Gladiators incarcerated The others will join together to break them out. To make things interesting they've brought more explosives than for just the one cell.

Fire Bomb: Killing Attack - Ranged 2d6, Explosion (+1/2), Lingering up to 1 Turn (+1/2) (60 Active Points); Independent (-2), 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Turn (-1 1/2), OAF Fragile (-1 1/4), Range Based On Strength (-1/4)

Final Cost: 10

Each Gladiator on Bomb Duty has 5 Fire Bombs.>

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

Rorshach might not be someone you want to hang out with but he does embodies a lot of heroic traits. He believes in justice, cares about his friends, is sympathethic to others when possible, and has a strong sense of right and wrong.

 

Compare that to Ozymandias who axed millions of people, axed the designers of the teleport device, axed the makers of the monster he dropped on New York, gave three people cancer, axed and framed a hitman to throw Rorshach off, set Rorshach up by killing a man he gave cancer too, fried his loyal pet trying to kill Dr. Manhattan, and threw one of his friends out a building's window to carry out a scheme to make himself the world's policeman which he didn't realize was going to happen until too late.

 

I'll take smelly Rorschach any day.

CES

"Meeting with Veidt left bad taste in mouth. He is pampered and decadent, betraying even his own shallow, liberal, affectations. Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further... ... The first Silk Specter is a bloated aging whore, dying in a Californian rest resort..."

- Rorschach

- - -

"Good Joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains."

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

Okay, not one of my proudest moments but here...

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

Although Fallout often get's accused of being a Doctor Manhattan tribute he really isn't. The only true tribute character I've done was Vile a send up to the Scuzz from DP 7

Re: Who homages the Watchmen or those the Watchmen homaged?

I do have to say that' date=' while I generally prefer high-powered characters, Dr. Manhatten takes the concept too far. Supers who can do virtually anything tend to be boring to me, because the essence of drama is challenges to overcome, and there's little that can realistically challenge such a character. Dr. Manhatten comes across even worse in that regard than he otherwise might in a different comic setting where he faced comparable opposition. His Charleton Comics inspiration, Captain Atom, never had the incredible breadth of abilities that Dr. M has.[/quote']

 

Don't worry for what it's worth Doctor Manhattan comes off just as bored as the player would be,

Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

Randal's Raiders could kick your asses.

Hay now ... They're doing alright for their genre.

Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

Snurf has to feel sorry for you.

Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

Imprisoned weapons such as a broomstick routinely outclass your damage and/or defenses.

Re: What's the point? They're gonna escape anyways

Adventure, Excitement, a Jedi craves not these things.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Orgy - Fiction (Dreams In Digital)

Re: Mercenaries The Gladiators

Part 2: Playing For Keeps

As a building erupts in the distance the familiar sounds of security alarms ring out not far from you. A local jewelery has gone into lock down as several well built robbers seal the employees inside.

The Gladiators do not initially flee when the PCs arrive instead they do their best to block the Characters from reaching the store; even going so far as to toss the stolen jewels.

As with the Towering Inferno the building has been sealed with five bombs designed to bring the building down. These charges go off sequentially acting as if they had a Speed of 3.>

Re: Evaluation on an ability: Bounce Back

If I understand this power correctly it keeps the character from being truly knocked out unless there is a major hit and puts them at the 1 Recovery needed stage to get back into the fight. If anything I would supplement this with some limited Recovery with those same conditions, must be below 1 Stun and above -11. This would simulate the character taking a hit that would daze them then jumping right back into the action. Although I can see this power working in a supers campaign I think it would fit nicely into a Pulp Hero character.

Re: Watchmen: A GM's tale...or why we set campaign limits

Brain fart on my part. I meant Duplication, but let my fingers type Multiform.

 

Doc

Well he can turn into a car...