Scott Ruggels

Sounds like they never played Traveller. Having a ship was like having a leased Mercedes. You calculated very carefully if you would run, fight, or surrender. I remember a Vargr pirate captain who after emptying out the cargo hold of the player’s ship. He complimented the Good manners of the player Captain and told the player crew that if he killed the crew, it would cause a disruption in traffic, and if he killed too many, or wrecked too many ships, the authorities would come for them, and he knew what happened to the Red Vargr. (Almost extinct at this point). The players haaaaated this guy because he would zero their potential profits, and it caused them to move to a different sector, but they still had their ship and lives. They never did figure out that the port fuel handlers were the pirate spies.

He watches a lot of superhero cartoons, and comments on that. His observations on how Beast Boy is underrated are accurate.

Thats the mark of a well oiled team. Good skill mix and knowing how each other work, so yeah, I’ve seen that before. The other GM solution other than heavy artillery or nukes or eldritch horrors, is to split the party by selective kidnapping of members here and there. A very experienced team does get difficult to GM. The only other thing I can think of is to get the GM a copy of the second edition of Aaron Allston’s Strike Force. very deep reference. 😁

Amen!

Sounds like I do. Thanks for the idea.

The Response from the other thread of mine ... When I GMed, I would present it as an open ended problem for the players to solve through sound tactics, or even diplomacy, and because I got my entertainment as a GM watching the players figure out the problem, I was never put off by the Players One shotting a problem with an elegant solution, or a skillful application of violence. The limiting factor for KAs was, and is the points. How many points are you allowing for these KAs? Now I know 6e has inflated point totals into the unreasonable range, since I stick to 4th Edition, but with point totals into the 400s, a lot of shenanigans can be snuck in with the rest of the character. Also it keeps the fights from going on too long. I don't have the time I did in College, where I could spend 6-8 hours on a game, often time all combat. It was fun, but its nowadays unfeasible. This kind of talk leads to yet another edition of Champions to fix a problem that only effects a certa9in style of GMs.

Yes! Exactly!! The main reasons I never went for Narrative Based decisions in Games I played, or games I ran, because back then the thinking was (especially for Horror Movies), was that You didn't have a movie until someone did something stupid. When I GMed, I would present it as an open ended problem for the players to solve through sound tactics, or even diplomacy, and because I got my entertainment as a GM watching the players figure out the problem, I was never put off by the Players One shotting a problem with an elegant solution, or a skillful application of violence.

That would work well. Captain Nemo was a very specific sort of Pirate, preying mostly on shipping, and countries involved in the slave trade. If the game was set in a non-aligned sector, you could pick your targets, and have a place to retreat to, as long as you maintained a "good neighbor" policy. Nemo was a Charismatic leader. Yes the Zhodani have a thing about psychics, but if you are using most of your power on the plasma cutter held to the edge of your blade, then you would have to rely on good ol' Human factors, such as courtesy and respect, to engender that level of loyalty Nemo had with his crew. Also picking the crew, one would have to find ideological compatible crew, to maintain that edge of training and competence, when you may have few targets, or withdraw to a prudent level of distance or hiding when your ship kicks over the proverbial hornet's nest. Sounds like a game to me. Now conversely, this all works, in Traveller, if he's a Scion of the Consulate, moving forward to free appressed psychics within the Empire, leading his band of Black armored Space Marines in a war of liberation. Sounds like a game, there in both cases.

(Emphasis above added by me) This is precisely why, as a GM I preferred the figured statistics. This meant every character carried their own weight and in most cases avoided the glass cannon effect. Remember, I was/am a Wargamer type player, and not a "Storyteller", so it was expected that all characters were considered "dangerworthy", in Heroic, and Superheroic games. IT kept the characters within certain bands, and made GMing them easier in terms of actions, and made it easier for characters to act in a coordinated fashion as the speeds and DEX were close enough that held actions would execute without a lot of waiting. It made it a lot easier as a GM. I tended to take a dim view on character with low defenses, and stats, as a burden to the teams. When the supposed frail telepath has stats on par with Captain America there is something wrong. But a glass cannon becomes a problem for the team, and as a GM (and a former D&D player), the Opposition is going to hit the "casters" first, and hardest. Each conscious member of a team is an asset and a resource the leader can direct at their opposition. This goes in both directions. The goal is to drop as many of the opposite members as one can, while preserving your members as much as possible. This means using one or more of your members, playing "security" for the fragile members. Those that cannot be used putting down members of the opposing team. Sure that protected member can possibly hit above their weight, until they can't, and then they become a liability. It's best to have a character that can reliably defend themselves, against standard threats. Which is why we had DEF and CON minimums when building teams of Supers, and in Fantasy Hero anything les than 4rPD, was not advised. (am I the only GM here that was not upset by Players one shotting a villain?) Going back to the original question, if you get rid of figured characteristics, then one should really be using 6th Edition, rather than 5th.

Okay, more seriously, it would work. Just don’t blosr concentration when you are in a vacuum or a zero G environment. At least you can wear proper clothes and a stylish turban, and not be upstaged by a screenwriter’s self insert who is more competent than you as a blow against the patriarchy.

Gets buried in thousands of Vargr sports fans irate at missing their passage home.

I can see this being used by Bliggets, wanting an article header image, the way The Atlantic, or National Review dis it for their online articles. There are better programs out now, but are tightly locked down by their respective labs. Seen some of them, and the results are clearer.

I am tired of, and done with Star Wars, at least the way Disney does it. Much as watching people make D&D conversions for Fantasy hero, just annoys the hell out of me, I am also annoyed by putting a Star Wars skin on what ever rule system is currently popular. It’s like Star Wars has become the 5eD&D of Science Fiction. I would like to play or run a more scientifically respectful SF game, or even Classic Traveller. ( Or Traveller Hero), but I am sick of Space Wizards, and Mary Sue self inserts.

Later, yeah, but my second Champions character had a 3D6 RKA. Others had similar and sometimes higher. I’ve also purchased +1 on the stun multiple on a few attacks. Remember, Champions was for us, purchased at a wargaming convention, so depending on which GM, was how much of a wargame Champions could become. Our zeal in exploring the rules and creation of characters, had us also creating villains to test against the heroes. Compared to that, the strict genre emulation, especially if Comics Code approved titles, felt too fluffy and inconsequential, in comparison. A year later Pacific Comics and First Conics started publishing for the Direct Market, and Mike Grell’s John Sable Freelance became a big influence on us for character approaches. The STUN lotto was just seen as an efficient take down of the opposition, and we designed characters with the expectation RKAs would be used against us. Hence how our early campaigns became Dark Champions before it was ever published.

A good start, but a lot of it is good roleplay. Be decisive, and clear in your commands and explanations. But in those situations, either you’ve got it or you don’t. High PRE, high Tactics, coordination/teamwork rolls, and a clear set of guidelines for what to do in a number of situations.

I’ve still got my BBB. My current problem is no one is running Hero locally. I have played in 4th Ed. PBM and PBEM, under Carl Rigney, but I have not GMed one. I have GMed a small Play by Post on a Discord server, but it stalled.

I have a Redwood in my back yard. It's full of crows.

14 for me. I didn't get to the Est coast very often, but my Pare3nts like to travel the country in the summer (Dad was a University Professor, so he had three months off in the summer).

I use Kerosene to clean things, usually gun parts, and it's great for keeping things from rusting in the short term. Detergent free oil is available for some tasks (bluing, quenching, ect.), but it's not as common. So this vehicle has the usual 45mph top speed, and just rear wheel brakes? Originally cotton brake pads? It's kind of frightening driving at night on a 6v electrical system, with the headlight only getting to a limited brightness. My experience is with Model A fords, and WW2 vehicles. Model Ts were explained to me , as gas powered golf carts. Same performance, but with non standard controls.

No it doesn’t! I would buy the stun multiplier up! 5 works. It also has I think the most non superhero support materials.

“I am Kirok!”

6 volt system? standard 30 weight oil? Hexagonal cels in the radiator? standard control, or throttle on the steering wheel? Helluva nice bed on that thing.

Finished the season. Much better than the Second. Kind of a satisfying wrap to the season. The feeling I get, is the the next will be the last. But it's really a look at celebrity culture, and corporate management, and that's the framework of Garth Ennis's disdain for superheroes.

Once I get the hang of sculpting in Blender, get back to me on STL Mini files. Progress is a bit slow, however, at least at this time (summer).