Loxly

How would Mind Controll work on "Machine Minds" for machines that don't have "mind" like say a non-AI computer.

Also, what is concidered a "Machine Mind." Could someone program a VCR with Machine-based Mind Control?

Or is this something that would fall under "Dramatic Sense?"

Re: Fantasy Hero Hardcover

I see that PA Hero is there in the store ... no FH HArdcover yet though.

Re: Build Challenge: Mythbusters!

Actually' date=' jkwleisemann has.

"I reject your reality and substitute my own."

Re: Build Challenge: Mythbusters!

Surprised noone has mentioned that next weeks ep is about Superhero Myths ...

No really ... look here http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/daily.html?date=20070829.241 and scroll down to 9pm

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

I think it goes beyond that - just as an energy blast has to be visible to three senses, so does invisibility, and I don't think that simply means that it is only noticed if you make a noise, or someone has an enhanced sense any more than EB is not noticed unless you shoot a pile of tin cans and they clatter down.

 

Mind you that would be a sensible enough way to deal with the problem

I still think you are over analyzing it.

Take a Revolver. Still "Costs END" even though it may have charges, so it has to be "visable."

Hearing: The BANG! of the powder igniting and the bullet going super-sonic.

Sight: The muzzle flash and powder ignition ... But it's hard to see in a well lit area unless you happen to be looking at it.

Smell: The smell of burnt gun powder ... but it's hard to smell unless you are close anddown wind or have heightened smell. It can also be overpowered by other smells, like a sewer.

Perceivable, but to differant extents.

I don't think when it says a power must be "percievable" it means "blatantly perceivable." I don't have my book with me, so I can't check the exact wording.

And as an aside: Shapeshift.

Just because you can make yourself look like a tree, doesn't mean you would feel like one when touched, or sound like one when struck.

Re: Rules to ignore, or replace

I was looking at the description for Invisibility, and read that it is a 'partial exception to the general rule about....being perceived by sense groups'.

 

Never even crosssed my mind that Invisibility, when it is running, is still perceiveable by 3 sense groups (unless you have made yourself invisible to so many sense groups that there are not 3 left!)

 

So, if you are invisible to sight, that's cool, but the invisibility will be somewhat limited by the constant buzzing noise you make, the odd smell that emanates from you, and the modulated pulses you are emitting on radio frequencies.

Well, personally, I think you are over analyzing Invisibilities "visibility."

Sonar or you stubbing you toe and going "Ow" will make you hearable.

Radar will reflect of you and you talking on your com-unit can still be "picked-up."

And someone or something will know you are there with their heightened sense of smell.

Re: New Mechanic: Grant/Bestow

Besides UAA/UBO you can also use Transform.

The Amiacable Advantage lists number of actions the Summoned Creature performs before leaving. "Slavishly Loyal" is Ego/1 and in the text is discribed as a "good way to represent zombies and robots."

Non-AI Robots don't have an Ego.

Would a "fall back" be to use INT or EGO "only for Amicable Commands?"

... or something else?

Thanks

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"?

There were, many years ago, a series of complaint letters in Avengers referring to the tendency of villains to have weaponry capable of stunning or knocking out Thor, but miraculously leaving the other Avengers, including Hawkeye and the Wasp, alive.

 

Your comment above touches on a key difference I see between comics and games. In the comics, characters (heroes and many villains) show restraint. They don't attack full-force against unknown targets, or even against many known targets. In a game, players tend to think "I paid for 12d6, so why would I fire off a 10d6 blast?" and every unknown target gets hit full-force. We, as GM's, facilitate this. We design every adversary with enough defense to stand up to those full force attacks, so Captain Boy Scout never has to deal with the ramifications of hitting a "normal with a fancy gun" with a 12d6 blast that does 8 BOD (4 PD's not bad for a normal) and slams him into a wall where he sucks up another two BOD, leaving him at 0 BOD (10 BOD is a bit above average for a normal) and hospitalized. Nor do the campaign Supers need to respond to the media's great pictures of "Vigilante Supers Using Excessive Force", and the resulting political fallout.

 

A game where the Heroes occasionally faced adversaries who aren't that Super might be refreshing, and force a bit of different thinking. In my experience, most games make it easy for the players to forget their characters are Super, since everyone they encounter as an adversary is, at worst, almost as Super and, at best, way more Super.

As a tangent:

Funny you should mention that. I've been running a game wher the Brick has an AoE Attack, 8d6.

The first Story Arc had the team facing off with a group of "Suped-Up" Gang members ... compleat with Fire-Attacks and Fire-Based Force Fields. Her AoE did damage to them, but no Body.

The Next Story opened with her, again, facing off with some "Suped-Up" Gang members using Fire Powers. I made it clear that these ones did not have Force Fields.

She Splatted them with full power into the above mentioned wall.

Luckly, her partner was a good Paramedic.

Re: Martial Arts, Foci, and Possibly HD

As a note: Hero Designer is not intended to replace the rules' date=' but implement the core base rules. Once you start going off into "Generally" and "With The GMs Permission" Land Hero Designer hands you a pineapple and wishes you luck.[/quote']

 

The question is though ... Did Hero Designer "pull the pin" or not?

 

I'm gonna have to take a look at this when I get home.

Re: Random Superpowers: The Contoller

I like it.

I made up two Stat Sets:

Tough as Nails

Brains and Brawn

If I was home, I'd post them here.

Re: [Help] Characters to 5th edition

Yup ... that's pretty much what I do JmOz

It's a +1/4 Advantage .... I'm confused on the aplication to "All Characteristics One at a time" part of it.

Is it still only +1/4?

Thanks

Re: Villains Vandals And Vermin (VVV)

As someone who was around for quite a few of the old "CKC has too many high powered villains" arguments' date=' I hope I'm not the only one laughing at the irony. . .[/quote']

 

I wasn't here for that, but I have thought that the CKC point totals where quite high. Then again, the point total for my group at the time was 250, making even the 350ish characters more powerfel than the PCs.

 

And it's one of the reasons I upped out points to 350 for starting characters.

Re: [Help] Characters to 5th edition

tru' date=' But INT 10...Back then that was average...[/quote']

 

It was a simpler time.

 

Why you wipper-snanppers ... If we wanted to be Rocket-Scientists or Rich or whatever, we just were.

 

And if we wantted a flashlight, we just said we had one. None of this "Images, Only For Light" bunk.

 

Re: [Help] Characters to 5th edition

Third edition suggested that if you want a skill to represent your profession' date=' spend a few points and get an INT roll (or whichever Characteristic might be appropriate) to be able to do it. Precursor to the Professional Skill. I don't know if second edition had the same suggestion.[/quote']

 

By the time 3rd ... maybe 2nd ... came out, my group was using the Skill List from Espionage! for our Champions games.

Re: [Help] Characters to 5th edition

OK, so took a couple weeks off, got a new book (2nd edition baby), so have started the ones in them, and I just NEED TO LAUGH

 

INT 10, Physicist, no skills, I mean he has more points in COM than int...

 

SO starts Starburst

Hehe ... yeah ... but then again, there are no skills in 2ndED to represent a Physicist.

Re: New to the hero system, trying to figure out some things

Oh, let him break the system.

 

We all went through that phase. It's part of getting to know and understand Hero, and that he's going through it is a good sign that he's going be a dedicated Hero fan and stick with it.

 

Breaking the system is something he just has to get out of his system.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

And the verdict is: Innocent! Feed him to the palindromedary!

I don't think I've ever tried to break the Hero System.

I've been playing and running Hero off and on since it came out.

I've pretty much seen someone else do all those things, I don't need to myself.

Re: Greening Earth’s Deserts

Greattings Earth's Desserts?!?!?!

Re: Villains Vandals And Vermin (VVV)

Did you never hand out XP?

Did ... all the time.

So did all the other people in the group that ran thier game.

As GMs, setting*, new players joined, or power levels changed, we "reset" the points to 250. Or lower, if the power-level went down.

* ... Some setting where like CU where supers were common. Others where like "Mutant X" where we were "new" and the points were 150ish.

Re: Villains Vandals And Vermin (VVV)

I assume some people still play lower powered games.

My groups Champions games have been 250 points or less for the last 25 years ... up to about a month ago when I up the starting points to 350.

They went: "350?!?! "

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"?

Adding to Comics list ...

Who says they have to use the "Brick Bothering" attack at "Brick Bothering" levels

Re: Rope

For our next trick we'll argue on how to model a set of flatware' date=' all eight (or eleven, I forget how many pieces you can fit into a place setting...) pieces.[/quote']

 

How ever many it is, the small pistols go to the left of the place setting.

 

or ...

 

Spoons would have higher DCs "because they hurt more."

Re: GMs: making abilities useful

Also I like to keep in mind that just because a skill isn't rolled doesn't mean it isn't used. Many times the GM will dispense information based solely on what skills a character has - no rolls needed. Sometimes the player hasn't realized that a skill is what got them the info...

I've just started doing this ... well, thinking about doing this. Thought about it yesterday, won't GM again until Saturday.

I usually review character sheets while planning an adventure, and take notes. As I plan I'll check the notes and try to find opportunities to use various skills and abilities in the game. The player put X on the sheet; that's a request from the player to me as the GM to see X come up in play. When I allowed the character into the campaign with X on the sheet, I agreed to make sure that X did come into play. If I fail to do so, I've cheated him out of those points.

 

Which doesn't meant that Perfect Pitchman gets to use Perfect Pitch in every game session; it just means that once in a while, I'll make sure that the chance is there.

Yup, this too.

Re: Vvv

Got a copy today. After a cursory skim' date=' I've yet to be impressed. I don't think this is a worthy successor to CKC. And the art is generally pretty bad, too.[/quote']

 

Just got my yesterday, and I agree of the artwork.

 

On the otherhand, I've only really looked at one character, Ambush. Turn out, just the type of character I was looking for for an upcoming Adventure.

 

So, guess I'm mixed.