Ephelides

Re: Batman's home city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Gotham City, New Jersey

Batman, Batgirl, Harold, and Alfred. No doubt they will be aided by whatever liaisons the government sends them, plus whatever family members come with them.

 

As far as the federal grew goes, I'm thinking the official liaison from the Commission on Superhuman Affairs (the DOSPA in the CU). His second wife who is a trauma surgeon (his first wife died of cancer) and his daughter who converted to Islam and is a computer expert came with him.

 

Unofficial liaisons come from the FBI, Homeland Security, and SHIELD (PRIMUS in the CU). The FBI liaison is like Roger Fox from the Fox Trot comic strip. Either the Homeland Security or SHIELD liaison is a dedicated man who brought his wife, a nurse, with him. The other is a beautiful woman who did black bag jobs for the CIA for four years.

You've got a commercial airport, a marina "with plenty of dock space and gas pumps" and a chandler, a crematorium - - - and you're running all that with two vigilantes/superheroes, a couple of house servants, four pencil-pushers, and a nurse?

No way that's enough support staff! Note: I'm assuming you let lobes 3, 4, and 5 go to waste!

Wow, that's gonna come back and bite 'em on the a** someday.

After all, who knows what's growing in those "gardens".

Re: adding a random factor to the game

It is good to take ideas from one game's background, settting, etc. and use in a different game.

It is LOUSY to take part of one game's system and implant in a different game's system.

If you want to play D&D, play D&D. If you want to play HERO, play HERO.

Anyway, it won't do what you want; most min/maxing comes during creating powers, and (unless you use RSR) characteristics don't affect powers. So you won't stop min/maxing. You are likely to increase min/maxing because the players know their characteristics are a crap shoot, they can't depend on characteristics for ANYTHING, so they'd better make characters who are all powers, no skills. Thus, the players will concentrate on powers at the expense of skills --- and characteristics, and talents, and probably roleplaying.

After all, a carefully written backstory does not guarantee good roleplaying, and if they have to fight the system --- and the GM! --- to get back to where they wanted their characters to be, roleplaying will suffer. So will cooperation and good attitude. Thus, the game will suffer.

Re: Help with a "Possessing Hero"

I suggest looking through Ultimate Metamorph. Look most especially at page 78, "Free Spirits and Switchers" as well as the pages therein referenced. Note please that Bodyjacking is on page 169, not 167!

There will be other useful powers in UMet.

Re: World encyclopedia

Umm...Hello?

 

"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!"

 

- Vassoom

 

P.S. (You do realize I was being facetious with my first post, don't you? )

Of course I did!

If I thought you believed that shtuff, I wouldn't have sassed at you, I would have kept quiet and sneaked away!

Re: Batman's home city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Gotham City, New Jersey

Glad you like the setting.

 

Since it's a pocket universe created by the builders, there aren't a lot of NPCs, just bodys to cremate. Of course, they'll be looked over, just in case they're wearing something that's usable as part of a disguise.

I put that dumbly. I meant, if the "new owners" want to get all those very useful services "back on line," how many people would that take?

Roughly estimated is AOK.

Re: Batman's home city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Gotham City, New Jersey

Thenks, Basil.

 

One idea I had was to create an island somewhat like Atlantis from Stargate: Atlantis. Like that Atlantis, it would have a central tower with six lobes surrounding it.

 

The central lobe would be a mile high observation tower. Only what's described here would be visible from it.

 

Lobe one would be Burke Lakefront Airport. The Batplane and Batcopter would be berthed here, and their shop would be here, too.

 

Lobe two would be a marina with plenty of dock space and gas pumps. The Batboat would be berthed here. Here, too are the lighthouse, a boatyard, a chandler (sells marine supplies), a bar, a coffee shop, and a convenience store. Breakwaters surround the area. They form a gate to and from the pocket universe for the Batboat.

 

Lobe three would be a residential/commercial neighborhood. The synagogue would be here, as would a convenience store, dojo, gymnastics school, homes, and other places found in such neighborhoods.

 

Lobe four would be public gardens.

 

Lobe five would be a Western goods store and a place to ride horses.

 

Lobe six would be a cemetary and crematorium.

Wow, interesting setting!

How many people, total? Sounds like a lot of NPCs.

Re: World encyclopedia

Ummm...possibly' date=' but [i']yours [/i]is a CIA site. CIA!

 

If I were to use THAT one, then the CIA would KNOW that I now know the title of the Liechtenstein National Anthem, and they would share that information with the NSA, who is already tapping my phone calls, and with the Department Of Justice, which is already sifting through my internet search results via MSN, Yahoo, and AOL!

 

Egads, just imagine what they could do then!

 

No thank you! I'll stick to Toadmaster's URL, thankyouverymuch.

 

- Vassoom

:shock: Help, help, the paranoids are after me!! :shock:

j/k

Re: Popular Guns

Well, you can just BATFEckoff, for all I care!

 

I just don't know that I can work that into a regular conversation.

Tell me if you manage to, some day.

Re: Woot!

You will greatly enjoy Dark Champions, I am sure.

If you want more information on the Yakuza, Tongs, and Triads, you might consider getting Hudson City: The Urban Abyss.

Re: World encyclopedia

You will find the following has most or all of that information, in a much better format:

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/countrylisting.html

Re: The Death Note and How To Stop It

Im getting a faint vibe of disapproval' date=' here.....[/quote']

 

Only faint? Geez, I thought I was obvious.

 

Seriously, I don't see any way for this to land up as anything but a railroad. Sure, you can talk about how to handle it, but in the hands of any GM who isn't a saint, it'll land up a railroad.

 

I've dealt with too much railroading to have any patience with it.

Re: [Possible game] Jonestown Blues

Renamed it Jonesburg. Averyville seemed far too "out" and the Averyville Horror idea' date=' well, I'm ditching that because it's just too silly.[/quote']

 

OK. Your campaign, you get to (are stuck with ) naming everything.

 

I just want to say I knew nothing more about Chuck Jones than about Tex Avery until this thread. I had to look up both. So I don't think "Averyville" is more obscure than "Jonesburg".

 

If you mean it sounds stranger, that's a different thing.

Re: Batman's home city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not Gotham City, New Jersey

For ease of calculation, and fitting on a 8.5 x 11 sheet of graph paper, the block is 1100 x 850 feet, giving it an area of 935,000 square feet.

 

Any ideas?

Yeah. Used square graph paper, not hexagonal. Everyone I know hates hex paper.

#2, go metric. Don't even think in feet.

That's my 0.02 zorkmids.

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

I took this a step farther in my Freedom Patrol Game. I made the mini-guns a single-shot RKA with AF Line with the FX being "storm of bullets."

Excuse me but is "AF Line" a typo for "AE Line"? That is, "Area of Effect, Line"?

Or do you mean an Autofire, with Area of Effect, Line, too?

Cause if the second, it's gonna get expensive.

Re: Hudson City rocks OUT!!!

Are these the heroes or the villains?!

j/k

If you can, get a copy of Hero System Almanac. It's got an article right up this line. 4th Ed., but converting it shouldn't be hard.

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

First-Person Shooter

 

Basically DOOM, DOOM II, and a zillion spin-offs.

Ah. Them things.

OK, thanks for solving my confusion.

Re: Popular Guns

BATFE is Bureau of Alcohol' date=' Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The latter was added within the last year I think to expand their scope.[/quote']

 

Oh, I knew who BATFE is, I looked it up.

 

I was talking about the name change, and how it just shrieks "Hi, this is a chunk of Public Relations nonsense!!"

Re: Book Recommendation: Anatomy Of A City

some great book suggestions here.... my favorite book on older cities is still the classic by David Mccaulay, simply called "City"

 

hes done a whole series of books

 

for post apoc.... Motel of the Mysteries is kinda fun

 

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/davidmacaulay/bio.shtml

Is City done like Castle and Cathedral? I loved the drawings in those.

Motel of the Mysteries is OK; if you like the basic setting, try and find The Weans. Out of print, so try the library, or used book shops.

Re: Popular Guns

Again' date=' check with the BATFE[/quote']

 

Hey, when did they change their name?

 

So, subtracting the B and insisting on "ATF" didn't stop people from calling them BATF***ers. Now they are trying to change the end instead of the beginning.

 

Won't work. Fact, I bet people are gonna call 'em BATFEckers.

Re: Weapon Designs -- opinions wanted

OK, so call me stupid, but what's "FPS" mean???

Re: Char: Max "The Mechanic" Edison

He Did carry a Silver Hammer

Isn't that too soft to be useful?

Um, for anything a mechanic should be doing.

Re: The Brown Note: Not as funny as you think.

Adam: Naugty!

Pavanne: Yeah, that's right.

oroborous: Suspect you're right.

Lethosos:

Re: Building a Cybernetic "brainjack"

Its not a campaign, its from Nueromancer by William Gibson, the book that brought Cyberpunk to the mainstream.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer

 

and here is my review of it:

 

http://www.killershrike.com/MiscStuff/RecentlyRead.htm#Neuromancer

Bit of a disappointment; I mean, a campaign where that kinda stuff happened would be real fun.

OTOH, getting to read about it has good points, too.

I'll have to see who I can borrom that from.

Thanks for telling me.

Re: Black Widow revisited

No' date=' they still have to accept that person. However, since the Commission is the campaign's version of the DOSPA, that liaison has to be obeyed while Homeland Security's doesn't.[/quote']

 

Ah!

 

Thanks for explaining.

 

You have a really neat story here.

Re: Black Widow revisited

The Commission on Superhuman Affairs' date=' headed by Dr. Valerie Cooper, is the government's superhero sanctioning agency. It also serves as a clearinghouse for federal superhero information. A superhero team's [u']official [/u]federal liaison is an employeeof the commission. However, since not all agencies trust them, agencies will sometimes assign an unofficial liaison, who, technically, has very little status.

So, if (say) Homeland Security tries to force a liason on a team, they can tell 'em to jump up themselves?