Doctor Agenda

Re: Lazy Teenage Superheroes Got him for ya!

Re: Setting: World of Alts Sorry to resurrect an old thread, especially one I started, but I don't want to cover ideas I've already put out. This was more of a 'share thread' to get ideas out of my head; and now I'm looking for input. I was just about to start a new Urban Fantasy Champions thing; but I've again been bitten by the bug of taking a setting based on the mundane world and turning it upside-down by adding super powers. I've got an all-new group of players (I'm hoping to get them to play themselves), so I can recycle what I want from the old Alts campaign with them none the wiser, but there's a lot I would change, like having a lower starting power level. I was reading Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett while watching Ben 10 and Young Justice and I've got a nebulous concept of a child-like cosmic-level being messing with the Earth for several days (unconsciously?), doing things like putting an underwater civilization where Atlantis is supposed to be and adding more cowboys, Indians, and ninjas to otherwise boring days. This would culminate in an Event, like the Vibe in the Alt campaign, where the entity attempts to grant everyone their fondest wish or fulfill their dreams. In Alts there was one origin for everything (quantum nanotechnology), in this setting I want all types of power to be possible. The entity's power is so vast and reality-bending that it just changes things however is needed to make the wish come true. Although in this setting everyone is affected, as in Alts most don't gain appreciable power...their 'points' are shifted around but not increased, or they get a one-off effect like a new car appearing in their driveway that's nice but doesn't involve a 'change to their character sheet'. There is only the one cosmic being who is staying out of sight for now, six or seven very high-powered supers, 60 or 70 high-powered ones, and so forth. I'm interested in what the nature of the entity and its powers might be (in Good Omens it was an 11-year-old unsupervised antichrist), what the event might be called (the Change? Freaky Friday?), what to call the people with super powers, and generally pick your brains before jumping in. I had my group all ready for the occult Champions thing, so if I'm going to switch I want them to be happy with the change. I'm not married to any of the ideas I've presented so far, if you've got a twist or alternative I'd like to hear it.

I would like feedback on how to value a limitation that restricts an ability based on the time between uses. Example: Sheblam has a 6d6 EB she can use whenever she wants; plus she can do an extra 6d6 once per turn (-X) or one turn apart (-X). In the first case, Sheblam could shoot a 12d6 EB on phase 12, then on her first phase of the next turn if she wanted, but then she wouldn't be able to use it at full power again until her first phase of the turn after that. In the second case, if she used it at full power on phase 12, she couldn't do it again until phase 12 of the next turn, and so on until she skips a turn to 'reset'. Example: Morpho has a Multiform that allows him to change once per hour (-X) or one hour apart (-X). Same situation, only the interval is an hour.

Re: Game World Economy It's the natural cycle: adventurers put hoards into circulation, dragons take them back out again. Gold only causes temporary inflation because the wily and cunning dragons extract the gold from the inflated economy by various means; then sit on it when they have enough for a comfortable bed or to attract a mate or whatever it is they need a big pile of treasure for.

Re: Game World Economy I usually use the standard FH silver piece standard, but without being specific...if you 'have 100 silver pieces' you have an amount of silver coinage worth that much, but it could be more or less than exactly 100 pieces. More likely I would just tell a player they have 100 sp worth of coins and gems. It gets me out of having to justify why everyone in the world is using the same standard. As far as alchemy goes, I made noble metals resistant to transmutation, that's why turning lead into gold is such a big deal. It can be done if you want to spend decades mastering the art, and even then a reverse-transmutation spell will reveal if someone is doing it...worth checking if a lot of gold starts mysteriously turning up.

Re: Yet another D&D to Fantasy HERO conversion Steelwulf99, please post more so you can get repped!

Re: Urban Fantasy Champions Campaign I'm thinking of enlisting an assistant. Anyone have experience with that?

Re: Urban Fantasy Champions Campaign Sadly, that's because there is no picture. I was trying to paint one with words and failed.

Re: Your "2011" Pet Gaming Projects Dark Champions (?): Cursed Columbia. Pulp Urban Fantasy Champions. I started a thread asking for suggestions in the Dark Champions board.

Re: Hero System Equipment Guide PDF In Store Sounds like it will be more than was contained in the previous book. One thing that has kept me from buying more 6th Ed stuff is so much of it is just translations of 5th Ed stuff.

Re: Urban Fantasy Champions Campaign Hello, here's your Rogue's Gallery, everyone! Left to right: the Boo Hag, the Loup Garou, the Head Vampire, the Crossroads Pacter, the vengeful Hoodoo Doctor, the Ghostly Slavemaster, the Incarnate Demon, and finally, the real KKK Grand Wizard! How did they come to be working together? I wish you hadn't asked that. What are their actual names? Um, I'm working on that. Yep, that does sound like good advice. I'll be moderate.

Re: Urban Fantasy Champions Campaign I hadn't thought of that...an arch-enemy for everyone! My players will love that.

Re: Urban Fantasy Champions Campaign That sounds like a good idea. I was thinking about a hag preying on children as a kick-off bad guy. If I stick with that, I could make her more three-dimensional. She attacks in spectral form, pretty hard to beat if they can't find her skin and she plays cat-and-mouse instead of standing and fighting. Boo hags are skin-stealers as well as breath-stealers, I could give her a secret identity, or a series of them. OTH, they'll get great satisfaction from destroying a child-killer, so I don't want to keep her taunting them too long. Maybe I'll introduce a more human villain during their investigation that can continue to crop up long after the hag is done for.

I'm starting a new campaign which is sort of a pulp superhero urban fantasy thing. Usually when I post a new thread concerning a campaign I'm running, it's because I have a specific question. This one is a little different. In addition to my regular crew, a couple of people from out of town want to participate via Skype; so it will be a larger group than I'm used to. Between running for possibly eight players and some of them being so enthused about it based on very little information, I'm a bit nervous about providing them with something that lives up to expectations. The premise is that the world was your typical hidden magic setting with monsters and sorcerors all avoiding attention out of fear of mundanes in general coming down on them and the Dark Inquisition (occult conformity enforcers) or the New Inquisition (ecumenical witch/monster hunters) in particular making their continued existence difficult. Then, in the 1930s, a private eye in Los Angeles who was a big fan of The Shadow radio show got turned into a Tympanios (a relatively mild variety of vampire) and resolved to use his powers to emulate his fictional hero as The Shade. As it turned out, using your powers publicly without making your true nature indisputable (you can flat-out tell most people you're a vampire and they'll dispute it unless you go to some lengths to convince them) and maintain a secret identity; there's a lot you can do without having those feneral and particular hammers fall on you. Today, every city and not a few big towns have costumed adventurers and criminals, starting with 'Reals', moving up to Mystery Men/Kickass level, and on to the tiny minority who are exceptionally competent or have real occult power. Masks and capes are sometimes used as accessories by regular people; for instance, it is fairly common to wear a stylish mask for anyonymity or to conceal scars (police have an established right to see people's faces on request and most businesses require patrons to shop unmasked). There are no space aliens, and technology advanced beyond cutting-edge is most likely the work of a mechurgist or cybermancer. Almost every training or supernatural origin is approprate. The strongest person in the world may have a strength of 60, although no NPCs or submitted characters so far are that strong. One NPC can fly and toss lightning. No one can take on a modern army head-to-head and expect to win; or single-handedly stop tsunamis or personally air-lift enough food to stop a famine. In other words, no one can beat the world single-handed; but a few are arguably in Champions territory. Magic is almost anything-goes; but Unknown Armies obsession-based magic styles are a feature. Most supernatural entities have an ultimate origin connected to one of the realms of either the Spirit World or Other World; and magical power is drawn from those 'dimensions'. It's a 250-pt game, takes place in a medium-sized Southern city with more than its share of paranormal problems thanks to a curse laid by a badly-treated hoodoo woman in slave days. I'm looking to at least occasionally have Southern supernatural flavor, like hoodoo doctors, boo hags and confederate ghosts. Proposed player characters so far are a psychic detective, burn-scarred flame mage who wears a mask in both identities, a vigilante with a magic staff, and a 'mill golem'. My concerns are about handling so many players, maintaining suspension of disbelief, and exploring this sub-subgenre. Also, some of my players weren't ready for a more classic Champions game, and I would like to provide them with things to kill with a clear conscience a lack of reprisal from the authorities in hopes they'll respect a strict 'no killing humans rule'. I think some form of Dark Champions where they can still have cool super powers is worth trying. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... For what it's worth: for various reasons, sharks don't get cancer.

Re: Campaign Concept Source: "No Ordinary Family" That sounds like my childhood. Eglin AFB? Long shot, I know, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Re: Superhumans changing the course of history I heard my name.... In the Alts world, superpowers were common, but mostly weak, with about one-in-ten people having something in the under ten-point range, and about one-in-a-billion on the cosmic end. Space enthusiasts were quick to realize how valuable people with diminished life support requirements, immunity to radiation, 3-D direction sensing, +5 INT, etc.; would be in advancing space exploration. Not to mention the more powerful types who can act as human booster rockets or are completely space-worthy.

Re: Jinks Just wanted to check back and thank everyone for their suggestions. You really helped me make Jink Town come alive, and my players really seem to respond to many of these characters; to the point that a couple of them are actually trying to be more like heroes than anti-heroes. Gracias.

Re: Icons - The Costume and Superpowers Store The Icon Effect could be a perk, with different levels. At the highest level, all comic book tropes are in effect at full force: the lamest excuses work and even if your identity is revealed, something happens to convince everyone that it wasn't really you, after all. It could be Luck, with an Icon Effect Only (-1?) limitation. It could be skill levels, only to protect Secret ID (-1?).

Re: Rifts HERO? Welcome back! I'm looking forward to your take on the Ley Line Walker. I wound up treating a lot of their powers as perks for the ability to utilize a ley line, like access to a SF communication and teleportation system.

Re: Original Characters Sounds like a case of STSP (sexually transmitted super powers).

Re: SuperHEROing for humor Life as I know it.

Re: Commando Hero

Re: Anyone thought about a post-apocalyptic cross genra setting - let's call it "Drif Yes. Yes it does. Trusty wall is your friend.

Re: SuperHEROing for humor Only six more posts and I can show my appreciation...if ya know what I mean.