Doctor Agenda

Re: Internal Computer Good point. Of course, mind controlling someone through their interface is hideously complex. Inducing a seizure through their interface would be child's play in comparison, and also very useful. Imagine a scene where the interstellar safecracker is surrounded by agents and activates his failsafe program...and all of the agents fall to the floor, twitching.

Re: Internal Computer Now THAT's a storyline! 'Officer Martel, is something wrong? You seemed to be drifting off.' 'No, everything is perfectly fine. Say, how's that brainhacking investigation going?'

Re: Internal Computer Are you talking about brainhacking through the internal computer interface? Otherwise, all that other stuff applies equally to my local FBI agent's laptop.

Re: Internal Computer I don't doubt it happens. I just doubt the average FBI agent getting their laptop hacked is a common problem. Good for a storyline, not something to be paranoid about. They're more likely to pick up a nasty virus while netsurfing. Now THAT's something to worry about for the computer in your head.

Re: Internal Computer

Re: Super Zeroes Groan. Juryrigger: She has the power to fix anything, but it only lasts one to six minutes.

Re: Oil spill I'm the GM, and the Justice Foundation has an acrobatic detective, a guy who summons psychokinetic armor and weapons, an alien bug who can mimic humans, and an FBI agent possessed by a demon. Soooo.... The Global Association of Paranormals (GAP) selected a team of Americans from among its hundreds of members to work with BP and Transocean to seal the leak. They succeeded on June 19, and were greeted with a rousing 'what took you so long?'. GAP volunteers are also aiding in the cleanup.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes! That presidential hotseat is turned up to fricasee!

Re: Internal Computer On the internal AI with the program: Control VPP, should the character get an Ego vs. Ego to retain control of the VPP when the AI is at odds with him, or should the AI be able to override automatically?

Re: Internal Computer That is a danger, but if he's a Galactic Cop the penalities will be stiff and they probably have their own computer security always looking out for that kind of thing. The hacker will have to get into the GP computers, and then successful hack the cop's personal computer. It's probably worth a storyline. If the setting features psionics, a cyberkinetic could totally mess with the info the cop receives.

Re: Internal Computer I have a character with an internal AI. I didn't make it invisible, just bought it without a focus limitation. I gave it a Psychic Bond so the character wouldn't have to talk out loud to communicate with it like Deathlok and to avoid issues of re-establishing after being knocked-out when the AI doesn't have any targeting senses, even though arguably being inside someone should give it LOS on that person. The Bond is no-range, since there are circumstances where the AI can leave its host-body, it could be an issue. For zero points (because it doesn't limit the character) it has a Serves Host psych lim. It also has other psych lims related to its alien origin. It's part and parcel of a VPP based on having advanced reconfigurable alien technology inside his body, although it is paid for separately. It can take control of the VPP and choose to do its own thing (like do something it thinks its makers would want), but I can also see having a program like 'revive host body', which could be objectionable, or even obnoxious. It sounds like a recipe for abuse, but no one has even noticed he has recently gained a 60-point Cosmic VPP yet because the character is low-key like that. Still, from what I've seen in this thread, I'm getting the impression a case exists that an internal computer built straight-out according to the rules is problematic, especially if it can help out when you're unconscious. I don't have a lot of points to spend to make it more balanced, I may cut it back yet. So far I haven't done anything like use it to wake the character up when unconscious. OTH, having a separate consciousness with divided loyalties able to take over your powers residing inside of you could be much more trouble than it's worth.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes! Maybe some of them know what's coming and are working behind the scenes to support the United Superheroes. If only one of them was brave enough to speak up...the conspirators can't 'take them out' prematurely without tipping their hand, so it's an opportunity to make a case directly to the public for anyone congress critter with the cajones to step up.

Re: Dulce Base: The new Area 51? When I was in service, we took care of all classified trash. I remember a bunch of us being called out to clean up after an incinerator failure blew a bunch of classified docs all over the place. I don't know what standard practice is everywhere, but probably low-ranking employees 'sanitize' the area before janitors are allowed near it. And that's still with the janitors having clearances. They don't have a need to know.

Re: Need Hero "Packages" Good stuff, johnvalentine. I look forward to repping you when you have enough posts. Here is a thread that may interest you: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php/72091-Superhero-Package-Deals?highlight=package+deal You may also want to look at Cassandra's threads, she has been known to post interesting package deals for superheroes.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes! Sanctuary cities for super heroes...I love it! Dang...must spread some rep around.

Re: Who is an Empyrean? Usain Bolt from Jamaica, holds the world record for 100 and 200 meter dash. Three Olympic gold medals. Arguably the fastest man on earth in the RW. Admittedly, he could have been more creative picking his human name.

Re: Who is an Empyrean? A certain Mr. Bolt from the islands.

Re: Alternate terms for "superhumans"? Malibu had 'ultras', which I'm currently using in a campaign. I'm also using 'jinks', people with a 'jink' in their genetic code, the over-simplified 'gene X' idea, but not powerful enough to be considered ultras or have a downside that outweighs their power, like 'hideous freak who can bend forks with his mind'. Also a pun on their misfortune, all the prejudice at a fraction of the power. I'm going to have a 'Jinkstown' in Reno, but I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it in detail.

Re: World Without Heros: Earth-739 A tree which also includes the Wasp, a couple of Antmen, Stature, the female villain Yellowjacket, and probably some others I'm missing. No Thor, probably no Absorbing Man or Wrecking Crew. I'm an optimist though, with the time traveller out of the picture, new heroes would appear, and a few villains would step up.

Re: World Without Heros: Earth-739 Without Reed Richards, no scarring accident, no Doom as we know him. Without a rival intellect to compete with, he would still be formidable, but would probably not have accomplished nearly as much, and may never have adopted an armored personal. He is the quintessential Fantastic Four villain, without them or Hank Pym or Tony Stark he is just as likely to set out to prove he is a greater genius than the Mad Thinker or the Gremlin. He could wind up being a hero, albeit a very flawed one.

Re: Armor Wars Say power armor is in the price range of fighter jets and wearers able to handle them are as common as people who would make good fighter pilots...probably some overlap there so they'd be drawing from the same pool of candidates. Anyway, power armor units a cut or two below 'herotech' are available and in use by the sorts of militaries that can afford to deploy fighter jets. Can you maintain a rough status quo at this point? The military would have a much more effective weapon to fight supers with, but maybe it wouldn't change in-game history that much. Would there be a spectacular difference in how things have gone for us in the Middle East if we had power armor troops there? They're great for fighting conventional forces, maybe not the best thing for dealing with insurgents. Might even lead to a rise in terrorism if no one dares attack a nation with power armor troops openly. Great against tanks and artillery on the battlefield, but maybe lots of conventional ground troops with portable SAMS or antitank weapons could take out a guy in a $20 million power suit, especially while he's flipping over a tank. Anyway, regardless of how this works out militarily, it need not have a big impact on a typical day in Hero City. In my current game, you can't build a super suit without black box components that are secretly alien tech irreproducible with current technology and/or super-made components, such as materials that can only be made with Transform, so I'm not stuck with the mass-produced HAMMER suit issue.

Re: Supers vs. Military The tank shoots at Defender, misses, then Defender flips it over and on to the next tank. Tanks aren't designed to hit man-sized flying objects, or defend against them. I say 9 times out of 10, Defender outmaneuvers the tank and uses superstrength to disable it.

Re: "Normals" gaining superpowers: how would they change in terms of mentality? Different powers, different people, different temptations, different consequences. Laser eyes are weapons which can be used for good or ill...and probably have industrial applications as well. X-ray vision and invisibility lend themselves to spying, but the former also has obvious medical applications and the latter is an accident waiting to happen: we rely a good deal on other people seeing us for our safety. Flying is dangerous fun, and a quick way to transport a lifesaving organ, important documents, or contraband. Being lucky is an asset no matter what you do. While invisibility might be the most tempting power to misuse, I have the feeling that spying for the sake of voyeurism or noseyness would get old quickly. Eavesdroppers rarely hear good about themselves.

Re: Special Report: The End of Superheroes! Great dilemma for heroes: let crime run rampant or break the law by fighting it. Trying to stop criminals they might have to fight cops. It would be interesting if a city declared itself a 'hero haven' taking a stand against enforcing the SRA.

Re: Original Characters Melody Singer...love it!