Watchman Mk. IV

Right. Because 'taking the high road' has worked so well. With two thirds of government (local, state, and federal) now being under Republican sway. Let's just do what hasn't worked, and keeps on not working. That's a sure recipe for success. Face it, the other side doesn't play by the Marquis of Queensbury rules. You either do the same or you let them get away with it.

Step One: Take back the House. (Forget the Senate this time, it's a pipe dream.) Step Two: Dump Two-Face Ryan and impeach Captain Clueless. That should keep his wily ass busy for a year. Step Three: Give him the poetically just "You're fired!" in two more years and hopefully the worm will have turned enough to take back the Senate. Step Four: Use the same tactics the Pubbies stuck us with last year. It's time to quit playing nice. It's funny, on Election Day I was coming back from voting (first in line at the polling place, thank you very much) when I passed my next door neighbor walking his daughter to school, and I said "I hope there are enough reasonable people not to vote his sorry butt into office." Too damned prophetic by half.

Massive Rush fan here; I have 15 albums of theirs, several concert T's, and memories of them playing 2112 live, twice. They're the intersection of myth and rock. I'm not particularly impressed with their direction since Roll the Bones, though.

Did something change since 4e? KA's were effectively +2 advantages (15 pts. per D6).

Eh, martial artists are so over-represented. Perhaps a support character, who either sets up the opponents or Aids the heroes? (The Psychic could fill that role.)

Heh the first thing I thought of on reading the thread title was a retirement home for old supervillains.

If you want it to happen with all the MP powers it'd be MP-only, otherwise you'd take it separately for every power you want limited in that way.

He needs somebody to keep paying his contract...

Much as he knows his Two Corinthians. "Two Corinthians walk into a bar..."

Shades of The Matrix and The Last Wave... Interesting use of the Dreamtime, too.

That's part of what I liked so much about my namesake series. (Of course, it's slightly easier to maintain continuity over 12 issues than a far-flung 'universe.')

Hmm...I smell another Johnny Football... I watched Mayfield fold against Georgia when it counted. I'm not seeing all the hype.

Slime Boss is the product of an industrial accident at a research lab that was working on a super-soldier serum. He grew to six feet tall, and his brain developed greatly. He cowed a number of lesser thugs into working for him, in part because bullets tend to do little damage to him. The first mission that he gave them involved the kidnapping of a weapons engineer, whom he used to upgrade him cybernetically. He's now the fastest and deadliest slug that has ever lived. His favorite combat saying is, "It's Slime time!"

After the scenario is completed, go over it and point out all the places that they could have made it easier on themselves if they'd had (and used) certain skills. And make it start costing them if they don't...like, they invade the base and get swarmed by every villain and agent there because no one had Security Systems and they tripped the alarm; the agents then keep the rest busy while the supers take down one of their number with ease. Force them to retreat or else. Maybe the hero that is taken down is kidnapped while the rest get away, and they have to run a rescue mission. Then say something like, "Man, if somebody had had Security Systems, maybe the group would've been able to take out some of their number before the entire house fell down around their ears." Or they miss the back door to the place because they didn't Interrogate a captured agent and force him to give up the intel on the place. Or they couldn't transport the maguffin that they need because no one bothered to buy Combat Driving (or Driving at all, for that matter). Or "It sure is lucky that the ambulance showed up when it did, otherwise Nega-Man could have died without medical help." You get the picture.

The styles are very similar. I'm gonna guess that the guitarist and keyboardist are ex-members. Currently listening to Casablanca on TCM.

I was a big fan of C&D back in the day, so I'll probably see it anyway, but I'm not confident. Besides, they are teens.

I find that a quick discussion for new players on combat tactics, specifically how phases work internally and aborting actions, goes a long way towards assimilating them to the system. I've also come up with a simplified Combat Maneuvers chart and Action Phase Table that I hand out to and go over with them. Assuming we're not using pregens, I'll have a preliminary session devoted to character-building. That's a far more difficult concept to grasp than the generally cut-and-dried rules of combat.

Congratulations on a thread of truly Bradburian proportions.

Midichlorians.

Yeah, I always liked the comic-booky covers of the Champions books.

I have a couple of ridiculously large boxes and several smaller ones filled with cards that I haven't used since the '90's. Recently I've begun thinking about going through some of the rarer ones to see what they're worth...sometime soon.

Simon Templar. I also wanted to make an Emma Peel character but never quite got around to it. Oh...and Doctor Who. Also, although not a character, you never know when you might cruise down the street and pass a "Argument Clinic,' 'Cheese Shoppe,' or 'Llap Goch' sign.

It's a bit more organic process for me, though I've GM'ed the game for so long it could just be that it's become second nature. My general rule of thumb when designing characters, at least as far as translating conception to the character sheet, is whether I'd allow a power, special effect, or application that I use myself from a player in my game. Conception is king, but you can damn well bet I'm going to squeeze every ounce of utility I can from the points available. (Also, I build exclusively 250-point PC's; I tend to prefer a lesser power level to Giants in the Earth type heroes. That imposes certain limits on what I'll use; for instance, VPP's are generally verboten unless you're talking about a small pool because they're either too damned expensive or too limited in terms of time to change. I'm not a big fan of gadgeteers anyway.) I've been told I rely too heavily on foci, but especially for Normal Characteristic Maxima types it seems the most logical and common way to go, unless you start trying to jump through hoops by twisting the conception. Another relatively common trick for me is activation time on defensive or utility powers and, of course, ultra-slotted MP's for attack powers, unless I have an overriding reason to make the slots variable. Back to conception, though, I always try to come up with at least one unique or different power for a toon; otherwise playing generic Joe Blaster or Jane Brick is boring. Sometimes that becomes the starting point for the conception, at other times it's the name, and occasionally the character comes to me basically fully-formed. (It's occasional because I've done so many of these things that it's tough to come up with a unique conception.) Case in point, the character I posted in Cassandra's design thread, Flatline. I created him some years ago in case someone didn't show up one week or if the team needed bolstering for certain missions. I didn't want him stealing fire from the PC's, so I figured a support hero would work best. Which led to a healer, refined to a doctor, which gave me the name. That then led to his unique power: suspended animation, and I was off and running. So I had a niche that needed to be filled, and that's the process I followed. I look at it more as a sculpture or a shrub than a house. I create a 'first draft,' and then I prune until it takes the final shape that will work in the game. However, since I'm a GM far more than a player, I have considerations involved that a player wouldn't. So the 'draft' has some built-in specifications. I like to think I've struck some kind of balance between the two styles.

Sorry, didn't realize that. OK, let's mix things up. Los Guerilleros are a South American-themed team of five heroes dedicated to truth, justice, and fending off the attacks of strongmen and imperialistic Presidents. Team balance isn't necessary, but desired.

I love the ninja's swords/shield. Pretty inventive.