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JCR

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Posts posted by JCR

  1. Greetings!

    I will try and keep it concise as I can. I have been playing in the same group w/ the same characters for the past 30 points or so of exp (400 point start). We all wanted to play so we made characters, said we had been recruited by UNTIL, and just started playing as superhero group called PRISM (Paranormal Research & Investigation Supernatural Marshals; all members were magic based). Thus I had a bright idea of coming up w/ an actual scenario in which the characters actually meet, band together, and basically create PRISM by the end of it. I soon found this on the net http://trww.tripod.com/RolePlaying/ToStandTogether.htm which I though would be really cool (as bonus their group name would also become a double entendre).

    Here are the problems I ran into:

    1) I have never run champs before.
    2) I found out the hard way, though I enjoy playing the game, I really hate running combat as a GM in champs (been playing/running other tabletop games for decades so this surprised me quite a bit).
    3) I would hate to make it a flashback scenario, but every other thing I can think of brings w/ it myriad problematic plot holes that give me a headache.
    4) The current characters in the game would easily defeat every one of those NPC's; even the boss at the end is not much match for the 3 of them, even the pumped up version. I have considered switching them all for some supervillians, but have no idea who would fit; as I said, I am not familiar w/ champs in the tabletop medium.
    5) I have limited time during the week to try and work on this.
    6) I also completely and absolutely w/o a doubt suck at maps, specially hex/grid ones.

    Any and all assistance is appreciated. The more detailed you can get the better. Also, if you want I can give you details about the current characters if it helps. Have a good one!

    Edit: I also bought the Sands of Time pdf in case anyone also finds a way to tie it in.

  2. Dunno if it applies, but the guy from Doc Strange that ends up hating magic though he was a magic user himself?

    random rambling: I had a wizard character that ended up hating magic so much thanks to the GM that his mind broke and the way he renounced magic forever was by cutting off his own tongue thus cancelling anyway of ever being able to do magic again (all his magic was incantation-based). He still had an ability to sense and recognize magic.

  3. I don't know if someone already said it, but if I remember correctly there was a series of sci-fi novels called Deathstalker in which swords where still used because the energy weapons they had would self-recharge at such a slow rate that the only options left were to stare at each other until it did recharge and try again or fist-fight, thus they always carried blades w/ them and used the often.

  4. On 8/18/2019 at 12:48 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

    As a GM I tend to keep DCV of enemies somewhat lower than most, because missing entirely is a lot more frustrating and annoying to players than hitting and not doing anything.  The former, your phase is done and there's nothing you can do about it, you just missed.  The latter you can formulate a way to do better damage, and come up with tactics to deal with it. And at least you got to do more than roll dice once then your phase is over.


    Honestly I rather miss entirely and know that the enemy is just better at defense than I am at offense atm or that am just getting unlucky w/ my rolls, than to hit, hit, hit, and hit and absolutely feel pathetic because I am just tickling the opponent (no damage/effect). I can always find a way to improve my OCV, but everyone seems to have a cap when it comes to how much points one can sink into a power (including the characters in the books) thus limiting the amount of damage I can do no matter what (the same doesn't apply to defense).

  5. 1 hour ago, Tjack said:

        My question is, are the other players enjoying the game?   If so then you may have to just smile and get through it.

     
    Oh no, this is not only a recipe for disaster, why should anyone put themselves thru having a bad time to please someone else (unless its your significant other or your child, for those its ok)? Don't get me wrong every once in a while, sure, but every game nite?! heck no, life is too short. I was a part of a group for a long time that constantly wanted to play games that were fun to them and not me, and neither they or me had any problems w/ me finding something else to do meanwhile. I even recently had to walk away from a game being run by a friend because it just had a very disruptive player that made things very boring and annoying to me (and later on the rest of the group) and I just couldn't keep wasting my free time on something that made me miserable. I explained to my friend and he was ok w/ it as he understood why I was not having fun and had to walk from the table, no problems, no drama, and I was able to use the time for more entertaining/productive things.

  6. A little trick I have used in the past is to offer to run a game, then I pick something I know I can run and enjoy and that the players will be interested in and I run a game in which I just get em hooked and asking for more. Then I get one or more of the players interested in running in the same campaign or one of their own using the same game. Sometimes it doesn't work, other times it becomes the only game the group ever wants to play haha! The last time I tried this it ended up w/ a campaign being run by two GM's who would switch to give the other a break to create stuff while on break and to play his character w/in the same campaign.

    Also, if you are not having fun in ANY game/group you are a part of there are two choices I always make and both work. 1) If its a friend running the game I explain why I am not having fun, why, and suggest possible ways to improve the experience. 2) I simply give my thanks, excuse myself, and politely just walk away from the game.

    The whole point is to have fun and if that's NOT the case then you are merely torturing yourself and wasting valuable time you could be investing in something else.

  7. On 8/10/2019 at 7:57 PM, Christopher R Taylor said:

    Here's a scenario I used for my Dark Champions game

     

    The PCs hear of a new smuggling operation in town, one that people are willing to kill for.  They hit the streets and through streetwise, interrogation, and luck find out that the local bad guys (Viper in my game) are bringing in a new shipment at x time in y location.  The PCs go there, but no matter when they go to get their early, the shipment has already arrived and is blazing out of the area in a special hopped up vehicle with armor and gun ports.  There's a chase through town, cops vs a the truck shooting it out as they careen through town and the cops are clearly outclassed. 

     

    What's inside the truck?  Human organs.  Where are they headed?  With interrogation, superpowers, and streetwise, they find out that the organs were due for a super rich clinic for the most wealthy in town.  But where are the organs coming from??  More investigation and some head cracking at a local (Viper) sub base to check the computer records, and they find out that its coming from St Theresa's a hospital in the most poor and run down part of town.  Turns out the place is taking organs out of indidgent and dying people there and selling them to fund the oprations of the place so that they can stay open.

     

    The PCs face a moral dilemma: the hospital shuts down if they shut down the operation, but the hospital does a ton of pro bono work for the poor folks in the area, and its a long ways to the next hospital which can't really handle that much more business all at once.

     

    Oh, and a big shootout in the waiting room of the hospital awaits the PCs with (Viper) if they aren't smart about it.  Lots of potential innocent bystander casualties.


    I went w/ this and it worked very well. Had to as always improvise some stuff on the fly, but I was able to make it work. Had one of the experienced champions player just draw me the maps on the fly on the hex map w/ a vague description and it paid off. Thanks for the suggestion!

  8. Greetings! I will be running a short scenario to introduce two new characters to our ongoing campaign I am looking for a scenario that would fit w/ what's happening in the main campaign. Millennium City has been struck w/ a tsunami of crime since the Champions have gone missing for a few weeks now. Our heroes in the main scenario where doing their best to stop the pack and some guy called reverend x (its an old official adventure the GM has and it was used to kick start our current campaign). What I want to do is run a short scenario good for two vigilante flavor characters placed in the same city at the same time the other team is stopping the pack and have them team up w/ the other group after the end of the scenario. Can anyone link me to such a scenario (I need it to have maps or its unusable to me; I don't have the time, skill, or talent to make maps)? I also have no problem buying one as long as it has maps and serves the purpose. Thank you!

     

    P.S. it can be any edition champions, i have no problem translating stats to current edition!

  9. Thanks for the info, much appreciated, but a tad too late since I already gave to tablet away as a present to a special needs teacher who was in need of one. I still greatly appreciate the effort since now I know what to do if I do get another one and/or know of anyone else w/ the same issue. Hero Games Community, stay awesome!!!

  10. I bought an android tablet thinking I was going to be able to take the pdf books and the hero designer w/ me on it to game night, but it seems it won't open .jar files and the few explanation on possible way to do so (needs some downloadings and instals) is beyond my current limited understanding of modern tech. Is there a guide somewhere I can get to be able to do this or even better yet, if I get a windows tablet I can bypass the issue altogether seeing as it would run java?

    I am at verge of just giving the stoopid thing away as a b-day or xmas gift and its brand new; I have superhuman ability to be patient w/ people but suffer a -20 when dealing w/ inanimate objects. I am just a caveman when it comes to modern phones/tablets, my previous phone was a fliptop (yes, like Gibbs) that fell on the ground and didn't shatter into a million pieces and kept working just fine. Any help (even if its just, "get meds dude!") is appreciated!

  11. I don't know if this counts, but i will give u a brief account of our last scenario:

    We found ourselves facing 15 mind controled civilians who had force fields and arm blasters (11d6). In a crazy ploy to draw fire away from the civilians, I was shot at by the 15 of them, scoring enough hits to take me out of combat; not smart yes I know, but I did save the civilians and did not die, so not a complete loss for me). The only thing that allowed the other hero to survive the encounter was he used his illusion powers to make it seem as if 4 of them had suddenly become 4 of me, and them being in a mind control daze ("imotep...imotep...") simply drove them to start attacking themselves. The hero then decided to let them steal what they were after as he threw my unconscious form on the team vehicle (a magic flying carpet) and began following them from above (that carpet is crazy fast). Along the way I recovered. When we found their destination (a crash landed ship) we choose to stealth our way to the ship. Long story short we were able to surprise the alien in his robot vehicle that was incredibly tough and lethal (6d6 killing) and in this battle what worked for us was that the brick kept the bad guy attacking him and kept blocking for his life (which worked) while I blasted it from the air. Two turns later and badly injured (he had taken almost half my BODY in just 1 shot) w/ my last shot (no more END left) we were able to defeat it!

    Side Note: Two Turns is usually the most our fights ever last. So far we have only had two that lasted a bit more; one was a one on one duel and the other was the heroes battling Strahd the vampire (dunno if i spelled that right).

  12. 2 hours ago, archer said:

    I'm a fan of buying Extra Limbs for an onboard armor computer to allow it to manipulate the armor if you become unconscious (or to call it to you) and to manifest small "self-repair" limbs as a SFX. Of course if you go that route, you might want a Defend Self talent. And you open up the possibility of your armor going rogue or being taken over but that's the price you pay for letting your AI control your armor. :)

     

    I'm not sure how useful Lightsleep is since there's not a real need for a modern computer to sleep. Our IT department has instructed us to NEVER turn our work computers off.

     

    When your computer scans and enters data, does it notify you when something significant happens? Like if it picks up Channel 12's broadcast that aliens invaded downtown Santa Monica, does it just store the data or does it pass it along to you? (I honestly don't know how specific you have to be in your description but it's probably a good idea to talk to the GM about how the computer is supposed to work so there's no misunderstandings.)

     

    If you are looking for ideas of extra things to buy for your onboard computer, you could get it :

     

    various languages so the computer could translate for you.

    Mimicry so the computer can sound like anybody whether you in your superhero identity or someone else

    Transport Familiarity

    PS: Superhero so the armor has some idea what to do when it has no instructions (like call you if aliens invade Santa Monica and find you if you don't answer the call)

    Cramming: so the computer starts off the adventure with some skill its been studying like Tracking, Ventriloquism, Security Systems, Mechanics, Electronics, a Science skill

     

    If you want the onboard computer to have a personality, you could get it perks like the right to perform marriage ceremonies ( a right which anyone can apply for online). Or membership in MENSA. Or Gambling.  Having a computer who is addicted to online poker, or who has won a fortune doing online poker, could be amusing. Or a computer who has booked your armor to perform a wedding. Or who wants to take your armor to smoke cigars with the guys after a MENSA meeting.

     

     

    Your bases' computer eventually needs at least French, German, Russian, and Chinese languages in order to monitor world events properly.

     

     

     

    Whoa that sounds super awesome and i will more than likely use the idea to make a new different character, as for the languages I am planning on getting it the Universal Translator Perk. Thanks!

     

    1 hour ago, IndianaJoe3 said:

     

    I see that you have a Research program but no KS for it to act on. You probably want KS related to supervillains (and villainous agencies), local Area Knowledge, and KS: Current Events.

     

    You have not bought any Senses for the computer. This means that it can't record data of its own, only upload data from another source.

     

    I don't know how it works ruleswise, but the initial idea is to just link it to our coms system and to our base computer terminal which does has KS: Everything 30-. Now what I am realizing as I type this, could I just invest the points instead on the computer base, link it to our coms system and just have the characters buy Computer Link Perk? Also, am I allowed to create the same com system in the base instead of on the character, thus reducing the amount of points it costs to create or is that not allowed ruleswise?

  13. Two thumbs up especially if you are new to the game because it does all the math for you. I like that it even tells you in some instances when you are doing something that would normally be breaking the rules when creating something. After I got the program I have never bothered to use pen and paper to create characters or NPC's anymore. I even got a table to carry around my book(s) and program to game nite instead of having to lug around a collection of physical books (which is still fun, but too much work).

  14. On 7/25/2019 at 9:19 PM, archer said:

     

    After some bad experiences elsewhere, I just don't click randomly on things in forums that I have to download...even when it looks perfectly innocent and is almost certainly perfectly innocent.

     

    That's a great SOP to follow. let me see if I can get it in a viewable format in here (the hero designer is not allowing me to save as pdf for some reason).

    Took a pic w/ the windows snipping tool.

    Computer Light Version.PNG

  15. Thanks everyone for their opinions and suggestions. This is what we finally ended up going w/ for now:

    Secure Communication System:  High Range Radio Perception (Radio Group), Invisible Power Effects (Fully Invisible; +1/2), Usable Simultaneously (up to 8 people at once; +1) (30 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Affected As Hearing Group As Well As Radio Group (-1/4), Nonpersistent (-1/4) = 15 Points.

    Below our basic base computer:

    Onboard Computer (Light).hdc

  16. I guess there may be a multitude of ways to accomplish this depending on character concept/powers. For example thinking on my current character I guess I could always add +10 PD/ED to Resistance to force field, linked to force field, trigger against AoE attacks, Limited only works against AoE attacks, etc. Just wanted to throw out there another way to do it. I know its not to avoid the attack, but works well to simulate how AoE attacks are less effective against the character.

  17. 10 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

    VPP is really the tool for this.  My concern as GM would be that the player wants a character with all the options, constantly wanting to be the best in every situation, making the rest of the team redundant.

     

    This is exactly what happened to our group one time. Instead of even bothering w/ a character concept of some for, he just made a "spell" in his spell-book for each obstacle he could think of in the game then made it into a 300 point VPP and gave his character almost nothing else except two talents (not even stats!). The character ended up not only making every other character completely redundant (skills and powers-wise), but almost ended the entire scenario for the night in 5min real time. How? In a nutshell: desolidified thru all walls and went straight up to the rampaging monster inside the compound and commanded it to fall asleep. game over. Well, that was his plan, until the GM began explaining how something works and why he wasn't able to pull off some of the instant-miracle-fix-all-in-one-action things and he immediately would get completely frustrated because it did not immediately defeated an obstacle before him. At that point I ask myself, what would be the point of playing if I can just steamroll over anything/everything the GM creates? I get wanting to be better at somethings and finding creative ways of dealing w/ obstacles, but if with the wave of a hand I could just say "Doc Destroyer, sleep, I command you", and it works, it would be boring and pointless as heck to me.

  18. 16 hours ago, Doc Democracy said:

    well, your ability to percieve radio is essentially the same as your ability to see light. A dim light source may be effectively invisible to most people but visible to a sharp eyed individual. You would have to make perception rolls to 'see' individual signals. I would charge an adder to make signals transmit images as well as sound.

     

    You can buy levels with PER and levels to offset range penalties for folk listening to you (you shout loud).


    I am confused... Does this means that this radio system excerpted directly from the hero system guide section Sensory and Communications Systems page 301 doesn't carry further than really loud shout distance?

    "Ultimate Encrypted Radio Handsets: Radio Perception/Transmission (Radio Group), Invisible To Tracing (+¼), Usable Simultaneously (up to eight persons at once; +1) (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), Affected As Hearing Group As Well As Radio Group (-¼), 1 Continuing Fuel Charge (battery, Easy to obtain; 6 Hours; -0). Total cost: 10 points."

    But if actually it works like a radio and has an actual radio range what I want to do is make it OIF and see if there's a way to add sight to basically transmit both voice and audio (dunno if the power in designer gives me the choice and I usually assume if the software doesn't give an option its because its not available). Also, I will get rid of the battery and I plan on giving/linking one to the base computer so it can record video and audio fed thru the ones the characters have in use into its database as well as be able to read/scan/store text and pictures into its database.
     

    11 hours ago, JmOz said:

    My recommendation would be this

     

    High Range Radio

    Mind Link, works as radio not mental

     

    Now here is where it gets WEIRD.  A mind does not need to be a mind (If your GM is a stickler spend a point on a computer).  We will call this non corporeal mind "The channel" 

    Now every mind that links to the "Channel" is able to communicate (Think of it as a party line)

    The special effect of having to "link up" is to get the access codes (so if the power is ever "Turned off" you need to return to base)...by the way, at least 20 years ago this is how some encrypted radio's actually work...


    Its a great idea and I tried for a bit playing w/ this but the costs always ended up being higher that trying to use radio, plus I fear the possible repercussions of having a mind link later in the campaign.

    P.S.: Why do some computers, like the ones from Champions HQ for example, have KS: Everything -30? That seems ridiculously overpowered to me since I could theoretically just by KS: Everything -30 w/ Edietic Memory and basically know...well, everything! And why -30; isn't -20 more than enough? Still so much to learn. I am convinced its all this lack of knowledge of the game mechanics that I have which has also seriously limited my character creation potential atm.

    P.S.S.: I am really glad to be part of these forums for its a far better community that most I seen in games I tried over the years. Just wanna express my thanks again for all the ideas, suggestions, and opinions.

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