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Dynamo

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Everything posted by Dynamo

  1. Re: Name the... well, kinda nameless right now, obviously I think I would play on a Daughter of Mars theme. Harmonia (daughter of Ares by Aphrodite) Antiope (daughter of Ares by Otrere) Amazon (the Amazons were daughters of Ares by Harmonia) Romula (Romulus was the son of Ares by Ilia and co-founder of Rome) Ares (calling a spade a spade) Drake (the Drakon Ismenian was the monstrous offspring of Ares by the Erinys Telphousia, appropriate if she broods about being an outsider or "monster" among humans) Nike (Goddess of Victory, considered by most scholars of mythology the daughter of Pallas & Styx, but Ares is called father of Nike in Homer's Hymn to Ares) There are plenty more offspring of Ares to choose from, but IMO these were the only ones with decent supername potential.
  2. Re: Make a Green Lantern Oath I'll take a stab at original. No promises of quality... Through burning fire or foulest storm, I will face the Dark in any form. And should I fall in this ultimate fight, Will come another bearing Green Lantern's Light.
  3. Re: The thing's I've learned playing a Brick... Someone didn't read all the instructions.
  4. Re: The thing's I've learned playing a Brick... Even with campaign-limit defenses, you can still get PWND by the stinkin' Stun Lotto.
  5. Re: The things I've learned playing a Speedster... The higher my SPD, the simpler each action needs to be if I don't want to get lynched by the other players.
  6. Re: [GM Help Needed] Superhero Mystries I don't know how many times I've made a critical error of this sort and gotten away undetected, but I've been caught at it three times. Since I run nothing but supers and fantasy, there's no such thing as an impossible situation; both of these genres epitomize out-of-the-box thinking. I just made the contradiction a central element to solving the puzzle. However, the goal is to avoid getting caught, and that means careful notes. I jot down each bit I give them and build a diagram of suspects, motives, opportunities, connections, and so forth as if I were solving the mystery right along with the players, which I am in a way. ADDENDUM: Also remember that using this method means there is no wrong trail. The trail the PCs are following is as right or wrong as you want it to be.
  7. Re: [GM Help Needed] Superhero Mystries I'm glad none of my players browse this forum, because I'm going to give up a secret. You want to know how I run a mystery? Here you go. I don't know who did it. I totally make it up on the fly: clues, suspects, informants, everything. Whatever I throw at the players is based on my subjective opinion of the needs of the story in terms of pacing and tension. No matter what question they ask, I make sure the answer is interesting, but later I might decide they've been chasing a red herring if that's what I feel the story calls for at the moment. My goal with this method is to keep the session feeling like cross between a mystery movie and an action-thriller. If I'm ever stuck, I imagine this notional movie and do whatever seems like a logical next plot point. I also keep track of the theories the players bandy back and forth between them. My favorite stories of "figuring stuff out" feature many characters, each with a bit of the solution. So I will often incorporate a bit of each player's theories into the final solution. Some will say this is a total cop-out and that it's "unfair" to the players. I ask what "fair" means. An interesting collaborative story gets told, and butts get kicked. What's missing?
  8. Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... GURPS Teen Supers: The whole Natural Sciences class has had an Origin Event while on a field trip. 36 hours later, the PCs and their immediate clique are still trying to keep a lid on things. Among the NPCs is Greta, who in the first 6 hours physically transformed from a bookish 5'3" girl who didn't need a training bra yet to a 6'4" cadillac-chucking valkyrie. The boys have all noticed that her figure has achieved comicbook proportions, especially the PC brick, Derek. Derek: "Greta's gonna present a problem..." [his hands begin moving up his torso in a cupping gesture] "...'cause she's got tremendous..." [hands continue smoothly up over his head as if to mark a height] "...height advantage!"
  9. Dynamo

    Super Names

    Re: Super Names Let's go with the Superhero/villain-ish names at the very least, and anything that really epitomizes the Pulp genre. Frex: Ripp Sampson = Pulp; Joe Hale = Yawn. Make sure you mark them clearly as being from a Hero 5e product so they have a better chance of getting the nod.
  10. Dynamo

    Super Names

    Re: Super Names Thanks for contributing, Starfighter. Yeah, I recently discovered that Supra______ is widely available on City of Heroes too. It's getting time to do another round up. Don't hold your breath or nuthin', but it's coming.
  11. Re: What if the M.U. was consistent? Consistency in the Marvel Universe is prophecied as the 5th Sign of the Apocalypse. The 3rd Sign will be a sitting Pope playing a Kender Rogue in a game of DnD, so I'd imagine we've a while to wait.
  12. Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes I personally know a woman who venerates Diana/Artemis as the embodiment of Woman as untameable free spirit and hunter/provider. Mean shot with a bow, too. I wouldn't want her to think I threatened her or her loved ones. EDIT: We're getting off topic, I think. Let's not get this thread moved to NGD.
  13. Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes
  14. Re: "Look, up in the sky! It's Super Saint!" Christian-themed heroes I do not espouse any of the Abrahamic faiths. I find no Truth in them, but I do find tremendously powerful Story. Modern faiths are fabulous sources of epic elements for your RPG campaign, but you have to be sensitive to the beliefs of your players. I've known Christians and Jews to get upset at the depiction of their faiths at the hands of nonbelievers, and I have also seen Neopagans object to the depiction of Magic in superhero and sword & sorcery settings. Luckily, I am blessed with a table of very open-minded players (2 Neopagans, 2 Bahá'í, 1 Agnostic), so I get a fairly free hand. Just as I contradict my own beliefs about Magic in my fantasy campaign with fireballs and wondrous healing, I contradict my beliefs about modern religions in my superhero campaign by assigning them at least a grain of Truth. In Cannibal Comics, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, Wiccans, Secular Humanists, Scientologists, Branch Davidians, Hare Krishnas, and all the rest each hold their piece of the puzzle. So I've introduced a few Christian-themed individuals and groups on both sides of the fence as well as straddling it. Here are a couple faves: The New Apostles Enthusiastically derived from Bill Willingham's Rapture as featured in his Elementals title. These guys received their powers from and are backed by a radical-right Christian splinter cult led by a charismatic "miracle" worker. They engage in rescue operations and some crimefighting and are considered by many to be heroes. However, they are under investigation by the FBI and PRIMUS, who suspect them of attacks on abortion clinics, homosexuals, and non-Christian institutions. Ordre de St Jean d'Arc The Vatican's answer to UNTIL, PRIMUS, SHIELD and the like. Though trained with ultratech weaponry, most members are deployed unarmed in support of a team of supers, depending on local laws and treaty status. The Order draws its superteams from a fairly extensive cadre spread throughout the world according to availability and the needs of the mission (and story ). Becoming a senior super operative of the order involves extensive indoctrination and training; each is an ordained Bishop in his own right. Women are thus locked out of leadership roles. While there are warrior-nuns among the Order, they answer to male superiors who are in turn answerable only to the Order's senior leadership and the Vatican.
  15. Re: Sick of Wolverine Howard the Duck? Damn, no duck emoticon.
  16. Re: Super Football If you consult the bloodwork on file with Hero Games, you will find that many of us are uncontaminated by anything so foul as a working understanding of the rules and tactics of football.
  17. Re: Sick of Wolverine threadjack Only once, but it was so effortless that Star Fleet Security wags are probably still losing sleep over it. /threadjack
  18. Re: Why is Piercing a power? Resistant Piercing would be my guess.
  19. Re: Super Football Easy. Teleport-proof ball. More seriously, there are an uncountable number of powers possible in Champions that would make American football, or any traditional sport, laughably easy to win. The designers of the game would have to think so far out of the box that the game would no longer be recognizable as football. So why stick to football? Put all the various sports leagues together to concoct an outlet for super-powered athletic competition and make some serious buckazoids. Call it Superball and let Wham-O be a major sponsor. If I were to do this in my own campaign (and that's not a half-bad idea), I'd have theme-powered teams (all flyers, all bricks, etc) for easy marketability, and every match would have custom rules written by a panel of experts. The custom rules for each game should challenge each team's strengths and weaknesses, as well as create a unique media spectacle to drive profits. From a plot perspective, it's a panacea of story hooks. Not only can the players participate in games and exhibition matches, but you get gambling investigations, rules-rigging scandals and plenty more monkey business. Just observe the shenanigans that go on in the professional sports world in real life, then imagine even bigger salaries, endorsement contracts and other profits. Add superpowers, shake well and serve.
  20. Re: Choose your words carefully! [threadjack] From Superfriends Ragnarok: "Form of . . . a world-drowning ocean!" "Shape of . . . the Midgard Serpent!" [/threadjack]
  21. Re: Choose your words carefully! The easy answer from a character-building perspective would be a large Power Pool with a skill roll & side effect. Then create a large list of example words and phrases. Putting on my GM hat, I think this power would just annoy more than entertain, just from the pain in the boot of having to constantly come up with side effects and other adjudications, plus having to wait for the player to create custom powers on the fly during combat. For the same reason, I usually veto open-ended Power Pool constructs. A Multipower with a defined phrasebook would be more palatable, leaving mainly the side effects to detract. However, the idea that has had me chuckling since I read your post: Power Word "Waffle": XXd6 Mind Control; 1 Command Only (Reverse Your Last Major Decision, -2).
  22. Re: Champions CCG? Disclaimer: I know licensing and other IP realities make this idea impossible, or so close to impossible as to make no difference. Since Vs seems to make cross-continuity games playable, it would be interesting to see a Champions Vs expansion. A few people with a good understanding of both the Champions Universe and the Vs system could probably kitbash together a basic deck right here in the forums.
  23. Re: A Snazzy Heading Would Just Plain Spoil It That's FUN!!
  24. Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel The (All-Too-)Handy Man (as an alternative to the Guy in the Basement, or perhaps working for him) So introverted he can barely communicate, the hotel handy man speaks only when spoken to. He can be found at any hour of the day fiddling with this or that device or fixture. He sleeps his full daily allotment in his room in the staff section, though at no predictable hours, and obviously spends the time for proper hygeine, but seems to have absolutely no other life. Even his meals are something portable from the hotel kitchen, eaten while working on something. Oddly enough, nothing EVER seems to be broken. The handy man always catches it before it breaks, malfunctions, or otherwise stops working properly. There also seems to never be a shortage of things to work on, as he is never seen idle, but he always has time to take a look at whatever toy/gadget/device a guest or another employee has that needs attention, which he is always able to fix with a minimum of difficulty, perhaps requiring him to step out for a part or two. From an antique wind-up toy soldier with a jammed mainspring to a bleeding-edge laptop with a virus-infested proprietary-technology harddrive, "it'll just take a moment." The handy man has that ageless appearance, anywhere from late 20s to early 40s, clean-shaven with short-cropped hair. His blue workman's shirt (sleeves always rolled up) and grey trousers would be at home in any decade of the 20th century, though maybe a little out of place in the 21st.
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