mattingly

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28627999#28627999

Re: What to do about Hydras When the superheroes in my campaign went to Mythic Greece, they were dismayed to learn that the detachable Hydra heads can fly. And breathe fire. And they sort of look like Quetzalcoatls.

Re: Stretching at Range Stretching is more fun with MegaScale and Autofire.

Re: War of the Worlds tripods Thanks, LL. Beat me to it.

Re: Highway of Lost Soles (Plot Seed?) It's gotta be evidence from this case.

Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster Watch out for those throwing stars of David!

Re: Lose Weakness I think a 1d6 Flash vs Find Weakness would clear it.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine I like the second one better -- the English solider strap-button look instead of the bathrobe look.

Re: Hero is TK projection of kid in coma

Re: Hero is TK projection of kid in coma I used a similar idea for a villain character in my agme a few years ago. [b]Enorma[/b] Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 70 STR *48 24- 400 tons; 15d6 HTH [7] 14 DEX 12 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 0 40 CON *48 19- 24 BODY *22 14- 10 INT 0 11- PER Roll: 11- 20 EGO 20 13- ECV: 6 15/45 PRE #*29 13- PRE Attack: 9d6 20 COM *4 13- 15 PD 1 Total: 15 PD (0 rPD) 10 ED 0 Total: 10 ED (0 rED) 4 SPD 16 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 24 REC 0 100 END 0 # Not for Skills (-0) 85 STUN 0 * OIHID (-¼) Total Characteristics Cost: 200 Movement: Running: 40”/80” Leaping: 30”/60” Swimming: 2”/4” [b]Cost Powers END[/b] 69 [b][i]Mental Body:[/i][/b] Desolid (not versus Sleep-based Attacks, Other Giants, or Movie Monsters), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½), Persistent (+½), Fully Invisible (+1); Always On (-½), OIHID (-¼) 0 60 [b][i]Giant Hands:[/i][/b] HA 6d6 (12d6 with STR), Affects Real World (+2), Area Of Effect (1 Hex, +½), BOECV (vs. PD, +1), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½), Persistent (+½); HA Lim (-½), Always On (-½), No Range (-½), OIHID (-¼) 0 80 [b][i]Giant Legs:[/i][/b] Running +34” (40” Total), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½); Cannot Be Used for Move-By or Move-Through Damage on Smaller Targets (-½), OIHID (-¼) plus Leaping +16” (30” Total), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½); Cannot Be Used for Move-By or Move-Through Damage on Smaller Targets (-½), OIHID (-¼) 0 30 [b][i]Long Reach:[/i][/b] Stretching 8”, Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½); OIHID (-¼), Always Direct (-¼), No Noncombat Stretching (-¼), No Velocity Damage (-¼) 0 [b]Talents[/b] 3 Perfect Pitch [b]Skills[/b] 3 Acting 13- 3 High Society 13- 2 KS: B-Movies of the 1940s and 1950s 11- 3 Oratory 13- 3 Seduction 13- Total Powers & Skills: 255 Total Character Cost: 455 200+ [b]Disadvantages[/b] 5 Accidental Change: Gigantic Dream Self 8- (when Dreaming) 20 Distinctive Features: Gigantic Woman (Concealable, Extreme) 25 Normal Characteristics Maxima (Age 40+) 25 Physical Limitation: Gigantic (16x Normal Size = 100 feet tall; “Weighs” 400 tons) (Always, Greatly) 25 Physical Limitation: Short Life Span, Dying from Tumorous Growth (Frequently, Fully) 15 Psychological Limitation: Vain Gloryhound (Common, Strong) 25 Psychological Limitation: Believes That She is Reliving Famous Role (Very Common, Strong) 0 Reputation: Actress 8- (small group) 15 Susceptible: 3d6 per Phase from Being Shown that She’s Not Really Enorma (Uncommon) 20 Vulnerable: 2x STUN/Effect from Sleep-Based Powers (Uncommon) 80 Experience Points Total Disadvantages: 455 Background/History: Elizabeth Norma Grand was a scream queen back in the ’50s. She “starred” in many monster movies, running away from rubber-costumed creatures, screaming for help, and helplessly awaiting rescue. Then she finally got a movie in which she was the monster. She’d make everyone else scream for help, and the camera would capture her beauty in wide angle. For, thanks to the magic of special effects, she was going to be a giantess, stomping through the tiny city buildings, terrifying the city. And she got to be a monster, while still being her beautiful normal self, without spoiling her looks with any freakish makeup. The movie performed moderately at the box office, and she was offered a sequel in which she took on both King Kong and Godzilla, but she became pregnant with twins, and decided to stay at home to raise her family with her second husband, Harold Biggs. That was nearly 60 years ago, and her health is unfortunately going downhill quickly. While awake in her physical body, she used to spend her time at the rest home, talking to her fellow residents, playing cards, watching television, and so on. But the past few weeks have been very uncomfortable. What no one realizes is that when she sleeps, she dreams of her starring role of Enorma, rampaging through the tiny city once again. And her dreams are beginning to take physical form…. Personality/Motivation: E. Norma Grand is a sweet elderly lady, rapidly descending into senility. When she’s coherent, she talks about her late husband Harold, her grandkids, baking, her awards (she won the 1952 Miss Automobile Model of the Year and Best Supporting Actress in 1953 for her screaming role in All My Monsters at the Horror Movie Honors). But as Enorma, she acts menacing and angry, but at the same time sexy and demure. She seeks to destroy the city that robbed her of her true love, just like the script of the movie that gave her character life. Since all of this is a dream about being in a movie, her reactions to what happens may seem a little odd. She’ll sometimes pose dramatically as she smashes a “set model,” or she might grimace at an attack even though it won’t really hurt her. Although she’s expecting planes and tanks to be her opposition, she won’t balk at superpowered heroes flying her way. She’ll treat them as any military attack, swiping them away, stomping on them, throwing large objects at them, and so forth. She might be placated by someone claiming to have saved her true love, or presenting a “cure” for her growth, etc. But the surest way to end her rampage through the city is to wake up her actual older self. Quote: (in her best “husky” voice) “How are you going to stop me, little man?” Powers/Tactics: Enorma is apparently a gigantic woman, with the inherent strength and toughness that normally go along with great size. What sets her apart is that she also seems to be completely invulnerable, but that is not truly the case. Her Desolid is undetectable to all senses including Touch, meaning that she seems to absorb all damage directed her way. Missiles explode against her “skin,” leaving her unharmed; punches by the mightiest bricks do not move her; laser beams that would slice mountains go no further than her body; claw-blades made of Questionite cannot penetrate her skin. Physical and energy attacks do not work against her because she does not believe that they should. After all, she acquired her great size through an atomic blast (just like in the movie), so mere mortal attacks are launched in vain. Mental attacks still work against her, which is perfectly reasonable, since her “giant body” is merely a mental construct. She doesn’t realize that she’s a mental being with an aged physical body near death. Sudden realization of this fact will be quite traumatic for her, and should be enough to neutralize her abilities. In combat, Enorma first targets those that can fly, swatting them away with her huge hands and long reach. If there’s a large object (a radio tower, a small airplane, revolving restaurant) that she can grab and throw, she’ll take out a group of characters that way (since it’s such a spectacular special effects shot). Ground-based characters will often get themselves stomped by her (very) high heels. If there’s another giant around, it’ll receive her full attention, since that must be her “co-star” (and she’ll “act out” getting hurt just like it was a real fight – that is, her Desolid will not apply against such a foe). Although she seems unstoppable, she has a few key weaknesses. First, she’s wide open to mental attacks. Sleep and dream attacks work particularly well against her, since she’s a dream, anyway. The primary way to beat Enorma, however, is by discovering that she is not what she seems, and confronting her with evidence. A video store with a lot of 50s’ B movies might have a copy of her movie; A character with an elderly DNPC might recognize her as the neighbor in the nursing home; an old cast member, or maybe the director might still be alive to notify the PCs. Appearance: Enorma is 100 feet tall, and nicely built. She seems to be in her mid-20s, and wears a button-down shirt that’s tied in the middle, exposing her midriff. Norma herself is a woman in her late 80s, and in poor health. She’s very thin, with white hair kept in an untidy bun. Campaign Use: Enorma makes a good “unstoppable monster” for a superhero team to deal with. She comes with a couple of “off switches” (ways to negate her threat almost instantly), and should challenge the heroes to use their heads instead of their fists. If her Desolid is too much trouble for your PCs to get around, replace it with Armor (15 PD/10 ED) and 75% Damage Reduction for Physical and Energy, Resistant, both with the Limitations Not versus Sleep-based Attacks, Other Giants, or Movie Monsters (-¼) and OIHID (-¼), using the cost savings from dropping the Affects Real World from her Giant Hands to cover the difference. To raise her power level, replace her Running with Tunneling 30” through 30 DEF, Reduced Endurance (Costs END Only to Activate; +¼); Ground Surface Movement Only (-1), Cannot Be Used for Move-By or Move-Through Damage on Smaller Targets (-½), OIHID (-¼). This will give her the ability to perform a “Casual Move Through” on surrounding terrain as if it was all a papier mache movie set. With this ability, her enemies will not be able to hide from her, since she can walk 15” through any kind of material and still attack with her gigantic hands and long reach. Another idea is to give her the ability to grow even larger when needed. 15 or 30 points’ of Growth that costs END only to activate, so that she could double or quadruple her size, would make her scary indeed. To lower her power level, cap her height at 50 feet, and lower her STR to 60, CON and PRE to 30, HA to 4d6, and Running to 20”.

Re: Pushing daisies (tv show)

Re: Pushing daisies (tv show) I'd go for Transform (Corpse to Living), with the way to "heal" the Transform is another touch from Ned.

Re: "Neat" Pictures How can you tell when that boat has capsized?

Re: Jokes Miss Beatrice, the church organist, was in her eighties and had never been married. She was admired for her sweetness and kindness to all. One afternoon the pastor came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room. She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea. As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, the young minister noticed a cute glass bowl sitting on top of it. The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all things, a condom! When she returned with tea and scones, they began to chat. The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist. 'Miss Beatrice', he said, 'I wonder if you would tell me about this?' pointing to the bowl. 'Oh, yes,' she replied. 'Isn't it wonderful? I was walking through the park a few months ago and I found this little package on the ground. The directions said to place it on the organ, keep it wet and that it would prevent the spread of disease. Do you know I haven't had the flu All winter!'

Re: Continous *Continous* Damage Shield The power Acid Sheen in USPD covers a way to do this.

Re: "Neat" Pictures There's not a "scary" pictures thread, so...

Re: "Neat" Pictures Jesus catching his flight: So that's where clouds come from: She's a delicate flower:

Re: Jokes Inspired by the Roman Limerick, here's some Stuck Shift Key Poetry.. ^<@<.@* }"_# | -@$&/_% !( @|=> ;`+$?^? ,#"~|)^G hat less at less point at star backbrace double base pound space bar dash at cash and slash base rate wow open tab at bar is great semi backquote plus cash huh DEL comma pound double tilde bar close BEL

Re: Well, they had to name it something... I think I can see Uranus from here...

Re: "Neat" Pictures Is that where ghostwriters send their letters?

Re: Gestalt's Tyranny League In Prosperum Dominatus THE TYRANNY LEAGUE Membership: Imperator (leader), Computor (lieutenant), Hand of Chaos (lieutenant), Jericho Bronze (field commander), Daimyo (field commander), Berserker, Mindwarp, Poltergeist, Scarlet Knight. Energy Master and Bloodkite are two deceased members of the League, and Fatemaster is a traitorous former member. There are rumors of secret members of the League who have not yet appeared in public. The following names are rumored to belong to secret Tyranny League members: Battleship, Herobreaker, Myrmidon, Twenty-One Gun, Discharge, The Castellan, Ion Inferno, and Viral. None of these gestalts, if they even exist, have ever appeared in public. In addition, the Tyranny League is on good terms with Trakker, the Deregulators, the Firestarters, Weng Chiang, Britain’s Destruction Society, and many independent villains. Cannon Fodder, the sole survivor of the Devastators supervillain team, has been given an open invitation to join them, should he choose to escape from prison (he was denieds parole last year). The League is on poor terms with the Psionic Seven, the Leviathans, Influence, Fatemaster, and Hel and the Philosopher. They are on good terms (albeit secretly) with Powerjack. The arch-enemies of the League are Columbia, but Kinestar and the Titan also hate them with a passion, and the Hollywood Knights and the USMC Vanguard would not shy away from a chance to stop them. The Magician and Flayer (of the Firestarter) are both Tyranny League operatives, though only a handful of people know their true allegiances outside the League. (The Magician also owes loyalty to Influence, but would like to be free of both obligations). The Tyranny League have many of hidden operatives in high places, in the White House, the United Nations, and Wall Street. Few webs in the Gestalt world are as tangled as the one that Imperator has woven, yet the League is more secure than any supervillain team in history. They are actively recruiting new members, testing new prospects with telepathy and loyalty trials. Their next recruiting drive will probably be at the Copenhagen tournament. Background: The Tyranny League is the continuation of a dream - a very sick and twisted dream. Joel Roberts was one of the most arrogant men on the planet. He thought of himself as the center of the universe, and called himself the Big Bang (it didn’t hurt that he had tremendous explosive powers). He dreamed of being the ruler of the world. He dreamed of devastating nations, and killing anyone who stood in his way, and he put together a team of superhumans to make his dream a reality, the Devastators. Enter the most powerful supervillain team on the planet, Take One. The Devastators might have pulled it off, but they were stopped early in their careers by Columbia -- barely. For several years afterward, no major alliance of supervillains emerged. Columbia grew in strength and experience, and many thought it was unlikely that a supervillain team would ever emerge that could effectively challenge them. Phil Dansen, an assistant to Dr. Mathias Power, thought differently. When Mathias‘ career as a supervillain was brought to an end by Columbia and the Canadian superheroine Crucible, Dansen ransacked Power’s bases and made himself Imperator, the Master of Conquest. Imperator would put together a team of villains that would succeed where the Devastators failed. Imperator’s first step was to unite a core of five New York based supervillains who had less than stellar careers fighting (individually) against Kinestar: Energy Master, Jericho Bronze, Mindwarp, Scarlet Knight, and Bloodkite. All of these villains were capable, and with the except of Jericho Bronze, demoralized by their defeats. Serving on a supervillain team would be good for them. The other charter member was found at one of Dr. Power’s bases, a red cloaked figure who was contained in a stasis chamber. The Hand of Chaos explained that he was a pure gestalt that Dr. Power had tapped into as a power source. The Hand’s powers were immense, and gave the Tyranny League a weapon that enabled it could establish itself as more than just a team of thugs. Their first operation was the defeat of a fledgling New York superhero team, the Bronx Guard, in 1994. When the battle was over, Imperator ordered Bloodkite and Scarlet Knight to execute them. For the first time, an entire team of superheroes had lost their lives on the field of battle. If Imperator wanted to get people’s notice, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. The media went into a feeding frenzy. With the League’s reputation established, Imperator’s next step was to find a secure hiding place and bolster his forces. He also began a plan to infiltrate his enemies, enlisting a number of operatives in key positions in the United States government, most notably the Magician. The League’s machinations were noticed by a one of the world’s leading programmers, the programming gestalt Computor. Computor felt that national governments were an impediment to business in the modern age, and saw the League as a way to engineer social reform. Imperator quickly took a shine to him, and made him his first lieutenant. Computor used his mastery of computer networks to purchase a network of safehouses and transportation for the League, making it much more difficult for their pursuers to locate them. (Though it’s rumored that the FBI knew where the League was holed up, and didn’t want to incur the casualties that a fight on the League’s home turf would have incurred). Seeing a need for more muscle, the League contacted Taros Vlacek, the strongman gestalt Berserker. Berserker had been a fugitive from justice for several years and was glad to get some security, as well as revenge. Combat prowess was also a major concern of the League’s until the addition of Daimyo, a ninja jonin, whom Imperator found in Japan. Daimyo refused to join the League as a member, but he’d work for them if the price was right. Daimyo is currently an employee of the League, with a five million dollar annual contract The League performed a number of crimes, to finance the team, and serve as training exercises. During a political crisis in Haiti, they took over the country, then abandoned it before the US military landed. Imperator’s greatest concern is that the Tyranny League would become susceptible to developments by the US military in creating anti-gestalt weaponry, so they announced their opposition to US battlesuit programs. The anti-technology offensive culminated in 2000, when the League assassinated the world’s most famous gestalt scientist, Dr. Astra. Dr. Astra died, but Columbia arrived in time to intercept the League, and the battle was bloody. In the end, Bloodkite was killed, but so were Columbia’s Rex and Reactor. In spite of Bloodkite’s death, Imperator was very pleased with the results of the battle, which achieved his objectives and humbled Columbia. He decided to boost the League’s roster and added a very powerful gestalt named Fatemaster. This proved to be a mistake. In 2003, Imperator was worried that the League was being forgotten. He decided to reenter the spotlight in a big way by destroying one of America’s quintessential symbols: the Liberty Bell. Fatemaster, hoping to eliminate the League and take control of their operations, informed Columbia. Columbia was ready for them, and in the ensuing battle, Energy Master was killed, and Columbia might have captured them if it hadn’t been for the intervention of someone whose existence Imperator had kept even from the other League members, Poltergeist. With Poltergeist indicted into the League, the team finally found a secure HQ, as Poltergeist could create a gateway to a place in the Gestalt Dimension which serves as the League’s HQ. The League’s most recent activities have been more cautious and underhanded. While continuing to seek ways to boost their combat complement, the League has escalated its infiltration operations and its war against the United States government, particularly in the firebombing of Atlanta and the strike against Project Capricorn. The United States government is making the capture of the League one of their chief priorities, and there are some reports that Liberator’s obsession with capturing the League is pushing him over the edge. In 2008, the League found a new target --- the media. Without explaining their reasons, the League launched a simultaneopus coordinated attack on the facilities of every major network and cable news network, plunging the nation into "television darkness" that lasted over a week in August. Attacks on Internet service providers followed, until Columbia entered a cyberspace-like dimension and drove off the attackers. No one is quite sure what the League's motivations were, however there's a very strong possibility they planted a Trojan Horse in the system when it was reassembled, Tactics: It’s hard to describe the full array of combat tactics of the League, especially when you add someone as versatile as the Hand of Chaos into the mix. Despite their reputation for brutishness, the League is actually a well disciplined unit. The most dreaded move is the triple kill; Berserker grabs an opponent, Jericho Bronze grabs Scarlet Knight and rams him at full speed into the helpless opponent, impaling him at top speed. Ouch. Another favorite tactic is the Hand’s Moment of Chaos, the use of Flash/Dazzle over a wide area to blind many of the opposition prior to the League’s attack. The League reserves their actions until the moment their opponents are blinded; Jericho Bronze sweeps as many opponents as possible, then the others open up. Group Relations: The Tyranny League gets along very well, surprising given that they’re a pack of psychotic sociopaths. There are a few individuals with personal agendas (such as the Hand of Chaos and Computor), but they rarely get in the way of the team. There are team members who are not popular (such as Berserker), but even they’ll find someone on the team with whom they get along. As Imperator has said (privately): "Make a freak feel half-welcome, and he’s yours for life... or for as long as you can stomach them." Bases: The Tyranny League have (secret) bases in New York City and in Washington DC. The New York base, unknown to everyone, connects to a pocket in the Gestalt Dimension that gives them almost total security against attack. Reputation: The Tyranny League is known and feared by nearly everyone on the planet (although with the exception of the Haiti operation, they’ve never been active outside the United States). They are the world’s most infamous team of villains, and with very good reason.

Scott Bennie has begun a series of posts about the Tyranny League villain team from his Gestalt book, over at the BlackWyrm forum.

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. I remember the Lewis Carroll poem, but had never seen it illustrated. Cool find.

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine Do they need a volunteer to kiss under their mistletoe?

Re: Smiley in the sky