Pattern Ghost

Re: Are all the good names really taken? One thing's for certain, you'll be at a huge disadvantage if you are starting with a name and just a power concept. If you have some idea of backgrounds for these characters or any other character concept tidbits, that'd help. For example (probably not a good ones), if the growing hero was a blue collar type, particularly in construction, he may go by Crane. If he was into photography, he may go by Macro. If he was into going to live sporting events or concerts, he may go by Nosebleed. Eh, not quite great examples there, but I'm pretty sure none are taken yet.

Re: New to Champions and I have a question Oh, no arguments there, just keeping stuff straight for the new folks. =D

Re: Giant Airplanes I wonder how many of those would fit on that giant boat?

Re: New to Champions and I have a question Note that while this is a worthy list, you'll still need either the main Hero system book or Sidekick to run a game.

Re: Storn Art From Idea to Full Picture Year 4 Here are a few. Some may be too bleh, but here they are anyway: Nightingale: Superpowered nurse, ninteenth century blended with modern motif. She uses an air pressurized injector similar to the one used to give vaccinations to deliver a wide variety of interesting substances, both harmful and helpful. She should be better-looking than the original =). The Chiropractor: Where do bricks go when they throw their backs out after falling off a skyscraper or stopping an asteroid's collision course with the earth? There's only one guy strong enough to get the job done... The Chiropractor. Unfortunately, he has a sort of Jeckyl and Hyde personality, so sometimes, the spines just come right out.... Dark Matter: This guy knows where all of that unaccounted for mass in the universe has gone. With the ability to channel and internalize "dark matter," our hero can create force fields, platonic solids, and even become super dense himself. With his force field up, he's totally black, though he tends to "leak" bits of matter (think Kirby dots, though, uh not Kirby dots b/c they're just representing positive space.) Star: A robust, cosmically-powered energy projector. Her uniform is a sleeveless unitard with a large silver/white star in the center of the chest. With her powers activated, the black takes on the appearance of a starfield and the chest embelm pulses with silvery energy. A Gadgeteer/MA on a budget. Using parts either easily fabricated in a small machine shop (his garage) or modified off the shelf. His helmet is a cast off fighter pilot's helmet, rewired and integrated with a parabolic mic and infrared sight system. His armor is a combination of kevelar and titanium plates sewn in to reinforce key areas (torso, joints, high collar to protect spine/neck, toes, knuckles, and back of hands). His swingline system is based on the mittens tied together with a string through your coat sleaves principle. His back has a housing for a flywheel system, and each forearm mounts a pneumatic grapple-line launcher. When he releases with one hand, the next shot of line is reeled in and fed to his second hand. Unfortunately, the system can get tangled sometimes, and needs to be reeled in by hand. His vest has a number of canister type grenades of various types, all home-made using differnt types of tin (aluminum nowdays) cans, such as Campbell's soup, etc. His belt holds a largish pouch of tools on one side, including a balpeen hammer visible on the outside of the pouch. His weapon of choice (aside from armored fists and feet) is a bolo gun. The bolo gun consists of four tubes about the same size as tennis balls, around a central post which feeds the line between the bolos. After two bolos are fired, two more are advanced, and so on. A jar in a brain. Bulky brickish-looking guy with an exposed brain, in which is embedded a jar. Although he's drooling, it's obvious that he has both vast physical and psychic power. Pick any of the psychadelic visions of angels or beasts from Revelations and do a literal interpretation of it.

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? I'm pretty sure the book says it's OK for GMs to change the rules. It seems to me that a good time to make such changes is when an affect isn't achievable without six pages of debate, and when it's a common effect in the genre and not one with a great deal of impact on the campaign. I'd say taxiing people around with a movement power falls into that category. Usable On Others does not have an option for giving the power to a willing target and having them not be in control of the power. Usable As Attack does that, and willing targets could be considered DCV 0, but you could still miss the attack roll. "Ok, GL, roll to pick up your teammates with your power ring...ah, too bad, you rolled an 18, try again." The roll on willing targets could be handwaved, but then again, we're talking about handwaving. Why not just make a Limited Power limit on the UOO advantage to handle the lack of control for the passengers? Let's look at some common cases: Storm picks up her teammates and hauls them along with her on the wind. TK probably handles that one just fine. Green Lantern picks up his teammates in a force field bubble and flies with them, providing transport, defense, and sometimes life support. I'd say Force Wall is appropriate, house rule that you can drag people along if you have any TK STR, so you can also transport prisoners trapped in the bubble, and buy LS linked to the FW. So, you broke a rule to get a genre effect, no big deal. Ice slides, and other matter surfing powers. Frankly, most applications of slides I see have the character carrying the person or the passenger passively sitting on the ice slide. Other people may jump on the slide, or disrupt it by damaging the slide. Physical Manifestation as a limitation works here. The small advantage gained that someone can ride (but with severe penalties to act in any meaningful way is outweighed by the slide being attackable, because after all, the hero could simply sling a willing passenger over the shoulder. Flying Carpet. Flight with a physical manifestation or focus works for me. As far as I'm concerned, go ahead and slap on AE: Hex to it for carrying another person. The vehicles rules also work, and some purists may prefer that rule, in favor of using what's available first. Either way works, neither one breaks the game, so who cares? The issue is rarely going to be game breaking. Just make sure that the player pays appropriately for anything that gives a combat advantage on a regular basis, and go for it.

Re: I'm mad at Killer Shrike I'm mad too! Shrike owes me hundreds of hours of my life back that I've spent on his site.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Johnny Cash "A Boy Named Sue," "Rusty Cage," "Folsom Prison Blues"

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? I'm not suggesting anything, merely observing.

Re: Help with player knowledge vs. character knowledge I'd turn my head so I didn't have to witness him taking a leak. Of course, if there wasn't a fire hydrant nearby, I might just try to sack him with a tackle, and attempt to catch him off balance. If Vector is a speedster, it makes even more sense. I think either conclusion would be within the bounds of character knowledge.

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? This was the original post in the thread. It's a pretty straight forward question with a very easy answer that has deteriorated into a slugfest of unwarranted proportion. I think some folks are having their Enraged When Reading Boards and Stubborn Disadvantages triggered here. And the next time anyone goes to another board and defends the system against complaints of being overcomplicated, they'd do well to remember this thread, and that it's only as complicated as we need to make it. This isn't directed at anyone, it's just a general observation. If you do take offense, that's probably b/c you're guilty.

Re: Granularity Hero has the same granularity as any other popular game at the Heroic level, ie, the same number of significant stats, so why worry about it? Edit: Actually, the number of characteristics means it's more granular than most.

Re: How to model GL dragging along an englobing Force Wall? How about an adder: Common sense force wall +0. Then link a FW with some AE TK. Just let the stupid FW move as long as you have enough TK STR to lift the contents. That works fine for willing targets. For the unwilling, TK + Entangle. Done.

Re: Hero System and Rpg.net Yeah, the actual comment cited wasn't that bad. RPG.net's still mostly a turd-fest though.

Re: Hero System and Rpg.net RPG.net has a community full of idiots who like to get into geek oneupmanship contests. Best to ignore those types if you go there.

Re: New to Champions and I have a question I think starting with Sidekick is a good idea, too. You can get the meat of the system, and if you like it you have a second book handy at the table for passing around. If you don't, then you're out a lot less money.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? Krystal Harris. I looked her up after seeing a huge number of AMVs on Youtube featuring this song. This is from about 2002, I think. Damned if she doesn't look like a dead ringer (except hair color/style) for some Supergirl versions. I vote for her for a live action Supergirl movie! (Apparently, aside from being a singer/songwriter/dancer and very cute, she can act some.)

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? Hmm, I thought there was a version of UBO that didn't give them control over the power. I must've misremembered that, sorry. I still think TK is probably the easiest way to haul extra extra people along with you.

Re: Brick Collection (Spin off from Normal Proofing Bricks) LOL, repped.

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? I usually think of that effect as wind based TK. YMMV.

Re: New to HERO

Re: Brick Collection (Spin off from Normal Proofing Bricks) Here's one I've been working on as an NPC or possible pre-gen if the GMing bug ever bites me again: Blackbird 60 STR 50 20 DEX 30 30 CON 40 15 BDY 10 13 INT 03 11 EGO 02 25 PRE 15 20 COM 05 40 PD 28 20 ED 14 5 SPD 20 20 REC 04 60 END 00 60 STN 00 Total:221 POWERS/SKILLS/TALENTS: 15 Damage Resistance 20PD/10ED 13 +13" Leaping (25"/50") 05 10" Gliding, OIF:Cape (-1/2), Restrainable (-1/2) 10 Power Defense +10 09 Life Support: Reduced Sleeping (8hrs/wk); Extended Breathing (1END/Turn); Safe In: Extreme Heat, Extreme Cold, Vacuum/Low Pressure, High Pressure 05 Lack of Weakness -5 30 MP:Vast Reserves of Strength 30pt pool 2u Tearin' Stuff Up: AP on 60STR, Only vs. Inanimate Objects (-1/2) 1u Witty Power Name Involving Lifting: +30 STR, Only to Lift and Throw (-1) 1u Iron Grip: 6D6 Supress vs. STR, Target Must Be Grabbed (-1/2), No Range (-1/2) 3u Prodigious Leaping: x128 Combat Multiple on Leaping (3200") 1u Unleashed Fury: +6d6 HA, HtH(-1/2), Requires EGO Roll to Start(-1/4), Only in Extremis(-1/4) 3 Power Skill: Super STR (DEX-based) 13- 9 +3 with Punch/Haymaker/Grab 3 Teamwork 13- 3 Computer Programming 12- 3 Systems Operations 12- 3 Cryptography 12- 3 Electronics 12- 3 Persuasion 14- 2 SS: Physics 11- 2 SS: Mathmatics 11- Total: 129 Total:350 Disadvantages (150 pts): 15 Public ID (Gail Franklin) 15 PsychLim: Code vs. Killing (Common, Strong) 20 PsychLim: Always seeks to "do no harm" (Very Common, Strong) 25 Hunted: VIPER 8- (MoPow, NCI, Capture) 10 Hunted: Villainous Bricks (Gunslinger Mentality), As Pow, 8-, Harshly Punish 10 DNPCS: Foster Parents 8- 15 Physical Limitation: Dense body, weighs 600lbs, All the Time, Slightly Impairing 10 Reputation: Very Strong Brick with a Conscience 11- 15 Distinctive Features (Not Concealable, Noticed and Recognizable) Weighs 600lbs, Beautiful, Amazonian appearance and build. 10 Vulnerability 2xSTUN from Sonic Attacks (Uncommon) 05 Vulnerability 1.5xBODY from Sonic Attacks (Uncommon) Background/History: George and Mary Franklin raised Gail on a farm in America's heartland, a farm paid for by the federal Witness Protection Program. The "Franklins" are not super powered themselves, rather they are in that unique caste of civilians whose lives are irrevocably entwined with the superhuman community. Due to a tragic event that led to the deaths of Gail's true parents, both supers, the Franklins were called upon to testify against a particularly vindictive and vile group of villains, and were relocated as a result. Because they were highly regarded in the community, Gail was given in to their care. She was raised to always do the right thing, and to always, ALWAYS exercise restraint in the use of her great strength. Gail led a sheltered existance, home schooled from early adolescence on (normal desks wouldn't support her weight after that point, which would give away the fact that she wasn't a normal kid). She acquired a four year degree in computer science through online courses. And then... Well, and then she had enough. Gail had to find a purpose in life, a goal, and a career. All of that involved getting out of the house, and that meant blowing any pretense of being a normal person. You can't pretend to be normal when vehicles tilt when you get in them, or when you can't sit in any but the sturdiest chairs, or when your feet sink to the ankles in normal grass. So, off she went to college, to complete her advanced degree in computer science. To divert suspicion from the "Franklins," she staged a laboratory accident on her first day at university, then claimed that as the origin of her powers. Personality/Motivation: Gail would like to lead a normal life, as a computer programmer for a good company, which would make Ma and Pa Franklin very happy. Unfortunately, Ma and Pa Franklin also instilled a very strong sense of responsibility, so Gail seeks to use her gifts to help people, while making a modest living working on programming projects remotely and somewhat anonymously. Powers/Tactics: Gail has vast reserves of strength, and may be one of the strongest beings on the planet. However, due to conditioning from an early age, she has placed fairly strong mental blocks on using that strength to its fullest. Another consequence of this upbringing is that she always gives her opponents ample opportunity to surrender, and will not exercise her power when it may harm innocents (the "do no harm" psych limit). While this has caused her to take a few beatings, she is satisified that at least she can take and recover from such punishment as would kill a normal human. Edit: Gail takes extra damage from sonic attacks due to her dense physical structure. This level of responsibility has thus far been met with high regard by the local authorities and earned a small amount of respect from the villain community. (In other words, she's known for not pulping her enemies either, which they sort of appreciate.) Those considerations aside, she's a very strong brick, and this has caused her to frequently be targeted by other bricks with gunslinger mentalities. Her Multipower represents those things she is able to do with her Strength without harming others, and thus the areas where she can "relax" a little. All except for her Hand to Hand Attack. She'd only use this power in extremis (someone would have to be killed and she'd still have to believe her opponent can take such punishment: think season finale Superman vs. Darkseid fight) and it requires an Ego roll. The outer edges of her cape can be attached magnetically to her bracers, enabling her to glide. Her normal mode of travel is a prodigious leap, with gliding used to land without leaving craters and to glide precisely to her target. Costume/Appearance: Gail is a beautiful woman with shoulder length dark hair and green eyes, standing six feet tall. She wears a black sleeveless body suit with a silver belt and bracers, and a red-lined black cape which has a high neck and is scalloped at the bottom to give the impression of feathers. Quote: "Look at my eyes when you're talking to me." Campaign Use/Archetype: New/Naive Hero/Brick

Re: Mutants and Materminds I don't think you need to fear a flame war, as quite a few folks around here hold M&M in pretty high regard. I haven't played it, but it's on my "to get" list. I think you should be pleased by the quality of the material based on a lot of reviews and threads I've read, and if you're using it for background stuff for a Champions/Hero system game, then the issue of 2nd Edition M&M compatibility should be no problem.

Re: Ran my first FH session... some questions Extra Time and Requires a Skill Roll being standard limitations on spells will help tone down the casters, as will increased END.

Re: New to HERO You just made my point, thanks. Your under layers are what provide some ED. Metal shouldn't. Metal is a very good transmitter of a lot of types of energy. Bottom line is, you could get very specific about what special effects interact with what kinds of armor, both in building the armor and the powers, but this thread is for someone new to the system. I offered a SIMPLE solution: Cut the ED values on armor. That's a heck of a lot faster and easier, and gives the desired result.