Pattern Ghost

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.

Re: New to HERO Going for the facetious award? =P Your examples are all designed to protect from specific things. Your glove doesn't give ED anyway, just LS: Extreme Heat, limited to your hand. =P

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? You need Usable as Attack or Usable By Others for an AOE flight. My Barker Air example would probably be Usable As Attack, AOE, with a linked KA.

Re: CEO skills, aeronautical design skills Could be an executive VP.

Re: New to HERO I'd just give armor much lower values for ED than PD. There's no reason a metal (or leather, whatever) suit should provide as much protection from fire, electricity, or other energy. For that matter, it'd probably increase electrical damage. ED doesn't have a SFX, the SFX rather determines what kind of defense the attack goes against. If you simply limit the ED available in the setting, you give magic a lot of power, since it's probably one of the few, if not the sole, source of energy damage.

Re: Flight with Passengers - What's the Best Way? So... meat hooks are out? I mean, with enough STR and enough longish meat hooks, you can carry a few folks.

Re: Help with a power write up Fully invisible, desolid duplicate with some indirect attacks and change environment. Make activation of attacks based on luck roll or just give them activations. Kind of like the old hydra build kludge.

Re: Speaks loudly AND carries a big stick Let's see, off the top of my head: Homerun Swing: Offensive Strike Jab (with end of bat): Defensive Strike Choking up (hands spread a bit, like a short butt stroke) : Fast Strike Bat in the Shins: Legsweep Bat Parry: Martial Block Bat Arm Bar: I don't have UMA or the old Ninja Hero handy, but basically using the bat to put someone in an armbar and pin them face first, either on the ground or a handy wall. Bat Shove: Martial Shove (or whatever the shove move is from UMA), basically hold the bat horizontally in front and step forward, thrusting the bat at someone to push them back. Of course, all of the above could apply to riot batons, except Offensive Strike and Fast Strike would be outside of normal baton SOPs. =)

Re: Why must wolves be evil? Let's see... there's the wolves in Julie of the Wolves, the children's story. While not a fantasy per se, they got a pretty good rap. I'd suppose that Romulus and Remus's surrogate mom kind of balances Fenris mythologically speaking. Fairy tales seem to be the biggest place wolves get a bad rap: the Big Bad Wolf, the wolf that ate Little Red Riding Hood and her Granny, are a couple that come to mine. Then again, folk tales, one step or so removed from fairy tales has stories of people being raised by wolves, showing their familial side is recognized, as with the Romulus and Remus story. Then there's the wolf from the old WB cartoons (at least I think it's WB), who's a leering lady's man. Guess he's just an average guy, if a little seedy. Lord of the Rings gives dire wolves a bad name, but then again, they're dire, so that's probably to be expected. The Jungle Book has some pretty nice, family-minded wolves in it, though. But Maugrim from Narnia is definately a heel. I think most of the modern stuff has already been covered (WoT, Belgariad, Poul Anderson, Dickson, etc.) I think that while some wolves are definately shown as evil, there are many instances of their loving, family side shown too. It's kind of a toss up to me. It seems that on the one hand, you have the formidable predator that kills and eats your livestock (and by extension, possibly YOU) and on the other hand, you have an animal not unlike the ancestor to your loving family dog, with its strong family instincts and nurturing instincts. In fact, one quality that's huge in livestock guard dogs, the anti-wolf if you will, is that strong nurturing instinct combined with the capability for ferocity. The Turkish breeds of herd guard dogs, some of which are capable of taking down a wolf one on one, actually don't look that far removed from wolves themselves. I think the best wolves in literature recognize both the family side and the predatory side at once.

Re: Ray Guns Heck yeah! I'm getting in line early.

Re: Lost World critter "microraptor gui" I think I saw one of those flying around by Microsoft Headquarters the other day...

Re: Power suggestions for a "Perfect" human being One I don't think I saw in the thread: Flash Defense to Sight, Doesn't prevent first pip of flash damage (-1/2), or Damage Reduction vs Sight Flash. Rationale: Superior reaction to changing light conditions through faster response of the pupil. Along the same lines, low light vision, but I think that's been suggested.

Re: Giants and Hit Locations I'm pretty sure that nothing I said contradicts your opinion. Adding more sensitive spots to hit makes it easier to do something meaningful to the monster, doesn't it?

Re: Running through the forest I thought this thread was going to end with... "SLAP" You hit a tree!

Re: wheel of time WoT made my head asplode! But I did thumb through the d20 book one time, and it looked like the background material was pretty decent. May be worth getting cheap on eBay.

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help Re: Vixen. I'm pretty sure I saw her fly in the new JLA books, Animal Man style (by coopting the flight ability of birds rather than shapeshifting.) Re: Animals for the Native American type character. I'd go with local wildlife. Probably SW area, mostly: Raven/Crow: Movement, recon abilities. Bison/Buffalo: Momentum based brick. Gray Wolf: Ground movement, tracking. Coyote: Same as above, with more DCV, if tribe is reverant of trickster versus taking a view of Coyote as the fool. Moving further North: Sub in Brown Bear for Buffalo/Bison. Claws brick. Add an aquatic form, seal or whale. Probably won't be used much, but sometimes being the only guy on the team with underwater abilities can be handy. Sub in Owl for Raven if you want, though we've got plenty of Ravens in the NW, and they're a very common totem animal, probably more so than owls. I'd say 3-4 forms should give nice options without getting too complex to keep track of. One thing I also thought of was skills, which is brought up a few times in the thread. I'd look for the following skill set types across the group, and make sure to involve some perks like contacts as well: Detective/Police (Crime solving skills) Espionage/Face Man (PRE and Stealth skills) Military (Tactical/Stategic skills, possible stealth skills) Science Guy (Theoretical stuff, advanced medical stuff) Technology Guy (Iron Man stuff, hardware stuff) Computer Guru (Possibly rolled into Espionage or Tech, hacking skills: Crypto, Comp Prog, System Opns, Sec Systems, etc.) Overlap in skills would be good. If it's an established team, then give them all Teamwork and explain how it works. Make sure a couple folks have Paramedic if you tend to deal with collateral damage situations, or plan to have the team do rescue type work. One guy with street level social skills and one with high level social skills is handy, or one guy with both (Face Man). Just tossing some more ideas in the hat, hope it's useful.

Re: Giants and Hit Locations If the shooter is on the ground, then Godzilla's head is going to have some range penalties to hit to offset the size, I suppose. =D I wouldn't allow BODY multipliers on called shots to gargantuan things, though, or else I'd give the thing a hideous BODY score to account for the mass involved. Might go as far as having a seperate hit location chart for the head and the body. That would allow for called shots to the eyes (to distract/enrage?), to the nostrils or mouth (to deliver biochemical agents maybe), etc. I'm not sure the core rule book covers giant monsters in this regard, and unfortunately, I haven't got the new bestiary to see if there are any suggestions there.