The Monster

Re: Why do you like to play Super Hero Games? I'm kind of with Ghost Angel - supers is about my least favorite of the major Hero genres. Why I like it? Because anything goes as far as character concept and power construction. I prefer pulp - which in many cases boils down to very low-power supers, because you can theoretically have just about the same range of character types as supers, especially if you extend "pulp" to include all the '30's stuff like jungles, space opera, mystic powers and the like. The difference to me is that in pulps, a thug with a normal gun can still a significant threat to a hero. Also, the heroes' power is much more limited in general, forcing them to be less flamboyant and (IMO) a bit more clever.

Re: The Sound of One Hand Clapping Mental Illusions it's Zen, after all - no one but the "enlightened" would be able to hear it

Re: Alien Invasion ((((((spoiler alert for those in my campaign - Cancer, Jaxom, etc. - though there's not much here you haven't already learned or can easily deduce)))))) In the campaign I'm co-running, there's a pending alien invasion by a huge galactic empire, the existence of which the Earth has only begun to learn about (primarily via PC encounters). The empire is ruled by a tiny cast of supers, who have the powers of typical supers (a notch or two higher than player campaign limits, of course) and the mentality of Goa'uld (rampant paranoia, narcissism and megalomania, etc. - yes, some hints of the WW supers game as well). But they do have access to legions of stormtroopers and so forth. As time goes on, the players will learn more about this empire and it's strengths and limitations, and evantually there will be some sort of huge battle, or a series of them. The first solid evidence the PCs have of this empire is the awakening (from cold sleep) of a few hundred mechwarrior-type refugees who have been hidden underground for thousands of years, hoping to avoid the impies. They awoke due to nearby construction blasting, had a brief fight with the PCs, and stopped when the two sides realized they weren't really fighting for their very existence like they expected. (A good use for those mech clix!) As things go on, there will be more encounters with supers and others who are either imperial scouts/agents, refugees, or rebels looking for help. Some fun should be had sorting things out and dropping expanding hints, miscues, and raw data into the players' laps. As stated, the empire is ruled by a caste of supervillains, so there is every likelihood that they will be able to be turned against each other wth careful planning and diplomacy, fought outright on individual or mass-army level, or encountered as occasional allies or refugees themselves, as power shifts within the empire. And there are various oppressed minorites and masses as well, who may well respond favorably to the example of Earth as it defies aggression and dominance. The concept of super-hero is almost inconceivable to those in the empire, since pretty much all supers are villainous overlords (which explains why the awakened mechwarriors started shooting at the PCs as soon as they got close; they just assumed they were bad guys). One thing that favors the earthlings (besides the sheer moral force of freedom and virtue!) is the fact that Earth has so many supers - several hundred and the number is growing; a single major planet in the empire might have as many as a dozen super-overlords... Anyway, that's what we're doing with our campaign. There's room for all kinds of adventures in it, from basic bashfests to diplomacy to deep-cover infiltration (all the while mixed in with more standard superhero fare of facing down local villains and their nefarious plots!). The campaign's still in it's early stages, but it seems a promising background.

Re: Organization Name Help Advanced Criminal Real-time Organization & Strategy System (version 1.0) [they turned it around 'cuz 1ACROSS is kewler then ACROSS1]

Re: Wizard of Oz: perhaps a one shot or short campaign. It's a jungle out there Disorder and confusion everywhere No one seems to care. Well I do. Hey, who's in charge here? It's a jungle out there Poison in the very air we breathe Do you know what's in the water that you drink? Well I do, and it's amazing People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time If you paid attention, you'd be worried too You better pay attention Or this world we love so much might just kill you I could be wrong now, but I don't think so. It's a jungle out there...

Re: Wizard of Oz: perhaps a one shot or short campaign. This comic has got me thinking of doing a similar Oz-inspired adventure, probably as a one-shot: http://comics.wikia.com/wiki/Oz/Wonderland_Chronicles Basically, someone - or something - is messing with the multiverse, using various baddies and critters from Oz, Wonderland, and other places to invade the other, with Earth as a crossroads. I found it delightful and full of potential (issue 1 had Jack Punkinhead's pumpkin head blown to shreds with a shotgun blast). The last issue I read (I assume it's the most recent) included a scene where the Jabberwock ripped (literally!) its way through the card-soldier army of the Red Queen on its way to wherever it's headed. I read many of the Oz books in high school, and there's some very interesting ideas in there.

Re: Newsreel Cameras Question

Re: The Ultimate Roleplayer I've Got A Backup Character (in case this one dies) -- Summon It's not Munchkining, it's Minmaxing! -- Aid all powers & characteristics simultaneously ... and "I can play Any Character" should probably be Shapeshift, maybe with RSR:Acting ...of course, not all gamers really have these skills/powers, but many of us *do* have: I Think I'm a Great GM/Roleplayer Psychological Limitation, Total, Frequent, Slighly Impairing

Re: Some thoughts

Re: Some thoughts When in doubt, run some numbers. A strong guy (STR 20) Haymakering his punch (total 8d6 Normal damage) will average 8 BODY. That's enough to put an average man in the hospital -on average! With an even slightly better-than average roll, he's put the guy into critical care (negative BODY and bleeding out). And that's without hit locations; a head shot doubles damage, so the strong guy doesn't even need to haymaker to do that 8-BODY-average if he can hit in the head. If the guy uses a club, now he's doing 6 to 8 dice without haymakering or called shots or anything - two or three basic hits puts a street thug in immediate risk of death. Turn it around: a normal guy (STR 10) does a haymaker, he's gonna do 6d; average 6 BODY. Two punches and the strong guy is laying on the ground bleeding out. Since the strong guy isn't getting any PD benefit from his high STR when it comes to BODY, he's just as vulnerable as Joe Cubicle. Do this, and all bar fights become full-fledged killing fields.

Re: Your Character/Game Equation Darklord = Doctor Doom + Raven

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat All the ingredients are still in separate packages.

Re: A Game on the Run? Probably my best example of this was a one-shot con game several years ago. Fantasy Hero: the PCs were patients at an army hospital, and each had certain severe injuries (magician had a head injury which caused big sorcery penalties, the fighter had a broken leg, etc.) - and all the healing herbs were used up. Their army had been defeated, and upon hearing the news, all the staff (except for one PC healer) had run off. The goal was to get across the bridge home before the orcs captured it, and along the way there were other survivors (many badly injured or incapacitated themselves), bands of orc raiders and inflitrators, rogue human looters, etc. The final scene was a desperate defense of the bridge against the orc vanguard while the last group of survivors limped across - and the human reinforcements approached to defend the bridge. Worked out pretty well. Although there was one problem. The healer was played very badly. He found some herbs partway through the adventure, but kept them secret. He did not even offer to cure anyone's ills until they captured an orc - then he offered to heal the orc! And refused to consider healing any PCs. Several players commented afterwards that if they ever had to play with that guy again, they'd find a reason to kill him off. The guy has become well-known for being hard to game with. Be that as it may, I frequently have the players on the lam from one or more big power players - the Inquisition in 7th Sea, the Senate in Serenity, the Ascended in Feng Shui. I'm afraid it's becoming a cliche for me...

Re: Munchkin Build Contest? Drain PRE instead. Buy your own PRE to campaign limits, and scare the pee out of them. Literally. (Zero-PRE people can't do anything without making a PRE roll every phase.) Armor/FF/DRed just don't matter. Still doesn't work against high Power Defense - or against automatons. But I'm pretty poor as a munchkin anyway. My "Necessary Evil" character Darklord has Suppress PRE 4d6, (large) Radius, Personal Immunity (80-point active limit). He can cause entire crowds of normals to flee simply by walking down the street, and many supers quiver at his approach. I'm looking forward to playing him.

Re: Stats for Dad Well, at least it's a lot more interesting explanation of pattern baldness than *I've* ever seen...

Re: Serenity RPG I'm running a Serenity game, and, yeah, the system either sucks or I've never bothered really learning how to use it (I'm focusing very heavily on narrative and character, rather than detailed combat). I started it when the RPG first came out, and wanted to give it a try. Were I to do it again, I'd use Hero almost for sure.

Re: Vehicles, Cockpits and Seeing Things For nonhuman senses, there's no extra build necessary - I would think it's already figured as equipment; the display is just in a different place than usually assumed. The only extra build you need to do is Clairsentience for the normal vision. As far as hit location...without chekcing the charts, you could simply reword "cockpit" as "sensor array" and call it good. Of course, hits on the sensor wouldn't have quite the same effect as actual cockpit hits...

Re: What if you could have just one or two powers? There's something to be said for a package that includes all (or nearly all) skills, bolstered by +10 Universal Skill Levels. Even with just Sciences, Knowledges & INT skills (i.e., a brain/cybernet link), that can go long way toward toward making life sweet. Especially since that would include Inventor - you could invent just about anything else you want!

Re: Heroes I love the show. Yes. there's plot holes and writing weaknesses - but it's a dang sight better than 98% of anything else on TV, and probably 99.094% of anything ever done for TV with supers in it. Why do I say that? Because the show ain't about the powers so much as it is about the people. They're confused, misinformed, sometimes deliberately self-deluded, and as unsure about what's going on as anyone real who would be caught up in the situation. The one who's a real comix fan has a better grasp in his own way than the others, and even he's got issues. My favorite character is Claire's dad, hands down. He's done some pretty awful things, but they've always, always been for what he thinks to be the best reasons possible. And when push comes to shove, he does the Right Thing even though it can and will cost him everything he's ever worked for. *That's* heroism - and he has no super powers! To my mind, he's the best example of why the show is titled "Heroes" - not "Superheroes" not "The Invincible Cheerleader" or "The Brain Eater." It's an example of what is best in comic books - an exploration of what it means to be a hero, in the many ways that word means. [***blasphemy warning***] In ways that neither Watchmen nor Dark Knight ever even touched.

Re: Shooter, aka gunbunny, Archetypes How would Jayne fit in to this list? The guy who names his favorite gun "Vera"...

Re: Shooter, aka gunbunny, Archetypes "Gunslinger" - pistolier with a penchant for fast, trick shots. Also loves to fast-draw and twirl his guns for no reason. I don't know if this fits as an archetype, but I always had a soft spot in my heart for: "Shotgun Chick" - tough broad who can and will pump her shotgun with one hand, just because she can. (You know, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2)

Re: Mook rules? Another important mook rule: mooks don't keep fighting just because they still have a few STUN & BODY left. A mook who gets anything more than a light wound is out of the fight (say, if he takes half his BODY). Struggling to the last is the province of fantaics, major villains, and heroes. In my experience, giving heroes Combat Luck and a SPD of 3-4, and limiting the mooks to SPD 2, is enough to provide a major edge. Enough that I've almost never gone beyond that. Oh, and, of course, only highly trained mooks think of doing things like Brace/Set aiming, taking cover, and suchlike.

Re: Building Intrugue Into a Game Just what are the powers/rights/responsibilities of the Prince Regent, that the tradition/law came about that it passes when the heir is 21? Anyway, some possiblities for the PCs to discover/guard against/commit (they could stumble into these situations, or be hired to take part): --one of the key things a prince regent must do is gain military experience. So s/he's shipped out to the frontier soon as possible (age 13?), to do apprenticeship, training, and general growing-up. Usually, the duty is light, as the realm doesn't like to lose too many of its Regents-to-Be to stray arrows. Sometimes, however, an aging PR just doesn't want to give it up yet, or wants to arrange for a younger heir: --sends him/her to a hot zone, where the fighting is most dangerous; --arranges for a "king David" trick, where the heir is sent to the front, then everyone around him is told to retreat, leaving the poor sod alone against the horde; --arranges for a fragging, either in the thick of battle, in a "random" camp brawl, or an actual assassination on the way to/from the duty station --plants evidence of treason and espionage, so that the heir can be judged unworthy and passed over --gets the heir embroiled in a scandalous episode (blatant whoring, gambling, and/or drunkenness), especially right before/during a battle, so that charges of cowardice and dereliction stain the heir and make him/her unworthy of succession. Besides directly intervening in the health and wellbeing of the undesirable heir, another trick would be to falsify records: somehow "prove" that the heir (or event he current PR!) is not actually of the proper bloodline, or at least raise enough doubt that s/he loses the support of the nobility. Just a side thought: what happens when an heir goes into a place where time moves more quickly, or gets trapped by an aging curse, or whatever? His birth certificate might have been dated only 20 years ago, but he's a middle-aged man, either by magic or by living in another dimension. If this causes him to be disqualified somehow, there's some schemer who will put his to nefarious use. (Or, if there's anti-aging magic, what stops a PR from using it on himself and his children, to keep them from ever reaching majority?)

Re: Brainstorming a superhero team's staff, liaisons, and guests Perhaps there are several staff, rotating through. Because the house is interdimensionally coterminous with the chief temple of a holy order of some sort; the staff who seem to come and go, and have no "real-world" identity, are members of the order performing service to their order, which includes menial labor and maintenance of the aspect(s) of the house that the heroes inhabit. Why do they do this? Perhaps because part of the magic that makes the temple able to resist massive evil sorcery is the mystic link forged to the house in our "low-magic" world, and that link requires continual maintenance, both physical and magical. Of course, occasionally - rarely - the resisted magical assaults can't be completely contained in their native dimension, and there is unfortunate leakage of apparently random magical effects. Perhaps because opf the ancient prophecy that a great evil would invade their world through this house: they can't destroy it, because it is too powerful, so it must be watched for any sign of corruption. The innocuous performance of menial maintenance tasks provides excellent opportunities to watch for signs of distortion and evil. Perhaps...

Re: "Slow Poke" I second the illusions approach. Also, play with Drain/Suppress Running, perhaps? 18 points of effect is -9", enough to freeze a norm, and put a dent in many speedsters.