Clonus

Re: tech/campaign idea: bio-gel batteries Well, usually cut from its food supply, the colony would die. It would have to spill out into something that it could metabolise in order to grow. So...what does it eat?

Re: TV: Kid Nation They weren't really devoid of adult assistance in case of emergency. After all, someone had to be operating those cameras.

Re: Alien Stereotypes It's also worth noting that more often than not cold blooded species get typecast as implacably hostile to humanity, particularly the arthropods whereas while it is easy to get into a fight with furbearing mammals, humanity is usually expected to get along with them given time except when it is humanity's fault that the conflict continues.

Re: Alien Stereotypes Wise Mystic Cold Scientist Honourable Warriour Brutish Warriour Primitive in Tune With Nature Conniving Villain Bald Bulgy Headed Mentalist Unscrupulous Merchant (Similar to conniving villain, except without the megalomania)

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero It is nerfed by comparison with what comic book mind controllers like Xavier or Doctor Druid are capable of. Also of course the argument was that mind controllers couldn't mess around because they couldn't get the requisite +30 result. Well that applies to legitimate as well as illegitimate applications.

Re: Villain: makes hero's powers go out-of-control Major Transform is the simplest and therefore best approach. Sometimes you've got to go with the failsafe catchall.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero Obviously not. I was merely discussing why mind controllers recieve the lion's share of mistrust. And that the rules of this game nerf mind controllers is to a great extent the product of that mistrust.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero The difference being the the character who controls others thoughts on a whim can get away with it not being noticed. Or you just say "I don't wanna. My character isn't tempted".

Re: (Character) Astounding Girl If you want her to get captured a lot, you should give her Wonder Woman's old weakness.

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now? 16 Horses by Soul Coughing. It sounds like the guy who wrote it was in the paranoid phase of whatever high he was on. I think Death is trying to call him.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero What would be the point of the +20 to be unnoticed by the victim modifier then?

Re: suggestions for "does not work in..." Does not work when travelling faster than 55 mph. (The extra variable introduced by that motion added to the more predictable motion of the world, the solar system and the galaxy messes you up_

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero I called it problematic, not "unethical". Obviously your ability to mess with innocent people's heads isn't unethical if you don't use it that way. It presents a temptation to be unethical because you can more easily get away with smoothing your path with little psychic prods. Sure, you probably won't be getting people to do the things they _really_ don't want to do unless it's a really high level game, but then that would be a little obvious anyway. Mind control does expose you to danger, because the people you mess with obviously usually want to kill you as soon as they recover, and they recover unpredictably.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero It is only moral or ethical to beat someone into unconsciousness if they are actually attacking you. I see no particular reason to assume that mind control wouldn't have the same potential to psychologically screw up people that physical assault has to mess people up on that level. The difference is you know when you've been punched. Or people who just say "I don't wanna." Nah. I'm not all that strongly opposed to letting people starve in the first place. It's not that I'm in favour of it, mind you, but even if I didn't have electricity I still wouldn't be Mother Teresa. If the social obligation is what is driving them to fight you, obviously that's not what you can use to get them to switch sides. True, but then again, that's mind control too.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero No, people notice when you punch them. People don't necessarily notice when they are being mind controlled. Yes they know you have mind control powers. They don't know whether you are using said powers on them. I think they'll know you sneak around and punch people. The point is, attacking a helpless target is squicky. Legitimate differences of opinion can not be created at will. Persuasion, seduction, and bribery can simply be ignored. They don't do anything. Hostages are not generally part of the superheroic repertoire. Social obligations, duties and conflicting allegiances remain a matter of free choice. Not to mention of course that if they were swayed by social obligations, they probably wouldn't be fighting superheros. Mental illusions and images are generally ineffective as a method of getting people to change sides.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero Problems with mind control: 1. As a default, it's invisible. Thus it can be used much more freely than punches in the nose. Associates of the mind controller must take it on faith that they are not being tampered with. 2. It is temporary if you're actually using Mind Control. This creates the problem that unless you want the guy who is now "on your side" to revert and become an opponent again, you are going to have to do something longer lasting to him, while he is still helpless. Needless to say, "permanent" Mind Control would be worse when used on an unconsenting victim. 3. It forces people to turn on those who trust them.

Re: Mythbusters! I think that's better. Mythbusters is, after all, about things some people think might actually be sort of possible. Everyone knows that Superman and the Hulk are doing impossible things.

Re: The Mind Controlling Hero Now's here's a more significant question. Is it a boring power? Used by villains, it's OK. It's an excuse for heros to fight. But is it interesting for the bad guys to just give up without even any conversation?

Re: How do you become a Jedi I think the number of Force users on either side is irrelevant. The Dark Side exists even if nobody specifically uses it for hoodoo. The Sith wouldn't have deliberately limited themselves to a handful of members if that really put them at a disadvantage, and wouldn't have swept the the Jedi away either. The "imbalance in the Force" that Anakin was supposed to correct, I suspect was an actual imbalance in the Force itself, not in the people using it, a weighting toward the Dark side that actually let Palpatine sneak up on thousands of precognitives and take them by surprise, because his side was stronger and could blind their side.

Re: New Advangtage: Always Hits "Magic" is not noted for infallibility. More advanced technology doesn't eliminate the chance of missing. It just means you'll have to move faster or at least with more precise timing to avoid it. Homing attacks do miss. They just come back for another try if their propulsion lasts. Dieties are likely to have those gigantic area attacks, selective for their smiting. Deities, at least the big ones shouldn't be built on a budget.

Re: New Advangtage: Always Hits What happens when she throws them at the guy who Always Succeeds in Deflecting Missiles? Why do they always hit anyway?

Re: Other Odd Twists An "unconventional" biochemist prone and his East European wife travelled to her homeland during that nation's attempt to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact. Caught in the crossfire, she was killed, and griefstricken, the mad scientist vowed revenge. He broke into the most advanced chemical lab in the country in the confusion and created a chemical formula distilling the biological essence of his late wife, which he then used upon a common ant-hill, infusing thousands of receptive eggs with human genetic material. Soon, the Russians found themselves facing an army of women (loosely speaking) with ant-powers, each able to lift over a ton of weight. After the battle was over, the surviving ant-women began excavating a local mountain. And there the mad scientist lived happily ever after with the queen of the ant-women,

Re: WWYCD? Women City Savers Only Hellfire will be very uncomfortable with the object of her affection becoming a girl. She wouldn't even be able to look at her for the duration of the spell. Riptide will be sure to try out sex that way. And make sure to take pictures because he's a narcissist. The Wizard of Oz Incorporated won't bother. He'll use telepresence to assist from outside the city.

Re: Analysis of the Red-Shirt Phenomenon in Star Trek Yes, many of the shipboard deaths were casualties in Engineering because it is first of all, the most dangerous section of the ship and it's the one that probably has the most personnel. But that doesn't have much bearing on his analysis of the effectiveness of Kirk liasons at reducing redshirt mortality. (Which is entirely valid of course, because Kirk liasons reduce the time in the script which could be used to kill people.)

Re: The Return of the Golden Age Mastermind Excello? "Modern criminals are a cowardly and irreverent lot. I shall paralyse them with laughter at the sheer cheesiness of my pseudonym!"