Comic

Re: [Character] Subterran - Brick. EC. Twist. Succor it is! Thanks for the catch. I get hopelessly tripped up between 3rd-4th and 5th editions.

Re: Human Maximums Well, if he takes -10 to the roll, and makes it, you could load him into a trebuchet at one end of the jungle and launch him through the forest of trees like a pinball, and he'd end up at the other end of the jungle, where the catapult's trajectory ended, unscathed. If he took -12 to the roll, he'd also have collected an armload of fresh fruit and nuts on a complementary Survival roll along the way. At -20 to the roll, he could do the same trick among the skyscrapers and traffic helicopters of a major metropolitan area, or escape Shield's flying HQ through a window under a barrage of gunfire, land on his feet a fighter plane in midflight, and hold on long enough to trade places with the pilot if he could crack the canopy.

Re: Computer translations of Hero that you would like to see Wait.. what do you mean, genre? I thought the Hero System was Champions? Is this some sort of leg-pulling thread?

Re: How to kill characters? Death in campaigns should never be a railroad. Have the other players decide several options how each other could die, or otherwise leave... Er, each other's characters, I mean. Let the players decide in roleplay which of these ways out they take. The campaign is over and enough of the characters have disbanded, and you have an exciting new campaign planned.. well, the birth of a new game should also never be railroaded. I'd recommend against burning all bridges back to the original campaign. Run alternate sessions of the new campaign and 'resolution episodes' of the old campaign. For those who choose to play the new campaign, they may generate heat and excitement and revive interest and draw others. And who knows, you yourself might decide after seeing the new campaign that you liked the old one better and want to revive it. Plenty of room in the resolution episodes of the old campaign to kill characters off, if you still need to. If the old campaign fades, you carry on with the new campaign. Tally ho. Good luck.

Re: Human Maximums I use an 'Impossible Feat' option, where truly impossible results can be obtained with a roll if you have a skill in excess of 18-. This would be limited to concepts that have beyond human skill, such as extremely long-lived beings, hyperintelligent genius-types with amplified mental processes, some mutants and alien races. Dracula or Lestat can go beyond 17- in KS: History (they were actually there, which is an impossible feat for a modern normal human historian). The High Evolutionary or Brainiac can delve mysteries beyond the ken of mortal man. Sparks in the Foglioverse are not subject to this maximum. Spiderman's acrobatics are superhuman. Vulcans can go beyond 17- in areas of logic and mathematics.

Re: GMs: making abilities useful It's not my idea, but I endorse it highly and can testify to its effectiveness. One GM of mine always had some major campaign villains with AP caps of 40 and attack power AP caps of 30. These limits force the GM to be creative to make their villainy interesting. When the heroes run into these combat-feeble villains, they know there's been extra thought and care put into what they face, and to not trust brute force and ignorance.

Re: Race: The Masters *sob* It's so beautiful. *sigh* Thank you.

Re: Phase 12, GM's what do you allow? My group used to use Seg12 as the time for the big soliloquies. It sped up the pace of combat, and seemed to have a nice rhythm.

Re: Human Maximums 20's for Primary Characteristics. 10 for PD/ED. SPD 4. REC 10. END and Stun 50. Running 10" x4 Ncbt. Swimming 5" x2 Ncbt. Skills cap at 17-, including group or overall levels.

Re: Problem with Missile Deflection On the whole, I'd rather buy the power that fits the effect of the concept, if there is one, than multiple levels of a skill to simulate the effect. If there is no power that is a good fit, I'm pleased to find an appropriate skill. So even if it costs more, I'd gladly pay for missile deflect of whatever level I intend in my concept. Sometimes price isn't everything.

Re: [Character] Subterran - Brick. EC. Twist. Editted. Moved the +10 Telescopic into the EC as 5d6 Aid to all perception. Better fit the concept and build.

Re: Zounds! How do I build "Zeus' Wounds?" Ah. No. It's not a damage shield or a missile reflection. A new thing pops up and acts. It has movement, Body, DEF, and a will of its own. It's unpredictable and independent, but generally will fade. Each time it can have the same general build and just different SFX and power levels. So, Absorbtion as part of this is not appropriate or workable?

Re: Heroes and Nukes! For all it's drawbacks, you can't fault Reality for being a source of humor.

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"? In general, I don't put attacks into the campaign that will outright kill any PC in one shot, and I don't have PCs in the game who will outright die from one shot. If it isn't instant death, and everyone's done everything by the rules.. then I go with what the dice say.

Re: I am a comic book dinosaur. Re-read what you have. You can't go wrong with the classics.

Re: Tiger Beetle! Huh. I'd thought buying N-Ray and enough levels with enhanced perception would work for mega-vision?

Re: Heroes and Nukes! So.. critical mass is what, again? I'm not sure I'm going to be able to reliably simulate the shooting of an arrow of that weight.

Re: Zounds! How do I build "Zeus' Wounds?" My concept, this guy stomping around in my brain like Athena hammering to get out, is that for every blow struck, a 'monster' is created -- short-lived but 'real' -- and homes in on the attacker whose attack 'fathered' it. The guy has no control over the power or the monsters. The monsters would be proportionate in power to the power of the original attack. Their superficial attributes would be determined by the nature of the attack, as would the nature of their attacks. ie swords/knives KA's would produce clawed beasts, fists would bring trollish brutes, fire would incite water elementals. The summoned creature would be essentially whatever was hungriest for that taste of power that had been offered through the husk of their pandemonic host. The character's other powers would be mostly dimensional effects. I was thinking Absorbtion as Defense (Always On) -> Summoning (No Conscious Control). Sort of. The trigger is a nice touch.

Re: Malign Hypercognition Disorder (MHD)

I've got a character bouncing around in my brain with a sort of karmic effect. Where he's attacked, a monstrous entity springs out of his flesh and goes after whoever or whatever inflicted the attack. I'm thinking Absorb > Summon.. sort of. I'm not sure of the mechanical soundness of this approach. Advice? Opinion?

Re: Storn's Art & Characters thread. I can't get Mystique's line about velcro out of my brain. So now I'm seeing Fantomas as a belching, beery, overweight thug in the commode being injected with extra iron...

Re: Malign Hypercognition Disorder (MHD) The Shadow, too. Well, in the movie. The original was much nastier.

Re: Problem with Missile Deflection Missile Deflect gets you a good part of the way to Missile Reflect, which isn't exactly worthless. For some, putting DCV levels into a focus is a stretch, while putting missile deflection into one is obvious. Not a strong point, since so many strongly feel there's nothing wrong with skills taking limitations. Certainly it's easier to put missile deflect into a multipower slot than to put a skill into one. Levels with Missile Deflect are cheaper than levels with DCV. Missile Deflect + 10 levels with Missile Deflect, OAF Shield = 22 CP 10 level with DCV = 50 AP. Put on an OAF Shield, still 25 CP. Put the Missile Deflect into a multipower, 2 CP. Put the DCV into a multipower.. still 2 CP, but try to find a GM who won't mutter *cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesy* under his breath.

Re: Help me make Awesome Presence Does the PRE attack make people cowardly in general, or only toward Payback? Why isn't it just a Persuasion skill roll with -10 (-1 more for every time increment) vs the Pre roll of the target? What causes it to wear off? What could make it wear off immediately? Why isn't it Mind Control, Telepathic, One command Only: Fear? Is it an aura that makes not only Payback's, but everyone's PRE attacks seem more impressive? (Change Environment?) As a Transformation attack, it is at least major, unless your characters are normally going to behave pretty much like the result, but will make them afraid of everyone and everything, not just Payback. Is it language dependent? (Like Mind Control or Oratory?) Is it culture dependent? (Like acting, Persuasion or Oratory roll?) For some people, a ravening goon waving his arms around, frothing at the mouth, howling and ripping up anything he can get his hands on isn't fear-causing, it's Professional Tennis.

Re: How do you keep your dark knights from going "squish"? Danger Sense Missile Deflect High Body + someone with healing Damage Reduction Roll with Punch or Dive For Cover levels Never leaves cover when there's big guns around. Astronomical Detective Work roll + KS bad guys + Analyze + suppress or disarm Stealth. Stealth. Stealth. A fight is never won unless no one knows the invisible soldier was there. Reputation for Sucker Maneuvers - sure, you can shoot him with the 20d6 blast, but can you ever be sure it's really him, or his image superimposed on your own teammate? Respect. Your detective is too highly regarded by the villains to use lethal force against him. Or by the villains' masters to dare. But the brick? Fire at will.