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RDU Neil

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  1. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Chris Goodwin in Modern & "Realistic"   
    Any of you folks out there watching "24" or "The Shield?"
     
    How about movies like Gene Hackman's "The Package" or more recently "Narc" or slightly over the top "The Bourne Identity"
     
    This style of adventure... realistic, violent, suspenseful... all about grit and guns and terrorism and espionage... does anyone play these kind of campaigns... or even mini-campaigns or one shots?
     
    See... I love this kind of game. No superheroics, no "cinematic" action... real world laws and concerns... characaters who logically DON'T want to get shot at... weapons are deadly... etc. I think I'm alone in loving this level of game.
     
    Everyone else I know, and all the posts on these boards, are all about larger than life Player Charcters, magic, super powers, etc. I like this stuff, too, but I miss the days of "Danger International" if you folks remember that old Hero System product from the '80s. Some of the greatest adventures I've ever run, or been involved in, were like a good cop drama or suspense film, and NOT a comic book or Action movie.
     
    I guess I just wonder if anyone out there is playing this kind of game at all. I really miss it.
  2. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Christougher in What are your favorite Champions opening adventure ideas?   
    To me, the game starts during character construction. After the group has decided on what kind of game we want to play (street level local, city's best and brightest, national hero team, global protectors, etc.) and players have the basic power builds in place, we have a group session where we build out Disads (or whatever they are called these days), and establish a "history" of the PCs. It is a free-form shared story telling session, where I push with questions like, "What was the first case Captain Cosmo and Ice Princess worked on together?" and let the two players throw out ideas. Then "How did Ice Princess save Big Mojo's life?" and the two players come up with a story. "What secret did Big Mojo uncover that required the Lioness to help him?"  etc. 
     
    I write it all down as we talk it out. We build the disads based on the story... "Ok, so that means Captain Cosmo has now seriously pissed off the Hunger Man, so that is a hunted right there," and players will ask, "So, I was thinking that is when we ran into VIPER... or is VIPER not a thing? Another kind of group?" and I can provide some key world building details like, "Let's go with the VIPER having been pretty much demolished over the years of fighting off heroes and law enforcement, but let's say you've run into some kind of organized crime ring using high tech, but one that has no name, yet."  etc. etc.
     
    After we have this session, the more traditional game play starts, but the great part is, you have players already invested in the world, because they helped shape it, and PCs already invested in the "team"... and I do my best to weave in the pieces of the story that the players came up with, which gives me fodder to work with and let's me know what the players think would be fun. So when "the Hunger Man" shows up, the players already have the "oooh, Captain Cosmo has a problem!" right from the beginning. Whatever the first couple adventures are, they are shaped by things the players introduced, mixed with my own plot ideas... and so, hopefully, have a unique, immediate hook for the players to be invested.
  3. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Cancer in Hey Cancer, quit trying to destroy the universe!   
    From a quick search... it is like turning on a 9.75 × 1036 watt lightbulb. Get those Ray-Bans out.
     
    I also think it matters which way he points the darn thing, 'cause if it is close by and the astrophysical jet is aimed at us... it will be very bad times. Seems like a very effective way to live up to your suggested title of this thread... at least the small portion of the universe that matters to us. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, right?
     
    So, I'm assuming quasar jets can reach relativistic speeds... or not? Anyone know?
  4. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Mister E in Limitations: There should be only one!   
    I'm sure this has come up before, but I couldn't find any threads devoted to it, so I thought I'd just see what people think.
     
    Premise/Thesis:
     
    There is only one limitation: Limited Power.  Every other Limitation is simply a version of this, so instead of all of them, have one Limitation that goes from -1/4 (very slightly limited) to -2 (only usable in rare circumstances)  (-1 is "about half the time, the power doesn't work when you want it to). Nice, easy sliding scale.
     
    Would it be easier and more balanced to simply have one limitation (a single thing or a combination of things) that shape the way a power manifests in the game?
     
    example: Instead of buying "Focus" and "Charges" and "Beam Weapon" and etc., etc. to make a gun-like power... why not simply "Limited Power: Laser-Gun!"  and then assign a Limited Power to it that fits the player/GMs feelings on how limited it is. -1/4 and Gun Gal! can use her gun unless completely bound/captured... -1 regularly dropped, disarmed, runs out of charges, whatever... -2 cosmic nullifier gun, only usable against TALLMANINPURPLESHORTS!, whatever.
     
    Seems much easier, and fits the goal of a power working in "dramatically appropriate ways" rather than playing the reverse engineering/micro-detail version... where you can deconstruct something ad infinitum and is either a pointless intellectual exercise, or someone trying to max point savings.
     
    You could even have most of the list of current Limitations as "Examples" for comparison... but the idea of needing to stack together a bunch of them is not correct. Any 'combination' of limitations is grouped into its own single limitation, with a value that reflects how the player wants it to come about IN PLAY.
     
    (This comes out of playtesting Champions Now as well as the Density Increase discussion, etc. Limitations as a guide to play, not as a point saving mechanic.)

    Thoughts?
  5. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from dialNforNinja in Quote of the Week from my gaming group...   
    A powerful, flying brick... Tachyon... who had recently been mind controlled by the player charcter Locke (can't remember why... some small thing, actually) was asked how he feels. Tachyon blinks, and stammers, "Cats! I loved Cats! I'll see it again and again!" (Perfectly role played by Matt... who then broke into song with Rum Tum Tugger!)
     
    We fell about the room. Took 20 minutes to get back to the game, and it became the catch phrase. "How do you know Locke has been here?" Glazed looks all around, and everyone mutters, "Cats! I loved Cats! I'll see it again, and again!"
     
    -----------
     
    One of the last "all nighters" we ever pulled... back in '93... group of eight or nine players, with two GMs switching off between two simultaneous battles going on in separate parts of the city. Jim has been asleed for a good half hour at this point, as it's like 4:30 am and we've been playing since 7:00 pm. There is a lull in the talking for a moment, and suddenly Jim's head snaps up from the table eyes still closed, drooling, face slack with sleep and gasps, "I'm so WIRED!" and then his head slams back down to the table... out like a light.
     
    We cried.
     
    -----------
     
    During a big invasion of a VIPER base, the heavy hitters went to the lowest level to engage in battle with the big baddies. One hero, Vengeance, a master of sword and gun, stayed behind on the floor above, to distract and hold off all the agents. He spent his entire combat in or near the elevator shaft, throwing smoke bombs, shooting and beating up agents. He'd just taken one of their M-203s and launched several concussion grenades back down the hall, out of his smoke cloud. He stood there laughing, hearing the explosions and screams... when suddenly three grenades came "thunk, plunk, tink, rollllll" right back INTO his now fading smoke cloud. The troops had been afraid to fire into their own guys up to that point. Vengeance makes a mad dash for the open elevator shaft, makes a brilliant acrobatics roll, and swings up the ladder, just above the open door, so the explosion goes under him. Seconds pass... smoke clears, and I describe the remaining agents poking their heads up to look at the devastated hallway, littered with the bodies of their comrades, low fires burning... no sign of Vengeance.
    A couple of them mutter... "Man! Who WAS that guy?" when Vengeance (perfectly timed by Paul) calls out "Hey! Send more guys! I'm getting bored here!"
     
    The whole play group let out a cheer at that one, it was such a perfectly timed, in character line. Even though he didn't declare it as such... I made it a Presence Attack against the agents. Most ran... the others gave up. It was brilliant!

  6. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from massey in Okay, WTF was I thinking?   
    Hera android is sounding positively hideously terrifying. Spraying nano-bots at people the forcibly transform them on a physical and genetic level into an animal. I'm picturing this semi-sentient mist/sludge spewing from her outstretched hand and engulfing the unlucky victim who screams and screams until their screams become the honking cries of a goose or braying of a donkey.
     
    Nastiest... supervillain... everrrrrrr.
  7. Haha
  8. Haha
    RDU Neil got a reaction from slikmar in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
  9. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to zslane in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Given that Jane Foster was The Mighty Thor during 4 of the 7 years that Jason Aaron was writing the book, and given that the story was one of the better Thor storylines to come along in quite some time, I find more reasons to be optimistic than pessimistic about the fourth Thor movie.

    As for why Natalie Portman would agree to do this, well, it seems pretty obvious to me. This is a great opportunity for her and she knows it. This is a role with far more dramatic potential than the romantic-interest/damsel-in-distress character she was stuck playing before. Besides, the MCU is a far more prestigious franchise today than when the first two Thor movies were made, and Oscar winners are now lining up to be a part of it.
  10. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from drunkonduty in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Have you read Jason Aaron's The Mighty Thor? With Jane Foster? It is one of the best Thor runs ever, and I've been reading 'em a long time. Hands down some of the best writing and art ever, and is a perfect use of the "sick/lame human becomes a god" schtick that started it all back in Journey Into Mystery... since the entire mythos is built on "Whoever holds this hammer..." bit. 
  11. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Old Man in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Have you read Jason Aaron's The Mighty Thor? With Jane Foster? It is one of the best Thor runs ever, and I've been reading 'em a long time. Hands down some of the best writing and art ever, and is a perfect use of the "sick/lame human becomes a god" schtick that started it all back in Journey Into Mystery... since the entire mythos is built on "Whoever holds this hammer..." bit. 
  12. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from slikmar in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Please tell me John Ostrander is still alive to reap the rewards of this.
  13. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Ranxerox in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Both him and Timothy Truman are still with us.
     
  14. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Old Man in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    The Cabin in the Woods, Red Dawn, Snow White and the Huntsman, Star Trek Into Darkness, Rush, In the Heart of the Sea, Huntsman Again, Ghostbusters Misguided Reboot, 12 Strong, Bad Times at the El Royale, Men In Black Unnecessary Reboot.  Seven years of inconsistent quality but plenty of work, on top of seven MCU films in that span.
  15. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Chris Goodwin in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    Hero already has some of its own "conditions":  Stunned, Unconscious (various levels: 0 to -9, -10 to -19, -20 to -29, -30 and below), Dying (below 0 BODY), Transformed, Bleeding, Impaired/Disabled (hit location), Suffocating, Flashed (targeting sense), Prone, Covered, Braced, Set, Restrained (Entangled/Grabbed), probably some others I'm not bringing to mind at the moment. 

    Hero has a number of game elements that are effectively its equivalent to Affliction: Change Environment, Flash, Transform, powers with the Usable On Others Advantage.  Change Environment in particular has gone from being largely based around environmental effects to an all around "force roll and/or apply penalties" power, and can also be used to directly apply some conditions (Stunned, Suffocating, Prone).  Flash is the "apply the Flashed condition" Power.  A lot of Transforms are built as "target to target that is (X)".  
     
    It might not be a bad idea for us to have a "cheat sheet" with conditions broken out: the effect, how it is applied, how to recover from it.  They're strewn throughout the rules -- in the sections where they're most likely to be needed, true, but a reference sheet might be good to have.
  16. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Brian Stanfield in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    Not a wet blanket at all, but perhaps misunderstanding my reason for posting (or not caring). I totally share your pessimism about the product line. I just thought I’d offer up a writing that I know offers some insight into the discussion at hand. Does it solve the problem with HERO System? Not one bit, unless Ron is planning on offering up a bunch of supplemental material next. But it does answer to the debate for the last couple of pages. 
  17. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Brian Stanfield in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    This is very true, and why I've all but abandoned HERO for actual play. The fact that it became a system for engineers and coders to play around with how sophisticated their builds could be... and not really an RPG for actual play... has eventually worn me out. I'm actually writing a PbtA style RPG for supers that rejects this mentality completely... and embraces the above. Mechanical sophistication and complexity is often the bane of a good game.
  18. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Starlord in Avengers Endgame with spoilers   
    Obviously.
     
    My point was more and more people wait to see movies.  Heck, I personally know Marvel movie fans who are waiting for the Endgame rental or bluray.  I can think of 5 movies off the top of my head right now that I'm waiting for, but I'd probably see at the theater if I had no other choice.
     
    Comparing box office numbers before the wide spread use of home video and after is apples and oranges IMO.
  19. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Bazza in Avengers Endgame with spoilers   
    If Gone With The Wind was released today it would be released as two films. The film before intermission would be GWTW Part 1 and the film after intermission GWTW Part 2 and released a year later. 
  20. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to Ken Filewood in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    As someone who is returning to HERO system after decades away from it playing other games, I think that it is a hard system to learn.  There are a lot of things about it I have always admired.
     
    One of the key strengths of the system is the flexibility in character builds.  So the temptation is to start straight in with that.  The trouble is that character building is complex.  And it is made much harder to understand if you're not already pretty fluent with the basic mechanics.  Returning after a long absence, I have had a lot of trouble working out how to build powers involving senses/ enhanced senses, because the language used to describe those things has developed so much since the early editions.
     
    So I think that even experienced gamers coming to HERO for the first time would benefit from playing a few sessions (or even just combats in isolation from a story) with pre-generated characters until they are fluent in the basic mechanics.  The ones I am thinking about are characteristics, attack rolls, effect rolls, skill levels, phase chart, phases, targeting, basic combat manoeuvres, END, Stun, Normal (counting BODY) and Killing Damage, Resistant and non-resistant defences, CON-stunning, KO, recovery, Presence Attack and some of the common, easy to adjudicate powers; multi power.  Less experienced gamers probably need this broken down quite a bit.  If you can work in some stuff around disadvantages that affect characters in play, that's a bonus.
     
    You also need to cover the concept of 'special effect', from the point of view of 'It's mechanic called a Blast, but it represents a Repressor Ray'.  This is a touchstone of HERO games that has not become universal in RPG design.  By comparison the concept of a character disadvantage is now shared by many RP systems.
     
    Things like skill rolls, complementary skills, the time chart etc. are pretty similar to many other RPGs, so experienced players won't need much practice on them.  But players new to role-play would.
     
    Pregenerated characters:
     - recognisable archetypes the players are going to find attractive
     - simple powers, with few advantages and limitations that show off the mechanics you want to teach
     - relatively short list of powers
     - powers that represent easily recognisable effects from fiction
     
    I know this might sound like a bit of a drag, but provided you have a reasonable adventure to run, the characters shouldn't need to be mechanically sophisticated for everyone to have a good time.
     
    You might consider replacing the usual experience system with an accelerated version where each character has a list of available improvements (minor powers, extra dice, skills or characteristic points).  After each adventure the player gets to pick one or two improvements to add to their character for the next session.  That opens up a discussion about any new game elements they introduce, or the mechanics of how they work etc.  and introduces new material more quickly than would happen if the character grew organically.
     
    I think you're best going with simple archetypes rather than complex characters.  Archetypes are good because it's easy for the player to understand what the mechanics are representing (they already have a fictional reference point), so it helps them build an understanding of how the mechanics relate to the fiction.  Being familiar characters, they're easy to role-play, leaving more brain space for mechanics.
     
    Simple characters are good because they let the player focus on learning the underlying mechanics, rather than drowning in choices.  If the play group as a whole covers a wider range of powers that's all to the good.  People can learn by watching others apply mechanics almost as well as they can by using them for themselves.  In early games it can increase the interest of other players' turns, because the new player wants (hopefully) to understand the other player's character too.  This also showcases the breadth of the system, which is one of HERO's strongest points.
     
    You might consider inviting players to swap characters mid-session or between sessions during the learning phase, so they can try out the different mechanics, too.  It would depend on the players whether this idea went down well, I guess.
  21. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Brian Stanfield in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    On this point, have any of you played with the "X" card? This is usually used in Con games... where it is just a card sitting in the middle of the table with a big black X on it. Everyone knows that if someone reaches out and taps the card, play stops... whatever was being done is rewound until we are at a point where the offending bit started, and play goes in a different direction from there. The player tapping does not have to explain why, just that "I don't like that" and it backs up.

    In Drunk's story, the other player could have used the X card and such, but as much as it is around in Cons, I've never used it in play with people I really know. Still, just the concept... "Things may arise in play that are uncomfortable/disturbing to a player... X card nixes those, out of hand" gives people leeway to stop things.

    Interesting that I've never seen it used in some game that got pretty dark and ugly. In fact, the only time I saw it used was around one player Xing out certain actions of another player because the game was very serious and those actions were silly and whimsical and broke the "feel" of the game.

    Again, I'm not sure I'd suggest it for a regular play group, but the mentality of play it generates simply be being there... which is, "Hey, consider how your game actions might affect the players" is real.
  22. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from drunkonduty in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    On this point, have any of you played with the "X" card? This is usually used in Con games... where it is just a card sitting in the middle of the table with a big black X on it. Everyone knows that if someone reaches out and taps the card, play stops... whatever was being done is rewound until we are at a point where the offending bit started, and play goes in a different direction from there. The player tapping does not have to explain why, just that "I don't like that" and it backs up.

    In Drunk's story, the other player could have used the X card and such, but as much as it is around in Cons, I've never used it in play with people I really know. Still, just the concept... "Things may arise in play that are uncomfortable/disturbing to a player... X card nixes those, out of hand" gives people leeway to stop things.

    Interesting that I've never seen it used in some game that got pretty dark and ugly. In fact, the only time I saw it used was around one player Xing out certain actions of another player because the game was very serious and those actions were silly and whimsical and broke the "feel" of the game.

    Again, I'm not sure I'd suggest it for a regular play group, but the mentality of play it generates simply be being there... which is, "Hey, consider how your game actions might affect the players" is real.
  23. Like
    RDU Neil got a reaction from Spence in Ideas from Other Game Systems   
    I was referring very specifically to Spence's version of backstory... the player showing up with a preconceived tome they are emotionally attached to and expecting it to be accepted into play by the group. I prefer players to be arriving to the game, and even during play, in an open state of mind to who their character is and how they will play out. Sure, I have a Secret ID, but I didn't work out every detail about why or how... and if during play it turns out this doesn't really fit, or needs to change, or it takes on a different form, based on the way the story is unfolding... ok then, make that shift.

    It might just be me, but I tend to approach things in a very sketched out, vague, general direction sort of way. Like, maybe I'm GhostGirl's player and I usually don't go for emotional drama, but during play I find that coming out, and being very natural as I discover who GhostGirl the character is right along with everyone else... and that kind of play is now important to me and I never would have stated that early on.

    So many times we had players have a character built or written out a certain way, but into play, that isn't working the way they thought it was, or that aspect of the character is just not applicable to the story, or it turns out not be fun... so things get changed. Just as the GM should be open to what stories they are going to structure based on what their players express interest in, players should be open to being malleable to what comes out in actual play, rather than be married to a pre-conceived idea.
  24. Haha
    RDU Neil reacted to Zeropoint in More space news!   
    So those earthlings threaten to put people into a bubbling vat of universal solvent, and then they wonder why no one responds?
  25. Like
    RDU Neil reacted to tkdguy in More space news!   
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