Nekkidcarpenter

For new campaigns of any genre, I usually file the edges off my favorite old D&D module, The Forge of Fury.  Because modern adventures and especially supers ones can be so freeform with players able to traverse great distances etc, it's better imo for the starting adventure to be kind of railroady.  The dungeon crawl settings work pretty well for guiding the party into learning each others abilities, etc.  Of course, I have a lot of experience with HERO so it's pretty easy for me to adjust the monsters attacks and defenses on the fly.  Usually my monster meter is 'one hit, two hit, many hit' indicating how many average attacks should finish one off.  

But don't tell anyone, especially your players that you're filing the edges off a different system.  

1 hour ago, Logan.1179 said:

There is some paint in there, which I believe requires special disposal. 

Liquid paint does require special disposal, but do you know what doesn't?  Painted pieces of broken shed.  Don't bother brushing or rolling it, just pour some on a dry surface and wait for the surface to dry.  Repeat till the paint is gone.

And don't stand around watching it dry.  You've had enough trauma.

1. Theater of the mind is perfectly fine for Champions.  Some people really want to measure things out and try to place their area effect powers so that they hit in the optimal position, but combats can already be time-intensive, and extra detail can be a huge fun killer.

2.  There is a quick start guide available on this site.

3. If you look at the Champions GM screen, you'll see a huuuge section devoted to Presence Attacks.  Read up on them, use them.  Few things equal the fun of your hulk wannabe character smashing a car and stunning everyone into a momentary paralysis.

And if you're trying to just add something like 5 points of Strength, just buy 5 Strength as a power with appropriate advantages and limitations.

I watched Suicide Squad last night.  Entertaining, but I was never a fan of the basic idea.   

I much prefer Burnout rolls to RSR for that reason.  Yes, I will definitely be able to lightning bolt that guy right now, but if that isn't enough I probably can't try again for a while.  

15 hours ago, Beast said:

My grip is inescapable:  Change Environment (-40m of any mode of Movement), Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+1/4) (50 Active Points); Increased Endurance Cost (x10 END; -2), No Range (target must be grabbed; -1/2), Lockout (other stuff in this list; -1/2), Unified Power (-1/4)

The 'No Range' limitation is usually already -1/2, and requiring a Grab roll seems like it should be an extra limitation.  

Barrier 8 PD, 1 BODY (up to 4m long, 2m tall, and 1/2m thick), Cannot Be Escaped With Teleportation (+1/4), Personal Immunity (+1/4), One-Way Transparent (all attacks; +1) (50 Active Points); Feedback (-1), No Range (-1/2), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -1/2), Limited Power Must hit targets full DCV with a Grab maneuver (-1/2), Lockout (other things on this list) (-1/2), Increased Endurance Cost (x2 END; -1/2), Nonresistant Defenses (-1/4), Unified Power (-1/4)

This completely stops the target from Teleporting for a phase as it must first break the Barrier, and using our Hero meta-knowledge it's highly unlikely they would have an appropriate bought power to allow them to break the Barrier and then Move.

You went to a lot of effort to avoid buying a VPP.  The mixture of defensive spells is interesting, though I believe RAW only allows 'Cannot be escaped with Teleportation' on Entangles and Barriers that completely enclose the target, so as a cheap way to block Teleportation I'd disallow it.  Also, I disallow any purchase of Power Defense on any character that saved points with 'Unified Power'. 

6 hours ago, assault said:

This will not be DnD, so no fireball or lighting bolt type spells are needed.

And that brings up the question what is the basis for your magic system?  Is it highly formalized with schools and professional wizards?  Is it based in nature, where communing with a rock is a meaningful experience?  

The best way to determine whether things are appropriately costed is just look at a variety of characters from experienced players in different games.  If you go through a bunch and make note of which abilities are over and under represented it will give you a good idea which powers are over and under costed.  This is how I came to my opinion that Enhanced Senses just generally cost too much.  Basically the only time you see them is some sort of generic radio or nightvision goggles, and very, very rarely on anyone other than a specialty character.  And the same is true of Multiform or Summon.  They never appear on anyone's sheet except as a slot in a framework, generally indicating they are underperforming abilities.

Congratulations!  That's fantastic.  Lasting friendships are priceless.

Why does it need 'Does Knockback'?  

In the world I live in (Earth 2021) the vast majority of the world's population would hate and fear all superpowered beings.  Even in the supposition that said superpowered beings save the world from some externality, they would be accepted for a very short period of time ('Thank you very much for saving us from that comet, now piss off'), and if they ended up fighting amongst themselves as is the premise for most superpowered rpg's, the general population would rapidly grow to fear and hate them while the rich and powerful would seek only to monetize and/or militarize them.  The idea that there would ever be some sort of publicly known 'superhero school' is reserved for only the most absurdist fantasy.

11 minutes ago, archer said:

 

I must admit I'd prefer Quantum Bands or a Green Lantern ring....

Based on my experiences around dessert, I doubt my willpower would be enough to make a Green Lantern Ring light up more than the one my kids got from the gum machine.

9 hours ago, Opal said:

Which just makes it that much better a metaphor for racism, since the very concept of race also falls apart on close inspection.

No, it's a horrible metaphor for racism.  Yes, racism falls apart on any inspection, but it's not even remotely close to the same thing since mutants like the X-men threaten the survival of the human race.  That's not hyperbole, its simple extrapolation of known facts.  Their benevolent and powerful mutations provide clear advantages over plain old humans like me, you, and everyone else, and they are competing for the same limited resources.  If you don't think mutants will eliminate humans, perhaps Homo Erectus could convince you.  Or Australopithecus.  And while you may welcome our alien overlords, or mutant masters, or whatever other superior species you'd like, as a human being I would be on the human being side.  The most unrealistic thing in many comics is the casual acceptance of superbeings and the self-hatred necessary for people to idolize them.  If mutants existed, it would be sensible and necessary to eliminate them.

16 hours ago, Terminax said:

My game usually runs bi-weekly or every other week, with one day set aside towards the end of the month for what I call Office Hours, which amounts to a block of time I've set aside for players to ask questions, discuss rulings at previous games, maybe run a short side session or otherwise make myself available to them. I'm always contactable either through a forum message, email or Discord but I may not be available or able to comment quickly. 

 

This kind of sounds like you are recruiting.

Could a competent person help me out here and post a gif of the ancient booer uh, booing?

Have it cost an appropriate amount of points per its usefulness in your game.  If it's basically a plot device to let him travel between scenes faster, ask yourself if that's more valuable to him as a player or you as a gm?  Sometimes the journey IS the adventure (see the Middle Earth Travelogue; LotR) but usually in supers games you want that part finished with the least fuss necessary.

I saw one with Howard the Duck riding the Surfer's board with slave girl Leia, wearing Batman's utility belt, a Green Lantern ring, holding Mjolnir with dark sunglasses on and saying 'I will never be back'

Magrathea!

Yes, the planet Earth is the Maguffin and the Empress has NO idea.  She knows it's a living organism (the whole Earth is a very complex organism for Maguffin purposes) but thinks it's something in the Earth, or made by people, or maybe animals, or aliens brought it or whatever.

On 5/21/2021 at 5:14 PM, Duke Bushido said:

I am like most old folks--

I too am like most old folks.  Born in 1964, worked for 25 years in a field I enjoyed till I couldn't compete in the nail-banging business, started doing retail arbitrage, got married in 2008, had my first child in 2009, 2nd in 2012, and 3rd in 2019.

The picture of Marksman looks like he's being introduced to Knockback......

18 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

You might try talking to Scott Ruggles via PM.  He gamed with some of the original crew.

 

He helped me answer a question I'd had for a while.  Easy going guy; great to get along with.  Shoot him a PM, as I think the discord is his current weapon of choice.  (I had to bow out of it; too unstructured for my tastes)

 

 

 

 

Too much activity for an old timer?  Just drop in occasionally to chuck some bombs, need more old blood.  And new blood.  Even True Blood.

As someone that turned 57 last week and who spent 30 of those years working as a carpenter, I am definitely not the one to answer that question correctly.

There is an active Hero Discord, I think there's a link around here somewhere.............................