kridenow

Re: Heroic battles Underwater combats/pursuits sound interesting to me (diving and swimming through the place). The facility on sea floor provides a good scenery all around and a variant on the "don't punch through walls" theme. (ironically, I don't even own Champions or any related book save Gadgets and Gear, so I can't really read Hidden Lands for inspiration ) The "alien dimensions" was my first thought when pondering how to include new environmental challenge to my games. However, I'm trying to fish on more "earth based" challenges. Plus, the trick of sending the characters offworld can turn into a "ok, in what funky dimension are we going to be sent this time ?" Subterrean cities/exploration looked god to me at first. Until I considered that with various powers allowing to flight, teleport (I'm speaking at general level, not especially about my player group)... movement through places large enough to allow action scenes should be relatively similar to mundane conditions ones. I guess pursuits in tunnels including siphons, the mandatory cave-ins, narrow passages and a collection of stalagmites/stalagtites can be an entertaining experience... *ponders*

Re: Heroic battles I've done a battle in space with gravity problems, but in Star Trek (LUG). The museum idea, or anything related to "be careful what you're doing" comes from my tendencies to put players in situations where they must revise their usual combat tactics. Now I think about it, gravity in a space station battle might provide interesting elements depending on the powers used (as opposed to a relatively hard core SciFi game like Star Trek). The sea/marine environment is often something I'd like to use but fail to picture a nice enviroment... maybe a wreck... be it an old spanish galleon or a modern one.

Re: Heroic battles I had a relatively similar idea (not the NASA thing), just pondering how delicate a fight in a museum would be. With all those unique pieces all around...

Hello everyone, I was wondering if I could request from you all ideas about the kind of heroic battles you run in your Champions games. I mean... the environment you are using to make the fights different, more interesting, something to remember... Fighting on bridges, skyscrapers, in streets is quite regular stuff. I thought asking you all since I am considering to include a pursuit in a coming game and, normaly, the ensuing fight, in the tunnels of a subway system. The chase itself promises to be entertaining... pursuing your quarry while dodging trains and afterward, fighting. So if you have fights you remember fondly because of the scenery... or ideas...

Re: Why are so many people upset that Cryptic is only using the Champions IP? Sorry, it was a poor attempt at joking I was aware of that.

Re: Massively Article On Champions Online

Re: Gamasutra interview with Jack I'm certainly not the "typical MMOG gamer" but I always considered game mechanics fixes as welcomed, in City of Heroes. Ah, I should call them "nerfs" There is something that seem constant in MMOGs, it's the fact once players devised a nice combo of powers/spells/attacks, a solid "build", they consider it acquired until the end of times. And any "forced" change to it is felt like a betrayal... as if developpers just aimed at making them miserable... The Enhancement Diversification from City of Heroes is possibly the feature I liked the most. As it name implies, it forced players to do something else than optimizing to be the ultimate fighting machine, dealing colossal amounts of damage in little time or being borderline immortal and invulnerable. Even if Jack Emmert here is sounding a bit as if City of Heroes failed on many aspects (but then, it's an interview and bits of quotes), I still consider that game being the most interesting, mechanically. Certainly, there can be more adjustments to power uses etc... But it works and it works well. The choices at developping your powers, the uses of inspirations, character archetypes synergy, a fast paced action (no I don't mind recharge time, they are good for balance), the fabulous idea of the sidekick/exemplar system (please please, make it still in Champions Online !)... everything work for make a good MMOG. It's only my opinion, for sure, but City of Heroes is the only MMOG where I find combats interesting. (yes, some archetypes combinations are more "active" than others but generally, everyone has something to do). Now, and maybe sadly, it's true a new MMOG is going to be compared to others, namely World of Warcraft currently, and players will expect to find familiar features. But, to me, what makes me still playing City of Heroes is the fact it has innovative ideas and, actually, broke with some "expected features" (no character development based on loot, yay). My preference goes to games that try to be something else than a new MMOG based on everything classic from the fantasy genre, just in another costume, so to speak. There are some gems there and there. City of Heroes is one. The diplomatic system from Vanguard is another, even if it could win at being visually improved (and its crafting system to a lesser extent).

Re: Massively Article On Champions Online Thanks for the link. I'm not exactly enthousiastic over this : "Cryptic has also taken notice of what makes players in other MMOs very happy. One decision made by the team is the inclusion of loot, which we're happy to see is being designed into the game from the ground up" MMOGs relying on "loot" for character development tend to be a pain for casual gamers. City of Heroes has a sort of "loot" system (the invention system, coming with various elements (recipes and salvage) you get randomly from defeated foes) but since it came way after the game release, it's entirely optionnal and you can ignore it completely

Actually, I believe a MMOG could be done using the HERO system. But I also believe it's not a good idea when you aim at releasing a MMOG and have the ambition of having more players than just a niche. I just hope Champions Online will get some bits of the HERO "philosophy", allows a flexible character creation. In other words, going for a compromise between what can offer a Pen and Paper RPG and what a MMOG is generally built on. Since Cryptic is vaguely related to City of Heroes (I've heard), I can just say that, while City of Heroes is based on archetypes and might look drastically limiting character creation and creativity, you still get a huge number of combination to play with. After two years and half playing CoH, I still have a ton of combinations I didn't try. If Champions Online goes a bit beyond the archetypes concept and allows more freedom, I'd be sincerely happy. Not because I want more freedom at all cost, just because it is a welcomed change and won't be just a redo of the CoH system. Getting the IP of Champions Universe... it's hard to tell... It depends a lot how it will be used. But since I appreciate a lot what Cryptic has done on CoH, I have no real reason to believe they are going to do a bad job for their next game. As long as Cryptic delivers a good supers game based on the Champions Universe, I'm going to be happy. Using the Champions Universe IP is already a nice choice. I'm not going to cry if a very good modular game system, but aimed at PnP gaming, isn't used.

Re: Champion?? Yes but Trick Arrows wasn't the best set back then and even know many would say it "sucks". Also, the lack of travel power is certainly a handicap you call on yourself. I'm not saying the combination isn't playable, just when you drift from the expectations of the game system, you can't expect to always have a balanced character.

Re: Champion?? I believe that if they are coupling a template system to the full creation system, it should be ok. It would end in "either pick a template from a list, either create your own detailed hero (we hope you know what you do)" On a more personnal note, I don't mind about balance between playing styles. When I start a MMOG, sincerely, I know that as a roleplayer, I'm not the primary target. And then if I do things purely for concept reasons that don't work well within the game, it's me not following, consciously, the rules and the expected choices. See... one of my characters on CoH was a Trick Arrow/Archery defender without travel powers... not exactly the best game combination back then. And the lack of travel powers was simply handicapping me. I mean here I never expected that my concept choices should be balanced, comparatively to "regular builds".

Re: The Clown Guild - The First Clan for the new MMO

Re: Hey Gang! Welcome Jack. You are going to make me leave City of Heroes for Champions Online, you know that ?

Re: Who's Who on the Champions Online forums? Registered there as FaeryFire... since it's my username on CoH (european) boards.

Re: Grimoire books content Hello again (after some absence), About HERO Designer, I can't really say I have a regular and free access to a printer. The only I could use being the one at work and using for that would be somewhat... tricky. Still, I keep the Designer in mind. About the UMA, I mainly share this point of view : "unless you want to actually mimic existing martial arts (or make up new maneuvers) UMA is not that useful". From what I saw, my guessing is the UMA can be a good tool but I don't plan to focus that much on combat detail. (if I was aiming at a Swashblucker setting or even Star Wars, on the other hand...). Thanks again you all for suggestions, opinions, clarifications, links and so on. I'll be lurking on the boards reading various threads until I feel the need to post my own questions Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Well, HERO Designer certainly could help. However... 1/ I don't own a laptop 2/ I can't really imagine roleplaying with being obliged to read a computer screen (even if I had a laptop) 3/ I don't have a printer So, any work on HERO Designer would end stored in my home computer, away from the place where I am usually gaming, so with no acess to the work. So... not really handy for my gaming. Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Oh yes... I meant I have a good idea of how the system works now but a second reading before trying to do something practical would be a good idea. But otherwise, yes, I never expected to read it only once and for all Still no Ultimate Skill, grr... Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Hello again. Things are... I was last week end at Paris (not far from my home) and entering a gaming store I found the Grimoire 2 for... hum... the euro equivalent of $US 3.50. So, finally, I got this one. I just superficially browsed over it and yes, it can be a source of inspiration but doesn't look what I need. The whole thread finally convinced me what I am looking for is truly written over the various Ultimate books. So, to the disappointment of my wallet, I decided to revel into carnal gaming and ordered the (almost) whole serie. Almost... not the Martial Artist. The main reason is the maneuvers in the main book look enough for me, for now. Second, I am generally more interested by the tactical aspect of combat not from maneuvers and exact numbers to perform that or that action but from positioning, flanking, using the environment. Lastly, the reference to existing martial arts, while appealing to someone who 1/ wants to get them into the game, 2/ wants to model fictionnal martial arts from them, is basically useless to me. Still, being a completist by nature, I can't say I'll never get it... damn... Not so long ago, I posted that I prefered to focus on what I have now... Currently, I had a first reading of the main book. I believe a second one, still, wouldn't be useless, just to better grasp the various way to portray things with the HERO system. The Ultimate Skill (when I have it and if the book doesn't end in Australia like my last order) is probably going to be my next reading. I remember playing Champions... well... when was it... in 1986 ? ... and skills were only a little part of the game (which can be understandable by the superhero style we were playing, heavily focusing on powers). I'd like now to give more importance to skills (probably by tieing powers to RSR limitations, but also by not leaving the powers dominate the way the game is played). Thanks to you all, sincerely. Finally, this thread isn't really anymore about Grimoires only... Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content I am still perplexed by it It's very focused (as an Ultimate Guide should be) but I'm not certain I'd get much use of it with my players (Wait... I still must sell them the idea of plmaying HERO). I love tactical combat (I come originally from the wargame side of gaming) but my players... not that much. And ibcluding that level of details of my (let's hope) future HERO gaming might not be their teste and turn them off completely (ie : associating HERO with detailed combat rules, even if they are optionnal). But thanks anyway. Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Ah and... I forgot. About the Martial Artist, I'm perplexed. I don't know much about its contents. I should try to look for reviews around, on those boards. Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content I am currently eyeing the Ultimate Skill. Getting the others from the Ultimate serie would be just flooding me with info for now. As said, I must have some sense of comprehension of the basics before looking elsewhere. HERO itself isn't that complicated. But the combinations and interactions between the advantages and limitations are something I must be able to handle a bit first. So I'd be able later to look at ideas and think "Ah nice idea ?!" and not "Uh... ok, if you say so". But... uck... must... resist... ordering... more. Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Nothing is useless for me as I am learning. My days playing Champions are so old I must relearn most and the HERO system was quite expanded since. For now, I am digesting the myriad of options offered by advantages and limitations. I miss a consolidated list in the main rulebook (or did I miss it ?). So, I started by looking at the various conversion threads and websites (including yours). Seeing how people are tinkering with HERO rules to simulate well known (to me) game mechanics is helpful. I am certain the Grimoires can be very good when they fit your needs. Currently, I am not sure I'd have much use of them. The Ultimate Books look interesting. But there, I'm more concerned by redundancy and the fact they are aiming relatively clearly at the superhero theme. For example, while I imagine I could get useful examples from the Ultimate Speedster or Brick, I'm pondering if most of the ideas developped in the books would serve me much. But... still... who knows... The fact a player character isn't wearing spandex doesn't mean he isn't some kind of superhero (even when wearing trenchcoat and having vampire fangs) so such rules suggestions might apply directly. For now, my HERO collection is : - the main rulebook - Fantasy HERO - Bestiary - the two Asian Bestiaries (actually more for general asian resources) - Star HERO (bcause I am considering adding some regular SciFi tropes to the setting) - Pulp HERO (for fun ) - Equipment and Vehicles books Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Ahem, yes... I already spotted Killer Shrike website, by browsing these very forums. Thanks for underlining it, however. I will also give a look at the Ultimate Grimoire site. Both look interesting material to me. (I am indeed starting to pile web links for later uses, see how people are considering mechanically breaking down things etc) Thanks again Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Fantasy Hero, yes. I should have the book today or tomorrow. I was curious about the Grimoire books because I am trying to gather material before going from vague concepts to actual notes and writings. In other words, not ending with a new book and thinking "Oh, that's a great nice idea but I'd need to rethink part of the setting now to include it". Thanks for replying, all. I'm also continuing to browse the forums to see how people are discussing powers implementations, probably the best source to me, for now. Pierre

Re: Grimoire books content Hmm, ok, seems I'm not really going to get much from (at least) the first grimoire there. I am thinking about a setting "high on magic", ie : with very common magic, but not necessarily powerful. The main reason why I don't need a catalog of spells is I'd probably end with all the common spell effects in fantasy and as I'd like to drift a bit from it, much of the material would end useless to me. Also, I'm going to present the setting and the HERO system to my players, who never had any exposure to the system (at least, I remember quite well my days of Champions, almost two decades ago). So, they will not be able to use an extended spell list, as they will only have vague assumptions of the merits and flaws of getting a 1d6 RKA vs a 4d6 EB. Thanks for clarifying here. If I can get some feedback about the second Grimoire from someone else now... Pierre