BoloOfEarth

Re: Suggestion Box: name our Teen Champions team Cestus. This is a variation on CST (Chester School for Teens) without being overly obvious. The dictionary definition includes: 1. A covering for the hand made of leather straps weighted with iron or lead and worn by boxers in ancient Rome. 2. Classical Mythology. the girdle of Venus, decorated with every object that could arouse amorous desire. The first part would sound cool to the guys ("hey, we're brass knuckles!") and the second part might appeal to Singirl.

Re: Help with Character Acroynym The Enhanced Tactical Utility Bio-Robot, or as referred to in the shipping manifest and all technical specs: Bio-Robot, Utility, Tactical, Enhanced. And since ETUBR sounds like some kind of electronic potato, the team goes with the technical designation.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The Playboy Mansion LARP.

Re: Fifteen points of wealth is very justifiable My thinking on this has varied over time, and comes with a caveat: At this point, I don't think any player character in my games has gone the full 15-point route, but I believe one or two past characters have had 10 points of Wealth. IMO, Wealth can buy you some vehicles / equipment that you might otherwise pay points for, but (1) it has to be commercially and legally available (so no buying a stealth jet or such), and (2) it is by default less durable than point-paid stuff (any may not even be 100% reliable). Basically, it all comes with the Real Equipment and Requires Periodic Maintenance limitations. 15 points is a nice sum, so a character with that amount of Wealth should get comparable benefit from it. I'd think of it kinda like a 10-point special* VPP (restricted Powers and Perks available, Real Equipment limitation on Powers and Cramming-type limitation on Perks, etc., plus a potential Limitation described below). You could "buy" a temporary Contact, but it would be restricted (kinda like using Cramming to learn a language). *Special in that Active Points can exceed 10 points, and that Perks are available, and that Perks can have Limitations on them, such as... The entire thing comes with a variable-value "The More You Use At Once, The More Likely The GM May Mess With You" limitation. Basically, you have a 10-pound sack. You can try and cram 15 or 20 pounds into it, but you might split a seam or two if you try. So if you're using your Wealth to fly to Paris on your private Lear jet (Vehicle) with a supermodel /pop star (Contact) on your arm to get into an exclusive club (Membership) to look for ways into the supervillain lair beneath, that's cool by me. But if you *also* want to supply all of your teammates with state-of-the art radios (HRR), low-light gear (IR), and cutting-edge lockpicks and alarm-bypass gear (+2 with Lockpicking and Security Systems, respectively)... well, just think about how many Limitations you'd need to get the Real Points of all of that low enough to add up to 10 points.

Re: vehicles For out of combat movement, I've liked vehicles, especially for superhero teams. If you're looking for something to supplement movement in-combat, however, a vehicle isn't really the way to go, unless you're going for something unusual (like a flying surfboard or some-such). Now, L.Craig, since your character is a duplicator/martial artist, I'd check if vehicles or such duplicate when you do. (Too muddle-headed from a cold to reliably find out myself, sorry.) Mostly, I GM, but one of the last characters I had was a swashbuckling swordsman with a hoverbike-like vehicle. He didn't ride it a lot in combat, though, but it helped him to get where the combat was taking place.

Re: Best Published Superhero Adventure? I rarely if ever run published adventures, though I gleefully plunder them for characters, maps, and ideas. One of the few adventures I did run mostly as-is was Unearthed Mechana from an issue of Digital Hero. It was great fun, run the same weekend as the great Northeast Blackout of 2003, and between my players' actions (and a little plot manipulation by me), they managed to cause the blackout while stopping Mechana. I also have great love for the VIPER adventure that originally came with an early edition of Champions. (The adventure started with a VIPER agent defecting and culminated in a raid on the local VIPER Nest.) Could be nostalgia, but as I recall it was a lot of fun for me as a player, and my players had fun when I dusted it off and ran them through it early in my GM-ing career.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat The S.S. Jessica Alba, ahoy! Avast! The seas are aswim with lawyers! I'll be takin' the sharks, if ye please!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Arrr! Fer darin' ta mutiny, ye be sent to... Detroit!

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Sixteen Grubs on a Dead-Man's Chest, ye scurvy dogs! NT: Worst possible thread for Talk Like A Pirate Day

Re: WWYCD: Nestleader: The Game Now, as to what I would do... Bolo, having electrical powers generating unpredictable EM fields, probably wouldn't play the game, since he doesn't own a computer himself and he's not allowed near the team AI. If VIPER didn't make any moves against the game company (hey, a game named The Serpent's Nest is just screaming "VIPER!!!"), he'd probably suspect a direct connection and investigate once he heard about the game. Now, as a GM, I'd either change the game name to muddy the waters, or leave it obvious and have it be an apparent poke in the eye to VIPER (the game company laughingly claims that their players have "stolen" more, in game, during the past six months than VIPER did all year, then a VIPER Nest hijacks and destroys a shipment of games, etc.)

Re: WWYCD: Nestleader: The Game Along the same lines as City of Villains / City of Heroes: I kinda like the idea of a Hero version of the Serpent's Nest game, too.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Since the whirlpool jets on the Justice League jacuzzi aren't working, our wonderful teammate Aquaman has convinced these lake trout to swim in circles as fast as possible..."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat Penguin Porn NT: Most unexpected joint announcement from the Windows and Linux people

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From last night's D&D game: DM: You need to hit a 32. Yllek: I rolled... a 23. So if the zombie is dyslexic, I hit him. - - - - - - - - - Leila: (to cleric) Don't you want to cast some sort of "Don't Be Evil Any More" spell? - - - - - - - - - Aren: Okay, I'm using my magical mace. It's an Undane Bed... I mean, Undead Bane. DM: You do pretty good damage because of the Undane part... (I figure either muddled speech is contagious, or the zombie was from Denmark.) - - - - - - - - - DM: You remove the stitches on the corpse's chest, and the skin folds back to reveal a baby... humanoid, though you're not sure exactly what. It has a deformed face, glowing eyes, fangs... and it starts to cry. (Everybody makes a Will save except Ryan, who now feels compelled to protect the evil baby. So after the sorcerer, Il'Marcum, attacks the baby, Ryan stabs him in the back with his sword. Then the druid "heals" the baby, causing it to literally explode in her face.) Il'marcum: (Turns to Ryan) Excuse me. I found that sword you misplaced... in my a**!!! - - - - - - - - Ryan: How did you know I was under its spell? Yllek: I think when you tickled its chin and said, (baby-talk voice) 'Who's a good widdle evil baby? You are! Yes, you are!'

Re: Hero Sales Figures, new blood? Aren't you forgetting about those micro-cameras he had put into the newest 5ER books? He *is* looking over your shoulder...

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: Favorite Damage Shields? Seems to me that the Desolid UAA damage shield would only turn the target desolid while they were in contact with the damage shield... and once they go desolid, they're no longer in contact with the damage shield, so they solidify. So to that, I'd say no. The EDM... I'd say it's marginally legal, though as GM I wouldn't allow it, nor would I put it on an NPC.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Why did you drill into your frontal lobe after listening to the presidential debates? A: Rocks fall, everyone dies.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat He runs on Windows Vista. NT: What will Microsoft's *next* operating system do that pisses everybody off?

Re: Opinions On Being An "Ex-Viper Member" Entry level agent, without any unique (and expensive) equipment and little info about VIPER that outside sources would find useful? I'd think Hunted at 8- would be fine. They'd want to make an example of him, if for no other reason than to keep others from doing the same, but they're not likely to commit huge resources to the hunt unless there's some other compelling reason. Now, if you wanted to justify an 11-, he could always have taken something of critical value, but doesn't know it (i.e. somehow someone put a file on his laptop on police and PRIMUS agents that VIPER has in their pocket). Or VIPER thinks he has the Critical Plot Device, but he really doesn't have it. For instance: I'm running a Champions game where one hero's origin says he regenerated from the dead and dug his way out of his grave. He's hunted by the shadowy criminal organization that "killed" him, because someone slipped him a St. Christopher's medallion concealing a data disk listing a slew of the organization's covert members in high government positions. The medallion slipped out when he was digging his way out of the grave, and is now lying somehwere in the grass of the graveyard.

Re: Around the World With A New Character Each Week Gotta say, I love this thread. Keep up the great work. And, of course, repped.

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Did you ever notice the new Ultimate Secret Identity book is just a catalogue of eyeglasses?"

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Ha! That is clearly inferior to the 2006 director's cut of Otakus, with the extended fight footage (1.3 seconds longer) and the four frames where they ironically switch Jorge's and Hector's outfits. I laugh at you, Steve! Your knowledge of Otakus is no match for mine! I am the true Otakus master!

Re: Jokes A newly-elected congressman is meeting with his predecessor, and that departing congressman hands the new guy three envelopes (numbered #1, #2, #3). "During your time in office, there will be occasions where you're not sure what to do. In those cases, open an envelope, in the order they're numbered." The new congressman scoffs and tosses the envelopes in his desk drawer. Seven months later, however, the new congressman is embroiled in a scandal, and he's not sure how to handle it. Looking for a pen, he opens a desk drawer and sees the envelopes. "What the heck?" he thinks, and opens envelope #1. A slip of paper inside reads: "Blame your predecessor." So that's what the congressman does. "I am just cleaning up the mess left by my predecessor," he tells his constituents. Luckily for him, they buy this 'explanation' and everything calms back down. A few years later, into his second term, the congressman's constituents are again up in arms, and he's not sure what to do. Spying the two remaining envelopes, he shurgs and opens envelope #2. A paper inside reads: "Blame the other party." Again, the congressman does exactly that. "I am attempting to solve this difficulty, but my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have blocked every solution I propose." Again, the people buy this, and things get better. A few more years pass, and a third scandal erupts. No amount of spin seems able to contain the problem, and in desperation the congressman opens envelope #3. A slip of paper inside reads: "Prepare three envelopes..."

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat