BoloOfEarth

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

Re: Favorite Damage Shields? Great idea, and very appropriate. Repped.

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: Favorite Damage Shields? I'm the gamemaster in our Champions games, and one of my players loves the ol' high-STR Grab. In fact, his latest character is named Squeeze, so you can guess what his normal tactic is. A recent villain he ran into is Torg, a dim-witted swordsman with magical armor. Anyone touching the armor gets hit with a STR Drain Damage Shield. (I was going to do a STR Transfer Damage Shield, but that seemed too over-the-top.) It's not a lot, only 3d6, and since a teammate has Force Fields UBO that include 5 points of Power Defense this means he typically only loses 5 STR a phase, but Squeeze nonetheless avoids Torg like the plague. I also had a radiation character, with the ability to go Desolid and fly. She had a small (I think 2d6) NND EB Damage Shield, Affects Real World. She'd fly through people, dosing them with radiation. It wasn't a lot of damage, but the fact that few of the heroes could hit her made her quite a threat. A recent VIPER Nest Leader I created, Magnetite, had a 3d6 AVLD (Power Defense) Continuous Damage Shield, Half END. It was a variation on a power in the USPD, where his intense magnetic field messes with the target's blood flow. It was the no-range counterpart to his favorite ranged attack, a Continuous Uncontrolled 3d6 AVLD, Half END. In general, I've found that with 5th Edition Damage Shield (having to buy Continuous as well), the only way to make it cause any damage at all with EBs or RKAs is to pile on other Advantages (like Penetrating, NND, etc.) Otherwise, your Damage Shield is a joke. If you want a Continuous Damage Shield in a 60-point Multipower, you can't even have 5d6 EB. (To do that, you'd have to bump it up to a 62-point MP.) If you're a player whose GM has put an Active point cap on attacks, it's either NND, AVLD, or Penetrating if you want a chance of doing any damage at all.

Re: Favorite Tactics against High DCV?

Re: Thoughts on a "Jynx" power? Butterfingers: TK (40 STR), only to disarm Jammed Weapon: 16d6 Dispel any one Technology power Where Did That Flypaper Come From?: 6d6 Flash Sight, NND (Force Field) Clogged Fuel Line: 6d6 Suppress Flight, Uncontrolled, 1/2 END = 2 Interference: 4" radius Darkness vs. Radio, 0 END Falling Paint Can (just for fun): 8d6 Cosmetic Transform (to Neon Yellow -- ah, what the heck, add some feathers that just happened to be blowing past from a ripped pillow), 0 END Downed Power Line / Lightning Strike / Broken Gas Pipe: 4d6 RKA

Re: Thoughts on a "Jynx" power? You beat me to it, and Repped. I did it exactly this way with Snafu, a female luck-based villain I had in my Champions campaign years ago. She threw paper balls filled with dime-store glitter, and the people she hit had bad luck (a 60-point VPP, as Derek described, with Limited Conscious Control). BTW, the glitter balls weren't a focus, they were just a bit of subterfuge to make the players think they could somehow disarm her. FYI, I suggest making a list of bad things that can happen, drawn up as powers, before play. You could do things like: Water Main Break -- 8d6 PB, Indirect Falling Pane of Glass -- 2d6 AP RKA, AOE (hex) Falling Tarp -- 4d6 Entangle, AOE (hex) Weak Flooring -- 6d6 Suppress Running, AOE 3" radius. ... and so on.

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat He goes from classroom to classroom, using his claws on the blackboard to get the students' attention.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Did you know that "Doom" is "Mood" spelled backwards? A: I used a nun's habit and six tubes of Crazy Glue.

Re: Who Is... Your Favorite Villain? Loooong ago (I think back in 2nd or 3rd edition days), I built a villain named Vacuum, with a powered armor suit holding what was basically a huge vacuum cleaner. His real name was Dr. Lou Kirby (or as the PRIMUS file listed him, "Dr. Kirby, Lou.")

Re: Mental Speed According to Steve Long in response to a rules question: