drunkonduty

17 minutes ago, Bazza said:

No, he uses bat-ducks. 

Ahhh! That makes sense.

2 hours ago, Iuz the Evil said:

Prep time…

 

(ducks)

I'm confused. Batman uses ducks now?

So the MCU is giving the Eternals a look that doesn't mesh with the original Kirby aesthetic. I fail to see the problem. They've gone and done plenty of things different from the comics (or perhaps I should say from some of the comics, as there's a huge and varied stable of different takes to be had even within the comics) and it's done no harm to the franchise and resulted in many good movies.

As for the MCU having lost its way... bollocks. What was the last MCU movie? Endgame? Did rather well with audience and critics as I recall. 

I have a vague memory of some art that might be for Dendrians. Maybe in one the Star HERO supplements such as Worlds of Empire or The Terran Empire.

On 5/11/2021 at 3:37 PM, Ninja-Bear said:

Just curious how would handle (in Hero terms) OAF and only OAF. I mean I get their overall  feel. But I believe that if you use the optional character creation then OAF should be worth something.

There's (optional?) rules for taking disads to get increases to power level. You take X disad you get +Y column shifts to the power, with a maximum power level specified for a given disad. Exactly what you'd get for the equivalent of an OAF is very much judge's (GM) call. 

FASERIP isn't that nuanced. <shrug> What ya gonna do?

If I want nuanced and plenty of room to tinker - I play Champions. If I want a quick pick-up game, FASERIP is fine. Of course all of this is purely theoretical since my current gaming groups are only interested in DnD style fantasy.

I love it!  A really cool setting.

I'd still play Marvel FASERIP. It was a fun, simple system. I had all, and I mean ALL, the Marvel Universe Handbooks. I had stats for every character worth noting, and many who weren't. (Looking at you, Stilt-Man.) 

Sheela-Na-Gig even has her own theme song (by the wonderful Miss Polly Jean Harvey.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgoC15Lom-M

Do you have a list of specific powers you are trying to build?

Imitating someone would be Shapeshift with the imitate a specific person adder. The limitation could be something like the target must tell you there name themself, maybe worth -1/2. (Slightly more than just Incantations.)

Illusions would be Images and/or Mental Images.

Making the powers feel fae/otherworldly would be a matter of the limitations chosen and the roleplay.

13 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Needn't be that high-tech. Use powerful explosives to crumble the land on either side of the Strait and fill it with enough rubble to block it to deep-water shipping. But any way you make Gibraltar impassable, you're blocking 300 cargo ships per day.

 

But that isn't even the busiest water route in Europe. That honor goes to the English Channel, most-traveled trade line in the world.

I'm pretty sure the Strait of Gibraltar is too deep to be simply blocked. But... Yeah, knocking the Rock of Gibraltar into the strait and jamming it is pretty much peak super heroes. 

3 hours ago, Jkeown said:

Somewhere around here, I'm certain. I have them all, but I'm of questionable skill in regards to filing. 

 I hear that.  I should be better given my career choices but...

Agreed, I don't see them building anything after they've achieved their goals (whatever that might look like.) Although now I say it I'd like to know Pantera's idea of the correct model for social services, it'd look like Hunger Games and Running Man mashed together.

Just thought of something else Eurostar could do - cause trouble at well known flashpoints.  

Umm... the following touches heavily on real world politics, so, um, let me know if you want it removed.

Eurostar could cause trouble in Crimea, probably in Sevastopol itself, and leave evidence to make make it look like they were operating with Ukraine encouragement. Russia, whether they believed it or not, could use that as a casus belli. 

Cyprus is a long standing point of contention between Greece and Turkey. Probably wouldn't take much to set off a war. Assassinate someone important to the peace process (either someone working for it or against it, really wouldn't matter, as it could be spun in whatever way works.)

They could send funds to terrorist organisations and let them act as cat's paws and just generally cause trouble.

There's countries with long, and in some cases recent, histories of war and hatred. It should be easy to come up with similar plots to the above and apply them to whichever countries you like, real or fictional.

And somehow I've forgotten oil and gas. D'oh. Russia is, I'm pretty sure, the largest supplier of natural gas to Europe. Rupture a pipeline! Or better yet, I mean this is Eurostar, destroy a refining centre or an oil rig. Pretend there's an oil rig in a disputed border region. Blow it up!

14 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Kind of overlooked the Strait of Gibraltar.

D'oh! 

Fill the strait full of hi-tech, homing, stealth sea mines. How will the pot dealers in Morocco get their stash to Spain now?

Wrecking Economies. Well, there's the Australian method. Never, ever, invest money in 2ndry industry and watch as your economy becomes more and more backward. I mean, when did "value added" ever add value to anything?

Culturally specific economics jokes* aside; if I were a super villain and I wanted to wreck an economy I'd focus on choke points in the logistics chain. A choke point is by definition smaller and therefore more easily destroyed by a handful of super villains. Honestly can't think of a European example but the Malacca Strait (between Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsular) is an absolutely key point in world trade. Current events give us the Suez Canal as another example, one that does affect Europe now I think of it. Maybe the straits between Denmark and Sweden? Bound to be a fair bit of shipping go through there.

Port facilities are another good option. Again, they're choke points in the logistics chain.

Getting away from logistics... how about hitting local stock exchanges? Once again, they're choke points but this time in the flow of capital. Plus I suspect that Fiacho would gain a certain amount of personal satisfaction from hitting somewhere so full of moneyed-up suits.

Broader damage to economies probably require WMD. So Eurostar would probably love to get their hands on some of those. I would lean toward biological weapons as even Fiacho should think twice about reducing the world to an atomic glow in the dark cinder.

The there's the big flashy options like hitting national monuments and leaders. Not much in way of economic damage but good damage to the national (international) morale.

They'd probably support their activities with good old fashioned heists. Cash. Diamond exchanges. Bullion. I don't see them doing mercenary work; they work for themselves, not others.

*and was there ever a more hilarious category of jokes?

Looks very interesting.

Are the files .hdc?

3 hours ago, Old Man said:

Mentioned on reddit that there's no mechanics to balance a handicapped character in D&D 5e ( e.g. Elric, Raistlin, Tyrion, Bran, Zatoichi, etc.)  They are not happy. 

Are you trolling reddit? Hilarious.

I live in Canberra. A less magical place I cannot imagine.  

But I guess now I have some things to go check out on quiet weekends.

22 hours ago, slikmar said:

 

I think one problem that is being mentioned and that Snyder and Ray Fisher didn't seem to really grasp. Justice League, like the Avengers movie, isn't a solo movie about 1 character with supporting stars, it is an Ensemble piece. in Avengers, the moments worked because we knew the characters and their moments just fit them. Now, assuming (I don't) the general public knows the characters of the JL through the 50+ years of inundation, you don't need the movie to be an origin for anyone. It should have been enough that Batman and Wonder Woman wanted Cyborg. Save his backstory for his movie, same with Flash, whom most people know some of his backstory through the series and his comics. This should have been the JL vs Steppenwolfe, nothing really more. 

Full disclosure: I haven't seen Justice League. Neither of them. And I'm not going to bother. So please take anything I say with that in mind.  (ie: based on hearsay🙂)

There's no doubt the movie suffered from being put out too soon; doing so put them (the movie makers) in the bind of choosing between including the characters' backgrounds or not. I don't think there was ever going to be a good answer to that problem. So I feel that many of the movie's problems originated with the suits at WB.

That being said, I've seen enough of Snyder's work to know he was never going to make a good movie out of it. It might have been possible to make two adequate movies (assuming you like Snyder's take on things, I don't.) But, and correct me if I'm wrong, that was never going to be a choice as WB wanted one movie.

You know what's funny? I hate Snyder's work. But I have gotten a great deal of joy out of discussing and watching videos about how much he sucks. 

I liked the video. It really explains Snyder's problem - he's a pretentious film student. 

On 4/9/2021 at 8:51 PM, Bazza said:

And one minor point about the actress insisting her character change her hairstyle. While on Game of Thrones Kit Harington, actor for Jon Snow, had a contract on his hair (1). 
 

When I read that actor's complaint I got an eye tic. Actors are not in charge of the shooting schedule or the continuity. If she had had her way you could easily wind up with a change of hairstyle every time the character appeared on screen. Just... aaarrrghh!

DnD can't even do a decent Fighter/Wizard. 

2 hours ago, assault said:

 

The weird thing is that, as the article you linked to points out, the Southern Cross flag is also used by sections of the Left, with greater justification.

 

I could see a hero and a villain both using the symbol, punching the tar out of each other.

 

One of the few notable Australian superheroes of modern times is called the Southern Cross. He's a member of the Southern Squadron, who are a government run team. Of course that affiliation could cause some interesting challenges for the group... The creators of the Southern Squadron are still putting out stories at a glacial pace.

Agreed that the Southern Cross has more history with labour organisation. It's just that, in the last decade or so, I always see it linked with white racist movements. But I like you're idea of two supes punching one another for the right to claim it for their cause.

In broader context I'm undecided on whether or not I'd allow Haymaker and Pushing in the same campaign rules. Currently leaning slightly against it and thinking one or the other, but not both. 

That being said, which ever option (haymaker or push) I went with I'd certainly allow characters to use it, repeatedly if need be, to boost their EGO and/or Mental attacks.

I agree with Jhamin that there are a limited set of special effects that'd interact with the average mental entangle. Pushing EGO would always be an option against BoECV entangles. But I'm not sure if an Ego Blast can disrupt a mental paralysis that's basically mind control to "stay still." Can a character use their own mind control to overcome the hostile mind control? 

In terms of hero and villain cliche motifs I think animal ones are the most likely. Australians are proud of the wide variety of animals that can kill you. We're weird  that way. Snakes, spiders, crocodiles, and sharks would all be popular choices. I can also see a less serious super going by Combat Wombat. I'm picturing a low level brick, some KB resistance, maybe a utility belt with a few tricks.

Flag suits are just not Australian. We don't have the same attitude to/culture around the national flag as Americans. And nowadays such flag waving as there is is usually associated with xenophobic and out right racist attitudes. You could do a white nationalist villain who uses the Southern Cross flag. 

Australians do love their cars. How about a junk-yard/home made power suit called Commodore or Monaro? A mix of speedster and light brick.

21 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I was led to believe that decades ago from the film Walkabout.

 

Does this term not refer to that type of journey? Has it always been used pejoratively, or is that recent, or was it in the past?

A quick google says the term goes back to 1828 and was used pejoratively by white settlers to refer to the supposed habit of Indigenous Australians to disappear when they should be at work. I'd have to go into a pretty long and involved history lesson to explain why that on-the-surface simple explanation has a lot of ugly assumptions included in it. Let it simply be said Indigenous Australians do not appreciate the word.

As for the movie, keep in mind it's a movie by white people for white people. It doesn't make much effort to understand Indigenous life or traditions. I mean, it's not deliberately trying to be offensive. It just operates under certain assumptions that were common in the day. I'd have to re-watch it to say anything more concrete about it. 

But thanks to everyone for making the effort to understand. :-) 

Back on Lord of the Rings - it certainly suffers from character overload. A modern publisher would probably reject it on that alone. Me, I love the world building as much as the story. But it does lead to a long waffling narrative that, in all fairness, needs to be cut down if you want to make some movies out of it.

I think the earlier parts of the story suffer from a distinct lack of direction. It's more a series of unlinked episodes. It's probably not until Rivendell that the plot actually comes into focus. The movies hurry it up by cutting out the unnecessary stuff. I can't fault Jackson on that, even if it means he had to cut out such essential characters as Tim Benzedrine. Er, Tom Bombadil.