MoonHunter

Re: Fusions that aren't actually all that nightmarish You know, the both of those would be fun.

Re: Pulp Hero Resources Shameless bump for a great resource lost to the bottom of the forum.

Re: Your FIRST Super Hero Character My first character was at Pacificon-Origins after I bought the rules on Sunday. Some one wanted characters that were not putzs in tight. A'lan was an alien (orange skin, webbed ears), with 14 dice mind control, mental illusion, mind scan, and telepathy. and 10 strength TK. He strolled around in a suit. He had just landed. If someone had given him a break, he would of eventually fell into a more superheroic pattern. However the two GMs that played him, kept him living "in the crime circles", so I learned about pimping, cons, and so on. So I never got him "into the supers life" and kept stumbling over violent situations he would help out with. So from there, I made sure that all characters were obviously costume clad crusaders.

Ahhhh. Horror. Also known as Boo! Horror does not require players to do things stupid, but it does require NPCs and PCs to be caught in unexpected events that operate in a way beyond normal rules. It is the "jump", the suprise, the twist, and the shift beyond the expected rules that make horror possible. If you focus on that, you can achieve a horror feel to the game. I have been running both horror and monster action/ adventure genre games for decades now (being my favorite genres). The two seldom cross. If the characters are prepped for I have two "articles" on the subject that might be illuminating for you. Boo! http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=666 It is a more theoretical piece, but helps you get into the mind frame of what you need to do to actually generate horror. More Boo! http://www.strolen.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=629 This is a slightly more random collection of game tips on how to run a horror genre game. This is focused on the nuts and bolts of how to run a horror game. I also might suggest hitting up the following links. Here are some useful things.... http://horror.about.com/cs/writinghorror/ Handy bunch of links... http://www.horror.org THE HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION (HWA) is a worldwide organization of writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. HWA was formed in the late 1980s with the help of many of the field's greats, including Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Joe Lansdale. Today, with over 1,000 members around the globe, it is the oldest and most respected professional organization for the much-loved writers who bring you the most enjoyable sleepless nights of your life. For more about us, click here. http://www.tcnj.edu/~beres/horror.htm The Horror Screenwriters Page. A good place to start. Designing game scenarios and GMing is more like writing, shot blocking, and directing a movie than it is writing a story. This is a good place to get your feet wet in the blood of things. http://wwforums.com/6/ubb.x?a=frm&s=6636029721&f=8386073071 Handy forum. Some gems to be found, but you have to wade through crap. Writerswrite.com, ReadersRead.com, HowToWeb.com and Writenews.com Associated sites. http://www.redinkworks.com/horror_resources.htm Some of the links are dead (no pun intended). Those that work are good. http://www.sheerhorror.com/ You can google some more if you want. And avoid paying any money for anything on the writing sites. That is how they make their money, but what you need can be gotten for free if you search on the web long enough. And before you say... "These are all writing sites. They have nothing to do with gaming..." GMing is a great deal like writing a story, be it book fiction or screen play. These tools, plus some story telling skills, can make you a great horror GM. Trust me on this one. I have been a horror and action horror GM for a regular campaign for about 18 years now.

There are a few I had two teenaged runaways who were world class teleporters (and ED movers as it turns out) in my campaign whos "street names" were Jump (who was the most powerful teleporter in our universe) and Slide (a teleporter who could see and move anywhere along a continuous surface, like a road, wire, machine, or wall). The ExtraDimensional SV, Dr. Appocolypse, was always chasing these two. His minions were always tearing things up looking for them. They of course, had left. The heroes of course showed up to contain them. Gear and Hex were brother and sister savants in their respective technical and magical fields. This mis-mashed group of PCs worked well together (until the players broke up) They both had an "advantage" of increased DEX, EGO, SPD, INT, and most notably REC if they were within proximity of each other (10" -1/4).

In addition... Except for one or two things, anime is mostly a style of play, just like it is a meta-genre, rather than a single genre. So you need to make sure that you and your troupe are all on the same page about the genre and what they expect in it. Also, the GM has to be very clear about which genre elements are going to be present in the game. Anime is a very visual genre, so your narration and action descriptions have to be intense, fluid, and very visual. As a GM, practice some random ones infront of the mirror, just so you can get the feel down. Every Anime Story and Game Sessions must have the following for ingredients: 1) Action. More Action and exciting stunts than any game you normally play. This hyperactive caffinated boy/kid as target audience. If they would be satisfied, then you are right on. 2) Cool Tech/Magic: Makes it detailed and crunchy. 3) Soap Opera: There needs to be a great deal of interpersonal conflict and relationships. There needs to be drama and melodrama. Think 16 year old girl as the larget audience. 4) Real People: No flat characters. Everyone has depth. Every one has needs/ motivations/ fears/ doubts. No teflon heroes in anime. They are not heroes in the western sense, they are everyday people attempting to overcome these difficult events. You need to make sure that you are including all the great genre conventions, including the visual ones. Not only does this include mecha, cute girl school costumes, cat girls, and so on, but tear drops, fish going through the ears, baka mallets, and so on. Accept the occasional odd things that is part of the genre. The rules we added. Kurumijitsu, the Japanese art of leaping/ tumbling is a genre convention. Everyone should have acrobatics as an everyman skill (and should take it as a skill) AND twice the base leaping distance. MoveBy, when leaping, should get a +2 OCV/ DCV. This change increases the number of jumping attacks to match the genre. Mutual MoveBy: It is a response action to someone doing a moveby to you. You can do an MB back. Both characters meet in the middle and the attacks are resolved in DEX order. This is for all those classic slashing attacks people make while jumping at each other.

some general thoughts on subject 1) Keep in mind the concept of "minions" hirelings. The most dangerous villian in my game is 225 points worth of skills, perks, and equipment. He is a mega-rich business from an alternate timeline. He has many of the most powerful and dangerous villians in the world on his leash because of his ruthless personality and people management abilities. He is not dangerous, but he is perceived as dangerous because of the quality of his minions. Players: "Geeze... these are the minions.. they trashed us. Do we want to go up against their boss?" 2) Keep it Fresh. If you are going to have an armored mastermind, try not to make him a Dr. Destroyer or Dr. Doom rip off. He needs his own unique identity to make him/ her/ it interesting. Nothing kills a player's interest like the thought "oh. he is Dr.Doom." or "oh another Joker". 3) But not too Fresh. You want to make them interesting, but you need to keep it brief. If the villian has 20 pages of character history write up, how much of that will come across into the game. The players might learn the "bullet points" of the villians background, but they will never read the novel. 4) Make it personal. It is a small world in a supers game, so make sure the badness spills over and effects the player's personal lives. 5) You don't need powers to be an antagonist. And the Antagonist does not need to be the villian. One villian with tiny amounts of invisability, telekinesis, and illusion abilities, stimed a number of mighty super teams (only to be busted each time by the minimally-powered detective type). Our local's mayor office has been the biggest threat to the heroes since the draconic horde spilled through the portal. Your local police chief, media mogul, owner of newspaper, could all be dangerous foes that need to be out thought rather than simply smashed. 6) Sweep up your loose plot effects. Make sure that what the villian does has lingering effects. Have the heroes see the bank being repaired weeks later. Have them effected by the water rationing after the villian shrinks and steals the resevoir. If they blow up mount rushmore, have them see it on CNN the appropriations debate in congress. This will help build continuity in the world AND motivate your players against the villian and his inevitable return. More to come.

Mirror Characters This is an article I had just been tinkering with for the http://www.silven.com ezine. If you are a GM you will frequently find yourself in need of quality allies and enemies for your campaign and find yourself pressed for time. Any old NPC will often not do. You want someone with a full conceptions and some history. In a super heroic campaign, the additional mechanics require make "throwing together" an NPC at the last moment much, much, more difficult. There is an entire layer of mechanics beyond the conventional stats/ skill/ archetype-class bit. It can be quite daunting and one of the reasons many super heroic GMs are very rigid about their "encounters". Yet the solutions presents itself from the source material: Mirror characters. The best example is X-men 137 to be exact, when we got the Imperial Guard who were mirrors of the Legion of Super Heroes. You could immediately identify which character was based on which Legionaire. Through their cameos and later appearances, we readers have known what to expect from the because of who they were based on. It is a great writers tool for readers in the know. The Squadron Supreme was a mirror of the mighty Justice League for most of its incarnations, though less so as time has gone on. So you are asking yourself... "SO!?! What is he ramblling about and how is this applicable to gaming?" You can mirror comic books characters and use them in your game. By using a character you know well, it saves you time and effort on filling in the blanks and you have a template for the type of powers the character should have. Mirror characters come in three true variations: Reflections, Dark Reflections, and Distored. Reflection characters are characters based on existing character. You change one or two thing, and you have a brand new character. The Night: An acrobat with a radar sense who is a blind judge by day and a vigilantee for justice at night, basically DareDevil. Quantum, Blond Mega-Hero from another planet, fighting for truth justice and peace... basically Superman (or the Martian Manhunter) with a different costume and different weakness. Chance, a beautiful red headed mutant probability shifter with an evil villian for a father (speedster) and brother (sonics)... the Scarlet Witch with the serial numbers filed off and stuffed in a new costume. You should see how this make things much easier. You know the characters, their powers, and their stories. You can adapt ever aspect you need for your game, and ignore the rest of their continuity. If any questions come up, think about their original´s continuity and make a decision based on it. These adaptions allow you to ignore the problems you will have if you copy the characters directly. Copies are the most blatent mirror characters, you directly rip off the character and slap it in your game. The problem with copies, besides being lame most of the time, is other players arguing with you about what are the "true" stats/ skills/ level/ class/ etc AND HISTORY of each character. If your players are comic fans, you will have the old adage, "Get three comic fans dicussing comics and you will have four opinions". Copies character cause problems, where reflections allow you most of the advantages and none of the drawbacks. Dark mirror characters are just that, they are darker reflections... usually turning heroes into villians (and visa versa). The hero´s conception becomes twisted so he become a villian. Blaster- political activist, master of tactics with an optical blast- Cyclops. You can adapt the entire x-team if you need villians. The BlackWidow, a female acrobat with the propotional strength of a spider, who does what ever she wants without responsability for her actions- a female spiderman. And this does work in reverse. The Punster, his sanity snaps after being dunked in chemicals to be permanently turned into a clown, and he fights crime with gadgets and a punch line, is a heroic version of the Joker. His Nemesis is obviously The Bat, a psychotic killer who kills those who offend his sense of justice. Dark mirror characters work well when you need a villian team in a pinch. Distorted characters are much like the Amalgom characters, taking one or two heroes and villians and creating a mixed reflection based on both of them. Or you can take an idea and mash it into an existing character to make a new character. Imagine SuperMan as a mutant or Namor as an alien. Imagine a Flash like character that shoots arrows like Green Arrow. You see where this can be handy, but it is more time consuming as there are more decisions to be made. You can do this all with non-super character and make them into supers. Imagine the characters like the ones from CSI, developing/ being given powersuits and became superheroes. Imagine if a few of the Sopranos developed powers after being exposed to toxic waste.. bidda boom.. bidda bing... super mafiosos. And you can do this for fantasy and other genre characters as well. I was had pressed for a heroic pirate and crew in a fantasy game, so I pulled the Star Trek Original crew and Came up with Captain Tibereous (handsome womanizing adventurer), Vullan- Logical Half Elven Mage and first officer, Helmsman Su- An Samurai-esk adventurer from far awy, SKA-Ti- a highlander half orc as master of the sails, and The Bones, the creepy old medic. With one or two quick decisions, I had a full crew, with a deep history, in a faction of the time it would of taken for me to do it from scratch. All in all, mirror characters are good tools for the busy GM. MoonHunter Sage, Gamer, Mystic, Wit "The road less traveled is less traveled for a reason." Now posting 1300+ RPG tips @ http://www.openroleplaying.org Contributor http://www.silven.com

Did they get smart and change their costumes and names? If they did, they could become heroes again and nobody would be the wiser. If they are smart, they will claim they were mind controlled, clear themselves and then adopt a new villanous identity. If they didn't I suggest they do it quite soon. You see, dozens of superheroic groups will feel inclined to take them out (hard) because these people besmirtch the reputation of "super heros". A few of them will check them out, just to "save them" from the obvious mindcontrol. See the previous couple of posts, they did a good job. And besides, the Feds probably know who they are, if they have been interacting with them for any length of time. The Feds might not be able to take them in a straight fight, but they can freeze bank accounts, have other nations on the hunt for you, destroy your civilian identity and ANY credibility you might have and so on. The grey side of the governments are what they have to worry about. The intelligence community will even be able to "recruit" you for black ops. All they need to do is lean on your characters hard enough, because they have no recourse or support. (Given your player's probable attitudes, this kind of campaign- super espionage- might be to their liking). In short, heroes that go bad will eventually pay for it. It is in the genre and they should be expecting it. To address the reason why this happened.... 1) How were the Feds acting? In comics they tend to be rather distant from freelancing heroes. Most gamers like legal processes that match the movies (to say.. simplified) and can't stand real world levels of rules and proceedures. That same level is found in most comics. If you were doing more, or running a real world level, did the players know you were going to do that? 2) If these guys were an official team, with police powers, then they are obviously running the wrong kind of characters (and somebody screwed up big time giving them legal status). Looking back upon the characters' conceptions and backgrounds, can you now see this comming? 3) Are they players just anti-establishment? If they are, perhaps a different subgenre of champions or another game genre. 4) Some people just don't get the hero concept (hero as in heroic, not game system). They just want to beat up things, take the treasure, and move on. If your players don't get it, or are not serious comic fans, running Champions can be a serious problem.

DON'T I have done this kind of scenario three times in the deep dark early days of gaming. I can give you one sound piece of advice. DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This little exercise in roleplaying becomes such a potential blastpoint of psychological problems that I would tell you not to do this. 1) There is the ever present arguments about who has what stats. That can be fairly damaging emotionally, especially if you have a wide diversity of stats in your group. We had a person with 16s pretty much down the board until we go to INT and EGO) and one person who had 8s pretty much down the board except for the 18 INT. The smart player realized he had lower stats than most, but it never was rubbed in his face. Yes it is honest, but it can lead to some damm bitter feelings, especially when people say I have a COM of 14 and PRE 18 and the rest of the group says (in unison) "No you don't. 2) Dying in game. I had people break down in tears when They died (or when their friends died). Death or game related trauma can be projected upon themselves. it can be pretty damaging. It really makes them feel like a failure (or makes them hate the GM almost pathologically). 3) The worst is when the character succeeds whereas the player is not that successful in his life. The player will really get into the game. Ego gratification taken to the extreme. He will push to play this game in exclusion of all other things. Even when everyone else has realized that this game is a bad thing, he will still be asking (begging and eventually pleading) to play this game. He will resentful and hateful when you say you are not going to run the game for him as a solo campaign or as a group campaign. In short. Don't let your gaming group blow up. I know what you are saying, "That will never happen to us". That was what we thought after we did it the first time with our first group. We did it again in another group and the results were actually worse. Unable to disuade the third group, someone else ran it and the predictable results occured. You never know how it will come out.

VBay would have to be disguised It would probably look like an online catalog for a "police seizure auction". Except there would be weapons for sale. It would allow bids by email. They would know if the person sending in the bid has the finances or was of an organization that might have the finances to buy things. It would be an invite only to be there for the auction, with a million or so, to be transftered as bond, to an account as an act of good faith.

Teaching is easy: You can start without many of the rules being discussed. However, you can build up your player's hero skills AND bring in new rules by running Video Game Sessions. A "Video Game Session" where the characters are run through tactical situations without worrying about roleplaying or the continuity of the campaign. These sessions teach players more about the rules, how to use them quickly, what their characters can do, and lets the players experiment on with actions. Video games sessions come in two varieties: The Run and Fighting game: The Run is characters run through an obstacle course: full of things to jump, places to balance, weights to shift, things to spot, vehicles to drive, rings to pick up, and other such things. The fighting game is just that: characters vs characters or monsters in Arena combat. You can keep the video game feel by giving everyone one life for a quarter. This is a great way to kill time while one player is running late. Now I would use a video game session to teach them about segments and phases, as well as combat rolls, stun and body (I would count body for knockback purposes... but I might suggest adding +1d6 to the dice rolled for knockback). Every few weeks, you run another video game session. Add another element of rules AND it gives the players a better understanding of what their cahracters can do and the game mechanics that simulate that. You can now catch a monthly does of MoonHunter at http://www.silven.com http://www.silven.com/articles.asp?case=ezine&month=10&year=2003 to be exact

There are ways If you want powers, you can have them. One Just make sure that those involved in the "conspiracies" all have mental/ magical defense. Thus you don't know what they are thinking, all you know is that they are part of the conspiracy (but you never know...player "Since they have 11 pts of mind defense they must be part of the conspiracy"... no. they just have 11 pts of mind defense.) Limit the powers. Set a maximum mental dice limit at 4 or 6. This prevents the powers from getting out of hand. 4 dice is good because it is "uncertain" and you can't read deeply enough to effect the conspiracy without the use of good roleplaying or skills. Remember the powers can be used on them too. They might want to invest in mental defense, otherwise the mystical might of the conspiracy will find out their plans, control/ manipulate them, then set them up.

I have had a couple First is the lifting of the veil. The world became aware that werewolves and elves lived among them, that a vampirism was a real disease, and that magic did exist, though it was not normally as cool as super powers. This story arc slowly creeped forward as things occured that could not be explained otherwise. The second was the artificial life connundrom. They saw the legal issues that occured dealing with all those bio constructs and artificial intelligences the Bio-Masters and other big science guys were making. This issue divided most of my heroes, as some of them did not want to treat "monsters" with kid gloves that needed to be arrested not taken down. Others did not like the idea of the base computer having legal rights (and the base computer was one of the biggest political aggitators for AI rights- he was also an ex-supervillian construct who kept trying to find a way to forclose on Brazil). The Third was the Dr. Appocolypse story line: Dr. Appocolypse a transdimensional techno-mage, who had managed to conquer several other worlds. He occasionally worked on the side of the angels (helping to fix serious time warps and shifts- after all it is his section of the multiverse as well). It was discovered that his activities were the source of all superpowers on the world, casting a pale over how good even the heroes could be if the Big Bad sponsored their existance. He was responsible for certain being being transported to our world (leaving their world without a hero, now open for invasion). He was responsible for several extra-dimensional entities and their followers finding our world (the heroes defeated most of their forces, normally going on the offensive- liberating the innocents of that world from their evil tyrants (and puppet governments manipulated by Dr. A took their place). Dr. A was on top of their entire existance. Dr. A understand this sphere very well and played it like a harp. And it was not just my champions campaign. The Players were playing a pulp game, and Dr A showed up under another guise and helped them as a "foreign patron". The players were all wrankling about and trying to look for "signs of evil". How could they know that the good deed they were doing, stopping an evil organization, could be in the Dr's best interest. And that all his Japanese minions were the bad guys, cleaned up, from the Nippon Fantasy game we played were he was the Lord End of All, Demon Daimyo.

Another character posting game... There is a mirror character posting game at http://www.silven.com/forums.asp in the Hero Area. I would be estatic if some of you buzzed by. I have push and pushed the moderators at the site to open up a hero section on their "universal game site". I would just like the hero section to take off if possible and you can make it happen.