Acroyear

Re: Dealing with high powered characters

Weren't the Bones Corps guys the ones who had VPPs when outnumbered?

lol, yeah. Solo they were managable. Add an opponent and they have a VPP, add another guy and it's a bigger VPP...

There's just so much more life to end...

Re: Acro is bored

Wins what?

I'll direct you to the first post in this thread...

"A brand new gnu!" *shakes Super Squirrel's hand.

I saw your name on here and I was all ready to say "You suck, draw your own stuff!"

For those who don't know, KK is a guy -I- pestered to draw stuff for -me-

Re: Acro is bored

"Serprize!"

Next post here wins.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

Alot of it isn't power levels' date=' so much as exact designs. There are many teams you could create that would bite it if the opposition had a well-designed speedster, for instance. And sometimes, special effects just plain mesh ( the fish man vs massive aquatic telepathy in this case, or perhaps a team with lots of tech sfx vs a powerful cyberkinetic ).[/quote']

 

Exactly.

 

In the only instance I can answer a threat of this magnitude beyond "we'd get stomped into the ground", I have instances where certain abilities are just coming up against specialties or Hulk vs Hulk, who is strongest?

 

If the villain team didn't have the same range of abilities, but remained overpowering in their own fields, I would focus more on the areas that they don't dominate and try to find the weak point. This villain team nearly runs the spectrum and it would boil down to "how much punishment can they take and dish out."

 

This is why I said a couple are toast, a couple are rough, and a couple are just par for the course for that team (that judgement based on the suggested points level). I don't consider this a bad thing, it would actually be a good opposing team for the PCs in question. Lure takes extra steps to hide his origins from the water elemental. Ocean is tied up countering the skill level of the dimensional entity. Gaea avoids direct conflict with the earth elemental. Divide and conquer are good tactics for good guys and bad guys. The bad guys, being the instigators, would be able to choose their fights more wisely. Feurmacher, who is tough, is not the guy who should be facing off against Marvel's Pyro.

 

 

I dig the team.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

Is she human? Otherwise his Hyperpathy doesn't include her. Still not quite sure how I am going to build that. SFXwise' date=' lots of information/odd minds shouldn't really effect him that much. Certainly not enough to kill him. [/quote']

 

Nope. Wrote her right out, then (alien android shell possessed by a omnidimensional entity) It was the mental damage shield that would have done the deed (the SFX is the info overload and alien mind, you just don't want to touch this chick's mind unless you're ready for some Lovecraft brainripping damage that gobbles your soul).

 

Well, I was going to make Lure as close to "invulnerable" to mental powers are I could, but I can't say. These character seem pretty large scale.

 

In this case, the active points exceeds the usual campaign limit since it's a "specialty area." It's certainly not impossible to buy up enough defense to resist it. It starts at 30d6 vs a single target and diminishes power the more area she tries to affect. She gets another 100 points to play with if she's under water.

 

Again, this is just an area where a specific character is bumping into a specific (and narrow) specialty of another character. If Lure were, say, a spider-creature instead then he's golden and I'd again say "well, it depends on just how much raw power they have, because it'll be one hell of a slugfest."

 

Are you looking for generic weaknesses in the concept of the villains? I mean, it's one thing to say "they all take extra damage from fire, so they can be beat that way" but doesn't mean much if your players have no flamethrowers.

 

They're a pretty solid team. They all need flaws or gates, but not necessarily the same flaws and gates. Something for everyone, if you get my drift. Hero 1 might be able to take out one or two, but Hero 2 is needed to take out the next guy... that sort of thing.

Re: Dealing with high powered characters

Well, some of us have been playing since the first edition came out way back when. Some characters have literally been active for over 15 years (and when you look at a minimum of 1x a week gaming, usually twice a week and almost daily in summertime before we were allworking stiffs...) 1-2k point characters is not really that shocking. Even if the "power level" is not huge, there's still a lot of points being flung around which means you start getting more widespread abilities, longer skill lists, or start to develop a near absolute mastery over your chosen specialty.

For example, one of the tougher character's normal attacks is 14d6 with +6d6 at 2x end (up to 20d6). That's not crazy tough. But put her "in her element" and her power increases a good 50+%. It's not bad to exceed normal campaign limits (in our opinion) in areas of specialty if those areas are infrequently visited. In this same character's case... how often do you adventure under water? Not much, not even in her case. But anything that's going to face off against her, in that arena... it's either super tough or quite short lived. And there's great fun to be had in finding a "worthy opponent" when you're in your own playground.

Thor from Marvel is a good example. Hey, he's pretty rough. Everyone thinks of him as strong, hard to hurt, he has that wicked smashing hammer and blasts you with lightning... but if you want to go toe to toe with him in weather control, you're really shaking the wrong tree. Anyone who goes against him there is either super tough or short lived. One of those lesser used but extra potent powers when it comes into play.

Anyway, in the above named characters... combat is rough. We always make sure the individuals have flaws. We also don't play the game like "well, he's another player character so we're best of buddies." We have no problem splitting up. One character almost always "secures the area" before entering combat... flying around, getting innocents out of the way, stopping buildings from collapsing before he charges in. He's arguably the toughest one and he may as well have "1 turn activation time" on his powers when it comes to combat. And then, other players groan, when he charges in and throws a 6d6 punch. Because he "tends to hold back" and has a code vs killing. It takes a good 3-6 more phases before he starts hitting hard (and still never as hard as he actually can - in his case, his strength exceeds the DC limit of the game - allowed because of his psychs and the rarity by which he will throw that many dice).

And the villains can be just as rough or act in arenas where raw power doesn't mean as much. Some example villains are the Bones Corps (imagine the Green Lantern corps mixed with Judge Death from 2000AD comics), The Master of the Six (think Thanos with agents that are kind of like jazzed up versions of the Fantastic Four), The Council of the Chosen (mix Demon and the Crowns, but tougher), Mitchel Gilchrist (Lex Luthor, but not yet connected to the crimes and a trusted ally of some of the good guys!), a dimensional duplicate of the super strong hero mentioned above (but crazy - think Bizarro), AND the predecessor of the super strong hero mentioned above (but evil - think Black Adam).

And even with all that power, a well run group of agents who have done a little homework and the porper planning can really ruin our day!

Re: Shrinky Dink Heroes

And we just use those little half inch cardboard counters... we're lame in comparison.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

Wow' date=' that is really impressive if these guys are light weights in your world. Why would Ocean and Lure be toast instantly? I’m going to give them exceptional combat abilities based on their powers and Lure will have scads of weird alien technology in its suit. [/quote']

 

Well, for one, they aren't built on considerably more points than most of the players and they are built on less points than others.

 

By SFX, Ocean would like be taking a mental damage shield (which does body and had a few levels of penetrating on it) from one character who is an "entity" of omnidimensional sorts - an overload of information on multiple planes and the sheer "alien-ness" of the mind. Mental conact with her is... traumatic at best. If Ocean's power is always on, he can't break contact and won't survive long (unless there are mutliple levels of hardened on the mental def). In addition, this character only exists in the present "monopresent" so you can't determine what her future actions would be (invisibility to pre and retrocognitive powers, etc).

 

Beyond that, assuming there is no actual mental contact, this scary character has 100+ int (don't remember, maybe KawangaKid does) and a ginormous skill list, too. So you're looking at master vs master in that dept, but the hero's skills include sorcery and dimensional manipulation (hi, Shift), as well as the martial arts and all that. And that's not even everything yet. She's gross, imo.

 

Lure, being a "sea" critter, is pretty much doomed by falling under the dominion of the water elemental character. You can get lots of points into powers when you have lims like "only vs aqautic life" and/or "only under water." The latter is known to some for boosting her already impressive hydrokinetic abilities, but the former is one of those "rarely used but unbelievably powerful" sets of powers situations. The gadgets might help, but if the being in the armor is dominated... well....

 

Gaea has a problem with the weather control (the above mentioned character) and that one of the characters kind of even trumps her from time to time. So her weather and earthquakes powers would come into contest with two heroes. Even if Gaea is more potent here, she's looking at diminished returns for the effort.

 

...So, anyway, this is why I said it's just as important to look at who they are facing to build in the necessary flaws. In my case, a couple members are stepping in with powers in direct contact with "focused specialties" that put them at a disadvantage.

 

Now if I was looking at the younger team, it boils more down to how big the attacks and defenses are, because sometimes all you have is the ability to shoot lasers out of your eyes, you know?

Re: Superhero Images

Viator? Wasn't he one of the "Thanks" guys from V&V? And if so' date=' he was also on the cover too, the guy being thrown of the building?[/quote']

 

And people said my trivia was good...

 

IIRC, that's where the name came from - no actual relation, so I don't know if he's the guy on the cover or not

 

Usually people say "Hey, dat's like 'Seeker' right? But difrint."

Re: Bay City Blues Champions

Y'know' date=' it absolutely amazes me how many times I've heard of referees having access to players with artistic talent who are willing to lend that talent to the campaign. [/quote']

 

We had three artists (if you count me). I'd do character portraits for apple pies from burger king. Or free. Depended on how much I liked the character and how hungry I was. One artist now does art at Electronic Arts and the third got deported (sorry KK).

 

I lot of times people would just take the doodles and make characters based on the picture. That was cool, too.

Re: Tactical Question: How would your characters deal with these villians?

I'd actually call some of them lightweights, myself. With the old team that would be able to handle threats like this, only Shift, Adam Farpoint and Fortress would be the ones to give us trouble but don't sound beyond defeat, two of them (Ocean and Lure) would be toast almost instantly. Actually, Ocean might not even be able to come into being to begin with (dead shortly after his power manifests). The others are kind of par for the course.

It's probably more important to share the types of characters they'd be facing so you can build in the necessary flaws for them to be overcome.

Re: Character monologues

Omega Man

Archaeology kind of loses its attraction when you already know the answers. I mean, I lived it... after a fashion. That's why I decided to do it, really, change to politics. You know, do some good in this world without slinging around the power. Working in the system to do some good. I dont know why, but so many people have lost faith in the system and it's not as bad as all that.

I don't think it's blurring the lines either. I can be a good example and get some positive things done just like I can when I call on the power. It makes sense for me, too. I mean, I am who I am no matter what form I take and I already have the building blocks here, in school, to set things in motion. Just do things one step at a time like everyone else.

I know I'm a good guy. I can make good decisions. Heck, maybe even moreso than anyone else on the planet I have reason to move things forward and do right by the people. Lots of people are behind me, too. Mr Gilchrist was certainly right about that. Just stick to my guns and make the decisions I would make, anyway, and people will get behind me.

Things might be a little more difficult when I need the power, but I've already established that slipping in and out... even of secure places... won't be difficult. I don't necessarily have to go all the way to the top, either, like Mr Gilchrist thinks I should. I might like it lower down on the ladder. I might be able to get more done and, as an example, others will follow suit.

Well, it's too early to be thinking about that. Fifteen-twenty years, anyway. One step at a time. But it makes me wonder... what would the country think if their leader was that guy in the cape who flies around keeping the bad guys in check? Heck, what would they think if their leader was a god?

That part has always concerned me. I mean, what would anyone think if I flew around saying 'Hi, I'm the god of this world' anyway? What would they think if they even knew that the mark I wear on my chest is just half of what it really is supposed to be. Probably no different than before. Things get crazy when you mix men with gods. The first one couldn't handle it, that's for sure. Maybe he didn't want to. I don't know how he could have had access to the knowledge and not willingly set aside the necessary amount of the power needed to fend off the darkness...

I won't end up like that, though. A tyrant so feared he was wiped from history. I'll do my best to guide this world in a positive way. One day, I hope, maybe even thousands of years from now, it'll make me happy to look back at the world and see that I did some real good and my people have prospered because of it. Who knows, maybe by then I'll have passed the power on.

Yeah. It didn't take much to change from Archaeology. My folks took it much better than I thought they would, too. What more can a guy ask for?

Re: Character monologues

I'll give it a whirl

We used to get xp bonuses for writing in character stories, so it's not really a new thing for me. Usually, I wrote stuff happening between the story arcs.

Re: Him, AGAIN? Assistance with Recurring Villain

Pawns.

He can empower other people (for a while) who he sends out to do the bad stuff. Part of the proccess makes them all look the same (like Ripper or a face mounted life support plate that can't be removed... whatever). He's never in danger. He never gets caught. Just give them enough mental defense to withstand the troublesome mentalist (or a combination of mental def and a mental damage shield to help prevent repeated attempts) only vs telepathy (or mind control commands that would force them to answer questions, you get the idea) - you don't want to totally shut down the mentalist, that just wouldn't be fair, but you also have to be able to maintain your "recurring" villain.

A side effect of the process (unknown to the pawns) is that when the time is up (pick anything... I'd go with something along the lines of a month), they disintigrate or something. Anyone witnessing this may think the villain is teleporting away and can't understand how or why he's getting around the teleport blockers of their prison/whatever.

The actual villain might not even have powers like the ones he gives to others... or he can have similar powers, too, which means he can fill in when needed (say someone amazingly DOES get that close, he stands a chance to fight and/or escape).

Or in a similar vein... the "boss" isn't the boss, at all. It's the gang. They just pick someone who "fits the suit" to act as the figurehead... not unlike the Red Hood gang (they were partially responsible for the creation of the Joker).

Re: Superhero Images

If Acroyear agrees and Ian is willing could this one be coloured as well ?

Go for it. I wouldn't post these things if I wasn't intending them to be enjoyed and used (again, personal non-profit use only. If it's displayed in public, please credit where credit is due. If you find a way to make big bucks with them, let me know because I'm currently unemployed ).

For the Dread pic, note that the cape isn't complete (ran into the border on the character sheet he was drawn on) but considering the simplistic style, it shouldn't be hard.

Re: Help with Armor-wearing character

Use a variation of the lockout lim (generic lims are usually easy to value). Instead of the lockout focusing on a power to power basis, it works on a group of powers to another group of powers. The MP can only be changed at the proper time (like in the base) or even on the fly, as long as the whole set changes (I think the cartoon version, IM could change armor with some sort of satellite teleporter or something, right?)

Standardized powers that are common to all suits could be in the MP, too, they just wouldn't use the lockout.

Re: Superhero Images

Really? I hadn't heard.

 

But I wondered why all the older posted pics weren't showing in the posts anymore. Even so, if they don't want us doing it, they should disable the option.

Well, then they'd be disabling hypertext which means we couldn't link to stuff on our own pages or post formatted character sheets and stuff

Re: Superhero Images

Can anyone tell me how to post the images themself' date=' rather thn just attaching them?[/quote']

 

We used to just link to the attachment, bet Ben scolded us for doing that too much.

Re: Superhero Images

hope you all like it (especially Acroyear)

Top shelf!

I wish my colors were half as good.

Re: Design Challenge: Robot PC

I've never had problems with ECs like that either. I was trying to be 5th compliant, though, with that end using power in EC thing.

An EC "metal body" with armor, some LS, and knockback resist is OK with me, for example.

Re: Superhero Images

"The White Blank".

 

"Neon"? "Deathglow"? "The Glow"?

 

Um, Number two...we shall call him..."Diamondhead"? Or, prehaps "Gemineye"?

Run with it, brother.

Re: Superhero Images

Pretty cool stuff here, Acroyear!

 

I was wondering, what colours should Psilord here be - I was thinking of quickly painting him up in Photoshop (just looked like a fun design, and at 72dpi, it wouldn't take long) - if you will let me, that is

Thanks for the kind words.

It was many years ago. I think he was kind of burgandy and muted blue-ish/grey with chrome accessories but if you have something more fun and/or interesting in mind, go for it.

Re: Superhero Images

IMO it's actually much better than a lot of the $#it that they published. It's stylized' date=' but the anatomy is still fairly accurate. I kind of like it. [/quote']

 

I often use the hip thrust kind of pose, but this one was taken to an extreme that makes me cringe. The character is actually kind of bizarre, anyway, double/triple jointed freak anime shapeshifting ninja with disconnecting body parts...

 

I learned anatomy from old He-Man toys.... lol

Re: Superhero Images

And the last of the "found in an old 1989 Batman movie folder old school review"

Wildcat

He was basically what if Wolverine were the candidate for the Super Soldier serum with Batman's utility belt (no claws, the belt buckle expands into a shield). He's had multiple looks, this one is obviously based on Wolverine (and is certainly not my favorite of the bunch, but I find it funny)

Re: Superhero Images

And #3 in the Who the Heck am I? category...