Magmarock

Beards.... EVIL! OK, boys... get to shavin' or the laws gunna getcha! LOL Mags

I knew it! "apart from the gigantic breasts, ger face looks like the mum on Malcom in the Middle" I knew it! I just knew that woman had to be a super hero... who else would put up with a family like that? *GRIN* Mags

Oh great... I hope that there aren't any vegans reading this thread... they might all have to starve now!

Excellent idea! Thank you, Lord Liaden! I am printing out the pages for "Infectious Enthusiasm" even as I type this post. It looks like I will be using this scenario at the convention. I may make a few changes just in case some of the Players have read this adventure. Also, chances are there will be people who'll want to bring in their own PCs, but I figure if I trade them out, one for one, it should be ok. Especially if it is a Brick for a Brick, or an EB for an EB. Once again, thanks for the great suggestion! Mags

Doh! I completely forgot about the DH scenario articles! Thanks for the reminder. I'll go take a look. I just remembered that each of the villains in CKC have plot ideas listed next to them, too. *Sigh* I can be so forgetful sometimes... Mags

Thanks Chuck.. I've been a GM at conventions before and know about all that stuff... I was kinda looking for inspiration on the type of scenario. I want to avoid running a lot of agents, because I think that slows down the combat. On the other hand, I don't want to run a single, super-powerful villain, because with my luck the heroes will take him out early. Sooooooooo, that leaves a small villain group, then. I'll not use GRAB, since they would rather run than fight and they lend themselves better to the type of scenario that I want to avoid (a cliche robbery). Should I go with a "Save the World" scenario, or stick with something closer to street level? Mags

Hey guys, I need some help, a little inspiration to be exact. I'm running a game in an upcoming convention and I have a 6 hour time limit (Well, it's the last game on that table for the evening, so I actually have until the wee hours of the morning or until everyone gets too tired to play). My question is, what would be a good one-shot scenario to run? I don't want to run the cliche bank or museum robbery. So, sugestions anyone? Mags

My opinion... ... is that a cane, as long as its paid for with points, is an obvious focus (hidden blade or no). If a focus is hidden until it is used, then the point of it being obvious while hidden is moot. In any case, a hand held melee weapon should always be obvious whether blade, rock or club and it wouldn't become ovbious until it is brought out and used. I mean, it is a weapon after all. Now if the cane held a sword that also had, say, an ego attack ability, then I could see buying inobvious for the sword's ego attack only... but the actual hack and slash ability of a sword should be obvious. Concealing a weapon is covered in other rules, and has nothing to do with the focus' being obvious or inobvious. Mags

My sympathies to Patriot I know exactly how Patriot feels, especially when a Player(s) get out of line and reacts in a way the PC wouldn't. I have been tempted to call a halt to entire campaigns because of this. You see, it ruins the game for me, and when I am running a game and I am not having fun, then the Players will certainly not have any fun either. I had a similar experience happen to me last session, in running the "Let's Go to the Maul" scenario from Battlegrounds. One of my Players had a serious "hard on" for taking out Foxbat, even though his PC had never encountered Foxbat, had never heard of him, and failed to make Foxbat's Rep roll. That said, based on the Foxbat's pre-written soliloquy of "I am winged doom!" And mention of a "Master Plan", this one Player proceeded to blast Foxbat out of the belltower and then continued to pound on the villain, with full intention of stealing Foxbat's boots and ping-pong gun, until Foxbat was nearly killed. The only thing that saved Foxbat from dying was the suggested optional ablative armor and that the police showed up. The "hero" still took the gun. Also, while the hero was playing patty-cake with Foxbat, the rest of the team had to deal with the real villains and their fight suffered without his back up. How does one deal with a Player like that? I don't know. I do know that I have taken more than one "break" from being GM just because of the Players' general disrespect for my game (not just this guy, but from onthers' too). They always ask me to run the game again, eventually... and I, like the sucker I am, will comply until I get "burnt out" again. I think that a lot of Players will let their own personal dislikes for a certain villain taint the way their PC reacts. Maybe part of it is frustration with how the game is progressing, although in the example above, the game had just started. Anyway, if there is a way to deal with this roleplaying faux pas, without pissing off my gaming buddies, I would like to know what it is! Mags

Just a thought... ...but you can tell Stellar's Player, now he is totally disregarding his 20 point Disad of Protective of Innocents, that he will be buying off his Disad with the next 20 XPs he earns... not an optional penalty. He has no choice. This will have the added benefit of letting everyone know you are serious about people sticking to their chosen Disads. Problem solved. GMs need to be strong. They are running the game, after all. Good luck! Mags

I like Rifts too... Been a long time since I played my ley-line walker... If I were to run a Rifts-style campaign, I would run it with 300pt PCs (200 + 100 Disads) and have the PCs build their equipment/powers with CPs. Any equipment found in the game can be dealt with in a number of ways- Limited uses until it doesn't work (charges) Alien tech explodes/implodes after a short time (jams) Items stolen or lost or purposefully left behind (too dangerous) Items are magical in nature (END battery runs out and need a special way to be charged again) Etc. Or XPs earned can buy an item if the Player really wants it. As for money and treasure, that can always be a plot developement thing. It's Rifts, so make stuff RARE! Hard to find means that PCs can't just run across things whenever its convenient. Mags EDIT: Also, I would run the game (mechanics wise) like a cross between FH and CHAMPIONS, only set in that post-apocalyptic world.

Maps and areas in modules Well first of all, Battlegrounds is actually 5 separate scenarios that can be run consecutively or not- whichever your preference is. Also, the maps/places can be used over and over again. Take the mall, for instance: each store was described in full and the owners/managers, etc. A lot can happen in this one place alone- dates, meeting, info gathering, etc. Depending on the type of campaign you are running, of course. Personally, I think it was well worth the purchase price. You should run to your local gaming store and look it over. I just finished running my group through the second scenario (Let's Go to the Maul) this evening. It was an interesting encounter, especially since my group is a pack of reformed villains trying to redeem themselves in Millenium City... and they are the second-stringers to the Champions (the city's main hero group). Almost all of them are wanted by the law still (the group is non-sanctioned) and one of the group members was a member of GRAB back when Black Claw ran the show (he left and was replaced by Cheshire Cat). In addition to the recommended appearance of Gargantua, I had two hunteds show up- Green Dragon and a PRIMUS Silver Avenger. It was a bizarre game, to say the least... Mags Foxbat (as he lay flat on his back on the roof after being knocked clear out of the bell tower) : "Now THAT wasn't part of the MASTER PLAN!"

Thank you, Bart, for the clarification! I was seriously way off base then. LOL No wonder you were all thinking I was nuts. Apples and oranges. But now that I understand what you are doing, wouldn't it be cheaper and more simple to just by CLs to negate the penalty? I mean, the only reason I can see for buying it the way Bart describes is if the Player wants to include the additional cost with the power's cost in a MP slot. Is this the case? Mags

... The Living Tongue? "I... TASTE.... EVERYTHING!" LOL! No, but seriously, I have a friend in my current gaming group who tries to bring in his "Glop" character every once in a while (don't even ask what his powers are). I always say "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He hasn't got the hint yet. And the same guy who played The Red White and Blue Buckeroo, also brought a PC into our game that was a living plant called- and I kid you not- THE GRIPPER. Plant brick, stretching, regeneration. Ugh. Mags

Re: Limitation for only to spread Ok, ok... I guess I did misunderstand the original post. I thought Bartman wanted to be able to spread his EB attack, thus getting all the bonuses for spreading, yet still doing the same amount of dice damage as if he had not spread the attack. If we were talking apples and oranges all along, then I apologize. It just looked like somone getting something for nothing. Because if I had that same power, and then another one that did the same amount of dice, I would always choose to use the spread power because it would have a better chance of hitting every time. I didn't think that was so difficult to grasp, but then, maybe my writing skills aren't up to snuff. Mags By the way, the entire pic that I cropped my avatar from is here: Of course *GRIN* I don't look like that... you guys should check out the Superhero Images thread in CHAMPIONS. Good stuff there.

The Red White and Blue Buckeroo (Said with a southern or Texan accent) Red cowboy shirt, blue pants and boots, white hat and white underwear on the outside of his pants. Used a whip as his main weapon. 'Nuff siad.

Disads are a good thing... ... if you can convice your Players that Disads aren't there merely to weaken their PCs. Not wanting to take the full amount of Disads is like a reverse form of munchkinism. If a Player can't come up with enough acceptable Disads and also refuses to accept the GMs help in making the rest (i.e. doesn't want mystery disads either), then have the Player run a PC with fewer points. That is game balance. Mags

... Well, well, Hugh. First of all I am not a "guy". Second, pardon me for expressing an opinion. Perhaps you'd prefer if I refrained from doing so in the future? Third, I'm not being agrumentative here, in responding to your overly picky-posts. I still think you have misunterstood my point all along. No matter how much you quote me and try to make it look like I am against THAT Lim for the FULL amount of dice, I STILL think that particular Lim for ADDITIONAL dice is a lame one. That's not narrow, that's just years of experience in recognizing a Lim that isn't worth anything. Period. Mags

... You didn't mention the name of this villain with the 10d6 HKA, but I was thinking that, unless he has a Lim that forces him to use the entire strength each time, maybe the villain could "pull his punches" unless he is very angry or something (enraged maybe?). Just a thought. EDIT: Great idea about pre-rolling the damage for attacks... what a time saver!

... I known I'm in the minority here... my favorite sourcebook IS The Ultimate Mentalist! Not for the villains, mind you, but for taking an archtype and giving enough ideas on how to keep a mentalist fresh and new. (I know they did the same with The Ultimate MA , but with all the manauvers and different styles out there, I think it was extremely necessary to expand on MA maneuvers.) But The Ultimate Mentalist was the first of a kind sourcebook that focused on powers, advantages, and limitations for a single archtype and I thought that was incedably cool. I hope there will be an updated version for 5th Ed. Mags

Heya Hugh... Sorry I didn't get back sooner. Real life and all. OK, perhaps I do tend to hang on the mechanics and the "intent" of the Player. Players' intent is very important whenever powers are considered. Players will sometimes pull (or try to, at least) the darndest things on a GM. I remember a Player in one campaign, long ago, who created a PC called Atom-Smasher. This EB PC had, in addition to his regular powers the ability to power up a devistating 48d6 attack in which was supposed to be "only used in the most direst circumstance". Oh it had all kinds of Lims on it, such as "Takes extra time" and "Increased END", but I still shouldn't have allowed it. Turns out that "only used in the most direst circumstance" meant EVERY SESSION! LOL Hoo boy! But to look at your examples: _____ "We have two characters. One, Blaster, has a 15d6 EB. Normally, he uses 3d6 to spread and boost OCV, or fill three hexes. A second character, Zapper, has 15d6, but 3d6 may ONLY be used to spread to fill a hex/gain bonus OCV." _____ I believe your second example, Zapper, is not presented like the original poster described, not that there was any comparison to another PC, but we'll assume all the PCs were balanced by an AP cap. To be shown correctly, it would look more like this: _____ We have two characters. One, Blaster, has a 15d6 EB. Normally, he uses 3d6 to spread and boost OCV, or fill three hexes. A second character, Zapper, has 12d6, with an additional 3d6 bought as "may ONLY be used to spread to fill a hex/gain bonus OCV". _____ Does Blaster have the edge (flexability) over Zapper? Well, yes, but he paid the full points for that edge. Blaster's power was built correctly in the way that it was meant to be built. Zapper on the other hand has a spreadable attack that does 15d6 damage, compared to the 12d6 Blaster would have, only Zapper's additional dice are paid for with a Lim that isn't really limiting him at all. If the same character had both powers in an MP, I think that the "Zapper" power would be used far more often than the "Blaster" power. In fact, I guarantee it. That's not just intent, it's human nature. But maybe I just look at it a different way than you do... You said it yourself, Hugh: "I think a character will try to avoid situations that restrict or eliminate his powers - that's natural. That should be taken into account in setting the limitation though". My point is that a PC isn't going to "avoid" spreading his attack if this Lim is allowed, because he'd have nothing to lose. So he'd use it every time, and get those extra dice. Better that he buy the full amount of dice and then buy complimentary CLs to allow him to hit easier. This shouldn't be a problem unless the PC is already at the max OCV set by the GM for the campaign... But you are right Hugh, it is up to the GM to decide if any power (and construction thereof, including Lims) is allowed. I agree with that 100%. I'm just saying that it doesn't look like a limitation to me, because I don't believe the Player will ever NOT use it. Judging by the radically differing opinions on how much this Lim should be worth, perhaps discussing it is more trouble than it's worth. And that alone should be enough of a red flag for any GM to look closer at it. And when in doubt, I just open FReD to page 179 and reread the bold type in column 1: "A Limitation which doesn't limit the character isn't worth any bonus!" I'm all for shaving point costs off powers- don't get me wrong- I just believe "Only to spread" for ADDITIONAL damage dice is, well, cheesy. To me, that's like buying additional inches of flight "Only to stay off the ground"... worth a big, fat -0 Lim in my book. Mags

... Hello Hugh, All of the examples you gave are for a seperate cost that is added to a power or bought seperately... NONE of which are the same thing as taking a Lim that isn't a limitation. You are only trying to cloud the issue. Mags

Hoo boy! A can o' worms! I think you guys misunderstood me. I don't have a problem with someone buying an attack with "Only to spread" Limitation on the entire dice amount of the attack (Say,for instance, a MP slot as an alternate attack choice). I said it was cheesy to buy that limitation only for EXTRA damage dice to negate the normal penalty of spreading. Its like this, would you allow someone to buy extra combat levels to OCV with the Lim "Only to negate my sucky-ass chances of hitting anything that ain't moving"? No, I don't think so... LOL Penalties are there for a reason. If you don't like them, you might as well lose them all as a house rule. Sheesh, you guys.

I said it before... The Limitation "Only to Spread" to justify more dice for a cheaper rate smells of munster to me. I understand that it can be done... the real question is should it be allowed ? My reasoning is this: Losing damage dice is the penalty for spreading an attack in the first place. So why should one get a limitation on extra dice which will be used just to negate the penalty ? Cheese, my friends. I wouldn't allow it in my game. I think the only legal solution is for the PC to have more damage dice to start with, so when he spreads the dice he'll do the amount of damage he wants to do at that point. Will this cost more? Yes, but he can always take other limitations to make the power cheaper.

Thanks Thanks Wildcat, but I think that the throwing stars on Sketchpad's teen Seeker pic were done much better just because the motion was more believable. There was another star thrower pic here that I thought looked better too... but I'd have to take a closer look to find it. Mags