austenandrews

As I said, it fits the tone of my game, which is often the fantasy equivalent of supers v.s. agents. I wouldn't use it in all cases, for sure. -AA

I'm willing to sacrifice the bell curve for ease of play. In my experience the PCs are going to defeat a gang of lesser opponents in the course of time, so I'm happy to shorten that time in those inevitable cases. Almost always, inevitable NPC defeat is avoided only by lucky shots from the bad guys. This random-but-small chance remains, because the bad guys have a lower CV and therefore must roll. Against foes who can pull enough DCV to avoid the automatic hit, the PCs aren't usually willing to risk wasting an attack on an 11, when on average they're going to roll an 11 or less anyway. If they opt for the 11, they're taking a calculated risk. Not to mention the fact that the NPCs can also take an average roll if they're confident enough that they'll hit, which skews the bell curve the other way (and forces the PCs to be creative, or at least defensive, against high-OCV opponents). Neither do I mind "gaming the system" in general - my players and I are all Hero old-timers. We're familiar with the system and enjoy the numbers games enough to play them out. Besides, I'll pit my Hero-fu against my players any day of the week. (Plus it's not entirely out-of-character for an experieced combat veteran to be able to gauge just how defensive he needs to be and remain safe. But that's an old debate for another day.) -AA

Right, our current rocket technology is probably sufficient to get a crew to Mars and back. More than anything else I'm talking about life support technology. Not just going space-crazy, but any number of health issues must be accounted for in a manned mission. The various space stations have given us some idea of what we're up against (those who say space stations yield no real science seem to forget this fact) but truthfully we're talking about a mission that makes the first forays to Mount Everest, the Antarctic and the ocean floor seem like a walk in the park. You've got major psychological stress stretched out over years, which even if it doesn't cause interpersonal conflicts, will surely be a health time bomb for the astronauts. Then there's the usual health risks of sickness and injury, plus a boatload of other risks we're just barely aware of for people in a totally closed environment. And presumably these issues will entail technological solutions, which must be built with redundancy and maintainability, and like all spacecraft systems must rely on an extremely small set of maintenance, repair and replacement equipment. I do think we can develop the necessary technology in a decade, with concerted effort. Personally I think we could solve a lot of problems by breaking out of the "self-contained vehicle/mission" paradigm (which Zubrin does, to a certain extent) and launching caches of supplies, raw materials, medicines, etc. to be intercepted by Mars travelers along the way. I also think we could send a larger crew partway and establish a few remote "way stations" for use in case of emergencies. However these ideas will likely require even more advancements in rocket technology than a more conventional mission. Anyway. -AA

As I've seen these things go, the PCs eventually wind up contacting the ghost and even befriending it. If you think it may go that way, it may even be a Follower. -AA

Finally, the next episode of 24 is airing tonight. This season is even better than the last one. -AA

I played in a fairly long RQ campaign a few years back, but the GM generously modified the rules to suit his taste. I never actually read the rulebook myself (not since I bought a copy in the early 80's, anyway). We didn't do fumbles. Treb: I don't give "3" bonuses if the character needs something like a 3 or 4 to hit. You're right, that wouldn't make sense. Though I usually give 18 penalties even when the to-hit roll is 18-less. -AA

I've been testing this IN combat for over a year. It works quite well for the tone of my game. If desired the player can take an 11 to hit, and/or a chest shot for hit location, and/or average damage (3.5 per die, rounded down). Same goes for skill rolls in or out of combat. My game tends to have very powerful PCs fighting a large number of less powerful NPCs, so this option makes big melees run much faster. Against lesser opponents it easily doubles the speed of combat. When fighting NPCs of an equivalent power level the players usually don't opt for an average roll, because it can amount to throwing away a Phase. It works out. (I also ran the numbers to determine to-hit rolls from multiple opponents with a single roll. Saves time on my end.) -AA

Nah, Mars Needs Women. One can make the argument that many, if not most of these probes would have succeeded if a human had been present to guide them. Probes are basically the world's most extreme RC vehicles, with all the attendant problems. On the other hand, our technology is not remotely ready for a long-distance manned mission. So the point is moot. -AA

Oh, do fumbles result in hitting yourself in other game systems? Sounds kinda goofy. When I say fumble I mean extra problems like dropping your weapon, losing your footing (DCV penalty), maybe snapping a bowstring; that kind of thing. -AA

In combat, a 3 is an automatic hit, max damage. Also, a 3 can only be Blocked/Missile Deflected by a 3. In the past I have allowed the player to choose a Hit Location rather than taking max damage, and would probably do so again. Other effects are possible (I once had a PC split an arrow in an archery contest with a 3). The player can decline any of these bonuses. On a skill roll, a 3 gives more-or-less maximum success. I usually carry the success, or at least a bonus, over to subsequent and/or related skill rolls (so a 3 on Computer Programming pretty much gives you full control over the computer for the near future; a 3 on a DEX roll gives you a few moments of perfect footing; etc.). An 18 is an automatic miss, and a fumble unless the chance to hit was really high (17+). With skill rolls I tend to carry over the effects to subsequent and/or related skill rolls, though not as much as with a 3. I once experimented with allowing players to buy "hero points" with EPs. One hero point could be traded for a roll of 3. However I found that the mechanic robbed tension from critical situations, so I stopped using it. -AA

I tend to think the characteristics of pulp fiction are that it's concerned with genre conventions more than anything else, and that it's written for a common-denominator, mass-market audience. Modern examples are romance novels, adventure serials like Mack Bolan, licensed fiction (like my own Ultima novels), many horror novels in the 80's, many fantasy novels in the 90's, and comic books. But of course in the context of Sky Captain, we're really talking about the nostalgic sub-genre revived by Indiana Jones and Star Wars. George Lucas, my hat's off to ya. -AA

Well sure, but you can say the same thing about a sword. I was simply wondering if a writeup had appeared anywhere in some official capacity. Outsider's version is close to my own homegrown one. -AA

Nice. -AA

Michael Clarke Duncan is pretty darn huge. He's not 7'1', but the movies can compensate. -AA

The only PC I ever "cast" was in the late '80's. I ran a power-armor character named the Bronze Bullet, whose secret ID was a fast-talker with a Radar O'Reilly skill set for the modern corporate world. His name was "Bloodhound" Banks. I had Paul Rieser in mind when I created him (based strictly off of Aliens; Mad About You wasn't on TV yet). -AA

Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl started in a comic book? -AA

Electra-Woman and Dyna-Girl Technically Captain Liberty and Batmanuel were original to the live-action Tick show (and I think one-shot heroes like the Fiery Blaze and Friendly Fire were also original) -AA

Like everyone else I've always just hand-rolled fire arrows when I need them. I just find it odd that such a simple and ubiquitous genre convention has never been given a ruling in an official publication. -AA

I know the topic must have been settled by now. What are the game effects of a fire arrow? I mean a standard arrow wrapped in an oiled cloth and set aflame. Thanks, -AA

If you include Multipower Ultras, I built a 1-point spell for a low-powered fantasy game (under 100 pts) that Suppressed 1 SPD per hit, for something like 5 minutes. Of course under 5E Suppress is cumulative. That's a butch spell for a low-powered campaign. -AA

Sounds like Mental Illusions to me. I've got magic in my game for a character to grow their hair into "godswool," the fibers of which harden into steely wire when cut (or shed). Godswool can be woven into clothes that act like armor. That's probably the strangest magic currently available to a PC. -AA

I'm reminded of the classic "Head of Vecna" story. Ya gotta love D&D. I don't recall any uberpowerful villains in my old Champs games. For whatever reason, I tended to make extremely powerful NPC heroes and think of reasons for them to fight the PCs. I did occasionally unleash very tough giant monsters or robots on the world, though. -AA

I don't care for a game with poor production values, but I don't particularly pay attention to the art either, good or bad. Good art is wonderful for the first couple of weeks, but unless it's truly stunning, it vanishes after awhile. In particular I never use pregenerated campaign worlds. So the only pertinent art in a game book is the generic stuff, which my players can imagine with ease. (Admittedly bad art does stand out for a lot longer.) For me good art exists to market the book. That's no small consideration, but it doesn't affect me personally very much. I buy game books for their rules, period. Since I pretty much only game in Hero, marketing tactics are not needed to sell to me. -AA

Nice. Texas gets insulted by a guy from Toowoomba, Australia. Somehow I picture an untucked yob staggering up and down Ruthven Street with a backwash-foamy Foster's, railing about how he'd kick J.R. Ewing's butt any day of the week. -AA

IIRC the Daleks lasted for thousands of years. How long did the Cylons last? Nuff said. -AA