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IndianaJoe3

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  1. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Doc Democracy in Alternative To Death   
    Depending on the campaign, you might want to redefine, "dying." The rest of the characters might have to go on a resurrection quest (accompanied by the spirit of the dead character). The character might be captured and need rescuing, or otherwise out of action for an extended period of time.
  2. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from tkdguy in Futuristic Sports & Entertainment   
    Perhaps something like 2-Gun Action Challenge, only with blasters.
  3. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Ninja-Bear in What are the typical starting point/power levels these days?   
    I think 300/60 is a good level, especially for new players. It's enough points to build the core of most concepts, but the players will need to focus on what's important to them.
  4. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Brian Stanfield in "Spicy" pulps   
    I came across some in-period guidelines about handling sex/nudity.
     
    Editorial guidelines from Spicy Detective magazine, 1935
  5. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Emperor Kang in "Spicy" pulps   
    I came across some in-period guidelines about handling sex/nudity.
     
    Editorial guidelines from Spicy Detective magazine, 1935
  6. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Lawnmower Boy in Coronavirus   
    There are two major arguments against a lab release.
    A bioweapon would have been developed from a known infectious agent, rather than a random virus. If the virus had been studied in a lab, there would be research material on it (at least raw data). The lack of such material indicates that the virus was not from a lab.  
  7. Thanks
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Ragitsu in Coronavirus   
    There are two major arguments against a lab release.
    A bioweapon would have been developed from a known infectious agent, rather than a random virus. If the virus had been studied in a lab, there would be research material on it (at least raw data). The lack of such material indicates that the virus was not from a lab.  
  8. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Sketchpad in Champions Now, A Review   
    The Bookworm, or maybe Egghead.
  9. Thanks
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from pawsplay in Champions Now, A Review   
    The Bookworm, or maybe Egghead.
  10. Thanks
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from DShomshak in The Plan of the World   
    My Black Ocean setting followed this model. There was the Inner Sphere (civilization), the Outer Sphere (frontier), and the Far Sphere (unexplored/unclaimed lands). Travel between the spheres was complicated, because the aether in each sphere rotated in different directions, creating zones of turbulence.
  11. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Doc Democracy in Invulnerability   
    If I was going this route, I might describe the character as, "looking invulnerable" rather than desolid.
     
    As far as builds go, it's not a bad model. The character would be unaffected by damage, except for one SFX (which fits the source material reasonably well). The flaw is that the character would also be affected by powers that are specifically bought with, "Affects Desolid," which does not fit.
  12. Like
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Hugh Neilson in Making a Dex roll while surprised   
    I find part of the challenge is defining "ordinary circumstances".  PCs get an Everyman skill which is PS 11-, representing their job or a hobby.  Since people can typically perform their jobs, 11- must be good enough to pretty much auto-succeed in ordinary circumstances.  Or do you expect most people fail at basic on the job tasks 3 times in 8 (11- fails 37.5% of the time) and do even worse at anything slightly out of the box?
     
    We get an 8- Area Knowledge.  I think most of us can navigate around the town or city in which we live pretty effectively, so it seems like even an 8- must be good enough for ordinary circumstances.
     
    Looking at page 58 of 6e vol 1, a -3 is the starting point for "extremely difficult", which caps out at -5, the breakpoint for "sheer folly" (ie why even try?).  "Routine" is +5 to +3.  "Easy" is +1 to +3.  I think we tend to assume a baseline roll for something pretty routine and assign penalties from there, which is effectively starting every task with a -5.  I'd say leaping from the bridge when the stones start unexpectedly shifting under your feet is not "routine" or "easy", but would be a pretty standard task for which a roll is required, so no penalty.  Trying to make that roll while carrying the unconscious princess over your shoulder and fighting off an angry Wyvern darting out of the shadows, without losing your DCV?  OK, that's probably at the higher end of Difficult.
  13. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Iuz the Evil in Coronavirus   
    I now have branded (corporate logos and everything) masks to wear at work, for whatever that's worth.
  14. Like
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Lord Liaden in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    With respect, you're confusing emotions of the moment with an ongoing delusional mindset. It may be fair to compare the euphoria among the supporters of Barack Obama and Donald Trump just after each of them won the Presidency; but euphoria is not cultist devotion. In the case of Obama that euphoria evaporated rapidly in the dissonance between what he appeared to promise and what he actually delivered. Criticism of him mounted, across the political spectrum. His reelection was devoid of the fervor that characterized his first win, defined by his being more palatable than the Republican alternative to the majority of Americans.
     
    In the case of Trump's core supporters, their euphoria has calcified into unwavering, almost psychotic devotion. They absolutely believe that he's a success, that he's a genius, that he is making America great again (whatever that's supposed to mean). They unquestioningly accept his assertion that immigrants are a threat to America, that the media are the enemies of the people, that there's a Deep State conspiring to prevent him from solving the country's problems. You'll hear them say, with no hint of self-consciousness, that Donald Trump is the greatest President in history, and according to one segment of them, the chosen instrument of God.
     
    No rational argument can sway them. Facts which counter that narrative are disbelieved or ignored. That's the behavior of cultists, which was never in any fashion applied to or encouraged by Barack Obama.
  15. Haha
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Cygnia in Coronavirus   
  16. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from GoldenAge in Steampunk Shotgun   
    There were also shotguns that had a revolving cylinder, but they were uncommon.
  17. Like
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Michael Hopcroft in Coronavirus   
    Well, she;s safe. She called in just before I went to bed, very upset that I was making a fuss.
     
    Which was a relief but which also hurt a bit.
  18. Thanks
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Cygnia in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    Hillary was so unpopular that she got three million more votes than Trump. Trump's margin of, "victory" in many states was demonstrably less than than the number of Democratic votes suppressed by Republican tactics. Why do you keep trying to deflect from this?
  19. Haha
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Ternaugh in What fictional, mythological, or supernatural being would you want to be?   
    I would like to be a self-made billionaire.
  20. Like
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Steve Long in Sharing Personal Immunity   
    1. Yes.
     
    2. No, that's taken care of by Usable Simultaneously. Since the recipient gets the same power you're using (absent the ability to grant it to others), he'll have his own Focus for it. I'd say you could envision it as you handing him his own copy of the gadget, saying, 
    "I'll need this back later."
     
    3. No. If you buy an extra piece of equipment using the 5-point doubling rule, you can loan that piece of gear to another character (unless it's a Personal Focus, of course). However, the GM may prefer for you to buy this as Usable Simultaneously instead (for various possible reasons), so make sure he approves of what you're doing first.
  21. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Hermit in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    Socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for everyone else.
  22. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Old Man in Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)   
    Socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for everyone else.
  23. Like
    IndianaJoe3 reacted to Steve Long in MYTHIC HERO: What Do *You* Want To See?   
    Come to think of it, it's probably time for an update on the project.
     
    I am currently in the middle of the Celtic Mythology chapters (that's plural because there are three of them; it's too large and diverse a topic to handle in just one). Unfortunately things have been at that stage for a long time, due to various distractions and real life what-not getting in the way of what I really want to.
     
    But fortunately, the main distraction actually helps me write Mythic Hero! What I've been working on for most of the past year, and pretty steadily for the past few months, is a nonfiction project:  The Encyclopedia Of Mages, Magic, And The Arcane (or "EMMA" for short ). For years I have looked for a reference book specifically about terms for magic and users of magic. For example, I want to be able to look up what they call a witch or a wizard in, say, northern Australia, or Borneo, or among some obscure African tribe, or in parts of historical Europe. And then maybe I could also read about their terms for magic, how they think spells work, and other fun details.
     
    But unfortunately for me, AFAICT, no such book actually exists. So after decades of looking and hoping, I finally decided, "The hell with this -- I'll just write it myself."
     
    So as I read and did research for other projects (primarily MH), when I ran across a term I wanted to remember, I wrote it down. I began doing this years and years ago in an informal way, but now I really started paying attention. And if I had some spare time, I'd pore through the various encyclopedias of the occult that I own and copy out relevant terms. Eventually I had a long enough document that it hit a tipping point early last year where I finally had to begin focusing on EMMA full-time and turn it into a published book. And that's what I've been doing ever since. I've read dozens of books since then for research, and I have a bunch more I can work with -- but I am also entering the information I get from reading them into my master document. When I have no more books to enter data from, I intend to stop research (no matter how many books still wait in their stacks, as yet unread), and get the book ready for publication (layout, printing, etc.). Otherwise I'll just go on researching until I keel over.
     
    As I like to put it, EMMA is "a reference book listing and describing terms for magic, people who use magic, and related subjects from around the world and throughout history." It's intended in part for writers and gamers, of course, but I think it has some solid academic value as well (since, as I said, AFAICT no other reference book about this specific subject actually exists). Its chapters cover the following topics:

    —Terms For Magic (general terms for supernatural, arcane, or occult power);
    —Specific Magic Powers And Abilities (words for magical powers or spells of more limited scope, such as inedia, the magical ability to survive without eating);
    —Divination (various ways to foresee the future, often called “mancies” because of the frequent use of the suffix -mancy, which derives from the Greek word for divination);
    —Users Of Magic (names and titles for practitioners of magic, such as “wizard” or “karcist”);
    —Other Mystic Terms (any other mystic, arcane, occult, or “weird” term I considered worth making note of, or which I thought I might use someday);
    —Amulets And Talismans (names and descriptions of these enchanted items from around the world); and
    —Mystic Stones And Metals (mythical and legendary stones and metals which purportedly possess special magical powers). 
     
    Naturally, this is a subject I can never fully exhaust. Once the book is published, I'll continue taking notes as I read, and eventually there'll be a Second Edition.  Heck, there's stuff I could add (like more detailed info on Alchemy and Voodoo).
     
    I hope to have it all finished within a few months so I can get back to working on MH, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of my work on EMMA is also work on MH. As I read through my various references, anthropology books, and the like, I come across information on various religions and mythologies in addition to information about magic and its practitioners -- after all, for many peoples, the two subjects are closely related. So I take notes about the myth-related stuff too, and it will go into Mythic Hero. Heck, thanks to all the work I've already done, the MH chapter on Uralic/Siberian Mythology is practically ready for me to start writing! That goes for some other chapters, too -- and my EMMA research has even provided me with enough data to add some chapters (or significant subchapters) to MH, such as Huichol Mythology and Ulchi Mythology.
     
    I am not sure yet how I will publish EMMA, since I've never done anything like this before. It would be great if I could interest an actual academic publisher, but I don't know any and I'm not sure if they'd publish a (largely un-annotated) book by someone with no "academic cred." Still, I may ask a couple friends in that general field for advice about who I might approach for this. Beyond that, if I want to keep it simple, I could easily turn the manuscript into a basic PDF (few/no illustrations or whatnot) and sell it on DriveThroughRPG and other such sites. (And there has to be a well-prepared PDF of the book available; that way people can search it easily and bounce through the hundreds, maybe thousands, of cross-references with a click of a mouse instead of lots of page-flipping.) And of course there are lots of other ways to self-publish -- assuming I can't find a publisher inside or outside the RPG industry who wants the book but will let me keep all the rights.
     
    Depending on how this all works out, I may just finance the whole thing out of pocket -- if I stick to just a basic PDF and only free art, and do the layout myself, it won't cost that much. (And there could be a POD option, too.) But if I have to print a whole bunch of books myself, it may be time for another Kickstarter. Though I have my doubts that a project like this would succeed as a Kickstarter if I asked for what I think the book's legitimately worth.
     
    So anyhow, that's the update on MH, by way of EMMA. I hope you enjoyed it.   If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to PM me or post 'em below.
     
    And keep on HEROing!
  24. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Tedology in Superhero Templates   
    They are fairly light, specifically so they can be drawn over.
  25. Like
    IndianaJoe3 got a reaction from Tedology in Superhero Templates   
    Like this?
     
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