Mostlyjoe

Re: Magical Engineer Commandos Can, does, and will happen Ian.

Re: Magical Engineer Commandos By the tightest defention they arn't tank mages. They'll go lightly armed, armored, equiped if the mission calls for it. I used the term Commando for a reason. They operate like one. Imagine a Fantasy version of the A-team or a team of MacGuyvers. That's what it's like. They stress mobility over raw power. The reason for the revolving self loading guns was because of the slow reload speed of flintlocks. So get 5 enchant them, toss, grab, fire, toss, grab, fire. Etc. Transport is one of their first priorites. Horses, flying carpet, airship. They zero in on transport options and nab it. They also seem to champion causes. Each new bad buy becomes a mission objective. They'll use the local people, equipment, landscape to their advantage. But all of this is in character and gradual. Once they have the SOP defined they'll get to work. In D&D they ALL chip in to equip everyone with the proper gear. Offensive, mobility, defensive, utility. (Handy Haversack, boots of leaping and striding, cloaks of flying, gloves of storing, rod of prestidigitation, etc.) And they're not afraid of scavenging parts from prior magic items or tools to make what they need. Crafting is one of their favorite skills. Could you call them Combat Gagetteers in a sense? (As far as I understood Tank Mages, optimzing damage/defense was king. This more effeciency is king mentality.)

It's a mind set. The PC self defense reflex taken to a weird extreme. One part Engineering geek, one part military ideology, all parts PC combat tweeking. And my local gamers all think like this to some degree. (Almost all of them.) I've tried to fight it before, but it's dug deep into the way I think these days. These are the PC's who study a magic system and build characters that take advantage of the interesting ways it interacts with the world. They might start out as a Ranger, Adventurer, Researcher, Priest...but when it's all said in done they're equiped, cross trained, and deadly. It starts out small with good ideas for the characters. Bags of holding, boots of speed, etc. Just logical items that would help the group on the go. But then they get curious and use the logic of the game world to 'invent' new tools and systems. Fantasy Flashlights, self-healing armor, alchemical med kits, etc. By the time it's done it's crazy, over the top stuff: floating self reloading flintlocks, portable housing that doubles as instant combat fortifications, foe seeking explosive packages, summonable auto-messengers. And they teach each other useful skills. Specialization still happens, but they all have a 'default' level of skill and ability. A little knowledge skills points go a long way. And if everyone can learn some utility magic, the better. Standard Operation Procedure develop. Tactics rule the day and they Recon like crazy. Intel is their catch word. They ambush, steal, bribe, lockdown, hayduke, scramble communications. And all in the name of whatever NPC cause they support. I've had them radically alter the flow of games even when they wern't trying to 'break' the game. It's less about gaming the system and more about getting the most out of what characters can do. And they REALLY get into it. I fight this style of play...but why fight it. What if I want to allow them to be The Fellowship of the Ring with the mentality of the A-Team. What sorts of fun things would you build into PC's to play up this form of militant magical powerhouse?

Re: What do journeyman wizards do for a living? Well, after years of playing my characters and being with people who work like this..I'm a Magical Engineer Commando.

Re: One Last 6E Preview: The Covers! Really, the only sucky thing about all this...waiting for the book. Hero as a game stands out. FRED scared people and stops bullets. SED? glows in a crowd of other game books. You know when someone is a Hero player. I could zero in on these books on a Open RPG floor in 10 seconds or less. HERO GAMES...Obnoxious and Proud of it.

Re: Kamen Rider / Masked Rider the First That's the problem with movies. You know, you might put it as a short term booster tied to the attack. 20 points of very expensive to maintain (ie stress on his cyborg parts) STR. Not a problem. The original Rider just had punch and kick. Black, the next most iconic had a sword. Almost everything else about your build is dead on the money.

Re: Arrival on the AE-Galactica Red Mountain 1. Not a bloody clue. Not that Red's dumb mind you, he just don't worry about much more than surfing and punching who his teammates point him at. Most likely aliens or somesuch. Damn. 2. Dead. Red doesn't do too well away from the Earth Mother. Cut off from his power source he would slowly grow weak and die...unless they can find another Earthlike world and his new spirit journey allowed him to reattune to this new world. 3. Dying. Same problem as above. For all the Volcanic powers at his dispossal, space just isn't his thing for long. He'd have to find a way home to his version of reality or start planet hunting, a.s.a.p. Brand X 1. The nanocaust has happened. Not quite Grey Goo, but damn close. Precious little is left that humans can live on. 2. Organizing a support system for survivors. Fighting off alien profiteers trying to make a buck on humanities pain and misfortune. He's tough and smart and can put his people skills to some use. 3. "I don't belong here." Having doubles in the same world for long is bad. Messes with the balance of the universe or something. He's be striving HARD to find his way hom asap. If he can't he'll do much the same as his double. Organzing people, helping survivors.

Re: New to Champions. Another thing to keep in mind is NPCs don't have to be complex either. Most mooks and foes can be a short bit of stat info and 2-3 primary attacks. Often all I'll write down is stats, pd, ed, stun, end, body, power 1/2/3, 1 or 2 skills. Thats it. And I ballpark stuff it all the time. Especially if I have an active power total going. So if PC's can throw about 60 active points into a power set, no villians is gonna be...much higher. Just average things out. It works. If a NPC villian is liked/hated by the PC's just take time later to flesh him out. But you should see my friend, he's so use to the system he can do these kinds of calculations in his head.

Re: Kamen Rider / Masked Rider the First Holy Cow. 50STR really? I know he's strong. Punch concret strong, but I'd put him at a 30 at most. You left out the signature attacks. Rider Punch/Rider Kick. These are high END super moves typical for a Toku style character. I guess the Flying Kick counts as the Rider Kick...but I would have put those 20 STR points into the two special attacks to get up to the really high damage output you have there. *shrugs*

Re: Sixth Edition Showcase #8: APG Goodies I must admit that I want this book most of all...well I WANT the core 6E books. But this book is my next MUST HAVE...so to speak.

Re: Confessions of Infidelity While I on the other hand call myself a system Agnostic. It's all good as long as you spread the love.

Heya Hero Gamers. Steve has just confirmed a post GenCon interview with Meanwhile...The Super Gaming Podcast. So, I'm throwing this up here for those with questions about 6th Edition and Hero Games in general. I'm sure most of you already know a lot of what's going on, but if you have specific questions or just weird bits of Mr. Long trivia now is the time to throw out there. Drop your questions here or email me at mostlyjoe@gmail.com See you then. (Cast 'should' post week of 21st. I'm going to double time this sucker.)

Re: Hero's New Art Director(s) Ah. A best of both worlds kinda thing. Good to hear!

Re: Stalin versus Hitler What was the quote....oh yes.

Re: The Spirit (the movie) It's been 'iron aged' a bit. But this genre ages well under that light.