BlackSword

Re: Enterprise NC1701A vs. Imperial Star Destroyer True, but the thread does refer to the NCC-1701A which was one of the earlier ships, so still full of technicolor goodness.

Re: Enterprise NC1701A vs. Imperial Star Destroyer Re: Shields The RotJ shield was produced by a planet based system. The first Death Star apparently didn't have the shield as the fighter craft were able to approach it without damage (though I think I remember them passing through a 'rough' spot). Also in ESB the Millenium Flacon is able to get close enough to attach to a SD while they search for Solo. SW also has shield which apparently trap air, but not larger objects. The bay the Millenium Falcon and Imperial Shuttle land in are open to space, but the atmosphere is stable and is not sucked out when a ships enters the bay (though I have to rewatch RotJ, I don't remember if the troops are in place as the shuttle arrives, or if they march in as the shuttle lands. Its apparent that SW has multiple types of shields depending on the goal. Planetary based shields are the strongest (the Hoth rebel base and the planet based shield protecting DS II). Though I do return to my arguement in the previous thread. I think the Imperial uniforms are much better looking then the technicolor monstrosities, so I give the win to the Empire.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Picked up a copy of Twisted Toy Fair and finished reading it tonight. That is some brilliant writing. The only problem is now I will be tempted to get some more of the issues.

Re: Pulp Hero love...Sky Capt is a good sign. Another concern, at least for me, is finding a group that would like to play the pulp genre. That would be another thing I would like to see Pulp Hero deal with. I really enjoy reading the stories and I picked up a history book on the 20s. But I don't expect the rest of my group to read a bunch of pulp stories or be experts on genre or time period. So some sections on how to get the feel across and a section on how to get the pulp feel in modern adventures.

Re: Best way to strip someone down. Guess we're on the same wavelength, I say play some Barry White softly in the background.

Re: Pulp Hero love...Sky Capt is a good sign. I had heard that WW was honest and said up front they would not be releaseing any source books for Adventure! Of course now that the Aeon line of books is being released as d20 so maybe they will change their minds. I don't really care as I will probably mine any Adventure! supplments for ideas as opposed to rules. I think Adventure! and Pulp Hero will have similar issues in that it is a small niche market of RPGs. The advantage Hero might have is reputation from Justice Inc well research products and great production value. I picked up Adventure recently and read it. It had interesting stories, told me about their setting and hinted at some pulp tropes, but their discussion of pulp doesn't hold a candle to how Hero books have discussed genres previously. Personally I did not like the rules of how they pigeon-holed pulp heroes into one of three categories either. One thing I really hope to see in the Hero book is a discussion of inventions, styles, weapons of the time. How things like the automobile changed during the era. How the great depression jaded peoples views. I don't expect a full history text, but something describing major events and how they can pulled into the feel of the game would be great.

Re: [Pulp] Suggested Reads

Re: Help GMing travel through a mountain pass... A great excuse to share some pictures. Here are some pictures from when I was climbing in the Cascades in WA. As Mad said, there is nothing to speak of for miles. MC001 you can see two climbers walking under a large rock outcropping, yes those two little dots are people. MC002 is a windswept snow field. The wind can brutal. Its early morning, but you can already see what a nice reflector the snow can be. A huge concern in mountain regions is snow blindness. You are a at a higher altitude and have light reflecting from a near perfect reflector, without eye protection you will quickly go blind. I believe older techniques were to cut a thin slit in leather and put that over the eyes so the field of view is reduced. MC003 is the first two people on my ropeteam and looking up towards the peak. Notice how we are completely supported by the snow. We are actually wearing Crampons, metal spikes on our boots which give us purchase in hard snow. On the trip back the sun had begun to soften the snow, which gave us a second problem. We were breaking through the thin layer of hard frozen snow and 'post holing' which takes about twice as much energy to move. The rope team of ladies were light enough that they didn't have any problem with post-holing. ED001 is two climbers in my group starting to head across a glacier (we were bad, we didn't tie up). ED002 is looking across the range, and above the clouds. Its a bit surreal to actuall be above clouds.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Was shopping around the mall today. Went in to Border's and was glancing at the DVDs. Sledge Hammer Season 1 is out on DVD. Somethings is now on the 'must-buy' list.

Re: [Pulp] Suggested Reads Sliight switch. As many Pulp adventures are set in the time the original pulp stories were written, any suggestions for history and/or art books that deal with the pulp era? I saw a coffee table type book titled Pulp Culture which reprinted Pulp covers and art from the time period. I didn't pick it up at the time and according to Amazon its out of print.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Its from the end of Nights in White Satin*, by the Moody Blues. Still one of my favorite endings to a song. *Pretty sure, but its been a while since I listened to that CD.

Re: PLEASE check this post out - THIS MEANS YOU!!! There were a couple of threads that got closed in the Champs and Company Questions forum. NGD tends to be more pronounced, but the same posters post in other forums, so there is always the chance for a flare up.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Yes, I do not want to see Rachel forced to take on the mantel of Harbinger of Justice.

Re: Conan vs. Elric In 'The Eternal Champion' collected book, I believe all the protagonists had a sword that varied from dull grey to black. The blacker the sword, the more power the sword had. It wasn't necessarily Stormbringer, but they were all cousins.

Re: Internet and cell phones Does the island have a cell-phone tower? Cell phones can't transmit point to point, they have to go through a cell phone tower. I don't see cell-phones as a huge problem, just something that has to be watched out for and maybe considered. I have/had a friend with a cell phone. He was near impossible to get hold of. He always let the charge run down, would be on another call, wouldn't answer, or would forget the phone and leave it someplace else. We allowed them in our modern game just because otherwise its a pain to find a roadside pay phone, call the home office, have them page a team-mate. Have the teammate meet someplace else. Everyone had a standard cell phone for free, and could upgrade it with points.

Re: Internet and cell phones Great, now I have to include a cult in a game just so I can use this. Great idea. As the original question. I don't see the issue. Its not like you can google information on many issues the heroes are going to deal with. Typically they are only going to be able to get news sources or rumors, which means they will have to use their own wits and deduction in order to put the pieces together. Its not like Dr. Destroyer keeps all his latest plans on-line. As for cell phones. If I had a nickel for everytime a voice mail was answered I would be quite wealthy.

Re: Good toys for use with Champions... Some assembly required, but when I did modeling in the early 90s Testors had quite a few models at 1:72 scale, which is the same as the 1" hex = 2 m. (or just about). However, the 1:72 models may seem out of place since most miniatures are a slightly larger scale. Otherwise you need to jump to the larger scale (1:48 I think), or use Warhammer stuff. Its be a while since I've done modeling, may have to stop by a hobby store tonight. Quick check (and someone please correct me if I screwed up my math) 1" hex is 1:78 scale 30mm minis seem to be 1:66.7 scale (the assumption I made is that 30mm:2m)

Re: Musings on Random Musings I believe that GIMP, a free program with many similar functions as Adobe Photoshop lets you make animated gifs. If you are going for Adobe, Photoshop probably has the capability, and Photoshop Elements is a less expensive version, but with fewer capabilities. You will have to check if PS Elements has animated gifs.

Re: Musings on Random Musings See, the internet does make the world smaller.

Re: Movies Its a +5 loincloth. There was an action movie game in the 80s/early 90s that had a rule that the less clothing you wore, the higher your AC was.

Re: Conan vs. Elric Hmm, well DC is apparently doing an Elric mini-series this fall (4-issues). So perhaps DC and whoever is producing the Conan comic will have a little crossover.

Re: Musings on Random Musings But you do need to get drunk enough that when you toast the bride and groom you tell the most embarrasing story you know about them. Perferebly the one about him disappearing with a stripper at his bachelor party.

Re: Musings on Random Musings He with the gold makes the rules?

Re: Musings on Random Musings Refers Klytus to post 335 and 336.

Re: High End Cannoical Character in Champions Universe On the second one, this happened early in the current run on Teen Titans. Superman came down to talk about Superboy and Starfire let him have it with her laser eyebeams. I can see it especially if the players are on the 'JV' team, they may get irritated when then big guns try to tell them how they should organize a superteam, or how one's sidekick should be handled/treated.