ShelleyCM

Ultimately, it depends on the tone of the campaign world. I strive for a "real world" feel -- not four color, not Dark Champs, just something in the middle -- and make agents/Avengers as much like real world analogs as I possibly can. There's an implicit "mutual assured destruction" with PRIMUS and VIPER/other bad guy group (or so I've played them). If VIPER whacked a Silver Avenger's family, PRIMUS would pursue a scorched earth policy until the last VIPER agent was found. That, of course, does NOT make good business sense for any bad guy group! In another game with a different tone, of course it would necessarily "feel" differently and things should be changed accordingly. -Shelley Only two more finals to go -- and the first year of law school is over!!!!!

Sounds good to me. -Shelley

Just relax! Always remember it's a game. Don't take it too seriously! If something's done improperly, don't stress, just fix it next time. If the players bungle the plot/beat the villain in two phases, who cares? As long as they're having fun, that's all that matters. Relax -- and have fun! -Shelley

I do, happily. As someone with two demanding dogs and five fantastic ferrets, I spend more time than I'd like to admit taking care of them -- including driving across the state in the middle of the night when one of those dogs escaped from boarding! -Shelley

Hope for an "accident?" In the book knightraven loves so much, I'd had the GA not only as a more powerful Avenger, but also a kind of Avenger-director. Who knows? Maybe some bureaucrat in your campaign world would decide that there should be a west coast and an east coast GA? In a more sinister vein, he could find some way to get the GA off duty for other reasons. Set up a series of events to make him look incompetent, unbalanced, or whatever. Heck, if you're talking about the really old GA, Robert Kaufman, it wasn't very far off!! -Shelley Rambling and exhuasted after playing bailiff downtown for hours... Oyez, oyez, oyez...

Isn't that a danger for all public figures, not just PRIMUS Avengers? It doesn't take a supervillain to make bombs. I would rather live in a world where the police are accountable for their actions -- people with faces and names. (I'd rather live in a world without the USA PATRIOT Act, too, but that's another story.) You asked why I changed PRIMUS Avengers from Secret to Public ID, and that's why. -Shelley

Yes, that's another great point. But that wasn't my original motive back in 1998. -Shelley

I did that in the PRIMUS Sourcebook because I thought (and still think) that secret IDs for public employees is silly. Sure, supervillains are dangerous, but look at the real world. The police officer who arrests dangerous criminals doesn't have one; the DA who prosecutes dangerous criminals doesn't have one; the judge who sentences the criminal doesn't have one; the prison guard who guards the criminal doesn't have one....why should a cop/investigator in spandex have one? Anyway, that's my logic! If it fits your world to have secret IDs, then use 'em. -Shelley

Knock yourself out! Here's the rub: can you really see any government agency with militaristic leanings (like Peregrine said, they're civilian...but....) saying "go ahead and customize to suit your personality?" That said, who's to say they wouldn't in a superhero world? If you're having a drawing done for your SA, go ahead and customize it! The website has a full range of different uniform styles from different artists. -Shelley (feeling surprisingly indecisive today)

Wouldn't that have been nice? But I can't get him to run a game these days, let alone write anything up! That said, some of the GT stuff was just fine...but it needed editing. Badly. Did you see the Spinward Marches sourcebook?! I gave up and used my Traveller materials. -Shelley

Al, I think it's a great idea! Although I do want to point out that you're going to get people looking for some very different things ... the most common search terms on people hitting mactyre.net are ... god, this is just so embarrassing... "Steven Segal." (Because there's a write up on Deejay's Champions Writeups -- one of MIke Surbrook's old conversions.) But with all the copywritten characters on the site, no one's ever come knockin' on the door, and I've hosted the site since...um...97? 98? Something like that. Good luck! -Shelley

I've only played "real" Traveller once, and "real" MegaTraveller once, and didn't have anybody die during creation -- whew! I've always played Traveller in GURPS, even before there was GT, thanks to my husband's excellent adaptation. It's not so much that I want to kill PCs (I don't, but all bets are off for NPCs) but that I want the game to feel more lethal, and to me, HERO just never felt lethal enough for dirty space. Of course, this is *so* subjective! -Shelley

Villains are people, too! That's similar to what I do. It's not a scientific process; I just give them the skills and improvements that make sense after the last encounter. -Shelley

Quick-n-dirty combats Oh, certainly. But it makes combat more cumbersome, and to me one of the great GURPS/Traveller "feel" advantages is speed of combat. I was thinking more along the lines of either halving all BODY stats or doubling all BODY damage -- something quick-n-dirty. Over my shoulder Matthew is saying that in the past he doubled body for dirty space HERO games. -Shelley

Some of the work is already done for you... Hi, Al -- I run a GURPS Traveller Game and have recently thought about translating it into HERO. The easiest way would be to translate (point-based) GURPS Traveller to HERO, rather than Traveller to HERO (which is more nebulous). Otherwise, you end up having to do what my husband did pre-official GURPS Traveller (when he ran it in GURPS) and just eyeball it while keeping a tight grip on the genre. It worked out well, but it was a LOT of work on his part. (If you don't already own the GURPS Traveller books, be careful. The quality is spotty.) What concerned me the most was losing the "feel" of Traveller (and GURPS), where it's much easier to die than it is in HERO. But I'm sure people on the boards can give us suggestions on how to fix that. -Shelley

Re: Roleplaying adventures Since you mentioned PRIMUS, I feel compelled to throw in. Some ideas: A PRIMUS reception to welcome some local dignitary (or if their relationship is particularly cordial, perhaps with the heroes as the guest of honor). There's interaction with the agents & dignitaries, but there are more possibilities. - Interactions with each other. Set up a situation where PCs with similar interests have a chance to talk about them. - interactions with pleasant/unpleasant/jealous agent types. How does one make small talk with a superhero, anyway? "So -- ah -- seen any good movies recently?" - For the geek type, getting to test prototypical "new" equipment on a side tour (or maybe some new stuff just arrived from HQ) and having unexpected results. - for the romantic type, an interlude in a secluded corner. - for the misery type, seeing his SO attending the party with one of the PRIMUS agents -- and being way too cozy. - for the kick-@ss, take names type, villains can always attack somewhere in there. - Shelley

Just a quick clarification -- weekly treatment with gene therapy isn't something I included in PRIMUS (although it's a nice way to keep a grip on the character if he gets uppity)! It's more there's a massive treatment at the onset, then little periodic updates. (Check out the secret GM vault area in the CU, too.) Additionally, who knows how much of that dark, cynical view of PRIMUS will survive a rewrite? Maybe my world view will drastically change in the next couple of years. -Shelley

Hey, Phaedra!!! Long time, no chat. Great to hear you're still playing Rebecca! -Shelley

Re: Jon Wrath, Agent of PRIMUS I guess I'm your gal. First off, I'll refer you to the website, which has a lot of material that can be mined. (That's http://www.mactyre.net/scm/primus ). Look in the personnel section for sample Avengers. Some have character sheets, some don't. Secondly, there's PRIMUS the e-book, which I frankly think everyone ought to own. The book has many more characters and a lot of equipment. And there are two PRIMUS articles that appeared in DH, too. My main question is how is he ineffective? I'm struggling to understand that. In PRIMUS I wrote 200 point agents (granted, that's without equipment) that nearly started a riot when they came out because they were *too* effective. A few 200 point agents with gadgets can be a very scary thing -- as can an Avenger built well. Also, a guy who has PRIMUS as an ally has a really poweful weapon. "Maybe I can't handle X alone, but if I call up a few of my buddies..." -Shelley

The Keltiad is a series of books that we affectionately call "Celts in Space." They're by Patricia Kenneally-Morrison (or whatever she's calling herself this week) and until they got weird and blatantly about her relationship with Jim Morrison, they were entertaining. I'd really only recommend the first two, maybe three. I don't even blink when she publishes now. The Green Lion Trilogy is by Teresa Edgerton. High medieval fantasy in a Celtic-British sort of setting, if you can imagine no Romans, Saxons, or Normans invaded. I really love these three books; there was a second trilogy in the same setting, but it was derivative. - Shelley

I never use an established setting for superheroes, prefering to adapt existing stuff to my own world. In other genres, though, I like to borrow from novels. I ran a game set in the books of the Keltiad (before it got really weird) and a game set in the Green Lion trilogy. I've run Traveller, and also run historical games. As a Janeite, I figure Georgian England is as established a setting as any. Shelley

Even more advice BollWeevil's advice is excellent! Also bear in mind that PBEM is a lot of work. It's fun and rewarding, and can lead to some of the best RPing you've ever done -- but it's a lot of work. Be very selective in your players and bear in mind that even good players may vanish off the face of the earth -- and leave you with an additional burden. I ran a few PBEMs and have stuff posted online at http://www.mactyre.net/shelley/pbem.html - that includes even more advice. Have fun! -Shelley

I agree -- I've always given the AIs rather benign names. The Hudson Hawks game had Eleanor (theirs) and Henry (UNTIL's). It made it easier to give them consistent personalities. -Shelley