i3ullseye

Re: Help with Serial Killer story

Ok, I laguhed my butt off at this one....

"1) He kills in order to please his mother. In the same Psychotic manner that Jack Nickolson did to please his dead mother."

Hehe, unless there is a movie he was in that I missed, I don't think this is who you meant to say. Norman Bates? Played by Anthony Perkins?

But, the basic rundown of a Serial Murderer has already been established, but you need a Meta Twist. The next thing I want to consider is if your players read these boards. I may be giving away too much if i go further, so if you want a few decent ideas, and want to keep them in the dark, let me know and I will PM you.

If you don't mind them being posted here, let me know and I will keep it in this thread for all to see.

Re: Shamans, or "restrictions on spell schools"

Just my take here.

Normally, when a GM and his players work on characters, explaining that a certain race is unable to have certain thins shoudl be enough. They shouldn't really get 'bonus' points (the disad) for not having somethings, since they will still be based on the same points as your other players. If they want to be a caster, just explain that certain races are not available for that in the campaign.

I don't think points should be an issue at all here.

If it costs 3 for this Pgre race to get magic, they will just ask why they can't pay the 5 and take the full spectrum then if they are inclined. Your only answer at that point is that Ogres can't buy the 5 point rank... so we are back where we started with just saying no up front and not basing any points on it.

Alternative?

Add a disadvantage to the Ogre package itself that makes them incapable of magic. Make it also spill over into the use of some magical items (think Dwarves form D&D) and it adds flavor to the race as a whole. This now becomes intrinsic to the race itself.

Now you add a talent for Spiritually Attuned which allows them to choose form a select group of shamanistic type spell schools. Now there is no confusion. The race itself is clearly non-magically capable, and only taking a specific talent can any one member of this race learn those magics.

But there needs to be other factors involved I think if they are truly non-magical. A race that can;t learnt o be a Wizard really shoudln't be worth any disad points since that is a campaign call.

Re: Fixin' what's broken - switching from d20 to HERO

Again, the problem exists because the games balance factor is a linear level progression. And one level of Wizard does NOT equal one level of Warrior, so even this gets severely skewed. With Feats you can indeed do a basic background thing. With multi-classing you get more, but it limits you to taking complete classes, and that doesn't always make sense.

Why can you not learn a simple cantrip in a magic heavy world? Wouldn't most rogues love a simple light? Or to hide and summon their lockpick? Of course they would. And in a high magic campaign, it is silly to think they could never learn a few of these tricks.

Even if magic IS hard to learn, what about that warrior who wants to learn how to pick a lock? This is purely physical and mental, no magic involved. But in order to do it they need a whole level of Rogue? Thats insane.

But again, that is not to say that classes have no place. Without them, many characters would look the same. They would end up munchkins with the most perful weapon and armor, just the most beneficial spells, find traps and pick locks, etc... so why need a group then? You also lose a lot of the secondary and support skills that GOOD games rely on.

Classes make characters better suited to their. They guide them toard picking logical skills and abilities for what they do, and limit them form doing too much else. They prevent them form making themselves hard to play by over-specializing.

Come on. We have all played the ultimate weapon master before... only to sit idle while the rest of the group finds the secret doors, finds the traps, identifies the magic items, carrouses in the pub, only waiting for them to point us at the big bad guy we needed to hack on. And when they bad guy has magic, or psionics, or needed other than up front combat, we were hosed.

So, classes (or in HERO profession packages) are a great guide post to ensure your warrior can do more than just swing that axe. Maybe knowing how to fix or make an axe also. Also gaining some more general combat prowess, but also some knowledge of other warriors, or the history of his local armies engagements. These packages are indeed classes... and they help immensley.

Sure, the great thing about HERO is that everything is balanced on the point scale. So the level of wizard versus level of warrior issue never arises. Now 10 points is 10 points. It might get that warrior farther at first, or the Wizard may pick a very useful spell. But both are 10 point purchases, and fairly balanced within the game. But in order to become a wizard in the first place, you have to meet the requirements (ie, pick up the class) and thats where the profession packages come into play.

We all know the flexibility HERO gives, and if we didn't think it superior to almost anything else we likely wouldn't be here. But there are many other good games out there, and many other good ideas within them. Some of the worst games have great ideas (I am looking at YOU Shadowrun and World Of Darkness). And I personally think that classes ranks up there as one of the most useful tools in all of gaming. It allows for guidance in character building, it acts as a restraint when the GM wants it to be one, it allows for adventure planning by having generalized reference to each adventurer.

I can't stress enough how much having classes/professions helps to make balancing the threats in game more enjoyable. If a FH game you might know you have 3 warrior types, a cleric and 2 bards. That will require a differrent challenge from a game with 4 wizards and 2 rogues. You don't always have easy labels like that in Champions games.

In supers, you can call one a blaster, and one an egoist, and one a brick, etc... but there is no profession/class package to ensure they cover the basic skills expected of that role. But why do we label these characters anyway? Calling one a blaster is indeed giving them a 'Class' label, and we do it for design purposes even when the class system itself doesn't actually exists.

We just have to remember to 'USE' classes, and not let classes use us.

Re: Can this Detect even work?

Also, if there is no common link between the various teleports... it can still be done as a precog or temporal anomoly sense, but it will be considerably more expiensive.

Re: Sending a message to the past

Time Messages... a few other considerations perhaps.

1) How is the recipient in the past going to receive these messages? If there are radios, this can be a trandimensional broadcast. If not, there needs to be a means of contact. A conduit of sorts. Barring all this, then I woudl start looking at Mindlink or Telepathy to model it.

2) One or many recipients? again, this can point to a Mind Link as opposed to Telepathy or a Radio Transmit.

3) what is the in game reference point? Are you playing that character in the past? Then Precog with no personal control is probably the way to go. If youa re the one sending messages, then you want one of the aforementioned builds on how to actually Send the message. If you play the recipient though, HOW it gets there isn't really all that important, as it can just be a SPFX definition for Precog.

4) Is this communication one way or two way? If it is two way, we REALLY need to have that pointed out on top of the Precognition if you happen to be playing the character in the past.

And even more.....

5) Can others eavesdrop on this communication? Is it possible for this to be intercepted? Can it be blocked?

6) How are the ramifications of the information given going to play out in game? There are many things that coudl be justified with this, and many others that could be disastrous.

7) Is there some form of temporal regulation agency that would frown on this sort of thing? How about creatures that are drawn to the time of energies used? What are the threats involved?

Another interesting approach, depending on how you will play the character. You coudl take Duplication, with Can Not Recombine and Altered Duplicates. Now if you want mroe than one time version of the character to co-exist, one can show up to help the other even. Buying it this way means the more advanced one can have differrent skills and abilities, but since it is based on the main form you will see any injuries or scars or such reflected on the newer version.

Re: The First Hurdle: Creating a *gulp* Magic System

I would perhaps look at moving away from End reserves for Wizards. It might simulate things better if it were a multipower pool, with charges on it. The charges recover after a night of sleep. And you can add the extra limitation that the charges have to be assigned to slots during the memorization period.

Then for sorcerors you use the end reserve, with no normal recovery option. They have to sleep for their end reserve to recover. Now you have pre-assigned slots for Wizards, and a finite number per day. They will generally be able to do a lot more than the Sorcerors, as buying a single slot in the multipower lets it share form the charges on the pool itself. While the sorcerors will pey a bit mroe for their slots since they draw form an end reserve and wont have the same skill roll or pre-study requirements to drop their costs.

As for the range adder......

You woudl buy that as a naked power advantage. When you purchase this advantage, you will have to select up front how many active points this power/advantage will effect, anything extra is lost. Now for a base +1/4 the max range of a power is multiplied by 5. I woudl normally couple this with No Range Modifier for +1/2 to ffset this greater range, and more closely mimic the D&D spell structure as spells often don;t have range penalties.

These should normally stay outside power frameworks, but can be built much like a feat/talent for that caster. They won't be cheap, and you need to consider how often it can be used per day. Normally, making it costs endurance at a higher rate, and requiring a decent skill rooll, should keep it in line. Also it shoudl delay the spell a bit to cast it differently.

Enhance Mystical Range

Enahnced Range (+1/4), No Range Penalty (+1/2)

Extra Time (-1/4), Requires Magic Skill Roll [-1/10 active points](-1/2)

Only works on spells cast (-1/4),X2 Endurance (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4)

Real Cost: 15 Active Effect :30 Endurance: 6

Something like that would increase the range of any spell with an active point total of us to 30, and remove the range penalty. You need to make extra gestrures, and it takes a bit of time to change the spell. Casting this way requires a skill roll of -1 per 10 active points (the enhancement itself is a base -3 keep in mind) and will cost an extra 6 endurance to cast this way, even if the base spell normally costs no endurance.

If the spell is less than 30 active points, it's range is multiplid by 5. If the spell is mroe than 30 active, you might just default to the 30 base and call the range 750". The extra will just be lost, and shouldn't matter really. For a spell to hit this range normally it would need 150 active points.

Just an idea.

Re: War HERO

yeah, good stuff. I think first I am going to just gather a list of the most common equipment... be it pistol, rifle, achine gun, tank, etc.... and start with the raw conversions on those. the profession packages will come a bit later I think as i dig a bit deeper. So far this is one of the best resources I have found.

WW I Resources

For the most part, unless there is a blaring reason it should be differrent, i am going to find a weapon with the same caliber and statistics as the weapons of WW I and just rename them. There are tons of good weapon write-ups out there already. And I will do the same for any vehicles I can find a similar write up for.

As I read the history trhough, a few items will need to be written up on their own for unique properties or challenges they had historically. Like certain weapons that misfired a bit too much, or weapons with a longer than expected range.

Re: Growing Up Polytheistic

Karma and Reincarnation are Hindu beliefs, and Gotama never really spoke much about them. The term used was 'topics that tended not to edification' to paraphrase.

Strict reading of the true words of Gotama... there were no gods. There was no heaven or hell. Karma and reincarnation can not exists in the sense they are perceived today, since nothing is truly real. Since there is no individual self, how can a non-thing be reincarnated into another non-thing? How can it carry the weight of ones previous deeds?

Oddly, Physics and Buddhism is starting to align quite a bit the more we understand.

Physics: Energy can never be created or destroyed, and physical mass is made up of the smaller energy particles.

Buddhism: The universe is one whole.

Physics: Time is realtive to the observer, and not static or linear.

Buddhism: If all is illusion, there is truly no future or past. Just differreing perceptions fo the shared delusion.

Physics: More biology really, but when a body decomposes, it's nutrients go itno the earth and then the plants... and when eaten can form the basis of a new physical body in a mother.

Buddhism: Everything is a cycle of birth-life-death-changing-rebirth-etc..

Physics: Energy is neither created or destroyed, but changes form. When a body dies, the energy is dispersed into the surroundings. A developing child, and all living beings, draw those energies form their surroundings.

Buddhism: See above...... Everything is a cycle of birth-life-death-changing-rebirth-etc..

Certainly, there are some MAJOR differrences, but it is odd that at their roots, much eastern philosophy and modern science tend to reinforce each other.

That is something else to consider to make a game complex and rich in detail. How do the non-religious types perceive the 'obvious' signs of divinity? Most expecially, how do those who use magic perceive how things occur? What is their reasoning behind their ability to cast magic, and the ability for a 'supposed' god to come down and influence the real world?

Re: Can this Detect even work?

Again, all in how you interpret the rules. He may be able to sense his dimensional alignment at the point of teleporting. Maybe each spot feels differrent when they arrive, and he matches the feeling. Most likely, he pictures the destination in his head, and then materializes i the area that most closely matches it.

I have always viewed it as looking inward myself. Let's make some assumptions, and not get too deep in nonexistential philosophy for a moment, but let's say that we are part of the greater whole of the universe. All this energry is part of us, and we part of it. To some, the universe only exists because we perceive it, so changing our perceptions of it in a superhero gamecan change our location within this perception.

With teleport things are instantaneous, so it is kind of hard to break it down, but the actual process might be very much like trying to orient yourself if you are lost and have flight. If you are lost, but can fly, you can fly upward and gain altitude. As you get a higher perspective, you look for landmarks or land shapes that look familiar... once you see one, you then move toward it to get more detail and re-orient yourself.

If you live in Tampa, once you go so high, you will recognize Florida and be able to fly toward where you need to be.

Since teleport is moving between dimensions, perhaps even distorting time, maybe all this IS happeneing. Maybe it is too fast for the teleporter themselves to even perceive what they are instinctively doing. They fade away and enter the stream.... and as they enter, they are in tune with the nexus of all these points and dimensions. Now they emerge form those points that are familiar, and it coudl happen in the blink of an eye but STILL take the steps to move toward more comfortable or familiar surroundings.

Maybe at the point of teleport there is an inherent GPS like sense that allows the teleporter to orient themselves.

Point is, there are many MANY interpretations possible. But as written, nothing would suggest that there is any tracable link between the teleporter and their destination except at the actual time of teleporting.

Re: War HERO

I don't think I would ever want to go squad based with it, though the mass battle rules form FH would certainly cover it. Purists woudl want to know percentage of penetration, and segmented armor stats and such. But really, there are a bazillion historically accurrate games for that. Thos eivolve moving models and making rolls... I want people to play characters in my games, and the actual mechanics of the full scale battle are going to be secondary.

Hehe, it is Role play, not Roll play with me....

Re: Reviewing Teen Champions (& Ravenswood Academy)

Grades shoudl be based on a test most likely. and the test shoudl be Skill/Int based. But as a character progresses, if they spend their points on their super powers, and never take the skill needed for the class, it shoduln't be too easy.

I might actually look into this one. One of the only DC books I coudl ever stomach was Impulse. The way they portrayed his school age antics was actually one of the best comic series I have read in the first year or so. Great stuff.

Plus, we have all read the X-Books. That is more what this is going for if I understand it correctly, a school for supers and filled with supers. But I am sure some of the material could be great for a game where you are in school and trying to hide it since almost no one else has powers.

Re: Magic System... Again

How about 'As It Is' to put someone or something in stasis until healing or a cure can be found? And 'As It Will Be' to see into the future? Just love the name 'As It Was' for a spell. Very cool.

You could even use an 'As It Is' to freeze fires so they go cold and can be moved or stores for later use. Keep soemthing frozen maybe. Lots of possibilities on that one.

Re: Growing Up Polytheistic

First some background... I am a Buddhist, and my eventual goal is to teach comparative theology at a university level. I have studied just about every cult, occult, religion and philosophy I can get my hands on since I was about 10 years old. And yet, I am NOT going to continue to poke holes in any real world religious discussions here.

That is best left for other venues.

But, for all that. a few things to point out that might be worth considering if you are really looking to add a complex and diverse cosmology and pantheon to a campaign.

Let's look at the statement that Satan or Mary are deities in modern Christianity. Clearly this is NOT what the Catholics believe, but it IS how they are painted by contemporaries who disagree with them. Even though they share a common faith foundation, they still interpret things drastically differrently.

Another common misperception is that Judaism is/has always been monotheistic. Nothing could be farther form the truth. Not only the references of their sacrifices to Azazel to allow free passage of the desert, but also the reference to G-d being a jealous god (of what? the question begs). In todays world we have assumed the phrase monotheism, and it has stuck in order to make differring religions get along.

The same could be said for Hindu. Each fo their major gods is often a seperate avatar of one god. Not only that, ALL their gods exist in a differrent plane of existence, so there is no needed 'proof' of Krishna or Vishnu ever stepping foot on earth. They exist on a higher plane of existance and are very real and vibrant for their worshippers. Many Hindu believe in only ONE god, with various incarnations and manifestations. This is what Ghandi believed BTW.

Many Buddhists are technically atheists, but many more are monotheists or polytheists. If you want to represent a great religious reference in agame, then you have to consider how they will adapt when they come into contact with each other. The Parsi fairht is still very alive and well (Freddy Mercury of Queen was Zoroastrian BTW) and since they are a religion of shepherds who put their dog and their flock above all else, it is easy to see their influence on the Judeo Christian bible.

The lord if my shepherd? The Psalm is almost word for word pulled form the original Zoroastrian. But this doesn;t lessen it for either faith, and you have to consider that also.

Once thing that always felt flat to me in many games was the pure Polytheism that had hold of everything. For as cool as Krynn was, there was no real conflict or doubt there. Everyone accepted all the gods, but had their chosen favorite.

The technical definition for true Judaism, and many other forms of 'monotheism' is actually Henotheism. Henotheism is the acceptance that many gods exists, but your god is the chosen god for you and your people. Thus the compacts with Moses and Abraham.

To make them interestign however, you can base entire religions on the same core stories, but perceive them drastically different. The gnostics think Jesus and Lucifer/Satan are one and the same... they paint YHVH as an imposter, and not the true creator/father.

Another consideration is heaven adn hell. Many of the polytheistic faiths had a heavena dn a hell, and honestly D&D did very well with the planes of existence for this. But you can always use real world for more inspiration here, and consider how these concepts evolve...and for that matter WHY they evolve.

In Judaism there is no hell. No reference in the Old Testament speaks of hell. Actually a few references refer to the Greek Mythos underworld, but the basic accepted truth was when you died, you were dead. Let's look at what the Vatticine council did with that one. The concept of a fiery hell originates in Islam, and Mohommed spoke of it often. So powerful was the idea of an eternal damnation, and so strong a control tool it could be for the masses, it was deemed truth by the Vatican.

In a game world, is there a central authority that coudl make sweeping changes like this? Is there a reason behind it, like a war or perhaps a plague/famine? If there is a major disaster, how does the central church spin it? And how does this impact their interaction with the neighboring religions?

Re: Can this Detect even work?

I couldn't disagree more. Memorize is the EXACT phrase to use, because thats what is occurring. You are correct, SPFX and in game considerations can change any of this, but the basic nature of Fixed and Floating points woudl in NO WAY have a link back to the teleporter. It represents an extreme familiarity with the location. He knows how to navigate there without a chance of becoming lost.

This is like knowing your way home. No matter how you travel, by bike or by foot, you can make it home without rolling to see if you find it. This doesn;t mean there is any real link between you, the bike or your home. It is just a level of familiarity with the location.

Re: Final Sanity Rules

hehe, I already have them planned to be listed as Cat I, Cat II and Cat III, based on which level of disad they have earned. Right now my plan is that some creatures wont even cause a Class II or higher to blink. So, I have some of that planned on the creature side of things, but I am going to be a bit hesitant and see just how fast all this works first.

Another thing about the comment that people see things, throw up, then move on. That couldn't be farther form the truth. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other ailments liek this require years of therapy for some people. There were mroe people outside the greater New York area who went in for psychiatric help after 9/11 than there were in New York City per capita. More people had long term repurcussions just watching it on TV than those who witnessed it.

Why?

Well, if you have ny background in trauma response, you find that there needs to be a level of resolution for most people. and with an event like this, there was none for those who saw it on TV, over and over, wearing on their psyche. For the locals, things got cleaned up, salvage was hauled out, reconstruction started. They could put a finality to the event and move on.

All this really spills over into Cthulhu, because if you are doing your job as a GM, what they see is only a hint of what the entire truth is, but they never get to resolve that whole dark truth.

Re: War HERO

Well, if the players are special forces units, Heroic works just fine. I know competent normals often have only 50 points, but actually sit back and figure out what skills many of us have accumulated over the years.

For most war games i am going to target the characters at 50 base and 50 disads... that feels about right for me.

And during the rigors of battle, and after basic training and active marching all through MOS/Tech schools... base 10 stats are about right. Most people will have a few points in Str and Con at that point also, but not neccessarily Dex.

Re: Magic System : Blood Magic

I had a 'Hero' in one of my games that was an immortal Arab slayer... who used blood in many of these ways. yeah, society just wasn't ready to embrace this guy. Go figure.

But a few other ideas to consider.

You can make these powers spells, and have some of them fall into 4 categories.

1) Local

These spells focus their energies on the blood within the mage himself. This woudl be things like slight strength boost, regeneration, maybe even added run speed or higher defenses. The idea is to empower him physically, or heal him. As they are a warrior people, he will likely have used this to compensate for his weaker human heritage, and hold his own in battle to prove his worth.

2) Blood Letting

these spells woudl be a bit more powerful, and it woudl allow the mage to cast on others. But in order to cast on other, they must take 1 pip of damage and bleed themselves for it to happen. If they already have an open wound then no extra damage need be taken, and this makes it much easier to use in battle.

Healing others, providing sustenance (here, drink this cup friend!), perhaps even blessing weapons for a time with your blood. Some very cool uses at this level.

3) Voluntary

For curing diseases, scrying, or various other spells it would require the willingly given blood of another. Normally this will be the recipient of the spell itself, but some more powerful spells may require anothers blood to empower them mage himself.

I would imagine a temporary mind link might require method 2 and 3, as they exchange blood and allow them to mingle, forming the psychic bond.

4) Vampirism

The last category, and where msot harmful spells to others will lie, require blood to be spilled form the target or victim. Here is where your combat spells come into play. This is also where you get into sacrifices for greater effects.

I would probably allow non-humanoid blood for some spells, but reduce their effectiveness considerably.

There is a last group that would fall outside all these really. Examples woudl be the ability to sense blood with heightened awareness, or track soemone by blood scent. Life detection and such.

Hope some of these ideas might help.

Re: I need help with a couple power ideas, please.

I would build it as a supress. I would make it 1 hex area effect, and no range. By making it constant, and zero End, we can simulate what you are after reasonably well.

Expensive, but a reasonably game altering power.

Cost Power

37 Energy Leech: Suppress Reduces Energy Attacks (EB and ERKA)

15d6 (standard effect: 45 points), Personal Immunity (+1/4),

Area Of Effect (One Hex; +1/2), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +1/2)

(169 Active Points);

Independent (Cloak is its own artifact/entity; -2), OIF (Cloak; -1/2),

No Range (-1/2), Restrainable (Inside of cloak must be accessible; -1/2)

Cost Power

50 Returned attacks: Energy Blast 10d6,

Variable Special Effects (Limited Group of SFX; only energies recently absorbed by cloak; +1/4), Variable Advantage (+1 Advantages; Limited Group of Advantages; May imitate up to +1 of original attack advantages; +1 3/4)

(150 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Restrainable (Must expose inside of cloak for blast to function; -1/2), Gestures (Must actively expose inside of cloak to use blast; -1/4), Linked (Energy Leech; Cloak is source of blast; Greater Power is Constant or in use most or all of the time; -1/4), Beam (All attacks are unleashed with all their remaining energy; -1/4), 4 Recoverable Charges (Recovers Under Limited Circumstances; only last 4 attacks stored if not used... energy will dissipate; -1/4)

Powers Cost: 87

Re: WWYCD: I, The Jury

Well, all discussions of the crime scene aside, I tend to be the outside-the-box type, and often i think more can be found other ways in many of these cases. We we make the standard assumptions (that A- in many games my character might just BE the killer and B- I will forego my usual mental powers archetype) there are a few things I noticed and would try.

1) they were all dressed fashionably, and killed at the same time. This leads me to believe they have an appointment. Perhaps a date or an invite to a party. Have those killed been male? If they are male, then the only female listed as without a tight alibi is the Court Recorder, and she is who i woudl tail first.

2) If there is no reasonable choice of action by one hour before the appointed kill time, I go confront the next potential victim. I make something up... anything. If i can't find out their plans (since no one has been killed at home) I start an altercation to get both of us detained by the police till after the 'dead'line.

3) if I can't find them, I will cut my losses, and strategically detain each of the 3 potential killers on various nights. This will not be a gurantee that they are guilty, but if by detaining only one the killings stop, then we know where to target our investigation further.

But really, the nicer clothes and timing seem to point to a date, and the broad did it!

Re: Retcon the CU

My worlds have always been very similar to the Marvel universe. I like the whole plot angle of a world that hates and registers mutants, while super soldiers and altered humans are honored as saints.

Origins...

Some aliens. A whole lot of magic in my worlds. A lot of technology. So I diverge pretty drastically from the CU timeline and origins.

But I would certainly add more cheese. Maybe an all powerful gouda, or a fine brie.

Re: Daily Art Findings

I love this thread. Normally when i am after soemthing for a game, I google up quite a bit of stuff for what I need, and it can be pretty time consuming. One thing I really like is the more realistic landscape or building approach, to set a tone for an encounter area. I wanted to post this one since it has great use as a fort in many campaigns.

The artists name is on the boder of the pic....

Again, hope you dont mind one of us continuing your numbering scheme.

Link 21

Re: WWYCD: think of the children

Many of my characters might just be the one DOING the killing, but i digress. And since I often play mentalists, we will avoid that route.

General answer, I team up with a local reporter, and have him run a story really bashing this guy. Explaining how sick he is, and how he is no better than those he is killing. then I stay close to this reporter as the killer comes to him to try to get him to print his rebuttal.

The psychosis of this vigillante is one to have people adore and appreciate him for his noble act. If society isn't appreciative, then likely society must be wrong in his eyes. And he will likely do whatever it takes to show what a great service he is doing for these children.

If he is hesitant, yo find a child related to one of his victims and have them crying on local TV. If that doesn't urge a rebuttal out of the killer (and exposing himself enough to leave some traceable clues) then you might not have much chance to catch him again.

Back when Bruce was still LE, I wrote in a suggestion for a series of books that I wanted to write. The line would be the War HERO line, and cover major conflicts in the modern era... Civil War HERO, WWI HERO, WWII HERO, Vietnam HERO, etc.....

I see it is as a huge gaping hole in the HERO rules at this point, and one that would have a huge fan base. How many people play minitures battles and recreations right now? and HERO is just detailed enough to really offer a great foundation for vehicular battles and small arms combat, while still being playable. I have always found it to be a nice system to balance the munchkin aspect of miniature battles and the smooth flow of roleplay.

But the line was going through a transitional phase I was told... and we all know how that turned out. In the end all is great for the game now. But will we ever see a War HERO line? Who knows.

I have also been told that with the Vehicle guide, and ana Arms and Weapon guide, you really don't need war books. What? This coudln't be farther from the truth. There is so much backstory and detail to base games on in each of these eras. Not to mention, having a list of just what weapons and vehicles are available, and when, is really helpful also. And how about packages for the different services and nations special forces and such?

Now, all that being said, I no longer have time to try to write 2 or 3 hours a day on something of this sort. But for my own uses, I AM going to be doing quite a bit of work with regards to World War I for my upcoming campaign. So this beings up 2 questions...

1) Since it doesn't look like I will ever be able to work on any official book of this nature, and there doesn't seem to be a spot in the line to produce one, who would be interested in anything of this sort? Who wants to see a WWI HERO Resource?

2) I was also thinking of posting lists of items, and then thier stats in HERO, in a thread here. Like one for small arms, one for rifles, one for machine guns, etc.... Who would be interested in helping with such an effort?

Re: Final Sanity Rules

Thanks all.

I see the roll being needed 2 or 3 times per long session. At first, they may not roll at all for a session or two, as this will be a long term campaign and build up. But as they get more immersed in the muckety muck, then things start becoming apparent at a more accelerated pace. Real fun will be things they thought were mundane all along have a sinister origin underneath.

As for the penalty for INT versus the Skills. I think that being Smart allows you to understand the complexity of things a bit more keenly, but if that intellect is never pointed toward the truth you will never find it. The skills however are direct pointing toward the truth. If you have KS:Cthulhu Mythos... you are going to have a minus. But I didn't want the round off to be too aggressive for INT since essentially everyone would have -2 in most games, since they would have roughly 18 INT.

As for the bonuses scaling up... well.. this is Cthulhu... you are SUPPOSED to get a sliding impending dread. Your psychosis should climb while any benefits do not. Now as a GM, you can certainly balance this as you see fit. Not to mention some of these things may be bought off if you allow it.

Re: Can this Detect even work?

Well, it certainly is a Meta game construction. sometimes they are the only way to get to a specific concept however. I would say if this doesn't sit well with the GMs particular style, you could then also add Megascale to this. +1 1/2 should cover just about anything. Thats here to the moon. The total cost now jumps to 24 pts... still resonable. If you want it just enough range to cover the local state perhaps, then you are going to keep it considerably less.

Now if the idea of the detect seems off, we can then model this on Clairsentience. At a base of 60 pts for the past, present and future, at base range, it can be pricey. But if we apply a decent limitation to it since it is only teleport spots, it will still probably be reasonably in the 20 to 30 point range when done.

Is that alot for a sense? heck yeah. But it can also be crippling to your opponent if you can sense his movements before he makes them, or after he has made them.