RexMundi

Re: day of ragnararok pulp? It's still Pulp though, we all know Pulp Trumps EVERYTHING else in levels of Cool. ~Rex

Re: The worst Retcon of all time Actually, I'm REALLY enjoying the new Red Circle Stuff. I've always kind of liked them anyway, but then, I remember when characters like Steel Sterling, and such were all interesting alternatives out there, back in the day..... The New Web, very very interesting campaign idea. Nice new take on the Shield and Inferno, and Hangman was always fun. There's a lot of good that can come out of this so we'll see if DC can pull it off. SC, has been pulling off a LOT of good stuff lately. I'll actually forgive them for turning Carter hall into a Black Lantern, if they give me some Good Red Circle material. It's nice, to see Heroes, "Down in the Dirt" again so to speak. ~Rex....says Check out the Cover to The Web #5

Re: day of ragnararok pulp? Pulp is a pretty Broad Genre. It doesn't have to be limited by Dates on a Calendar. Ed Brubakers Incognito for example, is full blown Pulp, in the Modern Age of Now. Day of Ragnarok though, certainly a post apocalyptic setting, certainly with a few minor tweaks of game play, function more "Pulp" like, then PA like as well. Pulp is always good. ~Rex

Re: Villains Campaign Mental Transformation. Poof......Insta Code vs Killing, Total. Problem solved, though I could add a few more things like Psych Lim: Must say Please and Thank you, etc etc etc ...... ~Rex

Re: Sunken Cities Indeed. Very Useful. ~Rex.....swipes the info, incorporates zepplins, and rocket pack cats.....Wait....sunken cities. Zepplin Sized Submersibles, and Aqua Jet Cats in Bubble helms.....ANGRY wet Aqua Jet cats ......

Re: Will Stronghold All part of the VPP is how I have it written out. Gadget Pool with a bit more, flash. So long as the parts are there, etc etc etc ......wish I could remember the exact details. I need to go rescue my sheets before they end up demolished, heh. Royal Pain is really the only one I wrote up with a VPP since I wanted to keep the kids sheets simple enough for Kids to play, and the Adults sheets simple enough for "d20 burned into their fore-brain" people to play. Dr. Medula was a good time in play as well. ~Rex

Re: Villains Campaign *Reads the first couple of posts* I have to ask, if you don't care for the one guy's Anti-Hero (And I like a GOOD anti-hero, just not the ones out of the Liefieldian mold), why would you want to go one step further over the edge and try a villain campaign (most of which, end badly, though there is potential in a well run Viper game )? ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Royal Pain. Actually pretty easy. Very NASTY to especially since I've got her built on Standard points instead of Teen Hero points. So it's not that she's beneath mention, it's that she hasn't come up yet. In game play it took some serious thinking to take her down. She's really the only sheet I think I should re-tool a bit, since there needs to be more, techno-base and giant robot building capability there then what I have now. Simple though, couple of minor reductions and shift a few things left and right and I'll be happy with it. GREAT badguy though. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold It surprisingly is. Though that could be the youthful enthusiasm as well. Still though I was rather impressed with how well it played, even with players as young as 12. New Tag Line for 63. So easy, a 12 year old can do it. ~Rex

Re: Ultimate Pulp Cover *Nods Sagely* The Great Ape, has always had a place in Pulp. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Not just Thrown in. Thrown THROUGH, bounced off of. Remember right in the beginning, Will takes a hundred pound weight plate, right in the chest, hard enough to knock him onto his bed and collapse it, with nothing but an "Ooommph!" I kept things at the low end of the scale for most of the builds. I like to factor in "Push" to the ceiling for the most part instead of already being there. Makes more sense to me build wise. Still, especially for the combatants, the Defenses are pretty good. Fear "The Popsicle" because the kids actually not a bad character. ~Rex

Re: Ultimate Pulp Cover If it's Doc Silverback, the answer is simple. Time Travel Ooopsie! Shoulda soldered the GREEN wire to the discombobulator widget..... ~Rex

Re: Celebrity "Pulp" Death Match! Well thought especially from a limited amount of data to work with. Good picks as well since really, The Shadow's abilities, wouldn't phase Doc to much. Doc's got more Willpower then 99% of the Green Lantern Corp. The Spider's not exactly unbalanced either. He's very Singular and focused. Want the problem to go away, Kill the problem. Update then goes: Doc Savage: 6 The Spider: 2 The Shadow: 0 Looking like the Doc is gonna take it hands down, still you never know. There may be some serious Shadow and Spider aficionado's out there that can shed a little light on the subject. ~Rex

Re: Celebrity "Pulp" Death Match! So....if I tally this up correctly, we should have: Doc Savage: 5 The Spider: 2 The Shadow: 0 Few posts didn't pick but it appears that at least one of them Leans Spider as well. Looks like the Shadow is actually Losing out. Then again he is also a lot of folks secondary pick. I suppose, a thing to think about would be their respective cases, and things they have accomplished. Still reserving my pick for another day or so since it's quite detailed, me being a pulp addict and all. It's nice to see though, that there is another couple of folks out there that actually Understand, The Spider. There is a Line, in crime fighting that Doc Savage will not cross (directly, there IS Brain Surgery after all), and that the Shadow Operates Right ON. To The Spider though, lines are something drawn around the body of a dead criminal. To be fair and in their respective elements, I should have offered this up as a point pool. 3 guys, you get the numbers 1, 2, and 3. You place your highest Number on your best pick, total the results. I'll use that format for the next one and NICE idea on a match up between The Spider and The Punisher. May have to build on that one later as well. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Well I was hoping to have my sheets posted today. I was actually running a full blown "Sky High" game for both the parents and the kids. We lost track of time and it ended up at oh, Midnight on a school night no less, heh..... When We all vacated, like an idiot I left the sheets behind. I have to go back and fetch them but do to Holiday catchup here at the day job, probably going to be around Wednesday when I can post them. Everyone is REALLY tough though, if you put some thought into it, there is the initial Lunchroom brawl with Will and Warren, where Warren gets Knocked through two sets of foot thick Concrete walls, collides with a concrete support pillar, smashes that in half basically, gets up brushes off the dust and heads back to the fight. So a lot of the "combatant" sheets will look pretty tough, Still, it allows them to do what was in the movies. Some of them have a bit more, and the Hero Support, is not as limited as one may think (After all they had Utility Belt class. )... Pretty happy with all the builds for now, though if I dwell on them more the Inner Plumber will take over, so when I get back down across the border where we play, I'll have those sheets and post them with quickness.....Oh......and being able to Shape shift into a Guinea Pig. Not exactly Useless. ~Rex

Re: Celebrity "Pulp" Death Match! Ah we'll get to the team up stuff After all the bad guys from the respective list above have yet to duke it out. I certainly agree when it comes to equipment, Doc has it hands down, and you would be nuts, to get into a hand to hand fight with Doc Savage. Still, I wouldn't dismiss the Spider from the mix up. When it comes to dead criminal body count, the guys hard to match, he's just not as well known anymore as the other two. A good thing to consider to, is the respective ways these guys would approach a fight if it had to happen. Doc, inevitably goes hand to hand. The Shadow, employs a mixture of both, and the Spider, usually would have to wade through a room full of gunned down criminals to find someone still breathing, to kick in the ribs. Many things to consider. So far, votes 1 for Doc. Shadow and the Spider 0. Heh, I'd have set it up with a poll, but I wasn't sure how to get the forum set up to do the polls yet. Still, I can keep a tally and I think this way, better explanations arise. Doc Savage: 1 The Shadow: 0 The Spider: 0 ~Rex

Out of Idle Boredom, and we all know how boredom tends to effect the thought processes, like most fans of any genre I'll often sit back and go, "Hmmm......I wonder who would win?" So, I compiled a few of these together, and decided to post them here in the various. The rules are simple. Pick your winner, then explain why, and or why not. Simple really. SO, to start things off, I offer up, the first batch of contestants. Contestant 1: The Shadow. Now do folks really ned the background of the Shadow? Well I suppose there is a SLIM chance out there that there is a pulp fan that doesn't really know WHO the Shadow is, or worse, only has the Alec Baldwin movie to go by (Rex of course is thankful for the NEW movie coming out that will repair that damage)......For those not in the know: In print, The Shadow's secret identity is Kent Allard, a famed aviator who fought for the French during World War I. He is known by the alias of The Black Eagle ("The Shadow's Shadow", 1933), although later stories revised this alias as The Dark Eagle ("The Shadow Unmasks", 1937). After the war, Allard seeks a new challenge and decides to wage war on criminals. Allard fakes his death in the South American jungles, then returns to the United States. Arriving in New York City, he adopts numerous identities to conceal his existence. One of these identities is Lamont Cranston, a "wealthy young man about town." In the pulps, Cranston is a separate character; Allard frequently disguises himself as Cranston and adopts his identity ("The Shadow Laughs," 1931). While Cranston travels the world, Allard assumes his identity in New York. In their first meeting, Allard/The Shadow threatens Cranston, saying that he has arranged to switch signatures on various documents and other means that will allow him to take over the Lamont Cranston identity entirely unless Cranston agrees to allow Allard to impersonate him when he is abroad. Terrified, Cranston agrees. The two men sometimes meet in order to impersonate each other ("Crime over Miami," 1940). Apparently, the disguise works well because Allard and Cranston bear something of a resemblance to each other ("Dictator of Crime," 1941). His other disguises include businessman Henry Arnaud, elderly gentleman Isaac Twambley, and Fritz, a doddering old janitor who works at Police Headquarters in order to listen in on conversations. For the first half of The Shadow's tenure in the pulps, his past and identity are ambiguous, supposedly an intentional decision on Gibson's part. In "The Living Shadow," a thug claims to have seen The Shadow's face, and thought he saw "a piece of white that looked like a bandage." In "The Black Master" and "The Shadow's Shadow," the villains both see The Shadow's true face, and they both remark that The Shadow is a man of many faces with no face of his own. It was not until the August 1937 issue, "The Shadow Unmasks," that The Shadow's real name is revealed. In the radio drama, the Allard secret identity was dropped for simplicity's sake. On the radio, The Shadow was only Lamont Cranston; he had no other aliases or disguises. As for what he could do, Only the Shadow truly knows, though one could assume the Power to Cloud Mens Minds, and to know what evil lurks in the heart there off, are pretty handy for a Night Stalking Guns Blazing crime fighter, of the sort that was the inspiration for Bat-Man and more. The Shadow, is Very much, a Pulp Icon, one whoose voice is still chilling to hear, especially if one is up to evil deeds.....But then....Is the Shadow up to facing a foe, or a rival, the likes of: Contestant 2: The SPIDER...MASTER of MEN! Now the Spider.....THIS, is a really interesting character. One could say, he's a copy of The Shadow, or visa versa....... For those not in the know of course, and unfortunately I have run into many the pulp fan without a clue as to who The Spider was, we can offer up this as well: The Spider was created by Harry Steeger at Popular Publications in 1933 as competition to Street and Smith Publications' vigilante hero, The Shadow. Similar to the character of The Shadow, The Spider was in actuality millionaire playboy Richard Wentworth living in New York and unaffected by the Great Depression. Wentworth fought crime by donning a cape, mask, and slouch hat, and terrorizing the criminal underworld with extreme prejudice and his brand of vigilante justice. The stories often involved a bizarre menace and a criminal conspiracy and were often extremely violent. The first story was written by R. T. M. Scott, but later stories were published under a house name, Grant Stockbridge. Most of the Spider novels were written by Norvell Page. Other authors of the Spider novels included Emile C. Tepperman, Wayne Rogers, Prentice Winchell, and Donald C. Cormack. The Spider was published monthly and ran for 118 issues from 1933 to 1943. Now the Spider, was known for his Calling Card. A Red Ink Spider left on the foreheads of the Criminals he Slew. Now another Pulp Hero, Lee Falks Phantom, was known for marking folks with his Skull Ring, but in the case of the Spider, his mark was made with the base of his cigarette lighter, invented by a useful minion....Another thing to keep in mind about the Spider. The Spider, was mean. VERY mean. The Spider, would make Frank Castle quake in his Punisher Under-roos......One could say, while the Shadow would have been the inspiration for many the Caped and Cowled or masked Mystery men to come, the Spider, would have been the first True comic style Anti Hero (Not counting the Westerns, different pulp genre there )..... Still, while the Spider was the Master of Men, could he stand before, the Original Super Man? Contestant 3: Doc Savage Can it POSSIBLY, get more Pulp, then Clark Savage Jr? Physician, surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer, researcher, and, as revealed in The Devil Genghis, a musician? Lester Dent himself described the character as "a mix of Sherlock Holmes' deductive abilities, Tarzan's outstanding physical abilities, Craig Kennedy's scientific education, and Abraham Lincoln's goodness." There is no doubt to me at least, that Doc is the better HERO, of the three (though by modern standards, Doc Savages techniques may violate more then a few human rights and ethics issues). Still, could he BEAT, the Spider? Could he Beat, the Shadow? 181 original novels, scores of add ons, posters, a (so-so but consider when it was made) movie, comics, magazines, Wold Newton, and more? Pretty impressive Resume I would think, and really no need to describe what the Doc can do, since the guy had a Fortress of Solitude, before even the "other" Superman. There are lots of similarities between these three characters. They all fought Crime. They all had, Helpers. But out of the three, who will be the last one standing. I'll with hold my own opinion til a bit later. Debate decor and demeanor if possible. Anyone can root and cheer but the reasoning behind the pick is the fun part. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Nah they handled the full rules just fine. It's really a lot easier to teach HERO to a 12 year old kid then what it is to a 35 year old d20 player. Once you get to the level where you can teach d20 people how to play HERO and they come back for more teaching a bunch of kids is nothing really. SO FAR, so good on the builds. I need to as I thought, tweak a few of the sheets to bring them into line with the scale. Other then that, almost done with them to where I'm satisfied. Figured out a way to pare it back a bit in a few places. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Jetstream is MASSIVELY fast, and pretty brutal in hand to hand as well. The flash back where the Commander is telling Will about how they got their best Trophy (won't toss in the spoilers but you can watch just that scene on the Sky High official site), shows that while The Commander can pimp slap Godzilla Sized opponents, Jetstream is no slouch in the beat down department and well.... There are several scenes where the Commander almost damages his kid. Jetstream seems pretty immune to such casual displays, hence, no Man of Steel Woman of Kleenex issues in that household I suspect. Just finished up the sheets for the kids. Like I said before Layla was easy, some of the Side Kicks actually were tougher to do then the Full Blown Supers (Like Lash and Speed). Starting on the grown ups now.....so ...After the weekend should have some sheets to post. Got to PLAY them first though. I figure since I've got babysitting duty for some friends of mine (never make football bets because you are SURE you will win), I figure, Sky High the Movie for the kids, and Sky High the game afterwards since the parents are always hasseled by the Juniors to get to play in the grown up game, I'll just give them their own game to play for now....heh.....Corrupting Juniors with HERO products.....Such a Baron Bedlam thing to do. ~Rex

Re: What do I do? Go with the 6th. Steam was a perfectly good source of power for cars for a long time. But folks moved on. ~Rex

Re: Superhero Campaign Advice? You're almost better off, finding some long term "Supers" gm's, and having a sit down with them, as opposed to looking for a teaching source. Or, pose questions and a lot of us that have been running for 27 years or so, heh, will park our walkers for a few minutes and give answers and pointers. ~Rex

Re: rank and age Don't forget there Are several fast track programs in the various branches depending on MOS, Age of Enlistment, that sort of thing. Some very excellent links posted by the knowledgeable people ahead of me there. Good Stuff GREAT work on the Jumpin Jim info. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Hmm....forum hiccup. As it is right now I've got the outlines done and the "Sky High" campaign outline done, about half way through the basics on the Kids sheets (the Adults will be easy). Good excercise for getting into the new rules I think. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold I'm going to actually write up everyone tonight. I brought the subject up to a few of my players last night and we ended up watching the movie again. So now I sorta gotta do it, heh. The Side Kicks are pretty tough really if you look at them in comparison to everyone else. They can be bullied by the Super Teens and not really get hurt, and some of the side kicks, have powers. Hate to say it, but looking at a few of the sheets I have done already (though Layla is still going to be the tough one to do), there is some potential here. ~Rex

Re: Will Stronghold Yeah she is. ~Rex