Pogo

The author This nearsighted, pleasant looking man has dark hair parted on his right. He is always polite. His answers to all questions have an air of authority. He spends most of his time in the hotel. When he does leave, he will have what appears to be some sort of manuscript. When he returns, he will be carrying cat food, and a large number of books with a common theme. They may be all fantasy novels, all animal books, or all martial arts tomes. By all rights, his room should be filled with books as he never carries more than the manuscript out of the hotel, but it is not.

The Mistimed This bald gentleman in his mid 40s appears obsessed with time. He frequently checks his wrist watch, his pocket watch (with a very handsome fob), or his PDA. He has the NIST timeserver bookmarked. A large clock dominates his living room, and a digital alarm clock is beside his bed. It's kind of odd then, that none of these devices agree to within 10 minutes of each other.

Re: Where did the idea that Bricks are usually slow come from? I agree that the base damage dice of bricks and other characters were similar if the character point totals were also similar. However, the haymaker did 1.5x normal damage at least through Champs 3 (I don't have v4, so I can't speak to it). There was no similar damage increase mechanism for energy blasters or mentalists. The martial kick was rather impressive though with a x2 modifier. Of course martial arts were more expensive then too (cost = character's STR). This would make bricks more capable of big honkin' attacks for the same points.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... I was told by a former assistant professor that during one of the Unabomber's active periods, a letter went to the Harvard physics faculty (may have been campus wide) suggesting that if a suspicious package arrived, "have the secretary open it."

Re: WWYCD: Grandfather paradox So at what point does Dolphin start checking whether other supers have run into impossible descendants, and investigate who is getting DNA samples to create a master master race? And no, it's not Telios.

Re: WWYCD: Category 6 Storm

Re: A question to the physics-minded... [cue MST3k theme] Repeat to yourself it's just a game you should really just relax [end theme] I don't want to provide one source for all supers. With that caveat, here are some energy sources with realism varying from zero to none 1) Opposites attact. Matter-antimatter reactions give lots of energy for small masses. The rate of particle-antiparticle creation and annhilation at the subatomic level is subconsciously altered by the super to produce cool SFX. 2) Stringing them along. Somehow the character has access to the additional dimensions wrapped up in the superstring (I ducked string theory, so this is probably even more bogus than #1). 3) Boltzmann Schmoltzman. All the hot molecules just happened to move away, freezing the villain in his tracks. What, that configuration happens one time in 10^90? Time to buy a lottery ticket.

Re: A question to the physics-minded... [My coverage of some problems with laser weapons deleted ] Coming from the person who created this web site: that's quite a compliment. I should be bowing to you Besides, its been a while since I've gotten to use the destructive parts of physics. This is fun.

Re: A question to the physics-minded... That works. You have to sweep quickly so the charge doesn't dissipate (they likes to do that), but it is doable for some very elastic values of doable. Well, you can get around that if you assume the air density is uniform -- if tinman's world doesn't have parking lots, roads, or driveways, this might work -- and you have a big honking laser. There's a phenomenon called self-focusing. If the beam is intense enough, it can change the index of refraction of the medium it is passing through. Usually this is done in a glass. The middle of the beam is more intense than the edges, so the index of refraction is greater there. This acts as a lens, focusing the light inwards. The laser exceeds the dielectric breakdown for the material and you get these neat tracks in the material. If you balance the beam energy just right you can counter diffraction, giving close to unlimited range. Of course to drive air into this nonlinear region takes a lot of photons, and you may hit ionization limits first.

Re: A question to the physics-minded... There are a few problems with laser weapons. First, the damage is usually very localized. Admittedly a quarter inch diameter hole through you will make life suck, but now we get to the second problem. Lasers produce plasmas when they hit. Zap a target with a powerful laser and all sorts of charged particles get kicked out into the beam. The more powerful the laser, the more concentrated the cloud of particles. Unfortunately plasmas scatter photons, so the power reaching the target goes down quickly with time. The bits being blown off break the beam. You can pulse the laser to make this less of an issue, but you need a low duty cycle for it to work. We wants to deliver pain with a high duty cycle Unfortunately if there's enough ionization to transmit the current, there's probably enough dissapation to keep the laser from having a good range. Hmmm, I might be wrong here. If the laser flux is significant only near the focus, then you can sweep out a path for the current to follow. Hey, that could make for a cool looking autofire. The current arcs from the device to character A to character B to . . . .

Re: Throwing something to hit harder

Re: Fu Schticks for Champions If the Fu schticks, wear it. And give it rep for a wonderful post.

Re: A question to the physics-minded... This is too exotic, but what the heck. You can trap particles with laser tweezers. You need two beams (or a tight focus) to trap the particle in all three dimensions, but you can easily trap a particle in two dimensions. Now, make this particle reflective and you have a pellet that moves in the laser beam. So, we make a hollow glass pellet with a reflective coating. Yes, it's very small, but we're going to give it a big payload. Now put four charges on the outside of the pellet in a tetrahedral pattern. Put a small amount of identically charged antimatter inside the pellet (you did put the pellet under vacuum first, right?). Hit the target with the laser beam. Release the pellet into the beam. The glass pellet hits, breaks, falls down, goes BOOM! If you want to see where you're targeting, use visible light. If you want invisible power effects, infrared and ultraviolet lasers are also available. Whatever you do, do not drop your ammo

Re: Champions Jargon I see the free quarks! Said when a PER roll is particularly good. Fall down go BOOM! Character is at minus lots on stun. Not Enough. Always the answer when the GM asks "What's your PD/ED/DCV." Should be spoken in Gothic letters if possible

Re: Character Build Suggestions Wanted OK, I'm going to do this with skills then, because it's just too creepy[1]. The caveat is that I don't have my books with me, so no point values will be given. I also made up one or two skills Disguise 13- (but she takes lots of extra time, so it works out) Mimicry 15- Acting 16- Concealment 13- Cramming x5 Fast Talk 14- Persuasion 14- Surveillance 14- (again, this works on a timescale of months) Analyze Personality 15- Jack of all Trades (still exists in 5th edition?) Scientist (I think that's a skill modifier) Master Villain 17- (stolen from Torg. She may substitute this skill once per day for any non-combat roll) 3 levels with skills OK, I lied. One power: 2d6 luck [1] I find someone who worked to get these skills more disturbing than someone who received the appropriate powers. "You wanted to do that? Ewwwwww."

Re: Character Build Suggestions Wanted From this she has demonstrated depth rather than breadth, but that may be a limitation of the story. Make her a recurring character and she may impersonate others. Anyway, the minimal point version of Jane Doe would have psychiatry, KS: asylum procedures, acting, and mimicry. Depending on game level, this may be enough. It's not enough to really frighten the characters though. So, what else do we have? If she has to spend months studying the victim, we can probably rule out telepathy with invisible power effects (IPE) as her primary information source. Regular telepathy to drag out any important secrets would be useful right before she kills the victim though. This not only makes her act more convincing, but also provides a whole new cast list for her next role. One question is how much does she submerge her own personality when doing this? Does she mostly become the victim, or is she constantly aware she's playing a part? You say she "starts thinking in the same manner as a psychiatrist." If that occurs early, it could be a straight power build. If that happens after a month or two of playing the part, it points more towards a skill-based character (you can, of course, simulate skills with powers). For a low to midlevel power-based Jane Doe, take Markdoc's mimic pool and telepathy. Add either 2d6 luck or mind control with IPE to smooth over any gaps. Shapeshift sight, sound, and touch make the impersonation easier, but if you're being true to the story I doubt that fits. Did dogs react differently around her, or was that not covered? If dogs didn't notice the difference between the doctor and Jane, then shapeshift scent is also required. I would probably shoot this character in a Dark Champions campaign if I had a DNPC. The risk is just too great. Of course one can argue that any DNPC in a Dark Champs campaign is asking for lots of trouble.

Re: Character Build Suggestions Wanted How does she study the victim? Surveillance skills will be useful, or maybe a weak clairsentience (-1 only to follow one person around) if you're allowing powers in addition to shapeshift. She'll also need to be able to research people's backgrounds, if only to learn who the relatives are. If we assume Jane sticks to one area, or only goes after people who have recently moved, then a single AK will suffice. As for skills, she'll want mimicry to sound like the victim (or shapeshift). Cramming would be helpful to duplicate the victim's skills, or Jane could just kill people who's skills she already has. In the latter case, Jane will need a set of reasonably common professional skills. Preying on Sanskrit scholars wouldn't leave her with many targets. Depending on what powers you'll allow, a weak mind control for "everything is normal" can smooth over any rough edges in her charade. If the victim doesn't write much, forgery can be skipped over, or once Jane assumes her new identity, she "breaks her wrist" or suffers a similar injury.

Re: Stat suggestions for a spy-mouse?

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook An equally apt comparison would be Archie Goodwin/Nero Wolfe, although Charlie (the mathematician) is significantly lighter and less self-assured than Mr. Wolfe.

Re: Metamorphosis The orange will roll down a sloping driveway. The box won't if the slope isn't great enough for sliding. If I just appear to have changed into a snake, it will be hard for me to crawl through a narrow pipe. If I change into a wolf and walk through the doorway should the IR beam at 4 feet up be broken? If shapechange is an illusion, I'd say yes, though this last example is less clear-cut. Now then, I want characters with shapeshift to be able to roll (or not roll) down hills, slide through drainpipes, and fit between IR beams, so for me shapeshift is a real change. That having been said, I also think the shapeshift power may need tweaking, but I haven't thought about it enough to offer any useful suggestions (well, that and my books are 700 miles away right now:( ).

Re: Let's hear it for villainous organizations EVIL : EVIL Violent Individuals League -- yes their computers run GNU. SCAR: Social Control And Regulation -- Their goal is a strictly controlled world through eugenics, brainwashing, and the like.

Re: Explaining the Unusual Sense Group Someone on the boards had a teleporter with density sense -- made teleporting into buildings and the like more reliable. Sense neutrinos: Might as well get megascale for this one, since you won't see things much smaller than a moon. Sense mesons: Appropriate for some radiation accident characters. Gravitic sense: Character can sense gravitational pull from small objects. This can also be the SFX for spatial awareness. Sense Chi: I'm sure this has been written up by lots of folks. I don't really think of it as a mental sense, but that is campaign dependent.

Re: Two Annoying Power Builds If you'd overbuilt that power, "where" wouldn't be an issue,now would it Maybe change enviroment to "as it was 30 seconds ago?"

Re: Lo, Our Savior is Born! Darn! I was hoping to use that for my own son (due in February). I'm sure my wife wouldn't mind. OK, I know the bruising would subside. Well, I'm positive the fractures would heal. Alright, alright I'm certain she wouldn't reload. Well, almost certain. I guess this is better than Dweezil and Moon Unit.

Re: Penalty of Death Perhaps the robots haven't been fully developed yet, and the side effects are bad (insanity after 6 months, which is why the bodies only have a 5 month power supply) or that most people don't have the psychological makeup to handle this sort of thing (e.g. Robocop 1). I think the expiration date could make for an interesting campaign. The players think they're getting into the typical Dirty Dozen scenario, but leave hints about their eventual fate if nothing changes. Then let them devise a way out. I think this would be a very dark, perhaps even dystopian, campaign, but that appeals to some gamers.