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?

Quote:

As to your second point, I have been playing Champions since the second edition, as maybe you have too. I do not recall there ever being a huge difference in the damage dice of bricks compared to other characters.

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...

You're welcome.

 

And it was still poor form on the part of the PC to say "Hmm, this mysterious package might be dangerous. Hey, Tracey, come open this for me!"

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

Dolphin has already been up against a time traveling supergroup that DNA testing indicated were his great-grandchildren (on average they had 12.5% of his DNA). "Here we go again. I'm Gay! I have never been with a woman in that way' date=' and do not ever plan to. How many descendants can I possibly have? What could I possibley have done in a past incarnation for [i']this[/i] to be my Karma?"

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

Because it's the first time he's done this' date=' he'd probably create two units, one to anchor each "end" of the Einstein-Rosen bridge. [/quote']

 

Ask not for whom J.S. Bell tolls. He tolls for thee.

Re: A question to the physics-minded...

So while I've everyone's attention, here's another question:

 

One of the things that has always bothered me about supers settings is that they don't usually explain where the energy comes from. Sure they might go into how the effects are generated (i.e. the air molecules are heated telekinetically, so it looks like he's shooting fire), but not where all that energy comes from or how it's obtained.

 

So what's everyone's favourite pet explanation for the source of the energy superhumans use to power their abilities?

[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 ]

I am completely in awe of the high-tech-fu demonstrated in this entire thread.

Coming from the person who created this web site:

If anyone is interested, the web site for the campaign is at http://142.165.131.108

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...

Well, one solution is to continuously focus the beam, starting at an infinite focal point and sweeping in to a reasonable, "minimum range." Then it will have a limited range because there will be a distance beyond which the focal point moves to quickly to deliver enough energy to ionize the air.

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.

Of course lasers will always have a limited range anyway because of defraction. Higher frequencies are required for longer ranges, and there will always be a limit.

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...

If the laser is that powerful, just use IT!

 

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

At a lesser power you can theoretically ionize the air and send a current through it, as a NASTY TASER type weapon. It should be able to fry many electronics too.

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

I'm thinking about building a power that would raise the DEF of a thrown object only for purposes of determining the maximum amount of damage the object can do. I'm going with an Aid to DEF. Two questions' date=' how many active points would you apply to one point of DEF, 3? How much would you make the limitation worth?[/quote']

 

DEF is 3 active points per point of DEF (5th, pg 25). I'd go for -3/4 as the limitation. You may be able to get another -1/2 by moving the fade rate up two levels to 5 points per segment -- this will depend on the GM.

 

[edited to get the right big black book with the green man. d(0.5u^2)]

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...

Yeah, that's another good option. So far it seems the following all work as reasonable extrapolations of our current understanding and technology:

 

-very high energy lasers (the classics never get old),

-ultra-high speed projectiles that use a plasma tip to create a channel for themselves through the atmosphere, and

-laser-ionised tunnel-guided electrical discharge projectors.

 

I think this is the beginning of some bad times for the PC's

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

The specific dialog is "Jane is a complete blank slate. She believes that she has no life, so she craves the lives of others. The reason she takes the lives of others is so she can feel like a complete person." Surprisingly, this is Jane's diagnosis of herself while she's pretending to be the psychiatrist.

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

All good ideas. I think I should have included more detail.

 

In the book she's featured in (Arkham Asylum: Hell On Earth), she takes the place of one of Arkham's staff psychiatrists and fools the other staff doctors, Commissioner Gordon, the guards (including one with a serious romantic interest in the psychiatrist), and all the inmates into believing she is who she is pretending to be.

 

It takes Batman several months to figure out that she's Jane Doe and not the psychiatrist. During that time, she manages to successfully (well... as successfully as anyone can) run therapy sessions with the inmates and is able to give accurate diagnoses regarding them. (She even describes herself as a psychiatrist would, at one point, when Batman asks her about herself). She literally starts thinking in the same manner as the psychiatrist.

 

She later impersonates a guard and another inmate (in succession) during an unsuccessful escape attempt.

 

It seemed that she managed her surveillance over the course of a couple of months in all cases. She then moves in, kills the person, reduces their bodies to easily manageable (that is... concealable) pieces, and assumes their identity.

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?

And' date=' so far, the critters' stats are simply (61) Nanites: As Main Character plus (4) Double-Jointed. Might some kind-heared HERO player be able to offer any suggestions on what selection of Characteristics (and possibly Powers) would better reflect a mouse-like or snake-like creature for those 4 points currently taken up by Double-Jointed?[/quote']

 

For the snake, enhanced smell or IR vision if it's a pit viper. Enhanced hearing would also work. Change the mouse to a rat and you could add some sort of vibration sensitivity, including hearing -- see near the end of http://www.physics.brocku.ca/etc/cargo_cult_science.html. You may need to slap on limitations to drop these to four points, but that's where I'd look.

Re: Numbers as a Campaign Hook

I haven't seen it but it sounds like a modern twist on the Sherlock / Mycroft Holmes relationship...

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

Let me ask you a metaphysical question ... if an object changes from a box to an orange what's the difference between how you look at it and what it is? If an object changes from soft to hard when you Touch it how would you know it's not a soft object changing your perception of it or a soft object that became hard, and could it be said they might be one in the same worded differently?

 

Let's argue Sound. By one definition Sound is merely waves emitted into a medium (such as air) from a broadcaster (such as a tree falling in a forest). By another no sound is emmitted until a Receiver (your ear) comes upon the scene to verify that those airwaves are indeed soundwaves - up until that point they are merely Airwaves.

 

Shapeshift may ineed be Schroedingers Power here.

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

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

 

Where to run? Where to RUN?!!!!

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!

Nicolas Cage & his wife Alice had a son recently' date=' and announced this morning that he is named [b']Kal-El Coppola Cage[/b]. Kal-El is the Kryptonian birth name of Superman, and Cage is a big comic book geek; Nicolas Cage is the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola.

 

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

Hey all,

 

Don't mean to be seen as picking on you but I have some questions about the gameworld you are designing.

 

A) If you are putting people to death to harvest their organs and then putting their brains in robot bodies, why not just put sick peoples brain sin robot bodies? Then they aren't sick and the medical profession doesn't get involved in questionable ethical organ harvesting. Doctors take oaths kind of seriously.

 

Plenty of people are willing to fight for their homeland. People needn't be desperate criminals with nothing to lose. In fact I would hazzard a guess that most citizens woudl be happy to help out in the fight against terrorists.

 

E

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.