Just Joe

I first came up with the idea for a "plastic man" type character. He can make the surface of his body hard and dense, but must keep his muscles very tense to do so. The result is resistent defenses that are invisible and cost END. My first thought was armor with the "costs END" limitation. But that means it's visible. Buying it invisible ends up being more expensive than the base armor which is invisible and costs no END. The obvious alternative, an invisible FF, has the same kind of problem. As GM, I can just rule that "costs END", does not imply "visible" in this case. But am I missing another solution. More generally, why does "costs END" usually imply "visible"? And given that it does, why is it worth only a measily -1/2 when the corresponding advantage is +1?

Re: The Art Of The NPC I'm not exactly sure how I create them initially. To a large extent, they seem to just come to me. But I'm rarely satisfied with how well I present them to the players. I've tried to base them on people I know, but that has only worked well for me a few times. I'm not a terribly good actor, and the circumstances and motivations of my NPC's rarely match those of their real-world counterparts well enough for this technique to help much. A notable exception is someone I caricatured somewhat -- but whose real personality very much lends itself to caricature. A technique I have considered but not implemented is to make a character match some version of a zodiac sign. This might be more useful to those of you who have a zodiac system already in your head. I just find I can't easily remember what a Capricorn or a Monkey is supposed to be like anyway.

Re: Two Campaign Ideas I've settled, at least for the time-being, on a mixture of #1 and #2 E. I want my players to think of the "high tech" in the game as something akin to mystic/magical powers (e.g., they cost personal END, devices won't operate in any way unless used by someone with the right training, and suspension of disbelief should be such that "scientific" explanations will not be even remotely plausible). But the characters will tend to view mystical/high-tech as being no more different from low-tech than we view computers as different from hammers; that is to say, there are deep and important differences, but both are part of a continuum of sorts within one consistent world-view. Those who wield great mystical/high-tech power are viewed roughly as we view great scientists or athletes. I will need better, less clumsy terminology than "mystical/high-tech" and the like to use during the game, but I have not come up with any yet.

Re: War of the Worlds Brilliant. Repped.

I'm glad that Pulp Hero is coming out. I'm sad that a separate Pulp Hero forum has been created. My problem is that many of the ideas I have been interested in recently have pulpish aspects, but are not pure pulp. I used to go automatically to "Other Genres". Now I have to choose between here and there. Anyway, I recently started a thread called "Two Campaign Ideas" on the "Other Genres" board. Arguably, at least one of these ideas could go here. I'd love your input. Please take a look. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34247

I recently started a thread called "Two Campaign Ideas" on the "Other Genres" board. Arguably, at least one of these ideas could go here. I'd love your input. Please take a look. http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34247

Re: Two Campaign Ideas

Re: blade runner Man, you guys are such geeks. How can you waste your time quoting a movie online? You're wasting precious moments . . . moments that will be lost in time, like tears in the rain.

Re: War of the Worlds

Re: Let's Talk Lovecraft This is not a direct answer to your question, but I hope it will be helpful to you. I just finished up the third adventure in my pulpish/horror/monster-hunters that has Lovecraftian overtones (or is it undertones?). Some things I have found helpful (some of which match what others have said, but some of which depart from Lovecraft): I Isolate the PC's. I Give them little or no help from reliable NPC's. I have insane and/or evil NPC's who might help them if they play their cards right. I don't make them doomed to failure, nor guaranteed to succeed. I find that player uncertainty of the outcome adds to drama and that letting dice and circumstances produce the outcome reflects a cold indifferent universe. I make sure that they don't know too much at the start, and that learning more can help them or harm them. When they investigate creepy things, I try to seriously disturb the players, not just their characters. Maybe some of that is useful to you.

Here are a couple of campaign ideas I'm thinking about running some time in the next year. Some of you might think they belong on one or another genre-specific board, but I don't see them (and don't want to see them) as fitting any particular genre. I would be interested in any friendly comments or suggestions any of you might have. I have two different main ideas, with variants that partially overlap. I'm further along on my thoughts on the second, and am currently more enthusiastic about it, but the first might appeal to my players more (their feedback is currently trickling in), and I can almost certainly get psyched up for it. 1. I have a kind of nostalgia for the early Star Wars movies and for superhero comics of the same time period (c. '77-85), but both tended to be a bit too naive for my current tastes. Also, Star Wars strikes me as too limited in exceptional character types (mainly Jedi and Sith) whereas mainstream comics were too broad (mutants, dieties, victims of freak accidents, etc., etc.). My goal is a mid-powered (200 pt?) game that tries to capture what I like about these sources of inspiration while removing some of what I do not like. The "feel" would be somewhere between a low-powered Champions game and a Sci-Fi game, but the ultimate power behind most of all apparently high-tech devices would be mystical power tapped by the individual using it. Thus blaster guns and energy swords would be the rough functional equivalent of wands. There would be a handful of mystic "sciences" that would focus are such substances(?) as "energy", "matter", "ether" and "the void". 2. I am interested in a city-based game with a kind of Noir feel, but I do not wanted to be limited by Noir conventions, much less try to replicate a typical Raymond Chandler story(e.g.). The easiest thing for me to do (variant A) is to run a city-based adventure within my ongoing '30's pulp/horror/monster-hunters game (probably in Germany, Italy, or the USSR). But I'm tempted to go further. One possibility is to create a fictional city in a fictional country that is at risk of revolution or civil war. The year would be sometime between 1900 and 1930. The basic version of this idea (varient B, oddly enough) would be fairly realistic and low-powered (100 pts?). Opponents would include mobsters, law enforcement officers (corrupt or otherwise), and maybe a serial killer or two. Variant C: There is some strange, dark government conspiracy to be uncovered by the PC's (not realistic, not too similar to the quasi-Cthuhloid stuff from my current campaign). Variant D: Psi Noir -- PC's and some others have psionic powers (150-200 pt PC's). Variant E: Retro Sci-Fi feel, some high-tech (incl. robots?) mixed with c. 1900 tech (NOT Steam-Punk). Variant F: A mix of 1 and 2. Thoughts?

Re: Bigoted Archetypes My goal is to portray characters plausibly. My villains of any race or nationality will tend to reflect negatively on that group if taken as representatives thereof, but I hope not in stereotypical ways. "Primitive" people make plausible opponents, especially if they do not share a language with the PC's and previous experience has taught them to distrust people who look like the PC's. But I would be reluctant to make them cannibals unless it is either historically plausible or they worship some (Lovecraftian?) evil whose upper-class British worshippers are cannibals as well.

Re: Retrocognitive Tracking This might not be the answer you were looking for, but I would seriously consider buying the skill tracking as a power (possibly at 17- or 21-, depending on how reliable it's supposed to be), possibly costs END, but would then let special effect handle the details. A lot depends on whether you think clairsentience or tracking is closer to the game effect you want before adding on the modifiers.

Re: So why do you play Hero? 1. It's an excellent, extremely flexible system. 2. If there's any system out there that I would like more, I never found it. I eventually concluded that it was a waste of time and money to try. 3. I've been playing it for two decades or so, as have most of the folks I play it with. We all know the rules fairly well, and have a common understanding about what optional rules are worthwhile when, how strictly to follow the letter of the rules, etc.

Re: Ole Bill would be proud This thread touches on a lot of related topics I've been wanting to discuss recently. I don't think I'm up to the task of addressing anything close to all of them right now, but I'll nibble around the edges.

Re: Horror Hero rant With my meager powers, I bestow rep upon thee.

Re: Question: Compound NND A few of additional thoughts: 1. Arguably, both NND's should have the additional limitation, since it is true of both that if the other does damage, then it does not. 2. Arguably, the limitation should be greater (-3/4 or even -1). 3. If I were GM, I think I would probably accept (my own) argument 1 or 2, but not both. 4. Depending on special effect, it might be appropriate to buy both NND's as 1/2 END (if they cost the same) or the 2nd (cheaper one) as 0 END, so that the total END cost is the same as one 4d6 NND. One permutation of these thoughts would yield: 4d6 NND (DEf 1) would cost 20 x 2 = 40 Linked to NND (DEF 2) for -1/4 = 32. 4d6 NND (DEF 2) is 20 x 2 = 40, 0 END (+1/2) = 60 Linked to NND DEF 1 (-1/4), no effect if NND 1 does damage (-3/4) = 30. Total cost 62 That's 2 points more than your +2 advantage suggestion, but 4 END rather than 6. The other permutations are left as exercises.

Re: Question: Compound NND

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works So what did JOT beyond the first level do for you in the original rules?

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works How about a JOT skill or talent that costs 3 points (or more) to have an 8- in a wide range of skills (not necessarily precisely defined). Each additional +1 costs 2 points (or more) up to a maximum limit? (I don't recall how good JOT-5 was, for example).

Re: Is monster hunting horror? Though I am generally sympathetic to most of the answers posted above, mine is different. I believe that thinking too much in terms of genres is detrimental to creative thinking. So ultimately, I don't know or care whether monster-hunting counts as horror. But I do not thereby mean to dismiss the answers given by others, which were generally interesting and thoughtful. It's just that what I find interesting about them is not their final yes or (more often) no answer. I think He who is Matt's example of Aliens is worth dwelling on. He did not classify it as horror. Others, I'm sure, would. And for those who think the answer is important, I'm sure one can come up with a pretty good argument for either answer. What strikes me as interesting, however, is that: 1. It was a very enjoyable movie. 2. It did not fit into the typical mold of either a horror or an action movie.* 3. 2 probably is probably part of the explanation for 1. 4. Something roughly like it is particularly suitable to being played as an RPG. * I am of course not denying that it had some features in common with typical horror or typical action movies.

Re: To agree or disagree with Steve's answer I have had too little experience with drains (especially in 5th ed.) to have an opinion on which answer is most balanced. Steve's answer has the advantage of simplicity, but is generally much more difficult on the book-keeping (though perhaps easier when one is hit by drains with different recovery rates). In any event, it seems to me that both ways of handling it should be options, and that a GM who wants to should have a way of allowing both options into the same campaign, at least for attacks by the same attacker and attacks with the same SE, such as the following: If Steve's answer is to be taken as the default, then the ability to "stack" drain effects would require an advantage or adder. If an advantage, +1/4 seems like the only option, and this would almost always be inferior to the +1/4 time-delayed-return advantage (exception LOTS of agents with AE or other way of hitting reliably). But good players and GM's might accept the slightly inferior option as appropriate to the character. I'm tempted to say that an adder is preferable. To the extent that "stacking" tends to be more valuable for small drains, an adder seems more appropriate than an advantage. But this is a tricky case, the benefit seems to be neither strictly constant nor strictly proportional, so I can see going either way. If you did go with an adder, then it might vary with how many other attacks it can stack with. Something like: +5 stack with on drains only, +10 stack with other drains of the same SE that also bought a +10 or greater adder, +15 stack with all other drains of the same SE, even if they bought no adder (this last one might be appropriate for the mimic drainer, for example). If you treat the anti-Steve answer as your default, then the Steve answer can be represented by a limitation. I'll let someone else tackle that one, I've rambled on enough.

Re: Brighton Hollow woes I wouldn't avoid the subject, but I also wouldn't try to put all my perceptions about it into the game. Though there are generalizations to be made, there were millions of slaves and slaveowners. The characters you write into your game need not be typical or entirely representative of all slaves and owners. On the other hand, some variety is probably a good idea, lest your players get the impression that you are trying to make a statement that you do not intend. And speaking of players, it helps if you know them and they know you.

Re: Horror Hero rant Interesting thread. There's so much I'd like to say, but I'll try not to ramble on. My apologies for duplications of what others have already said. I am only a borderline horror fan, but much of my GMing has hovered at the borders of horror. From that perspective, a few observations: 1. I'm not convinced that good horror necessarily requires that the protagonist(s) be anywhere near powerless. When Alan Moore wrote Swamp Thing (in the 80's?), he did a superb job with a protagonist who was quite powerful (though there were less powerful victims to be sure). Nevertheless, an RPG horror campaign is probably best with comparitively low-powered characters. 2. Other games (such as many CoC games) can go to far the other way. If PC's are doomed from the start, it's hard to care about them, and their choices may be too limited or too irrelevent for anything interesting to happen. Other problems with some CoC games: Lovecraft's strange, mysterious, and disturbing creatures can come to seem commonplace to gamers, and things can become too unpredictable. I prefer to be inspired by Lovecraft's work rather than to recapitulate it. I especially dislike players knowing exactly what they're up against. Finally, sanity rules can help, but they can also define things a bit too neatly. 3. I would be hard pressed to define the horror genre, or to name an essential feature. To horrify most people is easy, at least if one is willing to be utterly distasteful. Interesting horror is harder, as is horror which is not entirely revolting. Fear has a role to play, but I'm not convinced it's essential. In any event, I don't believe in taking genre distinctions or conventions too seriously. I try to come up with an interesting idea and to hell with categorizing it. Hmmm . . . I'm not sure I succeeded in avoiding rambling . . . and I probably came across as confrontational and/or preachy and/or condescending. Oh well, I guess that's not entirely inappropriate, given the title of the thread.

Re: PREDATORS -- What Do *You* Want To See? OK, I can honestly say this guy is a bad guy. Nevertheless, I like the idea of morally ambiguous characters and scum-bags who can make useful allies.