Doc Democracy

Then I guess it's the last time I'll be involved in these threads. I obviously don't understand the basics.

I said I was not going to engage but I don't want to seem like I am ignoring you. There is nothing in the rules that say a spell has to use gestures or incantations. That is all that was said to begin with - the system as written is silent on whether spells need gestures and/or incantations (though it does provide a lot of examples with that kind of thing). It is NOT a RAW answer to tell someone that you can interrupt a spell by undertaking actions that trigger disadvantages that may be built into the spell. It is correct to tell someone that the first thing they need to do is assure themselves (with the GM for a game) that spells in the game reliably utilise those disadvantages in spells. It is because HERO is so fluid that you cannot make assumptions on how things are done in any particular game. I have, admittedly only run one Fantasy HERO game in all the years that I have used the system and the magic users in that game varied in the disadvantages they took on spells - there was no overarching spell system - the players made up their own spells and while the majority of them used gestures or incantations a substantial minority did not - simply because the players did not want their spells to be uninterruptible... That was NOT house-ruled magic, it was using HERO as written in the rules... Doc

Have you considered Duplication? Build Koniji as a battlesuit character who has access to a cool computer AI (which can all be special effects for additional senses, +INT and levels with knowledge skills). When duplicated you have a normal woman with a ship run by an AI... Doc

Just to be fair, here is an example of British police harassing a man who was actually on his way home after an interview about police institutional racism... https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jul/04/police-smash-car-window-ryan-colaco-tv-interview-racism

You are almost 100% right and that is indeed what would be the case in most stories. There are always exceptions though... I was thinking of a flywheel shield, it looks like an enormous cog. The mechanism needs wound to start it spinning, which gives no additional protection but the stored energy is good for sending to smaller cogs flying out to hit someone. Rather than solid cogs, a more fragile disk can be used which breaks into a small cloud of brass projectiles. 🙂 Doc

I am reasonably optimistic about deaths. Even if we have not gotten better at avoiding the virus, we have gotten a lot better at diagnosing, triaging and treating those suffering from it . Doctors have learned that it is not all about intubation and oxygen. All the other factors are being discovered and managed as well. We are bringing the heavy weight of scientific analysis and treatment to bear, that is what makes our civilisation so great. Don't see the crystals and homeopathic potions making huge inroads on treatment plans. Doc

This is common to all of our long-standing democracies. I think voting can feel pointless (and especially seems so) if that is all you do. If more effort was made to get people engaged with the actual process and party dynamics, true mass membership parties, then things would change. I blame Mazlo. For too many people, for too long our basic needs have been met and we have had no real incentive to go looking for power and wealth to flow down through society, we got lazy. If we want things to change, switching systems might help but it is getting folk to really engage that will make the difference. Wish I knew how to do that... 😞 Doc

I think you will find that the system allows corruption. It would not happen if people were more engaged. Ultimately it is neglect that breeds corruption.

Not sure - if I can manipulate probabilities then I am doing something, luck stuff happens to me randomly...there is IMO (obviously oh so humble) a distinct difference. 😄 Doc

I think this, in itself, tells you that the luck mechanic, RAW, should not be allowed as a major 60 point power. You can use it as a starting point for a luck based character or as a supplement to a variety of other mechanics with luck as SFX. I think luck is a difficult SFX to roleplay and if it is consistent, then it is not luck as we know it, it is probability enhancement. Doc

That is a counsel of despair Badger, and not likely to get something better in 2024. If folk don't like either option and wait for something better, nothing is likely to turn up. If people counsel despair, nothing is likely to change. Democracy, like a vegetable garden, takes work to make it flourish. Voting at every election is like seeding the plot and ignoring it until harvest time. It is unlikely you will go back and find any tomatoes, potatoes or carrots, just a bunch of nettles and weeds. We have gotten lazy, expecting the system to throw up good, principled candidates when experience is telling them that is not the way to get elected. What is needed is not new systems or rules but a deeper engagement by the electorate. of course, it might take a new system to garner that engagement. We get the politicians we deserve. Doc

OMG, there is a tag I have not seen in years. Welcome back Haven Walnut, even if it was simply to sympathise with Cancer. 🙂

They used to say that you could not tax income. Until the Government needed money and income was the best way to raise that. With enough incentive the Government can find a way to tax things - even if that means that a proportion of the stock accrues to the Treasury until such a time as it is sold and becomes part of the public purse (very simplistic, I know, but when capital accrues and when folk hide their wealth in stocks and shares a government will at some point come after it).

Oklahoma woman shot while trying to remove Nazi flag

The companies were almost forced in to that because those countries were turning a blind eye to people producing generics out of copyright. It is possible the same will happen here and Gilead (I think I might change my name if I were them) are simply cashing in before the inevitable forced charity occurs...