GestaltBennie

Re: EC AN (Ad Nauseam)

If you don't like ECs, ban them outright. Your GMing life will be much happier. Mine is. :-)

Re: Review: Villainy Amok

That sounds like important stuff that I would have more need of than superhero wedding plans.

 

Are there others such basic scenarios that were written down but not used?

 

Will this stuff become available to buy in book form? (I'm not a Digital Hero guy, I like to buy the book.)

Well, I deliberately overwrote on Vamok, to make sure that Steve would have some dross to cut and make the final book as strong as possible. The wedding is probably the most esoteric scenario in Villainy Amok, but I also think it's one of the strongest ones in the book and I'd have hated to see it cut.

Other unpublished VAmok stuff includes a chapter on "the Socially Relevant Game" (that may be in DH one day), a partially written chapter on "Ooops! When Military Tests Go Horribly Wrong" that was never submitted, and an outline for "Who Killed Strontium-90" (The Superhero Murder Mystery).

If it's popular, it might appear one day in the far future as part of a "Best of Digital Hero" compilation, but even if that book is ever produced, it has a *lot* of competition for that page space. :-)

Re: Review: Villainy Amok

Just a quick reminder/announcement/annoying piece of spam.

One of the discarded scenarios from Vamok, "Eat Caped Injustice, Fool!" (Supervillains on Trial) is included in this month's Digital Hero. This is actually one of my favorites, so if you enjoyed Villainy Amok but don't normally check out Digital Hero, pick it up. (It's a good issue even without the scenario).

Re: Could your Champions character beat...

I dunno. There's only one force in the universe more powerful than oops - dumb luck.

Re: What happened to th Mad Scientists 'Son'?

Sorry about that, I thought that was fixed in playtest. Here are the missing tables.

-----

Table 2-2-4 Artificial Offspring Type

Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 2-2-4-1

1 Clone of the mad scientist

2 Perfect looking son

3 Perfect looking daughter

4 Patchwork of corpses

5 Part plant, part animal

6 Genetic cross between the person the mad scientist most admired, and

the mad scientist

Table 2-2-4-1 Artificial Offspring Complications

Roll 1d6. Then roll on Table 2-3-7

1 Offspring turns on the mad scientist, eventually becoming an NPC

superhero

2 Offspring turns on the mad scientist, forces him to use his science to

further the offspring’s supervillain ambitions.

3 Offspring is flawed. He becomes a monstrous creature who preys on the

innocent.

4 Offspring requires frequent infusions of energy from superhumans to

stay alive.

5 Offspring falls in love with a DNPC and will do anything to woo

him/her – and the mad scientist wants the DNPC out of the way at all

costs.

6 Offspring is a walking time bomb (carries a deadly disease, high

levels of radiation, or his unstable superpowers will cause him to

explode in 48 hours).

Re: The Essential Bad Iron Age

When I think of bad Iron Age books, I think less of Image and more of comics that attempt to parrot Alan Moore's Watchmen in tone and inevitably come across as pretentious twaddle.

There's a number of these in the graveyard of bad comics of the late 8os and early 90s, mercifully forgotten.

Re: Villainy Amok

Well I bought it. Very useful and so nice to see The Engineer and Invictus back.

 

But one of the things I did was to check who attacked the wedding party as I went through and gave a list in the Wedding thread last year. Almost all the people I listed for the great punch up were there. Result.

 

Exit one happy Tribble

Glad you (and Powerhouse) liked it. Thanks for your contributions, they were fun to include.

Re: Villainy Amok

The Crimelords were originally meant to be the War Machine (minus the Warlord). However, Steve may have had other villains in mind.

Feel free to replace them with whatever expendable cadre of starting level villains meets your fancy.

Not the most favorable review - I don't think the reviewer *got* the point of HC - but here you go:

http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=1548

Re: Past VIPER supervillians

I'd like to write up some of the Silver Age villains mentioned in V:CotS in Digital Hero, (especially the original VIPER-X and Fatalla), but that'll depend on time, energy, and the willingness of DoJ (who might have their own plans for the characters).

Re: HERO Hall of Fame?

Shadowcat1313 reminds me: we had a NPC in a Dark Champions game called Rick O'Shea. He was a cop and incredibly good with guns

We had a Ricochet in the Hollywood Knights game who's real name was Rick O'Shea. I suspect we were not alone. :-)

Re: VMS-Alpha

Well, the write-up for VMS-Alpha didn't make it into the book. The team was meant to parallel the VF-2 characters in the 1993 VIPER book (to go with Armstrong/VIPER-X), but at agent level (though, if the GM wishes. they could always be one radiation accident away from becoming a full-fledged superteam). The other members are:

Tom "Maximum Force" Warner (Flight Command/Scarlet Serpent packages)

Robert "Black Lion" Belinga (Air Cavalry and Red Guard packages)

Ellen "Madame Blue" Hart (Air Cavalry and Athame packages)

Scott "Cavalry" Pederson (Vehicle Specialist package)

Yamuna "Smoke" Khanna (Night-Ops Specialist package)

There's more, of course, but this should give you a functioning team. And of course, some future author may decide to change the details, so bear in mind that this isn't canon.

Re: Name My Supervillian!

Lord Sturm.

Re: "So, Thor hits Superman with Mjolnir..."

Superman would like so -totally- own Thor its not even funny. Superman once moved the Earth in issue 2 of "Forgotten Tales of Hyberpole" He'd just like, ya know use his Super breath to knock Thor into orbit. Then what's he gonna do? Thor controls wind nd stuff to fly. No air in space, Hammer Boy! Then Superman, who never kills nobody would decide to finish him and just knock Thor into the sun.

 

But Thor's a best pal of Captain America, so he'd like, totally win. :-)

Re: 2006 Schedule Blurbs

All depending on the availability of cash, but...

Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers: If I get into an FH game, maybe.

Ultimate Mentalist: The original is probably my least favorite of Steve's 4th ed work. On the other hand, Steve's had a lot more time to think about the issues, so it's a possible.

Stronghold: After DEMON, Allen's Champs stuff is getting a free pass from me.

Golden Age Champions: I expect Darren to blow away previous versions of this book. Darren's got a far better grasp on the GA than I've seen from past authors, so almost certainly.

Psychic Wars: I expect this to be pretty good, though "Scanners Meets X-Files" is not really a concept that really appeals to me.

The Celtic Bestiary: Depends on whether I like Tuala Morn, which I expect to.

Thrilling Places: Absolutely. As an old JI fan, I'll be supporting this line above all others.

Tuala Morn: Of all of Steve's stuff, this is the book that I'm most looking forward to, Pulp Hero excepted.

Pulp Resource Book: Absolutely.

Ultimate Skill: This is almost certainly going to be an industry standard, but I'm not sure I need it. I'll wait and see.

Villians, Vandals and Vermin: Absolutely.

Horror HERO Depends on the author.

Champions Universe Update: Universe development is very dear to my heart, so this is a definite pick.

Danger Zones: If I guess correctly, this'll be a gamer version of "Most Dangerous Places". Given that my local group loves modern/merc gaming, I may pick it up for them.

The Underworld Sourcebook: Almost certain to be useful in my Champs game.

Possible Leatherbound Special Edition: I'll wait and see what this product ends up becoming.

Tuala Morn is my pick for the "if I'm strapped for cash I'm still picking this up" book, with the Champs Universe update as runner-up.

Re: Need a hero identified.

Firewing.

His writeup is in CKC, p. 147

Re: Tentative 2006 Schedule

Any other con attendees care to share their views of the seminar?

Re: Drugs YAY Drugs

Villainy Amok has a chapter devoted to this type of scenario.

Re: Spectreman-like character in th CU.

He's not a CU character. The pic is meant to illustrate VIPER's possible use in other genres/milleus.

Re: The Black Paladin is vanquished....

Congratulations to your PCs, Hermit.

Now make sure they live in even more interesting times. :-)

Re: FYI: why more people aren't playing HERO (rpg.net)

For a whole smorgasbord of reasons I'm not going to comment on most of this discussion' date=' but I want to echo something that someone else said -- thanx to LL and KS for their extensive posting on the RPG.Net thread in question! We generally refrain from posting in threads like that because they seek fan opinion and we come across like company shills (which, let's face it, we are:hex:), so it's always gratifying to see a fan step up and explain things in the polite, informative, proper way. Thanx, guys![/quote']

 

I'm currently in a 12 step program in not getting involved in Hero flamefests on RPG.NET :-), but I agree completely with Steve's sentiment.

Re: A Golden Age Bulldozer?

Oddly enough, at the turn of the 20th Century, pro wrestling was considered a legit, respectable sport, and boxing had the sullied reputation.

It wasn't until after WWI, when crowds tired of three hour long legit matches, that catch-as-catch-can began its evolution into vaudeville. By 1938, it was pretty much the evolved carnival sideshow act that it is today, though the older grapplers (like Ed "Strangler" Lewis) had their roots in the legitimate period and knew how to really hurt someone bad without too much effort.

Wrestlers of this period that would have been well known included: Lewis, "the Golden Greek" Jim Londos, Jim Browning (who invented the airplane spin), Ed Don George, Dick Shakat, Danno O'Mahony, Steve "Crusher" Casey, and (by 1937) Lou Thesz. Oh, and proving that the gimmicks date back to the old days, some ex-US sailor shaved his head, called himself Ali Baba, and got the crowds to boo him a lot.

I really have to work on that pulp age pro wrestling article I've been itching to write for years.

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

Gestalt will be self-published. At the moment, things depend on the speed of the Superlink conversions, my ability to learn InDesign, and my ability to afford to commission artwork for it. (Unfortunately, the latter is the biggest obstacle at the moment).

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

Scott? Don't you mean a "blackjack" (or a sap)? I mean' date=' I just don't see anyone getting knocked out by a pancake....[/quote']

 

Yeah, it was late at night, and I was malapropimg. It's supposed to be a blackjack.

 

Either that, or it *is* flapjack, and I forgot the sticky syrup Entangle. :-)

Re: Sample Oddity From Gestalt-Earth

I'm kinda think about the odd aisan martial arts crime lord who's single to his minions to beat the charaters up is to take a big bite out of a red pepper. Call him...The Iron Wok.

 

I'm also intrested in what Scott has created for the guy who is the Gesault of all the world's bad melodrama and silent movie villians.

I hadn't really created one (though I did have a Silent Movie Heroine Gestalt in the Vancouver Gestalt Club game), but here's one I quickly whipped up.

---

MELODRAMA VILLAIN

“SHALL I FORECLOSE ON THE ORPHANAGE…â€

“YOU CAD!â€

“…OR BURN IT DOWN?â€

Description: Villainy existed long before the Gestalt Age, or even before the comic books that inspired it. One of the most colorful villains – which (of course) is represented among Gestalts – is the Melodrama Villain. With his distinctive opera cape, stovepipe hat, and ever-twistable moustache. While often physical inept (except when he can terrorize “fragile†women), the Melodrama Villain’s sheer determination to be bad – and his astounding luck at making an unfortunate situation a reality (running into convenient saw mills, encountering a school bus full of nuns with an opening that’s just the right size into which to fit a bomb) – can make him an extremely annoying adversary.

Related Gestalts: Gestalt of Cliffhangers, Gestalt of Silver Age Villains, Gestalt of Silent Film.

Types of this Gestalt: None known.

Opposed Gestalts: Gestalt of Melodramatic Heroes

Prominent Examples of this Gestalt: Bart Casterbridge, Hardened Criminal.

Note: A couple of this Gestalt’s powers deserve further comment. The Variable Power Pool allows the Gestalt to produce cliffhanger situations appropriate to a 1920s melodramatic serial. Some movie villains could give The Hero a protracted hand-to-hand fight (though their competence varied depending on how much time was left in the picture, how many dangerous items were in the environment, and how close the damsel was to being cut in two). The most bizarre power is his “Silent Era Movie Environment†Power; within 8†of this villain, everything is black and white, everything moves with a pronounced flicker (and fight scenes play at an accelerated speed, which is typically not a problem for supers) and everyone’s dialogue appears as cue cards instead of the spoken word.

Hero System Melodrama Villain Gestalt Package Deal

Abilities

Total Character Cost: 240

Disadvantage Points: 70

Melodrama Villainy Gestalt Scenario Hooks

Orphans Make Me Sick! Every orphanage and youth center in the city has been bought out by a Melodrama Villain Gestalt, who’s threatening to foreclose them all down and kick hundreds of underprivileged kids on the street! Worse, he’s gone upscale, and bought the corporation that’s running the local Children’s Hospital, and he’s threatening to shut it down unless a PC’s sweetheart marries him!

All of a sudden, a villain who seemed like he was just comedy relief has gotten a lot less funny.

Welcome to Cliffhanger Haven: All over the city, women are being tied to railroad (or subway or monorail) tracks. Everyone’s been rescued, but no one remembers how they got there and no one saw them being tied up. You’re sure that the local Melodrama Villain Gestalt is responsible, but he has an air-tight alibi. So how did he do it?