LadyChaos

Re: Illiteracy...

I tutored for Literacy Volunteers of America. You'd be surprised at how many people conceal their illiteracy. Nowadays, we have lots of signs with pictures. People can listen/watch news and be "informed." Most aren't completely illiterate, they just don't read/comprehend well at all. Almost all can sign their names. Also, just because they can't read doesn't mean that they're unable to handle math.

One of LVA's big proponants in the city I lived in at the time was a well known, successful business man with a chain of restaurants who finally came out and admitted he was illiterate. He did eventually learn to read, but he succeeded in business without being able to.

Okay, folks. How would you write up some of the characters from the TV series "24"?

Jack Bauer ought to have some interesting disads.

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters. It was about a company that created a bacterium which fed on certain very rare plastics' date=' from which the company made its soft drink containers. [/quote']

Thanks and rep to you for the answer. I would have stayed up all night trying to remember the reference.

Re: I need a certain type of catastrophe

There was a story/book awhile back (I want to say it was connected to The Andromeda Strain) that told about a petroleum product-eating organizm that came to Earth either by space exploration or maybe a meteor. Or maybe it was about a virus that ate oil slicks in the ocean that went nuts. Awwww, I can't remember.

Anyway, you could create something similar which attacked and destroyed the portions of technology you want to destroy.

Re: Unusual Character Ideas

I think that my primary superhero story character' date=' Soulcatcher, is such an idea. She has the power to absorb the recently deceased and become any of them. The recently deceased are actually still themselves, when she becomes them. They also talk to each other, when not active. The result is that she often seems to be talking to no one in particular so that she goes around with the appearance, to outside observers, of someone who appears to be mentally disturbed.[/quote']

Inspired by the Black Company? My favorite character.

This started out as a joke between my GM and me. One of my characters is a member of a team that through an incredible amount of bad luck is now considered to be villianous. I never intended to play this character this way and said I needed Super PR ... someone like The Spin Doctor!

How would you go about creating an NPC with super PR skills (that last). GM envisions him as a "good guy NPC." Of course, his powers must be kept secret or no one would ever believe anything he told them.

Re: Unusual Character Ideas

Well, there's Belle (the cat) a real cat with Secret of NIMH type mentalist powers. She's hunted by PETA. ;-)

Re: NPC Names

phone books are great sources for names.

Re: Imposing disads or limitations... and Luck!

If you have the Until Superpowers Database, page 129 lists some luck based powers. Some use change environments, transforms, drains, energy blasts and dispels. The book achieves combat unluck by inflicting negative combat skill levels (useable on others) on the victim.

I think a VPP or MP would work best, too.

Re: Painting the PCs as villains in as few sessions as possible

I may have designed our characters too well' date=' it seems. [/quote']

That's how we felt at the time. It was bad enough when they just crossed over into our dimension, but when they managed to shunt us off into the future and take over our lives, it got worse.

 

Two mad scientists, a serial killer, a demonic cannibal telepath and "Dr. Mengele" were just some of the alters.

 

It was a great scenario, didn't take much for the GM to set up, and scared the bejesus out of all the players. We played it out over several sessions, but you wouldn't have to do that if you didn't want.

Re: Painting the PCs as villains in as few sessions as possible

Use their evil doppelgangers from an alternate universe to frame them. They're trying to get the PCs out of the way so they can take over this universe.

Re: WWYCD #91 - A matter of Family

Afreet ~ Finds out about her grandmother, shakes her head and says "It figures." Mom, after all, was a twisted sorceress/telepath who tried to sacrifice Afreet to daddy--an evil elemental--when she was thirteen. Life just gets better and better. Hoo boy. Blood transfusion? You're kidding, right?

Manitou ~ Has a total CVK. She'll arrange for her secret ID to perform the transfusion, ask her friend Pulse to be the M.D. in charge, then alter any witnesses' memories to protect them both. Oh, yeah, and the debilitated super villian will find himself wrapped up with a big bow and delivered to the nearest stronghold. For that matter, she's pretty sure that someone with Pulse's powers could cure him without going through the blood transfusion.

Darkstar ~ is in our world from 1000 years in the future. She's here to do a timeline adjustment. So long as no one saved the guy the first time around, there's no reason for her to get involved. In fact, interfering might cause yet another timeline split.

Belle ~is a CAT, all right? Someone has their wires crossed. What's this guy got--feline leukemia?

Re: Champions miniatures

Very creative! Your washer solution would work with a lot of figs that have toppling problems. I'll have to remember that.

I really liked the speed suggested by this mini.

Re: Super pics: Hey Ben!

So do I, but for a reference sticky, thought it might be better with just pics. Smaller, anyway.

Re: Super pics: Hey Ben!

There's a lot of conversation in the art threads. It'd be great if that could be deleted and the pics left, but probably can't be done.

*G* What I started to suggest was that if this is stickied, the super names thread would also be a great one to keep up front.

Re: A Guide To Villainous Motivations

My long-term villians tend to go through many of these archtypes on their way to their ultimate goal. For instance, one exists mainly in an extradimensional prison that he can't escape without help. He can briefly touch our world, though. Ultimately, he wants to rule the world. Why? For revenge against a hated sibling and to prove that he's better than said sibling. First, though, he has to escape his prison. Since he can't act on his own, he corrupts people who form organizations whose ultimate goal is to free him. He also has to regain a certain item (and a certain someone) who was "lost" in order to escape the prison. He gains power from fear, blood and death. He has to have enough power in order to escape. Because of this, he has several mini-goals that lead up to his ultimate goal. I think a lot of villians are like this.

Re: Champions miniatures

Is there something I can't see on the Blur figure that keeps her from toppling over? It looks like the bulk of the mini's weight is on one side.

Re: Reward-based Points Campaign Guidelines

Wow! Wish my GM did this. I always overkill on character development--origin stories, illustrations, villians, DNPCs, other NPCs in the character's life, possible future plots--one PC even has a villianness who may or may not be dead (she thinks the villian is dead, but didn't "see the body). I established three new organizations, groups, two mythologies ... oh well. VBG I like to write! Fortunately my GM loves it.

But I wouldn't mind extra points.

Re: Acro is bored

After my girlfriend freaked out over the drawing I did of her City of Heroes character' date=' I'm just in the mood.[/quote']

 

I sure hope that she freaked out in a good way!

Re: A Guide To Villainous Motivations

Heh heh ... cows.

Re: Powers and knacks you favor for your Champions characters

WH-A-A-AT!??? Of course we do!

 

Well, with this guy's character initially refused to believe that the other PC's were really heroes, and began attacking them as villains. Okay, I thought, so this is a Marvel Comics approach to heroes meeting, that's cool.

I once tried to run a fantasy game with my old group. The other players showed for the first three sessions or so before the regular GM decided to get in on the action. He then proceded to have his PC hole up in his room at the inn for the entire game. He refused to come out and meet the other PCs and let them find a reason to team up. He actually came a second time and I finally got him out of his room. Then he decided his PC hated all the other PCs and wouldn't go with them. The game eventually fizzled. His GF later confirmed what I had suspected: he was jealous because the other players were having fun at my game. He was a great GM so he shouldn't have those insecurities, but he did.

Anyway, a friend pointed out that I tend to run Champs characters with magic in their origin story. I thought about it and realized I was doing that because everyone else was playing angsty mutants and I hate copying other people. I made sure my next character wasn't magic-based, though!

I also dislike using foci. I like my powers to be MY powers. Lately, I've been on a kick where my defenses come from the PCs innate toughness rather than from something like a force field.

Re: The Crazy8!

Cuisanart ... in honor of the Might & Magic 3 game I played years and years ago. Someone who uses knives, can make his hands into knives, something like that. Mack the Knife is another possibility.

Re: I need a Super Hero Name for TinkerBelle....

Gossamer

Titania

Sidhe

Pooka

Aine

Glimmer

Re: Moving through the crowds

I think this could be a skill rather than a power. Something like Bump of Direction (able to find a space/path in a crowd). You could even write it up for in and out of traffic. That'd be great for a cab driver!

Re: Kitty ~ How to write

Ooooo ... keep them coming!

Jarekk, I thought about having Belle hunted by PETA. The Horror! The Horror!