Digest Archives Vol 1 Issue 32j
Desmarais, John 
From:	owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org 
Sent:	Thursday, November 05, 1998 10:42 AM 
To:	champ-l-digest@sysabend.org 
Subject:	champ-l-digest V1 #32 
 
champ-l-digest       Thursday, November 5 1998       Volume 01 : Number 032 
 
 
 
In this issue: 
 
    RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
    Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions) 
    Re: old messages 
    Re: THIS IS BLOODY RIDICULOUS!! 
    Re: [Off-Topic] Racism/Cinderella (Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions)) 
    More Benchmarks (Long. Steve Long.:) 
    RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
    Re: something still odder 
    Re: Comics Characters (Long [and for no bloody good reason]) 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 10:57:41 -0400 (EDT) 
From: thomas deja <tdj723@webtv.net> 
Subject: RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
 
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- --13810183 
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Okay...non-CHAMPIONS games utilizing the hero system that I've run or 
played in: 
 
The Fringe: Horror-based hero game with 200 point characters playing 
monsters who are fighting against the darkness to find their immortal 
souls, and ascention into heaven... 
 
Anime Hero: Anime-based invasion storyline based loosely on CYBORG 009, 
with teenagers gaining powers to repel he invaders. 
 
Dream Hero: 150 point characters enter the dreamtime to protect it from 
destruction. 
 
'Nightworld' Hero: major scientific accident changes the world 
completely--we're 100 point characters trying to figure out what's going 
on..... 
 
Run-Run Shaw Hero: 100 pouint Martial Artists in Imperial China using 
the original NINJA HERO rules..... 
 
"'N I fell for all that'die-like-a-warrior' crap.  I've seen clowns fall 
off their bikes with more honor" 
           --Xander Haris, BUFFY TVS #1 
____________________________________ 
THE ULTIMATE HULK, containing the new story, "A Quiet, Normal Life," is 
available now from Byron Preiss and Berkley 
_______________________________ 
MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE, Tom Deja's webpage 
www.freeyellow.com/members/tdj 
 
 
 
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From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com> 
To: Hero System Listserv <hero-l@sysabend.org> 
Subject: RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 10:01:37 -0400 
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Wow, I find this pretty interesting, Lisa. Almost all the responses to 
this original query of yours have been supers games. Given that champs 
is the most versatile and flexible system in existence [screw GURPS], 
I'm surprised that there hasn't been much mention of different genres. 
Here's a list of non-supers champs games I've played in or ran. 
 
Tolaria: heavy magic fantasy campaign that ran on a pseudopolitical 
level for about 4 years. 
 
fantasy: numerous other games [some offshoots of Tolaria], many only 
running for a short time but lots of "makin' guys" 
 
post-apocalyptic: mutants have about 20 points worth of restricted 
powers and a 10 point physical disad they don't get points for. 
 
cyberpunk: Anybody got CyberHero? Really a nice supplement for all your 
high tech needs. 
 
Ascension Colony: set 100 years in the future on Earth's first colony on 
Proxima Centauri 
 
Orcs!: another fantasy campaign but the players are orcs. We did a lot 
of work flushing out details and flavour of orc culture. 
 
Plexigon: Almost a supers game. High power operatives that work for an 
interdimentional mercenary organization. 
 
Obviously, to run a game in a context that isn't wide open for powers, 
you have to do some significant work, deciding what powers are valid and 
how you want to handle things. Otherwise, a fantasy game can turn into a 
supers game really quick. 
 
I hope that helps. Talk to you later, 
BRI 
> I am trying to figure out the different styles and types of campaigns 
> that 
> people have for their games.  Silly me, right now I can only think of 
> two: 
> Dark Champions/Street Level and Four Color.  I'd really appreciate it 
> if 
> anyone could help me expand my list. 
>  
>  
> Lisa Hartjes 
>  
> beren@unforgettable.com 
> ICQ:  Berengiere (9062561) 
>  
>  
 
 
- --13810183-- 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 17:51:25 +1000 
From: happyelf <jonesmj@cqu.edu.au> 
Subject: Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions) 
 
qts wrote: 
 
> On Thu, 20 Aug 1998 12:37:28 -0500 (EST), Jason Sullivan wrote: 
> 
> >       However, when they re-did the animation style, updating 
> >characters, they turned bats old' brown eyes blue!  We're talking sky 
> >blue!  And they made him more pale!  Thinner!  More chiseled features! 
> 
 
it was minimalist! gothic! film noir! 
 
> >It's bad enough that the only Kryptonians we see are caucasian in the 
> >animated series (and in the normal Superman comic book back in the 70's, 
> >the only place on Krypton you'd find black people was on a tiny island 
> >called Vathlo). 
 
well ermn, isn't that a good thing? based on the setting, and if i remember 
correctlythey were kinda super-advanced. . .? 
 
 
> >I mean, I have nothing against caucasians, but when most 
> >of the characters you see in a movie are attractive blue eyed caucasians, 
> >it makes you wonder what the people who are casting these characters are 
> >thinking.  In the end, it -is- just fantasy; they could try and make it 
> >more realistic, though. 
> > 
 
more realistic that say. . .100% of the homosexual people potrayed being 
hyper-competent, neat and morally perfect? or 100% of women who 
are in competition with a man within a scenario winning said contest, 
while said male is depicted as some form of lower primate? Just as fantastic. 
There will never be a naturalistic response from this sort of media. The only 
thing to 
do is pay attention to those stories who cast the way they should, and leave 
your 
pet peeves at home. 
 
 
> >       Also, another annoying trend I've noticed is not so much the 
> >overwhelming uni-race of heroes, but also the characturization of a 
> >person's cultural identity?  Must most Asian heroes know some form of 
> >martial art? 
 
it makes more sence for a hero to know martial arts if they 
are from the area of the world who originated them. And it's unlikely 
from a traditional story pov that the secrets of tai-dim-mak will be 
taught to a select coven of jamacian people in the depths of brooklyn. 
 
 
> Must most Native American characters have some sort of 
> >Native American motif? 
 
erm, huh? like most characters motif's aren't culture-based?captain america? 
the fantastic four? thor? all the products of their 
culture. then there's the animal people, who are similarly representitive. 
 
 
> Must most Russian hero have some sort of 
> >Nationalist theme? 
 
if you live in the old ussr, and have super powers, you either join the 
party or get squashed by some guy with a big hammer after 
being hamstrung by a guy with a big sickle. propaganda shapes 
these character. valid, i'd say.. 
 
 
> Must most of the hero populance live in the United 
> >states?  And of that populance, must most of them be attractive 
> >caucasians?  How many pudgy heroes (concepts such as The Blob and Bouncing 
> >Boy have their fat intergrated into their powers) have you seen? 
 
how many non-attractive people are there anywhere in fiction?i'd say it's a bit 
of a genre convention. . 
 
> Elderly? 
> >How many female heroes wear normal clothes and have average 
> >chest/waist/hip size?  How many homosexual heroes do we see?  Where are 
> >the Jewish heroes? 
 
Well, i'd argue pretty much every jewish person on tv has heroic points 
totals,they tend to belong in the new 'stereotype elite' with other areas like 
working 
women. All are depicted as 'above the mean', especially compared to the 
poor old WASP's. And i can turn the whole 'beutiful women' thing around- 
women are portrayed as being more attractive than men. The normal 'portrayal 
of stereotype' suggest that if you say something about character X, you 
are suggesting that group X has that trait. hence if female characters 
on tv are attractive, it suggests that women in general are more 
attractive then their male counterparts, as well as putting pressure on women 
to 
match that stereotype, it perpetuates the fallacy that women are the 'outgroup' 
 
by placnig them on a pedestal of desirability. 
.  In comics we see an idealised and ludicrous body look for both sexes- 
how many men do you know with any sort of pectoral muscles at all, 
littleown rippling bumper-bar chests? 
 
 
> And similarily, what kinds of sterotypes can you find 
> >in villians?  MUST most super powered WWII villians be Nazis? 
 
well it makes sence agian. . the nazi's conducted industrialised barbarism.they 
believed in the superman. If they found a way to make supermen, 
they'd crank them out by the busload. 
 
 
> MUST most 
> >nefarious villans have some sort of psychological derangement or freakish 
> >deformity that makes them abominations? 
> 
 
well. . in the real world, a lot of the people with these problemstend to have 
a less than ideal life. And often it's the other way around- 
a beutiful perfect villain who is maimed for their evil, despite their original 
 
winning looks. 
 
 
> Surely this calls for The Ultimate Stereotype? :} 
> qts 
> 
> Home: qts@nildram.co.uk. 
 
  well .. .the ultimate genre cliche, maybe.  . 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 10:08:19 EST 
From: llwatts@juno.com (Leah L Watts) 
Subject: Re: old messages 
 
>did anyone else just get a bunch of email from the list that was from 
>july to august in dates? 
> 
 
I thought Juno was getting weird on me, but apparently other people are 
having the same problem; though I've gotten messages as recent as 
two-three days ago. 
 
Leah 
 
___________________________________________________________________ 
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. 
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html 
or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 08:29:56 -0600 (CST) 
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com> 
Subject: Re: THIS IS BLOODY RIDICULOUS!! 
 
On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, J. W. Eiler wrote: 
 
> Truth to tell, there were several old threads that I didn't mind getting --  
> though I would have liked a measure of choice in the matter <g>. 
 
At least now they can be archived? If anyone saved them this time around, 
that is... 
 
J 
 
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent.              Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com 
Qui annus est?                                   http://www.io.com/~jeffj 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 16:57:35 +1000 
From: Lockie <jonesl@cqnet.com.au> 
Subject: Re: [Off-Topic] Racism/Cinderella (Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions)) 
 
didn't you guys hear me? I'M DONE! please, throw your  
badly rationalised arguments at somebody else. I can live with a  
pair of dinks calling me a racist (even if you have switched to a more 
patronising method of acusatory dismissal) but the list cannot and  
should not deal with any futher comment from ANYOINE. End of thread! 
 
(ps: no wonderboy, this does not refer to the CONSTRUCTIVE discussions 
being carried out in simmilar threads) 
 
"Enslave humanity willya?" 
 
- ---------- 
> From: Brian Wong <rook@shell.infinex.com> 
> To: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu> 
> Cc: champ-l@omg.org 
> Subject: [Off-Topic] Racism/Cinderella (Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo 
Opinions)) 
> Date: Thursday, September 10, 1998 7:23 AM 
>  
> This is offtopic. But several do seem to be following it, and this is my 
> attempt at a non-flame war ivoking response. 
>  
> >>         What movie is this? I have a new disney Cinderella movie with 
Witney 
> >> Houstin as the fairy godmother, and Brandy as Cinderella. But the 
prince 
> >> is phillipino, his advisor is white. The stepmother is white. The 
queen 
> >> is black, the king is white. 
> >> Doesn't sound all black to me. Sounds multiracial. Genetically 
> >> unrealistic in the case of the prince; but it otherwise espouses your 
> >> "genuinly equal system" as far as race goes. However it seems that 
when 
> >> presented with a "genuinly equal system" that doesn't make whites more 
> >> equal than everyone else; this disturbs you. 
> >  
> > 	You noticed that as well, eh?  Actually, I've noticed many (not all, 
> > not necessarily most, but many) Whites feel this way.  They like the 
> > idea of everything being equal, as long as Whites are just a bit more 
> > equal than most.  I think it's a case of old feelings and ideas dies 
> > hard. 
>  
> 	Maybe my comment was a little harsh and out of line. But the way he 
> mentioned going off to do Othello seemed to be stating that the only 
reason 
> to do a response to a perception about Cinderella. 
>  
> 	I don't think it's a white thing; it's a human thing. When a person 
> grows up as a member of a privilaged group; they are often unaware of 
this. 
> Especially when the privillages deal with relatively fine matters being 
> applied over a long period.  It's not part of our nature to see how 
difficult 
> what privilages we may have make life for those around us. 
> 	My wife comes from a country where 99% of the people are of the same 
> ethnic group.  As a result foriegners are the general target.  But having 
> come from there she did not see this.  It been a situation of pointing 
out 
> things on a case by case basis and showing this to her. When she go to 
the US 
> suddenly she was the target for the time in her life.  Her initial 
reaction 
> was that american whites were very racist.  But I've slowly been able to 
mirror 
> it to the way foriegners are treated in her home country. 
> 	This same experience, btw; was one I had had many times with the white 
> americans I met in asia. Being the targets of racism for the first time 
in their 
> lives; they felt outrage and all but a few refused to see it for the same 
> treatment minorities in the US got. Only with a new target. Most non 
whites I 
> met over there hardly noticed the difference of going from being a target 
of 
> one group to the target of another. 
> 	None of that is meant to condone any sort of racism. Merely to highlight 
> that it is quite real and an unfortunate part of our nature. 
>  
> >>         BTW, music and acting wise; it's the best version of the story 
I've 
> >> ever seen. 
> >  
> > 	Most of the credit deserves to go to Rodgers and Hammerstein of 
> > course.  It is their version. 
> >  
> > 	The only thing I really _didn't_ like was Brandy as Cinderella.  Her 
> > voice was fine, but her acting had no real depth to it.  Houston was 
> > good as the godmother, but I would have rather seen an older actress 
> > play the part.  It should have been a bit more grandmotherly, not 
> > vixen-like.  (Though that may be the influence of the cartoon on me.)  
>  
> 	I dunno. I kinda liked it the way it was. Though I can see the age 
> bit for a fairy GODMOTHER.  I kinda like Brandy though; so maybe I 
skipped 
> a few faults in her acting. 
>  
> > very good, and Whoopie was great as the queen.  Jason Alexander stole 
it 
> > for me as the assisstant, however. 
>  
> 	He was the show's real treat.  The last place I ever expected to see 
> him was in a musical.  And he was good at it.  Good enough that he might 
just 
> have a career after something as big and 'typecasting' as Sienfeld. 
>  
> > 	Yeah, a great production.  However, it was no where near 
controversial, 
> > IMO. 
>  
> 	Yeah. On both counts. Someone else mentioned some other musical version 
> that was all white. I've never seen or heard of that, so I have no 
comments on 
> it. I will mention another musical that has black and white versions. 
> The wizard of Oz. The old all white version was merely a sign of it's 
times. 
> The 70's all black (I think it was all black) one however is purposefully 
set 
> up as a racial parody and could be seen as racist. Though it is comedy; 
which 
> is often both the birth of civil movements, and typically the last 
holdout for 
> prejudice. Sometimes in the same example. 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Sat, 08 Aug 1998 01:18:02 -0400 (EDT) 
From: aregalad@miami.edu 
Subject: More Benchmarks (Long. Steve Long.:) 
 
Howdy! 
 
>  Some time ago, I was in a discussion in which it was suggested that Hero 
> have clearer benchmarks for what is a low,  medium, high, maximum human, and 
> superhuman characteristic. I liked the idea, and have put together some 
> suggestions. I hope everyone likes them.:) 
 
Some time ago I was the one that started that discussion (or at least one 
of them). :] Since then I have developed two versions of my benchmark 
tables. One of them I shared with the list, but the updated version I have 
yet to share. Since you have been kind enough to post yours I'll share 
mine too. Mine extend well into the superheroic range. 
 
Some things to keep in mind: 
 
1) There are four general categories for benchmarks, each with four 
sub-categories. These are: a) WEAK (Debilitated, Feeble, Poor and 
Challenged), b) NORMAL (Average, Competent, Exceptional, Heroic), 
PARANORMAL (Legendary, Incredible, Amazing, Monstrous), and COSMIC 
(Godlike, Unearthly, Universal, Beyond). Below I listed the sub-categories 
only because of the restrictions of my communications program. 
 
2) Although I use Fuzion labels for the lower levels, I adopted some MSH 
words for the higher levels. They were there, and I didn't want to make 
up my own. :] Besides, they kind of make sense. 
 
3) STR is set apart from the rest of the characteristics because it is the 
most visual stat, and in most genre's progresses very drastically once it 
hits the paranormal level. 
 
Anyways, here it goes: 
 
LABEL		CHAR	STR	PD/ED	REC	STN	END	SPD 
Debilitated	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 
Feeble		1-2	1-2	1	1	1-6	1-5	1 
Poor		3-5	3-5	1	2	7-12	6-10	1 
Challenged	6-8	6-8	1	3	13-18	11-16	1 
 
Average		9-11	9-11	2	4	19-23	17-22	2 
Competent	12-14	12-14	3-4	5-6	24-32	23-31	2 
Exceptional	15-17	15-17	5-6	7-8	33-41	32-40	3 
Heroic		18-20	18-20	7-8	9-10	42-50	41-50	4 
 
Legendary	21-23	21-25	9-10	11-12	51-60	51-60	5 
Incredible	24-29	26-40	11-15	13-15	61-75	61-75	6 
Amazing		30-35	41-55	16-20	16-18	76-90	76-90	7 
Monstrous	36-41	56-70	21-25	19-21	91-105	91-105	8 
 
Godlike		42-50	71-100	26-35	22-27	106-135	106-135	9 
Unearthly	51-59	101-130	36-45	28-33	136-165	136-165	10 
Universal	60-69	131-160	46-55	34-39	166-195	166-195	11 
Beyond		70-	161-	56-	40-	196-	196-	12 
 
VERY BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF LABELS: 
 
Debilitated: Completely incapacitated (or neg. char. rules apply) 
Feeble: "Dumb animal" INT, nearly incapacitated. 
Poor: Deteriorating (illness? age?) 
Challenged: clumsy, dense, slow, unhealthy 
 
Average: Jos Shmoe 
Competent: competent at everyday tasks w/char. Do most things well. 
Exceptional: much better than ordinary, genius, born athelete 
Heroic: among best in world 
 
Legendary: among best in history, found in myth or comics, borderline 
	   paranormal 
Incredible: competent paranormal, undoubtedly beyond human ability 
Amazing: paranormals of exceptional ability in char 
Monstrous: Demigod level 
 
Godlike: realm of gods, most members of mythical pantheons have at least 
         one stat in this range. 
Unearthly: Titans, Godzilla, personfications of natural forces have stats 
           in this range. 
Universal: Personifications of universal forces have char in this range 
Beyond: Primordial entities have stats in this range 
 
___________________________________________________________________________ 
 
Okay, here are a few comments 
 
1) Your treatment of STR is excellent! I'm seriously rethinking my STR 
Benchmarks because of it. I don't know much about weight lifting and 
lift records, so your work is VERY helpful. Thank you! 
 
2) INT is my big problem w/HERO because it is the only stat (except maybe 
COM) that is useless except for those magic numbers (3,8,13,18...). This 
also made benchmark tables difficult because I couldn't come up with a 
consistent progression that made sense. You see, I feel that every stage 
on a benchmark table should make a difference in play (if not every point 
of a stat). Originally, my breakdown went something like this: 
 
0 
1-2 
3-5 
6-8 
9-11 
12-14 
15-17 
18-20  
 
The problem with this is that 6-8 has the same game effect as 9-11. You 
get the same problem with 12-14 and 15-17).  
 
Filksinger's benchmarks solve this with a different progression, and it 
works, although I'm a little leary of having stats so high be considered 
"normal human" - except for STR. 
 
My first benchmark tables solved the "INT problem" by having 
the INT benchmarks progress in increments of five, while the other stats 
(except STR) followed the above breakdown. I didn't like this. It just 
felt wrong. 
 
Also, I think the heroic level should top off in a way that corresponds to 
the NCM disad. To solve the INT problem I went to these "new" version of 
the benchmarks and instituted a series of house rules that make INT far 
more useful. Now every point of INT counts. Here are the rules: 
 
1) SPD is calculated in the following fashion: (INT+DEX/20)+1 
 
By game definition, INT is supposed to represent how fast you think, and I 
always felt it should help determine how fast and efficiently you react. 
 
2) Initiative is determined by an average of INT and DEX. Mental Attacks 
go on INT, not EGO. Again, I think this is justified by the game 
definition of INT. 
 
3) INT now costs x2 instead of x1 
 
Anyway, I wish I could participate in the discussion, but tomorrow I'm off 
to California for two weeks. I'll try to catch up when I get back. 
 
Take care everyone, and thanks for posting your benchmarks Filksinger! 
 
I enjoyed them! 
 
Ciao, 
 
Dragonfly 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 11:02:27 -0400 (EDT) 
From: thomas deja <tdj723@webtv.net> 
Subject: RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
 
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Seeing your mention of WILD CARDS made me remember the most recent 
not-quite-supers campaign I ran called "Dealer's Choice"....very, very 
low level supers in Las Vegas circa 1961...inspred by the TV series 
CRIME STORY. 
 
Also, we ran a very successful campain called The empire club which was 
a literal Saturday Morning serial; 150 point characters in a worldwide 
club of adventurers fighting pulp-characters, each session ending in a 
cliffhanger...it spawned another game called Empire Club Jr., featuring 
teenage members of the same club.... 
 
"'N I fell for all that'die-like-a-warrior' crap.  I've seen clowns fall 
off their bikes with more honor" 
           --Xander Haris, BUFFY TVS #1 
____________________________________ 
THE ULTIMATE HULK, containing the new story, "A Quiet, Normal Life," is 
available now from Byron Preiss and Berkley 
_______________________________ 
MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE, Tom Deja's webpage 
www.freeyellow.com/members/tdj 
 
 
 
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Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 10:17:17 -0400 (EDT) 
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net> 
cc: Hero System Listserv <hero-l@sysabend.org> 
Subject: RE: Campaign Styles/Types 
In-Reply-To: <8703624AF1D2D111A7A30000F8C1D291563394@postal.toronto.fmco.com> 
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On Wed, 30 Sep 1998, Brian Wawrow wrote: 
 
> cyberpunk: Anybody got CyberHero? Really a nice supplement for all your 
> high tech needs. 
 
I disagree.  A lot of the equipment and cyberwear created for thatbook is 
very questionable game mechanics wise.  At least IMO. 
  
As for games that have been run around here? 
 
Well... 
 
Star Trek - There is a periodic ST game run using Hero rules.  The 
characters are crew of the USS Venture. 
 
Sengoku - fantasy adventure set in 16th C Japan. defunct 
 
Sons of the Phoniex - Ninja Hero game inspiried by "Big Trouble in Little 
China".  defunct 
 
Kazei 5 - anime/cyberpunk game.  defunct.  Game being developed into a 
Hero System worldbook. 
 
Silent Mobius Zeta - anime/cyberpunk/horror game set in the anime/manga 
universe of "Silent Mobius". 
 
Justiifers - all the supers are mutants.  PCs are a Govt team.  Uses ideas 
taken from Project Sunburst extensively. 
 
Avatar game - gritty '4-color' supers world. defunct 
 
Justice Alliance - 'graphic novel' style supers world.  Borrowed some 
ideas from Wild Cards and GURPS IST. defunct 
 
Nightwatch - long running (now defunct) supers game that started out with 
a 'play yourself' premise.  It had two off shoot games, Golden Gate Guard 
and the Northern Lights. (also defunct) 
 
Teen supers game - just what it says.  Set in 1982 and uses 200 point 
characters. 
 
Troubleshooters - set in 2300.  A sort of gritty 'Pulp Fiction' feel to 
it.  on hold. 
 
Bus trip - 0-25 point normals are cast into a strange and wierd world. 
Several have developed 'super powers' but no one has a clue as to where 
they are... 
 
Twilight 2000 Hero - game set in the universe described in GDWs Twlight 
2000. 
 
Uh... and otehr settings and genres 
 
*************************************************************************** 
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *  
*               Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net                *  
*        Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at:        *    
*              http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html             * 
*            Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT            * 
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark * 
*************************************************************************** 
 
 
 
- --87331786-- 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 13:49:59 -0500 (EST) 
From: thomas deja <tdj723@webtv.net> 
Subject: Re: something still odder 
 
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What a great way to design this character!  i'm working on a character 
idea tenatively called 'Database' with a very similar power conception, 
and you've come up with a great way to work it..... 
 
"'I thought you loved stake-outs." 
"Yeah--it's like camping with guns." 
     --Costas Amdolyr and Tammy Lauren, MARTIAL LAW 
____________________________________ 
THE ULTIMATE HULK, containing the new story, "A Quiet, Normal Life," is 
available now from Byron Preiss and Berkley 
_______________________________ 
MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE, Tom Deja's webpage 
www.freeyellow.com/members/tdj 
 
 
 
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Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 09:56:33 -0800 (PST) 
From: Egyptoid <egyptoid@yahoo.com> 
Reply-To: egyptoid@bellsouth.net 
Subject: Re: something still odder 
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>Is there some easy way to build this that I've missed (Probably)? 
Easy? Not really, but heres how we tried. 
[[Some GM interp going on here]] 
 
Scarlett, former heroine in the Justice League of Alabama, 
was inspired by Rogue of the X-men. She absorbs powers by touch. 
 
She has 2 powers to do this with, 2 talents, and 2 psych disads,  
and a variable power pool. I'll work from obscure to most obvious. 
 
First, she's bought Cramming twice, each with Var.Spec.FX advantage, 
   and the advantage: usable by touch, and then limitation, must  
   touch target.   his allows her to "borrow" 2 skills almost 
   instantly just by touching someone. The catch: the 2 skills she  
   gets are randomly chosen. So she touches Dr.Crowbar and gets the 
   skill "Breakfall", terribly cool, and "KS:Stamp Collecting", blah. 
   Next person she touches, those 2 skills vanish in favor of 2 new. 
 
Second, she has 2 non-defined Psych disads, with an "advantage" of 
   Variable Spec.FX. These also change upon touching flesh. 
   So she touches Dr.Crowbar and gets "angry" and "domineering",  
   later at the zoo she touches a killer whale and gets "gregarious" 
   and "carnivorous". [[Campaign note: Magic Michael got into the 
   habit of keeping a dog around, which he would toss into Scarlett's 
   arms when she got too weird. Touching the dog would "reset" her  
   to something like "loyal" ]] 
 
Thirdly, she has a 60 point VPP. This has the "usual" mimic pool 
   limits/advants. Typically it arranges itself into 3 or 4 of the 
   target's largest powers. Like the killer whale gave her STR, sonar, 
   and swimming. 
 
Fourthly she has Transfer. This is 3 dice, with a plus to the max 
   gained, making a total of 60 xferable. this has basically the  
   same limits and advants as the VPP.  The fade rate on the Transfer  
   was "Per Decade", however, it normally functioned at a fade-rate of  
   "Per Turn". But is has another limitation we called the "Rule of X". 
   Yet for every phase she continued absorbing once the maximum was hit, 
   would add to time instead of points. 
 
here's some HeroMaker output on her. 
 
Powers: 
71	3D6 Transfer (Mutant Powers),"STUN, plus 3-5 largest	 
	powers",22 Max Increase,fade rate: per 5 years,vs SFX (all	 
	powers),Always On,NCC,Side FX(Desc: triggers psych disad	 
	changes, minor x-forms, changes) ,Rule of X: (fade rate is per	 
	turn and must be maxed = time),STUN always fades at normal	 
	rate,not versus magic, mental, or electronic powers,Dmg	 
	Shield,Invisible,Sight Group,0 END Persistent,Var FX,any	 
	SFX. 0END 
5	x3 Cramming,NCC,Linked,"to Transfer",Always On,Trigger,Desc:	 
	touch based,Var FX,SFX Group: as per target	 
5	x3 Cramming,NCC,Linked,"to Transfer",Always On,Trigger,Desc:	 
	touch based,Var FX,SFX Group: as per target	 
3	Eidetic Memory,absorbed memories,NCC,Var FX,SFX Group: as	 
	per target's mind	 
77	VPP (60),only change in given circ,no choice how powers	 
	change,restricted type of powers,can change powers as 0	 
	phase,no skill roll required,"Touch Based Mimic Pool",Always	 
	On,No Range,NCC,Side FX,Desc: psych problems,Var FX,any SFX,	 
	SFX Group: 3-5 of target's largest powers. 
Disadvantages: 
25	Psych Lim,"Variable Psych One",very common,total 
5	Psych One is random, changeable, uncontrolled 
25	Psych Lim,"Variable Psych Two",very common,total 
5	Psych Two is random, changeable, uncontrolled 
20	Phys Lim,"Flesh to Flesh Touch Triggers Powers, Always",all 
	 the time,greatly 
 
an older version of her is here: 
   http://www.sysabend.org/champions/elliott/scarlett.html 
 
Again, this was inspired by the Rogue idea, it isn't a write-up of Rogue. 
== 
                                  Elliott  aka  Egyptoid 
_________________________________________________________ 
DO YOU YAHOO!? 
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com 
 
 
 
- --47556683-- 
 
------------------------------ 
 
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 21:36:04 -0400 (EDT) 
From: thomas deja <tdj723@webtv.net> 
Subject: Re: Comics Characters (Long [and for no bloody good reason]) 
 
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There is supposedly a new OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE 
coming out--however, considering that the spearheader of that project, 
Glenn Greenberg, is off looking to jump ship, who knows if it'll ever 
get off the ground. 
 
And the DC Universe does have WHO'S WHO IN THE DC UNIVERSE....Image is 
too fractured a comic company, with like eight different parrallell 
world to really make a project like thisfeasible (although I would die 
for a WHO'S WHO IN ASTRO CITY....) 
 
The problem is, these books are labor inhtensive and not exactly best 
sellers--there's not a lot on incentive to do them.... 
 
"'N I fell for all that'die-like-a-warrior' crap.  I've seen clowns fall 
off their bikes with more honor" 
           --Xander Haris, BUFFY TVS #1 
____________________________________ 
THE ULTIMATE HULK, containing the new story, "A Quiet, Normal Life," is 
available now from Byron Preiss and Berkley 
_______________________________ 
MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE, Tom Deja's webpage 
www.freeyellow.com/members/tdj 
 
 
 
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Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 17:11:49 -0700 
From: Chad Riley <chadriley01@m7.sprynet.com> 
Reply-To: chadriley01@sprynet.com 
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To: "Champ's Mailing List" <champ-l@sysabend.org> 
Subject: Re: Comics Characters (Long [and for no bloody good reason]) 
References: <199809271810.SAA07120@out4.ibm.net> 
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John Desmarais wrote: 
 
> On Sun, 27 Sep 1998 00:19:55 -0700, Chad Riley wrote: 
> 
> >Anyway. DC doesn't really rip anyone off but themselves. They have the 
> >Superman Clones (The Superfamily, the Marvels, Martian Manhunter, the 
> >Daxamites, Bizzaro, Black Adam,  Power Girl add naseum), Flash Clones 
> >(Flash (1,2,&3) the Quicks, Impulse, Miricle Max, the Future Flashes, 
> >add naseum (gosh maybe i'm adding a little too much nauseum?)) The GL 
> >Corps, every other human Crimefighter is the a dark knight. DC has so 
> >many characters and they only had to make up like 10 sets of powers.And 
> >I felt bad for being unoriginal in character design. 
> 
> A few comments on the DC created "Superman Clones". 
> 
> The Marvels (and Black Adam) weren't DC creations.  Fawcett was the original 
> publisher.  DC sued them over it.  Fawcett went mostly broke fighting the case, the DC 
> bought the characters from them.  Once they owned the character they were obligated 
> to use them or risk losing their trademark. 
> 
> Now that we've eliminated half of the "Superman Clones" I'll give a brief (but not very 
> convincing) justification for the rest.  Keep in mind just how long DC has been publishing 
> superhero comics.  If we really examine it (and look at all Daxamites as one "clone"), 
> they've really only averaged a about one real "Superman Clone" a decade; and when 
> you think of just how much of an icon Superman is (I mean, almost any character who's 
> primary shctick is "super strong" could be streched into being a "Superman Clone", 
> that's not really that bad. 
> 
> As for the "Flash Clones", well...  It's kind of the same as the "Superman Clones" except 
> that Waid through them all (new and old forgotten characters) at uu all at once. 
> 
 
I just wanna say a few things about my post last night. Sorry.  I just had the most 
frustrating time writing up an origin for and name for a character that I needed to rant. I 
adore the superman powers. All the clones in DC (and marvel and Image comics) I even like them 
too. Those would be the powers that I would want. The tough part is doing something new with 
the characters since they have been done so often speedsters as well. DC moreso than marvel 
(IMO) takes a concept and makes a lot of characters with it cutting down on the ones I can 
make. Damn them! :-) So when I try to make a new character I inevitably find that he/she/it 
has been done. Normally I have no trouble going on with the character anyway but last night I 
was in a mood. 
 
 
 
Speaking of off topic. I heard that Marvel is going to do an update on the OHTTMU. Anyone 
heard anything? It'd be nice if all the Superhero Comic companies did one. Just for reference. 
 
 
 
Talk later, 
Chad Riley 
Eater of Barbecue Pork 
 
 
 
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