Digest Archive vol 1 Issue 357
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 5:01 PM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #357
champ-l-digest Tuesday, May 25 1999 Volume 01 : Number 357
In this issue:
Re: Packages
Re:
OT Unsubstantiated Rumours
Re: Packages
Re: Packages
Re: Suggestions Wanted
RE: (null)
RE: (null)
Re: House Rules:
RE: (null)
RE: (null)
Re: Suggestions Wanted
RE: (null)
RE: (null)
RE: (null)
RE: (null)
Re: Suggestions Wanted
Re: Suggestions Wanted
Re: Suggestions Wanted
Re: [FLUFF] A question of 10
RE: Suggestions Wanted
RE: Suggestions Wanted
Re: Suggestions Wanted
RE: (null)
Re: Suggestions Wanted
Re: (null)
Re: Suggestions Wanted
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 08:02:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Desmarais <johndesmarais@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Packages
- --- AndMat3@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 5/25/99 9:12:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> bob.greenwade@klock.com writes:
>
> > It was Fantasy Hero (actually a fantasy-adapted Champions game, since
> > Fantasy Hero hadn't yet been released), but the character was human --
> > these were three archetype packages, fighter/mage/techno IIRC.
>
> is there not some kind of rule allowing the maximum package disad per
> character to be 3 points? or is that just per package?
Per package, although whoever wrote up the racial & cultural packages for
Fantasy Hero opted to not include the bonus in both packages.
- -=>John Desmarais
http://www.sysabend.org/champions
_________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 08:00:17 -0700
From: Darrin Kelley <backflash@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re:
Grant, I have experienced the same problem for 5 years. The decided lack of
gamers with a similar style in the area I moved to. And when I do manage to put
together a group of any form, I end up being stuck as the GM. I like playing. I
want to be a player. But I don't see it happening.
This is a pretty large city. Pasadena, California. But the gaming community
here is still reeling from the CCG fad. Finding new RPG gamers is hard. I have
the group I have. So I have to make due.
But even before CCGs, let's be honest, finding gamers with a similar style
when you move has always been difficult. And the behaviour problems have always
been a hazard.
I am not sure what to tell you. I'm still having trouble with this myself.
Grant Enfield wrote:
> I recently played a game with people I had never played with before for the
> first time in seven or eight years. It was a very strange experience, and it
> (and David Stallard's post about out-of-the-box supplements) raised some
> questions about gaming with the HERO system.
>
> HERO system was introduced to me shortly after I returned home from
> college--thanks Christopher :)--and I was fortunate to play with players and
> game masters who were, on the whole, mature, creative, experienced, and fun.
> I had some really great times running and playing various games. It may be
> odd (I've since realized) that we (almost?) never used a system besides
> HERO: we all knew it, so why learn something new when we can just adapt
> campaign material to HERO? And we had our share of house-rule quirks, though
> we all managed to play more-or-less comfortably no matter who ran the game.
> We even managed to get some new players involved over the course of those
> several years.
>
> So what's the point? :)
>
> Well, I just played with a group I'd never played with before, and things
> were SOOOOOO different from what I was used to. It was really hard to have a
> good time.
>
> Since I've never played at a convention or anything, I wonder: what DOES a
> HERO game look like? Has it been so long since the 4th edition rules were
> released that every GM has modified the system so far that it's difficult to
> go from one group to another? (The rules these players used were different
> enough from what I'm used to that I was really confused.)
>
> On top of different house rules and systems, what about different styles of
> play? I can play all kinds of different characters. Currently I enjoy
> playing "heroic" characters, but that can be Han Solo as well as Captain
> Marvel (playing human-eating monsters does little for me right now). But
> what about all our varying conceptions of "role-playing"? The feuds that
> rage through rec.games.frp.* over plot-driven games versus simulationist
> ones, and dice versus diceless testify that gamers hold strong opinions
> about how they play whatever game it is they choose to play.
>
> So I've moved and I want to game, and the problem I see is this: I want to
> play HERO system games, but I want them run fairly close to how I'm
> comfortable already with them; I also want a particular _style_ of play. The
> chances that I find a group who enjoys the same style of game I do and who
> uses the same system I do seems pretty slim. (And I don't have time to run a
> game.)
>
> Does anyone else see similar problems or have encountered them before?
>
> Does anyone have any ideas what to do about them?
>
> thanks,
>
> grant
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 10:04:00 -0500
From: "Guy Hoyle" <ghoyle1@airmail.net>
Subject: OT Unsubstantiated Rumours
Two off-topic rumours, so please, delete these if you're not interested.
I heard this morning on the radio (so it must be true) that Patrick Stewart
has entered final negotiations to portray Professor X in the long-awaited
X-Men movie.
At the same time, I heard that Leonardo DiCaprio has been slated to play
Anakin Skywalker in the next Star Wars installment.
I have no substantiation for this, but I thought I'd pass it along.
Guy
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 08:50:53 -0700
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: Packages
At 09:17 AM 5/25/1999 EDT, AndMat3@aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 5/25/99 9:12:37 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>bob.greenwade@klock.com writes:
>
>> It was Fantasy Hero (actually a fantasy-adapted Champions game, since
>> Fantasy Hero hadn't yet been released), but the character was human --
>> these were three archetype packages, fighter/mage/techno IIRC.
>
>is there not some kind of rule allowing the maximum package disad per
>character to be 3 points? or is that just per package?
That's a per-Package deal thing, under 4th Edition. (The game in
question was 3rd Edition IIRC -- maybe 2nd.)
Also, I adopt a house rule that eliminates that maximum.
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/original.htm
Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/merrhome.htm
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 08:58:31 -0700
From: Tracy L Birdine <hawk291@juno.com>
Subject: Re: Packages
On Mon, 24 May 1999 23:12:14 -0400 (EDT) "John Desmarais"
<john.desmarais@ibm.net> writes:
> On Mon, 24 May 1999 19:49:03 -0700, Bob Greenwade wrote:
>s.
> >
> > As many as the GM will OK. I GM'd a PC with three packages
> once, and
> >nobody particularly suffered for it.
>
> In fact, if you are using the package deals in Fantasy Hero, three
> packages is not
> uncommon for a character (racial, cultural, & archetype).
'Bout the same for SF
/- /\ \\/ \< [ ICQ: 32038562 ] ghostwalker@ifr-inc.org
CO/4th Batt., The Horsemen, Black Horse Regiment
*---===( )===---*
Black Horse Webpage: http://www.ifr-inc.org/staffpages/tb.html
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:20:56 EDT
From: JVButlerJr@aol.com
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
I have a problem, and was hoping the folks here could help.
I am going to be starting an origins game with a group of 8 players.
For those unfamiliar with the term, and origins game is one in which the
player creates a normal, and the GM uses some form of radiation accident to
give the normals powers. What the powers are and how to use them are then
discovered through the course of the game through roleplaying and luck.
The trouble is that every character concept I have come up with for
the game feels trite and overused. Maybe its just that I've been playing
this game since it came out, and have begun to run out of character ideas.
Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No
aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no focuses...),
but almost anything else is welcome...
Jack Butler
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 10:41:18 -0700
From: Grant Enfield <enfield@asu.edu>
Subject: RE: (null)
First, I apologize for not putting a subject on my message. I knew it would
be all over the place when I began, so thought I'd add one when I was
finished. Of course, I didn't.
>
> Moved where?
>
Last summer I moved from Salem, Oregon to Tempe, Arizona. I'm a graduate
student at Arizona State University. Phoenix is a big place, and ASU has
nearly 50,000 students. You'd think it'd be easier to find a game. . . . :)
I asked:
> >Does anyone have any ideas what to do about them?
And John Desmarais answered:
> * Don't use house rules if possible.
> * GMs need to be very clear on what house and optional rules
> are in use.
> * Know what type of game it is before you start (nothing
> quite like epecting four-color
> and getting World of Darkness).
Even without using house rules, HERO gives us plenty of leeway to apply and
interpret the rules. I think it's most important for GMs to make very clear
HOW they apply the rules they do. In the game I played, for example, combat
distances both for movement and range were only estimated (no hex mat like
I'm used to). I had spent points on Range Skill Levels and made sure I had
lots of movement, so it was disappointing that those things didn't matter.
Also, no one appeared to keep track of END, and I had used END use as a
major restraint on my character's powers, so I felt a little cheap. Perhaps
most frustrating was that the GM had reviewed my character several times,
and we'd made adjustments to his powers, but the GM never told me that range
levels were useless or that no one bothers with END.
Also, it's important to clearly describe the game. The GM called his game
"four color" and gave me synopses of the last few adventures. When I played
though, I didn't think the game was four color--obviously we have different
perceptions of what "four color" means.
If I remember correctly, the group I played with in Oregon had much better
luck recruiting players who had never role-played before than ones who had
played HERO. It's this last bit that makes me wonder how different our games
are from each other's and worries me most about finding a game to join.
Then again, maybe I just need to be in charge of the game to have a good
time. ;)
grant
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:46:12 -0400
From: Geoff Speare <geoff@igcn.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
>Even without using house rules, HERO gives us plenty of leeway to apply and
>interpret the rules.
This is a problem with every game; there's really nothing you can do but
test-play with people before signing on for a lengthy campaign...
Geoff Speare (currently looking for /anyone/ in the Lehigh Valley PA area :)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 10:46:25 PDT
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: House Rules:
On Tue, 25 May 1999 arcus@webtv.net (chrisopher spoor) wrote:
>On the House Rule subject, I have a house rule idea that I would like
>some feedback on. For background it will be for a very high power JLA
>type game I was thinking of allowing a player to use any official
>optional rule for +/-5pts., and use any published optional rule ( either
>magazines or webpages ) for +/-10pts. or more, and any other house rules
>for a minimum cost of 10pts., and a successful PERSUASION roll against
>me personally. :)
I think this is definitely a clever notion. Let me know how it turns out.
I can see why you might want to charge more for the unofficial house rules
out of magazines and websites when they are used as advantages, but you
might want to consider carrying that logic through to the disadvantage side,
as well, giving either no bonus or at most the same bonus that you give for
things like Long Term Endurance. Otherwise your players will be combing the
Web looking for house rule "Disadvantages" in preference to the less point
efficient but probably no less limiting "official" optional rules.
>I know I'm asking for headaches, but other then that how does this
>sound? Should I charge more or less? Would it be better to preprice all
>the optional rules. Any suggestions besides to listen to the nice men in
>white coats :)
Well, it seems obvious to me that you'd be better off pre-costing them, but
it would definitely be a chore, and what scale would you use? You might
consider a base point value, such as you have already described, and pick a
few rules that you think will be either popular or unbalancing and assign
different point values to them. Or you could try costing them out as
Physical Limitations. "OK, 'Does Knockdown instead of Knockback' is
probably a Frequent Phys. Lim. Now, how incapacitating is it?"
Good luck.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:53:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@dedaana.otd.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
On Tue, 25 May 1999, Geoff Speare wrote:
> Geoff Speare (currently looking for /anyone/ in the Lehigh Valley PA area :)
Sorry, I'm down in Laurel, MD.
- --
Michael Surbrook - susano@otd.com - http://www.otd.com/~susano/index.html
"We're Americans -- with a capital 'A', huh? Do you know what that means?
Do you? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent
nation on Earth. We are the wretched refuse!"
John Winger (Bill Murray), from _Stripes_
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 14:18:35 -0400
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
] If I remember correctly, the group I played with in Oregon
] had much better
] luck recruiting players who had never role-played before than
] ones who had
] played HERO.
I have found this to be absolutely true. It's more important to find people
with the right personalities than people with lots of gaming experience. You
can't teach gamers how to have the right attitude for your game but you can
find people with the right attitude and teach them to play.
As for what constitutes a good gaming attitude, I look for the following...
[1] They *want* to play and will actively schedule real life around a
regular game schedule where feasible.
[2] They have at least a smidge of creativity and don't want to clone thier
favourite character. If it looks like Wolverine, smells like Wolverine and
sounds like Wolverine, revisit the concept.
[3] They're prepared to do a little independant study and work at
understanding the rules so as not to bog down the sessions. That, or they
should already know the rules and respect your house-rules and variations.
[4] They should be fairly intelligent [see #3]
[5] No sucks, crybabies, attention-hogs, @$$holes, bullies or other
antisocial types given to bouts of melodrama or fits.
[6] They must wave the Nerd Flag proudly. Nobody should play who couldn't
bear to have anyone find out what they're doing.
[7] They must be willing and able to pay for their share of snacks, smokes,
pizza, lap dances or any other customary game related expenditures.
[8] They must always bring their own f#cking pencil and their own godamn
notebook.
So, if you run into anyone who fits all these criteria, forget about how
much gaming experience they have and get them in your game. If you put in a
little work teaching them the basics and sending them home with your extra
copy of the BBB, you'll be much happier than if you play with some dink just
because he's been playing Hero since the first time Seeker was stunned into
'GM's Discretion' on a supplement cover.
That's how I see it, anyway.
BRI
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:35:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com>
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
On Tue, 25 May 1999 JVButlerJr@aol.com wrote:
> Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No
> aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no focuses...),
> but almost anything else is welcome...
Don't be too quick to write off gadgeteers (or aliens for that matter).
The radiation accident could give someone an instinctive 'knack' with
technology (which is really no stranger than it giving someone super-fast
running, really). They could discover it when their TV set goes on the
fritz. "Hmm. The picture's all distorted...I seem to remember that
magnets can do that, maybe the tube got magnetized...I'll go out to the
kitchen and get a magnet to demagnetize it...hmm...needs more power, I'll
have to turn it into an electromagnet...I've got some wire around here..."
As for the alien thing, unless you're going to have a common origin for
everyone (which might be what is limiting your creativity), you could
always go with the "Dear...you're adopted." plot, followed by the
revelation that she's coming to a time in her life where she will undergo
certain change: her voice will change, she will grow scales and spines in
strange places, and she'll start being interested in finding a nice man,
sticking her ovipositor down his throat, and laying her eggs in him.
If there's going to be a central origin, do you have any details on it
worked out?
J
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 11:40:24 -0700
From: Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net>
Subject: RE: (null)
>Even without using house rules, HERO gives us plenty of leeway to apply and
>interpret the rules. I think it's most important for GMs to make very clear
>HOW they apply the rules they do. In the game I played, for example, combat
>distances both for movement and range were only estimated (no hex mat like
>I'm used to). I had spent points on Range Skill Levels and made sure I had
>lots of movement, so it was disappointing that those things didn't matter.
>Also, no one appeared to keep track of END, and I had used END use as a
>major restraint on my character's powers, so I felt a little cheap. Perhaps
>most frustrating was that the GM had reviewed my character several times,
>and we'd made adjustments to his powers, but the GM never told me that range
>levels were useless or that no one bothers with END.
On a related point, we have started to use hexless matts, just a blank matt
with a plastic sheet over it to draw the terrain on. If you want to move,
you measure it out, if you want to shoot, you shoot, then we measure the
range to see the mods and if you made it, etc. The estimating really
helps, especially for people who 'rule play' and use the SPD chart and such.
Grant got me started on something that we use now, rolling a D12 to see
what phase the combat starts on. Sometimes it starts on a phase that
slower characters move on before faster ones, sometimes its on a wierd
phase like 11... but that way you cant predict how things will turn out.
We use the OCV+11 -(3D6 roll)= DCV hit system so that the players dont need
to know the DCV of the opponent, and all this adds up to making it more
something in your imagination and less on paper. Few of the players I have
here now are inclined to count phases and figure out speeds of their
opponent anyway, they just know Hero well enough to know if the guy moves
on phase 7, he's REALLY fast.
By the way, hi Grant!! Great to see you again, hope you n Sheri are doin well.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sola Gracia Sola Scriptura Sola Fide
Soli Deo Gloria Solus Christus Corum Deo
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 11:42:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Desmarais <johndesmarais@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
- -- Geoff Speare <geoff@igcn.com> wrote:
>
> >Even without using house rules, HERO gives us plenty of leeway to apply and
> >interpret the rules.
>
> This is a problem with every game; there's really nothing you can do but
> test-play with people before signing on for a lengthy campaign...
>
> Geoff Speare (currently looking for /anyone/ in the Lehigh Valley PA area :)
Could be worse, try Winston-Salem, NC.
- -=>John Desmarais
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 11:43:36 -0700
From: Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net>
Subject: RE: (null)
>As for what constitutes a good gaming attitude, I look for the following...
>[1] They *want* to play and will actively schedule real life around a
>regular game schedule where feasible.
>[2] They have at least a smidge of creativity and don't want to clone thier
>favourite character. If it looks like Wolverine, smells like Wolverine and
>sounds like Wolverine, revisit the concept.
>[3] They're prepared to do a little independant study and work at
>understanding the rules so as not to bog down the sessions. That, or they
>should already know the rules and respect your house-rules and variations.
>[4] They should be fairly intelligent [see #3]
>[5] No sucks, crybabies, attention-hogs, @$$holes, bullies or other
>antisocial types given to bouts of melodrama or fits.
>[6] They must wave the Nerd Flag proudly. Nobody should play who couldn't
>bear to have anyone find out what they're doing.
More important than it initially seems....
>[7] They must be willing and able to pay for their share of snacks, smokes,
>pizza, lap dances or any other customary game related expenditures.
>[8] They must always bring their own f#cking pencil and their own godamn
>notebook.
Thats a good list (why is it ok to type out Goddamn but not Fucking?
Hmm....) but I'd add dice too, especially with hero games for cryin out
loud.... if you can't bring a few six siders from some Milton Bradley games
or somethign, what the heck is wrong with you.
>So, if you run into anyone who fits all these criteria, forget about how
>much gaming experience they have and get them in your game. If you put in a
>little work teaching them the basics and sending them home with your extra
>copy of the BBB, you'll be much happier than if you play with some dink just
>because he's been playing Hero since the first time Seeker was stunned into
>'GM's Discretion' on a supplement cover.
Its been my experience that people pick up Hero fast even if they dont know
ANY gaming system, its fairly intuitive and I have gotten pretty good at
teaching the system and keeping the hard math away til they are ready.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sola Gracia Sola Scriptura Sola Fide
Soli Deo Gloria Solus Christus Corum Deo
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 14:45:55 -0400
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
For tactical maps, I use a whiteboard [aka dry-erase board] with 3 or 4
different colour markers and the trusty Combat String. The Combat String is
a 30" length of butcher cord [any white string will do] marked off in inches
with different marks every 5". Can't beat it.
] On a related point, we have started to use hexless matts,
] just a blank matt
] with a plastic sheet over it to draw the terrain on.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 10:41:46 -0700
From: jayphailey@juno.com
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
> I have a problem, and was hoping the folks here could help.
>
> I am going to be starting an origins game with a group of 8 players.
>For those unfamiliar with the term, and origins game is one in which the
>player creates a normal, and the GM uses some form of radiation accident
to
>give the normals powers. What the powers are and how to use them are
then
>discovered through the course of the game through roleplaying and luck.
>
> The trouble is that every character concept I have come up
>with for the game feels trite and overused. Maybe its just that I've
been
>playing this game since it came out, and have begun to run out of
character
>ideas.
>
> Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions?
>No aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no
>focuses...), but almost anything else is welcome...
>
> Jack Butler
I am sorry, but All the concepts I have ever had wind up being variations
on stereotypes. It's not the concept but what the plyer oes with it th
makes it work IMHO
I have a speedster, lots of running and Dex and regen. I have a brick
girl. I have a woman with wings (you wouldn't believe how this can
impede a character's movement through life. Large package of muscles on
her back and large wings that don't conviniently disappear. I wanted her
to take a vacation to Paris (To visit the Louvre, she's an art fanatic.)
but she couldn't. she can't sit in a normal airline seat. All of her
furniture is arranged some what differently and she has to arrange
herself differently all the time.
I am trying to think. About the only other character I have had whose
not a total steroetype was a stretchy brick. And even then she wasn't
too original.
The most original charaacter I have come up with so far dosn't work for
your specifications. A normal guy was "possesed" by an alien
semi-Organic war machine. It didn't make any severe changes to his
outward appearance, except for visible patterns on his face and parts of
his body as well as glowing red eyes. It gave him flight, a ff and an
energy blast. It needs a conscious and sentienbt host. The way the
war-symbiont is built it requires orders from a living, organic sentient
host to use it's weapons and capabilities. So Reggie is a conscious and
and viable part of the conglomeration.
But the War symbiont can speak to Reggie and cajole him and insist that
Reggie do certain things. One problem is that the battle that dstroyed
the symbiont's previous host also damaged the Symbiont's memories. It
wants to prpare reggie and his metahuman allies to fight the Zak-Dorn.
but the symbiont no longer recalls what exactly a Zak-Dorn is nor how to
identify one. This results in a lot a vague nagging in Reggie's head.
The two are a great character to play. Once while ona fishing trip, they
ran into "Zack Dorn's General Store" getting out of there without
blasting the place was a fun ngotiation.
Jay P. Hailey <Meow!> [ICQ: 37959005]
Read Star Trek- Outwardly Mobile At-
http://www.geocities.com/~tesral/jay/
___________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 15:23:50 -0400
From: "Stephen B. Mann" <smann@cnsvax.albany.edu>
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
JVButlerJr@aol.com wrote:
> I have a problem, and was hoping the folks here could help.
<snip>
> Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No
> aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no focuses...),
> but almost anything else is welcome...
Hrrmmmm. Well, there's the DC Heroes game I ran several years back.
All the characters started off as part-time college students (ranging
from standard students to returning adult students) taking an elective
psych course.
The professor was demonstrating an experimental EEG machine that
did not require actual contact with the subject's head to detect his
brain waves. Turning it on knocked out everybody in the class. All but a
few woke up quickly without any other effect. Those taken to the
hospital were the PCs, who gradually developed powers (long after they
were released from the hospital).
One PC was a computer geek whose talent was increased enough to
allow him to become a powered armor gadgeteer (an Iron Man clone).
Another PC also caught some of the gadgeteering bug, but spent most of
his time exploring his new talent for physical efforts (a Batman clone).
- --
Stephen B. Mann smann@cnsvax.albany.edu
SUNY Learning Network http://sln.suny.edu/sln
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 14:32:44 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com>
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
On Tue, 25 May 1999 JVButlerJr@aol.com wrote:
> Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No
> aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no focuses...),
> but almost anything else is welcome...
You could do what I do...find a copy of V&V, MSH, or other 'random powers'
system and start rolling. Don't throw anything out! Make yourself come
up with /something/ that ties those powers together.
Then, when you've got 30 or so of those, look at the characters and figure
out which set of powers would be interesting with which character. And
/then/ shave, alter, tinker, etc the powers to fit the character.
I get the impression that these are newbies? Going with some 'classic'
types might be good, if they're not used to superhero gaming. If they're
new to roleplaying in general, I wouldn't give them tough challenges that
change the way they view their character - it's too easy to sour them on
the deal. For an experienced player, though, something that shakes up the
character's worldview can be good.
J
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 12:36:11 -0700
From: Derek Hiemforth <derekfnord@geocities.com>
Subject: Re: [FLUFF] A question of 10
At 10:14 AM -0700 5/22/99, Jason Schneiderman wrote:
>The upshot? You - yes, you - have ten points to spend. On yourself. Any way
>you like.
>What would you buy?
3 LS: Immune to Aging
3 LS: Immune to Disease
4 Regeneration: 1 BODY per Day (-1.25)
- - Derek
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 15:40:02 -0400
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com>
Subject: RE: Suggestions Wanted
Here's another opinionated post for you. The reason it's hard to come up
with archetypes for an 'origins' scenario that aren't old, done and tired is
because the 'origins' plot device is old, done and tired. Any time the GM
wants to surprise me with a power set and make me figure them out by
role-playing hours of jumping, staring and lifting heavy things, I hold my
head in my hands and weep.
Results may vary.
BRI
P.S. Owen Hart, Lest We Forget.
] -----Original Message-----
] From: Dr. Nuncheon [mailto:jeffj@io.com]
] Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 1999 3:33 PM
] To: JVButlerJr@aol.com
] Cc: champ-l@sysabend.org
] Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
]
]
] On Tue, 25 May 1999 JVButlerJr@aol.com wrote:
]
] > Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No
] > aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating",
] so no focuses...),
] > but almost anything else is welcome...
]
] You could do what I do...find a copy of V&V, MSH, or other
] 'random powers'
] system and start rolling. Don't throw anything out! Make
] yourself come
] up with /something/ that ties those powers together.
]
] Then, when you've got 30 or so of those, look at the
] characters and figure
] out which set of powers would be interesting with which
] character. And
] /then/ shave, alter, tinker, etc the powers to fit the character.
]
] I get the impression that these are newbies? Going with some
] 'classic'
] types might be good, if they're not used to superhero gaming.
] If they're
] new to roleplaying in general, I wouldn't give them tough
] challenges that
] change the way they view their character - it's too easy to
] sour them on
] the deal. For an experienced player, though, something that
] shakes up the
] character's worldview can be good.
]
] J
]
] Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston -
] jeffj@io.com
] Qui annus est?
] http://www.io.com/~jeffj
]
]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 15:04:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: Curt Hicks <exucurt@exu.ericsson.se>
Subject: RE: Suggestions Wanted
> From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com>
>
> Here's another opinionated post for you. The reason it's hard to come up
> with archetypes for an 'origins' scenario that aren't old, done and tired is
> because the 'origins' plot device is old, done and tired. Any time the GM
> wants to surprise me with a power set and make me figure them out by
> role-playing hours of jumping, staring and lifting heavy things, I hold my
> head in my hands and weep.
>
> Results may vary.
> BRI
>
Huh ! I'm playing in a 'emerging powers' game right now. The GM did not
come up with the powers for the characters, the *players* did. I don't know
about the other players, but I have a plan for slow / gradual discovery of
my character's powers. So, it's more of a "player helps the GM with
characters discovery of powers and their development" than a "player tries
to secondguess the GM and hope the GM came up with a good power set".
(The character initially thought he had 'elemental' powers, having manifested
a weak force field seemingly composed of air and discovering he could swim
through loose dirt. He's since discovered that those aren't his real powers..)
Curt
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 20:12:19 GMT
From: mhoram@relia.net (Curtis A Gibson)
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
On Tue, 25 May 1999 13:20:56 EDT, you wrote:
>
> Anyway, does anyone out there have any concept suggestions? No=20
>aliens or gadgeteers (the radiation is "normals mutating", so no =
focuses...),=20
>but almost anything else is welcome...
>
> Jack Butler
A couple. One use mixes of powers (the J'on Jonzz thing) it's new..
who said anything about a unifiying concept... makes finding things
out more intersting. Also you can do the archetypes with a twist...
The fragile brick.. really strong but no defences to speak; for
example. If the players are used to normal supers this kind of thing
will throw them off. The aforementioned brick would then be a range
artist, throwing cars, streetstuff ect instead of mixing it up hand to
hand. Or the guy with energy powers whose one ranged EB is pretty
weak, but who has extreme defences and a really obnoxious energy HA.
There are also theme heroes whose powers are of a bigger ability, but
due to mental blocks (or somesuch) cannot access all thier power- a
good example of this would be Gil the Arm from Larry Niven. This is
the kind of character I'm playing in just such a campaign. He would be
a mini pheonix/molucule man type but is stuck by his brain. He only
has access to telekenisis, some mind control, precog, and limited
energy powers. He thinks of himself as a Jedi. (yes the character is a
SF geek).
hope it helps.
Let face facts, shall we? There is a very real possibility that this
could also be the *last* day of the rest of your life.=20
--Dave Henry
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 12:14:10 -0700
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: RE: (null)
At 02:18 PM 5/25/1999 -0400, Brian Wawrow wrote:
>
>As for what constitutes a good gaming attitude, I look for the following...
[snip]
>So, if you run into anyone who fits all these criteria, forget about how
>much gaming experience they have and get them in your game. If you put in a
>little work teaching them the basics and sending them home with your extra
>copy of the BBB, you'll be much happier than if you play with some dink just
>because he's been playing Hero since the first time Seeker was stunned into
>'GM's Discretion' on a supplement cover.
>
>That's how I see it, anyway.
Aside from the invectives, I'd say this is a pretty good list of
criteria; I'd only add that they be reasonably literate and mathematically
competent.
- ---
Bob's Original Hero Stuff Page! [Circle of HEROS member]
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/original.htm
Merry-Go-Round Webring -- wanna join?
http://www.klock.com/public/users/bob.greenwade/merrhome.htm
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:45:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
Brian Wawrow writes:
> Here's another opinionated post for you. The reason it's hard to come up
> with archetypes for an 'origins' scenario that aren't old, done and tired is
> because the 'origins' plot device is old, done and tired. Any time the GM
> wants to surprise me with a power set and make me figure them out by
> role-playing hours of jumping, staring and lifting heavy things, I hold my
> head in my hands and weep.
I tend to agree with you; I played with a GM who was quite fond
of starting the players out as normals who acquired powers. After a
certain point, the whole "figuring out your powers" schtick got quite
old. On the other hand, there were some rewards to the approach.
I still remember one campaign where one of the characters knocked
himself out by doing something really stupid - just before the
artificial intelligence that endowed us all with powers got around to
explaining them. I had fun for the next couple sessions by hinting at
things he could or couldn't do: "Why don't you just walk through the
wall? You can do that, you know..." >SPLAT!< "...or was that Fred who
could walk through walls..."
More seriously, it can be fun, and I think often worthwhile, to
separate the players from the character/power designs. Have the
players design the characters as characters - 100 point superagents or
such - and then the GM drops an additional power set on them in the
course of the first scenario. Don't necessarily force the *players*
through the "discovery" role-playing, but keep the powers somewhat
vague for a few scenarios, and eventually hand out fully-fleshed power
sheets. But by that point, the players should be well into playing
the characters instead of playing the powers.
Steven J. Owens
puff@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 13:47:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: (null)
Geoff Speare writes:
> >Even without using house rules, HERO gives us plenty of leeway to apply and
> >interpret the rules.
>
> This is a problem with every game; there's really nothing you can do but
> test-play with people before signing on for a lengthy campaign...
>
> Geoff Speare (currently looking for /anyone/ in the Lehigh Valley PA area :)
If you ever get down toward Pittsburgh, drop me a line :-).
Steven J. Owens
puff@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 12:17:53 -0700
From: jayphailey@juno.com
Subject: Re: Suggestions Wanted
> I've done things similar in past games. There was a brick who
>was so strong he couldn't handle anything not made of concrete or
reinforced
>metal without destroying it. Or the speedster for whom *everything*
was
>mindless tedium.
> This gives me something to think about...
>
> Jack Butler
On our games speedster tend to stick together when they can. Their high
speed conversations sound like "Blip!" to non-speedsters. Makes the
"mindless tedium" part easier to handle.
It's when GMing to a speedster who has reason to be excepted or stressed
out their nromal friends who say:
"Ccccccccccccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllmmmmmmmmmmmm
Dddddddooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnn."
Once I held it for about 20 seconds and cracked the player up. She had a
little tension her own to release. her character made it through by the
skin of her teeth an some timely NPC inteference. The paramdeics rushed
in soooooooo sssssssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwwwllllllllyyyyyyyyyy....
Jay P. Hailey <Meow!> [ICQ: 37959005]
Read Star Trek- Outwardly Mobile At-
http://www.geocities.com/~tesral/jay/
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------------------------------
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Date: Tuesday, June 29, 1999 03:59 PM