Digest Archives Vol 1 Issue 46
Desmarais, John
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Friday, November 20, 1998 11:34 AM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #46
champ-l-digest Friday, November 20 1998 Volume 01 : Number 046
In this issue:
need loser villains
Re: It's Finally Here
Re: Cheep Speed
Re: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
Re: need loser villains
Re: need loser villains
Re: need loser villains
Re: Disadvantage question
Re: need loser villains
Re: Cheep Speed
Re: need loser villains
Re: need loser villains
Re: Cheep Speed
Re: Northern Cali players
Re: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
Re: Breakable versus Unbreakable.
Re: Breakable versus Unbreakable.
Re: Cheep Speed
RE: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
RE: Disadvantage question
Re: Cheep Speed
Re: need loser villains
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 17:38:33 -0600 (CST)
From: Rick Jones <rick@blkbox.com>
Subject: need loser villains
A nefarious Master Villain is sizing up my PC heroes first by sending
a bunch of loser villains against them, so than when the real villains are
sent after them, they'll have an idea about how they fight and think.
I've got 5 villains, and I need a sixth. The ones I have:
* Hotshot & Hotwire: Bonnie and Clyde with fire and electrical powers.
Mostly losers because they're dumb as rocks.
* Y2K: Evil cyborg with the ability to crash machinery.
* Duke Hazard: awful stereotype who drives a souped up pickup truck over
the PC's.
* Kahless the Conqueror: a Trek fanboy who had himself surgically altered
to look like his hero. A martial artist with "traditional" Klingon
weapons.
Any suggestions?
- --
Rick Jones Let's see. Powers going nuts on me, scary nightmares that
rick@blkbox.com make no sense, psychic weirdos foretelling my doom, and a
perpetually annoyed mother... Yep, I must be a super hero.
http://www-ece.rice.edu/~rickj/ --Speedball, New Warriors #65
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 18:10:12 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: It's Finally Here
> > Anyway. Lesson to be learned. Make sure you give the correct
> >mailing address when ordering something and, if it does go, say, to your
> >parents' place in Illinois,
>
> Are you sure my parents have a place in Illinois? I'll have to ask them
> about it.
Quite sure. Last I checked they were running a Viper nest.
> Maybe they have sectret IDs as well...
Beyond a doubt.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: 19 Nov 1998 19:15:41 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Cheep Speed
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"CB" == Chris Brecken <Christopher.Brecken@sunderland.ac.uk> writes:
>> Now as far as i can figure this, it means that each turn i will pay 2
>> end, and for this i can use an extra point of speed, and it ONLY cost me
>> 5p.
Um, no. Endurance is paid for per Phase, not per Turn. Since you are
getting the benefits of the extra Speed during each of your Action Phases,
you would spend END for that Speed on those Action Phases. Ie, if you are
normally a Speed 3 (4,8,12), and you jump to Speed 4 (3,6,9,12), you would
spend END on segments 3, 6, 9, 12 (with your Limitations you are looking at
8 END per turn if you jump to Speed 4, not 2 per Turn). Oh, and since you
cannot Recover if you are spending END, you will not be able to take a
Recovery other than your free 'post-12'.
This does not address the issue that, if on segment 4 you kick in your
extra Speed, you will have no actions until Segment 12 (cf the rules on
changing speed within a Turn).
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\ exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 15:00:07 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
At 02:01 PM 11/19/98 PST, Jesse Thomas wrote:
>
>
>On Thu, 19 Nov 1998 10:02:36 Bob Greenwade
>
>> Personally, I have a similar list of thoughts regarding the legal
>>profession, though a Certain Former Attorney of our acquaintance has
>>declined my suggestion to write such a book.
>> A book on the medical profession would be nice too.
>
>I don't know that you'd be able to generate a whole book's worth of
>material about either the legal or medical professions without going
>into a psychotic level of unneccesary detail. I'd think it would make
>more sense to combine the two, and perhaps a few other professions
>(banking, CPA's, scientists, stockbrokers, journalists, you know, "white
>collar professionals") into a sort of Ultimate Professionals book. This
>would allow you to provide generic floorplans for hospitals, banks,
>office buildings, laboratories, etc., as well as detailing a lot of
>people your PC's might encounter in both their adventuring and secret
>ID's. Throw in a list of generic NPC's to use as Contacts, DNPC's,
>Rivals & Hunteds, and you're good to go...
I think this could be done for each profession, if the fields (and the
treatments thereof) were broad enough.
>Of course, this leads us to such books as "The Ultimate Laborer" and
>"The Ultimate Homeless Person", so maybe we should just forget it.
I don't think these would be Ultimate. Perhaps "The _____ Professional"
would be a good series title. Thus, the Corporations sourcebook could be
treated as "The Corporate Professional" (or even re-written under that
title). We'd also have "The Law Enforcement Professional" and "The
Military Professional" in the works, with my other two possibilities being
"The Legal Professional" and "The Medical Professional."
Is there anyone out there who'd want me to write "The Performing Arts
Professional"? ;-]
- ---
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: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 19:48:54 -0600
From: "Melinda and Steven Mitchell" <mdmitche@advicom.net>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
> From: Rick Jones <rick@blkbox.com>
> A nefarious Master Villain is sizing up my PC heroes first by sending
> a bunch of loser villains against them, so than when the real villains
are
> sent after them, they'll have an idea about how they fight and think.
>
> I've got 5 villains, and I need a sixth. The ones I have:
>
> * Hotshot & Hotwire: Bonnie and Clyde with fire and electrical powers.
> Mostly losers because they're dumb as rocks.
> * Y2K: Evil cyborg with the ability to crash machinery.
> * Duke Hazard: awful stereotype who drives a souped up pickup truck over
> the PC's.
> * Kahless the Conqueror: a Trek fanboy who had himself surgically altered
> to look like his hero. A martial artist with "traditional" Klingon
> weapons.
>
> Any suggestions?
* Dimwit: can use typical mentalist abilities, all with area effect,
non-selective. Also has AoE, non-selective, personal immunity, drain INT
and WILL, centered on himself (no range). Has a 5 INT and WILL.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 20:56:36 -0500 (EST)
From: tdj723@webtv.net (thomas deja)
Subject: Re: need loser villains
Oddly enough, I am presently preparing to run a scenario called DORK'S
NIGHT OUT for my PBeM (Matthieu, close your eyes), in which a bunch of
loser villians descend upon New Orleans as 'The Legion of Hate' in the
hopes of making the big time. The villians include:
DR. LEPUS--an evil gadgeteer mastermind on a budget; his name comes from
the fact that he had to buy his costume store-bought from a
going-out-of-business costume shop, and all the had left in his price
range was a sad Easter Bunny outift, stained and with a broken ear (the
wire hanging out!). Thus he's a evil scientist who looks like a sleazy
rabbit....I also gave him two female followers called Flopsy and Mopsy.
RIPJAW--a mafioso with, ummm, really DEVELOPED dentition--so much so the
teeth are chopping up his lips and its almost impossible for him to
speak intelligably.
THE DEADLY HUMAN TOP--he spins. Really fast. Is not really deadly, and
has appeared in every one of my games as a sad sack who is defeated with
lightning speed.
EARTH MASTER--a brick who is deluded into thinking he controls ALL the
world. (i.e., when he super leaps, he claims he is eliminating
gravity's pull)
Hope some of these ideas help.....
"'Money doesn't talk--it screams."
--A.J. Benza, HOLLYWOOD MYSTERIES AND SCANDALS
____________________________________
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
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 17:27:53 -0800
From: "Hilary" <kabuki@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
Here's a couple of lame villains for you. Hope they are sucky enough:
Checkered Man: Costume is like a checkerboard pattern. Even his face is
painted in this pattern. He throwns little metal checker pieces that can
explode or not, on contact.
Discoteck: This former Go-Go dancer, dressed in 6" gold platform boots has
the power to make annoying lights.
Pong: A hyper little guy who's got viciously lame superleaping powers.
The Orangutan: A devious villain in that he has no super powers. For he's
not a man at all, but an actual Orangutan.
Captain Kelm: Fresh from Bellevue Mental Hospital, Cpt. Kelm believes he's
a fugitive Nazi, though in fact he's a Canadian native(which is crime
enough in some states). He has the awesome power of superheated hands. He
is only effective if he can actually touch a PC.
If those aren't bad enough, I can think of dozen's more. Sad, isn't it?
Hil
>
> A nefarious Master Villain is sizing up my PC heroes first by sending
> a bunch of loser villains against them, so than when the real villains
are
> sent after them, they'll have an idea about how they fight and think.
>
> I've got 5 villains, and I need a sixth. The ones I have:
>
> * Hotshot & Hotwire: Bonnie and Clyde with fire and electrical powers.
> Mostly losers because they're dumb as rocks.
> * Y2K: Evil cyborg with the ability to crash machinery.
> * Duke Hazard: awful stereotype who drives a souped up pickup truck over
> the PC's.
> * Kahless the Conqueror: a Trek fanboy who had himself surgically altered
> to look like his hero. A martial artist with "traditional" Klingon
> weapons.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> --
> Rick Jones Let's see. Powers going nuts on me, scary nightmares
that
> rick@blkbox.com make no sense, psychic weirdos foretelling my doom,
and a
> perpetually annoyed mother... Yep, I must be a super
hero.
> http://www-ece.rice.edu/~rickj/ --Speedball, New Warriors #65
>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 18:51:04 -0600
From: "Melinda and Steven Mitchell" <mdmitche@advicom.net>
Subject: Re: Disadvantage question
> From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@iii.com>
>
> Hm...idea I was playing around with for handling magic in a fantasy
setting
> (allow VPPs, but at the same time keep them under control):
>
> Rather than 'requires a skill roll', take a new disadvantage 'requires a
unique
> knowledge skill'. You can still be flexible -- but each distinct spell
> requires you to spend a point, and you will need to spend additional
points on
> levels (probably group levels). Aside from being a knowledge skill
(rather
> than a 3/2 int-based skill) and being separate for every effect, it would
be
> the same as 'requires a skill roll'.
>
> How big a disadvantage is this on a power? I'm guessing 1/4 or 1/2.
> How big a disadvantage on the control cost for a VPP? This one is fairly
> severe, as it drastically reduces the flexibility of the VPP.
>
> While levels with 3 skills are normally 3 point levels, given that
knowledge
> skill levels are 1 pt each that's hardly worth anything. Should group
levels
> with (knowledge/science/area/etc) be half cost?
Hmm, this seems to be an infrequent but recurring question. I'd start
answering directly, except that past experience has shown that everyone
wants to do this their own way. < "Darn that Hero variety" :-) > I've got
my system. I think qts uses his own take on VPP. Wasn't it Brian W. who
just went through this last month? Brian?
So my real answer is that based on my own experience, you aren't going to
get it right until you play test it. Or at least write up a few
characters. With that in mind, I suggest just pick something. What you
have above could work. See how the point totals match up compared to non
spell-casters. See if they are relatively effective like you want them to
be. (I.e. Mages weak, average, powerful compared to warriors?) Let
everyone know that you might switch things in after a few sessions.
The only other thing I would suggest is that you err on the side of too
harsh on the mages. It's easier, for example, to decide that 3 point
levels will suffice for the 5 point levels you originally required, rather
than the other way around.
If you are unfamiliar with what I've proposed in the past, I can provide
that, also.
Steve M.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 21:55:49 -0500 (EST)
From: tdj723@webtv.net (thomas deja)
Subject: Re: need loser villains
- --WebTV-Mail-1203561152-1731
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*In between bouts of laughter brought on by The Orangutang*
Funny you talked about checkered man...in the scenario I just finished
running, we had a blind woman who could damp out other people's sight.
Feeling nostalgic for the DC Go-Go Check era, I gave her power a
checkered special effect, and made her 'costume' a series of normal
clothes outfits done up in this go-go check motif.
Another source of lame villians in my life is a team my friend Mark and
I came up with many years ago called The Legion of Substitute
Substitutes--the kids the Legion of Substitute Heroes rejected,
including Foul-Muothed By and his brother, Censorship Lad; Powerful Girl
(who was really sort but had the proportional strength of a really fit
normal man); The All-Nighter (who could find an all night deli anywhere
in the galaxy) and Flicker Boy (who could project movies from his eyes)
"'Money doesn't talk--it screams."
--A.J. Benza, HOLLYWOOD MYSTERIES AND SCANDALS
____________________________________
THE ULTIMATE HULK, containing the new story, "A Quiet, Normal Life," is
available now from Byron Preiss and Berkley
_______________________________
An except from the new story "My Worst Break Up" can now be found at
MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN TITLE
www.freeyellow.com/members/tdj
- --WebTV-Mail-1203561152-1731
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From: "Hilary" <kabuki@ix.netcom.com>
To: "Champions Mailing List" <champ-l@sysabend.org>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 17:27:53 -0800
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Here's a couple of lame villains for you. Hope they are sucky enough:
Checkered Man: Costume is like a checkerboard pattern. Even his face is
painted in this pattern. He throwns little metal checker pieces that can
explode or not, on contact.
Discoteck: This former Go-Go dancer, dressed in 6" gold platform boots has
the power to make annoying lights.
Pong: A hyper little guy who's got viciously lame superleaping powers.
The Orangutan: A devious villain in that he has no super powers. For he's
not a man at all, but an actual Orangutan.
Captain Kelm: Fresh from Bellevue Mental Hospital, Cpt. Kelm believes he's
a fugitive Nazi, though in fact he's a Canadian native(which is crime
enough in some states). He has the awesome power of superheated hands. He
is only effective if he can actually touch a PC.
If those aren't bad enough, I can think of dozen's more. Sad, isn't it?
Hil
>
> A nefarious Master Villain is sizing up my PC heroes first by sending
> a bunch of loser villains against them, so than when the real villains
are
> sent after them, they'll have an idea about how they fight and think.
>
> I've got 5 villains, and I need a sixth. The ones I have:
>
> * Hotshot & Hotwire: Bonnie and Clyde with fire and electrical powers.
> Mostly losers because they're dumb as rocks.
> * Y2K: Evil cyborg with the ability to crash machinery.
> * Duke Hazard: awful stereotype who drives a souped up pickup truck over
> the PC's.
> * Kahless the Conqueror: a Trek fanboy who had himself surgically altered
> to look like his hero. A martial artist with "traditional" Klingon
> weapons.
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> --
> Rick Jones Let's see. Powers going nuts on me, scary nightmares
that
> rick@blkbox.com make no sense, psychic weirdos foretelling my doom,
and a
> perpetually annoyed mother... Yep, I must be a super
hero.
> http://www-ece.rice.edu/~rickj/ --Speedball, New Warriors #65
>
- --WebTV-Mail-1203561152-1731--
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 14:13:00 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: Cheep Speed
At 08:47 PM 11/19/98 +0000, Chris Brecken wrote:
>
>
>Chris Brecken wrote:
>
>> I have a question, I want to buy an extra point of speed and represent
it as the
>> ability to push myself in an emergency.
>> I thought of 1 point of speed (10p), costs end (-1/2) and x2 end (-1/2)
>> total cost 5p
>>
>> Now as far as i can figure this, it means that each turn i will pay 2
end, and for
>> this i can use an extra point of speed, and it ONLY cost me 5p. This
seams far too
>> cheep...
>>
>> My GM has ok'd this, but i would like to here other peoples opinions on
this....
2 END per *Turn*? No, it should cost 2 END per Phase (including the
extra one), and the charactr should have to pay the cost every Phase in the
Turn in which it's used. In other words it would cost 2x(Total SPD) per
Turn.
- ---
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: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 23:38:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Daniel Pawtowski <dpawtows@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
Let's see here...
THE RULES LAWYER: A whiny hack&slash GM who has been utterly
dominating the lives of game characters for so long that he believes
he can do it to real people, too. Maybe give him Powers, or maybe
he just stupifies opponents by quoting rules endlessly.
THE OTAKU: This guy has watched WAAAAAY too much Anime. He's got
a power-armor suit made from stuff he found in his parent's basement,
martial arts that can only be performed by 2-dimensional people, and
about 25 Points of Lechary.
THE GOTH: Dark clothes, white skin. Loner. Thinks his PRE is
a lot higher than it really is. Excellent stealth abilities, and
various Darkness-based powers with the SFX of clouds of smoke from
odd cigarrettes.
THE BROWSER: Can deduce any piece of information, but is easily
sidetraceked by vaguely relevant, if interesting, alternate data.
Has Images to display his information, and Mind Control: "Sit and
watch this". Many of his powers take Extra Time. The Otaku and
Rules Lawyer have vulnerabilities to this guy.
And before anybody takes offense, I've highly resembled at least
two of these myself (won't say which :-).
Daniel "The Geek" Pawtowski
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 21:57:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Hayden <mhayden@tsoft.com>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
On Thu, 19 Nov 1998, Hilary wrote:
> Pong: A hyper little guy who's got viciously lame superleaping powers.
I'm remembering Foxbat and that pong gun of his! Gah, make it stop... ^_^
My own villains:
BUBBLETAPE -- Master of the confection of the same name...
MAD COW -- Obsessed activist hunted by McDonalds lawyers...
THE SQUEGEE -- Street bum by day, masked avenger by night...
MR. BODY -- 101 uses for Simulate Death...
THUNDER THIGHS -- Female brick with a special sonic attack...
DOG BOY -- Beware his Ugly Stick! (Drain vs. COM, OAF)
DING-DONG & HO-HO -- Umm... okay, I'd better stop now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michael "Doc" Hayden -- mhayden@tsoft.com -- http://tsoft.com/~mhayden/
Hey, I use Procmail (with Spam Bouncer), so spam away! (^_^)
"What you are about to see is real. These are not actors; they're directors."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 17:28:21 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: Cheep Speed
>This does not address the issue that, if on segment 4 you kick in your
>extra Speed, you will have no actions until Segment 12 (cf the rules on
>changing speed within a Turn).
I always thought that was one of their goofier rules. It's not hard to
figure out what phase someone will next get in a round when they change
speed without resorting to quite that coarse an effect. For example,
someone going from 6 to 8 SPD as of Phase 4 would simply start using the
phase table for SPD 8 after Phase 4. I used to assume it was to prevent
some sort of advantage being gained by manipulating mid round, but I've not
been able to see where that would occur.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 01:46:02 -0800 (PST)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Northern Cali players
Hilary writes:
> I've just moved to the Palo Alto/San Jose area and was wondering if there
> were any Champions palyers out there from the area seeking a group. Have
> several people already but looking for one or two more players to fatten
> the rosters.
I have no idea where that is in relation to where I am, in
Pasadena, in LA. I suspect the answer is "very far away" :-(. I'm
visiting/working for a couple months here. The place I'm staying is
about a mile from (I'm told) the caltech campus.
I'd really like to hook up with some roleplayers; the guys I'm
staying (and working) with are okay sorts, but sooner or later we're
gonna get on each others' nerves...
Steven J. Owens
puff@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 02:07:35 -0800 (PST)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
I wrote:
> > The basic idea was to build all the normal, everyday things and
> >characters you might encounter in a modern hero game, complete with
> >point costs. This would give the GM an invaluable resource, and the
> >players who want to run "normal"-based characters a guideline for
> >things they could acquire.
Followed by lots of interesting and cool discussion, good job
folks.
Bob Greenwade writes:
> Actually, while I don't think it'd necessarily fit into the Ultimate
> line, I think that this would be a worthwhile project.
Well, whatever. Essentially I want something to fill the gap
between the supers and the rest of the world. A good GM can wing it,
but often it's nice not to have to... plus it's not always obvious
what skill levels should be for a given profession or a given task,
and you can't be expert on everything. Sure, I'd love to eventually
get the entire writer's reference bookshelf, and have a book on any
profession or area of interest easy to hand. But when would I have
time to *read* them all?
I'd rather have a few pages each on most of the more likely
oddball topics that provide enough shallow knowledge to make winging
it less arduous. The old 80/20 rule (it's the last 20% that's really
tough to get...).
> > I also wanted an Almanac-style book (I mean like a real Almanac)
> >about all sorts of useful knowledge for a Champions game. For
> >example, law enforcement:
> [snip well thought-out list of questions]
>
> Mark Arsenault is working on this for GRG, with the working title of Law
> and Order (though this may need to be changed to avoid confusion with the
> NBC-TV police/legal drama series).
> I understand that there's a book in the works covering a similar range
> of materials for the military.
Another poster mentioned these two; those were just two sets of
examples, however, from a broader set of topics. And truth be told, I
suspect the books will be useful but a bit of overkill, as above.
What I was really wishing for was something that I could quickly
flip through and look up, say, how long it will take a swat team to
deploy, or how likely they are to be busy elsewhere, or skim a
description of how a precinct is organized in five minutes. Summary
ready-reference form, a FAQ, though having a full resource book to
back it up would be terrific.
I've noticed that most RPG resource books are fairly good at
giving a general summary of a topic while being much more concise and
amenable to skimming than, say, a writer's reference or any sort of
actual text from the field. Trouble is, while I can find GURPS
worldbooks on numerous arcane settings, I can't find one on modern
life.
> Personally, I have a similar list of thoughts regarding the legal
> profession, though a Certain Former Attorney of our acquaintance has
> declined my suggestion to write such a book.
> A book on the medical profession would be nice too.
On the one hand, certainly you could fill a good-sized tome with
info about either of these professions. On the other, how much of
that would be really applicable to your typical RPG? Again, two or
three pages of text describing standard hospital organization and
procedures, followed by several pages of maps and maybe a handful of
stock NPCs, would do the job for 80% of the occasions.
Call of Cthulu, while I'm on the topic, had a really cool 2-page
or so essay on what happens to a body after death. A good read for
any campaign where the players may have to deal with a recently
deceased corpse.
> This would be a good book on its own, or even a series of books. It
> could be done in such a generic manner, in fact, that just about any game
> company could put it out (though I'd nominate GRG, with its broad
> multi-system publishing base, for this one).
True, it might be possible to keep the system-specific stuff out
of the book, or perhaps have the main book and a variety of appendices
of character stats and such available, one for each system.
I still think this would be really interesting to do as a
database-driven compilation of essays, contributed by members of the
list and other role-playing forums.
Steven J. Owens
puff@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 06:09:41 -0500
From: "Robert A. West" <robtwest@erols.com>
Subject: Re: Breakable versus Unbreakable.
Leah L Watts wrote:
>
> >Actually, the BBB is very explicit on this point: An unbreakable focus
> >can *only* be damaged or destroyed by one specified means, but it is
> >*impossible* to make a new one if it is destroyed or taken. A breakable
> >focus can be repaired if broken, or replaced if taken.
>
> Actually, Champs Deluxe says "The GM should be careful with an
> Unbreakable Focus; if he destroys it, the character should have some way
> (a quest, perhaps?) to get it remade." It wouldn't be _impossible_, but
> it would be much harder.
As I read the section, if the *GM* decides to unmake the focus, either
the player should be granted a Radiation Accident and get back the
points, or the GM should devise a method for getting it back. If the
*player* allows it to be destroyed, the player will just have to suffer.
In any case, as we all know, even death is not permanent in comics.
>
> If I'm reading the section correctly, an unbreakable focus doesn't get
> any defenses against the one attack it's vulnerable to, while breakable
> foci get a DEF rating. If an unbreakable focus can be destroyed by, say,
> flame, then someone could trash it with a lit match. I'd call that a
> disadvantage.
I don't think that you are reading the section correctly. I believe
that "Unbreakable" focus was put in to represent powerful magical
artifacts, which can only be destroyed in a very specific way, generally
requiring great preparation. For example, my Islamic warrior, Saladin,
had a sword that could only be destroyed by striking it three times on
the black stone of Mecca at noon on the last day of the month of
Ramadan. An unbreakable focus that could be destroyed by something as
common as flame should, IMHO, get a huge Limitation.
>
> 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: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 04:50:04 -0800 (PST)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Breakable versus Unbreakable.
Robert A. West writes:
> Leah L Watts wrote:
> > If I'm reading the section correctly, an unbreakable focus doesn't get
> > any defenses against the one attack it's vulnerable to, while breakable
> > foci get a DEF rating. If an unbreakable focus can be destroyed by, say,
> > flame, then someone could trash it with a lit match. I'd call that a
> > disadvantage.
>
> I don't think that you are reading the section correctly. I believe
> that "Unbreakable" focus was put in to represent powerful magical
> artifacts, which can only be destroyed in a very specific way, generally
> requiring great preparation. For example, my Islamic warrior, Saladin,
> had a sword that could only be destroyed by striking it three times on
> the black stone of Mecca at noon on the last day of the month of
> Ramadan. An unbreakable focus that could be destroyed by something as
> common as flame should, IMHO, get a huge Limitation.
Durandal (a legendary sword; the dying hero supposedly attempted to
destroy it, to prevent his enemies from getting it, but instead it smashed
the boulder he struck it against), or Captain America's shield, or Green
Lantern's Ring of Power, are three examples that come easily to mind.
Steven J. Owens
puff@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: 20 Nov 1998 09:25:41 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Cheep Speed
- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
"WS" == Wayne Shaw <shaw@caprica.com> writes:
WS> For example, someone going from 6 to 8 SPD as of Phase 4 would simply
WS> start using the phase table for SPD 8 after Phase 4.
Watch: Character starts at Speed 4 (3,6,9,12). On segment 3, character
changes to speed 3 (4,8,12). On Segment 4, chracter changes to speed 4.
On Segment 6, character changes to Speed 3. On Segment 8, character
changes to speed 4. By changing Speed, the Speed 4 character gets 6 action
phaess during the turn. The permutations for characters with higher
maximum Speed ratings are even worse.
- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: PGPfreeware 5.0i for non-commercial use
Charset: noconv
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- --
Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> \ Warning: pregnant women, the elderly, and
PGP Key: at a key server near you! \ children under 10 should avoid prolonged
\ exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 09:48:30 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
Subject: RE: Ultimate Books (was Re: Computers)
Is there anyone out there who'd want me to write "The Performing Arts
Professional"? ;-]
No.
Under no circumstances would I ever want to see The Ultimate Accordian
Player, The Ultimate Ambulance Driver, The Ultimate Pipe Fitter or The
Ultimate Retail Salesperson.
If you want to pick up stuff for lawyers, watch Law & Order. If you want
to know secret agent stuff, read Tom Clancy. If you want to know
theoretical physics, read a book and do the math.
Before I ever see a Hero book about the medical profession or any other
RL job, I'd like to see a decent Fantasy Hero campaign book, just one.
Besides, weren't lawyers covered in Enemies III? <:-O
BRI, The Ultimate Alien Conspirator
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 10:15:56 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
Subject: RE: Disadvantage question
...is own take on VPP. Wasn't it Brian W. who
just went through this last month? Brian?
Hi,
Yea, I went to great lengths to look at the myriad ways that others have
handled magic in an FH game.
If you're going to do unique KS's or WF-style familiarities, I'd only
allow that disad to be put on the control cost. If you're going to put a
Skill Roll disad on the spell itself, it should be a 3pts skill,
probably INT-based.
What I did for magic in my new Sanktis FH game [web page coming soon]was
this. Magic is divided into numerous spheres (fire, life, necromancy,
etc.) and six categories (projection, alteration, conjuration, etc.)so
every spell will fit into one sphere and one category. For example, the
everlovin' FireBolt is Fire Projection, dig?
So, a magic user has one powerpool for all his magic, but multiple
control costs. Each sphere has it's own control cost, magic skill, and
END reserve. Here's the part I like the best. Instead of just buying
2pt. levels to crank your spell roll, magic skill levels go like this:
2pts. +1 with any single spell (eg. FireBolt)
3pts. +1 with any sphere/category (eg. Fire Projection)
5pts. +1 with any sphere OR category (eg. all Fire or all Projection)
8pts. +1 with all magic
So the game has actually begun and things are going well. I have two
players that use the magic in totally different ways. I have one full-on
mage with 6 spheres, good rolls all around and crappy physical stats. It
turns out he's no damn good in a scrap but he can heal like mad and he's
a stealth machine. His pool is worth 23pts. so his most horrible attack
is a 1D6 RKA with armour piercing. The other practitioner is a
palladin-in-training. He specializes in life magic and has a very small
pool. His pool changes as a 0-phase action so he cranks his STR, swings
his weapon, then shifts his magic to pump his rPd. I'm really happy with
the way this turned out.
If anybody wants more a more detailed explanation of how I pulled all
this together, email me privately or wait for the web page.
Later
BRI
> From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@iii.com>
>
> Hm...idea I was playing around with for handling magic in a fantasy
setting
> (allow VPPs, but at the same time keep them under control):
>
> Rather than 'requires a skill roll', take a new disadvantage 'requires
a
unique
> knowledge skill'. You can still be flexible -- but each distinct
spell
> requires you to spend a point, and you will need to spend additional
points on
> levels (probably group levels). Aside from being a knowledge skill
(rather
> than a 3/2 int-based skill) and being separate for every effect, it
would
be
> the same as 'requires a skill roll'.
>
> How big a disadvantage is this on a power? I'm guessing 1/4 or 1/2.
> How big a disadvantage on the control cost for a VPP? This one is
fairly
> severe, as it drastically reduces the flexibility of the VPP.
>
> While levels with 3 skills are normally 3 point levels, given that
knowledge
> skill levels are 1 pt each that's hardly worth anything. Should group
levels
> with (knowledge/science/area/etc) be half cost?
Hmm, this seems to be an infrequent but recurring question. I'd start
answering directly, except that past experience has shown that everyone
wants to do this their own way. < "Darn that Hero variety" :-) > I've
got
my system. I think qts uses his own take on VPP. Wasn't it Brian W.
who
just went through this last month? Brian?
So my real answer is that based on my own experience, you aren't going
to
get it right until you play test it. Or at least write up a few
characters. With that in mind, I suggest just pick something. What you
have above could work. See how the point totals match up compared to
non
spell-casters. See if they are relatively effective like you want them
to
be. (I.e. Mages weak, average, powerful compared to warriors?) Let
everyone know that you might switch things in after a few sessions.
The only other thing I would suggest is that you err on the side of too
harsh on the mages. It's easier, for example, to decide that 3 point
levels will suffice for the 5 point levels you originally required,
rather
than the other way around.
If you are unfamiliar with what I've proposed in the past, I can provide
that, also.
Steve M.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 10:32:48 -0500
From: "Asman, David" <D.asman@wayne.edu>
Subject: Re: Cheep Speed
snipped from Stainless Steel Rat's message
"Watch: Character starts at Speed 4 (3,6,9,12).
On segment 3, character changes to speed 3 (4,8,12). On Segment 4,
chracter changes to speed 4."
If I remember the BBB correctly, when someone changes speed in the
middle of a turn, his/her next action won't be until the next common
phase for the previous and new speed. In this case, if the character
changes speed from 4 to 3 on phase 3, he/she won't be allowed to act
again until phase 12.
My take is have the player decide, at the beginning of the turn, what
speed the PC will be, and leave it.
paz,
dave
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 06:58:46 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: need loser villains
At 05:38 PM 11/19/98 -0600, Rick Jones wrote:
>A nefarious Master Villain is sizing up my PC heroes first by sending
>a bunch of loser villains against them, so than when the real villains are
>sent after them, they'll have an idea about how they fight and think.
>
>I've got 5 villains, and I need a sixth. The ones I have:
>
>* Hotshot & Hotwire: Bonnie and Clyde with fire and electrical powers.
> Mostly losers because they're dumb as rocks.
>* Y2K: Evil cyborg with the ability to crash machinery.
>* Duke Hazard: awful stereotype who drives a souped up pickup truck over
> the PC's.
>* Kahless the Conqueror: a Trek fanboy who had himself surgically altered
> to look like his hero. A martial artist with "traditional" Klingon
> weapons.
>
>Any suggestions?
The first thing that came to my mind is a concept that's been (ahem)
running around in my head for a couple of months now: Speed Bump, a
speedster whose main attack is a Move By (even though he has low defenses
and takes some goodly STUN every time he does it). Then I noticed that his
tactic isn't far off Duke Hazard, so that might not be ideal.
Then I thought of Ground Zero, an Earth-based Density-Increasing brick
whose opening move in an ambush is to jump off a tall building and land on
his target (again, someone who tends to hurt himself nearly as much as his
opponents).
Failing that, you could try Mental Case, who has all the standard
Mentalist powers but is rather easily distracted (picture a low-powered
Menton with the personality of Pinky.)
- ---
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
------------------------------
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