Digest Archives Vol 1 Issue 177
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Monday, February 01, 1999 7:45 PM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #177
champ-l-digest Monday, February 1 1999 Volume 01 : Number 177
In this issue:
Re: GenCon 99
Re: GenCon 99
The Necrotron
Re: Other SRPGs as source material
Re: Other SRPGs as source material
Re: Martial artist power
Re: GenCon 99
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: Taking BODY
Re: Martial artist power
Unity in Nerd Culture [was GenCon 99]
Re: Multipower Questions
Re: Limitations on Multipowers
Re: The Necrotron
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: Hero news!
Re: Multipower Questions
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: Multipower Questions
Re: Dress for DF (Character: Gandalf The Grey)
Re: Martial artist power
Re: Multipower Questions
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: Multipower Questions (fwd)
Re: Multipower Questions
Re: Martial artist power
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: Character: Gandalf The Grey
Re: Martial artist power
Re:(Character: Gandalf The Grey)
Re: Unity in Nerd Culture [was GenCon 99]
Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
Re: GenCon 99
Re: Multipower Questions (fwd)
Re: Martial artist power
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 10:24:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Ell Egyptoid <egyptoid@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: GenCon 99
> Ah, but you didnt mention the most important thing!
> They seperated the Magic players off in their own building!
> We didnt have to look at a single Magic card
> during the entire convention last year!!
Why is this an important thing?
==
=========================== Elliott aka The Egyptoid ==
=== JLA: Justice League Alabama === Central HQ ===========
=== http://www.sysabend.org/champions/elliott/index.html =
_________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 13:50:20 -0500
From: Scott Nolan <nolan@erols.com>
Subject: Re: GenCon 99
At 10:24 AM 2/1/99 -0800, Ell Egyptoid wrote:
>> Ah, but you didnt mention the most important thing!
>> They seperated the Magic players off in their own building!
>> We didnt have to look at a single Magic card
>> during the entire convention last year!!
>
>Why is this an important thing?
Because it is a cancer upon the face of gaming?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When the stars threw down their spears,
and water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"
William Blake, The Tyger
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott C. Nolan
nolan@erols.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 13:49:25 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
Subject: The Necrotron
Hi,
Those of you on the Champs list may remember me asking about zombie hordes a
few months ago. The zombies worked out okay but my players draw the zombies
into a tactical situation that allowed them to fight in a doorway, thus the
situation was less of an overwhelming zombie mob than a queue of HTK [hard
to kill] fodder that weren't much of a threat to the front-door guys.
I have another topic to ask the list's opinion on. The dungeon boss in this
adventure is called the Necrotron, a great machine run by necromantic
magics. The Necrotron's main attack is an NND EB with some clever homing
features who's SFX is the good ol' flaming skull.
At any rate, in order to approach the Necrotron, the players have to wade
through this waist deep pit filled with animated body parts. So, the
mechanics of this pit should reflect a stew of arms, legs, partial torsos,
rotting intestines and so on whose only purpose is to grab a living thing
and pull into the soup and drown it. Obviously, I want this to be scary but
not lethal. Mostly this exists to freak out the players and slow them down
enough so the Necrotron can get some shots off.
I've considered running the zombie stew with a variety of mechanics. A STR 5
grab run like suppression fire would probably be the most realistic but
might be too cumbersome to run. The easiest way might be to have everyone
make a STR roll before every half move and then, if they fail it, deny
movement and lay the grab. Likewise, I could use an area effect TK that
pushes [pulls] living things down.
Any opinions on this would be appreciated. If you've run an effect like this
before, let me know how it went. I'm hoping to instill a sense of panic but
I'm afraid it might just get tedious.
Thanks
BRI
Brian Wawrow
Financial Models Company
"Do or do not. There is no try."
- - Yoda
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 14:44:17 -0500
From: David Stallard <DBStallard@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Other SRPGs as source material
Message text written by Christopher Spoor:
>Have you checked out Marvels Ultimate Power book. If anyone wants I can
post a couple really good Hero Unlimited web addresses<
No, I've never seen that book. Is it out of print now? Can you give me a
brief description of it? It sounds like it could be very interesting as
far as getting ideas for character concepts.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 14:45:01 -0500
From: David Stallard <DBStallard@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Other SRPGs as source material
Message text written by Michael (Damon) & Peni Griffin:
>In Hero, you could just allow "Urban Area"
to be bought as an environment under the standard Survival Skill...but how
many people have thought of it?<
This is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not really looking for rules
that aren't covered by the Hero System, I'm just looking for examples. For
instance, Heroes Unlimited describes a Smoke/Mist Control power and then
lists several things you could do with that (obscure an area, choke
someone, etc). In Hero terms, this would be an Elemental Control, with
Darkness and NND as slots. The HU book just gave me some ideas in the
Smoke/Mist department. Also, HU has a section called "Insanity" which
offers many ideas that I could turn into Psych Lims for my Champions game.
Things like that are what I'm looking for.
Your message about the various superhero games was excellent, but I think
you may have written some off because they didn't have any rules that were
not already covered by the Hero System.
By the way, how many of the games you mentioned are still in print? V&V is
gone, isn't it? What about that Guardians game you mentioned? I've never
heard of it, but you said you picked it up recently, so I don't know if
it's a new game or you found a used copy somewhere.
I'm hoping that the upcoming book (I forget the title) on "how to run a
superhero game" will have tons of power examples, but I'm not sure. I
still think an "Ultimate Energy Projector" book is needed for those of us
who aren't as knowledgeable in the various areas of physics....
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 12:28:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Ell Egyptoid <egyptoid@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Martial artist power
> I am working on a Martial Artist.
> Desolid SFX = uber-dodge.
I like the idea. I have used desolid as
a way to model various "unhittable" SFX.
I'm not sure why people get so itchy about it.
Just define his vulnerability as explosions, etc.
I've never seen it on a Martial Artist before,
usually on people like Plastic-Man, Elongated Man,
etc. But I can see how it couild fit certain mystic
martial prowesses.
==
=========================== Elliott aka The Egyptoid ==
=== JLA: Justice League Alabama === Central HQ ===========
=== http://www.sysabend.org/champions/elliott/index.html =
_________________________________________________________
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 11:39:56 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: GenCon 99
At 01:50 PM 2/1/99 -0500, Scott Nolan wrote:
>At 10:24 AM 2/1/99 -0800, Ell Egyptoid wrote:
>>> Ah, but you didnt mention the most important thing!
>>> They seperated the Magic players off in their own building!
>>> We didnt have to look at a single Magic card
>>> during the entire convention last year!!
>>
>>Why is this an important thing?
>
>Because it is a cancer upon the face of gaming?
Well, so are we, so you're going to need a better reason than that. ;-]
Seriously, having two so totally different types of gaming right next to
each other can be a bit distracting to both groups. Better to have them
separate, but equally accessible.
- ---
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: 01 Feb 1999 15:44:57 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
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"TG" == Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu> writes:
>> Um, yes.
TG> Unless, of course, the Nucular Bomb radiation attack wasn't bought
TG> with "not vs LS: Radiation."
Well, considering that it properly should be built as an NND with the
appropriate Life Support as the defense... :)
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------------------------------
Date: 01 Feb 1999 15:48:42 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Taking BODY
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"EW" == Eric Wylie <erk@halcyon.com> writes:
EW> Could you elaborate? Do you disagree with the concept or the
EW> implementation?
Ummm... who? Me?
I'm against the concept. Healed means healed, as in totally recovered from
the injury.
I'm against the implementation. If you are going to make me sit out a
session or three, I'll go find another game to play in.
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------------------------------
Date: 01 Feb 1999 15:56:40 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Martial artist power
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"TG" == Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu> writes:
TG> SFX are no attacks, remember--that's part of the desol.
TG> Therefore, we're looking at 40 points of 2 pt levels with dodge, costs
TG> end.
*shrug*
Disarm falls into the defensive philosophy, even though the maneuvers are
offensive maneuvers as far as game mechanics are concerned. The style
itself should have a defensive philosophy, and the DCV skill levels would
be with that style if you wish to go that route.
Also, you cannot put "Costs END" on 2-point levels (we just got through
with this, didn't we? :)
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:40:37 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@mondello.toronto.fmco.com>
Subject: Unity in Nerd Culture [was GenCon 99]
Y'know what? I've been into gaming for something like 15 years. The list is
full of people who have been gaming in one form or another for at least that
long. I bet I'm not alone in my observation that ours has always been a
subculture that is, at best, misunderstood by common folk.
So when you see the 14 year old kid with his prepackaged Magic deck at the
gaming convention, don't dis him. He's one of us. He's just new.
It's cool to be a purist but don't try and be a gaming snob. It never pays
off. Personaly, I hate everything that even smells like White Wolf but if it
brings new people into gaming, it's all good.
BRI
] >Because it is a cancer upon the face of gaming?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 12:48:14 -0800
From: "Filksinger" <filkhero@usa.net>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions
From: qts <qts@nildram.co.uk>
>On Fri, 29 Jan 1999 17:18:05 -0800, Filksinger wrote:
>
>>Nevertheless, the person with the "Lim: Only in rain" gets to reduce his
>>pool cost _without any penalty whatsoever, while the person with Charges
has
>>to take additional _severe_ penalties.
>
>The two are in no way similar!
The two are in no way completely dissimilar, so they must be similar to some
degree. They are not quite the _same_, true, but your example completely
ignores my point. In fact, I can use _your_ example, carried to its
ridiculous extreme, to prove my own point.
>Lets reduce it to a simple case and look at it this way:
OK. However, I'm going more simple than you, to prove my point.
<snip an example of why my method doesn't work>
Maggo the Mage has Vancian magic, without a Multipower. He has 10 spells
memorized simultaneously.
20 12d6 EB, One Charge (-2)
20 4d6 RKA, One Charge (-2)
and so on for another 8 powers.
Total cost: 200 pts.
Now, let us suppose that Maggo leaves the limits of Vancian magic behind for
the limits of ritual based magic, which takes a very long time to cast:
20 12d6 EB, Extra Time (-2)
20 4d6 RKA, Extra Time (-2)
and so on for another 8 powers.
Total cost: 200 pts.
The two sets of powers are exactly equal in points. Now, lets suppose I use
your rules for creating Multipowers. Keeping them _exactly equal_, limiting
them both in exactly the _same way_ all down the line, I get this:
60 Multipower (60)
2 u12d6 EB, One Charge (-2)
2 u4d6 RKA, One Charge (-2)
and so on for another 8 powers.
Total cost: 70 pts.
20 Multipower (60); Extra Time (-2)
2 u12d6 EB, Extra Time (-2)
2 u4d6 RKA, Extra Time (-2)
and so on for another 8 powers.
Total cost: 30 pts.
Both are additionally limited in that only one spell can be cast at a time,
but that is the _only_ additional limitation. So, they both start out even,
but somehow the charges version ends up costing 133% more, for taking on
_exactly the same limits_.
Sorry, but I cannot agree that this is fair, as it stands.
Filksinger
------------------------------
Date: 01 Feb 1999 16:23:45 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Limitations on Multipowers
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"WS" == Wayne Shaw <shaw@caprica.com> writes:
WS> Not really, Rat; since an Energy Blast can be spread across a hex for a
WS> whole loss of one die,
Not quite. An EB can be spread to hit multiple targets, one die per hex in
a straight line, but it does not fill the Hex the way AoE: Hex does. It is
still considered to be a single target attack, and an attack roll must be
made for each target. In the end, it works more like Autofire than AoE.
Given that, if you want to blast 7 Focuses (the BBB's pluralization, go
fig) with a single EB, I would require that you spend 6 dice for the
additional targets. Go ahead and roll 13 Body on 6D6 worth of EB; now do
it 7 times. :)
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:47:37 -0600
From: "Michael (Damon) & Peni Griffin" <griffin@txdirect.net>
Subject: Re: The Necrotron
At 01:49 PM 2/1/1999 -0500, Brian Wawrow wrote:
>At any rate, in order to approach the Necrotron, the players have to wade
>through this waist deep pit filled with animated body parts. So, the
>mechanics of this pit should reflect a stew of arms, legs, partial torsos,
>rotting intestines and so on whose only purpose is to grab a living thing
>and pull into the soup and drown it. Obviously, I want this to be scary but
>not lethal. Mostly this exists to freak out the players and slow them down
>enough so the Necrotron can get some shots off.
>
>I've considered running the zombie stew with a variety of mechanics. A STR 5
>grab run like suppression fire would probably be the most realistic but
>might be too cumbersome to run. The easiest way might be to have everyone
>make a STR roll before every half move and then, if they fail it, deny
>movement and lay the grab. Likewise, I could use an area effect TK that
>pushes [pulls] living things down.
>
>Any opinions on this would be appreciated. If you've run an effect like this
>before, let me know how it went. I'm hoping to instill a sense of panic but
>I'm afraid it might just get tedious.
You shouldn't have to "build" the drowning part, of course; use the
Drowning rules as usual for characters who are pulled under and don't have
appropriate LS.
That being the case, it's basically just an AoE Entangle, but you could
probably make it transparent to attacks (+1/2) to reflect the fact that
damaging -- or even destroying -- an individual hand, leg or whatever, will
not "hurt" the moat full of body parts. You might escape it by overcoming
the STR of the Entangle with your own, but you can't "kill" it.
You could make the Entangle "Sticky" so that any character coming into
contact with it is also Entangled, and the Entangle will remain in effect
until *all* trapped characters have overcome the BODY [parts...heh] of the
Entangle with their own.
You might also consider resurrecting this Entangle-specific Advantage from
Champions III:
Increasing Entangle - This Advantage represents an Entangle that gets
stronger with time. The Entangle is thrown normally, then gets +1 DEF
and +1d6 (looking for BODY) every Segment or Phase. The advantage
depends upon how fast the Entangle hardens. The Entangle can never
get harder than 2x its base DEF and BODY.
Entangle adds +1 DEF, +1d6 each Phase +1/2
Entangle adds +1 DEF, +1d6 each Segment +3/4
Finally, think about using the rules from Horror Hero covering shock and
stress; the horrific obstacle you've described could build into a 12d6 PRE
Attack (I'm basing that on the table in Horror Hero p.25) once the
characters realize their normal attacks don't seem to hurt the things in
the moat, and that the Entangle is getting stronger the longer they take to
escape it.
Damon
- ------------------------
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability
of the human mind to correlate all its contents.
-- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:00:07 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
> TG> Unless, of course, the Nucular Bomb radiation attack wasn't bought
> TG> with "not vs LS: Radiation."
>
> Well, considering that it properly should be built as an NND with the
> appropriate Life Support as the defense... :)
Or something like that. But the point is that for the rules to
work, they have to be used properly--and that includes necessary
limitations and advantages on powers.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:36:16 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Hero news!
On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 Michael Surbrook <susano@otd.com> wrote:
>
>Ahem... check line two!
>
Can't. Observe:
Line 1>Heh... found this on the Hero Games website!
Line 2>
Line 2 is blank! Whatever shall I do? Now I'll never know what secret
message Susano Orbatos was sending me!!!
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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Date: 01 Feb 1999 16:35:29 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions
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"WS" == Wayne Shaw <shaw@caprica.com> writes:
WS> Or, that you put four charges collectively on _all_ the slots. It's
WS> just as easily read that way.
Which does not work if you have 5 or more slots in your Multipower.
Therefore I have to disregard that interpretation as being nonsensical.
>> If Charges breaks, it is Charges that is broken and needs to be fixed.
>> Making an exception is not fixing the problem, it is covering it up.
WS> Nonsense. Charges works on every other part of the system;
64 Charges is a +1/2 Advantage. Infinite Charges in the form of Zero
Endurance Cost is a +1/2 Advantage.
This is now two places where Charges appears not to work with the rest of
the system, compared to the one for Multipower. At this point I am more
inclined, not less, to lay fault with Charges.
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 08:26:03 -0800
From: Jay P Hailey <jayphailey@juno.com>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
>I'd also like to know if anyone has had a nuclear bomb situation in
>their games, if the bomb went off, and what happened.
>
>Lisa Hartjes
>If the GM smiles, run. If she laughs, it's too late...
In our games we had tac nukes in use for a while... A villain had a small
supply of them to use, and used them, well, evily.
We designed the game mechanics of the tac nuke before we read the article
about the 1 megaton nuke in the Almanac. And besides if a stategic nuke
is used, this can be GMed by saying "You've been nuked, now you're dead."
But the tac nukes we were using (Basically a suitcase nuke) was a 100d6
EB; 0 range; explosive; one charge, never recovers. And that got the job
done fine.
Jay P. Hailey <Meow!>
"If that's God, I'm quitting." - Crow
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Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:16:29 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions
On Fri, 29 Jan 1999 "Filksinger" <filksinger@usa.net> wrote:
>Don't penalize the guy with charges just because he took the wrong -1
>Limitation.
>
OK, I won't. But I will require him to use his power that has 4 charges
only 4 times a day. If that power is a Multipower, then I will continue
to enforce the Charges limitation just as I would for any other power.
I hope we can all agree that that is not asking too much. If he wants
to use the Multipower 8 times, I recommend that he A) Buy it with 8
charges, or B) Put 4 charges each on the 2 slots therin.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:41:47 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Dress for DF (Character: Gandalf The Grey)
So, lemme get this straight. Some of you think he should have DF, some
favor Public ID, others have suggested Reputation. I suppose it would
be impossible to give him all 3, but I can't think why. Enlighten me.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: 01 Feb 1999 16:14:52 -0500
From: Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net>
Subject: Re: Martial artist power
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"TG" == Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu> writes:
TG> If a GM disallows a perfectly reasonable concept because he or she just
TG> doesn't like that sort of thing, then as a player I really wouldn't
TG> want to play in that GM's campaign.
It should be obvious by now that it is not the effect that I disagree with
but the implementation. Desolidification does not make one hard to hit; it
makes one insubstantial.
Were I the GM, it would be my responsibility to provide a more suitable
mechanic to simulate the desired effect. In a wild martial arts campaign,
my first and simplest idea would be to tell the player to buy 8 5-point DCV
skill levels. I would also point out that this tends to be an ability
posessed by the absolutely top bad guys, and that it has a weakness that
can be learned by someone who can find a suitable master. If he insists on
taking the power, I would require him to take a -1/4 'Style Disadvantage'
Bonus. After two or three encounters with 'bosses', they'll get wise to
the deal and start figuring out ways to counter his 'invulnerability'.
Of course, were I the GM of such a campaign, there would be but one truely
perfect martial art, one with no style disadvantages or weaknesses. It is
available to only two NPCs who, unless the PCs do something rock-stupid,
will never be encountered because I would not want a pile of dead PCs.
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- --
Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> \ Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an
Minion of Nathan - Nathan says Hi! \ unknown glowing substance which fell to
PGP Key: at a key server near you! \ Earth, presumably from outer space.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:05:54 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions
On 29 Jan 99 ANTHONY VARGAS <anthony.vargas@usa.net> wrote:
>
>I wonder what he really meant by that... Doesn't make much sense to
me...
>
Actually, what I said was exactly what you say below. Filksinger has
filtered it through his beliefs about the system, and it came out a
little differently from how I meant it, so perhaps your post will
clarify.
>Actually, it's not the same thing.
>
>The 4 chgs limitation on the EB is /not/ the same limitation as the
>4chgs limitation on the TK. If it where, then when the limitation came
>up, both slots would be unuseable. Like, with the 'Only in Rain' multi
>above, if it's not raining, none of the slots work - all the slots have
>the /same/ limitation, therefore, the reserve takes the lim as well.
>But, if you have 4 chgs on each slot, and you use up one slot, the
other
>can still be used... the Multipower, overall, can be used 8 times, not
>just 4. If you put the 4 chgs on the Multipower as a whole, then the
>4chs of EB & the 4chs on the TK are both the same limitation.
>
And you can use either 2 EB's & 2 TK's, or 4 EB's, or 4 TK's, and that's
your 4 charges.
I think that, basically, the inability to see eye-to-eye here is arising
from different approaches to the same problem. Some people take a
bottom-up view: If all the slots have the same limitation written after
them, then the limitation applies to the whole multipower. I disagree.
I take the top-down view: If the limitation applies to the whole
multipower, then it applies to all the slots. Thus, if the multipower
doesn't work in the rain, has 4 charges, or is a Focus, then the slots
also get the benefit of the limitation. These are the "freebies", and I
have no problem with them, 'cause the rules say they're OK. I object to
people getting 20-30 points knocked off of the cost of a Multipower,
then saying, "Well, the fact that I can use my 70-pt Multipower 20 times
a day is more limiting than only using my 60-pt Energy Blast 4 times a
day, that's why I pay fewer points for it overall."
Thank you, Anthony, your post has helped me clarify my own instinctive
distrust from a flawed premise into a clearly defined policy.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:07:22 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 "Lisa Hartjes" <beren@unforgettable.com> wrote:
>
>Now, would having this power make a character immune to the radiation
>effects of a nuclear bomb? Of course, they can still be killed by the
high
>pressure wave that will tear through the area, but I'm asking
specifically
>about the radiation.
Depends. Is the radiation an NND that doesn't work against LS: High
Radiation?
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:10:46 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions (fwd)
On Sat, 30 Jan 1999 Christopher Taylor <ctaylor@viser.net> wrote:
> On a game theme: How WOULD you buy duct tape? seriously?
I dunno. Has anyone done a Star Wars Hero conversion? After all, Duct
Tape is like the Force, so I suppose the costs would be similar.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 14:30:24 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Multipower Questions
On Fri, 29 Jan 1999 "Filksinger" <filksinger@usa.net> wrote:
>Actually, I agree. I just don't want to see Charges Man utterly messed
over
>by this. A _partial_ reduction of the pool is in order, in certain
cases;
>the most obvious being charges, another being Focus.
>
<snip>
>It makes sense to me. I wouldn't mind the Variable Limitations option,
and
>will probably use it myself. However, I would _definitely_ like to see
it
>spelled out in 5th Ed.
>
>Filksinger
>
>
Aside from the fact that I don't agree that Charges Man is getting
screwed, I'm with you. Let's hear it for 5th ed.! Long may it reign.
Jesse Thomas
haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:30:38 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: Martial artist power
> *shrug*
>
> Disarm falls into the defensive philosophy, even though the maneuvers are
> offensive maneuvers as far as game mechanics are concerned. The style
> itself should have a defensive philosophy, and the DCV skill levels would
> be with that style if you wish to go that route.
>
> Also, you cannot put "Costs END" on 2-point levels (we just got through
> with this, didn't we? :)
Yeah, my bad.
Takes the "costs END" as a -0 SFX limitation.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:36:06 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
>But the tac nukes we were using (Basically a suitcase nuke) was a 100d6
>EB; 0 range; explosive; one charge, never recovers. And that got the job
>done fine.
Over simple and a hair bit too big for a tacnuke, but if it worked for you...
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 18:03:26 -0500
From: Scott Nolan <nolan@erols.com>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
>>I'd also like to know if anyone has had a nuclear bomb situation in
>>their games, if the bomb went off, and what happened.
I've only used them "offstage", as a threat to prompt PC action.
I nuked an oil refinery in the southern Khazak city of Karagansk.
It got lots o' PC attention, becuase they were next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When the stars threw down their spears,
and water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"
William Blake, The Tyger
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott C. Nolan
nolan@erols.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 15:33:16 PST
From: "Jesse Thomas" <haerandir@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Character: Gandalf The Grey
>
>On Sun, 31 Jan 1999 04:50:34 +1000, happyelf wrote:
>
>>so i take it you'd never hand out 'distinctive features' for anything
other
>>than an individual? no elves, orcs, or hobbits?
>
>If hobbits et al are sufficiently rare. Generally, they aren't. Now, a
>hobbit with a peg-leg would qualify.
>qts
>
>Home: qts@nildram.co.uk.
>
>
Except in the land of the Wee Peg-Legged Folk.
I've always felt that Distinctive features just meant that someone could
say, "Well, he was a Hobbit," and if a policeman would consider that a
clue, it qualified as a DF. I suppose Gandalf could qualify for a DF,
just for being Gandalf, if he had a rap sheet as long as my arm.
Jesse Thomas
Haerandir@hotmail.com
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 18:08:27 -0600
From: Bryant Berggren <voxel@theramp.net>
Subject: Re: Martial artist power
At 07:05 AM 2/1/99 -0600, Dr. Nuncheon wrote:
>When we did this in a high-powered anime-style Martial Arts game, we used
>the following:
>
>1) Vision - the character 'traced', leaving afterimages behind him
>
>2) Hearing - the power use was accompanied by sound effects which I will
> not attempt to reproduce here.
>
>3) Chi - Lots of people (comparatively) had a sense that could detect use
> of mystic powers, and this set it off.
Ah, yes, NOW we're getting somewhere. :] :]
==
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing." -- attributed to Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:53:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Ell Egyptoid <egyptoid@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re:(Character: Gandalf The Grey)
DF: Fair Looking, Bearded, Awesome Presence
Public ID: GG, Incanus, Tharkun, Storm-Crow, Wanderer, Mithrandir
Reputation: Miracle Worker, Harbinger, Wise-Man, Trouble-Maker
A lot of the Rep depends on where he is and who he's dealing with
and how full his plate is. He was grumpier when he was Grey,
and had a lot of work to do and he'd get "hasty" and rub people
the wrong way. example: Rohirrim.
==
=========================== Elliott aka The Egyptoid ==
=== JLA: Justice League Alabama === Central HQ ===========
=== http://www.sysabend.org/champions/elliott/index.html =
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------------------------------
Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 17:21:56 -0500
From: Scott Nolan <nolan@erols.com>
Subject: Re: Unity in Nerd Culture [was GenCon 99]
At 04:40 PM 2/1/99 -0500, you wrote:
>Y'know what? I've been into gaming for something like 15 years. The list is
>full of people who have been gaming in one form or another for at least that
>long. I bet I'm not alone in my observation that ours has always been a
>subculture that is, at best, misunderstood by common folk.
>
>So when you see the 14 year old kid with his prepackaged Magic deck at the
>gaming convention, don't dis him. He's one of us. He's just new.
>
>It's cool to be a purist but don't try and be a gaming snob. It never pays
>off. Personaly, I hate everything that even smells like White Wolf but if it
>brings new people into gaming, it's all good.
I wouldn't dis the kid. I went to GenCon at 14, way back when it was held
at the University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, my AD&D Player's Handbook
clutched to my chest, excited at having met Gary Gygax. I think the kid
is just fine.
The game however, I have an opinion on. Not him because he plays
it, but the game. That is how the free market works. Some things you
like and buy, some you don't. I happen to think that CCGs in general
are not only mind-numbingly boring, but bad in general for RPGs,
which I care about.
My opinion. You are entitled to yours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"When the stars threw down their spears,
and water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"
William Blake, The Tyger
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scott C. Nolan
nolan@erols.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:55:40 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: LS and their effects on attack damage
> There are three ways a nuclear weapon kills people:
> a) A burst of X-rays and neutrons, which kills due to radiation poisoning
> (Game mechanic: NND does body). LS: Radiation will protect _totally_ against
> this.
As long as it is purchased in the way you state or some way
similar. If it doesn't exclude LS: Radiation from the damage in some way,
then technically, by the book, the character would take the damage. Is
this wrong? Sure. But some GMs tend to be way to literal on rules.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 15:14:30 -0800 (PST)
From: Ell Egyptoid <egyptoid@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: GenCon 99
> > > Magic players in separate hotel...
> >Why is this an important thing?
> Because it is a cancer upon the face of gaming?
As someone who puts equal time into
Hero, (Champions & Fantasy Hero)
Magic, (Pick-Up & Group games, not Tourneys)
Computer Games, (Heroes, MoM, Civ, Warcraft2, etc)
Board Games, (Divine Right, Supremacy, Titan Arena, FOTR)
and regular cards like Hearts, Spades...
I find yo