Digest Archive vol 1 Issue 247
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Friday, March 26, 1999 12:12 PM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #247
champ-l-digest Friday, March 26 1999 Volume 01 : Number 247
In this issue:
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Mechanon Invasion
Re: Cool Game Aid
Re: Cool Game Aid
Re: Cool Game Aid
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Re: Cool Game Aid
And sometimes something goes right.
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Multipower Slot Boggle
RE: And sometimes something goes right.
RE: And sometimes something goes right.
Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Eight-Blade Eddie Sends His Love (Help calculating costs for multipower)
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind (Mental Powers that aren't)
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Re: A couple of comments about movies
Re:Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind
Re: Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind (Mental Powers that aren't)
Multiple Heads (return)
Hero Chainsaw?
Multiple Heads (return) (fwd)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 10:13:41 -0800
From: "Filksinger" <filkhero@usa.net>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
>
> > Quinn, the vampire who survived fire, was a member of the Cianteto
tribe,
> > known for their enormous strength and durability, and the ability to
heal
> > missing limbs. Blade commented, just before setting him on fire, as to
how
> > he had tried to kill Quinn before, and had failed. Quinn was
exceptionally
> > tough, and this is the reason the stakes and fire didn't kill him.
>
> Exceptionally tough? Sure--early on. But that last fight was
> over on segment 12.
Yes, but in that last battle, Blade was in exceptionally fine form. At no
time previously did he ever carve his way through vampires as he did in that
part of the movie.
Blade stated that Quinn was hard to kill at the beginning of the movie.
Stabbed him with two stakes, cut off his hand, and set fire to him, and he
didn't die. He latter pulped the side of his head (the head being one of the
vulnerable points on a vampire in the movie) against a speeding subway train
and _still_ didn't kill him. Quinn definitely qualified as tough.
Filksinger
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:30:12 -0500
From: David Stallard <DBStallard@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mechanon Invasion
A while back I was asked about published robot writeups, because I was
planning to do a Mechanon invasion. A few people said they'd like to hea=
r
how it went, so I thought I'd post a summary of what has transpired so fa=
r.
If you have any suggestions on how to proceed from here, feel free to
throw 'em my way. The story below happens in the New Millennium universe=
and uses the NM version of Mechanon, but we're using 4th Edition rules. =
I'll skip over some of the role-playing moments such as an interview with=
a
newswoman and stuff, so only the major events are mentioned below. Here
goes....
<Caution: Minor spoilers on various robot writeups>
The PC group has 3 heroes:
* Protoman: a golden-age hero was was literally yanked out of a comic bo=
ok
into our reality by a kid with mysterious mutant powers. Recent subplot:=
=
The kid accidentally just brought Protoman's arch-foe, Dr. Blitzkrieg, ou=
t
of the comic as well, but so far the villain has been laying low.
* Dragon-4: An ex-military guy who was essentially modeled after the
soldiers in the Rainbow Six computer game. His gun shoots energy instead=
of real bullets, but he's basically a commando.
* Homicide: This is a darkness controller, sorta...most of his attacks ar=
e
No Range and are just enhanced punches (like Double Knockback or whatever=
).
You may be wondering what that has to do with darkness, and actually I'm=
wondering the same thing--this player is notoriously bad with concepts so=
I've learned to let it slide...this is actually his 3rd concept for this
game and, believe it or not, is more cohesive than the first two. I thin=
k
his murderous name is supposed to indicate his vigilante tendencies. =
<shrug>
The story so far:
* Dragon-4 gets a tip that there's going to be a robbery of a warehouse o=
f
fur coats. Protoman, on patrol, sees Dragon-4 on the roof looking throug=
h
the scope on his sniper rifle, so he flies down to see what's going on. =
The two end up foiling the robbery. This is basically a "first meeting"
scenario...Homicide isn't involved because the player was late and we
didn't want to wait for him. After this battle (one-sided, since the
thieves are normals), the heroes go their own way. At one point, Protoma=
n
catches a glimpse of a small robot (the small cone-shaped floater from th=
e
MAVRIC adventure in Champions Presents #2) watching from the other side o=
f
the alley, but it disappears as soon as it has been spotted.
* There's a big explosion from the direction of the vast PanStar laborato=
ry
complex. The heroes separately rush to the scene, and arrive at about th=
e
same time--Homicide included. They see a big hole blown out of the wall =
on
the 2nd floor of one of the buildings...PanStar security is nowhere to be=
seen. They get close and take a look, and they see a bunch of high-tech
machinery, 6 robots (Techcommandos from the MAVRIC adventure), and two
scientists huddled in a corner. Some of the robots are just guarding, an=
d
others are fiddling with the machinery. The heroes attack. One of the
robots says, "we must secure the power source for our master," but the
heroes are wrapped up in trying to save the hostages. The robots end up
escaping with the "power source" from the machinery, but not before a few=
of them fall to the heroes. Dragon-4 and Homicide both notice a
cone-shaped bot like the one mentioned above, but it slips away.
* The heroes hear of an attack in the park...robots like the ones they sa=
w
at PanStar are walking through the park blasting at monuments, people,
benches, and so on. They rush to the park, and find that the local polic=
e
and a few Guard units have the entire park closed off but they haven't
moved in yet. The heroes charge in, and find the robots near a lake. =
Dragon-4 helps the few normals who are cowering behind bushes and whatnot=
,
while the other two engage the 2 robots that are marching down the path. =
Protoman knocks them over with a big wave of water from the lake
(superstrength...I just made up some rules for it on the fly and had him
roll some dice). Then, 6 more Techcommandos come marching out of the lak=
e,
followed by one of those "leader" type commandos from the MAVRIC adventur=
e
(I forget their name). It was an ambush! As the robots approach, they
suddenly freeze and a sinister robotic voice comes from all of them, as
well as every other speaker in the city--Mechanon basically announces tha=
t
his robot army has taken control of Bay City and resistance is
futile...that sort of thing. About the same time, the heroes notice that=
the sky seems to have a weird green tint to it. <end session 1--nice
cliffhanger, I thought>
* The heroes commence to battling the robot ambush, but they are having a=
tough time of it (those robots were tougher than I thought...high defense=
s,
plus they only take BODY!). The leader type is hardly even scratched. =
They are beginning to despair, when suddenly another cape with sharp claw=
s
appears and shreds one of the robots. He helps some, but the situation
still looks grim. Then the leader robot announces that their master
requires their presence, so the robots all take off at top speed (they're=
faster than any of the PCs), except for one with a damaged leg who is
limping along. The heroes make short work of it. Then they learn that
this other cape is Shadowbeast (see New Millennium source material for mo=
re
details)...he tells them that the entire city has erupted in battle--robo=
ts
are destroying everything and killing people. They talk for a little bit=
but then Shadowbeast rushes off to save lives (a hint to the PCs, which
they didn't take me up on). Shadowbeast had lopped the head off of the
first robot he destroyed, so Dragon-4 wants to take it to the lab to see =
if
he can figure out how to tune in to the frequency that the robots are usi=
ng
to communicate. Before the heroes can split up, though, they hear a
firefight from a few streets over....
* They investigate, and see two police squad cars barricading a street...=
4
cops are behind the cars, firing revolvers and a shotgun at a huge robot
which is marching down the street toward them (this is that big hulking b=
ot
from the Viper sourcebook...I think it's called the Mark VII or
something--it has a claw on one arm, and three gun barrels on the other).=
=
Dragon-4 enters a building so he can get a shot from the 2nd or 3rd floor=
. =
Protoman attempts a move-through but fails, and then he is swatted into a=
building by the robot's claw arm. Homicide jumps in a squad car and just=
rams it into the bot...major knockback occurs. Protoman then flies up to=
the bot and just rips the missile launcher off of its shoulder. Then
Protoman flies straight up and throws the missile pack back at the robot.=
=
A huge explosion results...Dragon-4 gets into his sniper position just in=
time to see the robot go up in flame. (This robot had surprisingly low
defenses as compared to the Techcommando writeups...if I had noticed this=
beforehand, I probably would have swapped their PD/ED values)
* Dragon-4 goes to the lab and they decide to meet back at the park. =
Protoman flies up into the sky to investigate the green tint...he discove=
rs
that there is a big energy dome encompassing a large part of Bay City, as=
well as part of the bay itself. He flies out into the bay, goes underwat=
er
and starts digging at the sea floor, but is not able to find a bottom to
the energy dome. They're trapped! During this time, Homicide's player h=
as
a decided lack of inspiration and basically just stands around waiting fo=
r
the meeting time.
* While Protoman is flying about investigating things, he sees a figure
perched on top of an antenna which is on the roof of a skyscraper. He ge=
ts
closer, and sees that it is Shadowbeast. Shadowbeast tells him more abou=
t
the robot rampage and the deaths of innocent people--the robots now seem =
to
be rounding up some people and taking them off somewhere. He also says
that he has been gathering refugees and is hiding them in the basement of=
that skyscraper. He also wonders aloud where the heck the Champions are,=
and why they aren't helping. Their base on Thunder Island (? -- I can't
remember the name exactly, but that doesn't sound right) is inside the
dome. =
* Protoman then goes to find the kid who brought him out of the comic, to=
make sure he's safe. The kid is crying when Protoman finds him, and
Protoman tries to find out what is wrong. The kid mutters stuff like "it=
was an accident" and "I didn't mean to do it." Finally, the kid looks
Protoman in the eye and says, "I did it again." Protoman's player freaks=
out at this point, because he assumes (correctly, although he hasn't had =
a
chance to verify it yet) that Dr. Blitzkrieg is now loose in this world. =
Meanwhile, Dragon-4 studies the robot skull for some time and finally
figures out the frequency, and is able to listen in on communications.
* Mechanon makes another announcement, saying that some rogue paranormals=
have been skirmishing with his army and it will not be tolerated. =
Paranormals should surrender immediately, as the robot army has been
ordered to kill them on sight. <end session 2>
This is as far as we've gotten. I don't have any hard and fast plans for=
the next session, but I want to have a scenario where the heroes are
amongst refugees and one (or more) of them turns out to be one of those
disguise-bots from the MAVRIC adventure...sorta like something out of the=
Terminator movies, 'cept not so invincible. Just something to make them
watch their back. I'm hoping for some "underground resistance" type
scenarios but it depends on what the heroes do. I think Mechanon is
probably rounding up humans to help him increase the size and power of hi=
s
army so that he can conquer more of the world than just Bay City. Oh, th=
e
missing Champions--I'm going to have them be prisoners of some arch-foe o=
f
theirs, and the PC group will have to break them out. Nice way for the P=
Cs
to meet the Champions and not feel like they are inferior or less
important. This will be a separate adventure that will happen after the
invasion is resolved.
Anyway, let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for th=
e
rest of the story!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 13:24:23 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: Cool Game Aid
>I have no idea how long this has been out, but yesterday I just picked up
>Steve Jackson GAme's rerelease of their Cardboard Heroes set. It's 436
>full-color counters reprinting the orignal 13 fantasy sets put out by SJG.
>Although the counters are a little dark, they are colorful, printed on
>thick cardstock and a steal at 19.99!
>
>You get a few duplicates, mosty of mooks counters like zombies, ghouls and
>orcs. Very, very useful.
>
>Now, if only SJG would do the same for their *other* sets! (Autoduel,
>Champions, SF, etc...) Oh, and yes, it would be nice to see more SF sets,
>a cyberpunk set, the normals set again... well, more cardboard hero sets
>in general. I have a virtual army of (ohhh...) 500-700 figures residing
>in a plastic storage bin the size of a shoebox. Small and much lighter
>then any lead figure case (and a lot less work!).
For all intents and purposes, the Autoduel set pretty much _was_ a cyberpunk
set. It might not have had anyone with obvious cyberware, but the look and
feel of many of the figures were very cyberpunk.
The only problem I can see with a second release is that the current one
includes thirteen of their sets. As far as I know, they had two superhero
sets (one for V&V and one for Champions), the Autoduel set, the Normals and
Bystanders set, the SF set and one or two Traveller sets. Even if they
resized the latter and released them as compatible figures, it doesn't sound
like they have enough for another release in the same format.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:06:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@dedaana.otd.com>
Subject: Re: Cool Game Aid
On Thu, 25 Mar 1999, Wayne Shaw wrote:
> For all intents and purposes, the Autoduel set pretty much _was_ a cyberpunk
> set. It might not have had anyone with obvious cyberware, but the look and
> feel of many of the figures were very cyberpunk.
>
> The only problem I can see with a second release is that the current one
> includes thirteen of their sets. As far as I know, they had two superhero
> sets (one for V&V and one for Champions), the Autoduel set, the Normals and
> Bystanders set, the SF set and one or two Traveller sets. Even if they
> resized the latter and released them as compatible figures, it doesn't sound
> like they have enough for another release in the same format.
That is the problem. Of course, if they made some *new* figures!
- --
Michael Surbrook - susano@otd.com - http://www.otd.com/~susano/index.html
"What would you do with a brain if you *had* one?"
Dorothy (Judy Garland), from _The Wizard of Oz_
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 13:51:35 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: Cool Game Aid
>On Thu, 25 Mar 1999, Wayne Shaw wrote:
>
>> For all intents and purposes, the Autoduel set pretty much _was_ a cyberpunk
>> set. It might not have had anyone with obvious cyberware, but the look and
>> feel of many of the figures were very cyberpunk.
>>
>> The only problem I can see with a second release is that the current one
>> includes thirteen of their sets. As far as I know, they had two superhero
>> sets (one for V&V and one for Champions), the Autoduel set, the Normals and
>> Bystanders set, the SF set and one or two Traveller sets. Even if they
>> resized the latter and released them as compatible figures, it doesn't sound
>> like they have enough for another release in the same format.
>
>That is the problem. Of course, if they made some *new* figures!
It'd be nice, but I don't really expect it to happen; the rerelease probably
only happened because it required minimal new costs to do so, and new
artwork and layout would at least cost something.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:33:24 -0600 (CST)
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
On Wed, 24 Mar 1999 gilberg@ou.edu wrote:
> Now, on to Ronin. Wow. While not a great movie, it did have so
> many "cool" things. The characters would be quite interesting to write up
> with necessary skills, etc. But the best part of this movie was the
> unbelievably good chase scenes--some of the best I've ever seen. So I ask
> the list, what other movies have great chase scenes on the level of Ronin?
I just saw "The Corruptor" and it had some nice chases in there - very
realistic, with lots of damage to innocent bystanders (like there would be
in any real running gun/car chase fight). I especially liked the
innovative method of blocking the road that the Tong members used.
J
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 14:38:18 -0800
From: Bob Greenwade <bob.greenwade@klock.com>
Subject: Re: Cool Game Aid
At 01:51 PM 3/25/1999 -0800, Wayne Shaw wrote:
>>> The only problem I can see with a second release is that the current one
>>> includes thirteen of their sets. As far as I know, they had two superhero
>>> sets (one for V&V and one for Champions), the Autoduel set, the Normals
and
>>> Bystanders set, the SF set and one or two Traveller sets. Even if they
>>> resized the latter and released them as compatible figures, it doesn't
sound
>>> like they have enough for another release in the same format.
>>
>>That is the problem. Of course, if they made some *new* figures!
>
>It'd be nice, but I don't really expect it to happen; the rerelease probably
>only happened because it required minimal new costs to do so, and new
>artwork and layout would at least cost something.
On the other hand, they could have chosen this because SJG wants to see
what the market's like before committing to those extra costs. (Well, it's
how I'd do it if I were in their place....)
- ---
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, 25 Mar 1999 16:46:10 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: And sometimes something goes right.
Sorry, this is a bit off-topic, but a big decision was handed down
by the Supreme Court the other day--the government did something right.
The treaty-guaranteed hunting, fishing, mineral, etc rights of the
Chippewa were confirmed by the court.
Check out an article here:
http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=lacs25
To bring this back to Champs--this has been something my favorite
PC, Derrick Tallcloud, has been working towards for some time in my gaming
world.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:52:45 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
> Yes, but in that last battle, Blade was in exceptionally fine form. At no
> time previously did he ever carve his way through vampires as he did in that
> part of the movie.
Sure he did--the first time we saw him he was averaging a kill
every 2-3 seconds or so.
> Blade stated that Quinn was hard to kill at the beginning of the movie.
> Stabbed him with two stakes, cut off his hand, and set fire to him, and he
> didn't die. He latter pulped the side of his head (the head being one of the
> vulnerable points on a vampire in the movie) against a speeding subway train
> and _still_ didn't kill him. Quinn definitely qualified as tough.
Yup, except for that last scene. Pure authorial/GM fiat, that.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 16:55:12 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
> I just saw "The Corruptor" and it had some nice chases in there - very
> realistic, with lots of damage to innocent bystanders (like there would be
> in any real running gun/car chase fight). I especially liked the
> innovative method of blocking the road that the Tong members used.
Ronin was crammed with "collateral damage." What was really
interesting was that it was completely ignored by any of the main
characters--this wasn't black and white--this was lots of gray of spooks
doing their jobs.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:57:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Jason Sullivan <ravanos@NJCU.edu>
Subject: Multipower Slot Boggle
If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
(Do you round up or round down?)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 18:01:56 -0500
From: Brian Wawrow <bwawrow@fmco.com>
Subject: RE: And sometimes something goes right.
Of interest and off-topic for much the same reason...
On April 1st [this is not a joke], Canada's North West Territory will have
its eastern half carved off in order to form Nunavut. Nunavut will
essentially be a gigantic area of high arctic tundra run by the Inuit by
traditional laws.
Check this out. http://newradio.cbc.ca/nunavut/
Granted, this is a remote area. It's big but remote. It stretches from the
northernmost point in Canada, just a polar bear's fart from the north pole
and Greenland down to the bottom of Hudson's Bay. To give you an idea of how
insanely far north this is, I could drive from Toronto to Miami and back in
less time than it would take me to reach the southernmost point of the new
territory.
So, what's the point of all this? This is one of the last and biggest pieces
of [mostly] unspoiled wilderness in the world. I've traveled around up there
a little when I worked for the Geological Survey of Canada. It's like being
on the moon. It's so raw and merciless that you just can't believe it. Ice
and rocks, rocks and ice, like a lot of Americans thought all of Canada
looked before Due South got so popular.
Anyway, if you're interested in what the world looks like north of the 49th
parallel, or up to the 86th, check out that web site. If you can work it in,
make your PC's go up to Nunavut and wish they all had LS: Cold.
Later
BRI
] Sorry, this is a bit off-topic, but a big decision was
] handed down
] by the Supreme Court the other day--the government did
] something right.
]
] The treaty-guaranteed hunting, fishing, mineral, etc
] rights of the
] Chippewa were confirmed by the court.
]
] Check out an article here:
] http://www.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisSlug=lacs25
]
] To bring this back to Champs--this has been something
] my favorite
] PC, Derrick Tallcloud, has been working towards for some time
] in my gaming
] world.
]
] -Tim Gilberg
] -"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
]
]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:29:34 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
Subject: RE: And sometimes something goes right.
> Of interest and off-topic for much the same reason...
Excuse my language, but Holy Sh*t!
> On April 1st [this is not a joke], Canada's North West Territory will have
> its eastern half carved off in order to form Nunavut. Nunavut will
> essentially be a gigantic area of high arctic tundra run by the Inuit by
> traditional laws.
I knew that the Inuit, Inupic and Yupic peoples had been working
towards this goal for quite some time, but it is nice to see that it has
finally happened. It sets some nice precident too. Manitouian Island
would be a good next step--Greenland would be nice, too.
-Tim Gilberg
-"English Majors of the World! Untie!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 15:21:00 -0800 (PST)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
Jason Sullivan writes:
>
> If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
> Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
>
> (Do you round up or round down?)
Standard champions rounding -- unless stated otherwise, round to nearest except
in the case of exactly 1/2, in which case you round in the character's favor.
Thus, cost is 5.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 15:20:33 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
>
> If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
>Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
>
> (Do you round up or round down?)
Neither. It uses pretty much standard rounding; 5 rounds up, less than 5
truncates. So your example would cost 5.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 15:53:04 -0800
From: "James Jandebeur" <james@javaman.to>
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
> > If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
> >Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
> >
> > (Do you round up or round down?)
>
> Neither. It uses pretty much standard rounding; 5 rounds up, less than 5
> truncates. So your example would cost 5.
Isn't that "5 rounds in your favor, less than 5 truncates, more than 5
rounds up"?
Still, the cost is, indeed, 5.
JAJ, GP
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 15:47:29 -0800 (PST)
From: shaw@caprica.com (Wayne Shaw)
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
>> > If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
>> >Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
>> >
>> > (Do you round up or round down?)
>>
>> Neither. It uses pretty much standard rounding; 5 rounds up, less than 5
>> truncates. So your example would cost 5.
>
>Isn't that "5 rounds in your favor, less than 5 truncates, more than 5
>rounds up"?
>
>Still, the cost is, indeed, 5.
You are correct. My bad.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 19:24:55 -0500 (EST)
From: Jason Sullivan <ravanos@NJCU.edu>
Subject: Eight-Blade Eddie Sends His Love (Help calculating costs for multipower)
Eight Blade Eddie needs your help so his Multipower can actually
have costs! (I was never very good with calculating the costs of
Multipowers... especially ones as involved as this one.)
Multipower -- ? point base (all No KB (-1/4))
1) 2d6 HKA "Thrown Blade"
Half END (+1/4), Ranged (+1/2);
Range Based on STR (-1/4), 4 "clips" of 2 Recoverable Charges
(-1/2), Charges use END (-1/2)
2) 2d6 HKA "Artful Sluice"
Half END (+1/4), Increased Stun Multiplier (+1/2);
Not when out of knives (-1/4)
3) 2d6 HKA "Forceful Thrust"
AP (+1/2), Penetrating (+1/2), Indirect [to stab through
walls] (+1/4) [Limitation on Indirect: Object must have DEF
of 5 or less [-1]];
Not when out of knives (-1/4), Increased END cost: X2 (-1/2)
4) 2d6 HKA "Blind Lashing"
Damage Shield (+1/2), AoE: 1 Hex (+1/2);
Not when out of knives (-1/4), Requires OCV roll (and appropiate
penalities to hit apply) (-1/2)
5) 2d6 HKA "Two Blade Flurry"
Autofire (+1/2) [Limitation on Autofire: Must have knife in each
hand [-1/4]]
Half END (+1/2);
Not when out of knives (-1/4), Requires Seperate Rolls and
Levels (-1/4)
6) 2d6 HKA "Swift Silent Strike"
Invisible Power Effects to All Sense Groups (+1);
[Limitation on Invisible Power Effects: Requires Stealth Roll
[-1/2]]
Not when out of knives (-1/4)
Notes:
Slot 1 - Charges: 4 clips of two recoverable charges and eight
clips of one recoverable charge cost the same ammount. Why did I put in
the 4 clips of two? The character has two hands, and is ambidexterous,
thus can throw with either hand with equal profiency. Assume to draw a
blade from any of the eight charge pool is one Phase.
Slot 2 - This is often the "default slot." It represents a
skillful strike with the blade, thus the additional ammounts of STUN.
Slot 3 - This slot represents a violent stab. The force generated
from this type of attack has a better chance of penetrating defenses; the
thin tip of the blade can pierce doors or walls, and can be used during a
pursuit, or surprise from behind a barrier.
Slot 4 - This slot represents erratic thrusts of the blade.
Reflexive strikes within a limited space may hit opponents (thus, Damage
Shield and AoE). If the character is truly "blindly lashing," standard
penalties still apply. This slot may also be used to represent damage
after an initial Grab.
Slot 5 - This slot is an Autofire attack. One blade must be in
each hand. He must divide his Combat Skill Levels between the attacks,
and must make seperate "to hit rolls" for each attack. This slot can not
be used if only one blade is out, or if one blade is disarmed.
Slot 6 - This slot is a swift, slient thrust, stab, or hack. The
blade moves too quick to be seen or heard, under normal circumstances, as
it's being flicked through the air. Of course, this attack is often used
for suprise, and under most circumstances, can only be used as an opening
attack before the attacker is noticed and the advantage is moot.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 19:57:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Jason Sullivan <ravanos@NJCU.edu>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
Best chase movie:
Vanishing Point
There are two of them. A more recent one and the original.
Try the original.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 17:25:14 -0800
From: "Filksinger" <filkhero@usa.net>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
From: Tim Gilberg <gilberg@ou.edu>
>
> > Yes, but in that last battle, Blade was in exceptionally fine form. At
no
> > time previously did he ever carve his way through vampires as he did in
that
> > part of the movie.
>
> Sure he did--the first time we saw him he was averaging a kill
> every 2-3 seconds or so.
In the first scene, using machine guns and various other weapons, he killed
a large number of unarmed dancers, followed by a handful of thugs. In the
final scene, he killed a large number of thugs, several armed, with his bare
hands. Quite different.
> > Blade stated that Quinn was hard to kill at the beginning of the movie.
> > Stabbed him with two stakes, cut off his hand, and set fire to him, and
he
> > didn't die. He latter pulped the side of his head (the head being one of
the
> > vulnerable points on a vampire in the movie) against a speeding subway
train
> > and _still_ didn't kill him. Quinn definitely qualified as tough.
>
> Yup, except for that last scene. Pure authorial/GM fiat, that.
Maybe. Blade appeared to be exceptionally hyped and powerful after drinking
the blood, as well as exceptionally angry. This might have pushed him to
feats which would normally have been beyond him. Additionally, vampires
seemed to be quite vulnerable to certain types of blows and maneuvers,
specifically ones which drove something into their hearts, broke their
necks, or cracked their skulls. Quinn was able to survive considerable
damage to his head, considerably more fire than a human, and two stakes in
his chest that missed his heart, but he never took a stake to the heart or
had his neck broken. What may have changed things is Blade being so worked
up he was able to overcome Quinn's exceptionally strong neck muscles to
break his neck quickly.
Filksinger
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 20:40:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Jason Sullivan <ravanos@NJCU.edu>
Subject: Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind (Mental Powers that aren't)
Sherlock Jones is the world's greatest behaviorial psychologist.
Because of this, he has two special "powers" (drawn from the pages
of Dark Champions and modified).
They are as follows:
He can "know" people so well that he "knows" where to find the
person he's looking for. The GM imposes bonuses or penalties on the SC:
Behaviorial Psychology roll based on how well S.J. knows the person he is
looking for.
This is bought as:
Mind Scan
8d6 Mind Scan
Requires a SC: Behaviorial Psychology Roll (-1/2)
Does not allow a character to use any other mental powers (-1/4)
Extra Time
He also has an uncanny knack for "knowing" what people are
thinking. Through observation, and knowing behaviorial psychology, he can
make outsanding deductions as to what the person is thinking.
This is bought as:
Telepathy
6d6 Telepathy
Requires an SC: Behaviorial Psycology roll
Extra Time
The Character must observe during Extra Time, including facial
expressions (-1/2)
Concentrate [1/2 DCV] (-1/4)
Only Surface Thoughts May be Read (-1/2)
My problem with this is that they are Mental Powers, which would
require a ECV roll, which could trigger a Damage Shield or a perceptive
Mentalist (all Mentalists can sense Emntalist activity, if I'm not
mistaken).
Also, a person could just as easily be studied via viedo... or
through background information and files... despite the fact they could be
dead or in a different dimension...
Does this mean I would need to buy Invisible Power Effects and
Transdimensional? What of Clairsentience?
I also think it's inappropiate for the power to cost END.
All together, these fixes are not "full" fixes. They only go so
far.
Any advice?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 13:31:48 +1000
From: "Lockie" <jonesl@cqnet.com.au>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
- -----Original Message-----
From: Filksinger <filkhero@usa.net>
>Maybe. Blade appeared to be exceptionally hyped and powerful after drinking
>the blood, as well as exceptionally angry. This might have pushed him to
>feats which would normally have been beyond him. Additionally, vampires
>seemed to be quite vulnerable to certain types of blows and maneuvers,
>specifically ones which drove something into their hearts, broke their
>necks, or cracked their skulls. Quinn was able to survive considerable
>damage to his head, considerably more fire than a human, and two stakes in
>his chest that missed his heart, but he never took a stake to the heart or
>had his neck broken. What may have changed things is Blade being so worked
>up he was able to overcome Quinn's exceptionally strong neck muscles to
>break his neck quickly.
>
>Filksinger
>
iir, he actually sliced the guys head off with a monowire. That was the
first time he
targeted an actual 'kill zone' when fighting him, before that it had been
extremities
and near- hits. I'd assume the guy didn't burn enough to get the severe
injuries needed to disrupt a vamps life. I'd take burning to mean 'if you
blast the guys
heart out with a blowtorch, he dies', rather than 'burning a vamp causes
them to die'
without a specific kill zone in mind.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 21:30:42 -0600
From: "Daniel " <drake01@flash.net>
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
<Bangs a gavel>
Sold for character points, next item for bid.
- -----Original Message-----
From: James Jandebeur <james@javaman.to>
To: champ-l@sysabend.org <champ-l@sysabend.org>
Date: Thursday, March 25, 1999 5:59 PM
Subject: Re: Multipower Slot Boggle
>> > If a power has an Active Cost of 52, and you wish to place it in a
>> >Multipower ultra slot, how much does the slot cost?
>> >
>> > (Do you round up or round down?)
>>
>> Neither. It uses pretty much standard rounding; 5 rounds up, less than 5
>> truncates. So your example would cost 5.
>
>Isn't that "5 rounds in your favor, less than 5 truncates, more than 5
>rounds up"?
>
>Still, the cost is, indeed, 5.
>
>JAJ, GP
>
>
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 20:15:41 -0800
From: Tracy L Birdine <hawk291@juno.com>
Subject: Re: A couple of comments about movies
On Thu, 25 Mar 1999 19:57:31 -0500 (EST) Jason Sullivan
<ravanos@NJCU.edu> writes:
>
> Best chase movie:
>
> Vanishing Point
>
> There are two of them. A more recent one and the original.
>
> Try the original.
>
Best foot chase:
Outland
Pointbreak
|- /\ \\/ |< [ ICQ: 32038562 ]
CO/Alpha Company, Black Horse Regiment
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 09:13:01 +0000
From: Stephen McGinness <MCGINNESSS@parliament.uk>
Subject: Re:Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind
This could be done by buying the relevant skills to superhuman levels and
taking the relevant penalties for incredible results....
Stephen
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 07:25:57 -0600
From: "Michael (Damon) & Peni Griffin" <griffin@txdirect.net>
Subject: Re: Sherlock Jones and the power of the Mind (Mental Powers that aren't)
At 08:40 PM 3/25/1999 -0500, Jason Sullivan wrote:
>
> Sherlock Jones is the world's greatest behaviorial psychologist.
>
> Because of this, he has two special "powers" (drawn from the pages
>of Dark Champions and modified).
These really don't seem like they should be Powers. If you really don't
want to do as Stephen suggested and give him superhuman scores in the
appropriate Skills (which I think is the best way to handle it), consider
giving him a customized Talent or two, perhaps loosely based on Danger
Sense and Bump of Direction in the first case, and Universal Translator in
the second.
Damon
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|************* Beware of geeks bearing .GIFs ***************|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|Damon & Peni's homepages: http://www.txdirect.net/~griffin |
| Children's Books -- Dolls -- X-Files -- Pulp Magazines |
| Computers -- Gaming -- All Human Knowledge |
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 10:39:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@dedaana.otd.com>
Subject: Multiple Heads (return)
Okay, remember a while back I asked bout handling creatures with more than
one head? I just got my Hero Bestiary back and found something
interesting. The Hero Hydra (pg 74 of the Hero Bestiary) has the
following two powers:
+4 SPD, Only to Bite (-1 1/2)
and
360 degree vision, OIF: Heads (-1/2)
Now, what do people think about "+x SPD only to do 'y'"? Is this a
good/bad idea? If you use it, how do you assign movement? The hydra has
a 3 SPD base, but a 7 SPD to bite... except a 7 SPD doesn't go on Phase 8,
which is when a 3 SPD moves. This is one reason why I don't like this
construct...
Anyway, how about the OIF heads for the 360 degree vision? Doesn't this
seem a bit... silly? Or, at least, incorrectly worded. I would think
that a hydra could easily have 360 degree vision, but a limitation of some
sort would need to be assigned to show that this abioity wil go away once
you kill enough heads... but OIF?
Thoughts?
- --
Michael Surbrook - susano@otd.com - http://www.otd.com/~susano/index.html
"And I, Susano, warrior-god of the Black Dragon Eye,
will teach you your proper place!!"
Susano Orbatos, _Orion_
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 10:48:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@dedaana.otd.com>
Subject: Hero Chainsaw?
Anyone ever built a chainsaw using Hero rules?
If yes, could you post it? Thanks.
- --
Michael Surbrook - susano@otd.com - http://www.otd.com/~susano/index.html
"And I, Susano, warrior-god of the Black Dragon Eye,
will teach you your proper place!!"
Susano Orbatos, _Orion_
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 12:11:58 -0500 (EST)
From: Jason Sullivan <ravanos@NJCU.edu>
Subject: Multiple Heads (return) (fwd)
>+4 SPD, Only to Bite (-1 1/2)
I generally don't like this construct because it could be very
easily abused by players. However, keeping in mind that that this
construct was built for a GM controlled creature, it solves the extra
attack problem quite elegantly.
As for the (-1 1/2) Limitation, I'm not sure if that's quite
applicable... It seems much too generous. Even if it only allows the
character to perform an action- a single action (no movement, no other
attacks but that one, no other combat maneuvers, no drawing of weapons, no
making of skill rolls, activation of powers, recoveries, or soliloquys),
it becomes a cheap way to "stack" attacks.
>360 degree vision, OIF: Heads (-1/2)
I think a limitation like Restrainable would be more applicable.
>If you use it, how do you assign movement? The hydra has
>a 3 SPD base, but a 7 SPD to bite...
You would need to assign "non-bite phases" among the phases
provided in the 7 SPD. I'd suggest that the "bite only phases" be fixed
on the special speed chart to prevent stacatto attacks with varying
frequency.
Other than that, move during the "non-bite phases" and don't
during the "bite only" phases.
------------------------------
End of champ-l-digest V1 #247
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Date: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 01:11 PM