Digest Archives Vol 1 Issue 30
Desmarais, John
From: owner-champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Sent: Thursday, November 05, 1998 3:37 AM
To: champ-l-digest@sysabend.org
Subject: champ-l-digest V1 #30
champ-l-digest Thursday, November 5 1998 Volume 01 : Number 030
In this issue:
Re: Re: Ultra slots in multipowers
Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions)
Re: Physical vs. Energy Flash (was RE: Non-Lethal Weapons)
Re: GURPS: GURPS
Re: Liar! Oh, I guess not. (heh heh heh that'll teach him to cross me!)
Re: Hero Template for Creation Workshop...
Re: Mail problem
Re: Breadth vs. Depth
RE: Benchmarks
Re: Hero Creator and Creation Workshop
Re: Danger International / Justice Inc
Computers
Re: Kurosawa Dies
Re: Good Idea/Bad Idea
Re: Game Preparation / was Need help with plot [long]
RE: Requests for the list
Re: Everyimmortal skills [Filksinger & Lockie]
Re: something odder
Re: Dark Side (???)
Re: Automatons
Re: Icorporating Myth without stepping on religion.
Re: Question about Luck
Re: Combat Skill Level
Re: metal armour
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 11:36:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Re: Ultra slots in multipowers
On Tue, 6 Oct 1998, Matrix Mole wrote:
> >How many attack powers do you use at once? Only one. How many defensive
> >and movement powers do you use at once? Many. So you put your attack
> >powers in a MP as ultra slots, and have your Flight, Force Field etc in
> >an EC.
>
> So it would seem to me that it is a personal preference in some cases
> then? Or do people do it because it's a better deal cost wise to have
> the attack powers in the MP and the other powers in the EC?
For me it depends a lot on what I am building and the concept behind the
character. For many characters, a Multipower of atack powers (such as
various forms of EB) and an EC of defensive and movement powers is a very
good idea nad works very well. It can be a bit expensive though and
usually isn't affordable by some starting heros (especially at the 250
point range).
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 18:01:57 -0400
From: "B.C. Holmes" <bcholmes@interlog.com>
Subject: Re: Anglo-HERO (Re: San Angelo Opinions)
Jason Sullivan wrote:
>
> Also, another annoying trend I've noticed is not so much the
> overwhelming uni-race of heroes, but also the characturization of a
> person's cultural identity? Must most Asian heroes know some form of
> martial art?
George Takei (Mr. Sulu) talks about this w.r.t. Star Trek. In "The
Naked Time", he was scripted to run around the ship karate-chopping
everyone, and he felt that by the 23rd century, people would have a far
more diverse range of cultural icons to choose from. So he talked the
scriptwriter into giving him a fencing sword, and emulating a musketeer.
There's also an interesting book out (which I haven't read). A sort-of
"What if..." book, in which Adolf Hitler became a science fiction
writer, instead of a fascist dictator. Most of the book involves the
story that Adolf writes, about a blond-haired, blue-eyed hero and his
big bosomed love interest. The schtick is, of course, that Adolf's
science fiction really doesn't differ a whole lot from the rest of the
science fiction that's available.
BCing you
- ----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+--
B.C. Holmes http://www.interlog.com/~bcholmes/
"'The Mocking Priestess has a saying,' I told him. 'You can get what
you want most in life; not even the gods can guarantee you get your
second choice too.'"
- James Alan Gardner, _Commitment Hour_
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 1998 20:15:08 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com>
Subject: Re: Physical vs. Energy Flash (was RE: Non-Lethal Weapons)
On Sat, 22 Aug 1998 opal@technologist.com wrote:
> Dr. Nuncheon wrote:
> > On 21 Aug 1998, Stainless Steel Rat wrote:
> > Nowhere in the main rulebook does it say, 'Flash vs. Sight is a bright
> > burst of light'. Nowhere does it say 'sand in the face should be an NND
> > Flash'. All of that has been added later, and it is, as far as I can
> > tell, completely baseless and wrong.
Actually, I (Dr. N/Jeff) wrote that.
> Added later? They're still not in the rules. It's just a common practice.
Well, it's been 'legitimized' by being published in various of the Champs
books, which are a prime source of evidence and research among Champs
players and GMs.
As for changing the practice rather than the rules - well, I've noticed
that there are a lot of HERO players who are...ah, shall we say,
'resistant to change'? Even though there's nothing on the book that says
'bright light = normal flash, sand in eyes = NND Flash', it's somehow
become a part of most Champs player's unconscious thought processes.
Maybe the name of the power is what inspires those associations, or maybe
it's passed down from older player to newer player. I'm not sure.
What the PFD/EFD change would do is to emphasize the differences and make
people think more about them. One could do the same by changing the
wording of the powers in question, or a host of other tactics (like, oh,
bringing up the subject on a mailing list...)
J
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 17:16:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: GURPS: GURPS
On Tue, 13 Oct 1998, thomas deja wrote:
> Conidering that I'm willing to bet that the GURPS licensed stuff allows
> SJG to do original stuff (you wanna bet GURPS: Vampire outsold all the
> Illuminiati and Voodoo and Atomic horror, etc...combined?), why are we
> so down on it? It's like the comic company Dark Horse doing Star wars
> books to allow it to do obscure mangas and Andrew Vacchs
> adaptions--doing these adaptions frees them up to do stuff SJG wants to
> do.
Point. I think my angle wasn't 'why does GURPS do this', but of 'boy am I
sick of seeing GURPS do White Wolf crap...'. My first comment on seeing
the Traveller book was 'Exactly how many different versions of Traveller
does this make?' followed by 'Do I want this?'.
> Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Traveller way out of print?
The version GURPS is doing? *WAY* out of print.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 10:19:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Liar! Oh, I guess not. (heh heh heh that'll teach him to cross me!)
On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Lockie wrote:
Re: Liar! Oh, I guess not. (heh heh heh that'll teach him to cross , me!)
The warmth of your apology is overwhelming...
> > >ahh, here it is, my apologies mr Surbrook i did send this to you
> > >. .. heavens knows why, it's not like you ever read it. .
> >
> > That apology doesn't sound very heartfelt to me, given that you just
> called
> > Surbrook a liar (regarding something you'd managed to forget doing only
> > hours before), but it's up to him whether to accept it or not.
>
> see, i apologise and i get flack. why do i bother? oh that's right i
> like being the underdog.
No... it didn't sound like much of an apology, since you turned around and
snapped at me again in the same sentence.
> PS: in cyberspace, no one can *hear* anything. . .
He who is without sin should cast the first stone...
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 06:26:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Desmarais <johndesmarais@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Hero Template for Creation Workshop...
- ---Patrick Bierlein wrote:
>
> I've been lurking for a while now, but i was wondering if there is
any info on
> this "Hero Creator" software... I'm interested in seeing hwat it
looks like,
> assuming from all the original posts I'm guessing it's like Hero
Maker.
>
> Thanks
> Patrick
Go take a look at Hero Game's web site (http://www.herogames.com).
There are screen shots of either Creation Workshop or Hero Creator.
Hero Creator is a slighlty stripped down Creation Workshop dedicated
to Hero System. Creation Workshop is "the full deal" - it comes with
the Fuzion System template, Hero System template available, with some
extra fetures lacking in Hero Creator. (I imagine that screen shots of
the two programs though would look much the same.)
Unlike HeroMaker, it's a Win32 app which, if nothing else) should help
all those folks who had difficulty driving newer printers with
Heromaker (Hero Creator & Creation Workshop should work with any
printer properly configured for Windows) - it also allows for use of
some of the other nicities built into the Win32 API. The down side of
this is that it's more difficult to get Win32 apps to run on
non-Windows platforms (Mac, OS/2, Unix, etc...), and Hero Games has
not announced plans for support of any of these platforms. Oh well...
==
=======================================
John Desmarais <champ-l-owner@sysabend.org>
Keeper of the Champions / Hero System mailing
list. http://www.sysabend.org/champions
=======================================
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 03:02:31 -0500
From: Gypsy <klgeorge@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Mail problem
Michael Surbrook wrote:
>
> Is *everyone* getting flooded with old mail messages?
>
> And if yes, do all of them have this: m00bi800@cwcom.net as an address?
Yes and yes.
- --
Imagination is the seed of intelligence. Nourish it and watch it grow.
ICQ #3788510
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 13:50:51 -0400
From: David Stallard <DBStallard@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Breadth vs. Depth
Message text written by Brian Wong
> Just as a side note. I'm in a PBeM using CNM but under Hero-system
rather than Fuzion. I do believe that setting info is useful to more than
just
Fuzion fans.<
Me too...in fact, I think we're in the same PBeM (I'm running a bit behind
the rest of the group). Anyway, the last time I ran Champions, I used CNM
with the Hero System rules.
>> One of my funnest characters was one who consistantly chose bad
tactics and went down first. She always bit off more than she could chew
and
ignored the consequences. Like an overconfident impulsive type should. Yet
too often I see even characters with those disads played as paranoid
thinkers.<<
I once played a dwarf in an AD&D PBeM which was based on the Xanth books by
Piers Anthony. This dwarf would charge recklessly into any battle,
regardless of the danger to himself. I guess the GM didn't know what to do
with me (other than kill me), so the "Xanth" power he gave me was that
non-magical weapons simply passed right through me! (If you're not
familiar with Xanth, every person gets one unique power at birth...some are
useless, such as making orange spots appear on a wall, and some are very
powerful, such as being able to turn into a dragon).
>> That's odd. I've never encountered people using a published world
for
any RPG except on the net myself.<<
Really? You've never known anyone who adventured in the Forgotten Realms
or Greyhawk? Thinking back, almost every game I've been involved with has
used a published world, with the exception of some AD&D games.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 09:21:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: RE: Benchmarks
On Sun, 9 Aug 1998, Filksinger wrote:
> > On the whole STR/lift thing, I actually like the
> > way Fuzion handles it
> > (did I really say that?) where the lift is how
> > much you can get to your
> > waist (any way you can) or drag. 1/2 of that is
> > what you can get over
> > your head and you can carry/push/throw 1/4 of that.
> >
> > Using that, how do those Olympic guys look now?
>
> Well, getting it to your waist any way you can could be a
> deadlift. If you assume absolutely no pushing in
> competitions, this would give the Olympians about a 20 STR.
>
> Half over your head works.
>
> However, using the last rule, it would take one of those
> Olympians to do a fireman's carry for a HERO system default
> average weight man (100kg).
Hmm... I don't see why. If an Olympic weightlifter has a 20 STR, that's
400kg. 1/2 of that is 200 kg, so lifting a 100kg man over your head would
be easy.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1998 13:27:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Hero Creator and Creation Workshop
On Thu, 10 Sep 1998 HeroGames@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 9/10/98 9:34:59 AM, susano@access.digex.net writes:
>
> >Will Creation Workshop ever be a Macintosh program?
>
> It's unlikely any time soon. Until the sales of the Creation Workshop get
> large enough, it's not cost-effective for us to develop a Macintosh version.
> In other words, the cost of development, management and sales would exceed the
> revenue from the software until we reach a certain amount of sales, and we're
> nowhere near that level. We do know that Creation Workshop works just fine
> under Virtual PC on a Macintosh, though.
Yes, well some of us don't yet own a Mac that can run that.
> We'd like to do a Macintosh version, especially since Hero Games is a
> Macintosh office (though we have Wintel PC's as well). But there's not enough
> sales potential to justify the effort at this time.
Please do make the effort when you feel it becomes feasible. It sounds
like a nice program to have.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 03 Nov 1998 10:59:04 -0500 (EST)
From: aregalad@miami.edu
Subject: Re: Danger International / Justice Inc
Hello,
> However, we've always been somewhat disturbed by the fact that when
> applied to "normal" characters, even heroic ones, we lost a lot of the
> system.
>
> What I mean is that for modern era, playing spies and mercenaries
> without super powers, the characteristices had a very limited range :
> generally between 10 and 20 (the rules allows higher charac with
> higher cost, but I don't think it is very reallistic), so a roll of 11
> or 12, sometimes 13, and a speed of 2 or 3. So everything becoming
> very binary , without a lot of differences between the player on those
> stats (except for the skills, obviously, which are the main part of
> those modern era games). Same thing with the maximum doubling
> limitation on additional Damage Class, which become very limited, due
> to the limited range of starting DC.
Well, alot of this is relative. Keep in mind that in most RPGs, people act
once/turn (or the equivalent), so having speeds range from 1-4 really is a
bit more nuanced than some RPGs. As far as DCs are concerned, I wouldn't
mess with those. A range of 2d6 through 8d6 is impressive enough - even if
most people end up about the same. The one area where I share some of your
concerns is in stat rolls. I've changed stat bases and skill bases in my
campaign to CHAR/3 + 7. It provides for a more gradual progression, and
hence a little more diversity. (Just a little, but at least its
something).
> I was thinking of a demultiplication system of the 5-20 charac range
> to resolve this point ... But I have not yet developped anything.
> Does anybody have ideas or other solution ?
What did you have in mind?
Take care,
Dragonfly
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 21:36:24 -0500
From: Ross Rannells <rossrannells@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Computers
Since there has been som discussion of house rules as of late I thought
I would ask for opinions on one of mine. One of the shortcomings in
the BBB is its terse treatment of computers (and AIs). This became a
problem when I got a computer submitted for approval which had 5
overall levels and a 5 Int. I considered the thing a rules rape but the
player said it was perfectly legal, so I was forced into coming up with
my own set of house rule. They are as follows:
Computers can have as many programs and skills/talents/etc. as the
creater can purchase with its alloted points, this represents the
storage capicity of the hardware (hard disk). A computer can
multitask up to its Int/5 programs. A computer can run an equal
number of skill points as its Int at any time (the RAM/Cache).
So a computer with a 15 Int could run up to three different
programs with a total of 15 skill point in use at any one time.
So a 15 Int computer were to put its full processing power into
aiding a gunner firing a weapon then a +5 OCV (IMO
computers can buy 3 point levels and AIs 2 point levels) could
be added to the shot. If the computer was to fire the weapon
it must also use its weapon familiarity points and as well as its
systems operations points (to operate the sense group used to
percieve the target), which means only a +2 or +3 would be
available.
AI's operate under much the same rules only they get to add their
Ego and Int together to get the total number of skill points they
can use at one time and can have Int/5 + Ego/3 programs active
at one time.
So How does this sound....
Ross Rannells
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 21:27:33 -0500
From: Ross Rannells <rossrannells@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Kurosawa Dies
Michael Surbrook wrote:
> Akira Kurasawa, director of such films "Seven Samurai", "Rashamon",
> "Yojimbo" and "Ran" died Sept 6th, aged 88.
>
> What does this have to do with Champions? Not much, but if you want to
> run anything using Gold Rush Games 'Sengoku' or 'Usagi Yojimbo' books, his
> films are a must see. His movies also influenced many American directors
> (among others). "Seven Samurai" became "The Magnificent Seven", "The
> Hidden Fortress" partially inspired "Star Wars" and Sergio Lenone turned
> "Yojimbo" into "A Fistfull of Dollars" (and Bruce Willis starred in
> another adaption called "Last Man Standing").
>
> Anyway, I thought it worth mentioning.
>
> ***************************************************************************
> * "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
> * Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
> * Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
> * http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
> * Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
> * Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
> ***************************************************************************
I hadn't heard this, It truely is a sad day for the film industry.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1998 09:25:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Good Idea/Bad Idea
On Fri, 14 Aug 1998, Bob Greenwade wrote:
> At 07:55 PM 8/14/1998 +1000, Lockie wrote:
> >Good idea: filling in for defender as the champions leader.
> >Bad idea: filling in for seeker on the cover of champions books.
>
> (I gotta nominate this one [above] as the best so far....)
Hey, Bob, is it okay if I add this to my website? It will make a nice
addition to the 'things I learned from playing Champions' list.
> Good idea: Dating Quantum. (Hubba hubba!)
> Bad idea: Dating Quantum. (Owwwwww....)
Worse idea: Dating Pretty Poison (urkk...)
Even Worse idea: Dating a woman named 'Howler'...
> Good idea: Buying your 13-year-old son a copy of the Fifth Edition Hero
> System Rulebook and Champions genre book.
> Bad idea: Buying your 13-year-old son a copy of the Fifth Edition Hero
> System Rulebook and Champions genre book.
Worse idea: Buying you 13-year-old son a copy of the Fuzion rulebook.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1998 11:06:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Game Preparation / was Need help with plot [long]
On Tue, 11 Aug 1998, Dr. Nuncheon wrote:
> On Tue, 11 Aug 1998, Curt Hicks wrote:
> >
> > What do you mean by 'cut scenes' ?
>
> 'Cut scenes' are (at least, these are what /I/ call cut scenes) scenes
> that the characters would no nothing about, but are played out or
> described the the GM for the benefit of the players. Usually they're used
> to establish some piece of information or to provide a bit of character
> for the people involved, or to help heighten a mood, etc.
I do this all the time, sending the sequences out via e-mail to the
players for them to read. It works very well, allowing me to produce
intros and endings to adventures that detail additonal info the PCs don't
know, but make things more enjoyable for everyone.
The scene I described with the captive AMP officer in the 'plot help' post
will be just such a scene.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 12:43:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: RE: Requests for the list
On Wed, 19 Aug 1998, Bill Svitavsky wrote:
> If your body is metallic because it's robotic or cybernetic, comic book
> logic demands that you *will* have your limbs ripped off on a semi-regular
> basis. Ordinary fleshy heroes will survive battle after battle with no
> serious injury, but anybody who can be rebuilt will be torn to bits quite
> often.
This is very true in the anime/manga Silent Mobius. The characters are
cops fighting Lovecraftian monsters that can easily rend someone
limb-from-limb, but the only one who *really* gets messed up regularly is
Kiddy Phenil, the cyborg. She gets a broken arm, and arm lopped off,
smashed up, stabbed, battered and broken *constantly*, while everyone else
emerges without a scratch (or only slightly bloodied).
I think it's a result of the writer *knowing* he can maim the character
without permenent after effects, since the character can be rebuilt
easily.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 10:32:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Everyimmortal skills [Filksinger & Lockie]
On Mon, 10 Aug 1998, Lockie wrote:
> um, hi? what rambling post is this? let me just check. . .
> hmm, well you're lying, the only mail i have on-record to you
> was a cc involving the lace and steel rpg a while ago.
I am *NOT* lying. You did send me a post in reply to my comments on your
debating style. You sent it only to me and it was *very* long. I now
wish I had kept it, so I could send it back to you.
> And i don't think the whole list is out fro anything- it's just a select
> group of dickheads who don't mind indulging in some elf-bashing they
> know they can get away with. .again, i'm going to start ignoring this sort
Really? You were the one who started resorting to name calling in this
debate.
> of tripe
> pretty soon, how about you bitch about me in private mail like
> mr tsang? it's almost as much fun. .
Sorry, I'll restrict all my comments to this open and public forum.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 17:31:48 -0600 (CST)
From: "Dr. Nuncheon" <jeffj@io.com>
Subject: Re: something odder
On Thu, 29 Oct 1998, Jesse Thomas wrote:
> The most recent version of the rules is the standard, not the oldest.
>
> That having been said, I'd definitely consider "Transform cannot
> increase the point value of the target" a valid house rule, even an
> intuitively obvious one. I'm sure there's lots of people who read it
> that way, and that's the way I generally play it myself. Otherwise, you
> get all kinds of rampant rules abuse, such as a 50-point villain who
> creates legions of 500-point brainwashed mutant followers and beats up
> your PC's. It's fun once or twice, but you wouldn't enjoy it as a
> repeated campaign element.
Hmm. Well, I know not everyone likes Aaron Allston's work on Ninja Hero,
but I believe he did just this - there was a sorceror who could turn
normal people into super-powered martial artists, and if I remember right
he did it using Transform. So it would seem that the 'no point increase'
has been removed from the official rules and relegated to the arena of
GM's discretion.
Now, would I let the PCs take a power like that? No way. That sort of
power is 'GM only' and used for building things like Galactus, the Wild
Cards virus, and other similar stuff.
Although, actually, I might allow a PC to take it, as long as it was
properly limited. For instance, if there was a wizard who wanted to
perform magical experiments on people or animals, Transform might be the
best (and only) way to really do it. I just wouldn't ever allow
'Transform bystander into kilopoint monstrosity loyal only to me' as a
player power...
J
Hostes aliengeni me abduxerent. Jeff Johnston - jeffj@io.com
Qui annus est? http://www.io.com/~jeffj
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 14:50:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Dark Side (???)
On Tue, 8 Sep 1998, Dr. Nuncheon wrote:
> > I have never heard of a anime character named 'Darkside'. I'm willing ot
> > bet the character is 'Darkseid' from DC comics. If any further details
> > are known, please pass them on.
>
> The only anime character that comes to my mind would be 'Dark Schneider'
> from the series _BASTARD!_ (I understand that it's now available
> commercially here in the US - the version I saw was fan-subbed and left in
> all of the original 'heavy metal' name puns)
Heh... I've have the fan-subbed tapes with all the original puns as well.
I picked up a subbed copy, but haven't watched it yet, but based on the
back cover, they've hacked up some of the names bigtime.
> If Dark Schneider is who they want to play, well...he's an incredibly
> powerful sorceror, so I hope you're giving them a lot of points. (On the
> other hand, if Darkseid is who they want to play, I guess I'd have to say
> pretty much the same thing...)
Dark Schneider has a mega-point spell called "Megadeath!" that can wipe
out whole castles. Yeah, he's a lot of points...
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 21:32:58 -0500
From: Ross Rannells <rossrannells@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Automatons
Stainless Steel Rat wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>
> "TB" == Trevor Barrie <tbarrie@ibm.net> writes:
>
> TB> Hardly a "small" minority, and as I understand it they're growing, at
> TB> least on the desktop market.
>
> Not counting domestic machines, Microsoft Windows 95 and NT have an ~55%
> share, Unix and Unixalikes like Linux have an ~40% share (with ~5% slack
> for other systems, such as legacy DOS, mainframes, etc). The gap between
> them is shrinking rapidly; by this time next year they will be even; by
> 2001, Unix is expected to dominate again.
>
> Fact is, companies -- Fortune 500 and Fortune 50 companies -- are beginning
> to realize that Microsoft has taken them for a very expensive ride.
> Windows/NT costs more to install (both hardware and software) than Unix for
> comparable power. It costs much more to maintain -- an NT shop requires
> 50% more human administrators as an equivalent Unix shop. And it costs
> more in lost productive time, since a given NT machine will crash at least
> once a week.
>
>
Once a week is being pretty nice. My Pentuim pro 300 with 128 meg ram and 6
gig hard disk running NT 4.0 locked up on me 6 times today. The 486/66 with 16
meg of Ram and 3 gigs of disk hasn't locked up for over a year (at least its
been that long since I got a service call on that machine).
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 09:10:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Icorporating Myth without stepping on religion.
On Wed, 26 Aug 1998, Todd Hanson wrote:
> Rook wrote:
> >
> > Here's a tough one.
> >
> > In a modern day super world;
> >
> > How can you incorporate mythology and mythical creatures without
> > stepping on religious toes and without belittling the mythical creature.
>
>
> Is this REALLY that big of an issue for people in their games??
>
> Am I in the minority here when I say, this is NOT an issue in ANY of the
> games I've ever played in??
It wasn't for two of the longer-running supers games I was in. In the
first game, gods were considered to be very powerful magical entites that
were created from the collective conciousness of man. (I thik, I wasn't
the GM). In my own game, the issue was never an issue as nothing happened
to crate a need to examine the question (I also forbid gods or avatars,
but that was for my own reasons).
> If the people you game with are so thin-skinned that they can't seperate
> fantasy and reality, then perhaps they are too unstable to be playing a
> role playing game to begin with.
A very good point.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 2 Nov 1998 15:31:06 +0000
From: "J. W. Eiler" <jw_eiler@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: Question about Luck
Date sent: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 10:39:55 -0800 (PST)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@iii.com>
Send reply to: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@iii.com>
Subject: Re: Question about Luck
To: jw_eiler@bellsouth.net
Copies to: champ-l@sysabend.org
> J. W. Eiler writes:
> > A couple of things to remember about luck -- the "book" maximum is
> > 5D6. Have a good, long talk with your GM, and have him/her really think
> > about whether or not they want to mess with the game mechanics
> > before you go and buy more than 5D6. Also, the way the book states it,
> > luck is ONLY to get your charachter out of a jam -- when the chips are
> > down, so to speak.
>
> Huh? No, the book maximum on _unluck_ is 5d6. No limit on luck.
<sheepish grin> My bad -- oh, well, that's my mistake for the year <g>.
> The book
> also doesn't specify exactly what luck is for -- the basic rule for luck is
> that it only gets rolled when the GM chooses to allow it to be rolled.
Well, sort of. It does give examples of help when the PC's are "in deep
kim-chee," or when they're otherwise out of options.
> As a rule, if you want luck on a character in a _controllable_ way, don't do
> this with luck -- do this with other powers, with a special effect of 'luck'.
Actually, that's an idea. How about a "Black Cat" type power -- "3D6
Unluck, Usable Against Others, usable as a Power (probably +1, at
least), Range." Imagine an otherwise Normal-charachter with this....
Be afraid! <g>
J. W. Eiler
Thought for the day:
Dictatorship (n): a form of government under which everything
which is not prohibited is compulsory.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 11:39:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Surbrook <susano@access.digex.net>
Subject: Re: Combat Skill Level
On Mon, 5 Oct 1998 JayPHailey@aol.com wrote:
> << I was talking with one of my gamers last night, when he brought up
> a
> topic to me that I had been thinking of earlier in the day.
> Can you purcahse CSL's for ECV? >>
>
> As a GM I'd say yes, but at 8 points per level.
Why? An 8 pt CSL is for 'all combat'. One should be able to buy 5 point
CSLs with EGO or Mental combat with *no* problems.
> << And if you already have the lovely 10pt overall skill level, would
> it apply to you ECV as well.
>
> Food for thought >>
>
> No. mental combat is nothing like physical combat. So a general purpose CSL
> would not apply, IMHO.
Sorry, a 10 point Overall Skill level is just that, an *overall* skill
level that applies to *everything* the character can do. Mental combat
and Ego powers are not excluded from this.
***************************************************************************
* "'Cause I'm the god of destruction, that's why!" - Susano Orbatos,Orion *
* Michael Surbrook / susano@access.digex.net *
* Visit "Surbrook's Stuff' the Hero Games resource site at: *
* http://www.access.digex.net/~susano/index.html *
* Attacked Mystification Police / AD Police / ESWAT *
* Society for Creative Anachronism / House ap Gwystl / Company of St.Mark *
***************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1998 09:03:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@iii.com>
Subject: Re: metal armour
qts writes:
> >However...the metal only protects to the degree that it actually provides
> >a path to the ground (or wherever the electricity is going). As such, if
> >you were wearing a chainmail vest and got hit by lightning, a significant
> >portion of the electricity would be transmitted by the vest -- until the
> >mail stopped, at which point the easiest path to the ground is probably
> >through your leg...
>
> Exactly.
>
> >The net effect is that metal armor should probably provide full defense
> >against electrical attacks (dealing with the ability of a shock to hit
> >multiple hit locations is probably not worth the effort); _however_, the
> >real disadvantage of metal armor against lightning is that metal armor will
> >make electrical attacks somewhat more likely to _hit_ you (figure -1 to -3
> >DCV).
>
> An interesting take. However, it still doesn't take into account
> metal's near-transparency to electricity. Yes, I might give them 1 DEF
> for the clothes underneath, but that helmet is in full contact with
> your skin...
Ok, it's probably more accurate to say that metal armor gives 1 DEF _and_ 50%
damage reduction, rather than just providing DEF -- the primary way electricity
kills is by scrambling the central nervous system (stopping the heart, etc) and
chainmail will do a _fine_ job of protecting the torso from that effect.
Electrical burns to the legs aren't likely to kill you.
As for 'transparency', metal _isn't_ transparent to electricity. It conducts
it, which is completely different. It is, in fact, almost completely opaque.
------------------------------
End of champ-l-digest V1 #30
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Date: Tuesday, December 29, 1998 09:14 AM