winterhawk Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 FLGS was just unpacking it today when I stopped in. I'm interested to really go through this one since the DOJ didn't do a playtest on this one...more later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BishopofB&W Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth I just picked it up yesterday. As you may have guessed, it’s about King Cobra and COIL. I’ve only read the source material and skimmed through the adventures. You want access to Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks and VIPER:COTS. There are sidebars referencing specific pages in these and FRED for specific rules and villains to use. Or just substitute. One of the best parts of the book is all the maps, You have a New Mexico tourist trap town set over a VIPER Nest, a mutagenic plague hotzone, sewers, an underground animal habitat and genetics lab the size of the old Seattle Kingdome, a subway, and a train station. King Cobra is still the classic megalomaniac. There is a way for your players to get to know Viper-X (his old enemy Krait now works for COIL and is an example of how to create a neurokinetic). I couldn’t help comparing the character Gorgon to Medusa in Clash of the Titans. Depending on what’s going on in your campaign, the only drawback is that unlike Champions Battlegrounds the three connected adventures are written to be used one after the other. As they are, there is only time for a short adventure between the adventures. This may work for you or you may have to do some revising. There is less art in this book but it’s more than made up for by all the maps by like I mentioned above. Ironclad is looking more like Conan the Barbarian (especially on the cover), but it works for him. Andrew Cremeans’ and Chris Stevens’ drawings of Witchcraft are good because they hint at someone with a little more depth and even personal quirks than just a generic magician with a bad family background. There’s a nice shot of King Cobra “recruitingâ€. Also some shots of some of the Ultimate under the influence of the COIL gene. A shot of Sapphire and Ironclad fighting Gorgon. Sapphire looks more mature and less trampy. One shot of KC trying to strangle Nighthawk (not his fault, KC has a higher STR, DEX, and SPD) while Defender springs into action in an Errol Flynn pose. Lots of serpent-men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 You want access to Conquerors, Killers, and Crooks and VIPER:COTS. Before the complaints start, let me clarify: while one of the sub-scenarios does involve the Ultimates, for which you'd need CKC, we went out of our way not to require VIPER. STAST is made to be run without any need for the VIPER supplement at all. If you have VIPER, STAST is full of "VIPER Bites" sidebars that discuss how you can use it to enhance the scenario, but VIPER absolutely, positively isn't needed to run the adventures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Steve Long Before the complaints start, let me clarify: while one of the sub-scenarios does involve the Ultimates, for which you'd need CKC, we went out of our way not to require VIPER. Steve, if you try to take our complaining away you take all the fun out of being on the message boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Oh, there's always something to complain about! Let's see... ...umm.... It's too thick! There's too much information there, Steve. I demand less value Actually, as far as content goes, this book has far more going for it than I expected. I anticipated a book about the thickness of the old 4th ed adventure books (Atlas, Scourge, etc.). Now I've got all kinds of unanticipated mayhem to throw at my players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Steve Long Before the complaints start, let me clarify: while one of the sub-scenarios does involve the Ultimates, for which you'd need CKC, we went out of our way not to require VIPER. STAST is made to be run without any need for the VIPER supplement at all. If you have VIPER, STAST is full of "VIPER Bites" sidebars that discuss how you can use it to enhance the scenario, but VIPER absolutely, positively isn't needed to run the adventures. But Steve, where are the dice?!?! You can't expect us to pay extra for dice, can you? Keith "Pot-stirrer" Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. MID-Nite Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 The Ultimates, eh? I'll have to change that. The Ultimates got a heavy workout in my campaign and are cureently in Stronghold. My players would lynch me if I used them again. So....guess I'll have to find some mercenary substitutes. Off the record, how many baddies does KC have working for him? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Dr. MID-Nite Off the record, how many baddies does KC have working for him? There's KC, 5 villains, and his COIL agents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BishopofB&W Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Monolith There's KC, 5 villains, and his COIL agents. Plus anyone else he manages to put his COIL-touch on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Picked this up along with UNTIL yesterday. Have only done a quick scan of each, but look interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Hiemforth Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by keithcurtis But Steve, where are the dice?!?! You can't expect us to pay extra for dice, can you? And our time! Don't forget our time! You don't expect us to spend hours out of our life for nothing do you? We should really be getting paid for this! Derek "Helping Keith Stir" Hiemforth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metaphysician Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Now, now, everybody already knows that you are *supposed* to buy all the Champions sourcebooks available. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 The key word being "available".Most of the gaming shops in Auckland seem to sell nothing more than D20 junk. (Three posts to go....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Oh,by the way,does Sharper than A Serpent's Tooth" have King Cobra's origin story (redone for 5th edition,of course)? (Two posts to go.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Southern Cross Oh,by the way,does Sharper than A Serpent's Tooth" have King Cobra's origin story (redone for 5th edition,of course)? (Two posts to go.....) Yes it does. Along with Krait and several others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. MID-Nite Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Someone mentioned a "Neurokinetic". What was meant by that? A villain who can control the body processes of another person with his mind....or a villain with straight up mental powers? I'm assuming the former, but who knows. Also, what's the rough points on KC? Is he another 1000+ point character?(Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that.) I have a big group(5 players) and I just want to make sure this will be a challenge for them. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Originally posted by Dr. MID-Nite Someone mentioned a "Neurokinetic". What was meant by that? A villain who can control the body processes of another person with his mind....or a villain with straight up mental powers? I'm assuming the former, but who knows. Also, what's the rough points on KC? Is he another 1000+ point character?(Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that.) I have a big group(5 players) and I just want to make sure this will be a challenge for them. Krait is the neurokinetic. IIRC, he can drain DEX & SPD and add it to himself. KC is around 650 points with 14d6 attacks. CVs around 10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 And it ain't available here yet. SIGH ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 Originally posted by Southern Cross Oh,by the way,does Sharper than A Serpent's Tooth" have King Cobra's origin story (redone for 5th edition,of course)? Background origins? Who needs origins? All we need are generic stats with no origin backgrounds (or if backgrounds, generic backgrounds) and everyone will be happy? Right? Getting serious now, I really don't know anything more about STAST than what I've read here but it's about the villain Cobra, now known as King Cobra, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 Originally posted by BishopofB&W (...) One shot of KC trying to strangle Nighthawk... It's true then... Nighthawk is the new Seeker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 I do have a question about this book, related to something I'm doing that's otherwise completely unrelated (I'd explain, but it's a bit complicated for right now).... Do any "minor" NPCs have write-ups in this book? I'm thinking of bartenders, beat cops, reporters, and such people with "Character Brief" write-ups. And if they are in the book, where are the write-ups located -- at the point where they're encountered, at the end of each chapter, or all in Chapter Four? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 Got mine waiting for me Shania - "I'm gona getcha good" Mines waiting for me and I get to pick it up in T minus one hour , 23 minutes and too many seconds and counting . Oh boy oh boy oh boy Make mine a HERO from DoJ . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Getting serious now, I really don't know anything more about STAST than what I've read here but it's about the villain Cobra, now known as King Cobra, correct? It is about King Cobra, that's correct -- but he's always been known as King Cobra, ever since his first appearance in CE way back when. Are you perhaps thinking of another villain named Cobra? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Now I've got all kinds of unanticipated mayhem to throw at my players. Mmmm, unanticipated mayhem.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Someone mentioned a "Neurokinetic". What was meant by that? Allen coined that term for Krait's powers. It means he can mentally manipulate/override his own nervous system or that of other people in certain ways. For the most part this manifests as various Aids and Drains related to DEX, SPD, and the like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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