Julian May

[Silversmith]

Has anyone ever done a campaign with Julian may's novels about metahumans? I can't remember the name of the series right now. One of the books is Metaconcert. Another part of the series contains The Many Colered Land, The Golden Torc, The Non-Born King and another that I can't remember. All the powers are mental some with physical manifestations. Just wondering if anyone had done or seen hero conversions for these characters or any of the alien races introduced in these books. Thanks.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Julian May

 

Has anyone ever done a campaign with Julian may's novels about metahumans? I can't remember the name of the series right now. One of the books is Metaconcert. Another part of the series contains The Many Colered Land' date=' The Golden Torc, The Non-Born King [/i']and another that I can't remember. All the powers are mental some with physical manifestations. Just wondering if anyone had done or seen hero conversions for these characters or any of the alien races introduced in these books. Thanks.

 

Collectively known as the Human Mileu series.

Broken into several sets.

The Saga of the Pleistocine Exile, The Intervention series, and the Metapsychic Rebellion.

 

My Star Hero game wasn't set in the Mileu, because my setting was a mash up (well known fact...you put enough different stolen parts together and the end product is almost unrecognizable ), but my system for handling psi powers was taken directly from that series. IMO, her system of classification is the most evocative I've seen, and it fit the game like a glove.

 

As for fitting the HERO system... well...it fit kinda like a shoe. On a head

Stating up a Paramount Grandmaster Meta in HERO terms, especially in a Heroic game, was, well.... rough.

[Silversmith]

Re: Julian May

 

I was considering treating it as a variable power pool with strict restrictions on how that pool is used. Thanks for the help on the name of the series. And I was considering starting in the early years. During Denis' first research into metapsychic phenomena. Paramount Grandmaster Meta would probably not be a problem. However trying to handle the idea of metaconcert is sort of problematic. Still haven't figured that out yet.

[AmadanNaBriona]

Re: Julian May

 

I was considering treating it as a variable power pool with strict restrictions on how that pool is used. Thanks for the help on the name of the series. And I was considering starting in the early years. During Denis' first research into metapsychic phenomena. Paramount Grandmaster Meta would probably not be a problem. However trying to handle the idea of metaconcert is sort of problematic. Still haven't figured that out yet.

Metaconcerts probably won't be too rough... especially if you're using VPP's.

Do you have FH?

Probably the best method for doing Mileu style Operant Metas, IMHO, is a Talent Based system, where each discipline is a seperate talent, and the level you buy the Talent at determines how much of your VPP you can use for that type of effect.

Metaconcerts are easy. The director of the metaconcert needs a powerskill, and uses his VPP for whatever effect the concert is attempting. Everyone else allocates as much of the their pool, subject to the limit of their talent (so a weak Coercer won't add much to a coercive concert, fr'instance) to a Succor, with increased maximum effect with a variation of the Ritual limit from FH (meaning that the maximum effect is increased with the number of metas incorporated into the concert.

 

I'd also use either Aid or (more likely) Succor to represent the added powerlevel of Masters and Grandmasters. The normal VPP probably wouldn't need a powerskill, but Masters and grandmasters have special training programs to increase their output, which I'd make RSR.

 

Sub-operants, characters with natural untrained abilities, would probably use the normal point buy system, thuys making them alot more limited. This jibes with the examples from the Pleistocine and Intervention books.

 

modeling Unity may be rough tho. Probably another talent, based around Mindlinkand either Resistance, mental defence, or Mental Damage reduction.

[Herolover]

Re: Julian May

 

Just to tell you no, I have not used this setting in any campaign, but I have always wanted to.

 

What a great series off books.

[TheRavenIs]

Re: Julian May

 

I have read a few of the books, loved them, but no I never have used the power set in any manner. I just don't understand it well enough to model correctly.

[Haerandir]

Re: Julian May

 

You know, I've loved those books since I was in middle school, and I've read them all multiple times. I've often thought of doing writeups of the characters and the setting, originally in GURPS terms, later in HERO. But I never have. I'm not surprised that no one else seems to have, either... It's a daunting task. There is an awful lot going on in those books. I mean, you've got hundreds of characters to consider, in 3 distinct time/place loci, with something like 10 sentient races, vast mental powers, psychology, theology, mythology, philosphy, physics, metaphysics, paleontology, advanced technology...

 

Sure, there's no need to work it all out, but I find that every time I sit down and start thinking about what I'd like to cover, I get caught up in considering trivia like, "What do the Krondaku actually look like?" or "So, when you use the creative metafaculty to turn yourself into a dragonfly, are you really a dragonfly?" Then after an hour or so of that, it's time to go to work or something.

 

*sigh*

 

Someday!

[Curufea]

Re: Julian May

 

I liked the books and even had banners for my army (way back when I used to play Warhammer Fantasy) made up like Aiken Drum's

"Digitus Impudicus"

Purpure, A hand, impudent, Or.

 

Anyhow, back on topic-

There needs to be some way to represent for PCs a "maximum potential". It was important in the genre that the limit of the meta abilities was predestined by their genetics and could only ever be changed through extraordinary means. Possibly you could include a new Physical Limitation of varying degrees to represent how much meta ability a character is ever able to acquire.

[Haerandir]

Re: Julian May

 

I was thinking about that today, myself. Personally, I don't favor the notion of using a Disadvantage to model that particular sort of thing. I find that it either winds up feeling like you're giving a player points for playing a weak operant (as opposed to a latent), or you assign a whopping Phys. Lim. to Latents and then are stuck with relatively limited granularity for your sub-levels of operancy. I'd prefer to make players pay points to be good at metapsychic stuff, and just create a Talent or something to represent 'metapsychic potential' and forbid people to increase it after character creation. Unless Culluket the Interrogator starts to torture them, or something.

[Silversmith]

Re: Julian May

 

How exactly would you work that? They have to buy the talent up to the level they want the power? 5 pts talent = 25 AP cost in power pool? Or in the control cost? Then there's the subject of latent metas.

[Markdoc]

Re: Julian May

 

Anyhow, back on topic-

There needs to be some way to represent for PCs a "maximum potential". It was important in the genre that the limit of the meta abilities was predestined by their genetics and could only ever be changed through extraordinary means. Possibly you could include a new Physical Limitation of varying degrees to represent how much meta ability a character is ever able to acquire.

 

Nah, that's handwavium. Aiken drum was latent, then became a powerful operant, then continued to increase in power and then had two "radiation accidents" and became uberpowerful.

 

His "potential" may have been enormous, but it didn't increase until his player spent points on it. Marc, for example spends months improving his D-jumping ability, Felice continues to increase in power and gains extra abilities as the story goes on, etc, etc. Indeed, the theme of metas becoming more and more powerful as they developed their abilities is common in the books, both the Pleistocene and galactic mileu series.

 

So potential may be set by genetic parameters (and you could maybe require a talent to be a meta) but actual levels of power are driven by character development, just as they would be in a game. If a PC becomes a powerful meta, it's because he has good genes - but it's not necessary to model that any more than in a supers game you pay for being a mutant.

 

cheers, Mark

[Curufea]

Re: Julian May

 

It should be rare though - far rarer than accidents in the supehero genre. Perhaps one, or at most two of the PCs in a party could ever rise above their predestined power level. You don't want the game to be just about gaining power, after all.

[Markdoc]

Re: Julian May

 

It should be rare though - far rarer than accidents in the supehero genre. Perhaps one' date=' or at most two of the PCs in a party could ever rise above their predestined power level. You don't want the game to be just about gaining power, after all.[/quote']

 

It may be rare in the universe, but it is pretty common among the characters in the book - what are the odds of two of a group of 12 being among the most powerful latent metas ever known?

 

More importantly, in the book, the group quickly was sorted into largely meta/non-meta parties. In a game, it would make sense to do the same, simply because being a non-meta could over time, end up being a bit boring.

 

However, making the game about something other than gaining power is a common issue of all games - that's up to the GM. I like my FH games to tell a story that the players actually *want* to unravel, but I have played in games where the plot is "Kill the monsters, loot their bodies, get stronger" - or to to put it in philosophical terms "That which does not kill me makes me stronger - especially if it has kewl loot"

 

cheers, Mark

[Silversmith]

Re: Julian May

 

I must agree with Mark here. In Super campaigns Mutants/super powered body armor/ radiation accidents are usually rare but most of the time a party is full of them and they keep running into others. So they can be powerful metapsychics who are learning to use their powers and train their minds to their full potential. As the setting is early into the formal research on metapsychics there were no true grandmaster class metas among humanity. At least not active. XP can be spent to represent training and growing discipline.

 

I may have them buy a talent to become a Grandmaster in any area (coercion, creativity, etc...) Buying the talent would allow them to add past a certain limit in AP cost of certain powers. This would represent the latent metafaculties. In fact I may have different levels of talent to represent metafaculties and they would have to buy the talents at the level they want them at the beginning of the game. This would limit the Players to make them decide what abilities they wanted to give their characters. A Grandmaster Class coercer could be just a so-so creator. they would have to decide on the character concept early. But I would allow for changes later by things like radiation accidents, etc...

 

Even allowing a character to locate a Golden Torc to free up all the latency in the metafaculties would be a possibility. It would however be plot driven and temporary. It would be interesting to see how characters would react to a sudden boost of 500 xp or so. Even though it is temporary.

 

Now all I have to do is come up with a good story line to use in this campaign. I mean, the setting would be great but with no story line it would just be standing around pretending to be someone else doing nothing.

[Markdoc]

Re: Julian May

 

What I'd do is get people to buy a talent - say 10 points for active powers, 5 points (which could be upgraded later) for latency. That way either you're a meta or you're not.

 

As far as a torc goes, that's simply a focus*, so you get more active points for the same XP outlay - remember, not every torc wearer suddenly morphed into a powerful meta: some simply gained minor powers. And not all (or even many) became fully operant - if you took the torc off someone, they usually became latent again, so it certainly behaves like a focus.

 

Cheers, Mark

 

*it also gives mental Def with a big side effect - if you take it off without shorting it with iron, you die.....

[Silversmith]

Re: Julian May

 

True enough, Mark. However, I think to show the genetic predisposition i'll make them buy a talent to show the limits or lack thereof (Grandmaster Class) of their potential powers.

 

I agree the torc is nothing but a focus. However it would allow them to free up all of their abilities at once. And like I said it would be a temporary thing. If you had a Torc and didn't buy the talent at a high level you would only free up the minor latent abilities you have. If you bought high enough talent then a Torc would allow temporarily dump huge amounts of power into your pool. Again since it would be based during the eraliest years of research a Torc would only come up in an archaeological dig. And it would be millions of years old. That's why I figure I can play with the concept without having a Pleistocene Era campaign or storyline bringing the PCs to that era. Also why it would be quite temporary. Degradation might cause it to fizzle quickly. Might also cause side effects to give people interesting disadvantages from game play. Regardless, it's something I'd have to think about carefully before putting it in my campaign. And make certain it serves a purpose.