Old Man

Re: Only Humans Need Apply: Campaigns with Just Humans Exactly. All-human campaigns have already been done in S&S, low fantasy, and swashbuckling. It's actually not that hard since there is a wide range of real and imaginary human cultures to steal from. Much harder would be a campaign with no humans in it, because stereotypical elves and dwarves don't really come with much variation. A standard problem with most fantasy campaigns, actually.

Re: Musings on Random Musings That is the exact site I was referring to when making my last attempts at wearing a tie. I think it's a coordination issue.

Re: Reminiscing About Star Fleet Battles Well, I misspoke--instead of "off the map", I often felt like I was hurtling out of the battle. We always played with floating maps too.* SFB for me was a game of maneuver and turn mode D just didn't cut it. *Which annoyed the hell out of me sometimes; we had one Romulan player who always wanted to start the game moving speed 10 in reverse. In fact he was the reason I got into web casters. They're about the only weapon in the game that sort of let you run down a retrograding plasma ship.

Re: Dark Sun profanating spell effect I don't really think this is a limit of the system so much as a limit to how much complexity I'm willing to put up with. There are lots of variables--the power of the spell is limited to the availability of living things to suck power from, and the rate of suck can be controlled by the caster, as can the power of the spell. To do this "right", spellcasters would have to buy their spells at the maximum possible AP on the off chance they're casting in a rain forest, and then usually cast at a level lower than that. Then each spell would have to be linked to its own transfer power, whose own power and rate is controllable by the caster. At this point I'm already not wanting to put up with this when playing at 2 A.M. The only real system limit, I think, is the granularity of the BODY of vegetation. I don't know what the BODY of a scrawny desert shrub is but it can't be any higher than 3, and even that seems like a stretch. So there's a real fine line between preservation and defiling here. I'd call that similar to the Cumulative advantage that's available to Transform, so it'd be a +1. Which seems fine to me given that you're talking about an expensive power (Transfer) with an expensive advantage (AOE) already, plus Variable Advantage if you're going that route. That's similar to what I'd come up with, only without the drain. I dunno, on the one hand it simplifies things some, on the other hand preservers and defilers are supposed to be the same type of wizard, just that the defiler doesn't bother to control his transfer. I'm actually tempted to just throw all my prior work out the window and go with a Side Effect that's defined to be proportional to the amount of END being expended, then buy the power itself at 0 end. Just forget about all the END stuff and kill plants based on the AP of what is being cast. But then the caster would still have to be able to control the power and AOE of the RKA in the side effect... oh forget it, this isn't any simpler than the transfer method.

Re: I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!) I've found that in those cases where I am able to lucid dream, my control over the dream is limited by the fact that if I force it too much, I'll wake up. So in last night's chase dream, I began to suspect that I was in fact dreaming, then when a stairway changed after I looked away and back, I knew. So I willed a lightsaber into my hand and waited in ambush, but I really had to concentrate to keep the lightsaber on, and that woke me up. But not before I got one of my pursuers. Take that, loser who was spawned in my subconscious!

Re: Dark Sun profanating spell effect You are right, of course, but I bent that a bit so as to allow spellcasters a bit more flexibility in spell power. I sort of prevented the constant-charging effect by setting the fade on the END reserve pretty high, so it wouldn't last much more than a turn anyway. But the main factor was that it was something preservers generally wouldn't do. Of course defilers could, but that just makes them more dangerous. > It certainly is, and I very nearly threw up my hands and just defined it as a side effect AE RKA versus plants. Would be a hell of a lot simpler, but like I said, I wanted to make preserver players think about their spellcasting as opposed to just being the party energy projector.

Re: The cranky thread No, just sign away my firstborn. It's okay, he whined a lot anyway.

Re: Medieval knight's face reconstructed I'm not sure how this dude would benefit from having cosmetic surgery, if he's still dead.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Ties were banned at my last place of employment. They are discouraged at my current place of employment, unless visiting an uptight east coast customer. Honestly, I can't even tie a necktie. I've tried. Cravats are neat, but you can't take off your jacket and leave the cravat on, it'd look silly. As opposed of course to jabots which look silly 24/7 unless you are also wearing a powdered wig and are on the grounds at the Ren Faire.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Me too, and I fully intend to keep it that way.

Re: Reminiscing About Star Fleet Battles It was the lack of maneuverability that turned me off from the Feds. Anytime I accelerated one of those past speed 15 I always felt like I was hurtling out of control off the map. No, the Tholians and Klingons were my faves. Especially the former if I can get hold of a web caster. With one of those I am invincible.

Re: FANTASY HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See?

Re: Dark Sun profanating spell effect What you have there with the Transfer is similar to what I came up with a while back. The main difference is that I didn't stack Variable Advantage on it--I'm not sure I see the need, and that's real expensive. I went with Variable Limitation instead, so that characters could control the rate of transfer with Delayed Effect or Extra Time or whatever. I also left the Transfer unhooked from any spells, so that the Preserver could spend time charging up, but had to spend phases doing so. I found it helped to prevent the Superhero Wizard effect. It's worth paying for since it gives the mage a source of END other than his/her own; all Preservers and Defilers come with a hefty Soc Lim that would more than pay for it anyway. That said, I was really shooting for simplicity in my build, and the Side Effect approach has a lot of merit in that respect. The hardest thing about setting this up is that in Hero terms, shrubbery has a constant BODY and no DEF, so a Transfer will kill it all regardless of how long you take to do it. As such the biggest difference between a Preserver and a Defiler was that the former either has a bigger AOE, or has to move around between Transfers.

Re: Dwarves, Elves and Hobbits Need Not Apply!

Re: Musings on Random Musings Brown paper bags are relatively tough unless wet. Just like white t-shirts are relatively opaque unless wet.

Re: The cranky thread The new company uses Microsoft stuff for everything. Ick. Plus, I am going to have to sell it. And set it up.

Re: FANTASY HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See? That way lies madness.

Re: Musings on Random Musings And some wet Kleenex.

Re: A Thread for Random Musings Eleven point five years, yet cast away so easily. How dare you cry for me, you, who still work there? Why must I be the one with the quick smile and joke, Sandbagging the dikes to hold back the flood? I am left with nothing inside but nuclear winter, and helpless suspicions of betrayal. Outside I gaze up at the cold and uncaring stars, my rage puny and impotent. It seems forever since I was a small boy in the sun, and I fear there will be no more dawn. I am so old. Monday brings the new job, the new future, but I am ash blowing in the dry wind, used up. I cannot care, but I will go through the motions, as I always have, and always will, Until.

Re: ET Stay Home ...said the guy who's always in the Cranky Thread.

Re: ET Stay Home Hate to break it to you kid, but they're gonna do that anyway...

Re: General Atomics electromagnetic rail cannon Once we build the space elevator, we can hang the railgun above the atmosphere and... wait a minute...

Re: General Atomics electromagnetic rail cannon Yes, but the acceleration is assumed if you're going from zero to Mach 31 in one gunbarrel length. I think.

Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread Pix! Pix!

Re: FANTASY HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See?