Balabanto

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From the last two Heroes, Inc sessions. Me: So last session, we ended when you created a fuel/air explosion in the area of the piranha men. As the battle ends, you can hear the sound of fire trucks and police cars. Wallop and Signal explain things to the police, while Glaze and Bestiary clean up the heap of piranha men. Signal (New Character): Can I use my High Range Radio perception to pick out the approaching press? Me: Make a hearing perception roll. Signal: Hearing? Me: (Watching Signal make the roll) That's the Whup, Whup, Whup of Chopper Nine. Players: !@#$%$#@!@!!!!! Wind Witch: I fly up to the chopper and knock on the door. Me: What? Wind Witch: I fly up to the chopper and knock on the door. Me: He doesn't seem to be opening the door. Does anyone have read lips? Wind Witch: As a matter of fact, I do! Me: He seems to be having an argument with the pilot about whether or not he can open the door. Wind Witch: I knock again Two minutes later, the Reporter opens the door, the camera still ominously pointing at the large crater where the Piranha men used to be stuffed. Reporter: What happened here? Wind Witch: The usual! Property damage should be expected in superhero battles. It's not as if we're Mesa, or out in San Diego. They call that "Mesa's Walk" now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ San Diego: The San Diego Knights base. Gauntlet and Steel Thunder are watching the news. Gauntlet: Oh, my god! Wind Witch totally screwed us. Mesa's walk? Do we have a press corps? Steel Thunder: I guess this means some more image consultants. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mesa, watching the news at home. Mesa: I can't believe she just said that. Reporter: So what happened here? Wind Witch: An unusual combination of superpowers and abilities combined to create a fuel/air explosion. It wasn't a very large one. Reporter: Not a very large one? Wind Witch: It's not as if stuff like this doesn't happen every day. Reporter: Would you like to make any additional statements? Wind Witch: Not at this time. Bestiary, knowing the radios are on: Oh, god, we're doomed! I can't be fired! This is the only job I have! Glaze: I don't want to have to do my other job to get you back on this job! (Glaze is a lawyer) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later, in the base, the heroes are testing Signal's powers to make sure they don't have a repeat fuel air explosion, by using Bestiary's idea of having him microwave popcorn until he gets it under control. The first attempt is a dismal failure. Wind Witch: Thank God I don't need to breathe. Glaze: Thanks for making me jealous. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wind Witch: So, do you guys have a battle cry on this team. Signal: Go, Team! is the best I can do. Glaze: We've been trying to come up with a good one for years. "Heroes, Incorporate!" just doesn't have the right sound to it. In fact, it's one of the worst ideas I've ever heard of.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement?

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? Realism isn't real. It's just realism.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? Why not? That's what happens in comics. A writer decides that Superman needs a powerup, he's powered up. Another writer decides Superman needs a powerdown, he powers down. One writer decides that Grodd can wear a "man-suit" The next writer decides that Grodd wearing a man-suit is stupid and removes it from continuity. This happens all the time.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement?

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? But then why use meters at all? A meter is an arbitary construct based on the metric system. Instead of that, just call it a "Movement/Area Unit" and since Hero is a cinematic game, say "In this combat, one movement unit=x" That keeps the tactics in the game, keeps the areas the same, and allows everything to fit on battlemaps regardless of the size of your table.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? You're right, it is a roleplaying game. But if the goal is to simulate comics, then the PC's need to be able to fight without being "Knocked off the table" and writing a little -30 next to it. If you play the game with minis, dice, or anything like that to represent characters, you know what I'm talking about. Combat should be loads of fun. But that doesn't matter one IOTA if no one can tell where anyone is. Plus, my players HATE mapless combat. Are you saying I should throw all that out and just run my game mapless? For that matter, why use the rules at all? Your argument doesn't understand the meaning of simulationist roleplaying as opposed to gamist roleplaying. Simulationist roleplaying implies that you are simulating a comic book environment, not that you are wargaming. You toolkit the system to represent that genre, and it's a lot harder to toolkit for superheroic games in this edition. The moderately powered has been replaced by the really cosmic. Taking away the need for high levels of movement takes a lot of tactics out of the game. Increasing the effective size of AOEs by making them cheaper takes the tactics out of the game. Have a good day. Your opinions are, of course, your own.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? That's because they're not simulationists. I am.

Re: Why doesn't 6e use hexes as a unit of measurement? Actual playtesting on battlemaps shows that you are wrong and Hugh is right. The fact is, no one can even fit decent cross sections of map AND keep everyone's character sheets, dice, etc on the table. High movement is useless, and turn mode is crippling. This is not the way Champions combat was meant to be. A NYC city block is 1/18 of a mile, or about 880 meters. New York is THE "fit model" for all Superhero cities, regardless of how you slice it. Most East Coast and West Coast Metropolises, and Chicago, are designed in this manner. You can't even FIT this on a table unless it's about 15 meters long. It used to be that an 8-10 foot table would just about cover it. Now, forget it. I'm like "This is a cross section of the area you're in." And if you don't use 1 hex=1m, EVERYTHING breaks down completely. Half moves become overcomplicated, because if you have 35m, 39m, or 41m of Flight or some other unusual number, there's a benefit to the roundoffs. A GM shouldn't have to ban people from doing something within the rules "Don't buy an odd number of movement power in meters." No GM should have to qualify his house rules with something that outrageous. I may be a draconian jerk at times, but no one should be so draconian as to prevent the players from buying things which are perfectly legal under the campaign constraints without making the game un-fun. Every time you change the scale, you confuse the players, too. "In this combat, 1 hex equals three meters." WHAT? People shouldn't have to constantly do long division to figure out how many hexes their character can move. As for the tape measure idea, you need a protractor, because of turn mode. Did you turn more than 60 degrees? How many meters did you move before you made that turn? I'm sorry, GA, but you're not looking at the intangibles.

Re: What if... Wow. Rex, I did not think that your mind was that dirty. Ewww.

Re: What if... It was good. I actually liked that show. If you don't like byzantine plots, don't watch modern television.

Re: The Village Police Force! Base: The YMCA, 40 Points Contact: The US Navy, 8 points, 11-

Re: Legal Questions: Pink Defense The problem is, it violates your right to personal property. Period. Let's say I want to sell my stock in the company. This weakens the company and causes it harm, so I turn pink. The end.

Re: Legal Questions: Pink Defense That's a hate crime, Beast. Also an excellent point. Many minority groups would be quick to point out that turning people "Pink" is the effective equivalent of turning them "non-black" or "non-asian" or "non-hispanic." The whole thing could be construed as racially motivated, or a colossal act of hate speech.

Re: Legal Questions: Pink Defense Just because it turns someone pink does not mean that they are visible. Send an invisible guy in to steal the information you need, and when they try to say the evidence was illegally obtained, you tell the judge "It's unreasonable for us to rely on ordinary methods when any attempt to acquire the information legally under normal circumstances would have resulted in our inability to obtain the information in the first place. It should be illegal to use the law to bypass the legal system." Alternatively, go invisible and "Donate" the information you steal to the police department. You're going to be pink whether you do this or not. Just how big is the radius of this effect, anyway? You should test that to see how far it goes. If it covers the world, then you can get the government to shut them down, as if it crosses any national boundaries, technically, that's an act of war performed by private citizens, and constitutes terrorism. The nature of the effect is irrelevant. If I go to Canada, and I plot against this corporation, and I still turn pink, then there's an issue. If I go to venezuela, and I plot, and I still turn pink, there's an issue. You just have to document your research. Alternatively, break into the computers of the IRS and turn pink. So what? Schedule them for a comprehensive audit of all their corporate holdings. No man can escape the IRS, and no woman or super can either. And if the IRS turns pink, well, all that will do is convince the IRS that the corporation is guilty, and make them look harder.

Re: Worst Hero Names (of your campaigns) That gave me the best idea ever! Superheroes whose names are the insults seventies villains used to use. Master of Dullwittedness, he is...The Cretin! Laughing constantly at things that aren't funny, he is...The Jackanapes! So blunt that he crushes everything in his path, he is...The Dullard!

Re: Worst Hero Names (of your campaigns) Here are the worst hero names in my game. Most of these guys are second stringers or losers. But they TRY to get onto PC superteams. Laundromaxx: That's right, he has powered armor that looks like the torso of a washing machine. Foghead: Large clouds of obscuring smoke pour out of his ears. Exodus: Controls the powers of the 10 plagues of Egypt. Unfortunately, he's really religious and really enthusiastic. (Want to see what I can do? (Massive gestures and incantations! "RAAAINNNNNNNNNN OF FROGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGS!" in a deep booming voice) Captain Canard and the Deadly Duck: Captain Canard is a relatively mediocre martial artist, however, the duck (His follower) has a powerful sonic quack. Players have often asked if they could get the duck without Captain Canard. The Big Cheese: He turns into a large eight foot cube of Swiss Cheese. That's it.

Re: Do I need the 6th Martial Arts book? I would like to ask the OP if this is a trick question. I can get by without ANY of the other books in a pinch, but Hero System Martial Arts is a must have. I ordered three from my LGS.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Wolfman Jack The Giant Killer: A Deejay takes on Giants with his word of Rock n' Roll. Eat Batman, Drink Batwoman: No comment. Any comment will only end in tragedy and a staff warning. Daniel Rand, Iron Chef: Don't ask. Just don't ask. Walt Disney Presents: The Princess and the Alien (Princess Voiced by Sigourney Weaver) James Cameron Rocky Horror Boat Show: By the Light of the Night, it'll all seem all right, I'll film you a Satanic Titanic.

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? Superheroes and Superegoes: Analyzing the Minds Behind the Masks, by Doctor Sharon Packer, M.D. Go to the Champions Boards. I loved this book. It will help your superhero game.

Re: Female Master Villains I have one in my game called Mandala. Mandala is a master villainess who mostly operates in India, Nepal, China, and that Region of the world. Due to a radiation accident, she can separate into eight different weaker Mandalas, in effect becoming her own superteam, or a single, virtually unstoppable superbeing. While I could put her on paper easily enough, logic dictates that something like this should wait for a published adventure to do so. So if you guys want to see me write an adventure with Mandala, it will take a while. But if you guys do want to see it, I will put it into my "Fan Request" bin.

Re: If you're in the New York Area... Well, I finished reading the book a few minutes ago. It is one of the most valuble supplements for superhero gaming by far. I think it has a lot of potential to help gamemasters nail down non-mechanical intangibles and get more in depth roleplaying responses out of characters.

Re: If you're in the New York Area... I attended the lecture. It really was awesome. In fact, it was so awesome that I couldn't wait to buy the book and brought it home with me. This is a much fairer treatment of superheroes than Seduction of the Innocent. I think she missed some things, but it's a really cool book, and she's really smart as a whip. Sadly, I was the only person in the audience who knew who Hugo Danner and Liberty Belle were besides the author. But that's life.

Re: the meter and the hex (stretching) It's not a nonsequitur. It's about fitting your battlemap on your gaming table. Most battlefields are not 60 meters in size when the GM puts the pieces down and sets everything up. Therefore, for a mere-smear 30 points, you have total battlefield control, because the game is limited by how much space you have to run combat on a battlemap. That's what I mean by "The Law of The Battlemap." The law of the battlemap says "Barring divine intervention, it is extremely difficult to have a map that is larger than the table that you game on, and have your game function." This affects scale in a huge way. Even if you were to make Stretching 2 points per point, the issue is still there. You can say it's more effective to buy movement, but since the stretching character usually can buy movement too, the answer to that is likely, as far as I'm concerned, to be "no." Also, remember, once you grab somebody, and usually, your stretching character will have a pretty good STR score, he can move that grabbed target to anywhere in his stretching range freely, and the guy is DCV half. Changing the scale to anything other than 1 hex=1 meter can make running combat VERY kludgy. I am willing to be proven wrong here. I'll be doing the final playtests on Pretty Hate Machines over the next month. Mr. Hideous has stretching. We'll see if it's slightly, mostly, or totally broken at one point per point.

Re: If you're in the New York Area... You should see the actual blurb about how Superheroes and their relative popularity foreshadow great political crises and the rise of evil empires. This is going to be a very interesting lecture.