Balabanto

Re: I killed a PC. Actually, my favorite example of this was when a PC did a move through on a villain and did so much damage that he destroyed the soulscape of his own other character he was trying to rescue. We laughed ALL night.

Re: Public Domain Super Heroes Joe Linehan actually built the Claw. He was tough. It hurt a lot.

Re: What is your plans for your first 6th Edition game? I will be attempting to convert Legacies without pulling my hair out. Fortunately, I have a buzz cut, so it won't be too painful. We hope.

Re: March of the Munchkin In any case, it has to be 8 different characteristics, so no. You can't buy 8 different characteristics as the same characteristic eight times.

Re: What does your hero, or hero team, stand for? A few examples from Legacies: There are lots more Millennium Guard: A better future for all mankind. OPAL: To assist people with difficult superpowers in adapting to society Vigilance (Teens): Truth! Justice! Surviving High School!

Re: Public Domain Super Heroes Well, you might want to ask Joe Linehan about All Thrills Comics, Lucius. The game has been running at Gencon for 6 years now. It's wonderful.

Re: Player vs. Player In a superhero game, sure, Hugh, absolutely there are other options. In most fantasy milieus, you can be challenged to a duel when a guy kicks dirt on your shoes.

Re: Player vs. Player My rule is in character actions have in character consequences. "But you have to allow me some leeway, I'm a Punisher Style Vigilante" is BS. If you go around breaking people's faces all the time, expect to get your face broken if other PC's tell you to stop and you don't stop. Also...accidents happen, but consequences still occur. If the villain's goal is to destroy a hero by making the world think the hero murdered him and transferring himself into a clone body, then the PC goes to jail if he loses the trial. You can't just "cut people a break" if players have different ideas about what their world means. You have to be fair. And that sometimes means that like it or not, PC's will fight. I don't LIKE it. I don't ENCOURAGE it. But a large part of superhero gaming is the weighing of different moral codes and the asking of questions like "What is the highest value." And sometimes that means that like it or not, PC's may come to blows. Example: One of my players has a PC who is an illegal clone/Genetically engineered being. This PC is looking into doing immortality research in 3rd world countries where the laws are lax. There are other powerful characters, including someone made immortal against their will by a successful technological process, who are REALLY against this sort of thing. If discovered, it is LIKELY that the PC's will fight. Example Two: One of the PC's has done extensive body to several villains and has been warned by other PC's not to do so anymore. He does so. Another PC takes a swing at him to subdue him. Combat ensues. It is not the job of the GM to take sides, it is only the GM's job to resolve the situation according to the actions of the characters. The GM is a judge. He's not a lawyer, a doctor, or a surgeon. The problem here is that people pay for complications. They MUST play those complications or they aren't worth any points. If one PC has a CVK and another doesn't, then the GM is obliged to allow people to act according to those complications. It shouldn't happen often. But sometimes, it will.

Re: One Last 6E Preview: The Covers! I would have preferred real art here too. If you want to get people to buy a game, there has to be real art on the cover. Wizards has proved this for years. "That looks COOL" Hey, what game is that? I don't know, but it looks "Blue." You guys know I'll buy 15-20 sets of these anyway. But it doesn't change the fact that great cover art makes things go farther.

Re: Villainess Romance Appeal? Well, the other thing is, once Harry tells them no, then you can kidnap Kate and have Infernis's masters try to sacrifice her, leading to more bitter rivalry between the Sargeant and the PC's. And woe to Harry when the Sargeant finds out that this all happened because Harry sold his soul in the first place. That's when the real beatdown will start. And THIS time, it will be justified, and the other PC's will likely sit there in the washroom like Lady Macbeths, all standing in line.

Re: Villainess Romance Appeal? 1) This is pretty standard. You shouldn't have a problem with this one. Only the darkest of dark vigilantes should really have a problem with Harry's actions. 2) If this was my game, this PC would be running for his life. The problem isn't Infernis so much as it is Infernis's MASTERS. These people will be very angry, both with Infernis and with Harry. He's cheating death and getting away with it, effectively. Plus, soul selling is usually a one-way deal. Once that happens, you're doomed. Infernis should also be VERY angry if Harry is seeing anyone else at this point. (You summoned me to lose your virginity, and you have the nerve to see this Multigirl Harlot? Multigirl must DIE!) Plus, angry devils showing up to collect on Harrys effectively unrevokable contract make for serious problems. Remember, these beings are pretty much the sort of people who have their own squad of nitpicky contract attorneys. "She gave you back the contract, unfortunately, according to clause 3, subsection B, paragraph D on page 132, this contract is inviolate and cannot be broken for any reason. If your soul is not forfeit upon death, this city will be annihilated and we will collect all eight million souls forthwith, with the singular exception of yours. You will spend Eternity with Infernis in a ten by ten foot room, with only a devil monkey for company. Sire a half devil child for me, mortal fool, or else!" If this is not acceptable to Harry, tell him that he must find another suitible being to turn over to them in lieu of his own soul. This person must be innocent, kind, and good, and give up their soul of their own free will. In your case, Sargeant Superior's daughter should do nicely.

That's awesome. "Dad, this is my boyfrie..." "Keep your hands off my daughter, you snot nosed little punk! I'll bend you into a sandbag and use you on a live ammo range!"

Re: Military Eye for the Civilian Gal This is how miltary people think. Command, Control, Communications. If he has a teammate who has bugging, or the ability to monitor radio waves, just listen to the distress calls they get and beat them to the punch. EVERY time. "Looks like you're not so heroic, Harry. Maybe you need a little more training." "Too late, sport! The Situation is already well in hand thanks to Sargeant Superior and the Justice Squad." People never figure out this surveillance device stuff for at least two years. "They're heroes! They'd never wire our base! Would they?"

Re: 6E Superhero Adventure Just a reminder that if you find me anywhere, I'll be happy to sign your copy at any time, even if I'm gaming, as long as it's not my character's action.

Re: Decent Character or Too Much Cheese? It's too cheesy in a 250 point game. Your average character will have to spend 3 phases getting out of that. (Ego 10) Or they'll have to push to get out. I've studied this for years. Unless you build characters with superhuman ego on a regular basis, this power is howlingly, screamingly, unabashedly broken. When a villain has this power, it's only occasional. Seeing it every session="This is BS"

Re: Villians Unite Here are some of my favorites. I have twenty years of stuff to draw on. The Archmatrix: The Archmatrix is, quite simply, a group of America First terrorists. They're hailed as heroes in the heartland for some of the unspeakable things they do, but they're supervillains and also run schemes on American soil. Membership: Galvros (Leader), Lox, Neutron Demon, Bombburst, Marcus Sibonis. Galvros is an electrical projector who covers himself in a metal sheath. He can galvanize objects and people. Any people he galvanizes, he can mind control. Lox has liquid oxygen powers. The jokes people make about her are awful, but being frozen solid while Galvros breaks off your limbs is neither funny nor fun. Neutron Demon is a demon who got caught in an atomic reactor and bonded with a construction executive. Bombburst was caught in a military experiment and biologically merged with an ammunition dump. Marcus Sibonis, who joined the team later, is a powerful necromancer. He's also the legionaire who stabbed Jesus in the side. He thinks the group could do more with him in charge, but he also knows that Galvros will snap his neck like a twig if he tries to take over. Bolo: I have a similar team to the one you mentioned from Eastern Europe, only mine is much nastier. Their small European country was conquered by Count Drago, and assimilated into another small european country. Now, in order to get their country back, they threaten the world and engage in villainous activities. Their leader is Andreas Voldor, a powerful telekinetic. Other members of the team include Nyet, a villain who suppresses other people's powers. I haven't checked my notes on these guys in a while, but they're due for a reappearance soon. C.A.S.H.: This lobbying group stands for Citizens Against Super Heroes. They're not anti-mutant. They're not anti-superpowers. They just believe that Supervillains are effectively a counterculture product for superheroes. This is one of the most interesting, and yet most hated plots in the game. How do you deal with normal citizens who hate you when you save them? And is there a sinister conspiracy behind the heads of C.A.S.H? The real problem with C.A.S.H. is that they have a lot of funding, usually provided by archconservatives who think people shouldn't run around in masks and save people, and villains who give them money under assumed names. They want a registration act, and all the other goodies that go with it...

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... The heroes of SPIRIT have been asked to visit Jordan by his Majesty, because a Supervillain named Mandala has taken a small town hostage and is threatening to kill everyone in it unless a crime against her is avenged. When the PC's get there, they find out that her sister has been honor killed along with the fiance and that there's a floating atomic bomb in the center of the town. Mandala wants justice, and revenge if she can get that, too. The PC's manage to negotiate the release of the children, and then get a private conversation. Shin Lin Yuan (China): Well, does anyone have demolitions? Other PCs: No. Doctor Pranava (India): The only one on the team who currently has demolitions is Cloud Warrior, and I do not trust his skill with nuclear devices because he does not use them. Lightbinder (USA): Well, I guess that eliminates plan A, where we disarm the bomb. Colossus of Rhodes (Greece): I don't know if we should split up. She can split up. Doctor Pranava (India): We should split up. Lightbinder: There's too many people to talk to, but it's still plan B. Doctor Pranava: Is she religious? GM (OOC): Somewhat. Phantom Strike: What does that have to do with anything? Lightbinder: I have a plan C. We could flood the village with cattle. Other PC's: WHAT? (Laughter, lots of it) Lightbinder: We could get El Caminante (Not present, Teleporter, Argentina) to teleport a whole bunch of cows here, and then she might not set off the bomb. Shih Lin: I don't think that's going to work, and it has a high probability of offending her and setting the bomb off. Thought balloon (Aieyahhhhhhhh!) Lightbinder: Okay, we can save that for plan D.

Re: How to make the Loner feel not so Lonely? I don't care about how it works. I have this problem in my game, too, sometimes this is an example of "The character works great in a written comic book, but just shouldn't be played in a game." For the Wolverine types, this is my general assessment. They need a hook like "Loves Another Member of the Team" or "My secret masters won't let me leave the area of these people" But "Character Does Not bathe?" If I were the other PC's, I would be like "You stink! Get out!"

Re: Supervillains and Philosophy Here's my list of the top ten greatest supervillains of all time. 10. Amazo. Nothing beats a vengeful robot who has all the powers of the Justice League. I love a villain who the best way to defeat is to quit and then punch him in the head. 9. Lex Luthor. Sorry, Superman's Archenemy has slipped in the rankings since they made him so ridiculous and inconsistent that I can barely tell who he is anymore. Plus, people talk about him so much that he's been beaten to death. 8. The Green Goblin: The first nemesis to truly know a hero's secret identity and use it against him every chance he got, Spider-Man's so-called greatest foe only ranks in at #8. While the Goblin is a multiple personality disorder that makes him complicated for Spider-Man to deal with, that also makes him much less interesting as a character. 7. The Lord High Papal: (WHO?) The Lord High Papal was the villain of Dreadstar, a despicable bastard who ruled a galactic church and made ideological slaves out of an entire galaxy. This is probably Jim Starlin's finest work, and it really showed in the love for the characters. The Papal was a despicable foe, who was ridiculously powerful and still cheated at every turn. Even when he died, he managed to find a way back, and unlike a lot of other villains, he remained interesting even AFTER that. I really loved to hate this guy. I was so sorry the series eventually ended. 6. R'as Al'Ghul: When Neal Adams created R'as, he had really had no idea what he had tapped into. This guy was one of the first villains to really do bad things because not only did he hate the world, but because he thought he was RIGHT. In the end, R'as believed that his victory was inevitable, and of all the characters that were "added" to the Batman mythos after the sixties, he's had the most staying power. 5. Ultron: Ultron was the first Robot built by heroes that decided that they needed to die and have a world replaced with cold, mechanical robots. Without Ultron, we wouldn't have a lot of the stuff that came after him. Technically, you could say Hank is the real villain for being stupid enough to build Ultron, but technically, Ultron's legacy extends beyond his design. 4. Doctor Octopus: What's not to love about Doc Ock? Doctor Octopus is the villain who is Spider-Man's REAL greatest foe, no matter how much they try and talk up Norman Osborn. (See #8) Doctor Octopus has brains, and has always been one of the few people who's been able to consistently outsmart and out-fight Spider Man. The Goblin can be mentally manipulated, but when Doctor Octopus is on top of his game, Spidey is in for the fight of his life. Those tentacles are one of the most frightening things in the Marvel Universe, especially since he can be a hundred miles away and still control them. (Greatest Moment, when Spidey fought Octopus and his spare tentacles at the same time) 3. The Red Skull: Red Skull is just as funny looking as Despero, only meaner. Plus, If there wasn't a Nazi somewhere in the top ten, there would be a problem. Plus, this guy makes Baron Blitzkrieg look like a piker. Baron Blitzkrieg wears a funny suit of armor and is ugly. Red Skull knows how to use a Cosmic Cube! No matter how much you might think his reply is hazy, and you should ask later, this guy is evil incarnate. He has no mercy for anyone, even his own minions, and he's just a guy in a suit who disdains personal combat. I love the Red Skull. He makes other villains look shamefully inadequate. I keep thinking...what if some other villain was as cunning and nasty as the Red Skull? And then I think "Thank god they're not. There wouldn't be any comic books left to read." 2. Darkseid: What else can you say about a guy who wants to annhilate the universe and replace it with himself? This is so over the top that somehow, he still has followers despite it makes him kind of corny, but nonetheless, I love the big grey bastard. 1. Doctor Doom: There is no villain that is as eloquent, as poetic, as clever and as articulate as Doom. Doom wins because he does science better than anyone, and magic better than anyone except the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Doctor Doom has always captured the imagination, and most importantly, he has enough backup plans to keep his backup plans in backup plans. Plus, he was the first villain to really have his own country, where his word was law and the heroes couldn't touch him. "Want to arrest me? Don't be ridiculous! I rule here!"

Re: 6E Superhero Adventure I'm sure we could do that, if we had a little bit of time, but in general, if we printed two sets of maps with the actual adventure, that would be vastly more expensive. Most of a module's budget is in graphic arts and presentation. The writer (In this case, Me) carries less than 50 percent of the burden of doing so. In this case, I also draw the preliminary maps and send them to Dave, and he sends them to a professional to re-do them. If that is the general desire of the module purchasing population, then the price of future adventures will A) Increase and Is dependant on more people buying them so that we can continue to bring these to you. There is always the possibility that Dave will put the maps up without the stuff separately. There should be NO problem using things in 5th, as long as you remember to do a little bit of recalculation and remember that you need to sandwich some stuff and rearrange some numbers. Most of the basic combat stats of the things are exactly the same. There shouldn't be a lot of overcomplication. If you have any issues, I believe in a full customer service package. You really can just ask me in a personal message or openly on these boards or the Blackwyrm Boards, and I WILL answer your questions as soon as I have a good answer. If you cannot find me, and it's lingering, I know Dave will, and you will get an answer.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Ironically, the villain got the best line of the night tonight, in the final confrontation between the Teen Heroes of Vigilance and the Undead Skull. "Tonight...I would ask you not to think of me as your vice-principal. Think of me as your...Head-master! Hahaaaaahahahhhhhhhhhhhh"

Re: Mutants and Masterminds: Why did you stay/come back? There is no superhero game but Champions. Everything else is a pale imitation of it. Believe me, I've played a half dozen other superhero systems. They all pale compared to this one. I've even (Shudder) played Superhero 2044. The reason why I play Champions isn't just "Blackwyrm Games lets me write their adventures." It's that it's the best superhero system out there. Mutants and Masterminds is like stripped down Champions. And once you become stunned in Mutants and Masterminds, you become more and more ineffective as the combat goes on. Also, d20 games don't work without attacks of opportunity, and Mutants and Masterminds eliminated that from the get-go. Plus, the simple fact of aerial combat makes the 3.5 system a horror to use in a game that's based on miniatures and the number of squares you can move. I love the Hero System combat rules. Quite simply, it's the BEST combat system I've ever seen. You can whine about uneven numbers of actions, but so what? It's the best simulator, in my opinion, of what superhero combat SHOULD be like. There is every reason in the world to play Champions, and absolutely no reason to play anything that's come before or after it. Michael Satran The Brawling Balabanto Back with even more Senses Shattering Action!

Re: Confedrate Comics There's a comic you really need to read. It's called Captain Confederacy. Find out a little more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Confederacy

Re: Transgendered Superperson Hey, I've been a situation where someone played around with someone else's gadget pool involving a regeneration device, and they tried to make rolls for skills they didn't actually possess, no one saw what the PC was doing to their dying friend, and a gay japanese man became a lesbian genetic soup mostly japanese, part magical mutant woman. I rolled randomly for all of it. This is what happens when you don't clean someone's wounds off before turning on the regeneratron and you DON'T have the other PC's gadget pool or gadgeteering.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... This isn't so much a quote as an event, but you will laugh. It's Rifts. But so what? Tonight, yes, tonight, the saga of the Millennium Wand and the horde of Bounty Hunters continues: The Dragon Wolf and the Dogboy were attacked under the cover of darkness while in a town filled with pirates, while in their inn room. There were two mercenaries with Naruni Camouflage Armor and Force fields, and special backpacks that would drop a fusion block to cover their escape. Well, the rooms in the inn were small, like about 10x10, so there was really nowhere to go or dodge to. In the next room, the KOTWR and the Atlantean Tattooed Man sleep peacefully, unaware of the chaos that is about to unfold. Outside, on the APC, the Dragon Juicer keeps watch, and Emerald hangs out to provide backup. Well, the camouflage armor guy gets into the room, and initiates combat while the other one launches a volley of missiles at Emerald. By some miracle, Emerald shoots the missiles down, and the bad guy is forced to flee. Meanwhile, inside the room, the bad guy goes on the defensive and drops his fusion block. Rex shouts "Fusion Block!" and in the next room, the KOTWR activates her Barrier of Defense from her barrier shield. The Dogboy throws the guy in camouflage armor onto the fusion block instead of diving out the window. Well...unfortunately, Body Flip throw cost the guy the action that he would have needed to deactivate the fusion block. At this point, the Tattooed Man jumps out the window of his room, landing under the other one. Well, Rex Shouts "Alexander, Worm! Glue the room!" So, Alexander, trusting Rex's military abilities, does this. Blow Worm of Taut appears right in the middle of the alley and spits it's glue into the room that is only about the size of the glob. No dodge is really possible, everything is glued down. I ask for the next action. The player looks at me, helplessly. "It's the bomb." BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The room is destroyed, everything in it except the PC's is destroyed, Barrier of Defense protects the Mystic Knight behind it (and more importantly, her gear) The poor guy on the fusion block is hurled upward. Everything below the barrier is vaporized. The Mystic Knight rolls a 99 on her sense of balance and faceplants into the ground below in the middle of a heap of equipment, on fire and in her underwear. The Dogboy faceplants. The Dragon Wolf flies in place. The guy in the Naruni Armor slams into the ground and gets up amid dozens of dead people who have been reduced to ash and some of their feet in the bar below. They must have destroyed at least 500,000 credits worth of gear. Oh, and the Worm and the Tattooed man took the 160 Megadamage from the fusion block also.