Balabanto

Re: Top 10 Action Hero One-Liners I always liked: "A man's got to know his limitations." -Clint Eastwood, Magnum Force "That was a five hundred dollar pair of sunglasses you ruined, A**hole" ---Johnny Cage, Mortal Kombat "Nobody beats me in the kitchen." ---Steaven Seagal, Under Seige 2

Re: Rejected Superhero Names This one was developed by a player we later threw out of the game for being too creepy in Real Life. Whiplash, the human sperm.

Re: Favorite lost villain group Dominique, there are large numbers of ways to build an extremely powerful character. But when the average PC is built on 250-350 points, has a SPD of 5, a DEX of 23, and an 11d6 attack, any TWO of these guys would rip the PC's a new behind. And you know, those averages are still pretty much in evidence today. Even at the high end of the scale, with the way the new rules work in terms of Chargen, you're still not tipping the scales at 5d6 RKA. And there's the issue. Lung Hung didn't need a SPD of whatever it was. The only SPD Lung Hung ever needed in my game to bedevil the PC's was a 7, because the top range for most PC's was a 6. Just the simple ability to recover on a phase where the PC's didn't go was enough to make her a virtual god. The system still hasn't broken the "2 die staging rule" where 2 more dice of power is radically overpowering. Moving it up to a 3d6 staging rule (Which seems to be closer to the 5th edition design benchmark) has WRECKED the combat system and the carefully engineered math. The problem is that some people only look at chargen and point totals. But it's how those point totals affected the combat rules that made Lung Hung a problem.

Re: Favorite lost villain group The problem with Lung Hung was that his powers and abilities were ridiculous. The Damage Reduction was off the charts, and everything else, including the number of actions he got, was absurd. Lung Hung owned the PC's when I ran that adventure for two turns, and then escaped. How did he escape? She put on her damn Cheongsam after teleporting into the next room and made an acting roll. It was REAL easy. And my players are REAL smart. I was stunned with how powerful they were, and after that, they were pretty much only encountered in groups of 1-2 with agent backup.

Re: Favorite lost villain group Well, of course, except the Corruptors of All, who were supposed to make it into 4th, but didn't. (Thanks, Dennis....) Really, though, VOICE was built retardedly. They were so crackmonkey uber compared to standard PC's at the time that most characters spent their time going "WHAT'S THAT GUY'S DEX AND SPD?" Maybe in 5th they would seem a little less powerful to people who play the system as written, but I'd be taking them down a peg if I got that assignment. Mixed groups are deadly because players ignore agents, not because the supers are uber.

Re: Rejected Superhero Names The Amazing Colonoscopy Man... Captain Flatulence The Dweeb! Look out, here comes...The Herpetologist! The Wombateer!

Re: Rejected Superhero Names The Griller: He leaves big black stripes that smoke on the side of people's bodies.

Re: Favorite lost villain group I actually spoke to Steve about that. He says he has no plans to do anything with them, so that's really up to him and Dave. And he does have the rights, apparently.

Re: Rejected Superhero Names The Constipator!: We won't say what he does. It's not polite! Captain Orbital Bombardment (Self Only): Well...this is not very useful, but it is rejected. Doctor Malpractice: Well...this is also self explanatory...

Re: Rejected Superhero Names Cameraman: He flies around and films things. That's it.

Re: Favorite lost villain group Shockwave=Arrowhead. CLOWN. Well, you'll see CLOWN in Legacies eventually since they seem to be so popular.

Here's a few rejected superhero names: Feel free to add to the list at will. Dark Vigilante: The Dark Dickwad... Powered Armor with Particle Beam Powers: Agitator

Re: Veronica Mars No, but when I do my Teen Champions Paul Revere High supplement, you'll get to see a lot of things in that style.

Re: [Char] Monster Man [Long] You don't need to. Historically speaking, he, in fact, is half black.

Re: [Char] Monster Man [Long] The worst part about Monster Man is that he really should be fifteen characters. 5 Classic, 5 Blaxploitation, and 5 CGI.

Re: When did [Title X] Jumping the Shark You are not correct. Only issues of JLA Prior to issue #100 were erased from continuity. The origin story was retold, and everything prior to that, I believe, was erased from continuity.

Re: Review: Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth I also didn't like the story. It felt railroady and optionless. The only thing it takes to totally destroy this plot is Mind Scan and Tunnelling.

Re: Review: Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth Actually, I didn't like the revised King Cobra and his flunkies. I loathed Gorgon, who is incredibly powerful as well as virtually impervious to the attacks of most starting characters. Krait is flat out broken, I don't believe anyone should have the ability to go first, drain your speed and DEX, and keep all of his levels in DCV while you attack. Quite frankly, that sheet should be burned at the stake. Taking away King Cobra's potions and giving him the power directly? Another bad move. 100 new agents an hour? Gimme a break! Resetting these guys to zero was, while necessary, do-able in a better way. The Brawling Balabanto feels that they should have stayed truer to the origins of the original characters. They already had the rights to them, there was no need to mess with things this much. If you can do it with FOXBAT, for gods sake, you can do it with King Cobra. There is a tendency in 5th edition to "Ultimize" villains in the same way that Ultimate Marvel does. Quite frankly, more powerful doesn't mean better, and good storytelling and writing will win over more powerful every time. I didn't like this sourcebook. I can't even use it. The power level of my game is too low for it because I didn't upgrade my PC's power level when the edition switch happened. Nor will I. They took close to 15 years of universal standard when the change happened, and threw it out the window. Now people just build stuff with what they THINK the character should have instead of thinking about game balance vis a vis the average group of player characters. I don't consider that "right-thinking." A good GM cares about his players. A good game designer keeps things simple and eliminates voodoo math so the GM can run the scenario easily. Consider me on the side of the dinosaurs, but I was so disappointed in this sourcebook that if I didn't feel honor-bound to support the company to make sure people know and love Hero System, I wouldn't have put out the money for it.

Re: CKC + USPD updates Well, you'll get to see a version of them in Mind over Matter that assumes they really have been active in your gameworld for as long as the system has been published. Hide under a rock, my friend.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... During an exchange between two NPCs, one of whom is a self-styled cowboy gunslinger and the other is the most powerful native american shaman in the world. "The Cowboy": There you go again with all that great spirit stuff. "The Shaman: (Grabs The Cowboy by the shirt...) Listen up, Ruxnall. The Great Spirit thinks you suck!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Millennium Guard interviews Captain Unity about some information Magus: I can't think of anything else. Someone else ask some questions! Gibraltar: I'll ask some questions! Partacel: No, Gibraltar. Let Hyperdrive do it! Gibraltar: Why? Partacel: Because he asks questions logically! ----------- Partacel: We could always ask Dr. Brutallo! Shadowsilver: It sounds like an advice column. Ask Dr. Brutallo!

Re: When did [Title X] Jumping the Shark Well, really, the problem was that DC really jumped the Shark in the late 60's. I mean, come on. The Eraser Who Tried to Rub Out Batman? That killed YEARS of comics for me right there.

Re: CHAMPIONS REVISED -- If We Do It, What Would You Like To See? I am certain that I can write a decent Mechanon origin. The point is, I feel like I'm treading on sacred ground and I don't want to tamper with the classics.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... This after-session scene occurred over Yahoo Messenger, when Prestige, after discovering her mother was queen of an entire magical dimension, went to Sarah's place. Sarah looks up, and comes over to the window. "Oh...uhm...hi... " She says. "I was just working on my stepmom's birthday present. Come in.' Prestige: "You know those fairy tales about the poor girl with a single parent who learns that her father is reallya megamillionair or where she finds out that she is really royalty in a far off dim...place....those stories really leave out the....complications that occur." Sarah: "What?" She says. "All I did was build a shopping list drone. Yeah, fairy princess. Look at this...you type in the data, like this, and then it scans the vicinity for items that match the data, and it flies over, and you follow it around and do your shopping with it...cool...hu...FAIRY PRINCESS? BAWK?" Sarah : "That's the best prank ever. You're not only a magician, you're a fairy princess with your own kingdom. So who's Prince Charming? If you tell me Mervin Spitzner, I'll be back after the barfing stops." Prestige's face is dead serious." 'Prince Charming' would be who ever the divination spells say it is." Sarah blinks "Excuse me?" She says. "All right...you are serious." She begins pacing back and forth. "So if the Divination spells say it's a gopher, you have to marry a gopher, and..." She's pacing and pacing. She turns on a sound suppression field. She looks like she needs to explode. "WAIT A MINUTE! Your marriage is ARRANGED BY A WIZARD? NOT EVEN BY YOUR FAMILY? Some twit in a pointy hat wiggles his fingers and says "Marry George!He's the one???"

Re: When did [Title X] Jumping the Shark I don't mind Spider Man as an avenger: But let's give a brief list, shall we? Amazing Spider Man: Venom. A needless villain who added nothing to canon and spawned a clone called KARNAGE? Who was writing this stuff? Crack salesmen? It didn't really jump the shark until Clone Saga. Strazynski's bringing it back, but sometimes I think he'd rather kill Quesada than work with him. Iron Man: Oh, lord. This is a case of the individual hero's book jumping the shark because of what they did to him in another. Kang once, Ultron Twice? WHERE IS HIS CLASSIC ROGUES GALLERY? MELTER? (DEAD) Blizzard (Thunderbolts? EAT MY SHORTS), Whiplash/Blacklash (Who knows?). Where's Midas and Firebrand (Oh, wait, that's right, he's a HERO now, just kill me). Even that Looney Lama guy was a better character than most of Iron Man's current enemies. Only the Mandarin has been retained. Living Laser has become an energy being cariacture of himself. If EVER there was a character that needed a reboot, it was this one. Titanium Man? Oh, wait, that's right STARK PAYS HIS SALARY NOW! Justin Hammer and Obidiah Stane are pretty much done, but they were great characters too. And you know, when was the last time Iron Man REALLY faced Ultimo? Iron Man has received the WORST treatment of any character in Marvel, and his portrayal in Civil War was astonishingly awful. The thing that amazes me the most about this is that people let this happen over and over again to him. They even managed to make him RIGHT during Civil War (Which was also wrong, the real Tony Stark, the Tony Stark I remember, wouldn't stand for this), and the spiral just kept getting worse... And now, that all THIS crap happened to him, he's Ultron...AND A GIRL!!!!!!!!! When is this madness going to end? Captain America: I think you all know my opinion on this one already, so I won't review it here. Just look at my signature. Avengers: Disassembled says it all. Fantastic Four: That AWFUL Doom Story that Mark Waid wrote. I wanted to throttle him. Iron Fist: This is a character that has been constantly written like garbage, and when Iron Fist: The Immortal came out, I became completely disgusted. The Punisher: The Punisher jumped the shark at the moment of his creation! Doesn't anyone understand that he was created AS AN ANTAGONIST FOR SPIDER MAN? HE WAS NEVER MEANT TO HAVE ANY SORT OF POPULARITY! They should put him back where he belongs. I own this comic. He was not portrayed sympathetically. Only a total idiot could even find sympathy for him if you love superheroes. X-Men: After issue #200, original series, this book was pretty much dead to me. The law of economy of characters destroyed it. There are as many "major" characters in my own world as some of these comic book companies. Unfortunately, I don't try and cram them all into one arc, because I'M NOT A MORON!