Claremont Academy of Higher Learning (Inactive)

Game Master inxpitter

Oh, no, it's not. It looks like this but with this color scheme.

Nothing at all like the Umbrella Corp parasol.

Elsibeth, can you change a paper's color and other qualities? I'm not sure that's covered under flight, damage, or blast.

When we talked about the control paper, you'd said cosmetic changes were ok. Is that no longer the case?

I'm having trouble finding that private message or public post, could you point me to it?

I don't care at this point. I have enough going on RL to deal with (RIF'd, unemployment, etc) that I don't feel like being lawyered to death on line. No offense, just don't have the energy for it.

If you don't want it to happen, that's fine. It's not worth arguing about. Please advise how you want me to alter the power going forward to do cosmetic changes to the paper. I thought cosmetics were just power stunts/special effects.

If you don't allow it with the base power, a 1 point feature should do it.

If I were running, I'd allow basic single color changes for free. But printing/patterns/matching and such would take the feature.

Sorry for the delay folks, I'm helping a player redesign some things with their character, and as you're in the middle of a combatlike situation, I felt we should get the details down first.

If anyone has questions, feel free to send them my way. It is my hope that we'll resume play shortly.

Take the time you need - I think it's better for everyone to be having fun than having one person feel left out as they hammer things together. ^^

Okay, due to some diagreements on character creation and with healthy dose of my own inexperience to the system, Elsibeth has chosen to withdraw from the game.

For everyone new to the system (including myself) I'd recomend a read of the quickstart guide linked here.

I'm going to give myself the rest of the week to read up on rules and finish up some summer course homework.

Speaking of inexperience with the system, I seem to -so to speak- have fallen victim to it.

When creating my guy, I was going for mini-Paragon (think Superman or Shazam or Sentry etc at Power Level 6) with the flavor of the Olympian Gods. That led to basically putting points all over the place, thus ending up with an above-average jack-of-oh-so-many-trades, instead on focusing on a couple of powers (say, building him as a Powerhouse to start with and then moving him towards Paragon territory as Power Points increase and Power Levels rise).

Plus, as far as I can tell from the trials, he is pretty much made redundant as he is currently by Triad, who is/are almost as strong (and quite a bit stronger when working together in... ahem... Strength Mode), actually more resilient and sturdy in general defenses-wise (barring Impervious Toughness) and faster (just as fast in general, much faster when in Speed Mode). Not to mention that they are basically three people in one (a very interesting idea and one I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out RP-wise), meaning they can cooperate quite nicely at overcoming obstacles and taking down enemies.

*By the way, Triad, unless I am mistaken, your Grab should be at +2, as -oddly enough and from what I can tell- Unarmed and Grab are supposed to be different Close Combat skills.*

Given time, I am fairly certain that he will be able to develop into more of a powerful character, but the main problem with PbPs is that it takes quite a bit of time for development and leveling to occur, making it even more important to build a character who is not only fun but also useful from the start.

So, what I am asking is if I could maybe redesign him somewhat, maybe move around some points and see if I can get something more akin to the Future Paragon from the Hero High book. Perhaps a little more strength- and resilience-focused with some of his abilities and powers appearing down the road instead of having diminished versions of them from the start.

The other solution/thought would be to bring in an entirely new guy (probably a fire and ice controller, by the way), but I do not think that would be fair as this is the submission that got in the game. Plus, I rather like the occasionally shy down-to-earth aspiring medical student who can lift cars and punch concrete (I also like more than a few of the "knives" I PMed to the GM when we were asked to do so...). There is potential for fun and shenanigans, I do believe.

Of course, either of the two suggestions obviously need GM approval. And if that is given, perhaps a bit of help and ideas from the more system-savvy players.

It's early enough that I don't mind if you change your character a bit. I thought you might go as the strong man for a bit, then slowly get devices of powers to signify some of the gods, but yeah man go ahead and let me know what you're thinking.

As for continuation, just to make sure I have a better handle, I'm going to need at least a couple more days between work and summer courses. We should resume this week though.

Starting as the Brute and moving towards the Paragon seems like an interesting way to develop (I particularly like the idea of acquiring various totems of the Dodekatheon to unlock/grant new powers).

Which abilities are you planning on putting on the chopping block to start?

Well, not anything like devices or totems actually as I somewhat dislike item-connected powers. I am picturing the guy more like, say, Shazam (without the transformation) or Wonder Woman (without the made out of clay thingy), something along those lines. More like the stronger and more capable he gets, the more power(s) his body can contain, slowly bringing him closer to the original wielder of this power.

As for the redesign, I am currently thinking something like the following (which also leaves 2 points unspent so suggestions are quite welcome):

Basically moving around a few ability points, reducing a defense and a few skills and doing away with the Enhanced Advantage powers (Ares and Athena) for now. The movement powers he has used during the trials (in my last post he takes to the air and in some of my previous posts I referred to his speed), so if there is one that can get "chopped" is his Quickness 1 for 1 more point.

As for his Senses power, it does not seem like much so it could be removed for now for 2 more points, though I do like the idea of heightened sight and hearing. Still, I am not entirely opposed to it.

Ideas? Suggestions? Feedback?

For comparison, here is how he is at the moment.

The one thing that I would caution against is invulnerability over PL. When I GM I won't allow this because it requires that every fight has to have at least one powerhouse enemy or some other way to push the damage.

Quickness seems like something that you can build into. After all, just being fast doesn't mean you don't have to practice coordinating all those hyperspeed motions.

Senses are always good things to have. I wouldn't chop those. For using your points or future expansion I could see adding a sense to detect divine energy. Danger sense is another obvious gift of Athena.

As a Greek god, attractive wouldn't be out of line.

Fast grab and improved grab would be appropriate, since wrestling was so important to the Greeks.

For my part, I intend to stick Allison in a primarily-supportive role. She's more the type to protect a crowd than strike down a villain - and her magic is flexible enough that I can avoid any role other people really want to be in. ^^

The one thing that I would caution against is invulnerability over PL. When I GM I won't allow this because it requires that every fight has to have at least one powerhouse enemy or some other way to push the damage.

Quickness seems like something that you can build into. After all, just being fast doesn't mean you don't have to practice coordinating all those hyperspeed motions.

Senses are always good things to have. I wouldn't chop those. For using your points or future expansion I could see adding a sense to detect divine energy. Danger sense is another obvious gift of Athena.

As a Greek god, attractive wouldn't be out of line.

Fast grab and improved grab would be appropriate, since wrestling was so important to the Greeks.

I used the pregens in Hero High as a template, especially the Future Paragon, and they do seem to have some of the defenses, e.g. Toughness with Impervious, at 10 despite the PL being 8, so I went with that. Since I am steering him more towards a super-strong and invulnerable guy for the moment, I figured it would be a good fit to basically be both a hammer and a wall.

Other than that, I think I like Attractive, especially in combination with the fact that he is kinda reserved in some areas of socialization, let us say. And, like Diehard and Fearless, it is another innate part of him.

You do have a point on the Senses and Quickness stuff, so I think I am going to keep those.

As for the Grab advantages, I think I will keep those in mind for later. Despite his vigilante forays in the past, Jason is not actually trained in combat yet, which is why it was also an easy choice to cut the Close Attack and Ranged Attack advantages.

So, that leaves 1 point. All-out Attack? Interpose? Power Attack? Ultimate Effort (Toughness)? Increasing one of the powers he already has or getting him a new one? I think I like Interpose for his being the guy who would take a hit for a friend less... equipped to handle said hit, but I am open to suggestions.

@ F.Castor
You could always save that point for later, when you get more of a feel in how you want to play the character.

Resuming play
Thanks for your patience everyone. I meant to take a small break to read up more on the rules, but with real life that was unfortunately extended.

If you're all still up for continuing, then I'm making a few retcons to better clarify the current situation.

1. Absence of Elsibeth
With the withdrawal of one of the players, I'm going to implement my usual method of handling it by not addressing the disappearance in the narrative of the game. It's relatively early so I don't think it will impact much.

2. Current Assessment Situation
I tried to mesh what was realistic and what was by the rules of the game. In doing so, if we had kept going down that route it would either result in a situation that wouldn't make sense or a combat situation that would have lasted 30 rounds.

I'm changing the current assessment to thirty seconds (5 rounds) which should make for a much more intense encounter.

Quickstart Guide with Combat

I'll be posting tonight to get things rolling. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask.

Agreed that we don't really need to make any particular note of it - we haven't even been assigned to a study group yet, so she could in theory still be at the Academy, but just not happen to be the focus of any of our adventures...

As for the current assessment, are we just fast-forwarding to the last 30 seconds, or retconning that it was a 30 second brawl to start with?

Oh, and Castor, I'd vote that Jason take Interpose. It'll help make sure you can show off your toughness, and also allows for good roleplaying hooks.

Due to real life becoming quite a bit busier for the immediate future, my posting may be a little spotty for (I hope) a short time. If I seem to be taking too long, please DMPC away.

Also, Interpose it is.

So, without further ado, here is the new (and hopefully improved) Jason...

I think everything checks out Jason. I'll go over it more in depth in the coming days, but looks good.

I think I've got a much better handle on this game now, but please feel free to ask questions.

I will be out of town for the next four to five days. Posting will be difficult so if needed, please DMPC away.

No internet at home currently due to imminent move as well as preparations for said move have made posting next to impossible. Should return to more or less normal some time in the next week.

I have not been able to post anything, not even PMs, since Saturday I believe. I did try mind you. Quite a bit.

Anyway...

Starting yesterday I am on vacation that will last about ten days. Internet access is very limited as it depends on my data plan, my signal and my phone. So by all means, if and when necessary please DMPC away.

Wasn't just you, essentially no one's been able to post since early Saturday morning.

....but hopefully now everyone's able to post again!

I think I'm back.

Can I get a quick roll call of who's here after the dust has settled? Given the relative newness of this campaign, thought I'd ask to be sure.

o wo/

Here here.

With bells on ;)

We're here.

A OK, I'll get the ball rolling today (if I can squeeze a bit more inspiration out before bed, or tomorrow between flurries of codin assignments.

Woohoo!

Tiny female progeny is going through her first cold these days resulting in fussiness and sleep deprivation aplenty. Posting will be hit or miss -probably more the latter than the former- due to severe lack of energy. Please DMPC as needed for the next couple of days if I seem to be taking too long.

Aww - sorry to hear that.

As a PSA - apparently the recent update broke the PM notifications. So it's worth doublechecking every so often if someone's trying to reach you, and not getting irked if someone's not responding.

Well, I'm being sent off to Germany for work for a week. I'll be busy so I'll be spotty.

Still here. Pretty swamped between work, toddler and upcoming holidays. Should relax a bit in the coming days though.

Yeah, same man. Always expect to have more free time than I really do during break.

With the holidays ending soon-ish for me, I wanted to get a quick interest poll from the players here. What I thought would be manageable campaign online may have been too ambitious for PbP especially with my irl commitments.

So.....are folks still interested in continuing, or would it be better for everyone that we shutter the game so people aren't getting anxious about it?

I'm happy to continue if others are, but it's true that posting has been a bit slow. o wo/

I think unless you expect the pace of posting to pick up, shuttering this one might be the better part of valor :-/

Pretty much echoing the two above me frankly. I would not mind continuing since a superhero game sounds pretty interesting, but given its sandboxy nature, the PbP form can be an ill fit for it, especially when the pace is slow.

I took some time to think on it and come to a conclusion.

I've decided that given my recent technological setbacks and increase in IRL responsibilities, I'm going to be withdrawing from the Paizo site as a source of PbP posting. I've had a lot fun here, and learned a lot as well, but I can't create time and energy to update as often as I feel would be fair. It's a new semester, one of my last couple, and I don't the work is going to slow down.

Thanks for everything till now, and sorry for having to drop out with little notice. If you can find a GM to take over, that's fine by me, and as always I hope you all have as much fun as I have had on these boards.