I should note that as he has not been informed it's a bad idea, Sinter will blast Parasite with his plasma bolt on his turn. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed by any stretch of the imagination.
Captain Robo can always create some sort of device to amplify your abilities if you'd like :)
For the record, I love the concept of Forzare. He has a very tactile approach to telekinesis, you've done a great job showing how his application differs from Imagine. I LOVE the invisible tendrils of telekinetic force reaching and grabbing to propel him, using them to launch rocks, etc.
I really like it too, and I don't really want to rebuild him completely. I think in a certain kind of campaign he'd be more useful, but we haven't exactly done a lot of dogfighting, and I assumed there'd be a bit more use for his ability to pick locks and stuff.
If I was going to rebuild I'd cut back on the skill ranks (I...honestly cannot think of a time where we've rolled ANY skills in this game so far) and apply them to something else, probably Feats. If I can arrange him so he works more like a fighter-y sort with different ways to contribute in combat (since we've been doing mostly that), I think it'll work better.
That's my bad again. The last three mutants and Masterminds games I played had a lot more fiddly stuff to them. One was an Amalgam game where we were sort of Secret Warriors style characters, another is a low powered Dresden Files themed game, and the third is the companion to this one where we're the Suicide Squad.
So I have 47 skill ranks between Disable Device, Notice, Drive, Pilot, and Craft: Mechanical that are sitting there like big goose eggs on my sheet.
I just need some re-tooling for a more straightforward heroes type of game. =)
I'll fiddle around with dropping some points, maybe picking up some Alternate Powers. Like an alt telekinesis that Paralyzes people or something instead of Grappling.
I plan to stay within the same limits and theme, just a bit more versatile.
The plan is to disorient Parasite using soundwaves. Imagine only has to lift the thing and angle it towards Parasite. Mechanically, it's a crew required power that requires everyone to use a standard action to activate the power.
I'll be out of town for the next week with only occasional access to wifi. Feel free to bot me as needed.
I think we need to have "the talk". Let's start with positives.
Tumbler, I really like the material you come up with for GMing. Your ideas are usually fun, text s descriptive, and combats are either short and sweet or have interesting twists and turns.
However...you do not communicate with us NEARLY enough. Somebody posts something, and then other people have to post until we hit some criteria you have for moving forward, and it seems to change every time. And if somebody DOESN'T post...oof.
If you're waiting for a specific player to post please, PLEASE just say "Yo, I'm waiting for you, let's go". If too much time passes, skip 'em and move on. Same goes if there's a certain roll, or action you're expecting.
Stalling for two weeks+ waiting for something is frustrating for everyone involved...yourself included, I'm sure.
Going incommunicado until all the votes are tallied, or actions taken, or whatever is not the way to run a play y post. It never works, and just leaves people wondering whether you are GM #9107376 that disappeared into the ether without warning. Even if you don't have a proper "GM post" to make, chime in every now and then.
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Whoa whoa whoa. No need for any "the talk". People can talk without having "the talk". We're just talking here. It's A talk, not THE talk.
But, yes, the BIGGEST tool a DM can have is to end each post with a "Player A, B, C, you're up." Or "Player A, we're waiting on you" or "If Player B doesn't post by tomorrow, I'm botting him."
Sometimes one or two players don't post because they simply don't know what to do. There's nothing wrong with that. Happens to the best of us. Move the action forward, hopefully something will shake out so they will see what they want to see. Have the people that are posting clear the field a little, and keep rounds moving. Don't wait for 100% participation. Got 2 players posting? Been 24 hours? Great, time to bot as needed and go on to another round.
No one posting? Say who/what you as the DM are waiting on. Maybe the players thought they were waiting on you. Avoid the Mutually-Polite-Silence.
(True story, this happened to me one time: I took my two best friends shopping with me at the mall to get something nice to wear for the upcoming Big Dance. We were helped by a -very- cute assistant. I causally mentioned that I'd like to try on a particular outfit. I put it on and walked out and NO ONE SAID S&!%.
Later at the dance I caught my reflection and thought "Wow. This thing looks AWFUL."
Talked to my friends later and they all thought the -other- person should say something because no one wanted to say some bad news.
Lesson here: SAY IT. Better to be the helpful bad news than the cordial silence.)
Where was I? Oh, right, it's the DM's impetus to say what they're waiting on. Don't make the fast people wait on the slow.
Also, for some reason M&M is harder to do on play-by-post. For some reason. Can't really say why, but some extra effort is needed.
tl;dr: Love the game. Keep going. =)
I enjoy running the games for all of the storytelling reasons that Sundakan lists as positives, but I do find the "language" (by which I mean the structure of interactions and managing the turn/action structure) baffling.
I guess, looking back, I've never been involved in a successful long term PbP as a player, and these are the first few games I've tried to run.
As a meatspace GM, I delegate a lot of this stuff to the table, so it is doubly foreign to be in charge of them and to not know how to communicate properly.
I tend to take a lack of posts as disinterest, though evidence now suggests otherwise.
Would it be weird or inappropriate to ask for you guys to be training wheels and feel more comfortable calling these things out as we go along?
I'd be happy to offer advice as you run. I generally avoid it since many GMs would take it as a slight on their method.
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Oh absolutely. It's good to have different perspective on things. And many of us have other experiences that could prove helpful.
We already know that Rigor Rictus was/is currently trying his hand at a spin-off PbP to this one. Maybe you two could collaborate?
(But he doesn't seem very active, so I don't know how good an idea that us. One would hope that the two of you being BFFs would make both of your campaigns awesome, but I've been told that I'm an optimist so I can't really say that. =)
The most important thing is to ask. You don't know what to do? Ask. You'll get at least three answers, and none of them will be the perfect one, but you'll take the parts or inspiration or theory of the what you do like and craft a new way forward.
Also, momentum. I'm still in a game that has gone days without a post, but then the DM posts something and two players post something and, look, it goes from Totally Dead to Alive, Actually.
Same thing now. You hard-countered my build and, yep, I felt useless. Hence I stopped posting because I couldn't contribute and was hoping someone else would create an opening where I felt useful again. Okay, that's my weakness. It's my issue and I own it, but we didn't get that opening for some reason. Still, no reason to quit. Maybe drop hints, maybe mess with something behind the scenes, maybe use a Deus Ex, whatever. But keep posting.
Success begets success. Failure begets failure. Posting begets more posting. =)
tl;dr: Where do we go from here?
(I'm really bad at making TLDR summaries. =)
Would it be weird or inappropriate to ask for you guys to be training wheels and feel more comfortable calling these things out as we go along?
Not at all. Most people know I'm very opinionated. Probably too much so. =)
So this may or may not be a good time for this, but I've been thinking about giving PbP GMing another go. I've got an idea brewing for a story that takes place in the same DC universe, quite possibly intertwining with both JL and SS. I'll post more info on it later if anyone's interested.
Always interested in more games.
What would the theme of this one be?
I'm with the rest of the crew; I'm enjoying the game and I'd love to see it continue. I'm enjoying my character, and his interactions with the team.
Like the others have said, I think when games fall apart it is usually due to poor assumptions and lack of communication. As for helping you feel out the particulars of GMing a PbP, absolutely! The only people who don't think they have anything to learn about GMing are the Bad GM's.
Long-Running PbP games are as rare as hen's teeth. I've been playing on this board for about 5 years, and in that time I've been involved in only one game to go more than about 18 months, and that one took an extended hiatus for the better part of a year. They usually peter out over time, losing players a few at a time. If the GM replaces them, it can keep going. Alternatively, the GM burns out, disappears, or grows more and more distant until the players can no longer hang on with the slow posting.
Got one game I've been running for almost 3 years, though there has been complete turnover of players. Current cast has been at it for a while though.
I still maintain a fairly fast pace, but then I waste far too much time on pbp.
You'll be playing superpowered (or super skilled) characters who ride the line between good and bad. You were called together by Director Grayson as a black ops squad to carry out operations outside of government ties. Whether they're ex heroes (or even currently are superheroes) or reformed villains, they were hand picked by Grayson due to their particular talents, their loyalties, and their ability to keep things hush.
You'll be known as "The Outsiders".
Not sure on power level just yet. You're not the next Justice League, but you'd probably be able to take a few of them down as a team. For now, let's go with Power Level 10.
They key word is discretion. Your team does not exist. If you slip up or are caught, you are on your own.
You'll already have been together for over a year with three missions under your belt as a team. Those three missions I will leave up to you. Assassination? Staged a revolt? Kill an AWOL Suicide Squad? I wanna see ya come up with some juicy stories of your past as Outsiders.
I've got a rough idea for an arc, but I'd love to incorporate character histories so go ahead and start throwing around some ideas. As with the two other Generations games, your characters can be legacies or all new.
Hope this sounds fun!
Noice. Kinda wish I'd saved Lance for this one, given how slow the other game is I'm not sure we're ever leaving the prison.
Random idea: An adaptable man. Take those Adaptability and Nemesis powers and whatnot and just adapt to any situation. Every infiltration team needs a jack of all trades, right?
Gonna have to think about this one.
Ya, sorry for the pace in my game. Life has been very... interesting lately.
Well, this was known going forward, so it doesn't bother me as much as if it was slow just because.
A nemesis, Jack of all trades type would be very appropriate
Think I might just do a shrinker. I'll have to consider some angle on it to make it interesting. Also need to know which version of M&M.
2nd edition to keep uniform. A shrinker would be great.
Figure it would be good for infiltration, and there's plenty of really nasty biological effects you can do to people.
Noice. Kinda wish I'd saved Lance for this one, given how slow the other game is I'm not sure we're ever leaving the prison.
Well, this was known going forward, so it doesn't bother me as much as if it was slow just because.
Given our pace, I'd be agreeable if you wanted to sub him out of my game. They're in the same world, at the same time, so having Grayson pull him out of prison to work for his team instead of the next proposed Suicide Squad would be perfectly within his means. Adding a new prisoner to the team (freshly captured or transferred, as I'm planning on having you out of the prison relatively soon) would be pretty easy.
Don't want to see him go, but I can understand having some frustrations at having a good concept languishing in a slow paced game.
Echos, did you want to make a discussion and/or recruitment forum for the new game? We can start working on concepts in earnest.
I'm thinking about a gadgeteer type; former special forces or underworld tech specialist that can make any needed device for the situation. Demolitions, vehicles, hologram projectors, big guns... the works.
Hmm. I guess it really depends. Do you think the pace is ever going to pick up? And/or get to a mission soon? I know you said the issues were kind of a long term problem.
I'd love to play Lance in the Suicide Squad game, especially with the crew we have....but I'd also love to PLAY Lance. =)
Pulling Lance out of prison would be awesome for something like this. He'd be brought in as a replacement and would cause tension due to his past.
I'll open up a discussion, but I don't know if we'll need a recruitment. Let's see who's interested here first.
It does sound really cool...
I think I will do that. Then I can make someone more "villainous" for the Suicide Squad game. Either way, I have some charop work to do. Lots of ideas, here.
Still around but life is a bit chaotic right now.
Going to do a minor rebuild, should have it done tomorrow afternoon some time.
I added a stat block for the Watchtower to the Campaign Info tab. There is an equivalent Watchtower base on the dark side of the moon. This base is not manned by ARGUS agents and is known only to Justice League members.
Also the currently damaged Hall of Justice. At the moment, the rest of the League's headquarters are either mothballed or used by other teams, but could be reawakened in a pinch.
I was looking at using the 2 points towards making myself the ability to sub for a communicator (since I can't carry one or be injected with one). However the basic communication power gets me 100' range with 2 points (yields 2 ranks). That's not extremely useful.
Any suggestions?
Since a secure transmitter is easy tech to obtain, the usual convention is to allow a 1pp "Feature" that gives you the same ability as an inherent ability.
Sinter has practiced on receiving and transmitting that particular frequency. As well, unlike with the communication power, receivers need a device, or another method to pick up the communication, so it is not as powerful as Communication, which is more like a telepathic transmission.
I would be fine with everyone getting a free 1 point feature that allows said communication.
All right, so, the main new power I'm working on is this:
Alternate effect (1 point): Telekinetic Snare: Snare 12 (24 points), Limited Range (-12 points), Extended Reach (+1 point), Blocks Sight and Sound (24 points), Regenerating (12 points), Action (Full Action, -12 points), Split Attack 2 (2 points), Reversible (1 point) = 40 points
That's what I have so far. What I would like to add is a Drawback and an Extra. The Extra already exists (longer duration, so I could Snare and then swap back to my Telekinesis for Grappling and attack. Currently it is Sustained, which means I have to have the power on for it to work).
The Drawback does not seem to. How would you rate a Drawback that requires me to stay within 10 feet of the target for it to function? As written, I can just drop the Snare and then go on my merry way, which doesn't really fit with my 10 ft. range limitation.
Also traded in my area effect attack for an Autofire attack. Have 5 PP left to spend, not sure what I'm gonna do with those just yet.
Do you mean a limitation?
Limited: Only on creatures and objects within 10 feet.
I'd say that is pretty punishing and is worth a 2 point limitation. It is significant power down to not be able to leave people tied up, or even to have them released in you are knocked across the room.
Totally missed that spoiler box, Imagine.
I am moving 4 states away. So until the 5th you can bot me
I'm noodling over what Forzare can do. Would it be possible for me to hold the plane together? Maybe help guide the fall so it's a controlled crash?
With your lift strength you could definitely hold the plane together and sort of provide lift as the missing wing to at least get it out of the spiral and get it more to emergency landing than crash. Being a pilot, you would probably have a good sense of how to exert those forces in the right way.
Hey I'm still around! I'm trying to think of any upgrades for Capt before I bring him into the scene
I know. Just wanted to let people know what I was waiting for.