Search Posts
Interesting read on the history timeline - didn't realise we'd have an amalgam universe - which was a pleasant surprise. With that in mind I might tweak my characters background to have him a descendent of Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan of the Howling Commandos. Before beign a soldier he was a circus strongman, so Atlasic may well have been inspired to become a performer by tales of his relative...
My 2 cents worth (for what its worth): Galeforce and Gust are both cool. Gust is giving me mutant/X-trainee vibes and Galeforce works as a more forceful "Iron Age" style monicker. Not feeling Windrider - but probably just me. Of the three - Gust is probably my favourite!
@Freefall: Condolences to you and yours mate. @Ironperenti: Updated Atlastic's look - went more olde tyme strongman, with a homage to Atlas (and in keeping with the group's Greco-links) Was thinking of Mr Atlastic but perhaps too "on brand"/cheesy?? Build is pretty much done, just need to transfer to a profile and a character sheet if you want one of them? I'll try and get him finalised tomorrow or Thursday latest.
@Ironperenti: Still here, working my way through some concepts, but struck inspirational gold tonight with Atlastic - The Long (& Strong) Arm of the Law!... will work on the build tomorrow as its been a looooong day.
Okay noted on it no longer being 4E. Might change up my concept - will see what percolates o'er the weekend...
Dotting for interest - at first glance leaning toward a Primal (Beast) Archetype concept: Smilodon - whose my homage to a little known UK comicbook character from my halcyon days - The Leopard of Lime Street... ... but am open to whatever fits the game :) Off to read up more on both Millennium City and M&M 4E, as like DQ, wasn't aware it was a thing!
Ah **** ST - so sorry to hear that mate. Thoughts and healing to you brother and hope to see you back down the line.
Jack-In-Irons Background:
Regards your Da - the most violent confrontation in the real world Miner's Strike was Battle of Orgreave - while there were no deaths, perhaps in our version Jack's father - a frontline picket leader was tragically killed?
Yaguar's Background: As we touched on previously your father would have worked for the National History Museum in London, so you'll have grown up in the city. Rather than the marines, would be great if he joined the Parachute Regiment as a lad, where he serves under one Major Wesley Invictus Fetherington. Upon leaving the forces he would be repeatedly courted by Fetherington to undertake mercenary work, but instead pursued treasure hunting - where his (mis)adventures lead him to becoming Yaguar...
Setting looks amazing - both options tick boxes for me. Heaps of potential material for some great concepts :)
While desert settings aren't my go-to - I still have fond memories of the Hule and the Sind Desert in Basic :) I enjoy fishes out of water (literally) in settings like that so would be interested to see what the background is like and see what pops.
That's what I chose as well. should we be kin? rivals? Make yer Halfling of Stoutish stock Albion - gains 60ft infravision :)
Defo was a proper rule - but I think from Basic - me probably carrying it over into my C&C campaign likely confused matters :S = 17 STR
So Half-Orc it is :) [+1 STR, +1 CON & -2 CHA] 18 STR
Dammit - DEX mucks up delusions of Assassin so Fighter/Cleric it is... Gender: Not sure yet - was leaning toward Male initially but a brute strong half-orc gal might be fun also. Lemme percolate that one. Alignment: Also not sure - will depend on the god they follow I guess... Starting Coin: /2 = 14 x 10 = 140GP Starting HP: 10F+8C = 18/2 = 9+1 = 10HP @GMS: So if we're starting in the Hold of the Sea Princes - is it Greyhawk pantheon we're using chief?
I'm your huckleberry ;) Half-orc multiclass will be my weapon of choice...
Created a new campaign and tethered all existing threads to that so all fixed (sortof)
@MG: Maggie is fine bud, might drop the odd NPC comment about it not being as popular nowadays etc :) Like the rationale - shipping company - makes sense and could provide some good drama for her secret ID also. I'd just make up another cartel/gang - there will be plenty we'll encounter in the campaign. Many smaller "firms' exist with their strings being pulled by various bigger fish. Keep it smaller scale for now. @Benjamin: Yeah wasn't so much transforming into a cat as a tip of the nod towards UK superhero The Leopard (of Lime Street) - all good though. Will keep that one up my sleeve for a future M&M game tho' ;)
Mary Carr's grand-daughter works perfectly. Maggie would work - but remember that PM Margaret Thatcher was know as Maggie also... Mags might work tho' All sounds good stuff. Do we want to make Lady Frost look less "clean cut" if that makes sense? Or is she a a hero with a gangsters spirit? Interested to see how you square off her past/present and alter ego...
RL is RL mate - we'll tick along nicely til you have time. I've done a revised version of Whiteface (in a Brian Bolland style) - came out even creepier lol, but I like the battered leather coat with old blood stains on it vs the garish clown costume. And this take on Whiteface is unapologetically inspired by Rorschach (hence the Watchman smiley :)
@Crimson_King: Sorry mate - click on the tab that says Discussion :)
@CT: I will duly make appeasing offerings to the goddess. As I touched on above Danu would make a great Mutants & Masterminds pitch. Kudos.
Hi Folks I just set up a new PBP game: Black Dow's Golden Heroes but after dotting and deleting in the Game Play Thread think I may have messed with its protocols as I can no longer post (or at least see any posts/content). I vaguely recall doing this once before and it being resolved... but any help or steer on this one is greatly appreciated :) Cheers BD
Cheers Ira - appreciate you were very much in the running and will keep you in mind as/when/if we lose someone.
Alright gang - this has been a very tough decision but I've looked over the concepts and where there's overlap in powers in relation to individual or unique schticks. I've also considered the backgrounds pitched thus-far and how they fit against the world setting and campaign I'm building. So our newly minted Golden Heroes are: * Pauljathome - Sysgofd
Huge commiserations to the dynamic duo that I don't have room for (right now). @ira: Swift Scepter was a cool character but shared too many powers with other pitches - so you were unlucky in that respect. @Cucumbertree: Was a tough call for me to make - you put in a heap of work, but Danu just didn't merge into my overall vision for the campaign like the others did. She's very powerful and probably would be better suited to a Mutants & Masterminds game where you can let her truly showcase her power array in a broader sense as she's a great concept. I massively appreciate the creativity and please know you'll both be on notice should someone drop out. To the Lucky 7 - Please report to the OOC thread folks for Phase 2!
Alright gang - need a quick roll-call of whose still here and still interested. We have more submissions than I have envisioned so before I start deciding on the heroes we're taking forward just want to gauge if by natural selection I have the 6-7 I envisaged. I could take 8 but if we go down that route then we'll need to drop some Power Levels down to compensate for the larger group. I could up the power levels or numbers of your foes, but huge pitched battles happen in landmark issues or Giant Sized Annuals, so would rather keep the scenarios streamlined and challenging without making every villain an uber threat. Appreciate RL gets in the way and spreading yourself thin in PBP games is a very real headache (I know I'm not the only game in town lol). So quick check in and we'll take it from there :)
Hey MG - for your Previous Training I'd be inclined to do +2 DEX to push that to 18. Will mean you're more likely to hit with fist/foot and frost :) For your two remaining power rolls you have choice of bumping up your Energy Attack by 1 to Grade 2 and by virtue of this you can select Energy Immunity (Ice/Cold) as a free selection... OR... bump up his Energy Attack by 1 and Vigour by 1 again to Grade 2. Would mean he can dish it out and absolutely take it (but isn't immune to his own Energy Attack which can be a bummer if reflected back at you...) Conversely you can roll two new powers...
@CT: Most excellent :) @All: Okay I'm close to calling this one. Plan is to finalise our group of disparate heroes then we'll move to the campaign discussion thread. Have been taking notes on characters - both for campaign/setting tie in and also build notes - as I'll likely suggest a few alterations to those open to refining their PCs a little more. I'm also building up our setting and flavour material which will all be in the campaign tab when we shift to Phase 2. At this point we'll also look at origin stories and tie-in references to campaign material also :) Once settled on that I get all my ducks in a row Phase 3 (Gameplay) should commence but it'll be at a week or so from finalising our heroes.
@CucumberTree: Will be interested to see what you come up with. As long as it ties into 1980s UK in some capacity... @All: Going to give everyone few more days to fine tune, roll up concepts (or reroll) as it may be - so all interested parties still have time. The group is coming together in my mind, but still have a few options to consider. All in all though - the interest and creativity have surpassed my expectations - to kudos to all who've pitched thusfar, and are still going to.
@Crimson_King: No worries mate - think I did mention the format box at the foot of the page in a message, but fully appreciate its a learning curve and should've pointed it out better. Would be great to see what else you come up with :) @Jubal: Thanks for the steer :) @Ridge: No worries - RL gets to us all. Great historical tie in - very nice indeed. @CucumberTree: Cool, guess at this point its up to you why Danu is back. Am thinking her "faithful" would be incredibly small in number - perhaps a niche New Age religion or splinter of druidism? Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism reveres Celtic gods, so could be an environmental disaster or perhaps a mass ritual at Stonehenge that has awakened her?
@Jubal: No bother - let's see what pops across the group. @Crimson_King: Hah... See ordinarily I'd have looked at that straight out of the box concept and thought - perfect, but its essentially a combination of quite a few other concepts kicking around, so taking her as is will rule out some other baseline concepts. Might be worth coming up with a couple more? Even better if you use the board's dice roller :) @CucumberTree: Not sure what you mean by premise my friend? Game is set in 1985, UK. You'll be (relatively) new superheroes on the block... ready to face off against a new crop of villains that have risen... Once the group is finalised I'll put up a more detailed "lay of the land" as it were.
@Malinor/Jaguar: Wow. Love the backstory - one small point though - this game will be UK based (as Golden Heroes was fundamentally a British game - created as a counterpoint to the US based superhero games on the market). As I'm in Scotland I'll be honouring that with the UK setting. Good stuff though :)
Jubal: Another one for you to consider... Health as your selected power? Health 3 could net you some regenerative powers/fast healing/immunities... Just a thought. Otherwise I'm still mulling both Strength 3 and Weather Control 3... Or go Strength 2 and roll randomly (or Weather Control 2 and same) Sorry not helping much lol
Hey MG Up to you mate - you can go ahead and roll or wait until the final roster. HTK/HTC numbers won't have much bearing on my selection, but it might help with power picks if you feel your lacking. Yeah DEX is maxed @ 18 - but you can improve your Strike Mod to higher through power selections, DUP spend ect. EGO 13 is very decent as its essentially your saving throw vs mental attacks etc. 13 is a good (non-specialist) value.
Think Nik dropped out, but am keen to allow some of the interested parties to pitch and roll. @Jubal: On your concepts I think Strength 3 might be too overpowered for the game level we're aiming at. Grade 2 puts you in the heavy hitter bracket for sure. The Marital Arts focus makes perfect sense - Shield for distance and protection and hand-to-hand he's devastating... Weather Control is damned cool - a la Storm, but first two "fit more"... Lemme think on it further. Strength 2
Position of Power You could always use your final power roll for something like Advantageous Background - Government Contacts (which you are allowed to pick) or Previous Training and push your Vigour up to 20...
Ok, I was thinking of changing Tough Skin to Armor and making the armor have the shapechanging ability, but things aren't coming together for this one. I may try another set of rolls, but I may not have time. Hi ST - that would work, Tough Skin was your Player Choice so am happy for you to amend as Armour 1 and Tough Skin 1 are very similar. On time - you have plenty chief. I'll be busy alot of this week as I have friends visiting from Seattle so post work inputs will be limited second half of the week. I'm also happy to roll for you if you want another character array but are struggling for time. Let me know.
Ach - Cheers DQ - as per expected you came, you saw, you got mighty creative - my thanks for the interest and will definitely use your concept. See you in the Omniverse :)
Apologies ST - somehow missed giving feedback on your second concept. So interesting one as no Advantageous Background... Where to begin on this one - okay Energy Attack is upgraded to 2 with the dual rolls. Specific Shapechange - like we touched on with DQ above means you could tie in one (or all) of the powers into the form(s) you can change into. Guess alot on this one depends on Energy Attack type and Energy immunity type. Could be interlinked or totally different lol. Could be multiple forms that exhibit different powers - if anyone is creative enough to make above work its you mate :)
@All: Based on what I've seen so far am starting to form an idea of who our newly minted team of Golden Heroes are. Would still like everyone to check over maths and review their ideas. Will keep reviewing throughout this week coming and start making selections as I go so watch this space True Believers :)
@Cucumber Tree: Of the two newer concepts, Concept 3 is very similar to Sysgofd (and as someone said there are already a bunch of Intangibility concepts kicking around). Concept 2 is interesting - but again Weapon Skills seem also to be popping up. Of the these 2 is more interesting - but are they better than Danu... Mmmm not sure. Feel free to have a tilt or two more mate if you wish.
If you upgrade Energy Attack to 2 [which would cost 1 Power Roll] you also get the opportunity to select Energy Immunity vs Cold/Ice for a 2nd Power Roll. Worth considering? As you'll have 1d10 more Energy points to blast away with and be immune to same Energy type... Would still keep you power portfolio tight - Food for thought? I'd not convert to DUPs - as I'd rather you all earn and use those more during the campaign. Above suggestion would be a better solution in keeping the concept streamlined while having synergy in powers (and not losing Power Rolls).
@Nik: Sad to see you go my friend, but we'll share a virtual table soon enough if the fates allow! @Jubal: Wow. Some very interesting options there also... Conceptual Musings:
Of your (excellent) variations I'm drawn to these two most: Bulwark or Major Stalwart or Escutcheon, Rev A
Above is purely as there has been a lack of Strength based concepts thusfar and having a heavy hitter in the team is always good. At 34 STR your not a brick (per say) but your tough, hit hard and can lift a truck. Plus the Shield will aid with defence and ranged attacks. Stormknight Rev A
Intrigued by this combo. Weather controlling shield user...Some very combat conditional effects available there also which will help the team and hinder foes. @Sysgofd: Love the concept. Very cool and fits into our vision of the UK. Answers to Questions: 1. Its actually a combination of those. The Weapon Class of the High Speed Dive attack (presuming its a fist) would be DC3 (from your Pugilism). Damage would be the listed damage +5, +9 for your bionic arm and +0 for your normal arm (depending on the fist of choice). It you lead with your foot or head (high speed headbutt :) then it would be WC 2 attack and damage listed as per Flight power entry (High Speed Dive into Combat: 2d6+6HTC & 1D6HTK). 2. Correct - comic book physics apply. So he can lift that car. If for whatever reason he's unable to use his cybernetics, then drops down to normal strength. @All: Sysgofd & Jubal both bring up a good point. Unless the concept of the team is Ghost Heroes, then its unlikely I'll look for too much overlap in the final selection. However you can roll a bunch of concepts up as you go, that i have no problem with.
Cheers Crimson_King Yeah just go ahead and roll up some characters here on the boards. The dice roller and formatting guide is at the foot of the page, but if you need any assistance getting going we're here to help :)
On the front of background and flavour I'm prepping some material at the moment - more GM content that I'm pairing back for PC common knowledge. Again was going to use it more (and add to it) when we settle on our final team, but I can share the WIP Like I said its a draft, but hopefully gives you all a flavour of the game & setting...
Can you gain new superpowers through gameplay/XP? Unsure if I wanna upgrade my current powers, since they're all pretty solid to start(plus, this gives me goals to work towards in game), so maybe I'll roll for two more. Yeah MG - you can gain powers through say an unfortunate encounter with a radioactive millipede, but mainly its about refining your current power set. If we were going to essentially change the character like say Doc Samson becoming Doc Sasquatch, then we'd flesh out the details "offscreen" and implement in-game if all good. Your DUPs [Daily Utility Phases] are essentially your downtime from being a superhero - Peter Parker would use his for assignments on the Bugle, the X-men honing skills and powers in the Danger Room, Banner for researching a cure into his "condition", while Bruce Wayne could be creating new devices, doing investigations, running Wayne Enterprises and attending socialite balls etc. You can also use them in time honoured fashion to "patrol" your home city or location - looking for criminals or crimes in the act. DUPs can be used to develop your Attributes - through training or enhancements or practice. While no new powers can be earned you'll definitely Refine Powers - this can be effects but not upgrades. You can spend them on improving Energy Attack 1 to grade 2, but you can use them to improve the intensity (damaging effect) of your laser vision (so Damage Modifiers are reduced by -3 not the standard -2) for example.
@Crimson King: Dropped you a message mate.
@Crimson King: By all means roll up a character and see what pops. Great to see some olde school GH fans here (along with some of my usual sparring partners). @All: Not decided on how many I'll run with ultimately - think two tables will be a stretch too far, but I'm currently thinking a group of between 5-7 heroes will be the sweet spot. Also quick note on Advantageous Backgrounds: As written in the rules you can select rather than randomly roll - so I'll allow anyone whose rolled these to select them instead... In Zenith terms this is Phase 1... whittling down suggests discounting folk based on quality and thusfar that would be an impossible task. So will come down to a bunch of X-Factors I guess... but plenty of time to roll up concepts (as previously stated happy for you all to try 1-3 heroes to get used to the system and critically get something you think you can work with. @Jubal: Hold off developing Concept 1.0 as a villain at the moment - I've a bunch of my own homebrews being written up at the moment, but I might well come back to it depending on adventures we'll run* *will be all published content + some old Champions material convered to GH.
@MG: Haha. Made me laugh mate. Btw gang - am spoilering to keep post size condensed - nothing in these that can't be reviewed enmasse. Regards backstories - by all means have a basic one in your mind, but we'll flesh those out when we nail down the final crew (and tie into the campaign setting more). MG:
So my initial take is a pretty decent character - the Tough Skin could be a layer of hardened ice - like hard rime or something similar. Good in combat - Agility and Tough Skin 1 still combine to give you a dodge bonus. You could up your Agility to 2 and gain Dodge +3 and improve movement with leaps. You are pretty Background heavy but that's cool (pardon the pun) will depend I guess on what your Position of Power is... Contracts Criminal means you're likely a reformed supervillain or have contacts within the underworld - perhaps an old friend or family from the wrong side of the tracks? If you want to be more nice on Powers - then you could use your final pick (presuming you go Agility 2) to up your Energy Attack to Grade 2 or up your Previous Training to 2 and gain a further bonus to an Attribute or Attributes?? All in all a pretty interesting framework there mate. PaulJathome Concept 1:
Like it. Perhaps he lost his arm when he was phasing for the first time? Solidified uncontrollably and it got "removed" :S Builds himself a cybernetic arm and goes from there. The Speed, Flight, Insubstantial combo is a nasty one lol. Jubal 2.0:
Remember you round up for Power Rolls - so 3.5 becomes 4+4 = 8 Power Rolls :) Interesting base also. You could look at them primarily being a weapon wielder? Perhaps mystical or alien tech - and then tie another power to it. Conversely you could go high on Weapon Skill - pick Shield and make their offense very adaptable. You decent abilities (bar low Ego) - sortof USAgentesque potential. Position of Power could be a Military or Official Rank? Or perhaps your a national hero of a smaller (Commonwealth?) nation?? Concept has loads of potential as its pretty streamlined. Malindor:
A feline themed speedster.. interesting. You're right the powers compliment and like Jubal 2.0 above - they're relatively streamlined to allow you some nice crossovers. Scalded Cat is a great expression for something very quick (just saying lol) - makes for a bizarre codename but believe me won't be the strangest you come across lol. Cucumber tree/Danu: Master Artist - lol - that's what I get from reading on my phone. Her Gymnastic's skills are likely innate rather than learned. Although the Celts had moves like the Salmon Leap so it does it.
Right - back at it. Unseasonably nice weather meant garden chores came first today, but I’m back at it now. Couple of points on the free upgrading of powers that the rules mention but most folk seem to have missed: The 1st unrolled upgrade of your chosen power costs 1 Power Roll, however should you choose to upgrade the same power again (without rolling) - this costs you 2 Power Rolls. Upgrading again to another grade level would be 3 Power Rolls and so on… So I’ll factor above into everyone’s feedback (where relevant) Ira/Swift Sceptre:
So you’ve an interesting trade off with Swift Sceptre. On the one hand he’ll be super-tough but cannot dodge (which is one of the boons Speed gives you) - however his movement will be excellent. Couple that with weapon skill and vigour and he’ll be in fights for the long haul - sticking and moving. Regards the DUPs I don’t want characters improving campaign stats ahead of the campaign (if that makes sense) as part of the system is improving those.
How you’ve listed your DUPs is great for campaign play though as it breaks down how Monty will be spending them. I like Monty’s background- interesting one, and as a professional interpreter he may well be pulled into plenty of situations (both good & bad). Nice hook regardless. DQ:
Enhancement is essentially like a Swiss army knife spell that grants everything from Strength, Healing (Regeneration) to Flight etc. Costs 5 Magic Points to cast and 5 MP to maintain - so once enhancement would grant her 4 rounds worth of [insert chosen Enhancement]. Not bad at all. With your Magic 1 costing essentially 2 Power Rolls, I have you down at 8 Power Slots filled and 1 left. Upgrading Magic again would cost 2 Power Rolls so that’s out. Same with Skills. So probably worth your final random roll to see if it fits with either of her forms? Cucumber Tree/Danu:
Okay so her weapon would be a 1H Melee weapon. Skills will depend on what you roll. If you land Player’s choice (which is a 10) we could look at something relating to Naturalist or something? Similarly Martial Arts is something you’d need to roll or roll for an open pick. To be honest think the Weapon Skill is more than enough, so being a martial artist would potentially be a wasted pick. Strength is also as per above - need to roll it. Building up her STR is something she could be working on, communing with the earth and slowly recovering her full godlike powers, but perhaps in this industrial cityscape she struggles to connect to the earth? Ridge:
A clown on stilts works though for Growth (you would just note that it would not cover a mass increase - only height). Ultimately tho’ if it doesn’t fit/feel right then drop it. Do think stilts would work though and could be damn handy re: movement and reaching high shelves lol. Royal court jester linage is awesome. Love it. SuperTumbler:
Yeah Stretch 1 would work as chains for sure. They essentially wrap around him to provide protection akin to the Dodging for HTC attacks. Would just note its the chains and not our scrapper punk that does the stretching. Likewise reach attack would just be as per fist/foot damage (until he starts become more skilled with them). Yeah the chains would likely be the flight propulsion also and as long as he’s attached he can “fly” also. Like it though - and given I have some home-brew punk villains, he may have some history there ;) Jubal 1.0:
You round your Power Roll total up chief - so you’d have 7 Power Rolls available. Background costs a Power Roll. So yeah 3 Power Rolls left after your Background. You could upgrade Tough Skin - Grade 2 means you take no damage from WC0, WC1, bullet and knife attacks - so fear not the mook! Upgrading Martial Arts to Grade 2 would net you more damage and a Dodge bonus of +1 (but Tough Skin 2 negates this as you cannot dodge). Claws are a bit redundant with Martial Arts but they could be like Ninja Shuko Claws that will eventually allow him to Wallcrawl (if you want to work towards that). ST 2.0:
Interesting one… Alot depends on how you (or if) you want to tie powers into specific form(s). Okay Energy Attack rolled twice - means Grade 2 - which also opens up the option of taking Energy Immunity of the same Energy type as the attack for 1 power roll… Have a couple of ideas - you could select Armour 1 instead of Tough Skin and have the Shapechange essentially be the Armour reconfiguring for Wall-crawling mode? Would also work with bio Tough Skin I guess - just spitballing lol. Rest upon the morrow!
Hey MG - Let's just run with things here mate. You can wait til I get some stuff up on the morrow, but likewise you can begin the randomness without it being hugely effected. @Ira: I've not forgotten about the Swift Scepter - will have a proper review and give some thoughts on the morrow as I'm spent (but happy lol)
@Ridge: Am thinking you could somehow keep the Growth? thinking "Big Grin" or some such? But if you can't make it fit, don't keep it. Remember (Everyone) dropping a power isn't the end of the world - yes you lose the power, but also if it helps streamline your concept then so be it. Your characters will be be vastly powerful compared to most super-villains, and even mega-villains will be offset by your collective team. Clowns hadn't gone all Pennywise in the 1980s... the creepy clown was starting to emerge but in the main they were still figures of fun in circuses and pantomime, so absolutely a good-guy clown works. For the weapon - what about Juggling Clubs? - with Weapon Skill Grade 2 or 3 you could use them as melee or missile weapons... would be kinda cool no? Yeah you're doing it right :) Psi-clown tough scrapper... For your clown I'd potentially pour 1 or 2 power rolls into their Weapon Skill (as noted above) or improve Psi Power to the next level.
|
