Yeah, this game us definitely not for me. Good luck.
Search Posts
If push came to shove, Karma would leave the group and look after her own security rather than actually hurt Dave. Dave may not know that, so let's assume Karma and Dave will be walking on eggshells around each other for a while, wary of each other. Really? You wouldn't rather just approach Dave privately and say, "Hey, sorry about earlier. I'm not really going to kill you..." Why do we need have interpersonal conflict between our characters? That seems unnecessary. Dave does not understand Karma's psychotic reaction, because he has interacted with the police many times before and knows they don't take him seriously. He doesn't see himself in the wrong here and even if he did, Karma's response was way over the top. Dave is out the door unless she apologizes.
With all of that I think an appropriate reaction to Dave's minor social media moment would be, "Hey Dave, don't be a boner. At least make sure you're not being followed. Or get your own place. Don't call us, we'll call you." Also, Karma, I read your hindrances. You seem to be pretty well focused on not being a bully, so the threat to gut Dave in his sleep seems like something you didn't really mean. He wouldn't know that though, because we don't know each other yet. If you don't want to retcon that you could cool off and apologize. An apology will go a long way for Dave.
Honestly, I don't understand what's so valuable about the Lair. We got it for free. If we lose it, are we worse off than before we got it? Destructo has used it before; How dumb do the V'sori have to be to not already have eyes on the joint? Also, if they didn't care enough to kill us with all the stronger supers, nothing's changed except that we're all in one place. I could argue the lair is a net negative. As for Dave giving away business cards at the Shake Shack: Dave is a known quantity to the police; it's part of his backstory. They think he's a joke. No reason why they would take him any more seriously now for getting a couple hits in against some gangbangers. It's basically Dave's MO. The V'sori wouldn't exactly be impressed by that either. If Karm hadn't murdered the driver he would have let them all get away. Dave thinks the drones are robots. I think the drones are robots. They're not robots? Dave is legitimately scared of Ghost now. She threatened to kill him and he knows there's nothing he could do to stop her if she decides to make good on that threat. People live with abusers all the time but it usually doesn't end well. I'm open to having ghost retcon her outburst and not be all blamey. Maybe if someone would like to explain IC why the Lair is actually valuable and not some place where we're all a lot more likely to be rounded up and hauled back to prison, that could help him, and me, understand your (and your characters) motivations.
Dave decides Karen crossed a line that should not have been crossed. He quietly leaves out the back door and heads back to his one room apartment. Whether or not it's still his apartment after not paying rent for a year while he was in V'sori prison is a matter that will have to work itself out. Such is life.
Clearly I'm playing the game with a different mindset than everyone else. It was never my intent to mess with people or detract from anyone else's fun. Quite the opposite. Anyway, I'm not sure where Dave fits in to a group where a PC can literally kill a NPC with basically no exposure to risk and then threaten to murder Dave for the high crime of offering to help cleanup the neighborhood. I had reservations about the villain concept and I guess I didn't buy in. My mistake. I'll leave you to it.
Dave considers that one of the team just threatened to kill him in his sleep because she doesn't like fish. Say what you will about the V'Sori, at least they'll kill you while you're awake. This is like 3rd grade playground politics all over again. Dave has a decision to make. Either stay with this group and risk being gutted for no good reason or bail and find his own path and risk the wrath of double-D. He takes the rest of the bag of food with him to his room to think about it.
Dave blinks at Karma. "Oh."
Dave shrugs his shoulders and twists happily, grinning from ear to ear.
g) What is the greatest thing in life? What is your desired end state/goal. Tell me what is important to you. Loyalty, freedom, friendship and happiness. Those sound like nice squishy things for Heroes. Dave totally sympathizes with this internal longing, or at least he sympathizes with not having any of those nice things and feels contempt for those that do. But we're villains, as odd as that seems. Also, I get nada for quoting Seinfeld here? Tough crowd.
And I'll note that in Discussion I did ask what would be useful to have and there was pretty much no response. Sorry, didn't want to cramp your style, but I realize now I could have been more helpful. If you're looking to fill a niche, the group is currently rudderless, imo. It's a concern I voiced early on, that a collection of villains makes for a poor team. We need an operational mastermind, with an introduction as simple as, "Dr. Destructo sent me to make sure you all don't screw up." We can respect that and for my part, Dave is a complete dufus who will happily follow so long as his basic needs for food and attention are met. There are leadership edges that can support this kind of character, and Super powers like Healing which I think we're still short on. Your character trapping could be anything.
"Like who?" Dave responds with his mouth full.
The sea was angry that day, my friends. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli.
Dave wonders at the older but still attractive version of Kara that has suddenly appeared. He takes his last burger out of the bag and hands the rest over. "Sorry about the shake," he says sheepishly. "They didn't have cherry. I would offer you my strawberry, but it spilled during the fight." He eats his burger in silence until it dawns on him: "Oh yeah, Ghost was there, or in my head anyway. I never saw her. Some jerks shot up the Shake Shack, but I handled them." Dave jabs a fist at the air in front of him like a tough guy. Spoiling the effect, a blob of ketchup lands on his track suit.
Here's how I answered your last chargen question: The greatest thing in life? If Dave were honest with himself, he'd say affection and a sense of pride from one's parents. But since he never experienced that, it's Internet porn. And then the stupid V'sori robbed him of that minor indulgence, so he's got nothing. Hopefully by showing the world he can put his fist through a V'sori armored breastplate and tear out its still-beating heart he can be famous, and people will like him. What's better than that? Dave has no interest in secrecy and will be inconsiderate of desires to remain secret. I stopped short of giving a bunch of randoms his phone number and address, but I thought about it.
Dave is a paragon of OpSec Dave's alignment is True Neutral.
Hmmm Wikipedia does not mention a run for congress. It does mention his joke run for the Presidency in 2008 that was a thinly disguised drive for South Carolina based charities. And a few jokes about a second run in 2012 mainly focusing on the fact that Cain was still on the SC ballot despite dropping out of the race by then. odd Not surprising, given Wikipedia. It was a running gag on the Colbert Report for a couple months. He didn't actually run but he did legitimately inquire. I think the reason was that he did not qualify as a legal resident of South Carolina, where he grew up, since he was living year round in New York. Part of the gag that was not a gag was that he was filing as a Democrat.
Once the SUV crashes to a stop and the goons get out, the fight is over. Dave ignores them as they run and leaves the suv where it rests. That's somebody else' problem now. He steps off his hoveboard and looks into the bag of food he still holds in his left hand. For the most part the contents are intact although one of the shake cup lids has come off and is spilling liquefied ice cream into the bottom of the bag. He turns to look back at the Shake Shack. It's not a total loss - just a few bullet holes and some very scared people. He decides to risk the food getting cold and mushy and boards back to the scene of the crime. "Hey, I'm Dave Finsterman. I live not too far from here and I eat here all the time. I hope you guys will stay open, and if you have any trouble like this again I'm not far away." With that, he zooms back to HQ. One of his burgers survived and most of the food is still edible bt could use a minute in the microwave. "Do we have a microwave?" asks Dave upon return.
Yes a long time ago, all the way back to yesterday. That opening was genius.Steven Colbert just did a Dave Finsterman and kicked through a wall.I remember when he was funny. Man that was a long time ago. I didn't watch. Haven't since he tried to run for congress when he was still with Comedy Central. That was the moment Colbert turned into a "reality" TV game show.
Steven Colbert just did a Dave Finsterman and kicked through a wall. I remember when he was funny. Man that was a long time ago.
Dave feels at one with the hoverboard; it is an extension of his will, and he manifests it to bring vengeance against those who would harm his Shake Shack. He almost laughs when the bullets spray aimlessly into the night. His arm is already winding up for another blow. "You can't leave until you try the knuckle sandwich!"
Through the s&*$storm Dave hears a voice in his head. He responds verbally: "Huh? No, I'm NOT OKAY! My Shake Shack was destroyed!"
Dave has no concerns at all about the Omega commlink. Free stuff!
Salivating at the delicious smells, Dave is reaching into the bag to take out one of his burgers when everything goes wrong. He watches for a moment, slack-jawed as some asshat starts shooting up his beloved Shake Shack from a black SUV. Sparks and glass shower down on him from the exploding sign. An intense, sudden rage burns within Dave's empty soul, and with one foot already firmly planted on his hoverboard, he leans forward, thrusting ahead like an anvil of vigilante justice.
Closing quickly on the slow-to-accelerate SUV, Dave has an important decision to make. In one hand he holds the bag containing all the food for the team. In the other hand he holds a double cheeseburger.
He takes a bite of the saucy sandwich and then lobs it at the SUV. As he careens toward it he gets one punch at the ass end of the vehicle. "YOU KILLED MY SHAKE SHACK!" Dave screams at it with his mouth full of bun and burger.
With the passionate focus of a man out for revenge, Dave hammers the s&~$ out of the SUV.
Dave drops fifty bucks on food, damned inflation. At least the Doctor said anything was good so he told the guys behind the counter to just put four patties in a bag, dripping with grease. Dave got himself two double cheeseburgers and a large fries and an extra large strawberry shake. He got what everyone else wanted and was on his way back. Since the hoverboard required only a little balance, he crammed a burger into his mouth while carrying the bag in his other hand.
I agree. Tumbler would be a great add.
Shake Shack is still there though. Hmmm menu is smaller. Prices are the same. Do you have any money?
Dave peruses the menu...
Dave is on his way to Shake Shack on his hoverboard.
Dave had one foot out the door when introductions started to fly around. He listened in amazement as each super person explained what they could do. "Oh, I'm Dave. I got a hoverboard that's pretty cool. Ever heard of Manowar? The band not the super villain. Anyway, I listen to them a lot. But I like some techno, too. And the hits of the 70's. Yeah. Anybody like shooters? I bet we could network a sick game of Call of Duty in this place. Umm, my Mom lives just down the street a ways from here. She'll probably want to check in and make sure I'm doing alright. Probably just once though, she's not like one of those moms that's always interested in what her kids are doing. So anyway, Ghost and Psiclops, do you want anything from Shake Shack? Do you eat?"
Marvel has been amazing with casting. Most of these characters I couldn't care less about but the actors are so good I just can't help but like most of the movies. So I'll watch this latest Ant Man and everything else. I don't even mind so much that the plots are contrived garbage. A good story is not why I watch this stuff.
Dave arrives in the common space of the lair, with its dated but functional decor, and taps at his phone. "I'm going out for Shake Shack. I'll get takeout if anyone else wants to put in an order. Text me." He drops his hoverboard onto the sidewalk outside and speeds off.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't going to watch that movie anyway but that video puts the nail in the coffin. Also, Kang is Nathaniel Richards, who is Reed Richards' dad? Uhh, wut? Would one of you nerds kindly explain this relationship to me?
One thing to remember is that Switchable is a modifier on the original power. Thus it counts to the power limit. So I now have hit the wall with a 7 point power with 8 points for slots. So it's not hundreds of points. Only dozens. I see what you did now, limiting your Switchable allocation within the 15 point max. I guess I can see how that calculus occurred. Anyway, it should be easy enough for you to choose one or two of those powers and delete the rest. Entangle and Poison, for example, and then you get 1 spp to spend elsewhere. That doesn't seem painful at all. Imagine, well I see (118) listed in the header for powers. Is that an acknowledgement that Imagine has the equivalent of 118 SPP worth of powers? I mean, even if that's 118 spp worth of powers that don't cause damage, that's still 118 spp worth of powers. Seems like Imagine wants to be a telekineticist with telepathy and mind control. Should be easy to do with 50 spp. The problem isn't that Dave is not effective, it's that the GM will need to scale encounters to meet our highest perceived power level. Dave is plenty effective as a Level 3 PC against Level 3 NPCs. Unless there is some compelling reason to not follow the rules as written, Solution #2 feels like a just do it so we can move on without GM having to consider how he's going to engage our characters at different power levels to provide a consistent play experience. Just my opinion, but I didn't read the rule right is not compelling. There's no way any of us would be allowed to accidentally do that if we were playing a Pathfinder game here.
I'm in the mother of all bad moods. But it is still a joke.
The misinterpretation of the Switchable rule is obviously no good. If I redesign Dave based on that I could literally spend the equivalent of 518 SPP! The rule is what it is and it makes absolutely perfect sense and I can't see how it's even possible for it to have been misapplied (although I do believe it was an honest mistake). This should be a no-brainer. It can't be any more painful to fix than it was for the rest of us to make hard choices about which powers to take. Nerds are fair game. Is my comedy too acerbic? Dave can see himself doing sick tricks on his hoverboard. And also breaking his ankle. Seems about right.
Far from it. You have shown me the light. Now I just have to figure out the best way to spend 481 additional spp.
Holy crap, I just looked at Imagine's character sheet. Alright, I'm not going to complain about this but I do need to rebuild Dave according to our accepted misreading of the rules. Dave is not anybody's comedy sidekick.
I realize that Doc Tox is doing it wrong, and so is Imagine (in the way her PC is built). And that the way Imagine described the way it should work is correct, but was complaining about it for possibly the wrong reasons. I also said it was unfair, but I didn't suggest doing anything about it. I'm saying that with regard to Switchable, rules must be followed. Otherwise this game is super f*#@ing lame. The way it has been interpreted, by spending 10 spp one one power and then, for just 1 spp more, we add another completely different power worth 10 spp. That's wrong and needs to be corrected or it will be abused like a prisoner at Abu Ghraib. Thanks for the lists of heroes with Flight, nerds. But also, can Magneto fly in space in the absence of iron with which to propel himself toward or against? Could Superman fly on Krypton? Wonder Woman used to have an invisible jet, at least that's what I remember from watching the Superfriends cartoon 45 years ago. Anyway, have a good reason for disobeying the physical laws of the universe, is all. And activation costs are a scam and I'm just getting bitter because I'm not doing it.
You know, the more I think about the Flight power the more pissed off I get at this system. It's reserved for Superman and that's about it. In the MCU, any character that can fly has a really good explanation. Here we just add it like a dash of pepper. I f&#&ing hate it.
As for fairness, SPC3 sucks at it. Sucks hard. If Dave fought Psiclops 100 times, Psiclops would win 100 times. As we have just experienced, Flight is a completely busted power that ignores all of the ground variables incurred by breaking s+@@. Anyone that doesn't take Flight must hate himself. Like Dave. Seriously, I'm not like a comic book crazy or anything, but the few characters I can think of that can manipulate one of the four fundamental forces of the universe (aka gravity) are the best of the best. But in this game, if you add an activation cost to another power you can effectively pickup Flight for f~*&ing free! My point is that while the rules ought to be followed, if we start trying to be fair or balanced or whatever we'll only get frustrated. Dave is the least effective super villain of the group, but he has the potential to be fun to play. That's why I'm here.
Doc Tox is doing Switchable wrong. Each one of those super attacks is a distinct separate power, while Switchable clearly states, "Switchable allows character to have multiple versions of the same power." (pp.47) Imagine has it more correct, where if you had an energy attack it would allow you to effectively switch your trapping to be a different type of energy, but it doesn't give you access to a completely different type of power.
My main problem with this is that it somehow legitimizes the idea that the original idea of changing it within a power is somehow worth jack squat. Let's take the book's example of spending a whopping 3 SPP to get three more energy attack types. Now, 3 PP is real money...That is an excellent and equitable solution. Imagine, what to you think of the Dr.'s prescription? Weird - Doc Tox and GM's posts referenced in this spoiler have disappeared.
I vote for this: 1983 GMC Vandura
Dave has d6 Drive, fwiw. I'm fine with the vehicle as long as I get to pick the music.
Dave will spend 3 spp to upgrade Regeneration to 1/hr and 2 spp to Leaping. I'll look at Edges one more time before I finalize.
As previously mentioned Dave is increasing Spirit to d8. I will allocate the 5 spp when I get a chance. Dave is cool with whatever the group decides for the lair. In his mind, it is a luxury item and it can be squandered and lost and he's no worse off. Protecting the lair is not on his list of concerns. Right now, his list of concerns begins and ends with eating, preferably at Shake Shack.
Dave is willing to ride his hoverboard back from the Shake Shack after the Teleporter gets him there.
Dave perks up as Karma reveals she has her own secret lair. He wonders if his s%#*ty one room apartment on the south side qualifies as either a lair or secret, and decides that it does. "Yeah, I've got a secret lair too, but this one seems nicer. I'm gonna go pick out my room!" He bounds inside to get dibs on the best room.
Duh, Teleporter?
Dave is increasing Spirit to d8.
|