OOC Chat

[Leitz]

How many points would the hover bike be? At this rate we'll have to buy an old roller-coaster car and have Eclipse TK it everywhere. I'm not sure we'll be able to afford a vehicle.

Heh, yeah. HERO system inverts a paradigm, Most game systems start you with nothing; you get more through adventure and your capabilities change over time. In HERO, you get a lot up front, but don't change much, relatively speaking. Even relationships cost points, so it's in conflict with a lot of other game system. No other game system of that era really does superheroes well.

[Rex]

For me, it isn't that it is different than other systems, it is that it just doesn't make any sense. If you find or capture something you have it. Since we don't have points does it just vanish? I know it is a superhero game so not much verisimilitude to start with, but it then builds in nonsensical rules that make it even worse.

[gurusql]

If you think about it from the point of view that this is simulating a comic book, and comic books were written highlighting the powers of the hero, not that they use tech from every other villain that they come across. (Which is much more a D&D mindset.) For example, Batman does not use Joker tech in the next issue rather it is completely forgotten about (or in the old comics sitting on a trophy shelf and in modern ones in a vault)

And in the rare cases that they use something from someone and repurpose it that is spending points.

[shaidar]

I can't see us getting enough points, so we'll just have to make do carrying people.

[Rex]

Seems the only option.

[gurusql]

The other option is this. I have given you team points that could be spend on a vehicle, however if you find that there is not enough points there I want to remind you that any or all characters can donate experience points to the team (investing in the team instead of yourself). The leader can declare that there is a buy into to be part of the group (of course it is up to the player to comply). A Character Point is the same thing a Team Point and when you purchase a vehicle or base there is a 5 to 1 multiplier in your favor.

Looking at the log I have given you 60 Team Points of which on comms and other equipment the team has spent 39 leaving 21 points at this time.

I have heard various kinds of cars that the team would want depending on characteristics of the vehicle one coming off the lot is going to run 45-80 points. One option I had not considered before could be getting team multiple vehicles. If they are all the same model then you can qualify under the 5 point doubling rule. In other words getting 2 motorcycles is the cost of one motorcycle +5 , getting 4 is +10 or getting 8 is +15.

Two Panel Trucks would by 65 + 5 = 70 /5 - > 14 Team Points

The stock Harley-Davidson V-Rod is 57 points and the stock Kawasaki ZX12R Ninja is 65. So if you wanted to get 8 team Ninjas (stock) that would cost
65+15 = 80 / 5 -> 16 Team points.

Please note that to use the motorcycle, the character would have to have TF: Two-Wheeled Motorized which is 1 pt. (Azir and Eclipse already have this skill)

[shaidar]

Thanks for an explanation, it's not as bad as I thought.

I'm guessing flying vehicles are way more expensive and require new skills to drive? I can't see hover vehicles in the transport list in the book.

[shaidar]

Thinking about it the perfect option would be for a flying vehicle that can carry 4, or two identical vehicles that can hold two.

Less ideally at the least we need something ground-based to get us around the city, like bat-bikes and the bat-mobile. Again, either one vehicle for 4 or two for 2.

Either need a snazzy paint job

[Leitz]

I'm not sure we're solving the right problem. I know that we use comic books...errr...graphic novels for a lot of the game concepts, but games and comics are two vastly different concepts. A fiction story, of any type, is a story. It has a goal, a story to tell, and everything inside serves to tell the story. If a superhero group needs to fight a villain, the story begins with everyone in place to fight the villain. If a team member is not there, then it's a twist to the story, and sometimes a story in itself.

Each character in this game has access to a non-point based method of land transportation; car, motorcycle, public transit, whatever. There's no practical way for the characters to all have transport that solves every issue; the cyclone just move off at 20" or so, that's a heck of a lot of points. What if the villain goes into space? Or underwater?

When a person takes on the role of DM, they are telling a story. The DM's options are infinite, he or she must choose the options that tell the best story with the characters present.

Story tension comes from conflict, and story tension is what drives a reader to keep reading. Not just punch and blast conflict, but the internal struggles characters may have. Those pesky things like Disadvantages; does the hero rescue their DNPC first, or stop the villain? How far will a character go to deal with an enemy? How do they mentally explain their choices? If anyone remembers my character in the 268 game, his conflict played out in when to "turn on", and when to just relax and enjoy life. When "on", there wasn't a long list of things he wouldn't do to keep his troops healthy while moving the mission forward. In Rex's game, Gerolt is in the middle of a totally different conflict. Conflict is even more interesting when the characters are engaged in a richly detailed setting. That's why "known universe" games like Tolkien based fantasy, Star Trek, Star Wars, and alt-Earth comics work so well. The DM doesn't have to provide everything, the players can find stuff on their own.

The joy in games is that sometimes conflicts can be resolved with an energy blast. A lot of players, myself included, don't really want to game the gray-area lack of triumph we face in real life. Sometimes just blasting a problem away is a very nice thing.

My apologies for the multitude of electrons disturbed in the typing of this message. I suggest we focus on what we want our characters and team to be, and let the DM deal with the transportation issue.

[gurusql]

I am working on Issue #5, I should be ready to start either late in the week or worst case the start of next week.

[Leitz]

What will the time gap be between #4 and #5?
Do you want to put update the recruiting thread?

[gurusql]

I am finalizing that, but at this point it will be October or November.

[Leitz]

Okay, cool. So a month, maybe two.

[gurusql]

The next adventure will be taking place in late October. If anyone would like to spend EXP please let me know in your private channels.

If there is team points to be spend if want to talk in character post in the back of the last issue or out of character you can do it here.

[Leitz]

Hey, just a note on the forum software. I'm subscribed to this entire sub-forum, and get notified on any new posts. However, if a post is edited, there are no notifications. I didn't get notified on the Issue #5 post change, and didn't know about it until shaidar posted. He's more attentive than I.

[Rex]

I think that is what happened with mine. In my game I try not to edit posts at all and when I do I always send a PM to the game group so they know it changed. I also send one out whenever I make a new thread etc. It seems to help with missing stuff.

[Leitz]

Yeah, I edited a post in the "Stories" thread, but then added another post. In effect, I put a post just before the last one, it covers part of the teen's story that wasn't public yet.

[gurusql]

Hey, just a note on the forum software. I'm subscribed to this entire sub-forum, and get notified on any new posts. However, if a post is edited, there are no notifications. I didn't get notified on the Issue #5 post change, and didn't know about it until shaidar posted. He's more attentive than I.

I assumed you would not get anything from the editing of the post, but that is why I added the post of Wind Dragon so that you would get one. At least that was the intent.

[Leitz]

Hmm...that should have worked. However, my notifications only show you *and* shaidar posting, even though he posted several hours after you. That said, I'm not even trying to get emails anymore, just looking for the little red dot next to "Notifications".

[Rex]

I have never used the email part, only the notifications (little red dot) portion. Sometimes we miss stuff, but I know the edited thing has been an issue for me before (on both ends of it).