seneschal

It occurs to me that disintegration weapons are in many ways impractical because they give you only one option: irrevocably destroy the target. You can't merely wound and/or incapacitate and capture an opponent to question him (or make peace with him). You also can't search his person for cool gear and hidden information. If you're low on food in an area with wild game, too bad. You just vaporized your potential source of meat. It's a technology that works too well. Re: combat. You'd be sneaking around and listening a lot, posting multiple observers (in case one or more vanish). Whoever got the drop on their opponent and sniped first would win since enemies could be eliminated instantly before they realized they were in danger.

(Smugly) "Ha! He doesn't know that I'm wearing my Disintegration-Proof Vest !" Marvin the Martian fires. Duck Dodgers is vaporized -- except for the armored vest momentarily hanging chest-high in the air.

Inscrutable, mysterious reptilian enemies (or allies) are good. Even if they're on your side, you're not sure why or what they might do next. Personally, I'd like to see Ducks in a space opera setting. They've been booted out of RuneQuest, so surely Duckworld is a planet that exists in the PCs' universe -- homeworld to fearless, wily adventurers. The endurance of Flash Gordon, the cunning of Buck Rogers, the avarice of Harry Mudd, all rolled into one waist-high package wrapped in shiny white spandex jumpsuits.

"Dragonewts in space, anyone?" It's Dragonewts and Dropships! The ultimate human vs. reptilian galactic war simulation. Otherwise known as D&D. Er, um, wait. Well ... maybe not.

So ... is it the bad girl calculations or the good girl calculations you don't want to stop?

Sorry for not giving you a serious answer earlier, Conrad. Here's a Wkipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_%28medieval_ship_type%29 http://users.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/popdef14.html http://www.academia.edu/2173543/The_Utrecht_Type_and_the_Hulk_Adaptation_of_an_Inland_Boatbuilding_Tradition_to_Urbanization_and_Growing_Maritime_Contacts_in_Medieval_Northern_Europe http://www.british-towns.net/britain/history/ships/hulk.asp http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/transportation-in-the-middle-ages.html A hulk was apparently a medieval Dutch river or canal barge with limited coastal capability. No crew estimates in the articles I located, but I can't imagine you'd need 15 guys to haul freight up and down the river. The heavy lifting could be performed by folks at either end of your trade route. By the time they got sophisticated enough to really handle the ocean they were replaced by caravels.

And the (missing) crew complement for a Space Hulk is? (Don't worry. There are other occupants.)

"Terminal velocity." Sounds like a summer beach thriller. Can we get Peter Benchley or Clive Cussler to write that?

In a role-playing setting, of course, the triumph of good over evil would depend entirely on the PCs. In The Oath you essentially had a small cult consisting of immediate members of the Hyde family, which passed down beliefs and rites to the next male heir. The citizenry of Hyde Valley didn't need a Mythos critter to corrupt them; they were doing a pretty good job of it themselves. Despite its different theological underpinnings, the Hyde River dragon shares several traits with the usual Lovecraftian entities: Most of the time it can't be seen. It has some sort of psychic/spiritual link with its victims and can draw them to it when the time is ripe. It is impervious to small arms fire, and even a massive quantity of dynamite can't kill it. It is intelligent and cunning and has an agenda undecipherable to those who revere it. It can be summoned but can't be controlled. Clues to its existence and habits are available in the form of old diaries, letters, court records, and newspaper clippings. And it can't be truly and permanently destroyed, at least not unless the townspeople have a change of heart. I think it could work.

We've had several threads mentioning Dr. Who and Daleks, and have Time Lord guidelines in the downloads section. But has anyone actually wrote up a Dalek or Cyberman in BRP? Also, macamboy, it's been seven months. How did your BRP Dr. Who game go? Personally, I liked the Who universe background info in both the FASA and the Timelord games but found the game systems presented wanting. FASA's Doctor Who RPG used a system similar to its Star Trek game, and I just didn't get it. Too complicated. Timelord's system, on the other hand, wasn't granular enough for me at the time. I know, I'm like Goldilocks sampling porridge. If I studied either game at this date, I'd probably react more kindly. Game balance was an issue that struck me immediately when skimming the FASA product. You had the super-smart, capable Time Lords ... and then their wimpy bumbling human companions. Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce Watson all over again. As others have mentioned, Timelord tried to address that issue. Recently, however, I've had a chance to watch early 1963 Doctor Who story arcs starring William Hartnell -- and they didn't have that problem. The Doctor was a frail old man. An alien scientist with advanced technology, yes, but no stronger, wiser or more clever than his human associates. In fact, his reckless curiosity and selfishness got the group into trouble, and he'd have to bumble his way out (with the companions' help). He sneered at the humans for being arrogant primitives, but they'd be the ones saving his butt. Not the Doctor many of us have grown to appreciate, but a much more playable character. I think that it was during third Doctor Jon Pertwee's era, with it's James Bond-ish plots, that the Doctor gradually became superior to those around him.

Tokyo in Tulsa, an anime and gaming convention, is coming July 11-13. So far, it's got Pathfinder, Warhammer 40K, and World of Darkness sessions scheduled but no D100. Any adventurers bold enough to voyage to North America's Sea of Grass this summer? (No, "Sea of Grass" has nothing to do with the availability of controlled substances. Stop that! ) http://www.tokyointulsa.com/

I never did get The Yule Cat to download. Probably just as well for my danger-prone Norsemen (see "Traits" discussion).

As a longtime Champions/Hero System fan, I don't generally have a problem with advantages and disadvantages. It helps round out a character and gives the GM automatic plot hooks to play with. Preventing mini-maxing and "free" character points is the GM's responsibility, regardless of what game system is being played. As others have said, a trait must fit the campaign setting and the GM must regularly enforce the consequences of disadvantageous ones. If the cops dislike your character, he can never get a break from them no matter how many times and how dramatically he saves the city. If your character is hunted by the evil Dr. Beansmith, expect him or his minions to show up on a regular basis, even in subtle ways (such as the PC discovering that his employment records or tax returns have been altered, and not for the better). Someone following your character? If it isn't Dr. Beansmith, it's probably the PC's ex-wife, or a detective hired by her, trying to collect overdue alimony or child support (you did remember to mail the check last month, didn't you?). I know some folks don't like traits at all, but their potential for abuse in BRP is modest because of their sheer scarcity. A hero in Superworld might have one or two Failings, tops. By contrast, a normal action movie protagonist in Hero System with have three or four. And since traits are randomly rolled in Cthulhu by Gaslight, you're just as likely to get stuck with a disadvantage as with something that will help the character out. That said, hard times for your PC are good for the game. Melodrama is the stuff of which epic poetry, soap operas, comic books, and role-playing campaigns are made of.

Hungrier. And they want all your marbles, baby.

Hungry shrews. Be afraid. Be very afraid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQSCkvNQfhA

The difference, I think, is the polar opposite worldviews of the authors. Lovecraft, the materialist, presents human existence as essentially hopeless -- a key part of his take on cosmic horror. For Peretti, the Christian, the horror is not that there isn't any hope but that people choose to destroy themselves with their bad decisions. They'd rather have their own way than survive.

"Of course, the most subversive thing about Slayers from a gaming perspective is that the creator of their universe wasn't benevolent but, for the most part, bored -- she made gods and devils, put humans in the middle, and set them in motion and contention essentially so she would be amused by their antics. If that's not a game master's calling, I don't know what is." Heh. Record of Lodoss War is how high fantasy is supposed to be role-played. The Slayers is how it is actually played.

I recently re-read Frank Peretti's thriller The Oath, and I couldn't help but notice parallels to Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Both stories involve dark secrets kept by isolated communities who've made a pact with evil. The residents in both tales dislike nosy outsiders and refuse to speak to them. There have been many disappearances of locals and outsiders over the years in both novels. Old diaries and letters provide important sources of information in each. I don't think Peritti necessarily copied Lovecraft, but both authors used similar ingredients to create suspense. And I think The Oath would make an interesting CoC campaign. Anyone else read it? What do you think?

Another pop cultural instance is the independent comic book Southern Knights, in which one of the superheroes is actually a dragon who somehow forgot who he really was while in human form. The Slayers, Southern Knights, and D&D aside, dragons assuming human form is common in Eastern mythology. Like fairies in Western mythology who have palaces underground or in a grove of trees, it isn't uncommon for dragons to have a sumptuous palace beneath a sacred lake or among the clouds, where they assume human form and occasionally entertain respectful human guests in high style. We already have other werebeasts in the rules. Doing a dragon would follow similar guidelines, with the dragon form being the "real" one. Human-form dragons would be long-lived like elves but not necessarily invulnerable. They'd tend to be richly dressed aristocratic sorts with fine manners, highly developed skills (from centuries of experience), not trying to hide anything but perfectly comfortable in either guise.

Every time I hear statements such as "this animal has the intelligence of a 5-year-old child" or "the Hulk has the intelligence of a 3 year old" I have to conclude that the scientist or comic book writer speaking hasn't spent much time with young children recently. Human-level intelligence is, well, human intelligence. If you've worked with young children as a babysitter, teacher, or in some other capacity you know what cunning, creative, utterly amoral beings they are -- able to escape, elude, gang up on and deceive adults who are supposedly smarter and more experienced than they are. Re-read Hansel and Gretel sometime, especially the ending. If any animal really had the intelligence of even a 2-year-old human child, no one nearby would be safe. I know educators and psychologists have produced libraries of all kinds of developmental theories, but as a parent with hard experience I can warn you never to turn your back on a toddler!

My daughter's cat began his existence as a wild kitten whose mother lived in an unoccupied rent home across the street. He lived several years as a strictly indoor cat, was very affectionate, liked playing with the dog once he got used to her. Then he went through a period of serious illnesses, and we let him outside both so he wouldn't mess up the house and because cats seem to want to go off on their own when they aren't feeling well. Not only did he get better, but he chose to become an outdoor cat (especially in warm weather), coming home only to eat and then wanting out immediately even in the face of tornado or ice storm. Part of it was that he may have been offended that my wife wouldn't let him sleep on our bed. Now he's hard to predict. Sometimes he's affectionate, especially when hungry, but mostly he wants to roam.

Flynn Source: Skylanders video game “You check out the terrain from ground level. I’ll scout overhead and meet you at the other end of the island.” Skyland is a mystic dimension of beautiful green, sheep-filled islands floating over, well, it isn’t clear what but it’s a long way down. This once peaceful realm is currently besieged by the hordes of Kaos, a diminutive would-be conqueror with loads of confidence, resources, and followers. Can you say “Napoleon complex”? The Portal Master, guardian of Skyland, has been using his magic to summon heroes from nearby dimensions to defend his homeland and its creatures. Unfortunately, that means the player-characters whether they will or no. Assigned to assist the PCs in reaching their various quest destinations is Flynn, possibly the only being in Skyland with an ego bigger than that of Kaos. The vainglorious balloon pilot resembles a bipedal yellow tabby cat clad in a 1920s leather flight suit, complete with cap and goggles. He’s convinced that since he’s chauffeuring such epic champions, he must be one himself. Flynn will brag incessantly about how awesome he is, how the ladies just can’t keep their paws off of him, how there is no problem he can’t solve – that is, as long as the adventurers go first. He is, in fact, a reasonably competent pilot and airship mechanic who is not too bad in a scrap. (He will avoid combat at all costs.) Although his daring may not extend further than the edge of his gondola, Flynn is bold enough while dodging Kaos’ air patrols to land his unarmed vessel in enemy occupied territory. STR 8 CON 12 SIZ 11 INT 11 POW 10 DEX 10 APP 6 Move: 10 Hit Points: 12 Damage Bonus: None Armor: 2 (leather flight suit and cap with goggles) Attacks: Brawl 43%, 1D3+db; Pistol 38%, 1D8 Skills: Climb 58%, Command 30%, Craft (Blacksmithing) 30%, Craft (Sewing) 21%, Dodge 38%, Drive 30%, Fine Manipulation 23%, Heavy Machine 26%, Knowledge (Skyland) 30%, Listen 50%, Navigate 35%, Pilot (Hot-Air Balloon) 41%, Repair (Mechanical) 40%, Spot 70% Mutations: Hybrid (cat man), Increased DEX, +2D6), Keen Vision (2X distance, +20% to Spot) Notes: Flynn had 250 skill points plus 110 personal skill points based on INT. Profession: Pilot. He’s a rather clumsy cuss despite being a feline; his DEX is a mere 10 even after being enhanced by his mutation. Hugo Source: Skyland video game “Well, I didn’t really build the Core of Light, the original one. But I’m sure I could reconstruct it if you can get me the parts.” Skyland is a mystic dimension of beautiful green, sheep-filled islands floating over, well, it isn’t clear what but it’s a long way down. This once peaceful realm is currently besieged by the hordes of Kaos, a diminutive would-be conqueror with loads of confidence, resources, and followers. Can you say “Napoleon complex”? The Portal Master, guardian of Skyland, has been using his magic to summon heroes from nearby dimensions to defend his homeland and its creatures. Unfortunately, that means the player-characters whether they will or no. Hugo, Skyland’s foremost (fur-most?) scholar and scientist, resembles a short, bespectacled ground squirrel. He’s a bit of a pedant and old maid (always fussing at the PCs to be about their current mission) but the information he can provide about Skyland’s history, denizens, and technology will prove invaluable. Hugo has become convinced that the adventurers can defeat Kaos if only they can help him duplicate or reconstruct a mystical artifact known as the Core of Light, said to have repelled the enemy’s forces in ancient times. And he’s got a handy shopping list of components for them to acquire for him during their quest. Since Skyland equipment is an amalgam of Da Vinci mechanism, gee-whiz pulp science fiction gadgetry, and magic item, they’ll have to take his word for it. Although Hugo’s advice is generally sound, the stress of war has made him a little eccentric. He is sure that Skyland’s ubiquitous sheep are a malevolent force, always following and spying on people, attempting to sneak up on them to steal their possessions. Hugo will urge the heroes to beware of them. Upon casual observation, the sheep appear no more intelligent or sinister than those of Earth. STR 4 CON 10 SIZ 2 INT 17 POW 12 DEX 19 APP 12 Move: 6 Hit Points: 6 Damage Bonus: -1D6 Armor: None Attacks: Clipboard 25%, 1D3+2+db Skills: Fine Manipulation 31%, Heavy Machine 30%, Hide 34%, Knowledge (Skyland People and Places) 31%, Knowledge (Skyland History) 31%, Knowledge (Skyland Flora and Fauna) 31%, Language (English) 28%, Language (Skylander) 85%, Persuade 33%, Repair (Mechanical) 39%, Repair (Electrical) 39%, Research 52%, Science (Natural History) 28%, Science (Physics) 28%, Spot 49%, Stealth 34%, Teach 37% Notes: Hugo was built on the Halfling template with his INT and CON stats switched. He had 250 skill points and 170 personal skill points based on INT. Profession: Scholar.

But can it deflect small arms fire like Hero System 5th edition?

Why not just have a "I hit it with my generic weapon" skill? There are some RPG systems running around that do exactly that. They're the polar opposite of other systems which have a separate weapon skill for every possible subcategory of pistol and knife. The former systems get you into play much faster, while the latter make the player feel special with his ultra-personal weapon specialization. Personally, I prefer systems somewhere in the middle, although as I age I'm drifting toward the "simple is good" end of the spectrum, especially when trying to persuade skeptical family members to play at all.

It's a discussion of ... a fictional comic book character that many of us like, despite his ups and downs. Why get nasty? Getting back to SIZ (and a perhaps less controversial hero) ... I had always assumed that Disney ducks, like their RuneQuest relatives, were smaller than human beings. However, I stumbled upon an illustration depicting Darkwing Duck foe Steelbeak (a Bond villain rooster with a fondness for white tuxedos and high tech weaponry) as 6'3" from feathered scalp to the soles of his claws (his upswept comb makes him a total of 7 feet tall). For comparison, TV's first animated superhero, Space Ghost, is a mere 6'2" tall. I figure that would make Darkwing Duck himself somewhere around 5'4" and several other of his Duckworld opponents in the 8- to 10-foot-tall range. I'll have to recalculate their SIZ ratings in my future write-ups. Villains such as Tuskernini and Taurus Bulba would be as massive as their real-world animal counterparts, with Damage Modifiers to match.