seneschal

It's the dragon's saggy basketball shorts that are the problem. Just no couth. Besides, don't we have enough blatant product placement in movies? And that Gorgon in a sports bra? Just scary. Really.

An aside. 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.

RE: Keeping it simple. The James Bond RPG had the skill Science, encompassing everything. And GURPS: Atomic Horror had Science!, for those Benton Quest, Reed Richards and Doctor Who types who can always come up with a plausible sounding solution, no matter what the situation.

It had to happen, of course. http://fandomania.com/comic-review-darkwing-duck-12/

As originally conceived, Superman was incredibly strong (exactly how strong wasn't clear), could leap an eighth of a mile (but couldn't fly) -- hence "leap tall buildings with a single bound" -- and "nothing less than a bursting shell" could pierce his skin. He was smart, agile, and had keen senses -- but didn't yet have super vision, heat vision, super telescopic hearing, nigh-instantaneous speed, etc. One of those bursting shells could at least knock him down even if it didn't really injure him. In early adventures, Lex Luthor made him unconscious (but didn't kill him) with poison gas, and a tussle with a trio of vicious wolves was sufficient distraction to allow the villain to escape. Power creep began almost immediately -- in other media. In the excellent Fleischer Studios theatrical cartoons (1941-42), Superman initially traveled via giant leaps, then became able to change direction in mid-leap, then finally just flew, period. It was the cartoons that introduced his X-ray vision as well (in The Mechanical Monsters). The 1940 radio show had him flying from the git-go. He could eavesdrop on both ends of a telephone conversation from across the room and could see clearly in the darkness of an amusement park ride's tunnel. Despite his smarts and senses, he didn't have an ESP-level awareness of his surroundings; it was still possible for a normal person to sneak up on him or escape his notice.

Not exactly. Young Cale Tucker rejiggered the Titan to use Drej energy at the last minute only after discovering that the derelict ship's default power supply had been drained during its 15 years in hiding. Since the entire alien war fleet was trying to vaporize him and his friends at the time, I'd say it was a case of the poor, benighted humans acting in self defense (and giving mankind a new start in the process). As far as we know, the earlier attack on Earth was unprovoked. And, like Project Genesis in the Star Trek franchise, the Titan was never intended to be used as a weapon but as an aid to terraforming new worlds. And it wasn't only humans the Drej were nasty to. In the cafeteria scene, the roach alien chef was vaporized merely for being nearby when the energy beings went hunting for Cale. (Note to self: Do not name next child after a green, leafy vegetable.) The first time I saw the movie I praised the animation and pooh-poohed the plot, or at least its execution. I had trouble with Joseph Korso -- the Titan Project leader's right-hand man, turning traitor and attempting to bargain with the very fiends who'd destroyed his home world, then repenting at the 11th hour and becoming a good guy again. Fourteen years later, I'm more inclined to be forgiving. It was an ambitious film. The Titan universe and its denizens were a colorful and well-realized bunch. Wish Don Bluth's run at independent movies had lasted longer and been more successful. An American Tail, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and The Secret of NIMH were excellent. Anastasia had an interesting premise but, like Titan A.E., didn't quite pull it off. Thumbelina had the usual gorgeous Bluth animation but the songs, storytelling and characterization were just bad. It's hard to root for a heroine who is so weak-willed she makes Cinderella and Snow White look like Gloria Steinem.

My teens reacted the way they did when I showed them Yellow Submarine and TRON. They sort of blinked and asked, "What did we just experience?" On the other hand, my son liked Titan A.E. even though it was just as weird and started off in the middle of things just as The Black Hole had. Maxmilian's murder of Dr. Alex Durant was shocking, not only because of the implied violence, but because it was so random and unnecessary. After all, Durant (Anthony Perkins) was the member of the Palomino crew most sympathetic to the sinister Dr. Hans Reinhardt, the guy who was thinking about staying aboard the Cygnus. The evil red robot not only slaughtered him but shredded the research notes Reinhardt had given Durant to share with the world. It demonstrated that perhaps Reinhardt wasn't really the one in charge. The special effects still hold up, the villains are scary, the cute robots are, well, cute robots, although Roddy McDowell manages to give VINCENT some gravitas. The Black Hole ain't 2001: A Space Odyssey, or even Star Trek, The Wrath of Khan, but it is fun.

You ... you ... you banned person, you!

I do like Superman, but he has been around for 75+ years and subject to a lot of interpretation and qualities of writing. One of the best versions of him (and one more amenable to BRP) is the 1940, first, season of his radio show, The Adventures of Superman. Yes, he's outrageously strong and tough, flies at rocket speeds, and has enhanced senses. But he isn't all-knowing and despite his speed can't be everywhere at once. Superman acts in costume only when he absolutely has to, determined to keep not just his identity but his existence a secret. Most of the time he's Clark Kent, not a wimp but a hard-nosed, competent investigative reporter who has earned the respect of his editors and the public officials he interviews with his honesty, cleverness, and ability to get results. Despite Superman's science fiction origins, the show feels more like a pulp detective story. His foes are normal people -- gangsters, con men, terrorists, Klansmen, corrupt politicians -- folks Superman could easily mash into peanut butter. But it is Clark Kent who must figure out what is going one, determine who the culprit is, and attempt to aid the villains' prospective victims. The first season of the 1950s TV show took a similar approach. Both the radio show and the TV show eventually became kiddy fodder, but the writing remained strong and the radio show featured lengthy mysteries that created genuine suspense.

Yep. For those not already in the know, Duracell had a commercial in which a toy bunny raced a toy tortoise. The rabbit won, not by being steady, but by packing the right brand of D-size battery. Energizer spoofed their rival's mascot in a later advertising campaign, inverting the toy drum and adding hipster sunglasses to avoid copyright infringement. Since the Energizer Bunny has single-handedly defeated Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Boris and Natasha, Count Dracula, Darth Vader and King Kong, I figure he should have received recruitment letters from both the Justice League and the Avengers by now. Duracell (1983) Energizer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FFFIHc94Ks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhlApioLO1A

Actually, my test of the flexibility of a superhero RPG isn't Superman, isn't Godzilla. It's the Energizer Bunny. No offensive abilities, but nigh invulnerable (like The Tick), he just keeps going, and going, and going .... I could build EB in Champions. Haven't yet tried with BRP.

We understand, really. Have you tried e-mailing Nick Nicario instead of the generic customer service contact? He often jumps in to handle order problems. He posts here as "Old Harry the Drifter." <nick@chaosium.com>

Well, maybe not for Superman/Darkseid/Thor/Hulk level superheroes. On the other hand, several of our posters have run successful and enjoyable low- to mid-powered superhero campaigns. BRP might not be the best rules set for Justice League, Unlimited. But it can do TV Wonder Woman and Hulk, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, Green Hornet, Adam West Batman, Arrow, the Mighty Heroes, etc. "Alpha, bring me some BRP players with attitude!"

So ... given our SIZ discussion in relation to Superman, how come he always gets clobbered in Justice League? Shouldn't he be kicking butt and taking names instead of playing sidekick to Batman? Grrrr!

The free Mongoose RuneQuest I Deluxe SRD, also in the Downloads section, has a basic fantasy monster selection, much of which is a repeat of Basic Creatures.

Marvel's Molecule Man also has insane levels of power, limited only by his basic shyness and insecurity. At least during the Secret Wars era.

More position. A tenured college professor, an 18th century lord, a scheming teenage queen bee, a church archbishop, or an acclaimed research scientist might each have high Status within their respective social/professional circles. They'd have pull and influence with their peers and with people their group influences. For instance, that professor's Status would give him perhaps more authority than rivals in his department, might indeed enable him to draw a larger salary (although wealth is a separate thing), and his on-campus reputation might be good enough to enable him to ease out of encounters with the local police that would get other characters a ticket or a stay in jail. On the other hand, his Status rating might not help him with the regional mob boss -- who has a high Status within the criminal community but who is considered scum by the authorities and decent people. You're right. The mechanics of the skill are sort of nebulous, partly because its effects are variable and broad, depending on the situation. Gamers often discuss mechanics for "social combat" in their campaigns. For BRP, Status is the designated tool. It's about knowing whom to know, throwing your weight around, calling in favors from all the folks who owe you one

Maximilian was proof that programing a mechanical being to violate Isaac Asimov's First Law of Robotics is a Very Bad Idea . "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." The robot "goon squad" that escorted the Palomino's pilot to the Cygnus' bridge was an early indication that something was up. Why have a large, heavily armed automaton police force on a science exploration vessel -- especially one with only a single human survivor? After all, the Sheriff's Department of rural Garvin County, Oklahoma -- which surely has a population much larger than that of the Cygnus -- is made up of only five or six (human) officers. Assuming a civilian ship needs a security force, a constable or three would be sufficient.

Re-watched the much-maligned 1979 film this weekend. It was entertaining despite its flaws. The protagonists' ship, U.S.S. Palomino, and the black hole probe ship both seem to be hard science vessels -- efficient and cramped interiors, no artificial gravity, small crews. The U.S.S. Cygnus, sort of a 960-foot-long Crystal Palace/Gothic cathedral in space, is pure space opera, with artificial gravity, anti-gravity projectors capable of defying a black hole, a crew of dozens if not scores, and vast impractical interior spaces allowable only by the Rule of Cool. Whether either vessel has faster-than-light travel capability isn't addressed in the film, although the setting is apparently far beyond Earth's solar system. The adventure supposedly takes place in 2130, where recognizable nation-states still exist and spaceships such as the Cygnus still need Congressional budget approval to be built. I found it strange that science exploration vessels designed to search for "habitable life" (by which I suppose the scriptwriters meant "alien life forms and/or worlds capable of supporting human life") would be armed to the teeth. The Palomino apparently carries "warheads" for self defense while the Cygnus has massive laser cannons. Perhaps tense national rivalry is the cause, but the Palomino doesn't look large enough to pack any extra freight unrelated to its primary mission. The crews of both ships are equipped with laser sidearms, especially strange on the Palomino since, to date, "habitable life" hasn't yet been discovered by Man. Why waste space and mass on guns when you haven't found anything or anyone out there to fight? Critics have laughed at the Cynus for its size, girder-and-glass construction (at least it looks like glass), and tall conning towers. I dunno. If your ship gets hit by volleys of meteors, a solid metal hull isn't going to save you. And the conning tower might aid observation of exterior operations along the lengthy hull. The tube transport system seemed logical for such a long vessel -- except I would have put in on the inside of the hull rather than outside. The large garden for atmosphere regeneration and crew food is a science fiction staple, so I'll give it a pass, too. If you can defy the gravity of "the largest black hole ever discovered," maybe you can make a transparent substance that is tough, insulates efficiently, polarizes against harmful intensities of light, and resists radiation. The Cygnus obviously was constructed in space, obviously it is incapable of landing on a planet. Maybe the Victorian girder look was a byproduct of modular construction. ESP is another science fiction staple, so I'll give Dr. Kate McCrae's mental link with the robot VINCENT another pass. The little hovering robot was on par with other sci-fi robots such as B-9 (Lost in Space) and Robby (Forbidden Planet), although giving the earlier model BOB a cowboy accent was a bit much. Maximilian was very much in the Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still) big scary robot mold -- although given all the advanced tech available, why equip your evil robot henchman with rotary saw blades? In any event, I'd love Traveller style deck plans for both the Palomino and the Cygnus, regardless of the system used for the campaign. Thoughts? Comments?

How can Elric truly be the Eternal Champion if they keep shifting the license?

I don't know how the Persians managed to maintain family dynasties, since they had no concept of peaceful transfer of power. As soon as the current King of Kings died, it was civil war no matter how legitimate the named successor was. Every uncle, cousin, nephew, brother, and step-whatever jumped into the fray to seize the crown -- and the carnage didn't end until there was only one possible heir left. When Persian subjects said of the king "may he live forever" they really meant it!

I realize that different types of bows have different performance characteristics. But is the issue here the equipment or the archer's skill? If you take Ulysses (Greece), Robin Hood (England), and Rostem (Persia) -- all accounted expert archers, but each with his own national technique -- and hand them the $30 starter bow from Walmart's sporting goods department, will they still be able to do their stuff?

So, increased STR and CON based on his SIZ makes his nigh-incalculable strength even nigher and more incalculable? Instead of pushing the Earth out of (or more likely, back into) orbit, Superman can now put the entire solar system in his pocket and go home (um, wherever that happens to be once he's done that)? See, this is why I majored in journalism rather than physics in college. Are you sure this isn't an Imaginary Story? On the other hand, we could toss plus-SIZ Supes into the Call of Cthulhu universe. The Mythos is toast. Mankind is safe. And we can all sleep soundly at night. At least until the next DC Comics Crisis.

That's fine. A setting like that could be fun. But again, which culture(s) and time period(s) are you specifically interested in? You've got relatively high tech empires in Mexico and Central and South America, competing confederations of Stone Age hunter-gatherers in the Northeastern forests of North America. The Hopi and Navajo are building cliff cities in the Southwest, mysterious Mound Builders have an empire in the Southeast, Inuit and others are hunting caribou and sea mammals in the far North. And you still have those jungle-dwelling Caribbean and South American cannibals and headhunters ready to take on all comers. It's a broad setting ... like Conan's Hyperboria or Imaro's Nyumbani. Player-characters could have drastically different adventures and encounters depending on which region and culture they wandered into. No horse-riding buffalo hunters, though. The Spanish explorers of the 1500s reintroduced equines into the Americas (after prehistoric tribesmen literally ate the native horses up). So the Lakota and other Plains Dwellers, in fact everybody, is still on foot. The wheel hasn't been invented, so dog-drawn sleds are the primary means of transport (South Americans use lamas as pack animals but don't ride them). PCs had better be prepared with several pairs of stout shoes.

Hmmm, someone could always do an end run around the license by publishing an Elric-alike setting with the serial numbers filed off. If we already have the mechanics written, one post-apocaylptic kingdom (young or otherwise) looks pretty much like another, and mysterious highbrow elves with attitudes are common in many settings.