Dr Archeville

Victoria's just as Attractive as Jill, y'know And that's an Obscure 2 (auditory, 10 ft. radius; Extra: Selective Attack) [5pp] effect he's thrown up ;)

Victoria looked to Wesley and Geckolass, then back to Avenger, then back to the other two, and then back to Avenger. "I vould rather not leave them unattended in mein vorkshop, so," she said as she pulled Avenger to one side. She adjusted her Electromagnetic Lipstick, a shimmering semi-transparent field of energy surrounded them, and Avenger realized it was very quiet around her. "I haff surrounded us in a small gravitic field dat can redirect sonic vibrations directly to our ears. Ve can scream as loud as ve vant, and no one outside de field can hear us. Und mit your mask on, dey can't very vell read your lips, so tell me vhat de issue is mit you." Outside the field, Wesley and Geckolass could see Archeville & Avenger talking, but could hear absolutely nothing.

My main issue with the Wealth rules as laid out in the book is that, if used to purchase (even if only temporarily) Equipment, any PC with the base level of Wealth (+8) can Take 20 and buy a Stately Manor, Underground Lair, or Urban Fortress, or private jet; they can Take 10 and buy a sports car or limo or bus or yacht. Licensing and zoning issues (i.e. the GM saying 'no') aside, this just seems wrong to me. Option #1 is attractive (and I like the idea of using "I'm rich" as a descriptor for some feats)... but then we can get into issues of needing to use equipment points to have a cell phone or car to get to/from day job or a basic house, as well as chgaracter/player arguments over who's the richer one. I like Option #2 best, though it means more work. We'd need to figure out just what the various ranks of Wealth can get you 'for free'. My initial thought is this: since if your current wealth bonus is > the purchase DC (which is 10 + point cost), you can buy it automatically, then if an item's cost (in points) is 10 or more points less than your Wealth bonus, you can get it automatically/fore free. Which means an Affluent Mad Scientist (total Wealth +16) can buy anything costing 6 points or less for free... which wouldn't be enough for a decent gun, or a compact car. And a can of pepper spray (15 points) is right out. Hurm....

Besides, that's just Environmental Radiation, not any effect with a Radiation descriptor. :P

Because, as I said, they have a similar set up, where you have one 'feat' for Wealth and one 'feat' for Equipment like bases and vehicles. (And because M&M pretty clearly owes a lot to that system.)

Geckoman, High Note, and Quark. Thursday evening (Sept 25th), 5 days before the Delivery at Pier 18. Liberty Park, Parkside, Downtown Freedom. "I had not planned to hire 'scrawny kids,' but when that is the only type which responds to my call for help and shows any interest in providing some aid... well, I told you how the police responded, so I take whatever I can, Mister... Gecko-Man, was it?" Self-deprecating, this one. Or is it a front?

You can certainly try to see if you detect any falseness on his part. Jos' Bluff is a 12. I'm gonna spend Jos's one VP to re-roll that, and get a 23.

January 1st, 2009 (Thursday) Ah, the beginning of a new year! What new discoveries shall I make? What new challenges shall I face? So much potential, so much to do, I hardly know where to begin! January 9th, 2009 (Friday) Microsoft Corporation released the beta version of its Windows 7 operating system (formerly codenamed Blackcomb and Vienna). The full version should be available sometime in mid-2010. And that's the only tech-related news so far this month. Lots of earthquakes and fires and suicide bombings and financial crises, but not much of note in the science or tech worlds. January 14th, 2009 (Wednesday) Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc., has taken a six-month medical leave of absence. (Jobs had a rare form of pancreatic cancer known as islet cell neuroendocrine tumor; the tumor was removed in 2004 and he seemed to be bouncing back, but since 2006 he has been noticeably ill-looking.) Tim Cook, who had previously acted as CEO in Jobs' 2004 absence, became acting CEO of Apple, with Jobs still involved with "major strategic decisions." Some have expressed doubts regarding Apple's veracity regarding Jobs' health. However, Apple's disclosures should be taken as accurate, since otherwise the board would be in breach of their legal responsibilities as directors of a publicly-held company. I wish him well. Yes, he's a aggressive, temperamental egomaniac, but he's an innovative aggressive and temperamental egomaniac. January 15th, 2009 (Thursday) A young woman who called herself Zallaro came by today, asking me to inspect her dress, which she claimed was magical. She did not stay long, which I am glad for: she was... odd. A sprinkler incident at a Toronto, Ontario, Canada hydro power station sparked a major power outage in a huge swath in the city's west end, affecting more than 250,000 people. Some reports mentioned a "water woman" seen in the area. Some new metahuman? Or Professor Fathom, seeking some artifact in the Great White North? NASA announced that methane in Mars' atmosphere "could be produced either by geological activity or by life." I must get to Mars and see for myself! A bit of sad news: in the past three days, Ricardo Montalbán and Patrick McGoohan passed away. I believe I shall watch some episodes of Fantasy Island and The Prisoner tonight in their honor. January 16th, 2009 (Friday) A report issued today indicates that the computer worm Conficker has infected more than eight million Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. Intramar, the French Navy computer network, was infected; the network was subsequently quarantined, forcing aircraft at several airbases to be grounded because their flight plans could not be downloaded. (I'll not be surprised to hear that the Bundeswehr [the unified armed forces of Germany] or Britain's House of Commons are infected; they both really need to update their computer security.) January 20th, 2009 (Tuesday) Today was Inauguration Day for the United States: Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th (and first African-American) President of the United States. His predecessor, George W. Bush, left Washington, D.C. for Texas to resume life as a private citizen. People have asked me whether I'm a Democrat or Republican, Conservative or Liberal, who I'd vote for, what my stance on assorted political issues is, and so on. My response is usually "be quiet and pass me that hydrospanner." January 23rd, 2009 (Friday) CNET.com reported that, as of December 2008, number of unique Internet users has reached one billion. That's almost 15% of Earth's total population. That's not enough! Japan launched the world's first greenhouse-gas-observing satellite (GOSAT), Ibuki ("Vitality"), from the Tanegashima Space Center (115 km south of Kyūshū), after a two-day delay due to bad weather.. It was was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and will be used to measure densities of carbon dioxide and methane from 56,000 locations on the Earth's atmosphere. Japan's Ministry of the Environment and National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) will use the data to track one of the gases causing the greenhouse effect, and the data will be shared with NASA and other space and scientific organizations in other countries. January 26th, 2009 (Monday) A set of human octuplets are born alive for the second time in the United States. I anticipate the mother will draw a lot of flak from this. And will most likely be given some manner of nickname. Something like... "Octa-Momma." January 28th, 2009 (Wednesday) Winter storms across the Midwestern United States have killed 19 people and cut electricity to 600,000 homes and businesses from Oklahoma to West Virginia. Unconfirmed reports of Dr. Stratos, Glacier, and Madame Zero being present have been coming in, but I am not so sure. January 29th, 2009 (Thursday) I'll be visiting Dr. Arthur Andel, the Director of Star Island, today. He's a top-notch astrophysicist and astronomer, and if anyone in Freedom City -- aside from Daedalus -- could help us with improving our Gravimetric Belt, it's him. I just re-read that, and noticed two errors. I am leaving them in, to keep an accurate record. January 30th, 2009 (Friday) A heat wave affects southeastern Australia, with both Adelaide and Melbourne experiencing temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F). January 31st, 2009 (Saturday) A heat wave continues to affect southeastern Australia, killing 20 people as temperatures reach above 45 °C (113 °F) in Adelaide and Melbourne. I wonder if housing Glacier or Madame Zero in a special detention center there would help? For that matter, could incarcerated supervillains be used to contribute to "public works projects" to commute some of their sentence? Could Gamma the Atom Smasher or Hiroshima Shadow be used as ersatz nuclear reactors? Rant & Rave forced to dispose of hazardous wastes with their disintegration beam? Or would such arrangements be "commercial slavery"?

The situation brought up by this very thread: how much should you get for free just by having ranks in Wealth, especially when the existing rules say you can't buy anything which would require the equipment feat (which would include normal cars and houses).

I just realized there's nothing on High Note's char sheet indicating what he looks like. What does he look like when in costume? (Also, I'm assuming Quark's in his silvery Quark Suit.)

Geckoman, High Note, and Quark. Thursday evening (Sept 25th), 5 days before the Delivery at Pier 18. Liberty Park, Parkside, Downtown Freedom. The moon is a waning crescent, only 15% visible. 64 degrees, 20mph NE winds, and there's a light rain which has been pouring for the past two hours. The man firmly returned Geckoman's handshake, and held his hand out to the silvery Quark. "I am Jos Terhune, a somewhat humble shopkeep, though my shoppe is not yet open for business. But that is the problem: it appears the neighborhood I chose to move into has become somewhat infested with crime, in the form of a new gang starting up a 'protection racket,' kindly offering to protect us from any manner of trouble if we pay them a substantial monthly fee. My fellow shopkeeps are opposed to this, but when we went to the police they said they would look into it, but were swamped with other cases at the moment." He pulled his coat a bit closer as a sudden gust blew by, "I suspect that that is part of the reason this gang has popped up, because the police are overworked in dealing with some rather gruesome recent cases. On a more directly personal front, I am expecting a large shipment of goods for my shoppe to arrive in a few nights, on the 30th. I have a distinct feeling that the thugs who are behind this protection racket are going to try and either steal or destroy my goods, in order to 'prove' how 'dangerous' the area is." A bit rude of that kid to not tell these kids what I wanted. Ah, well. Kids these days.... Tabitha Connely and Ember Paw, with Jos Terhune and Cyber-Goons watching on. Early Sunday morning (Sept 28th, around 2:00am), 2 days before the Delivery at Pier 18. The Fens, Downtown Freedom. The moon is a waning crescent, only 1% visible. 69 degrees, 96% humidity, 4mph ESE winds, overcast. "Surrendering, eh?," the whip-wielding woman said. "You may be smarter than you look. You can speak, can't you? If so, tell me, just what were you doing here? And don't lie, I'll know."

He grabs his gun. Surge to gain another standard action (Scarab gets another HP). And he almost gets a crit! DC 23 Fort save vs. the Alt Save/Fort Blast 8 (cold). Avenger, for the penalty, I'll just say -2 for this case. Which would mean there's a slim chance two of the baddies on the board could see Avenger, if you just Take 10 on the check.

I'm waiting for someone to answer my question.

Closed per request of Hellbound.

Once again the Hellwasps shake their tiny fists in rage. TK check vs. Fox's disarm attempt?

Which is all the more reason it does need to be defined. Unless your plan is to have them all be killed off by Knievel or Hellbound soon after appearing, you do need to define who they are, what they want, what resources they have, who their allies and enemies are, and so on. No, it isn't an indication of that. The fact players are not allowed to submit entire groups/teams of NPCs is indicative of the Refs not wanting one PC to control an entire team. What dichotomy? Those go perfectly well hand in hand, and those limits have to be in place if we want to have any semblance of a stable world and not a hodgepodged mishmash. (Well, not more hodge-podge-y than the canon stuff.) And it's not "their own universe," it's "our universe," since we're all playing in the same setting, which means everything needs to fit together moderately smoothly, and thus players are not given carte blanche to just make up stuff whenever and wherever they want. No, because that's your job. You're the one who came up with this idea, you're the one that needs to figure out how it can can become an interesting and useful part of FC without grinding up against existing things. If you cannot, if you're not willing or able to do the research needed to fit some new thing into the existing setting, you should not be submitting things like this.

You can look at more than one thing at a time. True, but it's usually dragging people off semi-deserted streets, not while in the middle of a melee involving four other combatants. :P

Actually, it sorta does. You know all the debates that go on in Char Approval threads on how a char will fit into the FC setting? Those debates get bigger and more convoluted when you introduce an entire new team of beings.

Right, yes, I figured that out half a second after I typed my response Also, do note that I edited my last post with some important info.

Ah, I see what you're saying now. Yes, his Stealth is so high that if he Takes 10, they cannot Notice him. But that's just for himself. If you're dragging Vulture along, there'll be penalties, which means they have a slim chance of being able to Notice you. (How big a penalty? I'm still deciding.) Slamdance takes a Bruise and is stunned.

When/where was that established?

When Hellbound emerged from the showers -- and he could not shake the 'being watched' feeling the whole time -- he was met by an unexpected sight: Doc was sitting in a leather chair, notepad in hand; next to him was an empty leather couch. There was also a small table with a pitcher of ice water and two glasses. "Ah, all refreshed now, ja? Good, good. Please, have a seat, or lie down, vhichever you prefer." "I haff just about all de data I need from you to make de vings you requested, buy vhile mein automated systems work on de prototype, I vould like to take a few moments to ask you a few qvestions. To get to know you better. Ve are going to be vorking together some, after all, und it is only right dat ve know what ve can of one another. So, fist off, tell me: vhy do you do de Hero ding?"

"How interesting," he said while pouring himself a cup of tea. "I had planned on doing someding similar, an international chain of multidisciplinary research laboratories, unconnected to any von government or business interest. It vould also provide humanitarian aid in times of crises, especially medical aid und supply transport, a task aided by teleportation pads I had planned to install." He took a sip of the tea, and nodded approvingly, "I suppose a good idea is evident to dose mit de eyes to see it."

Round 3 Recap [*:2c44odej]Fox tried to Mind Control Avenger... and fails again. [*:2c44odej]Avenger tries to demoralize Vulture (you cannot demoralize a group), and fails, leaving him shaken (-2 on attacks & checks) for one round. Avenger's squeezin' (he can't beat that grapple check) bruises & stuns him, but he's easily able to sustain his unholy powers. [*:2c44odej]Scarab shoots a mental blast at Fox. The partial obscure around her does not prevent her from targeting him with her perception-range attack... but his masochistic mind is unfazed. [*:2c44odej]Slamdance charges towards Shark, and just manages to connect. Shark's shark-y hide protects him from the blow. [*:2c44odej]The Hellwasp swarm continues trying to sting Scarab. Their stings hit, so I need another DC 16 Fort save. [*:2c44odej]Shark has two of his Sub-Sharks attack, one vs. Slamdance and one vs. Avenger. Good news, Avenger gets a HP (since I'm fiating to let Shark surge, so he can attack you two). Bad news, I need DC 23 Will saves from each of you. [*:2c44odej]Vulture is stunned. Begin Round 4 Initiatives - Character - Condition - HPs 23+ - Fox - Undamaged 23- - Avenger - Undamaged (DC 23 Will save) - 1 HP 18 - Scarab - Bruise x1 (DC 16 Fort save) - 1 HP 17 - Slamdance - Undamaged (DC 23 Will save) - 2 HP 16 - Hellwasps - Undamaged 15 - Shark (and 10 Sub-Sharks) - Bruise x1 7 - Vulture - Bruise x2, stunned, still grappled Fox does something awesome. Maybe. Move Action - run to jump up to Scarab. Standard action - Attempt to disarm her to get his gun back. Attack fails, but a re-roll (Scarab gains an HP) just makes it. Now I need an opposed roll of Scarab's TK vs. his Str to see if he wrests it away; he got a 25. If that works, Surge to gain another Standard action to shoot her in the face. I'll hold off on making the attack roll until we see whether or not he gets his gun (and if he surges, Scarab gets yet another HP).

"Wrawk!," Vulture screeched when Avenger struck... and then he was very quiet. Scarab concentrates her mental might on Fox's mind... and gets the image of rough, calloused hands smacking hers away from his brain before she can dig in. Slamdance bolts zips back, charging towards what he hopes is the 'real' Shark, and almost bounces off the Shark-man. It's clear he was unharmed by the attack. The great swarm of hell-wasps continue to sting Scarab; their presence around her continues to hamper her vision and hearing. Shark had been keeping an eye on Avenger & Vulture, but Slamdance's sudden arrival drew his attention. "Fool! Are you so willing to be a meal?". One of the Sharks next to him lashes out to take a bite out of Slamdance, and one of the Sharks at Avenger lunges to bite him. "There's plenty of food for all, my pets!" (Scarab's senses are still telling her that the sharks are a mental effect. The hellwasps aren't.) Vulture is no longer struggling to get out of Avenger's grasp. "Who's the weak link, sweetness?" Fox said; Scarab could swear he was smirking under his full-body costume. Suddenly he was on the move, leaping up off the trees and the house to get up to Scarab, and reaching for his gun... ... and grabs it, takes lighting-fast aim at Scarab, and shoots her in the face with it before landing in a crouch.