Monsters on the loose?

[Thaumonuclear]

I was thinking for Halloween there should be a thread with some classic monsters causing trouble in Freedom. Maybe a mummy on the loose in a museum (progress to Night at the Museum mayhem?) Or maybe just zombies and werewolves rampaging in the street.

I have a few ideas about what's behind the monsters, but I have a question about running a thread. And the NPCs in the character bank, do any villains I use need to get that sort of approval? Or is that just for recurring NPCs? Are non-named example stats in the book (archetypes and "supporting characters") fair game?

[Supercape]

"Canon" NPC's, such as those named NPCs in officially produced source books (e.g Freedom City) need ref approval.

Archetypes in source books can be used freely, as, in general, can NPCs in the character building threads (such as AA's oddballs).

Approved NPCs can of course be used according to their tier.

A more grey area is "one shot" NPCs you custom build as one off's for a single thread. In general this is down to GM and player discretion and trust. Some players might not like this, and some prefer the statistics posted "open", whilst some prefer it "closed" (to maintain mystery of what they face) - again, this is a trust issue.

That covers the "statistics" or "crunch" side of things.

Then there is the "plot" side of things. Again, judgement is called for here. If you are running a fairly self contained story which is not going to have repurcussions in the game campaign, you generally don't need to run it by the refs "officially" (the refs do keep an eye on things to check things are generally appropriate in tone etc - but its rare to step in, we encourage GMing). However, if anything you GM might have an impact, or you think is a little exotic, it is best to run it by the refteam.

Zombies, werewolves, and mummys loose in the museum for halloween for instance is something that would fit right in. You wouldn't need permission to use the generic stats behind these creatures, and players would im sure be fine with you home brewing some one off's ( unless you go particularly sadistic on them ). However, the key would be what's behind the animation of the undead and ghouls. If its a cannon NPC such as Medea or Hades, yes you must pm the refteam. If its not - then its a judgement call - if this is going to be a local event to one or two streets for a night by a one off force, then you are probably good to go as the tone is right. If its a city wide pandemonium effecting everybody, then again its a run through the refteam.

The hard rule is cannon NPC = refteam.

Then its a sliding scale, depending on how big your event is or how much cannon it will add. At the top, refteam, at the bottom, just go. But there are sensible positions in the middle, like run it past a ref in chat briefly to check its not too outlandish.

In conclusion I would add that the refteam strongly encourage GMing and although it might seem a pain to run it past the refteam, do not be discouraged by this. The answer is usually yes, sometimes "yes, but..." and only very rarely a "no". Go for it! :thankyou:

[Thaumonuclear]

Now I just need to track down some stats for a mummy...

And some players

[horngeek]

Is PL7 or PL10 preferred? :D

[Thaumonuclear]

I'd like to include Atomic Bob, who's 10, so 10-ish

[horngeek]

Then, expressing interest with Vector. :D

[Supercape]

ILl throw in a character (Probably Synth) if you wish to have another and/or a Ref involved (in a non-draconian, supportive way!).

[Thaumonuclear]

That would be appreciated, Supercape. I might see if I can wrangle up one more player.

If you wouldn't mind having a look at an NPC I'm working on as the big bad. viewtopic.php?p=154730#p154730

[Supercape]

If you wouldn't mind having a look at an NPC I'm working on as the big bad. http://freedomplaybypost.com/viewtopic. ... 30#p154730

Sure!

The Big Bad himself has a few niggly errors in terms of maths. However, for a one-shot one-off big bad NPC, there is nothing here worth bothering about. I would say feel free to use him pretty much as is for the purposes of a thread. If you wish to submit him as a formal NPC (one that would reappear) then prepare to have him put through the grindstone formally!

As he is an NPC, there is a certain leeway here, as you dont have to build to PP and PL constraints. What we look for is some kind of internal consistency...

Which brings me to the minions of said big bad which don't look so ship shape, even for a one-off...reasons?

1. Ghosts are always unliving things (I suppose there is an exception to every rule...but....) therefore, its no CON score (a base toughness of zero) and Immunity to fort saves (to stop them dying from having no CON). Immunity to fort saves will cover all that immunity to sleep, cold, life supporty stuff as they require...con saves!

2. Insubstantial. Generally, Ghosties have Insusbtantial 4, meaning nothing can effect them (you have to nominate one effect like "fire" or a reasonably common descriptor that can). I will voice one word of caution with insubstantial...it can be a pain the $%£* for some characters without affects insubstantial feat or a reasonable background that could stunt that. On the other hand, it can make it interesting especially if you nominate an effect that can effect them and fit that into the story line, either through an NPC, a device, or other artifice. Or, just some way of banishing them through some PLOT level effect. In summary: Insubstantial can be cool, but care needed.

[Thaumonuclear]

I'll give some more thought to the minions. Ghosts seemed like a good idea since I wouldn't need to worry about having dead bodies around or anything, but I also didn't want to make them too much of a pain to deal with (why I went with insubstantial 3 rather than 4). I also gave them an attack where I figure they don't necessarily even have to be dealt with)

[Supercape]

Its your thread, your call!

Personally, Insubstantial 3 can be just as problematic as Insubstantial 4 (even Insubstantial 2 can prove a real difficulty for some characters). I'd say go with Insubstantial 4, just give some solid thought as to how they can be defeated by characters in game via PLOT!

Thats Ghosts anyway, but you are welcome to call it ectoplasmic necro-ooze and give it insubstantial 1, or zombies, skeletons, etc etc...!

[Thaumonuclear]

Ok, it might be nice to have someone with some arcane knowledge along. But then again, Heroes don't always get the option of fighting the forces they understand. I'll try to recruit from the chatroom this evening, and then we can probably get started.

The Hunter Museum of Natural History is preparing a few new exhibits, and celebrating Halloween by extending operating hours well into the evening throughout October.

[Thaumonuclear]

Well, busy last night and didn't get a chance to drop in and recruit.

I think I'll stick with 3 PCs for this thread, then. Not too many people to keep track of.

Started at viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6790

If your character feels like stopping by the museum, that'll be great. Or you can wait to react when something strange starts to happen.

[Supercape]

Double posting IC?

(Also, could you throw up an OOC thread?)

[Thaumonuclear]

Oops. Stupid computer.

I converted the errant thread to the OOC thread.