The Official OTC TBRPG Planning and Organization Topic

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

And non-magical fire-based weaponry being woefully underdeveloped, yes.

[Havelock Vetinari]

 

Ancient Greece[edit]

Greek gastraphetes

The earliest reasonably reliable date for the crossbow in the Greek world is from the 5th century BC.[20] The historian Diodorus Siculus (fl. 1st century BC), described the invention of a mechanical arrow firing catapult (katapeltikon) by a Greek task force in 399 BC.[21][22] According to the inventor Hero of Alexandria (fl. 1st century AD), who referred to the now lost works of the 3rd-century BC engineer Ctesibius, this weapon was inspired by an earlier hand crossbow, called the gastraphetes (belly shooter), which could store more energy than the Greek bows. A detailed description of the gastraphetes, along with a drawing, is found in Heron's technical treatise Belopoeica.[23][24] The gastraphetes was powered by a composite bow. It was cocked by resting the stomach in a concavity at the rear of the stock and pressing down with all strength. In this way considerably more energy can be summoned up than by using only one arm of the archer as in the hand-bow. The heavy weight and bulk of the gastraphetes may have necessitated a prop to keep it standing, i.e. by mounting it on a defensive wall or using a portable prop.[25]

A third Greek author, Biton (fl. 2nd century BC), whose reliability has been positively reevaluated by recent scholarship,[22][26] described two advanced forms of the gastraphetes, which he credits to Zopyros, an engineer from southern Italy. Zopyrus has been plausibly equated with a Pythagorean of that name who seems to have flourished in the late 5th century BC.[27][28] He probably designed his bow-machines on the occasion of the sieges of Cumae and Milet between 421 BC and 401 BC.[29][30] The bows of these machines already featured a winched pull back system and could apparently throw two missiles at once.[31]

From the mid-4th century BC onwards, evidence of the Greek use of crossbows becomes more dense and varied: Arrow firing machines (katapeltai) are briefly mentioned by Aeneas Tacticus in his treatise on siegecraft written around 350 BC.[31] An Athenian inventory from 330–329 BC includes catapults bolts with heads and flights.[32] Arrow firing machines in action are reported from Philip II's siege of Perinthos in Thrace in 340 BC.[33] At the same time, Greek fortifications began to feature high towers with shuttered windows in the top, presumably to house anti-personnel arrow shooters, as in Aigosthena.[34]

The transition to the torsion catapults, which are not considered crossbows and came to dominate Greek and Roman artillery design is first evident in inventories of the Athenian arsenal from between 338 and 326 BC.[31][32] Torsion weapons, which rely on the energy generated from twisted animal sinew became siege weapons and light artillery – such as the Greek ballista or the Roman scorpion.

In Roman times the crossbow became to be known as arcuballista.[35][36][dubious – discuss]

Roman Empire[edit]

Roman crossbow

Besides the gastraphetes, the ancient world knew a variety of mechanical hand-held weapons similar to the later medieval crossbow. The exact terminology is a subject of continuing scholarly debate. Greek and Roman authors like Vegetius (fl. 4th century) note repeatedly the use of arrow firing weapons such as arcuballista and manuballista respectively cheiroballistra. While most scholars agree that one or more of these terms refer to handheld mechanical weapons, there exist disagreement whether these were flexion bows or torsion powered like the recent Xanten find.[37] The Roman commander Arrian (c. 86 – after 146) records in his Tactica Roman cavalry training for firing some mechanical handheld weapon from horseback.[38] Sculptural reliefs from Roman Gaul depict the use of crossbows in hunting scenes. The specimen are remarkably similar to the later medieval crossbow, including the typical nut lock (see image).[35]

 

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

Crossbows! Yes!

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

Crossbows! Yes!

 

Agreed. I was simply unsure at first as to how far back into the Iron Age we were going.

 

And moving along with the listed dates and times, at the time they were fully developing repeating crossbows and multi-shot crossbows in China. And repeating multi-shot crossbows. For overkill.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Madara: Mangekyou Master]

I was just about to mention that. Ahhh, the Chinese penchant for crossbow armies. C'est magnifique. The use of bronze weapons over iron for several years in China (despite having access to iron-working technology) is also quite interesting. :3

[Havelock Vetinari]

Quite.

 

Not every civilization will have access to the same tools of course. Choosing which culture you come from will have an understandably large effect on your character.

 

Again, don't expect any culture to quite mesh up with your values. Sure, the people of Steppe have gender equality and the like.....they also mercilessly slaughter their enemies, use POWs as body shields, construction materials....

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

I shall of course be playing as a human/humans, of course. Because humans are always the best. In fact, the only time that humans aren't the best is when the GM makes it so they aren't just to be contrary.

 

But I might be a bit biased.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

I'm currently deciding if the whole world should be open or if I should just choose a region and stick with it.

 

I'm probably going with a single region.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, buggery. Can't very well be a Lich-warlord with good publicity if I'm a foreigner, nobody in the Iron Age trusted them, despite all being somebody else's foreigners.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Well, buggery. Can't very well be a Lich-warlord with good publicity if I'm a foreigner, nobody in the Iron Age trusted them, despite all being somebody else's foreigners.

 

By region, I do mean a rather large area. Just not the entire world.

[sonyaxe]

I have added the locations and slightly revised the factions.

 

 

Factions:

There are really two factions in this RPG. The Resistance, which is composed almost entirely of kids, is led by Dan, Shun, and Kai mostly, and the Legion of Naga, which is comprised of adults mostly that have been trained to use Bakugan and is led by Naga.

 

Locations:

 

Fortress of Wrath: Naga’s main base. It is centered in what was once New York City, in the United Nations building. Apparently, he found it funny that humans could ever be united in any way. The weapon systems on this place are HUGE. Meaning, if you don’t have the pass code ready in about 2.637 seconds, you will be blasted to atomized bits. If you are a member of the Legion of Naga, you will most likely start here.

Parade Grounds: Within the Fortress of Wrath, there are many open spaces where soldiers drill and practice battling. Soldiers also trade news, eat, and spend what little leisure time they have on these large fields.

Weapon Station: This is where most of the fortress’s weapons are controlled from. Pretty basic, but you have to be pretty high ranked or respected to set foot in here. Occasionally, missions are planned in this room.

 

Redemption H.Q.: This is the central hub of all of the Resistance’s missions. There aren’t many weapons, but this fortress is naturally protected by the year-round storms that rage around the island it was built on, courtesy of some volunteer Aquos Bakugan. If you are a part of the Resistance, you will most likely start here.

Battle Park: A large, sunny, verdant park filled with flowers and trees, and also brawlers wishing to hone their skills. Most of the time, this is where people train and hang out.

Mess Hall: A place to eat, hang out, and just talk about anything.

Command and Control: A large, tiered, circular arena where missions are planned. Everyone is allowed to listen and give their input or ideas, and missions are planned by everyone, not just the leaders in a democratic, voting procedure.

 

Most other places, such as cities, forests, etc. will be basically the same. Cities are constantly changing hands as the Legion and the Resistance battle it out.

 

 

Edited June 10, 2013 by sonyaxe

[Alex Humva]

It's a late-night Humva broadcast, here to give you the revised draft of The Incident, now hereby dubbed The Anomaly. If you should find any terribly awkward typos, please do tell. Do note that this is still a draft; I'm working on some balancing tweaks right now still.

 

[---]

 

Scientists are still unsure about how the Anomaly happened. Those among us, gifted with powers far greater than any normal human, who initially posed a threat to society at large. Some said the abilities came from the genetic code; in truth it was far more than that. Regardless of how these abilities arose, however, it was clear that the world was not for such powerful individuals. It was in the year of 1986 that the first of these people, dubbed “mancers” on the streets, started to appear. Select children, upon reaching physical maturity around the ages of fourteen and sixteen, would tap into their unique powers. The first few victims of the Anomaly were passed off as extreme circumstances. When they continued, people began to catch on to what was happening.

The new millennium dawned with the world slowly coming to realize that the Anomaly was truly happening. Some governments attempted to cover up the fact, but it happened far too quickly and was far too widespread for that tactic to work. Soon the world was fully aware of what was going on, and no one reacted particularly well to it at first. The European Union was the first to properly react to the situation, forming the Institute for Scientific Research of EDNAs, or Earthly Domain Non-Newtonian Anomalies. It’s goal was to study the source of the Anomaly, to find out what caused it, what fueled it, and, potentially, how to take or add it from a person.

Yet the ISRE’s purely scientific goals were not appreciated by all. Across the world governments formed new ways of dealing with the threat these mancers presented; in America, mancers were faced with the threat of a newly formed organization, the Department of Special Anomalies. The organization was built with one specific goal in mind; to handle the policing and management of mancers. A Congressional hearing granted them authority over a vast number of state matters, and with it, began policing mancers across the nation in force.

The year is now 2017. The world has become a different place, and yet has changed so little. Mancers now live amongst the general population, with no easy way of detecting who is and who isn’t a mancer. Fear runs amongst the populace even in the modern day, while the DSA struggles to deal with a rise in mancer-related crime. The American government has entered a new election cycle, and the thirtieth anniversary of the start of the Anomaly has passed. The future is not bleak, but all the same, humanity is fearful for it.

The Anomaly

Rules and Punishments

1. Rule numero uno: follow the BZP rules.

2. Don’t be a terrible person outside of the game. It’s just depressing for everyone involved.

3. Godmodding is disapproved of. This refers to having excessive powers without earning them first. Earn your godhood.

4. Avoid autohitting unless it makes sense.

5. Common sense above all else. Common sense.

Punishments are simplistic:

1. Something bad happens to your character.

2. Something really bad happens to your character.

3. You get a temporary ban from the game.

4. You get a permaban from the game.

The World After The Anomaly

The world of 2017 is a lot like our world today, even after thirty years of ‘mancers roaming around. One would imagine somewhat magical superpowers would of changed things a lot, but the standard day-to-day humdrum is still exactly the same. People still work in offices, Apple, Google, and Microsoft are still competing over the mobile market, and we still don’t have marketable jetpacks. The world’s economic recession has lightened up and the major superpowers are still in position, though the involvement of mancers has given some historical oddities. Ultimately, the world hasn’t changed enough in terms of history or technology to be alien to the viewer of 2013 (and maybe 2014, if we’re lucky!). Five years into the future and the only thing to note with technology is that the iPhone isn’t selling as well as it use to. Oh, and Star Wars came out. It was ok.

It should be mentioned that this isn’t exactly the standard superhero world. That being, there are little to no superheroes. Superheroing is a tough business, and the world doesn’t appreciate it. Common vigilantes are heavily frowned upon by society, and superpowered ones are no different. Being a superhero means you have the DSA on your *** and not being particularly well received by the general public. You tend to get pretty bad PR when stuff gets smashed during a fight with a mancer criminal, and bad PR is never good, especially when people don’t like you to begin with. Most mancers find that they have a better chance out in the world as an improved cog in the industrial machine. That isn’t to say, of course, that being a mancer is a dull life. Some people don’t care about the DSA, and, well, if you see a crook on the streets... a good deed, with minimal collateral damage, is never a bad thing.

Some things throughout the world have changed because of mancers, however. Because of their abilities, many things once impossible are now quite in the realm of belief. Void walkers, for instance, are often capable of travelling vast distances quickly. Because of this, getting around is as simple as finding one who’s up for hire. Corporations employ all number of mancers, from simple metal manipulators to empaths capable of telling when an employee is telling the truth or not. Of course, government regulation rests on many mancer jobs, but it has been scarce enough that it hasn’t made a dent in the mancer economy.

The Mancers

Byproducts of the Anomaly, the mancers are people born with innate powers. The precise nature of how these powers are fueled is still a matter for much scientific debate; thanks to the efforts of the ISRE, however, categories of powers that these mancers use have been formed. Outside of special cases (metaread: special GM permission), they all appear to fall under these categories. Note that throughout all of these, specializations can appear and with specialization comes greater power. You could, for instance, have a hyperkinetic, but he could never compete against a speedster, who’s entire abilities are focused around boosting his own kinetic energy. Note, however, that the law of Required Secondary Powers often does not apply. A speedster, for instance, will not have enhanced reflexes or durability.

Energy manipulators: Capable of manipulating different forms of energy, these range from pyros to kinetics to magnetics and everything in-between.

Void manipulators: Appearing to manipulate non-existence itself, these mancers have a variety of powers to do with reality manipulation, ranging from teleportation to limited forms of reality-tearing, a process that is painful for all involved.

Mental manipulators: A varied category pertaining to the human mind; these include such things as telepaths, telekinetics, and empaths. Important to note is the fact that mentalists follow the inverse square law of mental powers; that being, about every two meters their effective range/energy output is cut by one fourth.

Elemental manipulators: Mancers that control the four classical elements, earth, fire, water and air. This can be as simple as moving it with a thought, or having more unique but powerful applications, such as metal manipulation. Note, fire manipulators are not the same as heat manipulators. Heat manipulators deal with... heat, whereas fire manipulators deal with fire. The two, while they go together, are not the same thing. A fire manipulator can control the flame but not the heat it produces. Similarly, a heat manipulator cannot control flames.

Biological manipulators: Capable of manipulating biological processes, these mancers often manifest themselves as healers, though more unique and specialized abilities are quite common.

Outside of these categories, mancers are seem to follow a set system of capability, rated between 1 and 7. While variations within each rating do exist, it is difficult to fully define them, and as such there is no decimal system in place. Mancers vary in skill and ability, though it seems entirely possible for them to advance through the ranks of capability.

 

1: The most common form of mancer, this ranking represents your run of the mill mancer. Capable of some basic but still impressive feats with their power, they start off with an average amount of prowess for their particular ability, usually given in some numerical value, but open to common sense as well.

2: Rank two mancers seem to exhibit nothing else but a logarithmic power increase of varying proportions.

3: Rank three mancers gain a logarithmic power increase, and exhibit the ability to shield themselves from their own ability. A fire manipulator, for instance, would gain the ability to protect him or herself from fire.

4: Rank four mancers exhibit a logarithmic power increase.

5: Rank five mancer exhibit a logarithmic power increase, as well as the newfound ability to be able to extend their powers past their visual range, presuming they know the location beforehand. This does not apply to void walkers, who instead gain a far greater range to their teleportation range.

6: Rank six mancer exhibit a logarithmic power increase.

7: Rank seven mancer are perhaps the most rare of mancers, gaining a logarithmic power increase as well as the ability to sense to great precision when another mancer of their category comes within visual range. They are known to be extremely powerful and extremely rare, and are capable of great feats.

Another noteworthy aspect of the mancers is their weakness to alpha and beta particle radiation. For unknown reasons, their powers interact poorly with such forms of radiation, resulting in a nullification effect and possibly cancer in twenty years. Because of this, when dealing with a particularly potent mancer, the DSA will pull out depleted uranium bullets. Nasty cleanup, but tough times call for tough decisions.

Factions

While not a comprehensive list of all world factions, these are the major and relevant factions pertaining to mancers in America, due to it being the primary setting of this RPG.

National Mancer Rights Organization: An organization dedicated to protecting the rights of mancers, they are a powerful political lobby group and have been successful thus far in keeping regulation on mancers lighter than some might expect.

Institute for Scientific Research of EDNA: A European scientific study group, they are devoted to further studying the Anomaly and the specifics of mancer powers. A valuable resource to anyone needing knowledge on mancers, their headquarters is easily reached by many void walkers.

Department of Special Anomalies: A federal police and investigation force, this American agency has the task of dealing with mancers on a national level. While in recent years individual states have formed their own versions of the DSI, due to Congressionally given power, they still are allowed to deal with state-side mancer troubles, and indeed, many welcome their presence, having the most experience with managing the mancers.

Citizens Against Dangerous Peoples: The largest anti-mancer lobbyist group, these are the guys you see on the side of the street protesting at a government building. Believing mancers to be a threat to society and the world, their views vary from simply more regulation to full on incarceration of all mancer, or even death.

National ENDA Research and Betterment Agency: The American equivalent of the ISRE, the NERBA hasn’t done too much in the field, due to only being founded fifteen years ago, but has the bonus of being helmed by the famous Dr. Wilson Gray, the man responsible for many of the early mancer experiments in the ISRE’s founding days.

Profile

This here is where you fill out your profile. Note, I will give you your specific power abilities per level after you send me your profile, so you know what sort of power you’re dealing with. All mancers start at level one; for older characters, this is explained by the sporadic nature of ascending power ranks.

Name:

Appearance: (What does this charie look like?)

Age: (Do note that due to time syncing, the oldest a mancer can be is 47. Sorry.)

Power: (Omit if normal. Please, for the love if all good in the world, be specific. I can’t really give you hard data if you don’t give me a good idea of what your dude can do.)

Skills: (What sort of skills does this fellow have?)

Weaponry/Equipment: (Most people are packing something; for normals, this is nigh-required.)

Faction: (Not at all required, but you can be part of a particular faction if you wish.)

Personality: (A sentence or two on what your character is like, in general.)

Bio: (What’s your character’s history?)

Edited June 20, 2013 by Darth Alex Humva

[P~M]

"How to take or add it from a person."

1996-2017 is 21 years, not 30.

In the DSA section, it still says DSI.

 

Looking pretty cool. You definitely have the backstory solid.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Zrel

[Alex Humva]

Wow. I cannot do basic addition. This... is a sad day.

[25K Now!]

So.....

No Devil Survivor RPG?

Alright then.

You can't just throw out a name and expect people to comment on it.

 

No context at all man.

 

But I need to ask: what do you plan to do with this possible Devil Survivor RPG? What is the setting? Are you taking themes simply from the Devil Survivor series, or are you taking into account the greater Shin Megami Tensei universe? Nicaea? Cain and Abel? The Sepetentrione invasions or the battle for the Throne of Bel? No wait, those things have been resolved.

 

What is it that you want to do?

 

Also, Devil Summoner is the superior MegaTen series.

[Canis Lycaon]

It looks good, but we already have three superhero RPGs. One is not comic based, one is Marvel, and the other is DC. What would make this different from the first?

[Alex Humva]

The fact that this is less "superhero fun times!" and more what'd happen if people actually got magical powers. Quite honestly, from what people have already told me from their predicted character playstyles, this should be called "Supervillains: The Game." I could rattle on about the logistics of being a superhero and why that doesn't work here, but I'm pretty sure everyone's familiar with the specific tropes.

 

Basically, it's best to not think of this game as a superhero RPG, but rather to think of it as a game where people have magic powers and use them for differing purposes. I'll use my good friend's Rover's character idea of a police consultant as an example. He was thinking of playing something like a Harry Dresden expy. A mancer who works with the police to do some of the harder jobs were his abilities would be of particular use. Maybe every now and then he'd punch the criminals personally. Harry Dresden is not a superhero. This guy is not a superhero. A hero, yes, with amazing powers, yeah, but it doesn't fit the archetypal idea of a superhero.

 

Think less TSTW! or Marvel or DC and more "Magical powers in the real world: What'd happen?" with some artistic license. This is going to aim for a completely different tone than the current superhero RPGs, because it is not a superhero RPG.

 

Also TSTW! is hilariously camp, and I love it for that. This... less so.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Judge Alex Humva

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Yeah. It's a fair bit more realistic about the place of supers in a world that has them - because, frankly, it doesn't matter if you can shoot fire out of your eyes or not. If you don't have the sort of personality and temperament that lends itself to punching people and dealing with irritating monologues, you're not a superhero. You're the Human Welding Torch.

 

And there are a lot more people who would use their powers to get a really nice job in a factory than there are people who would use their powers to beat up muggers or try to take over the world. And, the people who do feel like doing that sort of thing will have to deal with the actual physics of the rest of the world - if someone throws a frag grenade or three in a tunnel, there will be no superhero RPG handwave to save them from the chunky salsa effect.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

And, the people who do feel like doing that sort of thing will have to deal with the actual physics of the rest of the world - if someone throws a frag grenade or three in a tunnel, there will be no superhero RPG handwave to save them from the chunky salsa effect.

 

Wow, you're still gonna hold that against me, aren't you, Ymper? That's fine; you can have your scientifically-correct one-hit godmodding in SuperVillains: The Game. Personally, I'd like not to lose a whole bunch of PCs over an attack clearly not intended to wipe them out, thrown with clearly less scientific understanding of the scenario than yours.

 

Ultimately, Humva, I don't think there's room enough in BZP for four superpower RPGs. True, it has a different vibe from TSTW! and the other two, but I was a bit disgruntled when X-Men was approved, as 75% of our lost player base mysteriously turned up over there instead. I mean, we have one player who posts regularly, out of the eight who can still be counted as somewhat active. You can argue the technicalities if you want, but the fact of the matter is you're still inadvertently nailing shut TSTW!'s coffin. I seem to recall the standard was one RPG per topic/subject, and we've already had two RPGs weasel around the fact that TSTW! is (the) superhero RPG because it's generic, and it's now in it's death throes. I hardly think it's right to make another RPG about superpowers, regardless of whether or not Heroes are involved.

 

However, I'm not entirely sure how much I'm allowed to say *glances at TPTI* but if you want to go through with this RPG, hold off for about a month. I know we have something in the works that ought to give you more breathing room here.

 

 

~ Rumpelstiltskin

[Alex Humva]

Rumpel, I have to hold off for a month. I'm still on the "your old RPG failed, wait in the corner young man" prohibition. xD

 

While I can see where you're going, keep in mind that the XMDD RPG has seen better days. While recovery isn't out of the question, it's on the downward slide. Ultimately I don't think that my own, custom made world, is going to interfere with other RPGs working off of franchises or an established setting such as TSTW. If anything I'd imagine the RPGs with pre-established fanbases will fair far better than this RPG because it's less effort to get people interested.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Judge Alex Humva

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Someone else killing themselves with a grenade does not god-modding on my part make.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

X-Men's on a downward slide? TSTW! has five pages of gameplay from January 2013 to the present; X-Men had over three in the month of May alone - forgive me if I'm not sympathetic. X-Men's doing perfectly fine, and there's another SuperHero RPG on the way. In my experience people always favor the shiny new RPG to the older established ones, for that exact reason - "it's established, it should do fine without me." Fact of the matter is, we've never been able to hold people's interest; people have been doing that for the entire life of TSTW!, and it's suffering for it.

 

Ymper - I didn't say you were godmodding; I was saying that you were adamant that the attack should have been godmodding, and are still clearly upset that it wasn't. I meant that it can be considered godmodding in this new RPG...I'm not known for wording things greatly. I was essentially agreeing with you. The only problem I had with that scenario is that I think you need to give a little leeway to people who don't legitimately understand the finery of science in those scenarios, and fault them for writing it off - take if up with the godmodder, not the one who was defending against it.

 

 

~ Rumpelstiltskin

Edited June 11, 2013 by Rumpelstiltskin

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

 

So.....

No Devil Survivor RPG?

Alright then.

You can't just throw out a name and expect people to comment on it.

 

No context at all man.

 

But I need to ask: what do you plan to do with this possible Devil Survivor RPG? What is the setting? Are you taking themes simply from the Devil Survivor series, or are you taking into account the greater Shin Megami Tensei universe? Nicaea? Cain and Abel? The Sepetentrione invasions or the battle for the Throne of Bel? No wait, those things have been resolved.

 

What is it that you want to do?

 

Also, Devil Summoner is the superior MegaTen series.

Please, we all know that Persona is the superior

 

So the basis would be an Alternate Universe to all the other stuff, more freedom that way

There will be Nicaea in this universe.

It will take place in the U.S, I'm thinking maybe Chicago or New York

For those of you who have never heard of it(Apperently all but Hubert), this would be the general plot.

 

For the past year, a viral phone app known as Nicaea has been going around. Supposedly, it tells you how your friend will die, 10 minutes before it happens. This has excited many imaginations, while others think that the app could make a good preventive measure, if it works.

Suddenly, a few hours before the RPG starts, the entire world is hit by a earthquake, reaching an 8.5 on the Richter scale. A few minutes after this happens, the Nicaea app activates itself, and it begins summoning monsters from the phones of the fallen. Before most of the world can react, the apocalypse begins.

However, the Nicaea app had another effect. Some of the dead people were resurected, and their phones were taken over by Nicaea. These modified phones could also summon monsters, but these are under the control of the summoner. This has allowed for people to fight back against the monsters.

Meanwhile, a shady conspiracy begins to reveal itself.

 

I will flesh this out into a draft if It gets a bit of intrest.

[Canis Lycaon]

there's another SuperHero RPG on the way.

'On the way'? It's already here!

 

TSTW! has no IP basing, X-Men is, at this point, just factions and children, and YJ has kept nearly everyone from the comics. I mean, I know this has a completely different feel, but four superpowers RPGs is pushing it. My suggestion: Make a point that the powers are magic based. That wouldn't change the plot too much, but it would differentiate this from the other RPGs.

[Alex Humva]

Uh, the powers already are magic based. I'm calling the people who use them frikkin mancers for godssake. Mancers. Pyromancers. Necromancers. Hyperkineticmancers. I understand I'm not using the word magic every other five seconds but really I think that'd just be annoying. tl;dr It already is magic.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

My mistake - I thought it had started, but I scanned the forum and didn't see it. Apparently I wasn't looking closely enough, it's right there. *facepalm*

 

 

~ Rumpelstiltskin

[Canis Lycaon]

Mancer doesn't straight out scream 'magic'. A fire user is still called a pyromancer, even if their powers aren't magical. You actually use the word magic or magical twice in the RPG. These are the times:

 

Some say their abilities come from their genes, some from their gods, and some, simply magic.

Very uncertain. Doesn't say anything about where it actually comes from.

 

One would imagine somewhat magical superpowers would of changed things a lot

And here, it seems you're just using magical as a fitting adjective.

 

So, point out it is, indeed, magic.

[Alex Humva]

I don't see how it'll change anything other than "oh it's magic now, instead of vaguely defined pseudo science" (which is exactly the same thing), but blah, I'll fix some uncertainty.

 

EDIT: Or I can just let Snark run my PR department. That works too.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Judge Alex Humva

[Krayzikk]

...Canis, pyromancers are called pyromancers because they were based on fantasy mages, that were called pyromancer. "Mancer" very much does imply magic, and further, if it's a plot point, he doesn't really have to spell it out. He said the powers' origin was uncertain, so it's uncertain. Second, I would point out that he doesn't a single of the more cliched super powers, nor does the game itself refer to them as super powers. It already lacks the tone of a standard super hero game.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

Mancer doesn't straight out scream 'magic'. A fire user is still called a pyromancer, even if their powers aren't magical

 

They're called pyrokinetics if they control fire and are in a more sci-fi rather than fantasy setting aren't they?

Edited June 11, 2013 by Lord of Adders Black

[The Lonesome Wanderer]

Yes, yes they are.

 

Any intrest in the Devil Survivor RPG I posted a bit about earlier? A bit farther up the page is a description of the setting.

[Canis Lycaon]

Oh. My bad. I just wasn't thinking of mancer to mean magic.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Ah, my misunderstanding re: grenade incident.

 

But yeah, tossing on -mancer definitely suggests magic. (And it would be a kinetomancer, not a kineticmancer)

 

Another important distinction, of course, is that being a government agent whose weapon of choice is actually a viable option in this RPG, rather than a hilarious way to get stung with bees. (Disclaimer: that incident and headbutting the Reaper were my favourite I-was-involved parts of TSTW)

[Alex Humva]

Yeah, thing is about having magic powers is, you can punch fire out of your fists and that's very impressive, but a bullet to the brain pan makes you as dead as everyone else.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Squish!

 

And, of course, the DSA (I would have named it SAD) uses radioactive bullets, because there is nothing funnier than shooting someone in the knees and then letting that be an excruciatingly painful lethal shot.

 

err I mean because they make -mancer powers go wonky, and they don't want the squishy wizards to get a bolt of lightning off while they're dying from a shot to the heart. To the heart, of course, because aiming for the center of mass (torso) is rather smarter than trying to headshot everything, and speaks of a sort of inherent caution somewhere in the SAD chain of command.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Also they might survive. So we can dangle them over the shar-erm, I mean, provide them with life-saving care so they can face the full force of the law.

 

And sharks.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, the radiation does kind of have the same sort of effects that burying a chunk of radioactive metal in normal human flesh would have. It just also happens to make your powers go wibbly.

[Alex Humva]

Mind you, radioactive bullets are most certainly not standard issue. Depleted uranium is a ***** to carry around and radioactive bullet casings (yes I know the casings are not uranium) being left around a civilian area is never a good thing. You bring in the depleted uranium when you're dealing with a guy who can stop bullets with his brain (not in the traditional way), or the chick who can literally absorb the kinetic energy right out of bullets. Energy leeches. Hate them. Hate them with all your heart.

 

However if you're just dealing with, like, an IRS evading telepath, shoot the man in the leg with lead, strap some low-rad bracelet on him (your welcome for skin cancer in 20 years), and send him to court.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Judge Alex Humva

[Havelock Vetinari]

Right. They're going to die anyway.

 

So we might as well feed them to sh-I mean, uh, do our best to save them.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Mmh. Still working on the specifics of magical! Moriarty's power, but, you know, you can accomplish a lot of subtle things with control of electrical energy. Things that might be hard to trace back to their source.