Ruby City OOC Chat

As to regards to super-heroes killing in the comics, you have to remember that they originally came out copying the pulp heroes of the 30s. So they had no problems killing folks, some of them.

The Shadow and The Spider had no problems gunning down criminals with their twin .45s. Heck, Batman's earlies adventures were direct steals of previous Shadow pulp stories. His Batcave including the drawing of it, which I think you posted recently, was an absolute copy of another lesser known pulp hero's cave hideout.

The Avenger wouldn't kill himself but always found the crooks' death trap and re-rigged them to kill the crooks if the crooks didn't accept his offer to surrender and tried to trigger the death trap.

Doc Savage was something of an outlier in that he didn't kill and his men tried to avoid killing too. Instead, he sent every crook he caught to his special hospital in upstate New York where a delicate brain surgery was done to wipe out their memories and any criminal intentions. Then they were given new lives and trained in a trade where they could make an honest living and sent to live elsewhere in the country away from other crooks who might recognize them.

The lesser comic book companies had heroes who might kill fairly regularly; check out MLJ's The Comet, his power was disintegration eye beams, yeah the guys who created Archie. The major comic book companies, the heroes rarely killed by the time the U.S. entered WW2 on Dec, 7th, 1941. True, they killed Nazis and German soldiers from time to time or regularly but that was them in a war zone not fighting regular crooks. But by war's end, killing by a superhero was a rare thing since people's emotions weren't as inflamed. And superheroes were dying out and publishers were trying to find the next thing kids wanted to read about. Hence, UFO in the late 40s, rise of humor comics and then Romance Comics.

Captain Conduit does have Gadgetry and the Genius advantage, so he could be our Tony Stark.

andyman wrote:Captain Conduit does have Gadgetry and the Genius advantage, so he could be our Tony Stark.

Now you need a lab and lots of cash. Both those Lightning Bullet can provide. But you better make a second character because gadgets can take a week to a month or more to make or fix. Take that back, I do not have a lab. I have an expansive HQ which means a lab can be added to it after we pay for it.

Gadgets is one of the biggest weaknesses in this game. If you are soloing, not fighting crime for a month or more isn't too big a deal but with a partner or a team? Not so much.

I suggested we trash the rules for gadgets and go more for the Hero System modified for gadgets. Use Factor Cost on something that's a gadget - OAF, IAF, etc. instead of all the complicated rules. So that would be between -1 to -4 FC on powers as gadgets. Don't know if that would toss the balance out of the game for non-gadget powers but wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

Blood of Heroes Issue 2 arrived today. Celebration!

andyman wrote:Blood of Heroes Issue 2 arrived today. Celebration!

Gratz! Enjoy digging into it.

Last I heard Andy has Covid so self isolating and away from his normal computer (he runs a game I play in on another board, using the Marvel Super Heroes system), hence the delay.

Not a problem. Got plenty of heroes elsewhere to worry about.

Still quarantined, but was able to follow my email link on my work laptop to post. Feeling much better, but still waiting for what Sunday's Covid test might say.

Stumbled across this opening page to a Captain Marvel Jr story from 1951. Thought is was an interesting villain/idea for two superheroes who are electricity/lightning based. Don't know if I have the rest of the story but a crook getting away with a bag of electricity seemed fun.

Ok, I've put up the background stuff for Project GI Joe down the in the new forums for the game. Post any questions or character ideas you may have there.

For Captain Conduit's Body of 6 it is more that he is electrically charged with energy than him being a gym jock. It's hard to tire a guy who is a walking solar battery. The extra electricity also enhances his physique making his skin harder to penetrate (kind of like a force field in his skin). His strength is also powered by electrical impulses more than meaty muscles.

So sort of like Spider-Man who is fit and super-strong and agile but doesn't have the bulging muscles of a Thor, Captain America or Hulk?

Righto. Regular looking guy with power derived peak human abilities (or close to).

I find it's best not to try and apply real world physics to characters in a supers game. Anyone with 4 or higher strength would be a bulging mass of muscle and look like the Mountain from GoT. Body is even harder to quantify as someone who is super fit is ultra skinny and lightweight. Body 6 isn't bullet proof but is bullet resistant and can take a few shots before slowing down.



Big scary fella.

Yup. Fred's body looks like Peter Parker's but he's not as ripped. There is some fat over his electrically charged muscles, so he can pass for a regular guy if just wearing swim trunks. But it's electrically charged fat and not as easy to damage.

My profile picture here is what Captain Conduit looks like.

I can't believe I made Captain Conduit without giving him Electrical Control. I would like to use my new HP to purchase this. Base Cost 15 Factor Cost 8.

Would Electrical Control at 0 APs cost 150 HP? Do I even have 150 HP?

Sack time but Ruby City is the first on the list to be updated tomorrow! Thanks for your patience guys...

Where I'm at... Not got Son/Girlfriend duties for the next few days, only long shifts at work. That should allow me to use the time I have to update and next week I have a week off work Not gonna lie, I really need it!

Still in catch up mode but Captain Conduit has 155HP so can scrape by with Electrical Control at Base Cost and APs Zero. And a whole 5HP left.

Or you could purchase a gadget that does the same thing - like a harness etc. That would effectively half the cost (off the top of my head - it wouldn't be able to be taken away in combat). I'd need to have a look at the costs but in the 'down time' Fred Aster and Max Dane could put their heads together to come up with a gizmo that directs that lightning into the ability to control and redirect electricity. Understand if you'd rather it be inbuilt - he already needs a cape to fly with after all.

Right, I'll have a look at updating the character sheets and moving things on!

Hmmm it's been a while. I'm scouring through posts but did Captain Conduit spend those 108HP from the first issue? *scratching head*. I think so, but can't remember on what. That's the problem when real life drags you away and you lose track of things. I keep track of all HP expenditure on line (because hard drive death is a thing and I don't ever want to go through THAT again!) but can't see where or what CC spent his previous points on, which would mean 108+155 if not spent. I'll keep scouring.

Aha! We started chatting in the OOC section then the new Issue started and Thermal Vision was purchased leaving 8HP left over. Scouring through the issue to see if those 8 points were spent and if not will add to the 155Hp you 'just' gained...

EDIT: FOUND IT So glad I put HP expenditure in the biggest font size possible! Sticks out when scrolling through the threads. Captain Conduit had 2HP remaining, just earned 155HP so has 157HP to spend...

In terms of getting best bang for buck I *really* like power burnouts. They add a spoke in the wheel, a 'run out of web fluid at the vital moment', 'batteries go flat when using transistorised armour' etc. I know David gnashes his teeth at them but for a power like Electrical Control at FC8 dropping that to FC5 with a 'Catastrophic power burnout if you roll 6 or less on 2D12' is worth the risk! The rolls don't come up *that* often ( though they did for Lionheart in the other game quite a bit admittedly) and it will slash the cost of that otherwise expensive power. Just a thought.

Right, I'll get on with look at Lightning Bullets point spend...

Captain Conduit is an other character of mine who inherently could control electricity, but this 1950's version can be different. Let's go with the cowl/mask/helmet attached to his cape being a way to tap into his mind's ability to channel electricity, but Fred has to be careful not to blow a fuse in it. (This is 1950s technology after all.) Thus it's a device with the ability to control electricity and has the catastrophic failure weakness. (Requiring repair to get working again I guess.)

Ooc: Sorry, brain burn out. Typing anything seems to be a chore. Hope to move this along in the next day or two.,