random average

... with this little gem: Table 4-78: 11th-Level Office Encounters.

23-28: 1d8+2 dire secretaries
29-45: 1d2 marketers (demon)

Posted by Doyce at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You know what I'd like to do?

I'd like to make up a really rough sketch background against which to play around of Lexicon. "The Wose War and Scandal of Eddings Barony", "The Atomic Apotheosis", "The Parliamentary Assassination of 2128"

Get a group of people together and just... you know. Go to town.

Then, when it's all laid out, set a game in the setting you all just created.

I think that would be fun. The problem would be that the Lexicon game itself might 'finish' the setting. Hmm.

Posted by Doyce at 3:06 PM | Permalink

Because this should just be relinked to, periodically: Random Plot Generator.

Groovy.

Posted by Doyce at 1:26 PM | Permalink

So I've been messing around with some Silver Age and Golden Age stylings...

Hype was... well, ugly, but yeah, he pretty much looks like a fire-guy from the 70's.

Hang time is easy: go to the cape costume, flip on a few judicious SG colors, and drop the shades -- I'm good.

Then I went to Bear Claws. I don't know if I really got his swash buckled on straight, but I tell yah... I really like the final look, even if it's not full-on vintage:

But... you see...

Folks, I did Strat up.

Dude looks like he should be swinging from a chandelier, or engaging in fisticuffs with a massive Nubian from the Dark Continent.

Give it up: mah boy looks GOOD ;)

Posted by Doyce at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

For those of you who are logging into CoH for the Golden/Silver Age party on Friday, allow me to provide linkage to a nice Guide to Golden and Silver Age Costumes

1) Be bold, not subtle. Bright, primary colors. Texture is also key. Silver Age is characterized by matte-tone "streamlining" with the advent of new fabrics like spandex, lycra, polyester, etc. In contrast, Golden Age heroes had to make do with older fabrics, layering (briefs over longjohns), bulky tech, combined with normal-style clothing (trenchcoats, yeah right). The Silver Age costume look tended toward being streamlined tights and simple costume elements, because artists were being pushed for faster turn-around overall. Again, mystic types were the exception, since they were anachronistic simply by virtue of having magic as the source of their powers. Armor was futuristic rather than archaic. The Golden Age buckled their swashes as "adventurers", so flared boots, opera cloaks, and turned gloves edges were favored. Of important note is that anything vaguely alluding to juvenile deliquency was banned (sunglasses, motorcycle jackets)

2) Heroes of both eras concealed their identity, with few exceptions. Golden Age-style efforts to conceal one's identity manifested as cowls, hoods, helms, archaic helmets. Silver Age heroes preferred domino masks, full face stockings or helmets, partial cowls and helmets, tiaras, crowns, or elected no mask at all. Moderate to excessive facial hair was discouraged as "sinister", unless the character was a mystic type; female heroes wore their hair loose, usually shoulder-length (shorter hair revealing the back of the neck was scandalous; close-cropped would have been considered gender-bending). Pre-teen sidekicks, wearing outfits paralleling that of their mentors, with the boys wearing short sleeves, shorts or briefs, baring their legs almost as often as the girls (that's what *I* noticed, anyway). Teenage heroes in their own right didn't appear until the Silver Age.

Good stuff. It makes me want to log all my toons on and play with their costumes. :)

----

Sidenote: Anyone want to make next Monday a "Monday Munchies: Age of the Golden (Twinky)" and have everyone wearing whatever costume they cobbled together for the party (even if they didn't go?) I'm thinking I want to do Bear up in some proper swashbuckling duds. :)

Update:

Hype, silver-age :)

Posted by Doyce at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Via Dave: How to Tell if You're a Superhero.

Darn funny.

Posted by Doyce at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"If you bow at all, bow low."
-- Chinese Proverb

As noted here, in the comments, I messed around with some PvP stuff last night with Hype, both in PvP zones (I really like the PvE gameplay of Siren's Call alot -- I might actually rearrange Hype's build -- with the same slotting -- so I have a few more options at level 30, but I digress) and in the Arena. Just had a few thoughts:

PvP fights are like a PvE fight that goes wrong: too much aggro on the wrong people, the bad guys are spread out too far, the damage is coming in too fast, and you can't seem to track the key targets that will help you get control of the situation.

That's the good and the bad, in a nutshell: it's bad because it can be really frustrating and annoying and did I mention frustrating? It's good, because if you actually manage to GET control of that wild situation and pull out a win (just like when things go badly in a PvE fight), you really feel GOOD about it.

These days, I pretty much know how to play my odds with most of my toons -- there aren't a lot of surprises on the PvE side of things, and while there's a definite and long-lasting visceral enjoyment in mowing through ranks and ranks of baddies, my heart isn't going to get all poundy-poundy, wondering if I'm going to make it -- I KNOW I'm going to make it, or I KNOW I'm not going to make it, and I can see it coming. When I'm wrong, it's usually over so quickly that I don't have time to be surprised.

So... take an AV fight where you were just... sweaty palms, mashing the keys, emptying the inspiration tray, and muttering invective at the screen. Sometimes you're dancing around afterward, fists in the air, and sometimes you're swearing and clicking on the 'Go To Hospital' button and bitching about your nerfed powers.

That's pretty much every PvP fight.

----

Other bits:

Hype is tough. I knew that for PvE. Now I know it for PvP. I don't think I could actuallly get a kill on an anemic toddler without someone buffing me up, but he can take a hit. The biggest problem with that is just... getting the other team to FOCUS ON HIM. Taunt is total crap. That is all.

Fear powers in PvP are overpowered awesome. I look forward to Gavin in Siren's call :)

I finally (this morning) grokked onto why Practiced Brawler is, truly, the Best Anti-Mez Power In CoH: it's not a toggle. It cannot, therefore, be shut off. Integration? Yeah, it's badass, but it's a toggle.

Posted by Doyce at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

There's been talk and planning for doing the Synapse Task Force this Munchie Monday the 24th. I'd very much like to do this, and in order to pull it off I'd conjure that we need to get started early.

So: let's get started early. I'm suggesting that folks try to get logged on by no later than 7:30 eastern, and preferably even a bit earlier, so we can get started and move through as much as possible in the shortest amount of time.

Also, who's interested?

Posted by Doyce at 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

If you're interested in staying up to date on the Game Calendar for Casa/Consortium events, and you use some kind of RSS feed-reader, point it at this address:

http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/et03k4fcfececqbbiugjsgpqbk@group.calendar.google.com/public/basic

And you'll see everything going on.

Posted by Doyce at 12:04 PM | Permalink

The collected CoH Livejournal Community entries for Doug the Troll. Some of this stuff is laugh-out-loud funny. Start from the bottom and work your way up.

High-larious.

Posted by Doyce at 4:32 PM | Permalink

I love that you take this throwaway idea you have -- "oh, I want to try out a Dark Brute" -- and before I'd even get past level two, you have this amazing character and background invested on him.

You're neat.

Dolmen is, incidentally, level 9 now :)

Posted by Doyce at 11:07 AM | Permalink

Let's see: since last CoH post, I've made up a LOT of new guys -- sort of playing around to see what I like.

... Bear Claws (level... 19 new) got a new toy added onto his claw-gloves from the dudes in the lab that he temps at as a test subject; this new thing like... shoots a claw blade at a guy from, like, range. So cool. (And it is. I friggin' love the "Focus" claws power -- ranged, fast, with a damn near 100% chance of knockdown for a lovely bit of soft control. Awesome.)

Also, finally wrote up the Hostess Heroes Origin Story, and posted a pix of Cheesy Poof.

... Gavin McIntyre (level 11) is working with his 'cousins' on Victory-server.

... Prince Aeric (level 8 Ice/Storm controller) is also working over on Victory Shard. I really really like this powerset. Alot. Alotalot. Much.

... Kilcannon (level 5 Mind/Trick Arrows Controller) is a reformed Lost, defending the city through his hero registration with FOUND House.

... Dolmen (level 7 and climbing, baby -- Stone/Dark brute) has a sort of tribal magic feel. I've got this idea that he's from some kind of tropical island with a lot of native magical power -- sort of an Easter Island with dark gods -- he was the young, talented "priest". Recluse wants him working for "The Destiny" that he envisions, and is basically holding Dolmen's homeland hostage.

But he's not a noble hero; it's not like the guy really cares -- he just wants to do what Recluse wants so he can go home -- these people aren't HIS people, so it doesn't matter what he does to them -- he basically treats it like a war with an opposing tribe, where the opposing tribe is "Everyone."

I like him. A lot. Also, Stone Brutes hit HAAAAARD.

... Zero at the Bone (level 4 Ice/Energy Tank) was a PCPD officer who was horribly maimed during the Rikti invasion. Through excruciating and extensive cybernetic reconstruction (thanks to a city-funded effort from Crey), he came back better.

Stronger.

Colder.

The name? Well, he's not a dumb jock. :)

And that's it.

Posted by Doyce at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Via Dave: Southpark Amber trumps.

It's kinda true, as a few people have said, that there's nothing new under the sun to do with the Amber setting (after 'only' 20 years of rabid player-creation/mutilation of the setting), but sometimes I really.

really.

really.

Miss that game.

Posted by Doyce at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Firefly game tonight, session two. Session One is here, basically.

Posted by Doyce at 12:23 PM | Permalink

Let's see: since last CoH post...

... Markov (level 21ish) ran into Catelyn (spelling? I think that's right), the younger sister of his old buddy from Eastgate High School. She's all grown up now and working as a Hero in Paragon.

What did he do?

He lied and let her think he was some kind of superspy working deep undercover in the Rogue Isles, that's what.

Why?

He's not entirely sure.

... Hyperthermian (level 50) got a message to meet up with Synoptic in Pocket D... villains side. Hmm.

They talked. It wasn't awful. There was some smack-talking that ended up in them going out to throw-down in the Arena for a bit (0-0 draw, I used one inspiration). After that, they decided to sign up for the big multi-Coalition beat-down -- win or lose, they'll be really ANNOYING to fight. :)

... Epitaph is working on the Boomtown Saints, and crawling toward security level 33 while hunting down Rikti in Crey's Folly.

... Pummelcite (23, new) participated in a recent Knight's Night and is tracking down pieces of the Wheel of Destruction when he's on his own. (Very much liking this build.)

... Bear Claws (level... 18? new!) is raising a fine crop of illegal flora in the Hostess Heroes base.

... Gavin McIntyre is working with his 'cousins' on Victory-server, namely a Slayer by the name of Sophie, and her pack of scoobies. Lots of fun stuff there. Surprising and enjoyable everytime.

In generally, I'm having a lot of fun with the big group activities, and I'm looking forward to setting up similar things with the Boomtown Saints. The one on one stuff is fun, don't get me wrong, I love it -- but since my time online is somewhat (and purposefully) limited these days, it's nice to maximize face time with lots of people when opportunity presents.

Posted by Doyce at 11:48 AM | Permalink