Topic: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Started by: urbwar
Started on: 7/15/2003
Board: Cartoon Action Hour
On 7/15/2003 at 7:26am, urbwar wrote:
Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
So my nephew has wanted to learn how to roleplay for a few years now. I chose to wait until he turned 13, since that was the age I first played D&D (oh so many moons ago). I gave him a choice of 3 games to choose from: BESM, CAH and Feng Shui. After thinking about it for about 5 days, he decided he wants to play CAH. When I asked him what kind of game he was interested in, he told me he wants to do a superhero setting, along the lines of Static Shock. Tomorrow we sit down and discuss what kind of character he wants to make, some background stuff, etc, so I can sit down and start creating a series. This should be kind of interesting....
On 7/15/2003 at 10:08am, Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
First of all, tell him I said he has great taste in games. ;0)
Second of all, I'm glad to see that CAH can appeal to the younger crowd and not just us crusty old '80s fossils. LOL.
Please let us know how everything goes.
On 7/16/2003 at 2:59am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote: First of all, tell him I said he has great taste in games. ;0)
I'll pass that along
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
Second of all, I'm glad to see that CAH can appeal to the younger crowd and not just us crusty old '80s fossils. LOL.
Please let us know how everything goes.
Well, he and I watch alot of cartoons together. We used to watch Gargoyles all the time, and we both watch Justice League and Static Shock and X-Men Evolution together. Checked out the new Spiderman cartoon on MTV the other night too. So we can communicate ideas on what he and I want to do. His main problem is writing stuff down and details. He can think it, but when it comes to putting it down on paper, he has trouble. So I tend to help him write it out
Since I got your attention Cynthia, maybe you can give me a hand here.
We got some of the basics worked out so far. His character is a superhero named Blaze, who is a kid around his age. We did his appearance and Personality, discussed his powers, and came up with some story hooks. Do these sound appropriate in severity?:
Secret Identity (Blaze's real name is Gino Farelli)- moderate
Believes in the power of Justice- Major
Powers don't work in water, or versus flame retardent material- moderate
Takes double damage from cold based attacks- moderate
The other thing I could use help with is one of his powers. He wants a general purpose one for controlling fire. So he could light up charcoal/wood to start a fire, absorb fire (thus putting out a house on fire, etc), create a flare. I know it will be a misc SA. My thoughts on doing it falls to this:
Medium SA (4 CP), Duration 1D12 minutes (2 CP), Area of Effect (radius TBA). I figure at least 8 CP, maybe 10-12. Sound about right? I'm still iffy on the Misc SA's. His other powers will be easy (flight, a flaming shield, and a fire blast).
Oh yeah, and we came up with some cool, non-game affecting special effects for the character. When he is in his hero identity, his hair and eyebrows are flaming, and when he flies, his hair leaves a trail of flame behind him, and his eyebrows have flames coming off them as he flies. Pretty neat, huh?
On 7/16/2003 at 4:02pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
urbwar wrote: Since I got your attention Cynthia, maybe you can give me a hand here.
We got some of the basics worked out so far. His character is a superhero named Blaze, who is a kid around his age. We did his appearance and Personality, discussed his powers, and came up with some story hooks. Do these sound appropriate in severity?:
Secret Identity (Blaze's real name is Gino Farelli)- moderate
Believes in the power of Justice- Major
Powers don't work in water, or versus flame retardent material- moderate
Takes double damage from cold based attacks- moderate
I'm not Cindi, but it looks good to me. Just a point - if there is an SA that has Double Damage against flame, it doesn't add with the Story Hook (although he still gets access to experience, if you use it).
The other thing I could use help with is one of his powers. He wants a general purpose one for controlling fire. So he could light up charcoal/wood to start a fire, absorb fire (thus putting out a house on fire, etc), create a flare. I know it will be a misc SA. My thoughts on doing it falls to this:
Medium SA (4 CP), Duration 1D12 minutes (2 CP), Area of Effect (radius TBA). I figure at least 8 CP, maybe 10-12. Sound about right? I'm still iffy on the Misc SA's.
That's a good way to represent it. Maybe a Rating to roll against for controlling the fire, instead of a duration? Either method is perfectly acceptable - it depends on how your nephew envisions the power. :-)
Oh yeah, and we came up with some cool, non-game affecting special effects for the character. When he is in his hero identity, his hair and eyebrows are flaming, and when he flies, his hair leaves a trail of flame behind him, and his eyebrows have flames coming off them as he flies. Pretty neat, huh?
Cool!
On 7/16/2003 at 4:32pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Eddy Fate wrote: I'm not Cindi, but it looks good to me. Just a point - if there is an SA that has Double Damage against flame, it doesn't add with the Story Hook (although he still gets access to experience, if you use it).
Well, I was thinking sometime in the series he'd fight a villain with cold powers, so his weakness to cold would come out then
Eddy Fate wrote:
That's a good way to represent it. Maybe a Rating to roll against for controlling the fire, instead of a duration? Either method is perfectly acceptable - it depends on how your nephew envisions the power. :-)
He just basically said he wanted a power to let him control fire, as I described it; he didn't really give me details.
I have some other thoughts on the game so far. I was thinking of calling the series "Blaze of Glory". We also said that when he changes into his costume, the song "Disco Inferno" would play in the background (so each time he changes, "Burn Baby Burn" would be heard in the background, lol)
On 7/16/2003 at 4:59pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
urbwar wrote: Well, I was thinking sometime in the series he'd fight a villain with cold powers, so his weakness to cold would come out then
Oh totally. I'm just saying that if you made the villain's SAs with the Double Damage modifier against flame, it probably wouldn't add up to QUADRUPLE damage. :-)
I have some other thoughts on the game so far. I was thinking of calling the series "Blaze of Glory". We also said that when he changes into his costume, the song "Disco Inferno" would play in the background (so each time he changes, "Burn Baby Burn" would be heard in the background, lol)
Sweet! That sounds very cool!
On 7/16/2003 at 5:17pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Eddy Fate wrote:
Oh totally. I'm just saying that if you made the villain's SAs with the Double Damage modifier against flame, it probably wouldn't add up to QUADRUPLE damage. :-)
I hadn't even thought of adding in a double damage modifier. I figured the story hook weakness would be more than enough in itself. From our discussion yesterday, my nephew will probably be taking a few average stats (to represent that he is a teen), though I am thinking he should take higher trait ratings for ranged attacks (maybe even a specialty for his flame attack)
I have some other thoughts on the game so far. I was thinking of calling the series "Blaze of Glory". We also said that when he changes into his costume, the song "Disco Inferno" would play in the background (so each time he changes, "Burn Baby Burn" would be heard in the background, lol)
Eddy Fate wrote:
Sweet! That sounds very cool!
Yeah, he and I got a good laugh out of that part, but since we are from NYC, and italian american, poking fun at Saturday Night Fever seems so appropriate lol
On 7/17/2003 at 2:48am, Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Wow! I look away for a few minutes and this thread erupts. LOL.
Everything sounds great to be honest. I agree with Eddy that a rating might be appropriate for the flame SA.
As for the "Takes double damage from cold based attacks" Hook, I would personally just say that he suffers additional damage and rather than inflicting more Hurt Points, allow him to roleplay out the additional effects Maybe he stumbles around the next turn or immediately falls to the ground -- that kind of thing. Just a thought. :)
On 7/17/2003 at 5:34am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote: Wow! I look away for a few minutes and this thread erupts. LOL.
Yeah, Eddy and I have been chatting all day about this :-)
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
Everything sounds great to be honest. I agree with Eddy that a rating might be appropriate for the flame SA.
Ok. I re-read that section, and I agree that it makes sense
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
As for the "Takes double damage from cold based attacks" Hook, I would personally just say that he suffers additional damage and rather than inflicting more Hurt Points, allow him to roleplay out the additional effects Maybe he stumbles around the next turn or immediately falls to the ground -- that kind of thing. Just a thought. :)
That sounds like a good way to play it
On 7/17/2003 at 3:02pm, urbwar wrote:
A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Ok, got another specific question.
One of the Blaze's story hooks is that his powers don't work in water, or if he was covered in something that retards flame (ie like a fire extinguisher's foam). Would I include this as a disadvantage when designing the SA's themselves? I was considering adding this into the point costs for the Flame Blast, Fire Shield, and his flight, but not to the fire control power (since you rarely have a flame on water, unless you count oil fires, etc).
Would this be appropriate, or just leave that to the story hooks?
On 7/17/2003 at 3:16pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
urbwar wrote: Ok, got another specific question.
One of the Blaze's story hooks is that his powers don't work in water, or if he was covered in something that retards flame (ie like a fire extinguisher's foam). Would I include this as a disadvantage when designing the SA's themselves? I was considering adding this into the point costs for the Flame Blast, Fire Shield, and his flight, but not to the fire control power (since you rarely have a flame on water, unless you count oil fires, etc).
Would this be appropriate, or just leave that to the story hooks?
Honestly, either way works, but if you build them into the SAs, they remain SA specific, and you get CPs back as well.
On 7/17/2003 at 3:37pm, Valamir wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
I have some other thoughts on the game so far. I was thinking of calling the series "Blaze of Glory". We also said that when he changes into his costume, the song "Disco Inferno" would play in the background (so each time he changes, "Burn Baby Burn" would be heard in the background, lol)
Then you can have the villain be from New Jersey and whenever Blaze is getting his butt creamed you can have that old Bon Jovi song playing...;-)
On 7/17/2003 at 3:39pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Eddy Fate wrote:
Honestly, either way works, but if you build them into the SAs, they remain SA specific, and you get CPs back as well.
That's one of the reasons I asked. If I could shave some cp points that he could use elsewhere, I would
On 7/17/2003 at 4:07pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
urbwar wrote:Eddy Fate wrote: Honestly, either way works, but if you build them into the SAs, they remain SA specific, and you get CPs back as well.
That's one of the reasons I asked. If I could shave some cp points that he could use elsewhere, I would
Then go for it. :-)
On 7/17/2003 at 7:29pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Eddy Fate wrote:
Then go for it. :-)
Ok, I will :-)
On 7/17/2003 at 10:41pm, Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
urbwar wrote: Ok, got another specific question.
One of the Blaze's story hooks is that his powers don't work in water, or if he was covered in something that retards flame (ie like a fire extinguisher's foam). Would I include this as a disadvantage when designing the SA's themselves? I was considering adding this into the point costs for the Flame Blast, Fire Shield, and his flight, but not to the fire control power (since you rarely have a flame on water, unless you count oil fires, etc).
Would this be appropriate, or just leave that to the story hooks?
I'd go with making the weakness as a Restriction for the SAs. That way, it's represented mechanically and you save CPs. You could still allow it as a Story Hook as well. Think of it this way: if he purposely gets into situations where this will affect his character or if he really roleplays the weakness enthusiastically, he'll get experience for it.
On 7/17/2003 at 10:42pm, Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Valamir wrote:I have some other thoughts on the game so far. I was thinking of calling the series "Blaze of Glory". We also said that when he changes into his costume, the song "Disco Inferno" would play in the background (so each time he changes, "Burn Baby Burn" would be heard in the background, lol)
Then you can have the villain be from New Jersey and whenever Blaze is getting his butt creamed you can have that old Bon Jovi song playing...;-)
ROFL. Talk about a double meaning. Good one. =0)
On 7/18/2003 at 3:14am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Valamir wrote:
Then you can have the villain be from New Jersey and whenever Blaze is getting his butt creamed you can have that old Bon Jovi song playing...;-)
Ralph,
I showed your post to my nephew. After laughing his ass off, he said that your suggestion sounds pretty cool. So looks like we have two cheesy songs for our cartoon now :-)
On 7/18/2003 at 3:16am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
ROFL. Talk about a double meaning. Good one. =0)
My nephew loved the suggestion, so we're gonna run with it :-)
On 7/18/2003 at 3:25am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Cynthia Celeste Miller wrote:
I'd go with making the weakness as a Restriction for the SAs. That way, it's represented mechanically and you save CPs. You could still allow it as a Story Hook as well. Think of it this way: if he purposely gets into situations where this will affect his character or if he really roleplays the weakness enthusiastically, he'll get experience for it.
I decided to go with keeping it as a Story Hook and a restriction to save points on the SA's for the not working in water or when covered with a Flame retardant. We discussed him roleplaying the double damage from cold, and he was agreeable to that (condsidering he only has 32 Hurt Points).
I wrote up his powers, which came out to 55 points. I decided to go with 100 CP's for the character, since he's an early teen superhero. After skimming through After these Messages, we talked about him taking a negative trait. He chose to go with a -1 in unarmed combat, as his character's secret id gets picked on by bullies (and he has some persuasion and stealth to try and hide and/or fast talk himself out of harm's way when they catch him). The character is almost done; I will probably post him once he's all statted out, and Anthony gets the background done (that's the only thing besides the traits he needs to do)
Here are the powers I came up with; please let me know if I made any mistakes in the CP totals for them:
Offensive Special Ability: Flame Blast
Power Level: Medium (4)
Bolts of Flame erupting from Blaze’s hands
Damage Rating: 6 + 2 (8)
Range: Medium (2)
Bonuses: Auto Fire (6), Burst Fire (3)
Restrictions: Disadvantage, Major: Power does not work in Water or when covered with a flame retardant (-3)
Total CP Cost: 20
Defensive Special Ability: Fire Shield
Power Level: Medium (4)
A Protective field of fire around Blaze’s body
Protection: 8 (12)
Restrictions: Disadvantage, Major: Power does not work in Water or when covered with a flame retardant (-3)
Total CP Cost: 9
Movement Special Ability: Flame Propulsion
Power Level: Medium (4)
Jets of flame streaking from Blaze’s legs
Rating: 4 (9)
Mode of Travel: Flying (4)
Bonuses: Super-Scale Movement (3)
Restrictions: Disadvantage, Major: Power does not work in Water or when covered with a flame retardant (-3). Disturbance, Moderate: A streak of flame from Blaze’s hair & legs lingers in the air for a few seconds (-3).
Total CP Cost: 14
Miscellaneous Special Ability: Fire Control
Power Level: Medium (4)
The ability to create and control Fire
Range: Medium (2)
Rating: 4 (9)
Restrictions: Disadvantage, Major: Power does not work in Water or when covered with a flame retardant (-3)
Total CP Cost: 12
On 7/19/2003 at 7:04am, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
urbwar wrote: Offensive Special Ability: Flame Blast
Bonuses: Auto Fire (6), Burst Fire (3)
Total CP Cost: 20
Not sure why you went with both Auto Fire and Burst Fire - both allow you attack twice, but Burst Fire allows it only on the same target. Personally, I would take off Burst Fire, and give him back 3 CP, but otherwise it looks fine.
Defensive Special Ability: Fire Shield
Power Level: Medium (4)
A Protective field of fire around Blaze’s body
Protection: 8 (12)
Restrictions: Disadvantage, Major: Power does not work in Water or when covered with a flame retardant (-3)
Total CP Cost: 9
12+4-3=13, not 9. :-)
EDIT: I actually think I see where you made the mistake, you added the 8 in, and not the 12. I noticed it because I catch myself doing that occasionaly with DRs. ;-)
Movement Special Ability: Flame Propulsion
Total CP Cost: 14
This one looks tip top.
Miscellaneous Special Ability: Fire Control
Total CP Cost: 12
As does this one.
If you decide to nuke Burst Fire, I count a total of 56, which isn't too shabby. At 100 CPs, that's roughly 10 points in Oomph/Stunt Points and 35 in Traits, right? Nice, well-rounded character.
On 7/19/2003 at 2:15pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Eddy Fate wrote:
Not sure why you went with both Auto Fire and Burst Fire - both allow you attack twice, but Burst Fire allows it only on the same target. Personally, I would take off Burst Fire, and give him back 3 CP, but otherwise it looks fine.
While they both allow 2 attacks in one round, they are slightly different. I figured by giving him burst fire, it would allow him to attack an enemy twice in a round. If facing two opponents, he could attack them both once in a round. Re-reading Auto Fire, I guess you could attack two opponents, or the same opponent twice in the same round with it?
Eddy Fate wrote:
12+4-3=13, not 9. :-)
EDIT: I actually think I see where you made the mistake, you added the 8 in, and not the 12. I noticed it because I catch myself doing that occasionaly with DRs. ;-)
Yeah, that looks where I made the mistake. This is why I wanted someone else to double check it :-)
Eddy Fate wrote:
This one looks tip top.
Cool
Eddy Fate wrote:
As does this one.
Excellant!
Eddy Fate wrote: If you decide to nuke Burst Fire, I count a total of 56, which isn't too shabby. At 100 CPs, that's roughly 10 points in Oomph/Stunt Points and 35 in Traits, right? Nice, well-rounded character.
I nuked the Burst fire. To make up for the extra point (we did his traits, Oomph/stunt points all ready), we lowered his unarmed combat from a -1 to a -2, and made up the extra point. Like I said, his character is a target for bullies in his secret id :-)
Other than the background, his character is done. I am writing a "pilot" episode (following your suggestions from After These Messages #1). If that goes well, then I will start prepping a series to run for him. I'll let everyone know how the pilot goes!
On 7/19/2003 at 5:16pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
urbwar wrote: While they both allow 2 attacks in one round, they are slightly different. I figured by giving him burst fire, it would allow him to attack an enemy twice in a round. If facing two opponents, he could attack them both once in a round. Re-reading Auto Fire, I guess you could attack two opponents, or the same opponent twice in the same round with it?
Yes, you can.
I nuked the Burst fire. To make up for the extra point (we did his traits, Oomph/stunt points all ready), we lowered his unarmed combat from a -1 to a -2, and made up the extra point. Like I said, his character is a target for bullies in his secret id :-)
That works!
Other than the background, his character is done. I am writing a "pilot" episode (following your suggestions from After These Messages #1). If that goes well, then I will start prepping a series to run for him. I'll let everyone know how the pilot goes!
I'm glad you found ATM #1 so useful! Yes, please let us know how it goes!
On 7/20/2003 at 1:23am, urbwar wrote:
RE: Re: A followup regarding SA's and Story Hooks
Eddy Fate wrote:
Yes, you can.
That's what I thought. Thanks for clarifying. I wasn't sure at first, but figured for the point cost, ir probably did allow it
Eddy Fate wrote:
That works!
Yeah, he seems into using some negative traits (or traits that are specialized, with the trait being negative outside the specialization)
Eddy Fate wrote:
I'm glad you found ATM #1 so useful! Yes, please let us know how it goes!
And I haven't even read the whole thing yet; just the articles you and Cynthia wrote, which I felt were specific to helping with setting up a game. I did read the series seed, which is pretty hilarious
I'll be sure to post once I run the pilot episode, and let everyone know how it went.
On 7/21/2003 at 10:13pm, Valamir wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
urbwar wrote:
Ralph,
I showed your post to my nephew. After laughing his ass off, he said that your suggestion sounds pretty cool. So looks like we have two cheesy songs for our cartoon now :-)
Glad I could help :-) After all what's an 80s cartoon without a little cheese.
Cheese is, of course, the OTHER half of the battle.
On 7/30/2003 at 5:22pm, urbwar wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
Valamir wrote:urbwar wrote:
Ralph,
I showed your post to my nephew. After laughing his ass off, he said that your suggestion sounds pretty cool. So looks like we have two cheesy songs for our cartoon now :-)
Glad I could help :-) After all what's an 80s cartoon without a little cheese.
Cheese is, of course, the OTHER half of the battle.
So true. So very true.
As an update to everyone, today we're finishing the character (just need to write out the background), then we're going to play the Pilot Episode I put together (just a one sheet with a short plot description, and a few key scenes for the episode. Kind of like the episode seeds in the Iconia part of the CAH book). I'll start a new thread with a report once I've had a chance to run it. Wish me luck!
On 7/30/2003 at 5:58pm, Eddy Fate wrote:
RE: Getting my nephew into roleplaying via CAH!
urbwar wrote: As an update to everyone, today we're finishing the character (just need to write out the background), then we're going to play the Pilot Episode I put together (just a one sheet with a short plot description, and a few key scenes for the episode. Kind of like the episode seeds in the Iconia part of the CAH book). I'll start a new thread with a report once I've had a chance to run it. Wish me luck!
Luck!