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Conversions
Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 3:40 pm
by RockJock
No, not from other systems, but from different parts of the Palladium Megaverse. Most OCC/RCC conversions or even equipment conversions are fairly straight forward, but others are more subjective. Things like tattoo magic, Splicers Host Armor, the AR of a GB or Samas periodically come up on the boards as problem spots. I think a HU Conversion Book, or guide would be great. The problem is to explain things well enough would probably put too much info out there.
Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 3:43 pm
by Sentinel
I was hoping that the original Conversion Book would do just that, but it didn't.
I think HU in particular (and other Palladium games in general) could benefit from such a body of work.
Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 8:13 pm
by acreRake
You know, of the many ideas and wishes people have for new HU source books, this is the one i would be most interested in. I don't own any Rifts/megadamage books and it seems like there are some good ideas scattered across them that i'd like to use (or at least look at) for my HU game...
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 12:53 am
by Traska
This reminds me of one of my favorite HU villains... Death From Above. Wore power armor that could fly, had a skull motif, and was blue-black in color. He specifically targetted mutants and aliens, as well as mages. Was a fun villain.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 9:52 am
by Sentinel
Mephisto wrote:
Tattoo Magic could probably qualify as an additional Power Category, since it's the tattoo's that define the character, the skills come as a result (I don't feel a tattooed man is really an OCC).
The Tattooed Man (and variations) could be looked upon as another form of Mystic Bestowed Abilities.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 10:44 am
by RockJock
I would probably fit it as Mystically Bestowed if I had to make it into an existing catagory. The T-Archer is pretty much the same, but mixed in the Ancient Weapons Master as well. Other classes like the Spirit Warrior would be another great addition to the Mystically Bestowed. All the other magic Occs will fall into Mystic Study, or Bestowed classes(like the Mystic).
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 10:54 am
by RockJock
A book of magic would be a good start. Basically like the Rifts BoM, but with everything converted to SDC. Another section with basic skill tradeouts for PF and Rifts classes. A third section with specific OCC conversion for things like the Undead Slayer, or Spirit Warrior, for at least some classes with inborn abilities. As it stands right now I tend to use PF or Nightbane for magic more then Rifts just because it is easier.
Another book with tech toys and classes from bionics to gadgets to headhunters.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:05 am
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:A book of magic would be a good start. Basically like the Rifts BoM, but with everything converted to SDC.
I am definitely in favor of that.
Another section with basic skill tradeouts for PF and Rifts classes.
I would really like it better if all the Palladium games went to the Education Bonus system (either HU or N&SS).
A third section with specific OCC conversion for things like the Undead Slayer, or Spirit Warrior, for at least some classes with inborn abilities. As it stands right now I tend to use PF or Nightbane for magic more then Rifts just because it is easier.
I tend to use a mixture of all three. I still use Rifts because it has the greatest diversity of magic.
Another book with tech toys and classes from bionics to gadgets to headhunters.
That would be cool too. "Hardware Unlimited" they could call it.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:26 am
by RockJock
For me it is easier to give the players PF and NB books to look through for spells since I know I won't have to worry about converting them. To be fair I'm just lazy. Most MDC spells are not that complicated to convert.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:38 am
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:For me it is easier to give the players PF and NB books to look through for spells since I know I won't have to worry about converting them. To be fair I'm just lazy. Most MDC spells are not that complicated to convert.
I know what you mean: Rifts really has more of the types of spells I want though.
Sub-Particle Acceleration, Annihilate, Meteor, Barrage, and other offensive spells, plus things like Death Word, and Spells of Legend like Crimson Wall of Licthalon, Blood & Thunder, and more.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:44 am
by RockJock
I agree with you Sentinel, the Rift spells are needed. I just wanted to point out one of the reason for a book like this is for people like me that are to lazy:)
I actually think most of what we are talking about could be done online, or in a Rifter. The problem with something online is you are going to have to use most of the original spell description. A Rifter article might cover spells, but not the classes.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:53 am
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:I agree with you Sentinel, the Rift spells are needed. I just wanted to point out one of the reason for a book like this is for people like me that are to lazy:)
I actually think most of what we are talking about could be done online, or in a Rifter. The problem with something online is you are going to have to use most of the original spell description. A Rifter article might cover spells, but not the classes.
My only problem with the Rifter is that I want this material to be Official Canon.
Hence, it really needs to be a Sourcebook.
Not everyone reads the Rifter, for whatever reasons. A lot of times, if there aren't any articles I can make immediate use of, I'll conserve my money.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 2:47 pm
by RockJock
I would rather have a source book or two as well. Most people don't want to go buy three books for PF, or Rifts or whatever to give them material to convert to HU. The best solution would be a source book or series of them that would allow you to make use of the other material without scrounging all over the Megaverse. For me it isn't a huge issue because I have almost everything for Robotect, Nightbane, Palladium Fantasy, Splicers, System Failures, Rifts, AtB2 and so on. The way I work as a GM is I sit down with a player and get an idea of what they want to play. They may just want a 'soldier type', or may want something very specific. The vasy majority of the time, no matter what game it is set in I can find something in the Megaverse to use as a basis that will make everybody happy.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 3:05 pm
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:I would rather have a source book or two as well. Most people don't want to go buy three books for PF, or Rifts or whatever to give them material to convert to HU. The best solution would be a source book or series of them that would allow you to make use of the other material without scrounging all over the Megaverse. For me it isn't a huge issue because I have almost everything for Robotect, Nightbane, Palladium Fantasy, Splicers, System Failures, Rifts, AtB2 and so on. The way I work as a GM is I sit down with a player and get an idea of what they want to play. They may just want a 'soldier type', or may want something very specific. The vasy majority of the time, no matter what game it is set in I can find something in the Megaverse to use as a basis that will make everybody happy.
I do the same thing.
It's kind of frightening sometimes: I think of all the Palladium books I
don't own, and realize I still have 3/4 of the product line.
I have new players tell me their basic ideas and concepts for their perspective characters, and I can usually find the appropriate archtype.
A single Conversion book that actually did Megaversal Conversions would be nice however.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 3:08 pm
by RockJock
Yep
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 3:19 pm
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:Yep
Look everyone:
Rockjock has become Dr Doom IV.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:01 pm
by RockJock
Don't make me go edit my post to: Yes, I do agree with you Sentinel. A single megaversal mdc to sdc conversion book would be much more simple then the stack of 50 books I currently use.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:02 pm
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:Don't make me go edit my post to: Yes, I do agree with you Sentinel. A single megaversal mdc to sdc conversion book would be much more simple then the stack of 50 books I currently use.
Now you have +1 to your post count.
Much better than editting.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 6:58 pm
by Sentinel
Mephisto wrote:Sentinel wrote:RockJock wrote:Don't make me go edit my post to: Yes, I do agree with you Sentinel. A single megaversal mdc to sdc conversion book would be much more simple then the stack of 50 books I currently use.
Now you have +1 to your post count.
Much better than editting.
Have you done anything to expand the Mystically Bestowed Class beyond "Shazam"?
Yes.
Aside from the Tattooed characters (Atlantis, Splynn), I also look to other characters from Rifts who owe their abilities to mystic means. The Totem Warrior from Spirit West for example.
Also, the Temporal Warriors could be looked at thus.
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 8:11 pm
by sinestus
Bestoweds beyond "Shazam"
I can think of a couple i did back in the day...
1. A Bestowed with only spells - as tattoos (go figure, i was proving to a friend that a "all within HU, no conversions" Tattooed man was possible)... thus he was "bestowed" with the tattoos, one of which included a "Transformation" tattoo (akin to the south america one) what gave the usual Bestowed trasformation power...
2. Alien - Artificial Humanoid - "bestowed" by his starship (which was locked out of phase from normal space and thus could only project effects into solid state for short periods of time) - 1 major (intangability) and a handful of spells...
as for converting other PCC/OCCs to HU,
we've got half a million threads on that already...
suffice to say, most of the time it's not overly difficult, but simpler just to emulate as much as possible with existing abilities
Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 11:02 pm
by Tinker Dragoon
Sentinel wrote:Mephisto wrote:Sentinel wrote:RockJock wrote:Don't make me go edit my post to: Yes, I do agree with you Sentinel. A single megaversal mdc to sdc conversion book would be much more simple then the stack of 50 books I currently use.
Now you have +1 to your post count.
Much better than editting.
Have you done anything to expand the Mystically Bestowed Class beyond "Shazam"?
Yes.
Aside from the Tattooed characters (Atlantis, Splynn), I also look to other characters from Rifts who owe their abilities to mystic means. The Totem Warrior from Spirit West for example.
Also, the Temporal Warriors could be looked at thus.
Cosmo-Knights are kind of an Uber-Mega-Mystically Bestowed class as well, but perhaps a bit too much for non-galactic campaigns.
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 10:00 am
by RockJock
I have hurt from the post count comment. I'm one of those who edits my post five times in ten minutes to add in everything I forgot.
Depending on how deep you want to get into mystically bestowed you have the Mystic Knight, Ultra Crazy, Mega Juicer, New West Warrior types, Bio-Borgs, and Mystic Ninja just to name a few.
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am
by Sentinel
Have you done anything to expand the Mystically Bestowed Class beyond "Shazam"?[/quote]
Yes.
Aside from the Tattooed characters (Atlantis, Splynn), I also look to other characters from Rifts who owe their abilities to mystic means. The Totem Warrior from Spirit West for example.
Also, the Temporal Warriors could be looked at thus.[/quote]
Can you provide specifics on how you adapted them?[/quote]
Surely.
Temporal Wizards and Warriors are largely unchanged, as they weren't MDC beings to begin with.
The Temporal Raider as an evil creature becomes an NPC, as I don't allow evil alignments as player characters.
I have always kept a wary eye on Temporal Magic itself, but by and large, it hasn't really gotten out of hand.
The Totem Warrior was also largely unchanged: I did make a point to compare their abilities to the various Animal Ability powers in the HU main book and Powers Unlimited I.
Tattooed Men had to suffer some conversion from MDC to SDC, but I raised the bonus number slightly to compensate. Most of the particulars of Tattoo Magic are unchanged, and Chiang Six exists for me to have an SDC model to use.
Because Rifts gives a base SDC for Man-At-Arms, Men-Of-Magic, and Adventurers, I had to make the alteration that all characters considered "Mystic Bestowed" got the same base SDC as their HU cousins.
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 10:22 am
by Sentinel
RockJock wrote:I feel hurt from the post count comment. I'm one of those who edits my post five times in ten minutes to add in everything I forgot.
Depending on how deep you want to get into mystically bestowed you have the Mystic Knight, Ultra Crazy, Mega Juicer, New West Warrior types, Bio-Borgs, and Mystic Ninja just to name a few.
I didn't like the Mystic Knight myself.
The Ultra Crazy I tend to look upon as a variation of Experiment; same with the Mega-Juicer.
The Mystic Ninja is replaced with the Ninja as a Dedicated Martial Artist from N&SS.
Most others are covered in other forms from the HU Main Book, or I leave their OCC as is. The Gunslinger is pretty much as-is. The Borgs become Bionics. The Cowboy stays as-is.
The Wired Gunslinger is an Experiment, while the Psi Slinger is a Psychic.
And so on...
Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 5:41 pm
by Tinker Dragoon
Sentinel wrote:The Temporal Raider as an evil creature becomes an NPC, as I don't allow evil alignments as player characters.
What about the Temporal raiders of selfish alignments?
Posted: Sat May 20, 2006 1:46 pm
by Sentinel
Tinker Dragoon wrote:Sentinel wrote:The Temporal Raider as an evil creature becomes an NPC, as I don't allow evil alignments as player characters.
What about the Temporal raiders of selfish alignments?
The question never came up.
Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 12:06 pm
by RockJock
I'ved used a Temporal Wizard as a follower of Asgard in a HU game. Since Odin has access to Temporal Spells I made him sort of a priest.
Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 12:19 pm
by Sentinel
gadrin wrote:Sentinel wrote:
Temporal Wizards and Warriors are largely unchanged, as they weren't MDC beings to begin with.
The Temporal Raider as an evil creature becomes an NPC, as I don't allow evil alignments as player characters.
I have always kept a wary eye on Temporal Magic itself, but by and large, it hasn't really gotten out of hand.
do you follow the Rifts model, where the Temporal Classes all revolve around learning T-magic from a Temporal Raider ?
By and large yes.
I always leave myself the caveat that the secrets of Temporal Magic
might be known by a god, Ancient Dragon, or similar types of characters of extremely high levels of power (but never more than a handful of such beings will exist).
In my campaign world, both Odin and Thoth know temporal magics.
Phase World changed that with the Promtheans, but for the most part all Temporal Classes start out as thieves and brigands.