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Old 06-14-2005, 12:59 PM   #11
Akahige
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

No, as I've said already, I'm designing these as the *original* characters. Back then, there was no Prince Adam. In fact, He-Man was a jungle tribesman who set off on a quest to defend the famous Castle Grayskull from the infamous Skeletor.

Perhaps if I expand the write-up for both the Filmation cartoon and the new cartoon, I might consider that. But for now, I want to concentrate on the base.
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Old 06-14-2005, 01:13 PM   #12
Ciaran
 
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

This thread makes the baby Jesus cry.
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Old 06-14-2005, 06:18 PM   #13
The Benj
 
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverblade
I think in the fist few mini-comics in the series, he could fire an energy blast from his hand/bracelet.
I can only assume that's what this is about. It's just that he hasn't mentioned any such power.
If it's a bracelet weapon, then it's not Innate Attack, it's Beam Weapons.
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Old 06-14-2005, 10:16 PM   #14
Akahige
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

That's where I've had trouble... The attack basically consists of Best Man (or Stratos) pointing his arm and firing. There's no weapon to grasp and point at someone, so it seems that it doesn't even fall under the Beam Weapons specialties.

The closest thing I've been able to associate it with is the "energy blast ... emitted from the hands" as described under Innate Attack (Beam). If you can point me to an official ruling that clarifies the difference, I'd appreciate it.

The best example I can think of is this: Does the comic book Spider-Man use a different skill than the movie Spider-Man? Once we know the difference in GURPS terms, this problem will be easy to solve.
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Old 06-14-2005, 10:36 PM   #15
roguebfl
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Benj
If it's a bracelet weapon, then it's not Innate Attack, it's Beam Weapons.
Um no it Innate attack with the Gatge limatations...and is still the Innate attack (Beam) Skill.

Beam Weapon is would only be apprate if ALL beam weapon in your world where braselet based not Gun based.
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Old 06-15-2005, 03:28 AM   #16
The Benj
 
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

The border between Gadgets and equipment is hazy, at best.
However, given the setting (where blasters are common), as slight a variation as "it's an armband" doesn't qualify for swinging it into Gadget, in my opinion.
Just like strapping a gun to your wrist shouldn't suddenly make it worth character points.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akahige
he best example I can think of is this: Does the comic book Spider-Man use a different skill than the movie Spider-Man? Once we know the difference in GURPS terms, this problem will be easy to solve.
I'd say yes, they use different Skills.
However, it's mostly a question of name, as they're both DX/Easy.
The only real difference is Defaults for other things:
-Innate Attack lets you use it for other kinds of powers
-Beam Weapons lets you use other kinds of weapons
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Old 06-15-2005, 02:22 PM   #17
Akahige
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

One problem remains: what kind of weapon is it? Beast Man's weapon seems to be a generic beam, while Stratos' sounds almost like a flamethrower from the way it's used in the mini-comics. Even if both of these fall under Beam Weapons, what required specialization do we use for them? What's the official GURPS term for a wrist-mounted beam weapon?

On another note, I've been gradually cleaning up the descriptions of the various characters' gadgets. Does the format look better? Is it proper?
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Old 06-17-2005, 05:38 PM   #18
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

How would you determine the tech level of Masters of the Universe? You've got contragrav vehicles with laser cannons, robotics, even interplanetary travel but no space travel. At the same time you've got warriors wielding swords & shields, staves, and other medieval weapons, and sorcerers casting powerful spells. In fact the line between magic and ultra tech is often blurred in MOTU. What would the mana level of Eternia be, and how common is Magery? Is Skeletor a mage with a staff, or is his staff an ultra tech device?
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Old 06-17-2005, 10:36 PM   #19
Akahige
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Star
You've got contragrav vehicles with laser cannons, robotics, even interplanetary travel but no space travel.
The Battle Ram's "sky sled" was supposedly a hovercraft (TL7), acted more like contragrav (TL?), and had a teleportation component as well (TL12?). Castle Grayskull had moving suits of armor (TL10?), computers, and a laser cannon (TL9). I think some of these artifacts were designed to be user-friendly, which explains how easily they're utilized by barbarians.

Skeletor arrived on Eternia through some sort of dimensional breach. Later on, Hordak did the same thing, though that's getting into the Prince Adam era that I'm avoiding. Even further out, the second toy series called "He-Man" was space-based.

Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Star
At the same time you've got warriors wielding swords & shields, staves, and other medieval weapons, and sorcerers casting powerful spells. In fact the line between magic and ultra tech is often blurred in MOTU. What would the mana level of Eternia be, and how common is Magery? Is Skeletor a mage with a staff, or is his staff an ultra tech device?
Well, it was basically a post-apocalyptic world, originally. The survivors have probably scavenged all that's left, with the geniuses just barely being able to keep the artifacts in good repair (basically a Thunderdome situation). Most of the people probably get by with a few meager pieces of steam-tech enriching their serf-like lifestyle.

If you go with the idea that Man-at-Arms is an inventor, I'd say he's just re-discovering lost tech by trial-and-error, rather than being super-intelligent or anything. Chances are he's ruined more pieces of ultra-tech just trying to start them up than he's actually produced. :)

The technology of Castle Grayskull should be at least 2 or 3 TLs beyond what we have today, though really I suppose it all depends on how you want to run your story. Perhaps it's just a myth that Grayskull has ultra-tech, or maybe its power is really based on magic alone (or even techno-magic).

I'm still in the process of discussing the original character concepts with the few creators I could locate. Unfortunately, half the ideas were thrown in just because they sounded mysterious, so not everything was thought out.

One last thing: Since Castle Grayskull seems to be in a different environment every time we see it drawn someplace, I suggest that it might periodically teleport. That would certainly change the way the game is played, since characters would have to focus more on shadowing Skeletor and his minions instead of just standing there guarding an easy target!

Last edited by Akahige; 06-17-2005 at 10:58 PM.
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Old 06-18-2005, 06:48 AM   #20
J-Star
 
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Default Re: Masters of the Universe

The Prince Adam era, lol. That's what I grew up with. His whole transformation into He-man seemed utterly pointless to me... because how could ANYONE not tell they were the same person? They looked exactly alike, and you never got the feeling that Adam was ever in any danger. It was a lot like Clark Kent and Superman... right down to Adam's mild-mannered personality. It just felt like all he really had to do was rip off his princely clothes and there'd be He-man.

The later, space-based He-man, as far as I'm concered, never existed. Once, I saw the figrures in the toy store and was like, "He-man? WTF?" A friend told me there was a new cartoon, but I never saw it, which is probably a good thing.

With all due respect to the original minicomics, which might have been just before my time, the best Masters of the Universe - to me personally - was the 2002 version. The characters were vivid, well-animated, and had attitude. How could you not love that long-haired, busty, bad-ass Teela?! And finally they got the transformation concept right, with Adam being this scrawny, smart-ass, well-meaning but basically incompetant kid... till he morphed into the most kick-ass muscle-bound fantasy warrior I ever saw in animation... this time with no disproportionate torso and no Prince Valiant haircut :)
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