Question of the Day!

General GTG Off Topic
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Well then, I suppose I might as well ponder it. If, like The Justifier and Thunderbird, I’m aiming to simply become as powerful as possible, Miss Information and Wager Master are fine choices.

(Although I think I would disallow Singular Entities for this thought experiment, on the grounds that they can only exist, well, Singularly. So you can’t, e.g., be Wager Master while Wager Master is in the Sentinel Comics Universe doing things. Okay, maybe Wager Master isn’t the best example, because of the whole Sandwich-Bag-triggering-his-dead-man’s-switch-duplication-seed thing . . . But you know what I mean, right?)

Other candidates for power include Fanatic and Apostate, as they can shape reality, but are only limited by their emotion/focus; and La Capitan/Comodora, for time travel reasons.

If I’m not aiming for raw power, I might choose Tachyon (for the SCIENCE!), or Unity (because making robots would be fun).

Sure, but you could use Miss Info’s powers to trick others into creating a real reality to your liking, somehow.

Question of the Day #203: What’s the most likely reason you would be arrested?

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Question of the Day #204: Where on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism do you like stories?

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Definitely leaning further towards the Idealism end of the scale, for me. I greatly prefer positive messages and people.

Mostly to make up for my own internal tendency towards cynicism, as I don’t want to deal with the consequences of wallowing in that negativity… again. :smirk:

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About 70% cynic is probably my average. I don’t want to go full bleak nihilist, but I have a low tolerance for willful ignorance, pollyanna cheerfulness, and apologism for the necessity of evil in the world as being part of some sort of divine plan or cosmic order. I think we live in a crapsack world because people choose to keep making it that way (admittedly some of our problems come from nature, but I think if we made all people stop acting like idiots, we’d have the power necessary to scientifically fix all those natural issues). So I like stories that acknowledge the unarguable fact that life kinda sucks most all of the time, but leaves the door open a couple inches for the possibility that things could become better someday. The writer Kurt Vonnegut is a pretty good scale by which to calibrate my preferences, although he’s a bit more liberal than I would prefer, and I don’t agree with all of his solutions. But his ability to analyze the problems, and the general tone of sardonic humor he sets, put him pretty solidly in my top 5 writers of all time.

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Well, to me at least, none of those things are Idealism. It’s not willful ignorance, but rather acknowledging bad stuff, but striving for better things nonetheless. And there could certainly be a no-nonsense, serious idealist, in my opinion. Nor do I think Idealism necessitates believing in the “necessity of evil.”

QotD #204 Reply: Definitely on the idealistic side. A good dose or two of Cynicism every now and again helps to keep stories interesting, but I still prefer hopeful Idealism to gloomy Cynicism. In short, Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!, no offense intended.

Question of the Day #205: Which two Sentinel Comics RPG Principles do you have?

For those who don't own the SCRPG, or don't have it with them, here's a handy list of Principles!

Principle of Destiny
Principle of [Energy/Element]*
Principle of Exorcism
Principle of Fauna
Principle of Flora
Principle of the Future
Principle of Immortality
Principle of the Inner Demon
Principle of Magic
Principle of the Sea
Principle of Space
Principle of the Time Traveler
Principle of the Undead
Principle of Clockwork
Principle of the Gearhead
Principle of History
Principle of the Indestructible
Principle of the Lab
Principle of Mastery
Principle of the Mentor
Principle of the Powerless
Principle of Science
Principle of Speed
Principle of Stealth
Principle of Strength
Principle of the Tactician
Principle of Whispers
Principle of Chaos
Principle of Compassion
Principle of the Defender
Principle of Dependence
Principle of Equality
Principle of Great Power
Principle of the Hero
Principle of Honor
Principle of Justice
Principle of Liberty
Principle of Order
Principle of Self Preservation
Principle of the Zealot
Principle of Ambition
Principle of Amnesia
Principle of Detachment
Principle of Discovery
Principle of the Loner
Principle of the Nomad
Principle of Peace
Principle of Rage
Principle of the Split
Principle of Savagery
Principle of Levity
Principle of the Spotless Mind
Principle of Business
Principle of the Debtor
Principle of the Detective
Principle of the Double Agent
Principle of the Everyman
Principle of Family
Principle of the Mask
Principle of the Sidekick
Principle of the Team
Principle of the Underworld
Principle of the Veteran
Principle of Youth

*Energies/Elements include Cold, Cosmic, Electricity, Fire, Infernal, Nuclear, Radiant, Sonic, and Weather.

1329

I don’t think that cynicism needs to be gloomy, it just means accepting reality and not sugarcoating it.

The list of Principles doesn’t tell me what a Principle actually is; the term suggests an ideology or moral framework, but the list items make it seem more like a powerset. My best guess would be that I might be some mix of Honor and Chaos, but if it’s about gaining some ability to actually do things, then Indestructible plus Time Traveler would be pretty hard to pass up. And if I were actually building my first character, while not understanding the system well enough to make it properly simulate a concept, then I’d probably just go Nuclear/Family just for the pun, and decide everything else from that.

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The Tactician is a big one for me. :sunglasses: Running RPGs can be interesting at times, as I have to make sure I’m not expecting the players to all be tacticians, but when I’m playing I definitely am!

Apparently I also made a deal with the GM, because my other is a custom Principle, the Principle of The Broken: My body is falling apart in so many ways (long story, not worth going into), but I just have to push through each day and deal with it. Makes for an entertaining combination, as I’m always working out ways to deal with my latest issue and improve how things are going in general. I enjoy the challenge (as much as one can enjoy a challenge like that :wink: ).

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True, I was struggling a bit to find the right adjective with which to express my thoughts, and I think I settled for a sub-optimal one.

Cynicism doesn’t equal Realism, and Idealism doesn’t equal Optimism.

Yeah, it’s kinda both. Principles are, basically, the two most important aspects of a given Hero (conceptually, not mechanically). Sometimes one of those aspects is an ideology, sometimes it’s a power. For instance, Legacy has the Principles of the Hero and Justice, because being heroic and dishing out Justice are what define her. Sure, she could have the Principles of Strength and the Indestructible instead, but those powers are far less important to Legacy as a character. On the other hand, the Wraith has the Principle of Stealth, because that capability is a major aspect of her character.

It’s not, really. It’s more about getting better at things you can already do. Principle of the Time Traveler, e.g., wouldn’t let you travel in time by itself, but it would make you better at Time-related tasks (think Timeslinger). If you had the Time Travel Power, though, the Principle would make you better at using that Power. (Although no Time Travel Power actually exists in the game, for semi-obvious fiction and game-balance reasons. One could easily add such a Power, though . . . )

What kind of Overcome Actions does that benefit . . . ? ; )

@The_Justifier, if you want a more detailed list of Principles, check out @drevilz4l’s compiled spreadsheet:
Principles.xlsx (26.6 KB)

QotD #205 Reply: Hmm . . . it’s tough to choose between the Principles of the Powerless, Science, the Tactician, and Honour. Gah, I can’t decide. Er . . . Science and the Powerless, I guess.

Question of the Day #206: What’s the story behind your Username and/or Profile Picture?

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Ronway is a name I’ve used for nearly 2 decades. In Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together for the PlayStation a character in it had the name. While I didn’t like the character at all the name I liked. Thus it has been it ever since.
The profile picture is my character from Maple Story when I played that, good Ol’ RonnieRonway.

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Since I don’t play the RPG, I don’t have any need for that information at this time, @fjur. Thanks for attempting to be helpful though.

206: The username is a quasi-superhero identity that was my original purpose in joining this forum. I’m inherently very inclined toward finding fault, but I don’t do it just for the sake of being negative; what I always want to do is find something that isn’t right, and find a way to make it right. And I felt I could apply this skill to stories and character concepts and such, going through and saying “this thing doesn’t make sense, so I’m going to come up with a theory that helps explain it…helps JUSTIFY why that’s the case”. Plus the name is a pun on “justice”, which is why I went with that particular word instead of something like “critiquing” or “refinement”. Of course, it’s turned out that most of the people on this forum don’t really want to hear anyone saying anything non-positive, so my Justification services have not been appreciated, and I’ve dialed back on doing much of that. The thread “Justifications” shows my efforts, but I’ve basically abandoned it by now.

As to the picture, that has to do with the Definitive Edition, since I’m not a fan of most of the changes I’ve heard about them making in it. Some of that stuff is just me being grumpy about things that are different, when I liked them already; I understand the decision to switch from a comic-booky font to a typeface that will be more easy for some people to read, but I didn’t have a problem with the old fashion, and I think the new one’s ugly…that’s just me, I don’t expect anyone else to sympathize with that. But on a more rational and specific front, one of the changes they made specifically to Tempest was to remove the card “Gene-Bound Shackles” from his deck, which IMO is one of the most crucial cards in his deck, and the idea of taking it out seemed incredibly wrong to me. So after having initially used a stock photo of a sort of geeky-looking superhero, after reading about the DE thing, I changed it to the best photo I could find on Bing Images of the Shackles card. Unfortunately it doesn’t show it very well, so you can barely see it, but that’s what it is.

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In this morning’s edition of “What did I do to provide our cat Hera with a little more lap time…” :wink:

Principle of the Broken

  • During Roleplaying: You have a body that is perpetually or permanently damaged in ways that can interfere with life in a world of normality – let alone stand against super-powered opposition.
  • Minor Twist: How hard is it for you to continue fighting your own body’s failures?
  • Major Twist: What excruciating pain or injury have you suffered that you must now overcome?
  • Green Overcome Ability: Overcome a situation that is related to damage you have taken and use your Max die. You and each of your allies gain a hero point.
  • Username: In high school, I originally got the nickname of “Rabbit” for a variety of reasons. When I got the college hopping around on crutches and eating salad at nearly every meal, when old nicknames came up in conversation, that one was quickly adopted by my dormmates. A couple years later, when a roommate was taking a message and spelling my real name incorrectly by leaving out one of the double letters, I jokingly harassed them about it so they started leaving me notes addressed to “Rabbit”. This led to a joke explanation they were spelling that incorrectly… And thus was born “Rabit”, which has been my ID on everything I have been able to use it on.
  • Profile Picture: This is art from the Imprisoned Rogue character in The Block, which is art based on my actual likeness.
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Yeah, I agree that, mechanically, the Shackles are quite potent and useful, but narratively they don’t seem to make a whole lotta sense to me. Why is Tempest carrying them around all the time? And how does whipping them out and reflecting on his hatred of GW Voss make him better at zapping, e.g., Omnitron?

QotD #206 Reply: My username is simply the username that I used to sign up for a web game when I was little: four letters in the centre of the keyboard that were easy to remember. And I’ve just used it for everything I can since. (How it’s pronounced is another question entirely. What do you think?)

My profile picture is Finder of Paths Unseen, a Spirit from GTG’s Spirit Island. The first game I bought from GTG was Spirit Island, so when I signed up for the forum (before discovering Sentinels), naturally I chose a Spirit as my avatar. I chose Finder on a whim, and haven’t changed it since because, well, it’s my identity.

Question of the Day #207: Which SotM Hero Deck can deal the most damage in a single turn, without outside assistance? Show your work.

1 Like
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Agreed, plus someone who went through that kind of trauma (enslavement and torture) does not keep a memento of it. That’s horrific and unrealistic.

I… don’t want to squelch answers from other folks, but thought this old thread might be pertinent. :blush:

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My gut feeling was Haka, full deck in hand, play Haka of Battle, Crush power. Looks like that’s tied with Fanatic according to the old thread. I didn’t even consider Savage Mana. Guess the villain and environment matter, so it depends what your definition of “outside help” is.

I didn’t dig all the way in the thread to see if any more recently released heroes can beat it.

1338

Contrary to Rabit, I don’t think it’s wrong to say that a person who was transformed by a trial that they went through would not want to carry a memento of that experience. Characterizing it as “trauma” is a viewpoint common to the modern social paradigm, but many past generations thought more about a crucible, which burned away their weakness and left only the pure core of who they were. A common trope example is that of a gangster who survived being shot because a whiskey flask in his pocket caught the bullet that would otherwise have gone in his heart, and he keeps the flask with the bullet in it thereafter to remind himself of that brush with death. Nearly dying could be an experience that someone is traumatized by, but it doesn’t have to be; some people would draw strength from the knowledge that they survived, rather than collapsing in a panic because they almost didn’t.

It represents the fact that he’ll do anything necessary to oppose a tyrant, someone who succeeds through pure strength and oppresses those weaker than themself. Highest HP is the best proxy for “strongest” in this game system. The best question about the shackles is why he needs to physically have them, rather than simply remembering the incident, but this can easily be answered; maybe he feels a physical pain from having the shackles on, and that pain focuses his mind and gives him a little bit of a berserker rage to tap into. We also don’t know a lot of the details about how the gene-binding process works, so there may well be aspects of physical transformation inherent in that.

I figured it sounded like “fewer” compressed down to one syllable; the J is often pronounced like a Y in various European languages (think “fjord”).

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Looks like the number crunchers have been hard at this for years now. I’d be interested to ask again in a month or two and see how Definitive Edition changes things.

2 Likes
1340

Yeah, I see now that this question has already been asked to death.

Yeah, for the longest time I hadn’t thought of the J being pronounced like a Y.

QotD #207 Reply: Well, from what I gathered from the thread Rabit helpfully linked to, the answer is Setback, who can use his card Cause and Effect to deal ∞ damage. (Well, really just damage equal to the number of tokens in his Unlucky pool, but if the game goes on long enough, that number can become arbitrarily high. Now I want someone to calculate how many Unlucky Tokens Setback can possibly get in a game. : ))

Question of the Day #208: What character would you like adapted into one of GTG’s games?

1341

I mean, as many as you want. I’d go vs. Gloomweaver, who can’t really destroy Ongoings or Equipment unless you let him. Just have to manage the relics so they’re not all in play or trash at once. Use some combo of Legacy to absorb/negate damage and Medico to keep Setback from killing himself and you can stall until you have enough tokens to break the game.

2 Likes
1342

I don’t know how you would ever get it to work in Sentinels without reinventing the entire game from the beginning (and obviously they would never do that, I mean c’mon). But one of the obvious omissions from the list of heroes which SOTM has homaged would be Rogue of the X-Men. Her powerset is something the Multiverse game system has never really touched, not even in any homebrew deck I’ve ever looked at (which is mostly just the Cauldron, which I still think C&A should just buy from the guy who made them and start selling officially). And like I say, getting it to work with the rules we have is probably impossible, but it makes a neat thought experiment.

More realistically, there’s a really cool homebrew Sentinels character on BGG called Law and Order, which from my cursory examination is not actually playable, but of all the fan-made SOTM decks I’ve seen apart from the Cauldron, this is the only one I’ve had a serious interest in playing sometime. So if Rogue is too much to ask for, I might just wish to have them cleaned up for use in the game.

(All this is of course notwithstanding my strong opinion that Sentinels has plenty of heroes, and what’s actually needed is more villains. Not sure who I’d want in terms of that, but thinking about the X-Men made me think of the Hellfire Club; Mastermind would be cool all by himself, but when I thought about Sebastian Shaw, I realized that my real answer was a character named Vehemence, from the webcomic Grrl Power. I won’t spoil what his shtick is, because I want you to go read the comic, but when you see what he can do, you’ll want to shuffle up a few hero decks and fight him immediately.)

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QotD #208 Reply: I dunno. There are too many possibilities. Hmm . . . more crossover betwixt Spirit Island and Sentinel Comics would be fun.

Question of the Day #209: How would you describe your fashion style?