How big are 'The Champions' going to be in your world?

[Hermit]

Recent threads on Millennium City and others have brought up individual comments about the current 5E Champs. Who likes which ones of them ,etc. Mention has been made of replacing them, treating them as THE team in the CU, etc.

Now, officially, it looks like they are a relatively new team with a good record, some popularity, and a lot of promise. They're hardly the Justice League of the world, so to speak.

But what are your plans for them in your campaigns?

[Vondy]

The who?

The only member of the Champions who exists in my game is Solitaire from the 4th Ed Ultimate Mentalist book, but she was never a member of the, what was it again... Champions?

[Lord Liaden]

I am making the Champions one of the foremost hero-teams in my world (the name practically screams for it IMHO), but I'm combining elements of the 4E Champions, 5E Champions, and even the New Millennium Champions:

The team's power level will be around that of the experienced 4E Champions from the first edition Champions Universe, higher in some cases;

Quantum will have more of the background of her New Millenium version, and be the team leader;

I'm keeping Solitaire, but making Witchcraft's twin sister Talisman into Elaine King's sister and nemesis;

Defender will use the "Team Defender" concept from the New Millennium, which I personally liked;

I'm keeping Obsidian for his visuals and "noblesse oblige" attitude to heroing, but working in some of Ironclad's history (and the "gladiator's eye" Find Weakness for his 75 Strength ;) );

Nighthawk will add most of Seeker's Characteristics and fighting skills;

Jaguar stays, but he'll be borrowing some from Leviathan from the New Millennium. Jaguar will have a human form, his cat-man were form in which he retains most of his personality, and an even more powerful but more bestial form with less intelligence and control.

These Champions may appear in the campaign as occasional NPCs, but will generally be "off camera" dealing with world threats; my PCs are starting more local in scope.

[Haerandir]

I'm not actually planning to run a campaign set in the 'book' CU, but if I were, I'd definitely down-play the role of the Champions. Partly it's because that's the way they're written, partly because I'd want my PC's to be the focus of the campaign, if not the universe, and partly because I really don't like the new characters that much, but I don't hate them enough to go to the effort of resurrecting the older teams.

Though, I admit, I do miss Obsidian, Quantum and Solitaire.

Another possibility which has occurred to me is to resurrect all of the characters that have ever been called 'Champions' and turn them into a mega-team a la the Avengers. In that case, the current team would be the Millenium City branch (the Great Lakes Champions!), consisting mostly of the 'new kids' in the Champions organization, while the more experienced characters like Obsidian, Quantum, Marksman, Icestar, et al. went off and fought Istvatha V'Han, Tyrannon and assorted alien invaders. Of course, this would require me to go to the effort of creating or finding updated write-ups of the 4th edition and older Champions. And I'd have to think about Jaguar, something I generally try to avoid.

[Enforcer84]

I've consisdered the "one big happy family" approach using all three Champions teams (heck four if I use the Comic book team) Either as a large organization or as different eras of the team.

I've also thought of just going with the current team and having the older characters be out and about just not members of the Champions.

Though Lord Laiden's approach is cool.
Perhaps witchcraft and her sister could be "clones" of Solitaire accidentally released when her mentors at the V'Rill sensed her betrayal?

ALthough just think of the entertaining exchanges between Quantum and Sapphire...

[Ghost Archer]

My camapaign has long used the Champions as rivals to my own team, and at times, bitter rivals. So they will be staying on, updated from 4th Edition but I probably will not be adding the new team members.

[Trebuchet]

Since my campaign is not set in the Champions universe, the team will certainly not be used as is. I will probably use them (with suitable modification) as an NPC hero team in New York. (My campaign does not have aliens, so Ironclad would have to a mutated human.) The team we operate, MidGuard, is our world's equivalent of the Avengers or Justice League.

[RDU Neil]

I liked the 4thEd Champions, and they were important NPCs. They and the Protectors were two established teams, and the PCs were the new guard taking over the limelight.

The Champions played an important part in my game, in that Solitaire was a key mystic... and at one point was taken over by an evil, mystic sentience that called itself Mordred (but wasn't Arthurian related). Solitaire was totally evil, and manipulating the heroes, and when they finally confronted her (upped in power by the possession) it was a helluva fight. The brick, Big Guy, was going after her with a large iron pole... she was on the verge of defeat... and the spirit "unpossessed" her right as Big Guy's haymaker landed. He had a perception roll to notice that Sol had suddenly stopped fighting and seemed dazed... missed it... hit her with her defenses down... and killed her.

It was pretty intense, and Big Guy went on the lam and became hunted. The Champions were never the same, and disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle a couple years later. In honor of them, certain PCs and NPCs tried to take over the name of the Champions, but there has never been a gaming focus on these PCs long enough to make them a real force to be reconned with.

The 5thED Champs don't exist in my world.

[bcholmes]

Originally posted by Hermit
Recent threads on Millennium City and others have brought up individual comments about the current 5E Champs. Who likes which ones of them ,etc. Mention has been made of replacing them, treating them as THE team in the CU, etc.

<p>They exist, pretty much "as is" in my Northern Guard campaign. My PCs haven't really met them yet (they had a video conference with Defender about Dr. Destroyer, but that's about it). Because the Champions are south of the border, there isn't much call for interaction.

<p>My PCs have met some members of the the <cite>Champions Universe</cite> Justice Squadron, who are probably the most important team in the campaign world.

[Edsel]

Actually I'm a player in the current campaign not the GM. That being said the Champions are a former team in our campaign world. The 4th Edition Champions broke up several years ago and Solitare is the only one whose whereabouts I know of.
Solitare is a Contact of my character Enigma, the team's mystic. Elane King is the protector of a woman known as Oracle. Oracle is the sister of the former King of Atlantis (now known as Dr. Destroyer). Oracle as the name implies is a seer of great power and an apparently immortal Atlantian. Orcale and Destroyer are both around 20,000+ years old.

[THE PATRIOT]

I've always played with the concept of just about every Champions hero since the 1980's on is just background to flesh out MY super hero world. Characters from enemies played more importance than the CU hero teams.

But with the wiping out totally of the old CU and without a "DC CRISES" type situation. Which is fine because if the GM really wanted to do that they could. But the old CU was a good foundation and that foundation got yanked out from under a lot of GM's and Player's feets. But the CU Champions and "enemies" have gone through such dramatic changes that I feel like I'm not even playing with the same beloved characters anymore. I mean, does DR Destroyer even feel the same DR Destroyer?

I had heard from a friend that they read a thread about how they felt like they were no longer playing in a universe that left them the feeling they were a part of creating this CU universe when they played. It felt as though they were just being "guest" in Steve Long's world. This shouldn't be taken as a slam against Steve. I have an incredible amount of respect for the man and his work. I'm just trying to sort things out with the new products and whether or not I really feel compelled to rebuild an entire new CU in my campaigns.

THE PATRIOT

[Hermit]

Huh, weird. I guess with Darren and Steve asking opinions on these boards as I've seen them do (They did for Millennium City some time ago on the old boards) and what I hear from the play testers; it seems to me the current Universe actually has more player input than the 4th one did. The 4th was more patchwork, but still just various authors writing the books... not sure how that's different from Steve, Darren, and others putting their stuff together. Of course, with either, I'm talking 'official' Universe. Easily disregarded to tweak and adjust as we like it.

As for myself, the new Champions are actually working out. The PC team in Millennium City just ran through a storyline where they learned they had been duped and programmed by ARGENT to take out the Champs. They managed to fix that, talk to the Champions... and set ARGENT up nicely in return. The players seem to like the social interaction with the NPCs. At least I'm hoping I read them right. Nightbringer has commented that she doesn't see why so many ladies are attracted to Defender, but she gets along well with Nighthawk. Sapphire flirted with Blip, much to his surprise. Poltergeist and Ironclad had once double teamed Bulldozer (Talk about over kill *S*).

I think we've got a beautiful friendship of teams in the making, and I hope to have the Champions grow along with their PC allies.

[CrosshairCollie]

My setup basically has The Champions like The Avengers or Justice League; the big name, high profile, publically accessible (well, as accessible as it gets) hero team that everybody respects, hero and villain alike. As of yet, they don't have a 'Champions West' or 'Champions Europe', though I'm pondering it.

[Lord Mhoram]

The Champs are just another superteam. One of a number of npc teams.
The lineup (based in SF)-
Defender
Witchcraft
Obsidian
Seeker
Sapphire
Nighthawk (martial arts toned down, gadgets up, detective up)

I also use the Protectors (based in seattle) pretty much out of the module; and the Guardians (based in New York) - The classic team with changes - The Golden Swordsman, Gargoyle, Icestar, Flare, Rose, Goliath, Lady Arcane and Marksman the leader.

[JohnOSpencer]

I use the Champions as one of the United Nations Super Teams, of which they're are 10. The current Champions are the Millenium City Branch. I use all the 4E Champions as members of other U.N.S.T.s.

John Spencer

[TechnoViking]

Here what I have done (sorry posted this before). Basically moved Champions to New York City so group can be main group in Millennium City.

Campaign Timeline

• Jan 2000 – Millennium Project completed, city re-opened.
• Spring 2000: Defender moves from New York City to Millennium City to start a superhero team.
• Summer 2000: Champions forms, within a year consider one of the most prominent superhero teams in the United States.
• September 11th 2001: Terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. Guardsman, Icestar, and the Giant of the New York superhero team the Guardians killed when the Towers collapse. Rose takes severe mental damage from having a Mind Link with Guardsman when he dies, now in a catatonic state.
• Early 2002: Mayor of New York and the President ask Defender and the Champions to move to New York City to help the city heal its wounds. The team agrees. Kinetik officially joins the group.
• Mid 2002: A new superhero team called the Guardians of Order forms in Millennium City. Although well receive and fast in combat, GoO does not have all the tools and skills to handle crisises as well as the Champions. Members Include:
- Tri-Stat: A heroine that can switch her mutant energy from strength to speed to mental powers. Leader of the Group
- Sol-Lar: Alien of unknown origin with Sun-based powers.
- The Weatherman: College student exposed to cosmic rays. Now can control the weather.
- Dancing Tiger: Martial Artist/Teleporter from China.
- Arcanum: Son of famous magic-based hero.
• February 28, 2003: GoO answers a report of a theft in progress in the city’s tech sector.
• Early March 2003: Thefts continue in the tech sector, metahuman power reported used during the cimes. GoO no longer answers calls for help.
• March 2003: Campaign starts.

[TheEmerged]

One important thing before I go any further: keep in mind that I'm running a villain campaign (the PC's are the black hats). I call my campaign the "NeoChampion Universe" because it shares a fair amount of Champions Universe backstory, but has more than a few mentionable divergences. Also remember that I use the term "nova" for superheroes -- it's quicker to type :D

#1> In terms of "importance to the campaign world", the Champions are a "hot newcomer" to the SAT program (by which Primus/FEMA gives official status to novas); the press conference treated as the group's founding date is in Winter 2000. Their greatest accomplishment so far as a team was defeating Mechanon #12 in Canada, alongside the Sentinels (Champions of the North, 4th Edition) -- the smallest group to defeat him since the Golden Avenger beat Mechanon #5 single-handedly.

#2> I kept Defender pretty-much as is, altering certain aspects to be more in keeping with my campaign world (higher defenses for one thing, a consistent issue). He's also a full-fledged SAT member instead of merely being registered and affiliated.

I also kept Sapphire & Ironclad, as they replace two of the 4th Edition Champions that never worked for me. Sapphire I made a little more of an "artillery piece", increasing her defenses only slightly but buffing her multipower to 75 active. I also changed the Energy Blast and Flash pools into "variable" slots instead of ultra slots, this change worked out rather nicely. Ironclad also worked okay, like Defender just a few twists.

#3> Witchcraft just isn't happening, for several different reasons -- neither the least nor the greatest of which was as simple as her name. The greatest problem here is that I've always had a soft spot for Solitaire, so Witchey-Poo really didn't stand a chance (fair or otherwise). Having said that, I mostly used her writeup for the updated Solitaire -- the biggest differences being her END (I have a strict rule about END Reserves being disallowed in power frameworks) and, of course, defensive scores.

Nighthawk doesn't work for thematic reasons, and for all my ribbing I actually liked Seeker. Hence I twisted some of his special effects and, walla! NightSeeker. He hasn't worked as well as I'd like, though, so I'm in the process of reworking him again. Which brings me to...

#4> Finally, I've added Jaguar back to the team -- mostly as a counter for one of the PC's and secondarily because he'll allow me to move the "detective" schtick back to him so NightSeeker can have a cohesive identity.

[GestaltBennie]

I think for my next campaign, I'm going to be using a modifiec Champions team consisting of Defender, Solitaire, Seeker, Nighthawk, Obsidian, Saphirre and Kinetik, with Jaguar as an auxiliary ex-member who's lost his superhuman form.

Mind you, it'll be a VIPER Agents game, so they'll be the adversaries. :-)

Scott Bennie

[Patriot]

The Champions died years ago during the Day of the Destroyer scenario.

[archermoo]

Voted the "They don't exist" as I've never played in or run a world that was even remotely based on the "official" champions universe. Although with the new one out I might change that at some point... :)

[THE PATRIOT]

Originally posted by Patriot
The Champions died years ago during the Day of the Destroyer scenario.


It just doesn't get any better than that!!!

[The Malachite]

Okay, simply put The Champions are the Icons of icons on my world, but they don't necessarily resemble "The" team in current Champions canon.

Defender - Leader, presumed deceased but found on the Hzeel homeworld. Does things completely by the book. Mid 30's.

Renegade - Former PC, ultimate warrior and half-brother of Malachite. Does things his own way.

Quasar - Last surviving member of the Protectors. Played key role in the defeat of the Hzeel empire. Married to Lumina.

Impact - a.k.a. The Atomic Kid from Allies - Headstrong but heroic, one of the most powerful members of the Champions.

Brynhild - Blood by marraige, came into the forefront of the heroing world to avenge the death of her husband Blade.

John Wa - The Monkey King from Ninja Hero - I couldn't resist, martial artist, optimist, conscience for the team.

Nighthawk (as an African-American), Sapphire and Witchcraft do round out the team. Ironclad was killed in a battle that we had, but I hardly wept, Andy Rooney's more exciting. Especially the send off we had for Obsidian, he (being played by a gamer) sacrificed all to save the earth, but not before Detroit was destroyed.

For the new Hero Gamers, I'm sure the new world makes sense, but I'm gonna bit and piece the games in the way I can. Some concepts I loved have survived, some have died, but it's up to us to use them as they can be.

Our game revolves around being an "Outsider" type team, just doing good for good sakes. Meaning that The Champions are a source of resentment, the chosen ones. The Outlaws have to deal with justice as it is. No easy answers.

::phew:: Glad I got that off my chest.

"The" Malachite.

[Enforcer84]

In one of my friends campaigns, back in the early 90's when BBB came out, we fought the Champions who had been affected by this weird virus, killed them all save fore Solitaire who resisted the virus but became a mute for the longes time after the deaths of her friends. She didn't blame us as they were dead before we fought them in her mind. She joined our team and both my brother's character and my character developed a crush on her and ended up fighting over her. It was pretty cool.

[Killer Shrike]

Im planning to bump them to 500 and make them more wide ranging; still homebased out of MC, but active over a larger geographic region. I think I want to play up the Champions as more 4-colorish and idealistic, bcs the PCs are a little bit more on the hardbitten side. The contrast should be better that way and it molds the PC group into the 'plucky little team that could' underdog heroes that are more in touch with 'the street' than the highflying capes.

Not Dark Champions by any stretch -- not that gritty. Rather, more grounded in local crime fighting.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Hello all,

Basically, The Champions exist as written in my campign world, but they're going to mysteriously....disappear....leaving Millenium City open for my campaign's main heores....The Crusaders.

Rob

[Darkstar]

The Champions exist, with major modifications, as a hero team working in San Francisco. I use Solitaire instead of Witchcraft and Obsidian instead of Ironclad, although this may change as the campaign timeline progresses.

They are one of many hero teams, and not a major one.