Champions Universe: The Director’s Cut

[fredrik_nilsson]

The 5th edition of the Champions Universe had been around for some time now, and loads of material has been produced for the setting. It would be interesting to see how you are using the material.

Does anyone of you run it as written?

Have you turned the setting into a (more obvious) homage setting?

Have you done some interesting changes to the official characters of the world?

Which of the official places, and persons, dominate you campaign (and why)?

[Lord Liaden]

The 5E CU, especially its historical timeline, is the overall framework for my campaign, but I've made lots of tweaks of varying magnitude. I've also incorporated published stuff from 4E and 3E Champions, and the New Millennium setting.

The changes I've made would make a long list. I'll just mention one fairly significant one: Dr. Destroyer. He's still the world's premier supervillain, but I found his 5E background and personality a little bland, so I rewove a few elements from previous versions with elements of the current CU.

Albert Zerstroiten's early years were more-or-less as given, although I incorporated his scarring from his 4E origin, but made it earlier, as a result of Allied superhero interference in one of his projects during WW II. Donning a frightening mask and crude powered armor, Zerstoiten became one of Germany's most feared operatives, the Iron Skull.

As in his 4E origin, the ship he attempted to flee Europe on at the end of the war was sunk by an Allied submarine. As the waters of the Atlantic closed over him, his pain and rage echoed the emotions of Sharna-Gorak the Destroyer, trapped beneath the ocean. The Destroyer's spirit was awakened, and attempted to possess Zerstoiten, but the doctor's will was strong and Sharna-Gorak's power had faded over the millennia. In the course of their struggle for dominance Zerstoiten convinced the monster that their desires were very similar, and that since the world had greatly changed and many mighty beings now walked it, they could best achieve their mutual goals by working together. The two psyches fused into one, and Sharna-Gorak's power was sufficient to sustain them until rescue arrived.

Most of the rest of Dr. Destroyer's history follows the 5E pattern. With the bulk of Sharna-Gorak's mystic power still in his original body beneath the Atlantic, the Doctor pursued technological advances. In the Battle of Detroit Destroyer was himself actually slain; but the part of him that was Sharna-Gorak absorbed the life-energy of the tens of thousands of innocents killed at the same time. He eventually reconstituted himself a la Sauron, but this time his mystic powers were renewed almost to their original level.

One related note: I've recently been working the material from DEMON: Servants of Darkness into my campaign. After renewing himself post-Detroit Dr. Destroyer finally had the strength to free Sharna-Gorak's original body, but was incensed to discover that its power had been stolen. He's currently actively seeking the thief... ;)

[TheQuestionMan]

Does anyone of you run it as written?

Yes, I run the Champions Universe as is. I base my campaign in my hometown and mine the Champions Universe for Character Backgrounds, History, and Meta Plots. I have altered some things, deleted others, and left some unexplained. Oh and I almost always inclued the Ultimate Foxbat. ;)


Have you turned the setting into a (more obvious) homage setting?

I'm not sure what you asking, but I do run adventures that are Homages to Comics, Cartoons, Movies, etc...


Have you done some interesting changes to the official characters of the world?

Yes, Telios is the major mover and shaker in Canada on par with Menton. The VIPER Nest Leader of Vancouver is fighting against another rival Nest Leader The Sinister Samurai. There's more, but I do not want my players learning more. ;)


Which of the official places, and persons, dominate you campaign (and why)?

The CU supervillains dominate the campaign, but the Superheroes tend to be supporting cast rather than major characters. The player character are the dominate force in my campaigns.

Cheers

QM

[Fox1]

It would be interesting to see how you are using the material.

Haven't used it at all.

I may steal some stuf out of DEMON however. Will have to re-write the characters.

[Blackjack]

I frequently "co-opt" 5ED published materials - esp. villians and NPCs. Although our campaign universe and it's history are significantly different from the 5ED universe, I do borrow elements from it. I have transplanted Eurostar into our universe and used other CKC villians against my players. In our Dark Champions campaign, we use the Hudson City setting ("a wretched hive of scum and villiany...") ;)

Bottom line: the published resources are just that - resources. I can pick and choose what to use to enhance the game for myself and my players.

[shaunclinton]

I actually really liked the Champions: New Millenium stuff that came with the Fuzion game system. Obviously Hero is the better system, but the background stuff for New Millenium felt fresher and more relevant... a lot of the official Champs universe seems a little, well, I dunno... staid maybe?

To each his own though, but I generally co-opt what I like from where I like and fit it together as best I can in my own world!

[Solomon]

I'm using most CU material as-is, with a few exceptions. My campaign (on hyatus) is currently set in 1992, so some characters are younger, less experienced or missing altogether. The Champions have the 4e roster (Defender, Obsidian, Jaguar, Solitaire, Quantum and, yes, Seeker). I plan on moving to the 5e roster when the campaign fast-forwards to the 21st Century, with Defender as the only remaining (and much experienced) original Champion.

The whole mystic world is conspicuously missing, but that's because I have no mystic long-term playing characters yet - mostly mutants and tech guys. I'll add magic-based plots if and when need arises.

[fredrik_nilsson]

Just like Lord Liaden I also use the historical timeline as an overall framework for my latest campaign. I’ve planned to involve some time travel, so a few of the NPCs that officially are supposed to be inactive will show up occasionally. Since I was new to the HERO System when 5th edition came, I haven’t used any of the older stuff.

Have I got the old squad figured out right? Defender is the same character as in 5th edition. Obsidian is now replaced by Ironclad. Jaguar is the character on the picture on page 50 in Fiver. Solitaire is now replaced by Witchcraft. Quantum is now replaced by Sapphire. Seeker is now replaced by Nighthawk. When I say replaced, I mean similar character concepts (for example, alien brick). Are they stated (for 5th edition) somewhere (like a thread on this forum)?

Is your take on Dr. Destroyer more similar to his 4th edition version? I must admit that Dr. Destroyer haven’t played a big part in my campaigns, but that might be so because I never have found a great interest for Dr. Doom either.

I see that both Fox1 and Lord Liaden use DEMON-material, which parts? I plan on using Monica Knowlton, but otherwise I haven’t found anything that I plan to mine directly. Naturally the players’ behavior (like much interaction with Knowlton) might change this. Still, I liked the Inferno series from Marvel, so I might change my mind. The point is that for me it’s either almost only DEMON, or almost no DEMON. They change the campaign tone too much.

Please enlighten me more about the Ultimate Foxbat. I have a hard time with this character. When I run him he always turns out like Black Harlequin, without the homicidal tendencies.

TheQuestionMan, I should have been clearer about what I meant with a more obvious homage setting? Do you tweak the official homage characters, so that they become even more alike the characters they pay homage to? An example could be giving the All-American a Questionite Shield, so that his homage to Captain America becomes even more obvious. Maybe not the best example, but I guess you get the idea.

It’s interesting to see that you use the character Telios as the main villain. Besides seeing him as homage to Ozymandias, I’ve always thought of him as an assistant to other characters (of both sides of the law).

Blackjack, I fully agree that the published resources are just resources, but I’m curious to see how others use them. Hopefully can your ideas enhance my version of CU.

I’ve never seen Champions: New Millennium, what are the main differences against the current version?

Just as you do Solomon, I’ve also thought about moving the campaign to some other place on the time line than the current one.