Converting Champions Battleground adventure 5 for my supervillain campaign SPOILERS

[TheEmerged]

SPOILER WARNING!
This post openly discusses the events of the fifth adventure from Champions Battleground.















I run a supervillain campaign in a variant of the Champions Universe -- my PC's are the black hats. I usually like to present at least 4 new opportunities for the PC's to choose from on the between-session handouts. After our last adventure (a stealth mission against the Protectors) I was a little stuck for new material. The upcoming VIPER/ARGENT war led to one, the political thread in the campaign presented another, and the new base for the PC's presented another. But what for the fourth?

The recent post about this product got my juices flowing -- since "Under Construction" was such a huge hit, was there a way to pull off another one for my villainous PC's?

Inspiration struck in the fifth adventure "Down the Hole", which I had originally written off because of the inability to do #1, #2, or #3 because of the nature of the campaign.

Instead of Interface stalking the PC's, I got the idea that he hires them to help him ambush The Champions -- and then teleports BOTH GROUPS into the deathtraps. So each of the four PC's will be sharing a deathtrap with a Champion, and 2 Champions will be in deathtraps alone.

Why am I posting this? I'd like some help deciding which PC's to pair with which Champions in which deathtraps.

• Altered Champions lineup for my campaign
• Defender: personality and background unchanged, theme of writeup pretty much the same (just more powerful).
• Ironclad: personality unchanged, slight alterations to background (campaign issue). Writeup concept the same but more emphasis on toughening than empowering with extra points.
• Sapphire: personality and background unchanged, writeup reworked to reflect more of an "flying artillery" theme.
• Solitaire: personality similar to "Ultimate Mentalist" writeup, background radically changed, using UM's writeup altered to fit campaign levels.
• Jaguar: no problem with dual nature, background simplified, writeup reworked to make him more of a hunter than a combat machine.
• KnightSeeker: KnightHawk's concept, Seeker's theme and personality. A writeup that would be something other than a smeer-to-be by campaign standards.

• The PC's
• Oamen: Darkness-themed character, concept originally begun as a joke based on the "Summoner Geek" video ("I cast Magic Missile -- into the darkness"). Powers are based on shadow magic, has almost enough MP slots to justify a VPP. Many of his powers can be dispelled by bright light (like a floodlight, not a laser). Main justification is a hatred of PRIMUS; not completely ruthless but definitely tends in that direction.
• Hexadecimal: 16 multiforms, including elemental and "archetypal" forms (like Sneaka, Transporta, Casta, Bricka, Menta, etc.). Formerly the Hexadecimal Heroine, seeks revenge on society in general and PRIMUS in particular for "betraying" her (long story).
• Sting: insect-themed ninja-brick. Stop laughing. A "Bouncing Boy" build with high speed, strength, PD, and absorption, designed to do Move By & Move Thru repeatedly. Origin is tied to Oamen's, motivation is to redeem his failure by assisting Oamen (long story).
• Disruptor (The): Gadgeteer. One of the most hated villains in the campaign world (Extreme Reputation 14-); the campaign's version of Superman is quoted as saying he's on the short list of people he could justify killing (alongside Dr. Destroyer and Takofanes). Most of his power is in his battlesuit, his backpack, and his really big gun (highest AP in attack for the group). Motivation would require paragraphs (played by the group drama king).

First, the most obvious pairing in the most obvious deathtrap -- Sting and Ironclad in a poison gas room. Sting's writeup includes a Physical Lim "Affected as Insect additionally", so it's my duty as a GM to hit him with insecticide

Second, a paring that probably shouldn't happen: Sapphire and Oamen. Sapphire has gotten some lucky attack rolls against him in previous encounters and the player is the type to hold grudges; locked in a room together the player would almost certainly kill Sapphire first and then try to escape. Worse, the player in question despises the real-world celebrity she is based on...

Third, a caveat that affects another obvious pairing (Defender and Disruptor) -- I don't think having Interface knock them out would go over well (the players would start chanting "railroading") so taking their foci may not be feasible. I might say he teleports the foci away, though... In which case the Flooding room would be the best choice for this pair.

The most obvious deathtrap for Hexadecimal is the hostage room -- her wide variety of forms makes anything else too easy to overcome, and it would be a wonderful RP schtick to confront the former Hexadecimal Heroine with

Finally, KnightSeeker should probably be in a deathtrap by himself. All of the players are likely to say "I kill Seeker out of nostalgia" if he's paired with one of them.

Any thoughts?

[lemming]

Originally posted by TheEmerged
Third, a caveat that affects another obvious pairing (Defender and Disruptor) -- I don't think having Interface knock them out would go over well (the players would start chanting "railroading") so taking their foci may not be feasible. I might say he teleports the foci away, though... In which case the Flooding room would be the best choice for this pair.

Well, to get them out of their suits, the villian of the piece is a computer whiz IIRC. One of the previous chapters could of introduced something to their systems to shut the suits down at the right moment.

Of course you should try to make it so that the pairings have to help each other to escape. Though I'm sure the players could find someway around that.

[TheEmerged]

Defender|Disruptor. I'm still torn about whether or not to take their foci.

PRO: It will make the Flooding deathtrap very appropriate and a challenge.
CON: Strong risk of both secret IDs being lost -- this will be a problem for both characters. Now Disruptor is also a master of disguise and wears one under his helment, and it's reasonable that James (Defender) would take a similar precaution (a mask under a mask). But in Disruptor's case he'd go for the mask...

Sapphire's deathtrap. This might be academic, since I doubt she'll be paired with a PC. Despite an initial temptation to put her in the Laser deathtrap because of her vulnerability, I have to rule it out because I gave her Missile Deflection. Perhaps I should simply make it the Quicksand trap with a descending ceiling...

Hexadecimal's pair. Who to lock in with Hexadecimal in the Hostage room? Sapphire would probably annoy the player. Knightseeker would be a good fit personality-wise (remember, he's got Seeker's personality) but the player might decide to kill him out of nostalgia. Jaguar is a possibility but somehow it doesn't seem an appropriate deathtrap for him. As for Solitaire... since I gave her the G&I setup on most of her powers Interface wouldn't need this trick to keep her in line.

Oamen's pair. I'd like to use Solitaire here, but I'm afraid she might be more appropriate in the room with Hexadecimal. I'd like to arrange a dilemma for this character, playing his ruthlessness off his instincts (and I emphasize character here because the player is actually a nice family man).

[TheEmerged]

Another proof God exists -- of a list of twelve potential opportunities, the PC's chose this one. So it's not academic anymore, this is session preparation.

PAIRINGS. Although I'm not 100% satisfied with the "hostage situation" pairing, it looks like I'm going with the following pairings.

• Ironclad/Sting in the pressure room, with insecticide added
• KnightSeeker/Sapphire in the laser light room (I decided Interface either hasn't discovered this ability or finds a way to nullify it).
• Defender/Disruptor in the flooding room, sans battlesuits & Disruptor's really big gun -- each wearing masks under their helmets and a GM that's trusting the player to realize the predicament instead of going for Defender's mask. Their equipment is outside Interface's quarters (so they'll have it for the showdown).
• Solitaire/Oamen in the "overkill" room -- lowering ceiling with pirhanna pool beneath the opening floor.
• Jaguar and Hexadecimal in the "hostage situation" room. Not a real good pairing from a role play standpoint, Hexie more or less gets the "leftover" Champion. The EvilGM in me is dying to see how the player reacts to this situation. It's really the only approrpaite room for her, given the wide variety of her forms.

Trick now is prepping the opposition -- Interface and his guardbots. I'd just post them but I'm pretty sure it would violate the policy about posting rewrites.

Interface. He's probably going to be facing the combined power of the Champions (perhaps minus a member or two) and the Ravagers (PC's). The Ravagers are in the 450 pt range and the Champions in the 500 pt range. I've pegged Interface at 1200 pts before perks.

First, he's going to get the MegaBoss treatment -- the Damager Reduction jumped from 25% to 75%. Since Solitaire and one of Hexadecimal's modes have impressive Ego Attacks and the Gadgeteer has a Mind Control against robots, I'm going to turn his "dual class mind" into an advantage and give him 50% Damage Reduction as well.

Next I'm jumping his personal defenses to 40 DEF Hard and bringing him to -4 Lack Of Weakness (enough that Ironclad still has a chance of FW but not a good one). Attack powers are mostly 15 DC, so that should make hurting him a challenge.

Then, to keep the PC's from engaging in the classic "forget the goons, concentrate on the boss" trick, I'm giving him an obscene Force Wall -- 20 DEF Hard for all defenses and -4 LoW (see above reasoning). It covers his "control chair" completely. On segment 4, Jaguar will get an INT roll (something far from a given for him) to use his double-penetrating slot against it. Otherwise it drops on the second segment 12 when its one turn charge dies. Additionally it is IAF Immobile, to represent that it's not coming from him but the defense system in the chair; the PC's can drop it if they destroy the appropriate computers in the room (five of them, one for each of the defense categories).

The 75-point multipower is okay, but I've upped the VPP to 75-pt as well. I added a couple of slots to the multipower to make him "bossier", like an AE NND and an Indirect slot to fire through the Force Wall.

Which brings us to the guardbots. I plan to produce several different kinds. The first thing I did was to take the "main" ones (listed in CB) and make slight variations -- to represent their ability to merge into a single, giant robot with a shield and sword

Which brings me to the first thing I would like some suggestions on -- how many of these "five-team" Guardbots should he have? The arm/leg bots are built on 350 pts (and the torso would be 350 but for the duplication power), but their DEF is weak (5 DEF, 13 BODY, Takes No Stun) and attacks somewhat weak for the campaign (8 DC range before advantages). The big bot is in 600 pt territory with 16 DEF and 20 DC attacks. All are SPD 4 (campaign average 6).

Next, any good ideas for some "fodder bots" in the 150-250 pt range? I'm working on a missile that drains DEF for example, any other good ones?

[zornwil]

Do you want the result to be: a tight contest but self-contained, this is the climax of a regular story arc and it caps a long period of activity, with the PCs kind of "expected" to win; or one more step in a larger story arc and/or you prefer 50/50 chances as to PCs stopping Interface; or you'd almost prefer to put the PCs into a death-trap or such after this or for other reasons want to stack the deck a bit to Interface's side?

Generally I'd guess that for the guardbots it'd be something like 4 teams on the low side (I'm assuming that between the Champoins and Ravagers there are plenty of AoEs going on) and up to 8 on the overwhelming side. That's really just a gut feel without study. I hope bumping will get others to answer.

What I'm more interested in is your fodder bot question, here's some ideas:

- Invisible Pow FX, Drain SPD
- Make some absolutely amazing at Reflection and give them a SPD boost, and nothing more - then when missiles go flying the lowly bots are amazing at deflecting them at heroes; may not be able to do it on 250 though
- Clairsentience UBO at range, so that they are cameras to Interface and the guardbots
- Teleport UAO is always nasty and fun
- Sticky entangle if you think bricks will go a-bustin'

[TheEmerged]

Do you want the result to be: a tight contest but self-contained, this is the climax of a regular story arc and it caps a long period of activity, with the PCs kind of "expected" to win; or one more step in a larger story arc and/or you prefer 50/50 chances as to PCs stopping Interface; or you'd almost prefer to put the PCs into a death-trap or such after this or for other reasons want to stack the deck a bit to Interface's side?

This is intended to be a tight contest that is part of an overarching plot; the PC's agreed to try and take out the Champions as part of another campaign plot. The deathtraps will be *before* this. I don't expect Interface to live (let alone escape) unless the players get a series of bad rolls or get stupid -- two of the players in question will adopt lifelong vendettas against Interface for what he's going to pull on them.

My goal is to make this a fight the players are going to remember, preferably one that makes it to the third turn.

What I'm more interested in is your fodder bot question, here's some ideas:

- Invisible Pow FX, Drain SPD
- Make some absolutely amazing at Reflection and give them a SPD boost, and nothing more - then when missiles go flying the lowly bots are amazing at deflecting them at heroes; may not be able to do it on 250 though
- Clairsentience UBO at range, so that they are cameras to Interface and the guardbots
- Teleport UAO is always nasty and fun
- Sticky entangle if you think bricks will go a-bustin'

Interesting thing about the one I put in bold -- one of the "five team combiner" bots is similar (15 OCV Deflection). Perhaps a Reflecting fodder-bot would still be called for

As for the entangle-bot, as it happens I built a "tangler bot" fodder last night. Basically they're designed to do a 50 STR grab and then do long-delay low-power (1d6) STR and END drains (5 pts per week). I gave them the Flying Grab, Flying Dodge, and Grappling block manuevers -- I expect grappling block in particular to be a nasty surprise.

I'll definitely give the others a trial build, especially camera-bots...