Greetings Heroes,
I have been slowly coming up with a concept for a Champions campaign, and I am wondering if I am missing anything. So, I am opening it up for comments to the massmind here to shine the bright (if sometimes oddly colored) light of truth on my ideas.
I present for your consideration, the draft of my "announcement" flyer (the text of it anyway). There are a few things you should keep in mind as you read this:
- It has been quite a while since I last ran a Champions game, so I am trying to start it simple. I may add complexity as I get back into the groove.
- Most (if not all) those who will be playing have never played Champions, so I am trying to start it simple. However, they will likely be veteran roleplayers, so I want to keep it interesting.
- There are several things that I am keeping "undecided" at this stage, because I want to base the answer on the specific characters involved and the specifics of the game as it develops. To this end, I have a few NPCs selected, but many of the supervillains will occur based on the specific characters in the game (their backgrounds and/or weaknesses).
- I do not yet have Sidekick, but I hope to obtain it before the campaign would start.
I want to know what questions will come up that should be answered here but aren't, or any glaring issues that I need to address.
Thank you,
--Jim Tetrick
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Power Cycles
BE A HERO!
Power Cycles is a superhero roleplaying campaign using the Hero System and Champions.
SETTING
The campaign is set in an alternate-history version of Cedar Rapids, where super-human powers are beginning to re-emerge after 30 years without super heroes. Nobody knows why superpowers were gone for so long, or why they are returning now, or why Cedar Rapids is the center of it.
Timeline
1938 Super Humans first emerge
* Shadowy "Masked Men" fight unseen villainous powers.
1940-1945 Super Humans in WWII (on both sides)
* Mostly engaged enemy supers
1945-55 Post-War Supers and McCarthyism
* Many Supers accused for not revealing true identities.
* Superhuman Registration laws passed.
1960-70 The Magic Fades
* Fewer (then no) new supers appear each year
1971 The last super hero retires
* Superhuman Registration laws never repealed, just ignored.
1971-1980 The Game is Afoot (Normals Ascendant)
* Both police and criminals re-learn how to go on without supers.
1988-1994 Criminals Organize
* Gang "mergers" create more powerful criminal organizations.
1994-1998 The Cedar Rapids Gang Wars
* Three large criminal organizations war openly in CR.
* Police ill-equipped to stop it, and several become corrupt.
* Ends without clear victor.
The PCs are new Super Heroes. They have only one "power," but they may develop a couple different ways to use it. For example, a PC with a "power concept" of "ice control" may use it to shoot ice crystals at an opponent (energy blast) and also to freeze an opponent's feet to the ground (entangle). The simpler you keep the powers, the easier it will be to design the characters. As the PCs gain experience, they may expand their repertoire of applications of their power, or maybe even add completely new powers.
Detailed backgrounds for the Player Characters are **VERY IMPORTANT**. These backgrounds should include (but not be limited to):
1) Who was this person before they had a super power?
a) Who was/is important in their life?
b) What do they have to do (job/school/?)?
c) What do they do to maintain their sanity?
2) How did they get their power (do they know how)?
a) Mutants are (almost) always acceptable.
b) Gadgeteers/Tech origins will be screened carefully.
c) Accidental/Created origins will depend on the backstory.
d) Mystics/magical beings are discouraged at this time.
e) Alien beings are discouraged at this time.
3) How/when did they realize that they were "different?"
a) Was anyone else around at the time?
b) Does anyone else know?
c) Was anyone hurt when the power first appeared?
4) How are they dealing with their new abilities?
a) What are their beliefs as to why they have the power?
b) Have they always had heroic intentions?
5) What is their outlook on life?
a) what will/won't they do to achieve their goals?
b) what do they love/hate?
c) what clubs/groups/cliques do they associate with?
Early stories/arcs will be simpler affairs with more direct action, and as the campaign matures, so will the stories. Later stories/arcs will build upon the depth established during the earlier stories, with new twists and bits added for flavor.
Here are my initial thoughts for continuing campaign guidelines, but these will be open for discussion during the first couple of sessions.
Morality: 3
1 Good vs. Bad is black & white;
2 Good vs. Bad is mostly clear-cut;
3 Some cross over between Good vs. Bad;
4 There is little difference between good and bad;
5 Morality is always in shades of gray;
The Good Guys do good because they know it is right. The Bad Guys do bad because they think it is the right thing to do at the time. Most of them either know what they do is wrong and do it anyway (see previous sentence), or they are criminally insane, and thus think they are doing right. There might be a Villain that thinks they are doing the right thing (Robin Hood-style), and may even have some sympathy from the public. I want to steer away from Heroes that are morally ambiguous, or do the wrong things for the right reasons (e.g. indiscriminately killing villains that the law cannot touch).
Realism: 3
1 Very romantic;
2 Romantic;
3 Neutral;
4 Realistic;
5 Extremely realistic
I will try to keep a balance between realism and 'comic book realism' -- I don't want any single-shot kill attacks, but I don't want this to look like a Doctor Strange comic either.
Outlook: 2
1 Everything works out - Very Optimistic;
2 Almost everything works out;
3 Successes balanced by failures;
4 Successes are rare;
5 Almost nothing works out - Very Pessimistic
I think it is more fun for everyone if a lot of the stroies work out, even if they do not appear to do so at the end of any one play session. That being said, there will be times that the long-term story needs will outweigh the immediate players' desire to catch a Villain. Let's face it -- in the comics, most mastermind-level Villains have an escape planned just in case some Hero foils their plans. And it would be no fun if the Heroes catch the Mastermind in the second session, not knowing who he really is.
Seriousness: 3
1 Very light-hearted - Campaign plays for laughs;
2 Mostly light-hearted;
3 Seriousness balanced by light-hearted;
4 More seriousness than light-hearted;
5 Almost entirely serious
There will be some stories that will be run purely for fun, and some that have deep implications or revelations regarding one or more story arcs. I will try to make sure that each of the PCs has some kind of "spotlight episode" that will focus on aspects of their character's background or abilities (sometimes humorously).
Continuity: 4
1 Episodic - No effort is made to tie the adventures together;
2 Mostly episodic, with some continuing stories;
3 Some long stories and some episodic ones;
4 Mostly serial, some enforcement of campaign continuity;
5 Entirely serial - everything must fit into the storyline
There will be continuing story arcs that expand the game world and the PCs understanding of it, and there will be single sessions that have nothing to do with anything else. But I reserve the right to take anything said or done by any character in any game session and use it in a later session. I will bring the PCs backgrounds into the story, and I expect the players to play as if their past and present actions have future consequences (because they will). There will be recurring characters (NPCs), and things that happen in previous game sessions will persist in later sessions (e.g. if a building is destroyed, it will stay destroyed, or will take some time to rebuild).
For anyone who has used Champions before, here are some Character Building Guidelines (don't worry if these don't mean anything to you right now):
<table align="center" width="60%">
<tr><td>Starting Points for PCs:</td>
<td>150</td></tr>
<tr><td>Maximum Disadvantage Points for PCs:</td>
<td>100</td></tr>
<tr><td>Max points from one Disadvantage Category:</td>
<td>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>Charaters automatically have Normal Characteristic Maxima disdvantage at no point value:</td>
<td>NO</td></tr>
<tr><td>Character can carry normal technology (weapons, etc) at no cost:</td>
<td>NO</td></tr>
</table>
<table align="center" width="60%">
<tr><th><b>Power Levels</b></th><th><b>Beginning Range</b></th><th><b>Maximum</b></th></tr>
<tr><td>Characteristics</td><td>10-30</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>SPD</td><td>3-6</td><td>8</td></tr>
<tr><td>CV</td><td>3-9</td><td>11</td></tr>
<tr><td>DC</td><td>6-10</td><td>12</td></tr>
<tr><td>Active Pts</td><td>40-75</td><td>75</td></tr>
<tr><td>DEF/rDEF</td><td>tbd</td><td>12/6</td></tr>
<tr><td>Skill Rolls</td><td>depends</td><td>tbd</td></tr>
</table>
<table align="center" width="60%">
<tr><th><b>Campaign Rules</b></th></tr>
<tr><td>Combat Uses Hit Locations Chart</td><td>for Flavor only</td></tr>
<tr><td>Knockdown Rules Used</td><td>NO</td></tr>
<tr><td>Long-Term Endurance Rules Used</td><td>NO</td></tr>
<tr><td>Limited Push</td><td>NO</td></tr>
</table>
Campaign Concept RFC
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Originally Posted by Vanguard00
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