Dark Champions Campaigns

[Killer Shrike]

With the release of DC coming on us soon, and with some of us looking at the playtest version currently, I thought it might be interesting to start a thread on specifically Dark Champions campaigns some of us have run in the past, and some of the elements that made them memorable.

So how 'bout it?

[Killer Shrike]

Ill lead off.

All of my Champions campaigns are a bit Dark by most folks reckoning, but not too long ago (2 or 3 years ago) I ran a specifically Dark Champions game.

It was a cyberpunk/metahuman meld, 250 points, high lethality game. The original PC's were all metahumans that had been developed by a typically unscrupulous megacorp, and were busted loose by accident during a competeing corporation-sponsored raid carried out by a mercenary company.

The PC's were rescued, but basically had to earn their keep and thus took to trying to start up as a cyberpunk style runner team.


The PCs were Fortress (FF/Super Strength), Wyatt (Laser Emission), Triage (sympathetic healer/regenerator), Farad (energy form/electrical), and Ghost (Mind Controller/Mental Invis). Farad got killed and was replaced by Doc Sparx, a cyborg inventor with a Gadget Pool.


Some of the notable enemies faced included several cyborgs, the most powerful of which were a full conversion mini-gun toting borg called the Swede, some other metahumans, the most memorable of which were probably Callidus a time manipulating metahuman and Lasher a hyper-reflexes scrapper type with a nasty NND Does Body nueral whip and some other weapons.


America didnt exist as such anymore, having collapsed into a dystopic megacorp controlled rigid anarchy. Typical cyberpunk spin. Cops are a contracted company, the only real law is might = right, and it's not what you can do, it's what you can get away with. There was no real seperation between Canada, US, and Mexico anymore; you just eventually reached a point where the urban sprawl stopped and nobody really cared what happend much beyond that.


The campaign was a lot of fun while it lasted, mixing elements of superheroes and cyberpunk.

[Killer Shrike]

Guess Im the only GM to ever run a DC campaign? Apparantly?

[Mark Taylor]

Guess Im the only GM to ever run a DC campaign? Apparantly?

Well I intend to run one in the future. Does that count?

[Killer Shrike]

Well I intend to run one in the future. Does that count?

Sure. Give up the skinny.

[Eosin]

I think KS is already aware of the last DC game I was in

I am looking forward to the new game and even have my character built for it but I will let Eddie toot his own horn when it comes to describing the setting and game.

[Killer Shrike]

I think KS is already aware of the last DC game I was in

I am looking forward to the new game and even have my character built for it but I will let Eddie toot his own horn when it comes to describing the setting and game.

You mean http://www.killershrike.com/theomegateam ?

[Mark Taylor]

Actually this is a campaign idea I've had for quite a while, and just recently reading the description of the forthcoming Hudson City I realised that would be the almost perfect setting in which to run it. I don't want to give too much away in case any of my future players read it (well I've been introducing two groups of players to HERO System just lately. Hey guys, STOP READING NOW ) but basically the PCs would be a group of 'exceptionally talented' individuals (perhaps one might be a psychic, another a legendary former homicide cop, another a highly successful vigilante, and so forth) who are called in by the police department to help them solve a series of freakish and bizarre murders they are unable to find any leads for. The investigation draws the PCs into the criminal underworld, where eventually they discover that the source of the murders is even more bizarre than the killings themselves - it is rooted in a malign supernatural force - and stopping them isn't going to be anything as simple as merely catching and arresting the perpetrator...

[Korvar]

I was kinda sorta running a street-level idealistic campaign. But it kinda petered out... my spare time is, well, less than it used to be.

[Resartus]

I'm converting Gurps Black Ops to Hero and Dark Champions will be a big help. I really like what I've seen in the playtest, I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy.

Black Ops is sort of "Weird" Spec Ops setting in the same way that Deadlands is "Wierd" wild west. The setting is a little bit MIB, a lot of special operations, a little supernatural, and definitely over the top cinematic fun. The starting characters will probably be 500 pts in a heroic style campaign (long skill lists).

I'll be adding my own stuff to it as well. I've got an old campaign that I ran years ago that had a very similar background so I'm merging them together and converting them to Hero/Dark Champions. I'm very happy with it so far, the supernatural abilities are much easier to model in Hero than they were in Gurps. I'll post some more details after the game starts, I don't want any of my players to see what their in for before things get rolling.

[zornwil]

Uh, sorry, KS, should have put the thread I just posted here, just saw this as I am catching up as I go...

[RDU Neil]

This was my thread, before there was a Dark Champions forum. It was a dramatic experiment that worked really well as a story telling vehicle, but the game fell apart due to group dynamics issues. Folks seemed to enjoy reading about it, though...

Secret Worlds, it was called. Maybe I'll return to this, someday, it died pre-maturely.

http://www.herogames.com/forums/show...=Secret+Worlds

[Greatwyrm]

I'm hoping to run a game similar to the Dark*Matter setting for TSR's old Alternity system. I'm trying to find ways to integrate it with some events from a Spycraft game I ran about a year ago, too. Maybe even have the group run into some of their old characters, who don't realize the "supernatural" department even exists in their organization.

[Edsel]

Since this is a thread dealing with DC campaigns. And since my old Omega Team campaign has been mentioned already. And since Eosin aluded to the next campaign I am working on. I thought I go ahead and post the Intro that I sent to my players the other day for my future Conclave Campaign. This intro is a little heavy into the supernatural but I am still fleshing this out, particularly the happenings from World War I onward. Also note that this intro borrows from the anime Hellsing.

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The world of the Conclave is not present day earth. The Conclave world is a parallel in which various monsters (vampires, werewolves, etc.) really do exist. It is also a world in which the Vatican, the Church of England and other religious groups take a much more active hand in world events. For instance the Vatican is rumored to have its tactical anti-terrorist team. Most technology is the same as today but some higher tech stuff also exists.

The Conclave is a secret organization devoted to counter-terrorism, anti-crime (usually of the organized and international variety) and paranormal intervention. The Conclave grew from a gang of vigilantes (the Battery Boys) that operated in turn-of-the-century New York. The purpose of the original gang was to protect innocents from the excesses of the powerful gangs that dominated New York City during this era. By chance the activities of this group came to the attention of Theodore Roosevelt, who was at that time the head of the NYC Police Commission. Commissioner Roosevelt covertly supported the group in their activities. In return they assisted Roosevelt in rooting out criminal activity that the corruption-riddled NYPD could not touch.

When Teddy became the governor of New York he continued to support the group whose scope became statewide. Once he became President in 1901 he enlisted the aid of his new friend and former western lawman Bat Masterson to give the group some strong leadership. Masterson had just moved to NYC and had taken a job as a sports columnist; his press access and celebrity status was an added boon. Though the group still operated primarily in New York they now roamed nationwide when the President called. It was at about this time that group had their first encounter with a vampire.

Roosevelt and Masterson were horrified to learn of the existence of this creature. If vampires were not myths, what other legendary horrors might lurk in the shadows of America's bustling cities? Fortunately this vampire was slain by the group and its true nature was covered up. As far as the world was concerned, Andrew Haswell Green (the vampire) was slain by a deranged Negro on November 11, 1903.

During one of Masterson's visits to the White House it was agreed by the two friends to seek outside help. They quietly contacted Cardinal John Murphy Farley the Catholic Archbishop of NY and the Reverend Robert Jenkins Nevin, an influential Episcopalian priest and former army major who was an acquaintance of Roosevelt. These people put Roosevelt's organization in contact with the Catholic Church's secret Section 13, the Iscariot Organization and the Church of England's Hellsing Organization, the Royal Order of Protestant Knights. A secret meeting was arranged for January 15, 1904.

During the meeting it quickly became apparent that the Iscariot Organization and the Hellsing Organization were not on very good terms with each other, in fact they nearly came to blows at the start of the meeting. Once peace was established Sir James Alexander Hellsing and Father Julius Caballero confirmed that various creatures of the night were not myth, they were real dangers that had to be combated. Iscariot had secretly been combating these creatures in the US for decades and, to a much lesser extent, so had the Hellsing Organization. Iscariot was definitely the more powerful organization and roamed across the world wherever Catholics were present. The Hellsing Organization was much smaller and mainly confined itself to the UK. In fact a treaty, that was more like a non-aggression pact, dictated that Iscariot could not operate within Protest England and likewise Hellsing would stay out of Catholic Europe. The two organizations had similar goals but their religious differences precluded their working together for these aims. In the end Hellsing was more willing to share information than the Vatican's Section 13.

From this meeting a new organization was founded and it was agreed that it would handle happenings inside the US. This new organization would be called the Conclave since its inception was a product of the conclave of churches held this night. To this day the Conclave has had a more open relationship with Hellsing than it has with Iscariot. Iscariot seems to view itself as the rightful authority for the entire Christian world. The US government would secretly fund the Conclave. The Vatican was unwilling to support a new organization that they felt was not necessary and Hellsing was too strapped for cash to offer anything but advice and information.

The original Battery Boys formed the nucleus of the Conclave. The group continued their covert crime fighting for the US government under President Roosevelt. In 1905 Bat Masterson was appointed US Deputy Marshal for the southern district of NY. This new position assisted in granting the secret organization legitimacy as the rest of the membership was secretly deputized as well.

It was decided that since, werewolves and the like were thankfully rare, the organization's continued crime fighting would help keep the agent's skills sharp. Besides their original purpose was still valuable and needed when "untouchable" criminals arose. By the time Teddy Roosevelt left office the Conclave was established as the first of the US's black ops groups.

With the outbreak of World War I the Conclave was called upon to perform another function for America. German saboteurs attempted to infiltrate into the United States during the war and the Conclave proved to be the organization that was best suited to battle this new threat. In a country unprepared for war, the operatives of the Conclave were a godsend. Before the close of the war the Conclave was used outside the US for the first time in several raids on hidden German bases in the south Pacific.

Today the Conclave is the most secret organization in the United States. The government funds its existence covertly but fewer than a dozen people outside of the Conclave know what all its duties are. The military and many law enforcement agencies know of the Conclave's existence but it is believed by them to be a special crimes intervention unit of some sort. It is thought that the members' identities are kept secret to prevent revenge strikes or infiltration by terrorist cells and organized crime.

The Conclave basically battles three things in the world: Organized crime, International (and domestic) terrorists, and paranormal horrors. The players are members of this agency. They have access to state of the art equipment and firepower; they even have national police powers. However they must accomplish their tasks while drawing as little public attention as possible. Their true purpose and the nature of some of their enemies must remain a secret to the public as a whole.

This campaign will be based in Hudson City. I will reuse some of the stuff I created for the Omega Team and the new 5th Edition Dark Champions stuff will continue to feature the city. However the Conclave characters will see much more national, and some international travel. The organization is so secret that often their own government will be unaware of all of their activities. In addition there are other covert units with a similar charter scattered about the world and due to political and religious strife in the campaign world today's enemy may be tomorrows ally, and vise versa.

NOTE: All of the above named people (with the exception of Hellsing and Iscariot personel) are/were real people.

[Peregrine]

I'm converting Gurps Black Ops to Hero and Dark Champions will be a big help. I really like what I've seen in the playtest, I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy.

Black Ops is sort of "Weird" Spec Ops setting in the same way that Deadlands is "Wierd" wild west. The setting is a little bit MIB, a lot of special operations, a little supernatural, and definitely over the top cinematic fun. The starting characters will probably be 500 pts in a heroic style campaign (long skill lists).

I'll be adding my own stuff to it as well. I've got an old campaign that I ran years ago that had a very similar background so I'm merging them together and converting them to Hero/Dark Champions. I'm very happy with it so far, the supernatural abilities are much easier to model in Hero than they were in Gurps. I'll post some more details after the game starts, I don't want any of my players to see what their in for before things get rolling.

PLEASE post your details! I'm a huge fan of the GURPS Black Ops concept, and I don't have the time to convert it myself!