Team Growth

[Enforcer84]

I am full of it today. Questions that is.


Comic book characters evolve slowly and often against the will of fans and the companies themselves.

Technology based heroes change most often but everyone evolves, look at Iron Man, Spiderman even developed his "spider tracers" and different uses for his web fluid.

In Champions this can be done in more drastic ways rather easily. Aside from team comlinks, bases, and vehicles; have the groups you've played in (or GM'd) "helped eachother out?"

Case in point though they are NPC's I have always been fond of a group I made for my first campaign, The Tomorrow Legion. Basically they were a circle of friends (and uber geeks) from college who over the course of their young adulthood aquired superpowers either through accident or self achievement.
Each member of the team had a field of specialization (and I have updated them over the years as I have read more comics and seen more cool stuff). Basically they were like this:

Omniman ( a superman clone whose abilities came from a transware suit he developed) He never let on that the powers weren't his.
Gear (Powered Armor) Pretty Standard
Oni ( a bio chemist who developed a "super soldier"-esque formula. Giving himself Peak Human Stats, he then donned a battle suit that made him look like a monster, the suit was developed to look organic. (it even bled convincingly)
Kirin - a young lady with minor telepathic abilities, she became a world class specialist in artifical psionics. (and after the ultimate mentalist; Psionic Engineering).
Nightshade a martial arts enthusiest who developed a special "stealth suit" for what he thought was the Government, but turned out to be VIPER. He stole the suit and tries to pass its abilities off as "Ninja Magic" (ripped him off from Allies)
Dynaman (Electromagnetic based powersuit)
Bengal ( genetesist who accdentally gained tiger like abilities when exposed to one of his genome mapping experiments)
Later I added an all round gadgeer named Bianca White. She didn't use a secret ID.

well, all these characters were scientists, close friends, and confidants in the scheme that most didn't truely have superpowers, though this was less dramatic a secret as I originally planned as they proved to be quite powerful and capable. The source of their powers was not the earth shattering secret I had envisioned.
Over the course of the campaign the PC's met them about six times. The first three encounters were standard, but on the fourth the Legion was noticably stronger as a team, many of their original weaknesses were elimnated or lessened and their abilities were enhanced.
Here's why, Bianca and Oni perfected his formula so that it didn't negatively effect people who lacked his genetic code, everyone suddenly had access to Peak Human Physical stats. Kirin developed implanted psionic com-links/defense mechanisms so the team had constant telepathic communication, and she also added a psychic beacon so they could easily find each other. Omniman and Dynaman working together managed to reduce their suits vulnerabilities, and add some new features, Gear, who's original designs were more elaborate than he could afford, now had the backing of a successful team and a conglomerate of tech companies that the various members had started in their secret Id's.
Not to mention that the members constantly worked as support for eachother, their technologies advanced a lightning speed, and by the sixth time they encountered the PC's Omniman had, using nanotechnology, internalized his powers, Oni could telepathically alter his "bioarmor", Dynaman had developed into a manipulator of incredible flexibiliy, etc...

admitedly this was just done by adding points to them but it was using their backgrounds to rationalize the changes. This and the concept that they were a team and would natureally want to help eachother hadn't occured to me when I was a player.

So, to sum it up, when you look to spend XP, do you ever look at your fellow PC's for aid or ideas?

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Enforcer84


So, to sum it up, when you look to spend XP, do you ever look at your fellow PC's for aid or ideas?

No, never. See, TT wise at least, I have no 'fellow PCs'. I am the eternal GM, doomed forever to create the universe, yet never be OF that Universe. I am forever....
alone.

Okay, my that was dramatic. Actually, I am in a few PBEMs, but it's sort of akward for me to pester anyone beyond the GM. I have been TTed once or twice, but it was never a 'team' thing. Just a friend as GM, and me solo.

[CrosshairCollie]

Closest we've ever come in most of my game is the team Mentalist teaching Mental Defense to the rest of the team by repeatedly blasting them with Ego Attacks until they go mercifully numb.

*ZAP!*
"Did that hurt?" "Yes."
*Zap*
"Did that hurt?" "Yes."
*Zap*
"Did that hurt?" "Yes."
*ZAP!*
"Did that hurt? ... Hello?"

[Enforcer84]

THat might work.
...Have the brick punch them and see if their PD increases.

[CrosshairCollie]

Maybe, but you have to wonder if ulterior motives were involved when the mentalist's player bounces up and down in her chair, waving her arms and chanting, "I CAN HELP! I CAN HELP!" when the topic comes up ...

[death tribble]

With the original campaign, we had several gadgeteers and scientists as well as a master/disciple relationship. So that could help. Usually radiation accidents vastly increased the power of people and only they could do anything with it.

The gadgeteers usually made stuff for people to use like radioes. etc.

But this really came into its own when Arachneida lost her powers. Basically a Spiderman clone, she was possessed by one of the Lords of Chaos. And then one person had the idea of neutralizing that by having a champion of Order touch her. This neutralized her powers completely.
So the character had no powers but some training. Until the gadgeteer did them up a new costume, weapons, a bike and armour.

Similarly when the Flame's powers were taken away he got a fire gun and armour and three battlesuits which were adapted from somethin a villain used against us. And the GM did his utmost to destroy all of this. Pure Spite really.

[Storn]

>. Bianca White.<<<

White White? <g>

[johnflang]

In my case it was a little different. I had a wizard who had a VPP. I was relatively new to Hero and did not realize/appreciate how powerful I was. In his third group there was a power suit player who had vaiable advantage. After he used it in combat quite effectively, I asked him how he did it. He explained to me and my wizard tried it with his spells and all of sudden for no xp spent my power went up.

There have been several instance of the longer we work together developing tatics/stunts to make the group more effective.