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new to champions and a bit confused


starbeet

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so me and my group are looking to start a new table top role playing game, after the rigged feeling dungeon and dragons and the heavy story based world of darkness; needless to say that I chose champions as our next game because I hear it's action driven and has room for creativity. so I bought champions complete and have read though most of it and as the title says it has left me a bit confused.

 

I hope someone (or preferably many of you) can help me work past this be answering some of my questions

 

-is there a resource that can explain the character sheet more clearly and/or more in-depth (it's just something I would prefer to not make assumptions about)?   

 

-should I focus on mastering the mechanics using premade character or make a few character and familiarize with the process so I can more easily guide me companions in creating the characters they want?

 

-for a super heroic campaign what are average stats? are the examples in the book the norm with there 12d6 attacks? if so why do there defenses seem so low? 

 

-how do you gamers go about building enemies (from a punk kid pick pocket to a world ending beast)?  

 

these seems like a good start, thanks to anyone who read through this, and special thanks to anyone who replied.

 

please feel free to give me any tips you would give any other new game master or player, for champions :winkgrin:

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Starting out, I'd suggest for the first session having some pre-made characters for your players to choose from.  I don't know how many players you have, but you can use the Champions from the back of CC, or I'm sure you can find some characters here to fit the bill.

 

The norm for a standard superheroic campaign is about 10-12 DC (10-12d6 Blast, or 5-6 Mental Blast, etc.)  Average on a 12d6 roll is 42 points, which would hurt but not CON-stun someone like Defender with 20 ED and 25 CON.  Some of the defenses (like Witchcraft's, or Kinetic's when he isn't moving) are a bit low, but most are in the 20-25 range which is good enough.

 

As to tips, I'd suggest making sure to give the villains (and NPCs) some personality.  Don't just play them as collections of stats and abilities; if you're creating a villain, give him some Psychological Complications or odd powers that make him memorable.  A lot of this has to do with knowing your players, so I can't give concrete examples that would fit your game 100%.  But as a few examples from my own experience, I've had a VIPER Nest Leader with a crush on one of the superheroines; a brand-new villain who thought his powers were so kewl he had to crow about every single one and telegraphed his attacks; a telekinetic kid whose special effects were all 3-D cartoon characters; a villain whose powers simply didn't work on a specific hero and vice versa (thanks to a lab accident both were affected by).  I think you get the picture. 

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Defenses look low, but if they get too high then things bog down. One thing to keep in mind is that most attacks will only manage to do Stun Damage to a character - which is a quickly diminishing & replenishing stat in combat; at least as long as Players remember that Recovery is as important a Characteristic as any other in a combat situation.

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Killetshrike.com is a great resource for understanding Hero System.

 

The Hero System in two pages is a must for everyone and keeps first time players from being overwhelmed.

 

GMing Tips:

1. If you have a Rules Lawyer in the group he is you Co-GM.

2. If using premade Characters do not use ENDurance to start.

3. Inititive; Starts with Phase 12 The count Phase 1, 2, 3, call it outloud.

4. Minions do not get Post Phase 12 Recovery of STUN and END.

5. Use a Danger Room or Open Battle Map to learn and teach movement.

6. It is a game have fun.

7. Always start an adventure with PCs crimefighting activities. Mugger, bank robber, etc., especially to remind the how powerful they are.

8. Heroes always make a difference. The Media, the Police cooperation, the hot dog vender you save feeds the speedsters hyper metabolism, etc...

9. Reward creative actuons, humorous moments in game.

10. Keep track of Rules questions to discuss after the session. Or take a vote to deal with them immediately. Use the Rules Lawyer as your personal google.

 

Thats to start.?;)

 

QM

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I'd encourage you to try out pre-made characters and do a couple of fights to get comfortable with the system.  All you really need to know to get started are a few things:

 

HITTING

Rolling to hit is your OCV vs their DCV (offensive combat value vs defensive combat value).  You're trying to roll an 11 or lower on 3d6.

The easy way to remember is Your OCV +11, minus what you roll on 3d6.  That gives you the DCV you hit; anything at that DCV or lower, you hit.

 

DEALING DAMAGE

Damage is done in one of two basic ways.  Either you do "normal" damage, like a punch, or "killing" damage like a knife.  All basic damage is to body and stun.

Normal damage, you roll the dice and count the spots; that's your stun damage.  Take the number of dice, and add any 6's you rolled.  Subtract any 1's you rolled.  That's the body damage it did.

Killing damage, you roll the dice and count the spots; that's your body damage.  Roll a d3 and multiply that by the body damage; that's the stun damage you did.

 

Stun is how much damage you can take before you are knocked out.

Body is how much damage you can take before you start to die.

 

NORMAL DAMAGE

With normal attacks, you subtract your PD (Physical Defense) from any physical damage - body and stun - and apply the rest.  Whatever got through, apply to their Stun and Body total, as appropriate.

So if you hit someone with a baseball bat, rolled 6d6 and got a result of 23 stun and 7 body, you'd apply the target's PD to that damage.  Let's say you hit Bob, who has 8 PD.  So he subtracts 8 from 23 for 15 stun.  He subtracts 8 from 7 and takes 0 body.  Your bat didn't break any bones, but it rang Bob's bell pretty good, reducing his stun total by 15 points.

 

KILLING DAMAGE

With killing attacks, you don't always get your PD to protect you.  Knives and other stuff cut through regular people better than fists.

You reduce the stun damage of a killing attack as normal with PD, just like above.

But body damage you don't reduce any, unless the target is wearing some kind of protection or has scales, called "resistant" defenses.  So an armored knight or a dragon can ignore some of the body from a killing attack, but Bob in his wife beater and board shorts cannot.

So if you hit Bob with a sword, rolled 2d6, and got a result of 7 body and 14 stun, you'd apply his PD to the stun, but not the Body.  You stab Bob, and he takes his 8 PD away from the stun and suffers 6 stun, but 0 from the body, and takes the full 7.  Bob is reconsidering naming you best man if he gets married.

 

Let's say Bob wore a flak jacket so he had some resistant defenses.  The flak jacket gives, say 3 PD resistant (usually called rPD).  This total is added to his normal PD as well, so now he has 11 PD and 3 rPD -- 3 of it is 'resistant' so it blocks body damage.  Now your knife is less effective, the above roll does only 3 stun, and 4 body, because he subtracts that rPD from the body damage.

 

RESULTS OF DAMAGE

When your character reaches 0 stun, he's unconscious.  When your character reaches 0 body, he's bleeding to death.  At a number equal to -body (say you have 12 body, then you have to go to -12) you die.

 

BEING STUNNED

If you suffer so much stun, after your defenses, that it exceeds your Constitution score, then you are stunned for a phase.  In this time your DCV is halved, and you can take no actions except to recover from being stunned.  Lets say Bob has a Constitution of 12 when you hit him with the baseball bat, above.  He suffered 15 stun through his defenses, so he's stunned one phase and can do nothing other than get over that.

 

RECOVERING

You can get back stun (and endurance, but lets not worry about that until you're more familiar with the system) with your Recovery stat.  Each phase you spend doing nothing except recovering, you gain a number of Stun equal to your Recovery stat.  At the end of each turn right after segment 12, everyone gets a free recovery, gaining back Stun and END equal to their recovery score.  You recover Body back from the same stat, but at a much slower rate.  Note: if you are stunned, you must spend a phase recovering from being stunned before you can begin getting any Endurance or Stun back.  Sometimes you can be both knocked unconscious and stunned by an attack; that was a really, really hard hit.

 

SPEED

Speed is how often you move.  Each "turn" of combat is made up of 12 seconds, called 'segments.'

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

Your speed is divided as evenly as possible along this 12-second turn, showing which 'phase' you move on.  The higher your speed, the more you move in a turn.

The normal untrained person has a speed of 2.  This mean he moves on phase 6 and 12:

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

 

If you're faster, you move more often.  Most superheroes are 4-6 speed for example:

SPEED FOUR

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

 

SPEED FIVE

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

 

SPEED SIX

1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

 

Everyone always moves on segment 12.  The faster you are, the more dangerous and effective you are in combat, but speed is very expensive, so you give up other things to get that fast.

 

SKILLS

You'll see almost all skill shave a roll, often abbreviated like 12-.  This means that, as a base use of the skill, you succeed on a roll of 3d6 on a result of 12 or lower.  All skill rolls and "to hit" rolls are done with "roll low:"  the lower you roll, the better.  Your GM will apply modifiers to this roll based on your circumstances, time allowed, the difficulty of the task, tools available, and so on.

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Christopher Taylor is your best friend in situations like this. He is real good at breaking the system down for newbies. I would avoid his character designs though; they are way over-engineered, IMO, but that's a common symptom of someone who knows the game system perhaps a little too well. ;-)

 

I feel a little sorry for newbies trying to learn the Hero System today. Many of them have the same rpg experiences I had before I first read the Champions rulebook, but they are having far more difficulty than I ever did. I feel the main reason for that is the escalation of complexity that began with 5e. Back in its 2nd edition days, the game was quite a bit simpler. Characters were built on half as many points and the example heroes and villains were easy to study and digest. I almost feel compelled to tell newbies to start with 2nd edition, then move on to 4th edition. Transitioning someday to 6e is entirely optional, in my view, since there is little benefit in doing so unless you play in a veteran group that has long-standing bones to pick with 5e.

 

So I guess my best advice is to find a used copy of 4th edition on eBay and learn the fundamentals from that. Don't be surprised, though, if you never find a reason or need to use any other edition.

 

As an aside, did Champions Complete forget to include the usual page on typical point totals for different types of characters (Normal, Competent Normal, Talented Normal, Hero, Super Hero, Cosmic Hero, etc.) styles of campaigns?

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so me and my group are looking to start a new table top role playing game, after the rigged feeling dungeon and dragons and the heavy story based world of darkness; needless to say that I chose champions as our next game because I hear it's action driven and has room for creativity. so I bought champions complete and have read though most of it and as the title says it has left me a bit confused.

 

I hope someone (or preferably many of you) can help me work past this be answering some of my questions

 

-is there a resource that can explain the character sheet more clearly and/or more in-depth (it's just something I would prefer to not make assumptions about)? 

  

 

Do you have specific questions about the character sheet?

 

 

 

-should I focus on mastering the mechanics using premade character or make a few character and familiarize with the process so I can more easily guide me companions in creating the characters they want?

 

Yes

 

 

-for a super heroic campaign what are average stats? are the examples in the book the norm with there 12d6 attacks? if so why do there defenses seem so low? 

 

I use Hero System for fantasy, so I'm less familiar with superheroics. But as has been pointed out, while the defenses seem low, they're high enough to prevent most BOD damage, and STUN damage usually comes back very quickly.

 

If defenses are too high, very little damage gets through and it's RECovered almost at once, so fights drag on and on.

 

 

-how do you gamers go about building enemies (from a punk kid pick pocket to a world ending beast)?  

 

For a typical street scum criminal, assume characteristics at the starting level for player characters or a couple of points lower, plus minimal Skills and abilities related to their racket. A slash-and-run purse snatcher for example probably wouldn't even have Sleight of Hand (the Skill used by a real pro for picking pockets) at more than Familiarity (8 or less) but would have extra Running and Leaping, a knife bought as a very small Killing Attack, a DCV of 4, and maybe Concealment Skill (to dump the purse someplace it can be retrieved later.)

 

For supervillains, try to gauge them against the player characters. Things to keep in mind:

 

SPD is the number of actions the character gets. If a villain is too low on SPD, they'll never be able to keep up; they can't respond fast enough to all the things the players do. If a single villain is to take on a whole team, they may want to have a SPD significantly higher than any player character; if a team of villains takes on heroes of equal number, they should probably have similar SPD. Also, be wary of a big difference in SPD among player characters; 4 to 6 is probably good.

 

Compare Combat Values. A difference of 3 or even 2 pts between one character's OCV and their target's DCV could be bigger than you think. If OCV is 5 and the target is DCV 8, you only hit on an 8 or less - and if you don't think that's bad, try rolling 3d6 a couple of dozen times and see how often it comes up. But remember that a lot of things can change combat values: Skill Levels, Dodging, etc.

 

Compare attacks to defenses. If most attacks are 12d6 of Normal Damage, and a villain has PD or ED of 20 and CON of 15, they are probably going to be stunned the first time they're hit. I tend to make this mistake - skimping on defense while letting players go wild on damage...so do as I say, not as I do, unless you too want to mourn the defeat of villains you had touted as frighteningly powerful.

 

 

World Ending Beast: I'll get back to you on that if I make one....

 

these seems like a good start, thanks to anyone who read through this, and special thanks to anyone who replied.

 

please feel free to give me any tips you would give any other new game master or player, for champions :winkgrin:

 

Try a few practice combats with pregenerated characters first.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary is a word ending beast

 

 

 

 

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As an aside, did Champions Complete forget to include the usual page on typical point totals for different types of characters (Normal, Competent Normal, Talented Normal, Hero, Super Hero, Cosmic Hero, etc.) styles of campaigns?

 

So, it has a couple charts that relate to this; there is the "character types guideline table" on pg. 9, which has the CP/Complications totals for different types of characters.  Then pg. 190 has some written guidelines for character limits, but no charts.  Finally, pg. 207 has some stats for average people (small child through competent normal).

 

I too am new (again; coming back after ~20 years) to Champions.  Beyond the advice you can get here (which has been great for me), there are several threads on here about specific issues; as an example, I have a thread where I ask about "loophole" powers, where limits and cap guidelines are discussed at length.  These types of threads can help as well.

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A few months back I wrote up a walk through for a combat. I decided to go back and edit today and take the fight to its conclusion. It's pretty long but it covers most of the common situations that come up in a fight.

 

Here's a link to the thread.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/89024-sample-fight/

 

 

Cheers, and welcome to Champions.

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A few GMing tips from my experiences:

 

Mooks and minor agents, thugs, and assorted criminals should be at most speed 3 and dex 14.  They aren't meant to be a significant threat, just something to slow the PCs and give them a feeling of accomplishment. Mowing through a crowd of nobodies makes you feel heroic and powerful.  

Instead of assigning them all their stats, just give them an attack, their dex and speed, a base CV for both OCV and DCV (to make it easier to remember and use, keep it the same, and lower than 6 at absolute most), and just assign them "hits."  

Figure any successful attack on a mook ticks off one of these "hits" and when all their hits are gone, they drop and don't get back up.  2-3 is good for faceless minions.  Sergeants and special units can have 4-5.

 

Against lieutenant level guys who organize and command the minions, build them as NPCs and give them good stats; they should be the equal or nearly so of any one given PC.  Their fights should matter and use up some of the party's resources (charges, endurance, etc).

 

"boss" fights or main supervillains should be built and be significantly more powerful than the PCs.  I used to use a rule of thumb for my supervillain builds of starting at the average party member's point total, plus 50 for each additional member of the party.  So if you have an average point value of 300 points and 6 members of the Super Troopers, then give your big villain 300 + 50x6 or 600 total points.  That should give you enough points to make the whole party have to work to beat him, but not be overwhelming.  I don't know 100% if that rule of thumb still works well, given the point inflation Champions has undergone over the years.

 

A big boss needs enough speed to act so he's not just overwhelmed by all the PCs.  For each one move he gets, every PC will move once, if he's got the same speed as them.  That means he gets one action to every six of the Super Troopers in that scheme.  That's bad for Mr Big.  So  he needs to be faster than the average PC, and it helps if he has lieutenants with him to tie up the party.

 

Make sure your big boss is not vulnerable to any special attack from the party.  If he has a DMCV (mental combat value) of 2 and no Mental Defense, then Brain Boy of the Super Troopers is going to use him for a boot licker.  That's not to say he should be invulnerable to their attacks; Mr Big can have a vulnerability or weakness to some obscure use or rarely tried power.  Brain Boy has a flame attack he uses only against robots, maybe Mr Big has lower Energy Defense against fire?

 

I prefer lower DCV for my villains, because few things are more disappointing than missing in a game.  It means you failed, you did your last thing that phase, and all you can do is sit and mope until you get to move again, which might be a while.  By keeping DCV relatively low and defenses higher, you can give the party a challenge without making them feel like they're wasting time and continually swapping dice out for luckier ones.

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-how do you gamers go about building enemies (from a punk kid pick pocket to a world ending beast)?

I never know what's going to set me off. You asked about a world ending beast and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Hopefully now I have one, I can finally think of something else.

 

What Rough Beast

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

40 STR -10 17- Lift 6400.0kg; 8d6

1 DEX -18 9- OCV: 3/DCV: 2

0 CON -10 9-

15 INT 5 12- PER Roll 12-

0 EGO 0 9- ECV: 0 - 0

30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 6d6

 

3 OCV 0

2 DCV -5

0 OMCV 0

0 DMCV 0

1 SPD -10 Phases: 7

 

5 PD -6 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD)

5 ED -6 Total: 5 ED (0 rED)

4 REC 0

20 END 0

30 BODY 20

Total Characteristic Cost: -36

 

Movement: Running: 5m/40m

Leaping: 3m/6m

 

Cost Powers END

-35 Gaze blank and pitiless as the sun: Blind (-35 Active Points) 0

-25 Cannot hear the falconer: Deaf (-25 Active Points) 0

117 Relentless: (Total: 117 Active Cost, 117 Real Cost) Regeneration (2 BODY per Turn), Can Heal Limbs, Resurrection (Real Cost: 57) plus Takes No STUN (Real Cost: 60) 0

68 Tireless: (Total: 68 Active Cost, 68 Real Cost) +15 STR, Affects Desolidified Any form of Desolidification (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Area Of Effect Accurate (4m Radius; +½) (37 Active Points) (Real Cost: 37) plus Running +5m (5m total), x8 Noncombat, Usable as Flight (+¼), Persistent (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (30 Active Points); Leaves A Trail (-0) (Real Cost: 30) plus Life Support (Sleeping: Character only has to sleep 8 hours per week) (Real Cost: 1) 0

75 Twenty centuries of stony sleep: (Total: 75 Active Cost, 75 Real Cost) Simulate Death (+5 to roll) (Real Cost: 8) plus Life Support (Eating: Character does not eat; Immunity All terrestrial poisons; Immunity: All terrestrial diseases; Longevity: Immortal; Safe in High Pressure; Safe in High Radiation; Safe in Intense Cold; Safe in Intense Heat; Safe in Low Pressure/Vacuum; Self-Contained Breathing) (Real Cost: 37) plus Density Increase (3,200 kg mass, +25 STR, +5 PD/ED, -10m KB), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (30 Active Points) (Real Cost: 30) 0

29 Hour come round at last: (Total: 88 Active Cost, 29 Real Cost) Extra-Dimensional Movement (Any Dimension, Any Location), Trigger (Activating the Trigger is an Action that takes no time, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger, Misfire; +¼) (56 Active Points); No Conscious Control (-2), 3 Charges (-1 ¼) (Real Cost: 13) plus Detect A Large Class Of Things; varieties of desolation 12- (Unusual Group), Increased Arc Of Perception (360 Degrees), Penetrative, Sense, Telescopic: +10 (32 Active Points); Limited Power only for Trigger (-1) (Real Cost: 16) [3]

Notes: When it senses that a given world has been completely detroyed, the Beast will move on to another.

Slouching towards Bethlehem, all slots Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼)

Notes: These Powers operate in the Beast's normal "Slouching" mode and drop when provoked into "Vast image" mode.

86 1) The best lack all conviction: (Total: 150 Active Cost, 86 Real Cost) Desolidification , Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity (+¼), Persistent (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Usable As Attack (+¾), Grantor can only grant the power to others, MegaScale (1m = 1 km; +1), Cannot alter scale (-¼) (150 Active Points); Always On (-½), Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼) (Real Cost: 86) 0

Notes: Everyone and everything within four km of the Beast becomes insubstantial. Note that this creates an "eye of the storm" effect where certain Powers of the Beast can't effect someone that close.

206 2) Things fall apart: (Total: 257 Active Cost, 206 Real Cost) Takes No STUN (loses abilities when takes BODY), Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Persistent (+¼), Usable As Attack (+¾), Grantor can only grant the power to others, Indirect (Source Point can vary from use to use, path can change with every use; +1), MegaScale (1m = 100 km; +1 ½), Cannot alter scale (-¼) (202 Active Points); Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼) (Real Cost: 162) plus Killing Attack - Ranged 1d6-1, Area Of Effect (4m Radius; +¼), Personal Immunity (+¼), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (33-64 damage increments, damage occurs every 6 Hours, +½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Variable Special Effects (Any SFX, apparently at random; +½), Indirect (Source Point can vary from use to use, path can change with every use; +1), MegaScale (1m = 100 km; +1 ½) (55 Active Points); Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼) (Real Cost: 44) 0

Notes: Everyone and everything within 400 km becomes immune to being stunned or knocked out, but will lose one of: 1 pt SPD, 10 pts STR, one sense, one Power, whenever taking BOD damage. Those with Longevity: Immortal are immune to this effect and continue to take STUN as normal. Also everyone and everything within 400 km begins taking 1dd6-1 BOD damage every 6 hrs for 2 weeks, and defenses only apply once. Leaving the area, or the Beast moving out of the area, does not stop the damage, but destroying the Beast or the Beast moving to another dimensional continuum would. So will approaching the Beast closer than 4 km.

42 3) Darkness drops again: (Total: 95 Active Cost, 42 Real Cost) Darkness to Sight, Hearing, Mental and Radio Groups 1m radius, Persistent (+¼), Inherent (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Invisible Power Effects (Invisible to [two Sense Groups]; +1), MegaScale (1m = 10,000 km; +2), Cannot alter scale (-¼) (95 Active Points); Always On (-½), No Range (-½), Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼) (Real Cost: 42) 0

Notes: Everything within a 10,000 km radius is covered in Darkness, but the Darkness is Invisible; so characters will not see, hear, or sense what is actually there, but will continue to sense an environment that they percieve to be real. For example, a pedestrian may see a street much like the street that's really there - but not see the traffic.

27 4) Blood dimmed tide is loosed: (Total: 75 Active Cost, 27 Real Cost) Mental Illusions 2d6, Area Of Effect (8m Radius Explosion; +¼), Invisible Power Effects (Invisible to Mental Group; +¼), Constant (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Damage Over Time, Target's defenses only apply once, Lock out (cannot be applied multiple times) (17-32 damage increments, damage occurs every 1 Hour, +1), Indirect (Source Point can vary from use to use, path can change with every use; +1), Cumulative (96 points; +1 ¼), MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1 ¾) (75 Active Points); No Conscious Control (Only Effects cannot be controlled; -1), No Range (-½), Only In Alternate ( Identity; -¼) (Real Cost: 27) 0

Notes: Inflicts hallucinations on everyone within 8,000 km; roll 2d6 Mental Illusiohns every hour for 24 hrs, Mental Defense only applies once.

Like a vast image, all slots Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼)

Notes: These Powers activate when the Beast is provoked (Enraged and Accidental Change trigger.)

257 1) A shape with lion's body and the head of a man: (Total: 450 Active Cost, 257 Real Cost) Growth (+60 STR, +20 CON, +20 PRE, +12 PD, +12 ED, +12 BODY, +24 STUN, +15m Reach, +48m Running, -24m KB, hands/feet are Area Of Effect (2m Radius) attacks, 50,001-400,000 kg, +8 to OCV to hit, +8 to PER Rolls to perceive character, 17-32m tall, 9-16m wide), Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+¼), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; Reach; +1), Cannot alter scale (-¼), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; Area of Effect on STR attack; +1), Cannot alter scale (-¼), MegaScale (1m = 1 km; Running; +1) (450 Active Points); 16 clips of 1 Continuing Charge lasting 1 Minute (Increased Reloading Time: 1 Turn; -½), Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼) (Real Cost: 257) [1 cc]

Notes: The Rough Beast grows to the size of a mountain, gaining 15 km reach, 48 km Running, and with a paw or tail swipe covering a 2 km radius area with a 20d6 Normal Attack.

37 2) What the thunder said: (Total: 46 Active Cost, 37 Real Cost) Does Knockback (+¼), Double Knockback (+½); Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼) for up to 50 Active Points of PRE, Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; Trigger is: Assuming Vast form; +¼) (46 Active Points) (Real Cost: 46) 5

Notes: Always roars when assuming Vast Form, doing a 10d6 PRE attack. Count the BODy and double for knockback.

35 3) No Consciousness, but an Awareness of some sort: (Total: 44 Active Cost, 35 Real Cost) Combat Sense (Sense) (19 Active Points); Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼) 14- (Real Cost: 15) plus Danger Sense (immediate vicinity, in combat, Function as a Sense) (25 Active Points); Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼) 15- (Real Cost: 20) 0

2 4) Collossal Leap: (Total: 4 Active Cost, 2 Real Cost) Leaping +3m (3m forward, 1 ½m upward), Trigger (Activating the Trigger requires a Zero Phase Action, Trigger requires a Turn or more to reset, Misfire, Character does not control activation of personal Trigger; At end of 3rd Turn after assuming Vast Form; +¼), MegaScale (1m = 1,000 km; +1 ¾) (4 Active Points); Inaccurate (0 OCV; -½), Only In Alternate (Vast) Identity (-¼) (Real Cost: 2) 1

Notes: After 3 Turns of combat, the Beast will leap up to 3,000 km

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 921

Total Cost: 885

 

900+ Matching Complications

800 Base Points

15 Physical Complication: A shape with lions' body (Infrequently; Greatly Impairing)

25 Dependence: Movement (must move every turn not Simulating Death) Takes 1d6 Damage (Very Common; 1 Turn)

15 Enraged: If attacked (that it notices) or hindered (Uncommon), go 14-, recover 14-

20 Accidental Change to Vast Form: Enraged Always (Uncommon)

25 Accidental Change to Slouching Form: Not Enraged 14- (Very Common)

 

Total Complications Points: 885

 

Background/History: Rising and rising in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer.

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

The blood dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

 

Personality/Motivation: The best lack all conviciton, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

 

Quote: The Rough Beast does not speak, nor think, although it can induce terrifying auditory hallucinations.

 

Powers/Tactics: When it awakens, is summoned, or otherwise first manifests, all sight, hearing, mental, and radio senses within 10,000 km cease to operate while still giving the impression of functioning normally. Mostly this will mean percieving either what they expect to be there, a repeating loop of what has just been experienced, what actually is there to be percieved, or a repeating loop of what has just been experienced. Everything within 4 km Deolidifies, not that anyone notices as the Beast strides through obstacles as if they were so much smoke, beginning its pilgrimmage of desolation. Between 4 and 400 km from the Beast, all things acquire the Automaton Power of Takes No Stun, and cannot be knocked out or stunned; they will however lose abilities each time they take BOD damage. And in the same area, all things begin to take 1d6-1 Killing damage every 6 hrs, and defenses only help once; this damage could be from accident, plague, mysteriously appearing monsters, etc. And then there are the hallucinations....

If anything manages to hurt it or restrain it, it will drop most of these effects revealing itself as a mountainous beast resembling a faceles sphynx emitting a terrible roar likely to knock down anyone hearing it, and strike out with a total of 100 STR. Being blind the Beat has little accuracy but with Megascale Area Effect doesn't NEED much accuracy.

 

 

 

Campaign Use: The best way to deal with the Rough Beast is to stop whatever lunatic might be attempting to summon or awaken it. Failing that, there should be some way the player characters can learn of inducing it to resume its slumber for another 20 centuries or of banishing it elsewhere (the Extradimensional Movement is on Trigger with a "Misfire" potential for a reason) - although the latter creates a moral issue in that it may mean making the Beast some other world's problem to deal with.

 

Appearance: Somewhere in sands of the desert

A shape with lion's body and the head of a man

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun

Is moving its slow thighs while all about

Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle

 

The poem "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats.

Character sheet by

Lucius Alexander

Copyright Palindromedary Enterprises

(No copyright asserted over quotations)

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  • 4 weeks later...
-should I focus on mastering the mechanics using premade character or make a few character and familiarize with the process so I can more easily guide me companions in creating the characters they want? 

Because Hero is so open-ended, it's hard to jump right into character creation until you have some idea of "how much is a lot." I suggest playing out a battle or two with pregen characters to get a feel for the system, how damage compares to defenses, etc. Then it'll make much more sense.

 

if so why do there defenses seem so low? 

As ghost-angel said, higher defenses can really make combat drag out. Some people like that style of play, but I'd recommend trying it as written before making changes.

 

Some other GMing notes, mostly cribbed from other posts:

 

1) Detailed GM notes. The more you have to look up, the more things slow down and the more likely you are to make mistakes. In particular, have everyone's SPD & DEX at hand; I do a simple matrix of Phase 1-12 across the top, and DEX descending down. Seems simple, but it's amazing how much time you can save if you don't have to do the "Okay, Phase 4, who goes on 4?...Anyone...okay, what's your DEX?" dance each Phase.

 

2) The opposite of #1: most of the "math" on the character sheets are only needed for character creation, but not during play. So if possible, delete all the +1/4, -1/2 stuff from the actual sheets you're going to play with. Yes, that may mean you'll wind up with 2 character sheets, one for points and one for playing, but it's MUCH simpler.

 

3) I create an Attacks Table for every PC & NPC that lists all of their major attack options, with their Attack Roll (OCV +11 +any specific modifers, as per Ghost Angel's post above), how many skill levels they have with that attack, their DCV while they're doing it, how much much Damage they do, how much END they burn or [Charges] they use, and any notes. Here's an example, for a Hawkeye-type archer with decent martial arts:

 

Hawk Guy Atk Skill DCV Damage END Notes Base Attack 19- +0 7 2½d6 1   Bow & Arrow 19- +5 7 3d6 K, AP [12]  or 12d6 Blast, or 6d6 NND Boxing Cross 19- +0 9 4½d6 1   Karate Chop 17- +0 7 1d6+1 K 1   Throw 19- +0 8 2½d6 +v/10 1 Hold @ 23 STR Hold 18- +0 6 2½d6 1 23 STR to Hold 2 Limbs Escape 19- +0 8 --- 1 28 STR vs. Holds Block 21- +0 9 --- 1 or Dodge @ DCV 10

 

 

4) Keep things moving and don't sweat the rules too much; Champions plays best (IMO) when you don't let it get bogged down into a tactical miniatures game. (Tho again, some people really prefer that so YMMV.)

 

5) For starting out, ignore all Optional Maneuvers, skip most of the Optional Rules, etc. (Except Knockback - gotta use Knockback for a supers fight!) Agree with your players that you'll keep character builds very simple at first - give everyone one or two decent attacks with minimal Advantages & Limitations. You can also ignore END initially; one less thing to keep track of. Once you've got that down, you can add more variations, power Frameworks, & cool options. So that table I posted above with a dozen different attacks is probably too much for a newbies game.

 

6) Don't forget: Rule Of Fun trumps every other rule in the book!

 

As an aside, did Champions Complete forget to include the usual page on typical point totals for different types of characters (Normal, Competent Normal, Talented Normal, Hero, Super Hero, Cosmic Hero, etc.) styles of campaigns?

CC lists character points & # of Complications for each level (CC p9). Unfortunately they did leave out the Character Ability Guideline Table (6e1 p35) that lists typical OCV, Def, DCs, etc at each level.

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Wow, the Rough Beast is . . . well, "epic" is a much-overused word these days, but that's what it is. That was an excellent job of translating the poem into a character build. I'm very impressed!

Thanks, but I can't help thinking it's not very useful. Other people had actually helpful things to contribute; I heard the phrase "world ending beast" and somehow it got tangled up in my mind with the "Rough Beast" of the poem, and I asked myself "Can I build a beast that would end worlds?" and then I end up proving I can, if I have the point budget - but this isn't a monster heroes can fight, it's more a disaster they would hope to prevent.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary says if you think that's scary, Lucius Alexander under 4th edition built a planet busting missile - for 5 pts.

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