Building With the BBB!

[Pariah]

A couple of years ago, I started reexploring Third Edition Champions. It's the version I first learned, way back in the fall of 1986. But my favorite iteration of Champions has always been 4th Edition, a/k/a/ the Big Blue Book (BBB).

 

 

So I have recently begun a 4th Ed building challenge. I'm building 250-point characters with the following guidelines:

1. Do the Disads first. No stats, Powers, Skills, or anything else until the Disads are done.
2. No more than 50 points in any Disad category (BBB allows up to 75).
3. After the Disads, spend at least 10 points on noncombat Skills, Talents, Perks, etc. 
4. Build as normal after that. 

The idea here is to build Characters, not just gaming pieces. To paraphrase Ron Edwards, a character should be someone you know and like. I'm trying to flesh out who the character is, and not just what they can do.

 

So far I've completed only two or three characters. I'll share them as time permits. 

[Opal]

IMX, a character idea that leads to me finishing the Disads first usually turns out easier to build and more fun to play.

 

 

[tec-9-7]

The BBB is certainly a classic - I spent more time playing this edition than any other. Love your character challenge!

[Pariah]

Okay, here's my first character. Morningstar is the last PC I played regularly, originally built under 6th ED (or was it 5th?). Her parents were killed in an attack by the Institute for Human Advancement's paramilitary branch; she survived because she was at a party she'd been told not to go to. It took her a couple of years to identify exactly who was responsible for the deaths of her parents, and she has sworn to destroy IHA. After a couple of years in foster care, she graduated from high school, turned 18, and began a career as a superheroine.

 

Morningstar is able to generate a biokinetic field around herself. This field can protect her from harm and allow her to fly. It also gives her a more potent punch when engaged in hand-to-hand combat. She has quite a bit of self-defense and martial arts training, but she tend to be pretty straightforward in a fight. It's worked for her so far.

 

She carries a mace, but it's practically just decorative. She does just as much damage without it.

 

Quote: "You can give up now and I can take you to the police, or you can resist and an ambulance can take you to the emergency room. Please tell me you're going to resist."

Edited April 12, 2023 by Pariah

[Pariah]

As an explanatory note: The format for the character sheets is an altered version of the ones form the very excellent Champions Begins. Mine is a knock-off Word document, saved as a PDF. If I were skilled with Adobe, I could make it look better. 

[starblaze]

[Scott Ruggels]

That’s a beautiful 4e Character sheet. 

[Pariah]

That is a beautiful character sheet. 👍

 

Is that made using the Heromaker software that came bundled with the BBB?

[Christopher R Taylor]

To me, that's what the Champions character sheet should look like.  That's the ideal.

[Doc Democracy]

50 minutes ago, Christopher R Taylor said:

To me, that's what the Champions character sheet should look like.  That's the ideal.

 

To me, it is a build sheet, one with ALL the numbers. Useful between sessions but less useful on play.

 

I prefer stripping away the extraneous details and numbers.  Almost no-one but the GM needs to know the real points of powers or skills.

[Sketchpad]

1 hour ago, Doc Democracy said:

 

To me, it is a build sheet, one with ALL the numbers. Useful between sessions but less useful on play.

 

I prefer stripping away the extraneous details and numbers.  Almost no-one but the GM needs to know the real points of powers or skills.

 

I agree, Doc. I've been working on a new layout for stats that strips the numbers out. 

[Scott Ruggels]

1 hour ago, Doc Democracy said:

 

To me, it is a build sheet, one with ALL the numbers. Useful between sessions but less useful on play.

 

I prefer stripping away the extraneous details and numbers.  Almost no-one but the GM needs to know the real points of powers or skills.

that’s an oddly modern take for a Champions player, as most of the character sheets I have are in this or earlier formats.  It’s what I am used to, especially the full info in the pre- electronic days or at RBK that prohibit electronic devices to cut offf distractions.  I am trying to get Heromakr.exe to work again on a Win 10 machine so as to build 4e and earlier characters, but so far Ave only been partially successful.  

[Christopher R Taylor]

yeah for daily play, definitely all you need are the base info, END, rolls, etc.  You don't need the math or the costs to play the game.

[Sketchpad]

22 hours ago, Scott Ruggels said:

I am trying to get Heromakr.exe to work again on a Win 10 machine so as to build 4e and earlier characters, but so far Ave only been partially successful.  

 

Couldn't you use something like DOSBox to run it?

Edited April 18, 2023 by Sketchpad

[Scott Ruggels]

7 hours ago, Sketchpad said:

 

Couldn't you use something like DOSBox to run it?

Yes, but I got stalled trying to find a way to print the character sheets. Reading a 320 x 240 interface with chicklet sized scroll bars is hard.

[Christopher R Taylor]

This might work, it is an emulator that runs windows 98 entire

[Scott Ruggels]

The problem is it’s DOS 3.1, and the printers are “special”