Rene Posted April 1, 2004 Report Share Posted April 1, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? For my part' date=' I cringe mainly at characters that don't fit into the current game. I don't mind Werewolves/Vampires/Anime Characters in a Champs games, so long as they're played as [i']Champs Characters[/i], not their own genre. I guess it's more character attitude/style than character design that annoys me. Well-said. If the player doing the "translating" has a good grasp of and a good deal of sympathy for the supers genre, I usually don't mind. For instance, there is a vampire character in Astro City that is perfect superhero fare. Sadly, many such characters are proposed by players who are hostile toward and/or ignorant of the supers genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted April 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Well, we're playing a game based on the comics. Why would it surprise you that the players take their inspiration from comic book characters? Sorry, I should have clarified a bit! I don't really concern myself with characters trying to be "original", because virtually nothing is. It's the little danger sign that goes off in my head when someone tries to play Wolverine (in particular, and many others in general) that I'm talking about. You know, the one that tells you "He wants to kill everyone in the game and miraculously avoid any consequences, because it's 'just a game'", RIGHT BEFORE he says, "I wanna kill stuff!!!" Naturally, different "clones" have different reasons behind WHY said player wants to play the specific character in question. but it always seems to boil down to doing whatever they want to in-game, and damn the game. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted April 2, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Of course, there was one guy with a normal concept right from the start: La Cucaracha! Think of Spider-Man, but with a roach instead of a spider. His backstory was that he was eating corn chowder in some sketchy diner in Los Angeles, and when he wasn't looking, an irradiated cockroach dropped into it from one of the ceiling lamps. He was just plain fun. LMAO!!! Now THAT has style! I don't mind borrowed concepts, I just can't stand cloned ones, especially when the guilty party invariably tries to vastly overplay the most negative personality traits of the character. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metaphysician Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? I like the idea of having an "odd" character on a team, somebody who is derived from sources outside the usual superhero genre. A vampire or fantasy-style mage, for example. OTOH, the idea is to bring the character into the super genre, not enforce the other genre's ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? The basic "low level" Regeneration in Champions is 300 Body an hour!!! Don't know what would constitute extreme . . .Well' date=' I've seen a wolverine-clone PC named Feral with Regeneration take over [b']150 BODY[/b] in one combat! (His player bitched about it, but we pointed out to her that 150 BODY damage spread amongst the rest of the team would have reduced them all to a fine red paste.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Neilson Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Well' date=' I've seen a wolverine-clone PC named Feral with Regeneration take over [b']150 BODY[/b] in one combat! (His player bitched about it, but we pointed out to her that 150 BODY damage spread amongst the rest of the team would have reduced them all to a fine red paste.) Ummm...he paid for a bunch of regeneration, and he's upset because he got to use it?? I'd be more ticked if I spent 70 points on Regen and never tok a pip of BOD in two years! 20% of your abilities wasted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilFleischmann Posted April 2, 2004 Report Share Posted April 2, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? It doesn't make me cringe as a concept, but it can be very annoying to build: The transform into any animal complete with appropriate powers character. I seem to get this a lot from HERO newbies. Right off the bat, they want a character with a VPP and Multiform, two of the most complicated constructs for a beginner. OTOH, I suppose I should eb grateful that the newbies don't all opt for the basic EB/FF/Flight generic Energy Projector every time. I don't mind mostly clone types as long as they've got something that makes them their own. One player was obviously inspired by Wolverine, but combined his character with Puck. Yes, an acrobatic midget with retractable claws and regeneration. I don't think he had the enhanced senses or adamantium sketeton. And what's the big deal with regen? It really isn't that powerful. As others have noted, it usually doesn't bring you back up in time for the same combat. To get really high levels of regeneration to the point that they could be useful in combat, you'd have to sacrifice spending points in other areas. I've got a character like this. Most GM's don't have a problem with him bacause he's not really all that combat effective - low defenses, not much movement, no ranged attacks - even though he's very hard to kill permantently (he can regenerate back from the dead). He's even taken to carrying around a roll of gold star stickers like the ones your fourth grade teacher gave you for getting a perfect score on your spelling test. He sticks them on bad guys who succeed in killing him. "Congratulations! You killed me! Didn't help, did it?" And then there was the guy who couldn't come up with any concept, ever, besides the pure game mechanics. He described his NND as "a blue ray." The defense was Images or PRE bought with "Defensive only." But what is it? "It's a blue ray." I'm surprised he made the effort to think of a color. And I sometimes get the guy who wants to play the Punisher, or some other "loner" when it's obvious that we'll be playing as a group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted April 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Okay... now I KNOW I'm sleep deprived... when I wonder "How much would it cost to buy No Cringe Effect on an entire character"? JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted April 3, 2004 Report Share Posted April 3, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? I think that's presence defense perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Neilson Posted April 3, 2004 Report Share Posted April 3, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Okay... now I KNOW I'm sleep deprived... when I wonder "How much would it cost to buy No Cringe Effect on an entire character"? Stock answer: Hero lacks absolute effects. You will need to purchase Cringe Defense, which is about half as expensive as Cringe Attack. Does that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christougher Posted April 3, 2004 Report Share Posted April 3, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Well' date=' I've seen a wolverine-clone PC named Feral with Regeneration take over [b']150 BODY[/b] in one combat! (His player bitched about it, but we pointed out to her that 150 BODY damage spread amongst the rest of the team would have reduced them all to a fine red paste.) It's my (secondhand) understanding that most of the attacks from that time couldn't DO body to the other characters, for whom 40 resistant PD was the low end of the scale. Irony: The character's regen was recently rebuilt as Aid BODY, Zero END Persistent, so it would heal him faster... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightmask Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? It is unbelievable how many times I have run across that very combination. Can’t people come up with something new? Even the comic companies have that problem. I admit that new ideas is hard to come by with so many heroes out there. There is a limited number of powers that you can combine to make a "theme" character, such as flame, ice, military, etc. I was caught in that rut very quickly. Look at Hero's characters even. Marvel's Ultron and Hero's Mechanon have a lot in common, lets hope these two never get together. Some, not many, of my characters are very original. Nightmask (not to be comfused with the Marvel version) was a normal who dreamed himself into the Hero Universe as a superhero with a VPP. Dynomite Jake, this guy has Area Effect, Explosive STR with Personal Immunity, I like this one alot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Re: What character concepts make you cringe? Well' date=' I've seen a wolverine-clone PC named Feral with Regeneration take over [b']150 BODY[/b] in one combat! (His player bitched about it, but we pointed out to her that 150 BODY damage spread amongst the rest of the team would have reduced them all to a fine red paste.) He complained that his power worked? Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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