First game question

[largosama]

Alrighty, I'm going to start planning the first couple of missions for the new game. However, for their first battle with another super, do you think it would be better to have them face off against one super who is an even match for the whole team on the whole team or a bunch of supers that as a team are an even match for the players?

 

Both have their advantages. The uber super villain would overpower the heroes individually so it would force the players to work as a team to defeat it. If the heroes go up against a team, everybody would be able to show off their powers since each one will probably be stuck in a one on one fight for a time.

 

Anyway... opinions?

[red_eagle123]

Re: First game question

 

The answer really comes down to what you're comfortable handling. I know when i ran my first game I used a group of nameless agents that the players could blow through. The first real fight with super beings was a smallish group of villians, not a 1 for 1 match. I've gotten better about keeping track of the important information, but it's hard when you're starting out.

 

Of course the above is presupposing you're a beginner GM. if you're experienced and feel confident at controlling multiple NPC's easily, feel free.

[largosama]

Re: First game question

 

The answer really comes down to what you're comfortable handling. I know when i ran my first game I used a group of nameless agents that the players could blow through. The first real fight with super beings was a smallish group of villians, not a 1 for 1 match. I've gotten better about keeping track of the important information, but it's hard when you're starting out.

 

Of course the above is presupposing you're a beginner GM. if you're experienced and feel confident at controlling multiple NPC's easily, feel free.

 

I have tons of GM experience, but this will be my first Champions GM experience. Keeping track of extra things won't be a problem. I plan to be fully loaded with tons of forms/stat trackers to make sure I keep track :-)

[Lord Liaden]

Re: First game question

 

In my experience it's easier for a new GM to balance an encounter with between two teams than a team battle against a mega-villain. The M-V must necessarily be more powerful than the heroes, and it takes a bit of savvy to avoid making him too weak or too overpowering. OTOH a team of villains of roughly equal number and power level is more likely to be a good match.

 

If your players are not experienced supers gamers, this would also be a good opportunity to teach them the benefits of team cooperation and tactics: coordinated attacks that maximize their strengths, code words, and the like. If the players have their heads handed to them by equal (or lesser) opponents who use such tactics, they'll start developing them themselves - and be raring to try them out in the rematch.

[Blue]

Re: First game question

 

It varies. An experienced group of players and GM you might be able to do anything.

 

But I think if my players hadn't played hero before I might go with one villain and a group of support agents. Smacking around agents builds confidence, but the villain is there to remind them it aint all tea and sunshine. (Unless, of course those are his powers... tea and sunshine.)

[largosama]

Re: First game question

 

It varies. An experienced group of players and GM you might be able to do anything.

 

But I think if my players hadn't played hero before I might go with one villain and a group of support agents. Smacking around agents builds confidence, but the villain is there to remind them it aint all tea and sunshine. (Unless, of course those are his powers... tea and sunshine.)

 

Fear me for I am... the BRITISH SUN! Persistent powers of having a tea cup that is constantly filled and always feelin optimistic :-)

[lemming]

Re: First game question

 

Fear me for I am... the BRITISH SUN! Persistent powers of having a tea cup that is constantly filled and always feelin optimistic :-)

Hmm, I see a future in clotted cream. blue would of got some rep, by he already got some recently

[Blue]

Re: First game question

 

I appreciate the thought.

[Supreme]

Re: First game question

 

Let me share with you my observations on 20 years of playing this game...

 

Battles with One Big Villain

The villain almost always loses unless the GM loads him with attacks that work against all of the PCs weaknesses (a gun that shoots Kryptonite, fire, AND yellow paint???). The advantages are that battles with one big villain are shorter, and the players (especially new ones) feel really great at defeating such a terrible menace.

 

Battles with a Villain Group

Here the odds are better for the side of evil, especially since the villains are really operating with one mind -- the GM. The disadvantage here is that the combats take a loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggg time. Suggestions: have most or all of your villains have the same speed, use a speed chart, pre-generate all of your damage rolls (if you can't find an app online, just spend a few hours before the game and roll 10D6, 12D6, etc. about 20 times each and record the resulting Body and Stun damage).

 

Superman is no Fun Without Kryptonite

I've just observed from a lot of your recent threads that you seem to have players bent on making powers that have absolute effects: invisible to all senses, never misses, etc. Bad idea. Suffering makes us feel for characters, not unmatched success. Require your characters to have weaknesses and holes in their abilities then exploit them -- sparingly. Exploit their weaknesses enough to make them sweat, then make them work for their victory.

[largosama]

Re: First game question

 

Let me share with you my observations on 20 years of playing this game...

 

Battles with One Big Villain

The villain almost always loses unless the GM loads him with attacks that work against all of the PCs weaknesses (a gun that shoots Kryptonite, fire, AND yellow paint???). The advantages are that battles with one big villain are shorter, and the players (especially new ones) feel really great at defeating such a terrible menace.

 

Battles with a Villain Group

Here the odds are better for the side of evil, especially since the villains are really operating with one mind -- the GM. The disadvantage here is that the combats take a loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggg time. Suggestions: have most or all of your villains have the same speed, use a speed chart, pre-generate all of your damage rolls (if you can't find an app online, just spend a few hours before the game and roll 10D6, 12D6, etc. about 20 times each and record the resulting Body and Stun damage).

 

Superman is no Fun Without Kryptonite

I've just observed from a lot of your recent threads that you seem to have players bent on making powers that have absolute effects: invisible to all senses, never misses, etc. Bad idea. Suffering makes us feel for characters, not unmatched success. Require your characters to have weaknesses and holes in their abilities then exploit them -- sparingly. Exploit their weaknesses enough to make them sweat, then make them work for their victory.

 

I'm basing these questions on my player's basic character ideas. When we actually write up the characters, I'll definitely make sure that each character has weaknesses and I'll make sure I have ways to exploit the holes in their abilities. I think one of the problems is that they want to develop characters that may work in comics and stories where the writer decides where each character does, eats, lives, sleeps, etc and ultimately can control how the character's power works. A completely invisible man as this thread talks about may work in the comics, but I don't think it would work to well in a comic gaming situation

 

BTW, please talk more about pre-rolling damage rolls. I've been doing this for a while too and I've never even thought about doing it

[Lightray]

Re: First game question

 

Battles with One Big Villain

The villain almost always loses unless the GM loads him with attacks that work against all of the PCs weaknesses (a gun that shoots Kryptonite, fire, AND yellow paint???). The advantages are that battles with one big villain are shorter, and the players (especially new ones) feel really great at defeating such a terrible menace.

My players quickly learned how Hero rewards gang-attacks on single targets. Once they discover Teamwork and Coordinated Attacks, it's even worse.

 

Your master villain would need extremely high defenses -- enough so that only a fraction of each hero's attack gets through. And he'd need all the unusual defenses (Mental Defense, Flash Defense) against their attacks. If the master villain loses a phase to an Entangle or Flash, he's toast.

 

Conversely, your master villain should not be able to one-shot a hero. His attacks should be able to CON Stun the heros, or better yet to incapacitate them -- Flash, Entangle, Mental Illusions, Mind Control. If a new player's character gets one-shotted at the beginning of the game, no fun will she be having.

 

Battles with a Villain Group

Here the odds are better for the side of evil, especially since the villains are really operating with one mind -- the GM. The disadvantage here is that the combats take a loooooooooonnnnnnnnngggggg time. Suggestions: have most or all of your villains have the same speed, use a speed chart, pre-generate all of your damage rolls (if you can't find an app online, just spend a few hours before the game and roll 10D6, 12D6, etc. about 20 times each and record the resulting Body and Stun damage).

You can also run into the problem of taking out a player's character too quickly with a villain group. My players quickly discovered the benefits of "Coordinated gang beating" -- groups take down one villain each, whittling down the numbers of the villain group swiftly. Were I to use such tactics, the villain group would quickly take one player's character out of the action -- again, no fun for her.

 

 

Pre-Rolling Damage Rolls: before the game, you want to have a sheet with vital statistics on your NPCs -- OCV, DCV, ECV, DEX and Phases, typical attacks/tactics, maybe typical defenses. To speed play, it is often useful to pre-roll the villains' most common attacks.

 

On a separate sheet of paper, roll the outcome of ~20 attacks 12d6 Energy Blasts, 8d6 Flashes, etc. Note STUN and BODY. Whenever your villain hits with an attack, read off the next pre-rolled damage, and cross it off your list. Speeds things up.

 

It's also a good idea to hand your players a list of their own characters, Phase by Phase in DEX order of when everyone acts. Then you can call out Phase and DEX number, and they'll know who is able to act then.

[JmOz]

Re: First game question

 

I have an idea, it might sound odd, but it would work well I think.

 

A Master Villain with the following Power: Duplication x4 (Quick duplicating enough to get them all out in a 1/2 Phase)

 

Then make them A Brickish/Blaster with MInd Link to each other that are slightly more powerful or less powerful depending on number of players involved

 

The advantage is you only have one charcter you are dealing with (stat wise), but easier to balance out the character vs the heroes

 

As for making master villains the trick is to use Damage Reduction...