Craenor Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 One 650 point primary adversary to my groups collection of six 350-375 point team. I don't consider him a villain, he's a vigilante and he's honorable, but the players are still going to have to find a way to reason with him or stop him by force. He doesn't FAR exceed what they can do in terms of attack powers and defense powers, but he is very well balanced and has a broad range of abilities. He's highest attack is 100 active points, the players are limited to 75 active points. He has a lot of defenses though and equals the highest speed in the group. He will undoubtedly be a challenge for them, and I expect him to win more often then he loses. But at the same time, I don't want the encounter to be unfair. What do you think? Craenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawksmoor Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Mock run the battle. Assume 11's are rolled on all required actions (Activations/Enraged/OCVs/Blocks etc;) If he is Stunning or KOing characters left and right and has ping damage only getting through his defenses, you have an issue: 1) He is *too* powerful for the intention as it is unlikely he will ever be defeated by the PCs 2) He is *too* powerful for them to go head to head with and win. They have to attack his weaknesses and hope for the best. I would suggest having him crush the PCs in the first encounter, and only later after they have licked their wounds learn from the encounter and devise a way to beat him. After all even Dr. Destroyer loses...sometimes... of course that only furthers his Master Plan! Hawksmoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Raven Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I don't think that your adversary sounds unfair. You cannot create a single opponent who wil lay down like a patsy. I would suggest using this guy as the teams nemesis. If you say he is a vigilante, then he can step in before the hero team gets to certain situations and "steal" their thunder. He can be a combat as well as a non-combat adversary for them. I would refrain from prolonged battles with the team. When you do engage them in combat, knock a few out and then take off. It will incense the team. Your guy sounds like a good opponent for them. I'd be interested to hear how the team deals with him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craenor Posted April 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I'll be sure to let you know. They've been very successful at dealing with my villains in the past. Although last week I almost took out their boss and half the team with a sniper built in the same point scale they are...but I was devious. Craenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted April 17, 2004 Report Share Posted April 17, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I'll second the suggestion to run a mock battle using average results (skill rolls are 11, 10d6 = 35 Stun and 10 Body, etc.). Also be sure to take a good look at any 'alternate' powers and tactics you know the PC's are going to use (like the AE Entangle that "also takes damage" used to drop him to 0 DCV just long enough for low-CV high-DMG character to hit). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted April 18, 2004 Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I also approve of the "mock battle" run using the above parameters.I'd also suggest that it should be run as is both the PCs and this "honorable villain" have unexpectedly encountered each other,so that neither side has an unfair advantage over the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craenor Posted April 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Actually, I normally use the mock battle method, but in this case I didn't have time as I was "on my way to gaming". My winding up running was a last minute thing and I had to rush prepare this guy. As it was, the fight was VERY close. At one point if one of the characters had rolled something more then a 1 for his hka stun multiplier, they would have won. I consider it a draw in favor of the players. Most of them were knocked out, but they forced him to retreat and leave behind his overcoat. I did have to fight a bit inefficiently though...so I've gone back and trimmed him down to 600 points. I'm going to keep him as a recurring villain now. Thanks for the advice... Craenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craenor Posted April 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Oh...as promised, here is the character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I take it Talion,being a NPC, has the GM's permission to have Damage Reduction & Armor in an Elemental Control,which is normally forbidden in 5E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craenor Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Actually, I should have mentioned that my game is 4E...most of my players were reluctant to switch and hadn't played Champions in a long time. I am slowly but surely dragging them kicking and screaming into 5e. That said, I do sometimes allow things for an NPC that I would not allow for a PC. For instance, I have one NPC with a 100pt variable power pool of limited powers that he can change as a 0 phase action with a skill roll. Because the math is a nightmare on that, I only let a very experienced player take VPPs. As for Talion's Damage Reduction and Armor in an EC. *shrugs* It saves him 10 points on a 600 point character, it's not like I couldn't take it right back out with some minor tweaking, if people thought it was "broken". Craenor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Okay, I've checked out the villain. No, it's not overkill. Overkill means that it's overdone in terms of how powerful he is and that it's pointlessly powerful in it's write-up. I don't deny that he's quite quite a bit of power, especially with Damage Reduction & 5 Overall Levels but if he's a solo big boss-guy, then he needs to be powerful or else he'll get smeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craenor Posted April 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? I don't post much...I tend to lurk more then anything else. Do you think I could get some good feedback by posting more of my NPCs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted April 21, 2004 Report Share Posted April 21, 2004 Re: Is this overkill? Probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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