Dark Champions Campaigns

[Killer Shrike]

With the release of DC coming on us soon, and with some of us looking at the playtest version currently, I thought it might be interesting to start a thread on specifically Dark Champions campaigns some of us have run in the past, and some of the elements that made them memorable.

 

So how 'bout it?

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Ill lead off.

 

All of my Champions campaigns are a bit Dark by most folks reckoning, but not too long ago (2 or 3 years ago) I ran a specifically Dark Champions game.

 

It was a cyberpunk/metahuman meld, 250 points, high lethality game. The original PC's were all metahumans that had been developed by a typically unscrupulous megacorp, and were busted loose by accident during a competeing corporation-sponsored raid carried out by a mercenary company.

 

The PC's were rescued, but basically had to earn their keep and thus took to trying to start up as a cyberpunk style runner team.

 

 

The PCs were Fortress (FF/Super Strength), Wyatt (Laser Emission), Triage (sympathetic healer/regenerator), Farad (energy form/electrical), and Ghost (Mind Controller/Mental Invis). Farad got killed and was replaced by Doc Sparx, a cyborg inventor with a Gadget Pool.

 

 

Some of the notable enemies faced included several cyborgs, the most powerful of which were a full conversion mini-gun toting borg called the Swede, some other metahumans, the most memorable of which were probably Callidus a time manipulating metahuman and Lasher a hyper-reflexes scrapper type with a nasty NND Does Body nueral whip and some other weapons.

 

 

America didnt exist as such anymore, having collapsed into a dystopic megacorp controlled rigid anarchy. Typical cyberpunk spin. Cops are a contracted company, the only real law is might = right, and it's not what you can do, it's what you can get away with. There was no real seperation between Canada, US, and Mexico anymore; you just eventually reached a point where the urban sprawl stopped and nobody really cared what happend much beyond that.

 

 

The campaign was a lot of fun while it lasted, mixing elements of superheroes and cyberpunk.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Guess Im the only GM to ever run a DC campaign? Apparantly?

[Mark Taylor]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Guess Im the only GM to ever run a DC campaign? Apparantly?

 

Well I intend to run one in the future. Does that count?

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Well I intend to run one in the future. Does that count?

Sure. Give up the skinny.

[Eosin]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I think KS is already aware of the last DC game I was in

 

I am looking forward to the new game and even have my character built for it but I will let Eddie toot his own horn when it comes to describing the setting and game.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I think KS is already aware of the last DC game I was in

 

I am looking forward to the new game and even have my character built for it but I will let Eddie toot his own horn when it comes to describing the setting and game.

You mean http://www.killershrike.com/theomegateam ?

[Mark Taylor]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Actually this is a campaign idea I've had for quite a while, and just recently reading the description of the forthcoming Hudson City I realised that would be the almost perfect setting in which to run it. I don't want to give too much away in case any of my future players read it (well I've been introducing two groups of players to HERO System just lately. Hey guys, STOP READING NOW ) but basically the PCs would be a group of 'exceptionally talented' individuals (perhaps one might be a psychic, another a legendary former homicide cop, another a highly successful vigilante, and so forth) who are called in by the police department to help them solve a series of freakish and bizarre murders they are unable to find any leads for. The investigation draws the PCs into the criminal underworld, where eventually they discover that the source of the murders is even more bizarre than the killings themselves - it is rooted in a malign supernatural force - and stopping them isn't going to be anything as simple as merely catching and arresting the perpetrator...

[Korvar]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I was kinda sorta running a street-level idealistic campaign. But it kinda petered out... my spare time is, well, less than it used to be.

[Resartus]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I'm converting Gurps Black Ops to Hero and Dark Champions will be a big help. I really like what I've seen in the playtest, I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy.

 

Black Ops is sort of "Weird" Spec Ops setting in the same way that Deadlands is "Wierd" wild west. The setting is a little bit MIB, a lot of special operations, a little supernatural, and definitely over the top cinematic fun. The starting characters will probably be 500 pts in a heroic style campaign (long skill lists).

 

I'll be adding my own stuff to it as well. I've got an old campaign that I ran years ago that had a very similar background so I'm merging them together and converting them to Hero/Dark Champions. I'm very happy with it so far, the supernatural abilities are much easier to model in Hero than they were in Gurps. I'll post some more details after the game starts, I don't want any of my players to see what their in for before things get rolling.

[zornwil]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Uh, sorry, KS, should have put the thread I just posted here, just saw this as I am catching up as I go...

[RDU Neil]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

This was my thread, before there was a Dark Champions forum. It was a dramatic experiment that worked really well as a story telling vehicle, but the game fell apart due to group dynamics issues. Folks seemed to enjoy reading about it, though...

 

Secret Worlds, it was called. Maybe I'll return to this, someday, it died pre-maturely.

 

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12191&highlight=Secret+Worlds

[Greatwyrm]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I'm hoping to run a game similar to the Dark*Matter setting for TSR's old Alternity system. I'm trying to find ways to integrate it with some events from a Spycraft game I ran about a year ago, too. Maybe even have the group run into some of their old characters, who don't realize the "supernatural" department even exists in their organization.

[Edsel]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Since this is a thread dealing with DC campaigns. And since my old Omega Team campaign has been mentioned already. And since Eosin aluded to the next campaign I am working on. I thought I go ahead and post the Intro that I sent to my players the other day for my future Conclave Campaign. This intro is a little heavy into the supernatural but I am still fleshing this out, particularly the happenings from World War I onward. Also note that this intro borrows from the anime Hellsing.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The world of the Conclave is not present day earth. The Conclave world is a parallel in which various monsters (vampires, werewolves, etc.) really do exist. It is also a world in which the Vatican, the Church of England and other religious groups take a much more active hand in world events. For instance the Vatican is rumored to have its tactical anti-terrorist team. Most technology is the same as today but some higher tech stuff also exists.

 

The Conclave is a secret organization devoted to counter-terrorism, anti-crime (usually of the organized and international variety) and paranormal intervention. The Conclave grew from a gang of vigilantes (the Battery Boys) that operated in turn-of-the-century New York. The purpose of the original gang was to protect innocents from the excesses of the powerful gangs that dominated New York City during this era. By chance the activities of this group came to the attention of Theodore Roosevelt, who was at that time the head of the NYC Police Commission. Commissioner Roosevelt covertly supported the group in their activities. In return they assisted Roosevelt in rooting out criminal activity that the corruption-riddled NYPD could not touch.

 

When Teddy became the governor of New York he continued to support the group whose scope became statewide. Once he became President in 1901 he enlisted the aid of his new friend and former western lawman Bat Masterson to give the group some strong leadership. Masterson had just moved to NYC and had taken a job as a sports columnist; his press access and celebrity status was an added boon. Though the group still operated primarily in New York they now roamed nationwide when the President called. It was at about this time that group had their first encounter with a vampire.

 

Roosevelt and Masterson were horrified to learn of the existence of this creature. If vampires were not myths, what other legendary horrors might lurk in the shadows of America's bustling cities? Fortunately this vampire was slain by the group and its true nature was covered up. As far as the world was concerned, Andrew Haswell Green (the vampire) was slain by a deranged Negro on November 11, 1903.

 

During one of Masterson's visits to the White House it was agreed by the two friends to seek outside help. They quietly contacted Cardinal John Murphy Farley the Catholic Archbishop of NY and the Reverend Robert Jenkins Nevin, an influential Episcopalian priest and former army major who was an acquaintance of Roosevelt. These people put Roosevelt's organization in contact with the Catholic Church's secret Section 13, the Iscariot Organization and the Church of England's Hellsing Organization, the Royal Order of Protestant Knights. A secret meeting was arranged for January 15, 1904.

 

During the meeting it quickly became apparent that the Iscariot Organization and the Hellsing Organization were not on very good terms with each other, in fact they nearly came to blows at the start of the meeting. Once peace was established Sir James Alexander Hellsing and Father Julius Caballero confirmed that various creatures of the night were not myth, they were real dangers that had to be combated. Iscariot had secretly been combating these creatures in the US for decades and, to a much lesser extent, so had the Hellsing Organization. Iscariot was definitely the more powerful organization and roamed across the world wherever Catholics were present. The Hellsing Organization was much smaller and mainly confined itself to the UK. In fact a treaty, that was more like a non-aggression pact, dictated that Iscariot could not operate within Protest England and likewise Hellsing would stay out of Catholic Europe. The two organizations had similar goals but their religious differences precluded their working together for these aims. In the end Hellsing was more willing to share information than the Vatican's Section 13.

 

From this meeting a new organization was founded and it was agreed that it would handle happenings inside the US. This new organization would be called the Conclave since its inception was a product of the conclave of churches held this night. To this day the Conclave has had a more open relationship with Hellsing than it has with Iscariot. Iscariot seems to view itself as the rightful authority for the entire Christian world. The US government would secretly fund the Conclave. The Vatican was unwilling to support a new organization that they felt was not necessary and Hellsing was too strapped for cash to offer anything but advice and information.

 

The original Battery Boys formed the nucleus of the Conclave. The group continued their covert crime fighting for the US government under President Roosevelt. In 1905 Bat Masterson was appointed US Deputy Marshal for the southern district of NY. This new position assisted in granting the secret organization legitimacy as the rest of the membership was secretly deputized as well.

 

It was decided that since, werewolves and the like were thankfully rare, the organization's continued crime fighting would help keep the agent's skills sharp. Besides their original purpose was still valuable and needed when "untouchable" criminals arose. By the time Teddy Roosevelt left office the Conclave was established as the first of the US's black ops groups.

 

With the outbreak of World War I the Conclave was called upon to perform another function for America. German saboteurs attempted to infiltrate into the United States during the war and the Conclave proved to be the organization that was best suited to battle this new threat. In a country unprepared for war, the operatives of the Conclave were a godsend. Before the close of the war the Conclave was used outside the US for the first time in several raids on hidden German bases in the south Pacific.

 

Today the Conclave is the most secret organization in the United States. The government funds its existence covertly but fewer than a dozen people outside of the Conclave know what all its duties are. The military and many law enforcement agencies know of the Conclave's existence but it is believed by them to be a special crimes intervention unit of some sort. It is thought that the members' identities are kept secret to prevent revenge strikes or infiltration by terrorist cells and organized crime.

 

The Conclave basically battles three things in the world: Organized crime, International (and domestic) terrorists, and paranormal horrors. The players are members of this agency. They have access to state of the art equipment and firepower; they even have national police powers. However they must accomplish their tasks while drawing as little public attention as possible. Their true purpose and the nature of some of their enemies must remain a secret to the public as a whole.

 

This campaign will be based in Hudson City. I will reuse some of the stuff I created for the Omega Team and the new 5th Edition Dark Champions stuff will continue to feature the city. However the Conclave characters will see much more national, and some international travel. The organization is so secret that often their own government will be unaware of all of their activities. In addition there are other covert units with a similar charter scattered about the world and due to political and religious strife in the campaign world today's enemy may be tomorrows ally, and vise versa.

 

NOTE: All of the above named people (with the exception of Hellsing and Iscariot personel) are/were real people.

[Peregrine]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I'm converting Gurps Black Ops to Hero and Dark Champions will be a big help. I really like what I've seen in the playtest, I can't wait to get my hands on a hardcopy.

 

Black Ops is sort of "Weird" Spec Ops setting in the same way that Deadlands is "Wierd" wild west. The setting is a little bit MIB, a lot of special operations, a little supernatural, and definitely over the top cinematic fun. The starting characters will probably be 500 pts in a heroic style campaign (long skill lists).

 

I'll be adding my own stuff to it as well. I've got an old campaign that I ran years ago that had a very similar background so I'm merging them together and converting them to Hero/Dark Champions. I'm very happy with it so far, the supernatural abilities are much easier to model in Hero than they were in Gurps. I'll post some more details after the game starts, I don't want any of my players to see what their in for before things get rolling.

PLEASE post your details! I'm a huge fan of the GURPS Black Ops concept, and I don't have the time to convert it myself!

[El Tripon]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

After a considerable amount of proding, I decided to post the synopsis I have for the game I'm currently running. It isn't quite DC, but it is a dark low-level (250 pts) super game. If any are interested in more info, I can post character backgrounds, and game quotes (collected mostly by Christoughper), and can come up with a few past adventures. Sorry for the length of the post.

 

Synopsis: An adult oriented (Black and White) comic set in New Orleans, Team N.O.I.R. (New Orleans Intervention and Response), is a sanctioned Superhero team. Mostly facing supernatural threats, the team has rarely faced super villains. The team has faced everything from wanna be Voodoo Queens to C’thulu. The team was created by GM Dan Nelson who ran a very dark, deadly game. He left and turned the team over to Manny Morales, who’s player character Matrix became an NPC. Manny gave the game a less deadly atmosphere and introduced a much more supernatural feel, including the introduction of the pantheons when he agreed to let Bacchus into the game as a Player Character. When Manny left for the navy, he turned the reigns over to me. I also turned my player character, Bacchus, into an NPC.. I kept the dark overtones and pantheons, and added a dark humor to the mix. This is currently the feel of team N.O.I.R.. While mostly based in New Orleans, the team has been active in Miami, Limbo, France, England, The Holy Land, and Haiti, as well as a Norwegian cruise ship. The team is really a group of super-powered partying misfits that consider each other friends rather than teammates. It was this party atmosphere that attracted the god Bacchus. The team has partied with Death, has used Charon on a regular basis for travel, and otherwise had fun with the Greek, Roman and Norse pantheons. They have also met God. (Yes THE MAN (he looks like George Burns (The Archangel Michael looks like John Travolta for some reason))).

[Maelstrom]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I've run Dark Champions, and a Cthulhoid Champions game. But even my 4-color games tend to get dark -- I think it's the nature of the players I have. One beautiful young woman (a new character) was rescued by the group from an experiment conducted by the villain, and the first words out of her mouth were, "I'm going to kill him. Anybody have a problem with that?"

 

I often have world-spanning conspiracies, light and dark, and the US Gov't is tied up in most of them, light and dark. Some times there's nothing scarier than an IRS auditor.

 

As for the 'weird' influences, I've had Nyarlehotep show up as a government 'black-ops' specialist, Yog-sothoth as a televangelist, and Cthulhu as a humanoid (but green) woman. As pets go, you can do worse than a Hound of TIndalos, depending on who you need kept out of your base.

[humantorch101]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I have run for the last 5 years or so monthly a weird conspiracy game taking lots of elements from Conspiracy X, Dark Matter and Delta Green.

I have two players who work for Aegis (secret organisation working covertly within the US goverment departments) and they have come across Alien, Greys, Atlanteans, Saurians and Mecha, stopped the Black Book (the evil bad guy organisation within the us goverment) mutating sharks (think deep blue sea on speed), opening gates to terrible cthulu like dimensions with laser technology, fighting ghosts, incarnate serial killers, and lots lots more.

They have currently been transported to a parallel world where they are trying to come to terms with a world full of zombies and are now scrambling around trying to find petrol and drinking water without becoming zombie chow.

 

The great thing about that genre is literally anything is possible.

 

rgds

Torch

[CorpCommander]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I'd love to run or be in a campaign based on Steakly's novel Vampire$.

 

For those not in the know, Vampire$ is about a secret organization of normals with cool gear that hunt supernatural threats. They are in part directed and financed by the Catholic Church and at one point find out there is a werewolf devision... Life span is rather short for these guys.

 

The vampires are smart, fast, strong and viscious so the characters have to come up with equipment ideas on dealing with them. Also, town folk tend to turn against them since no one wants knowlege of these things getting out. Picture the mayor in Jaws with a really bad mean streak and you get the picture somewhat.

 

A really awful movie by John Carpenter was made sort of based on the book. Ignore it. James Woods was OK as Crow but overall the story got hollywoodified. The book is suspensful, funny and well thought out.

[Guest Worldmaker]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

I'm going to be opening a call for this campaign shortly.

[Turin]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

One campaign that I have thought about running with DC is based off the old computer game XCom. I have always thought this would be a good campaign for a modern game system, but until finding Hero System again, didn't have a good rule set to play it in.

 

I just started two FH campaigns so most likely I will not be able to start this anytime soon. The thought of running a Terror site in Hero System might force an unexpected end to one of the FH campaigns.

 

If anyone has done any preliminary work on a counter alien modern Hero campaign I would be very intersted in see it.

 

Thanks!

[PoorWandering 1]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Many moons ago i was in a x-com based game. The GM used the origional traveller for the rules. It was a blast. We usually played multiple PC per player to offset the rather high death rate. The weapons fit with minimal changes and the skills were very easy to "de-space". It was a fun game but if you want to stay true to the game you have to have the high death rate. The alien's plasma weapons are 1 shot kills until you get the really nifty armor and by that point the Etherials are bringing out their mind control. I would recommend that the players play a game of x-com or the more recent UFO:Aftermath to get an idea of the death rates and the effects of the alies vs. human tech imbalance.

The monthly council budget meetings were a blast. The GM assigned players to be reprasentitives of the varoius funding nations while one player got to be the X-Com rep. The nation players were briefed as to how the alien threat was seen in their country, how much alien activity vs x-com activity etc. The Rio base ended up being built not to counter a alien threat but because a coalition of southern hemisphere countries demanded a greater role. The Rio base came in handy though we moved laser weapon production there after an attack on our main Hamburg production facility. At the next meeting the German rep complained about the loss of jobs but that meeting broke up when the x-com rep announced that there was a terror attack in progress in Koln 2 minites before the West German rep knew about it. It turns out that the West German Government was being infiltrated.

In short X-com RPG can be fun but you need to work to make it something other that a prettyfied minatures game

[arcady]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Having just gotten home with a copy of the book today, Dark Champions: The Animated Series looks like a fun campaign style...

 

If I can figure out how to render my 3D work with thick black outlines, I'll be set.

[CorpCommander]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Having just gotten home with a copy of the book today, Dark Champions: The Animated Series looks like a fun campaign style...

 

If I can figure out how to render my 3D work with thick black outlines, I'll be set.

 

surely someone out there sells a cel-shading filter out there somewhere. should be easy enough to purchase something! What software do you do your 3D work with?

[winterhawk]

Re: Dark Champions Campaigns

 

Having just gotten home with a copy of the book today, Dark Champions: The Animated Series looks like a fun campaign style...

 

If I can figure out how to render my 3D work with thick black outlines, I'll be set.

 

I do some work in the 'animated' style. Be happy to convert over your characters if you'd like.