Building a Campaign for Newbies

[incrdbil]

Greetings to all--To cut to the chase, I've got a flock of mainly newbies assembled, and a campaign starting in January.

 

I've never had to run a superhero game for those not experienced with superhero RPG's (or champions for that matter) before--maybe one or two people, but the whole group was there to help out. Now the majority is not only familiar with Champions, but perhaps even less expeirienced with superheros than past groups I've ran. I've been a Champs fan/superhero fan forever.

 

So, I want to make this as easy as possible. I'm going to run a default campaign--established champions universe, to keep things simple, so if they do decide to start buying loads of Hero products, they will find them useful.

 

To reduce complications when starting, I'm preparing a starting character guideline for them, and several 'prebuilt' stock characters that can then be customized during our first, character making session. I've got my unique list of house rules (mainly speed of play changes, not rules changes).

 

I'm going to try to steer people away from problem concepts (no former-villains, no crazed killers, and one 'lone wolf' at most). I'll try to prevent dduplicates (I'm hoping for a mix of 1 brick, 1 energy projector, 1 martial artist, 1 Power Armor, 1 Mentalist, and one..anything else.)

 

Power level is default 350. 12 DC initial cap, 75 point active limit. (my rule of thumb is that only one player can have 75 point/12 DC max in one area--for example, only the brick can have a 60 Str (1/2 end)--the power armor guy will be allowed a 50 Str at max. (his speciality will be having the variety of attacks, if not the highest in any one area). The primary energy projoector gets dibs on the 12d6 eb at range..I just want each PC to be unique and have their own area where they are the best. The Martial artist will probbaly be kept at 10d6, but have the best OCV/DCV, etc. I will raise these limits as the campaign progresses.

 

 

I thought about doing a common group origin, but I thought that, during their first game, I shouldn't limit their freedom too much--they may have heroes they've wanted to imitate from fiction. So I'm going to allow the traditional 'variety of heroes'.

 

To make them a group initially, I've been mulling over several options.

 

Scenario 1: They respond to the big powerful villain attacking, and must band together to fight him. Ye-Gods, I know that is tired..but it works with newbies.

 

Scenario 2: the heroes awaken...in the cluitches of a villain (maybe a group common hunted)--escape and revenge follow, hopefully unifying them.

 

Scenario 3: the heroes are contacted by who wants to sponsor them as a new superhero team--they just have to pass some 'tryouts' (later on, the benefactor may turn out to be somethign else. I'll try really hard not to hame him be named Charile and only talk to the heroes via speakerphone)

 

Scenario 4: the heroes are approached by a government agency, as part of a 'pilot program' for future teams; they get some funding (a very modest base, vehicle, training and authority)--they agree to serve and protect, and respond to national emergencies (I'm thinking of making it the super-human threat department of the Dept of Homeland Security--setting up ruivalries with the military and Primus later on). This is where I'm tempted to alter the campaign from Hero standard--introduce Until, but also the concept of UN backed IST's..and the creeping idea that the UN and the IST's are corrupt and aimed at subverting and controlling the United States..and are succeeding. UNTIL as a bad guy appeals to me. )

 

 

I'll happily accept any other starting scenarios.

 

Campaign setting wont be MC--I want my guys to have the limelight to themselves. I'm thinking Chicago, St Loius, or LA, as its easy to find maps/information about them. Using MC was tempting, but I don't want to erase the Champions, and sharing a town wityh them would overshadow the PC's. I don't want the starting players to feel overshadowed, but very important, My goal is to have them eclipse most super teams in due time. I don't want to eliminate other Hero teams though--the occasional game in other settings or visting out of towners has great potential.

 

I'm working on a list of basic starting villains suitable for Hunteds, and main nemeis--I plan the first 3 to 5 adventures to be mainly episodic, then introduce a main nemeis for a more serial plot for a while. Mechanon, Warlord are in the early running. Biggies like Takofones, Dr. D..I'd rather save for a special series. Any other prime candidates?

 

I'll appreciate any suggestions, commentary, experience or pointers that anyone could share with me.

[Chuckg]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

My first suggestion is that the Millennium City sourcebook is a good thing to have for this kind of campaign.

 

Just throw the Champions out and put the heroes in their stead.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

Ideas:

 

Set in MC: Champions are missing, and the PC heroes come together to investigate their disappearance.

 

Set in NYC, especially if starting at the very beginning of January: PCs are all at Times Square before the ball drops, and individually learn that something bad will happen at midnight. (I ran this once; Terror Inc was launching a missile with a biological warhead at Times Square.)

 

Set anywhere: Individual supervillains, equal in number to the player characters, attack individual heroes. The heroes learn that the bad guys are all part of a team, and must team up to defeat them.

[BoloOfEarth]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

I just had another idea, both for a recurring foe and for a get-together adventure: Istvatha V'han.

 

In the first adventure, the player characters individually fight groups of V'hanian soldiers who are spearheading an invasion. As the military responds, coopting the heroes for help, the PCs meet and can work together to strike at the V'hanian foothold (a dimensional gateway where the troops are coming through).

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

I'd suggest showing them how the system works by doing - don't try to explain it all up front - you'll only scare them off. When it's their action, ask them what they want to do, then give them options in HERO terms, with suggestions ("Well, you could run full speed into him, White Crane. That's called a 'move through'. But given your strength, that probably won't work too well on him. You've trained in kung fu for the last 15 years - why not flip over the desk and 'martial kick' him instead? You'll get to use your 'martial arts levels' and 'martial damage classes' that way.").

 

I'd say start with the OLD standby introductory adventure.

 

Ogre robbing a bank.

 

(with a twist)

 

The PC's show up (one or two probably start at the bank) and after a rough fight (play Ogre as a smart, experienced super fighter, but weight of numbers should pull him down) the heroes beat him.

 

A cop responding to the alarm looks surprised to see Ogre - "But Ogre CAN'T be here - we just got a call that he's robbing the branch over on 32nd Street!" (Cue sounds of gunshots, loud crashing noises over cop's radio)

 

Heroes go to other bank - and encounter Ogre again. Run Ogre EXACTLY the same if you can - if he fell for a particular trick last fight, he will again. The PC's, being more familiar with themselves and Ogre, should win more easily this time.

 

Repeat at third bank. Ogre should be a cakewalk now, and they should have developed some good teamwork.

 

Now they just have to figure out why there were three exact duplicates (or two duplicates and the original) of Ogre running around...

[phydaux]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

Now they just have to figure out why there were three exact duplicates (or two duplicates and the original) of Ogre running around...

 

I like that, it's very Silver Age.

 

 

 

 

(The above is a sentance I NEVER thought I'd ever type.)

[Agent X]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

If you've got the old Marvel Superhero RPG City handbook it's got a handy bit of campaign info about New York City. File off the serial numbers, remove Marvel heroes and villains, insert your own.

 

If not, (I'm thinking you don't want to use MC so...) buy one of those Fodor's Travel guides to Chicago, LA, or whatever, and you'll probably do well.

 

Oh, and there is always the possibility of using your own fictional city. You don't have to even come up with much of anything. Name the city. Give it a paragraph's worth of information. Tell the players if their character wants to be a reporter for a newspaper, they get to name it, and watch the fun start. Just keep careful notes as the city unfolds before your eyes.

[incrdbil]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

Thansk for the awesome kickstart ideas. I may have the heroes do 'field trips' to MC. Right now, I'm wavering between St Louis and Fictional City, USA. Having a base under the gateway arch seems sort of attractive..and turning it eventually into some portal seems a must. Fictional city though is attractive as well..let creativity run amok.

[incrdbil]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

Well, after much soul searchiong--and realization of time constraints, I decided to not 'f'ictional City'--but went with Chicago. I've downloaded and printed out several travelguides worth of info, maps, copied maps from an Atlas. It's a good location, size--close enough for my eventual visit to the big MC by the characters.. Plus it's got that chicago mystique--call me influenced by the Blues Brothers. Ferris Bueller, the Cubs, and the Untouchables.

 

The campaign is going to average out to a Bronze age..with hints of Silver still about, and edges of Iron age. For these heroes, their will be the right way, the wrong way..and then the Chicago Way. A city where the voting publice believes in voting early, and voting often, even if they are dead.

 

A straw poll shows a unanimous rejection by the PC's of being 'registered' superheros--complying with the US laws, so that helped narrow down team focus. I'm going to use aspects of the 'threat so big they have to team up' with the mysterious benefactor approach to forge them into a team. One change/alteration I might make..IIRC, some cities still allowed small, privately contracted protection agencies, almost like private police. I may try to manufacture some unique chicago ordinance that gives them some leeway, while letting them skirt the registration laws--putting the team on the Primus naughty list..and eventually on the UNTIL very naughty list, and settign up the eventuall conflict with UNTIL. (In this ccampaign, the only differenc ein the end between UNTIL and VIPER will be uniform colors--I may still include the IIST concept, but more and more I'm thinking of putting the focus on UNTIL, and making the UN mainly metahuman unfriendly, or at least US metahuman unfriendly).

 

Since these are newbies, I thought I could indulge in the Classics villains for their first fight--so the Ultimates are coming to Chicago to play; I'll pick some objective worth taking (Federal Reserve banks are always nice), and set the Pc's on a course for their first fight--their hopeful victory thus attracting the attention of their 'benefactor' who provides resources, a base, connections, and a long running plot hook. I'm not decided if he's evil yet, but I'm leaning...yeesh, enemies with Primus, UNTIL, then their benefactor, why do i see 'paranoia' psych disads beign added in the future?

 

I'll start with the series of disastersmysteriosu accidents, giving each PC their own to cover, and clues to find that, when they get together, may allow them to figure out who the villains are. (to overcome their Pc lack of familiarity, but not let it all come down to a skill roll and giving them a name, I've made mini dossiers on lots of villains, and they should be able to put the clues together and come up with the Ultimates after they review them.)

 

 

Thats the plan--thansk for all those who chimed in with suggestions. I might just give a small report on hwo it goes--its not often I get the pleasure of such a newbie dominated group.

[KA.]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

incrdbil,

I hope this response doesn't annoy you, because I do not mean to tell you how to run your campaign, but it may sort of look that way after you read this.

 

I am basing this on the problems I have had over the years introducing new players to Champions, and some of the solutions that seem to work.

 

They may not work for you, but here they are.

 

1) Start with comics. If you don't own, and don't want to buy, the kind of comics you hope to recreate in your campaign, check your local library, or the 25 cent bin at the local comics store. Find things that very closely match the kind of world you want to have. (See below for suggestions on that)

Insist that the players do their "homework" by reading at least some of these before you even begin to create characters.

You will save yourself endless frustration if you and the players are on the same page before you get going.

 

2) Plan a day with each player to create their character, individually, in private, and run through at least a simple scenario.

One player at a time.

This will give you much more of a chance to get the player "into" their character. They will also be able to try out powers and see what they do, try out skills etc.

My advice would be to come up with a scenario that allows for multiple solutions.

A bank robbery with one or two hostages.

A kidnapping.

Gathering intelligence on a Viper base.

You can run each character through the same thing, since you will be doing it one player at a time.

This will give them a good idea of what their character can do, and what they might want to change.

Be sure to let them know that this is a "simulation" or something, that doesn't count in the actual campaign.

The easiest way to kill a new campaign is to have a bunch of players who don't know who their character is supposed to be and what he can do.

They all just wander about, either killing everything they meet or doing nothing at all.

Or the one "alpha male" Player starts bossing everyone around, and all the rest of the pack establish a pattern of just doing what they are told and never making any decisions.

If you let each player get the feel of their character first, without the other players around, they will act more like the teams in the comics do.

 

3) No matter where you want your campaign to eventually end up, I would try to start out fairly close to Silver Age.

Why?

Well for one thing, it is not hard to darken a campaign as you go along.

The players can find out that Police are corrupt, Friends can't always be trusted, etc.

But it is almost impossible to lighten one.

Players that aren't used to the Superheroic Genre will often act like they are The Punisher with a better gun. They will see no reason not to just kill anyone who gets in their way. Which means you will quickly have The Authority on your hands. The characters will have done things that no society would accept in the name of "right". The society will react by attempts to capture, incarcerate, or kill the characters, in turn feeding their anger and paranoia, and you will quickly end up in a showdown where the characters will either rule the Earth or be buried under it.

You need to let the players get the feel of being Heroes.

Give them the chance to actually do some good.

Don't taint every victory with some sort of negative side effect.

Some campaigns seem to run on the theory that "No good deed goes unpunished."

GM: "You know that little girl you rescued from the fire last week?

She was actually the clone of Hitler's mother. A neo-Nazi group is going to rapidly age her into a teenager and create a Fourth Reich of genetically enhanced Hitler clones that release hard radiation out of their testicles.

Even if you kill all the Radioactive Hitlers, millions of people are going to develop cancer just because they were using the subways to travel around and everything is contaminated."

Even if you don't want things to be clean and perky all the time, allow the players to actually help some people and accomplish something in the beginning.

For instance, you could have UNTIL gradually become corrupt and/or anti-metahuman over the course of the campaign, due to internal problems, outside influence, etc. rather than having the players start in a world where basically everything was against them.

Heroes struggling to do the right thing in an imperfect world, is a lot more interesting than cynical jaded beings with powers, doing morally neutral things, in a cynical jaded world.

But if the players start out feeling like "everyone is against them" they will quickly descend into a Rusty Iron Age mentality.

"Who cares what we do? Everyone hates us anyway. Let's go steal some weapons from UNTIL and start blowing things up."

 

4) I would start out with the idea that the team is already formed. Let the players know that they are building a Team Member, not an Individual Hero.

You can come up with the background for how and why the team formed after you know who the characters are, but make sure that the players know they are part of a team.

For some reason perfectly reasonable people can be utter bastards when it comes to this topic.

It is just like the old sitcoms where someone who has never acted before gets a bit part in a movie, and is suddenly demanding to know

"What's my motivation?"

"You're at an ice-cream stand. You walk up, and say 'Give me a vanilla cone.'

How much motivation do you need? You just want an ice cream!"

"But why do I want the ice cream?

Am I trying to recapture the innocence of my childhood?

Do I have an eating disorder?

Do I have an oral fixation?

Is the ice cream symbolic of the ever-changing state of man's existence?"

I have read stories here on the boards of GM's who were never able to get their team together.

The players just kept coming up with crap like:

"Well, sure, I hear the Police sirens, but why would I follow them? Those things go off all the time. It could just be a car theft or something. I am going to stay where I am and see if the bus station comes under attack by aliens.

After all, my character does have Xenophobia as a Psych Lim!"

 

"Why would I tell this person how to contact me?

I don't know them.

What if it's some kind of trick?

They could be an enemy trying to discover my Secret ID.

I am going to wait until they are distracted, and then fly into orbit.

Then I will follow a random untraceable path to the Paranoia Cave and activate all the defense systems.

After that, I am not coming out for six weeks.

That way they can't find me."

 

You are much better off just telling the players how the team got to be a team and going from there. If you start up another campaign with these players some day, then you may want to roleplay it out, but with a bunch of newbies, it can be like herding cats.

 

5) The Inevitable "Loner"

Anyone who, during the creation process, starts down the "moody psychotic loner" path, should be asked:

 

a) Why is your character on this team? What does it mean to him? Since he hates all authority figures and won't work with anyone, what in his personality is so overwhelming that he puts up with being on a team? Why did he join in the first place?

Expect this to come up in play, often.

When your character wants to stalk off into the night, there should be a hook that pulls him back before he is out the door.

What is it?

Because I am not going to run an individual campaign for you while everyone else sits around and stares at the wall for three hours.

You can have that "type" of personality, but there must be a strong reason why, even though you don't like it, you stay with the team and follow orders.

Otherwise, come up with a concept that is more of a team player.

 

Why would the other team members put up with you?

If you are such a foul-tempered, uncontrollable, individualist, why would rational people with powers of their own put up with your crap?

Are you just crusty on the outside, with a "heart of gold"?

Do you bravely throw your body in the way of attacks that might kill other team members?

Are you the guy who "will not leave a team-mate behind" even if you die in the rescue attempt?

Why weren't you kicked off the team the first time you opened your mouth?

The other players aren't going to come up with reasons to put up with you, you have to come up with reasons you are worth putting up with, and then make sure you live up to them!

 

Anyway, hope this helps.

 

Good Luck!

 

KA.

[incrdbil]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

incrdbil,

I hope this response doesn't annoy you, because I do not mean to tell you how to run your campaign, but it may sort of look that way after you read this.

 

No Problem—I’m eager for any advice on what sort of snafus newbies can toss up[. Though many of them are comic fans, or familiar with them, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are familiar with good comics.

 

“1) Start with comics. If you don't own, and don't want to buy, the kind of comics you hope to recreate in your campaign, check your local library, or the 25 cent bin at the local comics store. Find things that very closely match the kind of world you want to have. (See below for suggestions on that) “

 

Easy—the local shop were most hang out is a combo comic/game store.

 

“Insist that the players do their "homework" by reading at least some of these before you even begin to create characters.â€

 

I’ll add the appropriate titles—I’ve got a campaign info sheet I’m giving to them prior to the character generation session that’s going to set down the suggested guidelines. I think the top of the list is pretend you’ve never read ‘Spawn’. I’ve also got a lot of building block characters for those who have a concept that they can use as a template, and a starting list of appropriate ‘heroic’ psych disads.

 

 

“2) Plan a day with each player to create their character, individually, in private, and run through at least a simple scenario. “

 

Sadly, that’s a logistical impossibility. I can arrange to meet most of the players informally for a bit to discuss characters, and the first session will probably be a final character generation/campaign setting scenario.

 

“Players that aren't used to the Superheroic Genre will often act like they are The Punisher with a better gun. They will see no reason not to just kill anyone who gets in their way.â€

 

I’ve already had one concept about a player slowly ‘being changed by forces†that would force him to roll an ego roll when he tries to kill someone (!!!)..and that eventually he will change a psych disadvantage to code of the heroâ€â€”I gently explained why that wouldn’t work.

 

“You need to let the players get the feel of being Heroes.

Give them the chance to actually do some good.â€

 

The first scenario is definitely scripted to be a big ego/morale booster at the end, with plenty of laurels. Perhaps I was too menacing sounding with the ‘Chicago Way’ Description—I was more inspired by the line from the Untouchables than anything else—the PC’s will definitely be on the side of the good, the bad guys will be bad—the atmosphere I was wanting to create was that the Superhuman fights in Chicago were rougher, harder, and that the police and local government were occasionally willing to turn a blind eye if the PC’s are facing down real menaces the system just can’t handle. “Hmm, so, you got Blowtorch to tell us where the incendiary bombs were hidden in the school buildings. Wonderful! Oh, looks like he fell down a lot of stairs. Terribly clumsy of himâ€. So, not goody two shoes, but still definitely good guys, just living in a rough town.

 

“For instance, you could have UNTIL gradually become corrupt and/or anti-metahuman over the course of the campaign, due to internal problems, outside influence, etc. rather than having the players start in a world where basically everything was against them.â€

 

The plan right now is to let the players sort of see that slow change happen via news stories, and infrequent encounters—meeting good people at Until, even if there are some not so friendly, and the big warning sign being that person being fired/basically exiled to a desk job after some time, losing the person the felt really was their good contact with the organization. It won’t start out with Until tagging and bagging US superheroes.

 

“4) I would start out with the idea that the team is already formed. Let the players know that they are building a Team Member, not an Individual Hero.â€

 

I usually have avoided that—just a personal bias, I am reluctant to force them together like that, it seems to rob them of a once in a campaign moment, the initial meeting, where first mpressions, comments, actiosn can become traditions in a short span of time.. But then my generation guidelines are sort of set up in a team conscious way—guaranteeing each PC is tops in one certain area, and avoiding duplicate characters. Working out that they have at least an informal working relationship, they know of each other, how to contact each other would make things easier. I had to significantly make events in the first section aimed towards the herding affect, and it would be much simpler and quicker if they had already worked with each other. I may just do that. Thank you for making me reconsider the advantages of that approach.

[KA.]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

incrdbil,

It sounds like we are so close to the exact same wavelength that it is scary.

Next time someone new pops up, I may just wait for you to give them advice.

I am very glad to know that there are others out there doing things the "right" way.

 

I especially connected with the Spawn comment.

 

When my nephews first started to design characters, one of them kept coming up with things like:

"I want to summon demons to attack the criminals."

"I want to shoot out chains with knives on the end."

"I want to be able to tear out souls."

 

(this, by the way, was in a campaign that was supposed to be Four Color )

 

I finally ended the discussion by saying: "You are NOT Spawn!"

 

We did manage to amicably work out a character that he really liked and that I was able to fit into my campaign. But it wasn't anything remotely resembling Spawn.

 

Well, nice to meet you, it looks like you have things well in hand.

 

Enjoy your campaign.

 

KA.

[incrdbil]

Re: Building a Campaign for Newbies

 

incrdbil,

 

Well, nice to meet you, it looks like you have things well in hand.

 

Enjoy your campaign.

 

KA.

Thanks--I've made up a yahoo group to keep the members up to date and post all the pre-game info; I'm trying to set the mood by wiritng up a Issue #0 "Origins" bit to establish their prior history with each other. Thanks agains for suggesting that, it is going to akes things easier--and if we ever do another team, they can have their 'first meeting game' as seasoned players.