UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

First let me say that I love the story so far. It has a definite comic-book feel. Keep up the great work.

 

I do have a question though.... does UNITY stand for anything... is it an acronym?

 

Thanks! Hmmm... I can't recall if UNITY stands for something. I got the name out of the UNTIL book (which is a great supplement). I know UNTIL stands for United Nations Tribunal on International Law; I actually don't think UNITY means anything, but I could be wrong. I'll have to check after I get home.

 

Unofficially, the team goes by "UTC" (UNITY Team C). That would be funny if they made an acronym out of an acronym.

 

Bill.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

SERIOUSLY OT:

Ummm, what is the "NGD"? And why would being elected President of it result in an assasination attempt?

 

As Lemming said, NGD is the Non-Gaming Discussion section of the Hero boards. As for why someone would want to kill the President... well, I have a lot of enemies. People I've wronged, wives I've slept with, terrorist organizations I've funded... and don't even ask how a bunny got elected in the first place! (Let's just say a lot of shenanigans were involved). People get angry, and angry people get violent, and at the end of the day you get rabbit fricassee.

 

BTW, thanks for clicking on my link. I didn't know anyone actually ever did that!

 

Bill.

(Actually, it's all in good fun. Just a little game we're playing over there).

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Those of you in the UK, please forgive me for butchering the geography, politics, and history of your fair nation. My excuse: it's a superhero game.

 

Also, rep to the first person to guess where I stole my plotline from.

 

----------

The assignment: British Lords were disappearing from the streets of London – apparently through superhuman means. Find out who is doing it, why, and put an end to it.

 

Lt. Detective Erwin Lemming of Scotland Yard greeted the heroes when they arrived at Heathrow. At first, the Yard was planning to call EuroGuard, but they were busy quelling riots across Europe. London is having the same problems the rest of the continent is having – street demonstrations for the past two weeks. It seems that the popular punk band "The Ratzis" is coming to town. Groupies from all over the world follow them around and cause trouble wherever they go. They do demonstrations, the anti-fascists do counter-demonstrations, and things invariably turn ugly. There’s been violence in a half-dozen European cities so far, and now London is caught up in it, too. "We tried a court order to prevent them from playing, but they apparently have the right to play – nevermind all those people who are going to be put out as this grows uglier," the Detective sighed. "That's why we haven’t been able to assign the manpower that we want to this case – most of our men are tied up in riot control."

 

He gave a quick rundown on the four missing Lords:

Lord Wilson Winchester was the first disappearance, two weeks ago. He vanished from his home in Chessex, north of London. The place was locked up tight, no sign of forced entry. The servants, who had already gone to bed, noticed nothing unusual until he didn’t come down to breakfast. He’d been feeling unwell for a few days previous, but everyone just chalked it up to the springtime flu that had been going around.

 

Three days after that, St. John Portland-Smythe vanished from the city streets. He was walking from the Parliament building to his office, about five blocks away. He has always been very independent, and despite the trouble on the streets lately (protests and the like), he insisted on walking like he always does. The last anyone saw him, he was crossing the street. He never arrived at his office, and they called the police a few hours later (after trying to find him themselves first – they thought he’d stopped somewhere to eat). His hat was found in a dumpster just off the street where he was last seen.

 

The very next day, Lord Patrick McGowan, while taking an early-morning jog, vanished. He always takes the same route – through the park, near the Millennium Stadium. He was not noticed missing until that evening, when his wife reported him missing after he never showed up for their usual dinner date.

 

It was nearly a week before the next one. Lord Geoffrey Greengables vanished from his office in downtown London. His secretary was right outside, in the outer office, and heard nothing. His window was unlocked and open – but his office is on the 40th floor! There was no sign of struggle.

 

Straight Arrow immediately recognized Greengables as the original Union Jack, who fought against the Nazis during the Second World War. He began formulating a hunch, and called Major Bec to ask UNITY to gather some information regarding the old British heroes.

 

The team immediately set off to Greengables' office – though the disappearance happened days ago, they thought they might find something that the police missed. They found a small office with little to distinguish it from a million other offices – the Lord’s private office, a smaller outer office/lobby, a restroom and a small break room. The place had been sealed by the police, and no one had been here since the disappearance. The heroes summoned Lord Greengables' secretary while they went about checking things over.

 

The secretary, an older woman who’d been with Greengables for many years, didn’t have much to tell them. She had been working in the outer office; Greengables always kept odd hours – he tended to come into the office late and stay well into the night. She heard no signs of struggle or thought of anything wrong until it was time for her to go home. She went into the office to say goodnight, and he was missing. The only thing she noticed wrong was that the window was open and the screen was missing. She immediately thought the worst – that he’d flung himself from the window – but there was no body and no signs of a suicide. His computer was still on – he was composing a letter to the Department of Sanitation on behalf of a constituent.

 

New Man checked the building from the outside. He found that a talented and brave man could have crawled along the ledge from an adjacent window to the Lord's office, but this office was 40 stories from the ground and 20 from the roof.

 

Checking his day-timer showed that he occasionally had lunch with the other three Lords on the "missing persons" list, and that he was to have had dinner with his son today. That appointment, obviously, was canceled. The secretary said that Lord Greengables was not feeling depressed at all, in fact he seemed quite happy and excited about the prospect of seeing his son. Apparently, the two of them have been estranged for some time. Detective Lemming mentioned that young Anthony was something of a hooligan who did not fit in with the family.

 

The heroes moved on to the next missing person, Lord McGowan. Ifrita went to the Lord’s house to question his wife and servants while the rest of the heroes went to Millennium Park, where he was last seen. McGowan's wife was very concerned about her husband. They haven’t spent a day apart since the war. She was very old and very frail – which brought up a question. These four Lords were all well into their 80s and 90s, and yet they were all still quite healthy, active in politics, and socially aware. Ifrita asked about this, and Lady McGowan mentioned how her husband had always been "a cut above." She showed the Lebonnese heroine some old photos of Lord McGowan and his unit from WWII, most of whom were dead now, but a handful who were still alive – including Greengables, Winchester, Portland-Smythe, and a woman named Rose MacKee.

 

As for the rest of the heroes, they searched Millennium Park to little end. It was a large, tree-filled park along the Thames River, surrounding the Millennium Dome, a huge stadium built to host concerts, sporting events, and other public gatherings. The park was filled with young people – mostly punkers and neo-Nazis who were camping there in anticipation of the upcoming concert; the media calls them "Rat-heads." Lord McGowan could have vanished from here and no one would have ever noticed.

 

Once everyone got back together, they exchanged notes. Straight Arrow told everyone his theory – that each of these four men were superheroes during WWII, members of a team known as the Knights of the Round Table, and that one of their old enemies had come back to get revenge on them – perhaps as a "final hurrah" before they all died. The last surviving hero from that time was a Scottish heroine known as Thistlerose. The heroes immediately went back to Mjolnir to fly up to Scotland and visit Mrs. Rose MacKee.

 

What they found was a grumpy old woman living alone in an isolated cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Though old, she seemed more than capable of taking care of herself (and was armed with a shotgun, just in case). She readily admitted her former identity, though she said she isn’t able to do much flying these days – old age has caught up with her (though she was remarkably spry for an 88-year old woman). When Straight Arrow mentioned his "old enemy" theory, she laughed. "Oh, all our old enemies, if they were still even alive, would be just as old as we are. Unless one of them were immortal, I can’t imagine anything like that."

 

Straight Arrow considered this for a moment, and then came up with another idea. "What about Blutegel?" he asked. "He was a vampire – couldn’t he still be alive?"

 

"He could be," Rose answered solemnly. "If we hadn’t killed him nearly 60 years ago." She told them how Blutegel had disguised himself as a kindly old country doctor in Chessex County, slowly draining his patients of their blood so that no one would notice. But his old killer instinct kept coming back, forcing him to commit a series of brutal murders. The Knights of the Round Table tracked him down to an old bombed-out cathedral, where after a difficult battle they managed to impale him on the church’s ancient wooden cross. The heroes interred him in an empty tomb, sealed the entrance, and never spoke of these events to anyone, ever again.

 

Though confident that the woman could take care of herself (and despite her assurances that she had someone who would "look in on her"), the heroes left Tank behind just in case whoever was kidnapping the old heroes came here. They then headed off to Chessex, to the home of Lord Winchester and to the site of the final battle with Blutegel.

 

Ifrita and Red Dragon arrived at the cemetery and found the old tomb with little difficulty. They rolled the stone away from the entrance and found a desiccated, withered body within, impaled by an ancient, rotting cross. Ifrita was satisfied, but New Man insisted (over their telepathic link) that they investigate further. Red Dragon, though loath to touch a dead body, bent to get a closer look. He found that the jaw and (especially) the teeth of the corpse did not match the drawings that they had of Blutegel. This carcass was not the same as the one the Knights buried decades ago!

 

Just to make certain, Ifrita cremated the corpse, and then they joined the other heroes at Lord Winchester’s manor.

 

Winchester had no living relatives, but kept a small staff on hand. His house was immaculate. The heroes split up to search the place. New Man and Aurora went to the Lord's library to have a look around. They found nothing of interest until Aurora began randomly pulling books off shelves, inadvertently revealing a secret passage!

 

They followed a stairway down below the mansion and found what appeared to be a very old crime lab, a private study, and a mannequin – like the kind that heroes often display their costumes on! The mannequin was empty and the rest of the secret area had no clue as to which hero this one might be, but in the study they found a pile of ancient books – many of which were detailing the myths and legends of vampires and other immortal/supernatural beasts.

 

Meanwhile, Straight Arrow took Detective Lemming up to the top floor to search Winchester’s room. As soon as they opened the door, they knew something was wrong – one of the windows was wide open. Straight Arrow immediately switched to his nightvision, and saw someone lurking about in the room, near the wardrobe. "Stop where you are!" Straight Arrow shouted. The stranger reacted by hurling a heavy lamp at the hero and then running toward the window.

 

Straight Arrow (not wanting to hurt him yet) fired a tangler arrow, but the stranger managed to cut his way out with a knife. He leapt out the window, managing to dodge a number of arrows. Straight Arrow followed, but just as he was taking a careful bead on the stranger, suddenly the sensors in his helmet switched off. "Drat the luck!" Straight Arrow cursed. By the time he pulled his helmet off to see again, the stranger was gone.

 

The other heroes arrived and began to search for the man, but alas, it began to rain and the precipitation obliterated all traces of his passage.

 

Straight Arrow checked the wardrobe where he first saw the man lurking, and discovered Lord Winchester's personal journal in a hidden compartment. It was written in tiny, crabbed handwriting, so it would take some time to decipher, so Straight Arrow pocketed it for later perusal.

 

Though it was late at night, the heroes were feeling the pressure of time. If Blutegel was involved, the Lords' lives were at stake so the heroes had to act fast. They headed back toward London in the hopes of finding young Anthony "Tony" Greengables and questioning him. They found him at an after-hours punk club called "Johnny Rancid's." Ifrita, Red Dragon, and Aurora went in to find him while New Man lurked outside and Straight Arrow stayed with the jet (digging through Winchester’s journal).

 

Aurora got quickly distracted by the loud music and flashing lights, and wandered over to the dance floor. The other two found their man. Greengables was a punk to the core – pierced and tattooed, wearing a black t-shirt and torn jeans, and disrespectful as hell. He claimed not to know anything about what happened to his father, nor did he particularly seem to care. After spending some fruitless time with Tony, they gave up and left, deciding to head to Portland-Smythe's townhouse.

 

Meanwhile, Straight Arrow was still trying to decipher the journal. He looked through the entries around the date that Thistlerose said they killed Blutegel, some 60 years ago. These entries read like those of a tortured man – he was broken up by the fact that several people were murdered before he discovered Blutegel's treachery, and how he hadn't been strong enough to face this evil alone. His more recent entries (none of them more recent than a couple of years ago) bemoaned the fact that he was getting older, that his powers were fading, and that there were so many terrible things in the world that he would have liked to have a chance to fix – nothing too uncommon for a once-heroic and active man now reaching the end of his life.

 

At the townhouse, the heroes were greeted by Portland-Smythe's daughter, a tough-looking woman in her 50s who runs a business in France and who came home when she heard about her father. When the heroes arrived, she was quite excited about something she found. She showed them a secret entrance to the attic, where they discovered the old heroic costume of Bull Dog. She was quite confused and a little frightened – this was something she had never guessed about her father. She was particularly worried that her own children or grandchildren might have superhuman powers. The heroes assured her that everything would be OK, and that when her father returned they were certain that he’d have a nice long talk with her about it.

 

As they left the townhouse, Ifrita noticed something – someone dressed in dark colors was watching them from a nearby rooftop. Recognizing him from Straight Arrow's description, she immediately flew up to grab him. Unfortunately, he was quick, and he managed to not only get out of her way, but re-direct her flight so she crashed into a wall behind him.

 

Straight Arrow didn't have a clear shot, so he ran to the side of the building instead. Aurora flew up to get a better angle and fired a bolt of electricity at their foe, but he effortlessly dodged out of her way. New Man levitated Red Dragon to the top of the building, and the samurai leapt to attack, hitting the man squarely and knocking him off the side of the building. Ifrita flew down and managed to catch him just before he hit the pavement.

 

The heroes took the unconscious foe back to their plane. In the light, they finally got a good look at his outfit – it was a modified version of the one that Union Jack wore during his active career! They pulled his mask off only to find it was Tony Greengables – Lord Geoffrey Greengables' son, the disrespectful punk they had met earlier that night!

 

Once he woke up, he told them the full story. He was the son of Union Jack, and the heir to his father's power (though he calls himself Albion). He was secretly investigating his father's (and the other Lords') disappearance. He didn't know who they were when they first caught him at Winchester’s manor, that's why he ran. He had followed them from the nightclub, and was trying to learn what they had found out. Once he was convinced they were on the same side, he shared what he knew.

 

He was on the trail of a wannabe Nazi named Willie Peters, who disappeared about two weeks ago (just before Winchester vanished). Willie Peters' last job was as a roadie for the Ratzis. He was last seen at a local bar talking with a posh gent, and the two of them left later that night. Descriptions of the "posh gent" weren’t too clear – it could be any white haired, thin, tall man (which fits the description of 3 of the four missing Lords, as well as about 100,000 other people in the London area). His investigations led him to Chessex, where he checked Blutegel's tomb (shortly before the heroes arrived). He found footprints in the mud – two sets entering, and two leaving... but the dead body in the tomb was that of Willie Peters.

 

It was now certain – Blutegel had been resurrected. The only question left was, where was the vampire hiding? He obviously wasn't in Chessex any longer. The heroes thought there were two possibilities – either the Millennium Dome, or the old HQ of the Knights of the Round Table – a castle on the southern coast of England, abandoned since the Knights broke up. Where will the investigation lead next?

[Scifi_Toughguy]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

YAY! Ya gotta love updates!

 

As for the storyline, I'm at a loss. For a while I was going to say it was from the incredibles but now I'm not certain.

[Red Knight]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

I like the story so far.... I was born in England and so far I don't see any problems.

 

The feel and flavor are good and I'd like to play in this campaign.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

YAY! Ya gotta love updates!

 

As for the storyline, I'm at a loss. For a while I was going to say it was from the incredibles but now I'm not certain.

 

Nope, not the Incredibles. It's from one of my favorite old comic stories, from probably about 25 years ago. That probably doesn't help much.

 

Bill.

[Scifi_Toughguy]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Nope, not the Incredibles. It's from one of my favorite old comic stories, from probably about 25 years ago. That probably doesn't help much.

 

Bill.

 

 

Seeing as how I was 2 then, I'm not giving myself a good chance.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Part 2 of "New Blood" ...

 

----------

It was now certain – Blutegel had been resurrected. The only question left was, where was the vampire hiding? He obviously wasn't in Chessex any longer. The heroes thought there were two possibilities – either the Millennium Dome, or the old HQ of the Knights of the Round Table – a castle on the southern coast of England, abandoned since the Knights broke up.

 

The team contacted Major Bec and asked for some supernatural assistance (preferably in the form of Spellbreaker). Bec responded by sending Tkembe, the African shaman (who protested that he knew nothing of vampires, but Bec sent him anyway). The team picked him up at Heathrow, and then headed for the Millennium Dome.

 

The Ratzis’ concert was set for tomorrow, and already the square in front of the Dome was filled with thousands of people – some who came for the concert, some who came to protest it, and some who were just looking for trouble. The London police were hard-pressed to keep the peace, and it looked like this was a riot looking for an excuse to start. The team’s van had to stop several blocks from the Dome, so the team bailed out and flew to a back entrance. The teamsters and guards who were working back there let the heroes go in without any incident.

 

Once inside, New Man mind-scanned the whole place. He found nothing particularly interesting – just roadies and teamsters setting up the stage, lights, and sound system for the concert, but then he scanned deeper, under the building, and found a large group of people who weren’t supposed to be there (at least, according to the security people they talked to). They left Ifrita at the top, to make sure no one tried to run away, and then headed down.

 

When they reached the sub-basement, a group of heavily-armed men opened fire on them! They took these guys out in no time flat (leaving several of them with severe injuries! Oops!) and then heard people shouting and running away further down the corridor. They discovered a group of skinheads and other punks running away. They started to give chase, but Tkembe noticed someone – or something – scuttling along the ceiling. He shouted a warning, and Red Dragon leapt to attack! The samurai knocked his target to the ground, where it landed with a hiss. In the dim light, it appeared to be some sort of hideous nosferatu!

 

The team attacked and eventually managed to beat it down. Tkembe and Red Dragon held it down while New Man read its mind (a distasteful event which the mentalist wishes he could forget!). He learned that this creature was once one of the Ratzis’ roadies; he had been turned into a vampire by “the Master†just a few days ago. His job was to recruit the worst of the worst, in preparation for when the Master made his big appearance – right in the middle of the concert! He was planning to cause a huge riot, throwing London into chaos and causing innumerable deaths.

 

They asked him if there were more vampires like himself, but he didn’t know. He heard the Master mention something about “Why turn ordinary human cattle into vampires, when I could get revenge on my old enemies so easily…†This punk didn’t know where the Master was currently; he only knew that he was not here. That left only one place the Master could be – Camelot! The team called for an UNTIL clean-up crew to take the vampire and the other punks into custody, and then they headed toward the Knights of the Round Table’s old HQ, on the coast.

 

It was an imposing structure on the edge of the sea, but it has gone to seed. Now it is a dark, crumbling manor, no longer the pride of England. New Man made a quick scan of the area and discovered 4 living souls somewhere in the basement of the castle. Cautiously, they entered and soon found the four missing gentlemen in a large, empty room.

 

Tkembe and Straight Arrow went in to perform emergency first aid. Albion followed, making a beeline toward his father. They found that all four men appeared to have been drained of their life’s blood, lying carelessly on the floor, ice cold, barely alive, and hardly breathing. They did not have the classic holes in their necks, but rather their necks looked like they had been mauled by a vicious animal! It was a miracle that they were still alive at all, but obviously, Blutagel had been draining them slowly in order to turn them into monsters like him – the ultimate revenge!

 

At about that point, the room suddenly grew darker, the air colder and danker, and everyone got chills down their spine. The light mist that clung to the floor suddenly coalesced into the hunched, withered form of Blutegel himself! The disgusting creature laughed. “So this is the best that the 21st century could throw at me, eh? I am not impressed. I have fought the greatest heroes of the last century – and the four centuries prior to that – and have always come away victorious! Do you children really think you can stop me?â€

 

With that, he rushed over to Albion – almost faster than the eye can follow – and slashed his throat. Albion went down. Tkembe immediately bashed the monster with his staff, sending him flying across the room but doing little harm. Red Dragon charged, with little more success. Straight Arrow fired a barrage of arrows at the creature, but it batted them out of the air effortlessly and then smashed Red Dragon back across the room.

 

Ifrita, realizing that Blutegel’s speed put him at a considerable advantage, turned her speed up to full, becoming a blur of fire. She slammed into the monster, bashing it against the wall and pinning it. “Keep up the pressure!†Straight Arrow shouted, firing off more arrows (and worrying that he was beginning to run low). Tkembe rushed to help Albion, healing the British hero with his shamanic magic. New Man grabbed Lord Portland-Smythe and pulled him out of the line of fire.

 

Ifrita continued to pound Blutegel into the wall. Red Dragon tried to shake the cobwebs out of his head while Tkembe quickly filled Albion in on what he’d missed. Blutegel, now imbedded about 2 feet into the wall, finally stopped fighting, and Ifrita immediately turned her speed back down to a more normal level (she was growing exhausted by her efforts). Suddenly, New Man sensed that something was wrong. He shouted out a warning. Straight Arrow looked around, and saw Lord Winchester rising to his feet. The ancient Lord threw off his trenchcoat, revealing his old Supermarine costume… and a grinning, hideous, vampiric face.

 

“Don’t worry, Master,†he said. “Now that your powers are combined with mine, I’ll make mincemeat of these children.†Moving like lighting, Supermarine tried to grab Straight Arrow’s bow from his hands – but failed. Even his vampire’s strength was not enough to wrest the Brit’s weapon away. Ifrita, exhausted, could do little but watch this new battle unfold. Tkembe and Red Dragon rushed over to help their leader. New Man used his telekinesis to grab the undead speedster, but the creature was too strong to hold onto for very long. Straight Arrow bashed the creature into a wall, and then the entire team rushed him. Lightning, fire, arrows, African sorcery, Japanese steel, and mental force all smashed into him, battering him senseless and leaving him lying, prone and helpless, on the floor.

 

Ifrita rushed back to the Mjolnir jet to get restrainers for both vampires. Tkembe finished healing the other (living) Lords, who were then rushed back to the Mjolnir. The team headed back to Midgard Base to lock up the vampires for good (and to get proper medical attention for those who needed it).

 

Epilog

Questioning the prisoners revealed all. As old age approached and death grew near, Lord Winchester (aka Supermarine) tried to find a way to extend his life. At first, he pursued his goal for (relatively) unselfish reasons – he wanted to go on being a hero. These days, Britain has one of the lowest superhero populations of the first world, and he thought that was wrong. He wanted to show the world how great his country still was, but after years of fruitless searching, he realized that there was only one sure way – Vampirism. He revived his old foe and made him an offer, and the Leech was more than happy to oblige his old foe…

 

The question came up, did Blutagel attack and turn anyone else into a vampire once he was revived? However, despite the best efforts of UNTIL’s interrogators, the vampire would not crack.

 

The heroes could prove nothing against the Ratzis – they denied any knowledge of the events, so the show went on as usual. However, with the heroes of UNITY providing riot control, nothing untoward happened.

 

After the concert, the heroes met up with Albion again. He told them that he is now fully ready to take up Union Jack’s mantle. “England needs a hero,†he said. “With horrible things like Blutegel running around, someone has to stand and fight for freedom and honor.†He thanked the heroes for their help, and welcomed them back to his “Green and Pleasant Land†any time. The other three heroes/parliamentarians were not well, but would recover with time. They were all quite grateful for the heroes’ help, and were glad that such brave and resourceful young men and women were carrying on the great tradition they helped start, so many years ago. They told the heroes that if they ever found themselves in need of anything, they know who to call. Detective Lemming was also grateful for the heroes’ assistance, and apologized that he seemed too stuffy. “It’s my way, you see, not to trust anyone until they’ve proven themselves. Well, you’ve proven yourselves to me, for what it’s worth, and God bless you all.â€

 

Major Bec chalked this one up as a win, and everyone got a gold star. Congratulations! He also told the heroes that since they had had such a busy week, they would get a few days of downtime...

[Trebuchet]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

1975 – UNITY builds a new base' date=' known as “Midgard,†in Sweden.[/quote']And our campaign has a team, MidGuard, based in Norway; and our team vehicle is called Mjölnir. Coincidence? I think not!

 

More proof of the Secret Masters' plan in action...

 

And if I'd known keyes_bill could tell such terrific stories I'd have voted for him instead of trying to have him ki... Never mind.

[Red Knight]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Yet again... a great posting... I live vicariously through your posts.... Keep'em coming...

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

And our campaign has a team' date=' MidGuard, based in Norway; and our team vehicle is called Mjölnir. Coincidence? I think not![/quote']

 

Yes, and I thank you for the inspiration. Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery, you know.

 

And if I'd known keyes_bill could tell such terrific stories I'd have voted for him instead of trying to have him ki... Never mind.

 

Why, thank you Treb. I... hey, wait a minute!

 

Bill.

(Sgt. Detective! There's someone here you should talk to!)

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Nope' date=' not the Incredibles. It's from one of my favorite old comic stories, from probably about 25 years ago. That probably doesn't help much. [/quote']

 

And for anyone still curious, the plot for "New Blood" was taken more-or-less from one of my favorite old Captain America stories featuring the evil "Baron Blood" (Captain America #253, from January 1981). There's a decent synopsis here: http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/u/unionjk3.htm

 

I highly recommend stealing plots from 20 year old comics. Not only were they fairly simple and filled with action, but odds are good that your players never read them!

 

Bill.

[Cardinal]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to keyes_bill again.

 

 

Great story. Keep em coming.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Part One of "Splitting Up The Party":

 

I did something different this time. I had half the team playing their regular characters, and half of them playing members of PRIMUS. Mike played Justice, Honore played Lionheart, and Tammy played Charcoal. They did a great job, and much fun was had by all!

 

Hope y'all are still enjoying the writeups!

 

----------

After a very busy (indeed, harrowing) first ten days on the job, Major Bec informed everyone that the brass was pleased with their performance, and that they could have a few days off. He told them that UNTIL would fly them anywhere they wanted to go. Straight Arrow intended to go home to England; Ifrita wanted to visit her father in Lourdes; Tkembe heard about an ancient library of magic and the supernatural in France, so he decided to head there; Aurora wanted to go someplace warm, like Australia; and Red Dragon heard about the world’s largest Spoon Collector’s Conference in Barcelona. New Man told Major Bec that he didn’t need a vacation, so Bec decided to send him on a cherry assignment – he was to head to the United States on a goodwill mission to meet with Senator Goodkind (the UN’s best friend in the US Congress).

 

When Aurora heard that New Man was going to a meet-n-greet with a bunch of celebrities, she decided that she had to go along, too, so she begged Major Bec to let her. He agreed. She immediately went and told Red Dragon’s younger sister, who decided that she had to go, too. Red Dragon reluctantly acquiesced (but not before looking into some way of keeping Aurora and Mariko separate).

 

The assignment was a plum. UNITY had been invited to come to a champagne breakfast/fundraiser in New York. It was nothing more chance to shake some hands, get some pictures taken, meet some celebrities, and eat a free breakfast; Bec assured them it wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours, and then he’d have them all flown to whatever vacation spots they picked.

 

Senator Henry “Hank†Goodkind has been in office for 14 years and is very popular in his home state. He is the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and sits on several others. He has always been a big backer of both PRIMUS and the UN (particularly UNITY). This has made him many enemies, but no more so than any active politician who loves the spotlight. Senator Goodkind has been pushing legislation to combine the PRIMUS and UNITY programs (on a limited basis, of course), so UNTIL definitely wanted to keep him happy (and make sure he wins his next election).

 

Red Dragon elected to go in costume. New Man and Aurora went in their civvies (technically, UNTIL uniforms, but they weren’t in their hero costumes). They arrived amidst a veritable ocean of limousines, and were immediately met by Charcoal, Lionheart, and Justice of PRIMUS. Justice was a little brusque to the foreigners – he made it clear that they were here only because he said they could be. The team then went to greet Senator Goodkind. He was a tall, handsome man in his mid-50s, with silvered hair and a winning smile. He had been a successful businessman and made a fortune on Wall Street before he went into politics. People were talking about him running for President in the next election. He was quite friendly and eager to meet the new members of UNITY – he even had them all pose with him for a photograph. “This is front-page material!†he gushed.

 

It was a huge rally. Aurora and Mariko got to meet their favorite celebrities (and Mariko fell madly and deeply in love with Justice). All of the heroes were invited to sit at the senator’s table for breakfast. It was quite a spread – crepes, fresh fruit, and mimosas enough to go around (and a lot of desperate attempts to keep Aurora and Mariko from imbibing any). The only thing that spoiled things was that New Man started to get a wallbanger of a headache shortly after everyone sat down.

 

Then, just before the auction was to start, Lionheart got an emergency radio communication from his men – something was happening outside. Before he could do more than whisper a warning to Justice and Charcoal, the doors burst open, and the skylights above shattered! None other than the notorious super-thieves known as GRAB showed up to steal the items in the auction! The bad guys consisted of Lady Blue, Bluejay, Hummingbird, Cheshire Cat, Black Diamond, and Hardcase.

 

It, of course, turned into a free-for-all. Charcoal got the senator out of the room and then knocked Hardcase into next week, Red Dragon went nuts (and then got KO’d), Justice got creamed by Lady Blue, Aurora got mind-controlled into attacking Lionheart (who wasn’t sure who was a good guy and who was a bad guy anymore!), and New Man’s headache kept interfering with his powers.

 

Cheshire Cat, Black Diamond, and Hardcase were down when Lady Blue called an end to it. She grabbed 'Cat (and Bluejay tried to grab Black Diamond, but decided the odds didn't look good) and the rest of GRAB bugged out.

 

The breakfast and the auction were ruined, but the press caught the whole battle on camera. Senator Goodkind thanked the heroes from both teams for saving the patrons from “Those dangerous, murderous thugs.†It was a great TV moment.

 

Of course, all the heroes knew that GRAB was infamous as thieves, not as murderers – in fact, they make it a point to never harm people. Justice rolled his eyes at the irony of it – the senator was just using an unfortunate event (in which no one was hurt) to shill for votes, and the hero was embarrassed to be a part of this charade.

 

PRIMUS escorted their UNITY guests to the airport, grumpily acknowledged their assistance, and sent them on their way. Red Dragon and his sister went to NYC (to look for collectables), Aurora went to Florida (she wanted to see Mickey Mouse), and New Man went back home to Toronto to take care of some business.

 

Next week: What’s going on in France?

[robbneu]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Bill,

 

This is all really good stuff. Thanks for posting your campaign's progress!

 

Regarding the issue of the attraction of archers in a superpowered world... I think that part of the draw lies in the added challenge of playing a "normal" man or woman whose skill allows them to stand among their godlike allies. A hero who is essentially just a normal person has to be *that* much more clever, *that* much more lucky, etc. to survive. The talented normal archtype has really interested me lately for that very reason and can add a lot of drama to otherwise mundane encounters.

 

"Bow-string Bob is standing against Grond? Why? He's just a man!?"

"Because it's the right thing to do and someone has to do it!"

 

Etc. etc.

 

Also, as Bill hinted at, the talented normal types often have a much wider range of skills than your average hero, so they get to be the weapon master, the detective, the martial artist, all in one. It makes for a character that may not necessarily be the solution for all of the problems, but is still someone who can participate in most situations.

 

Robb

[Starwolf]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

We aren't the only ones that struggle with the "normal" archer hero thingy. For years Hawkeye had a huge inferiority complex, that if I recall correctly wasn't resolved until he became the leader of the New Defenders.

[Scifi_Toughguy]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Great change of pace, Bill. I like how its not international incident after international incident (at least at the outset of the session...) What were the peoples' reactions to some of the team coming in uniform and one in costume?

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Great change of pace' date=' Bill. I like how its not international incident after international incident (at least at the outset of the session...) What were the peoples' reactions to some of the team coming in uniform and one in costume?[/quote']

 

It was kinda funny. PRIMUS and the senator didn't know that there were three UNITY heroes. They assumed that the two in UNTIL uniforms were just agents/handlers/assistants for Red Dragon. Once the fight started, Aurora Instant Changed into her Hero ID and Justice kept saying, "She's a superhero! Nobody told me she was a superhero! Why weren't we told that she was a superhero?"

 

New Man's powers are pretty subtle (he's got Invisible SFX on a lot of them), so he just stood back from the fight and used them; no one was the wiser.

 

Bill.

[Scifi_Toughguy]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

LOL! That line makes me jealous of the role-players in your group.

[Red Knight]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Justice kept saying, "She's a superhero! Nobody told me she was a superhero! Why weren't we told that she was a superhero?"

 

Bill.

 

It's nice when the Secret ID thing can actually get played on.

 

In our campaign, one of the characters is an Earth Elementalist and does not change into a costume or anything. When our group first met him, we didn't know who he was and in fact, we thought he was just some "norm" that liked to hang around supers. When he first started to use his powers, we didn't know who was doing it.

 

Later he confessed who he was.... like I said... It's really nice to actually get to play a Secret ID...

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Thanks for the compliments, everyone! Glad y'all are enjoying the writeups as much as we're enjoying the game.

 

For the curious, here are pictures of the team (we use miniatures -- big surprise there, huh?). This is Aurora, Ifrita, New Man, Red Dragon, and Simian. I'll put up Straight Arrow in a second (only 5 attachments at a time).

 

EDIT: I'm sure someone is going to ask, so:

 

Aurora is a Superfigs model ("Ember"), no mods.

Ifrita is a Superfigs body ("Grav Girl") with the wings of a Reaper succubus.

New Man has the body of a VOID figure. The hat is from a HeroClix "Scourge of the Underworld."

Red Dragon is a Clan Wars fig. No mods.

Simian is a Reaper fig, no mods.

Straight Arrow has the body of a VOID fig and the head of a different VOID fig. Both hands and the quiver on his back are from Clan Wars. The quiver is heavily modded (you can't see it in the pic, but it's 3-4 various sizes of polystyrene, some putty, and bits and pieces from other figs. Only the bundle of arrows that you see in the picture is from the Clan Wars fig.

 

Bill.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

And here's Straight Arrow...

[concord]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

For the curious, here are pictures of the team (we use miniatures -- big surprise there, huh?).

 

Ifrita is a Superfigs body ("Grav Girl") with the wings of a Reaper succubus.

From one Bill to another... All are nice but Ifrita... all I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to keyes_bill again.

[teh bunneh]

Re: UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

 

Part two of the team’s “vacation,†AKA "Splitting Up the Party"…

 

Once again, I did something different. Half the team played their own characters, and the other half played visiting "guest-stars" from EuroGuard. Allen played team leader Watchman, and Ron played the Fastest Man in Europe, Speed.

 

-----

Tkembe had been told that the world’s best occult library is in Lourdes, France. The Templar’s Manse is supposed to contain some of the greatest works of magic, the supernatural, and the occult the world has ever seen, from the time of Atlantis until the modern age. It wasn’t hard to wrangle an invitation to visit and look at the stacks.

 

When Ifrita told her father that she had a few dasy off, he suggested that they spend some time together. He took a short break from his duties, and invited his only daughter down to France to visit with him. He rented a home out in the countryside, where he could show her his favorite part of the nation – home to one of the world’s best medieval history museums (Ifrita’s father being something of a Crusades buff).

 

Coincidentally enough, the Templar’s Manse is on the same piece of property that the museum is, so Tkembe and Ifrita traveled down to France together (as Ron pointed out – the team’s resident Animist and the team’s Muslim were visiting one of the great Catholic holy sites…)

 

At the same time, EuroGuard received word that Eurostar was planning a big job in Lourdes. Reluctant to commit the entire team on a rumor, EuroGuard instead sent the Watchman and Speed to check up on things, to find out if there was any truth to the intel. Watchman and Speed knew there were three potential targets here: the Templar’s Manse (since Rasputin has more than a little interest in magic and sorcery), the Museum of Medieval History (since Eurostar had already robbed at least two other museums in the past couple of months), or a very old, very prestigious psychiatric hospital, which is currently housing the nefarious (former) Eurostar member Ultrasonique.

 

Ultrasonique was kicked out of Eurostar four years ago due to his growing psychosis. No one knows why Fiacho didn’t just order the insane Frenchman killed (since that is his usual MO), but Jean Dubois was captured by French authorities shortly thereafter, and was sentenced to remain here in custody until cured. The hospital attempted a vigorous treatment regime for about two years, but Dubois’ madness was intractable, so these days they content themselves with merely managing his symptoms. Dubois gets few visitors – his ex-wife comes around once or twice a year. He has no other living relatives (he had a brother who perished about a decade ago in a fire, possibly set by Dubois himself). When interviewed, Dubois was nonsensical, babbling about how everyone wanted his blood, and how the eyes in the sky were watching for him and wanted him dead so they could come back.

 

Watchman and Speed did not think that Eurostar would come after Dubois after so many years (especially given his madness), but they figured that Fiacho had left the Frenchman alive for some reason, so they couldn’t rule the possibility out.

 

They also thought the museum was a strong possibility, since Eurostar had been hitting similar facilities lately. But there were no new exhibits, and although the collection was very valuable, there was nothing so rare or legendary that they thought Fiacho would waste his time here. They felt the same about the library. Unfortunately, all three targets seemed to be equally likely, and equally unlikely, possibilities.

 

They settled themselves with informing the police of their suspicions (and told the police chief not to change his people’s routines, lest they tip off Eurostar as their presence), and then went to a nearby street café to have some dinner.

 

Meanwhile, Ifrita (AKA Peri) had a joyful reunion with her father. He insisted on taking her to his favorite café for breakfast. While they were enjoying their coffee, Peri witnessed an Irish woman being very rude to a waitress, berating her loudly in English, growing angrier and angrier as the young girl tearfully tried to apologize. Peri’s father stood up to get involved (he was always something of a busybody), but Peri stopped him. “You go find the manager,†she told him. “I’ll see what I can do here.†Her father hurried off, and Peri approached the table just as the Irishwoman slapped the waitress – hard. Peri stepped between them to put a stop to this, and the woman pulled a knife on her. Just before things got uglier, the Irishwoman’s companion (a tall, bald, bearded man) stood up, grabbed the woman by the shoulders, and apologized for her actions, saying that she was going through a difficult period. He threw a large stack of money on the table (“As compensation for my associate’s behaviorâ€) and dragged the still seething redhead out of the restaurant. Peri’s father arrived about then, pulling the manager along with him. The manager, when he saw what had happened, was furious and vowed revenge on the creatures that did this to his sweet Marie! Peri and her father took their leave and headed to the museum, where they reveled in 1200 years of history for most of the rest of the day.

 

Tkembe spent his day at the library, where a very helpful (and very elderly) librarian helped him find books related to his search – vampires, European legends and folklore, and other supernatural bits. He spent the day pouring over ancient manuscripts, absorbing all the information he could find. Sometime in the afternoon, he was interrupted in his studies by the smell of smoke. He looked up and saw another man in the room with him, looking at the shelves of books and smoking a cigarette.

 

Tkembe politely cleared his throat, and the man looked at him. “Excuse me, sir,†the African shaman said. “But do you really think it’s a good idea to smoke in a room filled with ancient, priceless, and very fragile books?â€

 

The man shrugged. “No, probably not,†he admitted.

 

“Then perhaps you should put out your cigarette,†Tkembe pressed. The stranger looked around for an ashtray for a moment, but finding none, went back to smoking. Tkembe, ever polite, cleared his throat again. “You should put out your cigarette,†he said again, more insistently this time.

 

“Right, right, sorry mate,†the man said, stubbing his smoke out on the sole of his shoe. He finally found the book he was looking for, and brought it over to the table near Tkembe. “What’re you looking at there, mate?†the stranger asked.

 

“I’m reading about vampires,†Tkembe said. “But I am finding it hard to separate the fact from the fiction.â€

 

“Oh, vampires,†the man said. “I’ve known a few… er, I mean, what do you want to know about them? Maybe I can help.†The two of them then talked for some time on the topic. After a while, Tkembe excused himself to go out and get some fresh air. When he came back, the stranger was still there.

 

“Say,†the man said. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?â€

 

“Yes,†said Tkembe. “I was just here a moment ago.â€

 

“No, I mean from the TV or something.â€

 

“I’ve just got one of those faces,†the tall, scarred, tattooed African shaman smiled.

 

“I know,†the stranger said, snapping his fingers. “You’re one of those new UNITY guys, aren’t you? A genuine superhero!†he laughed. “Who’d have thought I’d meet one of you, face-to-face?â€

 

Tkembe nodded. “You know who I am, but you haven’t told me your name,†he said.

 

“Right,†the man smiled. “How rude of me. I’m John.â€

 

“John what?†Tkembe asked.

 

“Just John’s good enough,†the man grinned, clearly unwilling to reveal more.

 

“And what are you studying, Just John?†Tkembe inquired.

 

“I’m reading about the Knights of St. John,†he answered. “Ever hear of them?†Tkembe allowed as he hadn’t, so John told him the story of the Siege of Malta and the heroic knights who defended Christendom from the Turks – particularly the great Grand Master, Sir Jean Parisot de la Dubois.

 

In 1565, a vast Ottoman fleet (some 40,000 men) laid siege to the Islands of Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea. The Knights of St. John were the defenders of this place, appointed to their job by the Pope himself, but they numbered less than 700 defenders, and the Pope was unable to send assistance. The Ottomans launched dozens of attacks on the walls of the Castle of St. Angelo throughout the long, hot summer. Even when a huge part of the walls were breached, the Ottomans failed to take the Castle. Dubois himself entered the fray and, according to legend, held off the entire Turkish army while his men desperately rebuilt the fallen section of wall. Through it all, this great Knight refused to accept the Ottoman's demands for surrender. After half a year, the long-awaited relief forces appeared and drove the Turks off the island.

 

Dubois was celebrated as the hero who saved Christendom, and was eventually canonized by the Church. His sword and armor, considered holy artifacts, were kept in the historic Castle of St. Angelo for centuries, until recently. The sword was stolen by parties unknown, and has vanished. “And that’s where I come in,†said John. “Some friends of mine are looking to get it back, and I sort of specialize in that sort of thing, so here I am searching through these old books to see if I can find a clue as to who might have it, where they took it, and why they want it. So, you’re a superhero. Any ideas?â€

 

Tkembe admitted he had no idea where the sword might be (and privately, he wouldn’t have told this guy anyway, as he seemed like a shady character). “Well, thanks anyway,†John said. “I’m not getting anywhere here, so I’d best be off.†Before he left, he handed Tkembe his card. “If you ever need anything, just give me a call,†he said, then he got up and left the room. A few minutes later, Tkembe got up to follow him. Tkembe ran into the librarian, and asked where John had gone.

 

“John who?†the old man asked.

 

“John, the man who was just here,†Tkembe said. “Tall, good-looking, blonde Englishman? Smelled like cigarette smoke, wore an expensive trenchcoat and cheap sneakers?â€

 

“There’s nobody here but you and me,†the librarian insisted. “See? The door is locked. No one can come in without knocking first.â€

 

Tkembe and the librarian searched the entire library, but found no sign of the man. Tkembe wondered if perhaps he had imagined the whole thing, until he found a cigarette butt on the ground in the room where he and the man had been talking. The business card he had been handed was a simple white affair with silver letters. It read merely, “John,†and gave an English telephone number. A little freaked out by the whole thing, Tkembe decided to call it a day and headed out to have dinner with Peri and her dad.

 

Dinner was a nice change of pace, candle-light under the stars at a small bistro overlooking the valley (and with a nice view of the library, museum, and hospital). While eating, the heroes noticed members of EuroGuard getting the rockstar treatment at a nearby table. Since they were on vacation, Tkembe and Peri decided not to bother them.

 

After dinner, Tkembe noticed someone walk past the restaurant – a huge, hulking man covering himself up in a heavy coat and a hat. Recognizing the silhouette, Tkembe excused himself from the table and followed him down an alleyway, where he saw the big guy get into an SUV, which drove off into the darkness. He hurried back to tell Peri what he saw, and the two of them discussed what they should do.

 

A few moments later, they all heard an explosion from down the valley. Speed took off toward the sound, with Watchman following after. Peri and Tkembe excused themselves, changed into their heroic uniforms, and hurried after the European heroes.

 

The disturbance was at the hospital. Speed noted an SUV parked just outside the building, and a large (Durak-sized) hole in one of the walls. Further investigation noted a young blonde girl just inside the hole, apparently standing guard. Watchman and UNITY showed up about then (after a brief case of mistaken identity which was resolved quickly), and Watchman took charge. Speed rushed in past the girl to scout out the opposition. The girl pointed at the SUV, which suddenly started up and tried to run over Tkembe (narrowly missing him). Ifrita rushed up to the girl and pounded her through a wall. Watchman moved up closer and blasted the girl. Amazingly, despite all this punishment the girl still stood back up and rushed them.

 

Speed headed down a corridor to where he knew Jean Dubois’ cell was, but stopped short when he noticed that someone had planted landmines all over the floor, walls, and ceiling of the hallway. He then saw Scorpia rush down the hallway to kick him in the head… but that was impossible, because Scorpia was dead! No time to worry about that now, so Speed punched her and sent her flying down the hall. He was unwilling to risk the landmines, so he turned around and ran back out of the building so he could meet the foes who he was certain would be coming through an outside wall.

 

He was right. Durak, Rasputin (dragging an unwilling Dubois), and Scorpia knocked down a wall and came through (wait… Scorpia… but she was just inside the building one second ago?!?). Tkembe blasted Rasputin with the power of his staff, sending the mad Russian monk through a wall and forcing him to drop Dubois. Ifrita tried to pound Durak, but missed. Scorpia hurled a dagger at Ifrita, knocking her unconscious. Watchman blasted the blonde girl into the next room, knocking her out. Speed blasted into Scorpia, sending her flying over to where Ifrita was playing possum… and Ifrita finished the job with one well-placed blow. Durak charged Tkembe, but his huge fists hit only air as the agile shaman ducked out of the way.

 

Rasputin, now recovered, began cursing in Russian. “No, we can’t let them capture us!†He chanted something in an arcane language, and all four villains vanished into nothingness.

 

Tkembe went to see if Dubois was OK. Physically, the Frenchman was fine, but mentally he was really out there. “See? I told you! I told you they would come for me because they know the eyes, the eyes in space – they want my blood and they know I’m the last, so only my blood will do! That’s why they want me!â€

 

Not satisfied that Eurostar wouldn’t be back, Watchman ordered Dubois transported to EuroGuard’s HQ Bastion-1, where he could be kept safely out of their clutches. He thanked UNITY for their timely assistance, and the two teams went back about their own business.

 

TBC!

[Lonewalker]

Re: The Team

 

Well' date=' Straight Arrow is hardly useless, even without his bow. He's a skilled martial artist and an inventor/engineer of some reknown. He'd lose a lot of options if he got disarmed, but that wouldn't take [i']all[/i] the fight out of him.

 

Well, that's awful decent of you to say, bro.

 

Thought I'd chime in as to my rationale for designing an "archer" character. Straight Arrow is designed to be more than the guy with the bow. When I designed him, I was shooting for two character aspects:

 

1. I wanted a Legacy character. Since there were few American heroes in UNITY, I went with Great Britain and its long history of heroes. Archery and swordplay seem to appear frequently in British myth and lore so an archer seemed natural. This is especially so with the background I designed where Straight Arrow's grandfather and uncle had superpowers but he did not. Not wanting to miss out on his legacy, he CREATES his powers.

2. I wanted a gadgeteer or powered armor character. These have always been my favorite "classes" of superhero to play. They tend to be very versatile with a wide array of skills and powers. Straight Arrow is very proud of his brilliant and inventive mind. He enjoys the fact that with his inventions, he can stand toe-to-toe against super-criminals that can toss around police cars or melt bank vault doors. (Also, tacking on a Focus limitation on most of a character's powers is a great way to get a lot of abilities for not as many points!)

 

When designed a gadgeteer, I always throw in a Multipower with a variety of standard and unusual attacks. Originally, I was going to create a gunfighter, but Bill warned me to avoid such concepts. UNITY 2010 isn't a Dark Champions game after all.

 

Well, a bow and trick arrows was my natural next choice. I wanted Straight Arrow to be a balance of mental and physical skill. Inventing a variety of strange trick arrows showed his mental side. And, for me anyway, archery has always felt like a very physical thing. Anyone can point a gun and shoot. But using a bow requires strength and agility. The "feel" of archery is a very physical thing (ask any BowFlex commercial!) and I liked the concept.

 

Lastly, the archer concept evolved from the hero code name, Straight Arrow. I knew I wanted a leader type character who's major failing was his straight-laced, by-the-book style of superheroing. It would mean he was good at his job but occasionally at odds with more freewheeling types. (And this does come up in the game! Ask Bill!) You call someone a "straight arrow" if he's a frank, honest, and rules-following person. And there you go, a hero name that matches personality and gimmick.

 

Oh, and super-archers are cool to me in any case. Green Arrow, Hawkeye...I just like 'em. Always have. Always will.

 

Straight Arrow uses his bow and trick arrows most of the time, but he's also designed a suit of powered armor that performs a variety of feats. He's extremely mobile (extra Running and Leaping), very durable (Armor and extra Constitution and Stun), very strong (extra Strength), and has an array of sensory devices (Enhanced Senses...a lot of 'em). Even outside his armor, he has a handful of generic comic-book martial arts and a wealth of skills (he's the only one who knows how to fly the team jet, for example).

 

Hope that helps with my motivations for creating an archer-type super character.

 

Mike M.