Midnight Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Hey Guys and Gals: I'm thinking of giving Champions a fair shake again. I have the Hero 5th Rules manual and HeroDesigner for Champions. Do I really need the "Champions" Genre Book? I don't plan on using the champions Universe I plan on making my own. Are there any crunchy bits and or absolutley insdispensible advice in there that I'll be missing if I don't get it? Midnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acroyear Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Nope, you don't need it, at all. You might want to still look at "Champions" (not "Champions Universe") which is a genre book which discusses the superhero genre, time periods, typical archetypes, ways to handle the impact of superhumans on the world, bases/HQs, and various GM advice. Most of it is pretty basic stuff, imo, but a lot of people are finding it quite useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDU Neil Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Well... Heromaker isn't going to help you much with 5th Edition. Seriously, though... the usefulness of Champions Universe depends on what kind of world you want to have, and how much work you want to do. If nothing else, you could steal bits of the world, and use the book by having players read certain pages, chapters... but ignoring the rest. I don't use it... but I have a world 17 years old, and don't need that kind of material. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Champions Universe? You need it Not getting it could lead to premature baldness. Not getting it could eventually incurr haltiosis. It might lead to gout. Well, then again, it might not, but why take chances? Seriously, it depends as others have said. Sounds like you wouldn't need it as you're making your own world, but it does have a few good tidbits to rip off.. uhm , incorporate for your own world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Posted February 17, 2003 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 RDU Neil Wrote: "Well... Heromaker isn't going to help you much with 5th Edition" OOPS that was HeroDesigner!! My Bad! And I think I ment the "Champions" Book Not the "Champions Universe" Book. I ment the genre book not the World Book. Sorry about the Confusion! Midnight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDU Neil Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 Originally posted by Midnight RDU Neil Wrote: "Well... Heromaker isn't going to help you much with 5th Edition" OOPS that was HeroDesigner!! My Bad! And I think I ment the "Champions" Book Not the "Champions Universe" Book. I ment the genre book not the World Book. Sorry about the Confusion! Midnight The Champions Genre book is important, if you have newbies to the supers RPG concept. Even more so if they are comic readers, but not supers RPG players, yet. They will come with an idea of what a supers world should be like, and it may differ quite a bit from what you are thinking. The Champions genre book is good for getting them thinking about the fact that not all comics are the same... not all super worlds are the same... and help them see where you are coming from. If you have experienced super gamers, then you'll likely need Champions less... though it can be good for discussion purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 CHampions Genre AH, well that's a horse of a different color then. Like RDU Neil said, it depends on how experienced in the genre you and your group are. Even then it's got some nice short cuts. Personally, I found the write ups on the bases nice, and the random generator may have a few bugs, but it can stir the muse a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent X Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 There is plenty of stuff to steal even if you don't want to use it as the basis of your campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Super Posted February 17, 2003 Report Share Posted February 17, 2003 I personally preferred Champions Universe as a place to steal ideas, although the random character generator is a good source for powers. I think that the value of the Champions genre book is inversely (is that spelled right?) related to your experience level. If you've played or GM'd champions extensively before it is a dissapointment. If you are new then it is invaluable as the only source. If money is not an issue, buy it and the Champions Universe. If for no other reason then to support a good company. But even with the above comments in question, it still has a few kernels of gaming goodness even to critics like myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamashii2000 Posted February 18, 2003 Report Share Posted February 18, 2003 I have to admit, I have found the Genre book to be far more useful then the World Book has been. Don't get me wrong thier both fine piece of work (brown nose, brown nose.. brown nose) but when it comes down to it I pull out the genre book far more often then I do the world one, mainly when I am feeling to lazy to properly make a NPC... got to love that character generator. Now, The world book is a nice pre-package world to just drop people into... My PC's have already been sent to Millenium city once... God I want that source book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Anomaly Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Originally posted by Tamashii2000 Don't get me wrong thier both fine piece of work (brown nose, brown nose.. brown nose) Your avatar (Krillian) doesn't HAVE a nose. Doesn't it make sense, Krillian would be an incompadant Normal? No, I don't think it makes sense, or only in the Social sense. Other than that -- considering the people & things he's gone up against (and done quite well for someone that isn't a Super Saiyan) under no circumstances would I call him an Incompetant Normal. YOU go call him an Incompetant Normal. Go on. I double-dog dare ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tamashii2000 Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Originally posted by Dr. Anomaly Your avatar (Krillian) doesn't HAVE a nose. No, I don't think it makes sense, or only in the Social sense. Other than that -- considering the people & things he's gone up against (and done quite well for someone that isn't a Super Saiyan) under no circumstances would I call him an Incompetant Normal. YOU go call him an Incompetant Normal. Go on. I double-dog dare ya! Heh, Well got to respect him when he ends up with the likes of 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tclynch Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Originally posted by RDU Neil The Champions Genre book is important, if you have newbies to the supers RPG concept. Even more so if they are comic readers, but not supers RPG players, yet. They will come with an idea of what a supers world should be like, and it may differ quite a bit from what you are thinking. The Champions genre book is good for getting them thinking about the fact that not all comics are the same... not all super worlds are the same... and help them see where you are coming from. If you have experienced super gamers, then you'll likely need Champions less... though it can be good for discussion purposes. Yeah...I'm trying to ditch my genre books over on ebay.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Re: Do I Really Need the Champions Genre Book? Originally posted by Midnight Are there any crunchy bits and or absolutley insdispensible advice in there that I'll be missing if I don't get it? I do not think anything in the book is indispensible. I do think there is some very good stuff in the book though. The archetype sections are useful. The Random Character generator is fun. The vehicles, bases, and equipment examples are good to have. The genre-specific new and adjusted rules sections are good. I also like the "optional" ranged aspect of Susceptabilities. Buy Tclynch's on eBay. You probably won't be disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEmerged Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Best thing in the genre book, my opinion, is the Vulnerability Frequencies chart on page 159. I photocopied this and stuck it in FREd, and haven't opened it since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted February 19, 2003 Report Share Posted February 19, 2003 Originally posted by TheEmerged I photocopied this and stuck it in FREd, and haven't opened it since. I use the gadgets in that book all the time. My players are living in the example base and flying the example vehicle from that book. You must like doing a lot of scratch work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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