CKC- foot note characters

[Hermit]

In about 3 different pages of CKC, you can find gray boxes that include some other villains/characters that are briefly described.

 

Pg 146: Al, Arachne, The Basilisk, Mantisman, Python, The Saurian, El Tiburon, Vesper, and White Rhino.

 

Pg 158: Dr'zheem, Frostbite, Jaa'lu Darkmaw, Malachite, Shomak, Steelhand, Terala Shain, and Whirlwind.

 

Pg 215: Backtrack, CheetahMan, Mandala, Skylark, Tagteam, and Zogoth

 

PSI also had a little mention of back ups, but with the exception of Teke, they were handled in MC I think.

 

For the official types out there- Do you know yet if any other books will be fleshing these guys out?

 

For the rest of us- Anyone already making use of any of these Animal motiff villains, Malvan Gladiators, or Andromedian criminals?

[Monolith]

I included all of those characters and races in the villains pdf, but I have not had any reason to use or make any of them yet. I am far too busy using the villains I already have.

[Hermit]

I hear ya

 

Originally posted by Monolith

I included all of those characters and races in the villains pdf

 

I noticed that, nice job btw.

 

And yeah, CKC is almost...ALMOST too much of a good thing

 

Wouldn't stop me from getting another batch of villains if another book of similar nature comes out soon though.

[Monolith]

Re: I hear ya

 

Originally posted by Hermit

I noticed that, nice job btw.

Thanks! It keeps me out of trouble.

 

Wouldn't stop me from getting another batch of villains if another book of similar nature comes out soon though.

Me either. I personally like character books, both hero and villain, and will eagerly await the new "enemies" book in 2005.

[Jhamin]

Something I didn't fully appreciate about CKC when it came out, but which is coming up more and more in play is that there isn't alot of overlap in Villian "Schtick". If you want a high tech assassin there are a couple, but not many. If you want military theamed guys there are a couple, weather guy: one, Plant guy: one, and so on.

 

I find that if you limit the archtypes like this & force your homebrew charcters to not step on other's toes it can create a real sense of individuality to the bad guys that was missing from 4th edition. I mean in 4th Dr. Destroyer was one of half a dozen high tech cultured meglomaniacs with a private army. Now he is simply Dr. Destroyer.

 

While I am also fervently looking foreward to the next enemies book I hope it manages to give us alot more individuals rather than a new animal themed magic villian or another psycho clown.

 

I'm enjoying exploring the current crew too much.

[winterhawk]

Re: CKC- foot note characters

 

Originally posted by Hermit

For the rest of us- Anyone already making use of any of these Animal motiff villains, Malvan Gladiators, or Andromedian criminals?

 

Already using Arachne...haven't even introduced Firewing yet, so the other gladiators are probably a long way off...and Nebula is one of my least favorite characters of all time, so I doubt any Andromedans will be showing up.

[Steve Long]

For the official types out there- Do you know yet if any other books will be fleshing these guys out?

 

I wouldn't be at all surprised. I expect the next big book o' villains we do for Champions, probably in 2005, will feature not only a lot of the incidental characters mentioned in USPD, but some from CKC as well. In the meantime perhaps we'll have the chance to salt in one or two here and there, as appropriate.

[Demonsong]

and Nebula is one of my least favorite characters of all time

 

I must tell you winterhawk that I agree with you fully on this. I have even toyed with the idea if introducing her in to the campaign I GM just so I can have the players kill her.The odd thing is I really can’t put a finger on where this hatred comes form.

 

On subject, no I have not just any of the side bar villans, but I am going to go take a nother look.

 

Demonsong

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Steve Long

I wouldn't be at all surprised. I expect the next big book o' villains we do for Champions, probably in 2005, will feature not only a lot of the incidental characters mentioned in USPD, but some from CKC as well. In the meantime perhaps we'll have the chance to salt in one or two here and there, as appropriate.

 

Thanks for the head's up on that possibility then.

[Susano]

Originally posted by Demonsong

I must tell you winterhawk that I agree with you fully on this. I have even toyed with the idea if introducing her in to the campaign I GM just so I can have the players kill her.The odd thing is I really can’t put a finger on where this hatred comes form.

 

I suspect its due to the nature of her powers. She's all high-and-mighty on the side of (her perceived laws of) justice, but her punishment is akin to eternal torment. She also punishes the good along with the bad, *and* her punishment is descibed as escape proof. So she really doesn't have much sympathy going for her, and one really ends up wanting to shove her into "Duress" so she can see how it feels.

[Enforcer84]

Along these lines, Steve, Darren, Allen, et al, will their ever be perhaps an Update Book? For the CU. I know when the 4th edition CU came out the author had mentioned that it was possibly the first of many...

I wouldn't mind seeing maybe 3 or 4 years down the road an "Official CU Update" Book that maybe gives updated stats for the iconics, perhaps a changing of the guard that happens so often in comics, or at least a history of what's going on since the original books came out.

I have a better grasp on the CU as a living universe than most game (heck, comics) I have read and wouldn't mind seeing where you guys envision it down the road aways.

[Rechan]

Some of the villains listed in those blocks seemed too... bland and predictable.

 

And, while CKC was very interesting, I also found some of the villains really lacking, even some I'd not use. I was going to do a combat demo for my PCs, and while flipping through the CKC, couldn't find a reasonable NPC to throw at them to explain combat. I used Riptide, but she was pretty straight forward 'EB, EB, NND, BB'.

 

And none really Grabbed me, shook me, and screamed 'You Must Use Me!'. A few really interesting and unique badguys. A mystic who's not a blatant 'I Am A Magic User.'. Or atleast, some guy who is shrouded in mystery, the guy who's going to be in the shadows, weaving spells and doing wicked things, not like Talisman.

[Steve Long]

will their ever be perhaps an Update Book?

 

Maybe. But if so, it'll be years down the road; otherwise it seems too much like "churning" the setting.

[winterhawk]

Originally posted by Susano

I suspect its due to the nature of her powers. She's all high-and-mighty on the side of (her perceived laws of) justice, but her punishment is akin to eternal torment. She also punishes the good along with the bad, *and* her punishment is descibed as escape proof. So she really doesn't have much sympathy going for her, and one really ends up wanting to shove her into "Duress" so she can see how it feels.

 

Actually, I was watching the old Gil Gerrard (?) early 80s Buck Rogers on SciFi (a cheesy guilty pleasure) today, and realized that Nebula could have easily been an "alien babe du jour" for that series. Her background is the cliched "alien from a vastly different culture on Earth", which really doesn't appeal to me for a superhero baddie. Its the same reason I don't like High Fantasy characters in Champs.

 

And before any Nebula fans flame me, I did just admit liking the 80s Buck Rogers show, isn't that punishment enough?

[Hermit]

Poor Nebula

 

Wow, I must be one of the few that like her concept. Given that you have a full phase to act when she 'announces' she's going to send you to Duress, I think any hero who knows her rep has a good chance to evade (Better if they have Missile Reflection *S*). Someone else called her "one big plot hook", and that's how I see her as well.

 

Maybe I should start a thread for the characters we just can't stand. Might be useful to flesh some out or work on making them more agreeble.

 

Oh, and Winterhawk, I loved that Buck Rogers series, well, before they jumped the shark and put them on that ship. So, no, in my view, you're not suffering enough

[Kikaida]

Not quite the Nebula fan club, but...

 

I'm with you, Hermit- I like Nebula's concept too. She's basically Rom: Spaceknight without the Dire Wraiths to send to limbo (and leave a body-shaped pile of ashes... always wondered about that...) Besides the 'inescapable Duress' sounds a little too much like 'the unsinkable Titanic'. Just wait until the forces of Istvatha V'Han, Empress of a Billion Dimensions adds that little timeshare to her holdings...

-----

Silly rabbit, Sigs are for frequent posters...

[Hermit]

Heh, thanks Kikaida. I'm a Rom fan as well. And yes, going by the plot seeds listed for Nebula, Duress is clearly NOT inescapable (One of the seeds mentions danger of the barriers breaking down.)

 

I hadn't thought about the Istvatha angle. I like that one.

 

Come to think of it, villains escaping from Duress might be another way to introduce those Andromedians.

[Logan D]

Oooh!!! I like that Istvatha V'Han angle! Have her recruit all the villains that have been sentenced to that "duress" dimension as a strike force (or more than one!) for deploying in Earth's dimension. Have them imprison Nebula in "duress" and then have them start sending other heroes there as well. Present the heroes with a moral quandery of whether to rescue Nebula or not. If they really are heroes, then they should. "She's a stuck up little witch, but does she really deserve to suffer like that? Does anyone?"

 

Ultimately, maybe this can serve to turn her around and make her into a real hero and someone likable by the player characters. The major thought I had when viewing this character was that with a serious attitude adjustment, she could make a great heroine and ally. Maybe this is the sort of campaign where this could happen.

 

Of course, you'd better make it worth the players while in ways that don't appeal to pure altruism, just to make sure they'll go this direction. Because when PCs get grudges, they tend to hold onto them. Several players I've played with in the past would merely take the opportunity to kill her or leave her in duress. Make it so that she has some vital piece of information that only she has or could know about Istvatha V'Han's conquest of the "Duress" dimension and how she's using it to attack Earth. Then they are forced to rescue someone they hate in order to beat back the invasion. And in the process of the rescue (and perhaps fighting alongside her) they find out that she's actually not all that hateful after all.

 

If I were doing it, I'd leave her with some of her snootiness intact though, no matter how much she reforms, just for the fun of tweaking the PCs from time to time.

 

-Logan

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

Men were real men, women were real women, and small, furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were REAL small, furry creatures from Alpha Centauri. Spirits were brave, men boldly split infinitives that no man had split before. Thus was the Empire forged.

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

[Kaeto]

Nebula

 

Trying to turn her around wouldn't work, since she's genetically engineered to consider her laws the supreme law of the universe. Also I have never liked an attack power that has absolutley no defence against it.

[Scott Destroyer]

Hello,

 

Here's another one who likes Nebula. As I've said elsewhere, she reminds me of my favorite "New Universe" character, Justice, in the year or so before Marvel utterly ruined the character and the setting. Both are alien elite cops, stranded on Earth far from home and friends, who apply their accustomed standards of justice in their new environment and dispose of baddies at the drop of a hat.

 

And besides, I was a kid in Hawaii in the '70s, so how could I disagree with Kikaida! Welcome to the boards, Jiro!

 

(Ah, the glory days of "KIKU - Nihongo Televidas". Himitsu Sentai Goranger, Kikaida, Kamen Rider, Inazuman, Akumaizer 3, Rainbow Man, Diamond Eye, Ultra 7, Getta Robo G, Raideen...classic sentai and anime by the boatload, subtitled for those of us kids who spoke no Japanese...)

[Tech]

Re: Poor Nebula

 

Originally posted by Hermit

Oh, and Winterhawk, I loved that Buck Rogers series, well, before they jumped the shark and put them on that ship. So, no, in my view, you're not suffering enough

 

Hey, I totally agree with you - they shouldn't have gone that ship series route.

 

I also agree that no power should be built with no defense. Saying 'I dodge' doesn't mean she's going to miss you.

[Hermit]

No it doesn't, but as Usable As Attack has "a reasonable set of Defenses" according to FREd, I don't think there is 'no defense' against her power. Naturally each GM will pick their own, but innate dimensional travelers (As opposed to those who use focuses), certain forcefields, and even Power Defense might make one completely immune.

 

And imagine Nebula's surprise

[don]

ckc-footnote characters

 

I also enjoy Nebula. She is meant to be disliked, and that is exactly where she sits in my game. One of the characters was a former "team-mate" of hers on a Defenders like non-team in the past. Nebula screwed them over by reneging on her promise not to "Duress" a certain villain, leading to the group's break-up.

 

Now, the PC works with Nebula's son, a hybrid she felt compelled to have with a human due to prescient information that he would stop four great evils. When the pair were involved in a battle against villains including Vibron (the last villain she has to collect), you should have seen the PC put everything she could into screwing Nebula over when she arrived. That to me means the character is doing its job.

 

The fact that a major iconic hero of the past, thought lost for years but apparently summonable by a pair of underpowered twins, is believed to be trapped in another pocket realm also adds to things. It hasn't occurred to them yet that the two dimensions might have some connection, but I'm sure it's all amatter of time. And I'm not sure if that's actually the case. I'm kind of waiting to see how the PCs react to that thought before settling on things.

 

Don

[Prometheus]

You really get the most mileage out of Nebula when she's used as a NPC (a complication), rather than an out-and-out villian (an opponent).

 

Every PC should have someone who's an "entanglement", someone who makes their life a little more interesting. Nebula can work some drama into a story for any character that is a hardliner or an alien (in my campaign, I'm actually blessed with a character that's both). Given her power level and personality, there's alot to work with.