Newspapers in Champions campaigns?

[Trebuchet]

I was wondering how may groups or GMs here put out fake newspaper articles to provide background and color to their Champions campaign? I just finished putting together the first issue of Weekly Globe Enquirer for our game, with tidbits from all 3 GMs.

 

Headlines included:

 

Aliens Use Human, Bovine DNA To Breed Minotaurs

 

"Modern Day Mengele" Suffers Massive Stroke

 

Paris Tunnel Haunted By Princess Di's Ghost?

 

Ranger Defeats Force 10 in Oakland

[Vondy]

I used to make extensive use of headlines in my Freedom Patrol Campaign.

 

Since they were a black ops superhero group bizarre versions of their adventures would occasionally show up in the tabloids, which the players got a kick out of.

 

They even went off on a tangent to follow up on potential leads from some of the wackier tabloid headlines I came up with, which I went with, leading to some comic relief in an otherwise gritty and realistic campaign.

[Trebuchet]

All of these headlines also had accompanying 2-4 paragraph articles as well. I intend to use this method not only to provide leads but also begin filling in some of the campaign color. The superhero in the last headline, Ranger, for instance is a powerful (475 point) NPC superhero the players have never met. Force 10 is a villain team our PC team has fought twice in Europe, 1 win - 1 loss. So they have history. (I'm currently revising Force 10 to 5th Edition standards. They were the first supervillain team in my campaign.)

[Vondy]

Ahhh....

 

I've written the occasional article to go with headlines, but its not something I've done a lot.

 

I did run a solo game for a friend who was playing a hard boiked detective that I created a lot of props for.

[Trebuchet]

I'll post one of the articles, so you can see the type of info:

 

Ranger Defeats Force 10 in Oakland

Battle Rages Across City For Nearly an Hour

 

Oakland, CA – A spectacular battle between the Bay Area’s most famous superhero and the all-female supervillain team known as Force 10 occurred yesterday. The incident began yesterday around 2:30 PM PDT at a high tech bio-research facility in East Oakland owned by BioDyne Corporation, when the giant armored figure known as Scarab and her white hot ally Plasma broke in and began searching the facility for unknown material or information. Police, media helicopters, and SWAT teams responded quickly, but the supervillain duo was able to easily defeat a score of police.

 

About 15 minutes after they had first attacked the BioDyne facility, Ranger arrived and immediately moved to subdue the duo. After exchanging powerful energy blasts with both villains and apparently gaining the upper hand, a third member of Force 10, a previously unknown flying villain, attacked Ranger by surprise, knocking him to the ground. Ranger quickly recovered, and picking up a smashed squad car took to the air and proceeded to smash the flying villain out of the sky using the police car like a giant flyswatter. Plasma and Scarab moved to assist their comrade, and in the process heavily damaged several nearby buildings, including setting an apartment building on fire. The fight broke off when the apartment building’s tenants were unable to flee the burning building and Ranger turned from the fight to assist the apartment dwellers. Meanwhile Scarab picked up their fallen comrade and the trio fled the scene. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

 

It is not known what materials or information Force 10 may have been seeking at BioDyne; the group more typically goes after hi-tech materials. This is their first reported sighting in the United States, most of their escapades since their first appearance at a nuclear facility in Norway in June of 2000 have been in Europe. That incident was broken up by the superhero team MidGuard. Federal officials are unhappy at the prospect of a villain team of Force 10’s caliber operating in the United States. US military installations have been placed on an elevated alert status.

[BarryB]

We have a campaign newspaper, the Atlanta Chronicle, up on our website. Since shortly after I began GMing a Champions campaign, I've always put out a newspaper. There are a number of reasons to have a newspaper besides the plot clues that it allows.

 

1) Because it provides the man-in-the-street point of view to the activities of the characters. Sometimes I don't do a good job of describing the gasps from crowds as Invincible Man survives a building falling on him. In a news article, I can do so.

 

2) After a while, stopping a robbery of a convenience store gets old. But the characters still do so, even though the challenges now lie with world-threatening villains. So newspaper articles help to keep the players grounded.

 

The previous two reasons can provide ego boosts to players, describing their actions and abilities in colorful ways that, at least in our group, get lost in the shuffle.

 

3) Articles can provide summaries of "what went before" as well as what society as a whole knows. If the characters defeat alien criminals and the fight is reported as an accidental explosion, the players know that society doesn't know about aliens and isn''t supposed to know.

[WilyQuixote]

I haven't done the newpaper with articles but I did just this last Saturday type up "A super week in review" highlighting the PC's actions and other events in the city. Some related and others having nothing to do what so ever with the current story. One or two had some insidious elements involved to be sprung on the PC's later <>. One story was something the other GM has been doing stuff with that I put in there just to keep in the back of the PC's minds. No idea what he plans for it but I thought it was a good touch. Over all the news broadcast had the desired effect and I plan to make more of them as the game days go by, and it was fun to write the stories as well.

[Trebuchet]

BarryB, you make some excellent points that I hadn't considered the newspaper for. Thanks. It's agenda just got expanded...

 

Once the team does another fight publically, I'll report on that too. Currently about half our adventures never make the news. Last public one was when MidGuard thwarted a neo-Nazi coup in Austria.

[Jayde Tiger]

Hi

 

I have on various occasions used the newspaper idea to varying levels of success.

 

In one long running game, the newspaper reviewed almost every action of the PC group, and they grew to hate the JJ Jameson style reporting by one ADAM CORSO! (Capitalised just in case a former player is watching.)

 

Generally I used these papers to add life to the campaign, demonstrate how the general public may interpret the actions of the PC group, to antagonise the group with an obviously bias anti-hero opinion, and finally to foreshadow future events. That particular newspaper took on an extra task when I began running a second campaign with a completely different group of players at the same time.

 

It got to be one of the player's greatest thrills to read about what happened to the "other group" when they sat down to start their own session. The rivalry it created was GM gold!!!

It also introduced the two gaming groups to each other's characters, in preparation for my big SUMMER CROSSOVER SESSION when on one particular weekend I put both gaming groups around a single table and had a great 14 player game! Ahhhh the memories.

 

Anyway, to get back on topic, I found that it was often necessary to "bait the hook" so to speak, with a variety of articles. I always found that my PC's ignored some articles in favour of others. I found it extremely helpful to let the PC's decide the future of the campaign by choosing exactly what to investigate, and allowing them to ignore storylines as they choose. I mention this because it really hurts when a GM makes a pile of preparation for a storyline, only to find that the PC's have no interest in it.

 

Finally, I allowed Players to gain a few extra XP here and there for submitting their own articles. This was much easier after the Rivalry began, as each group tried to write up their adventure in the most colorful way. I'm a GM who loves to have Players think about the campaign between games, rather than the sit down play, stand up forget everything type of players.

 

Thanks for listening

 

J

[BoloOfEarth]

Newspapers

 

I also (try to) have a newspaper for each game session, for many of the reasons noted by others. I used to just read news blurbs at the start of every game, but a newspaper allows me to provide a bit more detail, as well as flesh thoughts out in my mind. It also allows the players to read them at their leisure, since all six are rarely paying attention at the same time.

 

And as somebody else pointed out, sometimes the players are more interested in the "filler" articles than what I planned to run, causing me to go in a different direction than I expected.

 

Jayde, I love the idea of players submitting articles for extra experience points. Consider the idea stolen... er, I mean borrowed. In addition to covering what they had done before, perhaps some articles could be GM challenges -- the player writes up something that the GM has to turn into an adventure.

 

Unfortunately, I can't attach an example of one of my newspapers, as they are PDF files and that file extension is not supported by the boards. Perhaps it's all part of Foxbat's Master Plan...

[Killer Shrike]

put the PDF file in a ZIP. Attach the ZIP.

[Hermit]

Hmmm, I have to admit, the idea of a Newspaper website for my campaigns and players to use has been tempting. Alas, I'm really not sure how to format the sucker so it has a Newspaper look. Still, could be a blast to try.

[JohnTaber]

I usually do the news stuff verbally. Some of the reports are to act as recaps from previous sessions and others are for new stories or simply red herrings. Works neat...

 

Forgot! Of course I use Jimmy Dugan!!!

[loki]

we have one

 

We have one in our camp. It is pretty standard fare as far as websites go (in responce to someone who said they didnt know how to make it look like a newspaper format) and as a player it is GREAT!

 

Its fun to see your actions in print, and we all seem to get the "good write up" from time to time.

 

Also it is a good way to help new players to our game get a foundation in what is and has been going on. Also it helps our players who miss (i am sure none of you have that problem) get caught up a little.

 

Our GM puts it up every (ok... most) thursdays and i find my self looking forward to press day every week. (hmmm... what a geek i am huh?)

[loki]

OH... and

 

There is even a Jimmy Dugan (SP??) type guy who is named Neigl Peaks and i have taken him as a contact with my EXP and has evolved into a major part of our world. Even now as we speak he is trying to recover from being kidnaped and a bomb put into his chest to make an example out of him.

 

So in responce he is out there trying to get his hands on some technology (from an in game group similar to Argent i might add) to get some revenge... and we have to try and find a way to stop him and help our friend. Nice roll play opportunites all from a little ol' newspaper.

[Killer Shrike]

URL please?

[Killer Shrike]

Ive done this in the past, but it usually turns out to be a lot of extra "peripheral" work, and I must admit that things like that are the first to get the axe when Im in a time crunch. Ive also, in the past, made a habit in some games of chronicling the session, both flavored versions and strait forward 'dry' accounts of "just the facts, mam", which I would read to the group the following week as a recap/icebreaker. Those were some of my best campaigns actually. However, time and enthusiasm are both factors, and I never Went the distance journaling to the very end (of course, they were year plus long campaigns, but still).

 

When I have a good, enthusiastic group that are "into it", I put a lot more effort into the "extras". Its just too demoralizing to put a lot of effort into cool flavor when it isnt appreciated by the players, and I tend to get pissed by blase' response (Love it, Hate it, but at least have a damn opinion), so I only put the time in for groups that I know will appreciate it.

 

 

WilyQuixote was able to overcome his fear of running the HERO System and took over GMing duties in our CU game a couple of sessions ago for a story arc (Im trying to encourage a rotating GM for the Supers campaign because a) I think it helps instill that eclectic comics feel that comes from writers and artists switching books, complete with occasional retcons and loose ends that are forgotten, only for some of them to come back later and I actually like to play the game too. )

 

 

 

Last session he produced a 2 page excerpt from an E! style show on SNN, The Superhuman Week in Review or something similar. It was a montage of supers events, including 1 or 2 pertaining to the current team lineup, a reference to a loose end from my opening story arc, and some flavor referencing some of the characters from the CU books.

 

It was very cool. Im hoping to see more of it next week.

 

 

 

 

As a side note, Ive been playing with WilyQuixote for a long time now, and he has the potential to be a really good GM. His problem is he's not a mechanix-head, so his game constructs are not always kosher, and he doesnt 'wing it' well, but when he's into a storyline, he does a really good job running it.

 

I had already been gaming with him, usually as the GM, for several years when we both joined a WW group after our regular group fell apart due to everyone getting out of the military at around the same time. I was in the process of cycling out, and WilyQ had extended for a year previously and had about 3 months left. I was staying in the area, so he and I hooked up with a group we had done a "cross-over" with a couple of years before when we were in a WW stint (open source, Mage, Vamps, Were, whatever).

 

They had a revolving GM policy, so WilyQ's turn eventually came up. Now this group of players was very power-gamey, and thier characters were out of control; they also just used the Vampire material so the other denizens of the WoD were pretty wimpy. The group had all kinds of "Killed Thor with his own Hammer" type stories and had a completely out-of-whack perception of the relative power of Vamps in general in the WoD, so when my turn came up I had introduced them to MAGE using the 2e Mage tA rules, which scared the pants off of them.

 

WilyQ's turn was next, and he decided to teach them to fear both normal mortals and Werewolves. He took the movie The Usual Suspects as inspiration crossed with Vampires (the James Wood movie of questionable quality; had good Vampire-hunting tactics though). Those poor players were in so far over thier heads, they had no clue what to do. They were so used to just powering through everything they really had no idea how to deal with subterfuge, group tactics, planning, or the resources of the US Government (a division of the FBI investigating the supernatural was involved, along with the Society of Leopold IIRC).

 

It was great, and the NPCs were a lot of fun. I had a blast. I went to the session expecting a painful night of watching WilyQ (who had never run a game previously that I had played in, or ever wanted to run) struggle, and instead had a great time.

 

He's had a few stumbles since then, but after 2 sessions he seems to be on top of things with the current campaign. The media-sheet was a welcome surprise, thats for sure. It shows that he's committed to the game too and encourages "model" behavior bcs you know in the back of your mind that inappropriate actions on the part of your PC will likely get harped upon by the media and you could develop an undesirable rep.

[MarkusDark]

The URL that Loki was talking about can be found at http://www.larping.net/Hero/Hexagon which is my campaign. I have been a little bit lax on things, part because of real life needs but also for in game reasons. The players started to ask me why there hadn't been any new articles from Nigel Peaks on the website (I even made a Yahoo account for him). I told them it was because Nigel hadn't been writing any. They began to do some research, call him up and finally found out about his quest for vengance. I love it when the seemingly unimportant becomes a plot hook.

 

Nigel Peaks basically writes a column called the Hero Herald on the "super" community so I don't do any real newspaper formatting - just the paragraph.

[levi]

We have a Yahoo Group that covers everything from people's schedules / gaming availability to industry events. In the files section is a folder for my Bay City Defenders Campaign and it includes a Superhype Newsletter. I use it to recap what happens from session to session because not everyone can make it every time we play and it keeps everyone informed.

 

I know a GM who gets consistently frustrated when players cannot remember what happened in the last game session...this seems to help alleviate that problem.

[ShelleyCM]

I've done newspapers in Champions campaigns, and they were a lot of fun. I covered the heroes' actions, as well as red herrings and other oddities (which often turned into interesting side plots, thanks to the players).

 

In other genres, tho, I simply type up adventure summaries and put them on a website as well as email them out to the group -- so far as HERO goes, I have some PRIMUS adventures written up online.

 

-Shelley

[Vondy]

A town caller in a fantasy game might be an amusing twist on this concept.

 

You could even have the reliable "matter of fact" town caller, and the "tabloidesque embelishment addicted" town caller.

[BlackCobra]

Originally posted by Hermit

Hmmm, I have to admit, the idea of a Newspaper website for my campaigns and players to use has been tempting. Alas, I'm really not sure how to format the sucker so it has a Newspaper look. Still, could be a blast to try.

 

May I recommend, if you have access to the software, using the Newsletter template in Microsoft Publisher? I don't normally care much for MS software, but Publisher is a really simple program to use and their templates are handy. The Newsletter format is a four-page document (designed to go on 11x17 paper and then be folded in half), with lots of space for articles and pictures (clip-art is nice, or random internet pictures).

 

It is some work to put something that big together -- if you have less time and/or inspiration, you can just use the front page for a big story or two.

 

I especially liked it when I was running to liberally sprinkle clues to upcoming events or introduce villains/heroes encountered by others.

[ShelleyCM]

Originally posted by D-Man

A town caller in a fantasy game might be an amusing twist on this concept.

 

You could even have the reliable "matter of fact" town caller, and the "tabloidesque embelishment addicted" town caller.

 

I really like that! In my PRIMUS game, I always included the latest scuttlebutt on any particular PC or NPC whenever a PC encountered that person. It was fun to watch the players' reactions to how other people perceived them or what other people were saying about them.

 

-Shelley

[Publius]

Rather than going with an actual newspaper, I decided to use headlines and important stories from the News, Tv and Radio that the players would have picked up. Some of it is useful, some of it is fluff and some of it is useful for forthcoming adventures.

 

The link below is to the newspaper material that I used in my last adventure. If we ever get back on track again I'll have it updated for the next set of adventures.

 

http://www.digitalindalo.com/rpg/hero/news.html

 

One of the players has a "gloryhound" disadvantage and is about to try a media blitz. Should be interesting.

[loki]

very nice

 

Originally posted by Publius

Rather than going with an actual newspaper, I decided to use headlines and important stories from the News, Tv and Radio that the players would have picked up. Some of it is useful, some of it is fluff and some of it is useful for forthcoming adventures.

 

The link below is to the newspaper material that I used in my last adventure. If we ever get back on track again I'll have it updated for the next set of adventures.

 

http://www.digitalindalo.com/rpg/hero/news.html

 

One of the players has a "gloryhound" disadvantage and is about to try a media blitz. Should be interesting.

 

Good stuff Publius! I must say even in reading the stuff on your site it just pulls me in. Perhaps i am a sucker for this kind of stuff, but it just seems to give life the world. You can see things that may turn into plot seeds and some that may go no where, and then the best is when there are things that you have NO intention of being a plot seed that the characters run off with. Good fun!

 

Lok-