Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

[Plex]

Hey there,

 

I have 8 players in my group, and we usually play another game that involves d20's and fantasy, but I have convinced them to try out the Hero System, specifically the Champions Universe. They want me to create everything- which I have no problem doing, just give them characters to play, set up some cheat sheets for combat, skills, powers, etc... and other tips on how to play. I'm currently working on the group and this is what I have so far:

a Speedster- Rush, a Brick- Titan (growth and density), a Mystic Master- Arcanus, a Brick- Star Spangled Banner (patriot), an Energy Blaster- Eclipse (light and dark), a Gadgeteer/Suit guy- Vulcan, and a Mentalist- Psiche. (I know the names are cheesy)

What I need is an 8th character to round out this group but I can't really come up with anything. Any help here would be great. I'm using the standard superhero starting point for points.

Also are there any free cheat sheets available, or something akin to a quick start guide that doesn't cost money? I know other companies make this, but I haven't seen one for Hero other than the sidekick- and that costs money.

Does anyone else have this many in their group? I've played Champions in the distant past with this many but never had to GM. I've still got to develop their arch rival group, though their main arch-villain will most likely be Mechanon.

 

Thanks.

[BobGreenwade]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

How about a martial artist? You could bring in a buttkicking kung fu master with frightening ch'i powers.....

[Doc Samson]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Of the 11 Champions archeypes, it seem you are only missing a Martial Artist and a Weaponmaster...so my suggestion is a just that, a Martial Atist/ Weaponmaster.

 

As Asian martial artists are the most common type, how about something a little off the beaten path? My suggestion is a Greek Hero style Martial Weaponmaster, such as Achilles as portrayed in the movie Troy. Also, the upcoming Frank Miller move 300 should have a ton more inspiration for this type of character. Some names that jump out at me for this concept include Spartan, Phalanx, and Talos. I hope that helps.

 

[edit] BTW, I think all your other concepts are cool (names too, though I might go with the spelling "Psyche" for the mentalist) and seem like a great introduction to the comic book archtypes.

[name_tamer]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

How about a metamorph?

[Doc Samson]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

I figured the Growth/ Density Brick had that covered, though a full shapeshifter is always fun.

[Pariah]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

A Martial Artist would certainly fill in the 'missing archetype' hole. You've got a couple of bashers, a movement specialist, and plenty of ranged attacks, it looks like. Pretty good combat balance there.

 

How are the other characters set for non-combat skills? You've got a techie and a mystic, and it sounds like Star Spangled Banner might provide any government/law enforcement contacts the group may need. Have you got someone stealthy? Because 'stealthy' and 'Martial Artist' is a pretty good combination.

[transmetahuman]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

People have suggested that "Totem" should qualify as an archetype - Spider-Man and most of his foes, Wolverine, Hawkman, Squirrel Girl, etc... mostly martial artists/scrappers or demi-bricks in terms of combat role, but defined by being "based on" a particular cool (or not so cool) animal rather than being an actual metamorph.

 

But I think that team looks like it could use a stealthy MA type, too; I'd go with that. I guess you could combine the three... "Ratman"?

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Yep. Martial artist/stealthy/detective guy would be good.

[Grimble]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

How about a stretchy guy. Every team needs a stretchy guy. You can even give him marial arts and detective skills!

 

Grimble

[pinecone]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Yeah,I'm on the band wagon....I read your list and said "Wheres the skills maven?"

MA/detective is a classic, or super scientist/gadget monger look like good choices.....

[Plex]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Okay, it looks like I will add a martial arts/sneaky/skills type character.

 

I won't firm up anything for a few more days, though, too see what others may come up with. Though the Martial Artist is the overall consensus here.

 

Right now, I'm looking at possibly converting a NPC I had made up that is along these lines. (Though the character might fit better in Dark Champions, we'll see.) The character I might add to be the 8th: Martial Arts/Sneaky/Skills- Persona, who would also have minor abilities in shape change.

 

The other that I am thinking of is possibly someone like an American Indian with Martial Attacks and have the ability to call on the animals for abilities. (Something like Animal Man- Grant Morrison style.) Perhaps call him/her Totem.

 

I'll have to think on this some more. I am worried that I'll just end up creating a Batman clone. Which wouldn't be a bad thing...

 

Thanks for the ideas so far... I do like the Achilles idea a lot too...

 

Thanks for the suggestion about changing Psiche to Psyche, or maybe just Psych?

[Guest Major Tom]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

How about a Transmuter (someone who's able to transform one substance in-

to another by altering its atomic/molecular structure -- say, a character like

DC's Firestorm)?

 

 

Major Tom

[transmetahuman]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

How about a Transmuter (someone who's able to transform one substance in-

to another by altering its atomic/molecular structure -- say, a character like

DC's Firestorm)?

To do that power set without simplifying it to the broadest strokes, the build might end up pretty complicated for a beginning player. And if you do simplify it, he might wonder why he can't do all those neat tricks with chemistry that Firestorm/Element Lad/Metamorpho do.

 

That's a fun one for the advanced class, though.

[clsage]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Hey there,

 

I have 8 players in my group, and we usually play another game that involves d20's and fantasy, but I have convinced them to try out the Hero System, specifically the Champions Universe. They want me to create everything- which I have no problem doing, just give them characters to play, set up some cheat sheets for combat, skills, powers, etc... and other tips on how to play. I'm currently working on the group and this is what I have so far:

a Speedster- Rush, a Brick- Titan (growth and density), a Mystic Master- Arcanus, a Brick- Star Spangled Banner (patriot), an Energy Blaster- Eclipse (light and dark), a Gadgeteer/Suit guy- Vulcan, and a Mentalist- Psiche. (I know the names are cheesy)

What I need is an 8th character to round out this group but I can't really come up with anything. Any help here would be great. I'm using the standard superhero starting point for points.

Also are there any free cheat sheets available, or something akin to a quick start guide that doesn't cost money? I know other companies make this, but I haven't seen one for Hero other than the sidekick- and that costs money.

Does anyone else have this many in their group? I've played Champions in the distant past with this many but never had to GM. I've still got to develop their arch rival group, though their main arch-villain will most likely be Mechanon.

 

Thanks.

 

For free cheat sheets and such you might want to take a gander at the

free stuff pages here on the HERO Games site...for example:

 

http://www.herogames.com/FreeStuff/freedocs/Two-Page%20Combat%20Summary.pdf

 

And for potential NPC's and/or just plain cool hero's and ideas there is

Surbrooks Stuff at:

 

http://surbrook.devermore.net/index/

 

And The Great Net Book Of Real Heros at:

 

http://www.sysabend.org/champions/gnborh/

 

Given your current mix of PC's I think I'd join the chorus and suggest a

Martial Artist (maybe something between Spiderman and Batman - a fast

moving, highly deductive wise guy......). My unplayed universe character

of that type is named Dark Knight (yes, it is a Batman homage. So sue

me. ).

 

-Carl-

[Kevin Schultz]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

But I think that team looks like it could use a stealthy MA type, too; I'd go with that. I guess you could combine the three... "Ratman"?

 

Nezumi - japanese for rat/mouse. Fits in with the martial arts side of things. Also (I believe) can be used as a mythical rodent shapeshifter, if White Wolf can be trusted with these sorts of things. An anthropomorphic version show up in Alderac's Legend of the 5 Rings as one of the native races to Rokugan.

 

Here's the chinese zodiac understanding of the Year of the Rat - lots of good info on there to base a martial arts/weaponmaster on.

 

Rat ( 子 ) was welcomed in ancient times as a protector and bringer of material prosperity. It is an animal associated with tenacity, fighting spirit, self-preservation, aggression, charm, charisma and yet also associated with death, the occult, torture, crimes, poverty, and disease.

[Plex]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

DOH! I completely forgot about checking in the free stuff area.

 

Thanks for the Chinese pointer....

[Doc Samson]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

The other that I am thinking of is possibly someone like an American Indian with Martial Attacks and have the ability to call on the animals for abilities. (Something like Animal Man- Grant Morrison style.) Perhaps call him/her Totem.

 

This sounds like a cool concept.

[Plex]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

This sounds like a cool concept.

 

 

I like this concept the best, too, out of all that I have thought of. I just need to figure out how I would go about doing it and what animals I would use. If the group was more experienced, I'd probably just make it a variable power pool changable at will. Well, I've got time to figure that out yet, we probably won't even play for a few more months yet. (Need to tie up the current game we are playing.)

[gojira]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Why not just use Summon?

 

I think Odd Hat had a Green Lantern homage that had summoning abilities. She was an oriental woman who could summon jade dragons and do magic. Pretty cool.

 

I was going to say that you could use an infiltrator, detective or metamorph. You also don't have a generalist; they can be good back-up if one of your primary types goes down. You could add a second gadget based hero based on Batman, or an Infiltrator like Mystique, or a generalist like Beast Boy (thinking primarily of Teen Titans Animated series).

[gojira]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Here she is:

 

http://killershrike.com/NewCircle/The%20Light.HTML

 

"The Light" -- I had the name wrong, she is a Jade Knight, she's not called Jade Knight.

 

She uses a VPP with preset abilities (save time during play). One is "To Free Tigers"-- that's the summon. The higher point version of The Light has a summon for dragons. This should give you something to help build your shaman. A multipower should work just as well, since there's not too many slots.

[Plex]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

I was going to say that you could use an infiltrator' date=' detective or metamorph. You also don't have a generalist; they can be good back-up if one of your primary types goes down. You could add a second gadget based hero based on Batman, or an Infiltrator like Mystique, or a generalist like Beast Boy (thinking primarily of Teen Titans Animated series).[/quote']

 

Yeah, I'm still trying to decide between the Shaman like character and the infiltrator. As a back-up for the players, I am using the base AI- VIRGIL- as their help. (He's created a robot body in which he can download his "spirit".) Hence the reason as to why Mechanon will be one of their greatest foes. (VIRGIL accidentally created him while creating a "body" for himself. Basically he created a rudimentary AI - which became known as Mechanon - to test the suit before he dared place himself into it and, well, trouble ensued. I'm also rewriting villain background to tailor them to my campaign idea.)

 

Got off the subject there. I'll probably create both, then throw the sheets out onto the table and whatever doesn't get picked gets turned into a NPC they could call on.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

I'm still rooting for the Shaman guy. He can also be your infiltrator as well. If he imitates (or transforms into) animals, he could imitate something stealthy and agile for example. If he summons animals, what is a better spy than a mouse or a fly? Based on how you build him he can fill any of the roles you are looking for, though I would avoid having him be able to easily duplicate the other ATs (such a Bear form with a 60 STR).

[gojira]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

Yeah, I was thinking the Shaman could be like Beast Boy a bit in that he has several animal forms that he summons. I think crows or ravens were revered by plains Indians as tricksters and providers of wisdom. I'm sort-of remembering a Pueblo culture that revered a seed hoarding mouse because, like them, it stored grain for the seasonal drought.

 

I was also thinking that the Shaman should summon "spirit animals" so you don't have to be very accurate on their stats. Some animals could have special abilities, like perhaps the crow could have Mind Link and Invisibility.

[Plex]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

I asked a couple of the players which character they would have more fun with and as soon as I got done describing the Shaman character, one went; "Oh, kind of like Vixen, I would play that. So I am now definately going with the Shaman. (Which is good because that was the one that I liked better anyway.) I know that I will go with summoning the animals "spirit" for abilities, but I am not sure if I am going to have the character summon the actual physical presence of the animal. I'll have them tap into the nature/animal force. (Kind of like the speed force for the Flash)

[Hyper-Man]

Re: Need an 8th PC character concept and some other help

 

One minor difference between Vixen and Beast Boy is that Vixen could not use her power to fly (at least I don't remember he ever doing so in the comic of JLU series) or change her size like Beast Boy could.