Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

[Dead guy on tab]

Based upon some of the postings I have been reading under the Wings of the Valkyrie thread, it appears a lot of people haven't played a lot of the old Champions adventures. This got me to thinking that there might be some interest in running classic adventures at a convention.

 

Here's what I was thinking. I could update the original Guardians to 5th edition for the players and then choose one or two old published Champions adventures to run. I like it because it could done with a minimium of work and I think it might generate some useful discussions/transmit some Champions history at the same time.

 

With this in mind

 

Do people think this is a good idea?

Would they be interested in playing such a game at a convention?

Are they any pitfalls I might have overlooked?

Which published adventures should be considered "classic"?

 

Thanks for the input

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Personally I love the idea. Those "old school" tightly focussed adventures work great for convention games. Of course I'm rather old school myself .

 

Of those classic adventure modules, I think the original Island of Doctor Destroyer, and Deathstroke, would best suit your purposes. Short duration, linear plot, clear objectives, climactic fights, good maps, and not a lot of setup needed to understand the situation.

 

I also recommend IMO the best "dungeon crawl" published for Champions, "What Rough Beast?" from Adventurers Club #3. This website updates the adventure to Fourth Edition HERO System, with maps and full stats.

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I also recommend IMO the best "dungeon crawl" published for Champions, "What Rough Beast?" from Adventurers Club #3. This website updates the adventure to Fourth Edition HERO System, with maps and full stats.

 

I had a character almost killed by that thing. Ugg. She lost the stun lotto when it hit her.

 

Nice call.

 

If it was a multi session game, the Great Super Villian Contest could work pretty well to.

[clsage]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I also recommend IMO the best "dungeon crawl" published for Champions, "What Rough Beast?" from Adventurers Club #3. This website updates the adventure to Fourth Edition HERO System, with maps and full stats.

 

I might also suggest "Terror In The Treasures" (I believe that

was the name) from Adventurers Club magazine as well. Basically

just a big old "bar-room brawl" sort of deal, with the added issues

of bystanders, fragile (and possibly magical) artifacts, etc. As I

recall the villains used were Slug (definately) and Black Paladin

(I think...). Tho' if you wanted it a bit darker you could probably

slip in some of the servitors of The Kings Of Edom too.

Worth a look, IMNSHO, if you can find it.

 

-Carl-

[BNakagawa]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

just don't use the Gilt Complex.

[Certified]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Just some general advice about convention gaming. As you consider what games to run at the convention keep the time it takes in mind. Most conventions I've been to run 4 hour blocks for gaming. I still haven't figured out how they can fit an entire story into that little bock but that's another story. A lot of times what I do is split up the story into 2 blocks, part A and B.

 

Once you have a story selected for convention gaming try a couple of runs at hobby stores see how long it takes you with unknown peoples. Also, running though the story three or four times will help you get a feel for it and narrow the time it takes significantly.

 

Hopefully this helps and if I could vote for a classic adventure it would be the Island of Doctor Destroyer.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Based upon the responses I have been getting, I am thinking of running a two part (A& of the some of the published adventures. The adventures I am specifically considering so far are

 

Wings of the Valkyrie

Island of Dr. Destroyer

Deathstroke

 

Here is the lineup of the Guardians I am thinking of

Icestar

Goliath

Flare

Marksman

Rose

Gargoyle

 

Crusader

Starburst

 

or should I use

Icicle

Dove

???

 

More comments and suggestions are welcome.

[Balabanto]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

If this is a convention game, your best bet is actually Scott F. Heine's To Serve and Protect.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

If this is a convention game' date=' your best bet is actually Scott F. Heine's To Serve and Protect.[/quote']

 

To Serve and Protect is one of my favorite Champs adventures, and features my all-time favorite published NPC hero team, the Protectors. However, IMO the adventure works best if the PCs have already had contact and developed a relationship with the Protectors, so that their change of behavior will have a stronger effect on the players. For that reason I would tend not to use it for convention games, where there's no time to establish that relationship. It's the same reason I didn't recommend VOICE of Doom, because of what happens to the Freedom Squad.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Based upon the responses I have been getting, I am thinking of running a two part (A& of the some of the published adventures. The adventures I am specifically considering so far are

 

Wings of the Valkyrie

Island of Dr. Destroyer

Deathstroke

 

I would suggest not using Wings of the Valkyrie for a convention game. I consider it a very good adventure, but the issues it deals with are controversial and likely to spark debates among your players, in character and possibly out of character. Great for roleplaying opportunities, but that might slow down the action.

 

It also features a very good mystery chapter, but some players are resistant to mystery scenarios.

 

Here is the lineup of the Guardians I am thinking of

Icestar

Goliath

Flare

Marksman

Rose

Gargoyle

 

Crusader

Starburst

 

or should I use

Icicle

Dove

???

 

More comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

Have you ever seen the original Champions comic book series from the 1980s? That had backgrounds and game stats for one member of the "Champions" (actually the renamed Guardians) in the back of each issue: Marksman, Flare, Icestar, Rose, and Giant (Goliath). They'd need to be updated of course, but they'd be a good basis for 5E writeups.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I would suggest not using Wings of the Valkyrie for a convention game. I consider it a very good adventure, but the issues it deals with are controversial and likely to spark debates among your players, in character and possibly out of character. Great for roleplaying opportunities, but that might slow down the action.

 

It also features a very good mystery chapter, but some players are resistant to mystery scenarios.

 

 

 

Have you ever seen the original Champions comic book series from the 1980s? That had backgrounds and game stats for one member of the "Champions" (actually the renamed Guardians) in the back of each issue: Marksman, Flare, Icestar, Rose, and Giant (Goliath). They'd need to be updated of course, but they'd be a good basis for 5E writeups.

 

Yes, I have them in PDF form and I plan to use those as the basis for the 5th edition upgrade. That's why the later ones have question marks because I would have to build them from scratch.

 

As far as the difficult adventures, I am trying to collect the adventures everyone remembers playing and have their share of war stories about. I hope to have players who have heard about the adventure and never got to play it or want to walk down memory lane or who never heard of it, but want to tap into Champions history pre-4th/5th edition. If I get this going, I could probably do this for several years and then I might have time to introduce the Protectors or Freedom Squad in establishment scenes before the adventures get rolling.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

just don't use the Gilt Complex.

 

I dislike the Gilt complex because I find it a bit heavy handed as in "Let's build an adventure to screw the PC's". If the players are on the bad side of the topic, this won't faze them. To quote another player from a "Gilt complex" like adventure. "Look, when yous tart throwing around 12d6 energy blasts, you've got to be able to take some damage back. It's the guys on fault for going out there and using lethal force and expecting us not to respond in kind to stop him."

[rjcurrie]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I would suggest not using Wings of the Valkyrie for a convention game. I consider it a very good adventure, but the issues it deals with are controversial and likely to spark debates among your players, in character and possibly out of character. Great for roleplaying opportunities, but that might slow down the action.

 

It also features a very good mystery chapter, but some players are resistant to mystery scenarios.

 

Wings of the Valkyrie was originally a convention game intended to spark such debates. There is a definite subset of convention game that is the moral dilemma game where often the whole purpose of the adventure is to set up the moral question to be answered (or touch choice to be made) by the characters at the end. Such games will usually feature a team of characters with psychological make-ups that will often put them on opposite sides of such questions. Such games usually put a heavier emphasis on role-playing than action.

 

My SuperSquad America convention game is such a game.

 

As for some players being resistant to mystery scenarios, it may be useful to point out that some players are resistant to "dungeon crawl" scenarios. You can't please everyone.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Very valid observations, Rod. Your experience is worth considering. Thanks for your input.

[Captain Liberty]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

On your list, the main problems are Gargoyle, Icicle, and Dove. All the others are available in some form or other in one of the main books. You can, of course, use the current version of Icicle - there's not much difference. Dove is all flight and levels and martial arts. He is also a pacifist, though I have seen him in action when mad, using a baling hook.

 

Gargoyle is a bigger and buffer version of Gremlin, from some versions of GRAB. Gremlin's original origin was she stole the Gargoyle formula from the original.

 

And I think Voice of Doom would be perfect for your project. The characters are supposed to be strangers to the Freedom Squad.

[Enforcer84]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

On your list, the main problems are Gargoyle, Icicle, and Dove. All the others are available in some form or other in one of the main books. You can, of course, use the current version of Icicle - there's not much difference. Dove is all flight and levels and martial arts. He is also a pacifist, though I have seen him in action when mad, using a baling hook.

 

Gargoyle is a bigger and buffer version of Gremlin, from some versions of GRAB. Gremlin's original origin was she stole the Gargoyle formula from the original.

 

And I think Voice of Doom would be perfect for your project. The characters are supposed to be strangers to the Freedom Squad.

I...I love you man. Thanks!

 

I have written up the old guard for my own diabolical purposes a few times.

 

Icecicle was Glen's character or Icestar?

[Captain Liberty]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Icestar was (and is) Glenn Thain's character. Heavy on the sarcasm and witty put-downs. I am not sure where Icicle came from originally. She might be one of Glenn's villains, but is just as likely to be George MacDonald's, or even Stacy Lawrence-Thain's.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

A second question: Do you think I should upgrade the characters' backgrounds and the adventures to modern day or should I leave them as a "period piece" (set them when they were published)?

[Enforcer84]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I have so many questions. And I think I've asked some before.

I once ran a dimension jumping campaign the players met characters from 2nd edition, 3rd edition, 4th (when I ran the campaign), Strike Force, Marvel, and DC.

 

I had to make the 2nd & 3rd edition heroes from scratch. (and they were basically the same characters...and the 4 Starbursts immediately hated eachohter, but the 4 Crusadres immediately bonded)

 

My players loved it, and I am universally acknowledged as a mediocre at best GM

[Captain Liberty]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

A second question: Do you think I should upgrade the characters' backgrounds and the adventures to modern day or should I leave them as a "period piece" (set them when they were published)?

 

 

Just to be sure, you are intending to update the game stats to modern day, yes?

 

In that case, I think leaving their backgrounds and the adventures in the period written in would be cool, especially if you toss in some more flavor text to firmly set the adventure in its time of writing.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Just to be sure, you are intending to update the game stats to modern day, yes?

 

In that case, I think leaving their backgrounds and the adventures in the period written in would be cool, especially if you toss in some more flavor text to firmly set the adventure in its time of writing.

 

Yes, I would update all the characters to 5th edition style - not necessarily 5th edition power level so I can make the all the character updates the easiest. I am actually going through this right now with my campaign since my setting is that the Guardians appeared ~25 years ago, and my group, the New Freedom Squad is trying to find out what happened to the old Freedom Squad ~10 years ago. Believe me it is much easier to leave the adventures as period pieces - I've been working on Wings of the Valkyrie for my campaign and Litvak is ~90 years old!

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

I...I love you man. Thanks!

 

I have written up the old guard for my own diabolical purposes a few times.

 

Icecicle was Glen's character or Icestar?

 

Both were created by Glenn Thain (according to the Champions comic books). Icicle is Icestar's younger sister although Icestar is the star (no pun intended).

[Enforcer84]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

yeah, but I was unaware if that was Guardians Canon or if that was Comic Canon.

[Captain Liberty]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Well, as I think about it, Icicle has to be either Glenn or Stacy's, since they are the only members of the Hero group who continued to license their characters to Dennis Mallonee, who does the comic. Everyone else decided they didn't like the way Dennis was taking the characters and pulled their characters out.

 

Icicle was never Icestar's sister in the original campaign, though I happened to be talking to Glenn when he found out what Dennis was going to do and he was fine with it.

[Dead guy on tab]

Re: Convention Game Idea - Classic Champions

 

Well, as I think about it, Icicle has to be either Glenn or Stacy's, since they are the only members of the Hero group who continued to license their characters to Dennis Mallonee, who does the comic. Everyone else decided they didn't like the way Dennis was taking the characters and pulled their characters out.

 

Icicle was never Icestar's sister in the original campaign, though I happened to be talking to Glenn when he found out what Dennis was going to do and he was fine with it.

 

Thanks for the background history. I only have the credited information from the comics to go by. Did they share the rights to Icicle since she didn't have her name changed in the comic and she still continues to appear as a Champions character although the backgrounds are different?