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The Super Darwin Awards


AdamLeisemann

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

While neither me nor anyone else especially found it funny at the time, my character Hermes once had a situation, wherein an orbital death ray was being used to kill White Crane, a superhuman of great power.

 

He responded by. . . punching the focusing coils of the death ray, as hard as he could. It seemed like a good idea at the time, given the device was product of a superior scientific mind to Hermes, and he had only moments to save White Crane's life.

 

Well, it worked, after a fashion. White Crane did indeed survive. However, nobody else in a quite sizable radius around her did, including Hermes.

 

( he got better later )

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

So' date=' any outrageous character losses or near-losses you remember? They don't [b']have[/b] to be your own character.

Honorable mention:

The attacking villain (energy projector / mentalist) was insane, so he didn't normally think clearly. He was squaring off against the team's energy projector / mentalist. The hero was inside a high-rise apartment. The villain was hovering outside the window.

 

The villain fired a maximum power Energy Blast at the hero. Of course, the villain's EB was in a Multipower ... the same Multipower as his Flight ... and his Force Field.

 

The villain survived the 10 story fall, but he was very easy to capture.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

Here's a thought though. Would the revolving door death policies in most comics universes mean that death doesn't necessarily score a Darwin? *ponders*

 

That revolving door death policy seems not to apply to most Champions campaigns. IIRC, the only HERO System mechanic for coming back from the dead is the Resurrection option for Healing, which I believe to be quite rare in Champions. I suggested a 'fix' for this somewhere in the Sixth Edition Forum.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

He catches the limo at a sublevel. Next to a tanker truck full of liquid hydrogen fuel.

 

He shoots.

The fusion bomb makes the limo go boom.

It also makes the fuel truck go boom.

The ensuing explosion overloads the field generator, which goes boom, adding the overload to the rest of the damage.

 

Whereupon the building collapsed on him.

 

Leaving one gene enhanced perfect killing machine slumbering nicely in his powered armor buried in several hundred tons of concrete and steel, having taken minimal Body but at around -300 GM's option land for Stun.

 

Maybe I'm playing wrong. But this seems like a perfectly reasonable use for a super-weapon, experimental force field generator, a tanker full of liquid hydrogen and a skyscraper. I mean, the PC lived and the NPCs were neutralized, after all. And think of all the construction jobs he just created!

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

That revolving door death policy seems not to apply to most Champions campaigns. IIRC' date=' the only HERO System mechanic for coming back from the dead is the Resurrection option for Healing, which I believe to be quite rare in Champions. I suggested a 'fix' for this somewhere in the Sixth Edition Forum.[/quote']

 

If they add M&M style hero points, I would suggest having an ability, perhaps an everyhero/villain ability, that lets you burn a hero point to come back from the dead. How dead determines how many points, and what complications arise.

 

Example: if you fall to your 'death', with nobody seeing you hit ground, and nobody recovering a body? That would cost 1 hero point, and you can show up again almost immediately.

 

If you get your head blown off in front of witnesses, who then check your fingerprints and DNA, and proceed to burn your corpse into ash, followed by summoning your ghost from the afterlife to confirm you really truly are dead? Would require either dumping a boatload of hero points on it, or else fewer, but requiring a *long* time to come back, and with likely horrible complications.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

I have seen it mentioned a few times already, but in my group we also had someone who did a massive move through. His was a build issue though. He built the character with very high movement and DCV, but almost nothing for defense. He did not think about what would happen if he did not roll KB. Sure enough the very first combat he was in...

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

We had a few CoC Darwins actually. The one that sticks out was when we went to a dreamworld and saw a huge figure coming towards us out of the mist. Everyone did the right thing and ran away without looking.... except one character. he decided to stay and see it. He lost a lot of sanity just form seeing it but still did not run. The huge figure reached out to touch him and still he stood there. The GM asked him several times if he wanted to run and he said no every time.

"OK" he said. "the Elder touches you and you go insane". To this day none of us know why he just stood there.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

That revolving door death policy seems not to apply to most Champions campaigns. IIRC' date=' the only HERO System mechanic for coming back from the dead is the Resurrection option for Healing, which I believe to be quite rare in Champions. I suggested a 'fix' for this somewhere in the Sixth Edition Forum.[/quote']

 

I haven't read your posting on 6th Edition, so forgive me if I am covering something you already have addressed. I am studiously ignoring 6th Edition, as I will not be participating.

 

Anyway, I think involved mechanics for handling PC death and resurrection aren't really necessary in most supers games. Death, that is long term death, is rare in the genre. To me, when PC death occurs in most supers games, it should be the result of a conscious decision by the GM and the player. Maiming, radiation accidents, temporary loss of powers, NPC death, and other plot complications are there to keep the players in line and give the game flavor. Total Party Kill is not really part of the experience. In comics dying is only a plot point.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

We had a few CoC Darwins actually. The one that sticks out was when we went to a dreamworld and saw a huge figure coming towards us out of the mist. Everyone did the right thing and ran away without looking.... except one character. he decided to stay and see it. He lost a lot of sanity just form seeing it but still did not run. The huge figure reached out to touch him and still he stood there. The GM asked him several times if he wanted to run and he said no every time.

"OK" he said. "the Elder touches you and you go insane". To this day none of us know why he just stood there.

 

I think Curiousity is the leading cause of Darwin type deaths for PC's...

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

Old School D&D - Party are cautiously exploring the tunnels of a lost desert city. Party fighter has been sent to scout ahead. Party fighter promptly returns, running flat out, not even slowing down as he passes the rest of the party.

 

Vitus peers curiously around the corner to see what he was running from.

 

It was a basilisk. *Instant statue of Gnoll*

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

Since this isn't a Champions only award:

 

Not me (I swear):

 

GM: A gate opens to the Elemental Plane of Fire. The Dragon you have been sent to fight steps out through it.

Knight's Player: I rush toward the dragon

(That should have counted in itself but he managed to survive the Dragon's first initial attack almost dead)

Knight's player: Ahhh I run!!

GM: Which way?

Knight's player: Toward the gate.

GM: Really? O.k. it's getting awfully hot.

Knight's Player: Keep going.

GM: Really Hot!!!

Knight's player: Keep going.

GM: You run through the gate and die!

Knight's player: What?

 

The player stormed out. Apparently he'd been waiting for the third warning. I know the GM, he was lucky to get the second. (He knew the GM too which is why we thought it was so boneheaded). Still play with the player in question, even in my games (and I'm pretty lenient) he still looses the largest amount of characters (usually by charging the bad guy (who is meant to challenge the entire party) and taking him on in single combat.) Oh he's learned to accept character death.

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

The heroes fight there way into the inner sanctum, where they find a digital timer set on 3 seconds, connected to a bomb. Attached to the timer is a note, stating "I could have slain you all" signed "The Evil Clonemaster".

 

So, the super-scientist in powered armor says "I'll start the timer".

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Re: The Super Darwin Awards

 

The heroes fight there way into the inner sanctum, where they find a digital timer set on 3 seconds, connected to a bomb. Attached to the timer is a note, stating "I could have slain you all" signed "The Evil Clonemaster".

 

So, the super-scientist in powered armor says "I'll start the timer".

I would be most curious to hear the super-scientist's rationale. If he's still alive.

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