Starting a Big DC Campaign

[Seb1313]

I've been playing Fnatasy Hero for a few years now and about a month ago my group (I'm GM) made the jump to Dark Champions. While we learned the reigns we played a few isolated missions just to blow stuff up.

 

Now I decided to start a bigger campaign set in Hudson City. After a few years of adapting old D&D adventures for HERO I'm having some problems making one up for DC. I can come up with ways to draw the characters in and cn come up with big climactic finishes but I lack the creativeness to plug a good middle into it.

 

So...I was wondering if anyone had some good advice for a campaign. I've looked around the boards and gotten some ideas and though about buying Hudson City Blues but am still unsure.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Eosin]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

Hudson City Blues is a fantastic adventure to play in... I did not game outside of fantasy until that module and it made Dark Champions my favored genre to play.

 

Obviously, read Edsels campaign but more importantly look at how he ran the game. A good Dark Champions game may have 3-5 sub-plots balls all in the air at the same time. Like Batman, you never have time for all the dinner parties and risk blowing your homicidal tendencies. As a player I always felt that the game was moving at an unmatchable pace and that slowly but surely we were losing the war - the only thing that kept me going were the small (but significant victories) that regularly cropped up in the game.

 

Here is my list of ideas....

 

1. Define your Hudson City - is it a strictly no magic, no super tech world or does that stuff exist on the fringe?
   
2. Define the grit - is this Mission Impossible, Bourne, or Smoking Aces
   
3. Talk with the players - will the characters be self motivated psychos or do they need some impetus to motivate them.
   
4. Look to 3rd Party Modern d20 for some really great adventure ideas. Most of these feature some level of "fantasy" to them so be aware that a strait game will have less to offer.
   
5. Look for Delta Green Adventures and ideas from sites like nemesis. Again, these are going to have a mythos element but they are darn fine ideas (mostly for free).
   
6. If necessary, sit down with the group to hammer out the genre. They have to buy in and if they can't stand X-files type of stuff in the game then you are screwed for sourcebooks.
   

 

The other 4th Ed products for Dark Champions weren't bad either.

[Seb1313]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

Thank you so much for the advice.

I'm reading through Edsel's campaign right now...

 

[bubba smith]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

if you don't want too dark try the DARK CHAMPIONS THE ANIMATED SERIES route

[Vann the Red]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

Gotta second the recommendation for Hudson City Blues. It's the best 'module' I've ever seen. Simply splendid.

 

VtR

[Checkmate]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

The absolute best gaming book I've ever read has to be Underworld Enemies. Hudson City Blues makes reference to some of the character in there, and I have to say, if you need ideas or inspiration, you absolutely have to have this book.

[Shaft]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

Gotta second the recommendation for Hudson City Blues. It's the best 'module' I've ever seen. Simply splendid.

 

I'll third it. It defined our DC Champions world for us 13 years ago, and our continuity is still ongoing.

 

Underworld Enemies is another must have for a Dark Champions game.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

RDU Neil’s Dark Champions: Secret Worlds Thread

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12191&page=3&pp=30

 

Is another good read and resource for running a Dark Champions game.

 

Good Hunting

 

QM

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

Gotta second the recommendation for Hudson City Blues. It's the best 'module' I've ever seen. Simply splendid.

 

VtR

 

Yeah, I'll third this opinion with the stipulation that it is the best modern urban adventure I've run across. (My all-time favorite adventures are The Black Madonna and Last Train to Clarksville adventures for Twilight: 2000.) Hudson City Blues makes it very easy to insert personal adventures for the characters in and around the main storyline, having it operate as a subplot until things come to a head at the end of the campaign's first act. Combine this adventure with the level of detail presented in Hudson City: The Urban Abyss, and you've got a campaign that (almost) runs itself.

 

Matt "Sorry-for-the-Complete-Fanboy-Gushing-There" Frisbee

[bubba smith]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

one thing i noticed about Dark champs is that it could be hard to play a retired /burnt out hero who'd moved to hudson the hc pd would either try to recruit him aganst his wil or declare him PERSONA NON GRATA and force him out of town

[Hawknight]

Re: Starting a Big DC Campaign

 

one thing i noticed about Dark champs is that it could be hard to play a retired /burnt out hero who'd moved to hudson the hc pd would either try to recruit him aganst his wil or declare him PERSONA NON GRATA and force him out of town

 

If he did not adventure in his old identity and only went out in civilian, he could start anew (see Hawkeye turning into Ronin). He could also try to be neutral and end up like Batman with a Matches Malone character scouting the underworld for the vigilante team.