Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

[assault]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

They' date=' by the book, don't happen very well. Usually, in the games I played and ran if you took enough damage to knock you out in one blow, it usually meant you were near death, or dead.[/quote']

 

This sounds like a character design issue, both on the part of the heroes and the NPCs. If you need to one shot the PCs without killing them, build a character that can do it.

 

And SPD boosting the villains were kind of expensive point wise.

 

NPCs have as many points as you need to give them.

 

The other one I have is the 'Gun Threat'. Some of the guns are too damaging against beginning heroes who should be tougher than they are. But if you make them too tough, they don't get much chance to make other powersets.

 

This can be a problem. I always benchmark my characters against what effect guns should have on them, and what the chances of them being hit by them are.

 

Not all characters are bricks.

 

The STUN lottery can be a problem. If you find it is, consider not using it, or changing it. Or make sure characters are designed with it in mind.

[Egyptoid]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

doesn't work very well is the "Get to know you" fight where heroes fight each other briefly before realising it's all a misunderstanding.

 

that never works in our group cause we just pull out

our PC ID CARDS

and everyone calms down.

 

 

plus this classic: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=991586&postcount=38

[Karmakaze]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

Another convention that doesn't work very well is the "Get to know you" fight where heroes fight each other briefly before realising it's all a misunderstanding.

 

I've had this happen spontaneously in a game I played in. We'd changed venues and lost/gained a couple of players. The new PCs were working for the proper owners of a macguffin we'd just taken away from some villains. The new PCs (understandably) thought we were the thieves, and the old PCs (understandably) thought it was the villains trying to get the thing back. The GM had expected the new PCs to do a little more surveillance and figure out what was going on, but the fight worked out ok. My character and one of the new characters were fairly level-headed and we were able to figure things out before anyone wound up needing a hospital visit.

[Marcus Impudite]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

PCs getting saved by a suddenly-arriving guest star is another one that doesn't work well.

 

Oh it works' date=' just prep yourself for bitching players for about a week about showing off what one can do with infinite points.[/quote']

 

IME, this one can be a catch-22. I've personally seen at least one player in my time whine about the GM not sending in the cavalry when he got his character in over his (rather thick) head.

[The Main Man]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

one game I'm in the GM likes to run round-robin games' date=' where each of the four heroes is separate. He's pretty good about rotating around the table quickly (15-20 min a player) and keeping things moving. It's kind of cool, and the GM handles it really well.[/quote']

 

That's a skill that I'd like to pick up.I know, practice, practice, practice...As to "cosmic crossovers" I have successfully ran two of them and in both cases they were not groups of the same power level (nor genre actually, but that is neither here nor there) and the players simultaneously played both of their characters.We still reminisce about those games (two different, unrelated adventures spanning several sessions each).The lesson to take home here is that it can be done if you have the right group.

[Doug McCrae]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

1. Cosmic crossovers featuring dozens of superheroes.

2. A superhero is more powerful in his own comicbook.

3. Fights are often 'equalised' to make them more dramatic ie the more powerful side becomes weaker, the less powerful becomes stronger.

4. Superhero reveals a new superpower to get the writer out of a hole, then forgets about it for the next 100 issues. Or forever.

5. Characters with no decent defences, such as Cyclops, don't just die. Instead the bad guys shoot Colossus.

6. No one really minds that a character used to be a criminal, or a Russian spy, or went mad and tried to destroy the universe. Everyone can join the team.

7. Batman can always figure out the Riddler's riddle.

8. Arkham Asylum's revolving door. I think it can annoy players if villains escape as frequently as they do in comics.

9. Blue on blue. Superhero versus superhero violence.

10. Anything Silver Age. It's really hard for players to get Silver Age imx, Iron Age seems a lot more natural.

11. Cliffhanger endings. Much harder to achieve in a rpg than a comic. Pacing in general is much more fluid in rpgs.

12. Villain gets away. Any kind of inconclusive fight, very common in comics (particularly blue on blue fights) is a lot harder to do in rpgs.

13. Retrofits.

14. Highly mobile fights.

15. Variety in fights. Combatants don't just use their best attack over and over and over again.

[Guest steamteck]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

.

8. Arkham Asylum's revolving door. I think it can annoy players if villains escape as frequently as they do in comics.

10. Anything Silver Age. It's really hard for players to get Silver Age imx, Iron Age seems a lot more natural.

11. Cliffhanger endings. Much harder to achieve in a rpg than a comic. Pacing in general is much more fluid in rpgs.

12. Villain gets away. Any kind of inconclusive fight, very common in comics (particularly blue on blue fights) is a lot harder to do in rpgs.

14. Highly mobile fights.

15. Variety in fights. Combatants don't just use their best attack over and over and over again.

 

All these are good in our games.

We prefer bronze age to silver but Iron age is NOT tolerated.

My players always give me feedback if they want to see a villain back usually if he's fun the answer let him chill for a few adventures then we want him back. Sometimes he gets away if foiled sometimes not either way players are happy as long as its not overdone.

Our fights end up all over the place Sometimes move from map to map.

My players would get bored with only one major way of attacking. Lots of variation and environment use.

Cliffhanger endings happen almost as often as not because of timing.

[The Main Man]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

I love using cliffhangers; they just take practice with pacing.

 

I don't mind playing any particular age as long as the group is on the same page (I prefer Silvery Bronze/Modern Era without the rust though).

 

I do need to make my fights more mobile; it'll probably better drive home the idea that superhero fights aren't (always) about who has the bigger pair.

[rjcurrie]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

1. Cosmic crossovers featuring dozens of superheroes.

 

Not dozens of superheroes. But we've done a few crossovers between the characters of two different campaigns. I can also remember major fights that inolved 5 or 6 NPC heroes fighting alongside a PC team of about 7 members.

 

[qoute]2. A superhero is more powerful in his own comicbook.

Well, the question is whether or not we ever see the characters in their own comic -- if they even happen. But what's to stop the GM from letting a character have two sheets -- one for solo play - one for group play. Just because it isn't commonly done, doesn't mean it can't be.

 

3. Fights are often 'equalised' to make them more dramatic ie the more powerful side becomes weaker, the less powerful becomes stronger.

 

Isn't this just a matter of the GM using appropriate opponents or adjusting the environment in order to "equalize" a fight?

 

4. Superhero reveals a new superpower to get the writer out of a hole, then forgets about it for the next 100 issues. Or forever.

 

Well, I'd argue that this is more a an example of poor comic book writing than a convention. BUt perhaps it's just a clever use of Power Skill that the player has needed again.

 

5. Characters with no decent defences, such as Cyclops, don't just die. Instead the bad guys shoot Colossus.

 

Well, the GM can play the villains as dumb as they are written in the books. No reason they can't all shoot the team brick. But I will concede this is a slight weakness -- then again, it's exactly for characters like this that Combat Luck was created.

 

6. No one really minds that a character used to be a criminal, or a Russian spy, or went mad and tried to destroy the universe. Everyone can join the team.

 

I've certainly never seen players have a problem with a charcter who has things like that in his background joining the team. Heck, I've played superhero characters with supervillainy in their past.

 

7. Batman can always figure out the Riddler's riddle.

 

Another one that's a little difficult to pull off. You need a combination of gettle riddles and a bright player playing Batman. One alternative is to be ready as a GM to run any Riddler crime based on just how Batman solves the riddle. A Deduction Roll is another way to go but probably less satisfying.

 

8. Arkham Asylum's revolving door. I think it can annoy players if villains escape as frequently as they do in comics.

 

Perhaps. I've never had an issue with it.

 

9. Blue on blue. Superhero versus superhero violence.

 

It's difficult but I think there are ways to pull it off.

 

10. Anything Silver Age. It's really hard for players to get Silver Age imx, Iron Age seems a lot more natural.

 

May be particular to your group of players. I've certainly used silver age -type elements (theme villain groups, talking ape villians, etc.), but I use other elements as well. I think the problem is that GMs sometimes play Silver Age elements for laughs, rather than simply playing them straight.

 

11. Cliffhanger endings. Much harder to achieve in a rpg than a comic. Pacing in general is much more fluid in rpgs.

 

Slightly harder but not impossible. Often, it's a matter of the GM realizing that the session's time is winding down and that he should start looking for potential cliff-hangers.

 

12. Villain gets away. Any kind of inconclusive fight, very common in comics (particularly blue on blue fights) is a lot harder to do in rpgs.

 

You're probably right on this one. The best I can think of is that the GM keeps the players busy with other plots so they don't have the time to deal with everything. I've certianly seen campaigns where plot threads have been dropped for months because the players are so busy dealing with other things.

 

As for the inconclusive fights thing, I have no thoughts on it.

 

13. Retrofits.

Do you perhaps mean Retcons? Or are you thinking of something else.

 

14. Highly mobile fights.

This is probably something a lot of GMs could be better with.

 

15. Variety in fights. Combatants don't just use their best attack over and over and over again.

 

This one is highly dependent on the players. Character design can also enter into it. If a character doesn't have multiple reasonable attacks, it's hard to expect players to use much variety.

[Hugh Neilson]

Re: Comic Book (genre) Conventions that don't work in Champions

 

A number of these issues come back to writer's fiat. In fiction, the character gets lucky rolls, or unlucky rolls, when the writer decides they do. In gaming, what happens, happens.