Unity

[Cardinal]

I was going through some old threads and came across teh bunneh's UNITY campaign (which incidently was fantastic, much like his other campaigns).

 

I have always thought that UNITY had great potential for a world spanning game. I had a short lived online game (that was actually an excuse to practice teamwork in combat for our main campaign) in which I used the UNITY / UN concept (i.e. excuse to have battles in all sorts of cities). However, I never have managed to get into a long standing game around that concept.

 

Has anyone else run a successful UNITY / UN based game? If so, please share stories.

 

For those that have not, what has stopped you?

[Tom]

Re: Unity

 

I had (and have) a rough idea for one. I just don't have the time and energy for it right now...

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: UNITY

 

Riot (fka Nemesis6) Is a member of the UNTIL Superhero Liaison Program. Events in "The NEW New Champions of Vancouver" Campaign lead to his temporary transfer to Team UNITY.

 

That was fun

 

QM

[teh bunneh]

Re: Unity

 

I was going through some old threads and came across teh bunneh's UNITY campaign (which incidently was fantastic' date=' much like his other campaigns). [/quote']

 

Thanks! It was a fun campaign. If anyone can find inspiration from it, more power to them! I was certainly inspired by others on these boards.

[Eosin]

Re: Unity

 

The original run of StormWatch is very much a Unity type of team and could provide tons of ideas.

[bubba smith]

Re: Unity

 

tell us more

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Unity

 

Stormwatch (comics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormwatch_(comics)

 

Stormwatch: An Introduction - Comic Book Resources

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19189

 

Stormwatch - Comic Vine

http://www.comicvine.com/stormwatch/65-26261/

 

Winter - Nikolas Andreyvitch Kamarov by Enforcer84

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54302&highlight=Winter

 

 

Cheers

 

 

QM

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

Actually, I am about ready to start a new campaign based on the UNITY concept and even expanded it.

 

First, a little background.

 

At some point earlier this year I realized that there were three different Supers campaigns being run at similar power levels and so I consulted the other two GM's about a solution to keep things fresh for longer.

 

Our three campaigns would merge to form a sort of "super-campaign" in which any of us three can run a game and the players can pick from any of their three characters for each adventure.

 

We later expanded this so that anyone in our group can run a game but we've yet to hammer out the rules of doing so to prevent ruination.

 

As another bonus we have a sort of "unlockable" character roster consisting of published characters like the Champions or the Sentinels who can be acquired if they are encountered and the player has CP equal to or greater than the character in question.

 

In this UNITY campaign, characters are first built on 250 Base Points + 100 Disadvantage Points.

 

Then they receive a Package Deal that is worth -25 CP (25 CP - 50 Disadvantages) which essentially is the basic UNTIL Agent Package Deal without the CHAR bonuses.

 

Active Points are 80.

 

 

Take Justice League Unlimited, blend it with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, stir with the Avengers Initiative, and sprinkle with the Legion of Superheroes and you have the general idea.

[CoreBrute]

Re: Unity

 

That could get confusing really quickly. How often do you guys play, and how many players do you have in total?

[Eosin]

Re: Unity

 

tell us more

 

StormWatch is the UN team in the Wildstorm line (includes WildC.A.T.S.). There is a high level of lethality to the series with several characters being killed or wounded in action. The Stormwatch teams are deployed according to UN monitors and Weatherman One - a cyberneticly augmented human who monitors the various "hotspots" in the world.

 

Updating the series would practically require sending a team into Afghanistan and/or Iraq with inevitable clashes with Iranian supers as well as something like a Chinese team sent to covertly disrupt Stormwatch or US armed forces. Lots of double dealing and tit-for-tat in the Stormwatch world on a governmental scale. Good concept and good execution until Ellis decided that he wanted to write a different comic. He basically killed the team and created The Authority from the ashes of Stormwatch.

 

Things Going for Original StormWatch

• Multi-National Team Members
  
• Strike Force type missions
  
• Dirty Politics during down time
  
• On going conflicts that require multiple missions or whose completion falls outside of mission parameters.
  
• Variable team roster
  

 

The main negative for this style game was often used in the comic - Following orders when they contradict common sense or decency. I.E. The UN pulling out in the face of an invading force knowing that a massacre is about to happen or being told that Stormwatch is standing down against a threat to a players homeland.

 

The series included racism, religious intolerance, profiteering, and other uncomfortable topics -- which made it cool in my book.

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

That could get confusing really quickly. How often do you guys play' date=' and how many players do you have in total?[/quote']

 

There are a total of 8 of us but one is seasonal nowadays due to college while another is usually scheduled to work at the time that we play but with Chrysler's troubles, well... we see him more often for now. So it's more like 6 usually nowadays.We game every week but we vote for a different, non-consecutive campaign every 3 weeks. Long story.This campaign idea sounds confusing but know this: I've run 2 crossover adventures in which these players RP'ed as both of their respective characters in these adventures and both adventures are fondly reminisced to this day.

[bubba smith]

Re: Unity

 

who are unity's members?

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Unity

 

UNTIL UNITY: Original Team

Quasar - Mutate Cosmic Energy Projector, Flyer, & Telekinetic. (630pts.)

Mentiac (Brainiac w/ Big Head) - Mutant Super Genius, Inventor, & Gadgeteer. (570pts.)

El Picaro (Nightcrawler Homage) - Mutant Teleporter & Weapon Master (471pts.)

Dr. Black & Dr. White - Mutate Mystic Masters of Magic (418pts.)

Myrmidon (Greek Demi-God of War) - Mystic Mutate Brick & Weapon Master (430pts.)

 

 

Cheers

 

 

QM

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

Eww... I'll have to dig that up at a later time.

 

First take the published characters from the Champions Universe that are still alive/active.

 

Now take the total number of players (~8) and multiply it by 3 (24).

 

That is the general roster.

 

Then there's the idea I had of IMMUNITY, which is a Suicide Squad/CW Thunderbolts pastiche...

[Cardinal]

Re: Unity

 

How is the multiple character thing working out?

 

I always thought that it would be pretty cool to play in a campaign where each player had multiple characters (potentially at different point levels). For each adventure, the GM and/or Player would choose the team assigned to a given mission.

 

I have never tried it, but I always thought that it would be a way to get that Avenger vibe (i.e. Black Panther teaming up with Thor). If every character got a little play and the GM was careful to choose low point players with pertinent skills it would mean that every character would get some limelight.

 

I also thought that the UNITY concept would be great for that because the large scale that the team would allow and the thought that it would be mission oriented.

 

Has anyone done something like that in a UNITY or non-UNITY context? Has it worked?

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

First adventure is this Friday but the GM has made sure of who we are using ahead of time.

[Peregrine]

Re: Unity

 

I was going through some old threads and came across teh bunneh's UNITY campaign (which incidently was fantastic, much like his other campaigns).

 

I have always thought that UNITY had great potential for a world spanning game. I had a short lived online game (that was actually an excuse to practice teamwork in combat for our main campaign) in which I used the UNITY / UN concept (i.e. excuse to have battles in all sorts of cities). However, I never have managed to get into a long standing game around that concept.

 

Has anyone else run a successful UNITY / UN based game? If so, please share stories.

 

For those that have not, what has stopped you?

 

I played in a short-lived UNITY-based game. It wasn't much different from a world-wide supers team in the brief lifespan of the game, save that we had diplomatic connections via UNTIL and the UN.

 

As to why I wouldn't run a UNITY/UN-based game, there are a couple of reasons. First, I would have to direct you to an old thread that discussed the viability of a "good guy" UN, for which I am too lazy to search at the moment. Summarized, the UN in the game would have to be substantially different from the UN in the Real World in order for it to be a viable "good guy" organization. In my own nascent game world, currently under ongoing revision, I have UNTIL as a sister organization to the UN, which allows the UN to be as close to, or different from, the Real World UN as I want it to be without diminishing UNTIL as a good guy organization. But I have yet to decide if UNTIL works with supers closely enough to sponsor a team like UNITY. Alternatively, UNITY could be a UN-sponsored team, unaffiliated with UNTIL. A number of possibilities exist, obviously.

 

Second, I prefer PRIMUS to UNTIL as the main "good-guy" organization in the game, assuming a U.S.-based game. (And no, I do not like "PRIMUS as the poster child for 'the U.S. Government as the ultimate villain'".) In this model, the default for UNTIL is "rival good-guy organization". That is, both PRIMUS and UNTIL are heroic and relatively without corruption - almost idealistic. But they are competitive with each other, though not to the point of actively trying to do harm to one another. They will not absolutely withhold important information from each other, but trading intel comes with a price. Ultimately, though, when the chips are down and the blasters are out, they remember who the enemy is - and it's not each other.

 

[/unintentional thread hijack]

[Cardinal]

Re: Unity

 

Peregrine -

 

Thanks for your thoughts. One the aspects that I found appealing to a UNITY based game was specifically the fact that it was not a US based game. Most of the games that I have played in have been based in some real or slightly altered US cities. I liked the concept of playing non-US heroes in a variety of global locations. I thought UNITY offered an interesting way to push the international aspect.

 

In terms of the role of the UN, I always assumed that if one could suspend disbelief such that people can fly and shoot lasers from their eyes, one could accept that the UN, in this new world, had addressed some of the fundamental structural dynamics that limit its effectiveness. However, you are absolutely correct in that to be a viable campaign you would have to assume a much more powerful and robust international organization with the mandate to pursue and address the sorts of issues that a super team would be going after, something that is significantly out of the scope of the current UN (unless you assume significant big power cooperation through the security council). I can see how that would not fit the world power structure that many people would want to play in.

 

I have never played in a Primus campaign and to be frank have never had much of a taste for it. This is primarily because I have seen it played as a foil to the hero team in one of two ways: (a) US Govt as ultimate corrupt evil (as you described) or ( red white and blue boyscouts without a tremendous amount of depth. This is more of an indication with how the particular GMs I have played with have treated Primus than a reflection of something inherent about Primus.

 

That is not to suggest that I don't enjoy US heroes in US locations; rather, I thought a global viewpoint would be a nice change.

 

Outside of the UNITY context, have you ever done any of the character pool swapping in your campaigns to create a bigger team and mix and match for each mission?

[Peregrine]

Re: Unity

 

Peregrine -

 

 

Outside of the UNITY context, have you ever done any of the character pool swapping in your campaigns to create a bigger team and mix and match for each mission?

 

No, but I would love to play in a game like that. In addition to the other aspects mentioned, it also alleviates players becoming bored with their characters, whether the mechanics (powers, etc.) or the personality. With that kind of character pool, a player can play something different as often as they like, within the scope of their character pool.

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

The game ran successfully yesterday so hopefully things will continue in this fashion.

[bubba smith]

Re: Unity

 

can you give us the skinny on how the game went

[The Main Man]

Re: Unity

 

Well, as a first game it actually felt like any other supers game, and since the adventure is to be continued, time will tell how the framework works out.

 

I was a little bit late but UNTIL "sending reinforcements" works quite well as a late player introduction plot device.

 

So I guess that that's an indication of convenience.