The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

[Boll Weevil]

I was looking at the stats for Menton this for morning. He is regarded by most to the mightiest mentalist in the CU...right? I haven't read Vibora Bay or DEMON but I know he is at the top of his game.

 

There are lots of CU characters, some with similar archetypical concepts. Who then are the ones, like Menton, considered the best in class (speedster, magnestism guy, sonic blaster)? Who are your favorites?

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Okay, here's a list, taking a liberal interpretation of archetype, and with a heroic runner-up thrown in when I durn well choose.

 

Armoured suit: Doctor Destroyer (obviously). Runner-up, Tetsuronin.

Blaster: Borealis (during an aurora), Celestar otherwise.

Brick: Valak the Ravager. Runner-up, Brawler III.

Scrapper (see, I'm being liberal, here): Taipan.

Martial artist: Nightwind

Mentalist: All Hail the Hypno-Toad! I mean, Menton.

Speedster: Vector.

Bat-God: Utility.

Patriot: Macahuitl

Mage: Takofanes. Runner up: Rashindar.

Weapon-Master: Cateran. And I'm totally not voting for her because of that skirt.

Holy crap, that's the most inefficient use of points I've ever seen, and I've seen Doctor Ka! Orchid.

You guys fight him. Just look for the yellow streak to find me later: The Living Curse

Villains with cool power sets most deserving in face time: three-way tie between Thorn, Tesseract and Momentum.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Thanks and repped! I have CKC, CU 1 and 2, Champions, VIPER and Millenium City. I see now I need more. Is Vector from the Ultimate Speedster? There are a bunch on here I hadn't heard of.

 

How about weather-manipulators?

Ice powers?

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Vector was published in Ultimate Speedster, but then again in Evil Unleashed. Several of my other choices are in Champions Worldwide, Champions: News of the World, and even Villains, Vandals and Vermin, the first RPG supplement that made me admit to myself that art does matter to me.

[Cardinal]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Brick: Valak the Ravager. Runner-up, Brawler III.

 

What about our boy Diamond? Albeit he has 5 str less, but he has more def and all the tricks... and he is clearly stolen... er... an homage to the classic bricks from comic books.

 

Mage: Takofanes. Runner up: Rashindar.

 

**Cough ** Drifter ** Cough**

 

Holy crap' date=' that's the most inefficient use of points I've ever seen, and I've seen Doctor Ka! Orchid.[/quote']

:rofl::rofl:

 

Villains with cool power sets most deserving in face time: three-way tie between Thorn' date=' Tesseract and Momentum.[/quote']

 

on Tesseract. Good call.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

What about our boy Diamond? Albeit he has 5 str less' date=' but he has more def and all the tricks... and he is clearly stolen... er... an homage to the classic bricks from comic books.[/quote']Nice one. I really like Diamond. He is the best big bricky guy since...well...Brick.

[Haven Walkur]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Welcome back, Weevil. Haven't seen you on the Board in ages. Have some Rep.

 

(Yes, the Tribble's little girl has grown up to be a mighty Rep-slinger.)

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

What about our boy Diamond? Albeit he has 5 str less, but he has more def and all the tricks... and he is clearly stolen... er... an homage to the classic bricks from comic books.

 

[and nominating Rashindar as runner-up to Takofanes in the super-mage category earns me...]

 

**Cough ** Drifter ** Cough**

 

 

:rofl::rofl:

 

 

 

on Tesseract. Good call.

 

I like Brawler over Diamond because Brawler has damage reduction. And if I were to extend my list to the "cosmic entities" archetype I'd take Drifter as runner-up to Examiner, ahead of Arcane. I guess it's just a question of taste, but I see Drifter as more "cosmic" than mage.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Welcome back, Weevil. Haven't seen you on the Board in ages. Have some Rep.

 

(Yes, the Tribble's little girl has grown up to be a mighty Rep-slinger.)

Thanks! I accidentally started a flamewar in the NGD a few months ago. I felt pretty bad about it and decided I really have no business posting there. I pretty much only read the Champions forum now.

[Vann the Red]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

What about our boy Diamond? Albeit he has 5 str less' date=' but he has more def and all the tricks... and he is clearly stolen... er... an homage to the classic bricks from comic books.[/quote']

 

The guy from the Geodesics?

 

VtR

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Thanks and repped! I have CKC, CU 1 and 2, Champions, VIPER and Millenium City. I see now I need more. Is Vector from the Ultimate Speedster? There are a bunch on here I hadn't heard of.

 

How about weather-manipulators?

Ice powers?

 

Oh, and Monsoon and Winter Dragon.

[bubba smith]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

who's the current martial arts archtype?

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

I'm saying Nightwind, although his actual MA manoeuvres package is all the extra stuff (grabs, throws). When he wants to just punch somebody, he uses his ch'isy powers. And in putting him on top, I have to ignore his rival, Jade Phoenix, who has a few points on Nightwind. I dunno, I guess that "dim mak" powers sound too close to "dim sum." Hit me with that steamed pork dumpling, Jadey!

 

In terms of points spent on MA manoeuvres, the crown goes to Li Chun the Destroyer, who has dropped 68 points into the field. How much that gets a guy with a STR of 50, a Multipower of ranged attacks, and a Transformation attack on top of that, I do not know.

A choice out of left field (like Monsoon), is Spirit Dragon in Villains, Vandals and Vermin. He is much less powerful than Nightwind, but he can't just solve his problems with the Fist of Yengtao, either. His version of ch'i powers boosts one or another characteristic, so he can get at you (boost dex), hit harder (boost strength), take extra damage (Con), and so on, but he is always going to have to rely on a good old fashioned karate chop to do the work.

[Boll Weevil]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Oh' date=' and Monsoon and Winter Dragon.[/quote']Where is Monsoon from? I have seen Winter Dragon only in the USPD.

 

Is Firewing the baddest fire guy?

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Monsoon is in Champions Worldwide, while Winter Dragon and four other Tiger Squad members get full write-ups in Villains, Vandals, And Vermin.

 

Firewing certainly counts as the top "fire guy," but the holder of that title from Galactic Champions is far more powerful than the modern-day version, and one of the mightiest energy-blasters from any Hero book.

[Matt the Bruins]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Isn't there a character in Galactic Champions with a 500-point VPP? (I'm wondering what sort of character it is, as that's an active point total for a power pool that I'd associate with higher dimensional cosmic entities or full-blown manifestations of Kings of Edom.)

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

For Cold archetype...I'd say Glacier from Stronghold. For Martial Artist archetype....Li Chun The Destroyer. Brick archetype....Ripper.

 

Rob

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Isn't there a character in Galactic Champions with a 500-point VPP? (I'm wondering what sort of character it is' date=' as that's an active point total for a power pool that I'd associate with higher dimensional cosmic entities or full-blown manifestations of Kings of Edom.)[/quote']

 

That's the equivalent of a cosmic being...like a Celestial or a Guardian(from Green Lantern).

 

Rob

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Isn't there a character in Galactic Champions with a 500-point VPP? (I'm wondering what sort of character it is' date=' as that's an active point total for a power pool that I'd associate with higher dimensional cosmic entities or full-blown manifestations of Kings of Edom.)[/quote']

 

That's the equivalent of a cosmic being...like a Celestial or a Guardian(from Green Lantern).

 

Rob

 

The character in question is The Examiner, one of the Galaxars, immortal cosmically-powerful entities who specialize in particular activities -- a clear analogue to the Elders of the Universe from Marvel Comics. So, their power level is justifiable. The Examiner is described in GC as a "walking plot device." He exists mostly to set up situations for heroes to deal with, not really for PCs to fight directly.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

The character in question is The Examiner' date=' one of the [i']Galaxars[/i], immortal cosmically-powerful entities who specialize in particular activities -- a clear analogue to the Elders of the Universe from Marvel Comics. So, their power level is justifiable. The Examiner is described in GC as a "walking plot device." He exists mostly to set up situations for heroes to deal with, not really for PCs to fight directly.

 

True...but Marvel's Elders are actually significantly less powerful than the Examiner...only the Grandmaster approaches this writeup and he's still MUCH less powerful than what we see in Galactic Champions. The Examiner is probably closer to a Celestial or maybe Galactus.

 

Rob

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

True...but Marvel's Elders are actually significantly less powerful than the Examiner...only the Grandmaster approaches this writeup and he's still MUCH less powerful than what we see in Galactic Champions. The Examiner is probably closer to a Celestial or maybe Galactus.

 

Rob

 

After seeing the Active Points in Steve Long's write-up for a medium-range nuclear bomb in Digital Hero, I'm not as impressed by the Examiner.

 

He's certainly formidable and versatile, and serves his purpose in a game very well; but IMO he's no Galactus.

[Dr. MID-Nite]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

After seeing the Active Points in Steve Long's write-up for a medium-range nuclear bomb in Digital Hero, I'm not as impressed by the Examiner.

 

He's certainly formidable and versatile, and serves his purpose in a game very well; but IMO he's no Galactus.

 

I'd agree, but he's still much stronger than any of Marvel's Elders of the Universe.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

The Examiner vs. Elders of the Universe? Bear in mind that he doesn't have as much nice stuff as they tend to bring to an encounter. And that if he did, he would have to pay for it out of his VPP.

Lord Liaden nominates Firewing 3000 for the Energy Projector crown. My issue with that is that opening up Galactic Champions changes the field considerably.

Except that I already did it, too. That said, I think Borealis is still tougher than Firewing 3000 --in an aurora, anyway.

 

Some others to consider:

It seems that there are only two even half-statted shrinkers in the CU. Microman II is described as having the same writeup as Shrinker, plus gadgets. That was easy.

 

On the other hand, there are now four aquatic heroes, plus a multitude (4?) of evil swimming bricks; and Murk, whom I think transcends the purely aquatic category. (The heroes are Prince Marus; his mom, the now-retired Sea Hawk; Hydro; and Amphibian.) Prince Marus is built on the most points, but he's just a flying brick. Amphibian, besides having a Str of 35 ("Surrender, or I'll hit you rather harder than a normal person!") talks to fish. So clearly we have to go with Amphibian.

There's a similar embarrassment of cyberpaths, but Engineer does the best on points, excluding Champions 3000's Overrider, another crazy cute, merged-with-the-computer chick.

 

An eclectic category for RPGs, but rather important in MMOs, I'm told, is the buffer. I'm probably missing a character with a strong Aid (not to mention all the mystics with VPPS), but Aura's healing powers are considerable. Team her up with Quantum and you get the CU's real ultimate cannon. Doctor Destroyer? Pff. Eat a 17d6, +1 Variable Advantages EB, gnaedige Herr Doktor. (I'm being very polite, just in case. Sir.)

 

Mightiest evil mastermind? I'm going against the grain, here: King Arvad. Sure, he doesn't have the points, or even the resources of a Doctor Destroyer, but he's strong in two suites (psionics and magic) where the Doctor is weak, and, most importantly, he's immortal and can outwait the Doctor. The future belongs to him ...and Molnya. And whoever is pulling Teleios' strings, if that turns out to be the story.

 

Speaking of Molnya, we've seen a great many characters with electrical powers. This is a suite I like, because I'm taken with the teleport-along-a-conducting-path power, and can see hours of entertaining argument with physics geeks about how that's likely to work in practice. Thunderbolt I, Megavolt, EMP...... But Molnya's writeup has this little tweak, "immune to Electrical powers (+30ED only versus electrical special effect.") He might not do more damage to the world around him than EMP, but if I gave the crown to EMP, the Russian grandmaster could take it away.

 

Goofiest? El Sauro gives Foxbat a run for his money.

 

Mightiest interdimensional conqueror? Tyrannon, who also wins the "Mightiest tree contest." Hey, there's only one fewer runners-up in that category (Thorn) than the first. (Istvhan V'Han and Skarn.)

 

Coolest-looking power armour? Stalny Volk's "After Things Fell Apart" chic beats Devastator's bubble hat. Defender's glass jaw just does not make the grade, to my mind.

 

And still the winner of the "mightiest Vancouverite" goes to Ravenspeaker. In my mind, though, Scott Bennie's background writeup is all a great big leg-pull, and he's really noted Haida sculptor Bill Reid, who has faked his own death for blah blah blah. I dunno, but that just seems more emotionally satisfying when we're dealing with the avatar of a trickster figure.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

And we can't forget the coolest, 90siest,* most pouchiest archetype of all, the Very Big Gun Wielder.

The CU has a regrettable shortage of guns with barrels longer than a leg and receivers bigger than a torso. It does have some impressive characters built around guns, Dead Man Walkin' and Witchfinder are both excellent snipers, but a boring old real gun isn't going to cut it. In fact, the VBGW is not defined by the amount of CP poured into the gun. Most of the source material characters have spent more points on Super-Voguing (why isn't that power in FRED, Mr. Long?) than their guns, and I am not taking a VBGW without it.

For that reason, I'm knocking Binder and Blowtorch right out of the competition. Yes, technically they have VBGs: but if they shoot glue, they don't count. Fire, worth a little more, but still. Also, Laser. Yes, very impressive effects, but I'm not seeing no giant gun.

No, going on the classic, Liefeldian definition, there can only be one "Mightiest CU Very Big Gun Wielder," and that be the Indian Super Division's Saba Devatao. If you doubt me, take a look at Champions Worldwide, p. 70. (Not 69, where her writeup is, the next page.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Hey, I turned 26 in 1990. Sue me if I have fond memories. Still waiting for "The 90s Show" to premiere on TV, though.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: The Champions Universe's mightiest archetypes

 

Yes, Saba Devatao has a big piece. But you're overlooking the Champions Universe's premiere super gun-bunny, Thunderbird. Check out his illustration in Conquerors, Killers, And Crooks p. 208 -- he's carrying a long blaster rifle over his shoulder, and a blaster pistol in his hand, and a questionite knife in his boot, and pouches on his belt, and shades. All standard equipment for the VBGW.