CotN Outtakes

[GestaltBennie]

Here's something I've been meaning to do for a long time; publish the outtakes from CotN here that Steve cut and gave back to me. Hopefully, these will be useful to someone. We'll start off with the write-up for Canada's national hero, the (alas deceased) Red Ensign.

 

Red Ensign III

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

20 STR 10 13- Lift 400.0kg; 4d6 HTH damage [4]

23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8

23 CON 26 14-

18 BODY 16 13-

18 INT 8 13- PER Roll 13-

18 EGO 16 13- ECV: 6

24 PRE 14 14- PRE Attack: 4 1/2d6

20 COM 5 13-

10+ PD 6 Total: 10/24 PD (0/14 rPD)

10+ ED 5 Total: 10/24 ED (0/14 rED)

5 SPD 17 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12

9 REC 0

46 END 0

40 STUN 0 Total Characteristics Cost: 162

Movement: Running: 11”/[Noncombat]”

Leaping: 24”/[Noncombat]”

Swimming: 6”/[Noncombat]”

 

Cost Powers END

47 Canada Staff: Multipower, 70-point reserve, (70 Active Points); all slots Restrainable (-1/2)

1u 1) Booster Jets: Leaping +20” (24” forward, 12” upward) (20 Active Points); 6 Charges (-3/4), Restrainable (-1/2)

3u 2) Energy Globe: Entangle 5d6, 8 DEF (65 Active Points); No Range (-1/2), Restrainable (-1/2) 6

1u 3) Missile Deflection (Any Ranged Attack) (20 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2) 0

2u 4) Electro-Staff: Hand-To-Hand Attack +8d6 (40 Active Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-1/2), Restrainable (-1/2) 4

4u 5) Tractor Field: Telekinesis (45 STR) (68 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2) 7

3u 6) Sight Group Images 1” radius, +/-10 to PER Rolls (40 Active Points); Restrainable (-1/2) 4

24 Armored Suit: Armor (14 PD/14 ED) (42 Active Points); OIF (-1/2), Activation Roll 15- (-1/4) 0

5 Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing) (10 Active Points); OAF (Rebreather; -1) 0

8 Mental Defense (12 points total) 0

10 Super Athlete: Running +5” (11” total) 1

4 Super Athlete: Swimming +4” (6” total) 1

 

Martial Arts: Self-Defense Training

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes

3 Aikido Throw +0 +1 4d6 +v/5, Target Falls

4 Choke -2 +0 Grab One Limb; 2d6 NND

4 Escape +0 +0 35 STR vs. Grabs

4 Hold -1 -1 Grab Three Limbs, 10 STR for holding on

4 Judo Disarm -1 +1 Disarm; 30 STR to Disarm roll

4 Karate “Chop” -2 +0 HKA 1d6 +1

4 Kung Fu Block +2 +2 Block, Abort

4 Boxing Cross +0 +2 6d6 Strike

1 Weapon Element: Clubs

1 Weapon Element: Knives

 

Perks

9 Reputation (A large group (Canadians)) 14-, +3/+3d6

 

Skills

24 +3 with All Combat

3 Acrobatics 14-

3 Animal Handler 14-

3 Breakfall 14-

3 Bugging 13-

3 Bureaucratics 14-

3 Climbing 14-

3 Combat Driving 14-

3 Computer Programming 13-

3 Concealment 13-

3 Criminology 13-

3 Demolitions 13-

3 Electronics 13-

3 Interrogation 14-

4 KS: Canadian History 14-

5 KS: Paranormals 14-

5 Language: French (imitate dialects)

1 Language: Hebrew (basic conversation)

3 Lockpicking 14-

3 Mechanics 13-

2 Navigation (Land) 13-

3 Oratory 14-

3 Paramedics 13-

5 PS: Architect 14-

3 Security Systems 13-

5 SS: Architecture 14-

3 Shadowing 13-

3 Sleight Of Hand 14-

3 Stealth 14-

3 Streetwise 14-

3 Survival 13-

3 Systems Operation 13-

3 Tactics 13-

3 Teamwork 14-

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 284

Total Cost: 445

 

200+ Disadvantages

10 Dependent NPC: Son 8- (Normal)

5 Enraged: Bullying (Uncommon), go 8-, recover 14-

10 Hunted: Black Banner 8- (As Pow, Harshly Punish)

15 Hunted: Baron Nihil 8- (Mo Pow, Harshly Punish)

15 Psychological Limitation: Protects the Innocent (Common, Strong)

10 Psychological Limitation: Outspoken Social Conscience (Common, Moderate)

5 Rivalry: Professional (The Memory of Past Red Ensigns; Rival is More Powerful; Seek to Outdo, Embarrass, or Humiliate Rival; Rival Unaware of Rivalry)

175 Experience Bonus

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 445

 

Background: The first Red Ensign was Tommy Brock, a descendent of the great Canadian general of the War of 1812. A steadfast pacifist, he volunteered to fight in the Second World War after his best friend, who’d gone to England as a naval cadet, was badly burned in a U-boat attack. When the hospitalized Billings told Brock of the horrors he knew were being committed by Nazi Germany, Brock repudiated his former pacifist ideals and took on the mantle of the Red Ensign, a symbol of Canadian patriotism. He chose to become a superhero rather than a soldier because only such a brazen symbol (and obvious target) could atone for his stubborn blindness to evil in the years preceding the war.

 

The Red Ensign fought the Nazis for three years. He once even had Hitler in a chokehold (though a Nazi drug caused him to pass out before he could finish off the Feuhrer for good). Escaping from the Nazi firing squad, the Ensign’s deeds promptly Hitler to commission a Nazi scientist named Ernst Von Niehl to destroy him. Eventually, Von Niehl lured the Ensign into a prearranged death trap in Holland and killed him, though at the cost of being trapped for decades in “the annihilation dimension” (from which he emerged as Baron Nihil).

 

The Red Ensign’s legacy haunted the Brock family, and in 1964, that legacy led to a dramatic development for Brock’s nephew Jim, an NHL star turned Toronto policeman. One of Jim’s cases involved an eccentric scientist Dr. Matthew MacNeil, who had been the Golden Age superhero Dr. Cerebro, MacNeil mistook Jim for his uncle, whom he’d known in the Second World War. Futzing through his closet, MacNeil presented the bewildered policeman with a long white-metal rod.

 

“I made it from the metals of King Vultok’s realm,” the scientist explained. “It’s virtually indestructible and it can return to your hand with a gesture. If you learn to use it properly, you’ll be a match for any of these new-fangled supervillains who are starting to show their faces again. I call it… the Canada Staff.”

 

When Jim held the Canada Staff, he knew that his life would be changed. He knew that Canada was under threat from a new wave of costumed villains, and someone needed to take a stand, as his uncle had. After two years of intense training, Jim felt ready to take up the mantle of the Red Ensign.

 

It was 1964. Jim Brock was 29 years old. Years of crimefighting, brawls against superhumans and battles against the elements followed. He had a long, storied career. Jim’s charisma and humility provided a good counterpoint to the flamboyant politicians of the Trudeau era, and he worked well with the authorities. Jim’s early career linked him forever with Canada’s flag debate (see History) and led many to call him “the Lester Pearson of superheroes” (after the Prime Minister who oversaw the start of his career). He was loved and respected by nearly everyone. Although rival heroes like the Mighty Canadians were vastly more powerful, the Red Ensign had the love of the people.

 

However, superhero work is not a game long played by those whose bodies wear out, and by 1976, Jim’s was spent. Broken bones, muscle tears, and numerous concussions had taken a grave toll on him, and even an exo-skeleton couldn’t keep the years and kilometers from showing in his performance. Many politicians, fellow heroes, and folks in the media begged him to retire. Even a few of his old foes tried to persuade him to step aside. Stubbornly Jim refused to quit, though he did found the first incarnation of the Northern Guard in 1978 to provide him with backup. However. a support team couldn’t forestall the inevitable. A head injury he suffered at the hands of Fantastic Bill (a minor otherwise forgettable villain) took away his ability to focus, and finally forced him to step down in 1980.

 

Jim remained as the titular head of the Canadian Guard, but the disabling injuries he suffered made even that work difficult. In 1985, the Canadian government’s attempt to regulate superheroes led to a schism between Brock and the rest of the team. Jim, his teammates said, had always been too close to the government to see what a threat they could be. His life in tatters, the ailing Brock retired to a small town in northern Manitoba, where he died in 1997.

 

The legacy of the Red Ensign hung over the Brock family well after his retirement. Jim’s son Hugh, embittered by his absentee dad and never-ending media scrutiny, took the Canada Staff as his own — but he chose to become a supervillain, and he christened himself the Black Banner. Not particularly successful, Hugh Brock’s stint at villainy embarrassed the family and the nation.

 

In 1999, the Black Banner broke out of prison and bitterly tried to end “the family curse” by killing every male descendent of the Brock family (the idea of a female Red Ensign didn’t seem to occur to him). His first target was his cousin David, Tommy Brock’s sole living grandson. David had been haunted by the specter of the Red Ensign since childhood, but didn’t resent the legacy. David fought back against his cousin, knocking him unconscious and taking the Canada Staff away just as a crew of photographers arrived.

 

“I guess that makes me the new Red Ensign,” David shrugged.

 

A naturally gifted athlete, David Brock had pursued a career in architecture, but he was a bit of a thrillseeker at heart and had a strong social conscience. He grew up in downtown Toronto, and shared the liberal political leanings of many in the urban core.

 

David’s career was controversial, however he performed as admirably as his famous predecessors. Though his attempts to form a new Northern Guard met with failure, he quickly rose to become Canada’s most respected hero and its face to the superhuman community abroad.

 

David discovered, however, that the Canada Staff brought its share of problems, especially enemies. In 2007, during a hostage crisis at the Governor-General’s mansion, Baron Nihil shot him with a variation on the same “annihilation” ray that had struck down his grandfather. The Red Ensign was vaporized in a split second, leaving only the Canada Staff, which clattered on the hardwood floor of Rideau Hall. However, Nihil was unable to break the staff (as he had hoped) and the arrival of COMET forced him to withdraw.

 

The Canada Staff was given to David’s widow, Mary Brock. As the entire nation mourned, the press openly spoke about “the Brock Curse” and the world wondered if anyone would ever take up the Canada Staff again.

 

Personality: Each Red Ensign has been perceived as dull and steady, and in each case, that’s not true. In particular, David Brock was an often prickly, excitable young man with a strong social conscience and a boundless determination to correct injustice, particularly toward minorities, women, and the poor. When a crisis happened, he was as calm as any superhero you’d ever meet.

 

David was an idealist; he believed in the larger global community, supers and non-supers, and in cooperation and friendship. He believed that the only way to stop supervillains was to create a better world and to encourage higher standards of behavior. He was aware, however, that someone who often gets into fights may not be the best messenger, but handled the dichotomy with effortless aplomb.

 

Quote: “Let’s see… Button #12, makes a Canadian flag pop out of the flag. Okay, it’s corny but it works.”

 

Powers/Tactics: Each Red Ensign has been a human in peak physical condition that’s trained to be able to compete against superhumans. The Canada Staff and the Canada Suit are the sole superhuman items in his arsenal; the Canada Suit was invented by Golden Age scientist Dr. Cerebro; it’s an armored cloth with a fluid metal sub-layer; while the suit is heavy, the metal flows to mimic the wearer’s movements, so it doesn’t restrict his agility.

 

The Canada Staff is made from the metal of the alien artifact that was King Vultok’s crown; no known force, including being heated to millions of degrees Kelvin or attempts to disassemble it at the molecular level, have been able to make a dent in it. The Staff is not an OAF; it will teleport back into the Ensign’s hand as a zero phase action if he’s ever disarmed.

 

The Red Ensign’s tactics are standard for a martial arts oriented character. He does pay more attention to strategic objectives than many heroes; if he foils the villain’s plan and forces the villain to retreat, he’s usually as satisfied as he would be if he’s knocked out the bad guy.

 

Campaign Use: Okay, if this guy’s dead, why is he listed here?

 

First, no one ever found a body. In comic book terms, this is shorthand for “he’s not really dead,” so you can bring him back at the most dramatic time.

 

Secondly, it gives the players a chance to run a legacy character. They can take the opening and run Red Ensign IV, either as a member of the Brock family, a family friend, or the Brock family can hold tryouts to see who best deserves to hold the Canada Staff.

 

To increase the Ensign’s power level, add the Steelsman exo-skeleton from the RCMP Package. To decrease his power level, reduce his SPD to 4 and reduce the hand to hand attack and telekinesis to levels appropriate for the campaign.

 

Red Ensign III didn’t actively watch or hunt people, but he always kept an eye out for threats to Canada: ranging from gunrunners to genetic mutation. You might take him as a hunted by defining it as “being unlucky enough to always cross paths with him.”

 

For the purposes of Hunteds, all Red Ensigns had NCI.

 

Appearance: Red Ensign III was in his late 20s, 6’2” (188 cm) tall and a lean 180 pounds (82 kg). He had dark brown hair, worn short, and a lean, attractive, clean-shaven face. The Red Ensign suit was a red bodysuit, with a tan longcoat and fatigues and army boots. A maple leaf flag design is incorporated into the center of his chest, and a red ensign and Quebec fleur-de-lis are emblazoned on his shoulders. He donned a military helmet, with a red facemask worn underneath. The Canada Staff was a white gold rod, 180 cm. in length.

Red Ensign Adventure Seeds

 

1. They Found A Body….: …unfortunately, it appears that he’s been turned into one of Necrull’s necrullitic zombies. Put it out of its misery, then figure out what’s going on.

 

2. Crimson Ensign: To add insult to injury, Baron Nihil is dressing the Knights of Sanguanay in the costume of the Red Ensign as he launches attacks on your city! He hopes to drive a wedge between Canada and your country by having its national hero attack you. Stop this sacrilege.

 

3. Stop That!: The Canada Staff is mysteriously appearing in your bedroom/quarters. Every time you try to get rid of it, it returns. You’re not even Canadian. You can’t seem to make anything work, except to make it eject a Canadian flag and cause it to play O Canada. What does a dead superhero’s stick want with you?

[bubba smith]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

nice

[Legatus]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

O Canada

The True North strong and free

Red Ensign stands on guard for thee!

 

[Lord Liaden]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Scott, you rock harder than, well, rocks! I've been hoping to see your COTN out takes somewhere for a long time. Thanks for sharing.

 

Having grown up during the Trudeau era, and lived many years in the Toronto area, RE III's influences and attitudes sound believable to me. He comes across as a true Canadian take on a flag-suit hero.

 

I also got the distinct impression that his costume was inspired by this "Red Ensign" character illo posted to the forum by Storn Cook: http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=379312

[Hermit]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

*Tips hat respectfully*

[rjcurrie]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Good stuff, Scott.

 

But I have to ask, who did Red Ensign II play for in the NHL? Since it would have been the days of the "Original Six", one can probably assume that, in the interest of him being a "true Canadian", he played for either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens -- or perhaps both? Then again, perhaps it's best not to specify -- that way the GM himself can choose based on his own preferences. One also has to wonder about his NHL carreer being over before the age of 29 when he was described as being a NHL star. It was probably not injury or he likely would not have chosen as phyiscal of a post-NHL career as policeman. My personal theory is that he played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and in the spring of 1964, after winning a third straight Stanley Cup with the Leafs, he decided he had done all he could in the world of hockey and wanted to do something to help people instead. Hence, he retired and joined the Toronto Police Department and a few months later, he gets the Canada Staff and become Red Ensign II.

 

I notice that Red Ensign III has neither a public or secret ID. But again I have to wonder about Red Ensign II. My guess would be that he was a public identity -- with his NHL career also feeding into his popularity as a hero.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

I notice the flag and national anthem options aren't pointed out in the multipower.

And is it "O Canada," or "The Maple Leaf Forever"?

 

And seriously, thank you, Mr. Bennie.

[GestaltBennie]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

The original Red Ensign would be "Maple Leaf Forever"; his successors would be: "O Canada".

 

Glad you guys liked it. Here's some stuff cut from the Hockey section.

 

Rod: Jim Brock played two seasons for Chicago and three seasons for Detroit. He wanted to play for the Leafs but never got his chance, though he spent some time with the Marlies prior to his NHL career. He retired from the NHL in 1962.

---

 

Hockey Package Deal

 

Skills

3 Breakfall 11-

2 PS: Hockey 11-

 

Martial Arts: [Professional Hockey]

Maneuver OCV DCV Notes

4 Body Check +0 -2 4d6 +v/5 Strike, FMove

5 Strip the Puck -1 -1 Disarm, 20 STR to Disarm; FMove

5 Passing Strike +1 +0 2d6 +v/5; FMove

5 Hip Check +0 +0 2d6 +v/5; Target Falls; FMove

4 Shove +0 +0 25 STR to Shove

5 Steal the Puck +0 +0 Grab Weapon, 20 STR to take weapon away

4 Weapon Bind +1 +0 Bind, 20 STR

1 Weapon Element: Polearms and Spears

1 TF: Skates

 

Powers END

6 Good Skating Legs: Running +3” 1

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 45

Total Cost: 45

 

Note: "Goons" should probably have some sort of brawling package ("Five for Fighting"). Elite players will have a higher PS, some levels with puck passing, DCV levels only usable on ice, an extra inch or two of running (Only while wearing skates on an ice surface), connections with agents, sports reporters and publicists, Reputation, and an extra level of Wealth.

 

Hockey and Superheroes

If you’re running a Champions game, there’s a number of ways you can integrate hockey into your superhero game; some as the scenarios that present themselves include:

 

Hockey Character Origins

 

1. He Shoots Up, He Scores!

Your team’s trainer has hooked up with an evil organization (such as VIPER) to give your team an undetectable performance-enhancing drug. You’re members of a team that’s being mutated – and you don’t like some of the changes you’re seeing in your teammates, some of who are becoming quite psychotic.

 

You need to use your own burgeoning powers to stop them. But once you've exposed the scandal, your playing days will be finished. What else will you do with your time?

 

2. Power Play

You’re members of the Sudbury Meteors, a minor league hockey team on a losing streak, crowded into a rickety old van when a meteor lands nearby. Investigating, you’re engulfed in a strange radiation. You’re a hockey team who’s become superhuman! How do you handle your powers?

 

Hockey Related Champions Scenario Hooks

 

1. “Nyet, Nyet Soviet, Da Da, Canada!”Baron Nihil decides to get his revenge on Canada where it most hurts – by destroying its greatest moment. He goes back in time to the Summit Series, to make sure Canada loses the final game of the series and destroy the nation’s morale.

 

You need to travel back in time to Russia on September 28, 1972, when Canada played Game 8, and keep people from interfering with the series. Unfortunately, not only do you need to deal with Baron Nihil, you also discover that Soviet superheroes have been ordered to engineer a USSR victory by any means necessary...

 

2. Try-Out

NHL players like to think of themselves as quiet and self-effacing, but not Julian Roentz, a mouthy star forward for the Calgary Flames whose known for his hard play and mouthy attitude. Now approaching the end of his playing days, Roentz has announced that he wants to change careers – other talented normals have become costumed vigilantes, so why not a prime athlete like him? This might be amusing, but he wants to audition for your team. Worse, the media is turning this already ludicrous incident into a real circus. Deal with it.

 

Note: This might make a good origin for a PC, if a player wants to pursue such a concept.

 

3. The Good Ol’ Hockey Game

Cosmos-Prime, a bored galactic entity, has decided to put humanity on trial! He claims that the species lacks the necessary spirit to survive as a member of the galactic brotherhood, and is giving one chance for you to prove yourselves! Kidnapping your team and transporting you to an interdimensional arena, where you have to play a game of hockey against a thuggish team of galactic superbeings.

 

4. Phantom of the Rink

A great old hockey stadium in your town is being demolished to make room for a new, modern arena filled with luxury boxes and other modern sports amenities. Someone doesn’t like this, and mysterious accidents befall people who are involved in the deal. Some even say that the rink is haunted by the ghost of a hockey player who died in a tragic accident.

 

Is it really a ghost? Or is it someone who wants revenge on the new owners? Or an old player who can’t stand losing the place that’s attached to so many of his memories?

 

5. The Hockey Murders

There have been a spree of hockey related murders; one by one, players of a team that won the Cup fifteen years ago are being murdered one by one, and the authorities want a PC private detective to get to the bottom of the case (particularly since there are since the killer was superhuman).

 

Who did it? The coach’s insane ex-wife who blamed the team for covering up an affair? An insane fan or player from the team that lost the Cup? The benched player who was ostracized from the team and then suffered a career-ending injury in a Post-Cup celebratory prank?

[ghost-angel]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

You need to put all the Outakes into a PDF and charge us HPA Style for 'em. Because you deserve it.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Nice hockey Martial Art, Scott. My only suggestion would be to consider making PS: Hockey a 3-point DEX-based Skill, since so many of the tools of the game depend on agility and coordination. (Wonder if you could buy Penalty Skill Levels with shooting pucks?)

 

You need to put all the Outakes into a PDF and charge us HPA Style for 'em. Because you deserve it.

 

While I understandably prefer free, I can't argue with that sentiment.

[Twilight]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

I notice the flag and national anthem options aren't pointed out in the multipower.

And is it "O Canada," or "The Maple Leaf Forever"?

 

And seriously, thank you, Mr. Bennie.

 

I suspect it would play both, depending upon the preferences of the Red Ensign weilding it. Or for that dark period when the Black Banner had it, whichever song annoyed Black Banner the most.

[Legatus]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

That hockey bit was so good:

 

Reminds me of the good ol' days when I had a character (NPC) who was a hockey pro, magic-wielder, son of a demon-god from the middle east. Try to top that.

[rjcurrie]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

The original Red Ensign would be "Maple Leaf Forever"; his successors would be: "O Canada".

 

Actually, don't only Red Ensign II and III have the Canada Staff? And if there's an option of anthems, wouldn't Red Ensign II's staff have the choice of "God Save the Queen" -- it was the official national anthem until 1981.

[rjcurrie]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Incidentally, I love the scenario ideas especially the one centered around Game 8 of the Summit Series. Actually, I can picture the grizzled veteran of the team having to explain the importance of that game to the younger members.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

That hockey bit was so good:

 

Reminds me of the good ol' days when I had a character (NPC) who was a hockey pro, magic-wielder, son of a demon-god from the middle east. Try to top that.

 

Wayne Gretzky.

[ghost-angel]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Wayne Gretzky.

 

FOUL! Flag on the ice.

 

No bringing out real life Superheroes.

 

[Legatus]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Wayne Gretzky.

 

Wooohoooo! Stop! He's the !

 

And I love the Good Ol' Hockey Game scenario hook the most. It's a classic. So much in line with all of the Grandmaster's schemes of putting different heroes and villains against each other (and a little Space Jam in the mix).

[GestaltBennie]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

CANADA in A Non-Champions World

Champions is a great game, but it’s not the only Hero System game in town. For those interested in playing pulp, western, and other historical games, here are suitable package deals.

 

Traditional Inuit Package Deal

The nomadic hunting culture of the Inuit led a harsh life in some of the most formidable terrain on the planet. This is close to the package deal for a modern Inuit; because they’re more settled, they should have one less rank in Survival, and TF: Snowmobile.

 

Cost Powers END

Talents

2 Environmental Movement (no penalties on)

 

Skills

3 Animal Handler 11-

2 KS: Inuit Lore 11-

2 KS: The Spirit World 11-

0 Language (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

2 PS: Inuit Warrior 11-

1 Navigation 8-

7 Survival 13-

3 Tracking 11-

1 WF: Polearms and Spears

3 TF: Dog Sleds, Dogs, Sleds

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 26

Total Cost: 26

 

200+ Disadvantages

5 Social Limitation: Aboriginal (Occasionally, Minor)

 

Package Disadvantages: 21

 

Lumberjack Package Deal

The Lumberjack is one of the most enduring symbols of Canada, from the days of its first colonists to the modern day: the lumberjack has always been a symbol of Canadian manhood from Quebec to British Columbia.

 

Cost Powers END

Powers

5 Perfect Chop: Find Weakness 11- w/axe and saws, Conditional Power: Only Against Trees (-2)

 

Talents

2 Environmental Movement (no penalties on)

Skills

3 Log Rolling: Acrobatics 11-

9 Climbing 14-

3 Hoist 11-

4 PS: Lumberjack 13-

3 Survival 11-

3 Teamwork 11-

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 32

Total Cost: 32

 

Disadvantages

5 Distinctive Features: Lumberjack Clothing (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 5

Total Package Cost: 29

 

Plains First Nations Package Deal

Adventurers in the Wild West era would be most likely to encounter an “Indian brave” from a buffalo hunting tribe like the Cree, Blackfoot, Assiniboine or Blood nations; this is a package of likely skills possessed by a brave.

 

Cost Powers END

Skills

1 Animal Handler 8-

2 KS: Band Lore 11-

2 KS: The Spirit World 11-

0 Language (Siouan or Algonquian) (idiomatic) (4 Active Points)

2 PS: Band Warrior 11-

1 Navigation 8-

3 Riding 11-

3 Survival 11-

3 Tracking 11-

2 WF: Common Melee Weapons

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 19

Total Cost: 19

 

Disadvantages

10 Social Limitation: Status Indian (Frequently, Minor)

 

Total Package Cost: 9

 

Voyageur Package Deal

Voyageurs were the courageous backwoods traders who worked for the Hudson’s Nay or Northwest Company during the 18th and 19th century. Adept woodsmen who could endure many seasons in Canada’s most formidable wilderness, the voyageur traveled long distances in pursuit of his fortune.

 

Voyageurs often worked closely with Indians, and would almost certainly be conversant in one of the major Indian languages.

 

Hivernants, those who expect to live in remote forts during the coldest winter months, might have a better Survival skill. Those stationed in the far north might also have Animal Handler (canines), Survival (arctic), and TF: Sled.

 

Voyageur Package

 

Cost Powers END

Talents

2 Environmental Movement (no penalties on)

 

Skills

2 AK: Canadian Wilderness 11-

3 Bureaucratics 11-

3 Climbing 11-

3 Combat Driving 11-

3 Hoist 11-

3 KS: Native Culture 12-

3 KS: Trapping 12-

2 Language: one First Nations language (fluent conversation)

3 Mechanics 11-

3 Navigation (land) 11-

3 PS: Fur Trader 12-

6 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical) 13-

3 Teamwork 11-

3 Tracking 11-

3 Trading 11-

0 TF: Small Rowed Boats

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 48

Total Cost: 48

 

Disadvantages

5 Social Limitation: Prejudice: Rustic (Occasionally, Minor)

10 Social Limitation: Subject to Orders from HBC or NWC (Occasionally, Major)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 15

Total Package Cost: 33

 

The Pulp Era

 

Prohibition Rumrunner Package Deal

“Then drink to the Volstead, oh, long may it last,

And drink to the small boats, oh, may they be fast,

To outrun the Coast Guards and land the good liquor,

At beaches where signal is just a lamp’s flicker.

 

“For some there’s a fortune but others will die,

Come load up the ship, boys, the Yankees are dry.

-- Rumrunner Drinking Song

 

Not the most honorable or safest of professions, nonetheless, the Rumrunner was an important figure (and common adventuring profession) in the 1920s and early 1930s. Many rumrunners were caught and imprisoned, but some survived to become quite wealthy.

 

Rumrunner Package Deal

 

Perks

2 Contact: Criminal Underworld 11-

2 Contact: Other Rumrunners 11-

 

Skills

3 Combat Driving 11-

3 Contortionist 11-

2 Navigation (Marine) 11-

2 PS: Rumrunner 11-

1 Language: Smuggler’s Codes (basic conversation)

1 Mechanics 8-

1 Systems Operation 8-

1 TF: Small Motorized Boats

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 18

Total Cost: 18

 

0+ Disadvantages

5 Hunted: Revenue Agents 8- (Less Pow, NCI, Limited Geographical Area, Harshly Punish)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 5

Total Package Cost: 13

 

MODERN PACKAGE DEALS

 

Quebec Cirque Performer

 

Cost Powers END

7 Surprising Bounce: Leaping +2” (4” forward, 2” upward) (Accurate) 1

Skills

8 +4 with grab-bys

3 Acrobatics 11-

3 Acting 11-

3 Breakfall 11-

3 Contortionist 11-

3 Hoist 11-

5 PS: Circus Performer 14-

3 PS: Mime 12-

3 Teamwork 11-

 

Total Powers & Skills Cost: 41

Total Cost: 41

 

200+ Disadvantages

5 Distinctive Features: Costume (Easily Concealed; Noticed and Recognizable; Detectable By Commonly-Used Senses)

 

Total Disadvantage Points: 5

Total Package Cost: 13

 

Ten Scenarios for Pulp Hero in Canada

Champions is a great game, but it’s not the only Hero System game in town. Here are scenarios that can be run involving Canada (or set in Canada) to give Pulp Hero games a boost.

 

1. Bride of Kigatilik!: The evil Eskimo (Inuit is recent usage) spirit Kigatilik seeks the perfect bride! He hopes to breed a demonic son that will hunt down and kill every angakok, and he wants a girlfriend of one of the PCs. (For a male alternative, Sedna is looking for the “most masculine and heroic male of humankind” to serve as his paramour to breed a new species of killer whale! If there ain’t a big two-fisted lug among your PCs who fits that description, you shouldn’t be playing pulp). Soon evil Eskimo cultists are hunting their quarry and it’s up to you to stop them!

 

2. Exorcism: He’s Prime Minister of Canada, and he’s also someone who holds seances to talk with his mom. What happens if William Lyon Mackenzie King starts using Canada’s influence to persuade foreign powers to loan valuable occult artifacts to Canada, allegedly for museum shows, but actually for a terrible occult ritual. How do you fight a demonically possessed Prime Minister?

 

3. Exclude This, You Little Weasel!: Members of Vancouver’s Asian Exclusion League are joining forces with their American counterparts to plan a coordinated assault on Asian communities along the west coast, hoping to strike such a savage blow that they’ll be driven off the continent! Stop them.

 

4. Nose to Bluenose: (Requires an American-based team with a sailing background). Seeing that a PCs has an interest in sailing, a wealthy American millionaire spends a great deal of money and hires the PC for a very special mission: defeat the legendary Nova Scotia fishing schooner Bluenose and win the Fisherman’s Cup at all costs. However, you get a very bad vibe from the eccentric millionaire, and you wonder if there isn’t a hidden agenda in play.

 

Canadian version: You’re friends with the crew of the Bluenose, and they make you an honorary crew member. Then they fall sick to a virus on the eve of the Fisherman’s Cup, and you’re the only “crew member” who’s healthy enough to sail the ship. The judges will allow you to compete on their behalf if you can find a crew in fifteen minutes. But what other evil schemes will your opponents try to win the race?

 

5 Shame of the Yankees: The first home run that Babe Ruth hit was when he played in Toronto, and allegedly landed in Lake Ontario. Now you’ve discovered word of a plot to use that baseball in a magic spell that will prevent the Babe from ever hitting another home run again. What kind of creep would do a thing like that, a Dodgers fan? Get the baseball before he does!

 

6. Death Ray of the North: A mad scientist builds a laboratory atop the Magnetic North Pole (currently in territory claimed by Canada, on an ice sheet over the Arctic Ocean). When the aurora borealis reaches its peak, he’ll be able to harness the earth’s magnetic field and create a death ray to attack any target on earth! Someone needs to stop this madman, now!

 

7. Bolshevik Bombast vs. Yankee Fury: A ring of Bolsheviks is spreading discontent in the heartland of America’s cities, inciting discontent on the poor deluded people of the Great Depression. They’re the same mob who have been causing riots up in Canada. Someone needs to go up to their hidden base in the slums of Toronto to stop them, but they’re being protected by one of the rarest creatures on Earth -- a corrupt Mountie!

 

8. Rum Line or Bust: When a friend/respected rival G-man is gunned down by a gunman sent by Canadian rumrunners, it’s up to you to even the score. However, the person responsible is holed up in a rumrunner’s smuggler’s den (Cowichan Bay in British Columbia, an island in Lake Ontario, Smuggler’s Cove (near Lunenberg Nova Scotia). Infiltrate it and bring that rat to justice!

 

Canadian Version; He may have been a smuggler, but he wasn’t a bad guy! Now he’s been gunned down by a pack of mad dogs calling themselves G-men. Your friend deserves better than that. He deserves justice… Canadian justice! And it’s up to you to give it to him.

 

9 The Mighty Canadian: There’s a new heavyweight boxer in town, and he’s Canadian: Quebec’s Matthieu Deglise. However, he has a secret: he’s an immortal who maintains his immortality by defending the honor of French Canada in the boxing ring. When he wins a championship, his immortality is assured for another generation. However, should he loses a championship fight, he’ll die. Furthermore, his victories always have a price: every champion he’s beaten since 1620 has experienced a tragic, fatal accident shortly after their defeat.

 

10. Hope of the Future: It’s 1924. There’s some ten-year-old kid named Joe who delivers papers for the Toronto Daily Star who likes to draw. A mystical villain predicts he’ll bring a vision of great hope to the world. The villain is a really evil sorcerer who wants to dash all hope for mankind, so he’s trying to kill the kid before he can achieve it. You need to find a way to protect him and defeat the villain.

 

The kid’s last name is Shuster, and the hope he’ll bring is named Superman.

[bubba smith]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

a perfect 10

cansomeone swing the reptonf afor me

[Enforcer84]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Great stuff Scott!

[bubba smith]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

second the motion

[Legatus]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

 

Lumberjack Package Deal

The Lumberjack is one of the most enduring symbols of Canada, from the days of its first colonists to the modern day: the lumberjack has always been a symbol of Canadian manhood from Quebec to British Columbia.

 

 

He's a lumberjack and he's okay, he sleeps all night and he works all day.

He cuts down trees, he eats his lunch, he goes to the lava...

 

guess you all know the song

[bcholmes]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

Red Ensign III

 

Nice.

 

My version of the Red Ensign (the one that Storn drew) was only ever a piece of background history in my Northern Guard campaign and didn't ever have a write-up or fleshed-out background. I like this take.

[Sketchpad]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

This is great stuff Scott ... I agree ... you should compile this together as a PDF for sale

[Evil Steve]

Re: CotN Outtakes

 

I notice the flag and national anthem options aren't pointed out in the multipower.

And is it "O Canada," or "The Maple Leaf Forever"?

 

And seriously, thank you, Mr. Bennie.

 

A third party option...Hockey Night in Canada!

 

10. Hope of the Future: It’s 1924. There’s some ten-year-old kid named Joe who delivers papers for the Toronto Daily Star who likes to draw. A mystical villain predicts he’ll bring a vision of great hope to the world. The villain is a really evil sorcerer who wants to dash all hope for mankind, so he’s trying to kill the kid before he can achieve it. You need to find a way to protect him and defeat the villain

 

AWSOME!! Rep for you!