Costumed Crimefighters Collective

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Just for fun' date=' I wrote up Chromatix

 

No pic, but a full bg.

 

Added a picture for Chromatix.

[assault]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

For what it's worth, I'm working on a proper writeup for Captain Justice.

 

It's still a mess of cut and pastes from various sources at the moment, so I can't even post a rough draft at the moment without the "borrowed" nature of the text being too obvious.

 

EDIT: and he's weaker than I had hoped. I wouldn't play him in his current form. He needs a rework.

[matrix3]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Good stuff. In fact...not a bad idea. I'll contribute:

 

750

Chromatix: "solid light" projector (Green Lantern equivalent -- blaster / TK)

 

500

Arachnodaemon: possessed by a spider-like minor demon, thanks to his indomitable will Lawrence Lothstein is able to maintain control over the entity and bends it's fell powers towards good. Highly agile, mystic entangles.

 

 

350

Shield and Sceptre: A permanently separated Duplication based character, Shield is a male brick, Sceptre is a female mind controller with a Hand Attack. Though individually not that formidable, working as a duo they are quite capable.

 

200

Truthfinder: A normal human investigator / detective. Though he lacks the strange powers of most "supers", his mind is quite formidable and no clue escapes his notice for long (A Question analog).

Hmm..I like this idea for a campaign. It could be a lot of fun getting to play different characters. One of the reasons I usually GM is so that I can switch between characters.

 

750

Diamond Knight: Classic flying brick/energy projector (vs PD). Captain Marvel homage with some Thor. A normal man with a pendant in the shape of a sword with a diamond blade, he says the magic words and is transformed into Diamond Knight, a large figure with opaque white, crystalline armor. Standard high level flying brick abilities and defenses, plus a magic diamond sword with HKA, RKA (mystic diamond shards), Entangle, can form wall(crystals burst from the ground and surround the opponent or form a wall)

 

500

Jules and Verne: Twin brother gadgeteers and minor mentalists. Jules and Verne Wells were raised by their eccentric father, himself quite an accomplished tinkerer and inventor. The twin boys soon found that they could build almost anything -- when they were together. Sharing a mindlink so strong they are almost one mind in two bodies, they also possess limited ESP (danger sense), and prodigious mental defenses. Tend toward large, clunky contraptions that nonetheless work effectively (Steampunk influences, some "Sons of Ether" from world of darkness, etc.)

 

350

H3DK4S3: Cyberkinetic hacker and electronics genius. A suite of mental powers targeting the machine mind, Clairvoyance (only from security cameras or something with a microphone), small electronics gadget VPP, and a host of related skills. Frequently works with Jules and Verne, they build the big, he builds the small (ie: they build the powered armor shell, he builds the HUD and targeting systems).

 

200

Tarot: Tarot card based magic user with some luck abilities. Magic VPP pool used as combination Tarot (precognition, retrocognition) and sort of Gambit/Yu-Gi-Oh hybrid (throw the card to cast a spell, not necessarily a summon, though) Possibly some inherent Luck-based abilities thrown in, too (combat luck, overall levels to notice or happen to remember what was needed "at just the right time")

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Cool. I particularly like Jules & Vernes.

 

(not surprising; Sons of Ether were my favorite Tradition)

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

For what it's worth, I'm working on a proper writeup for Captain Justice.

 

It's still a mess of cut and pastes from various sources at the moment, so I can't even post a rough draft at the moment without the "borrowed" nature of the text being too obvious.

 

EDIT: and he's weaker than I had hoped. I wouldn't play him in his current form. He needs a rework.

 

Status on the Captain Justice writeup?

[assault]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Frustrated.

 

I can't quite decide on what equipment he should have.

 

I'm starting with a low point version of him, which means that I need to focus on his signature items - but what are they?

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Um...his Captain's Bars?

[matrix3]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Frustrated.

 

I can't quite decide on what equipment he should have.

 

I'm starting with a low point version of him, which means that I need to focus on his signature items - but what are they?

Well, to start with, he will need

-- a plane...of JUSTICE!

-- a car...of JUSTICE!

-- gauntlets...of JUSTICE!

 

All backed by his fists...of JUSTICE!

 

you get the idea. (Well, unless he isn't of the Adam West batman mold )

[Utech]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

I really like this sort of campaign. I especially like mixing and matching power levels for some missions. It is good to have Superman get an assist from Zan and Jayna.

 

I also like building up to a climax in which different groups are all assigned different tasks that must be accomplished in order to win the day. Each task is tailored to the power level (and powers!) of each group.

[assault]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Um...his Captain's Bars?

 

Heh. You see, that's part of the thing about the character...

 

He's inspired by Ranger, from the Batmen of All Nations.

 

Ranger is a stereotyped piece of clueless hackwork from 1954. I'm trying to use similar cliches and go beyond them a bit.

 

"Captain's Bars" are an American thing. The Australian army uses British style rank insignia. A Captain in the Australian army wears three "pips".

 

Oh, and I'm not using the lame Grant Morrison "Dark Ranger" either. Morrison is as big a stereotype merchant as the original 1950s failhead.

 

I stole the name Captain Justice from an old Australian comics character. It was just too appropriate to resist.

 

Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Midnight and Captain Moonlight were actually existing historical bushrangers.

[assault]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Well, to start with, he will need

-- a plane...of JUSTICE!

-- a car...of JUSTICE!

-- gauntlets...of JUSTICE!

 

All backed by his fists...of JUSTICE!

 

you get the idea. (Well, unless he isn't of the Adam West batman mold )

 

Plausible.

[Killer Shrike]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Wait...I thought only America was allowed to have superheroes?

 

All joking aside, I'm looking forward to seeing an Aussie cape. An international feel is spot on...well, a multi-dimensional is feel really more like it, but you know what I mean

[Cardinal]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Thoughts?

 

I love the idea. I had actually proposed something similar for a PBEM game. Unforunately, we didn't do it so I can't report on success or failure.

 

My thought was this practice of multiple heroes per player would work great for an UNTIL game. Lots of mixing and matching of teams to address different challenges, being dropped all over the globe. I also think it would be fun to encourage players to choose characters from all over the globe to encourage the number of plot hooks you could tie into.

 

I also think that it would also encourage more specialized characters. An aquaman homage would work well in a situation where it was likely to be used on those under water missions.

 

Finally, I love the idea of unifying arch threat. Everyone gets to pull all their characters and you have a big ole throw down with the entire team.

 

All in all, a great idea.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

I'd love to play (or run) a game like this. Unfortunately, a lot of my players have enough trouble coming up with one character concept; it'd be tough to get them to commit to 5!

[Peregrine]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

I don't have much of a problem with multiple concepts. I can even connect them together with pre-game relationships. And I don't have a problem with power levels - Chars, DCs, APs, etc. Where I have a challenge is point totals - I'm long since over the "starting character for the power level who grows by accumulating and spending XP" schtick. I'm now a Pointless Champions convert, and it's hard to find like-minded others.

[Kenn]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Though rather less structured, I did something similar with my campaign when we converted over to 5e five or six years ago. By allowing different base points and having a wider range of abilities we've actually got the characters all closer to concept. And it feels more like the comics. The nigh-cosmic types feel nigh-cosmic. The gadget laden normals feel like gadget laden normals. Within these general types, being a veteran or a rookie can still be discerned, of course. But it's worked well for our group.

 

I hope it works as well for you.

[Cardinal]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Though rather less structured, I did something similar with my campaign when we converted over to 5e five or six years ago. By allowing different base points and having a wider range of abilities we've actually got the characters all closer to concept. And it feels more like the comics. The nigh-cosmic types feel nigh-cosmic. The gadget laden normals feel like gadget laden normals. Within these general types, being a veteran or a rookie can still be discerned, of course. But it's worked well for our group.

 

I hope it works as well for you.

 

Out of curiousity, what was the point / DC range that you ended up with? Did you end up with gadget lad being unable to effect cosmic man (or his villains)?

[Mr. R]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Though rather less structured, I did something similar with my campaign when we converted over to 5e five or six years ago. By allowing different base points and having a wider range of abilities we've actually got the characters all closer to concept. And it feels more like the comics. The nigh-cosmic types feel nigh-cosmic. The gadget laden normals feel like gadget laden normals. Within these general types, being a veteran or a rookie can still be discerned, of course. But it's worked well for our group.

 

I hope it works as well for you.

 

I am curious as well because in my experience everyone wants to play Thor and few want to play the Falcon. What happened when the group faced off against the villains, esp BBEG who can take on the whole group? I keep thinking of Gravitar (from Marvel) who held off Thor and Iron Man while keeping the rest of the team pinned to a wall. Great for Thor/IM, BORING for the rest of them (if we look at them as PCs).

[Kenn]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

Out of curiousity' date=' what was the point / DC range that you ended up with? Did you end up with gadget lad being unable to effect cosmic man (or his villains)?[/quote']

 

That's a very difficult question to answer. There are a handful of characters who, if pressed, could regularly get into the 20-22DC range without going to specialised maneuvers like Haymaker of Move Through. However, what they CAN do and what they ACTUALLY do vary. But I'll get back to that. The lower end is even harder to judge. On paper, the character with the smallest attacks is the archer whose standard arrows do 3d6+1K or 7d6N but has 4 whole explosive arrow heads that can do 10d6 Explosive, normal damage. However, this is also the guy who as 6 penalty skill levels vs hit locations and 6 penalty skill levels vs range mods and 6 levels with Ranged combat. So, his attacks may not be big, but they're precise!

 

Similarly, the Defenses range from about 14 (usually a normal human with a protective uniform) to, on the highest end, 50 (with Damage Reduction besides, but only 30 STUN and a 7 REC).

 

So, while I don't think there's any one character who would be completely unaffected by any other one character, it is generally understood that yes, certain characters are pretty much outmatched by other characters.

 

I am curious as well because in my experience everyone wants to play Thor and few want to play the Falcon. What happened when the group faced off against the villains' date=' esp BBEG who can take on the whole group? I keep thinking of Gravitar (from Marvel) who held off Thor and Iron Man while keeping the rest of the team pinned to a wall. Great for Thor/IM, BORING for the rest of them (if we look at them as PCs).[/quote']

 

I'm not even sure what a BBEG is.

My experiences, I figured out years ago, don't match most peoples. At our busiest, before life set in on everyone, we actually had three different campaigns going. What I figured out pretty early on is that many people sometimes want to play Thor and sometimes they want to play the Falcon, depending on their mood. So I accommodate this. Each player is allowed to have two main player characters, with the understanding that the two will rarely ever meet (it's not asking them to do double duty.) That said, only half the players have really availed themselves to this. The other half are still at one each.

 

This kind of structure precludes ever getting a "the whole team vs a single foe" type fight. But honestly, my model is the silver/bronze age Justice League. I don't expect, or really desire to tell that kind of story.

 

If I want to tell a more human level (say urban crime) story, I'll have the players use their more down-to-earth characters.

 

If I want to tell a more cosmic story, I'll have the players use their more cosmic characters.

 

If I want a more standard, mid level super hero story, we'll mix and match.

 

If I want a bigger "epic" type story, I can do the "the team splits up into smaller groups" thing. I've had two concurrent multipart stories occur.

 

It also helps because my players are spread out over a large area. Getting everyone together for a session is tough. We can usually count or one or two absentees.

 

But the biggest part of what makes it work is the group of players. We aren't a group of adolescents looking to fulfill a power fantasy. We're a bunch of guys in our late-30s or early-40s who all have a similar understanding of the genre. One of the biggest things is understanding that it's not all about the fights. A lot of it is about being clever.

 

Hawkeye doesn't go toe-to-toe with the Gamemaster. He makes a wager with him and tricks him.

In an abandoned warehouse full of thugs, Batman's a combat machine. Against the General (formerly the Shaggy Man) physically he hasn't a chance. But if he direct his teammates to move the general to the bulk teleporter pad? He's the MVP.

 

And on the other hand, there's the "just because you can get up to a 22 DC attack, doesn't mean you have to." A good number of the most powerful characters in the campaign have large VPPs. (85-105 pts.) Our speedster's player could easily go "90 pts. That's a +18 HtH attack, so with my 20 STR that's 22 dice, and I'll use the other 30 points to..." But he doesn't. If it was necessary, he would. But he'd rather put it into Teleport, Usable Against Others, Must Cross Intervening Space, Area Effect and clear the civilians out of the area. Or drop the bad guy off in the Sahara (out Area of Effect for Megascale.)

 

We're generally more into role-playing and having fun and being clever then seeing who can be the most violent or who can throw the biggest attack. Yeah, there are a few in the group who're more into the fights and the dice, but there's still stuff for them to do to.

 

I hope this answers the questions, because I don't want to hi-jack Killer Shrike's thread.

[Mr. R]

Re: Costumed Crimefighters Collective

 

I'm not even sure what a BBEG is.

 

Big Bad Evil Guy.

 

And you answered the question most satisfactorally, thank you.

 

We now return you to your regular thread, now in progress.