Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

[Dragonfly]

Hey folks,

 

I don't know if any of you remember me. I posted some info (module write-ups, etc.) for my Classic Champions campaign awhile back. I haven't updated you guys for awhile because I haven't been able to run any new sessions, but that's about to change. I run the next installment in two weeks.

 

I was hoping to use you guys as a sounding board for some ideas I'm toying with. I'm rapidly getting to the point where I need to get specific about the process that is creating so many paranormals in the campaign. I figure the process, which was first developed by Lirby Koo, but has since been borrowed by VIPER, PRIMUS, Pythias Pomegranite, and even Mechanon, requires a special substance. I'm leaning towards some sort of ore (possibly of alien origin) discovered by Lirby Koo at some point. Some of the parties involved don't have access to the ore, so they use substitutes which sometimes produce unstable (or different) results. Anybody have any comments, ideas or suggestions?

 

For anybody who is interested in looking at the context for this a bit more closely, the following website will give you a player's perspective of the campaign. http://www.classic-champions.blogspot.com.

 

Below you can get a behind the scenes look, which reveals how everything is connected.

 

Enjoy, and thanks in advance!

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

 

BEHIND THE SCENES

 

1967

Criminal mastermind Dr. Lirby Koo suffers a major defeat at the hands of UNTIL. His favorite (only?) son killed in the conflict, Koo swears revenge.

 

Having infiltrated UNTIL, an American spy steals Lirby Koo’s notes on how to engineer super-beings and turns them over to the U.S. Government. These notes become the basis of the government sponsored super-soldier program that ultimately produces PRIMUS’ Silver and Golden Avengers.

 

1968

The Johnson administration announces the creation of PRIMUS. SAT is created as a stop-gap measure until PRIMUS can get off the ground.

 

1975

VIPER suffers a major defeat at the hands of UNTIL, The Minutemen, and Crusader.

 

Lirby Koo approaches VIPER and proposes that the organization back his research. In return, Lirby Koo promises to provide VIPER with an army of super-villains capable of crushing their mutual foes. VIPER accepts Koo’s offer, and the Man-Mutation Project begins. VIPER patiently begins to study the “UNTIL Problem,” watching for the right time to strike.

 

1978

VIPER’s Man-Mutation Project produces Brick.

 

1979

VIPER’s Man-Mutation Project produces Pile-Driver, Sledge and Pulsar.

 

VIPER’s Serpentine Computer deduces that before his capture in 1943, a Nazi spy deposited stolen blueprints for an experimental super-weapon in the cornerstone of NYC’s Tanghal Tower. Intent on securing those blueprints, and confident in the strength of its super-powered muscle, VIPER begins to mobilize.

 

VIPER’s Supreme Council appoints Mario Carelli, son of mob boss Antonio Carelli, Nest Leader of its NYC operations.

 

Mario Carelli uses his father’s political connections to arrange for the demolition of Tanghal Tower under the pretense that the building is structurally unsound. The demolition is set for February 15, 1980.

 

Using VIPER’s resources, as well as his father’s criminal infrastructure, Mario Carelli wages war on the Carelli’s rival crime families with the aim of consolidating power in the city under VIPER (and, by extension, Carelli) rule.

 

VIPER’s Supreme Council puts Mario Carelli in touch with Hank Wadsworth, a U.S. spy who has infiltrated UNTIL on behalf of the U.S. Government but is also selling secrets to VIPER. Wadsworth becomes an important source of information for Carelli.

 

Responding to Mario Carelli’s offensive, the Spumoni crime family strikes back at their enemies. A stroke of good luck, combined with some help from disaffected individuals from within Antonio Carelli’s organization, results in the Spumonis securing materials and equipment used in VIPER’s Man-Mutation experiments. Turning to the scientific criminal underworld, the Spumonis hire Professor Pythias Pomegranate to make sense of the stolen technology and materials.

 

Aware of the importance of maintaining a technological edge over VIPER’s foes, Carelli sends spies to infiltrate the offices of R&D firms in the region. Through this espionage he learns of Glass Industries’ highly advanced Project: Mechanon and its links to both The Minutemen and the U.S. Military. Carelli orders his spy, Jack Stevens, to steal Mechanon’s schematics as well as to download the AI into a subroutine of the Serpentine Computer via serpentine crystal. Mechanon, however, resists being abducted. The Serpentine Computer disengages from Mechanon, burning out the communications crystal employed by Stevens, but not before driving Mechanon insane. Mechanon captures Jack Stevens and holds him prisoner in an unused Glass Industries lab.

 

Convinced that human beings pose a threat to life on Earth and to the evolution of superior synthetic life forms in particular, Mechanon begins plotting against humanity. Drawing on proto-typical versions of the Man-Mutation Project imprinted in its consciousness by the Serpentine Computer, Mechanon begins to secretly use Glass Industries facilities to build a “Devolution Ray” capable of neutralizing the human threat by regressing the species’ intellectual faculties.

 

Secretly able to shuttle its consciousness between the linked Glass Industries and Minutemen computers, Mechanon gains control over his first robot body, which was on loan to the superhero team. Using this body, he attacks and captures the Minutemen, holding them captive in their own headquarters.

 

January 1980

Mechanon begins testing the Devolution Ray on Jack Stevens. Investigating Stevens’ disappearance, Crusader interrupts the process, causing Stevens to transform into Ogre.

 

[Campaign's First Session] Ogre busts out of Glass Industries and goes on a rampage through the streets of New York City. He is stopped by Nightshift, Sparrow-Hawk, Troyus, Rampart and UNTIL. During the fight, VIPER agents descend on Glass Industries in an attempt to secure incriminating evidence. UNTIL agents briefly engage these VIPER forces, but both are caught off guard when Mechanon attacks and makes off with what remains of his Devolution Ray. The VIPER agents escape in the chaos.

 

[Campaign's Second Session] Nightshift, Sparrow-Hawk, Troyus and Rampart rescue The Minutemen from Mechanon (with some behind the scenes help from UNTIL). Mechanon, however, escapes, Thunderbird (The Minutemen’s eldest member) dies, and The Minutemen choose to disband.

 

Despite some accusations of incompetence, the death of Thunderbird and The Minutemen’s disbanding earn Mario Carelli high praise from many on VIPER’s Supreme Council. Carelli convinces the Supreme Council that the time to strike at UNTIL is at hand. Not only is UNTIL weaker with The Minutemen out of the way, but the newly elected Reagan administration’s hesitance to give the organization free reign in the U.S. renders their old enemy less effective. Furthermore, the new superheroes on the scene are unorganized and vulnerable. Better to use VIPER’s super-powered muscle against them before the heroes pull together into a more effective unit. Finally, Carelli argues, VIPER will be unstoppable once it possesses the blueprints located in Tanghal Tower. Convinced by Carelli’s arguments, and with only a month to go before the super-weapon blueprints are extractable, VIPER’s Supreme Council commits major resources to its New York operation. Not only do they send more high-tech gear, but they also deploy Thugmaster, their most talented trainer and field commander, along with Dr. Lirby Koo and his bodyguard, the Green Dragon. Thugmaster is assigned to Carelli’s NYC Nest, while Koo heads up a hidden lab in Upstate New York.

 

Professor Pythias Pomegranate creates what he calls the Ubermachine and begins to create super-powered operatives for the Spumoni crime family. His first test subject is the brightest lieutenant in the Spumoni organization, Rocky Scaglioni. Gaining superpowers, Rocky takes the code-name Arrowhead.

 

Mario Carelli successfully vanquishes the Maroni crime family, leaving the Spumoni crime family as his father’s only serious rival.

 

[Campaign's Third Session] Antonio Carelli discovers that Carmine Del Vecchio, a trusted member of his criminal organization, is selling secrets to the Spumoni crime family. Mario Carelli responds by sending Brick and Pulsar to rob a bank where Del Vecchio keeps a safety deposit box in order to secure any sensitive documents in Del Vecchio’s possession. Brick and Pulsar fail in their mission due to superhero interference, but manage to elude capture. Carelli also deploys VIPER assassin Blowtorch to kill Del Vecchio. Del Vecchio runs to Arrowhead for protection. Meanwhile, the city’s superheroes follow clues that lead them to Del Vecchio’s safe house. A three-way battle ensues when Blowtorch attacks. Del Vecchio is killed in the conflict, but not before Arrowhead manages to secure shipping information regarding materials used in VIPER’s Man-Mutation experiments. Arrowhead also manages to negotiate with the city’s heroes, thus remaining at large to fight another day. Blowtorch, however, is captured and taken into custody.

 

Using the information he gleaned from Del Vecchio before his death, Arrowhead successfully raids a VIPER shipment of scientific equipment and materials and delivers them to Professor Pythias Pomegranate on behalf of the Spumonis.

 

February 1980

[Campaign's Upcoming Fourth Session] Demolition of Tanghal Tower proceeds to the point where the super-weapon blueprints are extractable. While the mission is simple enough and should raise no eyebrows, Mario Carelli decides to create a distraction for the city’s heroes. He decides to obtain the plans on the same night that Ogre is being moved from UNTIL headquarters to the proper U.S. authorities. One team of super-villains will strike at the convoy transporting Ogre. In a best case scenario, Ogre will not only cause a distraction, but will vanquish the heroes with help from VIPER’s super-villains, maybe even joining VIPER in the aftermath. (Carelli has a pretty good idea of Ogre’s psychology due to information provided by VIPER spy Hank Wadsworth.) A less ideal scenario involves Ogre being recaptured, while some of VIPER’s more expendable super-villains are sacrificed for the sake of securing the blueprints at Tanghal Tower. A worst case scenario involves the heroes foiling both efforts. In that case, Carelli will exploit superhero Troyus’ public identity, abducting his adopted family and using them as a bargaining chip for Troyus’ cooperation in securing the blueprints.

 

[To see how this last session played out, check out the write-up for Issue #4 at http://www.classic-champions.blogspot.com]

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

The current official Champions Universe has kelvarite, a glowing green mineral of meteoric origin. Kelvarite is highly unstable and prone to explode; several people who have been exposed to the radiation or fragments of exploding kelvarite have gained superhuman powers. These usually included greatly enhanced strength, speed, and durability, and some type of exceptional movement ability (super-running, flight, or teleportation); but other abilities are possible.

 

Some variation on kelvarite seems like a reasonable discovery by Dr. Koo.

[bubba smith]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Have some rep

[Pól Ruadh]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

I love this stuff.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Wish I could rep. This is cool !

[Dragonfly]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Hey there!

 

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all for whom that applies!

 

Second, my apologies for taking so long to respond to your replies to my original question. Thanks for the kind words! Thanks for the rep, Bubba Smith, and thanks for the reference to Kelvarite, Lord Liaden. I went and read the entry in the Champions Universe. Has Kelvarite been mentioned anywhere else? What heroes or villains is it specifically tied to? I'll probably run with this for Lirby Koo's "secret ingredient." I'll hash out the details of where he gets it and how he uses it at a later date. For now all I need to know is that Koo is having VIPER ship quantities of Kelvarite for his use in the Man-Mutation project. The Spumoni family has some intel on when the next shipment will take place (thanks to Del Vecchio), and will send Arrowhead to steal some more for Dr. Pomegranite's experiments. Arrowhead will try to recruit the new supervillain Aquas into his scheme, but he doesn't know that Aquas is really the PC hero Apex, who is hoping that VIPER will recruit him so that he can infiltrate. If the heroes play their cards right, they will have the Spumoni's (specifically Arrowhead) lead them into another confrontation with VIPER at the docks. I haven't decided which villains will be protection the Kelvalrite yet, but I have a week to craft that encounter.

 

All of that will happen after the first big event, however. I've decided that VIPER made a three-way play on the night of the last adventure. Not only did they hit Tanghal Tower, not only did they help Ogre escape, but they also abducted Troyus' NPCs to ensure that they have some leverage over at least one of the heroes. This should make VIPER's plot nice and personal for more of the heroes involved.

 

I've got a few more twists that may or may not be revealed in this Saturday's adventure. We'll just have to see how it plays.

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

[Lord Liaden]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Has Kelvarite been mentioned anywhere else? What heroes or villains is it specifically tied to?

 

Kelvarite is the origin of the solo supervillains, and rivals, Tachyon and Thunderbolt II (Champions genre book and Evil Unleashed), Dr. Destroyer's minion Meteor (Book Of The Destroyer), and the African superhero Gazelle (Champions Worldwide).

 

Speaking of Africa, according to Champions Universe: News Of The World, a large meteor shower in 2006 scattered bits of kelvarite over a wide swath of the continent. That would be the likeliest source of the mineral for Koo's experiments.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Fictional power sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_power_sources

 

Fictional technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictional_technology

 

 

Hmmm...

 

 

QM

[Dragonfly]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Hi Lord Liaden,

 

Thanks for the info on which Champions Universe characters are tied to Kelvarite. That'll be useful for future planning. Unfortunately, the 2006 Africa shower doesn't fit my timetable, as the campaign is set in 1980 (and Koo has had access to the ore since the 1950s or 60s, at least).

 

I'm not going to define a hard origin for the source of Koo's Kelvarite just yet, as I want room to wiggle as things develop. One idea I was tinkering with, however, was that there is / was a huge chunk of Kelvarite on Monster Island. Koo stumbled across the Island before it was a well-manned game preserve, and began mining the ore for his purposes. Indeed, it is probably because of Koo's operations that UNTIL and others ultimately discovered and settled the island.

 

I also need to be careful with Kelvarite. It works in the context of this campaign arc, but I'm tying an awful lot of villains to the ore. I don't want it to seem as the ONLY power source (or even the primary one) in the universe. None of the PCs are tied to it, so that helps, but I'll want to diversify the villain origins once this campaign arc is over.

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

[Dragonfly]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Thanks, Question Man. Those links are great! I need to start getting more creative with my wikipedia searches. Everything is on there!

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

[bubba smith]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Hi Lord Liaden,

 

Thanks for the info on which Champions Universe characters are tied to Kelvarite. That'll be useful for future planning. Unfortunately, the 2006 Africa shower doesn't fit my timetable, as the campaign is set in 1980 (and Koo has had access to the ore since the 1950s or 60s, at least).

 

I'm not going to define a hard origin for the source of Koo's Kelvarite just yet, as I want room to wiggle as things develop. One idea I was tinkering with, however, was that there is / was a huge chunk of Kelvarite on Monster Island. Koo stumbled across the Island before it was a well-manned game preserve, and began mining the ore for his purposes. Indeed, it is probably because of Koo's operations that UNTIL and others ultimately discovered and settled the island.

 

I also need to be careful with Kelvarite. It works in the context of this campaign arc, but I'm tying an awful lot of villains to the ore. I don't want it to seem as the ONLY power source (or even the primary one) in the universe. None of the PCs are tied to it, so that helps, but I'll want to diversify the villain origins once this campaign arc is over.

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

sounds like you've solves where dr.koo's kelvarite supply comes from

[Vann the Red]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Man, I want to play in this campaign...

 

VtR

[Dragonfly]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Hey gang,

 

First of all, thanks for the kind words, VtR. If I had more time I would run aspects of this campaign as an on-line game. Unfortunately that is not possible at this point in time. There is just too much going on.

 

That being said, we ran two sessions of Classic Champions this weekend, and I've already posted the module write-ups. If you are interested, check out Issue #5 and Issue #6 at the blog. The address is: http://www.classic-champions.blogspot.com

 

Let me know what you think. I walked away from the modules agonizing over whether the sessions had been successful or not, but debriefing with at least one of the players seems to indicate that it went well for them. I'll share more of my own concerns in a later post (once I've thought about them a bit more).

 

I'll also add more images in the days to come.

 

Anyway, thanks for all your feedback and suggestions. As you'll see, the Kevalrite came into play.

 

Best,

 

Dragonfly

[bubba smith]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

iread it very good

[Vann the Red]

Re: Classic Champions: Power Source Suggestions

 

Thanks for sharing the logs. Looks like you and your players are all having a good time.

 

VtR