Buffing up the Champions

[Hermit]

Assume you wanted to add an extra hundred experience points to each Champion, to put them in the "High Powered Super Hero" range of 450.

 

Where would you put it for each?

 

Obviously we can't post full sheets (as we want folks to buy the Champions book) but we could at least post where those hundred points would go. What would we buy off, what would we boost up, etc?

 

This was already discussed briefly in the past on

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2629

 

but not to a full hundred points worth.

 

Some people seem to think that the Champions SHOULD be one of the premiere and most powerful teams in the CU, others disagree, but for those who want the former, this thread might help out.

 

Fight the urge to mention getting a new hat

[Watchdog]

This is an interesting idea, as there are a lot of creative things you could do with the characters' powers and skills...

 

...but instead I'll just give them each 100 more points of strength.

 

Actually 200 for Defender, since his won't affect figured charactersistics, and is an OIF.

[Hermit]

Buffing up Defender

 

Defender should buy up the skills he has, and also buy Tactics. I think 15 to 20 points to boost things should put him up there in the sciences, combat, and chess playing skills.

 

He could buy up the power of some of his main suit's ability, but not by too much.

 

I would also have Defender take an idea from the pages of Iron Man, and have him develop different sorts of armor. Buy this as a Multiform, with Limitations of OIF (-1/4) (I am treating it as lower as he can more easily replace the OIF with a different suit if he loses one), and can only be changed at Homestead (-1/2)

 

The suits would include (But not be limited to):

• The Original Armor we know and love, perhaps slightly souped up
  
• A "Brick" sort of power armor, built chiefly for raw strength and defense
  
• "Stealth" armor, made to infilitrate locations undetected
  
• "Aquatic" Suit, since the Champions are illsuited (no pun intended) to under water adventures
  

 

My rationale for this direction? Defender has invested his heart and soul into the Champions. While he would never want to steal another member's thunder, he would definitely want them prepared for any situation. What's more, as others grow in their power, he might fear being some what 'stagnant', and thus he'd grow in versitility rather than simply amping it up.

[Sketchpad]

Personally, I'd like to see Defender get a few followers that help him via comlink ... kinda like the Defender from CNM The armor idea makes a great choice ... but he needs a small Mecha too ... it could be the Grond-buster armor

[Watchdog]

Interesting idea with the multiform armor, though I'd probably be inclined to to build them as a VPP: Armor accessories, only changed at Homestead.

 

For Ironclad, I would up the defenses a bit, and give him lots of brick tricks. A resourceful gladiator should be able to do more than find weakness and punch. And assuming it takes time to acquire 100 XP, I'd probably have him buy off the "Doesn't understand earth culture" disad.

 

Sapphire should put more points in wealth (A J-Loish celeb is only taking in 500K a year?)

 

Nighthawk should spend some more points on the multipower, because many of them should not be ultra slots. ("Hmm, I'm doing surveillance on that gang tonight. Should I record what they say, or what they do? ")

 

Then he would have to buy area effect Mind Control, persistent, always on, one command: Ignore the duck on my head when I do a PRE attack.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Sketchpad

Personally, I'd like to see Defender get a few followers that help him via comlink ... kinda like the Defender from CNM

Wendy Brooks might end up being assigned that task.

 

Then again, Wendy might end up 'borrowing' an extra suit of armor and going to the rescue A hero at last.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Watchdog

For Ironclad, I would up the defenses a bit, and give him lots of brick tricks. A resourceful gladiator should be able to do more than find weakness and punch. And assuming it takes time to acquire 100 XP, I'd probably have him buy off the "Doesn't understand earth culture" disad.

 

That's spooky, it's exactly what I was thinking of as well. I was glancing at the USPDB and thinking, "Yeah, he could do that... he already works with metals for art, why not learn that wrap around stunt..oh, and that one .." and so on.

 

And yeah, He should soon be as educated on Culture as any TV watching American

[J4y]

Some people seem to think that the Champions SHOULD be one of the premiere and most powerful teams in the CU, others disagree, but for those who want the former, this thread might help out.

 

I don't think they have any space ability or FTL do they? If they're a premier team they should probably be at least interplanetary (depending on campaign setting.)

[Hermit]

Originally posted by J4y

I don't think they have any space ability or FTL do they? If they're a premier team they should probably be at least interplanetary (depending on campaign setting.)

 

I guess they could add a few points to the Team Vehicle.

Hmm and a 'Space flight' version of armor would also be an option.

[Wormhole]

Let's see...

 

Defender: Hermit's Multiform idea sounds good, so I'll ditto that.

 

Nighthawk: Give him a Dark Champions style weapons VPP.

 

Witchcraft: Soup up her Magic Pool.

 

Sapphire: Give her a massive "nova blast" with lots of dice of damage and a huge Endurance Cost.

 

Ironclad: Add some nice "Brick Tricks" to his sheet.

[Lord Liaden]

Besides the fine suggestions already made, I'd like to see Defender and Nighthawk a little more buff without their ironmongery. It's too easy for James Harmon to be caught outside of the tin suit, or have it removed after capture. A little basic self-defense style Martial Arts would benefit him out of armor and make him a more versatile combatant in it.

 

As for Nighthawk, the traditional benefit of the trained normal in a team of supers is to do with skill what his comrades can't do with force. Part of that is taking down hard-to-hit but otherwise "soft" targets like martial artists and speedsters. To that end I'd like Nighthawk to have some more Skill Levels, Combat and Overall. (Say, how about a head-butt Martial Maneuver with the Weapon Element: Beak?)

 

Sapphire could use a higher Recovery and/ or Reduced END for her Multipower (she uses up END too fast when blasting at full power), and a few Skill Levels with her Multipower and Flight. Witchcraft might buy off her required access to spellbooks to change her VPP, and buy a Power Skill for it; that would greatly enhance her effectiveness.

[Agent X]

If I were giving Defender multiple suits of armor, I would just buy the armor as vehicles. It's quick and clean.

[Guest WhammeWhamme]

Originally posted by Hermit

And yeah, He should soon be as educated on Culture as any TV watching American

 

So, uppping the disad to a full 25pter?

 

 

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,

My idea, mentioned on another thread, for the Champions setting up branch office or franchise teams was based on the assumption that they were THE premier team in the CU, and in its versions in other universes.

Here's what I would do with 100-points for Defender and Witchcraft. I don't have ideas about the others, yet.

Defender: martial arts skills and flash defense.

Witchcraft: replace the multipower with a VPP limited to known spells, buy off the underconfidence and shyness and get a better costume.

The team's aircraft should be capable of going into space and two more members of the support staff, an electronics technician or engineer and either a nurse or a doctor.

Yours,

Mark Rand

[Hermit]

Buffing up Nighthawk

 

Have Nighthawk buy the Weapon Element so he can use any club with his martial arts (not just his own.)

 

I'd take Watchdog's suggestion, and alter that multipower so not all of them would be Ultras. I'd add a few slots for yet more versitility, for example, another AE attack.

 

While I wouldn't have him get up on guns and things (Sorry, that ruins it for me) I would allow some 'super skills' for him, things like "Vanishing Teleport" or 'super stealth' (Invisiblity, Stealth roll required). Give him a few over all skill levels to show his intensity.

 

Buy him the Perk version of Reputation with criminal scum: He's the one Champion Criminals do NOT want to be left alone in the room with and this would reflect that.

 

(EDIT): Contacts and Favors would also eventually come up I think.

 

Let's also buy up his CON, just a bit.

[TheEmerged]

RE: Sapphire.

 

Hold on, let me dig out Champions so I use the same reference point as everyone else (I rewrote her for my campaign)...

 

Okay, first a minor point -- she's supposed to be famous. A few levels of positive Reputation would be in order. Several entertainment-business related perks would also be called for. On a similar note, her lack of the Power skill is a little disturbing, and I'm not sure 14- skill is really high enough for someone that's supposed to be as talented as she's advertised.

 

Next thing I do is bump the multipower pool to 75 -- and change several of the slots into "variable" slots instead of ultras. The "combination slot" (#5) can be dropped to help pay for this, since doing so will make this useless.

 

After that, I take a good look at her defenses. For my own campaign, I find that I have to add DEF to virtually all "book" writeups for combat to feel the way I like it. One way to do this for Sapphire is to give her a "deflector" slot on her multipower -- a force wall to PD, transparent to ED, that sticks with her.

 

Depending on how many points are left, one option is to add some additional FF and/or Flight in the Multipower, again as variable slots. This would allow her to "push" them when necessary. At the very least, a mega-scale Flight slot in the MP is an obvious choice.

 

She's also lacking a bit in the "special defenses" category. In a world with mind controllers I find it a little hard to accept that a woman who publicly flaunts her sex appeal is going to survive long without appreciable Mental Defense. That someone with a major Flash lacks at least some Flash Defense is similarly mockable.

[Rage]

Originally posted by WhammeWhamme

So, uppping the disad to a full 25pter?

 

 

 

No he just exchanges disad "Does not understand culture" to "thinks life is like a sitcom" I just kicked Grond in the groin... why isn't anyone laughing? "What Chuu talkin Bout Defender?"