Public Enemies (5th edition)

[massey]

Okay, so I've been messing around with some character writeups, just for the fun of it.  A fairly frequent subject of discussion over the years has been how do balance a game where one person wants to play Superguy and another wants to play Detective Dude?

 

I really liked the Superman/Batman series that started up back in 2003.  Both characters fought together, and I liked the pacing of the book and the way the writers appeared to balance the two characters.  If you haven't read the series, Superman is of course the most powerful individual on the planet, and Batman stands shoulder to shoulder with him as an absolute genius with a dizzying array of weapons and gadgets.

 

The first 4 issues of that series were later made into a cartoon movie called "Public Enemies" (due to the fact that then-President Luthor declares them criminals and puts a billion dollar reward on their heads).  So there's a great issue (and a great part in the cartoon) where just about every supervillain under the sun comes out and attacks the two heroes.

 

What I have done since last night is write up the two characters, attempting to keep them relatively balanced against one another and against the villains they face.  I also wrote up the villains that appear in the book (the ones in the cartoon are a little different from the comic and I don't have it in front of me at the moment).  I tried to follow a few key rules for creating a "playable" Batman and Superman.  Those are:

 

1.  Bats and Supes should be evenly playable, even in a combat heavy game.  If two players drew straws, neither would feel ripped off with the outcome.

 

2.  Both Bats and Supes would retain their own flavor and would have a unique design.  Superman should hit *much* harder and be able to take a lot more damage.  Batman will have to be playable within that framework.

 

3.  Both heroes should be able to operate in the 5th edition Champions universe and retain much of their stature against those already-existing characters.  Nighthawk cannot beat up Batman.

 

4. Certain villains, such as Dr Destroyer and Takofanes, are exempt from this comparison.  Their writeups are out of whack with their own universe, and will be disregarded.  30D6 attacks have no place in the 5th edition game.

 

5. The DC villains will be scaled appropriately against Bats and Supes, using primarily the (what appears to be) alternate continuity of that comic series.  It doesn't matter if Weather Wizard was able to ninja kick Batman unconscious back in 1992, what matters if how he matches up in this storyline.  Even villains who are traditionally very tough get Worf'ed a little bit here.

 

6.  The DC villains will also be scaled somewhat against existing Champions 5th villains (so they'll be usable in regular Champions games).  A lot of these guys are 350 characters, max.  They fight JLA level heroes by getting the drop on them, catching them in a trap, or getting friendly-GM situational bonuses.

 

7.  A certain minimalist design philosophy was taken in these writeups.  Most of these charcters could be fleshed out to be a lot more compelte and have a lot more skills.  Characters are woefully lacking in special defenses.  Bases, contacts, vehicles, etc, are nowhere to be found.

 

8.  If I was unfamiliar with a character and could find zero information online (I'm looking at you, King Shark), I took my best guess and made stuff up.

 

So without further ado...

[Cassandra]

I like the idea.  You also need law abiding heroes to go after the main characters.  It was nice to see Power Girl in the movie.  The main heroes can use their powers of persuasion to get the other heroes to come over on their side.

 

Invictus is a villain who pretended to be a hero in a 4th Edition book of Enemies.  Let's say that he is elected President, and declares war on Crusader and Starburst, and they have to convince The Champions that they are innocent of the charges, and take his said when the Golden Avenger and the PRIMUS Iron Guard shows up.

[massey]

Superman - 750 points
 
Str 90
Dex 26
Con 40
Body 20
Int 23
Ego 20
Pre 30
Com 18
 
PD 40
ED 40
Spd 6
Rec 26
End 80
Stun 85
 
+2 OCV
Appropriate noncombat skills
 
40/40 Damage Resistance
Life Support
 
+3 all Perception
Ultrasonic hearing
IR sight
N-Ray
+12 vs range
 
70 pt movement Multipower
30" Flight x8
10" Flight megascale 100 km per inch
25" Running x4
35" Leaping x4
10" Tunneling x4
 
90 pt Kryptonian powers Multipower
6D6 RKA heat vision, no kb
24D6 Dspel vs any one fire power
50 Str TK, affects porous
9D6 EB x2 kb
9D6 Entangle
Change Environment
6D6 Minor Transform (superspeed effects)

Superman.hdc

[massey]

Batman - 750 points

 

Str 25

Dex 32

Con 28

Body 18

Int 28

Ego 23

Pre 35

Com 18

 

PD 15

ED 15

Spd 8

Rec 12

End 56

Stun 45

 

+3 w/ HTH

+3 w/ Range

lots and lots of noncombat skills

 

15 pts wealth

 

4 lvls combat luck

 

lots of martial arts w/ 4 DCs (offensive strike is 13D6)

 

90 pt VPP "utility belt"

half phase to change +1/2

no skill roll +1

OIF -1/2

 

11 pt movement Multipower

11" running

11" leaping +5" if makes acrobatics roll

11" gliding

11" swinging

7" swimming

3" teleportation - megascale 10 km ("where'd he go?")

 

10 pts Mental Def

Missile Deflection - all

 

40 pt Multipower - World's Greatest Detective

requires skill roll

Super-Interrogation 8D6 Telepathy

Super-Criminology 8D6 Mind Scan

Super Crime Scene Analysis - Retrocognition

 

9 pt VPP 

cosmic

skills only

(for things like KS: ancient Egyptian art styles, and other things he'll never need more than once)

 

 

Notes:  Batman has a huge advantage is Speed, because he has to spend a lot of his time dodging.  Many phases will be used dodging, blocking, or using gadgets.  For your own sanity don't try and figure out how fast he can run.  For story purposes he can't.

Batman.hdc

[massey]

Note:  I wrote up the above two characters without trying to duplicate everything they did in that series.  They'd actually be a lot more points if I did that.

 

 

Metallo - 475 points

 

Str 80

Dex 23

Con 40

Body 20

Int 10

Ego 10

Pre 25

Com 8

 

PD 35

ED 35

Spd 5

Rec 24

End 80

Stun 80

 

+3 HTH

 

30/30 Damage Resistance

Life Support

 

27 pt Multipower (as you can tell, I like movement multipowers)

17" Running x4

35" Superleap x4

 

8D6 NND +1/2 - Kryptonite heart

defense is not being kryptonian

 

30 pt MP - robotic reconfiguration

AE: Hex on 60 pts Str

2D6 HKA (4D6 w/ Str)

4" Stretching - zero end

 

--

 

In a one on one fight, Metallo is nearly a match for Superman.

Metallo.hdc

[massey]

Captain Cold - 270 points

 

Str 15

Dex 23

Con 18

Body 13

Int 20

Ego 15

Pre 20

Com 10

 

PD 10

ED 10

Spd 5

Rec 7

End 36

Stun 30

 

+3 w cold gun

noncom skills

 

3 lvls combat luck

 

Cold gun - 70 pt Multipower

7D6 Entangle

5D6 Entangle +5 hexes

7D6 NND - LS Cold

4D6-1 RKA - Autofire x3

Change Environment

 

OIF Cold suit

5/5 armor

LS: Cold

8 pts Flash Def sight

 

--

 

So I'm not just posting a million character writeups, I'll stop here unless people are just clamoring to see them.  I think everyone has the basic idea behind it.

Captain Cold.hdc

[assault]

Pretty good builds. Mission accomplished, I think.

 

Of course if you want to post any more villains, feel free...

[Cassandra]

What point level are you looking for?

[massey]

What point level are you looking for?

 

I was looking to make characters who can still function as their comic book selves, but would fit into a standard Champions world without completely wrecking it.  So Batman hits about as hard as a human level martial artist can hit.  Superman is as strong as Grond.  And the average villain should be about as dangerous as the average Champions villain.