Neutronium

[Lord Liaden]

Hey, you're talking to people who write up Hero stats for spoons and coffee mugs. We want to do it because we can, dammit!

[Grailknight]

25 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said:

Hey, you're talking to people who write up Hero stats for spoons and coffee mugs. We want to do it because we can, dammit!

 

It's a phase, you'll grow out of it and realize that it's not even a useful mental exercise for the time spent.

 

[Lord Liaden]

I just turned sixty-two. If I haven't outgrown it yet, I believe the next major change in my thinking will be death.

 

And I'm afraid you'll find in this community, my thinking has a lot of company.

[Lord Liaden]

Our fellow forumite and Hero scribe, Dean Shomshak, came up with IMHO one of the coolest concepts for a super substance I've ever read, for his Ultimate Super Mage source book for 4E Champions. Let me quote from p. 272:

 

The a’abiriron (ah-ah-BEER-rear-on), more popularly called the argillan or claynull, is one of the more powerful and dangerous qliphothic monsters. Its touch drains away the energies which hold matter together. That is how it feeds. Anything it touches is reduced to a heavy, frictionless fluid—the atoms have lost their ability to combine in molecules or interact with anything else. It isn’t even really matter in the normal sense anymore. (For the scientifically minded, this residue is denser than mercury, chemically inert, has the superfluid properties of Helium II and is an almost perfect electrical and thermal insulator. It has all the properties of a vacuum except the absence of matter. A super scientist could do incredible things with it. It is also immune to Transforms because technically it has no BODY anymore.)

 

A short-staying poster coined the name, qliphothium, for that stuff, which I consider pretty neat.
Heck, I might as well link to the old forum thread that came from, which explored a range of possible comic-book-style "miracle materials." Lots of good, even creative ideas there. https://www.herogames.com/forums/topic/2361-miracle-materials/

 

[Lord Liaden]

There are several other substances unique to the current official Champions Universe mentioned in various source books besides the "uncanny metals," either discovered or created by super-scientists, which assist them in achieving effects beyond what's possible in the real world. A few were added by Cryptic Studios developers to Champions Online for crafting purposes, their descriptions referring to established elements from the setting.

 

Dr. Destroyer invented an "organo-plastic," biosynth, which he uses to create human-looking androids. Biosynth looks and feels like living flesh, and can be crafted to simulate finger prints, retina patterns, even DNA.

 

Radiation from the rare element called radium X can be used as a high-energy power source for various devices. It also has mutagenic properties in certain circumstances; for example, it's a key element of Dr. Phillippe Moreau's process for creating Beast-Men/Manimals. There are a few other mutagens and power-enhancing processes in the lore, a couple of which are particularly notable. Cyberline, used by PRIMUS in the creation of its superhuman Silver Avengers, is believed by the public to be a drug, but is actually a type of gene therapy. It only works on a fraction of the human population, and requires repeated doses to maintain its effects. The Psi Serum, invented by Dr. Sebastian Poe the founder of PSI, amplifies even the smallest amount of genetic potential a person may have for psionic powers, sometimes to significant superhuman levels. It has no effect on people without such potential. PSI guards its formula closely.

 

X-9 is a very efficient but unstable rocket fuel developed by Hua Shoi-Ming of China. Exposure to it made him the super-speedster called the Red Bullet, a member of China's official superhero team, the Tiger Squad. X-9 may possibly be related to X-53, another experimental fuel possessed by a French corporation, which turned mercenary thief Hans Zeldte into the fire-powered Feurmacher, now a member of Eurostar. These fuels are both canon from the tabletop game, although X-9 is also a crafting item in CO.

 

Among the items which have appeared only in Champions Online, fordite is a powerful concentrated explosive, created by Fordham Chemtech. Fordham is also responsible for Regor plastic, a near-impenetrable synthetic fiber. Mechalene is an extremely durable plastic invented by Mechanon. Dragonite is a flexible alloy which can withstand extreme temperatures, of unspecified origin.

 

[Lord Liaden]

Kelvarite: This mysterious, green-glowing extraterrestrial mineral has been found in meteorites from several falls. It's a powerful source of energy, but is extremely unstable and prone to explosion when disturbed. Some people who have been bombarded by radiation or fragments from exploding kelvarite have gained superhuman powers, typically (but not exclusively) superhuman strength and durability, and some type of enhanced movement capability, e.g. super-running or -leaping, flight, or teleportation. They also acquire a susceptibility to radiation from other samples of kelvarite. Known superhumans with this origin include the solo villains Tachyon and Thunderbolt II, Dr. Destroyer's servant Meteor (all in the CV trilogy), and the African superhero Gazelle (in Champions Worldwide).

Large organizations such as the US government and UNTIL have secured all the kelvarite they can find, but sometimes lend samples to research laboratories. Other kelvarite meteorites remain to be discovered. However, what no one is aware of is that what they call kelvarite is actually impure samples, which is why it's unstable. Pure kelvarite doesn't resemble the impure mineral, and is extremely rare on Earth. Its energies respond to the will of intelligent beings in physical contact with it, allowing them to wield formidable energy-projection powers. (It isn't obvious that the power comes from the kelvarite itself.) The only pure kelvarite discovered so far was made into rings worn by the four men who have used the superheroic identity, Meteor Man.
 

[Lord Liaden]

I read up a little more on Destreum, the super-metal invented by Doctor Destroyer, in  Book Of The Destroyer, the detailed source on all things Zerstoiten. Invented in 1988, it's "a metal with approximately the weight of aluminum but a hardness and durability ten times that of osmium steel. Destreum also reacts positively with force-fields, allowing Destroyer to craft immensely strong powered armors, robotic frames, and vehicle hulls. He's also developed Destreum-fiber (a superplastic strengthened with strands of Destreum) and transparent Destreum (a slightly less tough Detreum-based acrylic that's as clear as glass." (BOTD p. 118)