PamelaIsley

Thank you for your thoughts.

Marissa is a fantastic character in many ways (the hedonism doesn't really fit with the rest of her biography, but that's easily ignored), but you are right that her reign seems a bit too stable for certain plot threads. If you set it a little further in the past, you could use the Civil War between the rival claimants. The rebellion section, as presented, isn't that interesting to me, but many people enjoy emulating Star Wars (or Traveller's less savory later books). I like the Terran Empire concept. It's a more interesting presentation of a Galactic Empire than the Third Imperium in Traveller. But lots of the details don't fit together in a great way. If I were going to use it, I would probably do at least some of the following things: 1. Fix the Senate. There are 1,000 planets in the Empire, but only 98 of them (from one "region") send senators, all of whom are selected in different ways. I don't understand what purpose this body could possibly serve. It isn't democratic, so it doesn't give the population a release valve to express discontent. It doesn't bring together representatives from all over the Empire to give the capital different perspectives (only 10% of planets even send someone). It doesn't seem to have any actual powers, so it isn't a check or balance on the Executive. You could go down a huge rabbit hole here trying to figure out how to make an Imperial Senate actually work, but the easiest thing that would make the Senate have some logical consistency would be to just do something like one senator per planet over a certain size, elected in some manageable way, with advisory powers only. If you wanted a more constitutional monarchy, it could have the power of the purse or approval power over ministers, but that doesn't fit the setting very well. 2. Fix the demographic issue. The Empire has 1 trillion inhabitants, slightly over half of which are aliens. But the setting book almost completely omits any discussion of the non-human residents of the Empire. Only a couple are discussed, with only the Fex ever really showing up as imperial officials or in other sections of the book. This is weird. I would just reduce the number of aliens in the Empire down to like 25% of the total population, with most of those being on worlds that hadn't yet achieved space flight when they were brought into the Empire. This would still keep alien rights an issue to be discussed (including any number of variations on a prime directive type law), but it would fit more with the human-centered presentation of the Empire in the book. Otherwise, you'd have to create a lot more subject aliens (not just the races that surround the empire) and explain how they fit into Imperial society. 3. There is absolutely zero discussion of how imperial worlds are governed. No talk of viceroys. Only passing references to governors. Do all 1,000 planets report directly to Marissa? When Marissa sets up a new colony, surely it doesn't get complete autonomy immediately. I don't see how a polity like the Empire could exist without some kind of sector-type organization and some formal imperial executive presence on each world (even if the planets govern themselves, you'd need a governor to just coordinate imperial assets; even Traveller's Third Imperium has this). There are other small things in the book that don't make a lot of sense, but those can just be ignored.

Well, that does get into one of my main problems with the book, though it's not really interesting to discuss: The Hero System's attempt to make a shared universe actually diminishes all of the settings. It's best to just have a superheroes game set in its own world, a sci-fi game in its own universe, etc. The idea that superheroes existed in the Terran Empire's past is a little silly. Plus, the book throws that ridiculous magic as the source for everything (even science) nonsense in your face over and over. But you guys didn't really get into the details of the universe, like the Senate, the emperors, governors (do they exist), and other parts of the Empire. I was thinking of rewriting the setting to make more sense (to me at least), but I wondered if people had any insights into why things are the way they are. In the other thread, it reads like not that many people really got into it enough to care about these details.

I've had the Terran Empire book for years and just now read it. I like the idea of the setting, but there are a lot of decisions made in the book that don't make a lot of sense. Does anyone actually use it or know about it, though? Would it be worth trying to have a discussion to hash them out?

Sorry for no new posts for a while. My interest has kind of waned. It's tough writing good backgrounds even when I'm super inspired. And to me, the backgrounds are the best part of new characters.

In News of the World, the character Diamond has 45 PD and ED, and 30 of each is resistant protection. His skin is described as being made of a shiny silicon that is as indestructible as diamond.

Your version is more efficient than mine.

Combat is definitely faster. Aren't there far less actions per round per player for a start? I'm not sure why he thinks movement is more complicated. Maybe movement powers are overpowered?

I didn't really like the Dark Champions villains that much. But I wasn't really saying that villains for this type of Rogue's Gallery didn't exist; I just think Hero 6E makes them into complicated builds. It just isn't that much fun to build them. Tatterdemalion and White Hare would be much easier to build with M&M.

Alternatively, you could just use a Fantastic Four picture of Sue Storm and blot out the "4". The costume and look is very similar.

White Hare Total: 300 STR 13, 12-, 2 ½ d6 DEX 18, 13- CON 13, 12- INT 18, 13- EGO 13, 12- PRE 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6 OCV 6 DCV 7 OMCV 3 DMCV 3 SPD 4 PD 4 / 13 ED 4 / 13 REC 9 END 50 BODY 10 STUN 30 Total Cost: 116 Skills & Talents +1 with all Agility Skills (6) CS: Gadget Attacks +2 (6) Acrobatics, 13- (3) Breakfall, 13- (3) Climbing, 13- (3) Computer Programming, 13- (3) Disguise, 13- (3) Electronics, 13- (3) High Society, 13- (3) Inventor, 13- (3) KS: Electronics, 12- (3) KS: English Literature, 11- (2) KS: Millennium City Underworld, 11- (2) CK: Millennium City, 11- (2) Lockpicking, 14- (5) Persuasion, 13- (3) Security Systems, 13- (3) Sleight of Hand, 13- (3) Stealth, 13- (3) Weaponsmith (Energy Weapons, Firearms), 14- (5) Wealthy (6) Combat Luck (9 PD / 9 ED) (18) Watch (Absolute Time Sense (3 Active Points), OIF -½); (2) Striking Appearance +1 (+1d6); (3) Total Cost: 96 Powers Goggles (Sight Group Flash Defense (6 Active Points), OIF -½); (4) Rabbit Boots (Leaping +100m (104m forwad, 52m up) (50 Active Points), OAF -1, 12 Charges -¼); (22) Cloaking Vest (Invisibility to Sight Group, 0 End +½ (30 Active Points), OAF -1); (15) Rabbit Gadget Jacket Multipower (60 Active Points, OIF -½); (40) 1. Umbrella Blast (Blast 8d6 (40 Active Points), OAF -1, 12 Charges -¼); 2f 2. Umbrella Bullets (RKA 2d6, Armor Piercing +¼ (37 Active Points), OAF -1, 12 Charges -¼, Beam -¼); 1f 3. Glue Bomb (Entangle 6d6, 6 PD / 6 ED (60 Active Points), OAF -1, 8 Charges -½, Range Based on STR -¼); 2f 4. Flash Bomb (Sight Group Flash 8d6, AoE (8M Radius) +½ (60 Active Points), OAF -1, 8 Charges -½, Range based on STR -¼); 2f Total Cost: 88 Matching Complications Hunted (Darkwing or other crimefighter, Infrequent, Mo Pow, Limited Area, Harshly Punish); (10) Psychological Complication (Unstable and Erratic, Common, Strong); (15) Psychological Complication (Must Commit Themed Crimes, Common, Strong); (15) Social Complication (Secret Identity: Charlotte Dodge, Frequent, Major); (15) Unluck (1d6); (5) Total: 60 points Background: Bored, bored, bored. For almost her entire life, Charlotte Dodge was bored. She was bored growing up as the spoiled daughter of wealthy parents. She was bored during college, even though she amused herself playing lots of nasty pranks on her sorority sisters and social circle. And she was bored after she graduated, helping her mother with charity work and being a sought after heiress. When her parents both passed away unexpectedly, Charlotte expected to have more fun. But she found even spending lots of money on parties, traveling, and debauchery didn’t thrill her. What did excite the young woman, though, was watching the exploits of superheroes, particularly when they fought supervillains. And the more she watched the highlights on the news, the more obsessed she became. Charlotte became resentful that she didn’t have superpowers. Then one day it occurred to her that she could have powers of a sort, if she put her mind to it. Charlotte dedicated herself to learning about gadgets, electronics, computers, and other things that could help her build devices to mimic superpowers. She found new purpose. Dressing up as a mix of a Lewis Carroll character and a stage magician, Charlotte debuted her gadgets when she ostensibly tried to steal a collection of first edition children’s books on display at the New York City Library. Her real purpose was to cause as much mayhem as possible to attract a superhero. And she did. The costumed avenger Darkwing thwarted her scheme, but Charlotte Dodge had never had more fun. And her gadgets took even the crimefighter by surprise, allowing her to escape. Calling herself White Hare (or sometimes Spellbunny or March Rabbit or any of a variety of bizarre nicknames), Charlotte now considers herself a supervillain. While her capers can seem whimsical, many have caused quite a bit of destruction or death. She has yet to actually succeed (usually, she thinks, because of some ill-timed bad luck), but she shows no signs of slowing down. Personality: Charlotte Dodge is no longer quite sane. Her extreme boredom and her spoiled life caused her to never fully mature emotionally. And the thrill of being a costumed villain has only exacerbated her negative character traits. She enjoys matching herself against superheroes, planning elaborate themed crimes, and devising new strange gadgets to unleash upon unsuspecting victims. She enjoys these things so much, that she really can’t stop, even if she sometimes thinks that what she is doing is wrong. White Hare doesn’t care if her schemes hurt innocents or other people because she hardly thinks about other people at all. All she thinks about is how to steal as many faberge eggs as possible, break up an Easter Parade, or kill a Lewis Carroll detractor in as public and ridiculous way as possible. Her schemes seem random, but White Hare actually only plans crimes built around what she considers an appropriate theme. It isn’t always clear what her overarching theme is (and it can shift), but it usually involves rabbits, literature (particularly children's literature), or stage magic in some way. Powers: White Hare is a skilled thief, above average athlete, and self-made gadgeteer. All of the weapons and tools she uses to commit crimes are designed and made by her (usually even her hirelings use weapons she has created). Her favorite gadgets are a trick umbrella that shoots bullets or energy beams, bombs that glue people to the floor, or a vest that allows her to turn herself invisible. She also has created a pair of boots that allow her to leap great distances (just like a rabbit, she says). She is quite wealthy and could conceivably find ways to make an unlimited variety of gadgets as she gains more experience as a villain. Appearance: Charlotte Dodge is a very attractive, fit young woman in her 20s with reddish blonde hair, light skin, and bright blue eyes. As White Hare, she has worn a variety of costumes, ranging from a mix of rabbit and stage magician elements, to Alice in Wonderland dresses, to just a revealing bunny leotard. Her most common outfit is a white leotard and vest with a blue jacket, white boots, white bunny ears and tail, a big pink bowtie, and white makeup just on her face. Notes: A slightly different take on the Marvel villain White Rabbit (enough that I changed her name, although I'm happy to admit this is a very derivative idea). Creating crazy Batman-like villains isn't that much fun in this system because of how complicated even relatively simple gadgets are to make, so I tried to spice her up some by making her more of an adaptation of the Gadgeteer archetype in the Champions book. white hare.hdc

Yes. Can you guess his inspiration? Well, at least for the name. My character is a Russian scientist with a superspeed suit who is the enemy of Accelerate and a thief. He's all statted up, but I haven't done his full bio yet.

I changed that sentence to make it more clear he is a hero.

Accelerate Total: 400 STR 10, 11-, 2d6 DEX 23, 14- CON 13, 12- INT 13, 12- EGO 13, 12- PRE 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6 OCV 8 DCV 8 / 16 OMCV 3 DMCV 3 SPD 8 PD 10 15 (5r) ED 10 15 (5r) REC 12 END 60 BODY 10 STUN 30 Total Cost: 190 Skills & Talents PS: Speed Tricks, 12- (5) Acrobatics, 14- (3) Computer Programming, 12- (3) Contortionist, 14- (3) Deduction, 12- (3) Electronics, 12- (3) KS: Superhuman World, 11- (2) PS: Software Engineer, 11- (2) SS: Electrical Engineering, 11- (2) Security Systems, 12- (3) Speed Reading x 1000 (8) Lightning Reflexes (+20 Dex to Act First) (20) Total Cost: 57 Powers Speedster Running (Flight 45m, Megascale (1m = 1km) +1 (90 Active Points), Only in Contact with a surface -¼, Unified -¼); (60) Padded Costume (Resistant Protection 5 PD / 5 ED (15 Active Points), OIF -½); (10) Mask (Sight Group Flash Defense (5 Active Points), OIF -½); (3) Dodging Bullets (+8 DCV (40 Active Points), Costs End -½, Unified -¼); (23) Impact Resistance (+20 PD (20 Active Points), Only Works Against Move By Attacks -1, Unified -¼); (9) Speedster Attack Multipower (50 Active Points, All Slots Unified -¼); (40) 1. Compressed Air Punch (Blast 6d6 (30 Active Points), Limited Range (20m) -¼); 2f 2. Dizzying Spin (Drain DEX 5d6 (50 Active Points), No Range -½); 3f 3. Rapid Fire Punch (HTH +9d6 (45 Active Points), HTH -¼); 3f Total Cost: 153 Matching Complications Hunted (DEMON, Infrequent, MoPow, NCI, Harshly Punish); (20) Hunted (Yellowflash or other speedster, Infrequent, As Pow, Harshly Punish); (10) Psychological Complication (Code v. Killing, Common, Total); (20) Psychological Complication (Impatient Showoff, Common, Moderate); (10) Social Complication (Secret Identity: Curt Swift, Frequent, Major); (15) Total: 75 points Background: Curt Swift has no idea how he gained superpowers. Growing up in the suburbs of New York, no one ever really noticed anything that special about the boy. Sure, he was a fast reader and super energetic, but he wasn’t particularly athletic and he was only an average student. He graduated from college and took a job as a software engineer on Long Island. He seemed destined for an unremarkable life until a fateful day when DEMON launched a major attack on his office building. Rather than panic, Curt decided to try to warn his coworkers and get as many people out as he could. He suddenly found that he was moving super fast from floor to floor. In fact, he was zipping around at breakneck speeds. His efforts that day astounded him (and saved more than a few lives). Later Curt began to test the limits of these new abilities. Over the next few weeks, his speed increased more and more, until he was definitely moving at superhuman velocities. He was familiar enough with superhero achievements to know that his powers were those of a speedster. Once he had felt he had practiced enough, Curt didn’t hesitate to don a costume and become Accelerate. Accelerate has become something of a small phenomenon in the New York area. He has fought with DEMON, the evil speedster bandit Yellowflash, and several other prominent New York supervillains. He also patrols the streets of the city, challenging street crime and more mundane wrongdoing. He is quite eager to become more, and would definitely jump at the opportunity to join a true superteam to take the next step as a hero. Personality: Curt Swift is an intelligent, energetic personality, who always radiates an aura of impatience. He is absolutely thrilled at his new powers, even if he doesn’t understand where they came from (he has tested negative as a mutant). He enjoys showing off when fighting criminals or just for the TV cameras that show up at some of his larger encounters. Swift is an avid reader and his powers have made him an incredible speed reader, meaning he can consume entire novels or technical manuals in what seems like no time at all. Accelerate would never kill in his pursuit of justice, but he is capable of holding a grudge. He would like nothing better than to bring down DEMON and Yellowflash in any way possible short of lethal violence. Powers: Accelerate is a classic speedster. He has high dexterity (particularly for the purposes of going first in combat) and speed, and is capable of extreme velocities when running. He can dodge to the point of avoiding bullets. In combat, he relies on lightning fast punches, a dizzying spin move, and the ability to create a compressed air blast at range. Mostly Accelerate likes to use his speed to confuse and misdirect his opponents. He is well aware that is power set would work even better as part of a balanced team. Appearance: Curt Swift is a tall, fit young man in his late 20s. He has brown hair and eyes and an infectious, if sometimes wry, smile. He always seems to be in motion, even if it’s just playing with his fingers or hair. As Accelerate, he wears a black bodysuit that turns white at the neck, along with a partial mask that exposes his hair and face. His goggles are yellow, and there are small lightning designs on his chest and near both feet. Notes: I am not that fond of speedsters. I've never really understood how to make their powers work in a PnP game (either this one or M&M). I used a lot of Champions Power and Champions suggestions for Accelerate. He is another hero intended as part of the New Sentinels that I've written up. I also created a nemesis for him, referenced in his Complications. Accelerate.hdc

I see what you mean. A continuing effect mental power that uses charges is complicated. It looks like a modifier like (Continuing Charges, Dispersed by Wind or Rain) would actually be appropriate for the entire gun. Interestingly, continuing charges do not seem to be modeled by Hero Designer at all.

Crimson Psyche Total: 500 STR 13, 12-, 2 ½ d6 DEX 13, 12- CON 13, 12- INT 23, 14- EGO 23, 14- PRE 18, 13-, 3 ½ d6 OCV 6 DCV 6 OMCV 12 DMCV 8 SPD 5 PD 5 13 (8r) ED 5 13 (8r) REC 10 END 70 BODY 10 STUN 50 Total Cost: 195 Skills & Talents Charm, 13- (3) Conversation, 13- (3) High Society, 13- (3) CK: Millennium City, 11- (2) KS: Superhuman World, 11- (2) KS: Celebrity and High Society, 12- (3) KS: Investigative Journalism, 12- (3) Persuasion, 13- (3) PS: Newspaper Columnist, 11- (2) Stealth, 12- (3) Lightning Reflexes (+6 DEX to act first only with Mental Powers); (2) Striking Appearance +1 / +1d6 (3) Total Cost: 32 Powers Telepathic Senses Multipower (90 point reserve, All Slots Unified Power -¼); (72) 1. Crimson Thoughts (Telepathy 10d6, Invisible Power Effects + ¼, 0 END +½ (87 Active Points)); 7f 2. Remote Viewing (Clairsentience (Sight Group), x16 Range (3,200m) (40 Active Points)); 3f Detect Minds (Detect 14- (Mental Group), Discriminatory, 360 Degrees, Sense, Targeting); (25) Armored Costume (Resistant Protection 8 PD / 8 ED (24 Active Points), OIF -½); (16) Mental Shield (Mental Defense 20 Points); (20) Mental Defense (Power Defense 20 Points, Only Works Against Mental Powers -½); (13) Crimson Psionics Multipower (100 point reserve, All Slots Unified -¼); (80) 1. Crimson Drain (Drain EGO and INT 2d6, Expanded Effect (2x characteristics simultaneously) +½, Cumulative +½, Constant +½, Delayed Rate of Return (5 per week) +2 ½ (100 Active Points); 8f 2. Telekinesis (40 STR, ½ END +¼ (75 Active Points)); 6f 3. Crimson Blast (Mental Blast 7d6, ½ END +¼ (87 Active Points)); 7f 4. Brainburning (RKA 2d6, ACV (OMCV v. DMCV) +¼, AVAD (Mental Defense) +1, Does BODY +1 (97 Active Points)); 8f 5. Neural Blindness (Sight Group Flash 10d6, AVAD (Mental Defense +0), ACV (OMCV v. DMCV) +¼, (62 Active Points)); 5f 6. Confront Your Fears (Mental Illusions 12d6, ½ END +¼ (75 Active Points), No Conscious Control (Only Shows Greatest Fear) -1); 3f Total Cost: 273 Matching Complications Distinctive Feature (Mutant, Not Concealable, Noticed, Uncommon Senses); (10) Psychological Complication (Erratic and Flighty, Common, Strong); (15) Psychological Complication (Greedy, Common, Moderate); (10) Psychological Complication (Overconfident, Common, Strong); (15) Rivalry (Professional, Diadem of the Sentinels, As Powerful, Harm, Rival Aware); (10) Social Complication (Secret Identity: Vanessa Ryan, Frequent, Major); (15) Total: 75 points Background: Few people have broken more stories on celebrity affairs or misdeeds than Vanessa Ryan. Working for Millennium City’s premier newspaper as one of their online columnists, Ryan seemingly has a knack for ferreting out damaging and secret information. That talent has allowed her a lucrative career and made her a popular (though feared) person at all the best parties and events in the rising Millennium City cultural scene. Ryan, though, doesn’t rely on sources or investigative work for her scoops. She is actually an extremely powerful mutant, psionic, and telepath. For her entire life, she has used her mental powers to get ahead, reading people’s minds to find out what they thought of her, mistakes they had made in the past, or nefarious deeds they are committing in the present. But Ryan isn’t just an unscrupulous journalist. Her semi-legitimate career doesn’t satisfy her lust for power or wealth. She is also the supervillain Crimson Psyche, a dedicated enemy of the Sentinels and frequent ally to other villains in that group’s rogues gallery. Crimson Psyche most often launches plots designed to steal lots of money or wealth at once. She has also tried to take control of The New York Times editorial board, blackmail the mayor into redirecting police away from underworld allies, and assassinate the governor of New York. Unless she is operating as part of a team, Psyche’s plots are dangerously unpredictable, and sometimes it is hard to understand how she stands to benefit from her success. Although Ryan lives in Millennium City, Crimson Psyche operates almost exclusively outside the city to protect her identity. She is most famously an adversary of the Sentinels’ Diadem, that group’s own telepath and mentalist. Diadem has always managed to thwart Psyche’s plots or efforts on behalf of villainous leagues, and has earned Ryan’s eternal hatred. Personality: Crimson Psyche is both cruel and unstable. While she is capable of being charming and persuasive, any setback or distraction can cause her to become unbalanced. She can alternate between being curiously bemused or enraged, and back again, extremely quickly, causing even many supervillains to disdain working with her. She is also greedy, and uses her powers and her position as a newspaper columnist for personal gain. Psyche has no qualms about killing or inflicting permanent harm on superheroes, other journalists, or just people she is jealous of. She loves using her power to read minds and relishes when she discovers embarrassing secrets or weaknesses. She also enjoys watching victims struggle to confront their nightmares. Powers: Crimson Psyche is a powerful psionicist and telepath, with a suite of abilities designed to either read or damage other people’s minds. She can see areas far away with her mind, detect the presence of others, and resist most mental attacks against her. Her Crimson Psionics multipower contains her most dangerous attacks, and lets her drain the intelligence and willpower of victims, cause lethal brain damage, telekinetically manipulate objects, or blind others. She can also force someone to confront their worst fears, which manifest as powerful mental illusions. Psyche disdains open combat and can often incapacitate opponents before a fight even begins. If confronted with a hero or group resistant to her abilities, she usually tries to flee. Appearance: Vanessa Ryan is an attractive brunette, with a pleasing figure and bright blue eyes. In her secret identity, she dresses in expensive suits and evening wear that show off her looks to the best effect. As Crimson Psyche, she wears a one piece, red costume that leaves her arms and legs bare. She accents it with a long red cape, thigh high red boots, and red gloves. Because she can cause her eyes to glow a bright red at will, Psyche does not normally wear a mask or hood with her costume, relying on this effect and a different hairstyle to protect her identity. Notes: This is my attempt at building a mentalist, mostly as a counter to Diadem and using suggestions in Champions Powers. I suspect she's overpowered in terms of what she can do if you can't block mental powers. Her background didn't quite come together, but I got tired of reworking it slightly. My writing style seems to be that I either write a great first draft and then just tweak it to make it better, or I end up with a mediocre character. Subsequent drafts don't seem to improve on the original writing. Crimson Psyche.hdc

He and the other master villains are designed poorly. To me, it's just that simple. They aren't "realistic" enough for suspension of disbelief and they aren't usable in most contexts. Others can disagree and it's probably another discussion. I've been redoing the master villains I like (it isn't that many - Gravitar, Holocaust, and Invictus) and just ignoring the rest. Point bloat is just a major understatement for these designs.

That's only if you think that a villain's primary purpose is to present a tactical combat challenge to an entire superhero team. I'm not as focused on tactical combat. What's more important to me is that the over all world make sense.

Well, there is a pretty good resolution. You just slash the villain power levels. I started the thread to kind of think through whether there was any justification beyond having fun tactical combats that the average villain should be more powerful than what we are told is an average hero in Champions Universe. For many reasons (demographic and just my own idea of how superhero stories generally develop), I think villains should be much less powerful than how they are presented in the CU published material.

The Batman and Superman animated universe (and the broader Diniverse I guess) are my favorite comic setting nowadays, but the difference between them and Champions is that it is heavily implied that there basically are no superheroes before Batman and Superman (in fact, doesn't Mrs. Kent make this very point to Clark when discussing his Superman identity in the pilot for S:TAS?). So they work great if you want your PCs to be among the first (or the first) heroes in the world. That kind of a setting certainly simplifies the universe building. To me, though, if I'm going to use Hero System rules, I'm going to use the CU (or at least a modified CU). I would probably use M&M 2E if I were going to use another setting (including a TAS setting).

Well, they can't do much worse than VIPER . . . .

First off, I got a copy of the Batman Roleplay Game (heavily used) when I was in middle school and that was my introduction to roleplaying (I am sure it was published years before and out of print when I got it; I never even knew there was a broader DC game until much later since I never saw it). The book has had a profound influence on my hobbies. Second off, I just don't think I agree with you. The idea that villains pop up in onesies and twosies and are dealt with by the already extant heroes doesn't make a lot of demographic sense either. I think a GM needs to understand what the world population of superhumans is (6,000 according to CU, if using that as a guide), divide them up between heroes and villains (3:2, according to CU again), and then figure out what makes the most sense in terms of relative power levels. The last is where I think CU breaks down and requires GM modifications. Third off, I am going to replace VIPER with COBRA in My Champions Universe.

But that doesn't mean that Gotham needs fewer police officers.

I think villains do sometimes work against each other. But I don't think it happens often enough or would be effective enough to truly affect the demographic balance.

The destruction and collateral damage of a villain on villain fight wouldn't be worth the idea that villains partially cancel themselves out. Heroes would still have to respond to contain the threat. This is actually referenced several times in the published villain books (VIPER fighting EUROSTAR, Gravitar fighting EUROSTAR, etc.).