PamelaIsley

The rules really don't matter to me. I tried to get into Hero when 6th edition came and built some characters, but I don't particularly like it. Insofar as I prefer anything anymore, I like M&M 2 a bit better (even if it fails miserably on some counts). I wanted an updated bio to reflect some of the CO changes, which makes the character a little more interesting than she is in Vibora Bay.

That isn't really what happens. CO information isn't always clear and I contributed to the confusion above. She pretends to be a hero in early CO missions, but is a villain all along. The only confusion is the game's bio for her plays along with her deception, whereas published Champions material had already made it clear she was a villain. That confused me. She's a very cool character in the game (look, voice, and actions). It's a shame she wasn't updated in the 6th edition (as I keep repeating over and over, sorry).

She has a very cool look in CO. I wish she had appeared in a nice 6E book with an updated writeup.

Well put. Villains with depth are a major plus (and those who can see their point of view even better).

I was hoping that CO had based this take on Valerian on some new information somewhere (and I don't know that it's necessarily that new of a take; I think they might just be taking advantage of people not knowing the setting before they start doing the missions with her). As I said, I expected her to be in Volume 3 and am surprised she isn't. I thought maybe that was because she wasn't considered a villain any more, but I'm guessing they just cut her for space or something.

Oh, it so does. http://www.mms.com/

From her load screen: "Her public identity is that of a nightclub owner in Vibora Bay. But she is far more than that. She is Robert Caliburn's rival and sometimes lover. Like him, she has a part to play in the end of the world, and no one truly knows which side she will take." She is also a mission contact in several CO missions. You work sort of with her to take down Guy Sweetland. She also helps in a series of missions involving Juryrig. I do think she ultimately turns out to be a villain, but Vibora Bay's writeup makes it seem as though she's always a villain and not someone heroes would ever help to begin with.

I am indeed. Yay for M&M!

Valerian Scarlet is a straight-up villain in the 5E Vibora Bay book. And she's a villain you can fight in a Champions Online mission. But she's also presented as something of a hero in her CO writeup (it mentions she is Caliburn's lover, which is not in the Vibora Bay material at all). Is there more information about her somewhere other than Vibora Bay? Is there a 6E version of her, for example? I thought for sure she was going to be in Volume 3: Solo Villains, but she isn't. That makes me wonder if CO was borrowing or influencing some 6E version of her that existed somewhere where she is more of a hero or a gray character. Thanks! Edit: I asked a similar question in 2011 it seems, before Volume 3 was out. So I'm guessing I have all the Scarlet info that is available. Makes me wonder where CO got their info though.

You're also right that I got his name wrong, but I'm calling foul on this one. A Baronet doesn't have a geographic location (he's called the Baronet of South Mallon), as anyone who has read Jane Austen's Mansfield Park knows (Sir Thomas Bertram was a baronet -- as was Anne Elliott's father Sir Walter Elliott in Persuasion). A baronet is simply a hereditary knighthood. You get to be called "Sir First Name." That's why I remembered his last name as Mallon.

This is it! This is exactly what I was remembering. Thank you so much!

Hi, I have another random question about something in the Champions Universe that I feel like I read somewhere, but can't track down. Dark Seraph (Dennis Walthingham, Baronet of South Mallon) was introduced to the occult by a woman named Barbara Preston-Fredericks. He then joined a coven that he ultimately betrayed and sacrificed to gain the Iron Crown. Preston-Fredericks isn't mentioned again in his writeup. Did he kill her too? For some reason, I think he didn't and she went on to become another villain. But I can't find her mentioned anywhere else. So this might be something that I"m misremembering. Thanks!

Champions Online is why I initially bought a bunch of Champions and Hero books when the game released in 2009. I don't have any interest in the Hero System rules any more, but I am very interested in all the information I can find on the Champions Universe (although, honestly, not with Golden or Silver Age type stuff). So it does work sometimes.

That makes sense. I'm glad I acquired a bunch of 5E books in 2009. They fill in a lot of gaps in the universe that were never part of 6E.

Very cool backstory. I've given up on running games or even playing them again. I just like to read setting and flavor books and create my own characters from to time (lately less focused on stat blocks and more on just backgrounds).

Interestingly, when I saw the "clear, confident hand" writing, I sort of thought it might have been Teleios, himself, in some form. But later in his writeup, it seems to suggest otherwise, by implying it was a different person who gave him the information and Teleios has kind of repressed that memory (giving up on finding out who it was, and just assuming it was his own work after all). On an unrelated note, I'm sorry to see Hero Games has downsized (I don't really know what happened to it, just that the 6E books seemed to just stop coming out). I was hoping they would update Millennium City and Vibora Bay to the new format (in addition to maybe producing a compendium of statted heroes to mirror the villain books, which I think was talked about back in 2009 and 2010 when I was first active).

Hi, I'm back to playing Champions Online and that lead me to re-read most of my 6E and 5E Champions books (or at least skim them). In Teleios's write-up, it says that he got the inspiration for his knowledge from handwritten notes in a writing other than his own (a clear, confident hand is how it is put). Is it ever revealed who was behind this? For some reason, I thought it was in the GM section of both 5E and 6E Champions Universe, but I appear to be wrong. Thanks!

Re: Interesting Graphic on NPC Heights It looks quite awful when my character stands next to Witchcraft or Sapphire. It's very disappointing that they couldn't figure out this would look ridiculous. I also don't understand why Defender is so huge and James Harmon is so small.

Re: Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains when will it be on the shelf? Yes, because gaming books are like stocks. They always appreciate and are fantastic investments.

Re: Is Valerian Scarlet a Real Champions Character? The MMO Black Mask is a cypher, just a mission granter, so it is impossible to like or dislike her (her costume is absurd though). The MMO Vibora Bay is fairly fun, much better than Monster Island, which it follows. I haven't tried Therakiel's Temple, though, and the crisis is a bit long for my taste. The PnP Black Mask is not my favorite. I do not like her back story at all and like her character even less. I feel the same way about Vibora Bay, which is a bit too "voodoo" for my taste.

Re: Any online campaigns? A third option is play-by-chat. I've often wondered if play by post would be fun.

Re: Always on Death Touch Thanks for the help. I just need to finish the incorporeal/flight/death aura power now and this character will be finished.

Re: Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains when will it be on the shelf? I think Monster Manuals sell incredibly well, hence the push by Wizards and Pathfinder to put out as many as they can.

Re: Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios Cryptic never fixed glitches either. Lemuria has had the same bugs (all of the escort missions) since release.

Re: Champions Villains Volume Three: Solo Villains when will it be on the shelf? Well, it's a minority of two. I am only interested in superhero products as well.