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PamelaIsley

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  1. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from drunkonduty in Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux   
    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.   
  2. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Acroyear II in DEF of diamond?   
    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.
  3. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Lawnmower Boy in Better Galaxia picture?   
    Alternatively, you could just use a Fantastic Four picture of Sue Storm and blot out the "4".  The costume and look is very similar.
     

  4. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Amorkca in Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux   
    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
  5. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Amorkca in Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux   
    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.
  6. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from drunkonduty in Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux   
    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
  7. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Tech in Should Villains Be More Powerful Than Heroes?   
    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.
  8. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to massey in Should Villains Be More Powerful Than Heroes?   
    If it were important for the Champions universe to make sense (sort of an ecology of superheroes and villains), I think they'd have to structure their books differently.  Now I'm not really sure that it is important.  I've always seen the game world as more a mix-and-match setting where you take what you want and leave the rest.  Just because Dr Destroyer is in the game book doesn't mean that he has to be in your game.  The villains in the book don't have to be out there until you need them there.  What if half the villains in the book are in prison already, or haven't had their origins yet?  Heroes stick around for a while, villains show up and get defeated.  This is the sort of thing the Champions genre book should address.
     
    If I were writing it, and I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted, I might try something like this (5th edition costs here).
     
    --Have two versions of the example superhero group.  You've got the Champions as example starting characters at 350 points.  Then you've got the "real" Champions who are at 450 or 500 or something.  4th edition Champions had these, and they were far tougher.  It's presumed that the higher level versions of the heroes are the ones that are really out there saving the day.
    --Rein in the Dr Destroyer/Takofanes types so that they can be successfully opposed by the high tier Champions (plus friends maybe).
    --Publish some higher point, but not necessarily higher damage class, solo heroes who are on their own.  Spidey might be a 700 point character, but he still might not hit for more than 12D6.  The rest of his points make him viable as a solo character.
    --Publish some Rogue's Galleries of villains who are designed to lose to the solo heroes.  They can be tough and have cool powers, but you'll see why, on average, they lose to the solo hero.  They could be threatening to a group though (but don't have to be).
    --Have some really high powered solo characters who are pretty much tied down by their villains.  Dr Enigma the World Wizard doesn't have time to mess with you, because he's keeping Tyrannon at bay.  Plus he might not hold up so well if Grond wanders into his house.
    --I'd have general tiers of how powerful certain things are, and I'd stick to them.  A good agent may have a 5 OCV, an average super has an 8, an average martial artist hero gets a 10, and a best in the world guy has a 13.  And I'd stick to it.
    --Most of all, I'd think about the role that these characters play within the game, and the game world.  They need to live and function well within their niche, but they sort of balance each other out.
     
    So let's say you decide that Gothic City is patrolled by Night Man.  He's a 632 point detective/gadgeteer/martial artist.  Occasionally he joins up with a team, but most of the time he just keeps his city safe from the strange and weird villains who call it home.  So Night Man is a best in the world martial artist type, so let's give him a 13 OCV.  27 Dex, with 4 levels in hand to hand, and like 8 different martial art maneuvers.  We'll also give him a 7 Speed because he's on his own (might have a sidekick, might not) and so he'll have to abort to dodge a lot.  But most of the time he's not fighting against characters with lots of defense, so his actual HTH damage doesn't need to be that high.  Maybe he can do an 11D6 Offensive Strike, so he hits a little below the average hero.
     
    In addition, Night Man has vehicles, a base, contacts within the city, plenty of skills, etc.  He's geared to fight his own villains.  Now you look at publishing the Gothic City Sourcebook, which will have like 40 villains in there, most of whom hate Night Man.  They are built so that it makes sense that Night Man can keep them under control.  Madame Catburglar isn't much of a combatant, she's on the lower end of the scale for damage and defenses (nobody is shooting at her with 5D6 RKAs, so she doesn't need to defend against it, and she only needs to be damaging enough to fight martial artist types).  But she's got great burglar skills.  If it wasn't for Night Man's skill set of Criminology 17-, and Deduction 17-, she'd be really hard to catch.  This gives you a great villain without making people wonder why she isn't out taking over the world.  Set it up so that of the 40 villains listed in the book, maybe only 5 or 6 of them are out there active at any one time.  Some are in prison, some are licking their wounds or planning their next job, some are presumed dead ("no one could survive that fall..."), and some haven't had their origins yet.
     
    Night Man himself isn't going to overwhelm any of the PCs.  He's specialized.  His points are spent efficiently... for his own campaign.  He doesn't need more than 11D6 to be effective in Gothic City.  He doesn't need more than 23 Defense -- his villains are on the lower end of the damage scale.  He does need a 40 Presence though, and his 7 Speed.  His 15- Contact with Commissioner Grayson is very useful.  In a generic Champions game he might seem a bit unbalanced, but he's perfect for his Night Man solo game.  A lot of his villains are only 350 points, but they're kind of unbalanced themselves.  Alligator Man is just an okay brick, not that durable.  60 Str, 30 Con, 5 Spd, 28 PD and 20 ED.  But he's got a 10 OCV and a decent stealth roll.  You can see why he's dangerous for Night Man, a real threat even though he's only about half the points.  Night Man will still win a close fight (especially with some attacks vs ED in his gadget belt), but it's dangerous for him.  But against a superhero team?  Alligator Man is dead meat.  A couple of 12D6 blasts from Fire Lad and he's toast.
     
    --
     
    If I were designing a Champions universe, I'd fill it out with characters like that.  A lot of villains would have a defined role, something they were really good at.  As it is, we've got a ton of villains who have a 60 point Multipower, 25-30 Def, 5-6 Spd, 8-9 OCV, and 35-45 Stun.  They're basically interchangeable, they're reasonably combat effective, and they make nice little brute squads together.  Villains go up in power from there, with some high earners throwing 15 or 20D6, and then there's Dr Darkseid and Professor Thanos chucking 30D6 or more.  Those last guys are built to take on those handful of top tier PC teams where everybody is in the 20D6+ range, and they're pretty good at that.  But if those teams don't exist in your game, you don't need those villains at all.
     
    There's a temptation to put in Superion, or Major Marvelous, somebody with 150 Str and an 11 Spd, 50 Defense with 50% Reduction, 120 Stun and 80" of Flight with a 15 OCV.  But he'd just be a counter to the very very high end villains, and then you've got to explain why he doesn't just fix every problem.  I think more thought needs to be put into the highest end villains, and not just about what else can be fit on their character sheet.  Otherwise you've got to either include a Superman, or a Justice Society with 25 different heroes to stop those guys.  The JSA might be better, because they'd only come together in full to stop the biggest threats.
  9. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Lawnmower Boy in Should Villains Be More Powerful Than Heroes?   
    This is true. The question is where that gets you when you're modelling the CU as a setting. Pamela's point is that the heroes are going to be overwhelmed by a human wave of villains. You can't have a global gang up on Dr. Destroyer in Djakarta when Dark Seraph chooses just that minute to level New York and Eurostar decides to use the opportunity to hold Zurich for ransom. 
     
    From a story telling angle, Pamela's fix to that makes perfect sense, which is why, as I understand it, she's brainstorming the way that you apply it to the actually existing CU. 
     
    Now, as a CU fan, I take the different approach of trying to save the published details. The problem that Pamela has identified is real, but her solution obviously doesn't work from my perspective. It also doesn't work if you're a fan of  climactic battles.  
     
    Perhaps we need to sit down and figure out just how much firepower the Forces of Good in the CU have to have to make this all even out. I'll admit that Isvatha V'han, in particular, makes this hard to do. Watch V'han take on Tyrannon and root for an injury? If so, maybe we're expecting Borealis to counter Dr. Destroyer. . . 
  10. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to borbetomagnus in Pamela's 6E Build Thread - Redux   
    This is a great thread @PamelaIsley
     
    Thank you!
  11. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Duke Bushido in A Modified Champions Universe   
    The Champions 6E book talks a lot about Characteristic Maxima, as does the 6E book.  But the Champions Universe doesn't really use it, obviously.  I would use a modified version of the rules.  I wouldn't charge extra.  I would just disallow scores over 20 without a proper thematic explanation.
  12. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Ninja-Bear in Building an All or Nothing Killing Curse   
    Except:
    1) The OP asked for a build not if the build was appropriate.
    2) This is a RPG not a story so Plot Armor is off in this case. 
  13. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Duke Bushido in A Modified Champions Universe   
    Wow.
     
    With only a couple of small exceptions ( _none_ of the published characters and settings exist in my games; supers first appeared the late 1800s, the first one being Jack Brass, and others following in the early 1900s, DCs capped at 10 for starting out)  and the difference in point distribution owing to different editions of the game, this is almost dead-on how all my supers campaigns start out.  Build small characters and grow them.  I can't help but like what you've done.  
     
    If the two folks above hadn't quoted it, I'd have missed it entirely.
  14. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from drunkonduty in A Modified Champions Universe   
    First, that's an awesome idea for a campaign.  Just awesome.  And it's election season, so it's timely. 
     
    I do like GRAB, particularly Bluejay, Black Diamond, and Cheshire.  Bluejay sort of inspired my original CO character (Bluebird) although she ended up looking more like Dove when I was finished (she does use Bluejay's goggles in the game).  I like some members of the Crimelords (Morgaine in particular, although she is probably the worst built character in all of CU; it's almost as though multipowers didn't exist when she was put together).  I'm not a huge fan of the other villain teams (and really dislike Professor Paradigm and the Cirque d' Whatever teams).
  15. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Spence in A Modified Champions Universe   
    Based on the helpful comments from others, this is the outline I've come up with:
     
    The Bluebird Champions Universe (BCU)
    A Modified Champions Universe Setting
     
    Main Differences from 6E Champions Universe
     
    1. Magic is not the source of all superpowers.  Superpowers come from a variety of means, and supermagic is just one possible origin for superhumans.
    2. Ignore all published dates in the 5E and 6E Champions Universe.  Unless a specific date is given in the BCU, all events simply occur in the past.
    3. There have been no extradimensional or alien invasions of the Earth.  Very few people on Earth believe in the existence of extraterrestrials.  Superheroes and villains with alien origins exist, but the public either does not believe their origin stories or is unaware of them.
    4. Other dimensions exist, but there are no known interdimensional empires or states.  Dimensions exist primarily as the domain of entities such as demons, Lovecraftian monsters, or unknown forms of energy.  There is very little extradimensional travel, even by these other entities, without elaborate summoning rituals.
    5. UNTIL, PRIMUS, and similar organizations do not exist.  Governments monitor superhuman activity, but regular defense and law enforcement agencies are responsible for dealing with any threats.
    6. Superheroes and supervillains cancel each other out in a geopolitical sense.  Governments and militaries are far more powerful than even the combined might of all superhumans, so superhumans are not a factor in global political maneuverings.  No government maintains a large superhero team to supplement its military forces.
    7. Supertechnology has not really spread enough to have any effect on the world’s technological level.  Virtually all villainous henchmen use real world guns, not blasters.
    8. Superhumans were largely inactive during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.  The modern era of superhumans began with the appearance of Vanguard about 12 years before the Battle of Detroit.  This coincided with the rise of Dr. Destroyer and Takofanes.
    9. The Battle of Detroit happened eight years ago.  The battle seriously weakened the superhero community, causing most teams to slowly disband and many solo heroes to retire (if they weren’t killed in the fighting).  For unexplained reasons, many of the villains active during this time also faded away.
    10. The new era of superheroes began with the founding of the Champions a “year or so” before the present year. Almost all villain origins should be considered to start within a few years of this event, unless there is a strong thematic reason to have them active in the earlier modern era.  (The purpose of this is to keep villain ages somewhat realistic.)
    11. Although in decline, the Sentinels and Justice Squadron (called Justice in the BCU) are still active, although they are rapidly being eclipsed in prominence by the Champions.
    12. The following master villains from 6E Volume 1 do not exist in the BCU: Istvatha V’han, Shadow Destroyer, Shadow Queen, Skarn, Tezcatlipoca, Tyrannon, and Doctor Yin Wu.
    13. The following master villains were “finally” defeated around the time of the Battle of Detroit, and are not active: Dr. Destroyer and Takofanes.
    14. The following villain teams from 6E Volume 2 do not exist in the BCU: Red Guard and Tiger Squad.
     
    Typical Hero Rules
     
    1. Typical "new" heroes are created either as low powered (300 point / 60 matching complications) or standard (400 point / 75 matching complications) characters.
    2. No character may have more than one characteristic above 20 without a strong thematic reason (no randomly high dexterities or constitutions, as is common in published material).  If someone has a Dexterity above 20 or an intelligence above 20 for example, there needs to be a reason they are one of the world’s greatest athletes or one of the most brilliant humans to ever live.
    3. In general, active points are capped at either 60 points (low-powered heroes) or 75 points (standard), with possible exceptions for an individual power.  DCs should be capped around 12. Villains and NPC heroes will be adjusted to compensate for this, as needed.
    4. Non-speedsters should not have a SPD above 6.
    5. Extradimensional origins should be avoided.
     
    ---Original Post Below --
    I love the Champions Universe.  I came to it after starting Champions Online and found that it was a superior version of Freedom City (from M&M) with more compelling characters and a lot more thought given to how superheroes and villains would interact with the real world (although, as I discuss below, that thought isn't always in the direction that I agree with).  Traditionally, the DC Universe has been my go-to for superhero adventuring, but I've become a bit detached from it over the last five to ten years. 
     
    I'm probably not going to do much PnP gaming in the near future, but as a thought exercise I wanted to continue a project I started when I first bought all my Hero/Champions products in 2009-2010.  I'd like to modify the Champions Universe.  Specifically, I'd like to de-Silver Age it and simplify it so that it resembles the real world a little bit more.  I wanted to get people's thoughts on what aspects would need to be excised or cleaned up to make it more "realistic" (obviously a relative term in the superhero world).
     
    There are actual rule mechanic issues that would need to be addressed to make the campaign less Silver Age (most obviously the imposition of some kind of logical characteristic maxima rules on the published characters; the number of random 20+ characteristics on characters that don't have any backstory to justify it is just staggering), but I'm not really interested in that so much as adjusting the history and flavor text of the world.
     
    So what Silver Age flavor elements jump out from the setting?
     
    The first problematical element is the prevalence of vast, intergalatic empires that make regular contact with Earth, but which, for some reason, haven't really changed how humans interact with themselves or other nations.  This has always bugged me.  So, using the 6E Champions Universe books as a guide, I would probably remove them all.  I would essentially eliminate everything in the "Beyond Earth" section starting on page 104.  This doesn't mean there can't be some aliens in the universe, but they aren't going to be obvious and their existence would be more in line with X-Files than with Star Trek (no alien ambassadors, no massive invasions, and disbelief at any superheroes that claim an extraterrestrial origin). 
     
    I would probably remove all references to extradimensional conquerors.  Similarly to alien empires, regular contact with beings like this would probably fundamentally alter society in ways that would make the world unrecognizable.  So I would cut basically everything from Realms Beyond (p. 107).  This would include dimensional supervillains like Skarn and Isvatha V'han (both of which never sat right with me anyway).  Again, this doesn't mean there aren't demons or other sinister threats lurking in other dimensions (like the Kings of Edom).  It just means that there isn't any regular, widely-known contact with them.  Dimensional portals aren't opening up every few years for vast armies to flow through to conquer the Earth.  That's just a bit too "out there" for me.
     
    Those are significant changes, but probably not the most critical. A big Silver Age element of the Champions Universe is the long-time existence of superheroes and their almost commonplace existence in the world.  I wonder if that should be scaled back.  For example, I had considered reworking the universe's timeline to shorten the period that superheroes have been active.  Maybe there were a few costumed avengers or even low-powered heroes during World War II, but they faded from existence after that.  There were very few to none in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s (this spares us the Watchmen issue of why didn't superheroes win the Vietnam War or dramatically alter the Cold War).  Superhumans became more common in the 1980s, when Dr. Destroyer also appeared.  This period of superhuman activity culminated in the Battle of Detroit, where many were killed, leading to another lull.  This opened up the opportunity for teams like the Champions to spring up, and suddenly became some of the most prominent heroes in the world.
     
    The reason I would do something like this is that it helps with the idea that many supervillains and some heroes in the Champions Universe are unrealistically old if they were operating continuously throughout the  period that the Champions Universe has existed.  Comics sometimes face this problem (like if Batman has been operating in Gotham for 20 years, then he, the Joker, Catwoman, etc. are really getting up there in years).  Dr. Destroyer is admitted to be 93 years old in 6E Villains book one.  At some point, you have to wonder how villains created during this period of Champions growth are still alive (just from old age concerns, much less constant combat with heroes and governments).  If you take the period of 1950-1980 basically out of the universe, you almost allow a reset on many of the character ages, allowing them to still be in operation in 2000, 2010, or 2020 (or whatever year you want to use as a baseline).  At some point, even 2000 or 2010 become long enough ago that you might need to take the 1980s or even 90s out, and set the Battle of Detroit in 2002 or something similar so you could use Destroyer, the Champions, etc. realistically.
     
    This section became a little bit of a rant, but this is a thorny issue that's always bothered me.
     
    Other Silver Age elements that might be scaled back could be the existence of things like Atlantis, Lemuria, and the Empyreans.
     
    I would probably also eliminate UNTIL because the UN simply hasn't developed in this direction in the real world.  I might get rid of superhero-specific departments in the United States as well, given how hard it was post-2001 for the government to reshape its national security agencies (although, arguably, that proved it was at least possible). 
     
    I would move VIPER's debut date to be more recent and maybe change it to be less HYDRA and more COBRA, particularly in terms of its supertechnology.  (On supertechnology in general, I would dramatically scale back the existence and use of sci-fi type weaponry that is a Champions staple.  There's no real point to having everyone use Star Wars-type blasters and it can affect many players and GMs' level of immersion.)
     
    This is way more than I intended to write to start.  What other things do people think could be safely trimmed or changed to take some of the Silver Age elements out of the universe? 
     
    I also want to make it clear that I'm proposing changes that suit my preferences and opinions and am not trying to tell anyone that this would be a "better" version of the CU  (I think it would be but not everyone is going to agree).  I am very well aware that some people really love the Silver Age and like those elements to be preserved in even modern era settings.
  16. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Duke Bushido in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I've never been a fan of shared universes across genres.  I'd prefer my superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy campaigns remain very separate.  Of course, I use very different products for each (relying on Forgotten Realms back when I did any kind of fantasy, Traveller/Star Wars for sci-fi, and Batman/CU for superheroes).
  17. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to drunkonduty in A Modified Champions Universe   
    Couldn't agree more on Dr Destroyer. Hate that character. But I do like the story potential for some of his surviving minions to be fighting for control of his organisation. So I'm happy to have him as part of the CU history. But a dead part.
     
    I have a soft spot for Mechanon, but his high level versions are too, too powerful. Hell, most of his minions, even the mooks, are too powerful. So I have no idea how I'd ever work it into a campaign...
     
    I like all the others you mention too. Tell me, how do you feel about GRAB? I'm a big fan. I want to use them every chance I get. As a group they're tough, but also much more interested in getting away than hurting heroes ( or anyone for that matter.)
     
    Over in the Holocaust name thread it was brought up that Haganstone and Invictus would make good rivals/enemies/allies of convenience for one another. I've been thinking about this. I'd love to run a campaign arc (not a full campaign, maybe about a dozen sessions, with a handful of other story lines  breaking them up) with these two running for President. I'd call it Fortunate Son.
  18. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I've never been a fan of shared universes across genres.  I'd prefer my superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy campaigns remain very separate.  Of course, I use very different products for each (relying on Forgotten Realms back when I did any kind of fantasy, Traveller/Star Wars for sci-fi, and Batman/CU for superheroes).
  19. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I have a CO lifetime account. It could be cool to log on some time and sync up with you to do an adventure or something. I'd have to knock the rust off as I haven't actually played the game in a long time, but I use it for screenshots of character costumes and could jump in easily. 
  20. Like
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from drunkonduty in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I've never been a fan of shared universes across genres.  I'd prefer my superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy campaigns remain very separate.  Of course, I use very different products for each (relying on Forgotten Realms back when I did any kind of fantasy, Traveller/Star Wars for sci-fi, and Batman/CU for superheroes).
  21. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to drunkonduty in A Modified Champions Universe   
    Not a fan of the "magic is the source of all and it waxes and wanes" thing either.
     
    I'm quite happy to run a single origin style game. (Even tried it once - everything was based on alien tech.  Iron Persons abounded.) I like the feeling of a tighter narrative frame work in which to operate. But if I do do this I want the catalyst to play a part of the narrative. Most of my games  have been open slather , any origin goes, set in the mostly-as-published CU.
     
    I also don't like the shared universe concept for all the official HERO settings. Not needed.  In fact I hate the thought of the Turakian Age, Atlantis, and Valdorian Age impinging on my bog standard supers universe. This is what alternate timelines and dimensions are for. Hell, I don't even need Champions 3000 to be in the same universe as the regular CU. It can be part of some whacky Legion of Super Heroes vs. DCU sort of thing. (I hope  I got the reference right, I don't really know the DCU.)
     
  22. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I hope you don't spare us. Personally I've enjoyed your nitpicking; it has surfaced some very interesting conversations. I look forward to further calling out of specific oddities.
  23. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    So, yeah, here's the fundamental problem. Either something needs no explanation because it is accepted as part of the premise, or people balk at accepting it and any explanation given is just a variation on "...because reasons".
     
    If someone sits down to play in a comic book style superhero game, the idea that people have unusual and even superhuman abilities is just part of the premise. 
     
    Marvel comics actually had some attempts at this...genetic manipulation by the Celestials or the Kree or whatever (I don't feel like looking it up) created the potential for superhumans on Earth. But it totally doesn't matter and hardly ever gets referenced. I can't recall if DC had something similar...I was more of a Marvel guy. You see a similar thing with "midichlorians" or whatever in Star Wars...hardly anyone needed a justification for the Force, and the one given cheapened / reduced / undermined the feeling of coolness. The fantastic is often better when left fantastical. And I say this as a person who enjoys hard sci fi. Realistic things benefit from realistic explanations...it heightens the verisimilitude, fantastical things do not and attempts to apply realism to it subtracts from rather than enhances the fantasy. For a more hardboiled supers universe a grand explanation could work, for a gonzo Marvel / DC style supers universe it just gets in the way at best. 
     
    The existence of superpowers in a supers setting requires no apology. 
     
    Why there are superheroes in the Champions Universe didn't require justification. In fact, it would have been more interesting to leave it undefined...if a player piped up suddenly and was like "um hey why were there no superpowers for a long time and then suddenly a bunch starting around WW2?" there's all kinds of more interesting places that could go. Maybe there were some, and they were just on the low down. Maybe that's what the origins of various myths were founded on...maybe Zeus wasn't a literal god maybe he was a mutant with lightning powers...or was several different superhumans over time who all got conflated together into one mythical character in the oral tradition. Maybe there's a more sinister reason. Maybe timeline manipulation. Maybe there was a deliberate effort at suppressing superhumans and destroying historical records of their existence. Maybe...
     
    Potentially exploring the "origin of superpowers" if the players wanted to do so just seems like more fun to me than saying, "...uh...cuz...well...magic."
     
    Would you like to buy a magic doorknob? We're running a deal this month. They're just like other doorknobs, except they're made of magic.
     
     
    It's a superhero universe. The "laws of physics" of the real world are more like what you'd call guidelines than actual "rules"...
     

     
    Magic as handwavium is just handwavium...you don't need the magic. You just wave your hand and say, "...superhero genre...", and the handwavium so generated by that grand hand wave is sufficient to power the whole thing with no further explanation necessary. In my opinion, of course
     

     
    (I added a smiley so you can see that I'm friendly even though I disagree with you on this)
     
     
    Right. So just scratch it out in the first place. It wasn't necessary, contributes nothing, and is easily ignored.
     
     
    Well, I'm going to call you on that. Maybe "most gamers", I have no way to quantify that in this case. But the issue isn't about what a fictional thing like "magic" really is or isn't. The issue is that it was unnecessary on the one hand and internally inconsistent on the other. 
     
    It isn't "magic" per se that is the problem. If the game had said "the source of all superpowers is genetic" or "the source of all superpowers is technology" or "the source of all powers is psionics" or "the source of all powers is <some other single source of powers>" it would be equally problematic.
     
    Personally, I believe...and I may be wrong, this is just my failing memory plus my INTJ intuition at work...that it was done in an attempt to unify Turakian Age with the Champions Universe. As soon as Takofanes pops up in both, they are on some kind of shared timeline. How did the timeline go from magical stuff back then to superheroes now and what was all that boring mundane stuff in the middle of the timeline between those two eras? Uh...well...uh...its ALL magic and magic waxes and wanes and as it does things wax and wane between super and normal. And after that, plonking other published settings down on that timeline became a thing. 
     
  24. Like
    PamelaIsley reacted to Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    No defense necessary. We all have our pet peeves that irritate us. Internal consistency and aligning a putatively "modern" setting with a realistic timeline is a concern for your enjoyment of the material; that's not invalid. 
     
    Stipulating specific dates is nearly always a problem in fiction...adding dates and real world events can add realism to the story but it also dates the fiction...after more than a few years have passed in the real world, the fiction that was specific on time and place details becomes a period piece even if it got it right relative to the point in time in which it was set. 
     
    There are of course tricks; add 10 to every year (next year you'd add 11, the year after 12, etc) being a simple one. You can also just ignore whats printed all together and generalize it; the Champions have been around a 'couple' years, the Sentinels for 'many' years, etc. Character X is 'young', Character Y is 'middle aged', etc.
     
    I tend to anchor on a few real world things for my supers campaign. WW1 & 2, the Korean war and Vietnam happened; the specifics may be different but the broad strokes are the same. Where it starts to get dodgy for me is into the mid 70's. This is probably not coincidentally my own personal event horizon...things that happened before I was alive I tend to think of differently than things that have happened during my lifetime. After the mid-70's I don't commit to anything specific unless it matters to a character background or concept. Similarly I don't commit to real world figures unless forced to. I also try to avoid controversial or divisive figures from real life unless its just unavoidable and even then I'll often use an analogue with a fictional name and an understanding that the portrayal of such a character is not meant to be a literal translation of the real world figure they are obviously alluding to.
     
    So there's basically current time, a few years ago, a decade ago, an elastic band of "a while ago" or "back in the day", then Vietnam, then pre-Vietnam (KW, WW2, WW1). A decade might get referred to, "back in the 80's", etc. Very rarely will I use an exact date...it has to provide some value or fill some need in the plot that can't be accomplished without naming a date. Like when doing something time travel related...dates start to matter a lot.
     
    For instance, Back to the Future would probably still work if they were completely vague on dates, but if you consider the sequels when it went from fairly tight framing on specific dates in the first movie (mid 80's, 50's, variant nows) to more general time pastiches (the time of gunslingers and steam trains, variations on the near future), the original set up in the first movie is all around tighter and has more dramatic tension while the followups feel (at least to me) looser and trade dramatic tension and some acknowledgement of or attempt at realism and period considerations for high adventure and situational comedy with less attempts at realism and more emphasis on cinematic concerns.
     
     
    Personally, I don't think the Champions are important. In fact, I think they are detrimental. Naming a team after the branding of the setting is just confusing. And they are not even the preeminent superteam...they are presented as noobs. It is not expected that the PC's will be on that team. They are obviously, to me, a stand in for player characters which means...again to me...that means they are in the way when I've got actual player characters to put into the world. The Champions also fill the starting PC superteam niche in the most detailed and focused upon city in the setting.  
     
    If I were setting my game someplace other than Millennium City, then fine...the Champions might exist in MC and my players PC's exist in the campaign city, and possibly their paths never cross in any meaningful way. But if I'm tap dancing around MC or just not using MC, then there isn't that much left. Why use MC or Vibora Bay or other made up places at all? Why not just stick with Detroit, New Orleans, NYC, etc? Is there even a CU setting per se? Or just some published characters sprinkled into a real world analogue using real world locations? 
     
    I don't know. For me, presenting MC as the focal point for the setting and then plonking a group of PC equivalents into it as being the established superteam there seemed very counterproductive...so I got rid of Champions the superteam straight away when I started running Champions the game again in the 5e era.
     
    When I reboot my version of the setting, the Detroit event and founding of MC is probably going to get written out. It's problematic to me. 
     
     
    I honestly don't think the CU is "recognizable" as such in any meaningful way. Most players have zero grounding in it. The entire thing is mostly just a portfolio of character write ups spread across a bunch of books, only loosely held together with a nominal timeline. There's a few significant differences from the real world such as the existence of Millennium City, which in a lot of ways create more problems than they solve, but other than that...not a lot of touchstones from the world itself.
     
    The setting is mostly defined by its classic villains such as Destroyer, Mechanon, VIPER, DEMON, etc...and to a lesser extent things like PRIMUS which mostly have meaning in relation to one or more of the villains.
     
    If you have some variation on the main villains in the setting, particularly the ones that have survived multiple edition changes, it is going to feel enough like "Champions". 
     
     
     
    It can be some combination of all of those things. Really, anything that doesn't feel right to you, get rid of it or replace it or tweak it until it does feel right to you. Or just don't mention or refer to it directly and if it never comes up in play then it didn't matter.
     
     
    Yeah, they are odd. But that's true of so much of the CU's published material. The tonal shifts are all over the place, from the deadly serious to the incredibly goofy.
     
    Personally, I don't like the silly stuff...like Professor Paradigm and his gang of whack jobs. There's a subset of CU material that falls into what I think of as the "Foxbat paradigm". That kind of material doesn't suit me, and detracts from the setting for me...but I recognize that it is also not intended for me.
     
    Rather than define a narrow strongly themed setting, the CU takes the shotgun approach. They just fill books with gonzo character write ups all over the place, with the understanding that a given GM is going to filter what works for them and what doesn't, and tweak anything that bugs them. I also understand that its an attempt to emulate Marvel and DC comics, where you see a similar range of serious to absurd over the years.
     
    For my purposes, the peripheral superteams that aren't in my way are useful just to fill out the background noise a bit. If I'm doing a bit where SNN (the Super News Network, super news super now!) is on in the background to fill out a scene the talking head anchor can be yammering on about The Sentinels superbattle with VIPER agents earlier that day and how team spokesperson Black Rose vowed the team would seek out the VIPER nest and shut it down. Things like that. It's just filler to ground the characters in the setting and the idea that things are happening beyond their little slice of the world.
     
    If one of the players is like "that sounds like more fun than this lame ass adventure you're running, lets go help the Sentinels fight VIPER" and convinces the rest of the group to do so, then getting more specific about the Sentinels and committing to some details on them becomes important. And if that were to happen and I did start to flesh out the Sentinels in response to the player engagement and PC action, its going to matter more to the players and those characters would start to represent something in the groups shared experience. But baring that, background elements such as they are nothing more than wallpaper and the less committed I am to specifics about them the easier it is for me to use them as narrative fodder. 
  25. Thanks
    PamelaIsley got a reaction from Killer Shrike in A Modified Champions Universe   
    I've already said where I stand on this issue.  Just to add one more thing though, Champions Universe (both 5E and 6E), meaning Steve Long, practically concedes that it's a bizarre and confusing metafact with the long explanation of the difference between "magic" (like what Witchcraft uses) and "MAGIC" (like what causes people to develop superpowers and, strangest of all, supertechnology).  One would have thought that once you got halfway through writing p. 33 and 34 in 6E CU (p. 29 and 30 in 5E), you might have decided that this explanation wasn't really helping with suspension of disbelief (even at a table of people willing to play a superhero game to begin with).  If you had used "cosmic energy", "quantum flux", or whatever, it would have taken one sentence and I think most people would have moved on.  Using magic as the explanation has just lead to lots and lots of text about the issue (and not just in the published books).
     
    It's just odd to say that "magic" is both a special effect and the cause of all super stuff in a setting.  
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