Cyberknight

Aircraft Carrier From what I can dig up, it might be fun to watch your players deal with the 'fun' of having such a 'cool' base. The carrier sold on eBay (based on the details provided by the seller) looks to be one of the Royal Navy's "Majestic" class ships, transferred to Australian service. Watching the heroes' faces when they try to refuel the beast should provide at least a few moments of pure delight...think about the price of a few hundred tons of high-grade fuel oil. Somebody just went from "Well off" to "Poor" in one easy stop. Once they recover from that shock, introduce them to their new base's thousand or so "DNPC - Competent Normal" ship's crew. 1940's era tech was manpower-intensive, and steam turbine propulsion systems were an order of magnitude worse than most (if I recall correctly, lighting off one boiler was a task that required eight men, and there are *lots* of boilers). If they're still interested, you might bring up the idea of upkeep. There's a lot of it. In fact, there's a metric TON of it. To make matters worse, the hull in question is ~60 years of age, which makes maintenance a high priority. In short, start showing your players the down-side to the idea, and I'm fairly sure that they'll decide to go elsewhere...and if they don't, they've just opened up a whole host of plot hooks and one-off adventures for you. Cyberknight

Theme Songs No, this Cyberknight isn't the published one (and no infringement of copyright or trademark is intended). Once the other players heard the song, "Honor to Serve" by Ray Bolz became the theme song-by-acclamation for my resident and long-serving Boy Scout-in-a-Can. Cyberknight

Actually, by 1939, radar isn't particularly 'cutting edge', even in Germany. Gesellschaft für Elektroakustische und Mechanische Apparate (GEMA) was working on a 2-meter range-and-bearing system as early as 1934, and had a primative but successful 1.8 meter / 165MHz air-search set under development in February of 1936. Given that, it shouldn't be that large a stretch for a super-technical villian type to have a decent if not spectacular radar capability in place by 1939, particularly with the large amount of space available in a Zeppelin. Cyberknight.

Anoter airship fan?! I really wish the Navy had built one of the 'second generation' zepp/carriers...as I understand it, the design would've been 925' long and carried 9-12 aircraft including torpedo bombers. Another thing that's more in line with this thread, though, would be the possibility that this Nazi Zep would have air-search radar. The early radar antennas somewhat resempled bedsprings, and were rather bulky to be fitted on ships, but you could hide a *huge* array in the structure of a zeppelin, and create a (for the time) frighteningly effective "AWAC". Rambling on...if anyone's into 'alternate history', imagine the impact one of those hypothetical rader-carrying zepps could've hade if it were cruising 250 miles or so from Pearl Harbor on 7 December '41. Yep, time for more meds. Cyberknight

You might have better luck looking for info on the Acron's sister ship, USS Macon. http://www.moffettfieldmuseum.org/gallery/macon.html http://www.oldgloryprints.com/Sparrowhawks%20of%20the%20Macon.htm I hope those links came across correctly. Cyberknight

Not quite as pretty But more in-period, you might take a look at the USS Akron and USS Macon. They were rigid airships designed as flying aircraft carriers, with 5-6 fighters each. The concept seemed to work pretty well, other than a bad habit of breaking up when flown into / through thunderstorms. A good Google search can find all the photos you need. I seem to recall a line-drawing of a follow-on class that would've been even larger, and carried a full squadron of scout planes. Cyberknight

Love the idea of a super-zep If you really want to be odd / unusual, what about a 'catamaran' design with a pair of rigid hulls (each of course festooned with power turreted 7mm and 12.7mm MGs), with a platform section between them. The top of the platform would give you a place for your aircraft launch / recovery systems, the labs could be in the mid-decks platform area, and the platform's underside could have the obligatory bomb racks, gantry cranes (for getting heavy supplies from ground bases, and an escape chute / escape pod for the Master Villian. You could even have 'towers' at the corners of the platform mounting heavier AA guns (3-5") as a tip of the hat to the Baron's former castle. I think I'll go take my meds now Cyberknight

We've met. It was a *long* fight, and it was a messy fight, and we won't even discuss the collateral damage (Let's just say that the team's insurance agent isn't speaking to Leviathan these days ). That's another fun thing about bricks. The fights if two of them meet tend to be spectacular! Cyberknight

Folks have pretty well covered all the basic reasons that bricks are fun, but let me add something else that I haven't seen mentioned. Being a fan of Growth-based bricks, I have to confess that yes, I love laying down the smack on the bad guys, and yes, I love shrugging off damage that would incapacitate the rest of the team...but my 'guilty pleasure' is the massive PRE attack. There's nothing like watching an entire Viper attack gape as a 22' man-mountain looms over their puny selves Cyberknight

Hmmm...Casting Call for Trinity? Cyberknight (Dr. Ethan I. Rheingold) - Donald Sutherland (The clean-shaven, well dressed version from "Path to War" Anvil (Rachel Sharone) - Yasmeen Ghauri (Technically not an actress, but she was the baseline for the character art) For the other folks, I'm still looking. Cyberknight

Didn't see this in FAQ, and was curious. I was thinking of posting the back-story I wrote for a character (at the player's request) for review and critique. Problem: Adult language, Racially offensive language (in a couple of places, not as a general theme) and a rather adult (but not explicit) incident (What can I say? Substance and Family abusing adults aren't pretty people known for genteel speech.) I'm not sure if such material can be posted at all, and if it can, should it carry a warning in its header (something like: Character Origin - Adult / Offensive Content!)? If someone could point me to a set of guidelines, I'd appreciate it. Cyberknight

Re: What would your Character Do? Cyberknight: Move to Doctor D, activate the remote interface system built into my armor to access Destroyers life-support systems and initiate triage care until he can be moved to a safer location for removal from his armor and incarceration. Direct Anvil (Battlesuit brick), Long Tom (Battlesuit with a real penchant for long-range fire support), and Nighthawk (General-purpose battlesuit) to press the engagement with the agents... Anvil: Glare at the boyscout-in-a-can (agian), and (very calmly) inform said BSIAC that the agents are already being well and truly taken care of. Long Tom: Lay a smoke screen between DD and his agents per request, and work up a firing solution for the anti-armor round that has Destroyer's name on it. Nighthawk: Are you CRAZY, old man? That (unflattering description of DD removed by the Comics Code Authority!) finally goes to the Hell he deserves, and you want to save his life? SOMEBODY GET A STRAIGHT JACKET! SUPER SIZED!

That's more of a "Capsule Preview" than a tease...now, Viperia in a swimsuit...*that* is a tease...and we're back to the Omega Destruction Rifle and Battle Bikini Seriously...sounds great. Where do I sign up to pre-order?

I personally like bricks. Yes, the basic brick tactic is fairly simple (close and engage), but the sheer power (and the ability to soak up damage if something goes wrong) allows a creative brick to do some really spectacular stunts. Toss your cute little plasma bolts all you want. I'll guarantee you that the 24' slab of solid muscle looming over the Villian of the Day will be the one making the big PRE attack And if you get tired of being a pure HTH sort, you can always buy an EB (CHARGES, OAF - Large Ball Bearings), or just toss the occasional Buick

Code vs Killing (total) may make no sense in the 'real world', or even in the campaign world if the villians keep coming back again and again and again. Then again, super-folk aren't exactly normal. God love 'em, normal folks just don't put on spandex (or Exoticum, or Whateverite) costumes and play in traffic It makes no sense *to us*, the players / GM's / hecklers who have read the books and know that Real Villians Never Die. To the characters we play, however, CVK might make perfect sense. In the current campaign, the man in the Cyberknight armor is a Korean War veteran (yes, he really *is* that old). He spent four wonderful years eyebrow-deep in mud, freezing his (deleted) off, and wiping the blood and body parts of his friends off his equipment when things went wrong...Enough is enough. He's killed in the past, and he knows how it feels on both ends of the bullet. Will he take a life? No way. Been there, done that, the nightmares make me sweat on the t-shirt. Paradoxically, he does support the death penalty, which might be another interesting discussion: Can you reconcile CVK and a justice system that has a Death Penalty statute ? Cyberknight *SIG GENERATOR - OFFLINE*

The problem with mass-produced Psi detectors / Psi screens is that you've started a slow but almost unstoppable 'techno creep'. It's not hard to explain why VIPER uses laser rifles while the US Army uses cased projectiles (Cost, durability, organizational inertia)...but once you start making super-tech generally available, things can get out of hand even faster than they can with an overbearing mentalist. I like your general idea though, and it's one that I actually did use...but the 'psi detectors' in this instance were telepaths for hire who acted as psychic bodyguards for the wealthy and / or influential. Where, you ask, did the 'talent agency' in question find so many telepaths? That, gentle reader, is a story for another time.

Just my $0.02 on battle suit design. I try to let the game mechanics flow from the nature of the suit itself. Does the suit have armor, or just Damage Resistance? I answer that based on my mental image of the beast. A suit that's essentially a walking slab of Exoticum plate gets armor, while a 'battle bikini' will get Damage Resistance or Force Fields. Weapons in a multipower? That's pretty much a standard feature of most battlesuits, with ultra slots to represent a whole array of weapons that the pilot can select. I'd keep things as simple as possible in any case. There's enough to keep track of in a Champions scenario (Phase / Dex order, your stun, your END, situational awareness of your teammates, how many slices of pizza are left in the Papa John's box...) without needing an owner's manual and or reference card to figure out how the powers on your suit interact Cyberknight

Rechan, I feel your pain. There is one quick and dirty (and unsporting) solution to the Area Effect, Continuous Attack mentalist, though. Competent Normal (Sniper Specialist) w/2.5D6 RKA, Extended Range, No range Mods (OAF Winchester .308 w/bipod and scope). Heavy handed? Yes. OTOH, so is a continuous mental attack

Your point about the universe not being carved in stone is well taken, Levi, but the approach you mention in passing sounds like it could cause its own form of problem. You mention giving your Campaign Grond 30 points of hardened mental defense, just in case your PC psi can stop him before dramatic tension is created...unfortunately, what you (or I, as GM) see as 'dramatic tension' can be (and often is) seen by the players as either the god-Villian syndrome, where the villian in question is immune to (or at least well protected against) anything the team can throw at him or it, or as 'picking on' a particular character. Mentalists in particular, in my experience, seem sensitive to the latter interpretation, and sometimes, rightly so. It's very tempting to say "I have a mentalist here, so everybody gets Mental Defense", but that's not always the best approach to the problem. Cyberknight

I *do* hope that Thunder Dragon managed to Dive for Cover...then again, getting a face-full of Vi..err...never mind, I'll go take my meds now, and switch to decaff.

I flat overlooked Mystic and Gadgeteer. Some of the others, though, I have to question as being Archeotypes, regardless of how the books label them. I never did understand how "Patriot", "Battlesuit" and "Weapon Master" got promoted from character concept or special effect to Archeotype. No disrespect intended (just ask the people who game with me. Patriotic is a trademark for my characters, and OIF - Power Armor is so common for me that when I *don't* have it, I get strange looks.) IMO, Patriot is a psychological limitation, battlesuits are special effects / foci, and Weapon Masters are either Martial Arts types (if melee), or crack shots (if ranged).

Sparked by reading a post in another thread. As far as I can tell, there are certain archeotypical Champions characters: Brick, Energy Projector, Mentalist, Martial Artist / Speedster, Shapechanger. (Did I miss one?) So... Which type do you (As either GM or player) consider 'scariest' / most intimidating, and why do you have that opinion? Cyberknight

Language Check I was considering posting a bit of the back-story for one of the characters from my campaigns. Before doing so, I thought I'd ask about allowable language...stories involving very abusive parents are rarely pretty, particularly when said parent also has a 'substance abuse problem'. Would such a story be: Unallowable on the board? Allowed, but only with a "WARNING - ADULT / RACIALLY OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE" disclaimer? or "Language is fine, but keep everything else PG-13" ? Cyberknight

Viperia's move-throughs were the stuff of legend in one campaign, at least. Particularly when one of our particularly innovative (and underhanded) Martial Artists managed to martial-throw her into the side of a very large building. Oh, the (super) Humanity! Cyberknight

A truly cruel GM would have Viperia not only weilding an Omega Destruction Rifle, but doing it wearing a Battle Bikini [tm]. Who'd notice the rifle? Cyberknight