dei1c3

I will admit up front that my worst gaming experience is not nearly as bad as many listed here. I guess I've been pretty lucky because not only was it not that bad...it was pretty much my only bad experience gaming.

 

I was playing a D&D campaign with some people from work plus my wife (who used to work at the same company). It was a pretty casual campaign with more emphasis on having fun together and hearing the GMs story than "phat lewtz" or "mad exp". At least it was at first.

 

After two sessions, the GM asked if anyone minded if he invited 2 more people into the campaign. One was another co-worker and the other was his girlfriend. I didn't really want them to join (they weren't my favorite people), but no one else seemed to mind, so I kept quiet (lesson learned on that front!).

 

So, they joined...and proceeded to annoy the crap out of me for the next few weeks.

 

He was all about "working the rules"...you know the type. The guy who has the exact right combination of skills, stats and gear to maximize their combat ability. (Is this what people mean when they say "minmaxxing"?) Further...as I said, this was a pretty casual game and we hadn't been playing with all the rules and when he found out that we weren't using a rule he had planned to "work", he would start a debate about it. At one point (I forget the specific rule), he sent out a 5 page email detailing why the rule in question was a) vital and not that hard to use anyway (complete with a "dumbed down" description of the rule).

 

He was also the kind of guy who had to make sure we were doing everything in the best possible way everytime, which basically meant the group went from friendly discourse about the big stuff to "serious debate" about every decsion, big or small. It once took us 30 minutes to determine shifts for guard duty when we stopped to camp for the night!! It got to the point where you'd be faced with the choice of arguing with him over everything, or just letting him decide what he thought was best...neither was very satisfying.

 

She on the other hand, could care less about the rules (she barely understood them as far as I could tell)...as long as she got to be involved in EVERYTHING. She would do things like insist on being up with the Rangers whenever they went to scout something, despite the fact that she had no tracking or silent move ability. Or insist she get to try to open the chest before the rogue...again despite lacking the required skills.

 

The latter example was clearly motivated by her other charming trait: Loot hog! She would do things like write down the loot as the GM read it off and then claim that since she was the one who had written it down, she had it on her person. She'd then dole out the loot, keeping an extra money or odd pieces that didn't divide up evenly. At one point, we found a royal armory that had a small number of very special weapons (well balanced, ornate, etc...). Much to her chagrin, she couldn't use any of them (wrong skills). She tried to argue that she should get one even though every weapon could be put to use by someone who could use it and would consider it an upgrade. She didn't get away with that.

 

The "best" part of all this was their interaction with each other. She basically spent the entire time trying to undermine his character in-game because "her character didn't like [his character class]" (complete with the "What? I'm roleplaying" look of innocence). It was a constant "I keep an eye on him...cause I don't trust him." and "Are you all going to let him get away with that? I say we tie him up and leave him behind!" He in turn would spend the entire time berating her about rules. He would constantly point out every mistake or misuse of rules she made...before even the GM could say anything. If I had a nickel for everytime he told her "...which you would know if you had bothered to read the rules.", I'd be a wealthy man.

 

Eventually (after 2 or 3 game sessions), I bowed out of the group claiming that I was too busy (which everyone knew was a lie since we all worked together). It wasn't my intent, but that spelled the end of the campaign as several other people quit right after I did. Ironically, we all came to find out that none of us wanted them in in the first place, but none of us wanted to "rock the boat", and that we were all sick of playing with them. Once again, lesson learned.

 

The good news is that the demise of that campaign lead to discussions of Champions and next month I will be GMing the group through their first Champions campaign.

 

Oddly enough, I seem to have forgotten to invite the Rule Worker and the Loot Hog.

 

Chris

One of my favorite gaming moments came a long, LONG time ago...1982 to be exact. It was during my very first Champions campaign. My friends and I had been playing literally, since before the game even came out...our GM had picked up a copy of the rules at a convention before it was available in stores. We had started playing in the Spring and had played pretty much non-stop all Summer long.

 

We were Omega Force: Captain Alloy, Tasmanian Devil, Aviator and, my character, The Darkling (a character who "drew on the power of a blackhole" for his abilities). And we were having a blast.

 

Then in the Fall, my family decided to move across country.

 

So, about a week before the move, my group got together for what would be my last session with them. It turned out to be the climax of a storyline the GM had been running for about 3 months. As we faced down the supervillain (a Dr. Doom-clone) at his lair we learned that while we had stopped his plan to take over the world, he had a "fail-safe" device that would destroy the world. The villain told us:

 

"If the world will not bow to me...I will destroy it! Even as we speak, my [suitably nefarious sounding device] has begun opening a gateway to a blackhole and when it is fully open...the Earth shall be devoured!!! And there's nothing you pitiful fools can do to stop it. [Mocking] Unless you happen to have a spare blackhole, that is. Bwaaaaahahaha!!"

 

And as he said this, the GM looked right at me and smiled.

 

After trying to destroy the gateway with my powers and failing, I realized (with a little hinting by the GM) that only one thing could close it...a supreme sacrifice had to be made.

 

"Remember me...and keep fighting the good fight", I told my friends. And then...

 

The Darkling lept directly into the growing maw of the blackhole gateway. The two blackholes, one the heart of a hero, the other the tool of a villain, counteracted each other in a spectacular explosion, sealing the gateway and saving the Earth.

 

RIP - Darkling.

 

I found out later that the GM had been planning this pretty much since he found out I was moving. I always thought it was very cool to have him create that situation as a kind of "last hurrah" for that character.

 

Chris

Heh heh...it's ok because Talia wears glasses and styles her hair differently than Metalia...so no one's the wiser.

 

 

Chris

We have a winner!!

 

I read off your suggestions to her and she likes Metallia (although dropping 1 of the l's) with a secret id firt name of Talia.

 

Works for me...works for her. Much thanks.

 

Chris

So, my wife is giving Champions a try for the first time (actually, the whole group other than me, the GM, are new to HERO but not RPG). Her character started out as a kind of homage to Colossus (because she knows he's my favorite comic character...ain't she sweet?), but as we've discussed the concept back and forth, she's decided that rather turning into a being of solid metal, her character will become liquid metal.

 

We've got a working list of powers so far (stretching, desolid for getting through cracks, damage reduction (physical but energy), etc...) and a nice background/origin story. But we're totally failing on a name. And thus, I turn to you fine and creative people for help.

 

So far she's rejected the following:

 

- Anything with "Quicksilver" in it

- Viscosity

- Metallica (although another "feminization" of the word metal might work)

- Liquid (she's afraid a friend of ours will call her "Lick" for short

 

So far we're leaning towards Mercuria, but only by default...we're not that high on it.

 

Are there other liquid metals besides Mercury? Other properties that might make sense as a basis? Something obvious I am missing?

 

Any and ALL help is most appreciated.

 

Chris

An identical horde of supernaturally stunning pop-culture icons.

Just tell me she doesn't look like Brittany Spears...

 

 

(I know, I know...you said pop-culture icon, but when I first read it, my brain changed it to "pop music icon").

 

Chris

Great...thanks for the info and reviews. I'll probably be picking it up soon.

 

Chris

Thanks all for the response. Not the reaction I expected...but it does make sense to me now that I have thought about it. I may still compile the list...but I'll do so for my use, not theirs.

 

One of the things I am doing is to run a quick solo adventure (pretty much combat only) with each player as they finish their character to "show them the ropes" of combat. I'll probably point out a few things to them (such as pushing, pulling their punches versus normals, etc...) but other than that, I'll just let them role play it and worry about the rules myself.

 

Thanks for the other suggestions, too (many I've actually done or plan on doing, others hadn't occurred to me but have merit).

Sounds like you want to take 4 to 6 tables from the Hero System Resource Kit's GM screen

I saw this on the site here. Is it a 5th Edition product? Is it a worthwhile investment? It sounds like it probably has the information I am looking for and since I still want to compile that info for my reference, it might worth picking up.

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks again.

 

Chris

I'm in the process of ramping up for a Champions campaign with a bunch of people who are brand new to the Hero System and have varying experience with roleplaying in general. In our last campaign (which was a 3rd Ed. D&D fantasy campaign) there was some problems/ill-will because some of the people knew the gaming system significantly better than others and there were some exchanges like this:

 

Player A: OK, I attack with my bow.

GM: OK, roll...a 9...you just miss.

Player B: OK, I take aim for a full round to get the +2 to hit bonus.

Player A: What?!? I didn't know you could do that. I would have done that if I had known!

 

Since my main goal in getting this group together and playing this campaign is just to have fun and play as superheroes, I am trying to minimize the advantage/disadvantage that varied levels of knowledge of the game system cause. I want to reward people for smart play and fun roleplaying, not for the fact that they understand the Attacks of Opportunity rules (D&D reference) better than everyone else. After all, knowing the rules is my job.

 

As such, I am trying to put as much of the burden for rules as possible on me. As an example, I've spent a lot of time with the players helping them with their character concepts and writing them up in game terms, more than I would with a normal Champions group.

 

Another idea I have is to create a chart of all of the reasonably common actions that players can take. Sounds like a huge list, I know...but I think if I focus on the rule-specific ones, it might be doable. For instance, I'm not going to put "Talk to NPC" or "Go on patrol" on the list...those are a) just common sense and more about role playing than rules. I guess I am thinking along the lines of starting with the Combat Maneuvers list and extending it to include other things you can do in and outside of combat. Each line would list an action and (where applicable) the amount of time it takes to do, any CV or Damage modifiers and any additional info. The goal here is to be able to provide a list of options to the player so that, even though they will be using their main power or attack most of the time, they are at least aware of the other options that are available in case their main attack isn't working or circumstances call for a different tactic...or they just want to try something new.

 

Off the top of my head, the list would definitely include:

- All combat maneuvers (customized for each player based on any martial arts they may have.

- Things that modify combat like rolling with a punch or pulling a punch

- Pushing

- Skill and characteristic rolls

- PRE attacks

- "Special maneuvers" with their powers (such as spreading an EB or going to Non-combat movement for the extra speed)

 

So...is this list bigger than I am thinking it is? Again, the list above is off the top of my head and, to be honest, I haven't completely read the 5th Edition rules yet (although I have been playing Champions since 1st Edition), but I think it's a pretty good start.

 

So, with that in mind...what else should go on that list?

 

I am open to any and all ideas. Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

Chris

I loved that show when I was what...10? Then I saw it again a while back on Sci Fi and was like "Uh...I liked this why?"

 

Heh.

 

Chris

Originally posted by dbcowboy

But, I see that the Teen Titans will start next month on Cartoon Network. Not sure how good that show will be based on the little clips and commercials they've shown.

Teen Titans, while also a Bruce Timm show, is marketed at (and thus written for) younger audiences. As such, I plan to watch it but my expectations are tempered. At the very least, it'll give me that "superhero cartoon" fix I seem to so desperately need until October when JL season 2 starts.

 

Chris

I enjoyed the show...right up to the end when they talked about what happened in the late 90's (i.e. greedy speculators ruining the market) and the current state (i.e. the end may be near)...because I just started reading comics again after a 10+ year layoff and I'll be pissed if they just go away. Grr.

 

Heh.

 

Chris

Originally posted by Crimson Arrow

Actually a very interesting idea, although was there a reason they all had low BODY scores?

I don't think the article included ANY background about these villains. They were merely presented as a way for GMs to try to rein in overly aggressive characters. I think it was left to the GM who used them to come up with a justification for why they had such low Body.

 

Chris

Their was a writeup in an old Adventurer's Club about something allong those lines. Only a brick with huge PD but little ED. Villains easily killed by over zealous heroes.

I remember that! It was an idea to deal with players who charge in "guns blazing" so to speak, without regard for deadly force.

 

It was a trio of villains: Goldrush (speedster), Goldbrick (brick...duh) and Goldmind (3 guesses...yep, Mentalist). They were extremely tough looking and had just enough defense so that the cops did no damage at all to them. The catch was that they had almost ZERO BODY, so when the PCs more powerful attacks started to get through the villains' defenses...SPLAT! Dead and dying villains, lying in a big pool of blood, while cops and citizens looked on in horror.

 

Good times...

 

Chris

Great...thanks very much for the info, guys, especially for the variety of possible solutions. Always nice to have options...

 

Chris

Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I am wondering where (on-line or in the Seattle, WA area) you all get your miniatures for use with Champions?

 

Ideally, I'm looking for a decent selection of semi-generic heroes (maybe a caped, un-caped and brick for each sex) as well as a few guys in business suits (corporate types are the true villians, heh heh) and goons (uniformed as well as plain clothes).

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris

My favorite team name (and there have been many since I started playing in 1981) was Counter Force Prime .

 

CFP was the United Nations' super-powered response team. Each member was from a different country. And yes, there was a Counter Force Second...it was an NPC group in the mold of the Legion of Substitute Heroes.

 

BTW...first post so...hey, all!

 

Chris