DoctorItron

Re: Need help hammering out a concept...

If it's area of effect, I believe you only need line of sight to the target. As it's (I assume) no range, then the "target" could be the inside of your eyelids for all it matters - it's always in LOS. I agree that the effect can then pass through any object which lacks mental defense.

 

As such, I don't even see this as an exception to the rules and I see no need for Mind Scan to make the effect work.

 

The other issue for AoE mental powers is that, technically, as long as they hit the DCV 3 target hex, they hit everyone in the area. You might want to shave 1/4 off the area effect advantage by making the area of effect nonselective (ie the character must roll to hit each target in the area), so high Ego targets may not have their thoughts picked up at all.

Additionally, I think a combined No Range and Area Effect power always hits. I don't remember whether that rule is written in the book, an FAQ, or a post from Steve Long.

Re: Need help hammering out a concept...

15 EC Psychic Pheonix Powers

SNIP

This "psychic phoenix" could justify any psionic, fire, or birdlike power within that Elemental Control. That's too open ended for me. I think it should be limited to just 1 of the 3.

Re: A VIPER Success

Glad to hear VIPER is having some success in other universes.

My VIPER recently took a major trouncing - they lost their main Asian computer base to the PCs. VIPER was able to destroy the data, but they've temporarily shut down worldwide, as a precaution.

In my game, VIPER = Vice, Iniquity, Profit, Extortion, Revenge. Revenge is 1 of their 5 "commandments", so the PCs will be having some trouble in the future.

Re: Need help hammering out a concept...

Here's one way to shave some points:

Get rid of the Mind Scan. I think that Area Effect telepathy would be an exception to the "you must see the target or have Mind Scan to use a mental power" rule. As a GM, I'd allow Area Effect Telepathy to go through walls and other objects.

Re: Superhero Images

This is a character from my campaign' date=' his stats are posted elsewhere (check the Jet City Champions Campaign Log or the Civic Guard threads). This is the Fremont Troll.[/quote']

 

Fremont Troll is a better name than what I would have come up with. If I was naming him, it would probably be Captain Caveman

Re: What variation of Champions do you play in?

My current campaign, The New Defenders:

Rules: 5th ed.

Villains: Mix of customized versions of published villains (Teleios, Mechanon, Black Paladin) and my own creations.

Setting: Custom. I don't use any of the CU history.

Re: Hero System is Just Alright With Me

The only house rule in my current campaign is that we use 1d4 rather than 1d6-1 for the killing attack STUN multiplier. It takes the big 5 away from the STUN lottery.

This change reduces the average multiplier a teensy bit, to x2.5 from x2.67. Such a small difference doesn't require any point cost adjustment.

Re: The Greatest American Hero (book).

This topic again? Time for another vote for Strike Force, IMO the best RPG supplement ever written. Aaron Allston created a mighty fine book.

My favorite part of Strike Force was the GMing section. Great advice for new and experienced GMs alike, and much of the advice is applicable to any RPG, not just Champions.

Re: Superman for President?

Okay, I've waited for the flames to clear before posting. Play nice, guys

Paragon has been working to protect the President. Drafting him wouldn't increase the President's protection. Drafting him *after* he announces his candidacy would be seen by voters as an attempt to unfairly influence the election.

For a real-world comparison, imagine the backlash if Bush forced Kerry back into active military service - if Paragon had to drop his Presidential bid as a result, virtually every one if his supporters would vote for Kerry, and many tentative Bush voters would change to Kerry, too. Bush would guarantee Kerry the election by drafting Paragon. Note that I'm not sure if there are any real-world legal limits to the President's power to recall someone who's been retired for 30 years, but the political backlash would be great enough to make it a moot issue in my game.

Paragon is not a single issue candidate. The "vote for me because I have superdefenses" angle is why Paragon decided to run, but he has opinions on all the other issues. I'm not looking to bog my game down with politics, but suffice it to say that his ideas are mainstream enough to give him a shot at the election.

Paragon is resistant to mental powers, but he isn't a mentalist and cannot protect others. Paragon fears an America controlled by a villain, and his personal opinion that the best way to prevent that is to get elected. To him, that's the most important issue, but not the only one.

Re: Superman for President?

To say nothing of the fact that the President has more than enough resources to keep himself protected' date=' not the least being putting Paragon on protective detail.[/quote']

 

Paragon will resign from PRIMUS before announcing his candidacy. PRIMUS is part of the Dept. of Justice, like the FBI, not a military organization - Paragon can't be forced onto protective detail.

 

Superpowers have only been around for 4 years. The "resources" to guarantee the President can't be mind controlled don't exist. Crude technological measures have been developed to protect the White House and other key government buildings, but the devices aren't portable.

 

Not many Secret Service agents have mental powers. Some psionics may have applied for jobs, but these people are fairly new hires. Does the President really want some new Secret Service agent inside his head? Only a *top* agent would be trusted, and there aren't any of them with psionic powers. Considering no portable psionic shielding, and no experienced psionic agents, the President's mental protection probably works like this:

 

Inexperienced agents are limited to checking the crowd for active use of mental powers. They are not allowed to pry into the President's brain, though. Periodically, a larger team of psionic agents checks the President. Half the team checks the President for mind control, while the 2nd half makes sure the 1st half isn't doing anything wrong.

 

This level of "paranoia" regarding mind control would be prudent.

 

Additionally, the Secret Service doesn't discuss their security procedures. They would probably be even more secretive about their mental protection. Paragon helped develop some of those procedures, and he knows they are far from perfect. Paragon is legally and ethically prohibited from discussing details, but he can try "Is the President truly safe from mental domination? I've fought evil mentalists and won!" while on the campaign trail.

Re: Superman for President?

Are you an American citizen? Are you over 18 years of age? Welcome to the Army' date=' Paragon. You're now assigned to protecting the President. Problem solved. Have a nice day. Aint Selective Service grand?[/quote']

 

Even if there was a draft, if you're old enough to be President (35), then you are too old to be drafted.

 

Plus, Paragon was already drafted before he had superpowers. He served out his time and was honorably discharged after Vietnam. Laws probably prevent re-drafting the same person after so much time had passed.

Re: Team Vehicle for Review

FYI, here's a drawing of a neat-looking aircraft. Copied it off the web months ago. You might find other good superplane pics by searching for "switchblade" or "aurora".

Re: Team Vehicle for Review

655 mph is, IIRC, just below Mach 1. The jet will be slightly faster than commercial jets and military transports, slower than jet fighters.

Re: Team Vehicle for Review

DEF? I don't see it anywhere.

Machine gun: Needs charges, END battery, or 0 END. Also, is a 1d6 attack really going to do anything useful? It's not like you're flying around gunning down civilians (I hope).

Maybe put the weapons into a multipower. That will let you buy a much more effective machine gun. Downside is that only one weapon can be fired at a time.

Re: Multipower/Combat Rules Clarification

Force Wall can be used as a physical obstruction.

For example, let's say your character has cornered someone. The only way for the opponent to get out is through a single opening. Force Wall can be used to seal that opening.

Re: The Event

The only "event" I've GMed has been a 4 week heroes vs. villains adventure. My friend ran the heroes, I ran the villains. IIRC, the villains won because they did a better job cooperating with each other than did the heroes. I'd never do it again - it was too much work coordinating the simultaneous actions of different groups.

Re: Superman for President?

SNIP

As for the player:

 

Depending on the campaign, being president could either be a lot of fun or very tedious. It would work much better for a solo campaign than for one with a team. Otherwise, it will be hard for him to remain as involved with group missions, etc.

Oh, Paragon is an NPC, not a player character. I'm just fishing for ideas to make sure I don't have any gaping holes in my election subplot.

One of the players does seem interested in making a new character. I might appoint that character Secretary of Technology or something like that to elegantly retire his old character.

Re: Superman for President?

Is there a specific reason superpowers appeared at that point' date=' albeit one unknown to the players and general populace??[/quote']

 

Yes, a combination of circumstances caused superpowers to appear. It's unknown to all but a tiny handful in the universe. I can't give out the circumstances here because I don't want my players to know.

 

The circumstances have absolutely no bearing on the Presidential election. Those who know why there are superpowers are above such trivial matters as caring about human politics.

Re: Superhero Images

These are very nice, thanks for the links.

 

Wait a minute.

 

Keith Curtis ? What the Keith Curtis who posts here ?

 

Keith 'I sometimes put stuff between my first and last name' Curtis ?

 

That Keith Curtis ?

Yep, Keith "the professional artist who has done some stuff for Hero Games" Curtis

Re: Superman for President?

You guys actually use Bush and Kerry in your campaigns? Egad' date=' I have always used fictional politicians.[/quote']

 

This is actually the first time I've tried doing this. Most superhero campaigns assume superheroes have been around "forever". This campaign has the first public recognition of supers starting on Jan 1 2000. The world prior to that is pretty much identical to real-world history.

 

The most notable exceptions are that VIPER already existed as a criminal cartel, and there's some evidence to suggest magic was real thousands of years ago, somehow faded away, then came back as hundreds of people gained superpowers for no known reason on Jan 1 2000.

Re: Escape from Monster Island!

I just ran The Defenders through an adventure on Monster Island, hunting down a hidden VIPER nest. I used this site as a reference:

http://www.rc2000godzilla.com/godzilla/ogasawara.html

No Hero stats, just lots of background compiled from monster movies.

Re: I'm building a playable 350 wizard with no VPP

I've got some questions:

 

First. All the major powers are built through a Multi-Power. I want to give him a wand that allows him to cast these spells at 0 END, otherwise his END will be gone after a very few spells.. The Multi-Power is 60 points. To make it 0 END would cost 30 extra, if I make that only am OAF: Wand the cost of the wand would then be 15, correct. While the wizard holds the wand it powers his spells, if he loses it the spells come from his own END.

 

Does this seem far to you, I am assuming he will lose the wand a lot, since many people will assume it is the sourse of his powers?

Seems like a fair way to build the character. For an alternative way to do a wand, leave the multipower at 60 points without the reduced END advantage. Redirect the 15 points you spent on:

+60 END, OAF wand (30 active points, 15 real)

Your way works best if every power is in the multipower. If you put some powers, such as a force field that you almost always use, outside the multipower, then my way lets you use the wand to power things outside the multipower.

Re: Superman for President?

I suspect the opposition would try something like this...

Paragon's opposition is Bush and Kerry.

Bush's campaign couldn't really try something like this, because he's already praised Paragon too many times. Bush has used the assassination attempts to further his political agenda. If Bush suddenly claimed the assassination attempts were faked, he'd drag himself into the conspiracy.

Kerry would have fewer problems claiming Paragon's faked things. However, as there's zero evidence to support such claims, only people who are already firm Kerry believers would give it much credence.

Paragon somewhere between Kerry and Bush on most issues. The main wild card in the election is Paragon's "supervillains can't currently be stopped by the Secret Service, so you need a superhero in office" message.

Re: So Viper, huh.

Uhm... how does a dragon become ancient in a few years?

The apparent "dragon is ancient" and "superpowers are new" contradiction was easily dealt with. It's more of a "superpowers are new to recorded history". How can I explain this without giving away too much to my players?

Maybe the dragon was around in ancient China, during a prior "age of magic". The dragon hibernated when magic faded and woke up a few years ago. She joined or took control of VIPER, which already existed, and formed it into a major threat.

Or, maybe the dragon didn't hibernate when magic faded. She stayed around in human form, sans magic powers, and was instrumental in creating VIPER.

Re: Superman for President?

It seems like a forgot to mention a few things in my original post:

1) Paragon was born in the United States, so he meets the naturalized citizen requirement. He's not an alien like Superman.

2) As soon as he formally announces his run for office, he gives up the Secret ID. He knows the public wouldn't elect someone who uses an alias.

3) His secret ID has held local political offices. He held a City Council seat (1 of 5 in NYC) when he developed superpowers on Jan 1 2000.

4) As Paragon, he did the standard superhero thing for a while before helping to create PRIMUS. He's familar with Washington DC, but certainly not an insider.