Dominique

Re: Modern Age vs Silver Age QM, I've gotta go with MitchellS' that Crooks/META 4 is a combination of Modern/Iron Age, TAF would be Bronze/Modern Age, and I'd classify GURPS Wild Cards as Modern.

Re: Favorite lost villain group

Re: Favorite lost villain group But this is where I've gotta break ranks with you. IMHO the PCs shouldn't really be coming in to contact with Lung Hung. In the unlikely event they do, it shouldn't be more than once or twice in a campaign, and then only after years of tracking her down. I'm of the opinion that the first time it happens, they should have their clocks cleaned before they think about confronting her directly again. Here's my reasoning on this. She, unlike the PCs has over 700 years of experience to fall back on. How long have the PCs been at it? I tended to treat her more along the lines of a plot device who's ment to pose a threat, ranther than someone they would face head to head. Something like Dr. Zin of Johnny Quest. Someone you heard about but never meat face to face. I agree that there are several "issues" with game mechanics, but that's a seperate subject. This could all be a matter of everyone having a particular style of play, and the tastes of the both the GMs and players. I've always felt that many of the "world betters" running around the CU were a little light on power so her power levels don't bother me. But, once again, I'm getting off topic, so back to the original discussion.

Re: Favorite lost villain group But, and I know many of you will disagree with me on this, Lung Hung should be extremely powerful. She is what I truly consider a world class villain, with hundreds, yes HUNDREDS, of years of experience to build on. She should be capable of kicking the "average" hero group's butts seven different ways to Sunday with very little effort on her part. And, in classic comic book style, if things go badly, she should make good her escape only to return and menace the players at a later date. I know a lot of you guys get major cases of heart burn when you see the power levels of some of these villains, but look at them compared to villains in comics. The heroes routinely have they’re their posteriors handed to them by “master villains” until they a) either become more experienced, or figure out a way to out think their foes. Hey diddle diddle, straight up he middle isn’t always the best course of action when dealing with a very powerful foe. If your PCs are used to busting trough the front door, putting the beat down on the villain of the week’s henchmen, and proceeding to mp the floor with their leader, then they’re in for a surprise when they come up a real bad ass. IMHO maybe it should serve as a wake-up call that they may not be as ready for the big time as they thought, or that they may have to rethink their tactics and learn form their mistakes. Sorry for rambling on like that, I'll get down off my soapbox and return to the original discussion.

Re: Favorite lost villain group This may also be going off topic, to be quite frank, many of the "new" and/or revised villains seem rather dull to me. I preferred the older versions of them to the "modern" versions were seeing now. I would have preferred that if they were going to "upgrade" them to 5E, that they either tied many of their origins into a more concise background linking them solidly into one campaign world, and fleshing out their non-combat skills to provide more well rounded characters. Also, I'm still trying to figure out why they " down graded" EUROSTAR's power levels, while boosting virtually everyone else's. As far as Zodiac goes, while they were quite capable of mopping the floor with many of the hero teams running around in those days, that was part of the challenge. Players actually had to THINK of a way to defeat them, other than blasting them with their heat vision, or pounding on them with their fists. The characters themselves were very well thought out, had interesting and varied backgrounds, and if nothing else, the PCs could learn a thing or two from them about teamwork and organization. As for VOICE, they’re a damned good example of how to build a viable world spanning criminal organization. They also had a pretty diverse membership, that drew members from all over the world. I liked the diversity of its members, and the fact that its leader was a Chinese vampire who preferred to work from behind the scenes orchestrating his schemes.

Re: Favorite lost villain group I'd forgetten about them. I really liked VOICE, and how it operated. The group was well balanced, and had a nice "feel" to it. It was also easy to incorporate additional villains into the group due to the way it was organized. While that's all fine and dandy, and I hope they don't take offense to any of my comments, I really don't feel that the "revised" versions added anything new to the game. Their former origins were fine, all they really seem to have done was make them darker in tone. The new version of PSI just doesn't click for me.

Re: [Review] The Algernon Files 2.0 (Hero Edition) I'd actually like TPTB (hint, hint) to give Dave a crack at writing some material on well rounded "high" level character for use in the "standard" CU. Or, whip up an article (second hint) on integrating some of the various TAF characters into the existing CU, as several of the characters would make nice additions to some of the existing groups. For instance, I think Terminal Velocity would make a perfect addition to EUROSTAR, and Wraith would work very well in a Dark Champions game.

Re: Favorite lost villain group Does anyone know the reasoning behind the changes they made to PSI for 5E?

Re: [Review] The Algernon Files 2.0 (Hero Edition) One thing I think you guys have to remember that many of the various characrers presented in TAF have many years of experieice, and their power levels reflect that. Personally, I've always felt that a lot of the "big guns" of the CU were a little underpowered compared to the heroes you see in many comics.

Re: Favorite lost villain group Well, the Zodiac tops my list followed closely by Deathstroke/Destroyers. For the guys that think the Zodiac has to many members, there's nothing that says you have to have all 12 members appearing at the same time. They're far easier to handle in small groups. As for Deathstroke/Destroyers, did any of TPTB, ever explain why they decided to change the characters names? Also, and this may be a little off topic, I prefer the former version of PSI to the 5e version, and I don't think I'm the only one.

Re: Villain Team Name I was going to to suggest Black Sabbath, but Freakboy beat me to it. How about any of the following: Havoc Wrath The Dark Circle

Re: Algernon HERO Just bumping this back up toward the tp, and waiting to see if anyone's posted their review here, or anywhere else for that matter.

Re: "Back when I started playing Champions...." When I first started playing 81 or 82 (it's hard to remember), there was only one, and I do mean 1 book in print. Betwen the 7 or 8 of us that played, we had two books (one was owned by a guy named David Peterson), and the copy I saved up to order. If you wanted to create a character, one of us would loan you the book, and we would get it back when you wer finished. When the various supplements (Champions II & III, Stronghold, the Circle & METE) started coming out, one person in the group woud get it, and the rest of use would eithe hand copy info, or just try to memorize the info, as copy machines were not easy to get to in Jr. high. Man this is making me feel old as dirt.

Re: TheQuestionMan's Champions Characters QM, are these guys all members of the same group, are they loosely affiliated, charactes in the same campaign, or just random characers you've generated over the years?

Re: Artwork for Gestalt Thanks for the heads up.

Re: Algernon HERO So has anyone posted an official review for the Hero version of TAF yet?

Re: The downsides of the Iron Age Gentelmen, I think you are all forgeting the #1 downside of the Iron Age. Rob Liefield became a comic super star.

Re: TAF plot hook thread And a few more. King Kong ain’t got nothing on me - Magog has learned of a recently constructed government research installation located near your campaign city. In order to find out what the facility’s purpose is, he’s decided to launch an attack against it. He’s also hoping to initiate some type of response from one or more of your heroes, as defeating them may allow him to regain his position with his people. The player(s) will first hear of a series of explosions just outside of the city, and that local police and emergency units are responding. These reports will rapidly be followed by reports of police SWAT units and security personnel engaging in a running battle with Magog (who’s slowly taking the place apart piece by piece). They can’t figure out what he’s looking for (as he doesn’t know himself), but things are getting desperate, and the defenders don’t know how much longer they can hold out without some outside help. What the facility is actually used for is left up to you. Ghost in the Machine - A hi-tech research firm located in or near your campaign city, has recently acquired an interesting piece of technology. So far they haven’t been able to identify its exact design or manufacturer. After a number of unsuccessful attempts at reverse engineering its design, they discover, much to their horror, that the electronics are actually a small piece of the robotic terror, The Assembly. Not only that, the Assembly's managed to infiltrate the facility’s computer system. Now that it knows its been discovered its taken steps to eliminate the facility’s staff, by turning their own security system against them, and is in the process of constructing a new body from various components within the facility. Your heroes receive a short, but garbled and distorted, plea for help before completely loosing the signal. The Professional - The local hoods are tired of having their clocks cleaned by your PCs, and decide to bring in some outside help, Sureshot. Who he’s actually working for, and how he makes his presence known to the players is left up to you. If one of your PCs is a street level type character, he may be able to pick up info on the street, or an NPC could be killed in some dramatic fashion. If the PCs have a military background they may have known him prior to him becoming Sureshot.

As promised in another thread, here's the first of my plot hoos for use with the characters from Blackwyrm Games Algernon Files. Back to the Bayou - As one of many celebrities and organizations who wish to donate their time and money to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, Hell’s Belles has decided to throw a charity concert, with the proceeds being donated to charity. The players can either be members of the audience, special guests, sitting at home watching the show on TV, or what ever happens to suit your specific game. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the same night one of your campaign’s villains (preferably some type of crusader, or anti-government type) decides he/she needs to make a statement about the way the poor and down trodden are being treated by the government. The concert will kickoff normally, with Hells Belles completing few songs before taking a break to allow aid groups to make a plea for donations. The announcer is just starting to get into his or her speech when the villain strikes. His entrance should be designed to attract as much attention to his stated cause as possible. The Informant - Your PC’s have been asked by a law enforcement agency (use whoever fits the bill) to help baby-sit a witness scheduled to testify against a criminal organization (It could be a mob family, a crooked company, a terrorist organization, whatever happens to fill the particular needs of your campaign). The government agents will assure your players that they’ve taken every precaution, and there’s no way anyone could have found out where they are hiding this guy (or girl). The only reason they are asking the PCs for assistance is because the informant insisted that without your PCs watching his back, there would be no deal. His testimony could be very damaging to the certain people in very high places. So to ensure his untimely demise, long before he sets foot in the court room, someone’s hired the Black Knights to eliminate the problem, and recover any evidence that may link the government’s informant back to their employers. The informant, the US Attorney, several US Marshals (or some home brew agency), and the PCs are holding up in a multi-story hotel in a large metropolitan area when the Black Knights strike. Their primary goal is to kill the snitch, the US Attorney (as they are not quite sure what information he may already have), and destroy any documents, computer files, etc., that may implicate their clients. If they happen to knock off a few cops and some supers that get in the way, they’ll just consider it an added bonus for their services. To Catch a Thief - Your players have been discretely asked to investigate the break-in and theft of a number of electronic devices from several defense contractors operating in your city. The perpetrator is reportedly an attractive female, who has somehow managed to evade the various security devices, armed security personnel, and any other security precautions the firms have implemented. What little information they have been able to gain on the thief points to a woman know as “the Ice Queen”. Who she’s actually working for and what she’s been stealing will be left up to you. More to follow.

Re: Algernon HERO I'll start reposting them later, as for tie ins with the CU, I've actually got a couple of ideas. One I mentioned over on the Blackwyrm boards involved Eurostar trying to recruit Terminal Velocity into its ranks. I could see a ver large fight developing, with the PCs caught in the middle of it all.

Re: Adventure Modules From what I hear, they had some serious issues near the end. I would have realy liked to have seen a few more of their adventure books, and I liked several of the characters from their Roll Call books.

Re: Adventure Modules I picked up the "A Time of Vengence" adventure module, for M&M, the other day, and now I feel motivated to jump start this thread again. Anyone now if DOJ has plans on producing some new adventures in 07?

Re: Algernon HERO While I'm thinkning about it, any of you guys want to see the plot hooks I wrote up for some of TAF characters?

Re: Algernon HERO Since my opinion would be slightly biased, any of you guys care to post a brief review or your opinions on TAF?

Re: Algernon HERO And lastly, some info on groups operating in various other countries. Africa No organized meta-groups are publicly known. The sorcerer Kor has acted on both sides of the fence, so no one really knows whether to call him a hero or villain. Scirocco, though Egyptian, tries to help where she can throughout North Africa, but suffers many obstacles due to gender discrimination. Boneyard and The Orchard have many hidden bases throughout the continent, and handsome pay offs to a number of hardline dictators make sure they remain unmolested (and have plenty of opportunities to test their products). Canada There are no organized teams, but the heroes Northern Star, Stonehorse, Tom Foolery, Nelvana, and Kid Canuck have all banded together informally on multiple occasions to meet threats they felt were outside their individual abilities. Though not an official group, the five seem to be on very good terms. Magi presence in the country is unusually high, and that plus the depredations of homegrown menaces such Sucheq the Devourer, Le Commandant, Yukon Jack, and others keep the heroes busy enough. Central and South America There a few metas spread across South (and Central) America who have had reason to band together in the past, though like the Canadian metas mentioned above, such gatherings were informal. Despite this, the media throughout the area have given the unofficial group the name Los Defensores, and plays up any connections or team-ups between the alleged members whenever possible. Mexico’s Tiburon [The Shark] is actually a member of SABER, but is usually presented and treated as the “face” and leader of Los Defensores by reporters (which does not go over well with his supposed teammates, Panama’s El Grito [The Scream], Venezuela’s Dios de la Selva [Jungle God], Brazil’s Aviador [The Aviator], and Argentina’s Guerrero de Acero [steel Soldier]). FENRIS is believed to have bases throughout Argentina and Chile, The Magi have strong ties throughout the region, and both the new Ghost Panther Cartel and various paramilitary groups all give the region plenty to worry about. Europe Metacrime is surprisingly low on this continent, especially considering that Europe is The Magi’s homeground. The few homegrown metahuman heroes of note are all members of UNSOCIS’ SABER Unit, which is who the authorities tend to ask for help when they actually need such assistance. Otherwise, Europeans are generally happy to criticize Metahumans of either stripe as “an American problem.” Great Britain Section Nine (a.k.a., MI-13) has the only actual “team” of metas known to work in the UK, what they call their “Extraordinary Operations Specialists,” and they are almost never called to have to work as a total group – in fact, they seldom have to meet at full strength at all, usually being sent to handle cases individually or in groups of 2-3. Codename: Lionheart is semi-retired, and hasn’t been field-rated in over a decade, leaving the “exciting stuff” to Black Johnny Tar, Gibraltar, Colby “King Cole” Mayfair, Penny Dreadful, and Time-Out. Changeling, though technically part of Section Nine, is assigned to represent Britain and the UK in SABER (a situation that makes him and his teammates all much happier). For such a relatively small part of the world, the UK has an alarmingly high number of “Weird Happenings,” apparently being a popular attraction for extraterrestrial, extra-temporal, and extra-dimensional visitors, even without a lot of spandex involved. On top of that, menaces such as The Fomorian, The Red King, The Manus Gloriae, and even a new version of the once global criminal enterprise, The Chessmen*, all add to Section’s workload. (*It’s a running joke that the Chessmen are usually not referred to as such. Thanks to a smart-aleck newspaper reporter for The Sun commenting that he thought all super criminal organizations were supposed to be a.c.r.o.n.y.m.i.c. in name, the group is often referred to as C.H.E.S.S., with the actual meanings behind the letters changing depending on who is making the joke. This is sometimes a dangerous bit of humor to indulge, as The Chessmen apparently don’t find it funny at all – said reporter’s body was eventually found floating in the Thames, for example.) Japan Yoshima Technologies is one of a consortium of companies that recruited and fund the national super team whose name translates as “Mighty Miracle Guardians.” Invincible Iron Whirlwind, Giant 66, Ghost Angel Goddess, King Fire, and Resplendent Fighting Phoenix all get as much press as the consortium can arrange. They are media darlings and fanatically popular throughout their home country -- and there are immense amounts of video footage of the team facing the monstrous Quicksilver Dragon, the western miscreant Cybernaut, and the forces of the criminal mastermind Three-Banner Shogun, among others. Middle East After the destruction of the Iraqi supersoldier program during the Gulf War, there have been no high-profile metas to emerge from the area (though The Brass Circle and The Sons of Shaitan keep The Covenant and FDSI’s SIGIL Branch busy enough). Rumors continue of the existence of an Israeli group of metas used by the Mossad and the Israeli military, but Israel denies all such stories and no evidence has surfaced to support any allegations. Russia Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the national team The Crimson Cadre also dissolved. Sabredance currently works as part of SABER, and Bogatyr operates independently, but the other former Cadre members all either faded into obscurity, or have gone to work for various fronts for the Russian Mafia. Science City Eberesko was decommissioned due to its exorbitant cost and sold to private investors…though security remains extremely high around the area. SABER (Special Activities Branch Emergency Response) Unit SABER Unit is a UNSOCIS (United Nations Special Operating Commission on International Security) sponsored group and is comprised of metahumans recruited from various countries around the world. They get very little respect, group dynamics sometime go all to Hell, and their home country’s interests often override their group’s priorities, but SABER still projects a professional image as much as possible and weathers its trial and tribulations year-in, year-out, as it has since its inception in 1975. SABER is not allowed to operate on American soil without express authorization from the FDSI – which it seldom ever gets. The current membership is Aguila (Spain), Changeling (United Kingdom), Chevalier (France), Marathon (Greece), Obi (Kenya), Sabredance (Russia), Strega (Italy), Tiburon (Mexico), and Valkyrie (Norway).