Ghost who Walks

Re: Campaign length Twelve years, same world. Rebooted once, where a new team was created on the East Coast. Working on the second reboot right now, where the same characters will be moved forward 10 years in the campaign.

Re: A little name help. Random Name ideas: ~Candleabra ~Candleman ~Mister Steel (Does he actually need a secret identity?) ~Altar Boy (stuck on the candle theme, I know) ~Loner ~Wanderer Agree of the Damage Reduction idea. Another fun poswer might be a form of retrocognition, only to speak with nearby dead bodies...

Re: Defending America, Apple Pie and Mom! (Help needed with campaign idea) The players are all high school students who patrioticly defend the country when needed, flying aircraft developed and built by an eccentric mechanic! Powers were caused when they ate hamburgers at the local diner...hamburger that came from Roswell, New Mexico! The team leader's father gives them missions, sent to him over his Ham radio by Senator McCarthy! See an episode of Happy Guys for more inspiration.

Re: Hitler in a jar Ripped off from the Star Trek episode where they swiped Spock's brain... Hitler gets abducted by aliens, who want him to defend their war against an alien invader. Hitler's brain is doing a great job defending the planet, controlling a vast automated weapons system. Hitler is hooked up to to the super-computer, you see, and also broadcasts "victory reports" (shameless propaganda) ehenever he destroys something. My players loved this one. They could either indulge their urge to kill Hitler and help destroy an entire race, or do nothing. They surprised me, and worked to end the reason for the alien invasion, then persuaded the aliens to turn over Hitler's brain for trial on Earth. Hitler hired Johnny Cochrane as his lawyer, whose defense was that Hitler's brain was not in control of his body when the crimes were committed...and was thus innocent.

Re: HELP: Of Thor and Loki No problem, I didn't think it was very compatible with the structure you were doing. Its been developed over the last 10 years, and is mostly based around ideas and concepts that worked with different players. I posted it mostly for the sake of completeness, os that anyone doing searches in the future could find it. The godly campaign plots I have been giving my players actually do tie together, in the form of a Ragnarok/Armageddon like event that is coming in the future. Most ar involved in trying to stop it. Another thought to keep in mind when doing godly types is to give them a purpose. In mythology, most gods/saints/avatars are very goal orientated, there to perform a specific function of purpose. It usually wasn't there to serve worshippers...thats something that comes out of modern religion and fantasy literature. Anyway, good luck!

Re: Need ideas for a medical/doctor type hero. Radio: To call the Ambulance Various Life suports/protections, to go into burning buildings and stuff

Re: HELP: Of Thor and Loki *Bump* Because several of my players are interested in mythology, I made up my own versions of the pantheons and gods. This was primarily to give them a sense of mystery. IMC, magic is a form of misunderstood science and technology. IMC: ~The Greek gods were started by a PC time traveller and a ancient, immortal metahuman. Their high point was the Roman Empire, they have mostly had secret identities since the rise of christianity. ~Norse gods are all bricks, every one. Odin is a human who was abducted by aliens milenia ago, and made into a cyborg (the whole one-eyed and wisdom thing. Ragnarok still hasn't come, but the signs point to it happening soon. ~Persian gods made alliances with powerful extradimensional alien forces, recieving power in return for servitude. ~Indian gods: India has a Stargate like device in it, which various aliens have come through and been worshipped as gods. Mixed in, are a number of spell casters and metahumans ~Aztec gods: Descendents of a group of aliens, fallen into barbarism. Most were killed by other gods or christian types. ~Babylonian gods: A alien peacekeeper/Peace Corps type formed a grouping of superpowered people to battle an invading alien army 8,000 years ago. ~Egyptian Gods: Secretly based upon the Thundercats cartoon, a group of aliens and locals banding together to fight "evil". The key to a godly character is to have something to ground them in the "real world". Give them a job, parents, a history. If psionics exist, they can provide a method for "worshippers" to give a god power, otherwise it may be a protection like system. Most of the gods went underground in my campaign because the time traveller who started the Greek pantheon warned them to do so (he has been shaping history for his own purposes). They have appeared many times in history, using aliases. Most of those who wouldn't were jailed in extradimensional prisons, where they occasionally escape. The Sorceror Supreme type is the chief jailor of those prisons, sanctioned by the remaining gods. Christianity/Judaism/Islam remain mysteries as they do in real life. Specifically, Thor and Loki were handled as: ~Thor: A brick who has been punched one to many times, Thor was frozen in ice for the past 1700 years (like Captain America). Reappearing in the modern world, he promptly took over another planet, married the queen, built himself a harem, and now plans to raid nearby worlds. A super brick with a hammer, with a personality out of a Rocky movie. ~Loki: Fell unconcious when his by chemical weapons during WWI, and only recently reawoke. Has set himself up on Wall Street as a strockbroker and is quickly gaining financial influence. Spreads rumors about the atrocities Thor does on his planet. The ultimate manipulator, caused major problems for the norse gods in the past, mostly because of his lack of LS: extreme cold. Very friendly with surviving gods of other Pantheons, who generally dislike his somewhat barbaric relatives.

Re: Spaceport: Planetary Surface or Orbital? How about on a planet surface, where the hook would nbe the planet itself. A world destroyed by some global calamity or interstellar war. The spaceport is either studying the ruins, or acting as base for thousands of treasure hunters, poking around in the remains of a dead civilization. Looters can be played as very unsavory people. You can even have the Ackalians be the ones who destroyed the previous civilization I can think of around a dozen scenarios to have in such a place, ranging from finding cryogenicly frozen survivors to searching for the ocation of the Ultimate Weapon.

Re: Psychic Wars So far as how the society reacts, something like the old marvel comic DP:7 would be ideal. The theme would be normal-guy-gets-powers. Most characters would be built around a single power, easy to do if you disable power frameworks. If set a couple decades in the future, the government/corporation/authorities might use robots to hunt for psionics...ones that would be mostly invulnerable to mental powers. That gets you the man vs. machine component. I remember reading a newspaper article about 10 years ago where the (US) military was sending peopel to these new age places to experience Out-of-body experiences. A drug which causes psionic powers, as long as you take it could be interesting. I'll try to recommend some different stuff: ~The movie, Anna to the Infinite power: Interesting concept movie, deals with clones seperated at birth who are very aware of each other...and inclined towards the life they once had. Shows how a small group can perform a secret science project, over years. While the acting can be a bit off at times, something about this movie always intrigued me. ~Books: Deathstalker series, Simon Green: Had an interesting idea that if you wanted to create an anti-psionic device, you needed to cut up a psionics brain, put it in a box, and run electrical current to it. Hooray! You've just invented Mental Defense!

Re: Romantic Villians Some ideas I've used (that haven't already been said, better) 1) Those created or forced to be villains work best, or who are miss understood. The Hulk is an excellent example of this. 2) The ex-boyfriend, or former childhood firend, who is now secretly a villain. The romance will occur in their secret idea...villains can have them to! 3) The person with similar powers, or invulnerability to the characters powers. A fire projector might be drawn to Firewing, for example. 4) The foreign villain, who a rogue and outlaw in his own land, is not considered one here. 5) mythology can be a good source for some, recreate a historical or godly character and have them strut around. The fun part with them is playing up their outdated notions of romance. Agree on Shamrock...imbued with the mystical power of Ireland, he is often called to defend his people, wherever they may be. The Irish have settled in many lands, and there will always be a Shamrock to protect them... Note: You don't want to know about the mystical defender of scotland...the english never should have given them back that stone.

Re: Need ideas for a revised CU timeline Two of those sound like "Natural Disasters" to me. Some stuff from my own campaign. ~Meteor Crater: Obviously an alien/extraterrestrial event. A spaceship full of alien criminals jetissons its power plant and crashes Centuries later the criminals awaken from stasis, and found the Anasazi empire. Ancient native american supowerheores gather and defeat them, committing them to stasis once more. Awoken again in the 1930's, they help America make an atmoic bomb, land on the moon, and invent velcro. An attempt by intergalactic police authorities to arrest the criminals leads to the roswell crash and the deaths of several intergalactic police officers. ~Krakatoa Eruption: Concerned about the growing level of magic and technology in the world, a powerful sorcereress of the time decides to create a sanctum seperate from this world. The attempt to move an insignificant island to another dimension suceeds, but causes massive damage to the region. Filled with remorse, the corceress vows to use her powers to help the "people" of Asia, and helps Mao come to power in China. ~Crop Circles: Aliex Race D has been invaded by Alien Race G. Race D has come to Earth to abduct humans with power to fight in the war to liberate their planet, and have so since the end of world war II. While some volunteered to help the aliens for reasons of their own, others were forced. Race D has also performed various experiments on humans, to learn why they have powers, creating several superpowered people. Upon learning of the source of the creatures that plague their war effort, Race G decides to punish the Earth, threatening the heroes stuff. the crop circles are caused by their flying saucers doing pickups, naturally.

Re: World In Crisis..Idea help please One thing I usually do when starting a campaign is spend a session running pregames. Since I didn't see anyone mention it, thought I would. Basicly, you just have the players play through their characters at the major turnng points in their lives. Where they went to schol, how they got into the career they chose, how they got powers, etc. You take notes during it, but its pretty freeform. It allows players to develop their characters a bit, by giving them a history. It also allows explanations for wierd skill and abilities players like to put on their sheets... For the GM, the benefit is that it helps flush out your world a bit...the player help develop some of the recent history.

Re: Need ideas for a revised CU timeline I like using historical people, and implying that they have been involved in various events... An example is when I had Theodore Roosevelt and Nikola Tesla build a giant cannon and shoot down a flying saucer in 1908. It crashed in Siberia, with predictable results. You may consider looking at various lists of natural/manmade disasters, and figure out how you can use them.

Re: Super Day Jobs Do it in a way, that gets you a scenario out of it. ~Resucue an immigration officer from a burning building... ~Have the government help her, in return for a favor... ~She gets all the documents she needs, courtesy of the US Postal Service. The only promblem, there is no return address... As a side note, having the superpowered immigrant can be a lot of fun RP wise, it allows you a bunch of oppertunities.

Re: Aging Campaigns A lot of this has actually been done by my players. My players have gotten so interested in their characters lives, that I enocurage them to look for pictures online of their workplace, coworkers, house, car, stuff like that. Some players enjoy more that you expect, and you should see the look on their face when the get in an auto accident... The pictures are usually placed on an Excel sheet, where they are really easy to manipulate, and printed out. They are kept in a three ring binder. Well, my campaign has been going for 10 years now, the original 200 point characters have become very powerful. One thing that I have done, is do some scenarios where players meet future or alternate versions of themselves. This can be a lot of fun, as it gives the player a window into their possible future. It also allows you to suggets possible directions for characters, without it looking liking you are forcing them anywhere. One way to deal with a lot of experience, is to have some time pass in the game world. Send all the characters off to superhero training camp for three months, they come back with new skills/powers. Lastly, consider coordinated attacks. Can two (or more) characters combine their powers, creating a more powerful attack? Make the power, split the cost between them. You can also require the players sarifice some of their experience, that goes into a pool for that character. When it gets big enough, something happens and they get a new power/ability. Have a few superhero "social events" ~The heroes are about to get government funding (of some level), and need to recruit some new member(s) so satisfy a requirement. The new members have to compete against each other, and the PC's get to have the fun of performing background checks. ~The heroes are invited to a superhero wedding, where they meet various other heroes. No supervillain attacks, but they get to have the fun of being accepted by a larger community. ~A hero kills an NPC, thorough accident. Now he/she must deal with supporting the victims family. ~Look into family backgrounds for characters, and consider developing them in someway. Relationships exist in many levels, and not all family members are DNPCs. ~You can always have a team meeting... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11977 ~Or got to therapy... http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12541 Good thread, btw.

Re: Plot for Mastermind ~Concerned that evolution may be in retrograde, he kidnaps several hundred retirees from a retirement home, rejubvenates them back to their youth, and unleashes them on an unsuspecting populace. ~He manufactures a cosmic ray which is able to painlessly sterlize the population of entire cities from orbit, removing them from the genepool. The heroes become aware of this fact, and learn that their city is about to do something really, really, stupid. ~He clones himself, in order to have someone to talk to. Clone escapes, and starts calling himself "Foxbat" One way to do a guy like this is to have him play humanitarian, but his actions are always extreme for the time. An example is forceing the world to come up with alternate forms of power, by destroying the world's oil supply. His intentions may be good, but his methods aren't.

Re: The President wants to talk to you Random ideas, based on your comments. ~The secret government base inside Mount Rushmore has been taken over! Can the heroes quietly capture the evildoers, while not alerting thousands of tourists to the existance of the base? ~The President's daughter/son is going on a date with a supervilalin, or has been talking to them online. The heroes need to put a stop to this sort of thing. ~Aliens/terrorists abducted the Presidents kids while they were at the prom, and are holding them for ransom. (Make sure to use a stereo, to play Prom style music in the background when the attack to get back the place.) ~If PRIMUS/SAT exists, they obviously have a rogue Aavenger in their midst, who has been letting criminals get off. The heroes have to travel to the city, pretend to be criminals, get arrested, and try and bribe their way out. All other government agencies will cooperate in helping make PRIMUS look bad. ~Its all a setup by the mysterious villain "Staff". Known for his duplication (he is able to teach at hundreds of universities nation wide, every dday), Staff is arranging the entire situation to humiliate the heroes. It seems that one of them unknowingly allowed one of his duplicates to drown at a LA beach. ~The President really dislikes the offiical team, ever since they supported his rival in the last election. He is looking for ways to "outsource" their responsibilities, and will send the LA team on a mission they are underqualified to do, without adequate support. Next week, he'll send some other team out... ~Several foreign superheroes have entered the country illegally, and are taking away jobs from hard working American superhoroes. In conjunction with the Immigration Agents, the heroes must subdue these people and send them back where they came from.

Re: Needs Input Only character comment is that Fear could also be done as a mental illusion. How about the ability to "drain" emotions from a target? It would probably be a form of cumulative mind control, as the victim is turned into a emotional robot. This of course assumes that emotion is at the heart of personality. Character wise, this would open up numerous RP oppertunities. Could he cure criminal behavior? You would probably need a transform attck for that, to do it permanent.

Re: Need some "Smart" powers I don't have one super-smart character IMC, I have a couple of dozen. Most of them specialize in a few areas, with the powers built around that area. Examples include: ~Magni (Strongest man in world, surgeon, norse god) ~Doc Smash (Physicist who travels to other dimensions) ~Gladiator (cyborg and computer Hacker) ~Doctor Photon (Laser expert and renegade PRIMUS scientist) ~Leta Rimski (Telepathic Doctor) ~Mammoth (Second strongest man in world, master of many sciences, benevolent ruler of Iceland) ~Doctor Grondicus (Grond, with 40 intelligence, and the technology to give people powers) ~Mister Fantastic (Aereonatutical engineer, Meteorologist, low level powers in a bunch of areas) ~Kim Lee (Chinese geneticist and maker of clones) ~Steam Boy (Cowboy from 1890 Nevada who is master of all technology involving...steam) There are more, but thats off the top of my head.

Re: Needs Input Interesting idea... Add accidental changes, so the main form can change into the various forms. Some random thoughts: ~Hate: Now to me, the hateful mind is able to rationalize anything, so might this be the enhanced intelligence? One imagines a very angry personality, unhappy with his condition. Perhaps intimidation might go here? ~Fear: Is this the ability to invoke fear, or the perpetual coward? Or is it both ~Love: Seems to work ~Bliss: Wouldn't the bliss form be the calm type, not worried about anything? Make him the brick who can heal Add accidental changes, so the main form can change into the various forms. This makes his transformation uncontrollable, enhancing the "fun"

Re: Making Money redux Depends on what you want for your campaign 1. She hauls away cars parked in no parking zones for the city. 2. She works in a junk yard, taking apart broken cars (worked for Mister Furious) 3. A new subway is being built, she is given a sledgehammer and told to make a tunnel. 4. Housing construction, she carries building supplies to the top of mountains, for people who like views. 5. She goes every day to a temp agency, and gets a job there. 6. She works for a major metropolitan newspaper...delivering papers. While some of these may seem mundane, imagine what a job interview for someone with 80 strength would look like... "You've knocked down how many buildings by being smashed into them? And your deadbeat dad, Grond, sometimes drops in?"

Re: Looking for A.I. Scenarios One wonders wehre the A.I came from... Mechanon? Doctor Destroyer? It might be interesting to have either of those still around, and summon the heroes through some sort of interdimensional gateway. Or, f you are looking at starting a group in the setting, a band of chip controlled people getting free simultaneously might be interesting (regional computer failure). They would have a reason to stick togehter, kill the machines, and search for their missing DNPCs.

Re: Sorcerer Supreme Building Ain't just you. I've been playing Chamions forever, and had problems wiuth this for years. Part of the problem came from my players, who being technical enginnering types, like stuff that was "reasonable and realistic". Another problem is the genre itself. Having wizards in the comics is about as logical as having cowboys on the Avengers... So most of my wizards tend to be very "modern". I would give them some little something to make the players know they lived in the real world. I went with the theory that "Magic" is just another science or technology, that has yet to be understood. Example: My first evil sorceress only had magic that worked at night, so I gave her a pistol to use during the day. I also had to modify several traditional mystical concepts, to get my theme to work: Demons: Aliens in ancient times who conquered several worlds, with high technology, before being destroyed. They needed blood instead of food to eat, and are the source of the Vampire myth. Angels: Aliens who live among humans, and helped destroy the "demons". They exist as computer programs, carried in computer chips, that can be surgically attached to willing doners. They have a huge amount of skills. Demoninc Possession: The demons were psionic, and sometimes stored themesleves in devices (braintaping). They sometimes get released, and control the living. Other dimensions: They were allied with the demons, who traded slaves with them (humans). Monsters: Most monsters are actually aliens, trapped on earth after the demons were defeated. Gods: Immortal descendents of a time travelling superhero. Magic itself: Is based upon the energy output emanating from the "Alien God", Vulsooth. A powereful extradimensional alien, he is worshipped in the other dimension as a god, and they scheme to free him. Magic only works on Earth, many magical phenomenon are actually formed from energy leaking out of him. Most game wizards don't know this. Extradimensional invasion: Around 2,000 years ago, all the gods in the "good" pantheons got together and created smal lpocket dimensions, where they imprisoned all the "bad" gods. These bad gods still scheme to get loose. Anyway, this kind of setup, where everything was defined as energy, or aliens, has been accepted by my players for 10 years now. It took them ages to figure it out.

Re: Please review TYR, God of Justice and War Couple of ideas: ~The Norse god of Justice may have a rivalry with the Roman goddess of Justice, Justina. With one of them one handed and the other blind, Justice needs serious help. ~A Tyr who might intervene for wrongly convicted innocents as well as punishing the guilty could be interesting. ~For past history/disadvantages, look at major historical events since he has arrived. On what side is Justice? He might pick up some interesting enemies this way, that most characters don't have. ~Reputation: Does the public know him as the God Tyr, or as some guy in a costume? ~Exile: Reason for being gone from Asguard...perhaps he is hunting an escaped Norse prisoner? Thor had the enchantress, Loki, and a host of others. ~Mystical idea: What ever happened to Tyr's hand anyway? If it didn't get swallowed, perhaps it is a mystical object of some sort... ~For the weapons, I would by them as OIFs. They can be taken, but he could "recall" them.

Re: Review my campaign guidelines A bit of warning, normal characteristic maxima with 75 active power points may create some stange charcaters. Keep an eye out for players trying to raise his characteristics in powers. (growth, density for example) I have standard equipment for free also, meaning the characters must spend money to buy it. Spending money to buy things increases the chance the IRS will show up.