Bloodstone

Re: What have your experiences been with a Teleportation as an attack? Kinda depends on what build you will be using... something like 10m Teleportation UAA is VERY potent in the hands of a creative player. Defenses against it tend to be less than common for your normal out of the box opponent, so it's somethign that can catch you off guard easily if not prepared. OAF using villains will tend to become push overs, IMX, it's potentially unbalanced on it's own, but it get's ridiculous fast once you start adding certain advantages and adders. Especially Megascale and Position Shift. Ranged and Indirect was a pretty brutal combo too as I recall... When the answer to every problem is the teleporter saying "I 'port him into Stronghold/Space/The Sun", things have probably gotten out of hand... But again, the expensive nature of the build generally keeps that sort of thing out of grasp of most characters. One of the GM's that allowed it eventually required that it could be blocked by Power Defense and also enforced a strict mass limit on it (reduced the amount that could be ported, as he didn;t realize quite how powerful the ability could be initially) Another required a bunch of extra limitations so that it wouldn't be easy to use as a normal attack and was more of a utility ability.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Never played a pure shrinker PC. They always had something else and that something else was almost always Growth. I'm still trying to figure out if my latest such character is brilliant or simply ludicrous...

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play You're probably right and I'm just going to have to take your word for it on this one. I didn't really read JLA during most of that time period I'm a post Crisis DC fan and even then, I was mostly a Marvel Zombie during the 80's Most of my JLA back issue reading was pretty intermittent and has mostly focused on back issues that featured Wonder Woman or The Flash (Wally) being particularly awesome Speaking of Wally, that's something that I haven't personally seen much in my games: Legacy heroes or grown up side kicks I've seen plenty of NPC's that fit the description, but in the last four Champions games I've been in not a single PC has had that sort of background.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Them's fightin words!!!! Though when written poorly, she's basically overshadowed by Bruce and Clark. Also, you forgot Martian Manhunter, who is pure OMG!! HAX! Aquaman could get more respect if he was the supreme telepath in the JLA, but J'onn bests him there by a pretty wide margin... I should also mention I think Cyborg has a chance to be elevated to supreme tech/computer dude in the upcoming relaunch, but we'll have to see how that actually pans out...

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Nah, people have been making fun of Aquaman for years. It's really mostly because of Superfriends. Plenty of writers have shown him to be kick ass, as have more recent cartoons, but it just doesn't matter in the minds of the general public. Hell, the Aqualads in Teen Titans and Young Justice have booth been plenty popular and neither of them are as powerful as Arthur. Namor rarely gets treated like this, but he's also nowhere near as famous. Plus he's in a better potion status wise in his universe. He's a top tier brick. Aquaman isnt "the best" at much of anything and what he is the best at (king of the sea) is ultimately deemed uninteresting by the majority of readers. End of the day, most folk have never read an Aquaman comic or seen him do anything more than ride a giant purple sea horse and talk to fish... hmmm... Mole Man can probably appreciate this lack of respect...

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Dinosaur Write-Ups for Shapeshifter

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play I probably should have mentioned, this isn't a concept I'd play without making sure the group was mostly cool with it first. I say mostly because if the GM and most of the players are on board, you can probably work around the desires of one or two objectors... Yeah, this is understandable. I think if you play the power mimic a bit more like everyone elses sidekick, it's usually not an issue. Batman doesn't complain that Robin is stealing his schtick because Robin enhances it, but I know plenty of players that don't like sidekicks so this may not be the correct approach either. You can always work out reasons why a duplicator can't duplicate a particular set of powers. Maybe you can only copy mutant powers and your team mates include power armor guys and magic users. Maybe you can duplicate any powers, but never get skills. Or you lack the knowledge of how to properly use the newly gained abilities, so you stick to things you know best most of the time. Maybe, like Rogue, you're duplication is somehow unpleasant so you primary use it on the bad guys. Maybe you just respect Ice Man's desire to be a unique little snow flake and choose not to replicate his powers or maybe you had a bad accident with the Human Torches fire powers and swear off never using them again. There's tons of ways to make it work without stepping on peoples toes, you just need a little communication and willingness to work together IMO. Obviously, if you bring in a character that has ALL the attributes, skills and powers of every other player at the table and can use them all at once, well, somebody isn't playing with the same number of points as the rest of the table. So this is a build I don't give much consideration to, even though classic team busters like Super Adaptoid, Mimic, Amazo and the Super Skrull pretty much worked just like that...

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play He's no more vulnerable than your typical martial artist build, relying on an impressive DCV and maneuver bonuses when necessary. He knows how to use Range penalties to his advantage, can blast many ranged attacks out of the sky when they are a threat, can keep most foes away with impressive amounts of knockback and can hit from otherwise impossible angels to maximize the defensive bonuses provided by cover. Played right, he's pretty safe in many common situations. He also the biggest source of damage on the team. Many opponents will go down in a single hit until we get to the major foes, in which case the whole team needs to work together anyhow. As he's also clearly the leader, this is going to make him a huge target, so he needs a smart player and the support of his team mates to survive. Overall, he's going to be vulnerable to AoE's and will have trouble with speedsters like Quicksilver or Toad. Don't forget Grab By and related Martial Versions of these maneuvers, like Passing Throw. Angel isn't just a flying guy, he's an expert flying guy. He literally flies circles around other flyers like the Human Torch or Iron man. When he isn't the only flyer on the battlefield he's still undeniably the best! Angel isn't necessarily a heavy hitter, though he can do good damage with velocity based maneuvers. And he has ranged attacks via dropped objects when need be, so he doesn't have to get close if he doesn't want to. Speed and maneuverability are incredibly valuable in super hero battles. He spends a lot of time saving civilians and transporting other teammates around the battle field so that they can do their thing. Cycloops IS a flying blaster when Warren is around He has a massive DCV in the air and thus has little fear of ranged attack, enough movement that AoE attacks aren't a major worry and no fear of hand to hand attacks since they usually can't reach him. So yeah, maybe he's not going to hurt Juggernaut directly, but he will be the one that steals his mystic helmet, making him vulnerable to the Professors mental assault. He didn't land the finishing blow, but he set up the situation that made it possible and that's just as good a feeling in my book. Martial Artist build again, backed up by much greater then normal characteristics. The combination of high DCV and enough movement to dive for cover out of most AoE's will mean that a lack of rDEF will only rarely be an issue. She uses TK to interpose objects/create cover and eventually get's pure TK Force Walls and Force Fields. But lets be honest, she's the token chick in a Stan Lee comic, so of course she's initially something of a weak link as her main jobs include standing around looking hot, causing tension amongst the male team members and being captured. I'll admit, Havok is worse off than Cyclops, as his main defense is just overwhelming force. But he is a major league heavy hitter and a skilled ranfged combatant. He also does the melt incoming projectiles thing Obviously I disagree on the NEED for a balanced power suite. It's nice, but not necessary if you put together the right scenarios and use the right teamwork. Thunderbird had rDEF according to his offical write ups. Besides, his brother has rDEF and they were supposed to have identical power sets initially (Jimmy's grown to be much more powerful with time and experience). Even without it though, Thunderbird is beyond peak human in every physical way, so if they hadn;t killed him off he could have easily been on par with a Captain America/Batman type. Fast, agile flyer that disintigrates projectile attacks. He's just not getting hit much... He can shrug off anything that doesn't KO him instantly, so one way to build that could be "instantly healing" type rDEF. Even without that though, he's probably got some damage reduction or something else to lessen the effect of those blows. He's also supposed to be the most bad ass martial artist on the X-men who can out fight the Hulk one on one due to his incredible speed and agility. He's no slouch and the only reason he takes as many hits as he does is because the writers/artists want to showcase his regen. but... he actually does have a Human Torch style flaming force field doesn't he? And again, agile, flying, bullet melting guy is not taking many hits... He's on par with Spider-man for DCV, can teleport out of harms way and spends a portion of every battle effectively invisible. He's just not getting hit often. Again, here's a classic speedster build that focuses on support and clever tactics, rather than pure direct damage. He causes confusion, draws fire, steal foci, disable agents, and supports the big damage dealers. When need be, he has an arsenal of flying kicks, leaping punches and other attacks that benefit from both incredible movement powers and the element of surprise. He can always just teleport opponents away when need be, but this takes a lot out of him so he doesn't do it often. But the ability to instantly move any foe 2-3 miles from the battlefield should not be underestimated. And lets not forget, it was Nightcrawler that nearly defeated the Black King without ever needing to throw a punch. There' something to be said for not always just hitting and blasting stuff... I'm starting to sound like a broken record.. agile flyer that deflects many ranged attacks with wind blasts or lightning bolts. She brings a ton of options to the field including area denial and provide cloud cover. She was pretty balanced for what the X-men faced long before she became Phoenix. Her Telepathy gave her a big tactical edge that we only rarely saw her play up. She's a kid sidekick that can't be hurt or captured. She's an excellent scout and makes for a great distraction, frequently drawing fire away from the other X-men. Again, she sets up the big hitters more than she does direct damage herself. Lets not underestimate the fact she can take out swarms of Sentinels with her electricity disrupting effect and can phase people through barriers to change the landscape of combat quickly. Much like Nightcrawler, it's only her CVK that prevents every battle she's in from being a blood bath... her power's scary deadly... Comes down to play style. You can conform to the CU standard pretty easily with many of the X-men though. All the X-men have EXTENSIVE combat training, with some of them being top tier martial artists in the MU. So you can justify high DCV's, levels and maneuvers. You can easily make a case for Combat Luck for most of them, including Colossus for those times when he's not armored up They have advanced technology that has been stated at various times to include bullet proof spandex, though obviously many of them wear costumes that negate such benefits. But I don't feel you necessarily NEED to go this route. My own games feature several characters without any significant rDEF and some of them have lower DCV's to boot (the mentalist for example) Most of the players learned how to use their powers, tactics and team work to compensate. Those that don't spend a lot of time being KOed... The Brick and the Stretcher, who can take the hits, try to make sure they do. And when you are as annoying as our stretcher, the enemy wants to hit you... heck, the other players want to hit her sometimes Obviously, I'm not constantly throwing them up against enemy snipers and swarms of soldiers with rocket launchers, but they do face off against foes that can kill them if they aren't smart, like bloodthirsty werewolf gods wielding soul stealing great swords... so I'm not pulling all the punches either.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play It's a lot to keep track of, it can be a huge pain in the butt, an indecisive or unprepared player can grind the gamer to a halt and it's easy to abuse, especially once the character get's his back up against the wall. Really, it requires a lot of trust more so than anything IMO. Though I was FURIOUS the one time I was told point blank that a power mimic concept was off limits regardless of build, in a game that had a Dr Strange Fate level uber mage, who could essentially do anything anyhow... Depends on build, but assuming everyone is built on similar point totals, it usually just doesn't quite work out that way in actual play. But if you actually can do everything everyone else can do (usually one at a time), it's best to play in such a way that you support THEM. Angel needs a wingman? Cyclops needs some extra fire power to take down that new sentinel? Marvel Girl can't quite lift that truck with her TK? Ice Man needs to make barriers at both sides of the battlefield to save all the civilians? Sure, Mimic can be all those things based on the needs of the story, but even with all the X-men's power he can't do it alone either. So it's not just about Mimic's player consciously not overshadowing the other X-men. It's also up to the GM to create scenarious where this unique type of teamwork is viable or even necessary.

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play I'd change the build slightly, but I would play an Angel type character in a heart beat. Though I do really like him in his current incarnation where he switches between his Angel and Archangel personas/forms. What can I say, I like the visuals on the metal wings, as well as several of the power stunts associated with them. My first real Champions character was a demonic brick that used his bullet proof wings in similar defensive actions

Re: Common superhero types you've never seen in play Oddly, we have all three of these in my game. Jason is one of the worlds few telepaths that can both receive and project thoughts. In this world, reading minds is incredibly rare, while mental attacks, illusions, mind control and other forms of projective TP much more common. Jason is pretty hosed against mindless things or targets that are not of the human class of mind, so he does carry a Plasmoid Shield (which can act as a defensive shield or an entangle). James is an electricity blaster, though we have seen hints he could have magnetic and radio wave based powers too. He theoretically can learn to fly via magnetic levitation, but hadn't done so in over two years of play. One of the top NPC's in that game is very much an homage to Cyclops. He has a few other vision based powers as well, but can't fly or project force fields or anything like that. He's not total glass cannon though. Just like Cyclops, he's a pretty bad ass martial artist as well. Lin is a primarily a bouncy stretcher, though she's started to figure out how to do more complex stuff, such as imitate other people. Mostly, she goes around complaining how gross her powers are while screaming "I'm MELTING! OMG!! SO, gross!" Two things I know I never get to play myself: - Power Duplicators/Absorbers - Super versatile Multiform users I've played some animal metamorphs, but no one will let me play something like Ben 10, Rogue or Mimic. I understand this one though, as it primarily comes down to fear of one player stepping on other players toes... and a few GM's have not been fans of VPP's either, so that one's pretty difficult to do...

Re: A Thread for Random Videos It's in the same vein as Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron, which you may also hate http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html Sort of the opposite of:

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Caracal EDIT: Found the original video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57qew_cglac

Re: Looking for: Heroic Power Mimic

Re: Looking for: Heroic Power Mimic And lets not forget Synch I love power duplicators, but no GM EVER lets me play one

Re: Alternate Sexualities in Champions and Supers settings This is one of those aspects of super powers that you can choose to explore or not, though. Many of my supers either have an "off switch" (multiform, OIAID) or adequate control of their powers that this sort of thing simply won't be an issue. But I do have some angst ridden heroes that have intimacy issues because of their powers. Even they can sometimes find a way to deal with it though. For example, one of my teenage NPC's is an incredibly powerful fire elemental/pyrokinetic. He has a crush on the PC brick. Now, while he legitimately likes her, he hasn't mentioned that a small part of his attraction is that he doesn't have to worry about burning her with a kiss... But they haven't actually gotten intimate yet due to other complications, so that potential bit of role playing hasn't actually come up in game. We'll see how the player reacts when it inevitably does...

Re: Invincible I'll probably just put him here.

Re: Invincible I'm a little over half way done with my version...

Re: Alternate Sexualities in Champions and Supers settings As a matter of fact I would. Mind you, it's not that much of a "rant" on Beck's part, so I suppose that label was misleading: http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/adam_serwer_archive?month=08&year=2011&base_name=glenn_beck_new_spiderman_looks The real ranting came from his various lunatic followers... Then again, it's not like that's all Becks fault. The last few days have been pretty awful on many of the forums I visit. The racism has been utterly appalling, but I attribute at least some of that to the anonymity of the internet. And Ultimate Peter Parker was a seriously well liked character... can't stress that enough. If people didn't love him so much, this probably wouldn't be anywhere near as bad.