Sketchpad

While not Tim (or 6th ed), a good base to work off from would be Dick Grayson from The Great Net Book of Real Heroes... https://www.sysabend.org/champions/gnborh/text/Robin_I-mo.txt

Wait... you said UTTERLY... not UDDERLY.

Hey Tiger! So I snagged this PDF tonight and I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. There are some spelling errors that should be corrected (like Psyche rather than Pyche), and some stats that seem a bit off. In particular, Flare's powers would be better fit in a Multipower, wouldn't they? I noticed this was the case for a few of the stat builds. On a design note, the fonts are all over the place in size and type. I'm not sure if you were hoping to pad out the book by using a larger font for stats, or if you wanted to lean into a comic style by using Comic Sans, but it's hard to read and a bit jarring. The text spacing is a bit off in parts, and your titles should be bigger, bolder, and more eye-catching. Additionally, the images should be bigger. I'm kind of surprised that Heroic Publishing didn't supply better art, as this is a representation of their books as well as your own. Also, the ad on page 6 really should be toward the back of the book and maybe a bit bigger.

Art by the amazing Darren Bulmer. I remember working on some art for this article as well... Darren and I had several pieces that were double booked.

Like Tech, I haven't used the good Professor in quite some time. But, when I did use him, I made him a terror mastermind that worked in the shadows while his agents took on heroes and agencies in the light. For a while, the player heroes were sure he was just a rumor created by his agents, as cell leaders often took the blame for the crimes, and the costumed villains escaped. But then another Terror Inc scheme would pop up along with some familiar villains. When the group finally met Muerte, they managed to defeat him and discovered it was a decoy that lured them deep inside the installation to kill them. Having barely escaped, they were determined to find the real Murete. Unfortunately, the group split up shortly after, but it was a fun game while it lasted.

Same thing here, Christopher.

Can someone put this up on YouTube?

In the first instance, that might just be the GM using ViperNinja to feint in combat. I would rely less on a combat stat and more on an acting skill to make himself appear to be wounded like the other minions. As for point two. If I can submit a few pieces of evidence before I go on? Sure, these guys have low defenses compared to Captain Mookbasher, but to do what's in these images are representations of Takedown. These poor agents and cops are going to be potentially mowed through like crabgrass on a dry day, and the only hope for them is that good ole Cap roll horribly. The same can be said about Captain America's and Batman's foes in the above image. Yes, if he runs into ViperNinja suddenly, the combat game changes and now they're more equally challenged. The Takedown rules are no longer in effect, combat slows some, and it becomes more focused. The intent is to make it more cinematic in combat to mow through mooks. BTW, a mook/minion is someone who is a number individual without really any story basis. Viper Agents, Red Shirts, Stormtroopers, AIM Beekeepers, Cobra Soldiers... whatever you want to call them, they're minions. Often numbered like "Hydra Agent 22" or named like these guys... But minions none the same. As I've mentioned, AoE doesn't work for me. If it works for you, awesome. But it doesn't work for me in the way I'd like to run things. I'd like to think the Multiple Attacks maneuver was built for this kind of thing, but not being able to offset the penalties seems a bit odd, especially in Hero. Particularly since it's a house rule to allow them and you're dead set against me making this ruling, Hugh. And you're not even in my game.

It's not a question of accuracy, Hugh. It's a question of emulation. There are several comics out there that have heroes plowing through a horde of minions (Hydra, Unnamed Criminals, Lesser Ultrons) that are falling to the wayside while the main villain provides the real challenge. As for what happens when Captain Mookbasher suddenly falls into a trap where ViperNinja's using waves of minions to soften the good Captain up, you keep ViperNinja off to the side while the minions are being fought. Even with the benefit of +10 PSLs, he's only able to apply those to the regular ninjas to offset just the Multi-Attack penalties. So that means he only offsets the -10 from the 6 attackers. -8 if ViperNinja is one of them. He can still fail one of the rolls. He can still get punked by a minion. Like I said above, since ViperNinja's not a minion, the levels wouldn't count against him. Why would he have to drop his DCV if he's just pretending to be one of his minions?

I've had folks use Takedown for Ranged Combat, as well as Melee. As for any concerns for using this, I figure I will treat this as a "STOP" power and keep an eye on it. Luckily I have a few decades of running Hero under my belt to back me up.

That seems over-complicated, Hugh. And, sure, different games have different mechanics, but it doesn't seem a hard concept to convert, nor does the idea of "minions" in Hero. As I stated earlier, I think I'll stick to the 2 pt Level for Multiple Attack. Thanks all for input and options.

I'd thought about the AoE bit at one point, but it doesn't do what I need it to. In the current campaign that I'm prepping, some of the characters are being converted over from Mutants & Masterminds, Third Edition and they use the Takedown advantage (see Spoilers). Now, that said, this seems much more like Multiple Attacks than an AoE effect, since there's a chance for failure built into it much like Multiple Attacks. However, the advantage doesn't apply a negative modifier, but specifies that it only works on Minions. Hence the limit that I created.

I think this really comes down to the campaign and play style of the group. I've had a few groups where they enjoyed spending time with normals in their "off time," and even went so far as to have staff on their base that they interacted with on a regular basis. Some years ago, I had a player opt to play a 150pt agent in a group of 250pt superheroes because he wanted to bring in some normality to the game. San Angelo, @Duke Bushido?

It's an emulation thing. The idea that, in comics/cartoons, someone can mow through a mass of mooks is a staple in the genre. Look at characters like Batman, Daredevil, or Captain America when they're taking on thugs, ninjas, or agents of evil. They struggle to get to the BBEG, but it doesn't deter them for long, as nameless minions go flying around the room. However, once they get to their main foe, that fist-flying action slows as their foe is more pertinent to the story/adventure, and, thus, more of a challenge. Christopher, does the limit look appropriate in your opinion?

Please see the current Democrat vs. Republican tirades throughout the news and social media. Or any of the racist threads... or... well, you might see my point.

Times have changed even more since then. In the current Marvel Universe, most mutants live on the sentient island of Krakoa (yes, the same one from Giant Sized X-Men) where they have formed their own nation. This includes a council consisting of heroes and villains that make decisions for their new nation, as well as "The Five" who can bring people back from the dead. It's been an interesting read so far, particularly their event stories. In fact... It's been particularly interesting to see how the rest of the world has been handling these events.

In the rules as written, I'm thinking no without explicit GM permission. As Hugh quoted above: That said, I agree Ninja-Bear, that something should be allowed to reduce the penalty, as it's very action oriented to take on a pile of mooks. I'm going to allow it in my game, but I may put the following limit on it: Mooks Only (-½): You may only use this ability with Mooks (no-named agents or criminals often used to support a main villain), and not a major NPC. For example: Nighthawk is taking on a local Viper Cell ran by MIsssstresss Sssnake. To get to her, he has to go through 8 Viper Agents. He has +6 CSL vs. Multiple Attacks Penalty (Mooks Only) that he activates to take on the agents. He starts with a -14 to hit, but reduces that to a -8 with his 6 CSLs. Now, hopefully, he can wade through them successfully, to which he'll have to fight the cell leader before she can escape.

I think I'll allow specific CSLs to offset since it's the call of the GM. I'm converting some characters over and it would be the easiest way to emulate one of the abilities. Thanks everyone.

Thanks for the reference, Hugh. So that then asks the question, how does one offset the penalties of Multiple Attack? Can it be done?

Howdy Gang! I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't seem to find it on the boards. Can CSLs at 2pts offset the OCV penalties of Multiple Attack maneuver? For example: If Seeker were fighting 6 thugs and wanted to attack all 6 (a -10 penalty to attack), could he buy CSL: +6 OCV for Multiple Attack (12pts) to bring that down to a -4 OCV?

@Echo3Niner... if you're using Hero Designer, I would recommend snagging the Champions Powers Prefab for it. This would make it easy to just click on the powers needed and add them to the VPP.

I used The Dash as one of the jobbers in an old campaign. He was so frequent as a villain in my game that the heroes began betting on who was inciting the crime they were heading toward. At one point he'd joined Grab, but was kicked out because one of the heroes bugged him and he was labeled a snitch.

IIRC, Rom's Limbo and Magik's Limbo are two separate dimensions. Dire Wraiths aren't typically dumped into the demonic realm by Rom's gear.

It's very clean and sharp, @fdw3773. My only recommendation would be to work on one line for Skills, one for Perks, and one for Talents. The same with Complications. What are you using to make the template?

Well, to be fair, Spidey was feared for quite some time as well, mostly due to J. Jonah Jameson. A good chunk of NY, including law enforcement, bought it Jameson's "He's a Menace" schtick. Magneto and others (Apocalypse, The Brotherhood/Sisterhood of Evil, etc.) have provided the media, particularly the anti-mutant media groups, the right amount of ammo needed to launch campaigns swaying the populace against the "Homo Superior" species. Those that have apparent mutations such as Nightcrawler or Leach, or those that have risen up to fight for mutant rights (aka The X-Men) become the poster children for such campaigns as well. How else do you get panels such as... Or have ad campaigns that look like this? Hate is an all too easy path for many, and giving direction to that hate is even easier for those with the right charisma. Even in recent history we've seen atrocities that prove that the lessons taught by Marvel's Mutants are still falling on unhearing ears.