Lord Liaden

Actually, Prof. Paradigm is only 6E. But you're right about the others.

I've never come across that position before, but I'm not familiar with Brucato's work. Don't mean to derail, but would you mind giving just the high points of why you see it that way? PP is one of my favorite new 6E Champs villains. If you're interested in variations on the theme of "wandering cosmic superhero" but not necessarily being very Silver Surfer-like, I suggest looking at Supernova from Galactic Champions, for Fifth Edition. He fills that niche in the GC super ecology, although his build is as much brick as energy projector. Another difference is that he's not all a big VPP, but has other defined Powers. And his character concept is distinctive, although a bit like Legion from Marvel Comics.

Like so many other comic-book supers, the Surfer's power level varies with the intentions of the plot. A feat of that magnitude would be an exception over his long history.

I don't know of a build explicitly of the Silver Surfer offhand. I might look at some sources online when I have the time. But as far as a writeup for a character similar to the Surfer in the iterations of Hero you specify, I would suggest The Infinite Man, from Alien Enemies, for 4E. He's a "cosmic entity," in personality very similar to the Beyonder from Marvel Comics, but his power level is closer to that of SS, especially compared to the most recent "cosmic" types in Champions publications. TIM has very high Characteristics across the board, particularly DEX and SPD which are Surfer-class, plus a 250-point Cosmic VPP. He also has a large Clairsentience Power which could be taken as an analogue for Norrin Radd's cosmic senses. He has a few other abilities, but the previously-mentioned ones are his most distinctive and defining. About the only comparable thing he lacks is the Surfer's board. The Infinite Man clocks in at over 1,300 Character Points, although I didn't check the accuracy of that infamous 4E published character math.

Quite a few Marvel movies have been based on some other genre, but with supers mixed in... which is what comics in general have long done anyway. Thor is Shakespearean dynastic drama, with supers. Captain America: The First Avenger is a war movie, with supers. Ant-Man is a heist movie, with supers. Spider-Man: Homecoming is a coming-of-age movie, with supers. The Incredible Hulk is Jekyll and Hyde/Frankenstein, with supers. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a political thriller, with supers. Black Panther is Afro-futurism, with supers. IMHO borrowing from other genres has helped keep the MCU fresh and interesting.

I've met women among the sci-fi fan community who would consider that a plus.

Sounds good, I agree, but maybe too open to interpretation, especially among gamers. Better not to lose sales because someone assumed it's a different type of book.

When I rebooted Muerte for Digital Hero #44, I changed the English spelling of "Professor" to the Spanish "Profesor." Just seemed more consistent. But if you're going to bring in Terror Inc. too, then I agree with Sketchpad that Book of Terror would be more applicable. BTW some years ago Terror Inc.'s creator, Steve Perrin, posted 4E character sheets for more experienced versions of the team's members, along with sheets and backgrounds for a couple of later-recruited members. Let me Attach that stuff here. Esprit.rtf Feur.rtf Gigante.rtf Muerte.rtf Poignard.rtf Scorpia.rtf Poignard - Esprit Background .txt

I experience a similar phenomenon with printed vs digital maps. Digital maps showing a large area blur out all the fine details, and if I zoom in to get the details I loose track of where they are in relation to the larger area. When I can see where the specific place I want is in relation to the whole picture on a printed map, I have a clearer sense of its location and how to get there.

😖

I've read that Osiris in Egyptian religion was less an actively worshiped god, and more a symbol of the concept of rebirth after death, which Egyptian society was obsessed with. So perhaps "Osiris" is a metaphor for something that was separated and broken apart. Something with the power of life and death?

I mentioned on the forums a few months back that I adapted the organization, "Prometheus," from the 3E adventure module, Atlas Unleashed. Prometheus is a fully private international humanitarian aid agency described as a kind of "armed Peace Corps." Agents of Prometheus would travel anywhere in the world suffering war or natural disaster to deliver food and water, medical supplies, emergency shelters, clothing, whatever was needed, whether or not they were invited or welcome. If the local dictators, warlords, or rebels tried to stop them, they were armed with advanced non-lethal weapons and would fight their way to the people in need. I adapted other characters from the module as superhuman support for their normal agents, which any GM interested in adding such an organization to their world could do. (I described the concepts involved on this post.)

No few superheroes are also directly employed by the governments of their home countries, as well as UNTIL, and could be ordered to any disaster site to provide paranormal assistance. Even some supervillains make a point of volunteering their help in the face of a crisis. It's also worth noting that it's estimated the majority of people with super powers on Champs Earth don't engage in the costumed war of good against evil, either because their powers don't suit them for fighting or they just want to live normal lives; but some of them engage either openly or incognito in humanitarian acts.

I did develop a plot I was going to write up for Xarriel, the CU's Thanos/Darkseid analogue, to use three specific official cosmic artifacts to essentially pull off MCU Thanos's final gambit, destroying the entire universe then recreating it in his image; although not nearly as simplistically as snapping his fingers. There are reasons for Xarriel to seek those artifacts on Earth. It wouldn't be too improbable to substitute Istvatha for him.

Speaking CU-specifically, air travel on Champions Earth is far faster than on real Earth, so disaster assistance teams could be dispatched around the world much more rapidly. UNTIL even has a teleportation system aboard its orbiting space station, GATEWAY, theoretically capable of transporting someone to or from any spot on the globe. The field of robotics is also more advanced than in the real world. Major world governments field robots which, while nowhere near as sophisticated as Mechanon, are physically powerful, quite mobile, and can be given broader and more flexible programming than what we're capable of. Those same governments also equip their operatives with a limited number of advanced powered armor suits. I can't imagine that some of those resources haven't been devoted to disaster relief. CU medical technology is also superior, and more effective at treating injuries on site that would be lethal for us. Many of the benefits of technology have been spread around that world more extensively than on ours, due to more efficient and therefore cheaper manufacturing processes. Champions Earth also seems to have a greater degree of international, if not cooperation, at least coordination, mainly through the United Nations and its various organs. (I know that many Champions players find the notion of an effective UN even more improbable than superhumans. I'll just remind everyone that Champs Earth has faced multiple extra-terrestrial, -dimensional, and -temporal invasions; the return of malevolent gods and demons out of legend; and a range of individuals and organizations who on several occasions have come perilously close to conquering or destroying the world. I'm sure humanity frequently has the need to work together for mutual survival shoved in its collective face.)

Congratulations! That had to have felt so satisfying for you.

6E came out in 2009, as did BOTM. BOTD was 2008. I don't really think today counts as a different "age." (Of course I'm 63, so you may see that time frame differently.) COVID I tend to think of like 9/11 -- a major event that shakes some things up, but most people eventually adapt and get on with their lives. One day coronavirus will just be part of the background noise of life. Heck, with all the scientific geniuses running around Champs Earth, it's probably cured there by now.

Ray Harryhausen does Final Fantasy.

I love the searchability of PDFs. Tracking down that one reference, name, or rule can get really frustrating with a hard copy alone. Particularly when you're dealing with books as densely written as DOJ-era Hero. The superb indexes in most of them help a lot, of course, but they can't cover everything.

Regarding an elemental motif, Champions Universe p. 92 suggests an interesting variation of that motif: One of the mystic items Robert Caliburn owns is the Flame Gem, which is one of the four Elemental Gems. Despite their name, they’re not associated with the four Aristotlean elements, but instead with the Four Elements of Mankind: the Earth from which he was made; the Soul that God gave him; the Flame of his intellect and creativity; and the Chaos that so often resides within his heart. Caliburn doesn’t know who owns the Soul Gem or Chaos Gem (if anyone — both were last mentioned in chronicles from the Renaissance and may still be lost). The owner of the Earth Gem is an old enemy of his: Cairngorm, the archdruid of a malefic human-sacrificing cult from the British Isles. Like Caliburn, anyone who owns a Gem is vulnerable to attacks from the other Gems. Each of them is “attuned” to the others (especially its opposite [FireEarth, Soul-Chaos]), and this allows more of the force of an attack to affect the target. Individually, each of the Gems holds great power — Caliburn has only barely begun to unlock the might within the Flame Gem, and only in the most basic way of literally enhancing fire-based magics. Were one man to obtain all four Elemental Gems, he would wield ultimate power over the Four Elements of Mankind, and thus over Men. Caliburn (and other right-thinking folk) want to prevent this, since placing such power in the hands of a fallible Man would lead to havoc, destruction, and evil. But he would like to know where they are so he can keep tabs on them. The text seems to imply the gems' full effect would be limited to human beings, but it wouldn't be a stretch to say that all sapients would be under their sway. That's an example of something the Empress would want to obtain to use. But in the category of things she'd like to keep from being used against her, during her invasion of Champions Earth's Milky Way in the year 3000 (see Galactic Champions) heroes were able to drive her off with the ancient Lemurian super-weapon, the Mandragalore. During its initial test-firing the Mandagalore malfunctioned and exploded, sinking the Lemurian archipelago, and scattering fragments of its fuel core over the Earth. Those fragments possessed the power to transform any matter into anything else, and became known as the Philosopher's Stone. In the modern era several supervillains acquired pieces of that fuel core, and the Lemurians sought to recover enough of them to reassemble the Mandragalore. (You'll find more details about the Mandragalore in Hidden Lands.) I realize your setting is not the official CU, but since you're using V'han it can be considered one of the alternate universes containing Earth, and so parallel concepts are possible. You could even tie the creation of these artifacts to your primordial era when super-powered "gods" walked the Earth.

I'm going to eschew reasoned discourse in favor of the first juvenile thought that popped into my head: a Centauri from Babylon 5. Six, meter-long, prehensile penises.

Based on his roles, that Cavill guy must really like swords.

It's a picture of a KNIFE!!

My pleasure, sir. Always glad to help the Silver Avenger of Vibora Bay. FWIW the 5E book Champions Universe: News Of The World introduced most of the American-based NPC superhero teams. Those entries were folded into the Sixth Edition of Champions Universe.

Well, I checked Champions Universe for 4E and for 5E/6E, and the Champions: New Millennium core book for Fuzion/4E. No Dallas-based hero team mentioned in any of those official Champions settings. In the 5E/6E CU Texas has a hero team out of Houston, "The Hero Corps."